the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of heaven, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29. And God said, Behold, I have given to you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every over the foaming ocean, the patient earth, and the wild beasts of the forests; it then extols the "language and lofty wisdom of man"; he has but one unconquerable enemy, death; but him even he can, if not baffle, at least retard by his skill of healing; Virgil describes men as the masters of the lands and seas; and Ovid finishes his cosmogony with those remarkable verses, which possess a striking resemblance to the Hebrew words: "A creature of a more exalted kind Was wanting yet, and then was Man design'd: Conscious of thought, of more capacious breast, For empire form'd, and fit to rule the rest:.... Thus, while the whole creation downward bend Their sight, and to their earthly mother tend, Man looks aloft; and, with erected eyes, Beholds his own hereditary skies." And he alludes to the divine origin of man with corresponding terms of admiration: "Whether the framer of the world formed him from divine elements; or whether the young earth, but lately divided from the lofty æther, still retained some seeds of its kindred heaven." Thus Xenophon observes: "The soul of man, and other human qualities, partake of the nature of the Deity"; Lucretius exclaims: "We all are born from heavenly origin"; and Hipparchus called our souls "a part of heaven." With still greater precision, the divine nature of man has been represented by eastern nations; the Babylonians maintained, that a drop of the blood of Baal is enclosed in, and animates, the body of man; the Persians were of opinion, that Ormuzd formed the first man out of the four elements, to which he added an immortal soul; it was a favourite The myth of the Greeks, that Prometheus shaped a human form out of clay, and took from heaven the animating spark; and in the Koran, man is called the representative of God on earth. In the Hindoo books, man is also designated "the guardian of the world"; but his creation is most curiously related. great Spirit drew from the waters a bodily being; he converted, by contemplation, its eye into the sun, its breast into the moon, its nostrils into air, its skin into herbs, and so forth; and then introduced all these objects into the human form. Nowhere has the godlikeness of man been conceived with such purity and sublimity as in the Scriptures; the affinity between God and man is a purely spiritual one; no natural element is mixed with it; God has no corporeality; He is only to be conceived with the mind; every image of God is severely interdicted; it would, indeed, be impossible to represent Him to the external eye; and if sometimes bodily terms are used with regard to Him, it is in the same manner as when the Bible speaks of the eyes and wings of the sun, or of the pinions and eye-lids of the morning dawn; if man, therefore, has a resemblance to God, it can only be that of the interual faculties, of reason, of imagination, of love; it is only by these higher gifts that he conquers nature, and sways over the brute creation; the expressions, "in our image, after our likeness," presuppose no visible form of the Deity; they are no remnants of heathen notions among the Hebrews; they do not deserve the hostile attacks of many modern critics. It is nothing less than a destruction of the very foundation of Biblical theology to attribute to God any quality of corporeity. God governs the world by His infinite reason; is it astonishing that those who were, in some degree, tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food; 30. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of heaven, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so. 31. And God destined to be the rulers of the earth, should resemble Him in that power by which alone they can uphold their superiority? And this idea of the god-like nature of man remained no empty theory; it was made the basis of almost all practical duties, of all obligations of man towards man; murder was a violation of the image of God; charity was a loan made to Him; and the whole system of social life was pervaded by that elevating, sanctifying principle (see Commentary on Exod., p. 333). The lifeless creation was produced for the living beings; vegetation was destined for men and animals; no being "with a living soul" was originally intended as the food for another living creature; man was assigned to eat the seed-giving plants, and grain, and the fruit of trees; to the animals were left the grass and the herbs (vers. 29, 30). Although man was permitted the dominion over the beasts of the field, the fishes of the water, and the birds of the air, he was not allowed to extend that dominion to the destruction of life; he was the master, not the tyrant, of the animal kingdom- he might use, but not annihilate it; "Heaven's attribute was universal care, And man's prerogative to rule, but spare." Every living being has a right to exist, and to enjoy its existence; God had blessed the animals with fruitfulness; man was not allowed to counteract that blessing by killing them for his sport or his appetite. God created the world for peace and concord, no being should rage against another; the sin of man brought warfare among the living creatures; the cries of agony rent the air; man and beast raged among themselves, and against each other; the state of inno cence was succeeded by the age of passion and violence; and it was only after the fall of man that animal food was permitted to him (ix. 3). But in the time of the Messiah, when sin will again disappear from the world, and innocence will be restored to all living creatures, vegetation alone will furnish the food of the animal creation; and "the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent's food." Almost all nations have had a golden age; and it is invariably a principal trait of that happy time that men abstained from killing animals, that It is known that Pythagoras and his followers considered it a hideous crime to kill animals for human food; they believed that the earth produced in abundance vegetable provisions, that man might avoid the guilt of murdering harmless creatures, and that he is only entitled to defend himself against wild beasts which would be dangerous to his safety. The exposition of these Pythagorean doctrines is, perhaps, one of the most masterly efforts of the genius of Ovid (Metam. xv. 75-142); we wish our space permitted us to introduce it here; for it is a subject of absorbing interest, which will, at no distant period, command the attention of civilised societies: the arguments have recently been again surveyed; and new combats have been fought. It cannot, indeed, be our intention to enter into the question of vegetarianism; we saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And it was evening, and it was morning; the sixth day. shall not stop to enquire to which side the organisation of the human body points; our object is distinctly to impress that, according to the Bible, man, in the state of innocence, was commanded to content himself with vegetable food, and that it is the aim of mankind to return to that state. That question, therefore, may be decided on perfectly free ground, and on its own merits; it is in no way prejudiced by Scriptural doctrines; and we add the remark, that Greek poets represent the enmity of the noxious beasts against man as a consequence of man's sanguinary persecution of the animals. It is the retaliation of revenge. It was only in the age of corruption that "the beasts were caught in snares, or deceived with bird-lime; that the spacious lawns were encompassed with hounds, and the broad rivers were lashed with nets." The books of Manu rigorously interdict the Brahmins from the killing of animals, except for sacrifices; but as these were often used as a pretext for an unlawful appetite, they were entirely forbidden. The original offerings of the Hindoos consisted of the juice of a certain plant (soma), mixed and prepared in a peculiar manner, or of melted butter. It is one of the five great laws of the Buddhists to destroy no living creature; and several other Eastern sects pronounced the same principle. God had created the world, adorned and peopled the earth, and placed upon it as ruler a being cognate with His own nature; He saw His works, and He approved of them in their totality; cach individual part contributed to enhance the harmony of the whole; "He rejoiced at His works"; they were a worthy emanation of His mind and His will. Man and woman are introduced with equal rights; they share the government of the earth; they bear both the same image of God; they are ennobled with the same soul, although it may, in women, dwell in a weaker frame; both may claim the same prerogatives; and if there is a difference, it is in the beautiful comparison of Luther, that "man is like the sun of heaven, woman like the moon; whilst the animals are the stars, over which sun and moon rule." CHAPTER II. 1. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their host. 2. And on the seventh day God had finished His work which He made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He made. 3. And 1-3. The design of God is executed; the world is framed, organised, and peopled; He has placed upon the earth a being which mirrors, in some degree, His own Divine nature, which was henceforward to work and to create on the earth. Man is the culminating point to which the energy of God had tended; and as he resembles God in his nature, he should imitate Him in his activity; the work of God should be the example and the type of the work of man. The Scriptures teach man the attributes of God, only in order to show him his own ideal aims; and thus they relate, that God rested after the six days of creation, to impress upon man that the end of all work is rest; that contemplation is the fruit of exertion; that spiritual life is both the aim and the reward of material life. The Sabbath of God is the type of God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: for on it He rested from all His work which God created and produced. the Sabbath of man; it is here introduced to enforce its paramount holiness, its Divine character, and seems designedly stated with a certain copiousness and abundance of diction. God did not require rest: He "is never fatigued nor weary" (Isa. xl. 28); He creates by His mere will, by His thought; He commands, and it exists; He is always spiritual, pure, sublime; He is free from all lower propensities. But in man, the spiritual and physical elements are in perpetual warfare; the victory is often uncertain; it is not always on the better side; he has to make great exertions for small results; the power is limited; the obstacles are many, while the aim is distant and the time brief. Does he not require seasons for reflection, when the soul takes breath in the wild race of daily toil? when the mind surveys the way, comparing that which has been traversed with what remains to be performed? when the conflict is silent, and the equipoise is restored? when man approaches again to that state of internal harmony which is the centre of his resemblance to God? The Sabbath is, then, a necessary institution; it is indispensable for a religious life; and that Book which is intended as the fountain of religion, places the origin of the Sabbath at the beginning of its pages; it makes the Sabbath the corner-stone of the moral world; and, therefore, leads its first cause back to the creation of the physical world. It is impossible