Malfunc

Hello all,
I'm new to this site. I, like many of you, was once a christian believer.
However I couldn't rid myself of nagging doubts, things that didn't quite add up. Often I would ask the ministers or pastors about these things and all I would get was "you must accept what the Bible says by faith, and not to 'lean not on your own understanding', but this advice never satisfied me.
Amongst many of my questionings and personal beliefs were these two -
I do believe Adam and Eve existed BUT I do NOT believe for one moment that they were the first human-beings upon the earth. Archaeologists have traced back human societies 1000's of years before
A & E; for example - they found traces of ancient human habitation in north/western China dating back about 25,000 years. And furthermore, nobody can convince me that every single race of humanity stemmed from one family. It's simply not possible!
The other argument was the flood of Noah's time. Granted, I believe a great DID happen at the time, but it DID NOT cover the entire world as christians are led to believe. It only occurred in the KNOWN world of the time which was the middle-east and northern Africa. For the people that wrote of it 1,000's of years ago that was 'the world', they knew nothing of the other continents such as the Americas, Asia, and Australia etc. I'm not convinced for a moment that Noah took Kangaroos, Koalas, Emus, north American Grizzly bears and Buffalos, etc, etc, etc, on to the ark. It's utter nonsense!
In closing - for these 'opinions' and questionings I was totally ostracized from the church and told I was "going to hell" for my "lack of faith".

Regards: Malfunc

Wolfie

So, believing in Adam and Eve, do you believe that Adam lived for 930 years? I know there wasn't much in the way of pollution in those days - smoke from the occasional sacrificial fire maybe - and Adam probably didn't smoke, have a drug habit, abuse alcohol or come into contact with polychlorobenzenes or other carcinogenic materials - but, come on, is that age believable?

JEST2ASK

Well Hello Back :wave: Welcome to our little corner of the Internet make yourself comfy ..

Yes I an many others have similair experiences in fact there is a whole section on just those stories ... Very interesting reading ... (IMO)


Could you please clarify this statement ... just what lead you to that conclusion :huh:

Hell is another one of those concepts that makes no sense to me so ....

HELL ... HA I SCOFF at your HELL ... read Kissing Hank's Ass or other humorus outlooks on that empty threat ... But seriously the doctrine of Hell has many variations ... which surprised me ... Oh my sheltered youth ... Anyway I hope you enjoy your time here ..:wave:

aa5874

I don't understand what you mean. What exactly do you believe about Adam and Eve?

It sounds like you are in 'heaven' right now. Welcome to the real world, where you can asess and decide what you the 'hell' you like.

Malfunc

Hi wolfie,
yes I believe that people did live for 100's of years back in that time. I suppose this was because everything they ate was pure (without additives, preservitives, etc.) and there were no pollutents of any kind. Methuselah for instance was supposed to have live for about 940 years.

Malfunc

His Noodly Appendage

Um, head to the middle of PNG or somewhere, and you'll find an environment with none of these things. People there do NOT live for hundreds of years - rather less than we do, in fact.

More cogently, head over to S&S and bone up on some biology - we're simply not built for that kind of lifespan, regardless of environment or anything else.

Atheos

There is little reason to believe that the "Adam and Eve" story has even a nugget of truth buried in it. It's a creation myth, no more credible than any of the other creation myths primitive cultures invented. You don't have "evenings and mornings" when you don't even have a sun shining on a revolving planet. There is no "firmament" in the sky complete with windows that can be opened to allow rain to fall. Snakes don't talk, trees don't produce magical fruit that increases one's intelligence or make people immortal. No river flows into four heads two of which are the Tigris and Euphrates. There is no magical sword turning every direction to keep people out of the garden of Eden. Human beings have never had life spans encompassing 900+ years.

There was never a global flood, certainly not one in the last 6,000 years. A wooden ship 450 feet long would begin leaking badly and sink in just a few days even if it was empty and resting on calm water. Thousands of animals + 8 human beings would quickly suffocate if their only source of fresh air was a single window 15 inches square. It is a fact that there were many localized floods in the ancient world, just as there are today. The mythical flood chronicled in Genesis is as real as the Cyclops that Odysseus fought in Homer's epic.

Glad I could clear that up. :devil:

Malfunc

Hi jest2ask,
you asked me clarify about the flood - well, another interesting point is the fact that Australia, Tasmania, Papua New Guinea, the Indonesian islands, Malaysia, and right up to the main Asia contintent (China etc.) were once one entire landmass. People could have virtually walked from northern Russia to Tasmania without getting their feet wet. However, the great flood of Noah's time DID NOT cover the entire world but did seperate many the lands by water, turning many of them into islands.

Regards: Malfunc

anthrosciguy

And how did this happen without leaving any evidence? And why is the evidence we do find contrary to the great flood story?

CalUWxBill

I think you'll enjoy learning about this world you find yourself in. However, be prepared for some strong differences in what you learn compared to what you now know.