The first book of the Bible
8
votes
4answers
244 views
Genesis 3, original sin and mortality
I'm currently doing some research for a Church project and next week we are covering creation. While looking at creation, I came across an interesting tidbit that I've never actually thought about ...
10
votes
3answers
1k views
Jacob and Esau: what is this story all about?
This is how I see the story of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25 and 26):
They are two very different twins who seem to fight a lot. Esau goes hunting and he is starving when he gets back. He asks Jacob for ...
10
votes
5answers
2k views
Does Genesis 9:5 say that God holds animals accountable for killing humans?
I was looking back over Genesis 9, just after the flood, when God allowed man to eat animals for food. The text is fairly interesting here:
4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood ...
5
votes
4answers
3k views
Was the marriage between Abraham and Sarah incestuous?
In the comments to this answer to the question of why Abraham lied to Pharaoh about his relationship with Sarah, the following question which I am about to pose, appeared:
Was the marriage between ...
11
votes
4answers
2k views
Was Onan really struck dead by God for masturbating?
Historically, Onan in Genesis 38 has been accused of masturbation, and for this supposed transgression was struck dead. The term Onanism (or in German Onanie) is still used to describe this practice.
...
6
votes
2answers
598 views
Is there biblical evidence of “cavemen”?
Do old earth Christians believe that there were cavemen in early times? This is not to say people who lived in caves but more as what is pictured in early evolution.
I hope I'm wording this correctly ...
9
votes
3answers
857 views
Did Adam and Eve's Progeny Commit Incest?
I have a multi-part question.
Did Adam and Eve's Progeny Commit Incest?
Genesis, Chapter 4 tells us about Cain and Abel.
Genesis, Chapter 5 tells us about Seth and "other sons and daughters".
I ...
1
vote
2answers
299 views
Which came first, Man or Animal?
Genesis 1:24-27 states that humans were created after the other animals, and the first man and woman were created simultaneously.
1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature ...
1
vote
4answers
455 views
How do Creationist Christians respond to the evidence for Evolution? [closed]
This is a question for people who believe in the creation.
One point considered a serious proof of evolution is the scientific method of carbon dating. As per this method, humans haven't existed from ...
6
votes
2answers
191 views
Significance of Genesis 1 verb choices
I was surprised recently when I read Genesis 1 again, and noticed how inactive God is during the creation process. I mean that from a literary standpoint, not a literal one... bear with me. :)
Below ...
12
votes
2answers
253 views
What is the significance of the three distinct aspects of the temptation of Eve in the garden?
Genesis 3 indicates that there were three distinct aspects of the temptation of Eve:
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was
a delight to the eyes, and that the ...
16
votes
3answers
5k views
Why did God wrestle with Jacob?
Sorry for asking a question kid in my Catechism class asked, but I didn't know the answer and she is an expert level 7th grader.
Why did God wrestle with Jacob if they're both good?
Was God ...
6
votes
2answers
322 views
What does Revelation 6:12 mean?
I've always thought that in Revelation 6:12 where it says:
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair...
... that ...
11
votes
2answers
316 views
Who is Lillith?
The character Lilith, while not mentioned in the Bible, turns up in Christian mythology as Adam’s first wife. (She’s mentioned, for example, in CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia.) Where ...
9
votes
4answers
1k views
Why did God need to plant the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden in the first place?
Why did God need to plant the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden in the first place?
I mean Mormons say that God was in fact having a hidden desire for Adam and Eve to disobey ...
12
votes
2answers
2k views
When was Abraham alive?
It is generally accepted that Abraham lived 175 years. However, the dates when he lived are rather fuzzy and hotly debated.
When was he alive and what reasons would you give for your conclusion?
...
6
votes
2answers
232 views
Universe made of water?
Genesis 1:1-2 accounts what was before God gave form to the Earth, and that is water:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was ...
1
vote
1answer
256 views
Were Adam and Eve the first? [closed]
Question:
Reading Genesis, there seem to be quite a few references to some 'other' humans. How do scholars interpret those passages (and more importantly, why do they interpret them a certain way)? ...
21
votes
3answers
2k views
Why did people live so long before the Flood?
In Genesis 5, some of the descendants of Adam are listed with their ages. The people listed lived very much longer than anybody does today. For example, Adam lived to be 930. The oldest age, 969 ...
15
votes
4answers
425 views
Why do OEC discount the literal interpretation of the book of Genesis?
