{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46635/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46635","id":"gutenberg_46635","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46635","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Doctrines","Latter Day Saints"],"text":"GOSPEL PHILOSOPHY,\n\nSHOWING THE\n\nABSURDITIES OF INFIDELITY,\n\nAND THE\n\nHARMONY OF THE GOSPEL\n\nWITH SCIENCE AND HISTORY\n\n* * * * *\n\nBY ELDER J. H WARD\n\n* * * * *\n\nILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS,\n\n* * * * *\n\nSalt Lake City, Utah:\n\nPublished at the Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884.\n\n\n\nEntered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1884, by J. H. Ward,\nin the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\nSectarians generally dread meeting a \"Mormon\" Elder in discussion, for\nthey well know the humiliating defeat which has been the result to\ntheir compeers in hundreds of instances.\n\nBut there is another class of persons who often bring\nformidable-looking arguments against the truths of the gospel. This\nclass is composed frequently of persons of considerable learning,\nresearch and intelligence. They have long ago become disgusted with\nthe absurdities of so-called Christianity; and are not slow in showing\nthe disagreement of sectarian dogmas with the teachings of the Bible,\nor contrasting the Bible with supposed science. In some instances,\notherwise valuable scientific works are marred by sneers at the books\nof inspiration. In this age of earnest thought and research into all\nbranches of knowledge, many of these works fall into the hands of\nthe young and hence the growth of skepticism in the minds of many.\nMany of the facts contained in this work have been collected from,\nand references made to larger works not easily accessible to the\ngeneral reader. A large number of the illustrations have been designed\nexpressly for this work, and engraved by Brother John Held, of Salt\nLake City.\n\nTo gather into a small compass the leading arguments of infidel\nwriters, and to refute them by well-known facts; to show the cause\nof the conflict between science and religion; and to harmonize true\nscience with the teachings of God's word, has been the design in\nwriting this little work. That in its perusal the young may find their\nfaith strengthened in the principles of the gospel; thoughtful minds\nfind food for reflection, and the missionary Elder a valuable book of\nreference, is the earnest wish of\n\nThe Author.\n\n* * * * *\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS\n\n CHAPTER 1--ABSURDITIES OF INFIDELITY\n CHAPTER 2--CAUSES OF THE SUPPOSED CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION\n CHAPTER 3--FALLACIES OF SCIENTISTS\n CHAPTER 4--DID THE WORLD MAKE ITSELF?\n CHAPTER 5--OUR NEED OF REVELATION\n CHAPTER 6--VALIDITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AS SHOWN BY INTERNAL EVIDENCE\n CHAPTER 7--NEW TESTAMENT FACTS CORROBORATED BY SECULAR WRITERS\n CHAPTER 8--HISTORICAL GLIMPSES OF NEW TESTAMENT TIMES\n CHAPTER 9--FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY\n CHAPTER 10--INFIDEL OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED\n CHAPTER 11--MOSES AND MODERN SCIENCE\n CHAPTER 12--HARMONY OF GENESIS AND GEOLOGY\n CHAPTER 13--SCIENTIFIC PROOFS OF SPIRITUAL LIFE\n CHAPTER 14--FAITH AND INFIDELITY CONTRASTED\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n  INDEX\n\n  Ancient Scientists                   22, 164\n  Absurdities of Spiritualism               19\n  Anaesthetics Discovered                   35\n  Astronomy not Exact                       39\n  Apostles, their Character           122, 125\n  Atmosphere, Condition of Early           179\n  Aurochs not yet Extinct                  188\n\n  Benefits of Romanism                      23\n  Brahminism                                16\n  Bruno                                     29\n  Buffon's Theory of Creation               65\n  Babylon, Prophecies Concerning       136,139\n  Books of New Testament                    97\n  Burial Place in Catacombs                128\n  Bird, Earliest yet Found                 196\n  Bird-Like Reptile                        191\n  Bark from Coal Mine                      182\n\n  Catacombs                           127, 129\n  Calvin's Bigotry                      29, 31\n  Constantine, Character of                 93\n  Cosmas, Philosophy of                     27\n  Copernicus                                29\n  Causes of Infidelity                  35, 36\n  Carlyle's Absurdities                     77\n  Compte's Absurdities                      83\n  Chesterfield's Letters                    84\n  Coin Found at Philippi                    89\n  Celsus, His Writings                      95\n  Crust of the Earth                        43\n  Comets                              155, 156\n  Correspondence of Paine                   84\n  Chalk Magnified                          194\n  Climate of Coal Period              184, 198\n  Character of Heathen Gods                 81\n\n  Disagreement of Scientists            13, 47\n  Dead Sea                                  70\n  Dispersion of Jews                       117\n  Deluge, Scientific Theory of             154\n  Dinornis, Skeleton of                    189\n  Development of Species                   188\n\n  Eye, Section of Human                     58\n  Errors in Astronomy                       39\n  Egypt, Present State of                  142\n  Errors of Romanism                    25, 26\n  Early Vegetation                         182\n  Extinct Birds                       188, 189\n  Essential Conditions of Life             205\n\n  Fire-Mist, Theory of                      64\n  Forest of Coal Period                    185\n  Faculties of the Mind                    207\n\n  Galileo                                   30\n  Geology Uncertain                     41, 45\n  Giant Cities of Bashan                    74\n  Gibbon's Testimony                        93\n  Great Men Believers                      212\n\n  Humboldt                                  33\n  Heathen Philosophy                        79\n  Heathen Morals                            80\n  Human Eye                                 58\n  Heat and Motion                     178, 179\n  Huxley's Embryotic Theory                190\n\n  Illumination of St. Lawrence             176\n  Influence of Judaism                     119\n\n  Jenner's Discoveries                      35\n  Juggernaut                            82, 83\n\n  Luther's Superstition                     32\n  Light, Velocity of                       156\n     \"   Various Sources of                175\n     \"   Without Sunshine             165, 166\n     \"   From the Earth               175, 176\n\n  Marcion, the Apostate                     96\n  Milky Way                                157\n  Modern Prophecy                     149, 150\n  Monsters, Primeval                       198\n  Man's Nervous System                     208\n\n  Newman's Absurdities                      77\n  New Testament Books                       97\n  Nature in Continual Change               167\n\n  Ocean, Primeval                          178\n  Olbers, Theory of                         67\n\n  Plesiosaurius                            197\n  Protestant Bigotry                        33\n  Parker's Absurdities                  77, 78\n  Plato's Code of Laws                      80\n  Paine, his Character and Writings         84\n  Paul, the Apostle                   102, 122\n  Pliny's Letters                          109\n  Personal Appearance of the Savior        116\n  Prophetic Symbols                        134\n  Prophecy Concerning Judea                144\n      \"        \"      Egypt           142, 143\n      \"        \"      Babylon              138\n  Protoplasm                               204\n\n  Rosetta Stone                             17\n  Revelation Progressive                    72\n  Religion of India                     15, 82\n  Rings of Saturn                     153, 154\n  Reptilian Bird                           192\n\n  Servetus Burned                           31\n  Spirit Controls Protoplasm               205\n  Simpson, James Y.                         35\n  Section of Earth's Crust                  43\n     \"    of Human Eye                      58\n  Solar System                              66\n  Solomon's Knowledge                       73\n  Saturn                                   153\n  Stars Variable                           167\n  Sun Spots                                173\n  Sun Inhabitable                          174\n  Sun's Atmosphere                         172\n  Spencer's Philosophy                     206\n\n  Tertulian's Writings                     104\n  Testimony of Tacitus                     106\n  Trajan's Letter                          111\n  Temple of Belus                          137\n\n  Universe, Extent of                  55, 158\n  Uintah Mountains, Section of              54\n\n  Worship of Juggernaut                     82\n  Western Continent Upheaved               199\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nABSURDITIES OF INFIDELITY.\n\nTHE PRESENT AN EARNEST AGE--AN EARNEST RELIGION REQUIRED--YOUNG MEN\nLIABLE TO SKEPTICISM--LITERARY FOPS--SCIENTISTS DO NOT AGREE--TESTIMONY\nOF SOCRATES AND PLATO--ABSURDITIES OF BRAHMINISM--ATTEMPTS OF FRENCH\nINFIDELS--ROSETTA STONE-MODERN SPIRITUALISM.\n\nThe gospel is truly a grand system. Let us try to entertain right views\nconcerning it. Let us enlarge our minds to grasp it, that we may,\nto some extent at least, conceive its greatness and appreciate its\nbeauties.\n\nThe peculiar wants of the age in which we live are worthy of deep and\ncareful consideration. Never was there a time in the history of the\nrace, when learning and general intelligence were so well diffused as\nat the present. The press is throwing off continually its millions of\nprinted pages, which are scattered broadcast as the leaves of Autumn.\nBooks on almost every conceivable subject can be cheaply bought;\nand journals, {10} magazines and pamphlets, both of a good and evil\ninfluence, attract the attention of the young.\n\nNever was there a time of more intense activity. Who can pass through\nthe crowded streets of our cities, listen to the throbbings of the\nsteam-engine, the hum of machinery, the appliances of electricity,\ngaze at the vast trains that are driven with fire and vapor along our\nrailways, or view those magnificent structures that cross the mighty\ndeep, without feeling that this is an earnest age?\n\nNow, this earnest, active, thinking age demands a religion that has\nlife and power in it. Not a religion of cold formality and narrow\nsectarianism, but a religion that will satisfy the intellect with\nits truths, touch the heart with its love, sway the will with its\npersuasiveness, gratify the taste with its beauties and fill the\nimagination with its sublimities. A religion is wanted that will\nenlist upon its side the whole nature of man, and command his willing\nand devoted homage; a religion that, bearing the full impress of its\nAuthor's image, shall carry its own credentials with it; and which,\nclothed with all the elements of truth and righteousness, beauty and\ngrandeur of love and power, shall be revered by all those who love the\ntruth, and dreaded by all who love it not.\n\nThis is the religion that the gospel reveals. There is no antagonism\nbetween philosophy and faith, between science and religion, whatever\nthe seeming oppositions of the present; in reality it is perfect\nharmony. The gospel overwhelms, nay, rather, includes all philosophy.\n{11}\n\nIn the life of many young men there is a period of skepticism. Then\nthe young man is extremely liable to doubt. Then he questions all his\nprevious convictions, challenges all his accepted opinions, and is\nin danger of drifting aimlessly on the wide tossing sea of unbelief,\nthe sport of every wind of doctrine, the easy prey of every theory\nconceived by the ingenious brain of man.\n\nAt this period his faith in God and man is liable to be swept away\nthrough a misconception of the real teachings of science, and the\nexample of those who seek to excuse their wicked lives under the\nspecious plea of unbelief. This period of skeptical tendency comes\nearly in life, frequently when the young man is in college or in the\nschools of science, when he begins to think and act for himself. It\nis intelligent, earnest young men of brains and capacity who are in\nspecial danger from the skepticism of the age.\n\nMany of these young men have been trained in the Sabbath school, but at\nnineteen or twenty a change comes over them. They feel the strength and\nvigor of awakening manhood, and that impatience of authority which is\ncharacteristic of young men in this formative period of life. A young\nman hears of men of learning who reject religion; he reads now and then\na magazine full of doubts and insinuations, and he begins to feel that\nall his belief is simply the result of his education, and that under\nother circumstances he might have been a Confucian, a Buddhist or a\nMahometan. Perhaps he meets with a tolerably educated but skeptical\n{12} friend, who tells him in effect that religion is a fraud, that\nthe Bible is a very good book, to be sure, but destitute of divine\nauthority. He tells him, in a word, that these things may do for women\nand children to believe, but as for himself, he has put away all such\nbelief along with his childish toys.\n\nOur young man listens to all this flippant nonsense with itching ears,\nuntil, at length, he pretends to believe the world was made by chance,\nis governed by chance and all things that exist are only the effects of\nchance.\n\nBut there is a comical side to this question, as well as to many\nothers. Prof. Agassiz wisely observes that, \"men frequently talk\nvery learnedly of what they know but very little;\" and I know of\nnothing more irresistibly ludicrous than to see one of these so-called\nscientific skeptics, who scarcely knows the difference between the leg\nof a wasp and the horn of a beetle, and yet will assume to patronize\nthe Almighty and talk about progress and culture as though he was the\nmost remarkable prodigy of the age in which he lives.\n\nIt is enough to disgust an honest man, to see some of these literary\nfops going along with Darwin's works under one arm and a case of\ntransfixed grasshoppers and butterflies under the other, talking\nabout Huxley's \"protoplasm\" and \"natural selection,\" and \"nebular\nhypothesis,\" and \"biogensis,\" and \"abigensis,\" all the while lisping\nwith an \"exthquithit lithp,\" and indicating by word, tone and gesture\nthat all who dissent from their opinions {13} are grossly ignorant and\nscarcely worthy of their notice.\n\nBut the greatest joke is that the scientists which they so much admire\ndo not agree. Darwin is charging at Lamarch, Walace spearing Cope, and\nHerschel denouncing Ferguson. How many colors in a ray of sun-light?\nSeven, says Newton; only three, says David Brewster. How high above the\nearth is the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Light? Two and a half miles,\nsays Prof. Lias; one hundred and sixty-five, says Prof. Tumming. La\nPlace says the moon was not put in the right place, it should have been\nfour times as far away; while Prof. Lionville comes up just in time and\ngives us the wonderful information (?) that the Creator was acquainted\nwith His business and fixed it exactly right.\n\nHow far is the sun from the earth? Less than a million miles, says\nZadkiel; seventy-six millions of miles, says La Caille; eighty-two\nmillions, says Humboldt; ninety millions, says Henderson; one hundred\nand four millions, says Mayer. Only a slight difference of one hundred\nand three millions of miles, or a good deal farther than a person\ncould travel, at the rate of fifty miles per hour, during the next\ntwo centuries, if he could live that long. And yet, amidst all this\nconfusion and contradiction, we are coolly asked to give up the words\nof inspiration and hang our hopes of the future on the miserable\nvagaries of self-contradicting philosophers.\n\nAnother very ludicrous as well as amusing instance {14} of the folly of\ninfidelity is the fact that skeptics will catch at almost anything upon\nwhich to hang their faith. All around us, in every grade of society,\nare to be found men who will tell us that the Vedas and Shasters of the\nHindoos are far more trustworthy than the writings of Moses, Isaiah,\nPaul, Nephi or Joseph. They will tell us what sublime philosophers\nBrahma and Confucius were, while, at the same time, they have never\nread a word of their doctrines, or even seen a volume of their works.\nAll they know is what some other truth-hating infidel has told them.\n\nBut for the sake of argument let us glance at some of these wonderful\nwritings. Socrates, one of the greatest of heathen philosophers,\nadmits, \"We must of necessity wait till some one from Him, who careth\nfor us, shall come and instruct us how to behave toward God and toward\nman.\"\n\nPlato declares, \"We cannot know of ourselves what will be pleasing to\nGod; it is necessary that a law-giver should be sent from heaven to\ninstruct us.\" And he further adds, \"Oh, how greatly do I long to see\nthat man!\" (_Plato's Republic, Book iv and vi._)\n\nWho has not felt sad at the dying words of Socrates, \"I am going out\nof the world and you are to continue in it, but which of us has the\nbetter part is a secret to all but God.\" Nor is the philosophy of India\nany better. A few years ago, when, through the labors of Oriental\nscholars, the Vedas and Shasters of the Hindoos were translated and\nprinted in European languages, a great shout went {15} up from the army\nof infidels. \"Here,\" said they, \"is the true chronology. Henceforth the\nJewish records must hide their heads.\" Accordingly the Shasters were,\nfor a time, in high repute among those who knew very little about them.\n\nNow, when we remember that these much-vaunted histories profess to\nreach back through _ma-ha-yugs_ or epochs of 4,320,000 of our years,\nthat a thousand of these epochs makes a _kalpa_ or one day of the\nlife of Brahma--the nights being of the same duration--and that his\nlife consists of one hundred years of such days and nights, we can\neasily see the absurdity of these histories. In these works are also\nthe records of the seven great continents of the world, separated by\nseven rivers and seven chains of mountains, four hundred thousand miles\nhigh, and the history of the families of their kings, one of whom had\nten thousand sons, another sixty thousand who were born in a pumpkin,\nnourished in pans of milk, reduced to ashes by the curse of a demon\nand restored to life by the waters of the Ganges. These records give\nstatements of wonderful eclipses, comets and deluges, seven of which\ncovered the earth, not merely to the top of these wonderfully high\nmountains, but even reaching to the polar star. Yet infidels have the\nassurance to quote these as standard works of undoubted authority, and\nworthy of the credence of intelligent beings. (_Duff's India, page_\n127.)\n\nNor are the promises of the future life any less absurd than the\nforegoing. \"Tell me,\" said a {16} wealthy Hindoo, who had given all\nhis wealth to the Brahmins who surrounded his dying bed, that he might\nobtain a pardon of his sins, \"what shall become of my soul when I\ndie?\" The priest replied, \"Your soul will go into the body of a holy\ncow.\" \"And after that?\" he asked again. \"It will pass into the body\nof a divine peacock.\" \"And after that?\" \"It will pass into a flower.\"\n\"Where, O, where will it go last of all?\" cried the dying man. \"Where\nwill it go last of all? Ah! that is the question.\"\n\nWhile British infidels were admiring the sacred writings of the\nHindoos, and holding them up before the world as superior to the\nword of God, French skeptics were busy in a similar employment. When\nNapoleon invaded Egypt, in 1798, he took with him a large corps of\nscientific men. In the ceiling of a temple at Dendera, in Upper\nEgypt, some of these scientists discovered a stone, tablet covered\nwith strange characters. These characters, it was concluded, were a\nrepresentation of the relative positions of the sun, moon and stars\nat the time the temple was built; and, calculating backwards, it was\nfound that this could not be less than seventeen thousand years ago.\nThis tablet was taken from the ceiling of the temple and carried away\nto France, and placed in the national library in Paris. Hundreds\nof thousands came to see the antediluvian monument, and infidel\ncommentators were never wanting to inform them that this remarkable\nstone proved the whole Bible to be a series of lies. One of the\ndiscoverers, afterwards {17} a professor in the University of Breslau,\npublished a pamphlet, entitled, \"Invincible proof that the earth is\nat least ten times older than is taught by the Bible.\" During the\nnext thirty years, scores of such publications followed; and the base\nslander received many additions and improvements, until it was a common\nsaying that this stone proved that \"the priests of Egypt were carving\nastronomy on their pyramids ten thousand years before Adam was born.\"\n\nIt did not shake their credulity in the least, that no two of their\nwise men were agreed by some thousands of years, how old the stone\nwas--that no one even knew the first principles of the Egyptian system\nof astronomy, and that _none of them could read the hieroglyphics_.\n\nBut, in 1832, the curious Egyptian astronomy was studied, and it\nthen appeared that this object, which had caused so much commotion,\nwas simply a calendar stone to aid in the measurement of time; and\nthat the positions of the sun, moon and stars were so placed to\nenable common observers to ascertain the beginning of the year. At\nlength, by means of the Rosetta Stone--which furnished a key to these\nhieroglyphics--Champolion and others learned to read the inscriptions\non Egyptian monuments.\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: Rosetta Stone, showing present and original form, and\nspecimens of Greek, Coptic and Hieroglyphic characters.]\n\nThe Rosetta Stone was discovered by the French, in 1799, at Rosetta,\nEgypt. When in a perfect condition it was a tablet of black basalt,\nthree feet high, two feet five inches wide, and ten inches thick. The\ninscription was in three languages: {18} Coptic, Greek and ancient\nEgyptian hieroglyphics. On the publication of the inscriptions it was\nfound that they were the key to the hieroglyphic characters. It was\nthen discovered that the names of Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn,\nwere engraved on the stone, as well as the names of the Roman emperors\nTiberius, Claudius, Nero and Domitian. The inscriptions revealed the\nfact that they had no reference to early Egyptian history. The edifice\nin which the first-mentioned stone was found was {19} simply a heathen\nRoman temple, built between the fourteenth and eighty-first years of\nthe Christian era.\n\nEven at the present time, in the noon-day of modern science and\nso-called civilization, astrologers, mediums, clairvoyants and\nfortune-tellers by the hundred find a profitable business among those\nwho consider themselves too learned, wise and progressive to believe\nin the word of God. One infidel lecturer even advertises that he will\nreveal to you the secrets of the future and cure you of any disease\nyou may have, if you will only enclose in a letter a few hairs taken\nfrom your right temple and--and--a--ten dollar bill. Concerning the\nfuture life, infidels have every variety of oracles, conjectures and\nsuppositions; but for their guesses they have no proof. The only thing\nupon which they seem agreed is in denying the resurrection of the body.\nAccording to their ideas, a poor, naked, shivering, table-rapping\nspirit, obliged to fly over the world at the sigh of any brainless\nfop or silly, sentimental girl, or the bidding of some brazen-faced\nstrumpet, is all that ever shall exist of all the great and good men\nand women that have lived upon the earth.\n\nTo such wild unreason does the mind of man descend when it rejects the\ngospel, for only through it life and immortality are brought to light.\nA year or two since, the leader of American infidels, Robert Ingersol,\nwas called to deliver a funeral oration over the body of his brother.\nIn that short discourse there were many beautiful sentiments: {20} but\nthrough it all, as through a transparent glass, was shown the need,\nwhich even Ingersol felt, of divine revelation and divine guidance.\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nCAUSES OF THE SUPPOSED CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION.\n\nSCIENCE AND REVELATION HARMONIZE--WANT OF REVELATION THE CAUSE OF\nBARBARISM--BENEFITS AND EVILS OF ROMANISM--CONFLICT CONCERNING\nGEOGRAPHY--PHILOSOPHY OF COSMAS--STRUGGLES OF COPERNICUS--BRUNO\n--GALILEO--OPPOSITION OF LUTHER--SERVETUS BURNED--PROTESTANT\nBIGOTRY--CAUSES OF INFIDELITY.\n\nTruth is ever harmonious. Science and religion, in the true sense\nof the terms, can never be in conflict with each other. The direct\nrevelations of God to man must ever agree with the results of\nscientific investigation. Invention and discovery are but the unfolding\nof the laws, attributes and objects of nature to man's finite\nunderstanding--the action of the divine will on the minds of men.\nSo, whether man seeks for spiritual truth through the revelations of\nGod, or looks out upon the material world and investigates the working\nof physical laws, the result must be the same. A truth revealed to\nthe sensitive, impulsive human {21} heart to-day in its full play of\nemotions and passions cannot be at any real variance with a truth\nwritten upon a far-off planet rolling in the depths of space, or upon a\nfossil whose poor life ebbed away thousands of years ago. Yet, strange\nto say, a conflict has been going on for years between some students of\nscience on one side and the devotees of religion on the other. Nearly\nall the great and good men of the medieval or modern times have been\nengaged on one side or the other, and a hard contest it has been. The\nwar has been waged longer, the battles have been fiercer, the sieges\nmore persistent, the diplomacy more far-reaching, and the revenge more\ndeadly than ever characterized the military campaigns of Alexander,\nCaesar or Napoleon.\n\nLet us then inquire into the causes of this conflict and try and\nunderstand something concerning it. In the first place we must be\ncareful not to underrate science. On every side we see its beneficent\neffects. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the houses we dwell\nin depend in a great measure upon it for their existence. When we\ntravel it is mostly by the appliances of science. The books we read\nare manufactured by its aid. It transmits our messages to and from\nour friends, and prepares the light that illuminates our streets and\ndwellings. It has contributed greatly to relieve human suffering and\npromote human happiness, and to distinguish the civilized from the\nsavage races of the earth.\n\nAnd what has religion done? So long as it was {22} true and pure it was\nthe favored child of heaven. While the true church existed upon the\nearth, whether Jewish or Christian, we hear of no conflict between its\nmembers and the students of science. On the other hand we find from\ntheir writings that Moses, Job, David, Solomon and Isaiah were the\nleading scientists of the ages in which they lived. They understood\nnatural history, architecture, sculpture, poetry, music, botany, and\nin astronomy they made such progress that many of the constellations\nstill retain the names they used, such as Orion, Pleaides, etc. (_See\nJob xxxviii_, 31; _Amos v_, 8.) We read of no conflict between the\ntruths of science and the teachings of Paul, though he was one of the\nmost learned men of the age in which he lived. On the other hand the\ndiscourse of Paul in the court of the Areopagus, was the complement\nor sequel of ideas already held by the most celebrated Grecian\nphilosophers. (_See Acts xvii_, 19-23.)\n\nIt was not till after the great apostasy, when the voice of inspiration\nhad ceased, that the great conflict commenced between science and the\nso-called Christian church.\n\nWe shall better understand this fact, when we recollect that from the\ntime of the apostles to the ninth century, science, literature and\nphilosophy were well nigh extinct. No schools of painting flourished,\nno models in sculpture were designed, no order of architecture arose,\nno great poem was written, and no history compiled, which have been\ndeemed worthy to be transmitted to our times. It {23} was only when\nEuropean society came largely in contact with Jewish and Saracen\ninfluences during the wars of the Crusades and in contact with the Jews\nand Saracens of Spain, that any decided advances were made. As if to\nmark out to the world the real cause of its intellectual degradation,\nthe regeneration of Italy commenced with the banishment of the popes\nto Avignon. Their exile continued more than seventy years; and during\ntheir absence, so rapid was the social and intellectual progress\nthat on their return to Rome, they found it impossible to make any\nsuccessful resistance, or to restore the old condition of society.\n\nYet even in her apostatized condition the Catholic church did much\nfor the amelioration of society. At the commencement of the fourth\ncentury of the Christian era, a cloud of more than Cimmerian darkness\novershadowed western Europe. It was then occupied by wandering savages.\nThe period embraced in the next thousand years greatly improved its\ncondition. It was during this period that the population were organized\ninto families, communities and cities. Those centuries found it full of\nbondmen--they left it without a slave. Where there had been trackless\nforests, there were now farms, orchards and villages. Instead of bloody\nchieftains drinking out of their enemies' skulls, there were parish\npriests teaching the masses the crude beginning of religious thought.\nInstead of gladiatorial combats, which characterized ancient Roman\ncivilization, there were {24} thoughtful men gravely pondering the\nproblems of free agency and moral responsibility.\n\nEnveloped as she was by the evils of the times, the Catholic church\ngave rise to many improvements. She taught the doctrine of an ultimate\naccountability for personal deeds, of which the ancient inhabitants\nof Europe had very indistinct perceptions. Under her direction the\nbrotherhood of man was taught as it had never been before, and was\nillustrated, not merely by individual acts of charity, the memory of\nwhich is soon forgotten, but also by the establishment of permanent\ninstitutions, such as hospitals, alms-houses, schools and asylums\nfor the relief of the afflicted, for the spread of knowledge and the\nsuccoring of the oppressed. Many of her high dignitaries, and even\npopes, were men who had risen from the humbler ranks of society. These\nmen, true to their instincts, were often the champions of right against\nmight. In an age of tyranny, the very organization of the church was\nessentially republican. It thus paved the way for modern representative\ngovernments, and prepared the minds of men for their introduction.\n\nStill it was not over nations and communities that Rome showed her\nchief power, but in her control of domestic and individual interests.\nHistory presents no record like hers. Her pontiffs in the quiet halls\nof the Vatican could equally take in a hemisphere at a glance or\nexamine the private character of any individual. Was there a rebellion\nin Spain? Her agents informed her of {25} it. Was there an obscure\nphilosopher in Germany writing down the results of his investigations?\nShe also knew it. While she restrained the power and tyranny of kings\nby her influence, she also relieved the hungry beggar or wandering\nminstrel at the monastery gate. In all Europe there was not a man too\nobscure, too insignificant or too desolate for her. Surrounded by\nher solemnities every one received his name at her altar, her bells\nchimed at his marriage and her knell tolled at his funeral. By her\nconfessionals she extorted from him the secrets of his life, and by her\npenances she punished him for his faults. In the hour of sickness and\ntrouble her servants sought him out, teaching him to place his trust\nin God, and strengthening him for the trials of life by the example of\nthe good and faithful of former days. And when at length his lifeless\nbody had become an offense, even to his friends, she received it into\nher consecrated ground, there to rest till the resurrection morning.\nShe raised woman from nearly the condition of a slave and made her the\nequal and fit companion of man; and in turn, received a recompense by\na firm friend in every home. In an age of bloodshed and plunder she\nlifted up her hand in defense of the weak, and made her sanctuaries a\nrefuge for the despairing and oppressed.\n\nBut here arose the difficulty. The so-called Christian church by\napostasy had lost the key of revelation. Her decisions depended not\nupon the voice of inspiration but upon the musty parchments of the\npast. Claiming to be the church of {26} God, she regarded her decisions\nas infallible and irrevocable, her teachings as beyond question.\nHer ideas were crystalized; her philosophy, if indeed it was worthy\nof that name, was stationary, as must be the case with all systems\nreposing on a final revelation of God. In the domain of the Catholic\nchurch during the space of a thousand years, namely from the time of\nthe apostles to the eleventh century, not a book had been written,\nnot a painting executed, nor statue sculptured of sufficient merit to\nrescue the name of the author from oblivion. Throughout the length and\nbreadth of Europe there fell a dark cloud of intellectual stagnation,\nan invisible atmosphere of oppression ready to break down morally and\nphysically whatever opposed its weight; except where a few feeble rays\nof light were kept flickering by the efforts of Jewish and Mahometan\nscholars. She at once disclosed her human and denied her divine origin\nby attempting to force fixed laws on society in the presence of higher\ntruths and advancing civilization.\n\nThe first great conflict was in reference to geography--the shape and\nsurface of the earth. When science disclosed the fact that the earth\nwas round, there was a great commotion, and so much the more since it\nwas by Mahometan scholars that the discovery had been made. It was\nasked, \"Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?\" In other words,\n\"Is it possible for vile Mahometans to understand and teach such a\ntruth when it is not yet known to the assumed church of God?\" At {27}\nonce the war-spirit became fierce and hot. The great writer Eusebius\ntreated the doctrine with contempt. Lactantius asks, \"Is there any\none so senseless, as to believe that there are men whose footsteps\nare higher than their heads? That the crops and trees grow downwards?\nThat the rains, snow and hail fall upward to the earth?\" (_For further\nparticulars see Whewel's Hist. Induct. Sciences, Vol. I, page_ 196.)\nAt this stage of the controversy, Cosmas Indicopleustes, by direction\nof the Catholic church, undertook to give a description of the earth.\nAccording to Cosmas, the universe is in the form of an immense box,\ntwice as broad as it is high and twice as long as it is broad. At the\nbottom of this box lies the earth, surrounded by four great seas or\noceans. At the outer edges of these seas, rise immense walls, which\nsupport the vault of heaven, even as the walls of a house support the\nroof; and thus walls and vault shut in the earth and all the heavenly\nbodies. This vast box he divides into two compartments or stories.\nIn the lower one men were said to live, and sun, moon and stars to\nmove. The upper one was said to be the abode of God and angels, whose\nprincipal work was to push and pull the sun and planets to and fro, and\nto open the windows of heaven, and thus regulate the quantity of rain.\n\nThe ignorance or impudence of Cosmas can only be partially imagined,\nwhen we recollect that he supported his theory by reference to the\nBible, and quoted _Genesis i_, 6; _Job xxvi_, 11; _Psalms cxlviii_, 4;\n_Isaiah xl_, 22. All the sublime poetry and {28} beautiful imagery of\nthese texts were thus debased to give credence to the wild vagaries of\nthis ignorant man.\n\nSpace will not permit us to follow this contest in all its phases:\nsuffice it to say that so late as the fourteenth century Cecco d'\nAscoli was burned alive for asserting his belief in the rotundity of\nthe earth. (_See Neander's History of the Christian Church, Vol. II,\npage_ 63.) The student of history will also remember how Columbus at\nthe great council of Salamanca was overwhelmed by texts of scripture\nwrested from their rightful meaning. It was only after the successful\nnavigation of the earth, by Magellan's ship, the _San Vittoria_, that\nRome ceased to persecute the adherents of this doctrine. In all this\ncontest Rome's dogmas only resulted in injury to herself. The authority\nof the scriptures was not in the end weakened, but rather strengthened;\nbut to thinking men, Rome's claim of divine right to interpret the\nscriptures was of little value. Rome had been \"weighed in the balances\nand found wanting.\"\n\nIt was therefore in a scientific not less than a religious point of\nview that many leading minds looked with favor toward that great\nreligious, movement known as the Reformation.