How to Question the Bible: Genesis 4

 

Here summary of each section in Genesis 4 and the questions that I ask as I read the bible from my atheist point of view.

Genesis 4

• 4:1-2 Adam had sex with Eve. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She gives god credit for helping her give birth. Later, she gives birth to Cain’s brother, Abel. Abel managed the flocks, while Cain worked the soil.
• Sex! lol
• What did god do here? Maybe his part didn’t get written down? Why is Eve giving credit to god for something she and Adam had done on their own?
• Did many years pass without mention? Why would there be no mention of the things between?
• 4:3-5 Both Cain and Abel brought offerings to the lord, Cain brought fruit, and Abel brought fat portions from the firstborn of his flock. God liked Abel’s offering of meat, but didn’t like the fruit, and Cain became angry, with a ‘downcast’ face.
• Why did they bring offerings to god? Did he demand them or were they unsolicited?
• Why did god prefer animal fat over fruit? Why did he make a garden filled with fruit trees, and then look down upon his creation?
• Why would god show favoritism? Does he not love all his children equally?
• 4:6-7 God asked Cain why he was angry, and why his face was downcast. He also asks Cain if he does what is right wouldn’t he be accepted? Then he tells Cain that if he does not do what is right, sin will be waiting for him, sin desires to have him. But that Cain must rule over sin.
• How does God not understand feelings and how people can be hurt when others don’t accept their gifts? Does god not understand human psychology? How much does he understand of his creation?
• What does god mean by right and wrong? Isn’t the only inference of right and wrong in this book so far been simply obedience and disobedience? Is that what god means by right and wrong?
• What is sin? Why is this the first mention of sin in the bible? Has god defined sin to Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel yet? Was it part of the missing years in the story?
• 4:8 Cain asks Abel to come out to his field with him. Once there, Cain attacks Abel and kills him.
• Why did this create such jealousy? If god is all-knowing, did he not foresee this happening? Was god trying to stop Cain from attacking Abel or was he goading Cain into doing it?
• 4:9 God asks Cain where his brother is. Cain responds saying, “I don’t know. I’m not my brother’s keeper.”
• Why did god ask? Is he an all-knowing god? I’ve always said that the only stupid questions are the ones you already know the answer to. Was god trying to catch another person in a lie?
• 4:10-12 God says he does indeed know what happened because he can hear Abel’s blood cry out from the ground. God tells Cain that he is now under a curse, driven from the ground that received Abel’s blood from his hand. God curses the ground so that it will no longer produce crops for Cain, and tells him he will restlessly wander the earth.
• So if god knew what happened, why did he ask?
• Why is god so eager to punish?
• Would a loving god always ignore, punish or neglect those who don’t do as he pleases?
• 4:13-14 Cain tells god that his punishment is too much to bear. Because god is driving Cain from the land, he fears he will be hidden from god, and that during his restless wandering, whoever finds him will kill him.
• Why is the punishment too much for Cain? Does it make a difference where he is, if wherever he goes, he’s cursed? What is the difference with being cursed wherever he was and being cursed somewhere else?
• Is god not all-seeing? Would god disappear if Cain went somewhere else?
• How could Cain be afraid someone else would kill him? Are there other people besides Adam, Eve and Cain on the earth now? Is Cain afraid his mother or father would murder him? Or is he afraid that god would take the form of a human and murder him?
• 4:15-16 God tells Cain that no one will kill him, and if they did, they will suffer vengeance seven times over. God marked Cain so no one would kill him. Then Cain left god’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
• Why does god only sort of punish Cain?
• Why would god protect Cain if he were trying to punish Cain? Protect him from whom?
• Was god in human form? Is that why Cain was able to leave his presence? Can god only communicate with humans if he’s in human form?
• 4:17-18 Cain makes love to his wife, she gets pregnant and gives birth to Enoch. At that time, Cain was building a city and he named it after Enoch. Enoch fathered Irad, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael and Methushael fathered Lamech.
• Where did Cain’s wife come from? Why was there no mention of her before? Did they meet in the land of Nod or was she banished with Cain?
• Why was it important to mention that a city was named after Cain’s son?
• Why is this genealogy listed like this? Were Irad, Mehujael, Methushael and Lamech not important to the story of the bible?
• Were all of these people cursed based on their lineage? Did god hold Cain’s mistakes over their head? Or were they considered innocent?
• 4:19-22 Lamech had two wives: Adah and Zillah. Adah gave birth to two boys: Jabal, the father of people who live in tents and raise livestock, and Jubal, the father of all who play stringed instruments. Zillah gave birth to a boy and a girl. The boy’s name was Tubal-Cain, who forged tools of bronze and iron, and the girls name was Naamah.
• Two wives?!?!?! That’s either extremely cool or extremely stressful!
• Before Jabal, did no one sleep in tents or raise livestock? Didn’t Abel raise livestock? Why would Abel not be considered the father of those who raise livestock? Are all those who live in tents and raise livestock considered descendents of Jabal?
• Before Jubal, did others not play stringed instruments? Is this implying that Jubal invented music?
• What is the significance of Tubal-Cain’s ability to forge tools? Is he the only one that can do that? What’s the importance?
• Why is nothing said of Naamah other than her name? If she was important enough to mention, wouldn’t the mention what she did? Is this just more discrimination against women?
• Were Adah’s children more important than Zillah’s? Is Adah considered superior because she had two boys and Zillah considered inferior because she had only one boy?
• 4:23-24 Lamech tells Adah and Zillah to listen to him. Lamech explains that he killed a young man for wounding him. He tells them that if Cain is avenged seven times over if killed, then Lamech will be avenged 77 times.
• Why did he kill the young man? Why is that story not explained or justified in some way?
• Why does Lamech think that he can be avenged 77 times over? Why was god the one who condoned vengeance seven times over (and implied that he would be the one to enforce it) in Cain’s situation, but not in Lamech’s situation? Was Lamech god?
• 4:25-26 Adam had sex with Eve again, and she gave birth to Seth, thinking that god had replaced Abel, since Cain had killed him. Seth had a son named Enosh. That’s when people started to proclaim the name of god.
• How are Adam and Eve still alive? Is this a flashback like in the movies? How has six generations gone by without Adam and Eve dying?
• What made Eve think god had replaced Abel? If he truly wanted Adam and Eve to have two children at all times, wouldn’t he just bring Abel back? Or stop Cain from killing him in the first place?
• What is the point of mentioning Seth and Enosh?
• Why is it only now that people are proclaiming the name of god? Did Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel not already know of god’s greatness? Why did they not teach others of the deeds god had done?