This is to rephrase the question Are scientific findings a test to Christians' Faith?
It seems to me that, without any outside interference, the Bible itself gives no suggestion that the Book of ...
6
votes
2answers
142 views
Does Genesis 3 tell of a theophany?
Genesis 3:8-9 (NLT)
8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 ...
4
votes
3answers
115 views
Adam and Eve versus ecology
Estimates vary widely of the minimum viable population for humans to stably reproduce without being subject to significant detrimental effects of inbreeding. Minimum estimates (e.g., for space ...
10
votes
4answers
760 views
Why 'Seventy times seven'?
Twice in the bible, God makes reference to "seventy times seven" (or "seventy-seven times"). Once in Genesis 4:24 (dealing with Cain's punishment for his murder of Abel), and the other in Matthew ...
12
votes
6answers
884 views
Where did Noah find polar bears and penguins in Palestine?
The biblical account of Noah's Ark and the flood seems implausible to me due to this detail... How could animals accustom to thriving in extreme temperatures be found in a common place for ...
8
votes
2answers
429 views
Three men appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18, was one Christophany?
Genesis 18:1-2
1 The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing ...
15
votes
3answers
351 views
What is the specific meaning of “die” in Genesis 2?
Genesis 2:16-17 (NIV):
16And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you ...
2
votes
1answer
180 views
What are the common arguments against theistic evolution? [closed]
What are the common arguments from Christians against the idea that God used evolution to create Earth over millions of years? This is not a place to argue. I'm interested in a rundown of the common ...
5
votes
4answers
400 views
Did Adam and Eve end up getting saved?
After answering a recent question, it occurred to me to ask: Is there any biblical evidence regarding whether Adam and Eve have been redeemed in some fashion (and are thus going to Heaven/the New ...
2
votes
2answers
189 views
How could Cain have built Enoch?
God cursed Cain to be an eternal wanderer, so he went to a (probably figure-of-speech) land of wandering, the land of Nod, this much I understand. But then he builds the first city, Enoch. How is it ...
40
votes
13answers
4k views
If Adam and Eve were perfect, why did they choose to sin?
Adam and Eve, when they were created in the Garden of Eden, were without sin. Because of that, they were perfect and flawless.
However, with that theology in mind, I'm running up against a wall: ...
7
votes
1answer
140 views
Why was the mark of Cain necessary?
In Genesis 4:14-15 (NRSV) it says:
14 I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.’ 15 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Not so! Whoever kills Cain will ...
26
votes
7answers
933 views
How can the sun be created after day and night?
"Light" was created on day 1 - Genesis 1:3-5. However the sun was created on day 4 - Genesis 1:14-19.
How is this possible?
10
votes
2answers
269 views
Are there two different creation accounts in the bible?
There are two seemingly contradictory accounts of creation in the Bible.
The first is in Genesis 1:1-2:3.
The second is in Genesis 2:4-25.
Why the differences in the accounts?
13
votes
3answers
190 views
What was the problem at Babel?
In the Genesis account of the tower of Babel a bunch of guys got together to build a really tall tower somewhere in the desert. God gets wind of the affair but it doesn't sit well:
Genesis 11:5-6 ...
13
votes
3answers
641 views
Who wrote the book of Genesis?
I've heard reference in other questions on this site that seem to indicate a belief that Genesis was written by "the same man." What do we actually know about wrote Genesis (whether a single, or ...
8
votes
3answers
257 views
Sons of God begat famous people?
Genesis 6:1--4 tells about the "sons of God" marrying whomsoever they pleased, and the Nephilim---"the heroes of old, men of renown"---were begotten then. How is this to be interpreted?
12
votes
3answers
302 views
Why did God create such complexity in man?
During Creation, God created man:
Genesis 2:7 KJV
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Why ...
6
votes
2answers
457 views
Is the commandment to multiply, and replenish the earth in effect today?
Adam and Eve were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth.
Genesis 1:28-30
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and ...
74
votes
21answers
4k views
Can I believe in evolution and still be a Christian?
It would seem that the first part of the book of Genesis contradicts what science teaches about the origin of life on earth. If I am to reconcile evolution and Genesis, it seems that I have a number ...
11
votes
2answers
252 views
Should Genesis 1:2 be translated “And the earth became without form…”?
The Gap theory seems to be based largely on translating Genesis 1:2 differently from the usual translations, eg. KJV:
1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
1:2 And the ...
