In his “Biblical Series V: The Hostile Brothers” and in his international best seller 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Jordan Peterson provides a rich interpretation of the story of Cain and Abel. The archetypal brothers both suffer, but their radically different responses to their suffering represent perennial human options.
After becoming self-conscious and leaving the Garden of Eden, “Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord’” (Genesis 4:1). Cain is not just the first-born son, Peterson notes, but the first-born human being.
“And again, she bore his brother Abel” (Gen 4:2). In his book The Beginning of Wisdom, Leon Kass points out that Genesis records no joyous remarks, no gratitude to God, and no maternal pride accompanying Abel’s birth. Like most parents, Eve favors her first-born.
Adam does too. “Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:2). Adam cultivates the garden and invites Cain to join him in the established family business. In ancient cultures, Peterson notes, the first-born son inherited the land tilled by his father, while the other sons had to fend for themselves. This practice had a strong rationale behind it: dividing the land equally among many sons would lead to increasingly small parcels of cultivated land available for farming over the generations, thereby increasing the likelihood of starvation for everyone.
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So, with no mentor to guide him, Abel has to make his way as a shepherd. The sheep like to wander where they will, and this draws him into potential conflict with Cain. Peterson points out, “The herdsmen like to have their herds, sheep, cattle, go wherever they were going to go. The agriculturalists—the farmers—have things fenced off.” The land provides Abel with less social support, more risk of violent death from wild animals, and greater exposure to the elements. So not just their rival social status in the family but also their occupations set Cain against Abel, with Abel getting the lesser part.
How could Abel not notice Eve’s favoritism, Adam’s mentorship of his brother, and Cain’s social status as first-born? Abel is cast outside the home, relegated to keeping company with sheep. If a lion attacks him, who will hear his cry?
Yet Abel’s suffering drives him to self-development rather than despair, Peterson suggests. “He is ignorant and humble, and because of this, he can learn.”
Peterson’s interpretation remains relatively silent about exactly what Abel learns and why he flourishes. Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath provides a possible answer. Armed with a sling and rocks, a good shepherd is a “slinger” who defends his sheep from lions and bears (1 Sam 17:36). “Imagine standing in front of a Major League Baseball pitcher as he aims a baseball at your head,” writes Gladwell. “That’s what facing a slinger was like—only what was being thrown was not a ball of cork and leather, but a solid rock.” Abel learned to defend the sheep and defend himself. If you’ve killed lions and bears, your older brother is not so intimidating. Rather than playing the victim, Abel becomes a warrior.
In his safe space tilling the land near home, Cain does not develop self-reliance or skill in violent means of protection. “Abel is, by all appearances, dancing his way through life,” writes Peterson. “Worse of all, he’s genuinely a good person. Everyone knows it. He deserves his good fortune. All the more reason to envy and hate him.” Cain’s envy intensifies.
“In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions” (Genesis 4:4). Some modern readers might dismiss the idea of sacrifice as a superstitious practice of primitive savages, but Peterson offers a radically different interpretation. Our own suffering is undeniable, so what can we do about it? “If you want to make things better in the future,” writes Peterson, “then you make sacrifices in the present.” Human beings project their existence into the future, and so can work now to make their futures better. “It’s our knowledge of the possibility of tragedy and suffering in the future that motivates us to sacrifice in the present, so that we can reduce the unnecessary anxiety, uncertainty, and pain that awaits us.” Far from exhibiting primitive superstition, “the sacrifices that people were making to God were the dramatic precursors to the psychological idea of sacrifice that we all hold as civilized people in the modern world.”
To sacrifice is human, and to sacrifice for the sake of the greater good is to act with human wisdom. “Modern people have by no means stopped making sacrifices to God, regardless of what they think,” writes Peterson. “Our very belief that hard work and discipline will bring success is a precise but abstracted and refined restatement of the idea that God will shower his grace on the individual who makes the right offering.”
“And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard” (Genesis 4:5). Like Augustine in the City of God, Peterson notes that it is unspecified why God prefers Abel’s sacrifice. This nondisclosure in the story universalizes the message. We often do not know the reason why our sacrifices fail. We can set ort minds to achieve some end, strive mightily in employing all available means at great cost, and come out with nothing but ashes.