to mistake this connection; it is implied in the whole tenour of this section; it is clearly pronounced in the most solemn part of the Biblical doctrines, the Ten Commandments (Exod. xx.11): the Books of Moses are throughout pervaded by the same principles; they aim, in all parts, at the sanctification of man, after the prototype of Divine perfection. II. PARADISE AND THE FALL. CHAPTERS II. 4, гo III. 24. I. GENERAL VIEW. THE Creation was finished. We might imagine we see the blooming meadows, the finny tribes of the sea, and the numberless beasts of the field; and in the midst of all this beauty and life, man with his help-mate, as princes and sovereigns. But more; the Creation was not only finished, it had been approved of in all its parts; and, as a symbol of the perfect completion of His task, God was represented to rest, and to bless that day which marked the conclusion of His labours. But now the narrative seems not only to pause, but to go back; the grand and powerful climax seems at once broken off, and a languid repetition appears to follow; another cosmogony is introduced, which, to complete the perplexity, is, in many important features, in direct contradiction with the first. It would be dishonesty to conceal these difficulties; it would be weak-mindedness and cowardice; it would be flight instead of combat; it would be an ignoble retreat instead of victory; we confess, there is an apparent dissonance. In the first cosmogony, vegetation is immediately produced by the will of God; in the second its existence is made dependent on rain and mists, and the agricultural labours:2 in the first, the earth emerges from the waters, and is, therefore, saturated with moisture; in the second, it appears dry, sterile, and sandy: in the first, man and his wife are created together;' in the second, the wife is formed later, and from a part of man: in the former, man bears the image of God, and is made the ruler of the whole earth; 3 in the latter, his earth-formed body is only animated by the breath of life, and he is placed in Eden to cultivate and to guard it: in the former, the birds and beasts are created before man;5 in the latter, man before birds and beasts." Now, it has been tried to reconcile all these differences; many have, by specious reasons, argued away their existence altogether; sophistry has attempted bolder feats; those who dreaded the responsibility, have leaned themselves on some great authority; they have taken refuge under the wings of some revered name; others have covered the weakness of their arguments by copious declamations, or violent remonstrances; while others have transferred the whole difficulty upon dogmatic ground; they have made it a question of faith; they have assumed a triumphant air of sanctimony, und silenced their opponents by branding their names with the epithets of sceptic and infidel. An abundant number of books has been written on this subject; much sagacity, and still more learning have been wasted; but it was forgotten, that the Scriptures speak in the ordinary language of man; that they are profound, but not mysterious; that they are given to assist, not to obscure, the human intellect. We shall, therefore, not attempt an artificial solution; those differences are too obvious to be overlooked or denied; we have examined the question with the minuteness and anxiety due to its importance; we admit freely, that the second account contains some features not in accordance with the first; and that it is manifestly composed in a different style. We admit this; but we admit no more. We deny the conclusions which might be drawn from this concession. The second account is no abrupt fragment; it is not unconnected with the first; it is no superfluous repetition; it leads, on the contrary, the Biblical ideas a most important step onward: it introduces new elements of the highest moment for the history of the whole human race. It is, essentially, a continuation of the first chapter. It is not difficult to prove this position. Impartiality will lead with safety through this apparent maze; let us follow its guidance. The second account contains by no means a complete cosmogony; it is far from offering a systematic view of the origin of the world; it is limited to a few particular outlines; namely, the production of vegetation, the planting and nature of Eden, and the creation of man and beasts. Why does it not mention the expanse of heaven and the seas, light and the celestial luminaries? why not even the fishes? If these omissions are arbitrary, and if it could be proved, that the former objects are aimlessly introduced, it would certainly follow, that the second account is a fragment superfluously inserted; that the history of creation is devoid of unity and design; and that the commentator must expound each section as a separate portion, unconnected with the rest. But this is not the case. Arbitrariness has nowhere presided in the narrative of the creation. A distinct plan is manifest both in what is omitted, and in what is introduced. The second section (which comprises the second and third chapter) describes, not the creation of the world, but exclusively the fall of man through disobedience. It embodies, therefore, such traits only as are indispensable for this episode; it systematically excludes all other subjects. The fall of man took place in the garden in Eden; therefore, paradise is described. It was the consequence of the eating of a forbidden fruit; hence, the creation of the vegetable kingdom is delineated. It was caused by the temptation of the serpent; and this made the creation of the beasts necessary. Eve, lastly, took a principal part in the transaction; therefore, the creation of woman is introduced. So much was necessary for the clear understanding of the momentous event, and not more; |