\n\nWhile Luther, Calvin and Zwingle were busy denouncing the corruptions\nof the Romish church, the forces were preparing for the second\ngreat conflict between science and so-called religion, namely, that\nconcerning the motion of the earth. Copernicus lived at the same time\nas Luther, and died {29} two years before him. His was as brave a life\nas ever lived in story. For thirty-six years, at the very time the\nProtestant struggle was raging, he was working at that immortal book,\n_De Revolutionibus Orbum_, in which he so clearly demonstrates the\nmotion of the earth, and the revolution of the planets around the sun.\nBut he dared not print it for many years. If he published it at Rome,\nit would fall into the hands of the Inquisition; if he caused it to be\nprinted in Germany, there were the Protestant leaders no less hostile;\nif he sent it to Switzerland, there stood Calvin and Zwingle ready to\nburn it. At length the work was ready for the press. By the entreaty\nof the Romish Cardinal Schomberg, and with many apologies, Copernicus\nventured to publish it. He was now old and feeble. Patiently he waited\nat death's door to see a printed copy. At length the long looked-for\ncopy arrived, he saw it, composed himself and died, 1543.\n\nSeven years after the death of Copernicus, was born that strange\nmortal, Giordano Bruno. For teaching the rotation of the earth he had\nto flee to Switzerland. But Calvin held power there and Bruno was\nsoon obliged to leave. Driven in succession from England, France and\nGermany, and, like Noah's dove, finding no rest for the sole of his\nfoot, he at length ventured to return to Italy. He was arrested in\nVenice, and after eight years of solitary confinement, was burned at\nRome, February 16, 1600. When the atrocious sentence was passed upon\nhim, he nobly replied, \"Perhaps it is with {30} greater fear that ye\npass this sentence upon me than I receive it.\"\n\nMeanwhile Galileo was prosecuting his studies at Florence. In May,\n1609, he made his first telescope and pointing it toward the heavens\nsaw the satellites of Jupiter and the phases of Venus. These were two\nof the weightiest arguments that had as yet been presented in favor\nof the Copernican theory. Already Galileo began to encounter vulgar\nindignation which accused him of impiety. In 1611, Galileo publicly\nexhibited the spots upon the sun. This only excited the rage of his\npersecutors. Goaded by opposition he wrote a letter, in 1613, to\nthe Abbe Castelli, showing that the scriptures were given for our\nsalvation, and not to teach astronomy in particular. This was repeating\nBruno's offense. Galileo was brought before the Inquisition, and, after\nyears of imprisonment, only saved his life by denying the great truths\nhe had discovered. He died 1642, in the seventy-eighth year of his\nage, the prisoner of the Inquisition. But religious bigotry did not end\nthere. It tried to follow him beyond the grave, disputing his right to\nmake a will and denying him burial in consecrated ground. Nor were the\nleaders of the Protestant cause less bitter.\n\nIn reference to Copernicus, Luther declared, \"People give ear to an\nupstart astrologer, who strives to show that the earth revolves;\" and\nagain, \"This fool (Copernicus) wishes to reverse the whole system of\nastronomy.\" Melancthon, in his treatise _Initia Doctrinea Physicae_,\nsays, \"The eyes are the {31} witnesses that the heavens revolve about\nthe earth in the space of twenty-four hours,\" and adds, \"Now it is\na want of decency to assert publicly the notions of Copernicus;\"\nand Zwingle declares, \"The earth can be no where, if not in the\ncenter of the universe. It is a part of a good mind to accept the\ntruth as revealed by God, and acquiesce in it.\" (_See Geschichte des\nMaterialismus, Vol. I, page_ 217.)\n\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: BURNING OF SERVETUS.]\n\nFurther, Calvin proved the darkness of his own mind when he put to\ndeath that celebrated philosopher and physician, Michael Servetus,\nwhose greatest crimes were that in religion he denied the absurd dogma\nthat the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate and distinct\nbeings and yet one and the same person; and in science he had partially\nsucceeded in discovering the circulation of blood. The circumstances\nwere also of the {32} most atrocious character. Servetus was roasted\nfor two hours in the flames of a slow fire made of green wood.\nMeanwhile he was begging for the love of God that they would put on\nmore wood or do something to end his torture.\n\nSo also in superstition the Protestants were not a whit behind the\nCatholics. In presence of the Protestant king, James I., of England,\nit was declared that Agnes Sampson with two hundred other witches had\nsailed in sieves from Leith to North Betwick church to hold a banquet\nwith the devil. It was also said that the witches had baptized and then\ndrowned a black cat, which caused a terrible storm in which the ship\nthat carried the king narrowly escaped being wrecked. King James and\nthe high church dignitaries who formed his privy council, believed the\naccusation and condemned the poor woman to the flames.\n\nThe leaders of German Protestantism were Luther and Melancthon, yet\neven they were victims of the grossest superstition. They believed\nthat in the Tiber, not far distant from the pope's palace, a monster\nhad been found having the body of a man, the head of an ass and the\nclaws of a bird of prey. After much speculation and searching of their\nBibles, they concluded it was a manifestation of God's anger against\nRome, and they wrote a pamphlet about it. (_See Buckle's Hist. of\nCivilization._)\n\nIt is a quite common error to suppose these persecutions to have\nemanated from the papal power exclusively. When we read of Copernicus\nescaping {33} persecution only by death, of Bruno, burned alive as\na monster of impiety, of Galileo imprisoned and humiliated as the\nworst of misbelievers we are apt to look upon these things as the\neffect of Romish intolerance. But we should not forget that Kepler\nwho stands pre-eminently conspicuous, who lead science on to greater\nvictories than either Copernicus or Galileo, who thought and spake as\none inspired--even he was hunted alike by Protestant and Catholic. Nor\nwas this feeling of intolerance confined to any particular age. On the\ncontrary we behold its continuance even to our own times. In Protestant\nEngland so late as 1772, the celebrated Dr. Priestly was not permitted\nto accompany the famous expedition for scientific discovery under\nCaptain Cook, because he did not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity\nas taught by the Church of England.\n\nOn the 10th of May, 1859, was buried Alexander Von Humboldt. His labors\nwere among the greatest glories of this century, and his funeral one\nof the most imposing of modern times. Among those who did themselves\nthe honor of following his remains to their last resting-place was the\npresent emperor of Germany. But no minister of any sect was present\nexcept the officiating clergyman and a few others who were considered\nas not in good standing in their respective churches. By these\ninstances and many others it might be shown how has been wrought into\nthe very fibre of modern society that pernicious idea that there is a\nnecessary antagonism between science and religion.\n\n{34} The lessons thus taught were clear and convincing. Many\nintelligent minds saw that Protestants as well as Catholics lacked not\nmerely the charitable spirit of the gospel, but likewise that knowledge\nand authority, which are the certain results of divine revelation. The\nresult was soon apparent. A violent reaction followed. Germany, the\nbirthplace of the Reformation, is now the stronghold of infidelity.\n\nAnd why was this? What was it that made large numbers of the best\nmen in Europe hate both the Catholic and Protestant religions? Why\ndid Ricetto, Bruno and Servetus in the hour of martyrdom turn with\nloathing from that sacred emblem, the crucifix? The reason was simply\nthis: So-called Christianity had been made to them identical with\nthe most horrible oppression of mind, because they who had assumed\nto represent Christianity had misrepresented it. In other words, the\nabsurd theories, rigid dogmas and heathenish superstitions of apostate\nChristianity bore no more resemblance to the benign and heavenly\nprinciples of the gospel, than an ancient Egyptian mummy, with its\nshrunken skeleton and ghostly visage, bears to the person of a living\nbeing in the meridian of his mental and physical powers. (_See appendix\nto Vol. IV. Histoire des Mathematiques._)\n\nDid space permit it would be easy to show that the Protestant sects\nhave opposed scientific truth as bitterly, and been overthrown as\ncompletely as Rome has ever been. Not merely in the examples {35} of\ngeography and astronomy, but also in chemistry and natural philosophy,\nas shown in the imprisonment of Roger Bacon and John Barillon; in\nanatomy and surgery as illustrated in the persecutions against\nVersalius, the great anatomist of the sixteenth century. Nor was it\nmerely in the olden times that this opposition was manifest. Scarcely\neighty years have passed since Jenner, the discoverer of vaccination,\nbarely escaped with his life from the persecutions of leading\nreligionists in Protestant England, for conferring upon mankind the\nknowledge of prevention of a horrible disease. So, also, in 1847, James\nY. Simpson, the eminent Scotch physician, who did so much to alleviate\nhuman suffering by means of anaesthetics, was denounced throughout\nEurope and America by the leading Protestant ministers. The persecutors\nseemed to forget that, in the first surgical operation of which we have\nrecord, God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam. (See _Genesis ii._,\n21.)\n\nSo, also, in geology, scarcely forty years have elapsed since both\nProtestant and Catholic leaders were denouncing that science as a \"dark\nart,\" \"infernal artillery,\" and \"an awful evasion of the testimony\nof revelation.\" While such honored names as Prof. Sedwick, Edward\nHitchcock, Louis Agassiz and Mary Somerville were denounced coarsely\nby name for those studies which unfold the wonders of creation, and\nillustrate the goodness of our Heavenly Father--studies that have made\ntheir names honored throughout the world. (See _Silliman's Journal_.\nVol. 30, page 114.)\n\n\n{36} And what has been the result of all this? In the older nations\nhave come forth, by natural reaction, the most formidable enemies\nthe so-called Christian church has ever known. Of these Voltaire and\nRenan may be considered types, and there are many signs that the same\ncauses are producing similar results in our own country. Yet Renan,\nBennet and Ingersol are not haters of truth. Rather may it be said,\nthey hate counterfeits and are indignant at the assumptions of apostate\nChristendom. In their impetuosity they have rushed into the other\nextreme, and demand for science more than she can rightly claim.\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nFALLACIES OF SCIENTISTS.\n\nIGNORANCE OF SKEPTICS--ERRORS IN ASTRONOMY GEOLOGY NOT\nRELIABLE--SCIENTISTS DISAGREE--TESTIMONIES OF HUGH MILLER--HUMBOLDT\n--LYELL--SECOND-HAND KNOWLEDGE--OUR NEED OF FAITH.\n\n\"A little or superficial knowledge may incline a man's mind to atheism;\nbut depth in philosophy bringeth him back to religion.\" So said Francis\nBacon, one of the world's greatest philosophers, and history has proved\nhis saying to be true. The {37} great lights of the scientific world,\nsuch as Columbus, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Herschel,\nAgassiz, Rosse or Proctor, all have cherished a reverence for religion.\nOn the other hand, it is generally third or fourth rate men of\nlearning, or those whose impetuosity is greater than their judgment,\nwho ever attempt to achieve distinction as infidel lecturers. Men who\nhave failed in their business for want of capacity, frequently turn\nmisanthropes and denounce truths and men that they have not brains\nenough to comprehend. True, apostate Christianity has been \"weighed in\nthe balances and found wanting,\" but does that prove that there is no\nvital, no divine religion that will satisfy the intellect of man with\nits truths, and touch the heart with its love--a Christianity which,\nbearing the full impress of its Author's image, shall take its place\namong the various forces at work in society and eventually subordinate\nthem all? Nay, verily! As well might we say that because there are\ncounterfeit bank bills in existence, therefore, none are genuine.\n\nOne cannot help being amazed at the cool impudence with which infidels\ntake for granted the very points to be proved, and set aside, as\nunworthy of serious examination, the most authentic records of history\nand facts of science. When skeptics, who are determined not to believe\nin the Bible, find the historical evidences of its genuineness,\nauthority and inspiration impossible to be overthrown by ridicule or\nsophistry, they turn their attention to some other mode of attack;\nand, of {38} late years, they have ransacked the whole circle of\nsciences hoping to find a more powerful weapon. Especially has every\nnew discovery been hailed by skeptics as an ally to their cause, until\nfurther acquaintance has proved that it was not so. Thus, when geology\nbegan to upheave its titanic form it was eagerly greeted by skeptics;\nbut now that they have discovered the proofs it gives of a Creator they\nare getting shy of its acquaintance.\n\nIt is, therefore, worth while to enquire, is science really so positive\nas these persons pretend? Or, is it true that the students of the\nphysical sciences have no certain knowledge of their theories? We need\nnot here speak of the disputes between Herschel and Ferguson, Newton\nand Brewster, La Place and Lionville. Rather let us begin with the most\npositive of all sciences. _Mathematics_--the science of magnitude and\nnumbers--and note a few things concerning it. Upon reflection, it is\nsurprising how few subjects are capable of a mathematical demonstration.\n\nThe mathematician may demonstrate the size and properties of a\ntriangle, but he cannot demonstrate the continuance of any actual\ntriangle for one hour, or one minute after his demonstration.\n\nA mathematical proof admits of no doubts or contingencies. A man may\ncalculate the force of the wind, but he cannot tell how long it will\ncontinue to blow in that direction, whether it will increase to a\nhurricane or subside to a calm. He may count the revolutions of an\nengine, but he cannot test its extreme power, or prove its continued\n{39} existence for a single hour. How many of the most important\naffairs of life can be demonstrated by means of the multiplication\ntable? It would be safe to say not one in ten. Again, mathematics\nfrequently deal with purely ideal figures, which never did or never can\nexist. There is not a mathematical line--length without breadth--in\nall the universe. On careful examination, we find that there are no\nmathematical figures in nature. We speak of the earth as a sphere,\nbut it is a sphere pitted with hollows as deep as the ocean, and\ncrested with protuberances as high as the Andes or Himalayas, in every\nconceivable irregularity of form. There is not an acre of absolutely\nlevel ground on the face of the earth; even its waters pile themselves\nup in waves, or dash into breakers, rather than remain perfectly level\nfor a single hour. The microscope reveals the fact that the pearl is\nproportionally rougher than the surface of the earth, and the dew-drop\nis no nearer round than a pear. When we speak of the orbits of the\nplanets as elliptical or circular, it is only in a general way; just as\nwe speak of a circular saw, the outline of its teeth being regularity\nitself, as compared with the motions of the planets in their orbits.\n\nSo also with _Astronomy_, it is far from being an exact science. From\nthe comparative simplicity of the forces with which it has to deal,\nand the approximate regularity of the paths of the heavenly bodies,\nit may be regarded as the science in which the greatest possible\ncertainty is attainable. {40} It opens, at once, the widest field to\nthe imagination, and the noblest range to the reason; it has attracted\nthe most exalted intellects to its pursuit, and has rewarded their\ntoils with the grandest discoveries. Lest we should ascribe to the\ndiscoverers of the laws of the universe, the glory due to their\nCreator, let us glance at some of the errors of astronomy.\n\nSir John Herschel, than whom none has a better right to speak on this\nsubject, devotes a chapter to the \"Errors of Astronomy.\"\n\n\"No philosophical observation or experiment is absolutely accurate. The\nerror of a thousandth part of an inch in an instrument, will multiply\nitself into thousands and millions of miles according to the distance\nof the object.\"\n\nTo begin at our own little globe, where exactness is more easily\nattained, than among distant planets, we find that two of the greatest\nastronomers, Bessel and Newton, differ from each other in the\nmeasurement of the diameter of the earth fully eleven miles. So also\nthe diameter of the earth's orbit is uncertain by 360,000 miles. Now\nthe diameter of the earth, and the diameter of its orbit are the very\nfoot rule and yard stick, as it were, by which astronomers measure the\nheavens. (_See Humboldt's Cosmos, Vol, I. page 7, and Vol. IV. page\n477._)\n\n\"Let us then be candid,\" says Loomis, \"and claim no more for astronomy\nthan is reasonably due. When in 1846 the great astronomer Le Verrier\nannounced the existence of a planet hitherto unseen, and when he\nassigned to it its exact position {41} in the heavens, and declared\nthat it shone like a star of the eighth magnitude, not an astronomer\nof France, and scarcely one in Europe had sufficient faith in the\nprediction to prompt him to point his telescope to the heavens.\"\n\nSo also geology, one of the most recent of the sciences, and in the\nhands of infidel nurses one of the most noisy, has been found to be\nunreliable in many particulars. True a wonderful outcry has been\nraised about the antagonism between the records of the rocks, and the\nrecords of the Bible. But no one has yet succeeded in proving such an\nantagonism; for the plain reason that neither the Bible nor geology\nsays how old the earth is. They both say it is very old. The Bible\nsays, \"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.\" The\nterm here translated \"in the beginning\" signifies, as every Hebrew\nscholar knows, a period of such remote antiquity, that in Bible\nlanguage it stands next to eternity. Now if the geologist could prove\nthat the earth is a thousand million years older than the time when\nAdam appeared upon it, this would contradict no statement of the Bible.\nSo when infidels come to us with their geological theories about the\nmanner in which God made the earth, or in which the earth is said to\nhave made itself, and how long it took to do it, and tell us that\nthey have scientific demonstration from the rocks that the Bible is\nfalse, we surely have a right to enquire into the foundation of these\ntheories upon which they have built such startling conclusions. Now it\nis remarkable that every infidel {42} argument is based not upon the\n_facts_, but upon the _theories_ of geology. But how does our infidel\ngeologist set about his work of proving that the earth has any given\nage, say a thousand million years? Why he simply commences with a\ntheory or supposition. Yet a demonstration must rest upon facts, it\nadmits of no suppositions. In examining the crust of the earth we find\na great many layers of rocks, one above the other, evidently formed\nbelow the water, some of them out of the fragments of former rocks\ncontaining bones, shells and casts of fishes and tracks of the feet\nof birds, made when these rocks were in the state of soft mud. These\nlayers form what is termed the crust of the earth, and are altogether\nseveral miles in thickness. Yet not one of these layers gives us the\nelement of time. They announce to us successive generations of animals\nand plants; but they do not tell us how long these generations lived.\nWe have every reason to believe that the condition of the world was\nvery different then, from what it is now; not only as regards its\ntemperature, of which we have many proofs that it was much higher than\nat present; but likewise in regard to the density of the atmosphere\nand the distribution of water on the surface of the globe. All these\nconditions indicate that both animal and vegetable life were then\nfar different from what they are now, as the fossil remains of those\nanimals and plants abundantly and unquestionably prove. But in all this\nwe have no means of determining the duration of those species. The\nvarious species of plants and animals may have flourished during a\nperiod of a thousand, a million, or a thousand million years for all we\nknow.\n\n{43}\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: SECTION OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH]\n\nRECENT DEPOSITS--Showing remains of animals still existing.\n\nQUATERNARY--Showing remains of some extinct and some living species.\n\nFirst appearance of deciduous trees, (those that drop their leaves in\nautumn) showing alternations of heat and cold.\n\nRemains of vertebrates (animals having back bones) of the more perfect\nspecies.\n\nMammals, (milk-giving animals); carnivora, (flesh-eating animals),\nmonkeys, etc.\n\nFirst appearance of birds and land monsters, megatheriums, mammoths,\netc.\n\nCRETACIOUS ROCKS--Age of reptiles and amphibious monsters, as\niguanodons, saurians and crocodiles.\n\nCARBONIFEROUS ROCKS--Age of coal formation; first indications of\nreptiles, numerous amphibious animals--supposed uniform climate.\n\nSUB-CARBONIFEROUS--First traces of amphibious animals.\n\nFirst traces of cone-bearing trees, pines, ferns, etc.\n\nFirst fishes; first vertebrates; numerous shell fish; limestone strata.\n\nChalk measures; sandstone strata,\n\nSILURIAN ROCKS--Few traces of life; old red sandstone.\n\nHURONIAN ROCKS--No traces of life; gneiss, quartz, felspar, mica.\n\nLAURENTIAN Rocks--Granite.\n\n{44} Here is a problem exactly similar. On examination we find\nthat a certain house is built on a foundation of well-cemented concrete\nthree feet deep, that it has ten courses of stone in the basement,\nforty courses of brick in the first story, thirty-six courses in the\nsecond, thirty-two in the third; with a roof of nine inch rafters,\ncovered with inch boards, and an inch and a half layer of coal-tar and\ngravel; now tell us how long was the house in building? Why the very\nschool-boy would laugh at the absurdity of such a question. He would\nsay, \"How can I tell unless I know where the materials were obtained,\nhow they were conveyed, how many workmen were employed, and how much\nthey could do in a day? If the rock had been brought from a distance,\nthe brick to be made by hand, the lumber all dressed with a handsaw and\njackplane, and all the work done by a slowgoing jobbing contractor who\nemployed only three or four men--why, they would not get through in a\nyear. But if the rock was found in excavating the cellar, if the brick\nwere made by machinery and near at hand, the lumber dressed by steam\nsaw and planing mills, and thirty or forty workmen employed, it might\nbe all finished in a month.\"\n\nSo the geologist ought to say, \"I do not know either the source of the\nmaterials of the earth's strata nor the distance from which they were\nconveyed to their present position, nor the forces which were employed\nin changing them from their {45} primitive elements to the forms in\nwhich we now see them; therefore I cannot tell the time required for\ntheir formation. If the crust of the earth was originally fused into\ngranite by intense heat, and this granite has been thrown up into\nvast mountains by the internal heat of the earth; and in turn, these\nmountains have been slowly worn away, by the action of wind, rain and\nfrost, and conveyed down to the shores of the primeval ocean, by the\nstill slower agency of mountain torrents and rivers; and if these\ndeposits having first been the home of various species of animals and\nplants have hardened into rock which in turn has been heaved up by\nvolcanic forces--if this was the mode of creation, hundreds of millions\nof years may have been required to produce the effects we now see upon\nthe surface of the globe.\n\n\"But if the crust of the earth originally consisted of the various\nelements of which granite and other rocks are composed, if (as is\ngenerally conceded, granite is the lowest in the scale of all the rocks\nwith which man is acquainted,) the granite was fused into its present\ncondition by the intense heat generated by the chemical action of these\nelements upon each other, and if the overlying strata were consolidated\nby the vast pressure of a universal ocean, as is generally conceded to\nhave covered the earth at a certain geologic period, and if these rocks\nwere baked by their own chemical heat or by the continuous heat of the\nunderlying granite, while the cooler temperature of the water above\nprevented the upper strata from becoming {46} so solid--then, under\nsuch circumstances, a very few centuries might suffice.\" (_See Lyell's\nPrinciples of Geology, chapters_ 12 _and_ 32.)\n\nUntil these indispensable preliminaries are settled, geology can make\nno calculations of the length of time occupied by the formation of the\nstrata.\n\nAgain, all geological computations of time are made upon the\nsupposition that only the same agents were then at work which we now\nsee, that they wrought with the same degree of force and produced the\nsame results though working under widely different conditions. For\nexample, suppose it now takes a year to deposit mud enough at the\nbottom of the sea, to make an inch of rocks, and _if mud was deposited\nno faster_ in those remote ages, then the rocks would be as old as\nthere are inches in the eight or nine miles depth to which the strata\nextends. But how can we prove that mud was deposited at the same rate\nthen as now? And so the whole fabric of geological chronology vanishes\ninto a mere unproved notion, based upon an _if_.\n\nIt is truly astonishing that any sober-minded person should allow\nhimself to be shaken in his religious convictions by the alleged\nresults of a science so unformed and imperfect, as geologists\nthemselves acknowledge their favorite science to be. Thus Hugh Miller\nadmits, \"There are no calculations more doubtful than those of the\ngeologist;\" and again, \"It furnishes us with no certain clue by which\nto unravel the unapproachable mysteries of {47} creation.\" (_See\nFootprints of the Creator, page_ 313.)\n\nThese mysteries belong to the wondrous Creator, and to Him only. Men\nattempt to theorize upon them, and to reduce them to law; but all\nnature rises up against them in their presumptuous rebellion. A stray\nsplinter of cone-bearing wood, a fish's skull, the skeleton of a\nreptile, the tooth or jaw of a quadruped, all or any of these things--\nweak and insignificant as they may seem--when found imbedded in the\nstrata of the rocks, become evidence too strong for man and all his\ntheories. These puny fragments in the grasp of truth become weapons as\nirresistible as the dry bone in the hand of Sampson of old; and our\nslaughtered theories lie piled up heaps upon heaps before them.\n\nThen, again, they are quarreling about the leading principles of the\nscience. Hopkins attempts to prove that the crust of the earth is\neight hundred miles thick, while Humboldt asserts that it is less\nthan twenty-four. As the temperature increases one degree for every\nforty-five feet we descend into the earth, so, at that rate, in less\nthan twenty-four miles the heat would be so great as to melt iron and\nalmost any known substance. But here, again, they differ. Wedgewood\ndeclares that iron melts at 21,000 degrees Fahrenheit; while Professor\nDaniels is positive that it melts at 2,786 degrees, Fahrenheit. Only a\nslight difference of 18,214 degrees.\n\nBut then comes the great question: if granite is the lowest layer in\nthe strata, what is below the {48} granite? De Beaumont affirms that\n\"the whole globe, with the exception of a thin envelope--much thinner\nin proportion than the shell of an egg--is a melted mass kept fluid\nby heat, but constantly cooling and contracting its dimensions and\noccasionally cracking and falling in, and squeezing upwards large\nportions of the mass, thus producing those folds or wrinkles which we\ncall mountain chains.\" On the other hand, Davy and Lyell think that \"we\nmay perhaps refer the heat of the interior to chemical changes going on\nin the earth's crust.\" So much for the uncertainties of geology.\n\nIf space permitted, it would be easy to go over other sciences and show\nsimilar uncertainties in them all. It is worthy of notice that the\nuncertainties of science increase just in proportion to our interest\nin it. About what does not concern us, it is very positive; but very\nuncertain about our dearest interests. The astronomer may calculate\nwith considerable certainty the movements of distant planets with which\nwe have no intercourse; but he cannot predict the heat or cold, clouds\nor sunshine, and other phenomena continually occurring on our earth.\nThe forces of heat may be measured, to some extent, but what physician\ncan measure the strength of the malignant fever that is destroying the\nlife of his patient. The chemist can thoroughly analyze any foreign\nsubstance, but the disease of his own body, which is bringing him to\nthe grave, he can neither weigh, measure nor remove. Science is very\npositive about distant {49} stars and remote ages, but stammers and\nhesitates about the very lives of its professors.\n\nIf such are the uncertainties of science to the actual investigators,\nwhat shall we say to him who has learned his science at school? When\nwe meet with such an infidel, who denounces religion while he extols\nthe certainties of science, would it not be well to ask a few questions\nsuch as the following? Have you personally measured the diameter of the\nearth, observed the transit of Venus, or calculated the distance of the\nmoon? Or, further, would you feel yourself competent to perform such\nlabor; or is it possible that, after all your boasting, you have taken\nyour science at second-hand, and on the testimony of another? Again,\nperhaps you are a student of the stone book (as scientists sometimes\ncall the strata of the earth's crust), with its enduring records graven\nin the rock forever; and perhaps you profess to believe that under\nthese ponderous strata the Bible has found an everlasting tomb! But how\nmany of the volumes of this stone book have you perused personally!\nHave you ever visited the many localities in our own country, to say\nnothing of the instructive lessons to be learned from the strata of\nEngland, Scotland, Wales, the Himalayas, the Andes and the Lauretian\nrocks of Canada, where the different formations are to be seen? Have\nyou personally excavated from their beds, the various fossils that\nform, as it were, the very alphabet of the science; or, is it possible\nthat all you know of geology is from the specimens of collectors, and\nthe statements {50} of lecturers aided by maps of ideal stratification\nin rose-pink, brimstone-yellow and indigo-blue?\n\nBut perhaps you are a chemist, and proud, as most chemists are, of\nthe accuracy attainable in that most demonstrative science. But how\nmuch of it is really science to you? Of the nine hundred and forty-two\nsubstances mentioned in Turner's Chemistry, how many have you analyzed?\nCould you truthfully say one-half, one-fourth, or even one-tenth? Much\nless, would you face the laughter of a college class, to-morrow, upon\nthe experiment of taking nine out of the nine hundred, reducing them\nto their primitive elements, and giving an accurate analysis of their\ncomponent parts?\n\nIn fact, do you know anything worth mentioning of the facts of science\nupon your own knowledge, except those of the trade by which you make\nyour living? Or, after all your boasting about scientific certainty, is\nit true that you have been obliged to receive your science upon faith,\nat second-hand, and on the word of another, and to save your life you\ncould not tell who that other is, or even name the discoverers of half\nthe scientific truths you believe? Therefore, whatever precision may be\nattained by scientific men--and we have seen that it is not much--it\nis very certain you have none of it. The very best you can have to\nwrap yourself in is a second-hand assurance, grievously torn by rival\nschools, and needing to be patched every month by later discoveries.\n\n{51} But this is not all. Most sciences are not only uncertain, but\nalso insufficient. We demand the knowledge of truths of which science\nis profoundly ignorant. Of all the great problems and precious\ninterests which belong to me as a mortal or immortal being, science\nknows nothing. I ask her whence I came. She points to her pinions\nstretched over the abyss of primeval fire, her eyes blinded by its\nawful glare, and remains silent. I inquire what I am; but the strange\nand questioning _I_ is a mystery which she can neither analyze nor\nmeasure. I tell her of the voice of conscience within--she never heard\nit and does not pretend to understand it. I tell her of my anxieties\nabout the future--she is learned only in the past. I inquire how I may\nbe happy hereafter--but happiness is not a scientific term, and she\ncannot even tell me how to be happy here! Poor, blind science!\n\nFurther still, all our dearest interests lie beyond the domains\nof physical science, in the regions of faith. Science treats of\nthings--faith is confidence in persons. Take away the persons and of\nwhat value are the things? The world becomes at once a vast desert, a\ndreary solitude. I can live, and love, and be happy without science;\nbut not without companionship whose bond is faith. In its sunshine\nalone can happiness grow. It is faith sends man out in the morning to\nhis work, nerves his arms through the toils of the day, brings him\nhome in the evening, gathers the children around the table, inspires\nthe oft-repeated efforts of the little prattler to ascend his parent's\nknee, clasps the chubby arms {52} around his neck, looks with the most\nconfiding innocence into his eye and puts forth the little hand to\ncatch his bread and share his cup. Undoubting faith is happiness even\nhere below. Need we marvel, then, that man must be converted from his\npride of empty, barren science, and casting himself with all his powers\ninto the arms of faith, become as a little child before he can enter\ninto the kingdom of heaven?\n\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nDID THE WORLD MAKE ITSELF?\n\nMANIFESTATIONS OF POWER--MOUNTAIN CHAINS--PHENOMENA THE EFFECT OF\nCAUSE--EXTENT OF UNIVERSE--MANIFESTATIONS OF DESIGN--THE HUMAN\nEYE--MATTER INERT--DID THE PAVING-STONES MAKE THEMSELVES?--THEORIES OF\nBUFFON--OF DR. OLBERS--HISTORY DECLARES GOD'S GOVERNMENT.\n\n\"Nature is but the name of an effect whose cause is God.\"--COWPER.\n\n\"The infidel astronomer is mad.\"--HERSCHEL.\n\nHad the world a Creator, or did it make itself? Let us look out upon\nnature, and see what there is to suggest the idea of God. Infidels\ntell us that faith is destined to be left behind in the onward\nmarch of intellect; that it belongs to an infantile {53} stage of\nintellectual development; that children and childish notions are prone\nto superstition, which is only another name for religion. To account\nfor the wonders of creation they will coolly talk of the eternity of\nmatter, and the action of natural laws, as if these assertions would\nlead them out of their dilemma.\n\nOne of the most impressive lessons that a person ever learns, is from\nthe manifestation of power as shown in the phenomena of nature, as,\nfor example, when he gazes upon the phenomena of a thunder storm. The\ndark and thickening cloud, the flashes of the lightning, the roaring\nof thunder, the dashing of the rain and the wild sweep of the winds,\nsometimes crushing forests in their pathway, are all manifestations of\nan unseen power. Among the works of human hands, the traveler gazes\nwith amazement at the ponderous bulk of the pyramids. But what are\nthe pyramids to the Alps, which have been lifted by some power to an\naltitude thirty-three times the hight of the largest pyramid? And yet\nthe Alps are little more than half the hight of the Andes, and not more\nthan a hundredth part of their mass. These ponderous mountain chains\nhave been upheaved bodily, tearing their way through masses of solid\nrock miles in thickness, uplifting, crushing, tilting and dislocating\nthe solid floor of half a continent. Here is a power which may well\namaze us.\n\nAgain, no strain, that man has ever applied, has compressed or\nstretched, in the least perceptible degree, a block of building stone.\nIn fact, the {54} architects and builders of the most ponderous\nedifices, such as the Salt Lake Temple, make not the least allowance\nfor the compression of the stones which lie at their very base. Yet\nsuch is the strain which nature exerts upon the rocky slabs built into\nthe hill-sides, that they yield like india-rubber to the pressure;\nand when, by quarrying, the strain is relieved, the crushed rocks,\nwith a groan, ease themselves back to their original dimensions. (See\n_Winchel's Reconciliation of Science and Religion, page_ 334.)