Is incest okay?

by Matt Slick

No, incest is not okay.  Incest is the sexual relations between family members either by birth or marriage.  God has forbidden this in the Bible.

• Lev. 20:11-12, "If there is a man who lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.  ¹² If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed incest, their bloodguiltiness is upon them."
• Lev. 20:19-21, "You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for such a one has made naked his blood relative; they shall bear their guilt. ²⁰ If there is a man who lies with his uncle's wife he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin. They shall die childless. ²¹ If there is a man who takes his brother's wife, it is abhorrent; he has uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless."

But some may point out that Adam and Eve had children and since there were no other people around, their children would have had to commit incest in order to produce more children.  At the time of creation, the genetic line was pure.  It wasn't until later, at the time of Moses, that incest was then forbidden as the genetic pool became less and less able to stand interbreeding. "No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD," (Lev. 18:6).