Certain Evil and Possible Hope: An Exploration of the Tragic Story of Cain and Abel its implications for humanityA horizon of hope? A Practical ConclusionReferencesIntroductionPeople today don't seem to take the concept of "evil" very seriously, much less in academic circles. The notion of “evil” is an intellectual subject doomed to failure. For example, in an article about Cambridge psychopathology professor Baron-Cohen, he reportedly said the following in proposing a new theory of human cruelty: Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay "replace the 'unscientific' term 'evil' with the idea of 'empathy erosion': 'People who are said to be cruel or mean are simply at one end of the spectrum of “empathy,” he writes. (Carlisle, 2012) It seems that evil is not a phenomenon worthy of real research. However, this was not always the case. Good and evil were two widely accepted concepts for centuries and some lived their lives in accordance with this fundamental belief. However, with the advent of the postmodern era, such ideals were also rejected. Postmodernism believes that everything is relative and that the very fabric of reality is constructed by political, social and historical perceptions. Nothing can therefore be adequately explained by any theory, idea or meta-narrative. Indeed, Nietzsche’s famous assertion that “God is dead” embodies what postmodernism stands for. God is dead and therefore all value structures have collapsed. The death of God, in this context, refers to the death of all absolute values and postmodernism teaches that immutable truths – those fixed for time and eternity – do not exist. The evil is therefore left to the theologian, the clergy or the naive. Questions of whether evil is a fundamental part of man's nature or not, or whether evil acts are interconnected or not, are pushed aside and not to be taken seriously in a postmodern world. Despite the problems of postmodernism, the problem of evil has long haunted philosophers and theologians of theistic persuasion. Obviously, if God does not exist, then evil (if accepted as real) requires no explanation; and if there are several gods or eternal principles, evil can be explained as the result of a conflict between them. Theism, however, must concern itself with the problem of evil. One commentator wrote: “The problem of evil is a major concern of theodicy and as important and interesting an exploration as it is in the field of theodicy – I have a different focus. “Perhaps the best solution is to find no solution at all, because what makes evil so, what gives evil its enormous power, is the very mystery of its existence – the fact that it cannot be explained, and yet it is there. (L. González, 2005)For my purposes, I want to understand what the Bible can tell us about evil. What does the book, which constitutes the founding text of Western civilization – in particular Genesis and the story of Cain and Abel – tell us about the origin of evil? This fratricidal story has long been associated with man's fallen nature and capacity for evil, and I wish to explore this in as much depth as this assignment allows. This short and tragic story of two brothers is found at the beginning of Christian history and I wish to discover what hope, if any, can be drawn from suchtext. The claim that the Bible is the foundation of our culture does not seem like a difficult claim to defend. Much work and in-depth research has been carried out on this subject. See for example “The Influence of the Bible on the English Nation” written in the Journal of Bible and Religion (Vol. 7, No. 1 (February 1939)) or “The Influence of the Bible on Civilization”. written in The American Journal of Theology (Vol. 19, No. 2 (April 1915)). These are just two examples of a list that is not exhaustive. Points to Note Before I begin an exploration of evil and violence in this story, there are some points I want to make at the beginning of this work. First, it is the idea that Cain and Abel are the first two human beings born in history, according to the biblical record. The story of Cain and Abel takes place immediately after the expulsion from paradise. Therefore, Cain and Abel exist after the fall – they exist in history. They are working, self-aware and, as far as we can tell, people in their own right. Both brothers are prototypical human beings. It is also significant that Cain is the first human being in the Bible. He is not like Adam or Eve, both of whom were created directly by God and born in paradise. After all, who among us was created this way? Clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson wrote: "Cain and Abel are actually the first humans, since their parents were created directly by God, and were not born in the standard way...Cain and Abel lived in history...They must make sacrifices, to please God, and they do so, with an altar and appropriate ritual. But things get complicated. (Peterson, 2018)One of the first acts committed outside of Eden is murder, against God and premeditated. The situation is even worse because it is not just a murder, but the murder of a family member, of an innocent brother or sister, of a brother who was the ideal. The first human being is murder and the fact that the Bible makes a point of saying so is something to keep in mind and worth taking very seriously. Interestingly, this idea that the first man was a murderer and that humans are therefore naturally drawn to evil and violence is not only present in the Bible - it also has a place in the Quran. However, what is most interesting is that Peterson also highlights the ancient Mesopotamian religious belief that: humanity was "made of the blood of the worst demon" imaginable. For an elaboration of this thought, see Petersons lecture series on the psychological meaning of biblical texts. Finally, before I begin to discuss whether there is a horizon of hope in the story of Cain and Abel, I must first analyze how tragic the tale of Cain and Abel is . the events of this story are. As I will explain later, hope, in the theological sense, requires awareness of the true gravity of a situation. Furthermore, it seems important to clarify