The Cainitic Mind Revisited (1 John 2:15-17) Commencement Address at Baptist Bible College & Seminary delivered May 12th, 2000 AD -- By: Rembert Byrd Carter

Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 04:2 (Fall 2000)
Article: The Cainitic Mind Revisited (1 John 2:15-17) Commencement Address at Baptist Bible College & Seminary delivered May 12th, 2000 AD
Author: Rembert Byrd Carter


The Cainitic Mind Revisited
(1 John 2:15-17)
Commencement Address at
Baptist Bible College & Seminary
delivered May 12th, 2000 AD

Rembert Byrd Carter

Professor Of History (Retired)
Baptist Bible College, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania

President Thompson, esteemed faculty colleagues seated behind me (and with special honor for those three who will be joining me in retirement), to the revered members of the Trustee Board, plus all the parents, grandparents, and friends gathered here today, we salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But a double salute is reserved for the very first graduating class in the twenty-first century. Seminary graduates, we honor you for your splendid achievement. But for those of you in this year’s college graduating classes, our hearts will always be full of memories. Yours has been an outstanding class. The school is better because you came here. All of us who had any part in your preparation expect to hear of multiplied spiritual accomplishment as you march forth.

Although I am not worthy to receive it, a great honor has been given to me. With help from our Heavenly Father and His Majestic Son in whose name we are gathered, I will endeavor to fulfill this task.

The subject I have chosen is a strange one to you, perhaps: “The Cainitic Mind Revisited.” Such a topic began here in this school thirty-eight years ago. A young professor arrived from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was asked to speak every day in chapel for two full weeks. His topic was based on the first five chapters of Genesis. The theme was “The Cainitic Mind.” His purpose in those messages was to show that the rejection of the Word of God produced an erosion of religious faith and morality. The Scriptures tell us that Cain killed his brother, went out from the presence of the Lord, and began to build the first civilization in the memory of man. It was based on a very simple idea: “to make

the world a comfortable and respectable place to live … apart from God.”

We believe that every civilization since Cain has been secular and anti-God. To illustrate our point, let us look at the world of the first century. Without exaggeration, the period just before and just after the advent of Christianity was the greatest crisis in the history of the world.

Moral conditions defied description. Family life was degraded. We read of men loaning their wives to their friends. Human life had no value. In the pages of the best known writers of the time, we find accounts of terrible things. Aristotle recommended abortion and infanticide for restricting the...

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