Diego Pérez Gondar, Professor of School of Theology at the University of Navarra, has published "Cain, Abel and the blood of the just. Gn 4:1-16 and its reception in the early church".

The book is a study of the pericope from an interdisciplinary perspective. It traces the history of the successive understandings and interpretations of the passage up to the beginning of the 4th century AD. It has been published by Eunsa.

The historical-critical analysis of Gen 4:1-16 reveals from the beginning the essential lines that will be present in successive rereadings. The intertestamental literature limits the initial ambiguity present in some elements of the narrative, influencing in a decisive way the New Testament reception.

Abel is configured as an example of faith and his sacrifice serves as advertisement and explanation of the Paschal Mystery. In the Fathers of the Church, the narrative will serve to speak of human interiority, of sin and redemption, of the salvific Economics of the New Law, of the meaning of evil in the world, of the need for unity in the Church, etc. The historical circumstances in which the Fathers lived explain the way in which the narrative was interpreted, because the context in which they lived raised questions to which the passage gave adequate answers in continuity with the previous readings. The use of Scripture by the Gnostics, the proximity of the persecutions and the risk of martyrdom are part of the historical circumstances that gave the Fathers the opportunity to enrich the meaning of the pericope.  

Diego Pérez Gondar is an Industrial Engineer. He was ordained priest in 2009. He holds a PhD in Theology from the University of Navarra. Since 2012 he is a professor teaching assistant in the department de Sacred Scripture of the School of Theology of the University of Navarra.