that I do not wish to delve further into the question of whether this story could be defined as a tragedy in the literary sense – I am simply using the term loosely, I could just as easily have described this history. as disastrous, catastrophic or calamitic. This is not a literary criticism, but rather an attempt at a theological discussion of such issues. Cain and Abel – A story of killing the evil phenomenon or simply dismissing it as an idea not worth taking seriously. Since the two world wars, the extermination of six million Jews by the Nazis, the death of nearly twenty million people under theStalin's reign, to the tens of millions of deaths under Mao's rule in China, it seems clear that the 20th century was rife with evil and violence. I say this to make it clear from the outset of this work that I am not debating whether evil exists or not – I accept its existence and use the story of Cain and Abel to explore this concept. more in depth. The story of Cain and Abel is one of the most profound stories ever written. It can be told in less than a minute and yet there are many ways to interpret the story. Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, are hostile brothers: “Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, saying: “I have begotten a man by the help of the Lord . » Then she bore his brother Abel. (Genesis 4:1-2 NRSV) Both Cain and Abel were laborers – Cain cultivated the land and Abel raised livestock. Both bring an offering to God and once that happens the story begins to take shape. God shows favor for Abel's sacrifice and not for Cain's. Abel is then taken to a field where Cain kills him in cold blood. As a reader, the text gives us no explicit reason as to why Abel's sacrifice was favored or why Cain decides to kill his brother. It’s the story of two men engaged in a struggle that ends with the death of the best of them – an all-too-familiar story that has been played out throughout human history. This clearly tragic story speaks to the very nature of man and, perhaps in the search for an explanation of evil and violence, this murder story could be a good place to start. The inequality of man and the murder of Abel. By the time Cain and Abel appear in the biblical story, humanity seems to have already figured out how to make sacrifices to God. This is the crux of the story. Both men make offerings to God in an attempt to regain the favor lost when humanity was removed from paradise: "In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruits of the earth, and Abel, on his part, brought offerings to God. the firstlings of his flock, their fat. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but he had no regard for Cain and his offering. (Genesis 4:4-6 NRSV) The Genesis account offers no reason why God would have no respect for Cain's offering. It's not clear and there has been endless speculation about it. This seems to be the introduction of inequality into human history – people will always have different talents and therefore be unequal in terms of position – this is where the basis of evil and violence lies in the human narrative.[footnoteRef:4] Unresolved inequalities, jealousy or anxiety among people today inevitably lead to violence - and in Genesis we see the first man falling prey to such doctrine. Cain, we can safely assume, had become jealous and bitter about the unequal treatment he and his brother received from God. It is easy to sympathize with Cain at this point, as it would be understandable if he was rejected because he made no sacrifice. Indeed, it would have been preferable because it could have limited his rage because he would have known that he was at fault. However, the fact that this was not the case, that he had worked the land and presented an offering to God was too much, and there was no limit to his rage. He reacts: Interestingly, Pope Francis agrees, announcing to the world, in 2014, that: “Inequalities are the root of all social ills. » See the Pontiff's Twitter account. “Then Cain was very angry and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain: “Why are you angry and why is your face fallen?? » (Genesis 4:5-7 NRSV) It is hard to imagine a time when arguing with God would be a good thing to do, and it is obvious that this was not the best way for Cain to respond to rejection. God responds, without remorse, and explains that he had no one to blame but himself. It’s a fascinating twist: we don’t know the nature of the brother’s offerings. Was not the fruit of Cain's land his best fruit?[footnoteRef:5] Was not Cain's fruit as much a sacrifice as Abel's firstborn? It's hard to know, and as a reader we can only infer at this point. Regardless, from God's response we understand that Cain was at fault; [5: It is generally accepted that Cain did not offer his best offering to God and that Abel did. Indeed, he explicitly states that Abel's offering was of high quality and does not treat Cain's in the same way. However, this remains the subject of heated debate - certainly within the Christian tradition. It's the same in the Islamic tradition, with ambiguity throughout. “If you do well, won’t you be accepted?” And if you do not do well, sin hides at the door; his desire is for you, but you must control it. (Genesis 4:7-8 NRVS) It won't be easy to be told that your rejection, despite your efforts, is your fault, and then to be told that you need to control your feelings about this rejection. It certainly wasn't easy for Cain. God's response, without apology, adds to his resentment and anger. Cain becomes bitter and begins plotting the murder of his brother who received nothing but praise. Then he leads Abel into a field and kills him, committing the worst possible sin: “Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. (Genesis 4:8 NRVS)The Punishment of Cain and the Implications for His Relationship with the EarthThe tragedy of this tale is also illustrated in the punishment of Cain: "And now are you cursed from the earth which opened its mouth to receive the punishment of your brother. blood from your hand. When you plow the earth, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on earth. Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear!” This day you have cast me out of the ground, and I will be hidden from you; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever meets me can kill me. (Genesis 4 11-15 NRSV) Cain's punishment is pronounced and in response we hear a fervent response from him. The punishment hurt Cain. Angry, frightened, and distraught, Cain now pleads with God despite having ignored his own plea earlier in the tale. First of all, I would like to point out that the punishment given to Cain has to do with his relationship with the earth. Cain was once a farmer and he made his living from the land – it was his livelihood – but that is no longer the case. The earth could no longer support Cain because it was forced to open its mouth and receive the blood of Abel. Interestingly, it was recently argued in an article written by Mari Jørstad that the terrain might be more than just a setting, but rather a character in the story. By establishing a model between Adam, Cain and Noah, Jørstad presents a different analysis of the reading of Genesis 1 to 11. In his article, he argues that: "By establishing a close and unique connection between Adam, Cain, Noah and the ground , Gen 1-11 reflects on the nature of humanity's relationship with the soil and the extent to which the soil is available for human choice and control. (Jørstad, 2016)The relationship between humans and the soil is intimate. Indeed, like Cain, we depend on the earth which has given us its fruits for centuries.millennia to ensure our survival. It might be useful to study what the field could do, independent of people, and what form this action could take. Additionally, the ground in this story has been personified, the ground is the only subject of an active verb in the verse that says "Who opened his mouth to receive the blood of your brother."[footnoteRef:6] In the end Ultimately, the question of our relationship with the land is certainly an element of this narrative, Jørstad continues: It has been argued that, because the nature of the soil's reaction was such, the soil is not just a character , but potentially an accomplice to Abel's murder. Cain's curse is not primarily a punishment of the ground; rather, it is an expression and description of the loyalty of the soil to the will of God. If humans attempt to use the soil for destructive rather than creative purposes, the soil will resist. » This is certainly an interesting idea and deserves further research and study, however, for my purposes, an elaboration on this point will not be possible. It should be noted that this is just another tragic aspect of the story. Like Cain, are we making the mistake of neglecting our ecology to serve our own purposes? Are our sins at odds with Mother Nature herself? Likewise, in the rest of the Old Testament, according to God's account, the earth can be made morally sentient. Long ago after the events of Genesis 4, the Israelites were warned that if they did not follow the laws God presented to them, the land itself would vomit them out: "Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for in all these practices, the nations that I drive out before you have defiled themselves. Thus the earth became defiled; and I punished him for his iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. (Leviticus 18:24-26 NRSV) The consequence of this rejection by the earth had serious implications for Cain. He would no longer have a stable place of residence and would no longer be able to practice his profession to support himself. He would thus always be restless, in perpetual exile and far from working the land, therefore dependent on others for the subsistence that he himself formerly derived from the land. Cain's Punishment and Its Implications for Humanity Although Cain's relationship with the earth may have changed forever and thus man's relationship with the earth as well, this was not as immediately dangerous to Cain as the the other part of his punishment. Cain receives a mark from God, representing God's promise to protect Cain despite their divorce. Exegesis, various forms of early scripture, particularly the text of the Septuagint, present Cain as a "groaning and trembling on the earth" – his mark leaving him to suffer in pain (Byron, 2011).[footnoteRef:7 ] Interestingly, Cain's decision to wreak havoc does not stop with him – his offspring are also inflicted with the seeds of evil and violence, and the tragedy of this story seems to carry through his entire lineage family. In his rage, Cain kills once. However, his descendant, Lamech, says: [7: The Septuagint collection is the first Greek translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew. It was probably made for the Jewish community of Egypt, at a time when Greek was the common language throughout the region. See Byron's listed works for details. ]“…I killed a man for hurting me, a young man for hitting me. If Cain is avenged seven times, truly Lamech seventy-seven times. (Genesis 4:23-25 NRSV) The evil in Cain's heart is revealed in the hearts of his descendants – another aspect of the tragedy that befell Eve's eldest son. The fact that murder was now a possibility among men made Cain's separation from God even moreworrying. Cain seems aware of the implications of what he has just done. The security that once existed among men was no longer there - people were now threatening and no longer safe with each other. Now that he had murdered his brother, who knows what everyone was now capable of? As society developed, violence went beyond the simple killing of a brother. The aforementioned Peterson describes this: Before Lamech there was Tubal-Cain, who, according to Gen 4:22, in the NRSV, created “…all kinds of tools of iron and bronze.” However, according to the translation, Tubal-Cain is widely considered to be the first creator of weapons of war. Again, this could be indicative of the violent nature of man. “You hurt me; I hurt you back. No, you hurt me; I'll kill you and six other people. What happens after that is it's not about making it seven people, it's about making it seventy people. So there's this idea that once