nt's
head." This is not the exact language of Genesis, but of the creed.
The substance is correct. But according to Genesis this was not a
promise to Adam and Eve at all; but a part of the curse pronounced on
the serpent! There is nothing in the record to indicate that either
Adam or Eve even heard it, or ever knew anything about it. There is
nothing in the record to indicate that the serpent was present when God
accosted Adam and Eve about their transgression. Besides, the incident
is never referred to again in the whole Bible, by either prophet,
priest, Christ or apostle. It is simply an example of that far-fetched
method of interpretation I have before referred to, to establish a
preconceived opinion and satisfy the demands of such a necessity.
There is not a single line in the whole Bible to justify such an
interpretation of this incident. The only possible cross reference
that might indicate it is in Rom. xvi, 20: "And the God of peace shall
bruise Satan under your feet shortly." And this can have no reference
to the incident in Eden. Besides, if this sentence on the serpent was
a promise of the victory of Christ over him, it was _already
accomplished_ before Paul wrote these words.

And if such a promise had been made, with the meaning attached to it
that is claimed, God certainly knew that the race would soon forget it,
and thus render it futile and give him additional excuse to vent his
wrath and wreak his vengeance against his helpless creatures. If faith
in such a promise was the only way of salvation from Adam to Abraham
then practically all the world up to that time is now in hell! Who can
believe such a caricature of God?

But after all, what about the salvation of the race since the death of
Christ? If salvation since his coming is only attainable thru personal
faith in him as the miraculously begotten Son of God, and in his death
as a vicarious atonement for sin; and that all are lost except those
who have thus believed, how many are saved? Certainly very few. Take
a mere glance at the world since the time of Christ. Leaving out of
consideration the countless millions who never heard of him, and
confining ourselves to those who have, how many of them fully met
exactly these conditions? If such a doctrine is true, there are but
few people in heaven except infants; and it is only in recent years
that some of the orthodox have admitted infants indiscriminately into
heaven!

I could compre