In 1890 a gentleman in Philadelphia offered to pay $1,000 to anyone who could write a puzzle he could not solve. A woman in California wrote this riddle in response. He failed to solve it and paid the money. Can you answer it?


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,
And more of Adam 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.
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 placed a living soul in me.
But that soul in me God chose 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 I cannot 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 to Hell below.
So get your Bible and read with care;
You'll find my name recorded there.
WHO AM I ?

(HINT: The answer is one word and only appears 4 times in the KJV Bible.)