Expert: Edward Bode - 7/11/2009

Question
QUESTION: IF WE ARE ALL FROM ADAM AND EVE THERE HAD TO HAVE BEEN INCEST AND INNER BREEDING AT BEST.WHERE DO ALL THE DIFFERENT RACES COME FROM ?

ANSWER: When the human race began, probably some hundered of thousands of years ago, the first descendants of the first couple would obviously have been rather closely related.
As humanity expanded [archeological evidence shows human remains from many diverse places]changes and various races appeared over time.  
I am not an expert on the question of how the races did develop, but we know that they did.  Interestingly, current interracial marriages are beginning to lessen some racial differences.
Sorry, DL, not to be of more assistance.
Feel free to write again.
Best wishes.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, LIFE BEGAN 6,000 YEARS AGO WHICH OF COURSE IS RIDICULOS.TEN GENERATIONS LATER THE WORLD IS SO LOUSY IT MUST BE DESTROYED??(NOAH)AND THE ARK ? IN SHORT I CAN ONLY ASSUME AS A THINKING HUMAN BEING, THAT GOD MUST BE AN IDIOT OR THE BIBLE IS MOSTLY FAIRIE TALES. I PREFER THE LATTER

Answer
The bible is not a book but a library.  It contains many types of literature.  So, before one understands a passage, one must know what type of literature he is reading.
The first eleven chapters of Genesis are an artistic, theological  plan to cover the time from the creation of the world [billions of years ago?] to the time of Abraham [about 1900 BC].  The authors were not giving us a lesson in chronology. The numbers in the early part of the bible are even somewhat problematic in that various ancient languages differ on the numbers themselves.  To add them up to determine the age of humanity is a mistaken approach.  The authors were not teaching a college course on chronology but were giving us a theological understanding of the time before Abhraham.
There is much archeological evidence of great floods in ancient Mesopotamia -- an ancient poem about one still exists.  So, biblical authors drew upon ancient lore to teach a lesson about how mankind hould relate to God.  The authors were not there with a tape recorder or a motion-picture camera.  Again, the message is the theology not the extent of a flood.
God is not an idiot and the bible is not mostly fancy tales.  The bible teaches us the way to go to heaven.  It contains God's teaching.
If you would like to learn more about the first part of the book of Genesis, I suggest that you read the first part of: Reading the Old Testament an Introduction by Lawrence Boadt [Paulist Press: New York, 1984].  That book, which should be available from a library,  will also help you understand what type of literature appears in the various parts of the Old Testament and so give you a basis for understanding the meaning of what you read.  When the message is understood, we avoid many false interpretations.
As always, I am here.  Best wishes.