Skeptic Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I'm confused about some parts in Genesis. Actually, the whole bible is confusing and riddled with contradictions, but I've asked Xtians about this and no one can give me a straight answer. 1) In the first chapter, when god is creating things, it says that he created a man and a woman. Then, in the next chapter, it says that he created a man, named him Adam, and he named all of the animals, and then he was lonely and created Eve from his rib. Why is there a need to say it twice? We already know that he created a man and a woman. I've heard people say it's in there twice for clarification, but why not put the info from Chapter 2 in Chapter 1? 2) After Cain kills Abel and Seth is mentioned, Cain and Seth marry women we've never heard of before. I don't understand this at all. Every time I read it, I wonder, "Where did these other people come from?" If he only created Adam and Eve, who (presumably) only gave birth to three sons, then who are these other people and where did they come from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Skeptic, there are two separate creation stories that were spliced together so they don't exactly fit. The Bible is not a straight narrative of events. Others here who are more up on Biblical scholarship can tell you chapter and verse where the two different versions in Genesis begin and end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlerman Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 The first creation story which is from Ge. 1:1-2:4a is a newer story written around the time of the Babylonian captivity. The second creation story is much older and less developed and is from Ge. 2:4b-2:25. The Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible) was not written by Moses (if that character was a real human), but 4 different sources, plus an editor, at different times for different reasons. The distinctive styles and language, terms, points of view, are more easily seen in the original language as opposed to what happens after translation. This distinction can be seen in the two creation accounts. This same thing can also been seen in the NT where books of Paul are in fact not from Paul, and the Gospels contain material from other sources, which likewise contain layers of styles of various sources and histories, all layered together and edited to appear a continuous work. These are origin myths and serve a different purpose than to talk about science and actual history. It's ironic how "believers" really don't understand the nature of the own faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWIM Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I'm confused about some parts in Genesis. Actually, the whole bible is confusing and riddled with contradictions, but I've asked Xtians about this and no one can give me a straight answer. 1) In the first chapter, when god is creating things, it says that he created a man and a woman. Then, in the next chapter, it says that he created a man, named him Adam, and he named all of the animals, and then he was lonely and created Eve from his rib. Why is there a need to say it twice? We already know that he created a man and a woman. I've heard people say it's in there twice for clarification, but why not put the info from Chapter 2 in Chapter 1? 2) After Cain kills Abel and Seth is mentioned, Cain and Seth marry women we've never heard of before. I don't understand this at all. Every time I read it, I wonder, "Where did these other people come from?" If he only created Adam and Eve, who (presumably) only gave birth to three sons, then who are these other people and where did they come from? You also should check out the skeptics annotated bible (SAB) you will soon find there is MUCH in the bible that's contradictory and misleading. Studying the bible is one of the main reasons people LEAVE the faith. Many xtains out there never bother to even read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeptic Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 Studying the bible is one of the main reasons people LEAVE the faith. Many xtains out there never bother to even read it. I'm starting to read it now. I tried to read it before but I stopped because a lot of it didn't make any sense to me. Then when I would ask my parents or other xtians to explain, they'd give me a weird answer that didn't make sense or go around the question without really answering it. I would just take their word for it that they knew what they were talking about instead of me trying to figure it out myself, but I've since learned from people that a lot of the things that xtians say is in the bible isn't even in there. One thing that I found to be strikingly different about reading it vs. having someone else tell you the stories is that when I would read it myself, particularly the atrocities committed in the OT, it isn't sugar-coated like the typical xtian version is. Like the story of Moses and the Pharaoh. I always thought that god killing all of the babies was horrible, but then someone would twist it to try to convince me that it was somehow necessary. It wasn't until I read the entire story, including the part that everyone leaves out--that god hardened his heart--that I truly saw how horrible it is. Everyone here probably already knows all of this, but I'm just starting to come to terms with the fact that pretty much every xtian who I have talked to about this has lied to me, even my own parents, in order to keep me in the dark about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Genesis Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 The explanation the xtians at my church gave was that after Adam and Eve got kicked out of the garden, God zapped new humans into existence elsewhere for their children to marry. And yes, they seriously believe this to be literally true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 The explanation the xtians at my