If Orthodox Catholics believe that Adam and Eve had two sons, Cane and Abel,....

[Vagabond]

And they believe in Creation, how do they explain the human race?

I've always been too embarrassed to ask anyone else.

Mumsnetters..... please explain.

Adam's rib......? Seems a poor excuse, frankly.

Creationism hasn't been Catholic doctrine for about 100 years or so. Whichever one wasn't killed (Cain?) got a wife from the Land of Nod. There is no explanation in the bible as to where the population of the Land of Nod came from.

Catholics tend to not view the bible stories literally.

The third son of Adam and Even was called Seth. Enoch is the son of Cain. Adam and Eve, according to Genesis, also had other sons and daughters. Considering that, again according to Genesis, they lived for hundreds of years in those days, they certainly had plenty of time to produce an army of children. As for reproduction of children, I always assumed that they got on with their brothers or sisters and that this sort of was ok because there was nobody else around anyway.

I think (hazy memories of Catholic upbringing) that the official explanation is that God created other people too. It's just that the bible doesn't mention them explicitly.

Adam and Eve's third son was Seth, not Enoch (he came a bit later). Can't remember where the Land of Nod comes into it all.

But Puffin and Wiggles are right. Catholics rely on Tradition (teachings of the church) as well as scripture, so they don't have a literal interpretation of the bible.

Can someone point me to the bit where the Bible talks about evolution? Would come in very handy in various discussions I sometimes get dragged into :o only I'm too iggerant to know where to look.

Thanks.

Gotta have something to do on Saturday nights I suppose. I mean, even the X Factor didn't exist then. May as well shag your brother...

This may not be a 'lets trash the Catholics' by intent, but it certainly does invite it.

Is it worth saying that the Bible is 'the bible' for Christians, not just 'Catholics'? And of course you could ask the Jews and the Muslim faiths the same question? Christ is a Muslim prophet, and Judaism uses the Old Testament as a template.

and of course the biblical content is open to massive interpretation, rather like the Koran, and most Budhist writings are.

and no, few Catholics have a creationist view. Those that do are roundly castigated by the intelligent brigade.

I've never understood how anyone believes the story of Adam and Eve (or indeed anything religious). I mean, believing that you can magic a human out of another human's rib is in the league of insanity and the whole story promotes incest. Try asking Evangelicals who Adam and Eve's children had to shag to beget the human race and watch their eyes cross with the strain of trying to ignore the incest aspect

Well, Oxford believing a 'story' and searching for a better way to live are two very separate things.

Not all Evangelicals are Creationists either!

Yes, I agree. So please tell me how the Republican Party in the USA exists when so many 'evangelicals' believes so fervently in creationism?

Incest doesn't come in to it; as I said, God is supposed (probably in lots of traditions, not just the Catholic one) to have created lots of other people too, e.g. as DILs for Adam and Eve.

Can someone point me to the bit where the Bible talks about evolution? Would come in very handy in various discussions I sometimes get dragged into grin only I'm too iggerant to know where to look.

Genesis 1: First there was a planet and a sun. Then the seas formed and land masses appeared. Then vegetation began to appear, followed by life in the water. Then came land animals and last of all man.

Obviously it's not written quite like Darwin's Theory of Evolution, but it's not a bad attempt considering it was written around 900 BC.

And I agree with Pan.

I went to catholic school and most of the teachers were nuns. They taught evolution as part of biology and I distinctly remember being taught in religious education that stories like Adam and eve were not true. Just easy ways to explain difficult things to people before we had science to help. A nun actually said that to me! Those lovely ladies educated me so well that I analysed and rejected the very faith they hoped to pass on.

TheUnMember thanks - will have to do some reading up, but that looks positively useful :o

Why do so many people live and die for the sake of a God they so fervently believe, yet they deny another's belief?

Republican Party - some wannabee politicians try to appeal to the simple ( and I have to say Southern rural, unread and reactionary) electorate in the US. IF they think it would garner votes.

Vagabond - you're moving massively away from the OP. I'd suggest that any spiritually inspired person never wishes t odeny anyone else their path to happiness and understanding. It's a contradiction.

Pan, a better way of living would be to have intellectual maturity and agency of self and base how you form your morality and lifestyle on reason, logic and fact, not believing in unprovable supernatural beings...

The bit I really dislike is the story of Eve being such an evil bitch that she caused all women to feel pain when they menstruate.
That stuck with me throughout my childhood actually. Plus the bit about Eve (metaphor for women) being the one who disobeyed God and it was all her fault and not that simpleton Adam, as he was merely a man and so escaped punishment.
Actually what I will teach my dcs is that the reason women feel pain when they give birth is because we were never designed to give birth to live young. We evolved into humans and our pelvis is ridgid.

Oxford - yes I agree with all you say. fwiw I, and a great many people who have a 'spiritual dimension' to their lives don't believe in 'unprovable supernatural beings' either! But that's a whole other discussion, beyond Adam and Eve etc.

Side tracking: bathing with their knickers on must be just a unique family erm peculiarity, no, than a Muslim-wide edict, no?

And side tracking massive again: was always confused and perhaps someone can explain the great pools of water left on and around the loo seat by the Malaysian girls (were Muslim too, no idea if relevant) in my very large uni house...to say that this cause friction in a house of 14 girls and only 2 loos is an understatement!

another massive side tracking

I know this sounds vair ignorant,and I should know this by now

but what edition of the Bible do Catholics use?

obv it's not the King James...and aren't there 'extra' bits in the NT?

FashionEaster I've never heard of bathing with knickers on being an edict of Islam, however, it might have been to protect her modesty in anothers home, where only the females of the family would have seen her undressed. The pools of water would have been from having to wash oneself after going to the toilet. Not only do you use paper, but you clean with water afterwards.