The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1873-03-19

outset, it is due to able work to remarl
that fully concur the whole argumen
as far as it relates ge. There is hardly
} any room for doubt her salvation. Sht
gave good evidence r faith in the prom
} sed "seed of the who should "bruist
the head of the Sc when "she bare
Cain" and said, =" AZ gotten man from
the Lord" And, when "she bare a
son and called his a,ss Seth. For God,
said she, hath app 4 me another seed
instead of Abel. her salvation the
Apostles seems dist ly 10 refer when he
speaks of the woms ing saved Gin child
bearing"
As to Adam, b, cser, the evidence, to
say the least, is by cans conclusive Of
his salvation. The ynment in be
half of this theor, swo passages
of Scripture. Of, ss, ~ al, g And
Adam called his ri Is ans ut, Secanse
she was the motht .lh living. From
this change of nau Eve signifying Life,
instead of Isha,) th Inference is drawn that
Adam had respect u to tie reason stated,
that this was done because she was the
mother of all lisil 4" but to the previous
declaration that she vas to be the mother of a
"seed which should lruse the head of the ser
pent." Now does lot this inference rest Oh
an entirely suppO ,sous state of mind in
Adam, and one no borne out by the con-
text? Evidently tSis verse of Scripture
does by no means emonstrate the faith and
salvation of Ada even granting that it
suggests the proI ,5jlity of it-which do
not grant. Nor yer, the question arises
here whether the protevangelium which
God gave when III said to the serpent, I" l
will put enmity be zen thee and the wOman,
and between thy ID and her seed, does
not virtually exc le Adam, since he was
neither the woman or Of her seed.
The second age of Scripture upon
which the theory of Adams salvation rests
is as follows: Unto Adam also and his
wife did the Lord make coats of skins, and
clothed them. from this the conclusion is
triumphantly dejuced that these were the
skins of animals slain in sacrifice, and that
in clothing Adapl and bis wife with these
skins, God did teach them the necessity of
being clothed With the righteousness of
Christ But is not this assumption purely
gratuitous! :! There is not even a hint OF
sacrifice. The whole statement regards the
simple clothing Of their bodies, and it is
nothing less THAI wrestling of Scripture to
make 1t the tsn foundation OF religious
rte. Way LAY nos the animals be rather
supposed 20 have been slain to illustrate the
doctrine of death, and to give to Adam and
his wife vivid conception of their own
sentence? Or, why not suppose that they
were the skins of animals slain by the wild
beasts which the Fall of man had rendered
ferOcious! Certainly such reasoning as this
which has been indicated, which makes so
great an inference from so small promise,
concluding the doctrine of redemption and
the salvation Of Adam from a statement
about clothing, is Of a character to weaken
the force of all genuine Christian logic in
the minds of thinking men.
Turning now from the argument for
Adams salvation, let US see what may be
said on the other side.
l. If Adam were saved by faith, why are
the Scriptures SO silent about 80 notable
case? Why did not Paul commence his
catalogue Of the heroes of faith in Heb. xi,
with Adam instead of Abel, if Adam had
truly been one of the number?
2. Conceding that God taught Adam the
way of life, and offered him salvation, never
theleas this does not by any means establish
the fact that he embraced the Saviour. Why
may we not see in Cain the results of Adam )
unbelief, as we see in Abel the results of his
mothers faith!
3. Moreover, Adam was constituted the
head of the human family, and remains to
this day the head of the lost, just as much
as Christ is the head of the Saved, Since
then the Bible dwellS so much on the sym
metry of the body of Christ, and describes
it as a living body with living members
united to living head, must we not look
for equal symmetry in the body of the lost !
Adam, the head, must. be dead or else we get
the monstrOus conception Of dead body
joined to living head.
4. Lastly, we find law in Gods word
which may be thus expressed. That when
any creature is endowed with spiritual life,
and possessed of knowledge, righteousness
and true holiness, with dominion, then should
that creature from that high estate fall away
from God, he falls irretrievably. Such were
the angels; and when they fell, they fell
never again to rise. Thus Adam fell; and
is it not significant that We read, "For verify
Christ taketh not hold of angels of whom
then? of Adam? Nay, but He taketh
hold of the seed of Abraham" Adam is
not even mentioned in connection with sal
walton. And what is more, Paul informs us
why discrimination is made between Adam
and Eve, in regard to salvation, in these
words. "And Adam was not deceived, but
the woman being deceived was in the trans
greSson." He 8nned not only knowingly,