GloryB

A friend of my daughters said this weekend, "we're cousins." When I asked her how, she said because we all come from Adam and Eve. Which made me think, so this kid believes Adam and Even had kids, then those kids had kids with each other, until eventually we came about? I find this a bit disturbing and much more unbelieveable than the scientific idea of evolution and cavemen. My DD replied, no, my first relatives were cave men, but maybe they knew your relatives.

Any ideas on how we can "all" be descended from Adam and Eve without their children resorting to incest?

GloryB

SithLord

And actually cavemen aren't a scientific idea at all. They are proven fact with all the cave drawings and skeletal remains (as fossils) found.

The book of genesis is the worst written book in all the bible because it actually tries to explain the beginning of our existance. The problem is it was written by men in a time when knowledge was limited and hence full of factual flaws because of it.

mtatum4496

The myths of Genesis are similar to the myths of just about every major religion, in that the intent is to capture and codify the oral traditions that had been handed down since before anyone could remember. Zorasterism, if I recall correctly, also includes some of the same kinda thing. And I seem to recall the Koran also has a myth of the first people involving Adam and Eve, although the myth is not a replication of what is found in the Hebrew scriptures.

Having never been a literalist (I am conceptual in my understanding of the written word when it comes to religious writings), I always saw the story of Adam and Eve as simply that - a story. For me, it's value has to do with lessons of making choices, setting boundaries, and dealing with the natural results of our actions. It has no value for me in explaining where we all came from.

LilOne1989

Another thing that really irks me about the whole Adam and Eve theory is the different variations in humans today, mainly the outward appearances. If we all are in one "genetic" family shouldn't we all look more or less like clones (that might be too strong a word but I hope you get my idea). Last time my family got together there was no mistaking who was related to who. Grandma's genes run rampant, it shows in our nose . My kids all look like little clones of their father. It is a pain in the butt when my oldest boys walk in the room and I start talking to them about the last conversation I had with their father, they just look at me like I'm dumb or something .

wlctrent

It is quite similiar to the whole "we are all brothers & sisters" myth that the Catholic religion shares. How can we all be brothers & sisters? That would be complete incest.

DizzyDee

Lilone - one of the other problems with Genesis is the explainations for the differences in appearance - and also languages. Many early christians believed that black skin was a curse from God, originating from the 'mark of Cain'. Explaination for different languages is that God punished the people for trying to build a tower to get to him, so he cursed them with different languages so they couldn't communicate with one another. The god of the old testament is one I will never understand and be able to worship. He plays favourites too often, orders murder and war, etc.

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DizzyDee

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

faceless

I have no clue why the early church and the modern day church continues to teach that Adam and Eve were two actual people. (insecurity of losing the power struggle maybe,, i dunno) but I do know that the bible speaks in parables.. stories. Adam and Eve were not two actual people. The original meaning of the word adam is PLURAL for mankind and the original meaning of the arabic word that was interuppted EVE actually means church. Oddly most christians accept the fact that the snake was a symbol of satan yet stick to the theology that adam and eve weren't symbols of anything.

Ronin

I agree with mtatum4496 that Genesis chould be read as a myth with lessons to teach us about human nature rather than human biology. But, of course, many evangelicals don't see it that way. The two explanations I was given most often for how Adam and Eve's children could keep inbreeding without eventualy ending up with two headed monstrosities and such were 1) human DNA, since it was originaly created perfect, was not as prone to mutation and degredation back then as it is now; we've actually been devolving ever since "the Fall," and 2) angels bred with humans during that time, thus widening the gene pool (this is based on Genesis 6:1-2).

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melissajean85

Good point Ronin, never thought of it that way. I think you're probably right, although it doesn't explain the cave drawings and remains. Unless the remains are really due to the inbreeding or they bred with angels. The remains are very primitive and ape like so maybe they were genetically mutated and were in a sense "monstrosities" because of their actions causing their children to suffer the consequences. They probably didn't survive and were outcasts.

Also, think about the crimes that go on today; I guarantee the same crimes went on thousands of years ago, child rape, molestations, etc. Today we have ways of helping with this but what about back then? Who knows what really went on behind closed doors and how many young girls became pregnant due to a relative.

Grant

Biblical laws against incest weren't impimented (spelling?) until waaay after Adam and Eve.

I've found that all Yaweh's laws seem have logic behind them. Whats the logic behind this? Why would God wait until later to tell us not to practice incest?

Our genetic information gets more garbled over time. Its just ignorant to pretend micro-evolution doesn't happen. Now I don't understand how our genes work entirely, but from what I know, I'd say its very possible that incest wasn't a problem in Adam and Eve's day... That is, it might not have caused genetic problems.

This is all speculation of course.

The relevant point is, God didn't forbid incest until way after Adam and Eve.

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