any case, the world never made itself; and until someone can prove to me that this is not so, I hold to what the Bible says, that in the beginning God made the world and all the world contains.
To ask me where Cain got his wife is silly. I neither know nor care. The lesson lies round Cain, not Mrs. Cain. When I hear Cain say, as he goes out from the presence of the Lord, that his punishment is greater than he can bear, I find in that matter for deep meditation and study; and when I have mastered that, I might give my consideration to Cain's wife; not before.
As far as the flood is concerned, I do not trouble about the rain. If a man is drowned, it is of little moment to the man whether he is drowned in fresh water, salt water, buttermilk, or in a vat of beer. It was a flood. Keep to that for a moment. To me it reads that it was a flood of the wrath of God. And the lesson that I get from Jonah simply lies along this line, that Jonah brought a punishment upon himself for his own disobedience and very wilful wrongdoing.
I sometimes think that Old Testament reading is too strong for some people—that it hits too hard; and these deluded people think they can get rid of the whole thing by simply saying "Go!" Ostrich-like, they hide their heads in the sand. Oh! that some men would just use their brains.
