Lecture: Biblical Series V: Cain and Abel: The Hostile Brothers

Bible Series V: Cain and Abel: The Hostile Brothers

The account of Cain and Abel is remarkable for its unique combination of brevity and depth. In a few short sentences, it outlines two diametrically opposed modes of being -- both responses to the emergence of self-consciousness and the knowledge of good and evil detailed in story of Adam and Eve.

Cain's mode of being -- resentful, arrogant and murderous -- arises because his sacrifices are rejected by God. This means that his attempts to give up something valuable in the present to ensure prosperity in the future are insufficient. He fails, in consequence, to thrive, as he believes he should, and becomes bitter, resentful and murderous.

Abel's mode of being is characterized, by contrast, by proper sacrifice -- by the establishment of balance between present action and future benefit. This ensures his personal and social success, accruing over time. Unfortunately, it also makes him the target of Cain's malevolence.

This great short story is relevant personally, on the level of the family, and politically, all with equal force, all simultaneously.

Producer Credit and thanks to the following $200/month Patreon supporters. Without such support, this series would not have happened: Adam Clarke, Alexander Meckhai’el Beraeros, Andy Baker, Arden C. Armstrong, Badr Amari, BC, Ben Baker, Benjamin Cracknell, Brandon Yates, Chad Grills, Chris Martakis, Christopher Ballew, Craig Morrison, Daljeet Singh, Damian Fink, Dan Gaylinn, Daren Connel, David Johnson, David Tien, Donald Mitchell, Eleftheria Libertatem, Enrico Lejaru, George Diaz, GeorgeB, Holly Lindquist, Ian Trick, James Bradley, James N. Daniel, III, Jan Schanek, Jason R. Ferenc, Jesse Michalak, Joe Cairns, Joel Kurth, John Woolley, Johnny Vinje, Julie Byrne, Keith Jones, Kevin Fallon, Kevin Patrick McSurdy, Kevin Van Eekeren, Kristina Ripka, Louise Parberry, Matt Karamazov, Matt Sattler, Mayor Berkowitz , Michael Thiele, Nathan Claus, Nick Swenson , Patricia Newman, Robb Kelley, Robin Otto, Ryan Kane, Sabish Balan, Salman Alsabah, Scott Carter, Sean C., Sean Magin, Sebastian Thaci, Shiqi Hu, Soheil Daftarian, Srdan Pavlovic, Starting Ideas, Too Analytical, Trey McLemore, William Wilkinson, Yazz Troche, Zachary Vader

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[Kingtroy]

“There’s still a little Cain on you no matter how Abel you are”

Loved that

[chasejennings]

Jordan. I was suicidal for months until I listened to your lectures. You saved my life sir. Thank you

[danielbuckman]

Hearing him choke back tears over his daughters medical struggles is very humbling

[badvibesMP]

Man, youve helped me through so much Dr Peterson.

I went from being a homeless PTSD riddled drug addict spiralling into chaos with absolutely no view of the future to a strong father, studying psychology at university with an awesome job supporting autistic and schizophrenic adults.

My life has absolutely turned upside down because I learned many very important lessons from you, the most important being that if I do not brave the unknown and throw myself out there and really try to turn everything around, then the chaos will swallow me whole.

Its been a rough journey, and I am only 6 months clean after a 16 year addiction, but through you I learned that life is not worth living if it doesnt involve hardship, and that hardship is the universe (or gods) way of essentially chizzling away at me to create something stronger.

Thank you so much man. I really hope you understand how much of a force of good you are to an unbelievable amount of people. The love that many have for you definitely outweighs the hate that others have for you.

[daviszollars]

Im 22, been manicly depressed for no reason since 12. Thanks to open diolouge like this I finally see a bright future for me.

[cparksaffluent]

“There is still a little Cain in you no matter how Able you are” #BARS 🔥

[sandraiventosch]

How can anyone find this true gentleman offensive or controversial? He is an absolute delight. I am so thankful to have found his lectures. His insights are fresh and his delivery is engaging, but. most of all, he is quite sincere and kind.