church gave was that after Adam and Eve got kicked out of the garden, God zapped new humans into existence elsewhere for their children to marry. And yes, they seriously believe this to be literally true. At least they admit the problem in the Book. God must have continued "zapping" after the flood, since many new mutations and species came into being after Noah's small adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted January 13, 2009 Super Moderator Share Posted January 13, 2009 The Lord works in mysterious ways. Now shut up and stop asking questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyHypatia Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 First of all, I suggest you start by reading Richard Elliott Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible. Excellent book! What you should try to understand about the Bible is that it is heavily edited. The Jews went from being polytheists to monotheists and the polytheism had to be edited out of the ancient texts. There are still traces of polytheism in the Bible. Deuteronomy 32:8-9 has El dividing people up into countries and giving one country to each of his 70 sons. "Sons of Israel" is really supposed to be "sons of God." Bad translation. Anyway, Yahweh inherits the Children of Israel. Notice he doesn't give a rat's ass about any other people besides his own. Psalm 82 has El demoting the gods to mortals because they didn't live up to his moral expectations. Eventually, El and Yahweh were merged together and the other gods and godesses in the pantheon were successfully eliminated. There are other parts of the Bible that look suspiciously edited, probably because of polytheism. The Nephilim come to mind. There has to have been more to that story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeptic Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 I forget what my mom said about it but I remember it didn't make any sense to me whatsoever. Zapping people into existence, though, is a new one. I've never heard that one before. I keep getting more and more evidence that the bible, especially the OT, was written by men who wanted to use a god as an excuse for killing people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kcdad Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 The first creation story which is from Ge. 1:1-2:4a is a newer story written around the time of the Babylonian captivity. The second creation story is much older and less developed and is from Ge. 2:4b-2:25. The Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible) was not written by Moses (if that character was a real human), but 4 different sources, plus an editor, at different times for different reasons. The distinctive styles and language, terms, points of view, are more easily seen in the original language as opposed to what happens after translation. This distinction can be seen in the two creation accounts. This same thing can also been seen in the NT where books of Paul are in fact not from Paul, and the Gospels contain material from other sources, which likewise contain layers of styles of various sources and histories, all layered together and edited to appear a continuous work. These are origin myths and serve a different purpose than to talk about science and actual history. It's ironic how "believers" really don't understand the nature of the own faith. What he said... btw, reading Genesis in the original Hebrew is a poetic experience.... just look at it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Skeptic, there are two separate creation stories that were spliced together so they don't exactly fit. The Bible is not a straight narrative of events. Others here who are more up on Biblical scholarship can tell you chapter and verse where the two different versions in Genesis begin and end. There is actually a third creation story that begins in the Book of John that claims the Word (the Logos) created every thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I'm confused about some parts in Genesis. Actually, the whole bible is confusing and riddled with contradictions, but I've asked Xtians about this and no one can give me a straight answer. 1) In the first chapter, when god is creating things, it says that he created a man and a woman. Then, in the next chapter, it says that he created a man, named him Adam, and he named all of the animals, and then he was lonely and created Eve from his rib. Why is there a need to say it twice? We already know that he created a man and a woman. I've heard people say it's in there twice for clarification, but why not put the info from Chapter 2 in Chapter 1? 2) After Cain kills Abel and Seth is mentioned, Cain and Seth marry women we've never heard of before. I don't understand this at all. Every time I read it, I wonder, "Where did these other people come from?" If he only created Adam and Eve, who (presumably) only gave birth to three sons, then who are these other people and where did they come from? You also should check out the skeptics annotated bible (SAB) you will soon find there is MUCH in the bible that's contradictory and misleading. Studying the bible is one of the main reasons people LEAVE the faith. Many xtains out there never bother to even read it. Yeppers, Bible study is what convinced me to leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I attended a church many years ago, in Michigan, where a Deacon told me that God created Adam and Eve and others evolved through evolution. So there were two types of people on the planet at the same time, those who evolved and those God created from the dust of the ground. It was the evolved people Cain married. I just chalked this up to one more bit of info to forget. Christians want to be that special person, created by God for his special purpose and no scientific evidence is going to destroy their faith! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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