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Adam & Eve - Page 2

Mike asked:

Offtopic but, For an atheist, you sure have an intense interest in God and His doings.

According to the teachings of my church, Adam was Michael, the archangel, a special servant to God and Jesus Christ. He has some incredible history, and some incredible future tasks, as well. Since my scriptural references would mostly not be from the Bible -- and this is the Bible Revealed board -- I'll skip that part of it, and perhaps begin another topic in the Studies of LDS board, if you're interested.

In the meantime, Adam's body was formed from the dust of the earth ( All flesh shall perish, and man shall turn again unto dust, Job 34: 15), and his spirit was that of Michael the archangel, who lived with God and Christ in the premortal world.

Roz

Eve and Adam

According to Genesis, God made Adam - from the dust of earth, as you say - before he created the Garden of Eden.

GEN 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

In GEN 2:8-14 God creates the Garden of Eden with four rivers (and lots of gold and precious stone, for some reason.)

2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

It's a trivial question but I wondered where Adam was while God was creating the garden.

Offtopic but, When I originally submitted this post, I had an offtopic section explaining why, as an atheist I study the Bible and other religious teachings. When I opened it again edit it (to correct a spelling), that part disappeared. I will re-write it again when I get time, and repost it.

Edited: mikejonesuk on 13th Jun, 2005 - 9:37am

Adam & Eve Revealed Bible The

God threatened death for eating the apple, but he didn't carry out that threat. If Adam hadn't eaten the apple God would have had to banish Eve from the garden, then Adam would have been alone again. Since God obviously meant for Adam to have company Adam would have lost another rib to create Eve's replacement.

I searched the Adam and Eve story and found no order from God to, "Multiply and replenish the earth." I believe the passage you are thinking of is from the story of Noah. This passage comes from the book "Mousetrails-THE FIRST HOLY WAR" God first told Noe and his sons to, "multiply and fill the earth." (Genesis 9:1) He told him again, "But you, be fruitful and multiply; abound on the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 9:6)

A whole paragraph in the Bible is dedicated to the description, banishment, and future of the serpent. God said to the serpent, "Because you did this, cursed are you more than all the livestock and all the wild beasts. On your belly you shall crawl, and dust you shall eat, all the days of your life. I will plant hatred between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike you in the head, and you will strike him on the heel."

Most people I ask about who Cain and Seth married will say without thinking, or drawing a breath, "Well.... they married their sisters. The Bible does not say that. Again from the book "Mousetrails-THE FIRST HOLY WAR" Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is too great to bear. ...from your face I shall be hidden. ...whoever finds me will kill me." But the Lord said to him, "Not so! Whoever kills Cain shall be punished sevenfold." (Genesis 4:13)

At this point in the Bible story, supposedly there are only two other people on the face of this new earth. Neither Adam nor Eve would be referred to by Cain, or God, as "WHOEVER," indicating there were other people on the earth. Cain was not afraid his mother or father would kill him. He was afraid SOMEONE ELSE would kill him. Cain traveled to a distant land, married, and had grandchildren. Cain and the descendants of Adam and Cain married eight women and Cain founded the city of Henoch. (Genesis 4:16-26)

The Bible is explicit in its genealogy, always mentioning brothers and sisters married into the same family. None of the women Adam's descendants married are named as sisters, so let's do some simple multiplication. Each of the eight wives had a mother, a father and, being careful not to exaggerate, let's say at least one sibling. Eight wives times a family of four suddenly becomes at least thirty two people plus Adam, Eve, and Cain. Now we are up to thirty five. Adam, Eve, and Cain were definitely not alone when they were created. There were other mothers giving birth to daughters for Cain and Seth to marry at about the same time Cain and Seth were born.

mousetrails

Edited: mousetrails on 27th Mar, 2006 - 6:41pm

Page 2 Eve and Adam

2nd point first:

Here God is speaking directly to Man. How much clearer can it be?

1st point now:
Adam DID die on that day, as did Eve. They suffered spiritual death - separation from God. They also physically lived less than 1000 years on the earth. Since elsewhere in the Bible, God's day is likened to 1000 years (and I have other sources to support this), then it is not correct for you to assume that God didn't carry out His threat (promise).

Now for the point about Cain and Seth 'not' marrying their sisters. Lack of evidence does NOT constitute evidence of lack. So, since there is NOT a lot of information about who they married, how can you, claiming to be a scholar, make the assertions you did? What exact evidence do you have that there were other people around besides Adam? These statements are speculation only, certainly not 'facts'.

Where is this stated? It looks like an assumption to me, without any support by evidence. What makes you think that at the time of Cain and Abel, they were the only children that Adam and Eve had? Where is the evidence?

