THE SECOND LESSON
It was not long before his mother had finished her work. She then said,
"Come, Walter, I am ready now to go to the library."
They both entered and found Mr. Williams waiting for them with the
Bible open in his hand. He looked up at them as soon as they appeared
and said, "I suppose the great question before the class to-night is
to decide whether there are one or two creations chronicled in the
Bible; and if there are two, which one is the real. Have you arrived
at any conclusion in regard to this point, Walter?"
"Yes, father, I have. It seems very plain to me now, and if you will
allow me, I shall be pleased to give my views regarding these two
creations."
This was just what the pastor wanted. He wished Walter to speak first,
to see what conclusions the boy had arrived at, before he expressed
his own opinion, so he readily gave his consent and said, "Speak your
mind freely, son, and if I cannot agree with you on all points, we
will take up those points afterwards and discuss them."
Walter now had the privilege he wanted, but he felt he must be careful
not to say too much for fear of awakening his father's suspicion; so
he quietly opened the Bible he had brought with him, and read aloud,
Genesis 2, 7th verse, "_And the Lord God formed man of the dust of
the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man
became a living soul._" As he finished reading this verse, he looked
at his father and said, "You will notice, father, that the Bible says,
'the _Lord God_' formed this dust man, and this is not the same God that
created man in his image and likeness. You will also notice that in the
first narrative it simply speaks of God creating everything, and in the
second narrative it always speaks of the _Lord God_ as having made
everything and--"
"Wait, Walter," said the pastor hurriedly. He had intended to let
Walter say everything he had to say on the subject, but he could not
think of allowing his son to bring out the theory that there were two
Gods, as this would be worse than the thought of two creations. "You
surely are not trying to bring forth the theory that there are two
Gods, two supreme powers. I cannot possibly allow you to advance such
a thought even in theory, for that would be pantheism."
"Please, father, let me finish my explanation. I have no intention of
bringing forth a theory upholding two supreme powers, but I desire to
show that we are now believing in two supreme powers, and that only
one is true and real. Will you please look at the verse I have just
read? Notice that it uses the words, _Lord God_, and you will
find that this form is used almost all of the way through this second
narrative. Now look at the first chapter of Genesis; you will notice
that it never speaks of the _Lord God_, but simply of God."
The pastor had caught the meaning of what Walter had said, and was now
diligently reading first a verse in chapter 1, Genesis, then a
corresponding verse in chapter 2.
Walter's mother had quietly risen, gone to the bookcase, secured a
Bible and was also comparing one with the other. At length the pastor
looked up at Walter with a surprised and confused look, and said, "What
you say is true, Walter, and I must admit I never noticed this before,
but I cannot see that it changes the narratives any. The author or
writer simply changed the name he employed to designate Deity, that
is all. Still I cannot understand what his reason could have been for
making the change. It is also remarkable that the change should take
place just at the time it does, at the beginning of the second
narrative."
"It does seem strange that such a change should be made, if it was not
done for a purpose," said Mrs. Williams.
"I believe I can explain why the change was made," said Walter.
"Very well, Walter," said the pastor, "let us hear your explanation."
"Well, father, as I understand it, the first creation is real, it being
the work of God. Then the Bible speaks of that _mist_ or misapprehension
that arose, and the story told in the second narrative is this
misapprehension. Therefore, I should judge that _Lord God_ would mean a
man-conceived God; and man, through misapprehending the real character
and nature of Deity, believes the earth and man were created according
to the second narrative, which would agree with all our present ideas. I
mean by this that we all think and believe that God made man materially
out of the dust of the earth, while the first account says man was made
in the image and likeness of God; and as God is Spirit, man must be
spiritual; as a dust or material man cannot be that likeness, because
matter is the opposite of spirit. Then again, everything that God made
was good--and this dust man is more evil than good; and as God, who is
conceded as being all good, made all, and pronounced all He made good,
this dust or material man, being evil, was never made, but, through a
misapprehension, we think man to be material, and believe him to be the
real man. To illustrate what I mean, say some one told you a falsehood
and you believed it to be the truth; then the lie would seem true to
you. Nevertheless, because you believe this lie to be the truth, it
would not make a truth of it, as it would be a lie still, regardless of
your belief. In the same way theologists have made a mistake by thinking
that this second creation is the real, and have taught all mankind that
they originated from dust and must return to dust, and every one
believes this; and because every one believes this mistake, it seems
like the truth to all of us, but no matter how many believe a lie, it
does not make a truth of it; and it is because of this false
interpretation that all evil has come upon us, for in the real and
spiritual creation there is no mention of evil. It is only after that
mist or misapprehension arose that evil is mentioned. Oh, father, if my
explanation is the truth, then God did not make evil, did not make
sickness; and if He didn't make sickness, it was never made, for the
Bible says, God made all that was made, then sickness is also a part of
the misapprehension that arose, and is not real, does not exist, only in
our mistaken thoughts. In other words, we have all been taking a lie for
the truth, and the whole world has been taught this error, and through
this mistake we thought it possible for evil to exist when we ought to
have known that God could not have made evil, for there is no mention of
sin, disease, or death in the first narrative, or real creation."
