Incest: intrinsically or extrinsically evil?

[jemfinch]

I’m discussing Adam and Eve (and their proximal posterity) on another forum and someone is objecting to my claim that Adam and Eve were actual people, the progenitors of the whole human race, on the basis that such an arrangement would require that their children commit incest in order to propagate the species.

If incest is intrinsically evil, that could be a problem, but if it’s only extrinsically evil, based on the possible consequences for children, that’s not a problem.

Can people here weigh in on which sort of evil incest would qualify as?

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[JMBNH]

Abraham married his half-sister and Lot described as a righteous man had sex with both his daughters so I think it must only be wrong because the Mosaic Law and then the Law of the Catholic Church said it’s wrong

 

[jemfinch]

How do you know Sarah was Abraham’s half-sister?

Jeremy

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Abraham married his half-sister and Lot described as a righteous man had sex with both his daughters so I think it must only be wrong because the Mosaic Law and then the Law of the Catholic Church said it’s wrong

Note that incest in the direct line - parent child - was always regarded as intrinsically evil. The relations between Lot and his daughters is regarded as wrong in the bible. The story is apparently included to show the utter depravity of their descendants - Moabites and Bene-ammon. As I recall Moabites and their descendants were barred from the Temple. Which is interesting, because Ruth, the ancestress of Solomon, who built the Temple, and Jesus, was a Moabite.

 

[1ke]

I’m discussing Adam and Eve (and their proximal posterity) on another forum and someone is objecting to my claim that Adam and Eve were actual people, the progenitors of the whole human race, on the basis that such an arrangement would require that their children commit incest in order to propagate the species.

There is no problem here, of course. What God allowed for a time, does not mean he allows for all time.

If incest is intrinsically evil, that could be a problem, but if it’s only extrinsically evil, based on the possible consequences for children, that’s not a problem.

Can people here weigh in on which sort of evil incest would qualify as?

Incest in the direct line (child/parent/grandparent) is a divine law prohibition and can never be a moral option.

In the collateral line (siblings, cousins), it is ecclesial law and not a divine law impediment/intrinsically disordered. It is canonically impeded to the fourth degree. Dispensation is possible beyond the second degree in the collateral line.

 

[jemfinch]

Please note (I should have mentioned this in my original post) that my opposition on this matter is not Catholic, so any proofs from Scripture, primarily, and from early Christian Tradition (secondarily) would be ideal. What the Church teaches now will not, by itself, convince him.

Jeremy

 

[didymus]

I’m discussing Adam and Eve (and their proximal posterity) on another forum and someone is objecting to my claim that Adam and Eve were actual people, the progenitors of the whole human race, on the basis that such an arrangement would require that their children commit incest in order to propagate the species.

Thanks,
Jeremy

I remember reading that Catholics may believe the human race arose by evolution (to the physical form & intellectual capabilities of H. sap) but that we must believe Adam & Eve were especially created by God in His image, i.e., immortal and spiritual (as well as physical).

So Adam & Eve’s progeny could have bred with already existing Homo sapiens, passing on both their God-given attributes and original sin. Within a short time all H. sap would be truly human.

 

[JMBNH]

How do you know Sarah was Abraham’s half-sister?

Jeremy

Genesis 20:12, unless Abrahan was lying again

 

[fhansen]

I remember reading that Catholics may believe the human race arose by evolution (to the physical form & intellectual capabilities of H. sap) but that we must believe Adam & Eve were especially created by God in His image, i.e., immortal and spiritual (as well as physical).

So Adam & Eve’s progeny could have bred with already existing Homo sapiens, passing on both their God-given attributes and original sin. Within a short time all H. sap would be truly human.

The Churchs’ teaching on evolution is that all human beings had to descend from one single pair of parents in order for the doctrine on the transmission of original sin to be valid. This means that polygensim, or the idea that their can be multiple ancestral lines of homo sapiens besides the one than produced Adam & Eve is to be rejected.