The End Time IS here now. Text in Red Bold is the author of this blog, all others are copied from internet. The below article tells the story.
Heidi Hadsell, president of the Hartford Seminary
Hadsell supports the building of the mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks. Hartford established a groundbreaking Christian-Muslim seminary program in the 1970s and has done some of the most innovative and leading work on Christian-Muslim dialogue. Meanwhile, in nearby Bridgeport, Conn., a similar mosque controversy is developing.
• "I'm afraid that politicians have gotten hold of this and are using it to pander to extreme voices that are really Islamophobic. The real issues get lost in the battle. I think theologically, there is nothing inside of Christianity that would indicate that we are to treat people of other religions with anything but the utmost respect and friendship."
• "Christians need to speak out. My guess is they are speaking out and they are not being heard. The voices that are being heard are the more strident voices."
• "I think it's important for Christians across the country to hear what Christian leaders are saying and not just what right-wing politicians are saying. I think people ... get confused unless their own religious leadership speaks up. The noise isn't coming from religious leaders; it's coming from politicians. In the main part, religious leaders are not attacking this mosque. The main part is politicians who are attacking this mosque hoping for votes.
• "If people would just calm down, it could go forward and in a few years people would see it doing exactly what [the mosque supporters] said it would do."
• "The notion that one serves one's own faith by knocking down another faith is false. One serves one's faith by living up to the ideals of that faith. The ideals of Christianity, like the ideals of Islam and Judaism, are peaceful ideals. They are ideals of constructing peaceful and productive relationships with neighbors. The responsibility is to live up to the ideals of one's religion and not sink to the lowest fears."
there is nothing inside of Christianity that would indicate that we are to treat people of other religions with anything but the utmost respect and friendship."
I beg to differ there Miss, copied below is a compilation of articles freely available on the internet, that’s where I got them. If you don’t know how to find them yourself, you were not taught properly in the first place. I have pity on any that are not aware of the stories and truths in the Holy Bible, the WHOLE thing, not the first 5 books, or just the Old Testament, but the WHOLE HOLY BIBLE.
The writing in the Good Book is a blueprint for how we as humans should live. This has become so evident to me since moving to the Philippines. In a predominantly Roman Catholic Nation, very many of the Christian attitudes, principals, and values that I grew up with in America, are lacking here. There are many who already know this.
Recent events tell clearly what time it is. I could site many, but I’ll focus on just one.
On May 30th this year, a “Freedom Flotilla”, auspiciously carrying humanitarian relief challenged the Blockade of Gaza. Read the story to get the full insight, but let’s say that Israel handled itself with Honor, and the rest of the world is not. Obama wants an investigation into Israel’s handling of the event, when Israel’s display showed Honorable intentions by; Only using non-lethal weapons as primary weapons, after many warnings to the flotilla. After it was over Israel in what can only be frames as a Godly Act of Forgiveness, released everyone. What more do you want? What more can Israel do? Where are the ones that should be coming to Israel’s defense? Do you want another Holocaust Stain on our hands before the Lord?
I’m afraid that one thing is true right now, the End Time is here, and nothing that any of us can do will change that. All of us must dig deep within our souls and bring out compassion for other True Believers, but also for those who are not the descendants of Cain. I remember so well my good father explaining to me as I was growing up. I raised the point at the dinner table one evening, that the famine in Africa was so bad. He proceeded to lecture me about the reasons for that. Those reasons are straight out of the Holy Bible, some which are copied below. But first let’s define who Cain and Able was, so we will know Cain’s descendants. All links are active; only right click them, and open in new tab, unless you want to navigate away from this article.
The entire article is great information, however I take no credit for any of it, other people already made this available, I’ve just collected it here. The most important quick information points are near the begining.
In the Hebrew Bible, Cain and Abel (Hebrew: קין ,הבל, Hevel, Qayin)[1] are two sons of Adam and Eve.
