# Questions for Christians **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 7, 2026, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875 "2026-05-07T01:29:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/101 "2026-07-02T18:13:27Z")
Would the newly created people be inherently sinful? We are because Adam and Eve sinned. Would the children of those people and Adam and Eve be half sinful? I know lots of Christians accept that the story is a myth, but with no garden there is no initial sin, and with no initial sin done by humans there is no need for salvation. If we are made inherently sinful, that’s God’s fault, not ours. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/102 "2026-07-02T18:22:15Z")
I’ll assume the OP is asking all of these questions in good faith: 1. He married one of his sisters. Adam & Eve lived a long time and had many daughters & sons other than the three sons mentioned. The Bible tends to focus on the most important figures in the story and ignore the others. 2. If by confession you mean repentance of his sins & acceptance of Jesus, then yes. All of Hitler’s sins would be forgiven and he would go to Heaven. 3. I’m not a Catholic and I don’t believe Mary was sinless. On a side note the Bible tells us she had other kids with her husband after she had Jesus 4. The Bible doesn’t say only humans were given free will. It describes Satan and other angels choosing to disobey God. 5. The answer is related to free will. Adam & Eve were created to rule over the earth and do with it as they pleased. In spite of God’s warning that it would bring suffering & death they chose to disobey Him. The consequences impacted them, their children, and everything else alive on the planet. God didn’t undo their mistake because free will. 6. Free will is the big question IMO and I’ll do my best to address it here. But before getting into the free will discussion, it’s useful to understand Adam & Eve actually WERE created with the ability to have free will and not sin, with a single exception (eating the fruit). In their original state they could have murdered, committed adultery, had sex with animals, etc and it would not have been a considered a sin. It was the act of learning what was right & wrong (by eating the fruit), in rebellion to God’s command, which caused them to be thereafter judged by God’s standards and be held accountable to keep them. I suspect if they had refused to eat the fruit God would have eventually given them permission to eat it anyway. And they would have learned good from evil but without the desire to commit evil or any of the other consequences. Let’s get into free will. Yes, the fruit was a test. Apparently God considers free will to be an extremely important component of humanity. It’s so important that He’s willing to risk sacrificing everything else to avoid losing it. And so He gave Adam & Eve a way to choose to reject God (eating the fruit). As I mentioned before they could have done any of the things considered sinful today and it would not have been considered sinful or a rejection of God. When they ate the fruit the act was a sin (God told them it was wrong) and it became possible to sin, because they now knew which of their other actions were and weren’t evil. You didn’t ask it but a related free will question I hear is, “Why didn’t God stop them from eating the fruit?” And the answer is, if we aren’t free to make mistakes (or take actions which others don’t want) we don’t actually have free will. Say Adam & Eve wanted to eat the fruit, but God stopped them right before they ate it. He explained why it was a bad idea and sent them on their way. Then this happened the next day and the next. For their own good He never lets them eat it. Did they ever have a choice to eat the fruit? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/103 "2026-07-02T18:23:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It could be that, after God created Adam and Eve, he also created other humans, and that the children of Adam and Eve married those other humans. > [@](#): > > In addition to these three sons, the Bible mentions that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters. **[Genesis 5:4](https://www.biblestudytools.com/genesis/5-4.html)** states, _“The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.”_ However, the Bible does not provide specific names or details about these other children. From here. [Who Were Adam and Eve’s Children? How Many Sons and Daughters Did They Have? | Bible Study Tools](https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/who-were-adam-and-eves-children.html) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/104 "2026-07-02T18:23:24Z")
When it comes to the origin of original sin, the story of Eden is both a tale _and_ the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/105 "2026-07-02T18:24:00Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > 1. The Bible doesn’t say only humans were given free will. It describes Satan and other angels choosing to disobey God. Does it? I thought that whole “fallen angel” thing was basically Elizabethan bible fan-fic. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/106 "2026-07-02T21:45:53Z")
I’m assuming you mainly want to hear from Christians who interpret the Bible literally rather than metaphorically? Cain didn’t marry his sister because he didn’t exist. Every religion has its myths, and I assume they pretty much all have adherents who don’t take them as history)science. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/107 "2026-07-03T05:27:11Z")