\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: IDEAL SECTION OF THE UINTAH MOUNTAINS, SHOWING UPHEAVAL\nOF STRATA AND UNDERLYING GRANITE--AFTER POWELL.]\n\nAnd yet, after all, this is but one of nature's feeblest efforts. Look\nbeyond the phenomena of uplifted mountain-masses, deep-scooped ocean\nbasins, forest-laying tempests and land-consuming waves. Look out\ninto limitless space! There hang worlds of ponderous bulk. They were\nfashioned by some skillful hand; they are upheld by some mighty agency;\nand moved onward in their {55} majestic course by some mysterious\npower. We cannot bring our minds to comprehend that power; but let us\nraise our thoughts and try to understand something concerning it. There\nis the sun whose bulk is so great that, if its center was placed where\nthe center of the earth is, its body would extend in every direction\nas far as the moon. Nay, farther, it would extend beyond the moon a\ndistance of twenty-four times the diameter of the earth. This vast sun,\nstill in the fiery vigor of its youth, imparting light and life to all\nthat dwell on the planets which revolve around it, is only one of the\nnumberless orbs that shine in the abyss of heaven.\n\nNow, what is this power that has formed these glorious suns and sent\nthem whirling onward through the cycles of the ages? The infidel tells\nus it is gravity. But what is gravity? Whence proceeds that mighty\nforce which men call by that name? Matter is inert, that is, it does\nnot possess the power of moving itself. It is evident, then, that\nmatter is acted upon by some power outside of itself. In human affairs\nwe can find no result without a cause, no design without a designer;\nand, on thinking carefully, we find that every designer is under the\ncontrol of a will. So, in the field of nature, every phenomenon is but\nthe effect of some cause, and that cause must have acted under the\ncontrol of some intelligent will.\n\nWe are still more amazed when we consider the inconceivable space over\nwhich this power extends. The bulk of the sun is beyond our mental\ngrasp. How then shall we comprehend its distance from {56} us? It is\ngenerally considered that the sun is about ninety-two millions of miles\ndistant. It is easy to say these words, but difficult to realize their\nmeaning. Our express trains move at the rate of thirty miles an hour.\nNow if a railway stretched from the earth to the sun, it would require\nthree hundred and fifty years for an express train to pass over it. If\nChamplain, the founder of Quebec, and Capt. John Smith and Pocahontas,\nso famous in early Virginia history, had stepped on board this train it\nwould still require nearly eighty years more for their descendants to\nreach the end of their journey. The distance would still be so great,\nthat only the great grand-children of the present generation could\nexpect to reach the sun. And yet there is a power that reaches across\nthis vast distance, swings the world around its orbit like a haltered\ncolt trotting around a hitching post, lifts the ocean into a mighty\ntide and lashes the rocky shores with the fury of the angry waves. But\nthis is not all. Light flashes across this mighty chasm in the brief\nspace of eight minutes and a half. The light by which we read these\nlines started from the sun about the time we read the heading of this\narticle. What shall we say of a space so vast, that this light must\ntravel a year, a hundred, aye, even a thousand years before it reaches\nits destination? And yet there is a power that governs even there,\na power so mighty that He \"grasps the whole frame-work of stars and\nsystems, and sends them whirling and wheeling through the depths of\nboundless space like a {57} handful of pebbles thrown through the air.\"\nWell might the great philosopher and poet, Addison, exclaim:\n\n \"The spacious firmament on high\n With all the blue ethereal sky,\n And spangled heavens, a shining frame,\n Their great Original proclaim.\n\n \"In Reason's ear they all rejoice\n And utter forth a glorious voice,\n Forever singing as they shine,\n The hand that made us is divine.\"\n\nWhile we are amazed at the manifestations of _power_ in creation, let\nus not forget the indications of _intelligence_ and _design_ that exist\nall around us. For example, I see a friend walking along the street\nin the rain, with an umbrella over his head, and I feel that somebody\ncontrived that instrument with the design of keeping off the rain. In\none word, it was intended for that purpose. In like manner we perceive\nmarks of design and intelligence in the countless contrivances and\ninstruments used in every-day life. In fact, we cannot look upon the\nsimplest invention without feeling that it is the result of design\nand intelligence. Now the world is full of contrivances, which were\nnot made by human hands, nor invented by human brains. The hand that\nwrote these words or the hand that set up the type to print them is a\nmore ingenious contrivance than was ever made by human skill. If it\nrequired intelligence to make a pen, did it not require still greater\nintelligence to make the hand that wields the pen? If it required\ndesign to {58} fashion a metal type, did it not require a still greater\ndesign to form the hand that manipulates that type? not to speak of\nthat subtle and mysterious power, called the mind, which guides the\nhand under both these circumstances.\n\nIn like manner we might observe the marks of design and mechanical\nskill displayed in the formation of the eye. First, there is the cavity\nin which it is placed, composed of seven little bones nicely fitted and\nglued together, lined with the softest fat and enveloped in a tissue,\ncompared with which the softest silk is only coarse canvas. Then the\ncavity is so shaped as to exactly fit the eye, while the brow projects\nover like the roof of a veranda and the lids close down over it to\nprotect it from injury. Again, we find that the ropes and pulleys used\nin the rigging of a ship are simplicity indeed as compared with the\nnerves and muscles used in the movements of the eye.\n\n[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Here there is an uncaptioned representation of the\nanatomy of the human eye, with its major parts labeled.]\n\nMost persons have seen a ship, and know the way in which the yards are\nmoved, and the sails squared by means of ropes and pulleys. Now, there\nis a tackle called a muscle to pull the eye down when you want to look\ndown; another to pull it up when you have done; there is one to pull\nit to the right, and another to pull it to the {59} left. There is one\nfastened to the eyeball in two places, and so arranged that it will\nmove the eye in any direction, as when we roll our eyes; and a sixth\nfastened to the under side of the eye to keep it steady when we do not\nneed to move it. Then the eyelids are provided with suitable gearing,\nand it needs to be durable too, for it is said to be used thirty\nthousand times a day, in fact, every time we wink.\n\nNot less wonderful is the construction of the eye itself. The optic\nnerve is the part of the eye which conveys visions to the mind. Suppose\ninstead of it being where you observe it, at the back part of the\neye, it had been brought out to the front, and that reflections from\nobjects had fallen directly upon it. It is obvious that it would have\nbeen exposed to injury from every floating particle of dust, and we\nwould always have felt such a sensation as is caused by a burn or scald\nwhen the skin peels off and leaves the ends of the nerves exposed to\nthe air. Also the tender points of the fibres of the optic nerve would\nsoon become blunted and the eye of course useless. How then is the\nnerve to be protected, and yet the sight not obstructed? If it were\ncovered with skin as the other nerves are, we could not see through it.\nFor thousands of years after men had eyes and used them, they knew no\nsubstance at once hard and transparent, which could answer the double\npurpose of vision and protection. To this day man knows no substance\nclear enough for vision, hard enough for protection, and elastic enough\nto resume its form {60} after a blow. Now observe in the eye, that\nforward part, called the cornea, is as it were the watch-glass. It it\nis made of a substance at once hard, transparent and elastic; something\nwhich man has never been able to imitate.\n\nIt may be asked, what is the use of so many lenses in the eye? Light\nwhen refracted through a lens, becomes separated into its component\ncolors--red, yellow, green, blue and violet. So that if the crystalline\nlens of the eye alone were used, we should see every white object,\nbluish in the middle, and yellowish and reddish at the edges. This\ndifficulty perplexed Sir Isaac Newton all his life, and he never\ndiscovered the mode of making a refracting telescope which would\nobviate it. That remained for M. Dolland, a celebrated physician,\nto do; and he did it by studying and imitating the formation of the\neye. Now what absurdity to say that a law of nature, such as gravity,\nor electricity has such a knowledge of the principles of optics and\nmechanics as the eye proclaims its Former to have! In all this we see\nmarks of the most admirable design. The eye is fitted both to gaze at\nthe stars millions of miles away and minutely examine objects only a\nfew inches distant. In the brightness of sunshine the pupil contracts\nin order to protect the optic nerve from injury; in twilight it expands\nso as to admit a greater amount of light. When we wish to regulate\nthe admission of light to our rooms we have recourse to very clumsy\ncontrivances. A self-acting window which shall expand in the twilight\nand partially close of its {61} own accord as the light increases\ntowards noon, has never been manufactured by man. In short, anatomists\nhave already observed more than eight hundred contrivances in the dead\neye, while the greatest contrivance of all, the power of seeing, is\nutterly beyond their ken.\n\nSimilar arguments might be brought from every department of nature to\nprove the marks of design in creation. The question therefore returns\nwith double force, _had the world a creator or did it make itself_?\nThere are persons who say it did, and with a brazen-faced impudence\ndeclare that the Bible tells a falsehood when it says that, \"In the\nbeginning, God created the heavens and the earth.\" \"Whereas,\" say they,\n\"we know that matter is eternal, and the world being wholly composed\nof matter, therefore, the heavens and the earth are eternal--never had\na beginning nor a creator.\" Profound reasoning indeed! In the same\nmanner we might say, \"Here is a well-burned brick, fresh from the kiln,\nwhich may last for a thousand years to come; therefore, it has always\nexisted.\"\n\nAgain, it is claimed by some that matter is indestructible. The\nfoundation of the argument is as rotten as the superstructure. Who\nknows that fact? for the very reason that no one can tell what matter\nin its own nature is. We may heat water to a certain degree and change\nit into steam, but it is all there in the steam. We may burn coal and\nthus change is appearance, but its particles are all there, in the form\nof gas, ashes or tar. All that any one can say is, that matter is {62}\nindestructible by any power or agency known to man. But to assert that\nmatter is eternal, because man cannot destroy it, is as if a child\nshould try to beat a locomotive to pieces with his stick, and failing\nin the attempt should say, \"I am sure this locomotive existed from\neternity, because I am unable to destroy it.\"\n\nBut, supposing that matter is eternal, how does that account for the\nformation of this beautiful world? The earth consists not of one\nsubstance known by that name, but of a great variety of material\nsubstances as oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, sulphur, iron, and some\nfifty-two or three others already discovered (_see Turner's Chemistry,\nsection_ 341). Now which of these is the eternal matter referred to?\nIs it iron, or sulphur, or carbon, or oxygen? If it is any one of\nthem, where did the others come from? Did a mass of iron, for example,\nbecoming discontented with its condition, suddenly change itself into\na cloud of gas or a pail of water? Or are all the elements eternal?\nHave we fifty-eight eternal substances? Are they all eternal in their\npresent combinations, or is it only the simple elements that are\neternal? Whatever may be the answers to these questions, they give\nno light on the formation of this world, which is not a shapeless\nmass called matter, but a beautiful building composed of a variety of\nsubstances. Has this earth existed as it is from eternity? No man who\never was in a quarry or gravel pit will say so, much less one who has\nthe least smattering of chemistry or geology. If the elements which\n{63} compose the earth have not always existed as we now find them,\nthen how came they to put themselves in their present shapes? Matter\nhas no power of putting itself in motion when at rest, nor of coming to\nrest when in motion. A body will never change its place unless moved,\nand if once started will move on forever unless stopped. For example,\nif we leave our room, and on our return find a book missing, we know\nthat some one has taken it--the book could not have gone off at its own\nsuggestion.\n\nNow will the infidels presume to tell us, that the fifty-eight primary\nelements danced about till the air, sea and earth somehow jumbled\nthemselves together into the present shape of this glorious and\nbeautiful world, with all its regularity of day and night, Summer and\nWinter, with all its beautiful flowers and lofty trees, with all its\nvariety of birds, beasts and fishes, not to speak of the beauties of\nthe morning, the gorgeous dyes of sunset, or the silent glories of\nthe midnight sky. Or to bring the question down to the level of the\nintellect of the most stupid atheist, tell us in plain English, _did\nthe paving stones make themselves_?\n\nAbsurd as it seems, there are persons claiming to be philosophers who\nnot only assert that they did, but will tell you how they did it. One\nclass of them think they found it out by supposing everything in the\nuniverse reduced to very fine powder, consisting of very fine grains,\nwhich they call atoms; or, if that is not fine enough, into gas, of\nwhich it is supposed the particles are too fine {64} to be perceived,\nand then by different arrangements of these atoms, according to the\nlaws of attraction, electricity, or some other law, the various\nelements of the world were made, and arranged in their present forms.\nBut then the difficulty is only multiplied millions of times. Each bit\nof paving stone, no matter how small you break it, can no more make\nitself or move itself, than could the whole stone composed of all these\nbits. So we are landed back at the sublime question, _did the paving\nstones make themselves_?\n\nOthers will tell you that millions of years ago the world existed as a\nvast cloud of fire-mist. What this fire-mist is they do not know, but\nonly that there are certain comets, which come within fifty or sixty\nmillions of miles of this earth, which they suppose may be composed of\nfire-mist. Hence they imagine that the earth also may have been made\nfrom the same fire-mist. But where did the mist come from? Did the mist\nmake itself? Where did the fire come from? Did it kindle of its own\naccord? Who put the fire and the mist together? Was it red hot enough\nfrom all eternity to melt granite? Then why is it any cooler now? If it\nexisted as a red hot fire-mist from eternity, why should it ever begin\nto cool at all? Infidels claim that there was nothing else in all the\nuniverse except this fire-mist. Then the cause of all this must have\nbeen in the mist itself. In other words, _the fire-mist made itself,\nthen the paving stones and the infidels afterwards_.\n\n{65} Others suppose that the world was once in a stage of solution,\nin primeval oceans, and that the mixing of these waters caused them\nto deposit a sediment, which hardened into rock, then vegetated into\nplants and trees, then grew into animals, these in turn developed\ninto monkeys, and finally the monkeys into men. Thus it is clearly\ndemonstrated that there is no need for the Creator if we only had\nsomebody to make these primeval oceans, somebody to mix them together,\nand somebody to establish these laws of development.\n\nAnother favorite theory among infidels, is that of Buffon, the\nvain-glorious French philosopher. His theory was that the sun is a vast\nmelted mass, and that once on a time a huge comet struck the sun in\nsuch a manner, that portions of it splashed off, just as a stone thrown\nin a slanting direction into a bucket of water would cause portions\nof the water to splash out of the vessel. These portions of matter\n(acting under certain laws) then formed themselves into spheres and\nbeing condensed by cold have become solid planets and satellites. Thus,\naccording to this idea, creation was only an accident after all. Still,\nas might be expected, thinking men kept asking: \"Where did the sun come\nfrom? What melted it down into a fluid state fit to be splashed about?\nWhere did the comet come from? And who threw it with so correct an aim,\nas to hit the sun exactly in an oblique direction.\"\n\n{66} [ILLUSTRATION: SOLAR SYSTEM]\n\nThis idea received considerable encouragement from a certain class of\nscientific men during the early part of this century. Between\nthe orbits of Mars and Jupiter is a vast space which was supposed\nto be unoccupied. In the first seven years of this century, three\nsmall planets were discovered revolving in orbits midway between Mars\n{67} and Jupiter. Afterwards many others were discovered until now\nthe number exceeds two hundred. Dr. Olbers, the discoverer of two of\nthem, Pallas and Vesta, finding that their orbits were comparatively\nnear together and sometimes crossed each other, imagined that they\nwere formed by the explosion of a large planet or by a comet coming\nin contact with a large planet and thus shattering it to pieces.\nThis theory seemed all the more plausible seeing that these minor\nworlds or \"pocket planets,\" as Herschel styles them, are exceedingly\ndiminutive. So, to use a familiar illustration, he imagined the boiler\nof a large locomotive had burst and the fragments had all alighted on\nthe track in the shape of hand-cars; much more, that the hand-cars had\nmagnanimously resolved to keep running and do the business of the line.\nAt first sight this theory seemed strengthened by every new discovery.\nIt is true, reflecting men could not help wondering at such a strange\nevent, that would produce beautiful little planets all by accident.\nThey never heard of the blowing up of a palace producing cottages, or\nthe fragments of a steam-ship changing into yawl-boats, nor even the\npieces of a wrecked locomotive becoming neat little engines or even\nrespectable hand-cars. However, as the theory removed God out of sight,\nit was generally accepted by the infidels and freely used by them, to\nshow that the world has no need of a Creator.\n\nGenuine scientists, however, were not long in seeing the\nabsurdity and demonstrating the {68} impossibility of such a theory.\nIt was found that their orbits did not coincide by more than twenty\nmillions of miles. Again, it has been proven that comets are incapable\nof greatly affecting a sun or planet. Herschel says, \"It is evident\nthat the most unsubstantial clouds which float in the highest region of\nour atmosphere must be looked upon as dense and massy bodies compared\nwith the filmy texture of a comet.\"\n\nThus Reason declares, that the world did not make itself. The soul of\nman did not make itself. The body of man did not make itself. They\nmust have had an intelligent Creator, who is God. The work is not the\nworkman; the house is not the builder; the watch is not the watchmaker.\nThe maker is always distinct from the thing made and superior to it.\nYou, and I, and the universe have been made; therefore, our Creator is\ndistinct from us, and superior to us.\n\nThe consciousness of our ignorance and weakness confirms this fact.\nThe soul of man is not the highest intelligence in the universe. In\nhis present state he has not yet acquired a knowledge of the laws and\nfunctions of the body he inhabits, much less the laws that sway the\nuniverse. He may know much about what does not concern him; but he\nfeels his weakness where his dearest interests are concerned. He may\nbe able to tell the place of a distant planet a century hence; but he\ncannot tell where he himself will be next year. He may calculate for\nyears the motion of the tides; but he cannot tell how his own pulse\nwill beat to-morrow, {69} or whether it will beat at all. Ever as his\nknowledge of the laws of nature increases, his conviction deepens that\na wiser head and a stronger hand than his planned and rules the world.\n\nThe world's history declares the existence and government of God.\nHistory is but the record of men's acts and God's providences, of men's\ncrimes and God's punishments. Once He swept away the human race with a\nflood of water because the wickedness of man was great upon the earth.\nAgain, He testified His displeasure against the wicked of Sodom and\nGomorrah by consuming those cities by fire from heaven, and leaving\nthe Dead Sea to roll its solemn waves of warning to the end of time.\nNo amount of learning or skill, wealth or commerce, power of arms,\nor extent of territory, has ever secured a wicked nation against the\nsword of God's justice. Read the black record of the past. Where is\nthe greatness of Egypt, Nineveh, Babylon and Petra? Tyre had ships,\ncolonies and commerce, Rome an empire of half a hemisphere; Greece had\nphilosophy, arts and liberty secured by a confederation of republics,\nSpain the treasures of the earth's gold and silver? but these did\nnot exempt them from the moral government of God. His laws sway the\nuniverse, and link together sin with misery, and crime with punishment,\nin the brazen fetters of eternal justice. These nations have been\nhurled down from the pinnacle of their greatness, to dash themselves in\npieces against each other in the valley of destruction; and there they\nlie, wrecks of nations, ruins of empires, naught remaining, save\nsome shivered fragments of former greatness, to show that they once\nexisted and were the enemies of God.\n\n\n{70} [ILLUSTRATION: THE DEAD SEA]\n\n{71}\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nOUR NEED OF REVELATION.\n\nREVELATION PROGRESSIVE--ITS RELATION TO CIVILIZATION--SOLOMON--HIS\nPROVERBS--NEWMAN'S ABSURDITIES--CARLYLE--PARKER--HEATHEN PHILOSOPHY\nIMMORAL--ANCIENT ROMAN SONGS--CHARACTER OF HEATHEN DEITIES--RELIGION\nOF INDIA--COMPTE--BRADLAUGH--CHESTERFIELD--PAINE.\n\nThe philosopher finds only two books in all the world--two divine,\noriginal books, viz., the _Volume of Nature_, and the _Revelations of\nGod_. All others are mere commentaries upon these two original, divine\nbooks. To these pertain all that has been thought, said or written, in\nall the ages past; and, we might add, all that ever will be written in\nall the ages to come. That which explains, delineates or illustrates\nthe volume of nature is called Science. That which unfolds to us the\nattributes of God, our own nature and destiny is revelation. It treats\nof that which man cannot otherwise perceive; its records are called\nthe _Scriptures_ or Books of _Inspiration_. {72} The volume of nature is\nwritten upon the rocks, fields, forests and all the varied forms of\nanimal life, in symbolic characters, which it is the province of\nscience to decipher. The volume of revelation is the impress of the\ndivine will on man's spiritual nature. Thus both are the handwriting\nof Deity Himself. Science teaches us material laws in relation to\ntime. Revelation instructs not merely in these, but likewise includes\nspiritual laws and eternal duration. The lessons that man learns\nfrom age to age are progressive even as a school boy's. Science and\nrevelation are therefore progressive, though in somewhat different\nways. The former advances mainly through the exercise of human reason;\nthe latter through man's more favored circumstances, and the increased\ndivine illumination of his spiritual nature. How vain, how arrogant the\nbabblings of the sectarians who tell us that the book of revelation\nis forever closed! That man, in this puerile state, has already taken\npossession of the whole treasure of divine truth! That the human mind\nwith its poor plummet has already sounded the depths of the divine\noracles! Still more benighted are they who do not see that there is\na divine as well as human element in all our progress, that purity\nof heart is necessary for the clearest perception even of the truths\nof science. Thus the nations as well as the individuals who have the\nhighest spiritual light are precisely those who have made the greatest\nintellectual progress. If we look over a map of the world we find\nthat those {73} nations which possess the purest religious ideas are\nprecisely those which have made the greatest intellectual, social and\npolitical progress. Now religious ideas emanate from God. They are the\nresult of the action of the divine will on the minds of men. Thus the\nprogress of the nations depends upon the revelations of God.\n\nThousands of years ago, Solomon perceived this fact. He was a man of\ngreat learning as well as practical common sense. He understood not\nmerely the science of government, but likewise botany, or the science\nof plants, from the mighty trees that grew on Mount Lebanon, to the\ntiny hyssop that grew in crevices of the garden wall: and the natural\nhistory of beasts and birds, reptiles and fishes. He was also skilled\nin literature; he is said to have made \"three thousand proverbs, and\nhis songs were a thousand and five\" (_see I. Kings, iv chap_). Better\nthan all this, in the opinion of many, especially infidels, he made\nmoney, and tells us how to make and keep it. Any young man will make\nhundreds of dollars by reading his Proverbs and acting on them. They\nwould have saved some of us many a thousand. Of course Solomon knew\nsomething of the world. He was a wide-awake trader; his ships coasted\nthe shores of Asia and Africa, from Madagascar to Japan; and the\noverland caravans from India and China drew up in the depots he built\nfor them in the heart of the desert. He knew the well-doing people with\nwhom trade was profitable, and the savages who could only send apes and\npeacocks (_see I. Kings, chap. x_). Solomon was a philosopher as\nwell as a trader, and could not help being deeply impressed with the\ngreat fact that there was a wide difference between the nations of the\nearth. Some were enlightened, enterprising, civilized and flourishing;\nothers were naked savages, perpetually at war with each other, living\nin ignorance, poverty, vice and on the verge of starvation.\n\n{74} [ILLUSTRATION: GIANT CITIES OF BASHAN, BUILT BY SOLOMON]\n\n{75} Solomon also noticed another fact, that the nations\nwhich were favored with the revelations of God, were the civilized,\nenterprising and comparatively prosperous nations. In Palestine,\nChaldea and Mesopotamia, God had revealed His will to certain persons\nfor the benefit of the race. Even Egypt, it is now generally admitted,\npassed through the era of her greatest prosperity at the time she was\nin close relationship and communication with the Hebrew Patriarchs,\nAbraham, Jacob and Joseph, who were the living oracles of God, and\nwhose influence greatly increased for a time her national prosperity.\nOn the other hand the nations that were uninfluenced by the revelations\nof God, were the idolatrous savages, who were but little above the\nlevel of the brutes. Solomon epitomized these great facts in the\nproverb, \"Where there is no vision the people perish, but he that\nkeepeth the law, happy is he\" (_Proverbs xxix_, 18).\n\n\"O,\" says the skeptic, \"the world is wiser now than it was in Solomon's\ndays. He lived in the old times of ignorance and superstition, when men\nattributed everything extraordinary to the gods. But we are too wise\nnow to believe in revelation.\"\n\n{76} Again, Straus says, \"No just notion of philosophy or history\nis possible which includes a belief of those things that we do not\nunderstand.\" Depth of wisdom indeed! We do not understand how a blade\nof grass grows, therefore we must deny its existence.\n\nOne cannot help being amazed at the cool impudence with which these\nmen take for granted the very point to be proved, and set aside as\nunworthy of serious examination, the most authentic records of history,\nsimply because they do not coincide with their so-called philosophy;\nand at the credulity with which their followers swallow these arrogant\nassertions, as if they were self-evident truths. Let us look at this\nargument for a moment. Pagan religions have their fables, therefore,\nthe Hebrew and Christian records are fables. In other words, since\ncounterfeit bank bills exist therefore none are genuine.\n\nSkeptics offer no proofs that miracles are impossible. Yet, surely,\nif they imply a contradiction, that contradiction could be shown. The\ncreation of this world is the most stupendous of all miracles; yet all\nmen admit that this miracle occurred. The experience of man is not the\nlimit of knowledge. Revelation is not impossible because supernatural.\nThe world is as full of supernatural works as of natural. The miracles\nrecorded in the strata of the earth's crust are as great as any\nrecorded in the Bible.\n\nIf, as the infidel asserts, religion and superstition are identical,\nand ignorance is the cause, how {77} happens it that the most\nintellectual and progressive nations are those which have the clearest\nreligious ideas? The history of nations universally and unequivocally\ndeclares this fact. Even among the so-called Christian nations of\nEurope and America we find their intellectual culture and general\nprogress in exact proportion to the purity of their respective faiths.\nWhile we look in vain, among the heathen nations of Africa to find a\nsingle benefactor of the race, or one worthy to be distinguished among\nthe millions of her population in all the countless generations past.\n\nIn the face of all this we find a sort of spiritualistic philosophers\nwho tell us that we have no need of communication from God. Newman, in\nhis _Phases of Faith, page_ 157, says, \"Miraculous phenomena will never\nprove the attributes of God if we do not know these things in and of\nourselves.\" Carlyle, in his _Past and Present, page_ 307, exclaims,\n\"Revelations! inspirations! indeed! and thy own mighty transcendent,\ngod-like soul, dost thou not call that a revelation?\" Such sort of\ntrash, which passes for profound philosophy, is taught in hundreds\nof colleges, and is echoed from thousands of pulpits by men who call\nthemselves Christian ministers, but who could not reap their rich\nsalaries if they would openly avow their atheism.\n\nTheodore Parker says, \"If a fact depends upon revelation, it is not\neternally true, and if it is not eternally true it is no truth at all.\"\nProfound philosophy indeed!--as if eternally true, and sufficiently\nknown were just the same thing. To use {78} a familiar illustration,\nbecause vaccination would always have prevented the small pox, if it\nhad been known, therefore the world is under no obligation to Jenner\nfor informing us of the fact. Newman adds in another place, \"I cannot\nreceive instruction from another being.\" Again, \"Neither God nor man\ncan reveal any religious truths to our minds.\" Parker says, \"On His\n(God's) word or as His second, be he whom he may, I can accept nothing\"\n(_Parker's Discourse page_ 209).\n\nNow we are tempted to ask, who are these wonderful prodigies, so\nincapable of receiving instruction from anybody? And to our amazement\nwe learn that some forty or fifty years ago, they made their appearance\namong mankind as little squalling babies, without insight enough to\nknow their own names or who they were, or where they came from, and\nwere actually dependent on an external revelation, from their nurses,\nfor sense enough to find their mothers' breasts. And as they grew a\nlittle larger, they learned the art of speaking articulate sounds, by\nexternal revelation: viz., hearing and repeating sounds made by others.\nFurther, on a certain day they had a book revelation made to them, in\nthe shape of a ten cent primer, and received their first lessons by\nthe instructions of another. They had not then the least \"insight,\"\nor \"spiritual faculty,\" or \"mighty transcendent soul,\" by which they\ncould learn all things in and of themselves. Faith in the word of their\nteachers was absolutely the only means by which they learned to speak,\nread and write.\n\n{79} But this is not half their indebtedness to external revelation.\nThey admit that a Feejee cannibal has just the same \"mighty and\ntranscendent soul\" that they themselves have. How, then, does it happen\nthat Newman, Emerson and Parker, and all their followers, who are too\nproud to be taught of God, are not assembled around a cannibal's oven,\nsmearing their faces with the blood and feasting themselves on the\nlimbs of women and children? Is it not, after all, the revelations of\nGod and the teachings depending thereon that make the whole difference\nbetween the civilized American and his Feejee brother?\n\nIt is amusing to see how these modern atheists, who reject Moses\nand the Prophets, as well as Christ and His Apostles, will permit\nthemselves to go into ecstacies over the supposed wisdom of ancient\nheathen philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. But on\nexamination we find that the teachings of all these philosophers\nwere immoral. The gratification of the sensual appetites was openly\ntaught. \"He may steal,\" says Plato, \"who knows how to do it.\" Oaths are\nfrequent in the writings of Plato and Seneca. Anstippus taught that\na wise man had a right to commit adultery. Aristotle vindicated the\nawful crimes of foeticide and infanticide. Even suicide was defended by\nCicero and Seneca as the mark of a hero, and Demosthenes, Cato, Brutus\nand Cassius carried the means of self-destruction about them, that they\nmight not fall alive into the hands of their enemies.\n\n{80} The laws of the best-regulated heathen states commended or\napproved of vice. The student of the classics need not be reminded\nthat the songs of Ovid, Horace and Virgil would not be tolerated in\nthe vilest theater of New York or Chicago. The laws of Sparta required\ntheft, and the murder of unhealthy children. The Carthaginian law\nrequired human sacrifices; and in ancient Babylon, prostitution was\ncompulsory on every female. Plato, dissatisfied with the laws of\nhis country, wrote out a code of morals and laws which he thought\nmuch better. In this heathen Utopia the ideas of home and family\nwere ignored. Marriage was to be unknown; women's rights were to be\nmaintained by having the women trained to war. Children were still\nto be murdered if convenience called for it. Little boys and girls\nwere to be led to battle at a safe distance, \"that the young whelps\nmay early scent carnage and be inured to slaughter.\" Such were the\nloftiest ideas of the greatest philosopher of antiquity. After all his\nspeculations and writing, Plato admitted, \"We cannot know of ourselves\nwhat petition will be pleasing to God, or what worship we should pay\nto Him; but it is necessary that a lawgiver should be sent from heaven\nto instruct us. Oh, how greatly do I long to see that man!\" He further\nadds, \"This lawgiver must be more than man, that he may teach us things\nman cannot know by his own nature.\" Who has not dropped a tear over the\ndying words of Socrates? \"I am going out of the world, and you are to\ncontinue in it, but which of us has {81} the better part is a secret to\nevery one but God!\" Also those memorable words, \"We must of necessity\nwait till some one, who careth for us, shall come and instruct us how\nwe ought to behave toward God and toward man.\"\n\nNor is it to be expected that the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and\nother heathen nations should have an exalted idea of virtue, when we\nconsider the character of the gods they worshiped. The Egyptian deities\nconsisted of bulls and dogs, cats and rats, snakes and crocodiles. When\na dog died the whole house went into mourning and fasted till night. A\nRoman soldier who had accidentally killed a cat was punished with death\n(_see Diodorus Siculus, Book I_). The \"great, mighty and transcendent\nsoul,\" as Carlyle terms it, had been degraded so low that there is a\npicture in one of the pyramids, of an Egyptian king worshiping his own\ncoffin.\n\nThe Greeks from their intercourse with the Jews learned some correct\nreligious ideas, especially after the conquest of Palestine by\nAlexander, and the translation of the scriptures into the Greek\nlanguage, in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, B. C. 240. Before\nthis period little sense can be found in their religion. Their gods\nwere as detestable as they were numerous. Hesiod tells us they had\nthirty thousand. Their supreme god, Jupiter, was an adulterer.\nMars, a murderer. Mercury, a thief, Bacchus, a drunkard and Venus,\na prostitute. To their inferior gods they attributed other crimes\ntoo horrible to be mentioned. These gods {82} they worshiped with\nceremonies of lust, drunkenness and bloodshed unfit to be described.