The Qur'an mentions the story calling them The two sons of Adam (Arabic: إبني آدم) only,[2] while the names Qabil (Arabic: قابيل) and Habil (Arabic: هابيل) are used in other sources of Islamic literature.
In the Greek New Testament, Cain is referred to as εκ του πονηρου. [3] In at least one translation this is rendered "from the evil one",[4] while others have "of the evil one."[5] Some interpreters take this to mean that Cain was literally the son of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. A parallel idea can be found in Jewish tradition,[6] that the serpent (Hebrew nahash נחש) from the Garden of Eden was father to firstborn Cain.
In all versions, Cain is a crop farmer and his younger brother Abel is a shepherd.[7] Cain is portrayed as sinful, committing the first murder by killing his brother,[8] after God[9] has rejected his offerings of produce but accepted the animal sacrifices brought by Abel.[10]
The oldest known copy of the Biblical narration is from the 1st century Dead Sea Scrolls.[11][12] Cain and Abel also appear in a number of other texts,[13] and the story is the subject of various interpretations.[14] Abel, the first murder victim, is sometimes seen as the first martyr;[15] while Cain, the first murderer, is sometimes seen as an ancestor of evil.[16]
1Adam knew his wife Eve intimately, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, "I have had a male child with the LORD's help."[31] 2Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of a flock, but Cain cultivated the land. 3In the course of time Cain presented some of the land's produce as an offering to the LORD. 4And Abel also presented [an offering][32] — some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions.[33] The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he was downcast.[34] 6Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you furious? And why are you downcast?[35] 7If you do right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it." 8Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field."[36] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
– Genesis 4:1-8 (HCSB
Murder and motive
For convenience, the story can be considered in two sections — 1. murder and motive and 2. confrontation and consequences.Religious sources of the Cain and Abel story can be found in Genesis (950 to 450 BC) in the Hebrew Bible, Sura 5 (Al-Ma'ida) of the Qur'an (early 7th century) and Pearl of Great Price (1851).[30]
[edit] Biblical account (Judaeo-Christian)
The Septuagint has a different verse 7:1Adam knew his wife Eve intimately, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, "I have had a male child with the LORD's help."[31] 2Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of a flock, but Cain cultivated the land. 3In the course of time Cain presented some of the land's produce as an offering to the LORD. 4And Abel also presented [an offering][32] — some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions.[33] The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he was downcast.[34] 6Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you furious? And why are you downcast?[35] 7If you do right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it." 8Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field."[36] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Cain leads Abel to death, by James Tissot.
– Genesis 4:1-8 (HCSB)
Hast thou not sinned if thou hast brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? be still, to thee shall be his submission, and thou shalt rule over him.[37]
[edit] Motives
Though Genesis depicts Cain's motive in killing Abel as simply being one of jealousy concerning God's favor for Abel, this is not the view of many extra-biblical works. The Midrash and the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan both record that the real motive involved the desire of women. According to Midrashic tradition, Cain and Abel each had twin sisters, whom they were to marry. The Midrash records that Abel's promised wife was the more beautiful. Cain would not consent to this arrangement. Adam proposed to refer the question to God by means of a sacrifice. God rejected Cain's sacrifice, signifying His disapproval of his marriage with Aclima, and Cain slew his brother in a fit of jealousy.[38][edit] Abel's death
In Christianity, comparisons are sometimes made between the death of Abel and that of Jesus, the former thus seen as being the first martyr: in Matthew 23:35, Jesus speaks of Abel as righteous; and the Epistle to the Hebrews states that The blood of sprinkling ... [speaks] better things than that of Abel (Hebrews 12:24). The blood of Jesus is interpreted as bringing mercy; but that of Abel as demanding vengeance (hence the curse and mark).[39]
Abel is invoked in the litany for the dying in Roman Catholic Church, and his sacrifice is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass with those of Abraham and Melchizedek. The Coptic Church commemorates him with a feast day on December 28.[40]
[edit] Burial
According to the Qur'an, Cain (Kabil) buried Abel (Habil), prompted to do so by a single raven scratching the ground, on God's command. The Qur'an states that upon seeing the raven, Cain regretted his action [al-Ma'idah:27-31], and that rather than being cursed by God, since He hadn't done so before, God chose to create a law against murder:If anyone slew a person – be it for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.According to Shi'a Muslim belief, Abel is buried in Nabi Habeel Mosque, located west of Damascus, in Syria.
