The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-01-29
pEPARFuRH OF FRAMs.
Ghe1Rteliqetrter,
the FALL OF NAN.
Another Remarkable Sermon, by a
New York Clergyman.

Another Remarkable Sermon, by q
New York Clergyman.
from the New York Herald Of the 26th
The Rev. Henry Powers, pastor of the
Church of the Messiah, Thirty-iourtt
street and Park avenue, preached TO q
congregation fair in numbers yesterday
morning, the subject Of his discourse be-
ing paradise Lost" The text was the
third chapter Of Genesis-"M Mans Shame
iul Fall" II there Is one Bible story, the
pastor said, more than another that has
suffered from the artificial efforts of com.
mentators and been dismembered and tor
tured by them, in their jealous ignorance,
until 1t Is hardly recognizable in It's own
true character, II Is this story out Of the
childhood period Of the human race. In
the first place, instead Of being regarded
IS an allegory simply, It has been com.
monty taken as veritable historical mar.
ratiVe in It's form as well as in its spirit,
and designed to teach us how Adam and
his vile were created in absolute holiness
and the perfect maturity OF their faculties
without bodily pain or violent passion,
and endowed in their souls with d thor.
ough knowledge Of God and the gift Of
immortal life. And yet these wonderful
beings allowed themselves-and this Is
the serious mistake which has been made
in the Interpretation Of this story-these
paragons Of the paradoxlcal age permit
Ted themselves to be tempted OF the devil
so that all kinds Of disasters fell to their
lot, among which were death and the in.
ability to know and serve their God, And
then, once more, 1t Il falsely said, in ex-
planning the parable,
THAT A MORAL CORRUPTION,
causing them to be guilty in the sight Of
God, has descended upon all the chill
dren Of this original pair; in consequence
Of their sin on this occasion, which cor.
ruption OF their nature Is termed in theo-
logical phrase, Original sin"
Now there, is not word of all this 10
be found in this story. According TO 1t,
the first human beings were not perfect,
since they did not even know. the differ.
euce between good and evil There Is q
serpent In It, and no trace OF q devil, fol
the very good reason that at the time Il
was written the Jews had no conception
Of a Satan or embodied principle Of evil
This notion belongs TO later age; and II
did not then originate with the Hebrews
but came 10 them from foreign source,
and was not adopted among their ideas
until centuries after the time OF Moses
so, too, nothing Is said in this story of a
lall, but only OF progress; and as TO death
so far Is It from being represented as the
consequence Of the sin Of the first man
and woman that the Lord God Is pictur-
ed as being afraid, even after their trans
erosion, that in the presumption Of their
souls they may put forth their. hand and
take also Of the tree OF life and eat and
live forever. According to the writer OF
this story, man was not immortal before
bis sin, and he did not become so after 1t.
How then shall we understand this legend
Of the prlmeval worldI In seeking the
answer TO this question let us remember
that lone Of the first questions that came
10 be discussed In the infancy OF thought,
when man began 10 speculate on things
human and divine, was,the origin of evil
more specifically Of moral evil. Attention
was easily drawn to that schlsm In mans
nature which arrays the passions against
the moral sense" and which produces the
conflict between duty and desire. We
have In this story the result Of the earliest
Hebrew speculation upon this subject
The form is allegorical rather than histor.
icAl metaphysical, because that Il. The
style which IL most natural &C.,
ran cHrIplrKs STATE
in which the. world was ii the time, and
the thought Is such as was suggested
naturally TO Hebrew sage, rather than
to "a Persian or Indian or Scandinavian.
The conditions Of life also which, from
the drapery Of the allegory, are such as
were common In the lands ia which, the
writer got his experience Of things and
events, In the animal creation his eve
fell on that remarkable creature the ser.
penh which went Kissing about on its
belly and was everywhere the mortal foe
Of man, and against which man must
ever be on his guard, although, among
me jews the serpent was not particularly
dangerous or hard TO overcome. Appar.
emily this creatnre-so thought the isra.
elitish writer-is under q curse, and asked
himself, allow has It been BROUGHT
aboutT Then he beheld the sad iot Of
woman (Which Is ever the sadder in pro-
portion as society Is low down m the
scale of civilization, and perceived that
she could not even taste q mothers lows
save at the cost Of so much pain as sex-
eited his earnest pity. But his sympathy
tot her was most strangely reused when
ne saw how she longed Tor the marriage
pand, although Il made her the yeritsbie
slave Of her husband. But In the NEXT
PIace ne saw that even the man was moi
happy, ior In the East especially II wasia
naId task TO force from he earth her
iIuite, why should this be soS M
threiore sskR aWhy do 50 many ~ weeds NJ
groW'to make the husbandman's work oI )