What can we say about Cain’s wicked sanctuary-city of Enoch? First that it was built with a brother’s blood as its cornerstone. The Church is also built such, for Jesus was the younger brother of the whole Adamic race, slain by that company of older brothers because they hated Him. His death is the foundation of the Church. 

Human sacrifice has always been at the foundation of the cities of men. We see it in the possibly legendary story of the founding of Rome, which came into being when Romulus plowed a circle in the earth and proclaimed himself king and god over it, and then slew his brother Remus the instant Remus put a foot into it without permission. We see it in 1 Kings 16:34, when Hiel rebuilt Jericho on the blood of his first-born son. We see it in the bones of infants slain as “threshold sacrifices” at the entrances of ancient buildings and cities; and in a type in the animal sacrifices that Israel was to offer at the “doorway” of the Tabernacle and Temple, sacrifices of a “son of the herd,” which represented their sons, and pointed back to Isaac and forward to Jesus. In another way we see it in the bloody wars that have attended the foundation of virtually every human culture since the dawn of time. 

Second, we can say that Cain’s city was rapidly founded and grew in strength rapidly, precisely because this sacrifice had been made. The writings of Rene Girard have explored at length the cultural peace and power that comes after an incident of scape-goating and sacrificial murder. In a time of social chaos, someone is found to blame and is killed; then social peace ensues as a result of the psychic relief that such a murder provides — though only temporarily. Cain was downcast and upset, and he placed the blame for this on Abel. After killing Abel, Cain felt good. He felt the burden lift from his soul. He entered into a false sabbath, out of which he found energy and strength, the energy to build a city. 

If Cain had repented, the burden would have come back, though with God’s help he would have learned to deal with it and eventually overcome it. Such a long-term solution Cain rejected. Believing cultures and civilizations grow much more slowly precisely because believers wrestle with sin and personal doubt. Believers are more careful. The wicked do not hesitate to conquer and enslave. They have no self-doubts to hold them back. 

Culturally, the wicked get there first. Cain’s cultural power was based on the release of sabbath energy and reinforced by tyranny. We cannot be surprised to learn that the fathers of agriculture, music, and metallurgy came from Cain’s line. I call this the “Enoch Factor,” that the wicked build their civilizations first and rapidly. But the City of Man cannot last. It must be renewed by more killing, and eventually either self-destructs or is destroyed by another city of man. The “Jerusalem Factor” means that the righteous build more slowly, but more permanently. The final City is the City of God. And as time goes along, we find more and more that it is Christians who are the pioneers of cultural development, as the Jerusalem Factor replaces the Enoch Factor. 

Third, we can ask the question: Who was in this city? From Genesis 5:3 and 4:25, it seems clear that Seth was born to Adam shortly after Cain murdered Abel. Seth was born 130 years after the creation. Surely Adam and Eve had had other sons and daughters by this time. This must be true, for one of the women went with Cain as his wife. And it takes little imagination to realize that Cain and Abel were likely already married. By this time in history there was a company of sons and daughters and grandchildren of Adam, possibly hundreds of adult people, and some of them likely followed Cain while others remained faithful to Adam and Eve. Indeed, since it was necessary for Seth to be born to replace Abel, it may even be that all the sons of Adam followed Cain, with possibly only a few daughters remaining behind. 

(If Cain had already had sons, evidently he felt that only a son born in his new land, in connection with the building of his city, would count as his full heir and inherit the kingship over the city.) 

James Jordan is scholar-in-residence at Theopolis.