2. What is lineage? Great-grandparents Grandparents Parents Children Grandchildren Great-grandchildren Our identity is socially constructed by relationships Most significant relationships are familial To reveal ourselves is to tell our story, where we come from Our identity comes from our lineage
3. What should be our lineage? Society Nation World True Love Child of God Husband Wife Family God is Love-> Life-> Lineage God’s love should be fully expressed through Four Realms of Heart and Three Great Kingships God’s love would cascade through generations Identity: “I am a son/daughter of God” Way of life and tradition: living for sake of others Hospitality to strangers God
4. What is fallen human lineage? Society Nation World Corrupt Love Child Husband Wife Family Way of life: mixture of good and bad, selfish and unselfish Fallen nature Fallen traditions Identity: Confused “ People are deluded into believing that the lineage of the enemy is the lifeline upon which the world depends.” Sun Myung Moon Satan
5. All people affected by the fall Lucifer “ Original Sin” Evil elements Descendants Adam Eve Children Evil elements Evil elements Evil elements
6. We inherited contradictory nature Original nature Fallen nature True love Selfish love Evil inclination Good inclination Born in the midway position Confused identity Changeable
9. Adam in midway position All fallen people have good and evil aspects which then make a base for relationship with both God and Satan God Satan God could not use Adam as he was so changeable Adam
11. Origin of Cain and Abel Positions Spiritual Fall Physical Fall First Son Cain Second Son Abel Outside the Principle Status of Relationship Originally within the Principle More unrighteous Eve’s Motivation Less unrighteous Archangel Eve Adam
19. What indemnity conditions need to be made to restore the fall? Adam Cain Abel Foundation of Faith (spiritual life) Foundation of Substance (removing fallen nature, righteous life) Love God Love neighbour Satan God Placed in the position to have the same feelings as the Archangel
20. Who did Cain and Abel marry? In the Jewish and Muslim traditions each time Eve gave birth she had twins – a boy and girl Abel Cain Eve Adam Aclima Jumelia
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25. Cain and Abel make offerings Cain’s offering not accepted Abel’s offering accepted “ By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man…” Hebrews 11:4 Cain said to Abel, “I will kill you so that you may not marry my sister.” (Commentary on the Qur’an) Cain complained “Your offering was accepted but mine was not.” Abel replied “Allah accepts only from those who are pious.” Commentary on the Qur’an God Cain Abel
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32. Failure in Adam’s family Adam God Cain Abel Foundation of Faith Foundation of Substance Satan Why did Cain murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 1 John 3:12
Identity Who am I? Child of God? Child of Satan? Jew? Christian, Muslim Citizen? Etc. How to tell? Feel value? Self esteem? Self-respect Love life? descent in a line from a common progenitor External lineage - genetic lineage, physical similarities Internal lineage - tradition, spirituality, way of life, culture, love, own treat others. Lineage of respect or abuse; generosity or criminality; public mindedness or self-centeredness How related? Genes for criminality, homosexuality, ‘God-gene’
External lineage - genetic lineage physical similarities Internal lineage - tradition, spirituality, way of life, culture, love Content of tradition is love Tradition of loving children, parents, siblings, spouses, relatives - Confucian Tradition of loving strangers, poor, oppressed, enemies Good Samaritan Abraham - hospitality to guests. Still find in Arab/Middle East “ Could there be anything higher or more precious than to be a son or daughter of God?”
Religious life to reduce evil inclination 5 pillars of faith Violence, sexual immorality Theft, selfishness, self-centeredness
Loss of identity. Identity confusion. Evil inclinations Need to get rid of evil elements inherited from the fall
Born in midway position Identity confusion Pulled this way and that Changeable Unreliable Don’t know who we are Confused
Human nature is corrupted.
the universal tendency to seek out good leaders and righteous friends stems from our innermost desire to come before God through an Abel figure who is closer to God. By uniting with him, we can come closer to God ourselves. The Christian faith teaches us to be meek and humble. By this way of life, we may meet our Abel figure and thus secure the way to go before God. There are many instances in human life which correspond to the situation of Cain and Abel. When we look within ourselves, we find that our innermost mind delights in the law of God. It is in the position of Abel, while our body, which serves the law of sin, is in the position of Cain. We can become good only if our body obediently follows our mind, which directs us toward goodness. All too often, however, our body rebels against the mind's directions, repeating by analogy Cain's murder of Abel. This is how evil grows within us. For this reason, the religious way of life requires that we make our body submit to the commands of our higher mind, just as Cain should have submitted to Abel and followed him.