\n\nIf any one supposes that the condition of the modern heathens is any\nbetter than it was in ancient times, let him turn to India, where\nhe will find one hundred and fifty millions of rational beings,\npossessing, as Theodore Parker says, \"all needful spiritual light,\"\nwho worship three hundred and thirty millions of gods in the form of\nhills and trees, rivers and rocks, elephants and tigers, monkeys and\nrats, serpents and crocodiles, and monsters unlike anything in heaven\nor on earth. The monster idol, Juggernaut, will do as a specimen of\nall. Around his temple countless multitudes from all parts of India,\ncongregate annually, many of them having measured with their own bodies\nthe whole distance of their weary pilgrimage. Within the temple, the\nmonster idol, with its frightful grim and distorted visage, sits\nenthroned, amid thousands of massive sculptures, the representative\nemblem of that cruelty and vice which constitute the very essence of\nhis worship. There in their sacred city of Benares may be seen at all\ntimes crowds of religious devotees and mendicants; some remaining\nall day with their heads on the ground and their feet in the air;\nsome cramming their eyes with mud and their mouths with straw; others\nwith their limbs fastened in unnatural positions, and still others\nwith little pots of fire placed upon their breasts, hoping by these\nself-inflicted tortures to win the favor of the god. When the day of\nthe high festival arrives, the horrid idol is {85} dragged forth from\nhis temple and mounted on a lofty car in the presence of hundreds of\nthousands who rend the air with their shouts, \"Victory to Juggernaut!\"\nThen the officiating priest commences the ceremonies by a loathsome\npantomimic exhibition accompanied by the utterance of obscene and\nfilthy songs, to which the vast multitude at intervals respond, not in\nthe strains of tuneful melody, but in loud yells of approbation. After\nthis the terrible carnage commences; for as the car is dragged through\nthe streets, the more enthusiastic devotees throw themselves beneath\nthe wheels, and are instantly crushed to pieces, the infatuated victims\nof hellish superstition. On the neighboring hills, the so-called sacred\nvultures may be seen feasting on these corpses and the bleak and barren\nsands on the roadside are forever whitened with the skulls and bones of\ndeluded pilgrims, which lie bleaching in the sun (_see Duff's India,\npage_ 222).\n\nOf course, high-toned infidels do not consider themselves as debased\nas the natives of India. What then is the tendency of their teachings?\nM. Compte, a leading skeptical writer, tells us, \"Childhood should be\ntaught to worship idols, youth to believe in one God, and full grown\nmen (like himself) to adore the resultant of all the forces of the\nuniverse, _not forgetting their worthy friends the animals_\" (_see\nPolitique Positive, Vol. II._ page 60). If this is not the teachings of\nidolatry, what is it?\n\nAgain, we find that the whole school of infidel writers vindicate and\napologize for the very worst {84} of crimes. Bradlaugh, the leading\natheist of England, declares that, \"A man is no more to be blamed for\nthe indulgence of lust or anger, than he is for thirst or drowsiness.\"\nHume, whose arguments are so often used by American infidels, taught\nthat \"adultery must be practiced by mankind, if they would obtain all\nthe advantages of life.\" Lord Chesterfield, another prominent infidel,\nin his letters to his son (which were designed for publication)\ninstructs him in the art of seduction, as part of a polite education.\n\nNor is the character of infidels any better than their teachings. Take,\nfor example, Thomas Paine, the author of the Age of Reason, whose\nbirth-day is annually celebrated, and who is held up by infidels as a\nmodel for the young. A few extracts from a letter written to him, by\nhis fellow-infidel, and co-worker, William Carver, may not be out of\nplace.\n\n\"New Rochelle, December 2nd, 1803.\n\n\"Mr. Thomas Paine.\n\n   \"Sir:--I received your letter dated the 25th ult., and after minutely\n examining its contents, I found that you had taken to the pitiful\n subterfuge of _lying_ for your defense. You say that you paid me four\n dollars per week for your board and lodging, during the time you were\n with me, prior to the first of June last; which was the day that I\n went up, by your order, to take you to New York, from New Rochelle. It\n is fortunate for me that I have a living witness who saw you give me\n five guineas, and no more in my shop at your departure at that time.\n Now you have means, why do you not pay me the remainder? You said you\n would have given me more, but that you had no more with you at that\n time. You say, also, {85} that you found your own liquors during the\n time you boarded with me; but you should have said that you found\n only a small part of the liquor you drank during your stay with me.\n That part you purchased of John Fellows and consisted of a demi-john\n of brandy containing four gallons, and that did not serve you three\n weeks. This can be proved, and I mean not to say anything that I\n cannot prove, for I hold truth as a precious jewel. It is a well-known\n fact, that you drank one quart of brandy per day at my expense, during\n the different times you boarded with me, besides the demi-john above\n mentioned, and the last fourteen weeks you were sick. Was not this a\n sufficient supply for dinner and supper? * * * * *\n\n   \"I have often wondered that a French woman and three children should\n leave France and all their connections to follow Thomas Paine to\n America. Suppose I were to go to my native country, England, and take\n another man's wife, and three children of his and leave my wife and\n children in this country; what would be the natural conclusion in\n the minds of the people, but that there was some criminal connection\n between the woman and myself?\"\n\nSuch is the morality of those who denounce the Bible as an immoral\nbook, and blaspheme the God of revelation as too vile to be reverenced\nor worshiped. Not even the friends of Paine have ever denied the\ngenuineness of this and other letters that clearly reveal his private\ncharacter. (For full particulars see _Discussion Between Dr. Berg and\nMr. Barker, published by W. S. Young, Philadelphia,_ 1854.)\n\nOnce in modern times a nation had the opportunity of showing the world\na specimen of an infidel republic. The Bible was publicly burned. Death\nwas declared an eternal sleep; God was declared a fiction, the Sabbath\nwas abolished and religious worship denounced. And what was {86} the\nconsequence? Revolution after revolution occurred. Thousands, aye\nmillions, of the sons of France were slain in the wars that ensued.\nWave after wave of blood rolled through the guilty streets of Paris,\nand the people were clothed in mourning from one end of the land to the\nother. In the Declaration of Independence it is declared that, \"Mankind\nare endowed _by their Creator_ with certain inalienable rights.\" It is\nwell said: the law of God is the only secure basis for the rights of\nman.\n\n{87}\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nVALIDITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AS SHOWN BY INTERNAL EVIDENCE.\n\nINFLUENCE OF THE SCRIPTURES--THEIR AGREEMENT WITH SECULAR\nHISTORY--COLONY OF PHILIPPI--ANCIENT COIN--CERTAINTY OF BIBLE\nHISTORY--GIBBON'S TESTIMONY--QUOTATIONS OF CELSUS--MARCION THE\nAPOSTATE--CLASSIFICATION OF NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS--AVOCATIONS OF THE\nAPOSTLES--THEIR MANNER OF PREACHING--THEY CHALLENGED CRITICISM--DENIAL\nOF MIRACLES, A MODERN INVENTION--SUFFERINGS OF THE APOSTLES--THEY\nSEALED THEIR TESTIMONY WITH THEIR BLOOD.\n\nFaith rests upon facts, superstition on theories. Faith is increased\nby intelligence, superstition by ignorance, Faith courts investigation\nfor thereby it is strengthened; superstition shuns it as fatal to its\nexistence. Thousands can bear witness to the truth of the words of the\nSavior, \"If any man will do His will he shall know of the doctrine,\nwhether it be of God or whether I speak of myself;\" yet surrounded\nas we are by skeptics and cavilers of every sort, it is well that we\nshould be prepared to ward off the fiery darts of the wicked, to meet\nthem with their own arguments, and as the youthful {88} David did to\nGoliath in days of old, cut off the boastful atheistic giant's head\nwith his own sword.\n\nIn looking over the history of the world, we find that those books,\nwhich collectively are called the scriptures, have in all ages, exerted\na controlling influence over the destinies of mankind. Their teachings\nare perused with pleasure by the child, and pondered with patience by\nthe philosopher. Their practical wisdom has guided the judgment of the\nwisest kings of antiquity and still teach the humblest peasant his duty\nto his neighbor. Their precious promises have lighted the prophetic\neyes of old; they are still chanted by the mother over her cradle, and\nby the orphan over the tomb. Here, thousands of miles distant from the\nplaces where they were first revealed, in a language unknown alike at\nCumorah and Jerusalem, they rule as lovingly and as powerfully as in\ntheir native soil.\n\nWith all these palpable facts in view, let us enquire into the origin\nof the book which has produced such results. On looking at the Bible we\nfind it composed of a number of separate treatises written by different\nauthors, at various times; some parts fifteen hundred years before the\nothers. We find also, that it treats of the very beginning of the world\nbefore man was made and of matters of which we have no other authentic\nhistory. Again, we find portions which treat of events connected in a\nthousand places with the affairs of the Medo-Persian, Macedonian and\nRoman empires, of which we have several credible {89} histories. Now\nthe statements made in these works, so far as they refer to subjects\nmentioned in the Bible agree with the Biblical record, in every\nparticular. Further, the inscriptions on monuments and ancient coins\nhave often settled mooted questions in history and invariably have been\nfound to agree with the scriptural narrative. For example, we are told\nin Acts, xiv 12, that Paul went \"to Philippi, which is the chief city\nof that part of Macedonia, and a colony.\" \"Now,\" says the infidel,\n\"Greece at that time was a conquered country; and it was contrary\nto Roman customs to form colonies of Roman citizens in conquered\ncountries. Besides, we have no account by any Roman historian that\nPhilippi was a colony. Hence we may conclude that the New Testament\naccount is incorrect.\"\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: FACSIMILE OF COIN FOUND AT PHILIPPI]\n\nAt first all this seemed plausible, but a few years ago, a scientific\nassociation was formed to excavate among the ruins of eastern cities,\nand, among others, Philippi came in for a share of attention. In\nexcavating around one of the ruins an ancient coin was unearthed,\nwhich bore upon its surface the effigy of a Roman emperor, surrounded\nby the following inscription: \"PHILIPPI COLONA, CLAUDIUS IMPERATOR,\"\nwhich signifies in plain English, \"_Colony of Philippi, Claudius being\nemperor_.\"\n\n{90} Here, then, we have an ancient Roman coin bearing testimony to the\ntruth of God's word. Further, by means of this coin we see a depth of\nmeaning, in the last five verses of the 16th chapter of Acts, not at\nfirst perceptible. We are thus able to perceive, in some degree, the\nterror of the Philippian magistrates when they learned that Paul and\nSilas were also Romans.\n\nDay by day as scientific investigation proceeds we hear of additional\ncorroborative evidence. Every year throws some new light on oriental\nmanners and customs, while from the ruins of Nineveh and the sepulchres\nof Egypt, we receive unlooked-for testimonies to the minute accuracy\nof the inspired penmen. The objection that the scriptures contain\nmysteries, or statements which are difficult to be understood, is\nin reality one of the strongest proofs of their divine source and\nauthority. The words of a teacher are often misunderstood by the pupil,\nbecause the pupil's mind is not sufficiently developed to comprehend\nthem. Sometimes, indeed, they are entirely misapprehended for the same\nreason. So also, it is to be expected that the full import of the\ndivine communications would sometimes transcend the partially-developed\nintellect of man. The thoughts and methods of infinite wisdom,\nexpressed in the plainest of human words, must sometimes remain\ninscrutible. After all that can be said in reference to the weakness of\nthe human medium, through which the divine will has been communicated,\nwe find in the scriptures, a wonderful agreement with the development\nof {91} truths which have come to man in the progress of the ages.\nScience has never successfully impeached any statement of the\nscriptures when rightly interpreted. For example, \"in the first chapter\nof Genesis we find a brief account of the creation of the world.\nUntil modern times, it was the popular opinion that this narrative\ntaught that the earth and heavens were created during an interval of\nsix days of twenty-four hours each and that the work dates back but a\nfew thousand years. These views were entertained when our Bible was\ntranslated into English. Since that date, several sciences have sprung\ninto existence which throw a vast amount of light on the history of\nthe creation; and if King James' translators had their work to perform\nto-day, they would see meanings in Genesis of which the world had not\ndreamed two hundred years ago; and they would make the translation read\na little differently, _in order to make it agree more exactly with the\noriginal Hebrew_.\" (_Winchell's Reconciliations page_ 357).\n\nHave we not here one of the plainest admissions of the total apostasy\nof the so-called Christian church? Had the translators of the\nscriptures been in possession of the Holy Spirit, they would have had\nno difficulty in translating the sentiments dictated by that same\nSpirit to the seers and prophets in ages past. Then, too, we would\nhave had a translation which would have furnished a key by which to\ndetect the true science from the false. In Genesis we have an account,\nto which, when rightly understood, the latest indications of {92}\nscience admirably conform. This circumstance alone, ought to be strong\nevidence, even to a skeptic, of its super-human origin. Written ages\nbefore the birth of modern sciences, there was the utmost liability for\nmere human authorship to fall into the most egregious misstatements\nrespecting the phenomena of the natural world; but in point of fact\nsome of its statements were so far in advance of the highest human\nknowledge in all the ages past, and even the boasted science of the\nnineteenth century, that we are only just beginning to understand them.\n\nNow, the only way for us to know anything beyond our eyesight, is\nto examine it, and gather testimony about it. All the blessings of\neducation, civilization, law and liberty have come to us through the\nchannel of abundant, reliable testimony. There is perhaps, not a man\nliving who was present at the battle of Quebec, in the encampment of\nValley Forge, or heard Washington deliver his farewell address; yet\nthe fact that these things transpired as they are related, no one will\ndoubt. Few persons now living ever saw Washington, yet no one doubts\nthat he lived. Certainty about the Bible history is just as attainable\nas certainty about American history. Let us begin at the present and\ntrace the records back to the times in which the New Testament was\nwritten. We presume there are few persons as ignorant as an infidel\nlecturer we once heard, who, when asked, \"Who compiled the scriptures?\"\nanswered, after some hesitation, \"The American Bible Society.\"\n\n{93} Sometimes infidels tell us that the Emperor Constantine called\nvarious councils which compiled the New Testament, in the fourth\ncentury. We can scarcely wonder at this statement coming from those\nwho look upon the Catholic church as representing Christianity.\nConstantine, the man who had murdered two of his sons, and strangled,\nwhile in a bath, the wife who had trusted in him, was surely a worthy\nrepresentative of that church whom the Apostle John styles _the mother\nof harlots and abominations of the earth_. Still we cannot help asking\nhow it was that this murderer who had made himself obnoxious even\nin pagan Rome on account of his crimes and his confederates equally\nwicked, was able to dictate words of such sublime virtue as are\neverywhere found in the New Testament. The infidel, Gibbon, attempts\nto explain, and tells us \"The austerity, purity and zeal of the first\nChristians, their good discipline, their belief in the resurrection of\nthe body, and the general judgment, and their persuasion that Christ\nand His apostles wrought miracles, had made a great many converts.\"\nBut how came they to have this \"belief, purity and zeal?\" Just as if\nwe should enquire how the Chicago fire originated, and you should tell\nus, that it burned very fast because it was very hot. What we want to\nknow is how it happened that frivolous Greeks, licentious Asiatics\nand warlike Romans at once became pure and adopted the humble life\nof the early Christians? What implanted the belief of a judgment to\ncome in the minds of {94} these heathen scoffers? Gibbon admits that,\n\"Christian churches were sufficiently numerous in the Roman empire,\nto make it politic for the emperor to profess Christianity, and\nsufficiently powerful to secure his success.\" Thus according to the\nadmissions of an infidel writer the Christians were already numerous,\nand the story of Constantine forming the New Testament, which had been\nread in churches and believed in for two hundred years, is as absurd as\nto hear it stated that the saloon keepers, prize-fighters and hoodlums\nof New York had just assembled in the Large Tabernacle in Salt Lake\nCity to construct the revelations contained in the book of Doctrine and\nCovenants, which have been already accepted and believed by the Saints,\nfor more than fifty years.\n\nIf, on the other hand, we consult any or all of the hundreds of\nmanuscripts mentioned by Mosheim, Neander and Lardner in their\necclesiastical histories we shall find that there were thousands, aye\nmillions, who believed in a teacher sent from God who had appeared\nin Palestine and taught this religion which they had embraced, and\nwho had performed wonderful miracles such as opening the eyes of the\nblind, healing lepers and raising the dead. They believed also that\nthis Teacher had been put to death by Pontius Pilate, a Roman governor,\nhad risen again from the dead, had spoken to hundreds of people and\ngone out and in among them for six weeks after His resurrection, had\nascended up to heaven in the sight of numbers of witnesses, and had\npromised that He would {95} come again in the clouds of heaven to raise\nthe dead and judge every man according to his works. Further, that\nbefore He went away he appointed twelve of His intimate companions to\nteach His religion to the world; that they and their followers did so\nin spite of persecutions, sufferings and death, with so much success,\nthat immense numbers gave up idolatry and embraced Christianity,\nbraving the fury of the heathen mob, and the vengeance of the Roman\nlaw. Afterwards, when persecution had destroyed great numbers, and\nthrough apostasy they had lost the divine authority and priesthood we\nhear of various councils wherein they assembled for the settling of\ntheir disputes. These, so far from giving authority to the books of the\nNew Testament, constantly quoted the words of these books and referred\nto them for proof and authority.\n\nAgain, one hundred years before the time of Constantine we find Celsus,\na celebrated infidel writer and sensualist, disputing the teachings of\nthe gospel because they interfered with his depraved appetites; and\nin his writings he quotes freely from the New Testament. So numerous\nare his quotations that from them alone, the student might gain all\nthe principal facts of the Christian religion. As Paine quotes the\nNew Testament to ridicule it, no man can deny that such a book was\nin existence at the time he wrote; so the quotations of Celsus are\nconclusive proofs that the books he referred to were considered\nauthority at the time he wrote. Yet in all his writings, Celsus never\n{96} once casts a doubt on the authority of the scriptures, never\nquestions the gospels as books of history nor denies the miracles\nrecorded in them. It may also be added that the student who will\nexamine the writings of Celsus, will cease to admire the professed\nwisdom of our modern skeptics. The objections made by Hume, Voltaire,\nHobles and Paine are frequently only the arguments of Celsus served up\nin a modern style.\n\nGoing back still another hundred years we come to the times of the\nnotorious apostate, Marcion. Several of the apostles were alive at\nthe time Marcion was born; and his works date back to within twenty\nyears of the latest apostolical writings. Having been cut off from the\nchurch, he was greatly enraged and said the worst he could about it. He\ntraveled all the way from Sinope, on the Black Sea, to Rome, through\nGalatia, Bythynia, Asia-Minor, Greece and Italy, the very countries\nwhere the apostles preached, and the churches to which they wrote. He\nendeavored in many places to wrest the scriptures from their rightful\nmeaning; but nowhere attempted to deny their authority (_see Lardner,\nVol. ix, page_ 358). Thus in the writings of Celsus and Marcion we\nhave the most indubitable evidence, even the admission of enemies,\nthat these books were in existence and universally received as true,\nby the early Christians, within twenty years of the time when they\nwere written and by the very churches to which they were addressed. As\nprinting was then unknown, and all important doctrines were written\nupon {97} parchment, the books of that period presented rather a\nbulky appearance. Probably for this reason the four books, Matthew,\nMark, Luke and John, were commonly joined together in one volume and\nnamed _The Gospel_. The Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles to the\nchurches of Thessalonica, Galatia, Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi,\nCollosse, the First Epistle of Peter, the First Epistle of John,\ntogether with those written to Philemon, Timothy and Titus, comprised\na second volume called _The Apostles_. The remaining books of the New\nTestament, being the last written, usually formed a third volume and\nwere known as _Apostolical Writings_. This arrangement did not injure\nthe meaning but rather benefitted it by showing the relative dates of\nthe various books comprising the New Testament.\n\nIt is evident that the gospels were not copied from each other, for\nthey often relate different events, and when they relate the same\noccurrence, each man relates those parts of it which he saw himself,\nand which impressed him most. This agreement of independent writers\nis the more remarkable, as the writers were persons of various\ndegrees of education, of different professions and ranks of life,\nborn in different countries and writing from various places in Italy,\nGreece, Palestine and Assyria, without any communication with each\nother. Matthew was a tax collector in the province of Galilee; Mark,\na Hebrew citizen of Jerusalem; Luke, a Greek physician of Antioch;\nJames and John owned and sailed a fishing boat {98} on Lake Tiberias;\nJude left his home and shop in Galilee in order to preach the gospel;\ncollege-bred Paul cast his parchments and popularity aside, carried his\nsturdy independence in his breast, and his sail needles in his pocket,\nand dictated epistles and cut out jib sails and awnings in the tent\nfactory of \"Aquila, Paul & Co.,\" at Corinth; several of Paul's letters\nwere written in a dungeon at Rome; the last of Peter's is dated at\nBabylon; Matthew's gospel was penned at Jerusalem, and John's gospels\nand epistles were written at Ephesus. The agreement of eight such\nwitnesses, of different pursuits, and so scattered over the world, in\nrelation to the same story is a convincing: proof of its veracity.\n\nThe manner in which the Apostles published their testimony to the\nworld, bears every mark of truthfulness. Strong in the consciousness\nof right, they dared to assert that Jesus had risen from the dead, in\nthe very streets of the city where he was crucified--in the temple, the\nmost public place of resort of the Jews who saw him crucified--and to\nthe teeth of the very men who put him to death. \"The God of our fathers\nraised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hung on a tree. Him that God exalted\nwith His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to\nIsrael and remission of sins. And we are His witnesses of these things,\nand so is also the Holy Ghost which God hath given to them that obey\nhim\" (_Acts. v_, 30). Had Paul been conscious that he was relating\nfalsehood, would he have dared to appeal to the judge, before whom he\n{99} was on trial for his life, as one who knew the notoriety of these\nfacts? \"For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak\nfreely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from\nhim; for this thing was not done in a corner\" (_Acts xxvi_, 26).\n\nThe boldness of their preaching, however, is little, compared with the\nboldness of their design, which was nothing less than to convert the\nworld. The heathens never dreamed of such a thing. The Jews were so\nindignant at the project, that when Paul hinted it to them, they cried,\n\"Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he\nshould live\" (_Acts xxii_, 22).\n\nIt is remarkable, that while in addressing the Saints, the apostles\nrarely allude to their power of working miracles (fourteen of the\nepistles make no allusion to apostolic miracles), but dwell on the\nsubject of a holy life. Yet they never hesitate to confront a Simon\nMagus, or a schismatical church at Corinth, or a persecuting high\npriest and sanhedrim with this power of the Holy Ghost.\n\nRead the story of the miraculous healing of the poor, lame beggar, who\nlaid at the gate of the temple, as recorded in the third and fourth\nchapters of Acts. Who ever heard of an impostor standing up before the\ntribunal of his judges, and pleading his cause in the following manner,\n\"If we this day be examined of the good deed done unto the impotent\nman, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all, and to\nall the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ {100} of\nNazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him\ndoth this man stand before you whole.\" Such an appeal was unanswerable.\n\"Beholding the man who was healed standing with them, they could say\nnothing against it.\" Nay, they were compelled to acknowledge, \"That\nindeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them\nthat dwell in Jerusalem--we cannot deny it.\"\n\nThe denial of the miracles of the gospel is a modern invention. The\nScribes and priests, emperors and philosophers of the first century,\nwho had the best opportunity of proving their falsehood, were unable to\ndo so. Why, then, it may be asked, did they not all become Christians?\nBecause a miracle cannot convert a man against his will. The religion\nof the gospel is not merely a belief in miracles, but the love of\nChrist and a life in conformity with His commands.\n\nThe labors and sufferings of the apostles themselves furnish strong\nproof of the facts of gospel history. To preach another king, one\nJesus, to the Romans, was to bring down the power of the empire upon\nthem. Nothing could be more absurd in the eyes of Grecian philosophers,\nthan to speak of the resurrection of the body. Nor could any plan be\ndevised more certain to arouse the fury of the pagan priesthood than to\ndenounce that by which they had their wealth. The most degraded wretch\nwho perishes on the scaffold is not more contemptible in our eyes than\nthe crucified Redeemer was to the Jewish and Roman peoples.\n\n{101} What, then, could induce any men in their senses to stem the\ntide of such opposition if they were manufacturing falsehoods to gain\npopularity and power. The religion they preached was not adapted to\nplease sensual men; even infidels admit that they preached a pure\nmorality. No provision was made for making money by their preaching.\nOne of their first acts was to cause the church to elect deacons\nwho might manage its money matters, and allow the apostles to give\nthemselves wholly to prayer and the ministry of the word (_Acts vi_,\n2-5). Twenty-five years after they could appeal to the world that,\n\"Even to this present hour, we (the apostles), both hunger, and thirst,\nand are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place,\nand labor, working with our hands: being reviled, we bless; being\npersecuted, we suffer it: being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the\nfilth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this\nday\" (_I. Cor. iv_, 11-13).\n\nThe New Testament opens with the story of the Savior's birth in a\nstable, with the manger for his cradle, and one of its last pictures,\nis that of His venerable apostle chained in a dungeon, and begging his\nfriend to bring his old cloak from Troas, and to do his diligence to\ncome before Winter (_II. Tim. iv chap_.).\n\nUnpopular and penniless, if the gospel story were not true, how could\nit have had preachers? When Paul was changed from a persecutor to a\ndisciple, behold the prospect the Savior presents to him, \"I will\nshow him _how great things he must suffer for my {102} sake_.\" Paul\ndeclares, \"The Holy Ghost testifieth that in every city bonds and\nafflictions abide me. Yet none of these things move me, neither count\nI my life dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course with joy\"\n(_Acts xx_, 23, 24). In another place he adds, \"Of the Jews five times\nreceived I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once\nwas I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day T have\nbeen in the deep: in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils\nof robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen,\nin perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the\nsea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in\nwatchings often, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness\" (_II.\nCor. xi_, 24-27).\n\nMan can give no higher proof of his veracity, save to seal his\ntestimony with his blood. This the apostles did. All, except John,\nsuffered martyrdom for the truth of the gospel.\n\n{103}\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nNEW TESTAMENT FACTS CORROBORATED BY SECULAR WRITERS.\n\nTERTULIAN'S WORKS--EXTRACT FROM TACITUS--VALUE OF COTEMPORARY\nCORRESPONDENCE--PLINY'S LETTER--PROOF OF THE SAINTS' MORALITY--GOSPEL\nDISTINCTIVE FROM ALL OTHER RELIGIONS--NO OTHER SYSTEM DEPENDS UPON\nSIMILAR INFLUENCES.\n\nIn a former chapter was shown some of the internal evidences of the\nvalidity of the New Testament. By continuing our investigations we find\nother and valuable proofs of its authenticity. There was no printing in\nthose days; therefore the people to whom the gospels and epistles were\naddressed, had the opportunity of knowing by the handwriting whether\nthese documents were genuine or not. For example, Paul in his second\nepistle to the Thessalonians, says: \"The salutation of Paul with my own\nhand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. The grace of\nour Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.\" These words show indeed\nthe heart of an apostle; but what a business man would most appreciate\nis the fact how greatly these few lines add to the {104} security\nagainst forgery. It is a hard thing to forge a signature, but give a\nbusiness man two lines of any man's writing besides that, and he is\nperfectly secure against imposition. The churches to whom the epistles\nwere written and to whom the gospels were delivered consisted largely\nof business men, merchants, traders, city chamberlains and officers of\nCaesar's household. Does any one think that such men could not tell the\nhandwriting of the apostle who had lived among them for years or that\nthey cared less for the documents of the gospel, for which they risked\ntheir lives, than we would care about the genuineness of a ten dollar\ncheck? Tertulian, who lived from A. D. 145 to 222, was one of the most\nlearned men of that age. He was well versed in Roman law, in ancient\nphilosophy, history and poetry. He had been brought up a heathen,\nand was not therefore likely to favor the teachings of the apostles\nwithout due investigation. His writings are interesting, throwing\nmuch light on the circumstances and social questions of that age. He\ntraveled extensively among the churches which the apostles had planted\nand claims to have seen the original copies of Matthew and John and\nthe epistles written to the churches at Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica,\nEphesus and Philippi, and refers skeptics to the places where these\ndocuments could be found. That these writings contained the same words\nas are in our present New Testament is evident from the numerous\nquotations in Tertulian's works.\n\n{105} In the British and other museums may be found thousands of\nmanuscripts on every conceivable subject embracing every age for\nthe past sixteen hundred years and even some still earlier. Among\nthese manuscripts are over two thousand copies of the New Testament,\nsome of them dating back to apostolic times. These manuscripts have\nbeen scrutinized by the most critical scholars; yet the result of\nthis examination is merely the suggestion of thirteen unimportant\nalterations in the seven thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine verses\nof the New Testament. This is a fact utterly unexampled in the history\nof manuscripts. We are thus, by the special providence of God, as\nundoubtedly in possession of genuine copies of the gospels and\nepistles, some of which were written while the companions of the Savior\nwere still living and the divine authority and Priesthood were still\nupon the earth, as we are of genuine copies of the Constitution of the\nUnited States and of the Declaration of Independence.\n\nThere is no history so trustworthy as that prepared by cotemporary\nwriters, especially by those who have themselves been actively\nengaged in the events which they relate. Such history never loses its\ninterest, nor does the lapse of ages, in the least degree, impair its\ncredibility. While the documents can be preserved, Xenophon's \"Retreat\nof the Ten Thousand,\" Wellington's dispatches, and Washington's letters\nto Congress, will be as trustworthy as on the day they were written.\nOf the great facts described in these {106} documents addressed to\ntheir cotemporaries, able at a glance to detect a falsehood, we never\nentertain the least suspicion. Many such historical allusions might be\nquoted.\n\nWe have selected one from the well-known works of Tacitus, the\ncelebrated Roman historian, who lived between A. D. 60 and 120,\nand wrote a history of Rome up to the reign of the emperor Trajan.\nConcerning this extract from the history of Tacitus the infidel,\nGibbon, says, \"The most skeptical criticism is obliged to respect\nthe truth of this important fact and the integrity of this important\npassage of Tacitus.\" After relating the burning of the city of Rome\nby order of Nero, and his attempt to transfer the odium of it to the\nChristians, Tacitus says:\n\n  \"The author of that name was Christ, who in the reign of\n  Tiberius, was put to death as a criminal, under the procurator\n  Pontius Pilate. But this pestilent superstition, checked for\n  a while, broke out afresh and spread not only over Judea,\n  where the evil originated, but also in Rome, where all that is\n  evil on the earth finds its way, and is practiced. At first,\n  those only were apprehended who confessed themselves of\n  that sect; afterwards, a vast multitude were discovered by\n  them; all of whom were condemned, not so much for the\n  crime of the burning of the city, as for their enmity to\n  mankind. Their executions were so contrived as to expose them\n  to derision and contempt. Some were covered over with the\n  skins of wild beasts, that they might be torn to pieces by\n  dogs; some were crucified; while others having been daubed\n  over with combustible materials, were set up for lights in the\n  night time and thus burned to death. For these spectacles\n  Nero gave his own gardens, and, at the same time, exhibited\n  there the diversions of the circus; sometimes standing in the\n  crowd as a spectator, in the habit of a charioteer, and, at\n  {107} other times driving a chariot himself; until at length these\n  men, though really criminal and deserving of exemplary\n  punishment, began to be commiserated as people who were destroyed,\n  not out of regard to the public welfare, but only to gratify the\n  cruelty of one man.\"\n\nNow let the reader take up the New Testament and read the last six\nchapters of Acts and the letters of Paul to Philemon, Titus and the\nsecond to Timothy. These letters were written when the aged prisoner\nwas ready to be martyred, and the time of his departure was at hand.\nThen let the reader form his opinion of the origin and nature of that\nfaith which enabled Paul to say, \"None of these things move me, neither\ncount I my life dear unto me, that I may finish my course with joy, and\nthe testimony which I have received of the Lord Jesus.