2o8 PRESENT-DAY RATIONALISM 



quite differently expressed. In Gen. i. 26 God is a 

 spiritual Being ; but in Gen. ii. 8 God is human. 



The first is only compatible with a tolerably highly 

 intellectual conception of Deity, and itself marks an ad- 

 vanced stage in man's mental development. 



On the other hand, God being represented as a man 

 appears to be a more child-like and primitive conception ; 

 and perhaps comes nearer to what was probably the 

 earliest idea of a Deity, namely, a human ancestor. 



Prof Sayce has shown how the religion of Babylonia 

 was essentially anthropomorphic,^ and that there is a 

 strong parallel between the story of Eden and the 

 cosmogony of Eridu, the capital town on the shores of 

 the Persian Gulf, as the sea was one hundred and more 

 miles further north than it is now, some thousands of 

 years ago. 



On the other hand, the cosmogony which the late Mr. 

 G. Smith deciphered has many points of contact with the 

 first chapter of Genesis. Prof Sayce says, "It belongs to 

 an age of religious syncretism and materialistic philosophy, 

 and is of late date ".^ 



Both accounts, of course, represent the ideas of early 

 thinkers about the origin of man ; and how he came into 

 existence. What truths can we discover in them ? 



In the first, the central idea is man's mental, not 

 bodily, kinship with the Deity ; as shown by his powers 

 of Domtnton over the world. It does not require much 

 experience to know that there is something in man which 

 imparts his superior power over animals. Indeed, St. 

 James says : Man has tamed every kind of animal, but 

 the tongue no man can tame (iii. 7, 8) ; that is, he cannot 

 tame himself! Moreover, animals know that man is 



1 The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, p. 498. 

 ?0^«<., p. 387. 



