Is the bible true?

Question

If Adam and Even had two sons, Cain and Abel. Then Cain killed Abel. How can humanity continue to exist with only Cain left?

Answer 1

I'm afraid the literal reading of the Bible doesn't have much of a leg to stand on. I also think the literal reading of the Bible is completely besides the point anyway. What does it have to do with the spiritual lessons contain therein?
I'm afraid a lot of religious people will be angry at me for saying so, but no, the Bible is not true in the sense that things did not happen as they were written. Some highly religious people would actually agree with that statement.
But it helps to remember it's also a highly symbolic book. The texts that would come to form the Bible were written a long time ago, by people who didn't have a concept of scientific truth and probably wouldn't have cared for it anyway. Their culture was more mystical and subjective.
So to read a book like the Bible expecting to see our standards of truth reflected there is anachronistic. The Old Testament - Especially Genesis - is largely meant as an education, a series of stories meant to get the student to reflect on mystical and spiritual truths.

Answer 2

1) Yes, the Bible is true
2) Adam and Eve had Seth after Cain killed Abel.
3) The Bible doesn't say that Adam and Eve didn't have any other children.
4) One may reasonably assume that Adam and Eve had at least one daughter.
5) Adam lived over 900 years. It would seem clear that he had plenty of time to have other children.
6) You can always find things thet seem wrong with the Bible. You will never know God or please Him until you believe that He exists and that His word is true. Meanwhile, I suggest asking Him these questions. He wrote it. He will explain everything to you if you ask Him to.

Answer 3

After Cain & Abel came Seth & ...

Genesis 5:4 " And the days of Adam after his fathering Seth came to be eight hundred years. Meanwhile [Adam] became father to sons and DAUGHTERS."

Cain married one of his younger sisters or nieces. The only reason it later became forbidden to marry a close relative like that was to avoid passing on weaknesses from several generations of inbreeding, which did not occur until later.

That is just one example of many misunderstandings people have about the Bible. Many who have believed that the Bible was erroneous have changed their minds once they examined it thoroughly for themselves ...

Why I Believe the Bible
- A Nuclear Scientist Tells His Story
http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2004/1/22a/article_01.htm *

These next 3 are designed to help you get a basic understanding of the Bible yourself ...

Why You Can Trust the Bible :
- Does It Contradict Itself?
- History and Science
- Foretelling the Future
http://watchtower.org/library/t13/why_trust.htm

A Unique Source of Superior Wisdom
~ Oldest, Most widely Distributed Book
~ Scientific Accuracy
..... How the earth is held in space.
..... The shape of the earth.
..... The composition of living things.
..... "According to their kinds."
~ Historical Accuracy
~ Internal Harmony and Candor
~ Its Most Distinctive Feature, Its Author
~ Fulfilled Prophecy
~ It Gives the Answer ...
http://www.watchtower.org/library/pr/article_03.htm

You Can Understand the Bible :
- Help to Understand the Bible
- Why Study the Bible?
-- The Key to A Meaningful Life ...
http://watchtower.org/library/w/2001/7/1/article_01.htm *

When we study the entire Bible without prior bias --not just looking at parts of it here & there-- we find that it harmonizes throughout, even though it was penned by many individuals who never even met one another. They all shared the same God however, who inspired them to write each of the 66 books in our current Bible.

Did you happen to notice that also mentioned in Genesis is God's Kingdom, first mentioned in Gen 3:15 ...
http://watchtower.org/bible/index.htm

What Really Is the Kingdom of God?
http://www.watchtower.org/library/rq/article_06.htm

The Perfect Government of Peace
http://www.watchtower.org/library/lmn/article_10.htm

What Is God's Purpose for the Earth?
http://www.watchtower.org/library/rq/article_05.htm

Can You Believe in a Paradise Earth? ...
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20031115/article_01.htm

*(Modifications are being made of some of the URLs on the site. If these links don't work, you can find the new URLs by using the on-site Advanced Search at:
http://watchtower.org/search/search_e.htm

Answer 4

Let me explain something to you before sin came into the world God told Adam and Eve to be fruitfull an multiply it says Adam knew Eve that means they slept together. they where in the garden probably for hundreds of years, haveing kids and grew up and went out to start there own familys, But when Adam an Eve sin against God, God cast them out of the garden, then Adam an Eve saw each other differently they were naked before they had a covering of Gods love on them, But they got seperated from God because of sin and there nakeness was shown.Thats when they first made love as sinner they had cain an abel. Thats why the bible said we all have sin. because Eve is the mother of us all. First of all Cain wasn't the only one left either Adam and Eve also had seth later on. Plus remember God told them to be fruitful and multiply an they did that why cain when into the land of Nod and found him self a wife. they where fruitful before they sin. Read the book of Genesis very carefully an you'll see. But before you do ask God to open your eyes that you may see an understand his words an he will because He is faithfull.

Answer 5

I always wondered about this, but if you read the first part of the bible, it says that Adam and Eve, on leaving the land of Eden, travel to the land of Nod (no, I am NOT joking)

Maybe Adam and Eve were the first, divine people God made, and there were people in Nod who descended from...say... monkeys? So Cain shacks up with a monkey to avoid incest with his sister (cos hey, bestiality over incest anyday) and thats how the human race continued on?

Or maybe the Bible was written by a bunch of bored early philosophers who were lucky enough to be the first bunch to write it all down. Plus, the bible was 'written' before writing...so the version we have now is a congealed mess of hand me down speeches. Maybe in the original there was a bit about dinosaurs, space travel and how to do the perfect boiled egg with a sundial and a pair of twigs?

Answer 6

I'm afraid the bible is a list of carefully picked books designed to tell a story which is absolutely falsehood in every respect. The only good that comes from the bible is showing a sociopath that his lack of morals is not natural among his brethren. Let me now ask you a question that you may of thought of already.. What proof is there of a god in the first place? Since there is no proof, now you understand there is no divinely inspired bible - thus these were just fables made to entertain and warn you. There is one truth in this world and that is we are all alone. People are lonely and they dream up imaginary events and spiritual powers to explain their tears and misfortune. Evolution is fact and creation is theory. Science 1 - God 0

Answer 7

pilate had the better question when he asked: what is truth? the bible contains much that is true but if you take it to be literally true like a fundamentalist does, you will have more problems than answers. the story of creation and man's loss of innocence in the garden through disobedience is the point of this story not the accuracy of a geneology. genesis points to the need for a redeemer. christ told pilate that he was the way the truth and the light.

Answer 8

Read the Bible. Adam and Eve gave birth to another son Seth and possibliy daughters that the Bible doesn't mention. Therefore Cain is not the one left.

Answer 9

To answer your main question, the bible is a collection of books by various authors (known and unknown) detailing one group of humanity's relationship to its god. The books run the gamut from history, philosophy, poetry, legends, rules for living, and prophecy.
Some people believe that everything contained in the bible is literal truth, others do not. It's a matter of personal opinion and choice.

I don't have any answers for your sub-question. The bible never claims to be the sum total of human knowledge. How you interpret what's inside is your business alone, nobody else's.

Answer 10

Probably many parts of it, but not all. They are all stories, passed down generation to generation, then translated and re-translated. Like most religions, much is simply metaphor. It is a system of beliefs, not fact. Somewhere in history, there must have been one man, and one woman....since science has told us that we are all genetically related, name those two whatever you want, probably closer to name them unggh and pong, rather than Adam and eve.