A literal reading of Genesis implies God "specially" created Adam and Eve and that all humans are descended from these original parents. Unfortunately this does not fit the evidence.
There are two stories of creation, one in Genesis 1:1-2:3 and one in Genesis 2:4-25. These accounts have different chronological orders, a fact that did not bother Christians who lived in the centuries before the discipline of history emerged, although it makes many Christians uneasy today.
A literal reading of Genesis runs into historical trouble when we try to reconcile the chronological details of the different creation accounts in Genesis 1-2. Difficulties arise when we work out the implications of the human race beginning with only two initial people. For example, there is the traditional problem of Cain's wife; where did she come from? The only possibility is that she was Cain's sister, but this conflicts with later biblical commands against incest. Even more problematic are the people Cain fears when he is banished from his homeland for killing his brother Abel. Genesis 4:13-14 says:
Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
It is implausible that the people trying to kill Cain are his extended family---siblings, nieces, nephews, and so on---the text does not suggest this. Along the same lines, Genesis mentions the city that Cain build and names after his son. Genesis4:17:
Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.
Who would populate this city or help build it?
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