Lead to enlightenemnt. Fasting meditiation etc.
Abel and Cain have to restore the relationship between Adam and Lucifer – find themselves in a similar situation with similar emotions but have to act differently. Pattern of restoration There is tradition in rabbinic and church fathers that Cain son of Satan
Messiah born to lineage of Abel. God couldn’t send Messiah unless people proved deserved it. Otherwise Satan accuse. What must I do to gain eternal life? I.e. be saved. Reborn by messiah. Love God & love neighbour. FofF = 1st 5 commandments FofS = 2nd 5 commandments Pietism - spiritual life of the individual, coupled with a responsibility to live an upright life.
Ibn Isahaq, commentary on the Quran. He was the first biographer of Muhammad Cain had bad feelings for Abel. He had not overcome his fallen nature. Had not made a condition to remove fallen nature.
Why did Cain feel this way?
Abel should have resolved things with Cain before they made the offering
Abel made acceptable offering and afterwards felt incredible joy and blessing. He was very happy. Cain didn’t do it acceptably and afterwards felt down, angry and empty. He was now in position of Lucifer. Had to be in a similar situation to Adam and Lucifer but this time reverse what Lucifer felt and did. Hebrews 11:14 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain , through which he was commended as righteous, According to Islamic commentary Cain brought bundle of worst crops Sisters Broken fences
Why did God accept Abel's offering but reject Cain's? God received Abel's sacrifice because he stood in a proper relationship with God and made the offering in a manner acceptable to Him Abel successfully laid the foundation of faith in Adam's family. He serves as an example that any fallen person can make an offering acceptable to God provided he satisfies the necessary conditions. Abel fulfilled the indemnity conditions for the restoration of all things and the symbolic restoration of human beings. God had Abel make the symbolic offering for two reasons: first, to have him establish the foundation of faith in Adam's place; second, to qualify him to be the central figure of the substantial offering. God did not reject Cain's sacrifice because He hated him. Rather, because Cain stood in a position to relate with Satan which gave Satan rights over the sacrifice, God could not accept Cain's sacrifice unless he first made some condition justifying its acceptance. The example of Cain shows that in order for a person who has a connection with Satan to return to God's side, he must make a requisite indemnity condition. What indemnity condition should Cain have made? It was the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. Had Cain fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, God would have gladly accepted his sacrifice. -If Cain had made foundation of substance with Abel then God would have accepted his offering. => need to make foundation of substance before making offering! If Cain and Abel had then fulfilled the indemnity condition for the restoration of the children by making an acceptable substantial offering, their father Adam would have shared in the victory of this foundation of substance. The foundation of substance would then have been laid in Adam's family. How should Cain have made the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature? The first human ancestors fell by succumbing to the Archangel, from whom they inherited the fallen nature. To remove the fallen nature, a person must make an indemnity condition in accordance with the Principle of Restoration through Indemnity, by taking a course which reverses the process through which human beings initially acquired the fallen nature. Cain was the one to fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, yet his accomplishment would have resulted in the entire family of Adam fulfilling the condition. How was this possible? It may be compared to the situation of the first human ancestors, who could have helped God accomplish His entire Will had they obeyed His Word. It may also be compared to the situation of the Jewish people of Jesus' day, who could have helped Jesus accomplish his will to bring complete salvation to humankind had they believed in him. If Cain had yielded to Abel and fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, both children would have been regarded as having fulfilled the indemnity condition together. Cain and Abel were the offspring of Adam, the embodiment of both good and evil. Had they unshackled themselves from Satan's chains by fulfilling the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, then Adam, their father, also could have separated from Satan and stood upon the foundation of substance. Thus, the foundation for the Messiah would have been established by the family as a whole. In short, had Cain and Abel succeeded in making the symbolic and substantial offerings, the indemnity condition for the restoration of the parents would have been fulfilled.
