A Summary Of Cain And Abel In Genesis 4
The story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 can be relatable to many of humankind’s downfalls such as institutional racism, segregation, genocide, and/or historical cover-up, as well as the ultimate battle of good versus evil. The actions of Cain and the consequences that God gives him shed light on the realities explored by Zinn in his book, Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress, and how they are relatable. Through Cain’s action of killing Abel compared to the killing and genocide of the Europeans performed on the Native Americans, we are able to see the truth behind God’s warning to Cain about the power of sin in the results of the European’s actions. God’s seven-fold vengeance that he presents to Cain can be comparable in the cases of Europeans in ways of how their actions resulted in the downfall of their empires. Finally, the question of “Am I my brother’s keeper?” relates to the reason for the Europeans wrong/evil mindset for their actions and justification of genocide on the Native Americans. “Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out to the field.’ And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him” Genesis 4:8. In accordance to the Bible, Cain killed his brother Abel for the reason of God having regard for Abel and did not for Cain. This account from the Cain and Abel story sheds light on the realities explored by Zinn, in which he provides many examples. His first is
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the example in which he provides a report to the Court in Madrid from Christopher Columbus that states, “ Hispaniola is a miracle. Mountains and hills, plains and pastures, are both fertile and beautiful… the harbors are unbelievably good and there are many rivers of which the majority contain gold…There are many spices, and great mines for gold and other metals…” (Zinn 3). This example relates to Cain’s reason for killing his brother Abel in a way that the cause for the killing or genocide of each account was that they wanted what the other side has. Having God’s regards was a very important thing to Cain and Abel as was apparently having ridiculous amounts of gold for the Spanish was also, keeping in mind the belief that God and the Church was behind them. The deadly sin of greed and/or power,wealth, jealousy were assumably the reasons for both sides action of killing and the theme for their failures in the battle of good versus evil. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘ I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9. This I believe relates as well as sheds light on the wrongful reasoning on the Spanish and other European countries behalf of genocide and also on the behalf modern society by glorifying their actions and celebrating their discoveries. The interpretation of the first book of the Bible must have been interpreted differently then than now for some Europeans at that time because if interpreted correctly they would have understood God’s warning to Cain about the evil of sin. “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you but you must master it” Genesis 4:7. But the reasoning/justification of these European countries relating to Cain’s to God are fairly similar. Cain’s justification of not knowing he was his brother’s keeper shows that he did not believe he was to be worried about Abel and that he cared about himself. In relating it to the Spanish’s actions of genocide obviously show their fault of thinking about their own wealth and power with the Church backing them up. The crimes of the Europeans are institutional racism, segregation, genocide and even a modern crime of historical cover-up. Evidence supporting this is Zinn’s use of Samuel Eliot Morison’s book, Christopher Columbus, Mariner. Zinn correctly shows Morison’s crime of historical cover-up, even though he does not blame him according to “historian’s distortion”, by stating, “He does not omit the story of mass murder; indeed he describes it with the harshest word one can use: genocide” (Zinn 8).
Each creation story of Genesis 1-2:4 and of the Jicarilla Apache, both have similarities and differences from the perspective of meaning and values.
