which he created was perfect, too. But the world did not stay perfect
very long. Nay, from the heights it fell, not slowly, but suddenly,
into the lowest depths of degradation. How a world which God had
created perfect, could in the twinkling of an eye become so vile as to
be cursed by the same being who a moment before had pronounced it
"good," and besides be handed over to the devil as fuel for eternal
burnings, only credulity can explain. I am giving the story of what is
called the "plan of salvation," in order to show its mythical nature.
In the preceding pages we have discussed the question, Is Jesus a
Myth, but I believe that when we have reflected upon the story of
man's fall and his supposed subsequent salvation by the blood of
Jesus, we shall conclude that the function, or the office, which Jesus
is said to perform, is as mythical as his person.

The story of Eden possesses all the marks of an allegory. Adam and
Eve, and a perfect world _suddenly_ plunged from a snowy whiteness
into the blackness of hell, are the thoughts of a child who
exaggerates because of an as yet undisciplined fancy. Yet, if Adam and
Eve are unreal, theologically speaking, Jesus is unreal. If they are
allegory and myth, so is Jesus. It is claimed that it was the fall of
Adam which necessitated the death of Jesus, but if Adam's fall be a
fiction, as we know it is, Jesus' death as an atonement must also be a
fiction.

In the fall of Adam, we are told, humanity itself fell. Could anything
be more fanciful than that? And what was Adam's sin? He coveted
knowledge. He wished to improve his mind. He experimented with
forbidden things. He dared to take the initiative. And for that
imaginary crime, even the generations not yet born are to be forever
blighted. Even the animals, the flowers and vegetables were cursed for