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Is God Dead?
Last week, we introduced and then began to unpack the biblical story of Cain killing his brother Abel (Gen 4:1-17), all the while maintaining a keen focus upon God’s character and His justice in an attempt to gain a better understanding of why God may possibly allow evil to exist. To help keep that keen focus upon God’s character and His actions in the face of evil, we made the following doctrinal observation as summarized by the Christian philosopher Elenaore Stump: “Orthodox Christian doctrine holds that persons once created are everlasting and are of infinite value. If they become defective, it is up to a good God not to eliminate them, but to fix them if He can.”
Picking up the story: after the murder, when He comes to punish Cain, God doesn’t kill him. There is no blood for blood, or eye for eye, no tooth for tooth. There is no life for life. Instead, God first brings about a special miracle on behalf of Cain by cursing the ground when and wherever Cain tills it. Then, God sends Cain away to wander “the land of Nod” (Gen 4:16). “Nod,” by the way, is a Hebrew word meaning “to wander.” But before he sends him away, God takes pity on Cain and marks him so no one who finds him will kill him. Something important to note: a bit further along in the story, we read that Cain marries, has children, and establishes a city he names Enoch after his son (Gen 4:17).
Now it seems to me Cain’s life after he commits the first murder in history, really doesn’t seem that bad. Meanwhile, his brother, righteous Abel, is cold, and dead, and in the ground. No doubt, this story seems to be filled with injustice, and God is right in the middle of it.
First, God could have intervened and warned Abel about Cain’s intent. However, doing so infringes upon the free will of both Abel and Cain. God can’t fix the defect in those who refuse. In other words, man must freely will for God to fix his defective will. But, if God so infringed upon our free will, why not back that same argument up to Adam and Eve? Why didn’t God intervene and keep Eve from going to the Tree while Satan was there? Or we could go back even one step further; why didn’t God intervene and stop Lucifer from recruiting 1/3 of the angels?
In fact, today, why can’t God follow each one of us around today and manipulate the world so that evil never touches us? He could do that, as we determined a few weeks ago. He could have done that for Eve, He could have done that for the angels, and He could have done that for righteous Abel. But it’s not in the character of God to be a deceiver. He would have been deceiving the angels, He would be deceiving Abel, and He would be deceiving us today. We would be living in a false world, a false world where we could never learn what was good for us or what was bad for us. We would be living in a false world in which there would be no opportunity to make moral choices, no opportunity for moral growth, and no opportunity for sanctification. More than that, there is no capacity to truly love without human free will.
Rather, consider this: Abel presents an offering pleasing to God. The ESV says God had regard for his offering. Another version says God looked with favor on his offering. The Jewish Tanak, the Hebrew Bible, says, “The Lord paid heed to Abel’s offering.” Also, remember the Hebrew writer tells us that God commended Abel as righteous because of his offering. The point is this: at the time of his death, Abel is in righteous standing with God. It has been beautifully summarized by Professor Stump this way; “From a Christian point of view, the thing to be avoided at all cost is not dying, but dying badly; what concerns the Christian about death is not that it occurs but that the timing and mode of death be such as to constitute the best means of ensuring eternal union with God.”
If, as Christians, we truly practice what we preach, isn’t this the very best time for Abel to die? He is righteous before God. If he goes on living, he faces a life of uncertainty, a morally dangerous journey, and it is quite possible he may die at some point later in a less righteous state. As Christians, we should all hope to die at the very peak of our righteousness before God ----- even if that means dying young. That’s why sanctification is such an important and ongoing process.
Unfortunately, it seems I have exhausted my space for now. Join us next week when we will pick up the story, paying particular attention to God’s actions after Cain kills his brother, Abel, looking to shed light on why God may allow evil and suffering to exist. Until then, be mindful that, in one way or another, everyone answers the question, is God dead?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife, Vicki, are members of the Waurika church of Christ, and live in Ardmore, OK. You can contact him at [email protected].
