act not to be gainsaid that the punishment ordained for him and
all his posterity was anything but light. For in addition to that
curse upon his body he suffered excommunication from his family,
separation from the sight of his parents and from the society of his
brothers and sisters, who remained with their parents, or in the
fellowship of the Church.

154. Now, Adam could not have done all this, nor could Eve have heard
it without indescribable anguish. For a father is a father, and a son
is a son. Gladly would Adam have spared his son and retained him at
home, as we now sometimes see murderers become reconciled to the
brothers of their victims. But in this case no place was left for
reconciliation. Cain is bidden at once to be a fugitive upon the face
of the earth. The pain of the parents was doubled in consequence. They
see one of their sons slain, and the other excommunicated by the
judgment of God and cut off forever from the fellowship of his
brethren.

155. Moreover, when we here speak of excommunication from the Church,
it stands to reason that not our houses of worship, built in
magnificent style and ample proportions out of hewn stone, are meant.
The sanctuary, or church, of Adam was a certain tree, or a certain
little hill under the open heaven, where they assembled to hear the
Word of God and to offer their sacrifices, for which purpose they had
erected altars. And when they offered their sacrifices and heard the
Word, God was present, as we see from the experience of Abel.

Also elsewhere in the sacred story, mention is made of such altars
under the open heaven, and of sacrifices made upon them. And, if we
should come together at this day under the open sky to bend our knees,
to preach, to give thanks, and to bless each other, a custom would be
inaugurated altogether beneficial.

156. It was from a temple of this kind and from such a church, not a
conspicuous and magnificent church at a particular place, that Cain
was cast out. He was thus doubly punished; first, by a corporal
penalty, because the earth was accursed to him, and secondly, by a
spiritual penalty, because by excommunication, he was cast out from
the temple and the church of God as from another paradise.

157. Lawyers also have drawn upon this passage, and quite properly
brought out the fact that Jehovah first investigated the matter and
then passed sentence. Their application is, that no one should be
pronounced guilty until his case ha