\"\n\nThere is still another kind of cotemporary history, which does not even\npropose to relate history at all; but is for that very reason entirely\nremoved from the suspicion of making a false statement. By this is\nmeant cotemporary correspondence. The undersigned and incidental use\nof a name, a date or a quotation often flashes conviction upon the\nreader's mind in the most forcible manner. If we have the private\nletters of celebrated men laid before us, we are enabled to look right\ninto them, and see their true characters. Thus Macaulay exhibits to the\nworld the proud, lying, stupid tyrant King, James, displayed in his own\nletters. Thus the celebrated Voltaire records himself an adulterer,\nand begs his friend {108} D'Alembert to lie for him, and his friend\nreplies that he has done so. Thus the correspondence of Thomas Paine\nexhibits him drinking a quart of brandy daily at his friend's expense\nand refusing to pay his bill for boarding. In the unguarded freedom of\nconfidential correspondence the veil is taken from the heart. We see\nmen as they are. The true man stands out in his native dignity and the\ngilding is rubbed off the hypocrite. Give to the world their letters,\nand no just person would hesitate to pronounce Hume a sensualist, or\nWashington, \"the noblest work of God,\" an honest man.\n\nNow we are in possession of this same kind of indisputable evidence\nconcerning the great facts of the New Testament. From the abundant\nnotices of the faith, teachings and practices of the early saints,\nwhich are to be found in the works of cotemporaneous writers,\nhistorians and poets, philosophers and magistrates, Jewish, Christian\nand heathen; it may be well to select one, to corroborate and compare\nwith the statements of the New Testament. Lest we should be accused of\npartiality, let us take the celebrated letter of Pliny to Trajan. This\nletter is utterly undeniable and admitted by the most skeptical to be\nbeyond suspicion, Pliny, the younger, was born A. D. 61. He lived and\ndied a pagan. In A. D. 106, when a little more than forty-five years\nof age, he was appointed by the emperor Trajan to be governor of the\nRoman provinces of Pontus and Bithynia--a vast tract of Asia-Minor, in\nwhich {109} were situated the cities and churches of Ephesus, Smyrna,\nPergamos, Thyatira, Sardis and Philadelphia. The Epistles of Peter \"to\nthe strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia Asia,\nand Bithynia,\" brings us to the same mountainous region. Pliny, having\ntaken up his residence in Ephesus, wrote the following letter to the\nRoman emperor:\n\n  \"Pliny to the Emperor Trajan wishes health and happiness.\n\n  \"It is my constant custom, sire, to refer myself to you in\n  all matters concerning which I have any doubt. For who\n  can better direct me when I hesitate, or instruct me when I am\n  ignorant? T have never been present at any trials of Christians,\n  so that I know not well what is the subject matter of\n  punishment, or of inquiry, or what strictures ought to be used in\n  either. Nor have I been a little perplexed to determine\n  whether any difference ought to be made upon account of age,\n  or whether the young and tender, and the full-grown and\n  robust, ought to be treated all alike; whether repentance\n  should entitle to pardon, or whether all who have once been\n  Christians ought to be punished though they are now no\n  longer so.\n\n  \"In the meantime I have taken this course with all who\n  have been brought before me, and have been accused as\n  Christians. I have put the question to them whether they\n  were Christians. Upon their confessing to me that they were,\n  I repeated the question a second and a third time, threatening\n  also to punish them with death. Such as still persisted, I\n  ordered away to be punished; for it was no doubt with me,\n  whatever might be the nature of their opinion, that contumacy\n  and inflexible obstinacy ought to be punished. There were\n  others of the same infatuation, whom, because they are Roman\n  citizens, I have noted down to be sent to the city (Rome).\n\n  \"In a short time, the crime spreading itself even while under\n  persecutions, as is usual in such cases, divers sorts of people\n  came in my way. And information was presented to me,\n  {110} without mentioning the author, containing the names of many\n  persons, who, upon examination denied that they were\n  Christians, or had ever been so; who repeated after me an\n  invocation to the gods, and with wine and frankincense made\n  supplication to your image, which, for that purpose, I have\n  caused to be brought and set before them, together with the\n  statues of the deities. Moreover they reviled the name of\n  Christ. None of which things, as is said, they who are really\n  Christians can by any means be compelled to do. These,\n  therefore, I thought proper to discharge.\n\n  \"Others were named by an informer, who at first confessed\n  themselves Christians, and afterwards denied it. The rest\n  said they had been Christians, but had left them; some three years\n  ago, some longer, and one or more above twenty years. They\n  all worshiped your image, and the statues of the gods; these\n  also reviled Christ. They affirmed that the whole of their\n  fault or error lay in this: that they were wont to meet together,\n  on a stated day before it was light, and sing among themselves\n  alternately, a hymn to Christ as a God and bind themselves\n  by a sacrament, not to the commission of any wickedness, but\n  not to be guilty of theft, or robbery, or adultery; never to\n  falsify their word nor to deny a pledge committed to them\n  when called upon to return it. When these things were\n  performed, it was their custom to separate, and then to come\n  together again to a meal which they ate in common, without\n  any disorder; but this they had forborne since the publication\n  of my edict, by which, according to your command, I\n  prohibited assemblies. After receiving this account, I judged\n  it the more necessary to examine two maid servants, who\n  were called ministers, by torture. But I have discovered\n  nothing besides a bad and excessive superstition.\n\n  \"Suspending, therefore, all judicial proceedings, I have\n  recourse to you for advice; for it has appeared to me a matter\n  highly deserving consideration especially upon account of the\n  great number of persons who are in danger of suffering. For\n  many of all ages and every rank, of both sexes likewise, are\n  accused, and will be accused. Nor has the contagion of this\n  superstition seized cities only, but the lesser towns also, and\n  {111} the open country. Nevertheless, it seems that it may be\n  restrained and arrested. It is certain that the temples which\n  were almost forsaken, begin to be frequented. And the sacred\n  solemnities, after a long intermission, are revived. Victims,\n  likewise, are everywhere brought up, whereas, for some time,\n  there were few purchasers. Whence, it is easy to imagine,\n  what numbers of men might be reclaimed, if pardon were\n  granted to those who shall repent.\"\n\nTo this the Emperor Trajan replied:\n\n  \"Trajan to Pliny wisheth health and happiness:\n\n  \"You have taken the right course, my Pliny, in your\n  proceedings with those who have been brought before you as\n  Christians; for it is impossible to establish any one rule that\n  shall hold universally. They are not to be sought after. If\n  any are brought before you, and are convicted, they ought to\n  be punished. However, he that denies his being a Christian,\n  and makes it evident in fact, that is, by supplication to our\n  gods, though he be suspected to have been so formerly, let\n  him be pardoned upon repentance. But in no case of any crime\n  whatever, may a bill of information be received without being\n  signed by him who presents it. For that would be a\n  dangerous precedent, and unworthy of my government.\"\n\nNow let us read the First General Epistle of Peter, the First General\nEpistle of John, and the second and third chapters of Revelation and we\nwill be able to see the force of the various allusions, to the numbers,\ndoctrines, morals and persecutions of the Saints as mentioned in this\nletter. The doctrines of the Christian faith then are not the gradual\ngrowth of centuries, as the infidel would make us believe. On the\nother hand the primitive churches possessed a perfection of doctrine\nand organization unknown to the so-called Christian churches of the\npresent day. In the life time {112} of those who had seen the Savior\ncrucified, and in countries a thousand miles distant from Jerusalem, we\nfind the Saints scattered over Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and\nBithynia, as well as in the world's proud capital, the city of Rome.\nIn this letter also we have the testimony of apostates, eager to save\ntheir lives by giving such information as they knew would be acceptable\nto the persecuting governor, the testimony of the two servants under\ntorture, and the unwilling, yet express testimony; of their torturer,\nthat all his cruel ingenuity could discover nothing worse than what he\ncalled \"a bad and excessive superstition.\" Now, what was it that this\nheathen governor called a \"superstition?\" Why simply that they bound\nthemselves by the most solemn religious services, not to be guilty of\ntheft, robbery or adultery; not to falsify their word nor deny a pledge\ncommitted to them; and when a statue of the emperor was presented to\nthem they refused to make supplication to it. For this refusal, and\nthis alone, he ordered them away to death. And as these martyrs went\naway to torture and to death, may they not have heard tingling in\ntheir ears the words of Peter which had been written to them a few\nyears previous: \"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery\ntrial that is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto\nyou. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an\nevil-doer, or as a busybody in other men's matters\" (_I. Peter iv_,\n12-15). Pliny says that there were apostates twenty years previous,\nthat is in the year 86. Now does not {113} that exactly coincide with\nwhat John wrote to them in the year 90: \"They went out from us but\nthey were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt\nhave continued with us\" (_I. John ii_. 19). So Pliny speaks of the\napostates, \"They all worshiped your image and statues of the gods;\nthese also reviled Christ. None of which things, as is said, they who\nare really Christians can by any means be compelled to do.\" What was it\nthat enabled the early Saints of all ranks and all ages, of both sexes\nlikewise, to joyfully meet death in its most horrid forms? It was the\npower of truth--it was the power of God.\n\nNow, the grand idea that strikes us in the testimony of the Saints,\nboth of primitive and modern times, is that it stands out utterly\ndifferent from all other religions. There is nothing in the world\nlike it, not even its counterfeits. The great central fact of\nChristianity--that Christ died for our sins, and rose again from the\ndead--stands absolutely alone in the history of religions. The priests\nof Baal, Brahma or Jupiter never dreamed of such a thing. Confucius,\nBuddha or Zoroaster never attained to such sublime ideas. Our modern\npositivists and spiritualists perceiving the grandeur of this doctrine,\nhave vainly attempted to destroy this, the key-stone of the gospel arch.\n\nThere is no instance in the whole world's history of any other religion\never producing the same effects; no other instance of men destitute\nof wealth, arms, power and learning, converting multitudes of lying,\nlustful, murdering idolators {114} into honest, peaceable Christians,\nsimply by prayer and preaching. When the skeptic tells us of the rapid\nspread of impostures which enlist disciples by promising free license\nto lust, robbery and murder, and retain them by the terror of scimetar\nand rifle ball, he simply insults our common sense, by ignoring the\ndifference between the degrading practices of vice, and the ennobling\nprinciples of virtue. The gospel stands alone in its doctrines,\nsingular in its operation, unequalled in its success.\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII,\n\nHISTORICAL GLIMPSES OF NEW TESTAMENT TIMES.\n\nPERSONAL APPEARANCE OF OUR SAVIOR--BY MARCUS--BY JOSEPHUS--CONDITION\nOF THE WORLD AT--THE BIRTH OF CHRIST--INFLUENCE OF JUDAISM\nHEATHEN TRADITIONS CONCERNING THE SAVIOR'S ADVENT--CHARACTER OF\nBARNABAS--APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER OF PAUL--PETER, THE LEADER OF\nTHE APOSTLES--CHARACTER OF JOHN AND JAMES--STATEMENT CONCERNING\nMARY--HISTORY EPITOMIZED IN THE GOSPELS--DESCRIPTION OF THE\nCATACOMBS--INSCRIPTIONS OF THEM.\n\nThe living or written testimony of those who have been actively\nengaged in the great latter-day {115} work will ever have a weight far\nsuperior to any given by inimical or disinterested parties. Still, the\ndescriptions given and the historical facts and incidents related by\nsuch persons are often highly interesting as furnishing glimpses of\nscenes and facts unmentioned by more prominent actors. For example, the\ndiscourse delivered by Thomas L. Kane before the Historical Society of\nPennsylvania, throws a flood of light upon the manners and customs of\nthe Latter-day Saints and the scenes attending their expulsion from\nNauvoo, which no history of the Church has exceeded; and this is all\nthe more valuable as it corroborates many of the statements made by the\nSaints. So in like manner there are many references made by secular\nwriters which throw light on New Testament history, and by this light\nwe see a new beauty and force in the language of the inspired writers.\n\nNo man of sense will for a moment hesitate to acknowledge the\nsuperiority of the narratives written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and\nJohn, to any merely human composition. The biographies of the Savior,\nwritten by Fleetwood and others bear no comparison to the simple, yet\nsublime records of the evangelists. But it does not militate against\nthe authority of the scriptures to read a description of the personal\nappearance of the Savior as described by Marcus, a Roman lawyer who\nresided at Jerusalem, and still preserved in the works of Origen:\n\n{116}\n \"Jesus of Nazareth, sometimes called the Galilean, was a most\n remarkable person. In stature He was above the medium hight, straight\n and tall. His complexion was fair: His hair was of a brown color,\n and fell in heavy curls upon His shoulders. His eyes were blue, and\n possessed such a penetrating power that no man could meet His gaze. His\n beard was of a deep wine color, fine and full: it is said that He was\n never shaved. His countenance was majestic, calm and serene, bearing\n the impress of wisdom, justice and love.\"\n\nAgain, we have the testimony of Josephus, the celebrated Jewish\nhistorian who flourished between the thirty-seventh and ninety-eighth\nyear of the Christian era. He was a Jewish priest and had no connection\nwith the early saints; yet in the _History of the Antiquities of the\nJews, Book xviii_, he declares:\n\n  \"Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it\n  be lawful to call Him a man, for He was a doer of wonderful\n  works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with\n  pleasure. He drew over to Him, both many of the Jews, and many\n  of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the\n  suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned\n  Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the first, did not\n  forsake Him, for He appeared to them alive on the third day:\n  as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand\n  other wonderful things concerning Him. And the tribe of\n  Christians, so named from Him, are not extinct at this day.\"\n\nIn the time of Christ, Palestine was in the very center of the then\nknown world. To the north and north-east lay the decaying remnants\nof the Medo-Persian and still more ancient Babylonian and Assyrian\nempires; on the east were the powerful tribes of Arabia, who, fearless\nof any foreign power, had built their capital in the rugged defiles\n{117} of Arabia-Petrea, the magnificent ruins of which astonish the\ntravelers of the present day.\n\nOn the south lay Egypt reposing in gloomy grandeur and already boasting\na hoary antiquity; yet even this ancient civilization was to a great\nextent indebted to the founders of the Jewish commonwealth. On the west\nlay the classic countries of Greece and Italy.\n\nAs is well known, after the Babylonish captivity, the Jews were\nwidely scattered. Comparatively few of them availed themselves of the\npermission granted by Cyrus, to return to Palestine. The majority\nremained in Babylonia or wandered into other lands. In Alexandria,\nfor example, at the time of Christ, fully one-half the inhabitants\nwere Jews, who by trading had become rich and powerful. At that\ntime the coasts of Arabia and even India were visited by Jewish\nmerchants. In Asia Minor and Greece there was scarcely a town without\nits Jewish synagogue. In Rome the Jews possessed the greater part of\nthe Trastevere, or right bank of the Tiber. From the time of Julius\nCaesar they were allowed to build synagogues and granted many other\nprivileges. All these Jews who lived outside of Palestine and formed\na majority of the whole nation were commonly called the Dispersion,\nIt was this class of persons to which the Jews referred, when in\nspeaking of Christ, they said, \"Will He go unto the dispersed among\nthe Gentiles and teach the Gentiles?\" (_John vii_, 25). Yet these Jews\nstill considered Jerusalem as their center, regarded the Sanhedrim (or\nhigh council) {118} as their highest church court, sent yearly gifts of\nmoney and sacrifices to the temple, and visited it from time to time at\nthe great festivals.\n\nIt is easy to see how this state of things aided the spread of the\ngospel. The feasts of the Passover and of Pentecost brought many of\nthese dispersed Jews from the neighboring countries to Jerusalem. Thus\nthousands, who were not residents of Palestine, had an opportunity\nat these yearly feasts to become acquainted with the teachings and\nmiracles of Jesus. It was also at the time of the great feast of the\nPassover, that the crucifixion took place. Fifty days later was the\nfeast of Pentecost at which time occurred those wonderful events\nrecorded in the second chapter of Acts.\n\nThus, we perceive, how it was that people from various nations had\ngathered together; and how important the gift of tongues whereby each\ncould hear in his own language the wonderful works of God. (_See Acts\nii_, 5, 9-11.)\n\nThese men on their return carried the news of Christianity to their\nhomes. Then again the apostles in their missionary travels found\nsynagogues in all the principal towns and cities; likewise, devout\npersons who were looking forward to the advent of the Messiah and\nthe redemption of Israel. Of these might be mentioned Dorcas, and\nCornelius, (_Acts ix_, 10.) Lydia (_Acts xvi_, 14.), Aquilla and\nPriscilla, (_Acts xviii_), Eunice and Lois, the mother and grandmother\nof Timothy, and many others.\n\n{119} Every synagogue was, as it were, a missionary station in\nreadiness for them with friends and inquirers already there to welcome\nthem. The influence of the Jews had helped also to undermine heathenism\nand thus to prepare the ground for Christianity. So much was this the\ncase that the Roman philosopher, Seneca, in speaking of the Jews, says,\n\"The conquered have given laws to the conquerors.\" Josephus, in his\nAntiquities, Book 18, says, \"Many of the Jews held high offices, and\nlived at the courts of princes. Even the empress Poppea, wife of Nero\nwas a proselyte to Judaism.\" In his autobiography, he relates that,\nwhen in Rome, he made the acquaintance of this empress through a Jewish\nfavorite of Nero, and at once received from her the release of some\nimprisoned Jewish priests together with large presents. Through her\ninfluence also was due much of that bitterness which characterized the\npersecutions of the saints in the reign of Nero.\n\nJuvenal, a Latin poet, ridicules the prevalence of Jewish customs;\nalso many of the Greeks, following the teachings of Socrates, believed\nin the existence of an \"unknown God.\" It is in the very nature of man\nto believe in something. When the absurdities of heathenism became\napparent, men fell into other superstitions. More and more was felt\nthe want of a true religion. Even the Samaritans who were so carried\naway by the sorceries of Simon Magus, as to call him \"the great power\nof God,\" readily received the preaching of the gospel. (_Act viii_,\n5.) So also Sergius {120} Paulus, who, dissatisfied with heathenism,\nhad with him the Jewish sorcerer and false prophet Elymas, was won\nto the Christian faith by the preaching of Paul (_Acts xiii_, 6-11).\nIndeed the best feature of that age was a strong religious yearning.\nExpectations of a coming Messiah, in various forms and degrees of\nclearness, were at that time, by the political collision of the nations\nand by their intellectual and religious contact, spread over all the\nnations; and, like the first red streaks upon the horizon, announced\nthe approach of day. The Persians were looking for their Sosiosch, who\nshould conquer Ahriman and his kingdom of darkness. The Chinese sage,\nConfucius, pointed his disciples to a Holy One who should appear in the\nwest. The wise men who came to worship the new-born king of the Jews,\nwe must look upon as representatives of the Messianic hopes of oriental\nheathens.\n\nThe western nations, on the contrary, looked toward the east for the\ndawn of a better day. The Roman historians, Suetonius and Tacitus, both\nspeak of a current saying in the Roman empire, that in the east, and\nmore particularly in Judea, a new universal empire would soon be set up.\n\nThus, in a time, the like of which history before or since has never\nseen, appeared the Savior of men. Amid the dying and decaying forms of\nancient society, while those things that had been the objects of man's\nenthusiastic love were withering away, Christ came that through Him\nhumanity should receive a new, youthful life.\n\n{121} Impenitent Judaism, it is true, still wanders, ghost like through\nall ages and countries: but only as an incontrovertible living witness\nof the divinity of the Christian religion.\n\nThe Jews who were scattered through the various countries of the\neast came in contact with the manners and customs of those various\ncountries, and this had a tendency to break down Jewish exclusiveness\nand prepare the minds of many for broader and more liberal views. Hence\nwe find that several of the most useful men of the apostolic church,\nsuch as Stephen, the martyr, Philip, the deacon, Paul and Barnabas were\nof this class. Barnabas was, indeed one, of the most remarkable men of\nthe age in which he lived. He was born in the island of Cyprus, but\nremoved to Jerusalem where he became one of the active members of the\napostolic church.\n\nAfter the martyrdom of Stephen and in consequence of the persecution\nwhich followed, some of the disciples were scattered as far as Antioch,\nwhither Barnabas was sent to organize a church, and here the disciples\nfirst received the name of Christians. (_Acts xi_, 26.) It was Barnabas\nwho first introduced Paul to the rest of the apostles and removed the\nmistrust which was felt towards him. Afterwards, when Paul was living a\nretired life in his native city of Tarsus, Barnabas sought him out and\nbrought him to Antioch. To win over this great reticent and susceptible\nsoul, to labor with him and even to take a subordinate place under him,\nindicate both wisdom and {122} humanity; and this is what Barnabas did\nfor Paul.\n\nSaul, afterwards Latinized into Paul, was born at Tarsus in Cilicia,\nin the tenth or twelfth year of our era. Paul's father early intended\nthat he should become a religious teacher, but, according to the\ncustoms of that age, taught him a trade also, by which he afterwards\nsupported himself without becoming a burden to the church. He came to\nJerusalem at an early age and entered the school of Gamaliel the elder.\nThis Gamaliel was one of the most learned men in Jerusalem, and the\nyouthful Paul soon became a leader in society. This is evident from the\nposition he held at the death of Stephen. Paul was short in stature,\nsomewhat stooping and at the middle age his hair was thin, inclining to\nbaldness. His countenance was pale and half hidden by a dark beard. His\nnose was aquiline, his eyes piercing and his eyebrows heavy. It is said\nthat he possessed one of those strange visages which though plain, yet,\nwhen lighted up by emotion, assumes a deep brilliancy and grandeur.\nPaul was a man of great politeness and exquisite manners. His letters\nshow that he was a man of rare intelligence, who formed for his lofty\nsentiments, expressions of great beauty. No correspondence exhibits\nmore careful attention, finer shades of meaning or more amiable\npleasantries. What animation! What a wealth of charming sayings! What\nsimplicity! It is easy to see that his character is that of a polite,\nearnest and affectionate man.\n\n{123} Simon, or Peter, as he was afterwards called, was a son of the\nfisherman, Jonas. He resided at Capernaum, on the shore of the sea\nof Galilee, where he followed his father's occupation. His brother,\nAndrew, who had been a disciple of John the Baptist, first brought him\nto Jesus by whom he was called to be a fisher of men. He was one of\nthe witnesses of the transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and the agony of\nthe Savior in the garden of Gethsemane. He was evidently the leader of\nthe ancient apostles. In the four places where a list of the twelve\nis given, he is invariably placed at the beginning; and in many other\nplaces he is mentioned as the leading speaker. In Peter's character we\nhave a remarkable combination of great natural talents and virtues,\nwith peculiar weaknesses. This apostle was distinguished from the other\neleven by an ardent, impulsive, sanguine temperament, and an open,\nshrewd, practical nature. He was always ready to speak out his mind,\nto resolve and to act. His excitable, impulsive disposition led him\nsometimes to over-estimate his powers, to trust too much to himself,\nand, in the hour of danger, to yield to opposite impressions. Thus\nwe find that, in spite of his usual firmness and joy in confessing\nhis faith, he actually denied the Savior when arraigned in the palace\nof Caiphas. In learning he was inferior to Paul, and in loving\ncharacter, to John; but he possessed, in an eminent degree, the gift of\ninspiration which enabled him to act with promptness and decision.\n\n{124} The apostle and evangelist, John, was the son of Zebedee, and\nthe brother of the elder James. His mother was one of the women who\nsupported Jesus with their property, and brought spices to embalm Him.\nJohn himself owned a house in Jerusalem, into which he received the\nmother of the Savior after the crucifixion. He was the only one of\nthe apostles who was present at the cross, and to him Jesus committed\nthe care of his mother. (_John xix_, 26, 27.) Nicephorus states that\nMary continued to live with John until her death, which occurred\nabout fourteen years after the crucifixion. After this, John went\nto preside over the church at Ephesus. Here he wrote the gospel and\nepistle that bear his name. In the reign of Domitian, about the year\n84, he was called to Rome where he was condemned to be put to death by\nbeing thrust into a caldron of boiling oil. From this he miraculously\nescaped, even as the three Hebrews who were cast into the fiery\nfurnace. Afterwards he was banished to the solitary, rocky island,\nPatmos, where he received that wonderful prophetic history of the\nconflicts and conquests of the church, which is called the Apocalypse,\nor Revelation. In the opening chapter he says, \"I, John, who also am\nyour brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and\npatience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for\nthe word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.\"\n\nWhen Peter asked the manner of John's death, the Savior replied, \"'If I\nwill that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?'\n\n{125} \"Then went this saying abroad among the brethren that that\ndisciple should not die.\"\n\nPeter, James and John were the chosen among the chosen, upon whom the\nSavior bestowed special favor. Peter was a man of great energy, fitted\nto be a leader in the church and in society. John possessed a deep,\naffectionate nature, which made him the dearest of the Savior's three\nchosen friends.\n\nOf James we know very little. He seems to have been of a quiet,\nearnest, meditative turn. He presided over the church at Jerusalem\nuntil the year forty-four of our era, when he sealed his testimony with\nhis blood, being the first of that glorious band of apostolic martyrs.\n\nSuch were the chief actors in New Testament times. The great facts of\ntheir lives are corroborated both by Jewish and heathen writers, and\nadmitted to be true by the most eminent of modern infidels, such as\nVolney, Straus and Renan. Christianity did not take its rise in an\nobscure corner of the earth. On the other hand, from the very first\nit attracted the attention of the good, the wise and the learned, and\naroused the opposition of the wicked, though they were powerful kings\nand potentates of the earth. Yet, in spite of all, it has won its way,\nboth in ancient times and at the present day among the honest in heart\nby the simplicity, grandeur and harmony of its truths.\n\nWe must, therefore, accept the New Testament as a whole. We cannot\naccept the writings of one, and say they are true, and reject the\nwritings of {126} another, teaching the same doctrine, and say it is\nfalse. Neither can we accept the gospel and reject the epistles, for\nthere is not a doctrine of the gospel which is not taught in the very\nfirst of them, that written by Matthew.\n\nHe who writes forgeries must needs be well posted in the matter of\nnames, dates and places, or else he will contradict some well-known\nfacts and so expose his forgery to the world. Men who write falsehoods\ndo not write as follows:\n\n\"Now, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius\nPilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee,\nand his brother, Philip, tetrarch of Iturea and of the region of\nTrachonitis, and Lysanius tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiphas being\nhigh priests, the word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in\nthe wilderness.\"\n\nHere, in one sentence, are twenty historical, geographical, political\nand family references, every one of which can be proven true by the\nstatements of cotemporaneous secular writers. Infidels have utterly\nfailed in their attempts to disprove one of the hundreds of such\nstatements in the New Testament.\n\nAmong the various historical evidences of primitive Christianity, none\nseem more authentic or possess a deeper interest than those connected\nwith the catacombs of ancient Rome. These were subterraneous chambers\nor excavations which were made in the soft, sandy rock which underlies\nthe hills on which stood ancient Rome. To these dreary vaults\nthe early saints were in the habit of retiring, in order to celebrate\ntheir worship in times of persecution, and in them were buried many of\nthe saints and martyrs of the primitive church. They consist of long,\nnarrow galleries, {128} usually about eight feet high and five feet\nwide, which twist and turn in all directions, very much resembling\nmines. The graves were constructed by hollowing out a portion of the\nrock at the side of the gallery, large enough to contain the body. The\nentrance was then built up, and generally an inscription was placed\nupon it.\n\n{127} [ILLUSTRATION: SECTION OF THE CATACOMB OF CALIXTUS.]\n\n{128} These excavations were first formed by quarrying the\nvolcanic, sandy rock, in order to supply the materials necessary for\nthe building of ancient Rome. They were afterwards increased in order\nto procure the sand used for cement, until, at length, they formed an\narea of very extensive dimensions. They are mentioned by the Roman\nwriters, Horace and Varro, by Cicero and Seutonius. Jerome, writing\nabout the middle of the fourth century, describes them as they existed\nin his day, declaring that he \"was accustomed, as a youth, when\nstudying in Rome, to visit these dark and dreary spots on Sundays, in\norder to see the tombs of apostles and martyrs.\"\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: BURIAL PLACE IN THE CATACOMBS.]\n\nAmong the many inscriptions which the museum of the Vatican has derived\nfrom the catacombs is {129} the following. It relates to the reign of\nMarcus Aurelius, or Antoninus, as he is sometimes called, about A. D.\n150:\n\n  ALEXANDER MORTUUS NON EST SED\n  VIVIT SUPER ASTRA ET CORPUS IN HOC\n  TUMULO QUIESCIT. VITAM EXPLEVIT\n  SUB ANTONINO IMPO, QUI UBI MULTUM\n  BENEFITII ANTEVENIRE PRAEVIDERET\n  PRO GRATIA ODIUM REDDIDIT GENUA\n  ENIM FLECTENS VERO DEO\n  SACRIFICATURUS AD SUPPLICIA DUCITUR.\n  TEMPORA INFAUSTA! QUIBUS INTER SACRA\n  ET VOTA NE IN CAVERNIS QUIDEM\n  SALVARI POSSIMUS. QUID MISERIUS VITA\n  SED QUID MISERIUS IN MORTE CUM\n  AB AMICIS ET PARENTIBUS\n  SEPELIRI NEQUEANT TANDEM IN COELO\n  CORUSCANT PARUM VIXIT QUI VIXIT IN X.\n  TEM.\n\nTRANSLATION:\n\n  \"Alexander is not dead, but lives beyond the stars, and his\n  body rests in this tomb. He lived under the Emperor\n  Antoninus, who, foreseeing that great benefit would result from his\n  services, returned evil for good. For, while on his knees and\n  about to sacrifice to the true God, he was led away to\n  execution. O, sad times! in which sacred rites and prayers, even\n  in caverns, afford no protection to us. What can be more\n  wretched than such a life, and what than such a death, when\n  they could not be buried by their friends and relatives? At\n  length they are resplendent in heaven. He has scarcely lived\n  who has lived in Christian times.\"\n\nSometimes a victor's crown--one of laurel--is intended to mark that\nthe interred one has passed {130} through the agony and strife of his\nChristian conflict, and was triumphant. At other times the simplest\nwords indicated a saint's last resting place. In some cases these\nepitaphs are imperfectly spelled, indicating the humble class to which\nthe survivors belonged.\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nFULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY.\n\nPROPHECY DEFINED--OBJECTIONS TO SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE ANSWERED--HISTORY\nREVERSED, UNINTELLIGIBLE--NECESSITY OF PROPHETIC OBSCURITY--INFIDEL\nDREAD OF PROPHECY--PROPHECIES CONCERNING BABYLON--THEIR\nFULFILLMENT--PROPHECIES CONCERNING EGYPT--PROPHECIES CONCERNING JUDEA\nAND THE JEWS--CONCERNING THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA--TESTIMONIES OF\nINFIDELS--MODERN PROPHECY--ITS FULFILLMENT.\n\nAn astronomer is able to predict the eclipses of the sun and moon,\nbecause he knows the laws that govern the heavenly bodies. So also a\ncountrywoman can predict the time of hatching, and the kind of birds\nthat will come forth from a certain class of eggs placed under a fowl\nin the act of incubation, because she has many times observed {131}\nphenomena of this kind. Prophecy is only prediction in the highest\nsense of the term. Our Heavenly Father, who knows, not merely the laws\nthat govern the material world, but also the mental, moral and physical\nlaws that govern humanity, can foretell the phenomena incident to man's\nsocial and religious development. He who knows the origin of man--both\nhis strength and his weakness--and the extent and influence of the\npowers of darkness, can foretell the result of that awful conflict that\nhas been in progress since before the foundation of the world. When\nman, in obedience to law, shall have gained his higher development\nand become as one of the Gods, he will, no doubt, obtain the power of\nprophecy. Even in his present state, every true poet, philosopher and\nscientist may be said to possess, in a certain degree, this gift; in\nfact, so far as they can penetrate into the laws and mysteries of the\nuniverse beyond the ken of ordinary mortals. Thus the steam-engine\nwas predicted eighteen hundred years before Watt heard the first\ndeep, regular respiration of this modern evangel. Thus, the magnetic\ntelegraph was expected for quite three hundred years before its first\ntap of the keys announced its presence. When Shakespeare wrote, \"I'll\nput a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes,\" it was nothing\nbut the instinct of the poet, peering with a glimmer of inspiration\ninto the darkened chamber towards which science was advancing. Bruno,\nGalileo, Newton, Columbus and Washington had glimmerings of this\ncelestial light. The lines {132} written by Julia Ward Howe are as\ntruthful as they are beautiful:\n\n  \"Lift up your eyes, desponding freemen,\n    Fling to the winds your needless fears;\n  He who unfurled your glorious banner,\n    Said it shall wave a thousand years.\n  A thousand years, my own Columbia,\n    'Tis the glad day so long foretold;\n  'Tis the glad morn whose early twilight\n    Washington saw in days of old.\"\n\nBut it is objected that the prophecies of scripture are obscure and\nwrapped up in symbolical language. This objection proceeds from a total\nmisapprehension of the nature and design of prophecy, which is not to\nunveil the future for the gratification of our curiosity, but to give\ndirections for our present duty and future welfare. The larger part of\nthe prophecies of scripture is taken up with directions how men should\nregulate their conduct, rather than with information how God intends to\nregulate His.