Doubt, part 1

All my life, I've been a questioner.  I've wanted to know the why of things and haven't always been satisfied with the answers that have been given.  I've tried to go deeper and deeper into inquiry to understand matters as fully as I possibly could.  In a school setting this can be really helpful (though frustrating to teachers, I'm sure).  In a social setting, I've finally learned to temper it, because it tends to piss people off.  But in the realms of spirit and energy, in questions of the deeper truths, I have yet to be comfortable with my questioning nature. 

In my perception as a younger person, other people seemed so sure about notions of God, heaven and hell, and morality.  For a while I adopted their certainty, but it didn't take long before serious questions were popping up.  My family spent time each week reading the Bible together and I took it to heart.  Some things seemed pretty simple and obvious.  Love one another, including your enemies, including the sick.  Be humble.  Other things confused me.  I wondered about the story of Adam and Eve being the only people but when Cain got banished, there was a worry the other people out there would kill him.  Where did those people come from if Adam and Eve were the only ones?  When I asked my father what a virgin was (in reponse to Mary being a virgin), why did every one get really quiet until he answered, "a young girl?"  That just seemed weird.  Why would God, who was all about love, send people to hell just for not knowing about Jesus?  The questions went on and on.