Comments and Criticism, please

[okieinexile]

The article below is an expansion of the sermon The East of Eden below. I would like any comments you might have with regard to it's organization or lack thereof.

The East of Eden
Or

Jealousy, guilt, and mercy as seen from the east of Eden

By Bobby Neal Winters

I like to revisit Genesis and do it frequently. In some sense, the rest of the Bible is spent elaborating issues raised in that first book in the Bible.
Visiting Genesis is pleasurable and rewarding, but it does carry with it a burden. It is a book that requires more interpretation than may first appear. There are portions where the stories convey actual historical events, but there are others I which are told for the purpose of conveying a particular truth in the most effective way. The problem arises because it is sometimes difficult to separate the accounts which are historical from those that are not.

Let us take the first part of the fourth chapter of Genesis as an example. It is the story of Cain killing Abel. If we look at this simply as a historical account like a police report, there are certain questions we can ask. For instance, where did Cain get his wife?

Folks—and many of them non Christians—can make a big deal out of this. They ask it with sort of an “Aha, I got you now attitude.” If you don’t give them an answer, they can skip church, cheat on their taxes, leave their lawns un-mown, and still be as good as you are because you can’t answer the question in the way they want you to.

To be fair, there are answers to this which would fit the historical interpretation and fit in with themes of the rest of Bible, but my best answer to those asking such a question is “That’s not the point of the story.”
There is another sort of reader who likes to read the Bible very closely—with a microscope in fact. They can look in the first two verses where it specifically mentions that Adam knew Eve and she conceived and bore Cain, but it doesn’t repeat that exact sequence about Abel so there must have been something about Abel’s birth that was different, and they focus there energies on that, while ignoring the main points of the story.

Whole religions have been established with ambiguities such as these for a basis. We might laugh at this, but it’s really not a laughing matter. I could point to examples—but I won’t—of sects which have taken nonstandard readings of a verse here and a verse there and have discarded thousands of years of the Judeo-Christian tradition while going off in their own idiosyncratic direction.

This is a risk of studying the Bible in isolation. One can take false turns from which it is hard to recover. We have a tendency to love our own ideas, and many a lone scholar has labored feverishly to light a candle while missing the bon fire right behind him. In there are some cases in which charismatic individuals have convinced others to ignore the bon fire too.

There are some to whom the Bible becomes an idol. It is something you can take, utter a few words, and magically come away with answers, the true answers, the only answers. What’s more is that there are those who set themselves up as a priest of the sacred mysteries. They are the sole interpreter and do their interpretation without listening to the knowledge of the scholars or the wisdom of the saints. If they are pastors, their “knowledge” can be used as a means of power over their flocks. This practice has become so ingrained in parts of the Christian culture that the people doing it don’t realize that’s what they are doing; or worse, they think it’s normal.

Before we go any farther, I need to share with you I am a United Methodist. It is my personal opinion that the Bible was inspired by God, but it was written by people—or a people, I should say. As a Methodist, I believe it must be interpreted using tradition, experience, and reason. Before finally exploring the text I mentioned, I will briefly expand on these three items as a lens for interpreting scripture.

Let me first mention tradition because it is some sense the most important. Tradition has gotten a lot of bad press, because in the eyes of some, former times should be thrown away and forgotten. But tradition is a mountain we can stand upon. We can see so much farther using the knowledge of those who came before than we could if we simply stood in the valley without that benefit. Using tradition as a tool for interpretation means we must only discard the opinions of previous ages if we are forced to. It is an anchor that keeps us from dashing ourselves to pieces against the rocks.
Next in line comes experience. Experience is, of course, the world’s best teacher, and one may argue it is our first teacher. Let me say that as an aid to interpreting scripture, there is nothing quite like having a share experience to put a fine point on one understands. Experience can bring meaning to a passage like nothing else.

Finally, let me address reason. The use of reason surprises some who believe that religion and reason have nothing to do with each other. I view the use of reason as simply taking advantage of the fact the stories in the Bible are reasonable. The writers of the Bible might have been primitive in some ways, but they were not irrational. They thought long, hard, and well.
So, after this overly long introduction, what do tradition, experience, and reason have to say about the story of Cain and Abel? What is it story about?
It is a story told with some powerful strokes. The first and most important of which is this. Cain was jealous of his brother and killed him.