“So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell” (Genesis 4:5). Peterson comments, “He becomes jealous and bitter—and it’s no wonder. If someone fails and is rejected because he refused to make any sacrifices at all—well, that’s at least understandable. He may still feel resentful and vengeful, but he knows in his heart that he is personally to blame. That knowledge generally places a limit on his outrage. It’s much worse, however, if he had actually forgone the pleasures of the moment—if he had strived and toiled and things still didn’t work out—if he was rejected despite his efforts. Then his work—his sacrifice—has been pointless. Under such conditions, the world darkens, and the soul rebels.” How does God respond to Cain’s distress?
“The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?’” (Genesis 4:6). God suggests that if Cain acts properly, Cain will be successful. The world is not against him. Indeed, the Creator of the world is trying to help him. He can do something about his predicament. He is not a helpless victim. God reminds Cain of his freedom. He can make the choice to make himself and the world better.
God tells Cain, “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:6). Peterson’s interpretation of this passage is reminiscent of St. John Paul II’s in Evangelium Vitae:
God, although preferring Abel’s gift, does not interrupt his dialogue with Cain. He admonishes him, reminding him of his freedom in the face of evil: man is in no way predestined to evil. Certainly, like Adam, he is tempted by the malevolent force of sin which, like a wild beast, lies in wait at the door of his heart, ready to leap on its prey. But Cain remains free in the face of sin.
Even now, Cain can shut the door on the predator. He can learn to be a slinger. He can take control of his life, make the proper sacrifices, and restore order. “Cain is obviously not very happy about this whole answer,” notes Peterson. He continues:
The last thing you want to hear if your life has turned into a catastrophe and you take God to task for creating a universe where that sort of thing was allowed, is that it’s your own damn fault, and that you should straighten up and fly right, so to speak, and that you shouldn’t be complaining about the nature of being. But that is the answer he gets.
Cain’s anger turns into rage against the injustice of the universe, rage against God. Cain would destroy the universe if he could. He would destroy God if he could. He will destroy Abel because he can.
“Cain said to Abel his brother, ‘Let us go out to the field’” (Genesis 4:8). Cain gets Abel alone, isolated from everyone else in the family. Cain knew that Abel, skilled in the use of violence against predators, could kill him. Cain risks his own destruction to commit premeditated murder.
“And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him” (Genesis 4:8). Rather than imitate his brother, Cain eliminates his brother. In Peterson’s words, Cain commits “fratricidal murder, murder not only of someone innocent but of someone ideal and good, and murder done consciously to spite the creator of the universe.” Peterson points out that such malevolence against the innocent, the young, and the good is re-enacted in various school shootings.
“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” The question, of course, is not about Abel’s physical location, but is an invitation to self-awareness and confession of wrongdoing.
Cain replies to God, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” Rather than a humble confession of guilt, Cain lies and implies that God is out of line in asking the question. Rounding out the sins noted by Peterson, St. Basil of Caesarea summarizes the ways Cain missed the mark:
the first sin is envy at the preference of Abel; the second is guile, whereby he said to his brother, Let us go into the field: the third is murder, a further wickedness: the fourth, fratricide, a still greater iniquity: the fifth that he committed the first murder, and set a bad example to mankind: the sixth wrong in that he grieved his parents: the seventh, his lie to God.
The capital vice of envy gives rise to its offspring.
And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
After destroying his ideal, Cain wanders the earth as a homeless fugitive, alienated from his parents, his work, and his homeland.
Filled with self-pity, the murderer casts himself as the victim, “Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear.’” Like Raskolnikov in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Cain exemplifies the hellish state of a murderer and the principle of Augustine, “the punishment for sin is sin.”
“The Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Genesis 4:14-16). God intervenes to circumvent what could have been the beginning of a cycle of violence. Brother kills brother. Friends of Abel kill Cain. Friends of Cain kill friends of Abel, and so on.
Cain and Abel represent rival responses to the human condition. Self-consciousness gives rise to social comparison. Social comparison gives rise to suffering. Suffering can drive self-improvement or give rise to envy and its sins. Peterson writes,
One brother, Abel, provides an early model for the redemptive savior, as a genuine and voluntary incarnation of Logos. The other, Cain, refuses his responsibility, justifies that refusal with his existential pain and fear, and turns savage, destructive, corrupt and murderous. Thus, two pathways of morality are laid out as primary modes of ethical being, in a world composed of the interplay between chaos and order.
In Peterson’s view, “The story of Cain and Abel is one manifestation of the archetypal tale of hostile brothers, hero and adversary: the two elements of the individual human psyche, one aimed up, at the Good, and the other, down, at Hell itself.” Peterson echoes Augustine, who saw Abel as a citizen of the heavenly City of God, and Cain as a citizen of the hellish City of Man.
