t my statement of the case is
mildness itself compared to his; John saw no necessity for mincing
matters. It may be contended that no orthodox theologian of any repute
now believes in an actual historical fall of the race. Perhaps not,
but theological writers go on using language which implies it and so do
preachers of the gospel. I do not mean that they are dishonest, but
they cannot get their perspective right. They think that by giving up
belief in a historical fall of the race they would have to give up a
great deal more. Without the Fall they do not know what to say about
sin, salvation, the Atonement, etc. They are mistaken in this
supposition, as I trust I have already shown to some extent when
discussing the question of sin, and as I shall hope to show more
clearly still when we come to deal with the Atonement. What I now wish
to insist upon is that it is absolutely impossible for any intelligent
man to continue to believe in the Fall as it is literally understood
and taught.

+The Genesis account.+--It is popularly supposed that the doctrine is
derived from the book of Genesis, but that is hardly the case. No
doubt the Genesis myth about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden forms
the background of it, but it is not consonant with the doctrine itself.
The Genesis narrative says nothing about the ruined creation or the
curse upon posterity. There is no hint of individual immortality, much
less of heaven and hell; no Christ, no cross, no future judgment, no
vicarious Atonement. It is a composite primitive story. A careful
examination of its constituents will show that more than one account of
the event has been drawn upon to supply materials for the narrative as
it now stands. The legend was in existence as oral tradition ages
before it became literature. How old it may be we have no means of
knowing with certainty, but the parallel stories in other Semitic
religions are of great antiquity and had originally no ethical
significance whatever. The Genesis story of the Fall exercised no
influence upon Old Testament religion; it is scarcely alluded to in the
best Old Testament writings, some of them earlier probably than the
Genesis account itself. It was not until after the great captivity
that it showed any tendency toward becoming an article of faith. At
the time when Jesus was born it had passed into the popular Jewish
religion. There is a psychological reason for the gradual
transformation of a pr