That is worth repeating: Cain was jealous of his brother and killed him.
The power of jealousy is so strong it can overcome even the power of brotherly love. This is an insight into the darkness of the human spirit that we need to meditate upon, and some of us need to do it daily. In dealing with the world, when is my criticism of a brother, friend, or co-worker justified, and when is it just jealousy?

In reading this passage, how do I know jealousy was Cain’s? The word “jealous” is never mentioned in the chapter. I know it is jealousy because I have experienced jealousy. Cain was human, I am human, and we both can experience jealousy.

Jealousy is touched upon in a number of other places in the Bible. We can think of the relationship between Joseph and his brothers. Much later we can cite the feelings Saul had toward David. Finally, we might ask whether it was jealousy that caused Judas to betray Jesus.

Another of the main themes of this story is Cain’s reaction to his crime. Cain reacted just as his parents had when they ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He covered it up—and God found out about it any way.

Here we can compare and contrast Cain’s reaction to his sin and the way his parents reacted to theirs. God had told Adam and Eve beforehand not to eat of the fruit of the Tree, but he’d never issued an edict to Cain not to kill Abel. Regardless of this Cain hid his crime. We can reason, therefore, that even though God had never told Cain not to kill his brother, he still knew it was wrong.

Much later in Genesis the son’s of Jacob hide their selling of Joseph into slavery by faking his death, which is in turn blamed on a wild animal, and later still, in Second Samuel, King David hides his adultery with Bathsheba by having her husband Uriah the Hittite killed. In each of these cases, the sinner seeks to hide the sin.

The capstone to this story is God’s reaction. How did God react to this first murder? Did he issue the death penalty? Was there an electrocution? Was there a lethal injection?

No. He sentenced Cain to live. Indeed, he put a mark on him so that no one would kill him. Many who read the Bible with a fine tooth comb somehow miss this part and have no trouble with the support of the death penalty. How are we to interpret it?

Here I would invoke tradition—and the Gospel—to interpret this as the action of God the Father. The Father is stern but merciful. He doesn’t kill his child, but banishes him from his face. Sin has caused a greater alienation between the Father and His children.

God’s mercy is seen again when he merely scatters those who build the Tower of Babel and again when he spares Noah’s family from the Flood and again when he spares Lot’s family from Sodom and again when he sends Cyrus as a deliverer for Israel and finally when he sends Jesus as our Savior.

These things I’ve mentioned already are easily visible on the surface. They are the main strokes. However, there are things in the story that are subtler, but are still woven through the entire Bible.

Besides “Where did Cain get his wife?” the question I’ve heard asked most frequently is “why was Cain’s sacrifice refused and his brother Abel’s accepted?” The jealousy this engendered led to Cain’s crime, and some attempt to use this to blame God for the crime.

The sacrifice was not accepted because the offering was sub par. God says this in the story, but why was Cain’s offering sub par?

We need only look one chapter earlier to see the sacrifices Cain and his brother were performing were imitations of the sacrifice God himself had performed when he had killed animals so that Adam and Eve could have clothing. In that sacrifice, blood was shed, an animal lost its life, and their nakedness was covered.

When Cain made his sacrifice it was not a real sacrifice because there was no shedding of blood. The sin of Adam and Eve had caused death to enter the world, and the performance of blood offering was a reminder of the consequence of that sin. Cain’s offering of fruit of the ground did not meet the criteria. There was no sacrifice because it came at no real cost.

Ironically, blood was shed when Cain killed his brother, but this did not please God. His sacrifice in order to clothe Adam and Eve had been an act of mercy, and while sacrifice is a reminder of the cost of sin, it is also a reminder of that mercy. Murder for the sake of blood is no such reminder.
Christians believe this tradition of blood offering continues to the time of Jesus, when He Himself was the final offering. Caiaphas the High Priest spilled Jesus’ blood much as Cain spilled Abel’s. In this case, it was Jesus’ selflessness in the sacrifice of himself that earned our salvation rather than the action of the priest, and God’s mercy is still the reason.

