Re: Adam and Eve - myth?

Sheila writes

>Jim,
>
>Thanks for the suggestions for other sites. Interestingly, quite a few
people on this list have >found the discussion interesting.

Largely I disagree with members of this list. However, we seem to
share a dislike for fundamentalists (no offense, you seem nice).
I'm going to take the liberty of re-ordering your response. In a
sense, we 75% agree, and I'd like to present it that way. I don't
see any value in conflict for conflict's sake.

>I get to explore the infinite and dance while I do it! What you see as
restrictions I see as
>freedom to understand.

That sounds great for you! Mostly I am concerned about victims of religion,
and you don't sound like one. My primary concerns are money and sexuality.
Perhaps women don't feel the sexual restrictions of Christianity like men
do. But both men and women give a lot of their discretionary income to the
church. This is a real danger. And from a selfish standpoint, I would
prefer if Christians had less political influence. That would mean less
restrictive sexual laws, and perhaps more objectivity from political
leadership.

>We all have restrictions no matter what we believe in.

True.

>You asked if I would punish an infant for crying. The answer is of course
not, the infant is
>crying for a reason, doesn't know any better, and I need to find out why.

Fair enough. No disagreement, here.

>I have much more freedom because I get to follow both, even though God's
voice is much more
>reliable than my own.

Like I said, you don't sound like a victim.

>What about the five year old that runs into the street, gets hit by a car,
and dies? I have
>repeatedly told the child not to run into the street because the
consequences could be death or
>extreme injury. Does the five year old understand the consequences? No -
even though I have
>repeatedly explained that the child will be hurt or will die. Those are the
consequences.

No disagreement here, either. Sometimes bad, unavoidable things happen.
I wish I had super powers to prevent things like this (I guess we all wish
we had such powers).

>I choose to follow some restrictions that others choose not to follow -
it's my choice.

Fair enough. We all make choices as we see fit.

>That doesn't make sense to me. By choice, you have placed restrictions on
yourself. For
>example, you choose not to follow the "still, small voice" but to follow
your own instincts or
>beliefs. You have restricted yourself to specific, known, verifiable
parameters -

Fair enough.

>You also said that "non-believers have far less restrictions." Is this your
reason for not
>believing?

It's a benefit. And an encouragement to Christians to seek truth, on
the chance that they may be wrong. If Christians see no sacrifice in
their faith (you don't mention sacrifice in yours), then they won't have
incentive to investigate the other side of the story. This is OK with me
for the most part (live and let live), although I am still affected by
Christian legislative restrictions.

>The difference between the child/me and the adult/God is that God can and
does take the
>punishment/consequences of my sins. He died a spiritual death so I wouldn't
have to. He
>sacrificed Himself to become my Savior

Standard Christian theology. This doesn't seem like the time or place
to discuss this in detail. I'll let it go - it's not at all central to
the point that I am making about Adam & Eve.

>so that I might have eternal life with Him.

Once again, standard Christian theology. I assume that you would live
your life differently if you knew this was false (or believed it was
false). But I don't argue that this is standard Christian theology
for one moment.

>The story doesn't fall apart - it makes perfect sense.

I doubt that you were expecting me to let this go. And I can't, because
this is the very point that I am making. The Adam and Eve story does not
make sense at all. I'm always a bit conflicted when pointing out holes
in Christianity. I wonder, would a Christian want to know (really want
to know) if they were wrong? Or would they prefer the illusion of
Christianity to what they perceive life would be without Christianity?

I really don't know the answer to this. Speaking for myself, I would
want to know if Christianity was false. It seems that women may care
less (but maybe this isn't the case). Generally Christians say they
care about the truth. I don't think I've ever heard a Christian say,
"I'd rather be Christian and wrong than atheist and right" but I suspect
this may be the attitude of some.

This doesn't seem to be the appropriate list to pursue this further.
You seem happy in your faith, and I wish you the best.

Jim
Received on Tue Dec 30 09:07:08 2003