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389. The following doctrines we consider to be plainly inculcated; 1st, that man is an accountable being; 2d, that a state of innocence is a state of happiness; 3d, that sin brings immediate and certain punishment; and 4th, that sin will ultimately be destroyed. All opposing doctrines are without authority.

PART III.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

390. Much the largest part of the book of Genesis is comprehended in this division, though it may not require the largest amount of discussion. There are but few things of a historical character, that do not relate to the personal experience of the patriarchs or that of their families. Most of the record, therefore, is Biography, rather than History.

CHAPTER XI.

ADAM AND HIS FAMILY.

CONTENTS:- Creation of Adam and Eve; Their Nuptials; The Temptation; Family of Adam; Genealogy of Cain; Genealogy of Seth.

391. If it surprises us that more is not said of so important a personage as the father of the human race, our surprise will be diminished, if not wholly removed, by considering the imperfect mode of perpetuating the knowledge of events that must have existed at first, it being by tradition, or by writing in its rudest form. And though Moses had the means of writing a more extended history of Adam, the fact of his having omitted to do so, shows

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clearly that he obtained his knowledge from brief records then in existence, and could communicate only what he derived from that source. Hence it will be observed, that, as the history of early times progresses, it becomes more full and complete, for the obvious reason that the art of writing, like all other arts, had improved with time; and of course the facility of making out historical records had increased in the same proportion.

Several particulars connected with Adam and his family, contained in the sacred record, may be noticed separately.

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26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27. So God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28. And God blessed them; and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over

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every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29. T And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every trec, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat and it was so.

31. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

CHAP. II.

4. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

5. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was

not a man to till the ground.

6. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

7. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

392. The purpose of God in creating man, is said to be, that he might have dominion over all subordinate creatures. We infer that he was to subsist on such as

were suitable for food; as his dominion over them, can, so far as we can see, have no other practical advantage. In addition to the flesh of animals, which we understand to be given him by implication, he is expressly told that he is to have "every herb bearing seed" and " every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;" while "every green herb" simply, was to be food for other animals. A distinction between the food of men and animals seems to be had in view; but this distinction is not very clearly marked; and a general, rather than a specific and invariable rule, must have been intended.

393. The image of God, in which man was created, we have spoken of elsewhere. So also the usage of the expression, "Let us make man." § 362, 83, 84.

So much of the above passage as relates to man's creation from the dust of the ground, is simply a repetition of the account in chapter first, (Comp. § 292,) with this variation only; that, while the first account comprehends both a spiritual and physical creation, the last makes allusion only to the latter. A "living soul" is not a spiritual and immortal being, in the Bible sense of that expression, but simply a living creature, and may apply to animals, and is applied to them, as well as to men. The creation of man in the image of God, is the only allusion to the spiritual and immortal part of our nature, contained in the account of man's creation.

394. Gen. ii. 4, contains an appellation of Deity that had not been before employed; and this fact has been a matter of speculation with interpreters. In the previous account, the Deity is called "God; he is now designated as "Lord God:" and this expression is continued through the second and third chapters, with two or three exceptions, and in some other passages, this matter is discussed in another place to which the reader is referred. §§ 19-22.

SECTION II. -NUPTIALS OF ADAM AND EVE.

CHAP. II.

18. ¶ And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

19. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

21. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and

he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22. And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

395. It will be observed by the careful reader, that, in the middle of the Bible account of the Garden of Eden and the Temptation, there is another subject introduced, that seems to have no immediate connection with it. The writer gives us a description of the Garden, and mentions the prohibition put upon man.

He then suspends the record, and introduces the naming of the beasts, and the making of a help meet for Adam. After this, he resumes the subject of the temptation and the attending circumstances. How is this singular procedure to be accounted for?

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This matter is not without its difficulties. mon idea is, that the historian goes back to relate some circumstances that had taken place before, and that he describes the exact manner in which the woman was made, as he had before only given us the simple fact of her creation in connection with that of man. We have what we deem a better interpretation of this subject. The creation of woman had several times been referred to. She was created when man was, i. 27, and obviously in the same way. Both were made of the dust of the ground; for, though this language is found in chapter

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