TUE FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 



163 



On page 134 Mr. Maunder speaks of the chapter as the record of 

 some seer to whom the whole was revealed. But in whatever way 

 the revelation was given, must it not have been given to Adam 1 

 The institution of marriage was necessary to man from the beginning ; 

 so also was the institution of the Sabbath; and the allusions to 

 reckoning by sevens, as in the cases of Lamech and Noah, and the 

 mention of the Sabbath in the Babylonian inscriptions, are surely 

 proofs of its antiquity. 



The paper does not mention what is known as the second 

 narrative of Creation. I believe that if we look upon that as having 

 been written by Adam himself from his own point of view — 

 of course, under Divine guidance — it will clear up many difficulties. 



I am not sure that I understand the reference on page 135 to the 

 address of Wisdom in the eighth chapter of Proverbs, but by the 

 use of capital letters the Messianic character of the passage is 

 apparently recognised. 



Let me say that if we could clear up all the problems connected 

 with the Creation narrative we should be creating a Scripture 

 difficulty instead of solving one. For it is by faifh that we are to 

 understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, 



It is very remarkable that this verse comes in the portrait gallery 

 of the Heroes of Faith — the saints of old who endured everv kind 

 of trial and suffering as a test of their faith. We are in no danger 

 in the.se days of being stoned, or sawn asunder, or even of suffering 

 bonds and imprisonment. And yet there is a trial of faith for every 

 young Christian who stands up for the truth of God to-day. And 

 is there any part of Scripture that has been so much attacked as the 

 Creation Story 1 



Author's Reply. 



I fear that Mr. Schwartz has not quite grasped the point that I 

 wished to make in the first section of my paper. I had no intention 

 of asserting that those who thought that the source of the chapter 

 was in " man who did not know, but imagined it," were thereby 

 disqualified from discussing it ; but simply that, to be consistent, 

 they must regard all such discussion as meaningless. " This first 

 chapter of Genesis is only valuable if it comes to us from 

 knowledge." 



