If Adam and Eve were the first people...

Then Cain went away from the precence of the Lord , and dwelt in the land of Nod east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch.....etc.

So according to the Bible there was no incest.

Any problems can be rationalized away if you just have faith. It'll all sound like hooey if you're a non-believer but for those who really want to believe, it'll all sound just fine.

According to scripture Adam was created perfect but became imperfect through his choice to sin thanks to that blasted woman. Adam and Eves sons and daughters would indeed have married and bred. However the further into sin man got, the more issues that arose with infamily breeding, and come deuteronomy, the law was given, and incest became a nono. Or so the story goes. Mans degradation can also be seen in the vast change in average life expectancies of early times. That is if you believe what the bible says of course.

So explain where Cain's wife came from.

If Adam and Eve were the first people...

who will be the last

i'm hoping it's this generation

The text about Cain leaving for the land of Nod is interesting as before only Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel had been mentioned. All of a sudden Cain has a wife and there are enough people to live in a city, not exactly what we think about as a city more a dwelling place. So the bible hints that there were others living outside of the Garden of Eden.

Which means either that Adam and Eve were not the only "first people," or there was another "special creation" that the authors didn't see fit to tell us about. In fact, the existence of cities suggests that they weren't the first. Altogether, another typical bullshit religious story.

Ancient astronauts.

I suppose there are people who believe the Adam and Eve myth is fact and not fiction, but then there are people who believe Barack Obama is a conservative.

Venus, she came from Venus.

Venus makes about as much sense as anybody else. I grew up Catholic, and though they sure came up with some doozies of their own, at least they recognized a myth when they saw one.

I guess my original question goes back to how baffled I am that so many people are fundamentalists. I mean, faith is one thing, but to be absolutely convinced that a book - with all it's inconsistencies and fairytales - is unquestionably God's word? It seems to be beyond faith. To be so certain of such a thing smacks of psychotic delusions of grandeur. All this "he died for me" and "I'm so sure" just seems a bit egocentric to me.

Yes. And it should be a little troubling to realize that a sizable portion of the population is essentially delusional.

Look Sport, the Bible was lengthy enough and it stands to reason that God was in the perfectionist phase which meant new creatures every day, then God became the first to have o.c.d. and went wild, that wouldn't have set well in selling Bibles as they'd be too big and heavy.

God had perhaps had made places with men and places with only women. Realizing need if this experiment was to last, God started sending a few people away and they met new people and they made new people.

The real problem was years later when that flood happened and the boat had Noah and his family but the rest of the planet was made wet and all made dead. It was Noah and his sons that started the incest. (Unless that's when new humans were sent in from Jupiter). Galveston was where they lived.

When I was a little Roberta and learning about the bible, I asked my parents who the people in Nod were, if Adam and Eve were the first two. One of many fumfering moments when I asked questions about the bible. I don't think I was in school yet, when I asked this question. Not rocket science.

I think you are mistaken about the cause of fundamentalism.

Aside from the people who use it as a means to enrich themselves with wealth and power, it is born of a deep and fearful insecurity rather than delusions (and certainly not delusions of grandeur).

If you can believe that God (in any form) controls everything that happens, and that certain scriptures tell you everything you need to know to insure that God smiles on you, it must provide a great sense of relief and security.

Life is no longer this chaotic mix of random happenstances which presents too many choices and too little certainty.

It's not a coincidence that a great number of fundamentalist have come to their beliefs after their lives have been turned upside down by circumstances or themselves.

If you believe (in large measure because you need to) that God will bless your life if you simply follow his instructions (as presented in scripture) then it's far too risky to try and interpret those instructions and assume that you can tell what is truth and what is myth. It's quite the opposite of a sense of self grandeur.

For most so-called fundamentalists, their fundamentalism gets blended into the day to day requirements of living, and the questions like whether or not Adam and Eve were truly the first two humans doesn't inform their daily choices and decisions , but is only considered when the subject is brought up. When it is, they're quick to answer because for them it's an easy question: If that's what it says in the Bible, then it is so. No point in thinking about the ramifications of it being true. We must obey the laws of God. He is not required to obey the laws of Man...including those of Science.

I strongly suspect that a great number of them have their doubts, but they keep them secret and to themselves, and they fight them even if they have to blame them on a supernatural force of evil. When given the opportunity to publicly affirm their fundamentalist trust and reliance upon God, that's what they are going to do and with gusto.

The alternative is returning to a live of fearful uncertainty where they and not God have to decide the course of their lives.

Fortunately, the great majority of self-described Christian fundamentalists in this country are essentially harmless because

a) They are not such fundamentalists as they suppose
b) The basic tenets of Christianity are pretty peaceful and align well with Society's laws
c) The people who are able to lead them on a grand scale are relatively modest in their ambitions

Of course there will be those who argue that if their fundamentalism leads them to voting against gay rights or abortion rights then they are not harmless, and I suppose if those things are very dear to one's heart, then they are not, but they are not seeking to stone homosexuals or execute mothers who have abortions or doctors who perform them.

There is, of course, a small number of fanatics who actually do advocate killing gays and abortion doctors, and for them their fundamentalism is born of delusions and quite probably delusions of grandeur, but they are the exception and not the rule.

This is not to say that I endorse fundamentalism of any religious variety, or that I don't believe that it can be a dangerous force. It can be and we shouldn't assume that it won't ever be in this country, but in the main it is not and these people are not insane.

In any case what are we to do about them? Outlaw their fundamentalist beliefs?

I think the Adam and Eve story is a little bit like tracing our own family way back. If I can trace my roots say 500 years back it is only my family tree I am interested in. Who lived five villages away have no interest for me. The first persons on the list are the "first ones" for me. I know they had parents and grandparents, but I cannot trace them. Only when one man leaves the ""clan" and marries into another village this village will be of interest.
If there happen to be stories about them told over a certain amount of centuries these stories will change a bit as they are told. It does not mean there is no truth in the story at all - it just changes. One person adds, another takes away something.

You make some good points. It could be delusions of grandeur (like God gives a crap about me) or it could be desperation (like I'm spinning out of control and the Big Nonperson is more "reliable" than any person I've tried to count on).

Why ask what to do about fundamentalists? I don't think we need to do anything about them, other than maybe staying the **** out of their way, or voting so some of their more extreme and controlling beliefs do not become law.

Look Sport, it stands to reason that your imaginary friend didn't write anything. What a hateful clown you are.

It was intended as a rhetorical question.

You're right, we don't need to do anything about them, and there is nothing legal we could do anyway.