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We continue this week looking at the biblical story of Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-17), specifically observing the actions God takes (and does not take) concerning the question of why He may possibly allow evil to exist in the world. According to the biblical narrative, Cain kills his brother Abel in an act of unquenchable jealousy. In response to Cain committing the first murder in history, God acts in several significant ways, and it is from these subsequent actions that we might glimpse possible reasons why God may have allowed evil to exist in this particular case.
From the Genesis narrative, philosopher Elanore Stump notes some fascinating facts: at the very outset, God counsels Cain about the disposition of his heart, which was reflected in a defective offering. God was not displeased with Cain’s offering of the fruit of the ground; it was the disposition of his heart in offering it. God lovingly asks Cain questions designed to get him to recognize his mental state and double- minded anger. Cain has a double-minded anger because he knows his offering is defective; God calls him out on it, and then Cain gets angry with God for calling him out. That’s double-minded anger.
God asks, “Why are you angry?” Then encourages him, saying, “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” Then, God warns Cain that his anger, if not controlled, will lead to sin. This is God’s first attempt to bring Cain to repentance. After the murder, God questions Cain, once again, in an effort to bring about his repentance; “Where is your brother Abel?” Then, more strongly, “What have you done?” In these questions, God is giving Cain yet two more opportunities to repent. Again, Cain refuses. Out of God’s goodness, He passes judgment on Cain and punishes him. But Cain is still unrepentant, and in his unrepentant state, he cries out to God that his punishment is more than he can bear. God is merciful, and He marks him for protection, in essence putting a hedge of protection around the unrepentant Cain. Finally, Cain leaves the presence of the Lord still unrepentant.
Through all of this, God warns Cain (which he ignores) and provides him three separate opportunities to repent (which he refuses). Then, rather than enact capital punishment, God performs a special miracle exclusively for Cain by cursing the ground only when Cain tills it. Then God sends him out of the land. But before He does, he places a life-long hedge of protection around him so no one will kill him. Think about that: a life-long hedge of protection. All of this He does on the behalf of Cain, the murderer. If God had only done one thing for Abel, Abel wouldn’t be dead. But God goes the extra mile for Cain. Why?
Maybe God is perfect in both cases. Perhaps it was a perfect time for Abel to die. And that is precisely the point; God doesn’t rescue Abel because, contrary to appearances, Abel is not in danger. Abel is found righteous before God. As Christians, we all pray to die at the peak of our righteousness. And the extraordinary mercy God shows to Cain constitutes the best hope of rescue for Cain, who is in danger, not just of physical death but of eternal death as well.
It is important to note that Cain is never mentioned again in the Bible. There is nothing that states that at some later point in Cain’s life, he repents and dies in a state of union with God. To argue that Cain dies in a state of alienation is to make an argument from silence. The Bible does not say that. Either way, the point is that God, out of His goodness and lovingkindness, gave Cain every opportunity to repent because Cain’s personhood was everlasting, and he had infinite value. I challenge anyone to propose a better approach than the approach God took with both Cain and Abel: IT IS PERFECT!
Elenore Stump, whose theodicy I’ve just presented, writes this; “The pain of disease, the unpredictable destruction of natural disasters, the decay of old age, the imminence of death, all these things take away a person’s satisfaction with himself. It tends to humble us, shows us our frailties, and turns our affections toward other- worldly things, away from the things of this world.”
Most people feel a certain dissatisfaction with this world. It is only because of our suffering that we begin to ask deep, important, and proper questions. And the answer to those questions, in part, can be found in the biblical accounting of Cain killing his brother Abel because “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.” And that “fix” is exactly what the good God of Cain and Abel did, and it is what the good God of you and I still does today. And if it takes God allowing evil to exist in the world in order to fix a human defect and to turn men to Himself, that is exactly what we would expect a good God to do.
The existence of evil, pain, and suffering in the world does not defeat the Christian claim that God is perfect precisely because, as we have just seen. God, being of unquestioned goodness, seems to have a morally sufficient reason for permitting evil to exist in the world.
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].
