God made Adam out of the dust,
But thought it best to make me first;
So I was made before the man,
According to God's Holy plan.
My whole body God made complete,
Without arms or hands or feet.
My ways and acts did God control,
But in my body He placed no soul.
A living being I became,
And Adam gave to me a name.
Then from his presence I withdrew,
For this man Adam I never knew.
All my Maker's laws I do obey,
And from these laws I never stray.
Thousands of me go in fear,
But seldom on the earth appear.
Later, for a purpose God did see,
He place a living soul in me.
But that soul of mine God had to claim,
And from me took it back again.
And when this soul from me had fled,
I was the same as when first made;
Without arms, legs, feet, or soul,
I travel on from pole to pole.
My labors are from day to night,
And to men I once furnished light.
Thousands of people both young and old,
Did by my death bright lights behold.
No right or wrong can I conceive;
The Bible and it's teachings I can't believe.
The fear of death doesn't trouble me;
Pure happiness I will never see.
And up in Heaven I can never go,
Nor in the grave or Hell below.
So get your Bible and read with care;
You'll find my name recorded there.
This puzzle was written by a lady in California in 1890 in
response to a gentlemen in Philadelphia, who said that he
would pay $1,000.00 to anyone who could write a puzzle
that he could not solve. He failed to do so, and paid the
lady $1,000.00 (a great sum at that time). The answer is
one word, five letters long, and appears only four times
in the King James Version of the Bible. An eight-year-old
boy figured out the puzzle.