2006-10-23 06:01:05 · 22 answers · asked by hanna a 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
They were and are about authority. A question that once couldn't be answered had an answers fabricated to prop up the authority of the clergy and the crooked worldly powers they work to support.
2006-10-23 06:13:22 · answer #1 · answered by corvis_9 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The account of the first human parents in the bible does teach some good moral lessons. If you are a Christian, then Adam and Eve must be real persons and not just a nice story, for at least a couple reasons:
1) Jesus referred to Adam and Eve as factual persons when giving counsel of marriage.
2) The book of Luke traces Jesus genealogy back to Adam. If Adam were not a real person, where does fact stop and fiction begin? Wouldn't that undermine the entire rest of the bible?
2006-10-23 13:11:46 · answer #2 · answered by TeeDawg 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Of course, the story of Adam and Eve happens over and over again. The story entered the early Bible as a story to teach morals and to gain a certain moral control over the populous. This was not a bad type of control, but more or less, one that tried and succeeded, to get everyone on the same page of morality. The Ten Commandments are a refinement of this original story. In reality, there could have been over 200 laws that Moses wanted to put into the Commandments, but for the sake of keeping it simple and something an uneducated population could grasp, 10 became the number. It was also a number that covered the most important laws of the time, and one that the people could count on their fingers.
2006-10-23 13:30:55 · answer #3 · answered by wickster 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
As a Christian I cannot speak for other religions or claim to know what they think. But I can tell you what I believe. What I mean to say, first of all, is that your question is one of "faith." A person's faith is what they believe to be true.
What I think about the story of Adam and Eve(or others for example who have many thoughts regarding Adam and Eve and other religious stories)doesn't matter. First of all, I believe, or have faith that everything that the Bible says is true and inerrant. I believe God used people to write the Bible down for us, has preserved it over thousands of years all so that we could come to know Jesus as the Savior of sin for all the world.
That being said, "I believe" or have faith that Adam and Eve is a real story and it really happened. I also believe that it is not just a story to teach morals. Adam and Eve disobeyed the one command that God gave them. They ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Bible says that their eyes were opened and saw that they were naked. They now knew both what was good and now what was evil. Satan told them a half-truth. They now knew sin. They were now sinful.
But that is not the end of the story. God promised Adam and Eve a Savior--the offspring of the woman, who would come and crush Satan's head and undo all the damage that he and sin brought into the world. That offspring of course is Jesus.
I know that this is more than what you probably want to know. But here is my point--all of the stories in the Bible are there for a reason, and more than just "morals" and what we should or shouldn't do.
All of the stories in the Bible, in one way or another, point to Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came down from heaven to live a life sin-free--something we can never do. And then die on a cross for the sins of the world--yours and mine.
You know, it doesn't matter what we think about these stories. But God wants you to believe them--and that they are true, and that Jesus died for you. Read John 20:31: "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and that by believing you may have life in his name.
2006-10-23 13:17:04 · answer #4 · answered by JH 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it does both. It depends. Some stories in the bible are just that, stories that teach a moral. Some are true tellings of what occured. Adam & Eve are real
2006-10-23 13:19:29 · answer #5 · answered by sillypw29 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Clearly, there have been discoveries which point back to specific historical accounts. To be sure metaphors are sometimes used in some accounts. Ultimate good and ultimate evil or the sources for each are referred to as God and Satan. Whether communication between God, Satan and mortal was different then than now is clearly a matter of faith. However, undeniable physical prophecies fulfilled should give us pause. Adam and Eve point a relationship with an almighty creator from whom they cannot hide. To accept that they were actually dealing with God would mean that God is reasonable and merciful. To believe that its spiritual or that God and Satan are simply metaphors for something far more grave would be frightening.
2006-10-23 13:47:07 · answer #6 · answered by Templar 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's trying to teach morals. Not very well, but still. How can you say for sure if any story in the bible is true? It's all in peoples minds that these become real and believable.
2006-10-23 13:05:42 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Metaphore:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve
2006-10-23 13:33:52 · answer #8 · answered by DREAMER 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think morality can be taught. Either you have it in you, or you don't. That being said, I do not take the stories in any religious texts literally, however I do believe they have a seed of truth in them and I do believe they were there to teach people things that would be beneficial to them at the time.
2006-10-23 13:12:27 · answer #9 · answered by DazeyChain 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Most religious stories other than history have deep hidden inner meanings with morals behind them.They are meant for the intelligent mind to uncover & apply as one advances spiritually.Because common man cannot go beyond common sense.
2006-10-23 13:10:53 · answer #10 · answered by aum_sudha 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you met the original human couple and had a chance to find out the full story from them, what impact would it even have on you? Organized religions have their responses but you may be ready to go beyond that...maybe not.
2006-10-23 14:22:32 · answer #11 · answered by clophad 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