Their answers to the “ultimate” question(s) such as, “What is humankind’s purpose?” and/or, “What is the meaning of life?”, are similar meanings with differing values according to the specifics of each creation story. The answers to the creation stories’ ultimate questions in accordance of interpreting the texts as they stand, the answer can be seen in specific quotes from both God and the Black
Hactcin. Each creation story and their perspective of values and meaning are both different but similar also. For example, in the creations story involving the Black Hactcin when creating man, certain rituals that were performed by the Jicarilla Apache are explained and given meaning through the connection of how man was made. This is seen when Black Hactcin is teaching man to run. “Then the Black Hactcin said, ‘Run,’ and made him run four times in a clockwise arc. That is why they have to run at the girl’s puberty rite just like that.” (267) This shows the value and meaning of the creation story and as to why the Jicarilla Apache performed certain human rituals. In comparison with Genesis, the way in which God created the Earth in seven days has meaning and values that are practiced in the same way as the Jicarilla Apache practiced the example before. The seven days it took God to create the Earth is shown to have meaning and values in modern day and everyday practices of Christian faith in such we have seven days of the week and Sunday is a day of rest. “And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.” (Genesis 2:2). The similarities of each creation story is seen in that each has valuable and meaningful rituals or traditions that are practiced through the interpretation of their respected creation stories in which answer their cultures “ultimate question” and gives meaning to their lives. These creation stories give identity to the people that follow these stories and give meaning to each as to why humans were put on this Earth with animals and all living things along with how and when the beginning of the Earth was made in order to give meaning to life’s ultimate questions.
Even though the Bible is a central force in all four “modern/postmodern” positions of Conservative, Progressive, Catholic and Non-European, we have seen that many particular communal appropriations experience the “underside” of Modernity. This is due to the Bible being used to justify and sanction some grave abuses even though it is also an inspirational and life-giving text. Certain particular groups, present and in the past as well have experienced this underside in which their have been various responses including Phyllis Trible and Zinn. These two responders clarify how the Bible has effected certain groups such as Native Americans and women. Zinn’s book of A People’s History of the United States, within his first chapter titled, Columbus, The Indians, And Human Progress, Zinn appropriately references the colonization of the America’s providing aspects of both the Spanish, who used the Bible to justify and sanction grave abuses on the Native Americans, who in turn experience the “underside” of this use. Providing accounts from both the oppressor, Columbus, and from the oppressed, de las Casas, Zinn signifies that their truly is an “underside” in the use of the Bible throughout history. This is shown within Zinn’s book in which he provides an account from Columbus’s diary, “Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold.” (Zinn 4). This examples shows how the Spanish used the Bible to justify their actions towards the Native Americans and how the Native Americans experienced the “underside” of this wrong and false interpretations. In Phyllis Trible’s, Eve and Adam, Trible explores the misinterpretation involving the underside of women, and how the Bible tries to deplete the equality of men and women in the creation story of Genesis 2-3. Her examples throughout help to clarify the presence of the an underside for women and how the Bible uses inspirational and life-giving texts but wrongly justifies the equality of man and woman. An example the Trible provides is Genesis 3:20 which states, “the man calls his wife’s name Eve.) This shows that the naming of the woman faults the man because the man is “corrupting a relationship of mutuality and equality.
the example in which he provides a report to the Court in Madrid from Christopher Columbus that states, “ Hispaniola is a miracle. Mountains and hills, plains and pastures, are both fertile and beautiful… the harbors are unbelievably good and there are many rivers of which the majority contain gold…There are many spices, and great mines for gold and other metals…” (Zinn 3). This example relates to Cain’s reason for killing his brother Abel in a way that the cause for the killing or genocide of each account was that they wanted what the other side has. Having God’s regards was a very important thing to Cain and Abel as was apparently having ridiculous amounts of gold for the Spanish was also, keeping in mind the belief that God and the Church was behind them. The deadly sin of greed and/or power,wealth, jealousy were assumably the reasons for both sides action of killing and the theme for their failures in the battle of good versus evil. “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘ I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9. This I believe relates as well as sheds light on the wrongful reasoning on the Spanish and other European countries behalf of genocide and also on the behalf modern society by glorifying their actions and celebrating their discoveries. The interpretation of the first book of the Bible must have been interpreted differently then than now for some Europeans at that time because if interpreted correctly they would have understood God’s warning to Cain about the evil of sin. “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you but you must master it” Genesis 4:7. But the reasoning/justification of these European countries relating to Cain’s to God are fairly similar. Cain’s justification of not knowing he was his brother’s keeper shows that he did not believe he was to be worried about Abel and that he cared about himself. In relating it to the Spanish’s actions of genocide obviously show their fault of thinking about their own wealth and power with the Church backing them up. The crimes of the Europeans are institutional racism, segregation, genocide and even a modern crime of historical cover-up. Evidence supporting this is Zinn’s use of Samuel Eliot Morison’s book, Christopher Columbus, Mariner. Zinn correctly shows Morison’s crime of historical cover-up, even though he does not blame him according to “historian’s distortion”, by stating, “He does not omit the story of mass murder; indeed he describes it with the harshest word one can use: genocide” (Zinn 8).