the first deadly seed is sown, it tends to manifest itself exponentially. (Peterson, 2017) It seems that evil entered the world when Adam and Eve were removed from paradise. However, there is no action until Cain's violent act. Evil and violence then become part of the biblical narrative, of human history, of the narrative on which our society is based. The evil that inhabits the heart of Cain is in the hearts of all his descendants. Lamech's words show us how evil acts of violence and acts of vengeance are not committed in equal measure. Again, this is evident even in today's world. A horizon of hope? The tragedy of the story of Cain and Abel is obvious. From disturbing nature itself to Cain's hell, the separate existence from God, the death of the best brother, the curse that seems to have attached itself to Cain's descendants leading to the creation of weapons and the exaggeration of the violence to the inescapable reality of inequality - it seems clear that this story refers us to the inevitable fact that evil, violence and tragedy enter humanity with the expulsion from paradise. The parallels between the events of this story and the realities of recent history and the world today are palpable. It seems astonishing that the authors of this text managed to express an absolute truth about the nature of man: he is cursed to experience tragedy, violence and evil throughout his life. It's inevitable. Is there any hope to be gained from this story? When discussing these issues, certainly from a theological perspective, it is important to note that hope is not optimism – it is not simply a conceptual distinction but a distinction of motivation. An optimist will not allow yourself to see how bad the situation is, whereas hope requires you to see how bad a situation is – an effort I have attempted to undertake thus far. For example, someone who sees the glass as half full instead of half empty is not a hopeful person but rather an optimistic one. The banality of optimism is that this perspective rests entirely on one's own point of view. The image of the glass betrays the fact that there is nothing in the situation itself that determines a person's reaction. This image indicates that it is simply each person's perspective that matters – an attitude that will lead us to ignore the facts of the situation and maintain an unrealistic view. I have attempted to state the facts in this essay: from any perspective, the story of Cain and Abel is a story of tragedy and that has been important in drawing hope from it. In the Christian tradition, hope is one of the theological virtues. . Hope, as I said, is notrather optimism; for Christians, it is a continual expectation towards the eternal world. This is not a form of escapism but rather something a Christian is supposed to do. Awareness of this hope will affect the way we live our lives. The Apostles, for example, who sparked the conversion of the Roman Empire, all left their mark on earth precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. As CS Lewis quite eloquently wrote: “It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this [hope]… Aim for Heaven and you will achieve earth “thrown in”: aim for earth and you will get neither. (Lewis, 1952) It seems clear that Cain, in murdering his brother, was not thinking of Heaven. As I have explained, the tragedy of this story is nevertheless overwhelming, understanding how serious the situation is can provide hope when reflecting on this story.A Practical ConclusionThe question that often comes to mind at the end of reading this text is; why was Cain allowed to keep his life? Why did God not only spare his life in His punishment, but go even further and actively protect him from those who would harm him? Then the Lord said to him: “No! Whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times greater. "And the LORD marked Cain, so that no one who met him would kill him." (Genesis 4:15-16 NRSV) The mark of Cain has sparked endless speculation and there appears to be no consensus on its meaning. Some argue that by ensuring Cain's survival, God was punishing Cain even further, because he must now live with the guilt and shame of his actions, exposed to all who encountered him. However, there appears to be another element to this. For example, Walter Brueggemann writes: “The mark of God on Cain…may originally refer to a visible mark like a tattoo, it must now be understood in terms of its function in the narrative. This function is double-edged. On the one hand, it announces Cain's guilt. On the other hand, it indicates that Cain is safe under God's protection.In such a simple way, the story expresses the two sides of human life, threatened with disobedience and yet kept safe. (Brueggemann, 1982) The recognition of guilt and the reality of grace come together in this story. Cain is forced to show his sins to the world, but by the grace of God he has kept his life and can be kept safe. Could a link be established here with the lives of Christians today? Like Cain, Christians sin and are separated a little more from God by each one who commits. Like Cain, they are asked to be aware of their sin and the guilt that accompanies it. Then they have to recognize it. In doing so, they acknowledge that they are aware that the penalty for their sins amounts to condemnation. And yet, like Cain, despite this tragedy, they are protected. Through God's grace and the sacrifice of his only son, Jesus Christ, Christians can receive the promise of salvation. Additionally, as I mentioned before, Cain was divorced from God and cursed to be a fugitive wandering the lands and never to see the light of His face again. This seems like a punishment void of hope – Cain certainly sees it that way. Being separated from God does not sound pleasant, but perhaps there is a slight element of hope in such punishment. For example, Terry Eagleton writes: "For traditional theology, to be in hell is to fall from the hands of God by deliberately rejecting his love, if such a position is really thinkable... But since there can be no life outside of God, who is the source of all vitality, the.

