Jose,

First of all, we need to understand that the majority of Genesis is a literary construct that teaches theological truths.

In the case of the first humans, Adam and Eve, they were created in the image of God but fell because of their disobedience and failure to trust God. Whether or not it happened exactly as it is written is open to debate. That wasn't the point the divinely-inspired human author was trying to make.

The fact is that incest did not present a moral issue in the beginning. The entire gene pool existed in Adam and Eve so God allowed it. God allowed a lot of things in the Old Testament that He doesn't allow now. For instance, polygamy was common practice, even later among the Kings of Israel that God chose. The Patriarchs all had more than one wife . . . that is no longer allowed.

We simply don't know. The Church recognizes that evolution is a probably the means through which God created man. At some point, God chose a woman and man to give a soul to.

It is possible that the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve went on to mate with these other people. We simply don't know. We don't even know if evolution is the means by which God created man but we do know that:

• we came from two original parents who were created without sin, and
• they fell from grace which resulted in our inheriting Original Sin from them.

Trying to make too much historical sense out of the narrative will lead you away from the theological truths, revealed by God, which the narrative is teaching us.

John