As a former believer one of the things that I found disturbing was the teaching of our creation and propagation as a species as it is narrated in the Old Testament. I found it odd that God allegedly created all the animals and their species separately but in some unknown number or populations so that they too could propagate and spread. I think that the creation story would have been much more believable if it just said God created whole populations of people and spread them out all over the earth. Instead, he makes one pair and tells them to be fruitful and multiply. So basically what the Bible teaches is that humans are the product of many incestous relationships! I find that to be offensive and embarrassing that a loving creator would choose this method for the propagation of the human race.
Let's think about this for a minute if the Garden story is true (which it obviously isn't) then Adam had to have intercourse with his wife who later gives him two boys Cain and Abel. You later find out that after murdering his brother Cain is separated from his family and condemned by God to be a "restless wanderer."
10The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.
11Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4:10-12
17Cain
made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch.
Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.
Notice that here is where this story gets a little less credible. God curses Cain and claims he is going to be a restless wanderer but then we find out in verse 17 that he actually has a wife and builds a city! That's one of those questions most ministers have to dance around to answer one of the most popular questions atheists and even some believers like to ask. Where did Cain find a wife when according to the tale the only people that existed were his parents and his brother who he had murdered? He actually lived in the land of Nod (wandering) and built a city. Not bad for a man who has been cursed and condemned by God.
Considering the high risk of birth defects due to incestuous relationships I don't believe that an all knowing all wise deity would choose this method for populating the earth. The limitations in the human gene pool would make for a very boring and sick species. It's obviously a myth a badly written one at that. I find the idea of our so called beginning being incest repulsive and offensive in every way. Although from a naturalistic point of view minus gods it actually would make more sense as a means of our early beginnings.
Note: All biblical citations are taken from the New International Version of the scriptures.
Then he started over with Noah's incestuous family, and then Lot & his daughters started over with incest. Hardly the best way to improve the species!
ReplyDeleteI agree LadyA just another one of God's bone headed decisions and questionable wisdom.
DeleteWhile the level of incest required for a literal biblical interpretation would certainly have weakened the human species based on what we know about biology and genetics, from a "criminal" standpoint, incest is among the lesser crimes documented, encouraged and even mandated in the bible.
ReplyDeleteInitially because it was used as a means of propagating the species it is encourged quite often until the Mosaic laws are given to the Hebrews.
DeleteActually where the fuck did the women come from if Adam & Eve only had 2 sons (no daughters mentioned?) Unless, to quote that Plains, Trains and Plantains essay, they were fucking their own mom which is fucking nasty. That would mean they were also fucking their own daughter/ sisters.
ReplyDeleteThe answer I got to that one is that the Jewish male-dominated society was such that daughters were never mentioned in the Bible unless they did something amazing (like Lot's daughters). So they didn't do it to their mom, but to their sisters.... which is supposedly better, I guess
DeleteI've actually gotten that same reply several times LadyA that's actually another crock of shit apologetic as you most likely know. This is the proper response. Chhapter 5 of Genesis tries to lay out a geneology from Adam to Noah. Here is what it says about this question.
Delete1This is the written account of Adam’s family line.
When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind”a when they were created.
3When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. 4After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died. Genesis 5:3-5
Now according to this at the age of 130 Adam had a son named Seth. The previous chapter states
25Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” Genesis 4:25
So according to this as far as boys go Cain and Abel came first and then came Seth when Adam was 130 years old Lol. Then we read in chapter five: 4After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.
This could mean if taken literally that Adam had daughters that were not mentioned between the birth of Cain and Abel and Seth or that he did not have daughters at all till afterwards.
Apologetics disgust me and they never work all you have to do is read carefully.
Lot's daughters was beyond even incest - they actually raped him while he was unconscious from being drunk. That's one more of the incredibly fucked up stories in the Buybull.
ReplyDeleteHey they thought they were the only women in the world and dad was the only man. They had just barely escaped from Sodom! More apologetics bullshit! lol
DeleteThe people living for several centuries in the stone or bronze age is another one of th MANY utterly ridiculous things in that idiotic book.
ReplyDeleteThere is a theory that this is the result of early translations of the original ancient languages. Time was often measured in terms of lunar cycle, resulting in about 12.4 cycles per solar year. If you divide those insanely long lives by that number, the results are much more believable (although still pretty long for the likes of Noah and Methuselah!).
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