Essay / Certain Evil and Possible Hope: An Exploration of the Tragic Story of Cain and Abel its implications for humanityA horizon of hope? A Practical ConclusionReferencesIntroductionPeople today don't seem to take the concept of "evil" very seriously, much less in academic circles. The notion of “evil” is an intellectual subject doomed to failure. For example, in an article about Cambridge psychopathology professor Baron-Cohen, he reportedly said the following in proposing a new theory of human cruelty: Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay "replace the 'unscientific' term 'evil' with the idea of 'empathy erosion': 'People who are said to be cruel or mean are simply at one end of the spectrum of “empathy,” he writes. (Carlisle, 2012) It seems that evil is not a phenomenon worthy of real research. However, this was not always the case. Good and evil were two widely accepted concepts for centuries and some lived their lives in accordance with this fundamental belief. However, with the advent of the postmodern era, such ideals were also rejected. Postmodernism believes that everything is relative and that the very fabric of reality is constructed by political, social and historical perceptions. Nothing can therefore be adequately explained by any theory, idea or meta-narrative. Indeed, Nietzsche’s famous assertion that “God is dead” embodies what postmodernism stands for. God is dead and therefore all value structures have collapsed. The death of God, in this context, refers to the death of all absolute values and postmodernism teaches that immutable truths – those fixed for time and eternity – do not exist. The evil is therefore left to the theologian, the clergy or the naive. Questions of whether evil is a fundamental part of man's nature or not, or whether evil acts are interconnected or not, are pushed aside and not to be taken seriously in a postmodern world. Despite the problems of postmodernism, the problem of evil has long haunted philosophers and theologians of theistic persuasion. Obviously, if God does not exist, then evil (if accepted as real) requires no explanation; and if there are several gods or eternal principles, evil can be explained as the result of a conflict between them. Theism, however, must concern itself with the problem of evil. One commentator wrote: “The problem of evil is a major concern of theodicy and as important and interesting an exploration as it is in the field of theodicy – I have a different focus. “Perhaps the best solution is to find no solution at all, because what makes evil so, what gives evil its enormous power, is the very mystery of its existence – the fact that it cannot be explained, and yet it is there. (L. González, 2005)For my purposes, I want to understand what the Bible can tell us about evil. What does the book, which constitutes the founding text of Western civilization – in particular Genesis and the story of Cain and Abel – tell us about the origin of evil? This fratricidal story has long been associated with man's fallen nature and capacity for evil, and I wish to explore this in as much depth as this assignment allows. This short and tragic story of two brothers is found at the beginning of Christian history and I wish to discover what hope, if any, can be drawn from suchtext. The claim that the Bible is the foundation of our culture does not seem like a difficult claim to defend. Much work and in-depth research has been carried out on this subject. See for example “The Influence of the Bible on the English Nation” written in the Journal of Bible and Religion (Vol. 7, No. 1 (February 1939)) or “The Influence of the Bible on Civilization”. written in The American Journal of Theology (Vol. 19, No. 2 (April 1915)). These are just two examples of a list that is not exhaustive. Points to Note Before I begin an exploration of evil and violence in this story, there are some points I want to make at the beginning of this work. First, it is the idea that Cain and Abel are the first two human beings born in history, according to the biblical record. The story of Cain and Abel takes place immediately after the expulsion from paradise. Therefore, Cain and Abel exist after the fall – they exist in history. They are working, self-aware and, as far as we can tell, people in their own right. Both brothers are prototypical human beings. It is also significant that Cain is the first human being in the Bible. He is not like Adam or Eve, both of whom were created directly by God and born in paradise. After all, who among us was created this way? Clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson wrote: "Cain and Abel are actually the first humans, since their parents were created directly by God, and were not born in the standard way...Cain and Abel lived in history...They must make sacrifices, to please God, and they do so, with an altar and appropriate ritual. But things get complicated. (Peterson, 2018)One of the first acts committed outside of Eden is murder, against God and premeditated. The situation is even worse because it is not just a murder, but the murder of a family member, of an innocent brother or sister, of a brother who was the ideal. The first human being is murder and the fact that the Bible makes a point of saying so is something to keep in mind and worth taking very seriously. Interestingly, this idea that the first man was a murderer and that humans are therefore naturally drawn to evil and violence is not only present in the Bible - it also has a place in the Quran. However, what is most interesting is that Peterson also highlights the ancient Mesopotamian religious belief that: humanity was "made of the blood of the worst demon" imaginable. For an elaboration of this thought, see Petersons lecture series on the psychological meaning of biblical texts. Finally, before I begin to discuss whether there is a horizon of hope in the story of Cain and Abel, I must first analyze how tragic the tale of Cain and Abel is . the events of this story are. As I will explain later, hope, in the theological sense, requires awareness of the true gravity of a situation. Furthermore, it seems important to clarify that I do not wish to