Page:The Garden of Eden (Doughty).djvu/118

112 Gospel as being "kind even unto the unthankful and the evil"—how could He be unjust, arbitrary, or cruel, devoid of love or forgetful of mercy toward even the most rebellious of his children?

When, therefore, we so read or interpret this narrative, accepting the apparent for the real truth, we make a terrible mistake. We must not conclude with the infidel that God's Word is false. Rather let us conclude that we have been mistaken in our interpretation; that our education or understanding has been at fault; and let us seek for an interpretation that will justify the character of God, and in so doing elevate our own minds. In reading the written Word we shall always come nearer the truth by rejecting the natural and seeking the spiritual meaning. For to all utterances of divine inspiration, our Lord's words apply, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." And the apostlo spoke in harmony with the Master's words, when he said with reference to Scripture, "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."

We have come now to a point where we can clearly see this. In previous discourses we have treated this Eden history as an allegory of spiritual truth. We have looked beyond the letter; we have not impaired the beauty or force of the narrative by literal interpretations, but have tried to