This distinction should always be carefully marked in
regard to the sacred text; and in addition to this it should be
remembered that the Word of God is not responsible for the erroneous
opinions of mankind. When the Almighty placed human beings upon the
earth, he created _one_ man and _one_ woman, destining them to be the
progenitors of the entire race, thereby indicating that monogamy was of
Divine appointment. But original purity was soon departed from; lawless
passion was allowed to mar the beautiful completeness and concord of the
marriage relation as instituted by God; and, in time, many even of those
who were nominal worshipers of the true God, fell into polygamy. The
true idea and design of marriage, and the rights of woman, with the
respect due to her, was lost sight of, and the requirements of the
Divine law set at nought. Men became the slaves of their own lusts. God
was not in all their thoughts. Iniquity prevailed to such a frightful
extent that "it repented the Lord that he had made man upon the earth,
and it grieved him at his heart."[I]
At this time of general apostasy, Noah--and, it would seem, he
alone--was seen righteous before God. Him, therefore, with his family,
the Almighty preserved in the ark, when in his fierce wrath he caused
the deluge to sweep away the corrupt inhabitants from the face of the
earth they had polluted.
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