Sean, let me try to address some of the atheist's issues. I think the issue of the marriage of Adam and Eve has been covered by other people.

As far as his contention that animals that mate for life are married, this is an attempt to put mankind on the level of animals thanks to a belief in evolution. The account in Genesis does not talk about God appearing to the animals and uniting them in marriage. God's relationship with mankind is unique in that it is a covental relationship. If animals are united in marriage, why is it only some species while other species are not monogamous? This is a losing argument. It makes no sense in the long run.

As far as your friend's contention that celibacy is painful, it is not. As far as why God would put sex hormones in people, the answer is so that they can develop adult male or female bodies capable of producing children and having mature sex characteristic. How many men want to walk around with a squeaky high voice and no muscle mass? God expects people to be able to control their sexual desires. It may be a challenge, but He gives us the grace to flee temptation. Of course, we live in such a sex-saturated society that the idea of not committing fornication on a regular basis is ridiculed and seen as down-right abnormal.

As far as your friend's contention that you cannot detect sin on an fMRI, sin is spiritual. Of course it is not detectable. What is detectable are the effects of sin as outlined in Galatians 5:19-21 and other places in the Bible. This is a false argument. Would a psychiatrist ever do a fMRI to look for the hatred a patient has for his father/mother/sister/brother? No--because he doesn't consider hatred to be something tangible that will show up on a test. It is an emotion; but it is real and causes problems in that patient's life.

As far as God being more anthropomorphic the further back in time we go, idolatry is one of the chief sins of man. Man has always wanted to worship a god that he is comfortable with--one that is like himself and that he controls. The thing he doesn't want is a pure, holy, just, righteous God who dwells outside of time and space, who made the world out of nothing, and who will judge the world in righteousness by His Son Jesus Christ. As John Calvin said, "Man's heart is an idol factory." This is nothing new. Whenever man chooses what characteristics of God he will accept, he has made an idol.

I hope this helps you deal with this guy. I find that you have to refute their charges and recognize that their assertions are generally without foundation.

__________________
Jane Chavez
Covenant of Grace, OPC
Albuquerque, NM.