AN allegory presents a story or moral lesson more graphically than it could be conveyed by literal terms. Mary Baker Eddy tells us that the teaching of spiritual truths must always be by symbols. Consequently, interpretation of an allegory or parable must depend upon the spiritual understanding of the learner and may even have to wait until he has caught up to some extent with the teaching. The parables of Jesus have this wonderful quality: that while the picture that is presented is usually clear as daylight, the interpretation of it is according to the spiritual enlightenment of the one who reads or hears it.
The allegory of Adam and Eve in its legend of the dawn of conscience presents a picture which, while allowing for much variety of interpretation, nevertheless offers an explanation of something with which no purely dogmatic or philosophic formula can ever satisfactorily cope. That something is the origin of evil, and each one has to find out for himself what is the allegory's true significance. It is not the intention of this article to attempt an interpretation of the allegory as a whole, but a few hints may be offered, derived from the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, which encourage one in his efforts to piece together the picture.
The Bible tells us that "the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed" (Gen. 2:8). Quoting Genesis 2: 15, Science and Health says (pp. 526, 527), "In this text Eden stands for the mortal, material body." This may appear rather startling, for the garden of Eden is most often used to typify an ideal condition in which harmony is the established fact, whereas the mortal, material body is never permanently harmonious.
