2 Lapses In The Bible's Logic, God Needed Rest? Adam The Only Human?

[PokerAmateur4]

Driving home from a So. Cal Casino I had my ipod on random and David Cross came on. He is a comedien and athiest. Two points he brought up that I thought would be interesting to hear input from christians on:

1. God rested on the 7th day of creating earth and the universe. If he is God, and is all powerfull, why did he need rest? He was exausted? Contradictory?

2. God supposedly made Adam and then realized he was lonley, as the only human on the expansive planet which he created. Why did god lack the oversight initially to realize that Adam would need companions?

Thanks in advance for your explanations.

The story of creation as told in the bible is a real story written with much poetic licence by people who didn't have today's understanding of the earth/universe. Obviously, God doesn't need rest, and knew that Adam needed a companion, but people of the day saw God as a father figure and embellished the story with their own worldview. But of course, God made sure that all the important details are correct.

At least, that's what Christians will tell you (and themselves). The more sophisticated ones like BluffThis will tell you that the creation story is a written form of an ancient hebrew myth about the creation of the world, and not much of it is to be taken literally. However, the important points are there, i.e. God created the universe, the earth, and humans, and gave people a soul, a moral sense and intelligence to have dominion over all life. The rest is fluff. But the important points are there, and the obvious absurdities should be read like poetry and with reference to the context in which it was written.

The more intelligent and honest Christians (which are rare), will tell you that it's an old creation myth of shepherds who wandered the desert thousands of years ago, and not be taken seriously.

That about covers it I think.

[NotReady]

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why did he need rest?


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I don't believe the Bible says He needed rest, just that He did rest. Reasons are given in several places in Scripture. He later established the Sabbath for Israel, that they should rest 1 day out of 7, and His rest is cited as an example. The larger picture is given in the following verses:

Hebrews 4:

9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His .
11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

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Why did god lack the oversight initially to realize that Adam would need companions?


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If this is the verse you're talking about:

Genesis 2:
18Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."

there's no indication of suprise. In addition, there are many passages that indicate that God knows the future - He certainly knew He would create the animals and then Eve. You might want to consider a better source for your theology than a comedian.

He rested on the 7th day as a symbol for the covenant made with Adam and Eve.

He created Adam first, then all the animals, and Adam realized he was still lonely. This was done to show that other humans are above animals. Eve is made from Adam's rib. Not from his feet for her to serve him, not from his head to rule above him, but from his side so they are equals.

[Lestat]

<font color="blue"> there's no indication of suprise. In addition, there are many passages that indicate that God knows the future - </font>

Do you think He knew they would succumb to the forbidden fruit? If not, why not? And if so... What was the point of all that?

While speaking to the serpent, Adam and Eve can be seen as "wrestling" with a demon. They of course lose, and eat the apple. (Who can blame them for wrestling with a demon and losing?) Eating of the apple causes them to "die" (The Hebrew word used for die literally means "spiritual death")
The correct thing for them to have done would be to call out God's name, and He would have come and saved them. (This is known because God used to walk with Adam and Eve at a set time during the day.)
In short, the Adam and Eve story is a representation of our dependence on God. We are not able to have our soul's saved by our own grace. We need God's sanctifying grace. Instead of asking for God's help, Adam and Eve try to take on the serpent on their own, and receive spiritual death.(I'm a Catholic, and at mass, the priest places a drop of water in the communion wine. This is to signify God's enormous saving grace in comparison to our own. Of course, we need to give all that we have to be saved[which is tiny compard to what God gives])
The Adam and Eve story needs to be seen more for it's spiritual wisdom.

[Lestat]

So God set them up so that the rest of humanity will need Him and forever be in His grace?

Doesn't sound like something an omnipotent God would do.

[J. Stew]

[ QUOTE ]
Driving home from a So. Cal Casino I had my ipod on random and David Cross came on. He is a comedien and athiest. Two points he brought up that I thought would be interesting to hear input from christians on:

1. God rested on the 7th day of creating earth and the universe. If he is God, and is all powerfull, why did he need rest? He was exausted? Contradictory?

2. God supposedly made Adam and then realized he was lonley, as the only human on the expansive planet which he created. Why did god lack the oversight initially to realize that Adam would need companions?

Thanks in advance for your explanations.

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I think 1. is a metaphor for us resting and being not busy.

I think 2. is something about us needing relationship to something besides ourselvses, in order to see ourselves. Like a mirror to ourselves so we can understand ourselves better? I dunno tho.

[hmkpoker]

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why did he need rest?


[/ QUOTE ]

I don't believe the Bible says He needed rest, just that He did rest. Reasons are given in several places in Scripture. He later established the Sabbath for Israel, that they should rest 1 day out of 7, and His rest is cited as an example. The larger picture is given in the following verses:

Hebrews 4:

9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His .
11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

[ QUOTE ]

Why did god lack the oversight initially to realize that Adam would need companions?


[/ QUOTE ]


If this is the verse you're talking about:

Genesis 2:
18Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."

there's no indication of suprise. In addition, there are many passages that indicate that God knows the future - He certainly knew He would create the animals and then Eve. You might want to consider a better source for your theology than a comedian.

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I agree, neither of these are good arguments against God/christianity, nor are they necessarily contradictions.

However, it's the argument that's worth criticizing, not the person. Comedians say some very insightful things sometimes [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Borodog]

If you're looking for logical fallacies and contradictions in the Bible, you haven't even scratched the surface. What about, "Please don't bugger these complete strangers; here, bugger my daughters instead."