The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-03-04
SAYS FALL IF MAN STORY IS 4 MYTH Rev. Limbaugh Breaches to the
 UnitarianS WAS OF PAGAN ORIGIN Says Evolution Theory of Origin of Man, of Pain, Moral Evil, Dis satisfaction and Death is the
 Correct One.
WAS OF PAGAN ORIGIN

l
 The Rev D. C. Limbaugh, the Unita- rian minister, says the Bible story of the 1 fall of man is myth. not even of He | brew origin. was borrowed by the Jews from the Babylonians. is without founda- tion in fact. He says the doctrine of the | fall of man is the chief corner stone of l orthodox Christianity. that all the lead
 ing doctrines of the traditional Christian churches afe founded upon the assump- ton of the truth of the story, which being removed, the whole of the super structure of the scheme and plan of l miraculous solution is doomed to destruc- ] ton. He says that the scientific, demon- 1 strated truth of the evolutionary theory l of the origin of man of pain moral evil. dissatisfaction and death is the correct one and is the one accepted by the com 1 bined scholarship of the world.
 Good Congregation.
 The interest in the Unitarian church movement in Birmingham is said to be constantly growing. The fine congrega- 1 ton yesterday to hear the interesting and eloquent sermon of Rev. MT. Limbaugh is looked upon as an encouraging omen to the Unitarians to go on with a move ment so well begun.
 l In beginning his sermon, MT Limbaugh remarked: My theme today, Man not Fallen, but Rising is one to me, of all absorbing interest. IL Is the one in which l find the pivotal point in the evolution l of my own religion experiences. When I was q child l was taught that l was by nature a sinner having inherited guilt be- ! cause of the Adamic sin, that 1 was lost, ruined, undone, vile and morally and in- tellectually depraved. It is the one mat ter that gave my childish nature most concern and the one over which I shed most tears, experienced the deepest re- morse and longed with the greatest con- cern and the deepest anxiety.
 | The fall of man in Adam is the chief cornerstone of orthodoxy, and since it is the foundation upon which all the doc trines of the traditional churches are based. it should be most carefully and reverently examined"
 Contradictory Traditions.
 The minister then went on to show that there are parellel and contradictory tra- ditions among classical peoples of a lower or higher conditions of mankind He said l the Prometheus myth among the Greeks of Prometheus having stolen fire from l the courts of the Gods on Mt. Olympus and bringing to earth and thus giving men an opportunity to climb out of their degraded condition, coincides wonedfuly with the modern evolutionary theory of mans having originated the border- land of the animal world and climbing up into modern civilization.
 He then related the Saturnian tradition of the early favored condition of man. Brass Age, and the Iron Age, steps by means of which mans downward grade 1 is marked. MT. Limbaugh went on to say similar, parellel and contradictory l traditions are contained in the Bible. He dwelt upon the contention and proof of the higher critics of the Bible, that If ;, the books of the Old Testament were printed in their chronological order, the prophets Amos first of all, would pre- cede the Pentateuch, and there would follow historical books, such as Samuel, Kings and Chronicles.
 NOW said the minister 'the prophets were written some six eight centuries 1 before the time of Jesus, and none of them except Ezekiel. who refers to the matter only in poeticaI way ever so much as mentions the Garden of Eden story. The best age with the prophets Is always in the future. They are all the time looking forward to and prophe-
 
 to the good time coming. There is no reference among them anywhere to the fall of man. These earliest writers of the old Testament seem not to have heard of !, the tradition.
 Story of Garden of Eden. 1 But along with this tradition there 1 is this story of the Garden of Eden. Adam | and Eve. the forbidden tree eating it's 1 fruit, the serpent being cast out and all the train of evils that is supposed to 1 follow.
 Now, where did this story come from, and for what pGrpose was it originated9 l The tradition did not originate among l the Hebrews. The Prophets knew noth- l ing of it. The books commonly ascribed 1 to Moses were written six or eight cen ] turies after Moses death. Moses knew l nothing of it. It was not ingrafted into | the Hebrew scriptures until after the | captivity of tho Hebrews and until after J they had come into contact with the l Babylonians and Persians. and was put 1 into the Jewish writings five or six cen | turies before the birth of Jesus. They borrowed this tradition from the Baby I lonans. The Babylonians did have ths | tradition in almost the identical language l in which it occurs in our Bible, as is | shown by the clay tablets that have 1 been unearthed. read and proved by arch 1 eologists in their researches and eXcava- | tions amid the ruins of Babylon. This l is a chain of evidence that cannot be | broken, and forces us to say the tradition l is not even a tradition of the Hebrews, l but is wholly paganlstic in origin. l Not lnfalible Revel lation.