Cain, Abel, and the Politics of God : An Agambenian Reading of Genesis 4:1-16

The Genesis story of Cain’s murder of Abel is often told as a simplistic contrast between the innocence of Abel and the evil of Cain. This book subverts that reading of the Biblical text by utilising Giorgio Agamben’s concepts of homo sacer, the state of exception and the idea of sovereignty to re-examine this well-known tale of fratricide and bring to the fore its political implications. Drawing from political theory, philosophy, and psychoanalysis, this book creates a theoretical framework from which to do two things: firstly, to describe and analyse the history of interpretation of Genesis 4:1-16, and secondly to propose an alternative reading of the Biblical text that incorporates other texts inside and outside of the Biblical canon. This intertextual analysis will highlight the motives of violence, law, divine rule, and the rejected as they emerge in different contexts and will evaluate them in an Agambenian framework. The unique approach of this book makes it vital reading for any academic with interests in Biblical Studies and Theology and their interactions with politics and ethics. Julián Andrés González Holguín is an assistant professor of Old Testament at Church Divinity School of the Pacific and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, USA. He is a steering committee member of AAR "Sacred Texts, Theory and Theological Construction" group, a graduate from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, and a Latino migrant scholar raised in Colombia with interests in postcolonial, feminist, and political theory in the interpretation of texts. Cover 1 Title 6 Copyright 7 Dedication 8 Contents 10 Acknowledgements 12 Abbreviations 14 Introduction 16 The purpose of this study 16 Reception history: exceptional text/text of exception 20 Theoretical framework: Agamben, Rancière, and Kristeva 22 Giorgio Agamben’s concepts of sovereignty, Homo sacer, and the state of exception 23 Jacques Rancière’s concepts of dissensus and ethical community 28 Julia Kristeva’s critical-psychoanalytic concept of foreignness 30 1 Cain’s evil nature: a story of otherness 38 Othering Cain: pre-Augustinian interpretations 40 Who’s your daddy? 40 Are we brothers? 43 Farmers against shepherds? 45 It’s the thought that counts 46 Say what? 50 The killing field and the gap filling 53 Of brothers and keepers 55 Who cursed whom? 57 Crime and punishment 60 Synopsis 62 The tale of two cities: Augustinian interpretation of Genesis 4:1–16 62 The origins 64 The destinies 65 The mark of Cain 68 2 God’s intervention: a story of othering 86 The political character of biblical interpretation 88 Reading a conflict/conflicting readings 90 Thanksgiving or arrogance? 91 Shepherd or farmer? 95 Complaint or contrition? 102 Protection or abandonment? 103 3 Cain speaks back to Augustine: a critical reading from Byron to Vallejo 118 What is Cain? 119 Augustine and Byron: similarities in the differences 121 A critical reading of Cain: A Mystery 123 The Cain within us: Jorge Luis Borges 157 Reaching for the other: César Vallejo 158 Los dados eternos/The eternal dice 160 Voy a hablar de la esperanza/I am going to speak about hope 164 Conclusion 167 4 Genesis 4:1–16: the paradoxical narrative 180 Paradoxes of sovereignty 181 Paradoxes of desire 188 Paradoxes of guilt 195 Epilogue 204 Index 206 "The Genesis story of Cain's murdifer of Abel is often told as a simplistic contrast between the innocence of Abel and the evil of Cain. This book subverts that reading of the Biblical text by utilising Giorgio Agamben's concepts of homo sacer, the state of exception and the idea of sovereignty to re-examine this well-known tale of fratricide and bring to the fore its political implications. Drawing from political theory, philosophy, and psychoanalysis, this book creates a theoretical framework from which to do two things: firstly, to describe and analyse the history of interpretation of Genesis 4:1-16, and secondly to propose an alternative reading of the Biblical text that incorporates other texts inside and outside of the Biblical canon. This intertextual analysis will highlight the motives of violence, law, divine rule, and the rejected as they emerge in different contexts and will evaluate them in an Agambenian framework. The unique approach of this book makes it vital reading for any academic with interests in Biblical Studies and Theology and their interactions with politics and ethics."--Provided by publisher