The Allegory of Cain and Abel

In the first episode, I talked about the allegory of The Garden of Eden. I included some references to the creation story. As a reminder, these stories are found in Genesis One and they represent the author’s attempt to address the classic philosophical questions: who are we, and where did we come from? As I was considering several topics for this week’s lesson, I came across a talk I had done some time back on the story of Cain and Abel. It occurred to me that this would be a natural continuation of the previous lesson, as well as an interesting view from the perspective of metaphysical interpretation. The story of Cain and Abel is found in Genesis 4. The passage tells of Adam and Eve’s offspring: Cain, the older brother, and Abel, the younger brother. Cain, we are told, was a tiller of the earth. Abel, a keeper of sheep. According to the story, the time came (the ancient practice began, we could say) of giving offerings to the Lord. Cain made an offering from his work as a tiller of the earth, and Abel made an offering from his firstlings of this flock. Scripture then tells us that “the Lord had regard for Abel and his offerings, but for Cain and his offerings he had no regard”. In other words, God accepted the offering of one brother, but not of the other even though there is no indication that one was made with less love or reverence than the other. It only tells us that they were different. This disregard for this offering caused Cain to become angry and disillusioned with the Lord to the point where his anger led him to murder this brother Abel. What are we to make of this story in which the first family feud leads to the first homicide on the planet? Would it not have been easier, and the act of a loving God to have equally accepted both offerings? Why did God favor one over the other? God surely must have known the potential end results?