To cast oneself as an innocent victim like Abel is easy. But Peterson holds that anyone can be Cain. The lessons of Germany’s Reserve Police Battalion 101, Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago, and Milgram’s obedience experiment suggest that Peterson is right.
Katika kitabu chake cha Biblia, The Hostile Brothers, na katika kitabu chake cha kimataifa kinachojulikana sana, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Jordan Peterson hutoa tafsiri ya hadithi ya Kaini na Abeli. Ndugu hao wa kawaida wote wanateseka, lakini majibu yao tofauti kabisa kwa mateso yao huwakilisha chaguzi za kudumu za kibinadamu. "Baada ya kujihisi vibaya na kuondoka katika bustani ya Edeni, Adamu alimjua mkewe Hawa, naye akachukua mimba na kumzaa Kaini, akisema, ""Nimepata mwanamume kwa msaada wa BWANA.""" Kaini si mwana mzaliwa wa kwanza tu, Peterson aandika, bali ni mwanadamu mzaliwa wa kwanza. <unk>Na tena, alimzaa ndugu yake Abeli<unk> (Mwanzo 4:2). Katika kitabu chake The Beginning of Wisdom, Leon Kass aonyesha kwamba kitabu cha Mwanzo hakirekodi maneno ya shangwe, shukrani kwa Mungu, wala fahari ya mama wakati wa kuzaliwa kwa Abeli. Kama wazazi wengi, Hawa anampendelea mzaliwa wake wa kwanza. Adamu anaamini hivyo pia. <unk>Habeli alikuwa mchungaji wa kondoo, na Kaini alikuwa mkulima wa ardhi<unk> (Mwanzo 4:2). Adamu alilima bustani na kumwalika Kaini ajiunge naye katika biashara ya familia iliyokuwa imeanzishwa. Katika tamaduni za kale, Peterson anasema, mwana mzaliwa wa kwanza alirithi ardhi iliyolimwa na baba yake, huku wana wengine wakilazimika kujitegemeza. Hii ilikuwa na sababu ya msingi: kugawanya ardhi kwa usawa kati ya wana wengi kungesababisha vipande vidogo vya ardhi vilivyotengenezwa kwa ajili ya kilimo kwa vizazi, na hivyo kuongeza uwezekano wa njaa kwa kila mtu. Kuanza siku yako na Public Discourse: Kujiandikisha na kupata insha zetu za kila siku kutumwa moja kwa moja kwenye sanduku lako la barua. Kwa hiyo, bila mwalimu wa kumwongoza, Abeli anapaswa kufanya kazi yake akiwa mchungaji. Kondoo hupenda kuzurura-zunguka popote wanapotaka, na hilo humfanya awe na ugomvi na Kaini. Peterson anasema, <unk>Wachungaji wanapenda kuwa na makundi yao, kondoo, ng'ombe, kwenda popote walipokuwa wakienda. Wakulima wana vitu vilivyofungwa. Ardhi hiyo humpa Abel msaada mdogo wa kijamii, hatari kubwa ya kifo cha kikatili kutoka kwa wanyama wa porini, na mfiduo mkubwa kwa vitu vya asili. Kwa hiyo, si tu hadhi yao ya kijamii ya kupingana katika familia, bali pia kazi zao ziliweka Kaini dhidi ya Abeli, na Abeli akapata sehemu ndogo. Ni kwa nini Abeli hakuona kwamba Hawa alikuwa na upendeleo, Adamu alikuwa mshauri wa ndugu yake, na Kaini alikuwa mzaliwa wa kwanza? Abeli anatupwa nje ya nyumba, akipelekwa kushirikiana na kondoo. Simba akimshambulia, ni nani atakayesikia kilio chake? Hata hivyo, Peterson adokeza kwamba mateso ya Abel humchochea kujiendeleza badala ya kukata tamaa. "Yeye ni mjinga na mnyenyekevu, na kwa sababu hiyo, anaweza kujifunza". Tafsiri ya Peterson inabaki kimya kwa kiasi kuhusu hasa kile ambacho Abeli anajifunza na kwa nini anafanikiwa. Kitabu cha Malcolm Gladwell kinachoitwa Daudi na Goliathi kinatoa jibu linalowezekana. Akiwa na mkuki na mawe, mchungaji mwema ni <unk>mwindaji<unk> anayetetea kondoo wake dhidi ya simba na dubu (1 Sam. "Hebu wazia ukiwa umesimama mbele ya mchezaji wa ligi kuu ya besiboli akikusudia mpira wa besiboli kichwani mwako", aandika Gladwell. <unk>Hiyo ni nini kukabiliana na slinger ilikuwa kama <unk>tu kile kilichokuwa kutupwa haikuwa mpira wa cork na ngozi, lakini mwamba imara.