Garden of Eden; that He Himself would guide and teach men to know Him. Christ taught this truth in the parable of the "Prodigal Son," when He said the Father came to the help of His son. The sins and mistakes of Adam and Eve, the first human pair, did not cause the "Fall of Man,” the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, as is generally taught and believed. Their sins were the consequence of imprisonment in this body of dust. This imprisonment is typified by the symbol of the serpent cursed, condemned to crawl upon the ground and eat dust all the days of its life. The interpretation of this symbol shows us that, as through the serpent wisdom, our own knowledge, we came from the spiritual realms to undergo a process of trial and suffering upon the earth, that same serpent or soul-knowledge was cursed or sent upon the earth, to undergo the process with us. As we were cast downward from a high plane of existence to the dust of an earthly environment, to live in this prison of clay, so the serpent, our soul -wisdom, was sent with us, imprisoned as we are imprisoned and forced to communicate only through the material avenues of the five senses in gaining knowledge and understanding. In this way, the serpent should "eat the dust of the earth all the days of its life."

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise its heel." Genesis 3, 15. The meaning of this enmity between man and the serpent, is, that when we

perform good actions and make rightful use of the faculties given us during our earth life, the serpent wisdom will have nothing to say against us, remaining silent, without rebuke, as if its head were bruised; but if we ill-use these gifts and act wickedly, the serpent wisdom will "bruise our heel," that is condemn our transgressions. No man commits sin unless condemned by his reason and judgment, and as our life is likened to a journey upon the road to eternity, so our actions form the steps of that journey. If we walk crookedly, the serpent wisdom by its reproach and condemnation, will bruise or bite our heels to straighten our steps, rebuking us, that we may correct our actions and do rightly.

CHAPTER XVI.

ADAM (CAIN AND ABEL).

We read in the Fourth Chapter of Genesis, that the first children of Adam and Eve, were two sons, Cain and Abel; that "Cain was a tiller of the ground and Abel a keeper of sheep; " that "Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, an offering unto the Lord, and Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof;" that "the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect." On this account, the jealous Cain slew Abel and while God rebuked him, Cain expressed the fear that "Whosoever findeth me shall slay me.' To protect Cain from harm, God gave him a mark or sign, after which, Cain "went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden."

In

The record of Cain probably contains more difficulties of interpretation and contradictory statements, than any other narration of scripture. the fourteenth verse of the fourth chapter of Genesis, it is said that Cain was "driven out from the face of the ground;" that he should be a "fugitive and a wanderer in the earth;" that he should be "hid from the face of God" and "slain by whosoever found him." If Cain, after Abel's death, was the only human being upon the earth

besides Adam and Eve, there could be no reason for Cain's fear, neither could Cain be "driven out from the face of the ground" and still be a "fugitive in the earth;" nor could he be "hid from the face" of the omnipresent God.

Cain and Abel were figurative personages, and not literally two sons of Adam and Eve. Through this allegory, we understand that our race knew from God, what would be our condition if we did not "overcome" during the process of our earth life. The fact that we consented to undergo the process, notwithstanding this knowledge and warning, shows that we acknowledged the justice of God's conditions. Therefore, in the earth life, mankind is to be divided into two great parties, the party of Cain and the party of Abel. The party of Cain is represented by those who set their hearts upon the possession of earthly things, neglect their spiritual duties toward God, and worship Him with outward show and ostentation, instead of worshiping Him in spirit and in truth, as Christ taught. Cain is therefore a symbol of materially-minded humanity. The evidence of this is found in Cain's offering to God an offering of the "fruit of the ground," which God rejected.

Abel was a "shepherd," the "Son of God" or "he whose father is God." "Shepherd" is a symbol employed in the Bible, to designate a spiritual leader or spiritual man; a shepherd of spiritual flocks and herds. The party of Abel therefore symbolizes the spiritually-minded division of humanity; those who worship God in spirit and in