Adam and Eve

[The Rut]

If Adam and Eve were the first humans how does the church explain away the fact that their children must have commited incest?

[sddsddean]

Didn't they just have Cain and Abel? So not only incest but an Oedipus complex as well!!

[darth vader]

It depends on what faith you follow as to the answer but broadly speaking their children's relationships weren't seen as incestuous in the way we see it nowadays as sex was regarded as a means of reproduction, and not as a form of pleasure. (Remember that Adam and Eve only became ashamed of their nakedness after they bit into the poisoned apple - prior to this sex meant nothing pleasureable or had any reason to make them feel ashamed). The reason i said it depends on the faith (to answer your question) is that if you ask a Jehovah's Witness, they will most likely explain it openly in the way i have done, whereas a Catholic or Protestant church are more likely to be vague and skim over the question. (Ask them to explain the book of revelation if you don't believe me)
Darth Vader, religion: Jedi Knight

[Quizmonster]

Not that it improves the sexual situation any, but they did have a third son, Seth.

[maxi29]

I think old darth has got adam and eve mixed up with snow white - there was no poisoned apple, there was the fruit of the tree of knowledge. As to the question, the bible says that cain and his wife bore a son, enoch. The book seems silent about who this unnamed woman was, and where she came from - perhaps god created her as an afterthought.

[darth vader]

and what fruit did the tree of knowledge produce, maxi29? perhaps not physical poisoning, but metaphorical poisoning of the mind (they were also condemned to death by god, remember - Genesis 3 ch19 "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (King James version)) - i said they became ashamed of their bodies. I rest my case for the defence

[DavidUK]

So Darth, you are saying that sex between brother and sister would not be incest as long as they didn't enjoy it and it was just to procreate?

[maxi29]

What fruit indeed, darth? Why is it that the fruit is nearly always represented by an apple - there's nothing in the King James to suggest that. I don't know enough about other versions to know where the apple myth comes from - does anyone know what the original hebrew said?

[paulperoni]

Hey hey! You're all perhaps forgetting the simple rules of biology. there's an oh so tiny thing called biodiversity. basically means that for a species to advance, the two sets of gene need to be a far appart as possible. The closer the genes, the more 'inbread' you are. Offspring produced by brother and sister (although not impossible) produces very bad results. The story of the bible could not have happened in that way because subsequent offspring's genes would have been so close that the human race would not even have made it off the starting blocks. I put the incest question to a bible basher once and he's enlightened aswser was that the bible states that God created Adam and Eve but did not say that God did not make other people afterwards. An easy cop-out if you ask me. What surprises me the most is that despite the number of things that science comes to explain such as a tiny thing called evolution, some people STILL cling on the the bible story, literally! Face it guys, the bible does not explain anything. I strongly believe in a God, or at least a higher intelligence beyond our own understanding but please! dont go believing in folk-tales and fables of magic and miracles.

[Reelife2129]

It seems a lot of people are biblicaly ignorant. A simple reading and investigation into the hebrew language you will find in Gen. 1:26-28 God created "Man" Male & Female (A whole race of humans) and gave them very a specific Commision. Chapter 1 ends with the 6th day complete & the 7th he rested. Chapter 2 begins with a second creation of man (the Adamic strand) which was given an intirely different commission. (read for yourself)The time frame between the two cannot be answered. But it explains Cains wife and her people (6th day human strand) The bottom line is Adam & Eve were a seperate creation for a specific reason. Study to show youself approved insteaad of bashing less learned Christian Brothers Big Mike

[bruce74]

Adam & Eve many children, not just Able, Cain, and Seth. Adam lived to 930 so I'm sure they had quite a few kids. Yes, there was incest involved between the brothers and sisters... There had to be. Adam & Eve were God's most perfect creation. They were genetically flawless. They contained the genetic differences we see among the many "races" of people. They probably had children that looked white, black, asian, latino, etc.. So, mixing between the sibling would not cause genetic defects like we see today.

[magicdice]

they wouldn't necessarily have done, all this biodiversity malarkey that one of you came up with is irrelevant, surely, as if they were created as God willed then it doesn't necessarily follow that they share a lot of gene material personally i think the whole thing's ******** anyway, but i would

[606cindy]

If you are looking for an answer to this question and many others look to the original root meanings of the words found in our Bible. When you have interperted the first two chapters of he Bible from the origianl Hebrew you will find that much was lost in transelation. If you are using the King James Bible please remeber this Bible was a rushed version by a ruling King. There are two different accounts presented in the first two chapters on how the world was created. If we look at the first chapter we find that Plants, Animals and then Man and Women was created. If we look at the second chapter we find that Man was created out of the red earth and then plants were made. After this animals were created and then women. So you are probably wondering does the Bible conterdict itself. Maybe and maybe not. If you look at each word in these two chapters in the original hebrew you will find that the word God in the first chapter and the words The Lord God in the second chapter are not the same. In the first it refers to the builders of God or the Angels. In the second it refers to another God. The Bible clearly shows that to different creations took place. When you take the Bible back to the origanl Language please remember that each and every word must be interpeted. After doing this if you have any questions please e-mail us.