The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-01-07
EDENS AND HOW THEY COME, WAS SUBJECT The Rev. Dr. Dickinson Inter-
 prets Symbolism of Rib TIE FIRST WEDDING MARCH The Whole Narrative Is Clearly ln- tended to Be Understood As Poeti-
 cal Folklore in impressive and
 Unforgottable Imagery.
 


 This now Is bone of my bone
 And flesh of my flesh
 This one shall be called woman Gshah)
 For from man Gsh) was she taken
 "Therefore a man leaves father and mother and cleaves to his wife, so that they two becmoe one hesh."-Gen. 2:22-24.
 Dr. Dickinson spoke in part as follows:
 It seems to me that any one at all en- dewed with literary sense will perceive that in passing from the first to the sec ond chapters of Genesis he enters a new literary atmosphere in the fourth verse. He passes from a stereotyped, measured and precise style to one that is diversi- fled, picturesque and poetical However one may account for these literary facts, they are facts that lie patent on the face of the writing Chapter 1 bears all the marks of a studied and deliberate and systematic presentation, but chapter is spontaneous and primitive. One is the breath of the priestly schools of Baby lonia in the distance; the other is the atmosphere of the desert and the noun tains of Arabia and Palestine.
 They differ also in their representation. One starts from the primordial waters, the other from the dry land of the desert. The one tels of the creation of the whole universe as then conceived; the other only of society on the earth. In one God CT eats, divides, makes. sets, implying nothing local or sensible in the divine nature; in the other God moulds, breathes life, plants, places, takes, sets, brings, builds, cloeses up, walks and makes clothes One Is God the transcendent Gre ator: the other is God the imminent worker.
 This second writing Is interested in ex- plaining the genesis of matters of the social world, the distinction and relation of the sexes, and the institution of mar riage, the presence of sin in the world, the custom of wearing clothes, the gait and habits of the serpent, the subject condition of woman in the ancient world, the travail of motherhood, the toilsome- ness of agriculture. The point of view, like that in the first chapter is not that of science. but of moral and religious truth There was no science in that day like anthropology, geology, biology, arch aiology, etc., in terms of which he could speak; but the thought world of men was religious entirely. He does not write to trace the course of efficient causes, but to point out the teleology of the social world, and the purposes of social objects and relations as Intended by their creator.
 Narrative in Modern ParIance.
 To put the beautiful narrative into mod ern parlance, one might render 1t thus: "Once upon a time when God created the world the face of the earth was an arid and desert waste with no vegetation, for there was only mist to water the earth. Jehovah God formed man out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nos trils the breath of life, and man became a living soul" It took us a long time to learn that sociology was science of life, and had in view determining the art of promoting that life. The coming forth of man as a living soul from God is the be ginning of society on the earth But the natural world is not q suitable habl- tat for such a being, and there must needs be gardens for his living"
 So the second step in social genesis Is to plant a garden in which to put this be- ing who has life from his Maker. gar den wherein may grow trees of beauty and full of fruit for his qualification, and the tree to mark the spot of his worship the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
 One of the earliest institutions of re- ligion among the ancient Semites, Greeks and Persans was the sacred tree, which afterwards developed into the worship of the Asherah. Sacred trees also played an important part in the religion of the ancient Hebrews. All the trees were given to man to eat except this sacred tree which was under a sacred taboo.
 But social man needs something moro than a habitat; he craves companionshir to respond to the outgoings of his nature So he forms an alliance with the animals God made for him, and names them and james them, Society has the effect of put ting man into friendly relations to the animal nature about him, and It Is here represented as his creators purpose. The Jew never lost this conception of the re- expressly provided for the care of the beast They must be treated with kind ness and consideration, and the view has come down to us in all conditions of civ ilzed society.
 Man Needs FeIlowman.
 But the companionship of the animals did not answer to the demands of mans social appetences. He was too far above them. Man needs fellow man as the so- cial counterpart of his nature; he needs one who is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, being who is his social equal. So Jehovah made woman who was to him bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, as one who had been taken from his own side, so that the kinship of man for the woman he loves Is to take precedence over every other relation of life. even that of parentage. Society was complete when the home is established. for in the society in which this writer lived the family or clan was the social structure. The Arabs have saying unto this day that no man is complete until he consists of himself, his wife and his son.
 Rib Incident a Figurative.
 But, preacher. explain to us about that