[edit] Underworld
In classical times, as well as more recently, Abel was regarded as the first innocent victim of the power of evil, and hence the first martyr. In the Book of Enoch (at 22:7), the soul of Abel is described as having been appointed as the chief of martyrs, crying for vengeance, for the destruction of the seed of Cain. This view is later repeated in the Testament of Abraham (at A:13 / B:11), where Abel has been raised to the position as the judge of the souls:An awful man sitting upon the throne to judge all creatures, and examining the righteous and the sinners. He being the first to die as martyr, God brought him hither [to the place of judgment in the nether world] to give judgment, while Enoch, the heavenly scribe, stands at his side writing down the sin and the righteousness of each. For God said: I shall not judge you, but each man shall be judged by man. Being descendants of the first man, they shall be judged by his son until the great and glorious appearance of the Lord, when they will be judged by the twelve tribes of Israel, and then the last judgment by the Lord Himself shall be perfect and unchangeable.According to the Coptic Book of Adam and Eve (at 2:1-15), and the Syriac Cave of Treasures, Abel's body, after many days of mourning, was placed in the Cave of Treasures, before which Adam and Eve, and descendants, offered their prayers. In addition, the Sethite line of the Generations of Adam swear by Abel's blood to segregate themselves from the unrighteous.
[edit] Confrontation and consequences
[edit] Bible
9Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
Cain, by Henri Vidal, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
"I know not," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
10Then He said, "What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground! 11So now you are cursed [with alienation][41] from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood you have shed. 12If you work the land, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."
13But Cain answered the Lord, "My punishment[42] is too great to bear! 14Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me."
15Then the Lord replied to him, "Therefore,[43] whosoever slayeth Cain vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold. "[44] And the Lord set a Mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. 16Then Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
– Genesis 4:9-16 (HCSB)
[edit] Qur'an and Sunnah
The story with the motives and the aftermath of the killing is mentioned in Surat Al-Ma'ida Verse 27 - 32[45]:27. Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam. Behold! they each presented a sacrifice (to Allah): It was accepted from one, but not from the other. Said the latter: "Be sure I will slay thee." "Surely," said the former, "(Allah) doth accept of the sacrifice of those who are righteous.There is Hadith in Al-Bukari that tells of the consequences Qabil shall take because of slaying his brother:[46]
28. "If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear Allah, the cherisher of the worlds.
29. "For me, I intend to let thee draw on thyself my sin as well as thine, for thou wilt be among the companions of the fire, and that is the reward of those who do wrong."
30. The (selfish) soul of the other led him to the murder of his brother: he murdered him, and became (himself) one of the lost ones.
31. Then Allah sent a raven, who scratched the ground, to show him how to hide the shame of his brother. "Woe is me!" said he; "Was I not even able to be as this raven, and to hide the shame of my brother?" then he became full of regrets.
32. On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our apostles with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.
Narrated by Sufian Athaouri, from Al-A'amash, from Abdullah ibn Murrah, from Masrouq, from Abdullah ibn Mas'oud, that Mohammad said: "No human being is killed unjustly, but a part of responsibility for the crime is laid on the first son of Adam who invented the tradition of killing (murdering) on the earth."
[edit] Mark of Cain
Main article: Curse and mark of Cain
Much has been written about the curse of Cain, and associated mark. The word translated as mark ('Oth, אות) could mean a sign, omen, warning, or remembrance.[47] In the Bible, the same word is used to describe the stars as signs or omens,[48] circumcision as a token of God's covenant with Abraham,[49] and the signs performed by Moses before Pharaoh.[50]
The word Ot (hard t) in Hebrew also means "a letter" (of the alphabet). Jewish mysticism, among other ancient lores, assigns spiritual ideas or powers to written letters and verses. The Mark of Cain may be a letter, a verse, a message, or a talisman.
