Chapter XV - Genesis
Hypothetical reversal
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not be so. Yet one might so judge from an unintelligent
not be so. Yet one might so judge from an unintelligent
perusal of the Scriptural account now under comment.
Mist, or false claim
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Because of its false basis, the mist of obscurity evolved
Because of its false basis, the mist of obscurity evolved
by error deepens the false claim, and finally declares that
God knows error and that error can improve
His creation. Although presenting the exact
opposite of Truth, the lie claims to be truth. The crea-
tions of matter arise from a mist or false claim, or from
mystification, and not from the firmament, or under-
standing, which God erects between the true and false.
In error everything comes from beneath, not from above.
All is material myth, instead of the reflection of
Spirit.
Distinct documents
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It may be worth while here to remark that, according
It may be worth while here to remark that, according
to the best scholars, there are clear evidences of two dis-
tinct documents in the early part of the book of
Genesis. One is called the Elohistic, because
the Supreme Being is therein called Elohim. The other
document is called the Jehovistic, because Deity therein is
always called Jehovah, – or Lord God, as our common
version translates it.
Jehovah or Elohim
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Throughout the first chapter of Genesis and in three
Throughout the first chapter of Genesis and in three
verses of the second, – in what we understand to be the
spiritually scientific account of creation, – it is
Elohim (God) who creates. From the fourth
verse of chapter two to chapter five, the creator is called
Jehovah, or the Lord. The different accounts become
more and more closely intertwined to the end of chapter
twelve, after which the distinction is not definitely trace-
able. In the historic parts of the Old Testament, it is
usually Jehovah, peculiarly the divine sovereign of the
Hebrew people, who is referred to.
Gods of the heathen
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The idolatry which followed this material mythology is
The idolatry which followed this material mythology is
seen in the Phoenician worship of Baal, in the Moabitish
god Chemosh, in the Moloch of the Amorites,
in the Hindoo Vishnu, in the Greek Aphro-
dite, and in a thousand other so-called deities.
Jehovah a tribal deity
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It was also found among the Israelites, who constantly
It was also found among the Israelites, who constantly
went after "strange gods." They called the Supreme
Being by the national name of Jehovah. In
that name of Jehovah, the true idea of God
seems almost lost. God becomes "a man of war," a
tribal god to be worshipped, rather than Love, the divine
Principle to be lived and loved.
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Genesis ii. 7. And the Lord God [Jehovah] formed man
Genesis ii. 7. And the Lord God [Jehovah] formed man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Creation reversed
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Did the divine and infinite Principle become a finite
Did the divine and infinite Principle become a finite
deity, that he should now be called Jehovah? With
a single command, Mind had made man,
both male and female. How then could a
material organization become the basis of man? How
could the non-intelligent become the medium of Mind,
and error be the enunciator of Truth? Matter is not
the reflection of Spirit, yet God is reflected in all His
creation. Is this addition to His creation real or un-
real? Is it the truth, or is it a lie concerning man and
God?
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It must be a lie, for God presently curses the ground.
It must be a lie, for God presently curses the ground.
Could Spirit evolve its opposite, matter, and give matter
ability to sin and suffer? Is Spirit, God, injected into
dust, and eventually ejected at the demand of matter?
Does Spirit enter dust, and lose therein the divine nature