Ask the Pastor Questions

How was the earth populated after Adam and Eve had their kids? Who did they mate with? Did God create other people?

This is a question that frequently comes up. Usually it’s framed something like this, “Where did Cain get his wife.” In Genesis 4 the Bible tells us about the birth of Cain and Abel. And it tells us about how Cain murdered his brother, and how God banished Cain, who went and settled in the land of Nod. And then—seemingly out of nowhere—it says, “Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch” (Gen. 4:17). And people think, “Whoa! Wait a minute! Where did she come from?” There is no prior mention of any other woman besides Eve.

Critics of the faith often say this is a contradiction that disproves the Bible. Christians have sometimes wondered if maybe God had created some other people besides Adam and Eve.

But the Bible is very clear (and speaks about this in one way or another in several places) that Adam was the first man and Eve the first woman and that everyone who has ever lived is descended from them (Gen. 2:20; 3:20; Acts 17:26; Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:45).

And if this is so, then Cain must have married one of his sisters. In Genesis 5:4 it says “The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.” He had other children besides the three sons who are specifically mentioned (Cain, Abel, and Seth), and he had daughters as well. It was one of these daughters of Adam and Eve that Cain married.

It was necessary in the first few generations for close relatives to marry, though this was later forbidden in the law of Moses (Lev. 18-20).

How do you feel about the economic crisis? Do you think it will result in another major depression? How should we prepare for it?

Obviously the crisis is very real and quite serious; but the troubling thing to me is the fact that it was largely due to government policies in manipulating the financial markets that led to the crisis in the first place. And now they’re seeking to do more of the same. It’s like trying to put out a fire by pouring gasoline on it. So I think situation’s likely to get worse before it gets better.

The best economists believe that the Great Depression wouldn’t have been so great—which is to say it wouldn’t have been so deep, nor lasted so long—had the government just stayed out of it and not tried to solve it. I think there can be little doubt that FDR’s New Deal made matters worse and unnecessarily prolonged what would have been a temporary market correction. It turned what might have been a one and a half to two year down turn into a 10 year disaster. It looks to me like we’re making some of the same mistakes again. I think the Fed’s monetary policies are going to destroy the dollar in the next couple of years and we’re going to see massive inflation.

Will this crisis eventually become result in another major depression? I’m not able to say; but government action at this point doesn’t bode will for the future.

Another concern we should have is the way in which the economic downturn is being used to justify a further expansion of federal power. It is often the case that politicians exploit a crisis situation or a perceived crisis situation in order to justify a grab of power for themselves. In times of crisis people are more willing to cede power to the government—to trade liberty for security.

How to prepare? Well specifics depend on your own particular situation. But certainly for most people it’s advisable to get out of debt as quickly as possible, especially credit card debt, and begin to live within your means.