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cient times a spot of the earth called Eden , near where the Sacred Scriptures lead us to understand that the Garden of Eden was situated . The Dame is met with several times in the Old Testament , and in other ancient works . See Wells ' s Geog . of the Old Testament , and Maundrell's Trav . pp . 119—142 . As to certain little
differences between the Scripture account of it , and the present state of that spot , they may , perhaps , be accounted for by the deluge , or later convulsions of nature , to which our earth is so subject . 2 . We also learn from the Sacred
Scriptures that the ancient Eden was planted with the mosjt valuable trees that the world was blessed with ; for it is said in Isa . li . 3 , " Make her wilderness like Eden . " Ezek . xxxvi . 35 , €€ And they shall say , that this land that was desolate is become like the
garden of Eden . " And chap , xxviii . 13 , " Thou hast been in Eden , the garden of God , " &c The inability of our first parents to provide sustenance for themselves , made it
necessary that their first place of residence should have been such a place as Eden was ; and , therefore , the infinitely wise and good God prepared it for them .
3 . It also appears from other passages of Scripture , that were certainly written by inspired persons , that there was a tree of life in the ancient garden of Eden ,, the very name of which strongly suggests that there probably was also a tree there that had death somehow connected with it .
The Hebrew term Eden signifies pleasure or delight ; mid Paradise signifies a rich and beautiful garden , such as Eden was ; they are , therefore , sometimes used in the Holy Scriptures as synonymous terms . See Rev . ii . 7 : " Him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the tree of life , which is in the midst of the paradise of God . " And in chap , xxiii . 2 : " And in the midst of the street of it , and on either
aide of the river , was there the tree of life . ' * Chap . xxii . 14 : " Blessed are they that do his commandments , that they may have right to the tree of life . '' Now , when we consider that
the ancient garden of Eden is called by the Seventy the paradise of Eden , Gen . ii . 8 ; and that Eden is called in the Hebrew , in Ezek . xxviii . \ 3 , the
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garden of God , ( not to mention other places , ) it appears sufficiently evident that the Apostle John had , when he wrote the above passages , in his eye the state of the ancient garden of Eden ; i . e . that there was a tree called the tree of life in it . So that the
history of the garden of Eden , as it stands in Gen . ii . and iii ., agrees with other parts of the divinely-inspired writings . 4 . We , moreover , learn from other passages of Scripture , that our first parents were tempted by the serpent to eat of the fruit of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil , and that they complied with the temptation . The terms Devil and Serpent , are sometimes of the same signification . See Rev . xii . 9 : " That great Dragon was cast out , that old Serpent called
the Devil and Satan , who deceived the whole world . ' Again , Rev . xx . 2 : " And he laid hold on the Dragon , that old Serpent , which is the Devil and Satan , " &c . Verse 8 : " And
shall go out to deceive the nations . " So our Lord says to the wicked Jews , " Ye are of your father the Devil , and the lusts of your father ye will do . He was a murderer from the be <
rinning , and abode not in the truth , because there is no truth in him . When he speaketh a lie , he speaketh of his own , for he is a liar and the father of it . " John viii . 44 . So the Apostle John says , 1 John iii . 8 , " Whosoever committeth sin is of the Devil :
for the Devil sinneth from the beginning * . " Here seems to be a plain reference to the conversation of the Serpent with Eve in the beginning of time- See Gen . iii . 1—8 . And this is made still more evident by what is said in 2 Cor . xi . 3 : < c For 1 fear lest
by any means , as the Serpent beguiled . Eve through his subtilty , " &c . ver . 14 . And in 1 Tim . ii . 14 , ic Adam was not deceived , but the woman being
deceived was in the transgression / ' Also Eccles . xxv . 24 . Here again we find that the account of the fall , that we have in Gen . ii . and iii ., perfectly agreed with what is said of it in other portions of the inspired writings .
5 . We also learn from Scripture that death , that was threatened to Adam if he was disobedient , was executed upon him . See Rom * v . \ 2 , 17 > 19 : " Wherefore , as by one man sin entered into the world , and death by sin . —For if by one man ' s offence ,
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326 On Mr . Wellbelovects Exposition of G # n ii-. and iii .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1826, page 326, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2549/page/10/
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