know good and evil; and now, let he put forth his hand, and take also
of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever;

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to
till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden of
Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the
way of the tree of life.


Adam Clarke, in his commentaries, asks the question, "is this an
allegory?" He finds it beset with so many difficulties as an historical
fact, that he inclines at first to regard it as a fable, a mere symbol,
of some hidden truth. His mind seems more troubled about the serpent
than any other personage in the drama. As snakes cannot walk upright,
and have never been known to speak, he thinks this beguiling creature
must have been an ourang-outang, or some species of ape. However, after
expressing all his doubts, he rests in the assumption that it must be
taken literally, and that with higher knowledge of the possibilities of
all living things, many seeming improbabilities will be fully realized.

A learned professor in Yale College,[FN#3] before a large class of
students, expressed serious doubts as to the forbidden fruit being an
apple, as none grew in that latitude. He said it must have been a
quince. If the serpent and the apple are to be withdrawn thus
recklessly from the tableaux, it is feared that with advancing
civilization the whole drama may fall into discredit. Scientists tells
us that "the missing link" between the ape and man, has recently been
discovered., so that we can now trace back an unbroken line of