The murder of Abel raises many problems, the most acute of which is that God does not intervene to protect Abel. Cain, the brother's keeper, does not "keep" him. Cain and Abel are the subject of chapter 7 in my book, but the poem below is in the foreword. here in this carload i am eve with abel my son if you see my other son cain, son of man, tell him that i (Dan Pagis)

Pictures of scenes and stories in the Bible can help and sometimes hinder the imagination. Lucas Cranach's depiction of Paradise belongs in the "helping" category. He placed the divine command front and center (God, Adam, and Eve). God seems to be talking. What does God say? Does what God is saying make sense? In the background there is a serpent. He, too, talking. These "conversations" are the topic of chapter 6 in God of Sense.

Job's plight looms large in chapter 1 and chapter 14 of my book, and Job sets the stage for the theme of 'sense vs. non-sense.' When Elihu joins the fray, he is angry at Job for his alleged insolence and angry at the friends for their inability to silence Job. Elihu's body language, here in Blake's rendition, is striking for the absence of compassion.

Every one of William Blake's illustrations of the Book of Job are priceless. My cover illustration shows the suffering Job under fire by his three "friends," who were, in fact, his friends at an earlier point. Faced with calamities that are numbing by any standard, Job would like to have an explanation (=God of Sense). His friends answer (1) that he is suffering because of his sins (=God of Sense). This does not make sense to Job, however, because he is certain of his integri