The Bible makes reference on several occasions to Kenites, who, in the Hebrew, are referred to as Qayin, i.e. in a highly cognate manner to Cain (Qayin). Some therefore believe that the Mark of Cain referred originally to some very identifying mark of the Kenite tribe, such as red hair, or a ritual tattoo of some kind, which was transferred to Cain as the tribe's eponym. The mark is said to afford Cain some form of protection, in that harming Cain involved the harm being returned sevenfold. This is hence seen as some sort of protection that membership of the tribe offered, in a form such as the entire tribe attacking an individual who harms just one of their number.
Baptist[citation needed] and Catholic[citation needed] groups both consider the idea of God cursing an individual to be out of character, and hence take a different stance. Catholics officially view the curse being brought through the ground itself refusing to yield to, not being in harmony with, Cain[citation needed], whereas some Baptists view the curse as Cain's own aggression, something already present that God merely pointed out rather than added. There are several theories; in the Catholic world one example has been put forth that rather this mark is one of grace, and that perhaps the mark of is that of Abel's blood,[51] by which God is saying, "This man is still mine. Vengeance is mine. I will repay. Hands off!" As the heart of God is always ready to show mercy. This view supports Abel as a Christ figure in paralleling Christ’s sacrifice; here a blood sacrifice which acknowledges guilt and counting himself as guilty seeks atonement (this is in contrast to Cain's sacrifice)[52]
In Judaism, the mark is not a punishment but a sign of God's mercy. When Cain was sentenced to be a wanderer he did not dispute the punishment but only begged that the terms of his sentence be altered slightly[citation needed], protesting "Whoever meets me will kill me!" For unspecified reasons, God agrees to this request. He puts the mark on Cain as a sign to others that Cain should not be killed until he has had seven generations of children. Lamech, Cain's descendant, refers poetically to the "mark of Cain" in Genesis 4:19-24, in a passage which has been subject to several interpretations.
[edit] Wanderer
As Abel's murderer, Cain was commanded to wander the earth in punishment, a tradition arose that this punishment was to be forever, in a similar manner to the (much later) legends of the Flying Dutchman or the Wandering Jew. According to some Islamic sources, such as al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir and al-Tha'labi, he migrated to Yemen. |
| Cain flying before Jehovah's Curse |
Despite these later traditional beliefs of perpetual wandering, according to the earlier Book of Jubilees (chapter 4) Cain settled down, marrying his sister, Awan, resulting in his first son, Enoch (considered to be different from the more famous Enoch), approximately 196 years after the creation of Adam. Cain then established the first city, naming it after his son, built a house, and lived there until it collapsed on him, killing him in the same year that Adam died.
A medieval legend used to say that at the end, Cain arrived at the Moon, where he eternally settled with a bundle of twigs. This was originated by popular fantasy interpreting the shadows on the Moon face. An example of this belief can be found in Dante Alighieri's Inferno (XX, 126[57]) where the expression "Cain and the twigs" is used as a synonym of "moon".
