A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION

A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION

Sunday, July 01, 2018

   Genesis [GNB] 4:1-8 Then Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she became pregnant. She bore a son and said, "By the LORD's help I have gotten a son." So she named him Cain. Later she gave birth to another son, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, but Cain was a farmer. After some time Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the LORD. Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering, but he rejected Cain and his offering. Cain became furious, and he scowled in anger. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face? If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling; but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it." Then Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out in the fields." When they were out in the fields, Cain turned on his brother and killed him.

   James 4:1-4 Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you. You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill; you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures. Unfaithful people! Don't you know that to be the world's friend means to be God's enemy? If you want to be the world's friend, you make yourself God's enemy.

  Murders in Omaha, Nebraska, Tucson, Arizona, plus other locales. As I flipped channels I heard psychobabble explanations from experts on what likely motivated the murderers.

  Indeed political paranoia, dysfunctional family, angst, sense of rejection, self-pity, resentment et al may be contributing factors for individual or group, professing Christian or not, but they’re never the base cause. Who does not suffer adverse situation and emotion at times? But does every adverse condition or emotion lead to mayhem, chaos, or murder by individual or group?

  Once again, what does God’s Word say . . . what is to be our worldview?

  Please bear with me as I role play a bit as Dr. Edwardo el Toro P.S. (Psychobabilist Supremo), explaining the first recorded murder, why Cain murdered Abel. “This young man had serious psychological issues. Not only was he the firstborn, what we like to refer to as ‘the experimental child’, the son that novice parents typically have exceptional expectations of. He lived in an insecure family, the father still accusatory and resentful toward Cain’s mother for having in their early married life hung out with the wrong company instead helping her husband harvest potatoes and tomatoes and frolic with Leo and Lambkins; she consequently making a disastrous decision, then seducing him to participate, and thereby losing their beautiful peaceful habitat resulting in new unfamiliar constant watchfulness and heavy labor to survive. Along with this their sex life was never the same as in the old wonderful domicile among the flowers. Constantly mulling over paradise lost, they argued regularly blaming one another. Plus, they suffered onus of rejection and guilt at every turn of shovel, uprooting of weeds and chopping briars, plus learning new skills such as how to keep harvests from rotting. Also, Adam was constantly stressed by reviewing questions ‘Why did Jehovah give me this woman? Wasn’t there better available? And why in the world did Jehovah allow that tree and that creature in our yard in the old neighborhood?!’”

  “Oh my yes, yes, Cain was a troubled young man. If only he had come to me or Dr. Phil earlier, he could have been saved and even done good works . . . a vegetarian food pantry maybe?”

  As Christians, we must never cloud our vision with worldly explanations contrary to the Word: none of us are inherently good people (Ps.14:1-3; Rom.3:10, 23); we all are sinful in nature (Rom.8:3); “desperately wicked”, of ourselves capable of evil (Jer.17:9).

  Why did Cain and many since murder? As with Cain, they rejected Jehovah God’s merciful direction and provision, instead choosing their own way. 

EBB4