Walter stopped, his face all aglow with joy and happiness. He had risen
to his feet while he was speaking and now he looked from father to
mother, but he only saw perplexity written on their faces.
"Can't you see it, father? mother, didn't I make it plain? It seems
so easy for me to understand it now; don't you see what it means to
me? It means that I never was sick in reality, that I never need be
sick in reality, that I am sick only in belief, that all any one need
do to get well is to find out this truth, that sickness is only an
illusion, a lie, which the truth will correct. This must be the truth
that Jesus Christ spoke of when He said, Ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. Yes, it has made me free, for it has
lifted this cloud of sickness and feebleness from my mind, and I feel
perfectly well and strong."
Again he looked from one to the other of his parents, on his father's
face he saw sorrow written, on his mother's fear.
Walter then turned his face upward, and said, "Oh, thou, God, who is
all good, who never made evil or sickness, I thank thee for this great
truth which thou hast revealed to me. I also desire that thou show
this same truth to my father and mother, and I believe that thou wilt,
for thy Son, Jesus Christ, hath said that whatever we desire when we
pray, we should believe that we receive and we would receive; and I
do believe that my desire will be granted, for Jesus Christ would not
have said it if it were not true."
The Rev. Mr. Williams and his good wife were speechless. The words
they had heard and the actions of Walter had caused the father to fear
that his son's mind had given way; while the mother thought there was
something supernatural about it all, and she felt half inclined to
believe that what she had heard was the truth, and that this wisdom
was given to her son from on high.
Now the pastor advanced to where Walter stood, looked at him
inquiringly, laid his hand on his arm, and said, "Sit down, Walter,
don't get excited about this question; we will all understand it better
after a while." Then looking at his wife, he said, "Mother, don't you
think we have had enough Bible lesson for this evening?"
His wife was surprised at the question, for she had not thought of
Walter as being demented. She could not see why the pastor wished to
discontinue the lesson, for they had only begun; but, ever ready to
agree with her husband, she answered, "Just as you think, James."
Walter looked at his father for a moment, wondering what could be the
matter, and as he thought of all he had said, it occured to him that
his father must think he had lost his reason; this struck him as so
ridiculous that he burst out laughing, more heartily than he had ever
done in his life, for he felt better and more free than ever before.
But his laughter only made matters worse as it confirmed his father's
opinion in regard to his having lost his reason; and now the good man
sadly shook his head, saying, "It is worse than I thought."
This only made Walter laugh the heartier.
The mother looked from her laughing son to her sorrowing husband,
wondering what it all meant. At last she said, "James, what is worse
than you thought?"
Before the pastor could answer, Walter said, "Mother, father thinks
I have gone crazy, and this seemed so ridiculous to me that I could
not control my laughter."
"Crazy!" ejaculated the mother, "did you think that, James?"
The pastor did not answer. He had supposed that no one but a demented
person would say the things Walter had said, but it certainly was not
the act of a demented person to guess what he had thought.
"Mother," said Walter, and there was still a healthy smile on his face,
"now that I come to think of it, I do not wonder that father thought
I had lost my reason, as it would be impossible for him to grasp this
great truth as readily as you or I. To do so, he would have to unlearn
in these few minutes all that he had ever learned regarding this false
creation; with you and I, mother, it would be easier; we only believed,
and belief is never absolute conviction, and can more readily be
changed. I read a parable to-day that I think will explain what I mean.
Jesus said, '_you cannot add any more to a cask already full._'
So it is with father; his mind is filled so full of the present idea
of God and this material creation, that there cannot enter anything
different from this teaching, until some of the old is emptied out.
