if we all came from Adam and Eve, does that mean we all came from incestuous coupling?

Answer 1

YES! But there was only a little sin to contaminate the world at that time. Therefore; we wouldn't have the "mutations" that we have today. The Law didn't forbid "incest" until just before Moses and the 10 commandments.

Answer 2

a bigger question would be this: why do modern people think incest is bad?

Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs were results of, and practiced, incest. Greek myth was full of it. And in ancient tribal cultures where marriage wasn't generally practiced (such as American Indians), it was always possible that half-siblings (who had the same father) interbred, and in all likelihood this happened quite often in smaller tribes. Queen Victoria married her cousin. So why the problem with incest?

One could argue that incest is wrong because it produces children with genetic problems, but then again, would it still be wrong if no children were produced? Or what if those children didn't have genetic problems? Would incest still be wrong then?

The reason society at large chooses to reject incest comes from our heritage. In the west, that means it is Judeo-Christian. Thus, ironically, Judeo-Christianity is what teaches us to beware of incest, and what causes us to think it wrong even when deformed children are not produced. In Judeo-Christianity, the reason that incest is thought "okay" in the time of Adam & Eve is that the Laws against incest are only introduced around the time of Moses. When such laws were introduced, it became morally wrong for close relations to couple, whether children were produced or not. There are varied theories over why this Law was introduced to restrict a behavior once allowable.

Lastly, i would like to point out that the entire human race is genetically relatives anyway. Like that television show, where the producers took two random people on the street and traced back their bloodlines to the point when they were related. And those two people were complete strangers. There is some theory out there that if you go back so many generations (16 or something--though i'm sure that number is wrong), you can find any two people in the whole world were once related. I'm not sure i believe that, but i do believe in a singular origin of our species. Scientists have commented how human beings have less genetic variability than chimpanzees--which means we are all closer related to other random people than chimpanzees are closer related to other random chimpanzees. It also means that when two people marry, they are closer related to one another than two chimpanzees who hook up.

To put it into perspective, you and i are distant cousins. If we traced our bloodlines far back enough, eventually they would meet (and the closer we are to one another racially, the more likely we wouldn't need to trace back so far). It is only close relations (siblings, spouse of close relation, etc) where the relationship is banned--if not, nobody in the human race could lawfully procreate under Judeo-Christianity, for we are all relatives. Yet nevertheless, as the saying goes, if you don't marry your (distant) relative, you don't marry a human being! :O

Answer 3

Adam and Eve is a story written a long time ago for a certain group of people. There was no anthropology in those days, no scientific way to trace the beginnings of life. The creation story was written to help people with their questions about where they came from. The bible is not history, it is an accumulation of stories written for the times.

Answer 4

I couldn't agree more with James B. Adam and Eve were simply the first ones to brake God's rules. There were thousands of people before them.

Answer 5

According to the Bible, yes. Adam and Eve had two sons. How could they populate the Earth?

Apparently we are all the products of incest.

Answer 6

Not necessarily. Adam & Eve were created in Genesis chapter 2. There were people created previously in chapter 1.

Answer 7

Which is why that has to be a myth. After 100 or so years, the race would have died out from lack of gene pool.

Answer 8

For the one millionith time...Yes. Now go tell everyone you know so they will stop asking this question too.

Answer 9

Sshhhhh. You'll wake up the Jesus freaks.

Answer 10

If we all come from a single, single celled animal then we all were once hermaphodites.