\n\nAs to the objection against the symbolical language of prophecy, it\nmay be asked, how can heavenly things be revealed to earth-born men,\nbut by earthly figures? Who knows a single word, in our own or any\nother language, to express a spiritual state, or mental operation,\nthat is not the name of some material state or physical operation used\nsymbolically? Spirit, memory, imagination, etc., are each a symbol\nor figure of speech. In what way could God or man teach us to know\nanything except by either showing us a picture of it, or telling us\nwhat it is like, that is, simply by {133} type or symbol? These are the\nonly possible means for conveying heavenly truth or future history to\nour minds.\n\nWhen, therefore, the skeptic insists that prophecy be given literally\nin the style of history written in advance, he simply requires that God\nshould make it utterly unintelligible.\n\nWe may gather much valuable information from symbolic language; but\nhistory written in advance would be more difficult to decipher than\nthe inscriptions of Nineveh or Egypt, or the still more obscure\nhieroglyphics of Central America. Imagine Alexander reading Bancroft\ninstead of Daniel. The Hebrew prophet he might understand, for he\nhimself was the fulfillment of a part of Daniel's prophecy, but what\ncould he learn from reading such a record as this? \"In the year\nof Christ, 1847, the United States conquered Mexico and annexed\nCalifornia.\" He would say, \"In the year of Christ--what does that\nmean? The United States may mean the states of Greece; but on what\nshore of the Mediterranean can Mexico and California be found?\" What\ninformation could Aristotle gather from the fact that the electric\ntelegraph was invented in 1844? Could all the wise men of Rome have\nexplained to Julius Caesar the following dispatch, if given in\nprophetic vision? \"Sebastopol was evacuated last night after enduring,\nfor three days, an infernal fire of shot and shell.\"\n\nShould we diminish the vista to within two or three centuries, what\ncould Oliver Cromwell, aided by the whole British parliament, have\nmade {134} of a prophetic vision of a single newspaper paragraph,\nwritten in advance, to inform them that \"Three companies of soldiers\ncame down last night from Berwick to Southampton, by a special train,\ntraveling fifty-four and a half miles an hour, including stoppages, and\nembarked immediately on arrival. The fleet put to sea at noon in the\nface of a full gale from the south-west?\" Why, the intelligible part\nof this single paragraph would seem to them more impossible, and the\nunintelligible part more absurd than all the mysterious symbols of the\nApocalypse.\n\nA complete prophetic history of the steam-engine, steam navigation and\nrailways would have been necessary before they could have understood it.\n\nThe world has accepted God's symbols thousands of years ago, and it\nis too late in the day for skeptics to deride the laws of thought and\nforms of speech. David's prophetic psalms, Isaiah's celestial anthems,\nEzekiel's glorious symbols, Solomon's terse proverbs and the Savior's\nlovely parables will be recited and admired ages after the foggy\nabstractions of Parker and Newman, Carlyle and Emerson have vanished\nfrom the earth. The Biblical symbols of the Thirst of Passion, the\nBlood of Murder, the Rod of Chastisement, the Iron Scepter, the Fire\nof Wrath, the Balance of Righteousness, the Sword of Justice and the\nWheels of Providence will photograph their lessons on Memory's tablet,\nwhile the mists of the \"positive philosophy\" float past unheeded to\nthe land of forgetfulness. God's prophetic symbols are the {135}\nglorious embodiments of living truths, while skeptics' theories are the\nmelancholy ghosts of expiring nonsense.\n\nThe prophetic symbols are sufficiently plain to be distinctly\nintelligible _after_ the fulfillment; but sufficiently obscure to\nbaffle presumptuous curiosity before it. Had they been so written as to\nbe fully intelligible beforehand, they must have interfered with man's\nfree agency, by causing their own fulfillment. They hide the future\nsufficiently to make man feel his ignorance; they reveal enough to\nencourage faith in the God who rules it. God's prophecy is not merely\nHis foretelling something which will certainly happen at some future\ntime, but over which He has no control--as an astronomer foretells an\neclipse of the sun, but can neither hasten nor hinder it--but it is\nthe revealing of a part of His plan of this world's affairs, to show\nthat God and not man is the sovereign of it. Infidels feel the power of\nthis manifestation of God in His word; and are driven to every possible\ndenial of the fact. They feel, instinctively, that the Bible prophecies\nare far more than mere predictions. They would rather endow every human\nbeing on earth with the power of predicting the future, than allow the\nGod of heaven that power of ruling the present, which these prophecies\nassert. Hence we find them frequently patronizing \"mediums\" and fortune\ntellers of various kinds.\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: THE RUINS OF BABYLON]\n\nThe prophecies of the scriptures are frequently predictions at once\nunexampled and unparalleled. Nations could not perish before they\nhad grown, {136} nor empires be destroyed till they had accumulated.\nBabylon, Nineveh, Damascus and Tyre had been growing and flourishing\nfor a thousand years, at the time that Jonah, Micah, Hosea and Isaiah\npronounced their sentences against them. At that time, mankind had not\nyet seen a ruined empire. Judging from the past they had no reason to\nexpect {137} anything else than prosperity concerning these cities;\nyet the prophets pronounced desolation and solitude against these\ncities which were then the capitals of nations more populous than this\ncontinent at the present time, and displayed buildings, a sight of\nwhose crumbling ruins is deemed sufficient recompense for the perils\nof a journey of ten thousand miles. Every church, hall, school-house,\ntheatre and hospital of Salt Lake City could have been conveniently\narranged in the basement of the great temple of Belus. On the first\nfloor there was room enough for the whole adult population of Utah to\nassemble, while the remaining seven stories would have still been open\nfor the accomodation of the citizens of Babylon. When the prophets\nwrote their predictions, the walls of Babylon had been raised to the\nhight of three hundred and fifty feet, and made broad enough for six\nchariots to drive upon them abreast. From its hundred brazen gates\nissued the armies which trampled under foot the liberties of mankind,\nand presented their lives to the nod of a despot, who slew whom he\nwould, and whom he would, allowed to live. Twenty years' provisions\nwere collected within its walls, and the world would not believe that\nan enemy could enter its gates. Nevertheless, the prophets of God\npronounced against it a doom of destruction as extraordinary as the\npride and wickedness which procured it. Tyre, the London of Asia, was\nto \"become a place for the spreading of nets\" (_Ezekiel xxvi_ 5),\nThe infidel, Volney, tells us that, \"Its commerce has declined to a\ntrifling, {138} fishery;\" but even that implies some few resident\ninhabitants. Rabbah of Ammon was to become, \"A stable for camels and\ncouching place for flocks\" (_Ezekiel xxv_, 5). Lord Lindsay reports\nthat, he \"could not sleep amidst its ruins for the bleating of sheep\nin the sheep-folds and the braying of camels in its ruins.\" Yet\nsheep-folds imply that their Arab owners would occasionally reside\nnear its ruins. But desolation, solitude and utter abandonment to the\nwild beast of the desert is the clearly-predicted doom of the ancient\nworld's proud capital: \"Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of\nthe Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and\nGomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in,\nfrom generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch his tent\nthere; neither shall the shepherds make their folds there. But wild\nbeasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of\ndoleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance\nthere. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate\nhouses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces\" (_Isaiah xiii_, 19 22).\n\nEvery traveler attests the fulfillment of this strange prediction. \"It\nis a tenantless and desolate ruin,\" says Mignon, who, though fully\narmed and attended by six Arabs, could not be induced by any reward\nto pass the night among its ruins, from his apprehension of evil\nspirits. So completely fulfilled is the prophecy, \"The Arabian shall\nnot pitch his tent there.\" The same voice {139} that called camels\nand flocks to the palaces of Rabbah, summoned a very different class\nof tenants for the palaces of Babylon. Rabbah was to be a sheep-fold,\nBabylon a menagerie of wild beasts--a very specific difference and\nvery improbable. However, after it was destroyed and deserted, one of\nthe Persian kings repaired its walls, converted it into a vast hunting\nground and stocked it with various kinds of wild beasts; and to this\nday the apes of the Spice Islands, and the lions of the African wilds\nmeet in its ruins and howl their testimony to the truth of God's word.\nOnly a few years ago. Sir R. K. Porter and Dr. Rich, saw two majestic\nlions in the \"Mujelibe\" or ruins of the palace.\n\nThe nations selected as examples of divine justice are as various as\ntheir sentences are different--covering a space as long as from New\nYork to San Francisco and climes as various as those between Canada and\nCuba; peopled by men of every shade of color and degree of capacity\nfrom the negro servant of servants, to the builders of the Coliseum and\nthe pyramids. The prophecies describe in their own expressive symbols,\nthe nations yet unfounded and kings unborn, who should ignorantly\nexecute the judgments of God. They also predict the future of over\nthirty states--no two of which are alike.\n\nIf, for instance, a prophet should declare that New York should be\noverturned and become a little fishing village--that Philadelphia\nshould become a swamp and never be inhabited--that New {140} Orleans\nshould become a dry, barren desert, and Chicago be utterly consumed\nwith fire and never be rebuilt--that learning should depart from Boston\nand no travelers should pass through it any more--that New England\nshould become the basest of the nations and no native American ever be\npresident of the Union, but that it should be a spoil and a prey to the\nmost savage tribes--that the Russians should tread Washington under\nfoot for a thousand years, but that God would preserve Pittsburg and\nSalt Lake City in the midst of destruction; then, if all these things\nshould come to pass, would any man dare to say that the prophet spake\nthe dictates of human sagacity, or the calculations of human reason,\nand was not inspired by the Spirit of God?\n\nSuch was the character of the prophecies concerning the geographical,\npolitical, social and religious condition of the greatest nations of\nantiquity.\n\nConsidering the modes of ancient warfare, Egypt was one of the most\ndefensible countries in the world. Bounded on the south by high\nmountains, on the east by the Red Sea, on the west by the trackless,\nburning desert, she was able to defend the mouths of her river with a\npowerful navy, to drown an invading army every year by the inundation\nof the Nile. Egypt had not only maintained her independence, but\nextended her conquests for a thousand years. She had given learning,\nart, science and idolatry to half the world and had not yet risen to\nthe hight of her fame or extent of her influence until many years after\nthe {141} predictions against her were uttered. Yet it was prophesied,\n\"I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the\nwicked; and I will make the land waste and all that is therein by the\nhand of strangers. I, the Lord, have spoken it. Thus saith the Lord\nGod, I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to\ncease out of Noph, and there shall be no more a prince of the land of\nEgypt.\"\n\n{141} [ILLUSTRATION: SPHYNX AND PYRAMIDS]\n\n{142} The infidel, Volney, thus relates the fulfillment of these\npredictions:\n\n\"Such is the state of Egypt. Deprived twenty-three centuries ago of\nher natural properties, she has seen her fertile fields successively\na prey to the Persians, the Macedonians, the Romans, the Greeks, the\nArabs, the Georgians and at length the race of Tartars distinguished\nby the name of Ottoman Turks. The Mamelukes purchased as slaves, and\nintroduced as soldiers, soon usurped the power and selected a leader.\nIf their first establishment was a singular event, their continuance is\nno less extraordinary; they are replaced by slaves, brought from their\noriginal country.\" (_Volney's Travels, Vol. I, page_ 74).\n\nGibbon, another infidel, states, \"The most illustrious sultans of the\nBaharite and Beyite dynasties were themselves promoted from the Tartar\nand Circassian bands; and the four and twenty beys, or military chiefs,\nhave ever been succeeded, not by their sons, but by their servants.\"\n(_Decline and Fall, chap. xlix_).\n\nIt is needless to remind the reader that the idols are cut off. Neither\nthe nominal Christians of Egypt nor the Mahometans allow images among\nthem. The rivers, too, are drying up. In one day's travel forty dry\nwater courses will be crossed {143} in the delta of the Nile; and the\ntraveler needs to carry water with him, who explores the ruined cities\nthrough which once floated Greek and Roman navies.\n\nAgain, it was prophesied, \"It shall be the basest of the kingdoms,\nneither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations, for I\nwill diminish them that they shall no more rule over the nations.\"\n(_Ezekiel, xxix_, 15). Every traveler attests the truth of this\nprediction. The wretched peasantry are rejoiced to labor for any one\nwho will pay them five cents a day, and then quickly hide the treasure\nin the ground from the rapacious tax-gatherer.\n\n\"In Egypt there is no middle class, neither nobility, clergy,\nmerchants nor land-holders. A universal appearance of misery arrests\nthe attention of the traveler and points out to him the rapacity and\noppression as well as the ignorance of the inhabitants, who are equally\nunable to perceive the cause of their evils or to apply the necessary\nremedies. Ignorance diffused through every class, extends its effects\nto every species of moral and physical knowledge.\"\n\nBabylon was to be reduced to utter barrenness and desolation, Egypt to\nslavery and degradation; but a different and still more incredible doom\nis pronounced in the Bible upon Judea and its people: \"I will make your\ncities waste and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will\nbring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein\nshall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen,\nand will draw out a {144} sword after you: and your land shall be\ndesolate and your cities waste.\" (_Leviticus_, _xxvi_, 31-33.)\n\n\"The generation to come of your children and the stranger from a far\nland shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus to this land? What\nmeaneth the heat of this great anger?\"\n\nThe following testimony of Volney is an example of the manner in which\nGod causes infidels and scoffers to fulfill the prophecies:\n\n\"I journeyed in the empire of the Ottomans, and traversed the\nprovinces, which were formerly the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria. This\nSyria, said I to myself, now almost depopulated, then contained a\nhundred flourishing cities, and abounded with towns, villages and\nhamlets. What has become of those ages of abundance and of life? Great\nGod! from whence proceed such melancholy revolutions? For what cause is\nthe fortune of these countries so strikingly changed? Why are so many\ncities destroyed? Why is not that ancient population reproduced and\nperpetuated? A mysterious God exercises His incomprehensible judgments.\nHe has doubtless pronounced a secret malediction against the earth.\nHe has struck with a curse the present race of men in revenge of past\ngenerations.\" (_Volney's Ruins, Book I_),\n\nThe malediction is no secret to any one who will read the twenty-ninth\nchapter of Deuteronomy.\n\nOf Jerusalem it was predicted, \"It shall be trodden down of the\nGentiles.\" Saracens, Turks, Crusaders and pilgrims from all parts of\nthe earth {145} have been and are fulfilling this prediction at the\npresent day. Of the temple, it was said, \"There shall not be left\none stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.\" History has\npreserved, and the Jews to this day curse the name of the soldier,\nTerentius Rufus, who plowed up the foundations of the temple. The Roman\nemperor, Julian, attempted to falsify the Savior's words, \"Behold, your\nhouse is left unto you desolate;\" and sent his friend, Alypius, with a\nRoman army and abundant treasure, to rebuild it. The Jews flocked from\nall parts to assist in the work; but the combined forces were obliged\nto desist from the attempt. \"Horrible balls of fire, breaking out from\nthe foundations with repeated attacks, rendered the place inaccessible\nto the scorched workmen and the enterprise was dropped.\" (_Ammiam\nMarcellus, Book xxiii, chap_. 1).\n\nSuch is the testimony of a heathen, confirmed by Jews and Christians.\nThe Mahometan Mosque of Omar now rears its lofty dome where once stood\nthe Temple of Solomon, and no Jew is permitted to tread that sacred\nspot.\n\nOf the Israelitish nation God predicted that it should be a peculiar,\ndistinct people, dispersed among, yet separate from, the other nations\nof the earth: \"I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like\nas corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon\nthe earth.\" (_Amos ix_, 9). Again, \"And yet, for all that, when they\nare in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither\nwill I abhor them to destroy them {146} utterly, and to break my\ncovenant with them; for I am the Lord their God.\" (_Lev. xxvi_, 44).\n\nHere are four distinct predictions; national peculiarity, grievous\noppression, universal dispersion and remarkable preservation. The\nfulfillment is obvious and undeniable. The infidel is sorely perplexed\nto give any account of this great phenomenon. How does it happen\nthat these singular people are dispersed over all the earth, and for\neighteen hundred years have resisted all the influences of nature,\nall the customs of society and all the powers of persecution driving\nthem toward amalgamation, and irresistible in all other instances. In\nspite of the power of imperial Rome and the tortures of the Spanish\nInquisition, amid the chaos of Asiatic and African tribes, and the\nfusion of American democracy, on the plains of Australia and the\nstreets of San Francisco, the religion and the customs of the children\nof Israel are as distinct this day as they were three thousand years\nago when Moses wrote them in the Pentateuch, and their physiognomy\nthe same as when Shishak caused them to be engraven on the monuments\nof ancient Karnack. Human sagacity cannot explain these facts as they\nexist to-day, much less could it foretell them three thousand years ago.\n\nDid space permit, it might be shown that the predictions against the\nseven churches of Asia, were literally fulfilled. (_See Rev. i and ii_).\n\nEphesus, once famous for its magnificence and the great temple of\nDiana, the mart of commerce {147} and the busy avenue of travel, was\nthe first to receive the doom of abused privileges: \"I will remove thy\ncandlestick out of its place unless thou repent.\"\n\n\"A few unintelligible heaps of stone,\" says Arundell, \"with some mud\ncottages untenanted, are all that remain of the great city of the\nEphesians. Even the sea has retired from the scene of desolation, and\na pestilential morass, covered with mud and rushes, has succeeded to\nthe waters which brought up the ships laden with merchandise\" from the\nwhole known world.\n\nLaodicea, some of whose public buildings would contain 100,000 persons;\nSardis, that once contained more specie than is now in circulation in\nthe United States; Thyatira, that once manufactured the royal purple of\nkings and princes; Pergamos, the seat of learning and the birth-place\nof Galen, the father of medicine; all these cities are in ruins. Amid\nthe fallen columns and broken arches, the temple of Jupiter, of Venus\nor of Diana, will equally elude the search of the curious traveler.\nThey have all received their doom according to the words of Jesus. Yet,\nSmyrna, against which no doom was pronounced, is still the queen city\nof Asia Minor; and Philadelphia, of which it was said, \"I will write\nupon him my new name,\" is still erect--a column in a scene of ruins.\nThe prediction of the Savior is fulfilled in its modern name, _Allah\nSehr--the city of God_.\n\nThe prophecies regarding the Messiah and their fulfillment might also\nbe noticed. The time, the {148} place, the manner of His birth, His\nparentage and reception, were plainly declared, hundreds of years\nbefore He appeared. Compare Micah v. 2, and Matthew ii. 1; also Isaiah\nlxi. 1, and Matthew xi. 5; likewise Isaiah liii. 3, and Matthew xxvi.\n56. These and many other passages prove that the character and mission\nof the coming Messiah were pointedly foretold long before He made His\nappearance in the flesh.\n\nThe one grand, unparalleled fact of the resurrection from the tomb\nis also predicted, \"Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor wilt\nThou give Thine Holy One to see corruption\" (_Psalm xvi_. 10). Often\ndid Jesus predict this event before friend and foe. Even His enemies\ndeclared, \"Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was\nyet alive. After three days I will rise again.\" The last chapters of\nthe gospel relate the proofs by which He convinced His incredulous\ndisciples that the prophecy was fulfilled, \"Behold my hands and my\nfeet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not\nflesh and bones as ye see me have. And when He had thus spoken He\nshowed them His hands and His feet. And while they yet believed not for\njoy and wondered. He saith unto them, 'Have ye here any meat?' And they\ngave Him a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb. And He took it\nand did eat before them\" (_Luke xxiv_. 39). Afterwards, \"He led them\nout as far as to Bethany and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.\nAnd while He was blessing them He was parted from them and carried\nup into {149} heaven\" (_Luke xxiv_. 50, 51). And while they looked\nsteadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold two men stood by them\nin white apparel and said, \"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up\ninto heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,\nshall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven\" (_Acts\ni_. 10-12). With our own eyes we shall see the fulfillment of this\nprophecy. Every eye shall see Him. The clouds of heaven shall then\nreveal the vision now sketched on the page of revelation.\n\nIn conclusion, let us notice a few of the prophecies given through the\nProphet Joseph, and their wonderful fulfillment. When Joseph Smith was\nan obscure, unlearned youth, living at his father's house, in the then\nsparsely settled region of western New York, the angel Moroni told him\nthat God had a work for him to do, and that his name should be had\nfor good and evil among all nations, kindreds and tongues. Men of all\nclasses are witnesses how literally this has been fulfilled.\n\nThen, again, in 1832, when the United States were enjoying the\nblessings of profound peace, the Lord declared, by the mouth of the\nProphet Joseph: \"Verily, thus saith the Lord, concerning the wars\nthat will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South\nCarolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of\nmany souls. * * * * * *\n\nFor behold the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern\nStates and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the\nnation {150} of Great Britain, as it is called,\" etc., (_Doc. and\nCov., Sec. lxxxvii_). The whole adult population of the United States\nare witnesses of the fulfillment of this prophecy. For many years it\nremained unfulfilled, and the Elders who proclaimed it met with scorn\nand sneers; but, at length, arrived the terrible havoc and storm of\nwar. There had been many rebellions within the territory of the United\nStates. In Virginia had occurred Bacon's rebellion; in Maryland,\nClayborne's rebellion; in New England, the insurrection, controlled by\nthe Hartford convention, of 1814; in Western Pennsylvania, the State of\nFranklin, had, at one time, held a political existence for nearly two\nyears. Then, by what human sagacity was it predicted that the war must\ncommence in South Carolina? Let the skeptic read and ponder.\n\n{151}\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nINFIDEL OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.\n\nARROGANCE OF INFIDELS--THEIR IGNORANCE--SUN'S HEAT--SATURN'S RINGS--A\nSCIENTIST'S THEORY OF THE DELUGE--DENSITY OF COMETS--THE MILKY\nWAY--UNKNOWN FORCES OF THE UNIVERSE--ANTIQUITY OF THE EARTH--TEACHINGS\nOF ANCIENT PROPHETS--TEACHINGS OF PRIMITIVE CHURCH--MODERN SCIENTISTS.\n\nThe grand error of infidel theories in regard to creation lies in the\narrogant assumption on which every one of them must be founded. They\nassume that the theorist is acquainted with all substances and all\nforces in the universe, and with all the modes of their operation.\nThis knowledge must apply, not merely to the present age, but to\nall past epochs; not merely to this world, but, likewise, to others\nin widely different and utterly unknown situations and conditions.\nOtherwise, that unknown force must have had its influence in framing\nthe world. For instance, a theory of creation which would neglect the\nattraction of gravitation would be manifestly false. But there are\nother laws, the power of repulsion, for instance, whose omission would\nbe equally fatal. Skeptics {152} are aware of this fact, and have\nsought to simplify matters, by reducing all substances to a few simple\nelements, and all forces to the form of one universal law. Instead\nof this, chemistry, every year, reveals new substances and increases\nour knowledge of nature's variety. At one time, it was boasted that\nastronomy would enable us to account for all the operations of the\nuniverse; but, instead of this, it has revealed substances and forces,\nwhose nature and combinations are entirely unknown.\n\nFor example, it is estimated that the sun's heat at its surface is\n300,000 times greater than at the surface of the earth. An exceedingly\nfew rays of the sun, concentrated by a burning mirror, will convert\ngold and platina into vapor. At this rate, it is calculated that \"if a\ncataract of icebergs, a mile high and as broad as the Atlantic ocean,\nwas launched into the sun, with the velocity of a cannon ball, it would\nbe converted into steam as fast as it entered his atmosphere, without\ncooling his surface in the least degree. But how is such an enormous\nheat kept up? Hitherto, every discovery, so far from giving us an\nexplanation, seems rather to remove farther the prospect of probable\nexplanation.\" (_Outlines of Astronomy, Vol. vi., p_. 400.) Yet the sun\nis the nearest of the fixed stars, by far the best known, and most\nnearly related to us. In fact, we are dependent on his influence for\nlife and health. But if the infidel cannot tell the sun's substance,\nor the nature and cause of the light and heat he sends us, how can he\npresume to {153} tell us how this same sun was formed, or declare that\nthe Biblical account is false?\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: VIEW OF SATURN, SHOWING RINGS.]\n\nConcerning the nearest planets, how little do we know! Are they\nbuilt of the same materials as our planet? Are Saturn's rings solid\nor liquid? The planet, Saturn, is surrounded with a revolving belt\nconsisting of several distinct rings, containing an estimated area a\nhundred and forty-six times greater than the surface of our globe,\nwith a thickness of a hundred miles. From mechanical considerations,\nit has been proved that these rings could not be of uniform thickness\nall around, else when a majority of her seven moons were on the same\nside, the attraction would draw them in upon her on the opposite side;\nand once attracted to her surface, they could never get loose again,\nif they were solid. It was next ascertained that the motion of the\nmoons of Saturn and her rings was such that the rings must be capable\nof changing their thickness according to circumstances. Finally, it\nwas demonstrated that these rings were fluid and that their density\nis nearly that of water, and that the inner portion, at least, is so\ntransparent {154} that the planet has been seen through it. The rings\nof Saturn are, then, a stream or streams of fluid, rather denser than\nwater, flowing about the planet. This extraordinary fact, which shows\nhow God can deluge a planet when He pleases, is given in the language\nof a philosopher whose thoughtless illustration of revelation is all\nthe more valuable that it is unintentional:\n\n\"M. Otto Struve, Mr. Bond and Sir David Brewster are agreed that\nSaturn's third ring is fluid, that it is gradually approaching the body\nof Saturn, and that we may expect, sooner or later, to see it united\nwith the body of the planet. With this deluge impending, Saturn would\nscarcely be a very eligible residence for men whatever it might be for\ndolphins.\" (_See Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1856, p_. 377.)\n\nLet the skeptic show that God did not, or could not suspend a similar\ncelestial ocean over the earth, or cease to pronounce a universal\ndeluge impossible.\n\nAgain, it may be asked. Has the moon an atmosphere? Are the atmospheres\nof the planets like ours? What is the cause of the light and heat of\nthe sun? These and many other questions scientists variously answer,\nbut leave unanswered after all.\n\nComets constitute by far the greatest number of the bodies of our\nsolar system. Arago says seven millions frequent it, within the orbit\nof Uranus. They are the largest bodies known to us, stretching across\nhundreds of millions of miles.\n\n{155} [ILLUSTRATION: THE COMET OF 1811.]\n\nThey approach nearer to this earth than any other bodies, sometimes\neven involving it in their tails, and generally exciting great alarm\namong its inhabitants. But the nature of the transparent, luminous\nmatter of which they are composed is utterly unknown. While their\ndensity was doubtful, they formed very convenient material for the\natheist's world-factory; but recently they have been literally\ndissipated into smoke by powerful telescopes. In fact a respectable\nwreath of smoke is quite substantial compared with the densest\nof the comets. Stars of the smallest magnitude remain distinctly\nvisible though covered by what appears to be their densest portion;\nalthough these same stars would be completely obscured by a moderate\nfog extending only a few yards above the {156} earth. Neither are\nthey dense enough to cast a shadow. It is thus evident that the most\nsubstantial clouds which float in our atmosphere are dense and massy\nbodies compared with the filmy and all but spiritual texture of a\ncomet's tail.\n\nNeither do men understand the laws that govern the motion of comets.\nAs they approach the sun, they come under an influence directly the\nopposite of attraction. While the body of the comet travels towards the\nsun, sometimes with a velocity nearly one-third of that of light, the\ntail shoots forth in the opposite direction with much greater velocity.\nThe greatest velocity with which we are acquainted on earth is the\nvelocity of light, which travels a million times faster than a cannon\nball, or at the rate of 195,000 miles per second.\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: COMET PASSING ROUND THE SUN (ITS PERIHELION).]\n\nBut infidels tell us that the universe is infinite, and therefore\nself-existent. This assertion is essential to their creed. They must\nestablish this fact {157} before they can convince themselves or any\nother person, that the universe had no Creator; for that which exists\nby the necessity of its own nature must exist in all time and in every\nplace. But it can be easily shown that our solar system has boundaries,\nand does not fill the immensity of space. That broad band of luminous\nclouds, which stretches across the heaven, called the Milky Way,\nconsists of millions of stars, so small and distant that we cannot see\nthe individual stars, and so numerous that we cannot help seeing the\nlight of the mass; just as we may see the outline of a forest at a\ndistance, but are unable to distinguish the individual trees. Besides\nthe Milky Way there are many other star-clouds, in various parts of the\nheavens, which have successively been shown by the telescope to consist\nof multitudes of stars. But all around these star-clouds, or Nebulae\nas they are called, the clear blue sky is discovered by the naked eye.\nNow it is easy to perceive that if all the regions of space were filled\nwith self-luminous suns or planets capable of reflecting light, or even\ncomets, we should see no blue sky at all: in a word, the whole heaven\nwould be one vast Milky Way.\n\nThough the telescope discovers multitudes of stars where the naked eye\nsees none, yet they are seen projected on a perfectly dark heaven. \"And\neven through the Milky Way, and the other star-clouds, the telescope\npenetrates through intervals absolutely dark and completely void of any\nstar of the smallest telescopic magnitude\" (_Outlines of Astronomy,\nchap. xvii_). {158} It may assist us to understand the full import of\nthis declaration to remember that the largest telescopes now in use,\nclearly define any object on the moon's surface as large as the Deseret\nBank. We may comprehend to some extent their power of penetrating\nspace by the fact that light, which flashes from San Francisco to\nLondon quicker than you can close your eye and open it again requires\n_thousands of years_ to travel to our earth from the most distant stars\ndiscernible by these telescopes. If a solar system like ours existed\nanywhere within this amazing distance these telescopes would certainly\nreveal it. In gazing through these instruments we are made to feel most\nsensibly that not merely this world which constitutes our earthly all,\nand yon glorious sun which shines upon it, but all the host of heaven's\nsuns, planets, moons and firmaments, which our unaided eyes behold,\nare but as the handful of sand of the ocean shore, compared with the\nimmensity of the universe. But ever, and along with this it has shown\nus the ocean, as well as the shore, and revealed boundless regions\nof darkness and solitude stretching around and far away beyond these\nislands of existence.\n\nWhen we come to consider the vastness of these regions of darkness,\nover which _no light has traveled for millions of years_, and remember\nalso that astronomers have looked clear through the nebulae, and find\nthat they bear no more proportion to the infinite darkness behind them,\nthan the sparks of a chimney do to the extent of the sky against {159}\nwhich they seem projected, so far from imagining the solar system to be\ninfinite, we stand confounded at its relative insignificance.\n\nThere is no possible evasion of this great fact. It cannot be objected\n\"that stars may exist at vast distances, whose light has not yet\nreached the limits of our system;\" for there is no possible distance\nover which light could not have traveled, during eternal duration.\nBut the eternal existence of these stars is the very thing which the\natheist is concerned to prove. If we admit that these worlds had a\nbeginning, we are compelled to seek a cause for that beginning: that is\nto say, a Creator.\n\nNor will it answer the purpose to say, \"that these dark regions may\nbe filled with dark stars.\" If it could be proven that some stars\nshine, while others are dark; then why this difference? Variety is an\neffect, and demands a prior cause. Worlds therefore do not exist by the\nnecessity of their own nature, wherever there is room for them, but\nmust have had a pre-existent, external and supernatural cause of their\nexistence in the places where they exist. This implies design--will--\nGod.\n\nIn these amazing disclosures of the unknown forces of the heavens, do\nwe not hear a voice rebuking the presumption of ignorant theorists,\nand asking, \"Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set\nthe dominion thereof in the earth\" (_Job xxxviii_. 33). How many\ninfluences, hitherto undiscovered by our ruder senses, may be ever\n{160} streaming toward us, and modifying every terrestrial action. And\nyet, because man has traced a little concerning one or two of these\nlaws, we have deemed our astronomy complete. We have no reason, save\nour own self-sufficient arrogance, to believe that the discovery of\nthese forces exhausts the treasures of infinite wisdom.\n\nBut the infidel asks us, \"Does not the Bible make a false declaration,\nwhen it says that the universe was created only some six or seven\nthousand years ago?\" We reply by asking, _Where does the Bible say\nso_? \"But,\" says our objector, \"is not this the doctrine held by the\nvarious sects and taught by the various commentators?\" That is not the\nquestion before us just now. We are not asking what sects believe, or\nuninspired teachers teach; but, \"What does the Bible say.