Bible questions here.

[skypilot]

I don't want this to turn into any kind of religion/Bible-bashing thread.
I'm just interested in hearing some of the questions people have about things in the Bible that don't quite make sense or for which they've never received a satisfactory answer. I'll start. Keep in mind that this is not a book that I'm particularly well-read in.

In Genesis, after Cain slays Abel and is exiled, God puts a mark on his head and tells him that anyone he encounters will see his mark and pretty much leave him alone. If I am remembering this part of the Bible correctly, here is my question. WHO would Cain possibly encounter? Up until this point there had been Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel. Abel is now gone. Who else would there be?

[Fenris]

1. LOL. That's a good point

Didn't Cain & Abel have families as well? Where the Hell did their wives come from?

[LynneSin]

2. Adam and Eve had more than 2 kids

Plus I'm sure God was busy churning out other Adam's and Eve's at the time.

Plus, folks back then lived to be like 500 years old

[skypilot]

3. ...churning out other Adams and Eves???

Didn't he learn from his first mistake--or rather theirs?

[wyldwolf]

4. Ancient Hebrew mythology speaks of Adam having a first wife...

...Lilith, from which other children were born I suppose.

[skypilot]

6. Ahh, I've heard of this Lilith.

I didn't know that was from Hebrew mythology though.

[Fenris]

7. That's from one of the books in the Apocrypha

Banned by religious authorities.

[Gman]

5. If Eve hadn't eaten that apple then tempted Adam...

running for cover from flames from the women here!!!

That always gets my wife riled when I say that! :-)

[bobbieinok]

13. when you think about the story

Adam does exactly what his wife suggests and then pulls a "W": it wasn't my fault, the woman (he suddenly forgot her name) tempted me.

[arcane1]

15. and Adam was tempted by a mere human, Eve was tempted..

by the 'ultimate tempter', but it's Eve that is considered responsible for the whole thing.

though technically, the serpent was just being honest, letting A&E know that God was b.s.-ing them about the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit

[trotsky]

8. Here's a good Adam & Eve question.

So God orders them not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil™.

But they do.

And so they receive the Knowledge of Good & Evil™.

But until they had received the Knowledge of Good & Evil™, how could they have possibly known it was wrong (i.e., Evil™) to eat the fruit?

[skypilot]

11. In answer to your question

GOD:Because I SAID so!!!!

[LVT]

9. We are the other people

This is something I read several years ago. Your question reminded me of it...
http://www.silvercircle.org/merlinsarchive/ma_zell.htm

[skypilot]

12. I've got that bookmarked now, thanks.

*

[LWolf]

28. I also read this several years ago,

and was reminded of it by this thread. I was just wondering if I'd saved it anywhere when I came across your post!

[amberdisc]

10. symbolic

The Genesis stories don't mean that Adam was literally the first man, i.e. the first Homo sapiens. The "fall" and knowledge of good and bad mean the first to have an ego. Gaining an ego means the loss of paradise, which is symbolized as eviction from the garden of Eden.

So there were other people around at the time.

That's how I understand it anyway.

[skypilot]

14. I'm sure it's symbolic but...

...there are lots of people who take it literally. I'd really be interested in how they would answer my question.

[HawkerHurricane]

16. What is the mark of Cain?

I've heard it said that it is dark skin, and that this justifies slavery (or was used to justify slavery). It seems more likely to me that the mark was red hair: everyone knows redheads have fierce tempers...

[skypilot]

17. Dark skin.

I think I've heard something similar. It was probably from some white supremacist though. Something like blacks are descended from Cain and whites descended from Abel.

On edit: And by the way, yes, I DO read the profiles.:)

[noonwitch]

19. The white supremicists also use the story of Noah in the vineyard

To justify slavery.

Noah gets drunk in the vineyard and passes out naked. His son Ham sees him, and covers him up to prevent embarrassment. When Noah wakes up, he's pissed off that his son would actually cover him up, so he curses Ham's son, Canaan, and states that his fate and that of all his progeny is to be slaves.

So, a story about an unrepentant drunken flasher is made over to justify race-based slavery.

[skypilot]

21. People don't sound like they were....

...terribly nice back then. My God, talking about the punishment not fitting the "crime".

[HawkerHurricane]

20. You're the first

to comment on that.

It's only been there for 2-3 years now.

[Goldberg]

18. Where does it say in the Bible that homosexuality is wrong...

in the direct words of God or Jesus? It doesn't!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

24. leviticus

but not from jesus

[Book Lover]

25. Leviticus 20:13

"If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. "

Also, Leviticus 18:22, "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable."

But the same people who wrote these also wrote this:
"Keep my decrees.
Do not mate different kinds of animals.
Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.
Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.
If a man sleeps with a woman who is a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed." Leviticus 19:19-20

And so I guess that we should also make cotton-poly blends illegal. And I wonder if verse 19 could be interpreted to forbid crop rotation...

Also, you are absolutely correct when you say that Jesus is not "recorded" as saying *anything* one way or the other about homosexuality.

[geniph]

22. If Adam and Eve were the first and only humans,

where did the wives of Cain and Abel come from? The Bible says they came from "another land." Were they another species of primate?

[skypilot]

23. And if they came from "another land"...

...(by the way, where in the Bible does it say that?)were they without sin and without the knowledge of good and evil. Did Adam and Eve screw things up for them all the way from Eden?

[SnowGoose]

26. infidels.org

There's a fantastic online library at www.infidels.org.

In particular, you'll find good stuff in the section
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theism/christianity/index.shtml

If you're interested in the subject of unintelligible stuff in the bible, you'll spend many happy hours browsing through this section.

You might also check your library for the book "Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy". The author's name, if memory serves, is C. Dennis McKinny, or something like that. Great book.

[TrogL]

27. Ok, now you've got me started

• Which version of the creation story in Genesis is correct? There's two.
  
• How many Commandments are they and what do they say?
  
• Who all showed up after the stone was rolled away from the Tomb?
  
• Where did Cain's wife come from?
  
• If the disciples and Jesus were alone in the Garden, and all disciples fell asleep, who's telling the story??
  
• Jesus and the Devil the wildnerness. Same issue.
  

[arwalden]

29. "I bring you these fifteen--OY!--these ten, TEN Commandments!

for all to obey!"

[HawkerHurricane]

30. Good online source for The Bible

www.skepticsannotatedbible.com

Good stuff.