My serious question about Adam and Eve

[Isis-Astoroth]

Eve had sons right? So, how is it that there are humans nowadays? For any kind of family to have extended beyond Eve's sons, wouldn't she have had to have children with them? Also, wouldn't this have lead to humans dying out due to mutations? Interbreeding causes disability in the children leading to an early death and the death of the family line, the ancient Egyptians were a prime example of this.

 

[Mr.Cheese]

Read Genesis 1:27-28a.

Does that provoke any thought?
The NRSV fleshes it out nicely, but other trans. capture things well enough.

 

[theseed]

Some have suggested that Adam represent the race of men. Others have said that thier chromosomes were different, esp. since they could not die. And before the flood they could live for hundreds of years, but after the flood people start do die only after 100 years of age. (Gen. 1-9).

Also, not incest does not always lead to deformities, actually, it is rare. Some Royal families in Europe would inbreed. Also, incest only augments any bad genes that are there, it may have been that Adam and Eve had no bad genes, but bad genes came by mutation. However, mutation is usally deadly, and not like you see in sci fi.

 

[sbbqb7n16]

Not unless she had daughters as well. And as far as the inbreeding goes, I have no idea how God worked all that out. Maybe our actual state is a reduced state from where things were originally. Adam and Eve must have been near super-human if that is the case. Otherwise as Mr. Cheese pointed out, God blessed them specifically for the purpose of filling the earth... God can cause that to work out if He needs to.

 

[theseed]

In 430 years the Isrealites grew from 70 to thousands.

 

[MinDach]

Eve had sons right? So, how is it that there are humans nowadays? For any kind of family to have extended beyond Eve's sons, wouldn't she have had to have children with them? Also, wouldn't this have lead to humans dying out due to mutations? Interbreeding causes disability in the children leading to an early death and the death of the family line, the ancient Egyptians were a prime example of this.

I believe Adam & Eve lived to be about 900 years old, so Yes they could of had quite a few children, you have people today that are born, by brother, or sister, or father, and there is nothing wrong with the child. Its done all the time in the animal world, it done to get a better breeding line. No a race of people do not die out for this reason. Eve had daughter too. This is where human race started.

 

[Angeldove97]

Maybe since there weren't any genetic diseases back then, maybe they would be able to do that and not worry about it. Plus, I'm sure Eve had daughters as well...don't forget in the Bible women aren't usually mentioned. Anyway, however it happened, God protected them.

 

[aanjt]

Genesis 1:26-28

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Genesis 2:7

the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:18-20

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.

If you look in Genesis 1, mankind, male and female, were created at the same time animals were. In Genesis 2, Adam was created before animals were. It is conceivable to believe that Adam and Eve's children married people from other villages, people that God created at the same time He created the animals, fish and birds, and did not breed within the bloodline.

Yours in Christ,
Jen

 

[FR0G]

If you look in Genesis 1, mankind, male and female, were created at the same time animals were. In Genesis 2, Adam was created before animals were. It is conceivable to believe that Adam and Eve's children married people from other villages, people that God created at the same time He created the animals, fish and birds, and did not breed within the bloodline.

Yours in Christ,
Jen

This is where my thinking tends to lie.

 

[tinkerbell]

It's highly likely that Eve had girls as well. However in the time period that Genesis was written, females were not as "valuable" (for lack of a better word) so they were not included in genologys and were often not mentioned in a family tree. Yes, Adam and Eve's children would have had to sleep together, but I highly doubt Eve slept with her sons

 

[Rafael]

Adam lived to be over 600 years old, which is another difference and evidence of devolution of man instead of evolution. Time wears men out (obvious), and it took a few generations for the three score and ten to take effect.
God could have created other couples on earth at the same time, too, but it was Adam and Eve who were in the garden of Eden and determined the fate of mankind as a race of beings created by God.
God gives us the information and preserves it through history on a need to know basis, in my opinion, and just obeying His two commands can generate enough responsibility for a life time - To love Him with all our heart soul and strength, and to love others as we love ourselves. Loving ourselves is not a term for building up self esteem, but one that refers to our taking care of our bodies with care and nuture - a practical love where we share and care for our neighbors, not letting them go hungry or naked - just as Jesus asks when He returns. Did you feed me when I was hungry or give me clothes when I was naked? Doing to others as we would do for ourselves - the golden rule. Simple, but powerful enough for life, yet what do we see the world doing? Greed, death, starvation, war, ignorance, hatred.......and although man would like to blame God for all this, the blood is on mankind's hands for ommitimg love commanded by a Creator even denied to exist by many.

 

[Svt4Him]

Scripture tells us that Adam is "the first man" (1 Corinthians 15:45); that there were no other humans when he was created, because God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18); and that Eve is "the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20). All of the first-generation siblings married each other in order to populate the earth. At that time there was no law against incest. But as the population grew large enough, and as the risk of genetic problems increased because of sin’s curse, God outlawed marriage between siblings.

 

[PRMan]

Also, the Bible says that they had "other sons and daughters":

Genesis 5
4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.

 

[Isaiah 53]

Eve had sons right? So, how is it that there are humans nowadays? For any kind of family to have extended beyond Eve's sons, wouldn't she have had to have children with them? Also, wouldn't this have lead to humans dying out due to mutations? Interbreeding causes disability in the children leading to an early death and the death of the family line, the ancient Egyptians were a prime example of this.

You must understand that before the fall, Adam and Eve were perfect, without defect or disease. There subsequent generations would not have had any 'deformaties' or 'mutations' because they were very close to the original man and woman. That is why they lived so long also.

PEACE IN CHRIST!!

 

[Svt4Him]

Actually it was after the flood that human life spans decreased.

 

[Isaiah 53]

Actually it was after the flood that human life spans decreased.

The decrease became noticable after the flood. But the taint of sin began to work in the world before that time.

PEACE IN CHRIST!!

 

[marc]

Gen 5:4 ...and he (Adam) had sons and daughters.
God didn't instruct them not to inbreed until years later in Lev it is written. The gene pool was pure back then (clear your mind of evolutionary thoughts) we have been getting worse and worse since the curse. We are not getting better and better as evolution teaches. As you inbreed more and more you will eventually get too many of the same genetic errors and end up with poodles. When God knew the gene pool couldn't handle the imbreeding anymore He instructed them to stop. Even today you can imbreed and not have deformed kids, but it's a gamble. see Answers in Genesis web site. Ken Ham has info on where did Cain get his wife(his sister) and "one blood" a book about how all the races come from one blood.