I really try to stay away from discussing religion because the topic can cause very heated discussions that never end. But a question was asked this morning on the shuttle I take to work that I felt was worth discussing.

There is an annoying woman that rides the shuttle. I have mentioned her before. She has stated numerous times she is a strong christian woman. This morning she asked the shuttle driver about Cain and what happened to him. We all know Cain is the world's first murderer. He killed his brother Abel because God favored him more. The bible states that Cain was cast from Eden and God's presence. He was to be a fugitive and a vagabond. God also placed a mark upon Cain and vowed that if anyone killed Cain they would be punished even more severely. The bible also states that Cain went to live in the land of Nod. Update: Nod is the Hebrew root of the verb to wander. So it is safe to say Nod is not actually a place but a state of wandering.

Here is where things get interesting. Up until this point there are only four people upon the Earth; Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel. Abel has been murdered so that leaves three yet the bible says Cain finds a wife and builds a city and has a son named Enoch. Where in the hell did the wife come from? The land of Nod? But who lives there if Adam and Eve are the first inhabitants of Earth and they live in Eden?

A religious site called Looking Unto Jesus attempts to answer this but fails to mention how Cain found a wife. The basically cover how a fugitive and a vagabond could settle down and build a city.

Joseph Smith of Mormon fame interprets this as Cain took one of his brother's daughters as his wife in his The Inspired Version of the bible. But there is a problem with this as well. Where did Abel get a wife? It also doesn't specify if it was Abel or one of his other brothers.

There is also the Pre-Adamite theory. This theory basically states that humans existed before Adam. Some people seem to think this explains the two creation accounts found in Genesis. This would also seem explain how Cain was able to find a wife.

On and on I can go with this. It just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. You can read more inconsistencies at the Skeptics Annotated Bible website.

It is hard not to notice this stuff even if you are a Christian. How can you not see it? Of course this stuff really doesn't have much to do with the core beliefs of Christianity but it kind of makes you wonder about the validity of the bible and its accounts. The very first book of the bible is filled with so many holes it isn't even funny.

One other thing I will touch on before I end this is something new that popped up. This has to do with a tablet. The tablet has been dated to about 1 B.C. and is believed to have come from the Jordanian bank of the Dead Sea. On this tablet is 87 lines depicting the death of a Messiah which was then raised three days later by Gabriel. The tablet has been dubbed "Gabriel's Revelation". What makes this so special is this tablet was written before the birth of Jesus and depicts something that has not happened yet. So theorists think that early Christians knew of this tale and applied it to Jesus making Jesus's resurrection a sequel of sorts.

So did the followers of Jesus use a well known story and better yet, did Jesus use this story to foretell his own death? Very interesting indeed.

So there we have it, the bizarre inconsistent world of Christianity.