Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
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According to the Holy Bible, how long have humans existed on earth? Does this match scientific findings? Please indicate sources. Is it possible that the Genesis genealogies are incomplete, as mentioned in some links?

There are no concerns regarding that. Our Church says that humans have existed 5500 before Christ. If we add 2000 years to 5500, the total would be 7500. Protestant Bible scholars say humans existed 4000 B.C., in addition to the 2000 A.D.; so the total would be 6000 by their calculations. Various books in the Old Testament mention 1000 generations [Exodus, Deuteronomy, Chronicles, Psalms]. The equivalence of a generation in biblical terms is commonly forty years, which if we were to use these calculations, the years of human existence could be 40,000. There is also varying discourses on the exact time of each day, and what each day of creation is in essence.

The age of humanity is different from the age of the earth. The age of the world long existed well before the age of humans. There is neither Scriptural nor scientific evidence about how long humans have existed on earth, and there is no consensus amongst biblical scholars, neither does the scientific community offer any concrete perspective. Any effort to ascribe a precise time would be inaccurate as all calculations would be presumptive and lacking important variables that, to this day, are unknown to mankind, but only known to God, who will reveal all the things at His time.  

Some genealogies in the Book of Genesis are incomplete. When researching, always proceed carefully with caution, as some sites may not be consistent with the Orthodox teachings or a formal stance from our Church’s perspective.
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