The Maui news. [volume] (Wailuku, Maui, H.I.) 1900-current, 1921-11-29
And Where Did Cain Get
His Wife
(By Rev. w. A. Tate.)

AihiS 10 the lnlru OI the series OF
Editorials furnished Maui News by
the ministers of Maui in acceptance
of the offer of this paper of space
for such contributed articles.)
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin has re-
ceStly printed some varied and
v~ariegated answers TO the question
where Cain obtained his wife. To
those readers of these who lack &C
quaintance with Cain it might be said
his biography, or what we have of
1T is to be found in the early Chapters
OF Genesis, a portion of a more or less
well known book called the bible.
Now this furry of interest in a n
other mans wife would be amusing
were it not so pathetic indiscreet.
What business is it of anybody's
where a man gets his wife. That's
his affair, not ours. If Cain were
alive today he would resent undoubt-
eddy this insolent inquiry into his
family affairs and likewise be moved
to an insane jealousy toward all
masculine inquiries.
But this prying into Gains marital
experience, the birthplace and social
status of his wife's kin becomes all
the more questionable and pathetic
when we are gravely assured that
the inspiration of the Bible, the GER
tainly of over faith and forsooth the
saving of our common sense all de-
pend on the attitude we take on this
question. One or two gentlemen
suavely tell us that the accounts of
human history in Genesis are mainly
neurological and we must moi take
them seriously. This means of
rntrcn fhof IN rao1itxv fha,o W. ,vo e
such a person as Cain and therefore
he could have had a wife. The
name Cain probably stands for some
tribe according to this explanatory
and the allusion to a marriage is
simply a play of poetic fancy or an
a~llegorical Interpretation of some in
ter-tribal experience.
Several other contributors finding
no other young ladies in Gains vicin-
ity at the time, made the shocking
suggestion Ito our modern ears) that
Cain married his sister. The reason
given for this supposition is, as far
as one can make it out, that as there
is no record of having married any
one else, there was nobody else to
marry.
Another contributor inclined to be
rather sarcastic at the contributions
offered in answer to the question
points an accusing finger at the whole
crowd and lectures them for putting
their faith in a religion that is mix
ed up with so many u~nknowable
things, that confuses fact with
mystery, and agnosticism with GER
tainity. He loftily advises us to be
done with such foolishness and to
be wise enough, like himself, to put
our faith only in the proved facts of
science.
l am not sure that l am quoting
this last person correctly but that
does not matter. What l have writ
ten is in keeping with the tenor of
his suggestion. His advice seemed SO
sound, Sc timely and clear that l
Immediately set out in pursuit of
these proud facts of science" for
the natural and normal man must
put his faith in something. Well,
strange to say I found that the scient'
lists did not know about any proved
facts of science" such as our friend
spoke of. l was assured that the so
called facts of science were merely
what our friend called religious
doctrines, guesses at the unknowable.
The present day facts of science
were merely WORKING uypoInlSeS'
They called them facts because in the
present state of knowledge they ex'
planned certain phenomena better
than any of the other explanations
that yet had been offered. One of
my acquaintance, Professor Edwin
B. Wilson of the Massachusetts In
stitute of Technology, who ought to
know something about science, in a
recent article on Space, Time and
Gravitation remarked, 81 wish to en-
phasize merely this: That nobody at
anytime can know enough about Ma
ture to understand it's matter, or its
motions, or it's forces and that con
s%equently everybody will fall into err
ror if he goes to supposing this OF
that or anything else which is of the
sort that later discoveries may up
set" A little further along he adds
this. 1--WE are very wise about things