And
instead of feeling tempted to ridicule the document, I am constrained to
gaze on it with the highest admiration and the profoundest reverence for
its amazing wisdom.
As to whether the account of the creation of the man and the woman, and
the story of the forbidden fruit, and of the serpent, and of the tree of
life, are to be taken literally or allegorically, I have no concern at
present. My sole concern with it is that of a Christian teacher and
moralist. The only question with me is: 'Is it divinely inspired? Does
the writer speak as a man moved by the Holy Spirit? Is it the tendency
of the story to make men lawless, recklessly self-indulgent, regardless
of God and duty; or is it the tendency of the story to make men fear God
and work righteousness?' And that is a question answered by the story
itself. On other matters the author writes as a man of his age and
country; on this, the only matter of importance, he writes as a man
moved by the Spirit of God.
And what I say of the accounts of Creation, I say of the history of Cain
and Abel, of Enoch and Job, of Noah and the Flood, of Abraham and Lot,
of Moses and his laws, and of the Hebrews and their history, of the
Psalms and Proverbs, of the Prophets and Apostles. All have one aim and
tendency; all make for righteousness.
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