\" The Bible\nuniformly attributes the most remote antiquity to the work of creation.\n\"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth\" (_Gen. i_,\n1). So far from supposing man's appearance on the earth to be even\napproximately coeval with the creation, human presumption is reproved\nin the remarkable words, \"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations\nof the earth?\" (_Job, xxxviii_. 4.) In majestic contrast with the frail\nhuman race, Moses glances at the primeval monuments of God's antiquity,\nas though by them he might form some faint conceptions of eternity, and\nsings, \"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst\nformed the earth and the world, even from everlasting, to everlasting\nthou art God\" (_Ps. xc_, 2). The {161} very phrase _in the beginning_,\nis in itself an emphatic refutation of the notion, that the work of\ncreation is only some six or seven thousand years old. Geologists have\nbeen unable to invent a better, and have borrowed from the Bible this\nvery form of speech, to designate as the _primary formations_, those\nstrata beyond which human knowledge cannot penetrate. This phrase,\nin Bible language, marks the last promontory on the boundless ocean\nof past eternity: the only positive phrase, by which we can express\nthe most remote period of past duration. It expresses not a date--a\npoint of duration; but a period--a vast cycle. But one boundary is\nperceptible to mortals: that where creation rises from its abyss.\nCreated eye has never seen the other shore.\n\nLet the geologist then penetrate as deeply as he can into the\nprofundities of the earth's foundations, and bring forth the monuments\nof their hoary antiquity; we will follow with unfaltering faith. Let\nthe astronomer raise his telescope and reflect, on our astonished eyes,\nthe light which flashed from morning stars, on the first day of this\nearth's existence, or even the rays which began to travel from distant\nsuns millions of years ere the first morning dawned on our planet:\nthey shall shed a sacred lustre over the pages of inspiration, and\ngive new beauties of illustration to its majestic symbols. But never\nin this life will geologists penetrate the depth of its mysteries, nor\nastronomers attain the sublimity of that beginning revealed in its\npages. It is placed in an {162} antiquity beyond the power of human\ncalculation, in that sublime sentence with which it introduces mortals\nto the Eternal, \"In the beginning God created the heavens and the\nearth.\"\n\nThe doctrine of the creation the earth only six or seven thousand years\nago is a product of monkish ignorance. Clemens of Alexandria, who lived\nin the second century of the Christian era, and Justin Martyr, who was\na disciple and companion of the Apostle John, both teach the existence\nof an indefinite period between the creation and the preparatory work,\nfitting it for the habitation of man. The Jewish rabbis also are\nperfectly explicit in recognizing these distinctions.\n\nBut it is replied, \"Does not the Bible say, in the fourth commandment,\n'In six days the Lord made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all\nthat in them is?' etc\" True. But we are speaking just now of a very\ndifferent work; the work of creation. If any one does not know the\ndifference between create and make, let him turn to his dictionary,\nand Webster will inform him. If he has no dictionary, he can satisfy\nhimself thoroughly, as to the different meanings of these two words, by\nlooking at their use in the Bible. He will find the term create used\nwhen there were no organized materials to form the earth from; unless\nwe adopt the infidel absurdity that the paving stones made themselves.\nHe will also find that the term make is applied to the adjusting of the\nearth in its present condition (_see Gen., i_, 21 _and_ 27. _Psalms,\nli_, 10. _Ecclesiastes, xii_, 1. _Col, i_, 16).\n\n{163} But between these two widely different processes, namely the\ncreation, and the organizing of the world there intervened a period of\nindefinite length. That original chaos, which some would find in the\nsecond verse, never had an existence save in the brains of atheistic\nphilosophers. It is purely absurd. The crystals of the smallest grain\nof sand, the sporules of the humblest fungus on the rotten tree, and\nthe animalculae in the filthiest pool of mud, are as orderly in their\narrangements, as perfect after their kind, and as wisely adapted to\ntheir station as the most perfect beings on the earth.\n\nIf then astronomers and geologists assert that the earth was millions\nor hundreds of millions of years in process of preparation for its\npresent state, by a long series of successive destructions and\nrenovations, and gradual formations, there is not one word in the Bible\nto contradict that opinion; but on the contrary, very many texts which\nfully and unequivocally imply its truth.\n\nInfidels frequently attempt to make sport of the figures of sacred\npoetry such as the \"pillars,\" and \"windows of heaven,\" the \"corners\nof the earth,\" the \"four winds of heaven,\" etc. One prominent infidel\nwriter asserts that Moses was so ignorant of the nature of the\natmosphere, and the origin of rain that he taught that the firmament\nwas simply a brazen hemisphere or huge caldron placed in an inverted\nposition over the earth, that a fresh-water ocean was outside of this,\nand that the figurative term \"windows of heaven\" meant trap-doors to\nlet {164} the waters descend in the form of rain upon the inhabitants\nof the earth. If so, Moses did not put his teachings into practice;\nfor we find that he set up a brazen hemisphere in the tabernacle and\nplaced its mouth upwards and put water on the inside of it. Such\nare the miserable subterfuges to which infidels will resort when\nin want of an argument. They seem to forget that a thousand years\nbefore skeptics had learned to talk nonsense about crystal spheres,\nand trap-doors in the bottom of celestial oceans, the writers of\nthe Bible were recording those conversations of pious philosophers\nconcerning stars, clouds and rain, from which Galileo derived the\nfirst hints of the causes of barometrical phenomena. The origin of\nrain, its proportion to the amount of evaporation, and the mode of\nits distribution by condensation, could not be propounded by Humboldt\nhimself with greater clearness than they are described by Job, the\nancient philosopher of the land of Uz. \"He maketh small the drops of\nwater: they pour down rain according to the vapor thereof, which the\nclouds do draw and distil upon man abundantly\" (_Job xxxvi_. 27).\nThe cause of this rarefaction of cold water, is as much a mystery to\nmodern scientific associations as it was to Job and Elihu; and even\nwere all the electrical tension of vapors disclosed, \"the balancing of\nthe clouds\" would only be more clearly discovered to be, as the Bible\ndeclares, \"the wonderful works of Him, who is perfect in knowledge.\"\nThree thousand years before the theory of the trade winds was {165}\ndemonstrated by Maury, it was written in the Bible, \"The wind goeth\ntoward the south, and turneth about unto the north,\" and, \"The wind\nreturneth again according to his circuits\" (_Eccl. i_, 6). Thousands\nof years before Newton, Galileo and Copernicus were born, Isaiah\nwas writing about the orbit of the earth and the earth's relative\ninsignificance (_Isaiah xl_, 22). Even the modern names of some of the\nconstellations of the heavens were known to the ancients. \"Canst thou\nbind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?\"\n(_Job xxxviii_, 31).\n\nOne of the most vaunted objections, which infidels bring against the\nBible, is that which represents God as creating light before the\nsun, and the sun, moon and stars, only two days before the creation\nof man. They seem to forget that the term to create is nowhere used\nin connection with the preparing of the earth for the habitation of\nman. By careful reading it will be seen at once that the darkness\nspoken of in the first chapter of Genesis had reference to this planet\nonly. There is not the remotest hint, in any portion of scripture,\nthat any other planet or star was shrouded in gloom at that time. On\nthe contrary, we are most distinctly informed that the wonders which\nGod was performing in this world, at that very time, were distinctly\nvisible amid the cheerful illumination of other orbs. \"When the morning\nstars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy,\" as this\nearth emerged from its primeval darkness.\n\n{166} True the Bible represents that this earth was illuminated\nat a time when the sun was not visible from its surface. Now, if\nany one will presume to scoff at the Bible for speaking of light\nwithout sunshine--as infidels frequently do--what will he say of the\nlight which exists in the midst of a London fog or on the banks of\nNewfoundland? To understand, how there may be day without sunshine,\nwe need only conceive the whole earth enveloped in vapors such as\nHumboldt describes a portion of Peru. \"A thick mist obscures the\nfirmament in this region for many months. If by chance the sun's disc\nbecomes visible during the day, it appears devoid of rays, as if seen\nthrough colored glasses. According to what modern geology has taught\nus concerning the ancient history of our atmosphere, its primitive\ncondition must have been unfavorable to the transmission of light\"\n(_Humboldt's Cosmos, Vol iii, p_. 139).\n\nDr. Dana is evidently of the same opinion. In speaking of the formation\nof coal and the peculiar vegetation which flourished upon the earth\nduring that period, the remains of which are found imbedded in the\ncoal measures; he says, \"In the Pacific ocean, off the coast of Chili,\nthere is an island named Chiloe, where it rains 300 days in the year,\nand where the light of the sun is shut out by perpetual fogs. On this\nisland, arborescent ferns, form forests, beneath which grow herbaceous\nferns, which rise three feet and upwards above a marshy soil, and a\nmass of plants flourish there, {167} resembling in their main features\nthe plants found in the coal fields\" (_Manual of Geology_, 1880). Thus\nscience corroborates the word of God.\n\nAnother favorite theory of the unbeliever is the uniformity of nature.\n\"Where,\" says he, \"is the promise of Christ's coming to judgment;\nfor since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were\nsince the beginning of the world?\" But on examination astronomy\ndispels the illusion, exhibits the course of nature as a succession\nof catastrophies, displays the conflagration of other worlds, and\nthe extinction of other suns, before our eyes, and asks, _Why should\nour sun differ from other suns_? In short there is no permanence\nin the heavens, any more than on the earth; but a perpetual change\nis the destiny of suns and stars. A few instances it may be well\nto transcribe: \"On the 11th of November, 1572, as the illustrious\nDanish astronomer, Tycho Brahe, was walking through the fields, he\nwas astonished to observe a new star in the constellation Cassiopea,\nbeaming with a radiance quite unwonted in that part of the heavens.\nSuspecting some delusion about his eyes, he went to a group of peasants\nto ascertain if they saw it, and found them gazing at it with as much\nastonishment as himself. He went to his instrument and fixed its\nplace, from which it never after appeared to deviate. For some time it\nincreased in brightness--greatly surpassing Sirius in luster, and even\nJupiter--so that it could be seen by good eyes in the day time. After\nreaching its greatest brightness, it again diminished, {168} assuming\nin succession the hues of a dying conflagration, and then finally\ndisappeared. It is impossible to imagine anything more tremendous than\na conflagration that could be visible at such a distance\" (_Nicholl's\nSolar System, page_ 118).\n\nSir John Herschell describes the star, Eta Argus, which, in the year\n1837, went through similar variations. Humboldt gives a catalogue of\ntwenty-four such stars, whose variations have been recorded, and asks,\n_Why should our sun differ from other suns?_ \"What we no longer see is\nnot necessarily annihilated. It is merely the transition of matter into\nnew forms--into combinations which are subject to new processes. Dark\ncosmical bodies may, by a new process of light, again become luminous\"\n(_Cosmos Vol. III, page_ 232).\n\nNicholl sums up the matter in the following emphatic words: \"No more is\nlight inherent in the sun than in Tycho's vanished star; and with it\nand other orbs a time may come when the sun shall cease to be required\nto shine. The womb which contains the future is that which bore the\npast\" (_Solar System, page_ 190).\n\nThe threatenings of God's word are invested with a mantle of terrible\nliterality by the facts we have been contemplating.\n\n{169}\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nMOSES AND MODERN SCIENCE.\n\nSCIENCE AGREES WITH RELIGION--NEBULAR THEORY--SUN A DARK BODY--SUN\nSPOTS--VARIOUS SOURCES OF LIGHT--PRIMEVAL OCEAN--DENSITY OF EARLY\nATMOSPHERE--VEGETATION OF COAL PERIOD EVERYWHERE IDENTICAL--UNIFORMITY\nOF CLIMATE.\n\nThere is a class of aspirants to gentility who refuse to recognize any\nperson not dressed in the style which they suppose fashionable among\nthe higher classes. A story is told of a wealthy Glasgow brewer's wife,\nwho, attired in all the magnificence of her satins, laces and jewelry,\nwas driving out in her carriage one day in the vicinity of Balmoral.\nA quiet lady, clad in a plain, gingham dress and gray shawl, was\ngathering a bouquet of wild flowers in the hedge, and as the carriage\npassed by, wished the occupant a pleasant \"good morning,\" to which the\nbrewer's wife answered by a contemptuous nod, but afterwards learned\nto her great mortification, that she had thus lost an opportunity\nof forming an acquaintance with Queen Victoria. So a large class of\npretenders to science refuse to become acquainted with Bible {170}\ntruth, because it is not shrouded in the technicalities of science, but\ndisplays itself in the plain speech of the common people to whom it was\ngiven.\n\nOf late years the first chapter of Genesis has been assailed by\nscientists in such a manner that even some professing Christians and\nother devout believers in the Old Testament have come to doubt the\nauthenticity of that chapter; while the efforts of some modern divines\nto interpret its sayings so as to conform to the declarations of\nso-called science, have in some cases been pitiful to behold. We do\nnot claim that what is called science is infallible. True science is\nindisputable. But much that is called science is only theory. In the\nwritings of learned men, concerning the formation of the world, and\ngeologic processes and periods, there is a large mixture of theory\nand guess-work along with some demonstrated facts and principles. We\nbelieve, however, that there is no real conflict between the Mosaic\naccount of the creation and the nebular theory, which is the most\nwidely accepted among the most prominent scientists.\n\nThe Bible declares, \"In the beginning God created the heavens and\nthe earth.\" Science admits that there was a \"Great First Cause.\" The\nworld-famous scientist, Herbert Spencer, says, \"The universe had its\norigin in the unknown source of things.\" The Bible declares, \"The\nearth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of\nthe deep.\" Science teaches us that matter primarily existed without\nany form, in a highly {171} attenuated and invisible condition, but\ncontaining all the elements which now compose the solid and fluid\nportions of the earth, and while it was in this condition it was\nnon-luminous. Before motion there was no light. The Bible says the\n\"Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.\" (The original word\n_mayhim_ means literally a flowing, non-solid, fluid substance.)\nScientists admit that motion as well as matter demands a cause, and\nthat the earth was then a flowing or movable substance or fluid.\nThus we see that the description given by Moses of that far, far off\nperiod is not only correct but likewise has a depth of meaning that is\nperfectly sublime.\n\nLet us now turn to another chapter in nature's volume and compare it\nwith the second event mentioned by Moses. \"And God said. Let there be\nlight: and there was light.\" Scientists admit that the first visible\neffect of motion in the fluid mass was the giving out of light. And\nhere it may not be out of place to give a concise description of the\nnebular theory:\n\n\"La Place conceived the sun to be at one period the nucleus of a vast\nnebula or star-cloud, the matter of which extended beyond what is\nnow the orbit of the remotest planet of the solar system. This mass\nof matter in process of condensation, and probably by the agency of\nelectricity, was endued with a circulating motion around its center\nof gravity. The tendency which all revolving bodies possess to fly\noff from the center, caused portions of this nebula in process of\ncondensation, {172} to detach themselves from the parent mass, and form\nthemselves into concentric rings, which afterwards, by condensation and\nelectrical action, separated themselves into distinct bodies. These\nmasses, which hence constituted the various planets, in their turn\ncondensing after the manner of the parent mass and abandoning their\noutlying matter, became surrounded by similar concentric rings, which\nin turn formed satellites or moons surrounding the various planetary\nmasses. In proof of this, the case of the planet Saturn has been cited\nto show that the work of creation is still in progress. As is well\nknown, this planet is surrounded by a revolving belt, consisting of\nseveral distinct rings still unbroken.\"\n\nWhile infidels are scoffing at the idea of light without the sun,\nmodern science has discovered the astonishing fact, that even at this\nmoment the globe of the sun is not a source of light to itself much\nless to us; that, in fact light is no more connected with the sun than\nwith a candlestick. The sun consists mainly of a dark nucleus, like\nthe body of the earth and other planetary globes, surrounded by two\natmospheres of enormous depths, the one nearest to him being cloudy\nand dense like our atmosphere, while the loftier stratum consists\nof dazzling electric and phosphorescent zephyrs that, bestow light\non so many surrounding spheres. This phosphorescent atmosphere, or\n_photosphere_, as it is called, is by no means inseparably attached\nto the surface of the nucleus or dark body beneath. Nor is it in any\ndegree stable, but is subject to {173} extensive fluctuations and the\nmost violent commotions, being frequently swayed and whirled aside,\nlaying bare the surface of the dark globe beneath for thousands of\nmiles to the observation of astronomers, and even to the naked eye.\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: THE SUN AS SEEN BY MR. PROCTOR SEPTEMBER 25TH, 1870.]\n\nIn the month of June, 1843, a spot was visible which, according to the\nmeasurements of Schwabe, the astronomer, had a length of no less than\n74,816 miles. On March 15th, 1858, observers of the great solar eclipse\nhad an opportunity of seeing a spot which had a breadth of 107,520\nmiles. But {174} the most remarkable view of the sun was that exhibited\nSeptember 25th, 1870. One of the openings was so vast that it was\ncalculated that eighteen of our worlds, placed side by side, would have\nscarcely filled the chasm.\n\nThe latest discoveries in science tend rather to demonstrate that the\nsun's light is but very faintly visible on his globe; and that there is\nno such thing as solar heat. What is popularly called so is only the\nheat caused by the friction of the waves of light passing through the\natmosphere, or striking against the earth. \"We approach the question of\nthe sun's inhabitability,\" says Sir David Brewster, \"with the certain\nknowledge that the sun is not a red hot globe, but that its nucleus is\na solid, opaque mass, receiving very little light from its luminous\natmosphere.\" \"For ought we know the dark, solid nucleus of the sun may\nhave existed for millions of years and given out no light whatever.\nIt is quite possible that variations of the sun's light may have been\ncaused through electrical action. The telescope has shown us that the\nfixed stars are also luminous bodies similar to our sun, only very far\ndistant from us. Some of these have suddenly flashed into existence,\nwhere none were previously visible. The appearance of twenty-one such\nstars is on record. Others have greatly increased in brightness; and,\nstill further, many familiar suns have ceased to shine. On a careful\nre-examination of the heavens, many stars are found to be missing.\"\n(_Herschel's Outlines, Sec_. 832.)\n\n{175} The variation of our supply of light from the sun is the only\nexplanation we have of the great alternations of heat and cold which\nhave been so extensive as, at one period, to have clothed high northern\nlatitudes, such as Greenland and Siberia, with a more than tropical\nluxuriance of vegetation, and, at another time, to have buried vast\ntracts of Europe and America, now enjoying a genial climate, under vast\nglaciers and mountains of ice.\n\nAgain, light, so far from being solely derived from the sun, exists\nin, and can be educed from almost any known substance. The metallic\nbases of most earths and alkalies are capable of emitting light in\nsuitable electrical conditions, and a brilliant flame can be produced\nby the combustion even of water. All the metals can be made to flash\nforth lightnings under suitable electric and magnetic excitements; and\nthe crystals of several rocks give out light during the process of\ncrystallization. Thousands of miles of the earth's surface must once\nhave presented the lurid glow of a vast furnace of melted granite.\nEven at a far later period of its history, it may have shone with a\nluster little inferior to that of the sun; for lime, of which unknown\nthousands of miles of its strata consist, when subject to a heat much\nless than that produced by contact with melted granite or lava, emits\na brilliant, white light of such intensity that the eye cannot support\nits luster. (_See Turner's Chemistry, Sec_. 160.)\n\nAs is well known, the moon is a dark, opaque body, therefore the copper\ncolor of the moon, {176} during a total eclipse, when the dark side\nof the earth is turned towards the moon, shows us that the earth,\neven now, is a source of light. That God could command the light to\nshine out of darkness, and convert the very ocean into a magnificent\nillumination, the following fact clearly proves:\n\n\"Captain Bonnycastle coming up the gulf of St. Lawrence, on the 7th of\nSeptember, 1826, was roused by the mate of the vessel in great alarm\nfrom an unusual appearance. It was a starlight night, when suddenly\nthe sky became overcast in the direction of the highland of Cornwallis\nCounty, and an instantaneous and intensely vivid light, resembling the\naurora, or northern lights, shot out from the hitherto dark and gloomy\nsea, on the lee bow, which was so brilliant that it lighted every\nthing distinctly, even to the mast-head. The light spread over the sea\nbetween the two shores, and the waves, which before had been tranquil,\nnow began to be agitated. Captain Bonnycastle describes the scene as\nthat of a blazing sheet of awful and most brilliant light. A long and\nvivid line of light, superior in brightness to the parts of the sea not\nimmediately near the vessel, showed the base of the high, frowning and\ndark land abreast; the sky became lowering and more intensely obscure.\nLong, tortuous lines of light showed immense numbers of large fish\ndarting about as if in consternation. The top-sail yard and mizen boom\nwere lighted by the glare, as if gas-lights had been burning directly\nbelow them; and until just before daybreak, at four o'clock, the {177}\nmost minute objects were distinctly visible.\" (_Connection of Physical\nSciences, p_. 288.)\n\nIn the fourth and fifth verses of the first chapter of Genesis we are\ntold, \"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the\nlight from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness\nHe called night. And the evening and morning were the first day.\"\n\nIn spite of all the sneers of infidels, the candid reader finds the\ndivine record sublime in its simplicity. The good effect of light\nupon our planet was immediately apparent. The earth having now become\nsufficiently condensed to cast a shadow, there was, of course, one side\nenjoying the light of the sun while the other was in shadow. Thus the\ndark body of the earth was the means by which God divided the light\nfrom the darkness, as at the present; and the first rotation of the\nearth upon its axis causing the shadow and the light to be alternately\non every part of the earth, produced the evening and the morning of the\nfirst day. How long the first day was, we know not. From observations\nof phenomena going on in the Spiral Nebula at the present time, it is\nreasonable to suppose that the first revolution of the earth upon its\naxis occupied a vast epoch of time.\n\nThe next process in the organization of the earth was the forming of\nan atmosphere: \"And God said, let there be a firmament\" (literally,\n_expanse_) \"in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters\nfrom the waters. And God made the firmament, {178} and divided the\nwaters, which are under the firmament: and it was so.\" (_Gen. i_, 6-7).\n\nNow let us turn to the book of nature and see how science corroborates\nthese facts. Geologists tell us that the motion of the particles of\nmatter which form the earth, in course of condensation became very hot;\nfor heat and motion are only different names for the same thing. Heat\nis easily convertible into motion, as every one knows who has a steam\nengine, and motion can easily be changed into heat, as everybody knows,\nby friction, that is by rubbing two substances together.\n\nM. Mangin, in his \"Mysteries of the Ocean,\" thus graphically describes\nthe first formation of the universal ocean: \"As the earth continued\nto cool, a time arrived when its temperature became insufficient to\nmaintain in a state of vapor the vast masses of water which floated\nin the atmosphere. These vapors would pass into a liquid state, and\nthen the first rain fell upon the earth. This water would in turn be\nquickly evaporated and again ascend into the colder regions of space,\nwhere it would again condense and fall upon the earth. This might take\nplace many times; but each time much heat would be withdrawn from the\nsurface of the globe, and at last the waters would settle down and form\na universal ocean. And the evening and the morning were the second day.\"\n\nFurther we are told: \"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be\ngathered together unto {179} one place, and let the dry land appear:\nand it was so. And God called the dry land earth; and the gathering\ntogether of the waters called He seas.\" (_Gen. i_, 9,10).\n\nMark the phrase, _unto one place_. The oceans and seas are all\nconnected; they are only names for parts of one place or basin. In\nthe 104th Psalm we are told that God covered the earth \"With the deep\nas with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.\" Concerning\nthe early condition of the earth, science declares, that the waters\nencased the whole globe, and were above the early mountains, which were\nafterwards formed by the contortions caused by the shrinking of the\ncrust of the earth as it cooled.\n\nHelmholtz has calculated that the shrinking of the earth one\nten-thousandth of its diameter would generate an amount of heat equal\nto that which the earth receives from the sun during two thousand\nyears. From this fact we may easily perceive the causes of that\ninternal heat which, after the lapse of unknown ages, still manifests\nitself in geysers, earthquakes and volcanoes. Here, also, we may\nperceive that mighty force by which the Divine chemist prepared the\nmaterials for the earth's ultimate condition.\n\nWhen God created light. He pronounced it good; when He divided the\ndry land from the waters. He pronounced it good; but when He created\nthe firmament, or expanse. He did not declare it good. Why? Possibly\nbecause, until vegetation began, it was loaded with carbonic acid and\n{180} other poisonous gases, and totally unfit to support animal life.\nScience teaches us that this was the period when those strata known\nas the _primary rocks_ were formed. No remains of animal life can be\nfound in them. It is a well-known fact that most substances shrink\nas they cool. This is the principle that holds the tires upon wagon\nwheels. In the same manner the earth also shrank, in proportion, as it\ncooled. As the various parts might give out heat in an unequal manner,\nso irregularities would appear on its surface, forming the earliest\nmountain chains, valleys, rents and ravines. Gradually as these early\nmountains and table-lands rose above the surface of the primeval ocean,\nthe waves would dash against them and the rains fall, slowly wearing\naway the rocks and thus forming the earliest soil on the new-made world.\n\nContinuing our investigations, let us turn to another chapter of the\nbook of nature and see how closely the teachings of science agree with\nthe record given by Moses: \"And God said, Let the earth bring forth\ngrass\" (literally, sproutage), \"the herb yielding seed, and the fruit\ntree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the\nearth; and it was so.\" (_Gen. i_, 11.)\n\nMark the order: First, the sproutage; second, seed-bearing herbs;\nand thirdly, fruit-bearing trees. Now what does science say on this\nsubject? It tells us that the exact geological period, when plants\nfirst appeared upon the earth, cannot be told; for their delicate\nstructure was such that their earliest forms have been entirely\ndestroyed, unless {181} they are those which are still preserved in the\nstrata of the coal measures. The earliest forms of which we have any\nknowledge were flowerless plants, which produced minute spores instead\nof seeds. Among these may be classed fungi, mosses and ferns. Thus we\nsee how correctly Moses has described the first form of vegetable life\nby simply speaking of it as _sproutage_, without mentioning any seed.\n\n\n[ILLUSTRATIONS: SPECIMENS OF EARLY VEGETATION. FERNS. CALAMITES.]\n\n\n{182} [ILLUSTRATION: SPECIMEN OF BARK FROM A NOVA SCOTIA COAL MINE.]\n\nWith regard to this vegetation, it would imply the existence of\nsunlight, though some of the lower orders would require but little. The\natmosphere was still dense and loaded with vapor. The lower orders of\nflowerless plants were succeeded by tree-like ferns, some of which grew\nto the enormous hight of forty or fifty feet. The careful observer will\nfrequently find traces of this early vegetation in the lumps of common\ncoal. Sometimes the galleries of coal mines are overhung with beautiful\nproportions of extinct vegetable forms. Thus a wise Providence has\npreserved the remains of primeval vegetation for perhaps millions of\nyears, to tell us the story of those ancient forests, and reveal to\nus the various steps of creation. \"The vegetation of the coal period\npresents a remarkable character, being composed almost entirely of\n{183} the highest class of flowerless plants, along with a few of the\nlowest class of those that flower.\" (_Dawson's Chain of Life, p_. 96.)\n\nConcerning the climatic condition of the earth during the coal-forming,\n(carboniferous) period, as it is called, the description given by Hugh\nMiller, the eminent geologist, may not be out of place: \"From the\ncircumstance that no dew is deposited in our Summer evenings, save\nunder a clear sky, it is now ascertained that even a thin covering of\ncloud--serving as a robe to keep the earth warm--prevents the surface\nheat of the planet from radiating into the space beyond. And such a\ncloud, thick and continuous, as must have wrapped round the earth,\nas with a mantle, during the earlier geologic periods, would have\nserved to retard, for many ages, the radiation, and consequently the\nreduction, of that internal heat of which it was itself a consequence.\nNor would a planet, covered over for ages with a thick screen of vapor,\nbe a novelty yet in the universe. It is doubtful whether astronomers\nhave ever yet looked on the face of Mercury. It is, at least, very\ngenerally held that, hitherto, only his clouds have been seen. Even\nJupiter, though it is thought his mountains have been occasionally\ndetected raising their peaks through openings in his cloudy atmosphere,\nis known chiefly by the dark, shifting bands that, flecking his\nsurface in the line of his trade-winds, belong not to his body, but\nto his thick, dark covering. Nor, yet further, would a warm, steaming\natmosphere, muffled in clouds, have been {184} unfavorable to a rank,\nflowerless vegetation like that of the coal measures.\n\n\"There are moist, mild, cloudy days of Spring and early Summer, that\nrejoice the heart of the farmer, for he knows how conducive they are\nto the young growth on his fields. The coal measure climate would\nhave consisted of an unbroken series of these, with, mayhap, a little\nmore of cloud and moisture and a great deal more of heat. The earth\nwould have been a vast greenhouse covered with smoked glass, and\na vigorous, though, perhaps, a loosely-knit and faintly-colored,\nvegetation would have luxuriated under its shade. That the vegetable\ngrowth must have been great we can easily imagine when we consider the\nimmense quantities of coal throughout the world. It is a remarkable\ncircumstance that, from the equatorial regions up to Melville Island\nin the Arctic Ocean, where continual frost now prevails; and from\nSpitzbergen to the center of Africa, the remains of the plants of\nthe coal measures are identically the same. There seems to have been\nthen only one climate over the whole globe, caused, no doubt, by the\ninternal heat of the earth. We should not forget that Moses puts the\nelevating of the land and the production of vegetation in the same\ngeological period, viz., between the second and third day.\"\n\n\"And the evening and the morning were the third day.\" (_Gen. i_, 13.)\nBefore this time there seems to have been no seasons; but, after that,\nGod appointed the sun, moon and stars \"to give light upon the\nearth, and to be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and for\nyears.\" That the sun and stars had been created long before this, we\nhave no reason to doubt. We may, therefore, correctly infer that they\nwere then, for the first time, visible from the surface of the earth.\n\n{185} [TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Here is an artist's rendition of a\nprimordial forest]\n\n{186}\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nHARMONY OF GENESIS AND GEOLOGY.\n\nDEVELOPMENT OF SPECIES--SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST--LAWS OF\nVARIATION--GRADUAL EXTINCTION OF ANIMALS--AQUATIC CHARACTER OF EARLIEST\nBIRDS--INDICATIONS OF LIFE IN CHALK--PRIMEVAL MONSTERS--HUGE LAND\nANIMALS--CHANGE IN THE CLIMATE OF THE EARTH--CREATION OF MAN--NO\nINTERMEDIATE LINK.\n\nPhilosophers lay it down as a rule, that the materials for all\nrevolutions, whether political, moral or social are prepared\nbefore-hand. A revolution in ideas and modes of thought is by no means\nan exception to this rule. The unthinking throng may gaze in wonder\nat the spectacle afforded by the sudden outburst; but the thoughtful\nstudent will trace the order of events, and the forces that have been\nlong at work preparing the minds of men for the new order of things.\n\n{187} When in the latter part of the eighteenth century, Voltaire\nmarshaled his arguments as a legion, and hurled his burning invectives\nagainst the corruptions of false Christianity, humanity stood aghast at\nthe result, for they did not perceive that the forces which impelled it\nhad long been preparing. When the works of Voltaire and Thomas Paine\nappeared, society was in such a condition that many accepted their\nteachings as a relief from existing evils. Much more, many persons were\nready to follow them into all the wild sophistries of infidelity.\n\nThe history of that time, has been to some extent repeated in the\ngreat scientific revolution so vigorously at work in the nineteenth\ncentury. When Hugh Miller wrote his \"Testimony of the Rocks\" there\nwere those who confidently expected that this work would overturn the\nMosaic account of the creation; and a wonderful outcry was raised\nabout the opposition between the records of the rocks and the Bible.\nAfter a time it was found that geology demonstrates the existence,\nwisdom and goodness of an Almighty Creator with irresistible evidence.\nSo when Darwin, Huxley, Hooker, Spencer and others revealed to the\nworld, a vast amount of knowledge concerning the origin of species\nand the development of plants and animals, there were those who would\nhave gladly found an antagonism between the facts of science and the\nrecords of revelation. But now it is admitted that it would be equally\nwonderful, and would as much require the infinite powers of {188}\nDeity, \"to develop all the varied and marvelous forms of organic life\nfrom a single germ as to call them into existence by special acts of\ncreation.\" In reality we owe these philosophers a debt of gratitude\nfor having studied nature so carefully and given us so many deeply\ninteresting and important facts.