I was in another debate the other day with yet another agnostic. (I believe I must be an agnostic magnet.) This time the question was the creation. Did mankind start with Adam and Eve or not? Actually his question was, “You don’t really believe that garbage about Adam and Eve do you”? I replied, “Yes, I believe that God literally created Adam and Eve and mankind as we know it was spawned from there.” “Oh well I guess you believe in incest then huh?” “Sigh . . .”
I do not believe in incest however from the information that God has provided in the Bible, I deduce that Adam and Eve had additional children and at some point Cain married one and had some offspring and we were off to the “race”, (human). We are specifically told in the Bible not to engage in incest now, but perhaps back then it was necessary and permissible. People do not live to the age of 600 years old now as they did back then either, and I do not see where this point is even important. The Bible does not provide much detail about this subject for whatever good and perfect reason for which God decided to leave it out. This small point does not shake my faith whatsoever. For all we know God created some additional people and chose not to tell us about it in the Bible and Cain married one of them. The Bible is not a blow by blow detailed historical journal of everything God ever did. i.e. “God said let there be light!” – How many volumes of books would have to be written to explain how He pulled that one event off in detail?
I believe the Bible was written for all of the ages; meaning that it served very primitive, primarily agricultural cultures from the dawn of history to the more technological culture of today that sends rocket ships to Pluto. It is also designed to serve future generations and whatever advanced culture they can develop right up to the final moments of history. It had to be written in such a manner that people of all ages could understand it. It enhances my faith just to know that it was written in ancient times and God used a multitude of writers as scribes over thousands of years and yet it is still the number one selling book in the world today and cannot be disproved even with all of the “marvels” of modern day “scientists”.
Some of the Bible is intended to be taken literally and other parts are more figurative. We were created much lower than God and do not have the same intellect. Some things are just too complex for us to comprehend. God does not even try to explain this logic to the masses of this world and it is purposely omitted from the Bible. Exactly how much of Genesis is to be taken literally and how much is written in a figurative sense, (whereby an inhabitant of the earth in ancient times could easily understand the creation story), is open to debate. Jesus often used “parables” as a figurative type tool to explain His message in a manner whereby “everyone” could easily understand the message and it is very effective even today.
The important point about the creation is that God specifically designed mankind in His own image and that mankind is special to God. Modern scientific evidence bears out through DNA that mankind is distinctly different than other creatures and that in itself unequivocally bears out the creation story.
The Bible teaches that man was created higher than any other creature and we were designed to have fellowship with God. There are those who twist the words of the Bible, take parts out of context, and argue endlessly about every jot and tittle. I have read the Bible in its entirety and have faith that it is the living word of God. Its overall meaning is clear to me, albeit I do not understand many things. I do know that Jesus is the living Son of God who died for my sins and the sins of the world and I cannot be reunited with God unless I accept His Son upon faith. It is impossible to please God without faith and the agnostics of the world need to understand that, or unfortunately they will go down in flames because of their lack of faith and need to understand things that according to God’s holy word the Bible, are destined to remain a mystery for now.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he who comes to
God must believe that He is, and that
He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him.