<unk> Abel alijifunza kulinda kondoo na kujilinda mwenyewe. Ikiwa umewahi kuua simba na dubu, ndugu yako mkubwa si mwenye kuogopesha sana. Badala ya kuwa mhasiriwa, Abeli anakuwa mpiganaji. Akiwa katika mazingira yake salama akilima shamba karibu na nyumbani, Kaini hakusitawisha kujitegemea au ustadi katika njia za kikatili za kujilinda. "Kwa kuonekana, Abel anaendelea kucheza dansi maishani mwake", anaandika Peterson. <unk>Kibaya zaidi, yeye ni mtu mzuri kweli kweli. Kila mtu anajua hivyo. Anastahili bahati yake nzuri. Sababu zaidi ya kumwonea wivu na kumchukia. <unk> Wivu wa Kaini unaongezeka. "Baada ya muda, Kaini akamletea BWANA toleo la matunda ya ardhi, na Abeli akamletea toleo la wazaliwa wa kwanza wa kundi lake na sehemu zao zenye mafuta.""" Wasomaji fulani wa kisasa wanaweza kukataa wazo la dhabihu kuwa zoea la ushirikina la watu wa kale, lakini Peterson hutoa ufafanuzi tofauti kabisa. Mateso yetu ni ya hakika, kwa hiyo tunaweza kufanya nini? "Ikiwa unataka kufanya mambo kuwa bora katika siku zijazo, ""anaandika Peterson, ""basi unafanya dhabihu katika sasa. ""Watu hutengeneza maisha yao ya wakati ujao, na hivyo wanaweza kufanya kazi sasa ili kufanya wakati wao ujao kuwa bora." "Ni maarifa yetu ya uwezekano wa msiba na mateso katika siku zijazo ambayo hutuhamasisha kujitoa katika sasa, ili tuweze kupunguza wasiwasi usio wa lazima, kutokuwa na uhakika, na maumivu ambayo yanatuangalia. ""Kutoka kuonyesha ushirikina wa kale, ""adhabu ambazo watu walikuwa wakimtoa Mungu zilikuwa watangulizi wa kuvutia wa wazo la kisaikolojia la kujitolea ambalo sisi sote tunashikilia kama watu wenye ustaarabu katika ulimwengu wa kisasa." <unk>Watu wa kisasa hawajaacha hata kidogo kumtolea Mungu dhabihu, bila kujali wanavyofikiri,<unk> anaandika Peterson. "Kama vile tunavyoamini kwamba kazi ngumu na nidhamu itatuletea mafanikio, ni kwa njia ya kipekee lakini ya kipekee na ya kipekee, tunarudia wazo la kwamba Mungu atamiminia neema yake mtu anayetoa sadaka sahihi."" (Mwanzo 4:5) Mungu alimtazama Abeli na sadaka yake, lakini hakumtazama Kaini na sadaka yake." Kama Augustine katika Jiji la Mungu, Peterson anasema kwamba haijulikani ni kwa nini Mungu anapendelea dhabihu ya Abeli. Usimulizi huo katika hadithi hiyo unafanya ujumbe huo uwe wa ulimwengu wote mzima. Mara nyingi hatujui ni kwa nini dhabihu zetu zinashindwa. Tunaweza kuweka akili zetu ili kufikia lengo fulani, kujitahidi sana katika kutumia njia zote zinazopatikana kwa gharama kubwa, na kutoka na kitu ila majivu. "Kwa hiyo Kaini alikasirika sana, na uso wake ukaanguka". - Mwanzo 4:5 Peterson anasema, "Anaanza kuwa na wivu na uchungu" na haishangazi. Kama mtu anashindwa na kukataliwa kwa sababu alikataa kufanya dhabihu yoyote at allwell, hiyo ni angalau kueleweka. Huenda bado akahisi