nothing more than this is really suggested by
Scripture. The phrase, 'made _sin_ for us' (2 Cor. v. 21), means, I
believe, according to the clear use of the word in the LXX, 'made a
_sin-offering_ for us.' The same words in the Hebrew stand for sin and
sin-offering, and the use of the Greek follows: see especially (in LXX)
Lev. iv. 31, 'It is the sin (= sin-offering) of the assembly;' 24, 'It
(the goat) is a sin;' 29, 'He shall lay his hand upon the head of the
sin;' vi. 25, 'This is the law of the sin'; viii. 14, 'The bullock of
the sin.' Cf. Hos. iv. 8, &c.

NOTE E. See vol. i. p. 196.

EVOLUTION AND THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF THE FALL.

There is a wide-spread and popular notion that a marked contradiction
exists between the biological theory {220} of evolution and the
Christian doctrine of the Fall, which may be stated and examined under
several heads:--

I.--'According to the theory of evolution man began his career at the
bottom, emerging from purely animal life, and slowly struggled upwards
to his present level of attainment. According to the Christian
doctrine, on the contrary, he was created perfect, and then
subsequently fell into sin and accompanying misery. Thus, according to
one theory, man began at the bottom; according to the other, he began
at the top.'

Now there is no doubt that when so stated the evidence is all in favour
of the scientific point of view, and against the Christian. But such a
contrast requires the greatest modification on both sides before it can
be taken as truly representing the facts. Thus, it is not the case
that the Bible suggests that man was created perfect, i.e. perfectly
developed, and that his later course has been simply the effect of the
Fall, i.e. a downward course. Leaving first out of account Gen. i-iii,
we notice that the Bible is conspicuously, and in marked contrast to
the religious books of other nations, the book of development. It
looks continuously and systematically forward, not backward, for the
perfecting of man. It traces the beginning of civilization in Abel,
the keeper of sheep, Cain, the tiller of the ground, in Jabal, 'the
father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle,' in Jubal, the father
of music, 'of all such as handle the harp and pipe,' in Tubal Cain, the
first forger of brass and iron work; it indicates the origin of
religious worship (in some sense) at the time of Enoch, and the origin
of building with the tower of Babel. T