[EDITORIAL NOTE. After the publication o£ J. A. Buckwalter's article on "Why So Many Denominations?" in the September, 1951, issue of THE MINIS TRY, many have written to him for more information concerning his reference to a Phoenician historian's mention of a tradition that Cain and his wife turned to sun worship when they were banned from the Garden of Eden. Elder Buckwalter is happy to pass on from his own research the following quotations which will be of help to MINISTRY readers. EDITORS.]
Tradition that Cain turned to sun worship upon his rejection of God's worship is emphasized by the following quotation:
"Before we pass from this generation, it may be proper to remark, that Sanchoniatho, speaking of Cain and his wife, states that they stretched forth their hands to heaven toward the sun: for him they supposed to be God, the only Lord of heaven, calling him Beel-Semin, which, in the Phenician dialect, signifies 'Lord of heaven.' Now, without attaching more importance to this tradition than it merits, we may observe, in passing, that, if the place of worship after the fall was at the east of Eden, where stood the cherubim and the infolding fire, a place which Cain had called 'the face of the Lord,' and 'the presence of the Lord,' then, when driven away and denied all access, it is at least possible that he might have turned to the sun as the most glorious part in nature, and, in worshiping God, have stretched out his hands to this luminary, as he had formerly done toward the holy place." GEORGE SMITH, F.S.A., member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, The Patriarchal Age (New York: 1848), p. 234.
As to the historical status of Sanchoniatho, he
". . . is supposed to have flourished a few years before the Trojan war. The credit of his history is supported by Porphyry, Pliny, Curtius, Lucan, and other ancient writers. He wrote in the language of his country, a history in nine books, in which he treated of the theology and antiquities of Phenicia. This production is lost, with the exception of a few fragments. His works were translated into Greek by Philo-Biblius." Ibid., p. 48, footnote.
Here is also an interesting statement from the Spirit of prophecy:
"Before the fall, our first parents had kept the Sabbath, which was instituted in Eden; and after their expulsion from Paradise they continued its observance. They had tasted the bitter fruits of disobedience, and had learned what everyone that tramples upon God's commandments will sooner or later learn, that the divine precepts are sacred and immutable, and that the penalty of transgression will surely be inflicted. The Sabbath was honored by all the children of Adam that remained loyal to God. But Cain and his descendants did not respect the day upon which God had rested. They chose their own time for labor and for rest, regardless of Jehovah's express command." Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 80, 81.
It is entirely possible that Cain was the first Sunday worshiper.
