Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/154

Rh 138 A D A A D A rived from Eastern Asia. Several features disclose this; such as the covering of fig leaves, the springing of four rivers from a common source, and the names of two of them which point to India. The tree of life and the seducing spirit have their place in the Persian and T ndian religions. But its essence is adapted to the Hebrew theology, and contains genuine Hebrew traits ; though it stands tolerably isolated in the circle of ideas which the Old Testament presents. Not till the Book of Wisdom do we find express reference to it (chap. ii. 23, 24), though the tree of life is spoken of in the Proverbs. Yet there is diversity amid similarity. As elaborated by the Hebrew mind, the narrative is a profound theory, with noble features worthy of the subject. Its verisimilitude is apparent. It shows a thoughtful contemplation of human nature, a fine sense of its capacities and weakness, of its aspirations and needs. Its lines are drawn with great dis cernment. The problem need expect no better solution in this life ; for its depths cannot be fathomed by the sound ing-line of a finite understanding. Here is the one philo sophy of the subject that has taken the deepest hold of the human mind, engrafting itself on the religious systems of very different races, and enlisting the sympathies of the most civilised nations. Originating in the East, it has been transferred to the West, where it lives in pristine vigour. It is the essence of the best ideas and traditions of Eastern Asia, improved and enlarged by the Hebrew mind at a certain period. The more the narrative is examined, the more clearly will it appear the result of enlightened reason. It embodies national traditions of Hebrew reflec tiveness. Free from the pantheism and dualism inherent in the mythologies of other peoples, the monotheism which distinguished the Hebrews as the depositaries of a divine truth pervades it. The tradition has two sides. It repre sents the transition of man to freedom and humanity, as Schiller describes it; his elevation by the awakening exercise of reason ; his advance from nature s cradling- season to a consciousness of the divine within him ; but it represents at the same time the inclination to follow his own will, to aspire to the forbidden contrary to his better conviction, to push reason beyond the limits within which alone it can be legitimately used ; in short, to break away from the will of God in self-sufficient independence. While the fact was one of the most fortunate in man s history, it was also one of the saddest. When moral good was made possible, moral evil was introduced. A knowledge of the one brings that of the other. 1 After Adam fell, God drove him from paradise, whose gates were guarded by cherubim to prevent access to the tree of life. The protoplasts had first three sons Cain, Abel, Seth ; then other sons and daughters. Adam died at the age of 930. According to the Elohist, the later race of men descended from Seth, the firstborn (Genesis v.); according to the Jehovist from Cain, who was the first born (Genesis iv.) A Jewish tradition represents him as buried in Hebron with the patriarchs ; a Christian one makes Golgotha his resting-place. A number of absurd fables, the fancies of Jewish writers, have gathered round the simple narratives of the Old Testament, and are incorporated in the Talmud. In these Adam is said to have been made as a man-woman out of dust collected from every part of the earth; his head reached to heaven, and the splendour of his face surpassed the sun. The very angels feared him, and all creatures hastened to pay him devotion. The Lord, in order to display his power before the angels, caused a sleep to fall upon him, took away something from all his members, and 1 See Schelling s Magisterdissertation in vol. i. of his S&mmiliche Wcrke, p. 3, &c. when he awoke commanded the parts that had been re moved to bo dispersed over the globe, that the whole earth might be inhabited by his seed. Thus Adam lost his size, but not his completeness. His first wife was Lilith, mother of the demons. But she flew away through the air; and then the Lord created Eve from his rib, brought her to Adam in the most beautiful dress, and angels descend ing from heaven played on heavenly instruments; sun, moon, and stars dancing. He blessed the pair, and gave them a feast upon a table of precious stone. Angels prepared the most costly viands. But Adam s glory was envied by the angels ; and the seraph Sammael succeeded in seducing him. The pair were driven out of paradise into the place of darkness, and wandered through the earth. 2 According to the Koran, God created man of dried clay like an earthen vessel, animating the figure, and enduing 1 it with an intelligent soul. When he had placed him in paradise, he formed Eve out of his left side. All the angels worshipped the new man except Eblis, who refused and became an unbeliever. Satan caused them to forfeit paradise, and turned them out of their state oi happiness. On Adam s repentance, God pitied him, and had him tavight the divine commandments by the arch angel Gabriel ; whereupon he was conducted to Arafat, a mountain near Mecca, and found Eve after a reparation of 200 years. He was buried on Mount Abukais, near Mecca. 3 Many other fables of the later Jews respecting Adam are collected by Eisenmenger, and those of the Mahometans by Herbelot. In the emanation systems of the Christian Gnostics and Manichseans, as well as in the gnosis of the Mandoeans, Adam is represented as one of the first and holiest aeons. Both catholic and heretical literature indulged in fictions respecting Adam. A Life of Adam was translated from the Ethiopia into German by Dillmann, in Ewald s Jahrbuch, v. The Testament of Adam, current in Syriac and Arabic, was published by Eenan in the Journal Asiatique, s6rie v. torn. 2. Both these seem to be derived from the Spelunca Thesaurorum, which exists in MS. in the Syriac tongue. The Sethites, a Gnostic sect, had Apocalypses of Adam; other Gnostics had a Gospel of Eve. A Book of the Repent ance of Adam and A Book concerning the Daughters of Adam, are condemned in the decree of Gelasius. George Syncellus cites a Greek Life of Adam; and a fragment from The Greek Book of Adam, in a Florentine MS., is given in the LiteraturUatt des Orients for 1850. Thus the Adam-literature is copious. 4 The Book of Adam, pub lished by Norberg in 1816, is improperly so termed. It is a Mandaean or Sabian work, Sidra Ealba, which is now better known, since Petermann s critical edition of 1867, and Noldeke s researches into the language. (s. D.) ADAM OP BREMEN, ecclesiastical historian, was born in Upper Saxony, and in 1067, probably on the invitation of Archbishop Adalbert, came to Bremen, where he was appointed canon and magister scholarum. He died in 1076. His Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesice Pontificum, containing a history of the diocese of Hamburg and Bremen from 788 till the death of Adalbert in 1072, is of great importance as the chief source of information in regard to the state of the northern kingdoms during the period of which it treats. It is supposed to have been com piled partly from written documents and partly from the oral communications of the Danish king, Svend Estrithson. Its statements are generally trustworthy, though the chrono logy is sometimes confused, and the geographical informa- 8 Eisenmenger s Entdektes Jutlenthum, Amsterdam, 1700, 4to. 3 D Herbelot s Bibliothegue Orientate, s. v. &quot; Adam,&quot; p, 53, ed. 1697, Paris. 4 See Dillmann in Hcrzog s Encyklopcedie, xii. p. 319,