Abel should have tried to make things up with Cain before making the offering so that Cain could overcome his fallen nature and establish the foundation of substance. That is Abel’s job – to make it easy for Cain to overcome fallen nature
1 John 3:12 We should not be like Cain , who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. God expected Cain to be able to overcome fallen nature. Even after killing Abel God gave him a chance. Where is your brother Abel? If broke down in tears and repentance could have been forgiven. But hardened heart just as Adam and Eve did. When God asks question giving person chance to repent. God doesn’t judge or condemn. Just asks questions. Cain “I will kill you so that you cannot marry my sister.” Cain complained “Your offering was accepted but mine was not.” Abel replied “Allah accepts only from those who are pious.” Cain told Adam that Abel’s offering had only been accepted because Adam had prayed for him and not Cain
Fallen nature is a misdirected original nature The Archangel fell because he did not love Adam; rather, he envied Adam, who was receiving more love from God than he. This was the cause of the first primary characteristic of the fallen nature: failing to take God's standpoint. To remove this characteristic of the fallen nature, Cain, who stood in the Archangel's position, should have taken God's standpoint by loving Abel, who stood in Adam's position. The Archangel fell because he did not respect Adam as God's mediator and did not receive God's love through him; rather, he attempted to seize Adam's position. This was the cause of the second primary characteristic of the fallen nature: leaving one's proper position. To remove this characteristic of the fallen nature, Cain, who stood in the Archangel's position, should have received God's love through Abel, who stood in Adam's position, respecting him as God's mediator. In this way, Cain should have maintained his proper position. The Archangel fell when he claimed dominion over Eve and Adam, who were his rightful lords. This was the cause of the third primary characteristic of the fallen nature: reversing dominion. To remove this characteristic of the fallen nature, Cain, who stood in the Archangel's position, should have obediently submitted to Abel, who stood in Adam's position. By accepting Abel's dominion, Cain should have rectified the order of dominion. God told Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam should have conveyed this Will to Eve, who in turn should have conveyed it to the Archangel, thus multiplying goodness. Instead, the Archangel conveyed to Eve his evil will that it was permissible to eat of the fruit. Eve in turn conveyed this evil will to Adam and led him to fall. This was the cause of the fourth primary characteristic of the fallen nature: multiplying evil. To remove this characteristic of the fallen nature, Cain, who stood in the Archangel's position, should have been receptive to the intentions of Abel, who stood closer to God, and learned God's Will from him. Thus, Cain should have made a foundation to multiply goodness.
Good fences make good neighbours
Abel stronger than Cain. He said to Cain “If you stretch your hand against me to kill me, I shall not stretch my hand to kill you, for I fear Allah, the lord of the worlds.”
God had no idea that fall wouldn’t be quickly restored. Expected A& E to repent. Expected C&A to sort it. However, when Cain murdered Abel, they re-enacted the Fall, in which the Archangel murdered Eve spiritually.
The failure of God's providence of restoration in Adam's family teaches us something about God's conditional predestination of the accomplishment of His Will and His absolute respect for the human portion of responsibility. From the time of creation, God predestined that His Will be accomplished based on the combined fulfillment of God's portion of responsibility and the human portion of responsibility. God could not instruct Cain and Abel on how to properly make their sacrifices because it was their portion of responsibility that Cain make his sacrifice with Abel's help. Second, even after Cain killed Abel, God began a new chapter of His providence by raising Seth in Abel's place. This shows us that God has absolutely predestined that His Will shall one day be fulfilled, even though His predestination concerning individual human beings is conditional. God foreordained that Abel succeed as the central figure of the substantial offering contingent upon fulfilling his own portion of responsibility. Therefore, when Abel could not complete his responsibility, God chose Seth in his place and carried on His efforts to accomplish the Will, which is predestined to be fulfilled without fail. Third, through the offerings of Cain and Abel, God teaches us that fallen people must constantly seek for an Abel-type person. By honoring, obeying and following him, we can accomplish God's Will even without understanding every aspect of it.
Again God had no idea take such a long time before could again intervene. 1600 years later the earth is terrible. Noah descended from Seth. 10 generations.
