{"id":246,"date":"2011-12-02T18:48:37","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T18:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=246"},"modified":"2011-12-02T18:48:37","modified_gmt":"2011-12-02T18:48:37","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjava-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=246","title":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">    var _gaq = _gaq || [];   _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-25646250-2']);   _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);    (function() {     var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true;     ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js';     var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);   })();  <\/script>  <\/heat> Session Nine &#8211; Cain and Abel &#8211; Held on Sunday, November 20, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Last Session Review<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I asked if there were any questions, comments about our discussion from session eight and began with pointing out that the word \u201cworld\u201d is ambiguous.\u00a0 All that God created is good.\u00a0 Christ is the Savior of the world.\u00a0 And the world is darkness, opposed to God.\u00a0 This invites us to know the good and the bad.\u00a0 The culture of America is changing.\u00a0 Is the change all good, all bad, or are we invited to discern?\u00a0\u00a0 What is you answer to these questions?\u00a0 Would you be willing to identify one change in America that you evaluate to be good and one that is\u00a0 bad and, more importantly, why?<\/p>\n<p>Without realizing it, we introduced some philosophy.\u00a0 Ken wanted to know if Black Holes existed before we knew about them; of course, they did.\u00a0 He then mentioned the movie, the Titanic.\u00a0 It was based on a fact but it wasn\u2019t a documentary.\u00a0 From this could we conclude that even if we haven\u2019t found evidence yet for some of people or events mentioned in the bible it doesn\u2019t mean they didn\u2019t exist? Noah\u2019s Arch for example. \u00a0Read on to learn how we respond to this question.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Event and Story<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mark expressed the heart of the issue when he asked what is the event and what is the story. \u00a0Is the story of Cain and Abel like the story of the Titanic, rooted in historical events, but told as a dramatic story?\u00a0 How would you answer that question?\u00a0 If you answer no, does that mean the story is not true?\u00a0 It seems to me that we struggle with believing the truth of the story if the events narrated in the story are not rooted in some historical events or persons.\u00a0 I would enjoy hearing what your opinion on this matter is.<\/p>\n<p>If these questions become our questions, what\u2019s at stake is our world.\u00a0 Mostly our answer are an effort to make sense of our world. \u00a0As the evidence builds, however, it can happen that our answers are mistaken and then our world is challenged.\u00a0 If that occurs, we can feel uncomfortable, fearful or excited, hopeful.\u00a0\u00a0What is gained and lost, if Cain and Abel are two real historical brothers but rather symbols of what happens in family life that begs for an explanation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Story of Cain &amp; Abel<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind our questions, The Time of the Story, the Characters in the Story, and the Plot, as you read Gen. 4:1 \u2013 16 and the notes &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/4\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our group tackled the \u201cwhat is the time of the story\u201d question.\u00a0 Roseann concluded that it must have been shortly after creation but later in the discussion she rephrased her answer to shortly after the creation of the world.\u00a0 Her addition raised a question for Mark.\u00a0 Are there different times involved with \u201ccreation\u201d and \u201ccreation of the world?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Heber pointed out that there had to be time for two children to be born and grow old enough to do the jobs the story assumes. Ken reminds us that the story doesn\u2019t mention a time but agreed with what had been said.\u00a0 But the author in the first two verse states the birth of the two brothers and their adult roles.\u00a0 From a literary point of view the time of the story is mythical time but it is very difficult for us to enter into that time as the discussion of our group might reveal.\u00a0 And not entering into the time of the story can lead to many misunderstandings about the story.<\/p>\n<p>In our discussion of the characters we quickly pointed out the inconsistencies between the story\u2019s time and the author\u2019s time.\u00a0 The author is familiar with herders and flocks, tillers and crops, development of rituals and rites, Cain\u2019s fear of someone would kill him implies others, later we will read of city foundations; perhaps you can identify other inconsistencies.\u00a0 For some to learn of these inconsistencies brings on doubt.\u00a0 For others they are of little moment.\u00a0 I think they make sense once we realize that the author wrote at one time and placed the story in another time.\u00a0 Do these observations raise any questions for you?\u00a0 How can recognizing this help you to hear God\u2019s word more fully, Rise to the Level of our Times. Once again our group wondered if the author is recalling something that has been passed down over the ages or is he creating something from his imagination.\u00a0 What do you think?\u00a0 How does God\u2019s word fit with either of these possible answers? Ken observed that we are so used to thinking of things in a certain chronological order that we instinctively do that with the stories in the bible.<\/p>\n<p>Ken also observed that from the get go it seems God did not approve of Cain\u2019s offering without really saying why.\u00a0 Cain is crestfallen, dejected.\u00a0 But how does the Lord God respond to him, what are the conversational exchanges that occur? For the first time the word \u201csin\u201d is introduced.\u00a0 Not that this is the first account of sin but that this is the first time that it is named.\u00a0 And how is sin described?\u00a0 Three phrases \u201csin lies in wait at the door: its urge is for you, yet you can rule over it.\u201d\u00a0 Lies in wait \u2013 what does that convey to you?\u00a0 Its urge is for you \u2013 what experiences in your life give this phrase emotional presence for you?\u00a0 You can rule over it.\u00a0 Does that seem true to you?\u00a0 It certainly doesn\u2019t for me.<\/p>\n<p>Now the plot thickens.\u00a0 The younger brother is killed by his older brother.\u00a0 Sin has spread to the family.\u00a0 Death comes not from the hand of God but from our hand.\u00a0 Cain asks, Am I my brother\u2019s keeper? Only God is a \u201ckeeper\u201d of human beings. Cain\u2019s question implies that God is Abel\u2019s keeper and should know his whereabouts.\u00a0 But how does God respond?\u00a0 What is the significance for you of the \u201cmark\u201d God put on Cain?\u00a0 What does it means in terms of God\u2019s reaction to violence?\u00a0 In our day and age, if a person is convicted of premeditated murder what is likely to happen to him? What does it mean that Cain left the presence of the Lord? \u00a0Does it imply that God left Cain? Some of us thought that it represented something worse than physical death, namely, separation from God.<\/p>\n<p>Your comments, questions, observations are welcomed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last Session Review\u00a0 I asked if there were any questions, comments about our discussion from session eight and began with pointing out that the word \u201cworld\u201d is ambiguous.\u00a0 All that God created is good.\u00a0 Christ is the Savior of the &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=246\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=246"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246\/revisions\/248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}