[edit] Legacy and symbolism
 | ||||||||
| 15th century depiction of Cain and Abel |
Another view is taken in Latter-day Saint theology, where Cain is considered to be the quintessential Son of Perdition, the father of secret combinations (i.e. secret societies and organized crime), as well as the first to hold the title Master Mahan meaning master of [the] great secret, that [he] may murder and get gain.[citation needed]
The treatise on Christian Hermeticism, Meditations on the Tarot: A journey into Christian Hermeticism, describes the Biblical account of Cain and Abel as a myth, ie. it expresses, in a form narrated for a particular case, an "eternal" idea. It shows us how brothers can become mortal enemies through the very fact that they worship the same God in the same way. According to the author, the source of religious wars is revealed. It is not the difference in dogma or ritual which is the cause, but the "pretention to equality" or "the negation of hierarchy".[59]
[edit] Literature
As the first murderer and first murder victim, Cain and Abel have often formed the basis of tragic drama. Lord Byron rewrote and dramatized the story in the poem "Cain", viewing Cain as symbolic of a sanguinary temperament, provoked by Abel's hypocrisy and sanctimony.[58] In Dante's Purgatory Cain is remembered by the souls in Purgatory in Canto XIV (14) on page 153, verse 133 saying "I shall be slain by all who find me!", Cain is facing the punishment that God has visited upon him for the sin of Envy, which is a similar play on the words in Genesis 4:13-14 where he says, "I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden retells the Cain and Abel story in the setting of the late 19th and early 20th century western migration towards California. Also, his novelette Of Mice and Men draws elements from the story. Baudelaire is more sympathetic to Cain in his poem "Abel et Caïn" in the collection Les Fleurs du mal, where he depicts Cain as representing all the downtrodden people of the world. The poem's last lines exhort, "Race de Caïn, au ciel monte/Et sur la terre jette Dieu!" (In English: "Race of Cain, storm up the sky / And cast God down to Earth!") Miguel de Unamuno's Abel Sánchez (1917) is a study on envy. Abel receives everything undeservingly, while his friend Joaquín is despised by God and society and envies him. In Thornton Wilder's play The Skin Of Our Teeth (1942), it is stated that Henry Antrobus' real name is Cain and he accidentally killed is brother Abel with a stone. Kane and Abel is a modern adaptation, a 1979 novel by British author Jeffrey Archer. In 1985, it was made into a CBS television miniseries titled Kane & Abel, starring Peter Strauss as Rosnovski and Sam Neill as Kane. In A Time For Everything (2004) by Karl Ove Knausgård, the story of Cain and Abel is retold with a focus on Cain - an introvert and troubled man who gets the reader's sympathy. In this version, God's favouring of Abel is simultaneously a curse for sneaking into Eden past the Cherubs guarding the gate. It is suggested that Abel in fact wants Cain to kill him, or at least this is what Cain believes - though he later regrets his act, and takes his punishment willingly.Hermann Hesse briefly discussed the story of Cain and Abel from a non-orthodox point of view in his novel Demian where he also referred to the gnostic group called the Cainites. In Ishmael, Daniel Quinn puts forth the idea of the story of Cain and Abel being an allegory describing the conflict between agricultural and pastoral peoples in the Fertile Crescent.
The author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, revisits the biblical tragedy in his story "The return of Abel Behena" about a fraternal friendship gone awry.
Some form of legacy or curse of the name is often seen in literature: the monster Grendel in Beowulf is a descendant of Cain. In the epilogue to Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None, the author refers to the Mark of Cain in laying out the clues. There is a Stephen King short story titled Cain Rose Up, in which a college student goes on a killing spree while ruminating on the story of Cain and Abel. In the DC Comics (Vertigo division) universe, Cain and Abel are a pair of fictional characters based on the Biblical Cain and Abel, in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. In the series, Cain is constantly killing off his brother, despite the fact they are both immortals.
Cain was traditionally considered to have red hair; the expression "Cain-coloured beard" is used in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.[58] In addition, Shakespeare also references Cain and Abel in Act III Scene iii of Hamlet when Claudius says, "It hath the primal eldest curse upon't/ A brother's murder!" (Lines 40-41).
Their names are often used in works of fiction simply as a reference, also. In Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, the character of Estragon tries to guess the names of two other characters. He guesses Abel and Cain. One of Jason Bourne's many names in The Bourne Identity and its sequels was Cain, an operative name in the Treadstone 71 program.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to express any opinions about our businesses here or the way we deal with our neighbors. We will try our best to respond to all who make comments if you include an email address.
We are trying our best to support our community in every way we can. Sometimes we face struggles, which interferes with our timetable, but we can only do so much. Please be patient with us, we are doing the best we can.