[SteadyEddie]

This man is the father of every wayward son on the internet. Absolutely LOVE this man.

[educatedfool]

A Jordan Peterson Lecture a day, keeps the chaos away

[bridgerarnold]

I'm atheist, and I've never been so damn excited for a lecture on the Bible. Thanks Dr. P.

[Earthsky]

I have to admit after having recently achieved an honourary science degree, i'm one of those arrogant educated people that sees certain jobs as beneath him and feels slighted that the world hasn't just layed at my feet in awe....This video has made me realise that seeing intelligence as the be all and end all can be very self destructive.

[milo]

When he talks about Mikhaila and the trouble she has passed through you can really feel the pain. Now she is doing great, she is healthy, she is a really awesome and productive person. This man is a real example that you can overcome anything if you really put the effort, the love and have a little bit of luck at some point of your life. This lectures are a watershed in my life. Thank you so much for your human labor, Jordan

[TurboSol]

I love the sub-culture of Jordan Peterson video watchers, these are my people right here, open minded, highly curious and all here to better themselves. You know if we could sort ourselves out roughly speaking, we will be bettering the lives of everyone we have contact with automatically, this is an incredible thought since this will have a butterfly effect and ripple through history, a tiny thing yet can alter history for humans forever, if that doesn't motivate you I don't know what will. Now go ye and SORT!

[claudes.whitacre]

I'm an atheist. But Peterson is one of the few thinkers that ignite a passion for ....thinking. What a pleasure to listen to a man who has spent a great deal of time working things out, and letting us listen in. He's smarter than I am, and never boring. He has shaken my view of religion. I'm still a non'believer, but he has shown my folly in ignoring the lessons to be learned by studying the stories of the Bible as Metaphor.

[theseabast]

Jordan: "I don't know how far we'll get in this lecture but I hope to get through a few chapters."

Jordan an hour later: "So here's how you cook the potatos..."

[SayelorYT]

# TIMESTAMPS

- Introduction → 00:00 - 36:45
- 5:46 - Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life Reading (Motif of Sacrifice)
- 8:21 - Motif of Sacrifice in the modern world → If you wanna make things better in the future you sacrifice in the present
- 12:01 - Motif of Sacrifice in the Old testament
- 13:22 - Marshmallow Test
- 18:07 - More of Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life Reading
- 19:01 - We watched each other for thousands of years and realized the successful among us sacrifice, the greatest among us delay gratification
- 20:01 - What is the greatest possible sacrifice for the greatest possible good?
- 21:40 - The world is revealed through the template of your values. You see what you aim at.
- 21:56 - The invisible gorilla experiment (we see what we aim at)
- 24:25 - It could be the thing you're clinging to most that is causing you the most pain
- 27:33 - Israelites always maintain the attitude: "if things are not going the way we want them to go then we cannot curse God, we must look towards ourselves".
- 30:04 - Deadwood Motif, Harry Potter explanation
- 33:00 - The Pathological Totalitarianism of the Soviet Union (We already have all the answers because everything is perfect and you don't get to admit to your own suffering).

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- Sacrifice Motif → 36:45 - 1:00:31
- 36:45 - How to Catch a Monkey (The animal will not sacrifice the part for the whole)
- 40:01 - We mastered fire 2-3 million years ago
- 41:32 - What's the biggest sacrifice? You or your child?
- 42:58 - What’s the role of a mother?
- 46:31 - What’s the sacrifice of the mother?
- 48:10 - Peterson’s mother
- 52:01 - The ultimate sacrifice of value
- 54:34 - Things you don’t know until you have a baby