chuki na chuki, lakini anajua moyoni mwake kwamba yeye mwenyewe ndiye anayesababisha hali hiyo. Kwa kawaida, kujua hilo huweka mipaka kwa hasira yake. Ni mbaya zaidi, hata hivyo, kama yeye alikuwa kweli kusamehewa raha ya wakati - kama yeye alikuwa alijitahidi na labored na mambo bado hakuwa na kazi nje - kama yeye alikuwa kukataliwa licha ya juhudi zake. Basi kazi yake - dhabihu yake - haikuwa na maana. Chini ya hali hizo, ulimwengu unakuwa na giza, na nafsi huasi. <unk> Mungu anaitikiaje taabu ya Kaini? "Bwana akamwambia Kaini, ""Kwa nini umekasirika, na kwa nini uso wako umeshuka?" Ukifanya vema, je, hutapokelewa? <unk> (Mwanzo 4:6) Mungu alimwambia Kaini kwamba ikiwa atafanya mambo mazuri, atafanikiwa. Ulimwengu hauko dhidi yake. Kwa kweli, Muumba wa ulimwengu anajaribu kumsaidia. Anaweza kufanya jambo fulani kuhusu hali yake mbaya. Yeye si mhasiriwa asiye na msaada. Mungu anamkumbusha Kaini uhuru wake. Anaweza kufanya uchaguzi wa kujifanya mwenyewe na ulimwengu kuwa bora. "Mungu alimwambia Kaini, ""Na kama hufanyi mema, dhambi imekaa mlangoni; tamaa yake ni kwako, lakini lazima uishinde"" (Mwanzo 4:6)." "Peterson alitoa ufafanuzi wa kifungu hiki unaofanana na ule wa Yohane Paulo II katika kitabu chake cha Evangelium Vitae: ""Hata ingawa Mungu alipendelea zawadi ya Abeli, hakukatiza mazungumzo yake na Kaini.""" Anamkumbusha, akimkumbusha uhuru wake mbele ya uovu: mwanadamu kwa njia yoyote hajakabidhiwa uovu. Kwa hakika, kama Adamu, yeye hujaribiwa na nguvu mbaya ya dhambi ambayo, kama mnyama mwitu, inangoja mlangoni pa moyo wake, tayari kuruka juu ya mawindo yake. Lakini Kaini anabaki huru licha ya dhambi. Hata sasa, Kaini anaweza kumfunga mnyama huyo. Anaweza kujifunza kuwa mpiga-mshale. Anaweza kudhibiti maisha yake, kujidhabihu ifaavyo, na kurudisha utaratibu. "Ni wazi kwamba Kaini hapendezwi sana na jibu hilo lote", anasema Peterson. "Anasema, ""Kitu cha mwisho unataka kusikia ikiwa maisha yako yamegeuka kuwa msiba na unamshutumu Mungu kwa kuunda ulimwengu ambapo jambo kama hilo liliruhusiwa, ni kwamba ni kosa lako mwenyewe, na kwamba unapaswa kurudisha na kuruka haki, kwa kusema hivyo, na kwamba hupaswi kulalamika juu ya asili ya kuwa.""" Lakini hilo ndilo jibu alilopata. Hasira ya Kaini inageuka kuwa hasira dhidi ya ukosefu wa haki wa ulimwengu, hasira dhidi ya Mungu. Kaini angeangamiza ulimwengu kama angeweza. Angemwangamiza Mungu kama angeweza. Atamwangamiza Abeli kwa sababu anaweza. "Kaini akamwambia Abeli ndugu yake, ""Twende shambani"" (Mwanzo 4:8)." Kaini anampata Abeli peke yake, akiwa amejitenga na wengine wote katika familia. Kaini alijua kwamba Abeli, ambaye alikuwa na ustadi wa kutumia jeuri dhidi ya wanyama wa kuwinda, angeweza kumuua. Kaini alijihatarisha mwenyewe kwa kuua kimakusudi. "Na walipokuwa shambani, Kaini akamwinukia ndugu yake Abeli, akamwua. """ Badala ya kumwiga ndugu yake, Kaini anamwua ndugu yake. "Katika maneno ya Peterson, Kaini anafanya ""mauaji ya ndugu, mauaji ya mtu asiye na hatia tu bali ya mtu bora na mwema, na mauaji yaliyofanywa kwa ufahamu kumchukia muumba wa ulimwengu.""Peterson anaonyesha kwamba uovu kama huo dhidi ya wasio na hatia, vijana, na wema unafanywa tena katika mauaji