Each creation story of Genesis 1-2:4 and of the Jicarilla Apache, both have similarities and differences from the perspective of meaning and values.
Their answers to the “ultimate” question(s) such as, “What is humankind’s purpose?” and/or, “What is the meaning of life?”, are similar meanings with differing values according to the specifics of each creation story. The answers to the creation stories’ ultimate questions in accordance of interpreting the texts as they stand, the answer can be seen in specific quotes from both God and the Black
Hactcin. Each creation story and their perspective of values and meaning are both different but similar also. For example, in the creations story involving the Black Hactcin when creating man, certain rituals that were performed by the Jicarilla Apache are explained and given meaning through the connection of how man was made. This is seen when Black Hactcin is teaching man to run. “Then the Black Hactcin said, ‘Run,’ and made him run four times in a clockwise arc. That is why they have to run at the girl’s puberty rite just like that.” (267) This shows the value and meaning of the creation story and as to why the Jicarilla Apache performed certain human rituals. In comparison with Genesis, the way in which God created the Earth in seven days has meaning and values that are practiced in the same way as the Jicarilla Apache practiced the example before. The seven days it took God to create the Earth is shown to have meaning and values in modern day and everyday practices of Christian faith in such we have seven days of the week and Sunday is a day of rest. “And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.” (Genesis 2:2). The similarities of each creation story is seen in that each has valuable and meaningful rituals or traditions that are practiced through the interpretation of their respected creation stories in which answer their cultures “ultimate question” and gives meaning to their lives. These creation stories give identity to the people that follow these stories and give meaning to each as to why humans were put on this Earth with animals and all living things along with how and when the beginning of the Earth was made in order to give meaning to life’s ultimate questions.
Even though the Bible is a central force in all four “modern/postmodern” positions of Conservative, Progressive, Catholic and Non-European, we have seen that many particular communal appropriations experience the “underside” of Modernity. This is due to the Bible being used to justify and sanction some grave abuses even though it is also an inspirational and life-giving text. Certain particular groups, present and in the past as well have experienced this underside in which their have been various responses including Phyllis Trible and Zinn. These two responders clarify how the Bible has effected certain groups such as Native Americans and women. Zinn’s book of A People’s History of the United States, within his first chapter titled, Columbus, The Indians, And Human Progress, Zinn appropriately references the colonization of the America’s providing aspects of both the Spanish, who used the Bible to justify and sanction grave abuses on the Native Americans, who in turn experience the “underside” of this use. Providing accounts from both the oppressor, Columbus, and from the oppressed, de las Casas, Zinn signifies that their truly is an “underside” in the use of the Bible throughout history. This is shown within Zinn’s book in which he provides an account from Columbus’s diary, “Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold.” (Zinn 4). This examples shows how the Spanish used the Bible to justify their actions towards the Native Americans and how the Native Americans experienced the “underside” of this wrong and false interpretations. In Phyllis Trible’s, Eve and Adam, Trible explores the misinterpretation involving the underside of women, and how the Bible tries to deplete the equality of men and women in the creation story of Genesis 2-3. Her examples throughout help to clarify the presence of the an underside for women and how the Bible uses inspirational and life-giving texts but wrongly justifies the equality of man and woman. An example the Trible provides is Genesis 3:20 which states, “the man calls his wife’s name Eve.) This shows that the naming of the woman faults the man because the man is “corrupting a relationship of mutuality and equality.