What was going on in the rest of the Earth when Adam & Eve were in the
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
January 19, 2011 1:06am CST
Garden of Eden?
How long were they there?
How many kids did Adam and Eve have other than Cain, Abel and Seth?
Did Abel or Seth ever marry?
How much time was there between Adam & Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden and the story of Cain and Abel?
What was going on in the rest of the universe before God said, "let there be light".. and during the time of the creation?
Does Genesis ever say that nothing existed before God said "let there be light"?
Is the creation of the universe ever covered in Genesis?
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Genesis never claims to be a detailed account of the creation of the Earth or the universe, yet people (both those who believe in the Holy Bible and those who don't) act as if it was.
Nowhere in the Holy Bible does it give a timeline that we could use to prove a realistic age of the Earth or the Universe. Yet 5,000 years is thrown around as if it were.. well.. Gospel.
Moses was given revelations about events in the creation that were important to be passed down through the centuries. They are meant to teach specific lessons of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Like all scripture it's not about the people and their actions, it's about why the people did what they did... and the benefits and consequences that came next.
It doesn't make sense to use scripture to "prove" or "disprove" things that it never claims about itself.
2 people like this
6 responses
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
19 Jan 11
The Bible was written by men supposedly inspired by God and written in a way that people of that time could understand it. That's why it has so many parables and so many absolute statements.
What I always wondered about was how the human race got started with just two people with sons, one of whom was killed by his brother. There had to be other people around but Genesis doesn't mention them.
And what about before God created the universe? That boggles my mind. They have now measured the universe and have come up with a definite size. What's beyond there?! Perhaps our universe is merely a small atom within the body of someone and all our thousands of years are merely a few moments to them. Or we're part of someone's dream. Thousands of possibilities! But to get back to Genesis, I think only ignorant people believe it literally. God gave us brains and expected us to advance and think for ourselves.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 Jan 11
Actually, Genesis mentions a lot of other people. Cain's first recorded reaction to his banishment was worrying that "everyone that findeth me shall slay me". Furthermore, God banished Cain to the "land of Nod".
The thing is, the Genesis account never says that Cain and Abel were the only (or even the first) kids born of Adam and Eve. Their names are brought up to teach about unacceptable sacrifices, making deals with the devil and the depth of the sin of murder.
It also never gives any kind of timetable between Adam and Eve being kicked out of the garden and the murder of Cain.
I think we can take from Genesis that there were actually generations of kids born between the banishment of Adam and Eve and the banishment of Cain. It stands to reason that if there was a "land of Nod" there probably wasn't just a few kids of Adam and Eve, but grandkids too.. maybe even Great grandkids.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 Jan 11
As far as being taken "literally", I think there are both actual historic accounts, parables and archetypes. For example, some say that Adam & Eve shouldn't be taken as actual people, but archetypes of male and female humans. I think both are true.
During His ministry, Jesus said that he taught using parables so that only the people who truly wanted to accept Him would understand the lessons he taught. I don't see any reason to think that Moses would be instructed to write the Pentateuch any differently.
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
19 Jan 11
If you take Genesis literally it goes against the scientific proof we have of how old the world is. If you take it figuratively and assume that the days spent in creating the earth are not 24 hours each but days measured in God's time, it makes more sense. That's why you can't take it literally and have it make any sense.
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
19 Jan 11
When Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden, not much was happening outside. So outside the garden, things were a bit on the wilderness side. There were no other humans.
They had no children in the garden of Eden. They had children after they were driven out of Eden.
I'll comment on the other questions later today as I have to go out in a few minutes. 
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 Jan 11
Ok, I can go along with no humans, because Genesis does say that Adam & Eve were the first, and Eve is the mother of all of us. It does say that plants and animals were placed on the earth, so we know that they were out there, but it doesn't say much more, so there's no reason to speculate what wasn't going on (i.e. dinosaurs, Neanderthals, whatever).
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
20 Jan 11
ParaTed2k, thanks for replying. As you can see, I made no speculation. I simply said that outside the garden of Eden, it was pretty much on the wilderness side and I can't say much more.
