Re: Adam and Eve - myth?

Sheila writes

>In the past day or two, someone (I've forgotten who) has declared that Adam
and Eve must be a
>myth or an analogy. I have pondered this long in my heart and believe that
Adam and Eve must
>have been two very real people. The Bible clearly states in the New
Testament that by one man
>sin entered the world and by one Man the world might be saved. (Romans 5)
If Adam and Eve were
>a myth or an idealistic story then Romans would not be true.
>
>Obviously, I am a fundamentalist that believes the Bible is the true word
of God.

Fundamentalists know what the Bible says and stick to it. Often they are
just ignorant. The more knowledgeable ones must rationalize away abundant
scientific evidence. On a more sinister level, they may have personal
agendas that disregard truth.

You do know what the text says, Sheila. I don't know if you're ready
to admit that it doesn't make sense. Since this is a public forum,
your faith is much more vulnerable than if you were closed off from
outside communication.

Now, Christianity ought to be about the truth. Public forums ought to
be wonderful news for Christians. From what I've seen, the opposite
is true. It is the Christians doing the evading and making the personal
attacks. Sometimes they are accused of censorship as well.

All of this puts atheists in a bit of a spot. We may be very confident
about our position. Yet we may wonder if deconversion is good for any
particular Christian. Maybe it is more than they can handle. In real
life, a friendship or work relationship or family relationship may be
damaged or lost by challenging someone's faith. People may fear losing
their jobs.

Compounding matters is the controlling/evangelistic nature of Christianity.
Atheists may fear Christians trying to impose their morality on them in
the form of legislation or social pressure. Anti-prostitution laws are a
current example. Anti-abortion and anti-homosexual laws have been softened
or lifted. Current legal battles include whether children should be
"required"
to recite that we are one nation under God during the pledge of allegiance.

So there is much social turf in play and in battle. There is far, far more
to talk about, but only limited time.

There is no question whatsoever in my mind that the Adam and Eve story is
myth. If you don't realize that, you really are a victim of some type of
mind control. Stay a Christian if you feel the rest of the evidence is good
(it really isn't), but please, please don't believe the Adam and Eve story
really happened.

Once again, Adam and Eve had no knowledge of good or evil. Punishing them
makes no sense at all. It is just some primitive way of trying to
understand
why there is suffering in the world.

Jim
Received on Thu Dec 18 18:45:27 2003