AUCX 190: MEDITERRANEAN STUDIES: Genesis (Day Two: Chapters 4, 6-9)

Cain & Abel:

4) The mark of Cain is an ambiguous mark and only God and Cain can see it. This mark might be able to be felt by his loved ones or those that wish to kill him. I do not see this mark as a protection, but a curse. Cain does not wish to live with his punishment after he has killed his brother. By God marking him he has made sure that Cain will live his full life in despair, wandering alone.

5) If arts, culture, music, etc. rises from the family of a murderer that does not mean a bad thing. If principles are practiced in a negative way continuously because of these cultures, that is bad. Things may develop from the family of a murderer, just because Cain had bad blood it does not mean his whole family is evil. Good creations can come from previous evil people. Culture and civilization are constantly changing so ancient creations will have little effect on the current molds.

Noah: A major theme present in these readings is that God responds to disobedience with disappear. God is not thinking clearing about this reaction to issue that occur with his creations. When Eve and Adam disobey and eat the fruits he casts them out and curses them. This punishment may not be a bad thing, but the Lord sees it this way. When human kind does not fall under God's standards he just kills them along with everything else on Earth. This decision is not only harsh, but not thought through at all. God is seen as an all powerful being, but instead of allowing humans to grow and aiding in the process he just kills almost the whole population.

Later in the text, the Lord claims he will never destroy humans again like he did. One can only wonder when God could strike again. I am interested to see what happens in the rest of the Old Testament and even the New Testament. God may have created humans in his image, but how he is reacting to human behavior seems like there is a feeling of regret towards creation of humans.