You are right. That statement isn't made. But that does NOT mean that they weren't. There are many possible explanations why such statements might not have been included in the Bible, including the possibilities that Moses was told specifically to leave such information out of Genesis, that Ezra(?) when restoring the 5 books missed it, or that it really wasn't important, since everyone KNEW (at that time) that only Adam and Eve's children were available for marriage.

A last point to consider is that, while it isn't in the Bible, isn't there an very old Jewish tradition that Adam had more than one wife in Eden?

Now for a caveat. I am not saying that you are definitely wrong in any point. I am just noting that your statements appear to me to lack a lot of evidence, and contain a lot of supposition.

Offtopic but, Your posts certainly look like advertisements for your book. That is not allowed in this forum. If you wish to promote your book, we have a classified section, and I am sure that JB would be thrilled to assist you in creating a website to promote and sell it.

Eve and Adam

Sorry, I did miss Genesis 1: 27-28

If the Bible doesn't say they married their sisters, I (suppose ) they didn't.

The instructions are to quote sources. That book is in print. Was that wrong?

mousetrails

Adam & Eve

That is not a valid argument, in my opinion. The Bible never says that it snowed in Jerusalem, either, yet we know that it does on occasion. The Bible never says that Mt. Sinai is on the Sinai peninsula, yet most people still believe it is.

The Bible never says they DIDN'T marry their sisters, either. So, using your logic, I have to assume that they DID marry their sisters. The Bible certainly NEVER mentions any people anywhere else besides Adam's family. So your assumptions don't appear to me to stand up very well.

Offtopic but, You are correct, I think. As long as you are using it as a source, that is fine. However, I don't know how good it is to use your own book to back up your opinion, since your book IS your opinion.

Adam & Eve - Page 2

Everything you just wrote is your opinion. What I write is my opinion. You don't have to buy a word of it, but a lot of people are. If you can show me a passage that says "they married their sisters" I'll buy it, otherwise you are reading something into the Bible that isn't there.

Adam & Eve The Bible Revealed - Page 2

1. What would happen if Adam did not eat the apple?
Nothing, life would continue on, and who determined it was an apple?

2. Why would God give a commandment to multiply and replenish the earth if Adam & Eve were innocent?
No people were on the earth, in order for species to survive, they would have to reproduce. The Bible does not say they were immortal or had any special things about them accept that they talked to God.

3. Did the devil really appear as a serpent or was that just symbolic? If it is symbolic why does God use the serpent in other places to represent good or even God?
The idea of Satan had not evolved yet in the Bible, the snake was just one chosen to be the bad guy, most likely taken from egyptian mythology in which Set was represented as a snake and was a deceiver of the wife of Osiris. Indeed, much of Genesis parallels the exact same stories in the Egyptian Book of the Dead which pre-dates genesis. It was not for many millennia later that Satan would be put in the garden of Eden. Indeed, Genesis says it was a serpent, and not Satan or the Devil or even evil, just crafty. An allegorical parable to tell us why the snake slithers on his belly.

4. Whom did Adam & Eve's kids marry?
Since the Bible clearly prohibits incest, but then allows it to happen, take your pick. Either they married their brothers and sisters, or, they married a separate race spawned from Adam and Lilith, or the idea of a Pre-Adamic race. The apocryphal, but widely read (in its day) book The Life of Adam and Eve helps explain some of these problems.

As for the fall being Gods plan for Adam and Eve, you have to accept that God created them with the idea, even a plan, for them to disobey, lose paradise, and pass their sin down through creation. Thats cruel.

As for God being a liar, thats just not smart to say out loud, but, deserves an answer. To be fair, the Bible does not say that God threatened him with spiritual death. Indeed, it just says that this day you will surely die, then never mentions it again. Be completely understanding that man added in the spiritual death of Adam, not God. The Bible does not say anything about the spiritual death of either of them. And as for a day being a thousand years, another man made reason to get God out of jam. Adam knew nothing of a day is a thousand years, he knew that when the sun rises and sets, that is one day. For God to say what he did, then mean really sometime within a thousand years, Adam would have just as well assumed he had been bluffed. Besides, the day is a thousand years speak is an allegory letting us know that God is outside of time. IMO

Another thing going back and forth is evidence for the intermarrying or not of brothers and sisters. Lets be clear, the Bible does not say, none of you have any evidence, thats 0 (zero) evidence of any incest or another race. To say you know that Cain married his sister, or that Cain absolutely did not is ludicrous and none one has any evidence to back up their claims. Its a matter of settling the problem withing your self with your own opinions because the Bible is simply silent on the issue. So while one of you says there is no evidence to say that Cain didn't marry his sister, the other in turn does not have evidence to say Cain did marry his sister, its all conjecture. You either believe your own ideas to resolve it, or simply don't bother resolving it.

On a lighter note, if you believe adam and eve were created from the dust of the earth as Genesis says, then they didn't have a belly button which is created by cutting and tying the umbilical cord. Created beings that did not come from another human being cannot have belly buttons.