by gaiagirl 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
As the story goes, when Cain was banished, he felt his punishment was too great, and that men would kill him on sight. So Yahweh supposedly gave him some sort of mark so that people would NOT kill him on sight.<div>
So, who were these people who Cain felt would kill him? Other brothers? Sons?
They were multiplying like rabbits back in the day of Adam & Eve. They would get married at around 10 years old or as soon as the women had her first period. So in the mater of a couple of hundred years you already had 15 generations, lets do the math:
Double the human population every 13 years 200 years was 2 to the 15th power =32,768. at that rate in 1000 years they would have 2 to the 76 power= over 700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. of course wars floods and earthquakes would serve to keep the population at a staedy state.
Still another clue that the story was not originally a primeval narrative, and Cain was not meant to be the son of the "first human pair". Out of this context, the story works nicely as an etiology of the nomadic Qenites (= "Cainites"). But once set in the context of the origins of humanity a lot of details like this one don't make any sense (also Cain's wife, the professions of "shepherd" and "farmer" which are only meaningful in a somewhat developed economy, etc.).
It's as if the author tottally forgot that there are half a dozen people on the planet. I can just imagine Cain asking for a sign...
Cain: "But God? My punishment for murder is too great to carry. What if my immediate family suddenly forgot who I am and yet they also somehow remember that I was the first murderer? I'll need a sign for protection!"
God:"Oh shut up, you're lucky I don't acctually punish you, but now you want my protection? ... Well okay."
And then Cain was banished to... The Land of Fugitiveness?! Right, under ten people on the PLANET, and they already have a special land set aside for fugitives. What the heck kind of punishment is that anyways? They were already banished from Eden, so he was banished from the banished people. All he did was MOVE.
And then he built a city! In a few decades, maybe a century, Civilization progresses from cave people to urbanization.
Lore
Yeah. This was one of those stories that had me scratching my head.
Actually... I never did think it through all the way, cause I knew if I did, it really wouldn't make sense. Methinks that there are other JWs who do the same.
Regards,
Jim TX
I know there are a lot of holes in the Adam and Eve story and what follows. It would appear, based on the little information we have, that Cain was afraid of other male blood relatives. They must have multiplied like rabbits. What other explanation can there be? Unless, of course, we weren't told the whole story - that maybe it started out with more people than just Adam and Eve.
???
LHG
So, who were these people who Cain felt would kill him?
It was either Alligators or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
It's like the Society's famous answer to: "Where did the offspring of Adam/Eve get their wives?" Answer: "They married their siblilngs." Followed by an explanation that, being perfect, they didn't need to worry about birth defects. I once thought that was perfectly plausible. Now I reallize how idiotic it was to think the Creator of the universe would encourage close relatives to intermarry, knowing this would weaken the line and introduce imperfection to his perfect critters. I must have really wanted it to all be true.
I am amazed at how I just bought all those stories hook line and sinker for years without thinking about them - the WTBTS position gets ridiculous when they try to defend their literal interpretation of the Bible - at least they interpret parts of it literally.
