awmurray@eos.ncsu.edu (ALAN WAYNE MURRAY) (02/28/91)
I've always wanted to ask a bunch of Christians this question (among others):
A couple of days ago, I picked up a flyer that had something to do with why
all Mormons are going to hell. I usually don't read Christian drivel but
I did this time out of curiosity and because my parents are Mormon. I
will never fail to be amazed at the utter "everyone else bashing" that
goes on between all of these god-fearing religions. Yea, you all
worship the same god but at the same time, all of YOU are right and all
of THEM are wrong (this goes for Mormans and Christians). This is
absolutely amazing to me.
Anyway, this flyer pointed out several contradictions and illogical
situations that occur in the Book of Mormon. One of the arguments
against Mormonism was that if Joseph Smith (without God's aid) had
written the Book of Mormon, then certainly there must be several
fundamental errors that would not appear had he been given divine
guidance. Of course, it didn't point out the contradictions in THE
Bible. I found several of the same type of errors in Genesis alone.
Here's one:
* Adam "lays" w/ Eve (can't even say 'has sex' guys???) and Cain and Abel are
born. Cain kills Abel. Then Cain gets marked (some argue
'blackened'). Up to here, it's fine (if unbelievable). Now, however,
Cain runs out and gets
married. OK, here's my question:
Where did this 'extra' body come from??? There are 3 (count 'em) people
on the face of this planet yet Cain can run off and get married! And
even if he DID get married to some one, would that not be his
SISTER??
(But, it couldn't be his sister, because only Cain and Abel
were born...)
Literally of the 3 people on the planet, only ONE is female.
I've even
been told by some Christians around here that "maybe he married his
mother...". Yea, THAT'S real good.
So Are we all products of incest? or Do we simply not exist? :-)
Again, there are a myriad of these type things, but I'd especially be
interested in the answer to this question.
---Alan
"Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do."
St. John 8:44
[While my own view is that in the early parts of Gen. we are dealing
primarily with legend (and that the anti-Mormon folks you saw are
extremists), in fairness I should point out that the Bible does not
necessarily list every person born. Given that the first few
generations of people are reported as living for very long periods of
time, there is plenty of time for several generations of other people
to be born, and there's no particular reason to think that the Bible
would have listed them all. That's if you want a literal explanation.
If you're interested in such things, take a look in any Christian
bookstore. You'll find that this sort of issues are not unknown to
Christians. There are books full of problem passages and proposed
resolutions. I doubt that you'll find the proposed resolutions
convincing, but it may at least persuade you that you're not going to
come up with some "contradiction" that is suddenly going to make all
the fundamentalists abandon their position in dismay. Maybe I've been
editing this group too long -- when I see postings like this my
reaction tends to be "oh no, not again..." --clh]tblake@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Thomas Blake) (03/05/91)
In article <Feb.28.04.14.37.1991.10305@athos.rutgers.edu> awmurray@eos.ncsu.edu (ALAN WAYNE MURRAY) writes: > A couple of days ago, I picked up a flyer that had something to do with why >all Mormons are going to hell. I usually don't read Christian drivel but >I did this time out of curiosity and because my parents are Mormon. I >will never fail to be amazed at the utter "everyone else bashing" that >goes on between all of these god-fearing religions. Yea, you all >worship the same god but at the same time, all of YOU are right and all >of THEM are wrong (this goes for Mormans and Christians). This is >absolutely amazing to me. This is a very common misconception about Christians. True, some denominations claim that they are the "true church", and all others are false. Many denominations *do not* make this claim. Similarly, even though the dogma of a denomination may say one thing, the members may believe another. One of the greatest shames of the Christian Church is how it has been divided. Most Christians acknowledge this. Some Christians believe that the solution is for all of the other Christians to adopt *their* beliefs and practices. Most Christians I know believe that we must learn to respect the beliefs and practices of others, seeking unity not uniformity. Tom Blake SUNY-Binghamton
gross@dg-rtp.dg.com (Gene Gross) (03/14/91)
In article <Feb.28.04.14.37.1991.10305@athos.rutgers.edu> awmurray@eos.ncsu.edu (ALAN WAYNE MURRAY) writes: > > A couple of days ago, I picked up a flyer that had something to do with why >all Mormons are going to hell. First, I don't go in for bashing. I am not known to be quiet about something that I think is in error, as some can attest to, but I've never bashed. Second, I am not going to be held accountable for what another group calling itself "Christian" has said or published. Some Christians have been brought up in a tradition that is very rigid and tightly controlled; they turn the Gospel into another Mishnah. This ignores the great liberty we have in Christ. >* Adam "lays" w/ Eve (can't even say 'has sex' guys???) and Cain and Abel are > born. Cain kills Abel. Then Cain gets marked (some argue >'blackened'). Up to here, it's fine (if unbelievable). The choice of words means little. Consider the way slang today refers to the sex act. Is that any better? So I miss your point. All the Bible says is that Cain was marked. He was marked so that no one would kill him. I know of only a few groups who would say that he was "blackened," and they are very easily shown to be non-Christian despite their protestations to the contrary. >Now, however, Cain runs out and gets married. OK, here's my question: >Where did this 'extra' body come from??? There are 3 (count 'em) people >on the face of this planet yet Cain can run off and get married! And >even if he DID get married to some one, would that not be his >SISTER?? (But, it couldn't be his sister, because only Cain and Abel >were born...) Literally of the 3 people on the planet, only ONE is female. >I've even been told by some Christians around here that "maybe he married >his mother...". Yea, THAT'S real good. Arguing from silence is a very dangerous thing to do. Reminds me of the arguments that said that Moses could not possibly have written any of the Torah because there was no evidence of writing that far back. Well, lo and behold, the evidence came to light that indeed writing did exist. The Bible is silent about Cain's wife. So what? Often, the Bible does not mention all of the people that were born -- only those that are key to the overall message of the Bible. The Bible is not the "complete genealogy of the human race and the nation of Israel." It is the record of God's work toward the redemption of humanity. Could Cain have married his sister? It is possible. No evidence exists that I'm aware of that his wife is Eve. Overall, your points fail to convey any serious problem that Christians haven't already dealt with. Still the point is that the Bible simply does not tell us. Is this important to our redemption? I doubt it. En Agape, Gene