"How long were they there?" We don't know because the Bible doesn't say anything about it. We do not even know how long Adam lived before God created Eve.
@Makro74 (591)
•
20 Jan 11
When we talk of the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve, and the aspects of creation, we must not take the Biblical accounts literrally as Adam and Eve were the first humans on the planet!
When put in the grand scheme of things, the logical explanation is that Adam was the FIRST spiritual intellectual human being who had links with God ie the FIRST messenger or Prophet. In order to come to this conclusion, we must understand creation and the process of evolution, and the understanding that primates have existed for millions of years and human kind is said to have first appeared about 2 million years ago. The Bible however, puts Adam a few thousands of years before Jesus. What does this mean? It means that God had already created Man but had yet to talk to him and make him aware of his spiritual faculties - this was done through Adam.
When we talk of the creation aspect, we see that the building blocks of planetery systems and the Earth took millions of years, and biological life was single celled which evolved into life of today. Numbers given in Genesis are largely metaphorical. God normally sends His words metaphorical and with a spiritual language.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
20 Jan 11
Yes, there is metaphor and parable. As I said before, Jesus had his reasons to teach in parables, so there is no reason to think that scripture wouldn't do the same. I do think that Adam and Eve are metaphor, but were also two people. But that is based on my own spiritual beliefs, as your explanation is based on yours.
I'm merely pointing out that too many people make statements about Genesis that it never claims of itself.
@hanuma34 (819)
• India
20 Jan 11
With so much of advance in the knowledge about not only earth but also about the universe, do we still have to believe in scriptures full of mythical stories? Bible talks of Adam and Eve et al, all from earth. Now we know earth is but a small speck in the universe. What is the purpose of knowing what is happening outside the garden of Eden?
I strongly believe that scriptures of all religion were inventions of some wise men of that period to instill some sort of orderliness in the way human beings had to live, shedding all traits of their ancestors, animals.
It took mankind so many years to discover some truths about the origin of earth and the life forms on it including humans, how come the holy book describes the evolution of the UNIVERSE? Eh! Beats me. Barring (blind) faith nothing stands to reason. Even if you agree it was a divine gospel why was it centred about the humans on the earth only?
What will happen to the gospel with the latest discovery of the huge black hole? --- perhaps some wise man will come out saying this was also mentioned in the holy book.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
20 Jan 11
So I should abandon my beliefs simply because you don't accept them?
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
21 Jan 11
Don't be shocked Hanuma, it wasn't meant to shock you. It was a simple and sincere question. I'm sorry that my wording wasn't clear.
I would like to read your answer. To me more clear. I am asking you why I should abandon my belief system in favor of yours.
@hanuma34 (819)
• India
21 Jan 11
Oh! I am shocked Ted. I did not intend to force my views. All the same I thought having come to know so many things about Nature, and perhaps we will come to know many more, are the contents in holy books relevent. And should we scratch our brains to find more about the myths.
Thanks islander. Hope you mean it.
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
20 Jan 11
I do not think ADAM & EVE were not the real people. The story of a genesis is a fiction. It was written merely to explain the redemptive plan of God for the humankind. One must not take the story literally.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
20 Jan 11
That's your opinion of it, and it's a fair one. But it doesn't answer any of the questions I posed.
@RebeccaScarlett (2532)
• Canada
20 Jan 11
Another theory is that Genesis is supposed to describe the beginning of the Hebrew people only. Throughout the old testament, there are mentions of other gods, worshipped by other peoples. The Hebrews won a lot of wars (when they were obeying god) because their god was stronger than the foreign gods. It could be interpreted that Adam and Eve were only the parents of the Hebrew people, with other peoples already existing. So, when Cain went to the land of Nod, he was dwelling among non-Hebrew people. In the old testament, people who weren't Hebrew weren't really treated as "people" so Eve being the mother of all "people" could really just refer to the Hebrews and their descendants.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
20 Jan 11
Not being Jewish, I wouldn't subscribe to that one, but I can see how it would make a lot of sense from a Jewish perspective.
I also know Christians who believe that there were people before Adam and Eve, and they can cite scripture that they believe back it up.
At least they both are using what is said, instead of just assuming thins.
