Can you defend biblical morality/relevance? Adam and Eve

[Gone Apostate]

I'm new to this forum so i apologize if this is an exhausted topic. I would really like to see what everyone has to say about this. I know some of the standard responses but I'm sure that personal approaches to this topic will add much more to the discussion as I have been exposed to it.

How does our understandings of the stories/traditions of our faith color the way we view, and act in, the world today?

If this is a topic that generates some discussion I would like to follow it up with similar ones but for now why don't we just start at the beginning, at least the beginning of the most commonly held religious beliefs - the creation story, from the Old Testament. This is a story shared by Muslims, Jews and Christians – who together make up over 51% of the religious traditions in the world and about 85% of those in America.

According to a 2010 Gallup poll 40% of Americans believe that man was created in his present form, by God no more than 10,000 years ago. This is down from 55% in 2006 (according to a CBS poll)
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This is more than a theological discussion. It’s a very hot political one as well. There are still stickers in text books across the country, warning that evolution is ‘just a theory’. There is a renewed push in several states to legislate that evolution be taught with more than the usual disclaimers. 60% of biology teachers are afraid to teach the theory and spend little time on it, if at all. 13 percent of the teachers said they "explicitly advocate creationism or intelligent design…�

So here some questions to consider. I would really like to hear people’s answers to some of these however, if they don’t interest you but the topic does, forget them, just share your thoughts. Please and thank you!

1) Is the theory of evolution a threat to your faith? Why or why not?
2) Are there any moral, spiritual lessons to be learned from Adam and Eve? How can we apply them today?
3) Do you believe in the concept of “Original Sin�. If so, how does it impact how you view the world?
4) What, if anything, do feel it says about the character of God, or morality in general?
5) If you believe the story to be a literal, historical account – what are your thoughts on the evidence/science that counters this understanding?
6) If you believe the story has some truth, if not literal, what do you consider it to be? An allegory – if so, of what?
7) If you think the story has no historical validity, how would you describe its role/impact in our society? Would you like to see that role changed? How?

My viewpoint:
I consider it a creation myth on historical par with those of every other faith. I also think there is some seriously questionable morality on the part of the character of God in this story as well. I absolutely don't think that it should be a curriculum topic in science classes, either as young earth creation theory or as intelligent design. The only place I think it has a place it schools would be in a literature or comparative religion class, the latter being one I wish we had as standard curriculum in the US, like they do in the UK.

Thank you for reading and please leave a comment.

Stats:
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... /2122.html
http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_public.htm
Teaching the controversy:
http://pewforum.org/Science-and-Bioethi ... State.aspx
http://www.antievolution.org/cs/ncse_20110121
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41313808/ns ... e-science/

[Logomachist]

1) Is the theory of evolution a threat to your faith? Why or why not?

No. I went to a Catholic school; we learned our religion in Religion class and science in Science class, and the two were never portrayed as being in conflict. I believe that scripture needs to be examined in the context of what we already know about the world.

2) Are there any moral, spiritual lessons to be learned from Adam and Eve? How can we apply them today?

It isn't my first choice for moral inspiration, but if you look for an overriding theme I would say that it teaches how disobedience and temptation lead to life's harshness. Also, aspiring leaders may benefit from treating the story as a cautionary tale about what happens when you are lax in your leadership and capricious in your punishments- your followers stray.

3) Do you believe in the concept of “Original Sin�. If so, how does it impact how you view the world?

• 1) If it ever existed, I believe it has been rescinded and no longer taints babies, and that is why the Church has dropped teaching about limbo- all babies go to heaven. That's a theoretical, theological interpretation.
  
  2) I never believed that sins are passed on genetically. Truth be told, I always thought original sin was a wonky idea and I never heard an explanation of it that made sense to me.
  
  3) I do believe that we are born selfish and need to learn to be good. If you were to take this psychological insight and translate it into theological language you might wind up with something like original sin, but it has nothing to do with Adam and Eve and (of course) this psychological penchant for evil is not a curse that the Church can handwave away.

4a) What, if anything, do you feel it says about the character of God?

God is jealous and incompetent.

4b) What, if anything, do you feel it says about morality in general?

I think the story says little about morality (which stems from empathy and an inner sense of right and wrong) and more about obeying the law.

5) If you believe the story to be a literal, historical account – what are your thoughts on the evidence/science that counters this understanding?

I don't view it as history.

6) If you believe the story has some truth, if not literal, what do you consider it to be? An allegory – if so, of what?

I'm not going to pick out just one interpretation and say that's the true meaning of the story. I believe the story is a fertile, imaginative telling of creation and many truths may be read into it.

7) If you think the story has no historical validity, how would you describe its role/impact in our society? Would you like to see that role changed? How?

There is a minority that uses Genesis to attack science they don't understand, but this probably has less to do with Genesis and more to do with a certain hardline mentality. For most people in most places Adam and Eve has little impact on their daily life.

[Yahu]

1) Is the theory of evolution a threat to your faith? Why or why not?

I am responding on my PC. You see my PC wasn't created. Billions of years ago the atoms were formed and by chance they came together as a functioning PC complete with operating system.

That act is far more probable and less complex then the random event that would bring about the most simple single cell organism by random chance. My PC is a relatively simple machine verses a cell that can actually replicate itself. It is more likely that the entire factory that manufactured my PC came about by random chance complete with robots that manufactured the entire thing.

How can evolution be a threat to my faith? It is utterly ridiculous to anyone that understands the complexity of life. For example a single cell of hemoglobin requires amino acids in the correct sequence out of a choice of 20 of them. The odds of getting that sequence in the correct order even assuming the 20 of them existed in the right environment is 1:10 to the power of 106! Science considers any number greater then 10 to the 50th power absurd. Now even before those amino acids can be put in the right sequence, they have to exist in an environment that they can be created which requires things like the protection of the cell walls to prevent the destruction of the newly formed amino acids. Life can ONLY be replicated from existing life.