It seems that Cain did not trust God to keep His word, choosing to rely on the power of walls to keep him safe instead of God’s promise. Ellul points to this as the foundation of the spirit of human cities: self-reliance and autonomy.3 At its core, the impulse to build cities is the impulse to protect ourselves, to be self-sufficient, to provide for all we need to flourish as humans: “The city for Cain is first of all the place where he can be himself—his homeland, the one settled spot in his wandering. Secondly, it is a material sign of his security. He is responsible for himself and his
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