mbalimbali ya shule." "Bwana akamwambia Kaini, ""Yuko wapi Abeli ndugu yako?"" swali hilo, bila shaka, si kuhusu mahali ambapo Abeli yuko kimwili, bali ni mwaliko wa kujitambua na kukiri kosa lake." "Kaini anamujibu Mungu, ""Sijui; je, mimi ni mlinzi wa ndugu yangu?"" Badala ya kukiri kwa unyenyekevu kuwa na hatia, Kaini anadanganya na kudokeza kwamba Mungu amepita kiasi kwa kuuliza swali hilo." Kuongeza dhambi zilizotajwa na Peterson, St. "Basil wa Kaisaria anatoa muhtasari wa jinsi Kaini alivyokosa lengo: dhambi ya kwanza ni wivu kwa upendeleo wa Abeli; ya pili ni ujanja, ambapo alimwambia ndugu yake, ""Hebu twende shambani; ya tatu ni mauaji, uovu zaidi; ya nne, mauaji ya ndugu, uovu mkubwa zaidi; ya tano, kwamba aliua kwanza, na kuweka mfano mbaya kwa wanadamu; ya sita, makosa kwa kuwa aliwaumiza wazazi wake; ya saba, uongo kwa Mungu.""" Uovu mkubwa wa wivu huchochea watoto wake. Naye Bwana akasema, Umefanya nini? Sauti ya damu ya ndugu yako inaniita kutoka ardhini. "Sasa wewe umelaaniwa kutoka ardhini, ambayo imefungua kinywa chake ili kupokea damu ya ndugu yako kutoka mkononi mwako.""" "Utakapolima ardhi, haitakupa nguvu zake tena; utakuwa mkimbizi na msafiri duniani."" 5 Baada ya kuharibu mawazo yake, Kaini anatembea duniani akiwa mkimbizi asiye na makao, akijitenga na wazazi wake, kazi yake, na nchi yake." "Kama vile Raskolnikov katika Dostoyevsky's ""Jinai na adhabu,"" Kaini anaonyesha hali ya kuzimu ya muuaji na kanuni ya Augustine, ""hukumu ya dhambi ni dhambi.""" Kisha Kaini akaenda mbali na uso wa Bwana, na kukaa katika nchi ya Nod, mashariki ya Edeni <unk> (Mwanzo 4:14-16). Mungu anajitahidi kuzuia kile ambacho kingeweza kuwa mwanzo wa mzunguko wa jeuri. Ndugu huua ndugu. Marafiki wa Abeli wanamwua Kaini. Marafiki wa Kaini waliwaua marafiki wa Abeli, na wengineo. Kaini na Abeli wanawakilisha majibu yanayopingana kwa hali ya kibinadamu. Kujiona kuwa mtu wa kawaida huchochea kulinganisha mambo na wengine. Kulinganisha watu kwa njia ya kijamii husababisha mateso. Kuteseka kunaweza kuchochea kujitengenezea au kusababisha wivu na dhambi zake. "Peterson anaandika, ""Ndugu mmoja, Abeli, hutoa mfano wa mapema kwa Mwokozi wa ukombozi, kama uumbaji wa kweli na wa hiari wa Logos.""" Kaini anakataa kuwajibika, anajitetea kwa maumivu na hofu yake ya kuwepo, na anakuwa mkatili, mharibifu, mchafu na muuaji. Hivyo, njia mbili za maadili zimewekwa kama njia za msingi za kuwa na maadili, katika ulimwengu ulioundwa na mwingiliano kati ya machafuko na utaratibu. "Kwa maoni ya Peterson, ""hadithi ya Kaini na Abeli ni moja ya maonyesho ya hadithi ya archetypal ya ndugu adui, shujaa na mpinzani: vipengele viwili vya mtu binafsi psyche, moja lengo juu, katika wema, na nyingine, chini, katika Hell Augustine mwenyewe.""Peterson echoes, ambaye aliona Abeli kama raia wa City ya mbinguni ya Mungu, na Kaini kama raia wa Hellish City ya Mtu." Ni rahisi kujifanya kuwa mhasiriwa asiye na hatia kama Abeli. Lakini Peterson anasema kwamba mtu yeyote aweza kuwa Kaini. "Mfano wa ""Kikosi cha Polisi cha Hifadhi ya 101"" cha Ujerumani, ""Kikosi cha Solzhenitsyn cha Gulag,"" na ""Kikosi cha Milgram cha Utii"" vinaonyesha kwamba Peterson ana haki."