Page:The Garden of Eden (Doughty).djvu/69

Rh this state of more intense self-consciousness, the Lord in his love so arranged the change, and kept his finger, as it were, on the balance-wheel of his nature, so as to render the selfhood itself capable of being vivified, elevated and regenerated, in order that it might be filled with love to God and all heavenly affections. So man was not yet lost. The rib which symbolized the self-consciousness vitalized with spiritual affection, was so given to the man.

Thus far the allegory of Eden, as we have up to this point studied its meaning.

It is now to be observed that the state of the Church, as still being one of great innocence, is figuratively described by the words, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." There is no gross meaning whatever attaching to this language. Nakedness is a Scripture expression for innocence. It is a symbol as classic as it is ancient, and pervades the paintings and sculpture of Romans and Greeks. Those people were still innocent—so runs the allegory—and in their lives of comparative purity, notwithstanding they had come into a state of greater self-reliance and larger self-consciousness, had naught whereof to be ashamed.

But here there is a change of expression, which, while it does not appear in the authorized English version of the Bible, is very marked in the