I believe this emptying out process is what is meant by Jesus when He
said, '_unless ye become as little children, you can in no wise enter
the kingdom of heaven._' I take this to mean that we must put human
opinion and prejudice aside, and have a free, open, and inquiring mind
before this great truth can be understood by us."
"Walter," said his father rather sternly, "I think you have said enough
on this question. Do you think it common sense for you to put yourself
up as a greater authority as to what the Bible means than all the great
men who have labored all their lives on the Bible? I do not wonder
that I thought for a moment you had lost your reason, as I do not think
any sane person would advance such a chimerical idea, and claim it to
be the truth, as you have done. I see I have made a mistake in allowing
you to question the Bible. Hereafter, I shall read from the Bible and
explain it as we proceed, but I will not allow any more comments to
be made. In regard to this question of creation, we will consider that
closed for the present, and in the near future, probably next Sunday,
I will preach a sermon on creation; and as you will undoubtedly both
be there, you will see this question made plain. In the meantime I
think we will discontinue the lesson, so as to give you a chance to
study the Bible. I was not aware that you knew so little of what it
contained, for you do not seem to grasp the simplest statements when
I explain them to you."
Walter was very much astonished at the way his father had taken his
explanation, and for a moment was sorry that he had said so much at
one time; then he smiled as a happy thought struck him. If his father
intended to deliver a thorough sermon on creation, he would be compelled
to carefully study Genesis, and Walter believed enough had been said
to make his father doubt the second narrative. He felt like saying,
"I don't believe you will ever preach that sermon," but instead, he
said, "Alright, father, I shall put considerable study on the Bible,
as you wish and I am sorry if my explanation has offended you, yet I
explained it just as it seemed to me."
"Never mind, Walter," said his mother, "we cannot all of us be as well
versed on the Bible as your father, who has spent most of his life in
the study of it."
"Would you suggest, father, that I continue to study Genesis from the
place we left off?"
"Yes son," said the pastor more kindly, "start from where we left off
this evening, and it might be well for you to review what we have
passed over, so you will be able to fully understand my sermon when
I deliver it."
After a few more commonplace remarks, Walter bade his father and mother
good night, and ascended to his chamber, carrying his Bible with him.
As soon as Walter had left the room, the pastor turned to his wife and
said, "I wonder what can have taken possession of that boy, he has
changed wonderfully. Whereas he was always speaking of his sickness,
and complaining of being weak, he now never refers to his trouble, nor
does he complain of being tired any more. And what is more wonderful,
he does not walk and act as if he was tired or weak; he also looks
cheerful and his explanation was full of vim and courage, even though
it was nonsense."
"I think, James, it is the work of that last medicine. He has begun
to notice that he is getting better, and in his great enthusiasm he
ascribes his healing to the goodness of God, and is very desirous of
giving thanks for his recovery."
"That may be it," said the pastor, "yet I don't see any reason for his
talking such nonsense. Some of his assertions are simply absurd; for
instance, that assertion about his never having been sick in reality,
and that there is no evil; haven't we had the best physicians in the
country, and didn't they say he had hereditary consumption. That
certainly ought to prove its reality. Besides, he has been gradually
growing weaker and weaker under our very eyes."
"That is all true, James, yet I do not think all he said was nonsense.
It seemed to me that when he was speaking he seemed to glow with a
heavenly radiance, and while you thought he had lost his mind, I
supposed he was inspired from on high."
The pastor sat bolt upright in his chair, and looked at his wife. If
this thing kept up much longer he would be demented himself; what was
the matter with his family? How could his wife take the nonsense of
a boy for inspiration?
"Now, James, don't look at me that way; it does not seem so very
incredible to me that God should have made everything good, and that
the good alone is real, and that evil is unreal, but that we make a
reality of it simply by thinking it real. I think that is what Walter
was trying to make clear to us. To illustrate, if you should receive
word this evening that your brother was killed in a railroad disaster,
you would certainly feel sorrowful, and you would say you felt that
way because your brother was killed. Now if in the morning your brother
should step in the house perfectly well, your sorrow would flee. This
would prove that your sorrow was not caused by the death of your
brother, but simply because you believed him dead; so it was the belief
that caused the sorrow, and not the deed itself." "I can agree with
you in regard to your illustration, for it was the belief of my
brother's death, and not his real death, as he did not die, that made
me sorrowful. But the two cases are not parallel; in the one, nothing
had happened, but in the other there is in reality a sick boy, and not
simply the report of a sick boy."
