Brothers and sisters marrying!

[CDLviking]

I've already asked to take this to PM. If the mods wish, I will remove my message completely.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

The guy from Focus on the Family was talking about this issue and said it was only after the Flood that marrying your sister/brother was wrong.
Before that God had allowed it. I mean how else could the world have been populated? I mean it sounds bad nowadays, but don't forget God allowed it before the Flood occured.

[agasfas]

In the bible it says that you shoud not marry your brother or sister! WEEeeelll.... >"< Adam and Eve had kids (of course) but the kids had to get married to somebody right?

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In the Old Testament the laws were a bit different. We weren't to wear certain fabrics and etc. And of course people had to marry each others siblings. We had to populate the earth some how. There is no law in genises that prohibited it. Every verse i can find against incest is in the book Leviticus, the 3rd book of the old testament. Leviticus 18:6-18 are the scriptures that prohibits everything from siblings to aunts and stepdaughters. God made these rules/laws after the earth was fairly populated and diverse, not at the very begining. So the people in genesis were in no violation of this law b/c it didn't exist at the time. Though now, it is strictly prohibited by God and the law.
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Though oddly enough i found not one verse in the bible that prohibited marrage of Cousins. And to be honest i don't think there is one. Anyone know of any? Just curious....
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[Linksquest]

The term myth is not inappropriate either, indeed even C.S. Lewis, one of the greatest Christian writers of the past century, refers to the "Christian Myth." By calling it a myth, he does not question the veracity of God's word, but whether or not it was an actual historical event. Things like the Israelites are easily shown not to be mythological through secular archeology, leaving no reason to question it.

Interesting... I am a big fan of Lewis, but was unaware of him refering to a 'Christian Myth.' I'll have to look into it. But you have to remember, even the most spirtual men on earth, are men, and as men can make mistakes, have wrong ideas, and be dillusioned.

[EireWolf]

Whoa, whoa, whoa! You either belive in the whole bible, or none of it at all.

Please allow me to respectfully clarify -- not in the interest of debate, but in the interest of harmony.

CDLviking and Technomancer (and I, though I am not Catholic) do believe in the whole Bible. The difference is only one of interpretation. Some Christians believe all of it to be literally true, and some Christians believe parts of it to be theologically true. Meaning, we believe that some writings in the Bible are not historical documents, but rather they are poetic celebrations of deep theological truths.

A good example of this is Genesis 1. It's a classic example of Hebrew poetry. The form is thus:

Setting--------------------------------Characters
Day 1: Light, Day and Night --> Day 4: Sun, Moon, Stars
Day 2: Water and Sky Separated --> Day 5: Sea and Sky Creatures
Day 3: Sea and Land, Vegetation --> Day 6: Land Creatures and Humans

The first 3 days, the stage is set. The next 3 days, the things created in the first 3 days are filled with their respective inhabitants and/or users. Much Hebrew poetry was formed this way.

We believe that God created the Heavens and the Earth. We just don't believe that He necessarily did it in 6 literal days (24-hour periods). (In any case, the Hebrew word for "day" that is used in this passage can mean anything from 24 hours to an eon. It's just a set period of time.) He may have, He may not have. It's not a matter of salvation.

There are many interpretations of Scripture. This does not make me right and you wrong, or vice versa. The important thing is that we are followers of Jesus Christ. The most important commandment is to love God and love each other.

One of Jesus' final earthly prayers was for the unity of believers:

"...My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17:20-23)

[panegryst]

doesn't ANYONE here believe that incest was is and always will be dead wrong? and not just because 'your kids will be messed up'? I think that incest was wrong ever since God created humans. I also think that it is wrong because God told me it was wrong, not because it is harmful. If incest made my hair silky and increased my lifespan by 30 years, I still wouldn't do it. (See the Martin Luther quote in my sig.)

Second, have you considered the idea that Adam and Eve's children procreated in sin? (I'm not ruling out the other possibilties mentioned.) There's no cosmic rule stating that the founders of the human race were perfect. I've heard this argument used against Christianity - people say, 'Adam and Eve's children's children must have been born as a result of incest! Are you telling me that all those supposedly holy people in the Old and New Testaments - Jesus included - were born as a result of incest?' To which the proper Christian ought to reply that we have no idea what happened, but it's immaterial since 'all those holy people' were concieved and born in sin anyway. (Except Jesus, duh - but the exact details will get me into a denomination fight.)

So, in short, it doesn't matter whether or not everyone in the world is a child of incest. I was born in and into sin in either case - and I could care less about my bloodline.

p.s. What are you talking about, 'Adam and Eve didn't have genetic imperfections'? Didn't they stop being perfect at the Fall? Or is it a gradual thing, and we are only just now reaching the pinnacle of Fallenness?
Speculation about the genetic state of two long-dead people by a bunch of amateurs (me included, of course) will only get us in trouble. Take another look at the Martin Luther quote in my sig and remember that our faith is not based on science; you don't need to 'qualify' or 'rationalize' what the Bible says.

[Fireproof]

Generally, I would take much of Genesis to be mythological in character, rather than historical. The problem of siblings marrying, was a logical necessity given that Genesis (like many creation stories) starts with a single, original pair of human beings.

I share this stance, but now... I fear I'll be banned for this. *Waves goodbye to everyone just in case*

[shooraijin]

Folks, this thread is diverging again. I think CDLviking's suggestion to go to PM is probably the best approach.