There is a bundle of threads passing through the story of Cain and Abel that are woven into the whole fabric of the Bible. They are colored with human nature and when we examine the fabric produced we can see God’s mercy.
The key in using the Bible as an aid to greater understanding of ourselves and our world is the interpretation. Tradition, experience, and reason are proper tools in this interpretation.

It is my opinion that understanding our place in God’s world is more important than ever as we’ve removed ourselves from his presence and wander even farther to the east of Eden.

(Bobby Winters is a professor of mathematics, writer, and lay speaker in the United Methodist Church. He is the author of two books Grandma Dipped Snuff and Confessions of an Ice Cream Socialist.)

[lunamoth]

Hi Okie, well, this won't help you much in your critique, but I think it is great, spot on! Thank you.

cheers,
lunamoth

[wil]

I thoroughly enjoyed your writing, line of thinking and topic. I liked how you indicated it was broad strokes, that there were many stories many topics involved that could be contemplated.

I challenge you to go deeper, you touched on the surface, and the experiential...the bible is our autobiography, there isn't an instance in our life that we can't find an apropo lessen, (new or old testament). But you indicated that the bible was divinely inspired yet written carefully by men, men that buried stories inside of stories. Lookup the meanings to the names Cain and Abel, and develop yet another story line.

Look up the metaphysical definitions of the words in the story...and replace the place names and peoples names with the meanings...read it again.

Again, very good writing, I say it will be well received. Save it, pull it out, update it annually...you'll see the story and depth grow as you do.

thank you, namaste

[Bandit]

i agree on the jealousy & reasoning, yet i think pride comes before jealousy & we cannot reason when those things are in us.
i am just curious how you expect cain to offer up a blood sacrifice if he was a tiller of the ground?

maybe it was something else that made it sub par & not that it was not blood?
like being presumptuous & lacking faith.

Abel could have offered blood & taken the same approach as Cain & it would not have been accepted.
From what i have always understood, God asked for the best, the lamb without blemish, the firstfruits etc. & it was to be offered up through faith & obedience. i cant say this partucular offering was a sin offering.
i think Cain wanted to make his own rules or had a grudge in giving his offering, thus not giving his best & he obviously did not consider himself his brothers keeper which may have been going on for a long time.

[InLove]

Hello, Okie--

I haven't been around much lately --just managing from time to time. Pretty brave (or clever) of you to actually ask for comments and criticism.

But I have a feeling you are curious: What will these people say if I say this?

Well, as you predicted, many will not understand why Cain's offering was rejected in favor of Abel's. After all, Cain worked hard, tilling the earth, and doing his very best to please.

But like it or not, blood cries out. Just turn on the television or read the papers or get the news online. Where did Cain find a wife? I guarantee you that in today's news, that would be delegated to the entertainment pages--not saying that it should necessarily be so, just saying that it pales in comparison to blood.

I think Bandit may have said something important--perhaps Cain's offering was not sincere. After all, the Law revealed to Moses never disallows any sincere and faithful offering, nor is there any shame therein.

Some will miss your point, Okie.

For my part, I can recognize that even though the wages of sin = death, often the sentence is life. I get life. Especially if I am imperfect. Wanting to bring the best thing to the table is no sin--but insisting that I can without knowing the will of my Father will get me nowhere.

Thanks, Bobby--

InPeace,
InLove,
Debora

[okieinexile]

Thanks for your comments. I find it gratifying you are commenting on content rather than style. I was worried about the style of the piece. The content--especially about the importance of blood sacrifice--is meant to be controversial. I need to speak to your comments with regard to other possible interpretations within the piece. For now, let me say we are told nothing about Cain's attitude prior to the offering. We are told nothing about the quality of the offering. We might infer it wasn't the very best because it isn't said that it was as was Abel's offering. As for where Cain could have obtained an animal to sacrifice, he could have traded with his brother. But he killed him instead.

[Bandit]

Hebrews 11:4 [KJV] By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Cains heart was not right with God & his sacrifice was not offered up by faith & that is what made it not his best. i dont think blood for sin is what God was looking for in this sacrifice. 'trading' for an animal would not have fixed the problem. IMO

Blood sacrifice for sin was not made law until later under Moses, that I am aware of.

looks to me like it was a gift that was offered. we are not necessarily told of his attitude prior, but we are told of it during & after. I can easily see a bad attitude prior when i see what Cain & his sons turned out to be ultimately. after God reached out to him, shows me that Cain had a different agenda & did not love his brother or have any remorse at all.