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- The story of Cain and Abel → 1:00:31 - 1:36:18
- 1:01:19 - Cain and Abel are the first two human beings
- 1:02:15 - Right as humanity enters history at the end of Adam and Eve then the archetypal patterns for human behavior are instantly presented.
- 1:02:41 - The first two humans engage in a struggle that ends in the death of the best one of them
- 1:03:07 - Hostile Brothers (Older brother has advantages)
- 1:05:05 - The Old Testament is a harsh book
- 1:06:06 - Sacrifice is not primitive, it might be the greatest idea humans came up with.
- 1:08:32 - The eternal battle between agriculturalists and herdsman
- 1:10:46 - Abel and Cain’s sacrifices
- 1:12:12 - Peterson's children
- 1:13:25 - Cain gets angry
- 1:16:05 - Hitler Admiration
- 1:17:19 - Cain and Abel represent two potential patterns of destiny
- 1:19:00 - Cain and Abel Image 1
- 1:20:11 - Cain and Abel Image 2
- 1:21:41 - Carl Jung’s Idea of the Self
- 1:22:41 - Cain and Abel Image 2
- 1:24:25 - What do you have? A MISERABLE LIFE!
- 1:25:58 - Cain and Abel Image 2
- 1:26:33 - “Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doesn’t well, shalt thou not be accepted”
- 1:27:38 - Peterson's friend
- 1:30:25 - Diner story

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- The Story of Cain and Abel Continued → 1:30:32 - 2:00:36
- 1:30:26 - How you can voluntarily have a relationship with hell
- 1:35:25 - That's not breakfast, that's hell.
- 1:36:24 - God tells Cain sin came to his door and he invited her involuntarily
- 1:37:37 - Jung on the Oedipal situation
- 1:40:10 - Cain and his creative relationship with malevolence
- 1:42:21 - He's successful and a good guy. How annoying. Or the ideal?
- 1:43:53 - Why don't people make more public expressions of admiration for the ideals in our world?
- 1:45:33 - Social Media is full of undermining, backbiting, and criticism of other people.
- 1:46:11 - What is going on in Cain's head
- 1:47:26 - The first two human beings: The resentful, bitter failure taking an ax to the admirable success.
- 1:47:44 - God's punishment to Cain is the inevitable consequence of his actions
- 1:50:27 - Why does God protect Cain?
- 1:51:30 - Cain becomes aware of his voluntary engagement with evil itself.
- 1:52:17 - Modern people don't take Evil seriously enough

Q&A

- 2:00:29 - Can we be moral without religion?
- 2:06:07 - Thoughts on homeschooling?
- 2:11:25 - Is there an allusion in the Adam and Eve story to the ingestion of psychedelics?
- 2:13:49 - Psychological significance of being a martyr (martyr: someone who is killed for their beliefs)
- 2:21:02 - Did you win the childhood fight? What are your thoughts on these new mythological stories, harry potter and game of thrones? Is there any resemblance between these stories and the biblical stories

[macktheripper]

After walking away from Christianity 14 years ago Dr Peterson totally restored my faith. Thank you.

[yoe]

36:26 "It's time to sacrifice who you are, for who you can become". Simple, yet essential, and beautiful (because it's so difficult).

[damonopera]

The way Dr. Peterson gets choked up when talking about his children gets me every time. That love shines through, a love that as a male at 37, with no children; I haven't experienced. I was raised by my grandparents and they were loving and did their best. This inspiring man has been the father figure of my adult life and has helped me grow as a man. I truly hope I can shake his hand one day.

Thank you Sir.

[lyndonstucker]

Incredible. I believe i finally found God after 32 years and watching all of jordans videos since 2017. i eventually was able to conceptualize God and the meaning behind these stories by observing my own life story over 5 years. The hardest part was realizing and accepting that i am and was kane. Now i feel like i can genuinely work to be like able. I had chills from the joy, and I've been sulking with remorse for who i was.

Just pay attention. Take 100% accountability for your life. God is Good. You cant create your own Good. God wins every time. Put Goodness as your north star, and your path will be towards God. Love yall, be safe, GOODluck!