The Globe-republican., 1894-01-12
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

International Lesson for January ~.
l894-Adam's Sin and Gods Grace-Gen
3:l-11
Especially Arranged from ?eloubets No,es-l
GOLDEN TExE-For as in Adam all die. even
50 in Christ shall al be made aiivc.
REVIEW In our last lesson We studied the
creation CT the world and of uan made IN the
image Of God The family was founded and
the Sabbath ordained. through which insiitu-
tons. rightly used, man would become like the
angels in character and blesseduess and the
paradise garden become the city OF God
CONFIRMATION FROM THE EARLY TRADl-
TIONS OF ANCIENT NATloNS.-Almost every
nation. except the African. Of which too little Is
known to be certain. has early traditions Of .
golden age. Edenic blessedness and Innocence,
OF the serpent the tree and degeneracy. There
are Chinese. Thibetan. MongOlian and Hindu
traditions the Zoroastrian story of Mashya and
Mashyana. the Egyptian tradition Of the reign of
Ra the Greek Pandora, the Scandinavian
Asgard. the sacred plant guarded BY CO.
lestial GENT on the Assyrian bas-reliefs.
These traditions must have come from
some common source before the dis.
persion Of men and point to some actual
fact in The early history Of the race And since
1t Is acknowledged that the Bible accountis the
simplest. most natural, most instructive, free
from all that is grotesQue. there Is every reason
for believing that the Bible story is the true his
tory Of early man. from which the others d.
verged
LESSON NOTES.
How Old Is the Human Race?!The
exact date is unknown. No one now
would attempt to fix the time with as
cheerful confidence as the great chron-
DIGGER determined by his system that
81 49,,
day in September, at six o'clock in the
afternoon" The most conservative
scholars, such as Prof. William II.
Green, of Princeton, are inclined to
lengthen the dates given on the mar
gins of our Bibles. On the other hand
science is greatly shortening the time
since the first appearance Of man in
the glacial period, from the wild cal
culations of many former BIOLOGISTS
The Garden of Eden, Mans First
Home.-(D The garden of Eden was
but a small portion of the region
called Eden. The garden or paradise
is a place fenced round; hence a park,
a pleasure-ground with trees. streams,
flowers and fruits.
where Eden was situated. Delitzsch
says that paradise is lost" We only
know that it must be somewhere on the
Euphrates.
(3) The most probable site is on the
lower Euphrates, near where the Tigris
(HiddekeD unites with it. Into the
united stream flows the Kerkha (Gi-
hn
liam Lotus, of the Turco-Persian from
tier commission, equally distinguished
as geologist and an archRologist, has
shown by his explorations that this re-
gion eminently fits the description in
Genesis. Lotus geological map, pre-
pared from personal surveys, says Sir
William Dawson, shows "that the top
ographical geology of Genesis is more
accurate than most of the maps in our
modern aliases"
The Condition Of Man in Paradise
Two opposite errors are frequently
held in regard to the Bible account Of
the first man. One, that he was typ
ical savage, cave-dweller, lower than
the inhabitants of darkest Africa, ZEN
PERTAINING the most gross and anthro-
pomorphic conceptions of Deity"
The other. that ''he was the most
splendid specimen of the race the world
ever saw, fair as an angel, holy as a
seraph;" that IAN Aristotle was but
the rubbish of an Adam, and Athens
but the rudiments of Paradise" He
simply was perfect as man complete
with all the possibilities of manhood.
He was innocent but inexperienced.
He was happy, at peace, and living in
communion with God.
He was not cultured and did not
possess the arts and outward appli-
ances of civilization. The skins for
clothing and stone implements do not
prove that the first man was savage
at heart. Plato and Socrates and
Paul are as great in the humblest hut
and meanest attire as they would
have been living like Solomon in all
his glory.
The Tree of Life.-The tree of life
in the midst of the garden was proba-
bly, a tree which. by Divine endow
ment with medicinal qualities, would
keep their bodies from decaying with
age, and would heal any accidental
injuries. Spencer says that
:" From it flowed, as from WELL trickling
stream Of balm
Life and long health that gracious ointment
gave. and deadly wounds could heal"
The Tempter in Paradise.-V. 1.
To the first man, as to every man
since, the ternpter came at the very
entrance to the path of life and COM
PEELED him to decide which way he
would 60 and whom he would serve.
So Christ at the very beginning Of the
Divine mission was tempted of the
devil.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
Man persisted in Eden even while it
had tree of life in it. So men perish
now within sight of the Redeemer's
cross, because they will not believe
and obey.
No place or character of employment
can free us from the assaults of temp
tation. The innocent Adam was as
sailed in Paradise. and the holy Jesus
y, tho xv;11oruoSS