"Can you not see, James, that if God never made sickness, and He made
all there was made, that sickness could not be a reality? And we could
not be sick in reality. Yet if we thought ourselves sick and believed
what we thought, this would make it seem true to us, though in fact,
it was not true. I believe it is just as Walter put it. If we believe
a falsehood to be the truth, this falsehood, then, seems like the truth
to us. But no matter how often, or how many, believe a lie to be the
truth, it still in fact remains a lie."
"What you say about the lie, wife, is plain, but sickness is not a lie
or a falsehood, it is only too real."
"James, if sin, sickness, and death are real, God must have made them,
for the Bible says God made everything that was made and pronounced
it all very good. It might be possible to stretch the imagination so
as to say that sickness, or even death, might be good under certain
conditions; but no Christian would agree with you that sin was good.
And if we would agree that sickness and death were made by God and
were good, then Jesus Christ destroyed the works of God, and at the
same time destroyed something that was good."
"Oh, James, the more I think of Walter's explanation, the more
reasonable it seems, and I cannot get the idea out of my mind that our
boy was inspired when he made that explanation."
"Lillian, I will admit that never in my whole life have I been so
confused on anything as I am in regard to these two narratives of
creation. If we admit that the first is the real and was all that was
made, whence came all this evil, sin, and sickness into the world, and
how did I acquire this material body, and where did all these other
material things come from? If we admit that the second creation is of
God, then God, in a sense, would be responsible for all the trials and
tribulations of man, for God is all-powerful and could have made us
better, even to perfection. Now that I think of it, I don't believe
the Bible mentions anywhere that God made evil. It speaks of the Lord
God cursing the ground, but it does not accuse Him of making evil; and
yet God should have made all. Can evil only be a lie, a dream, a
delusion, a mistake or misapprehension, as Walter called it? What a
state for a minister to be in; why, I believe I am questioning the
truth of the Bible."
"No, James, I don't think you could properly call that questioning the
Bible, you are simply seeking the truth, and I know that when you get
into a calmer frame of mind you will readily find it; don't you think
we had better retire for to-night? To-morrow you will have time to
look up this entire matter."
"I suppose we had, as I see no way to satisfy myself except by carefully
studying the whole book of Genesis, and I am very doubtful whether I
will be able to find what I want even there, for I have often noticed
that when a man once begins to doubt the truth of the Bible, he usually
ends up as an unbeliever. God grant that this may not happen to me."
"O, I have no fear of that," said his wife; "you are too firm a believer
in God to ever doubt anything in the Bible."
"I hope so, wife, yet I must admit that I am beginning to doubt the
genuineness of the second narrative, and for the last fifteen years
I have preached the gospel from the standpoint of this second or dust
creation. In fact, I could not preach otherwise, as it would be
impossible for me to make my congregation believe that they were wholly
spiritual, and that they have no material body, had I desired."
"Why, James, of course we have a material body, don't we have to feed,
clothe, and take care of it?"
"That is the way I always believed, but if Walter's idea is correct
in regard to that mist, or misapprehension, then the first chapter of
Genesis is correct, and in that case we could not possibly have a
material body, but only think we have, and because we believe what we
think, it would seem so to us. Wife, I am half inclined to think this
is the solution, but how can I prove to others, or even myself, that
my body is spiritual when it is so very material?"
"It is quite surprising to me, James, that you cannot readily explain
this part of the Bible, for you have done little else all your life
but study the Bible. At any rate, let it rest for to-night; you will,
no doubt, get the right thought more readily after a good night's
sleep."
The pastor rather reluctantly followed his wife out of the room and
up stairs. He would have preferred to solve this knotty problem before
retiring. He lay awake a long time thinking deeply, and the more he
thought the more firmly he believed that Walter was right in his
conclusions that the first narrative was the true one. Then the thought
came; if this is correct, it will turn the whole world into confusion,
for everybody believes in the dust man; in fact, every clergyman I
know of is preaching the gospel from this standpoint.
It was after midnight before he finally went to sleep.
Walter, also, lay awake some time, but he was not trying to solve the
question of which was the true narrative; he had fully satisfied himself
in regard to this. What he was trying to do was to think of some way
to convince his father and mother in regard to it.