delve further into the question of whether this story could be defined as a tragedy in the literary sense – I am simply using the term loosely, I could just as easily have described this history. as disastrous, catastrophic or calamitic. This is not a literary criticism, but rather an attempt at a theological discussion of such issues. Cain and Abel – A story of killing the evil phenomenon or simply dismissing it as an idea not worth taking seriously. Since the two world wars, the extermination of six million Jews by the Nazis, the death of nearly twenty million people under theStalin's reign, to the tens of millions of deaths under Mao's rule in China, it seems clear that the 20th century was rife with evil and violence. I say this to make it clear from the outset of this work that I am not debating whether evil exists or not – I accept its existence and use the story of Cain and Abel to explore this concept. more in depth. The story of Cain and Abel is one of the most profound stories ever written. It can be told in less than a minute and yet there are many ways to interpret the story. Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, are hostile brothers: “Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, saying: “I have begotten a man by the help of the Lord . » Then she bore his brother Abel. (Genesis 4:1-2 NRSV) Both Cain and Abel were laborers – Cain cultivated the land and Abel raised livestock. Both bring an offering to God and once that happens the story begins to take shape. God shows favor for Abel's sacrifice and not for Cain's. Abel is then taken to a field where Cain kills him in cold blood. As a reader, the text gives us no explicit reason as to why Abel's sacrifice was favored or why Cain decides to kill his brother. It’s the story of two men engaged in a struggle that ends with the death of the best of them – an all-too-familiar story that has been played out throughout human history. This clearly tragic story speaks to the very nature of man and, perhaps in the search for an explanation of evil and violence, this murder story could be a good place to start. The inequality of man and the murder of Abel. By the time Cain and Abel appear in the biblical story, humanity seems to have already figured out how to make sacrifices to God. This is the crux of the story. Both men make offerings to God in an attempt to regain the favor lost when humanity was removed from paradise: "In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruits of the earth, and Abel, on his part, brought offerings to God. the firstlings of his flock, their fat. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but he had no regard for Cain and his offering. (Genesis 4:4-6 NRSV) The Genesis account offers no reason why God would have no respect for Cain's offering. It's not clear and there has been endless speculation about it. This seems to be the introduction of inequality into human history – people will always have different talents and therefore be unequal in terms of position – this is where the basis of evil and violence lies in the human narrative.[footnoteRef:4] Unresolved inequalities, jealousy or anxiety among people today inevitably lead to violence - and in Genesis we see the first man falling prey to such doctrine. Cain, we can safely assume, had become jealous and bitter about the unequal treatment he and his brother received from God. It is easy to sympathize with Cain at this point, as it would be understandable if he was rejected because he made no sacrifice. Indeed, it would have been preferable because it could have limited his rage because he would have known that he was at fault. However, the fact that this was not the case, that he had worked the land and presented an offering to God was too much, and there was no limit to his rage. He reacts: Interestingly, Pope Francis agrees, announcing to the world, in 2014, that: “Inequalities are the root of all social ills. » See the Pontiff's Twitter account. “Then Cain was very angry and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain: “Why are you angry and why is your face fallen?? » (Genesis 4:5-7 NRSV) It is hard to imagine a time when arguing with God would be a good thing to do, and it is obvious that this was not the best way for Cain to respond to rejection. God responds, without remorse, and explains that he had no one to blame but himself. It’s a fascinating twist: we don’t know the nature of the brother’s offerings. Was not the fruit of Cain's land his best fruit?[footnoteRef:5] Was not Cain's fruit as much a sacrifice as Abel's firstborn? It's hard to know, and as a reader we can only infer at this point. Regardless, from God's response we understand that Cain was at fault; [5: It is generally accepted that Cain did not offer his best offering to God and that Abel did. Indeed, he explicitly states that Abel's offering was of high quality and does not treat Cain's in the same way. However, this remains the subject of heated debate - certainly within the Christian tradition. It's the same in the Islamic tradition, with ambiguity throughout. “If you do well, won’t you be accepted?” And if you do not do well, sin hides at the door; his desire is for you, but you must control it. (Genesis 4:7-8 NRVS) It won't be easy to be told that your rejection, despite your efforts, is your fault, and then to be told that you need to control your feelings about this rejection. It certainly wasn't easy for Cain. God's response, without apology, adds to his resentment and anger. Cain becomes bitter and begins plotting the murder of his brother who received nothing but praise. Then he leads Abel into a field and kills him, committing the worst possible sin: “Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. (Genesis 4:8 NRVS)The Punishment of Cain and the Implications for His Relationship with the EarthThe tragedy of this tale is also illustrated in the punishment of Cain: "And now are you cursed from the earth which opened its mouth to receive the punishment of your brother. blood from your hand. When you plow the earth, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on earth. Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear!” This day you have cast me out of the ground, and I will be hidden from you; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever meets me can kill me. (Genesis 4 11-15 NRSV) Cain's punishment is pronounced and in response we hear a fervent response from him. The punishment hurt Cain. Angry, frightened, and distraught, Cain now pleads with God despite having ignored his own plea earlier in the tale. First of all, I would like to point out that the punishment given to Cain has to do with his relationship with the earth. Cain was once a farmer and he made his living from the land – it was his livelihood – but that is no longer the case. The earth could no longer support Cain because it was forced to open its mouth and receive the blood of Abel. Interestingly, it was recently argued in an article written by Mari Jørstad that the terrain might be more than just a setting, but rather a character in the story. By establishing a model between Adam, Cain and Noah, Jørstad presents a different analysis of the reading of Genesis 1 to 11. In his article, he argues that: "By establishing a close and unique connection between Adam, Cain, Noah and the ground , Gen 1-11 reflects on the nature of humanity's relationship with the soil and the extent to which the soil is available for human choice and control. (Jørstad, 2016)The relationship between humans and the soil is intimate. Indeed, like Cain, we depend on the earth which has given us its fruits for centuries.millennia to ensure our survival. It might be useful to study what the field could do, independent of people, and what form this action could take. Additionally, the ground in this story has been personified, the ground is the only subject of an active verb in the verse that says "Who opened his mouth to receive the blood of your brother."[footnoteRef:6] In the end Ultimately, the question of our relationship with the land is certainly an element of this narrative, Jørstad continues: It has been argued that, because the nature of the soil's reaction was such, the soil is not just a character , but potentially an accomplice to Abel's murder. Cain's curse is not primarily a punishment of the ground; rather, it is an expression and description of the loyalty of the soil to the will of God. If humans attempt to use the soil for destructive rather than creative purposes, the soil will resist. » This is certainly an interesting idea and deserves further research and study, however, for my purposes, an elaboration on this point will not be possible. It should be noted that this is just another tragic aspect of the story. Like Cain, are we making the mistake of neglecting our ecology to serve our own purposes? Are our sins at odds with Mother Nature herself? Likewise, in the rest of the Old Testament, according to God's account, the earth can be made morally sentient. Long ago after the events of Genesis 4, the Israelites were warned that if they did not follow the laws God presented to them, the land itself would vomit them out: "Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for in all these practices, the nations that I drive out before you have defiled themselves. Thus the earth became defiled; and I punished him for his iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. (Leviticus 18:24-26 NRSV) The consequence of this rejection by the earth had serious implications for Cain. He would no longer have a stable place of residence and would no longer be able to practice his profession to support himself. He would thus always be restless, in perpetual exile and far from working the land, therefore dependent on others for the subsistence that he himself formerly derived from the land. Cain's Punishment and Its Implications for Humanity Although Cain's relationship with the earth may have changed forever and thus man's relationship with the earth as well, this was not as immediately dangerous to Cain as the the other part of his punishment. Cain receives a mark from God, representing God's promise to protect Cain despite their divorce. Exegesis, various forms of early scripture, particularly the text of the Septuagint, present Cain as a "groaning and trembling on the earth" – his mark leaving him to suffer in pain (Byron, 2011).[footnoteRef:7 ] Interestingly, Cain's decision to wreak havoc does not stop with him – his offspring are also inflicted with the seeds of evil and violence, and the tragedy of this story seems to carry through his entire lineage family. In his rage, Cain kills once. However, his descendant, Lamech, says: [7: The Septuagint collection is the first Greek translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew. It was probably made for the Jewish community of Egypt, at a time when Greek was the common language throughout the region. See Byron's listed works for details. ]“…I killed a man for hurting me, a young man for hitting me. If Cain is avenged seven times, truly Lamech seventy-seven times. (Genesis 4:23-25 NRSV) The evil in Cain's heart is revealed in the hearts of his descendants – another aspect of the tragedy that befell Eve's eldest son. The fact that murder was now a possibility among men made Cain's separation from God even moreworrying. Cain seems aware of the implications of what he has just done. The security that once existed among men was no longer there - people were now threatening and no longer safe with each other. Now that he had murdered his brother, who knows what everyone was now capable of? As society developed, violence went beyond the simple killing of a brother. The aforementioned Peterson describes this: Before Lamech there was Tubal-Cain, who, according to Gen 4:22, in the NRSV, created “…all kinds of tools of iron and bronze.” However, according to the translation, Tubal-Cain is widely considered to be the first creator of weapons of war. Again, this could be indicative of the violent nature of man. “You hurt me; I hurt you back. No, you hurt me; I'll kill you and six other people. What happens after that is it's not about making it seven people, it's about making it seventy people. So there's this idea that once the first deadly seed is