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death reigned by one . ' * 2 Cor . xv . 21 , 22 , " For since by man came death . For as in Adam all die . " 6 . So that the account given in Gen . ii . and Hi- of the fall of man from his
state of innocence , 13 abundantly confirmed by what is incidentally said in reference to it by several other most certainly inspired writers of Scripture . Therefore , whether the whole history as it stands in Gen . ii . and iii . be
understood in the most literal sense of the words , or in part in an allegorical , yet the account as a whole is true , and contains very important matter ; and any theological system that will
not admit of a sober exposition of it , must necessarily be erroneous , and cannot possibly long maintain its ground . 7 . There are also some less direct , but I hope solid proofs of the truth of what I am contending- for . For
instance , it is m a measure supported by the most ancient writings now existing in the Heathen world . In the patriarchal ages there were but few subjects for the most intelligent persons to converse about . All
things were then in their infancy . Therefore they would spend some of their leisure moments , as the Arabs and many others do now , i . e . in relating the few great events that had taken place in the world , and which their ancestors had made them
acquainted with . In this way the history of the creation , of man ' s happy state in the garden of Eden , of his disobedience , &c , of the deluge , the building of the Tower of Babel , &c ,
would be handed down to posterity , until the art of writing was discovered , when they would record these facts in their manuscripts . AccordffiY we find in the Hindoo , &c , M&S ., some of which are of a very great
« ge , or at least the original works which they are copies of , —I say , we find many things in them very similar to jvliat is related in Gen . ii . and iii . and in later parts of that book . Sir Willain Jones , who was a very learned »» n good man and a Judge in India , relieved that some of the writings of . Hindoos were of very great age indeed , and says in his preface to his translation of Menu ' s Laws , an ancient Indian Lawgiver , p . 10 , " Dura atmcuh was persuaded , and not without sound reason , that the first Menu of
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the Bramens could be no other person than the-progenitor of mankind , tck whom Jews , Christians and Mttsel * mans unite in giving the name of Adam—but whoever he might haye been he is highly honoured in the Veda itself" &c .
There are two sculptured human figures yet extant in one of the oldest pagodas of India which represent the two Hindoo deities Creeshna and Vishnu ; one of them is trampling on the crushed head of a very long and large serpent , while a second enormous
serpent is biting the heel of the other deity . Maurice ' s Hist , of Hindostan , Vol . II . p . 200 ; Taylor ' s Frag , to Cal . Diet . " One of the Hindoo fables , related by Father Bouchat , bears some resemblance to the Mosaic history of Paradise . The inferior gods who have
ever since the creation been multiplying themselves almost to infinity , did not at first enjoy the privilege of immortality . After numberless endeavours to procure it , they had recourse to a tree , the leaf of which grew in Chonean or Paradise , and met with
success , so that by eating from time to time the fruit of this tree they ob * tained this . At length the serpent , so called , perceived that the tree of life had been found out , and probably having been appointed to guard , was so exasperated at being overreached ,
that he poured out a great quantity of poison : the whole earth felt the dreadful effects of it , and not one mortal could have escaped , had not the god Chiven taken pity on the human race , revealed himself under the shape of a man and swallowed the
poison . " The evil being Ahirman , they farther say , got upon the earth in the form of a serpent , and seduced the first human pair from their allegiance to Ormusd , by persuading them that he himself was the author of all that
existed . The man and the woman both believing him , became criminal , and their sin will perpetuate itself to the end . " See Dr . Priestley ' s Comp . of the Hindoo Religion with the Mosaic , pp . 36—38 .
" Yet we have authority too great to be doubted that the mild and fertile regions of the East formed the residence of man , when placed on earth by the Creator to begin his career of mortality $ and by minute comparison
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On Mr . JVellbeloved ' s Exposition of Gen . ii . and iii . Z 2 f
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1826, page 327, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2549/page/11/
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