4:6And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
4:7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door...

this passage tells me that Cain was aware of something prior to his offering & prior to slaying his brother, yet he ignored what was expected & instead of confessing the problem (which reveals pride), he became angry for not being accepted.
this in turn lead to his jealousy of his brothers acceptance. perhaps if Cain had not been jealous of Abels acceptance from God there would not have been as big of a conflict here.
Abel offered his sacrifice by faith, Cain did not & this is what God was looking at.

4:8And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
4:9And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
4:10And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

this tells me Cain lured his brother into the field & his act of murder was 'premeditated'. Again, Cain shows indifference & a lack of love when he lies about it. it also shows me that the intent of the heart effects the mind & spirit of a man, thus not allowing a man to think correctly & his deeds and speech will reveal that.

From Cain I see:
LACK OF FAITH
PRIDE
ANGER
JEALOUSY
HATE
MURDER
LIES


Offering our best gifts with the wrong attitude, going through the motions & lacking faith is not giving our best. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Little sins turn into big sins, if they are not kept in check & this makes us become unbalanced & disobedient to the will of God.
This is of course my brief opinion & thank you for the opportunity to say so.

[okieinexile]

And I would contend the best gifts required blood or at least true sacrifice.

As far as blood sacrifice not being required by law until Moses, NOTHING was a written law until Moses. The law was a gift showing right ways of doing things.

[Bandit]

Originally Posted by okieinexile

And I would contend the best gifts required blood.

prove this as pertaining to cain & abel

or at least true sacrifice.

what do you mean by TRUE? are you suggesting that if it was not a blood gift it was not true?
if you are implying Christ, then I agree. if you are implying this to Cain & Abel, then we disagree.

Originally Posted by okieinexile

As far as blood sacrifice not being required by law until Moses, NOTHING was a written law until Moses. The law was a gift showing right ways of doing things.

there were laws before Moses but -NOTHING- NO LAW- on blood sacrifice for sin. because they were not written laws does not make them not law.

Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

are we discussing when the law for blood sacrifice for sin was made, or are we discussing Cain & Abel?

[I, Brian]

It's a good read, Bobby, and there are some interesting points that raise up as discussion issues.

Just a quick addition on the subject of blood sacrifices - so far as I understand it, in the ancient world in general blood sacrifices in general were more important, because livestock requires a much larger investment of resources to maintain and therefore were a more valuable commodity.

[Bandit]

i think it was the human/animal sacrifices because they 'feared' the god(s). . greek/aztec

the vedic included sacrificing themselves

[okieinexile]

Originally Posted by Bandit

prove this as pertaining to cain & abel



what do you mean by TRUE? are you suggesting that if it was not a blood gift it was not true?
if you are implying Christ, then I agree. if you are implying this to Cain & Abel, then we disagree.



there were laws before Moses but -NOTHING- NO LAW- on blood sacrifice for sin. because they were not written laws does not make them not law.

Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

are we discussing when the law for blood sacrifice for sin was made, or are we discussing Cain & Abel?

law until Moses, NOTHING was a written law until Moses.

If you see one show me. I am 5 miles from Missouri.

[okieinexile]

True meaning actual sacrifice. Putting a quarter in the plate your mom gave you for that purpose is not a sacrifice. Killing and animal is.

[okieinexile]

Bandit,

There are exactly three chapters before the story of Cain and Abel. Point out in any of them where God showed them to give any sort of Sacrifice other than a blood sacrifice. When God offers a sacrifice, it is a blood offering.

[Bandit]

Originally Posted by okieinexile

Bandit,

There are exactly three chapters before the story of Cain and Abel. Point out in any of them where God showed them to give any sort of Sacrifice other than a blood sacrifice. When God offers a sacrifice, it is a blood offering.

you dont answer my questions, but i am supposed to answer yours? you still have not shown where Cain & Able were required to offer blood, because you are assuming it is so & you are assuming it was a sacrifice for sin.