When I learned it in Hebrew School it was a tale, a just-so story, and there was no Satan and none of this original sin stuff. And we should know better. 😝 ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/108 "2026-07-08T18:08:15Z")
> [@Leftpopulist](#): > > I once heard a Christian assert that Cain’s wife was his sister, the law against incest not being given at that time. That idea originates in Jewish _Midrash_ (stories ancient Rabbis made up to fill in all the blanks in the Bible that make people ask questions.) [Genesis Rabbah 22](https://www.sefaria.org/Bereshit_Rabbah.22.7?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en) In that version Cain has one twin sister, while Abel is one of three triplets, and Cain kills Abel over who gets to marry Abel’s other triplet. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2026, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/109 "2026-07-09T03:44:49Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > > > 1. The Bible doesn’t say only humans were given free will. It describes Satan and other angels choosing to disobey God. > > Does it? I thought that whole “fallen angel” thing was basically Elizabethan bible fan-fic. Jewish theology says that Satan is one of God’s servants, and that angels do not have free will. So the Bible can’t be too explicit about angels disobeying God. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2026, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/110 "2026-07-09T03:48:01Z")
Does the Bible even hint that it happened? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2026, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/111 "2026-07-09T03:56:16Z")
Not anywhere that i can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/112 "2026-07-10T21:31:48Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > When I learned it in Hebrew School it was a tale, a just-so story, and there was no Satan and none of this original sin stuff. Sometimes a talking snake is just a talking snake. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/113 "2026-07-10T21:55:49Z")
The genesis stories about Adam, Eve and Cain are allegories not history. Catholics and Christians are no where near the same group of people I am not even sure Catholics are Christians, don’t put them into the same pile because they do not belong together. Separate Catholics from Christians and ask your questions again. Catholics are part of an old para-military Roman ruling class ruled be the Pope, he is almost powerless now but it wan’t always that way, he was a strong ruler in the Roman Empire and it is still all about power to tell people what to do and not about God at all. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/114 "2026-07-10T22:03:05Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Catholics are part of an old para-military Roman ruling class ruled be the Pope, he is almost powerless now but it wan’t always that way (Ignoring the crap that Catholics are no Christians) Hey, he still has the Swiss Guard, don’t mess with them! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/115 "2026-07-10T22:22:05Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > The genesis stories about Adam, Eve and Cain are allegories not history. This is an opinion which is not universally held among Christians. Many conservative Christians, particularly those who consider themselves to be Fundamentalists, believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, and that the creation story is _literally_ true, as a historical chronicle: that the world was, indeed, created in six days, that Adam was the first human, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/116 "2026-07-10T22:58:00Z")
They may be allegories now, but they, and the Original Sin that sprang directly from them, were taught as solid history in the different churches I attended as I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/117 "2026-07-10T23:31:50Z")
Are you saying that Christianity didn’t come into existence until 1517? ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/118 "2026-07-10T23:46:51Z")
No, but Christianity and Catholism are two separte things. The Pope should not be thought of as a leader of Christianity, he is the leader of the Catholic church which are two saparate things. The Pope had nothing to do with early Christianity. Early Popes were essentially war lords. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/119 "2026-07-10T23:53:06Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > No, but Christianity and Catholism are two separte things. This is not true. > [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > . The Pope had nothing to do with early Christianity. Nor is this. > [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Early Popes were essentially war lords. Not until Constantine. And they slowly gained temporal power after that. But never “warlords”, > **[History of the papacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_papacy)** > > God > Schools ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875/120 "2026-07-10T23:59:39Z")
OK, so now Peter had nothing to do with Christianity, either. This is a most peculiar set of beliefs you hold. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/1029875.md?page=7)