Dear Anthony:

The Church officially teaches that we are all descendants from Adam and Eve. The Bible says that Adam and Eve had other children. Thus, Cain had to marry his sister, or niece (child of Seth or one of the children of another sibling), or perhaps a great-niece. The bible does not give us calendar dates. Although Seth was born after Cain, and it appears the banishment of Cain may have been before Seth's birth, we really do not know that. In any case, Adam and Eve did have other children, and all the human race descends from them, thus Cain's wife had to be a relative.

The incest problem: It was not forbidden to marry a sister or other close relative until the time of Moses (Leviticus 18-20). In fact, Abraham married his half-sister (Genesis 20:12) and this marriage was blessed by God.

The genetic defect problem: At that time the problem of birth defects of children born to siblings may not have been a problem yet as the gene pool was not as contaminated as it is was by the time of Moses.

Some people think that the people that Cain met up with in Nod were not relatives of Cain, because there were many human groups. But, to believe that then we have a major problem with God's revealed dogmas of Adam and Eve as the first parents and the originators of "original sin."

Since God does not lie, I think we have to stay with the dogma of Adam and Eve as our first parents and all people descendant from them. Thus, Cain had to have married a relative, either a sister or a niece, or a cousin depending on when he got married in relation to the births of other siblings and their children and grandchildren.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary