The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-31
STRUCTURE OF GENESIS.
THOUGHTFUL PAPER PREPARED
 BY DIR. C. A. sTAKELY
The First Book of the Bible is Inter- estineiy Discussed by the Min isters Union of Mont
 EOmrry.

A notable paper on structure of Genesis" recently read before the Min isters Union of Montgomery by Rev. Charles A. Stakely, D. D.. pastor of the FirstBaptist Church. was of deep inter- est and caused much favorable com ment.
 The complete paper was as follows:
 In the series of studies of the book of Genesis proposed for our Union 1t falls to my lot to present the opening paper, which very properly is on the structure of the book Keep in mind, please, the limitations put upon me by my topic. It does not come within my province to consider the quality of the message of the book to the world, the historicity or non -historicity of any of its parts, or any mater of doctrine that may be open or concealed in its decla- rations. but simply to disclose its phys- ical make up. Mine as you see, is a lesson in literary anatomy.
 sHere Is phenomenon in the shape Of a book. It stands first in our com mon Bible; it was written originally in the Hebrew language and in course Of time was reduced to more or less acceptable versions in English, In sew eral of which we know 1t. It is known to be one of a set of books whose evil dent aim was to give the religious his tory of the ancient Israelites. and in its title though not in its text 1t pur- ports to have come from the hand of Moses, who fiourished in (say) the fourteenth century, B. c.
 Happily for me I am not compelled to construct an analysis for the book, for nothing Is clearer than that the au- thor had his own analysis. He has ar- ranged his matter in eleven well de- fined sections, for each of which, ex- cept the first, the title Is expressly fur nished. It is a pity that the book is not printed in our Bible in such a way as to show the divisions which the au- thor himself has made. In our studies 1t is all-important to let the author say what he wants to say and say 1t in his own way.
 The first section needed no title, though it's opening sentence may have been intended for one. It covers all of the 1st chapter of the book with three verses of the 2nd chapter, and is occuT pied with the story of the Creation closing with the statement that God having finished the work in six periods of time, each called day, rested on the seventh day and hallowed 1t. In this section God Is called Elohim. The second section begins with the fourth to the end of the 4th chapter. It Is headed, The generations of the heav- en and the earth" It Is not a second account of the creation as some have thought who have failed to note the title, though 1t does contain so much of a supplementary account of 1t as would cover the story of<the creation of Adam and Eve, of the formation of the Garden in Eden and the placing of the first pair in it. In this section are the story of the temptation and fall, the story of Cain and Abel, a list of the descendants of Cain, fragment of the song of Lamech Gin poetry of course) and the story of the births of Seth and Enosh. and the Supreme being Is called Jehovah-Elohim and Jehovah Cor Jahveh). The third section is en- titled, The book of the generations of Adam" and covers the whole of chap ter five and the first eight verses of chapter six. Beginning with Seth it traces the descendants of Adam to Mo- ah and his three sons (the Seth line as distinguished from the Cain 1ine) and closes with some references to the general state of the world to prepare the reader for the story of the flood about to follow In this section God is called Elohim and Jehovah and partic- ular attention is given to the ages in the genealogical tables. The fourth section begins with the ninth verse of the sixth chapter and extends through chapter nine It Is headed. The gen. erations of Noah. After a mention of the names of Shem, Ham and Japhet, the author relates the story of the flood, with the rainbow token, follow ed by the blessing of Noah, the repeti- tion to him of the comand to be fruit full and multiply, and the curse of Ham in the shape of a poem. In this poem the name of God is Jehovah, every where else in the section He is called Elohim. The fifth section, headed, sThe generations of the sons of Noah" rovers chapter ten and nine verses of chapter eleven. The sons of Japhet are first given. followed by those of Ham In a narrative which mentions Nimrod and the beginning of Babylonia. Then comes a partial mention of Shem's de- scendants, leading to the story of the Tower of Babel, of the confusion of tongues, and of the dispersion.
 The sixth section. headed ''The gen. arations of Shem" Is little other than a 4inuation of the fifth to accentu- ate Shem's line to Terah, the father of Abraham It extends from 11:1O to d1:26 and Is followed at once by the seventh section which, entitled. The generations of Terah," covers more than thirteen chapters to 25;11. There is the story of Abraham and his family, his call, his migration, the covenants