This question is for Christians only. Do you believe Adam and Eve were the first humans on Earth, or were they symbolic characters? Please explain your belief.
This question is for Christians only. Do you believe Adam and Eve were the first humans on Earth, or were they symbolic characters? Please explain your belief.
Die Sonne scheint noch.
Most of the Bible is symbolism, and so are Adam and Eve. It is an allegory.
Scientific evidences prove it, even the Catholic Church recognizes it.
I studied the Apocalyspse and it was facinating to decript all the symbols, for instance the sword in the mouth of God represents that the words of God are the truth, that it makes the difference between right and wrong. The numbers of words, paragraphs ... everything has a meaning.
You cannot read the Bible as an historic/scientific book.
I would say there are both literal and symbolic elements present in Genesis 1-11. I believe that we have a first set of parents and that they were endowed with a soul which exceeded anything nature could produce, and that we inherit original sin through natural generation (this was defined at the General Council of Trent in Italy). The fruit Adam and Eve ate is symbolic of disobeying God, and the Garden of Eden represented a world of beauty and harmony lost to man by sin.Originally Posted by Dagna
I agree that certain elements of the first eleven chapters of Genesis don't have to be interpreted in a literal way. Allegorical and figurative language were used to convey eternal truths about God, and man's falling away from God and about God's mercy. The simple and metaphorical language was well-suited to its primitive audience. Scripture, after all, has four senses: allegorical, anagogical, literal and moral.
'Well, what are you?" said the Pigeon. "I can see you're trying to invent something!" "I-I'm a little girl," said Alice, rather doubtfully. She found herself at last in a beautiful garden, among the bright flower-beds and the cool fountains.
No, I don't believe in a literal Adam & Eve. And great Christian theologians throughout the centuries have warned against taking Genesis literally. At the same time I don't think it's merely a creation myth and an attempt to fill in the blanks, the background story may be entirely real - the Garden of Eden may still be much more than simply the state of mankind before the rise of civilization.
"All passion is lost now. The world is mediocre, limp, without force. And madness and despair are a force. And force is a crime in the eyes of the fools, the weak and the silly who rule the roost." - Joseph Conrad
The Old Testament is a book for children .
It includes some kind of truth within .
It includes Astrology and Astronomy .
The Bible itself is a snake's tongue , at some occasion demanding this ,
and on another occasion demanding the opposite .
The Apple-Tree about judgement is somewhat not practicable for me ,
to tolerate everything from a neutral point of view .
People have to make decisions , and every decision is a judgement .
The profession chosen , the school chosen , the apprenticeship chosen : Everything is a judgement
based on experiences , knowledge , advise , outlooks .
And the judgements could be either overwhelmingly successful , or not .
Mk 10:18 What do you call me a good master, no-one is good .
Gylfaginning 1.39 But on wine alone Odin in arms renowned Forever lives.
You cant take poetry literally. It has to be interpreted.
The story of Adam and Eve is the story of how Eve was
tempted and how Cain was born. The first jew. Trees are
symbolic of peoples. She was tempted and slept with a
fallen angel. In the book of Enoch he's actually named.
The serpent ought to be represented as a benefactor of mankind (but not as the modern gnostics interpret it, which is quite perverse indeed). Both the serpent and "Lucifer" correspond to the Greek Prometheus, which is an obviously distorted myth.
How was Cain the first Jew? He was described as a tiller of the soil and his legacy was creative (i.e. nomads, musicians, architects). According to the OT, Abel slaughtered the very first animal and god sided with the animal sacrifices he would later condemn. A shepherd doesn't have to expend that much energy, why would that merit god's favor?
Angels, even as apparently malefic entities, were never against god in the Old Testament. The same goes for "Satan". 1 Kings 22, Psalm 78:49, Psalm 103:20-21, Psalm 148:2, and Job 1-2 prove my point. One must either admit that the churches distorted the angelic concept or that angels in the OT were synonymous with human messengers.
The angels themselves were probably adapted from the Persian-Babylonian genii. In India, they correspond to Devas. There's an interesting Christian prophecy from Benediktinerpater Ellerhorst which describes survivors of a world war receiving help from engels. This prophecy surprisingly corresponds with what Plato laid down in his Laws. I don't believe this was an instance of parroting. Virtually all the Flood myths feature a divine messenger warning good individuals about the coming calamity.
Genesis 6 undoubtedly describes miscegenation between different races, but also includes intermarriage between people of differing beliefs (2 Cor. 6:14), most notably people who fall below the level of the animal (relapse into atheism) by shunning altruism or by substituting it for a morality of the strong. The moralistic Pharisee types in the NT are what was meant by nephilim.
Cain gave the leftovers Abel gave the best. Remember when Jesus called out the jews? How he said they were responsible for abel's death and Zachariah?
The Bible is speaking of two separate bloodlines. One from GOD and one from Satan.
Cain was the product of the seduction of Eve by a fallen angel. Jesus called the jews the children of the devil to their face and named Cain as one of them.King James Bible
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
The book of Enoch goes into a bit of detail on this. It also goes into detail about the secrets they gave mankind. Such as makeup, weapons of war, and abortion.
They also slept with anything that moved creating abominations on the earth. It was the reason for the flood.
The latter part could have been interpolated. I've met racially conscious Jews online who said almost the same exact thing Jesus ascribed to them in Matthew 23:30 ("If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them..."), in their attempts to distance themselves from the Talmud and from the Jewish "rebellions" against Rome.
If the Gospel of Thomas is authentic, then it suggests that the original form of the gospels were a collection of sayings. The references to OT prophecies would have originally been an attempt to make proselytes of the Jewish community.
How is giving mankind knowledge of medicines and of plants a bad thing? If we couldn't tell the difference between an edible and poisonous mushroom, we'd have an epidemic on our hands.
It's the same type of distortion as the one found in other myths.
The flood wouldn't have been global, but it would have been somehow involved in a continental submergence (according to the Platonists, the greatest destructions are by fire and water. In some regions, there is a great flood. In other regions, there is a great fiery conflagration).
The reason for the flood would have been abuse of knowledge (weapons of war could fit here).
In Nature, everything procreates within it's own kind, with very few exceptions. The book of Daniel indicates that there are angels which reign over the nations. Far be it that they would leave their post on a whim when they too "fear" god. I think it's rather blasphemous to even suggest that angels of god would seduce human women or vice versa.
Cain and Abel
Cairn and Apple
Corn and Able
Corona and AB InBev
Captain and Apprentice
Today the crop farmer has a comparatively clean job ,
cattle and especially dairy farmers are surrounded by smell and mud .
Both produce can be burned today as addon to fuel gasoline .
Which would smell better, sweeter , being burned ( E10, E15, E85 ) ?
Diesel exhaust smells heavy .
Not sure about the biodiesels ( B7, B10, B85 ) .
It later is about guilt , to sacrifice valueable lifestock , and burn the
interiors , each symbolizing a Zodiac Sign , and fats ,
so the smell would be recognized with support by the big nose in the sky ;
in Leviticus .
Cain had to roam the lands , like Satan in the Book of Job ,
but Abel did not have to roam to find greener fields on the other side of the Milky Way ?
This seems to not fit , probably a fantasy dream of the herders for Eternal Grazing Hunting Grounds ...
Mk 10:18 What do you call me a good master, no-one is good .
Gylfaginning 1.39 But on wine alone Odin in arms renowned Forever lives.
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