A Family Affair In The King James Bible

East of Eden, written by John Steinbeck, is a profound, complicated retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel, focused around the overall struggle between good and evil . John Steinbeck wrote this for his own sons, John and Tom, to show them not only the history of their family in the Hamiltons, but also the concept of sibling rivalry emerging from the competition over paternal love and acceptance (Shillinglaw). This was first evident in Adam and Charles Trask, and then in Adam’s sons, Aron and Cal Trask. The absence of a true mother figure in these two instances of brotherly contention enhances the need for acknowledgment and love from their parental figures. And yet, both mother figures in East of Eden choose to abandon their

Now that Adam and Eve had entered into the world outside the garden they were left to fend for themselves. They had two sons Cain and Abel. Cain became a farmer and Able became a herdsman. They both offered God a sacrifice but Abel’s sacrifice

All families have conflicts, and the Price family is no exception. Within the story there is an overriding conflict regarding the Price women‘s opposition to the move to Africa. Beyond this, Nathan has many other conflicts with each of his daughters. Leah and her father had a very different relationship than the other three Price daughters. Leah is the only daughter that wholeheartedly supports her father completely. As the story moves on she is faced with the harsh realities of daily life in the Congo, and begins to see her Fathers faults. She soon wants to be her own person, and not be controlled by her father. The major parent/child conflict arises when Nathan does not recognize his daughter’s

Cain and Abel are the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain is the eldest and Abel is the youngest. Cain is described as the tiller of the ground whereas Abel is the keeper of sheep. Both men know that God requires an offering, but the offering of Cain is quite different from that of Abel. Abel fears God, and because of this he offers the best of his flock to the Lord. He kills the animal and makes a sacrifice of blood. Abel understands that the shedding of innocent blood for the forgiveness of sin is acceptable. He also knows that this action of his is representative of surrendering his heart to God. By contrast, Cain brings what he has grown and gathered from the earth. In a way, a foolish man would think

The first main parent child conflict is how Leah wants her father’s affection. She mainly wants to be accepted and praised by her father but he continually ignores her when she does as things right, but then is harshly punished when one of the girls does something wrong. “The dreaded Verse is our household punishment. Other lucky children might merely be thrashed for their sins, but we Price girls are castigated with the Holy Bible”, (59). These punishments cause Leah to question her father but also praise him for everything he does. She wants to her father to give her affection for her helping the family, but instead she is given the “Verse” more than her sisters ever do.

The Hebrew God was so merciful. In the beginning of the Bible, we learned that the first human was created from dust. God gave him everything he needed to survive and later a companion to

Most certainly all theologians and readers of the Bible interpret Genesis' story of the creation of Earth's first human couple, Adam and Eve, as one of comedy-turned-tragedy, being that their blissful lives were shattered when Satan tempted Eve with the promise of knowledge by eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, the one tree in the garden that God designated as untouchable. However, Genesis does not fill-in the missing background information as to the reasons why man and woman came to be the first rational, mortal creations of God's divinity. Moreover, most believers in the Bible do not know the specific similarities and differences regarding the two humans' characteristics, and how their relationship impact each other as

The Drama of Scripture written by Bartholomew and Goheen takes the reader on a journey through the entire Bible in six short “acts.” The first Act discusses creation and the establishment of God’s Kingdom. In the beginning was complete darkness. Then, God created light and divided the heavens and the earth. He then split the waters and the seas, creating dry ground on which the rest of creation could walk. He proceeded to make plants and flowers and the sun, moon, and stars. He created days and seasons and animals of all shapes and sizes. And then, to add the finishing touch, God created men and women, male and female, He created them. The book states that “the Genesis story is given so that we might have a true understanding of the world in which we live, its divine author, and our own place in it” (Bartholomew, 29). Genesis 1-3, the story of Creation, is prevalent because it introduces the author of creation, humanity, and the creation upon which humanity’s drama unfolds.

Another core belief was the family had a ‘social order’. The father was the head of the household, with mother as the helper (as stated in the Bible) and children were the lowest in the hierarchy. Obedience of the children in the home was expected and demanded. A just love of the children was to discipline the children justly. If the children were obedient then the austerity and goodness of the mother were seen to be her saving grace in the hereafter. However, if the mother was too tender loving and not stern with the

Usually in today’s society many couples place their definition of divorce in what men from the Old Testament placed their definition and circumstances. Lack of growth with each other, falling out of love, meeting other people, financial issues and lacking to maintain a home are only a few samples of the circumstances used today and in the Old Testament. None circumstance are those that Christ gives in the New Testament. Unfaithfulness and spousal abuse (although not mentioned in the New Testament, but indicated)

Cain and Abel were much like any sibling pair that you would see today. In one specific way, they were vastly different. Cain was a worker of the field and Abel tended to the sheep. Both Cain and Abel were sons of Adam and Eve, obviously. Cain was the oldest and Abel was youngest.

When studying any piece of literature there are many different methods and techniques that can be used. The Bible, in specific, is often referred to as a source of moral code, hope, and answers to social, ethical, and political questions. However, this incredibly influential book can also be read as if it were any other novel. The events, settings, and characters can all be evaluated for what they are, forgetting the notion that they are from a religious text. This approach is called narrative criticism. When regarding to the Bible in this way, we do not need to know any historical information or focus on seeking a deeper theological meaning. Instead, the stories are evaluated in terms of how

In book 4 of the Bible the first brother story takes place. It is one of deceit and competition over receiving better blessings from God. This is the story of Cain and

Genesis 1-3 offered the very first outline of societal norms and therein introduced interpretations of norms related to family, gender, and sex. In our now-progressive society, the constraints of indubitable religion are removed and the differing interpretations of gender, sex, and family within religion are freely debated. Since the text of creation is divine and human logic cannot fully interpret or understand God’s word, there are copious, varying interpretations of the text. An essential starting point for interpreting the Bible is the understanding that misinterpretations are bound to happen. The difference in time and context alone is causation, let alone the factors of translation and transcription. Susan T. Foh and Carol Meyers, both graduates of Wellesley College, have very differing strategies regarding how to interpret divine texts. Meyers, a professor at Duke, directed attention towards the context in which the text was written. Since our societies are constantly in flux, the context from when the text was written is often different from the context in which predominant and accepted interpretations were fabricated. Foh’s strategy of interpreting and understanding the text is to utilize latter parts of the text, which were written with more recent contexts, in order to understand the text. Both of these methodologies set up the text to be re-interpreted, however, Foh’s methodology is more complete because it allows the text to speak for itself rather than bring in

In Old Testament, Genesis is considered as history of the earth and human creation. Only from very first few chapters, we can notice that “God [with the power of His voice] created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). He created everything on six literal days, including universe, nature, night, day, animal, and human beings. God showed us how to conduct our weeks as working six days per week, but then He gave us one day, the seventh day, to rest. In other words, after productively working on six successive days, we should spend Sunday to go to church, to hang out with our beloved ones and to glorify the Great I Am. Beyond that, it is such a bless that “God created man in his own image” (Gen 1:27), which also means that He is not distant from His creation. Therefore, we should believe that we inherit some virtues from the Lord God, and He always gets involved in human lives. Applying those virtues in behaviors will help us grow good relationships with other people. Undoubtedly, relationships are life’s biggest joys and biggest sorrows. There are various types of relationships including a superior one, the relationship with God. The very first relationship mentioned in the Bible was the marriage of Adam and Eve. They first lived happily together in the garden until the sin came. However, when God asked, neither of them admitted it. Another broken relationship mentioned in the Bible was between Cain and Abel, the two