ATJ
ALONZO T. JONES
GOD had given to man His word. That word was the expression of His thought. That thought was of His mind. Man receiving that word as the word of God in truth, would thereby receive the thought of God, and would thus be partaker of the mind of God. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 499.1
In the garden there came to man another word,—the opposite of the word of God. This word likewise was the expression of thought, and the thought, the product of mind. To, receive this word was likewise to receive the thought expressed in the word; and to receive that thought was to be partaker of that mind. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 499.2
This letter word was the opposite; of the word of God, the thought, the opposite of the thought of God, this mind the opposite of, the mind of God. To accept this word, instead of the word of God was evidently to accept another mind than the mind of God. And in the garden this latter word was received in place of the word of God. And the fact, that another mind had then been received; was immediately manifest; for “the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.” MEDM June 24, 1908, page 499.3
The tree was not good for food; for in the garden apart from this tree and freely accessible to man grew “every tree that was ... good for food.” MEDM June 24, 1908, page 499.4
The tree was not pleasant to the eyes; for in the garden, apart from this tree and freely accessible to man, “made the Lord God to grow every tree that was pleasant to the sight.” MEDM June 24, 1908, page 499.5
The tree was not “a tree to be desired to make one wise,” this is demonstrated every minute from then till now. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 499.6
But the woman “saw” that the tree was good for food and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise. She “saw” that the tree was what it was not. In other words, she saw what was not so. Yet she saw it; and to her it was real. Indeed, to her that was the only thing then that was real. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 499.7
Now the only way in which anybody can see what is not so the only way in which anybody can see as real what is not real at all—is by a hypnotic spell. One who is hypnotized sees only what is not so; to him that is real. Indeed, that is all that is real; and it is all that he sees. And that is just how Eve saw that the tree was good for food and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, when in truth it was nothing of the kind. It was by suggestion—the suggestion of the ma- lign and deceiving mind. And thus that which was true and real just as it stood, by suggestion became to her nothing; and what was not in any sense true or real, by suggestion became the only thing that was either true or real. It was a reversal of her own nature, wrought by her receiving the foreign mind, the mind that is the opposite of that of God. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 499.8
Thus seeing the false and unreal to be the only true and real, “she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.” However, “Adam was not deceived.” (1 Timothy 2:14.) Seeing that Eve “was in the transgression,” he by his own choice went with her. But the result was the same; the foreign and deceiving mind was received, and it now reigned. The glory departed. And whereas, before, they had reflected the image and glory of God, they now to their own shame reflected only the image and shame of the deceiver. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 500.1
And the results immediately appeared; when they heard the voice of the Lord, they were afraid. This was a new experience. They had heard the voice of the Lord before this, and were not at all afraid, but rather rejoiced. And the fear was altogether on their own part. Always, God is the one of whom no one can ever rightly be afraid. And even now on God’s part they had no cause at all to be afraid. He had not come for revenge nor for punishment. Even though they had sinned, He had not come to condemn or to destroy, but only to save. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 500.2
Yet they were afraid and hid themselves; and really thought that they could hide themselves from God. This itself betrays an utterly false mind. And the being afraid of themselves, and the consequence of the sin. Here, then, is revealed the origin, the genesis, of the fear that is afraid. Sin is the cause, and the only cause of fear. Remove sin and there is no fear. And so it is written, “Perfect love casteth out fear.” When the sin is removed and the love of God is implanted by the power and Spirit of God, all fear is gone. The converted and cleansed soul is not afraid of anybody or anything. And if any one is afraid of anything, it is because not all sin is gone: trust is not full. And above all he is not afraid of God. Instead of being afraid of God, he only loves aria trusts Him absolutely—with perfect abandon. So certainly is it true that “Perfect love,” the Love of God imported by the Holy Spirit, “casteth out fear.” MEDM June 24, 1908, page 500.3
But they were afraid, as the consequence of their sin. And when asked in his hiding, “Where art thou?” Adam replied, “I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” The Lord pierced this shield through and through with the simple question, “Who told thee that thou wast naked?” They had been naked before, they had been naked all the time, and “were not ashamed.” It was not their nakedness, but their sit: that caused them to be both ashamed and afraid. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 500.4
Therefore the Lord proceeded, “Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?” Here was a straight question. And he had eaten of the tree. Did he, then, answer, “Yes, Lord, I have, and am exceedingly sorry?” Not at all. He gave a reply that involved in blame everybody but himself: “The woman, whom thou goriest to be with me she gave me of the free, and I did eat.” ... The Lord had not asked him what other people had done: He had asked him whether he had eaten of the forbidden tree. And though he had done it, all that he could answer was to tell what others, and even the Lord himself, had done; thus insinuating that whatever blame was in the case should be traced who gave the woman to him. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 500.5
“And the Lord said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done?” Did the woman now say, “O, I have disobeyed thy word. It is true, I have eaten of the forbidden tree. O, I am so sorry?” No, Like the man, she tells him what some one else did. “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” MEDM June 24, 1908, page 500.6
Now, why didn’t they answer straight to a straight question? Well, reader, did you never find yourself doing just as they did? When you had done a thing that was wrong, and you knew it, and you were asked a straight question as to whether you had done it, did you never find yourself dodging and bringing in everybody else before yourself to bear the blame? Everybody knows that this trait is found in everybody in the world; and that to do so is as natural as it is to breathe. It is seen in the child as truly as in the grown person. And each one knows that it is the first impulse in such circumstance. And that transaction with Satan in the garden is the genesis of it. And this is how it is that the disposition has come to every one in the world and is found natural and spontaneous in every one. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 500.7
That is how it came; but still the question remains, Why is it? Why didn’t Adam and Eve answer straight instead of crooked? The answer is, They couldn’t. They were under the spell of another, and so were not themselves. They had received the word, and the thought and the mind of Satan; that mind that “is enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be;” that mind in which self is supreme, and which will involve in wrong everybody in the universe, including even God, to protect self. That mind was now in possession of Adam and Eve. They were enslaved by it, and to him whose that mind is. And at that moment it was no more possible for Adam or Eve to answer straight a question involving himself or herself in wrong—at that moment it was no more possible for Adam or Eve to confess wrong—than for Satan himself to do it. They were completely possessed and enslaved by the mind of Satan. In mind and thought they and he were completely at one. Man was completely fallen. MEDM June 24, 1908, page 501.1