sown, it tends to manifest itself exponentially. (Peterson, 2017) It seems that evil entered the world when Adam and Eve were removed from paradise. However, there is no action until Cain's violent act. Evil and violence then become part of the biblical narrative, of human history, of the narrative on which our society is based. The evil that inhabits the heart of Cain is in the hearts of all his descendants. Lamech's words show us how evil acts of violence and acts of vengeance are not committed in equal measure. Again, this is evident even in today's world. A horizon of hope? The tragedy of the story of Cain and Abel is obvious. From disturbing nature itself to Cain's hell, the separate existence from God, the death of the best brother, the curse that seems to have attached itself to Cain's descendants leading to the creation of weapons and the exaggeration of the violence to the inescapable reality of inequality - it seems clear that this story refers us to the inevitable fact that evil, violence and tragedy enter humanity with the expulsion from paradise. The parallels between the events of this story and the realities of recent history and the world today are palpable. It seems astonishing that the authors of this text managed to express an absolute truth about the nature of man: he is cursed to experience tragedy, violence and evil throughout his life. It's inevitable. Is there any hope to be gained from this story? When discussing these issues, certainly from a theological perspective, it is important to note that hope is not optimism – it is not simply a conceptual distinction but a distinction of motivation. An optimist will not allow yourself to see how bad the situation is, whereas hope requires you to see how bad a situation is – an effort I have attempted to undertake thus far. For example, someone who sees the glass as half full instead of half empty is not a hopeful person but rather an optimistic one. The banality of optimism is that this perspective rests entirely on one's own point of view. The image of the glass betrays the fact that there is nothing in the situation itself that determines a person's reaction. This image indicates that it is simply each person's perspective that matters – an attitude that will lead us to ignore the facts of the situation and maintain an unrealistic view. I have attempted to state the facts in this essay: from any perspective, the story of Cain and Abel is a story of tragedy and that has been important in drawing hope from it. In the Christian tradition, hope is one of the theological virtues. . Hope, as I said, is notrather optimism; for Christians, it is a continual expectation towards the eternal world. This is not a form of escapism but rather something a Christian is supposed to do. Awareness of this hope will affect the way we live our lives. The Apostles, for example, who sparked the conversion of the Roman Empire, all left their mark on earth precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. As CS Lewis quite eloquently wrote: “It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this [hope]… Aim for Heaven and you will achieve earth “thrown in”: aim for earth and you will get neither. (Lewis, 1952) It seems clear that Cain, in murdering his brother, was not thinking of Heaven. As I have explained, the tragedy of this story is nevertheless overwhelming, understanding how serious the situation is can provide hope when reflecting on this story.A Practical ConclusionThe question that often comes to mind at the end of reading this text is; why was Cain allowed to keep his life? Why did God not only spare his life in His punishment, but go even further and actively protect him from those who would harm him? Then the Lord said to him: “No! Whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times greater. "And the LORD marked Cain, so that no one who met him would kill him." (Genesis 4:15-16 NRSV) The mark of Cain has sparked endless speculation and there appears to be no consensus on its meaning. Some argue that by ensuring Cain's survival, God was punishing Cain even further, because he must now live with the guilt and shame of his actions, exposed to all who encountered him. However, there appears to be another element to this. For example, Walter Brueggemann writes: “The mark of God on Cain…may originally refer to a visible mark like a tattoo, it must now be understood in terms of its function in the narrative. This function is double-edged. On the one hand, it announces Cain's guilt. On the other hand, it indicates that Cain is safe under God's protection.In such a simple way, the story expresses the two sides of human life, threatened with disobedience and yet kept safe. (Brueggemann, 1982) The recognition of guilt and the reality of grace come together in this story. Cain is forced to show his sins to the world, but by the grace of God he has kept his life and can be kept safe. Could a link be established here with the lives of Christians today? Like Cain, Christians sin and are separated a little more from God by each one who commits. Like Cain, they are asked to be aware of their sin and the guilt that accompanies it. Then they have to recognize it. In doing so, they acknowledge that they are aware that the penalty for their sins amounts to condemnation. And yet, like Cain, despite this tragedy, they are protected. Through God's grace and the sacrifice of his only son, Jesus Christ, Christians can receive the promise of salvation. Additionally, as I mentioned before, Cain was divorced from God and cursed to be a fugitive wandering the lands and never to see the light of His face again. This seems like a punishment void of hope – Cain certainly sees it that way. Being separated from God does not sound pleasant, but perhaps there is a slight element of hope in such punishment. For example, Terry Eagleton writes: "For traditional theology, to be in hell is to fall from the hands of God by deliberately rejecting his love, if such a position is really thinkable... But since there can be no life outside of God, who is the source of all vitality, the.

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