Cain - where's the critical thinking skills?

by jws 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  jws

  Just read a post on Facebook where somebody is making some wild crazy-talk about the descendants of Cain being the beast of Revelation or something.

  Cain was always a strange tale to me. Don't people use any critical thinking skills when they read this stuff? Everybody knows Cain killed his brother Abel, but do they EVER look at the surrounding tale?

  Let's back up. Cain is a farmer. Abel is raising flocks. First of all, why? Recall that at this time, according to the bible, nobody ate meat. So what was Abel raising flocks for? Were they his own personal harem since I'm sure there was a lack of ladies you weren't related to. And after all, when god was looking for a companion for Adam, he did look in the animal kingdom first. So why not? If god thought it might be good enough for dad, why not me? Ladies, come to daa-aaa-aaa-ddy! Or were they strictly being raised for sacrifices?
  
  So then Cain gets jealous over the fact that god liked Abel's offering better. WTF? What parent has their 2 kids come and give them something and then tells one kid they're displeased with the gift? No matter what it is, a good parent would praise both children. And you're a fricking god. You don't need fruit & veggies or animals to survive. It's symbolic.
  
  So, Cain is jealous and kills Abel. Not that, as far as we can tell, God ever gave them ANY laws that said "thou shalt not kill". Only that you shouldn't eat from one tree. So was this even wrong?

  Anyway, God tells Cain he must wander the earth forever in verse 12, but a mere 5 verses later, he is settling down and building a city. Not a hut mind you, a whole city. That doesn't sound like wandering the earth. That's settling down. So much for everything god proclaims happening.

  And Cain says that if anybody finds me they will kill me. So god puts a mark on him so that nobody will kill him.
  
  So, let me get this straight. Is killing wrong or isn't it? People are just going to run across Cain and kill him? How far are we into creation and god's apex of creation is already running amok. In the programming world, that's a bug and you blame the programmer, not the program.
  
  Oh, but god gives him a mark so that they won't kill him. Wait. Why does he need a mark? I know this is hard for some Christians, but think on this and read it slowly. So if they run across Cain, they're going to kill him for killing Abel. But that's forbidden by god and they'll see the mark and stop. So either they:

  1. know him and want to kill him because he killed Abel. But, if they know him and what he did, they'd also know god said not to kill him or else they'd be cursed. So if they know all this, is a mark really neccessary? Because they'd also have to know about the mark and know a mark means "don't kill". Wouldn't they just be like "oh, it's Cain. Hate that guy, but we can't kill him or we'll be cursed".
  2. they don't know him and just run across strangers and kill them for no apparent reason unless they have some mark?

  And really? At this point, the population is what? Hundreds at the most - IF it's even in double digits. At this point, doesn't everybody know everybody else? They're going to know who Cain is.
  
  I kid you not, people believe this stuff. They read it and say yeah, that's how it happened. This story makes perfect sense and everybody was acting intelligently.
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  OrphanCrow

  jws: At this point, the population is what? Hundreds at the most...

  Where did those "hundreds" of people come from? At "that point"? What point is that?

  Weren't Cain and Abel Adam and Eve's first kids?

  And, who did Cain marry? In the land east of Eden...the land of Nod.

  Who are all those strangers that God was protecting Cain from?? Where did they come from?
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  stillin

  That's true about the animal sacrifice. No Mosaic Law yet, no indication that God was ever happy about people killing living creatures from His creation. If anything it seems like Able was out of bounds. If God likes the smell,of burning meat, like He did after the flood, would it be so hard to burn it Himself? Like He did with Elijah's contest against Baal.

  Cain was bad when he killed his brother, no doubt. But it could have been prevented. Maybe the gene pool for the successive generations would have had less propensity for violence if God had at least "eye-for-eyed" Cain.
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  mikeflood

  Why Abel wasn't able to defend himself? Why this crimen was allowed? Why the 'eye by eye' law was not used? And the discussion continues, on and on....
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  jws

  Why Abel wasn't able to defend himself? Why this crimen was allowed? Why the 'eye by eye' law was not used? And the discussion continues, on and on....

  Well, if somebody sneaks up on you, there's sometimes no possible way to defend yourself. You're hit, you're hurt before you could possibly do anything. And from there, it can all be downhill.
  
  What eye-for-an-eye law? That's the thing. The only law was don't eat from one tree. Unless one of Cain's fruits was from "the tree", no law was broken. And maybe not even then if he was just picking it to give to god and not eating it himself. So why punish Cain?

  Or did Cain really go and get one of the forbidden fruits? Was that the real crime? A forbidden fruit was part of his sacrifice so that's why god was mad and rejected his sacrifice?

  But no, how could anybody possibly get back into the garden to get a fruit? God put an angel guarding it on the east. Because it's not a 3-dimensional universe and there's no North, South, or West, so 1 guard on the east side is OK. What if I came through on the east, but 50 yards down?
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  blownaway

  You are taking one point out of a book full to the brim of lunacy. From Jephthah to Jonah.
  
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  waton

  being a vegetarian was not easy, what with the cursed ground, and then trying to feed a hungry god along with that. And then the meal is not good enough. I would be mad too.

  And the smart aleck, getting rid of the stinky carrion by burning it. smoke will keep the mosquitos away no doubt, and setting all the priests, mediators up with good meals for the rest of mankind's time on earth.

  Met a real, "publishing" flat Earther yesterday, showed him the ocean's horizon from the 3rd floor. did not floor him.
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  eyeuse2badub

  So jehober warns Cain about his dangerous jealousy but he doesn't warn Abel about the danger and that Cain has murderous intentions? I thought that jehober protects his loyal servants? So either Abel wasn't loyal or jehober doesn't really protect? Which is it?

  just saying!
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  Bungi Bill

  Where is David Jay when you need him?

  He would be quick to assure us that the Jewish writers who penned such legends as that of Cain and Abel never intended these stories to be taken literally. Likewise, also for the entire Old Testament!

  So, if the story of Cain and Abel doesn’t stand up too well to critical thinking, there is a very good reason for that - it was never intended to!
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  waton

  it was never intended to!

  and these inconsistencies allow wt to introduce their own, pile their's on top, and pretend it is a sweet smell agreeable to the sniffer. phd pretending.