The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-01-07
THE OPEN FORUM.
BIBLICAL QUESTIONS.
Version Of sewe .
the Alleged Ineossruitf~s.

the Alleged Ineosgruitf<s.
To the Editor: In your issue of mi.
morning a correspondent asks. in The
Open Forum what was the population of
the world when Cain killed. Abel With
your permission. would like to make
some answer to that query.
The answer Of the Bible itself is. that
1 great nations were In what Is symboltcaI.
ly known as the Garden of Eden. notably
among (which was the famous ancient
| kingdom of Assyria- II your writer IL
not some captious critic, whom nothing
would satisfy, he win find in the thirty
| first chapter Of Ezekiel an answer in a
measure to his question There the great
kingdom OF Assyria. pictured as a cedar
Is represented to have been I'm Eden the
Garden Of God. In language that for
grandeur and pathos Is hardly surpassed
anywhere In the Scriptures. and with a
swing that Is awe-inspiring, there is
given a story OF spiritual glory and de-
cadence going far beyond the most re-
mote historical data we have at COM
mand.
THE Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon"
the Bible goes on to say, with fair
branches. and with a shadowing shroud,
and Of a high stature his height
was exalted above all the trees OF the
field the cedars in the Garden Of
God could not hide him not any
tree in the Garden Of God was like unto
him in his beauty All the trees
of Eden that were in the Garden of God
envied him" But the Assyrian became
overpowered by spiritual pride and fell,
and in language that for pathetic grand
eur Is not equaled even by our Lords
celebrated lament over Jerusalem. 20
Jerusalem. Jerusalem, thou that killest
the prophets. and stonest them which
are sent unto thee" or. Jehovah is made
to say. I'm the day when he went down
to hell 1 caused a mourning: / covered
the deep for him, and I restrained the
floods thereof, and the great waters were
stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn
for him, and all the trees Of the field
tainted for him. l made the nations to
shake at the sound of his fall, when I
cast him down to hell with them that
descend into the pit. and all the trees of
Eden. the choice and best Of Lebanon
also went down into hell with
him." Where in all literature Is there a
grander passage than this?
But Assyria Is not the only country
which is explicitly said in the Bible to
have been In Eden. OF ancient Tyre it
Is said, personifed as king. Thou hast
been in Eden. the garden OF God, every
precious stone was thy covering" &c.
Ezekiel 2:l3) But Tyre fell also from
pride and corruption, and when the cur
tain of history goes up upon II, II is
as a corrupt people. Thou vast perfect
in thy ways from the day when thou
vast created until iniquity was found in
the - Thou hast defiled thy sane
tuaries by the multitude Of thine in
iquities-"
The Golden Age of the race and the
Garden of Eden are not mere myths
They depict a state of primitive inno-
cence and bIessedness Of life, far better,
perhaps. than the most labored historical
description could do.
Archaeology is revealing to us that there
cnce dwelt in the valley of the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers great nations with
religious instincts, whose beliefs are the
purer and more exalted the farther they
are traced back. Long before Moses
wrote. the story Of Eden and the Fall
were well known to them: and the oldest
known portrayal OF this Fall is on a clay
cylinder. dug up from the ruins of Baby
Ion, dating, it is said. as far back as
400 B. c.. which represents Adam and
Eve partaking OF the fruit of a confer
at the instance of a serpent. whence
comes our Christmas tree in connection
with the advent OF Our Lord, and its
symbolical history for IL is the tree OF
the Fall. human reason, which tiss<Lord.
the light Of the world, Eliminates with
rays of celestial light
Prof. Morris Jastrow, the Jewish Assy-
biologist, says that the Fall consisted IN
mans misuse of the rational faculty.
THE phrase. knowledge OF good and
evil he says. means in Hebrew par
lance the reasoning faculties The He
brew writer consistently carries back the
misfortunes of civilization to the first
step-the requirement of reason
II the first three chapters Of Genesis
are carefully studied and analyzed it
will be seen that two distinct types OF
the race man are described. In the first
chapter the order of creation is different
from what il is in the second. which
shows that the treatment is symbolical
In the first chapter male and female are
created simultaneously after the beasts.
In the second chapter one human being
only is represented to have been created.
after him the beasts, and then the WON.
an. Those who fell were not the ones
described in the first chapter.
Who was Cain2 Well, who is John
Bull? Who is Brother Jonathan. or Jean
Crapeau or the German Michel? When
the German says little Michel must put
his hand in his pocket and foot the bill.
what does he mean?
Gentlemen take the Word of the Lord
too literally. They forget that the general
practice in ancient times was to express
things by symbols Greek mythology and
fable testify strongly to this. Egyp-
tan hieroglyphics were all based on il.
Our Lord when on earth never opened
His mouth but in parallels. 1t is said,
which is to say that the symbolical is the
divine style Of presenting things. To give
a concluding instance Of il: Our Lord in
fgurative language stated that the
church which he was esta blishing was
not to endure forever; that il was only n
means to an end; that il would go all to
pieces, torn asunder by internal dissen-
sions schisms, and combats and by the
preaching of false Christs, done so art
rully in some instances as to deceive the
very elect; that this Christian church
founded by Him and His apostles would
come to its end and be succeeded by an
other crowning dispensation of divine
ruth, to which dispensation or church
ne has given in the last book of His
Word the name of the New Jerusalem.
But how is this new age described? BY
/ historical setting forth in futurity? No.
,ut by the figure of a woman, called the
ride the lambs wife. In ancient times.
10 remote as to have no historical set
Ing 10000 thousand years ago, maybe,
he race depicted as a woman listened to
he persuasions of the external senses
md fell, taking thousands Of years maybe
o complete the fall: desire or affection
uccumbed and drew the intellect after IL.
3ut mankind. again depicted by
woman, are to be drawn most intimately
o the divine, and in this figure OF the
ride and the lambs wife we see mill