One might hold (I think) that there was some “leeway” initially in this matter and that it was not a moral absolute, similar to the way in which concubinage was more accepted in the earlier Old Testament, whereas later on, a single wife was the norm, and what God required. I think the more difficult question, then, is the question of how incest was morally neutral at this time, and later forbidden as immoral. We know that Adam and Eve “had other sons and daughters” (Gen 5:4). If he hadn’t assumed that, why would he even say this or worry about it? Since the time frame of his murder of his brother is not given, we are not required to accept that it happened when there were only four human beings on the earth.
We often don’t understand this (as well as the different forms of Hebraic literature) in interpreting the Bible, superimpose our modern, more “Greek” thinking on the Bible, and conclude that the people were ignoramuses who didn’t have a clue.īut in the text itself, we find that Cain shows an awareness that there are other people “out there” when he is exiled: “whoever finds me will slay me” (Gen 4:14). That’s not to say that it was illogical or irrational just a different mode from what we are accustomed to in our time. Ancient Hebrew thought, however, was practical, pastoral, concrete, non-chronological (often compressing events hundreds of years apart, as in some prophecy), and usually narrative in form. Modern man often thinks in rigidly literalistic, chronological, hyper-logical terms. Critics have simply assumed this, which leads (fallaciously) to much of the resultant “problem.” Instead, we have simple statements made, separate from chronology. One cannot logically infer that with certainty from the text itself. Logically speaking, we are not forced at all (as McDowell indicates) to face a difficulty of Cain being the only man on earth besides Adam, and Eve being the only woman, at the time that Cain married. I’ve seen it even in philosophy professors, in my many debates, as an instance of what C. In fact, they (the critics) are often the illogical ones, not the biblical writers. Biblical skeptics (even committed Christians who believe in the Bible) are often inclined to think that the early books of the Bible were written by ignorant, nomadic tribesmen who didn’t understand logic from a hole in the ground. The key lies in what one assumes about the text and about the people who write it. Even a few hundred years might have passed before all of the events took place. ( Answers to Tough Questions Skeptics Ask About the Christian Faith, with Don Stewart, San Bernardino: Here’s Life Publishers, 1980, 98-99)Īctually, I could have figured this out, just reflecting a bit on what we know. Moreover, the Scriptures nowhere indicate at what points in the life of Cain he murdered his brother, married his wife or built his city. Cain probably married a sister or niece or grand niece.Īssuming the accuracy of the Genesis account, and considering the length of lives recorded (around 900 years, on the average), a very sizable population could have developed very rapidly. At first, sons and daughters of Adam and Eve had to marry each other to populate the earth.
Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam had sons and daughters.
The prominent Protestant apologist, Josh McDowell (who was, incidentally, crucial in sparking my own initial interest in historical apologetics back in 1981), dealt with this question: This is one of the classic, garden-variety “skeptical” questions, usually designed to ridicule the Bible and/or the alleged gullibility and incredulity of Christians.