\n\nIt is evidently part of the divine plan that species should develop\nfrom a lower to a higher condition. We see this in the improvements\nin the breeds of our domestic animals, as well as in the wild animals\nthat now live, as compared with the remains of the ancient Saurians\nthat once roamed over the earth. The doctrine of \"Natural Selection\"\nor \"Survival of the Fittest,\" as Huxley terms it, is also a law of\nnature. We see this illustrated at the present time in the history\nof races of men and species of animals. The weaker races of men are\ngradually disappearing while those nations who possess the highest\nphysical, mental and moral characteristics are extending their dominion\nover the earth. In the history of animals this is likewise apparent.\nThe gigantic, unwieldy ox, the Urus of Caesar, has been extinct since\nRoman times. The Auroch, another ox whose bones are frequently found\nin the same strata with extinct animals, would have been now entirely\nextinct but for the imperial edict which preserves a few in the forest\nof Lithuania. The gigantic birds Dinornis and Aptornis have but\nrecently passed away. Perfect skeletons of them are still preserved in\nthe museum of Christchurch, New Zealand. From {189} the measurement\nof these skeletons they are estimated to have been nearly or quite\ntwelve feet high. The Dodo, a heavy, clumsy bird, of fifty pounds'\nweight, with loose, downy feathers, and imperfect wings like a new-born\nchicken, became extinct only about 150 or 200 years ago. The\nApteryx of Australia, which of all living birds most resembles some\nof the extinct species, still survives, ready to disappear. The lion,\ntiger, bison (or buffalo), elephant, rhinoceros, and, in fact, all\nthe fiercer and larger animals, are even now disappearing before the\nadvance of civilized man.\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: SKELETON OF A MAN AND THAT OF A DINORNIS SHOWING\nCOMPARATIVE SIZE.]\n\n{190} The law of variation, as expressed by Darwin, is true\nwith certain limitations. For example, every person must admit a vast\nchange in the condition of the best breeds of our domestic swine, from\ntheir ancestors, the wild boars of medieval Europe. Yet nowhere can be\nfound a single instance of _transmutation of species_. For example, if\nwe should trace the pedigree of a horse backwards through a thousand\ngenerations we should find that the original animal was also a horse,\nthough probably a very inferior animal. Of all the living animals and\nfossil remains of extinct ones, though thousands of specimens have\nbeen discovered, yet of land animals and the higher orders of creation\nnot a single instance of transmutation can be found. In all this we\nsee a beautiful agreement with the divine record, \"And God said, Let\nthe earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and\ncreeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so\"\n(_Gen. i_, 24).\n\nTrue, we are told by Huxley that the embryos of different animals\nclosely resemble each other, so that at an early stage of their\nexistence they cannot be distinguished. But what of this? It only\nshows the unity of design in the works of the Creator which is one\nof the grand characteristics {191} of the world. Further, it teaches\nus a lesson of man's ignorance and imbecility. With all the aid of\nscience we are unable to perceive those minute arrangements of atoms\nwhich will on development produce a tortoise or a fowl, a dog or a\nman. Who will presume to say that a castle was developed or \"evolved\"\nfrom a cottage because they were built of similar materials or because\nsome of the rooms were after the same pattern? Why then should the\nDivine Architect's work be doubted because He gives to the germs of\ndifferent beings the power of self-development according to a specified\npattern, which is to end in the ultimate perfection of vastly different\norganisms?\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: BIRD-LIKE REPTILE DISCOVERED BY DARWIN.]\n\nBut we are asked, is it not true that the most accurate and reliable\ngeologists, have discovered in the rocky records of former ages the\nmost undeniable evidence that the earliest birds were of a {192}\nstrangely reptilian character, and that many of the reptiles of that\nage were of an extraordinary bird-like character? That in some cases it\nis difficult to determine which predominated to the greatest extent,\nthe characteristics of the reptile, the bat or the bird? These animals\nwere evidently amphibious, living either on land or in the sea. Some\nspecimens still extant which were found in Mexico and South America\nand which are identical with, or closely resemble the extinct species,\npossess the double character of an aquatic and terrestrial animal.\nSome of them advance beyond the development common to the class,\nand from gill-breathers, fitted, only to inhabit the water, become\nlung-breathers adapted to live on land.\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: REPTILIAN BIRD BY HUXLEY.]\n\nIs it not also true that the remains of the earliest birds indicate\nthem to have been of an aquatic character similar to the cranes, gulls\nand pelicans of the present time? Some of these were destitute of horn\nbills which birds of the present age possess. On the other hand their\nheads resembled those of reptiles. Neither were their wings always\n{193} covered with feathers, but in some cases their wings resembled\nthose of the bat, and their feet closely resembled those of reptiles.\nNow, says the skeptic, is it not possible that reptiles and birds lived\nupon the earth previous to the creation of beasts? And, further, is it\nnot possible that birds and reptiles may have been developed from the\nsame original type, whereas Moses declares that God made the beast of\nthe earth after his kind?\n\nNot so fast, my friend. It is well known that these declarations of\nscience are mere speculations, plausible indeed, but nowhere proven to\nbe true. Granting all that the infidel asks, let us carefully read the\nsacred record and see if there really is any contradiction: \"And God\nsaid. Let the waters bring forth abundantly the living creature that\nhath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament\nof heaven.\" (_Gen. i_, 20). Had Moses written, \"And God now created\nevery living thing that moveth in the waters,\" there might have been\nsome reason for infidel objections. We should therefore especially\nnotice that Moses does not say that this was the first dawn of animal\nlife upon our globe, but simply that the waters were now to \"_bring\nforth abundantly_ the moving creature that hath life, and fowl,\" etc.\nIn all this there is no inconsistency between the geological and\nBiblical statements. On the other hand the wording of the text is such\nas to lead the student to believe that birds were of aquatic origin,\nthat is, lived on the water.\n\n{194} In the twenty-first verse we are told that God created great\nwhales (literally sea-monsters) \"and every living creature that moveth,\nwhich the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind and every\nwinged fowl after his kind.\" And here we also perceive that the waters\nare again represented to be as it were the nursing mother of both\nbirds and the lower orders of animal life. Mark also that the term\n\"created\" is used only three times in the whole of this record; first\nin reference to the creation of the earth, second in reference to\nsea-monsters, and third in reference to the creation of man.\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: PIECE OF CHALK HIGHLY MAGNIFIED.]\n\n{195} While revelation teaches us that the period when the waters\nwere to bring forth abundantly, was in a succeeding epoch to that in\nwhich vegetation commenced; geology bears testimony that there are few\nremains of animal life till we come up to more recently formed strata,\nthan the vegetable deposits of the coal measures. It is only when we\narrive at the chalk measures that we find an \"abundance\" of animal\nlife. Recent investigations have shown, that chalk is mostly composed\nof shells in every stage of change, some perfect, some broken, and\nstill others decayed into an impalpable dust. Some of these shells are\nso minute that it would require 1,800 placed side by side to measure a\nsingle inch. Perhaps no human intellect is able to form a conception of\nthis profuseness of animal life. Well might Moses say the sea brought\nforth abundantly.\n\n[ILLUSTRATION: REMAINS OF SHELL FISH.]\n\nIt is at this epoch that we find the first remains of shell fish\nwhich are so common in the rocks of every land; also the remains of\ninnumerable tiny fish, so prevalent in certain sections of our own\nland. Again, geology teaches us that \"birds made their first appearance\nduring this epoch.\" No fragments of the skeletons of birds have yet\nbeen discovered in formations older than the chalk.\n\n{196} [ILLUSTRATION: REMAINS OF MACROURA--EARLIEST BIRD YET FOUND.]\n\nFurther it is only in strata formed subsequently to the chalk that\nwe find the remains of those monsters that made the earth to tremble\nbeneath their tread and lashed to foam the billows of the primeval\nocean. To those who are unaccustomed to view fossil remains the\ndimensions of some of these seem almost incredible. Just think of\nmonsters 120 feet in length with teeth eleven inches in diameter and\neyes whose sockets were more than eighteen inches across; and we can\neasily perceive that the statement of Moses is verified, \"And God\ncreated great whales\" (literally sea monsters). Of this epoch, Le\nConte says, \"It was preeminently an age of reptiles.\" There are now\non the whole face of the earth only six large reptiles over fifteen\nfeet long--two in India, one in Africa, three in America--and none\nover twenty-five feet long. Yet in the strata that correspond to this\nperiod in Great Britain alone are found the skeletons of at least\n{197} five great Dinosaurs from twenty to sixty feet long, and in the\nUnited States the fullness of reptilian life was even greater; for, one\nhundred and forty-seven species of reptiles have been found, most\nof them of gigantic size. Among these are fifty species of Mosasaurs,\nseventy or eighty feet long, also species of crocodiles fifty feet\nlong, besides great numbers of gigantic turtles.\" These are some of the\nremains that are still preserved. But the fossil animals of any period\nare only a remnant of the animals of that period. That the climate\nof the earth was then warm and uniform is sufficiently attested. All\ngreat reptiles are now found only in tropical or subtropical regions;\nbut the remains of these monsters are scattered in all latitudes from\nNew Zealand to Spitzbergen. In all this we see a wonderful agreement\nbetween the account given by Moses and the records of geology.\n\n[ILLUSTRATIONS: TOOTH OF PLESIOSAURUS, ONE TWELFTH IT'S NATURAL\nSIZE. REMAINS OF PLESIOSAURUS AND MEGOLOSAURUS]\n\n{198} Of the land animals which then inhabited the earth,\nmight be mentioned the _Dinotherium_. From the remains of it which\nstill exist it must have measured not less than sixteen feet high and\ntwenty-four feet long with a head at least three feet in breadth and\nhence capable of containing a brain large enough for the most exacting\nphrenologist. Then again there was another huge animal called the\n_Mastodon_. We may get some idea of the enormous size of the animal\nfrom the fact that the remains of some of its grinding teeth, recently\nfound in Pennsylvania, weighed no less than seventeen pounds. There\nexisted at that time still another huge animal whose remains are found\nin Siberia, Sweden, Italy and North and South America. It is commonly\ncalled a Mammoth, {199} though on account of its resemblance to\nexisting elephants, naturalists have named it _Elephas Primigenius_. It\nwas covered with three kinds of hair: first strong bristles, secondly,\nsoft hair, and thirdly with reddish wool growing among the hair.\n\nGeologists agree that during the latter part of this period the earth\nbegan to assume conditions similar to those which prevail at the\npresent time. This is indicated by the abundance of deciduous plants\n(that is plants that drop their leaves each autumn), which are to\nbe found in North America. It is thus evident that the climate was\nbecoming cooler, the dense atmosphere which so long had wrapped the\nearth as with a mantle had dissipated; the carbonic acid and other\npoisonous gases, which were totally unfit to support animal life had\nbeen absorbed by the rank vegetation of the coal period. Geologists\ntell us that this was the period when the Wasatch and Uintah mountains\nwere formed and the center of the western continent upheaved, by which\nthe great interior sea which previously divided America into two\ncontinents was abolished. The change of physical geography was enormous\nand the change of climate was doubtless correspondingly great. It was\nnatural, therefore, to expect, with the opening of the next era, a very\ngreat change both in plant and animal life. So ended the fifth epoch of\ncreation, for \"The evening and the morning were the fifth day.\"\n\nMoses opens the record of the sixth epoch by the words, \"And God said,\nLet the earth bring {200} forth the living creature, after his kind,\ncattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind;\nand it was so.\" Geology confirms this by declaring, as it were, that\nthen her modern history commenced. Then began the present aspect of\nfield and forest; and modern types of animals were introduced and\nbecame predominant. Many of the species of both plants and animals were\nidentical with those still living. Further, one of the most noteworthy\nfacts connected with the first mammals (or milk-giving animals), is the\nsuddenness of their appearance in great numbers, and of all, or nearly\nall orders, even the highest, except man.\n\nLastly, we are told, \"And God said. Let us make man in our image, after\nour likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and\nover the fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over all the earth,\nand over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.\" (_Gen. i_,\n26). Thus from scripture we learn that the closing and completing work\nof the creation was man.\n\nGeology triumphantly confirms the revealed fact that submarine animals,\nland vegetation, reptiles, birds and quadrupeds, were all of them in\nexistence, successively and collectively, before the first of the\nhuman race. Further, that the earliest remains of men, yet discovered,\nindicate that they were distinctly and perfectly human, as much so as\nany race now living, and were not in any sense an intermediate link\nbetween man and the ape. When his habitation was prepared, and {201}\nthe materials of the forest and of the mine were all ready for his use,\nthen, and not till then, did man appear. Thus the record of Moses, and\nthe record of nature bear each other witness. The same narrative told\nby the ruler of Israel four thousand years ago, is also told in its own\nexpressive language by the very earth on which we tread, as if it were\n\"graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever.\"\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nSCIENTIFIC PROOFS OF SPIRITUAL LIFE.\n\nTESTIMONY OF THE SCRIPTURES--DOCTRINE OF THE SADDUCEES--REMARK\nOF NAPOLEON--SPIRIT CONTROLS MATTER--MICROSCOPIC ATOMS--\nPROTOPLASM--ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS OF LIFE--INFIDEL THEORIES--\nWISDOM OF SOCRATES--HERBERT SPENCER'S PHILOSOPHY--FACULTIES\nOF THE MIND--CONSCIOUSNESS--PERCEPTION--MEMORY--IMAGINATION--\nJUDGMENT--CONSCIENCE--VOLITION--ABERCROMBIE'S RECORD--TALLEYRAND--\nMILK POISONING.\n\nThe inspired records uniformly teach that man has a spiritual nature\ndistinct from the body, the union of which with the body produces\nthat which, for want of a better term, we call our present life. The\nunion of some of these celestial spirits with {202} bodies of earthly\nmatter forms the visible world of mankind. They teach us, also, that\nthe existence and conscious faculties of the soul continue after the\ndeath of the body. Death is referred to in the scriptures as giving up\nthe ghost, or spirit; and very many passages refer to the condition\nof disembodied spirits after death. In the account of the creation of\nAdam, we read that \"The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,\nand breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a\nliving soul,\" thus making an evident distinction between the body and\nthe soul. In various parts of the Old Testament we find references to\ndisembodied spirits, and various enactments in the Mosaic law against\nconsulting them by means of divination and necromancy.\n\nThe Sadducees denied the separate existence of spirits; but, in our\nSavior's famous argument with them. He showed that the Old Testament\nclearly taught this doctrine when it represented God as saying, \"I\nam the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,\"\nadding, \"He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.\"\n(_Mark xii_, 26.) Thereby teaching that these persons, although their\nbodies had been long dead, were still living. So, likewise, St. Paul\nspeaks of being absent from the body, yet present with the Lord. St.\nJohn declares that he saw the souls of those who had been slain for\ntheir testimony of Jesus. (_Rev. vi_, 9.)\n\nIn examining the scientific evidence of these scriptural views\nconcerning a spiritual existence, it will be necessary to inquire\ninto the origin of {203} life as exhibited in physiology. This is\nconfessedly a difficult question, yet one of great importance, since,\ndriven from the sciences of astronomy and geology, infidelity has\nsought to entrench itself in natural history as in a citadel. Yet, even\nhere, the ground crumbles beneath its feet; and the time is not far\ndistant when a man, having a scientific education, will be ashamed to\navow himself an infidel.\n\nWe have seen that astronomy and geology bear testimony to the truths\nrevealed in the scriptures; so, likewise, does the science which treats\nof the functions of living beings.\n\nNapoleon is said to have remarked to Dr. Antomarchi, at St. Helena,\n\"You physicians are unbelievers because you cannot find the soul with\nyour dissecting knife.\" However applicable this might have been to\nphysicians of that day, it would fail of application now, since, by\nmeans of the microscope, man has been able to penetrate still more\ndeeply into the recesses of nature's mysteries. With this instrument,\nscience has been able to detect the beginnings of living structure, and\nto trace the fundamental laws of the process of development.\n\nChemistry has also done its part in investigating this phenomena. From\nthese sources we learn the mutual relation, as well as individuality of\nall organic things. From the inorganic world, directly or indirectly,\nthe bodies of all living things originate, and to it, naturally, they\nall return. By some power, unseen to mortal eyes, matter is arranged in\nnew forms; and these forms, after using {204} the matter thus arranged,\nrestore it again to the physical world. In this manner is kept up\nthe wonderful circle of organic life. Scientists, though skeptically\ninclined, agree that there must have first existed an animated germ,\nthe product of a previously-existing organism, which draws in and\nappropriates the inorganic elements, combines these elements into\norganisms, builds up an organized fabric, and discards, finally, the\natoms and implements which it can no longer use. What this organism\nis we cannot fully explain, since it is evident that it is of such a\nrefined or sublimated nature as to elude the grasp of science in its\npresent stage of development. By no means, at our disposal, are we\ncapable of rigidly examining it by our bodily senses.\n\nTo illustrate this subject, and at the same time to show the\nsuperiority and independence of the \"vital principle,\" as it is called,\nor organizing spirit, to the cruder matter it uses, let us consider\nthe history of a single microscopic atom, as it is used in the service\nof life. By some means--understood only by the Creator--it has become\nmysteriously endowed with life. Let us suppose its first connection\nwith vitality to be in the simplest form of animated matter--that\nof the protoplasm. We find, on examination, that this protoplasm\npossesses what scientists call the \"essential conditions of life,\"\nnamely sensibility, contractibility and assimilation. We find that this\natom of living jelly--for such it really is--is endowed with the power\nof selecting nutriment {205} from the inorganic matter around it for\nthe support of its own existence. After a time it forms itself into\na simple cell, a bladder-like form inclosing a fluid substance, and\ncontaining a few moving granules. After a time, this cell multiplies\nitself, that is, gives birth to a number of cells like itself. These\nare inclosed in the original cell, which at last bursts and sets them\nfree. All scientists agree that \"protoplasm is the physical basis of\nlife.\" Now whence comes this wonderful principle which endows the\nprotoplasm with the \"essential conditions of life,\" and presses into\nits service the atoms and the laws of the material universe? Its\neffects are too palpable to allow a denial of its existence, while\nits power over earthly matter proves that it is distinct from it.\nAlthough too subtle to be analyzed by the philosopher, its existence\nis suggestive of the highest truths. It speaks to us of a spiritual\nworld--a world to which the visible world is subservient, and which is\nitself unaffected by the many changes which take place around us.\n\nAmong the many theories which infidels have profounded, one of the most\ncommon is that which declares that life is the result of organization.\nThis argument, like many others, is only an old one with a modern\ndress. We find in Plato's \"Phaedo,\" that when Simmias argued against\nthe immortality of the soul, the wise and good Socrates opposed him,\nproving that the soul existed before the body, as shown by the fact of\npre-existent ideas. For example, the idea of goodness must necessarily\nexist, before we are able to form an opinion {206} concerning goodness.\nInfidels tell us that the idea of virtue is merely the harmony of\nthe soul; but if the soul itself is only the \"harmonious result of\norganization,\" then virtue is simply the harmony of a harmony, which\nis absurd. Socrates further showed that parts of the soul may be\nopposed to each other, as desire and reason, for example; and this fact\noverthrows the idea of harmony. Thus even a pagan philosopher could\ndeal fatal blows against the positivism of his age as well as against\nthe pretended wisdom of the nineteenth century.\n\nSome tell that \"no idea or feeling can arise, save as the result of\nsome physical force expended in producing it.\" That because light,\nheat, electricity and motion are closely related, therefore they are\nthe cause of life. As well might we say that the art and skill observed\nin a beautiful building were the offspring of the house itself, or that\nthe architect was the result of a beautiful suite of rooms. In other\nwords, the relation of cause and effect are completely reversed.\n\nYet we are told that heat, motion, electricity and chemical affinity\nare the causes of mental and moral action. This principle is even\napplied to the progress of civilization, and the statistics of crime;\nand Mr Herbert Spencer has made it the foundation of his new system of\nphilosophy. Stripped of its parade and tinsel, however, this theory\nis nothing but the old pantheism revived. It is the desperate effort\nof infidelity to press into its service the researches of modern\nphysiology and anatomy, as has formerly been tried with {207} astronomy\nand geology; but each of these sciences refuses an alliance with\nskepticism, and incontrovertibly points to a Creator and a spiritual\nworld.\n\nLet the honest skeptic inquire, \"How do these theories explain the\ncause of life? Do they show us a single reason why some parts of matter\nbecome organized and others do not? Do they make plain why one cell\ndevelops a vegetable and another an animal, no perceptible difference\nexisting between them, and the circumstances of each being the same\nexcept originating from different parentage? Can these philosophers\ntell us what they mean by physical force? Is it matter; or is it a\ncreative power, or energy added to matter?\"\n\nAn answer to these questions would cut the Gordian knot. While\n_science_ stands on the very confines of a spiritual world, and points\nacross the boundary, why should we fear to look in that direction, or\nspurn the guidance of that _faith_ which would lead us to higher truths.\n\nIt may not be out of place to mention a few of the leading faculties of\nthe mind, to show its independence.\n\n_Consciousness_, that is, the knowledge which the mind has of its own\noperations. _Perception_, or the evidence we have of external objects\nby our senses. _Memory_, which implies a former conscious experience,\nits retention, revival and recognition. _Imagination_ is a term used to\nrepresent the power which the mind has of combining ideas previously\nreceived. In its highest degree, imagination rises to the sphere of\ncreative fancy, or poetic power.\n\n{208} _Judgment_ is the decision of the mind, the result of comparing\ntwo or more ideas. _Conscience_, sometimes called the moral sense,\nis that faculty by which we have ideas of right and wrong respecting\nactions, and corresponding feelings of approbation or disapprobation.\nIt might, also, be claimed the faith faculty. It brings us into\nrelation with the spiritual world and the claims of God and duty.\n_Volition_, or choice, is the dominion exercised by the mind over\nitself, employing or withholding its faculties in any particular\naction. These are a few of the faculties which link the mind to the\nbody and likewise show its independence.\n\nThus far we have only considered the origin of life, as confirmatory\nof man's spiritual nature. There are, however, other themes which\npoint as clearly to the same truth. The functions of the nervous\nsystem--sensation and voluntary motion--cannot be explained by\nany other theory. The nerve-structure only implies a capability of\nreception and transmission. In other words, it is the telegraph system\nthat conveys intelligence to, and transmits the wishes of the immortal\nsoul. It is true that the active exertions of the power of the soul\nrequire a corresponding health in the bodily organs, since the most\naccomplished artisan cannot exhibit his full powers with imperfect\ntools and materials; yet, as the injury or destruction of the implement\nis no proof of the death of the artisan, so the injury or destruction\nof the body destroys not the soul.\n\nThere is no constant relation between the {209} integrity of mind and\nbody. The mind is sometimes an agonizing sufferer, while the body is in\nperfect health; and only slowly, and by degrees, the mind brings the\nbodily organs into a sympathetic state. Though the body cannot long\nresist the influence of mental disease; yet the mind can effectually\nresist the depressing influence of bodily disease or bodily pain, even\nto the period of their separation. Paralysis has unnerved and unstrung\nthe whole system and yet the mind has remained uninjured. Such was the\ncase with the great French statesman, Talleyrand, who, with a body like\na living tomb, retained his faculties unimpaired. Nor need we more than\nallude to the rejoicing moment of the dying saint, or the triumphs of\nthe martyr at the stake, to show that the mind can continue in calm\nserenity, while the body is enduring the most excruciating torments,\nor losing at once its vitality and power. Joy causes a brilliancy of\nthe eyes. Melancholy produces a directly opposite effect from joy.\nThe emotion of anger urges the circulation of the blood to the utmost\nvehemence, sometimes producing tremors or spasmodic action of the\nmuscles. It acts also upon the secretions--the saliva, milk and bile--\nwhich often become actually poisoned. The sickness and death of many\nchildren are caused by taking the milk of an enraged mother.\n\nThe independent action of the mind is also manifest in the phenomenon\nof sleep. That personality is not suspended, is proved by voluntary\nwaking at a predetermined hour.\n\n{210} Dreaming is another proof of mental activity and independence.\nThen the mind is withdrawn from the ordinary influences of the\nworld around, and lives, as it were, in a world of its own. Hence\nthe adaptability of the dream state to spiritual communication and\ninspiration, as referred to so often in the scriptures. In examining,\nthus, a few particulars in which the bodily organization is acted upon\nby its spiritual inhabitant, we find abundant proof of the independent\nnature of the soul, as taught in holy writ.\n\n* * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nFAITH AND INFIDELITY CONTRASTED.\n\nFAITH AND SCIENCE HARMONIOUS--GREAT MEN, BELIEVERS--THE SAFETY\nOF SOCIETY DEMANDS RELIGION--THE GOSPEL THE BASIS OF TRUE\nCIVILIZATION--WHO ARE THE CREDULOUS--CONCLUSION.\n\nWe repeat it: there is no antagonism between philosophy and faith.\nWhatever the seeming oppositions of the present, all in the end will be\nperfect harmony. The gospel not merely overwhelms but comprehends all\nphilosophy.\n\nThe star of science shines very beautifully indeed in its own sphere;\nbut its light at best is a {211} borrowed light, and its beams grow\npale and vanish before the glorious sun of righteousness.\n\nOften as the comparison has been made the result has been uniform--the\nsun outshines the star. Astronomy tried it. When the old Ptolemaic\nsystem was exploded by Copernicus, the vaunted wisdom of men proclaimed\nthat the Bible also was exploded. But the Star-Maker triumphed over the\nstar-gazers.\n\nThe gospel may indeed be likened to a splendid palace which the\nGreat Builder founded on a rock, digging deep and bolting it to the\nsolid granite; and false religion to a building of fair appearance,\nbut founded upon the sand, which, when the floods come and storms\nbeat, falls into irretrievable ruin. False religion cannot endure\ninvestigation; but the gospel, though tried by the severest tests that\nscience can devise, only reveals more fully its beauty and solidity.\nInstead of astronomy undermining the temple of gospel truth, it has led\nthe greatest of astronomers to unite with Herschel in the exclamation,\n\"The infidel astronomer is mad.\"\n\nGeology tried it. She came forth boasting her discoveries, and\ndeclaring that she had been among the rocks and deep down in the\ncaves of the earth, and that she had found the teachings of the Bible\ncontradicted by the strata of pre-Adamic ages, and had read its epitaph\ndeeply chiseled by Nature herself in everlasting stone. But now the\ngeologists admit that we have no rule for the measurement of geologic\ntime.\n\n{212} The fact is, we are not so far out of the dust, and chaos, and\nbarbarism of antiquity as we had supposed. Geologically speaking, the\nvery beginnings of our race are still almost in sight. The most eminent\ngeologists admit that the total age of our race is not of necessity\ngreater than indicated by the Mosaic history of primeval times.\n\nAnatomy also tried it. By all the appliances of modern science every\nbone, muscle and tissue of the human body has been examined; yet no\none has discovered the secret springs of action of the human soul. The\npower of vision, the source of muscular action, the fountain of life,\nhave all eluded the skill of man. These mysteries belong to Him whose\ngoings forth are from everlasting, and whose ways are past finding out.\nMan with all his learning and skill cannot solve the problem of his own\nbeing.\n\nAnd so with all other sciences. Many a wild hurricane has spent its\nforce on this tree of life, but has only caused it to strike its\nroots deeper. The day is hastening when men of science will be the\nvery first to recognize the authority of God. Already it is largely\nso. What infidel names can be placed over against Raphael, Reynolds,\nRubens, Trumbull, West and Cole as painters, or what against Canova\nor Thorwaldsen in sculpture, or Christopher Wren in architecture, or\nMichael Angelo in all three? In poetry, Milton, Young, Shakespeare,\nDryden, Pope, Montgomery, Cowper, Watts, Wesley, Scott, Beattie,\nGoldsmith, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Bryant, Longfellow, Whittier, Hemans,\n{213} the Careys and hundreds of others who were all believers in\ninspiration. As if religion only was entitled to sing, infidelity\nhas never produced a Handel, a Haydn, a Mozart, a Beethoven or a\nSpohr. Where can infidelity find such a galaxy of peerless judges as\nGrotius, Selden, Blackstone, Hale, Mansfield, Wirt, Story, Kent and\nFrelinghuysen. Among physicians, none can outrank Harvey, Sydenham,\nBoerhave, Gregory, Goode, Cooper and Rush; yet these all reverenced the\nname of God. Infidel philosophy can boast no names like Bacon, Newton,\nLocke, Stewart, Davy, Herschel, Cuvier, Whately, Hamilton, Proctor,\nWinchell or Le Conte. Jesus was in His appropriate place when among the\ndoctors; and the wise men of the east were never wiser than when they\nbrought their royal gifts to Him.\n\nIf the Being who made man has not had consideration enough for him to\nreveal to him His will, then he is not of the slightest consequence.\nThese horrible wars which drown nations in sorrow, are the mere\nsquabbles of a crowd of insects too insignificant for the divine\nnotice. These dreams of moral purity, these aspirations after a higher\nlife, these hopes of immortality, these out-reachings toward the\neverlasting Father, the assumption that we have a nature higher than\nthe horse we drive or the dog we caress, are all miserable mistakes. If\nthere is no authoritative revelation from God, what better are we than\nthe brute creation? When we have set revelation aside and renounced our\nhope of immortality and {214} thrown off all our moral and religious\nobligations, and relinquished the leadership of the Savior, what shall\nwe do for a restraining power to keep society together at all?\n\nIf men should be convinced that they are only animals, and that God\ntakes no notice of them, whose property would be safe? Whose life would\nbe sacred? Who would be secure from the unrestrained ravages of every\nbase passion that finds its home in the human heart? When Christ, as\na Divine Being, or as a man divinely commissioned, dies out of the\npopular faith, what then? Who shall comfort the hearts that mourn? Who\nshall assure us that virtue has a reward, or that there is any such\nthing as virtue? Who shall stimulate the love of brotherhood, and move\nmen to works of benevolence? Who then would strive to raise the world\nout of its beastly degradation?\n\nNo candid observer will deny that whatever of good there is in our\ncivilization is the product of the gospel. The very government under\nwhich we live was organized and established by men who were the\ninstruments of God.\n\nThat which gives us protection by day and night--the dwellings we\nlive in, the clothes we wear, the institutions of mental, social and\nmoral culture--all these are the direct results of the revelations of\nGod. A faith in God is the very fountain head of everything that is\ndesirable in our civilization, and this civilization is the flower of\ntime. Humanity has reached its noblest thrift, its highwater mark, its\nloftiest flight of excellence through the influence of this faith.\n\n{215} And now we are told by infidels, in the most complacent language\nthat the gospel is a myth, and that the Old Testament, which holds a\nrelation to the New Testament and all other divine records as the blade\nholds to the ear, the bud to the flower, is a huge batch of absurdities\nwith no valid claim to our respectful faith. We are told in effect that\nout of an ingenious lie, out of a cunning delusion, out of a baseless\nmyth, out of a systematized falsehood has sprung all that there is in\nthis life worth living for--the grandest motive of human progress in\npurity and power! We are, in effect, told that by means of a stupendous\ncheat, men are trained to goodness, purified of their passions, filled\nwith love to one another, prompted to the highest heroism, inspired\nto sacrifices of life and fortune for the public good, and are built\nup into a civilization which is immeasurably superior to all that\nhuman nature, assisted merely by human reason and false religion, ever\ndreamed of!\n\nWe are, in effect, told all this; and we now ask reasonable men what\nthey think of it. Who are the credulous men--those who believe in a\ndivine power and personage, out of whose life has flown into humanity\nthose pure principles and elevating and purifying motives--or those who\nbelieve that a lie has wrought those marvels?\n\nOf all the credulous idiots that the age has produced, we know of none\nso pitiable as those who, in the full blaze of such a civilization as\nours, soberly talk of the gospel as a myth and its Author as a cheat.\n\n{216}\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\nAnd now, dear reader, if you have diligently read the preceding\npages, you can understand how carefully the various objections to our\nreligion have been examined and how thoroughly answered. During the\nlast twenty-five years human intellect has made advances which have\nastonished even students of science. Scientific positions which were\ndeemed impregnable a generation ago, have been swept away by a storm\nof new ideas; and the sunshine of examination has melted many an\niceberg of prejudice, and dissipated many an intellectual fog. True\nit is that in advance of us are \"Banks of cloud darkly bounding the\nhorizon, and loftier Alps of thought which remain to be scaled.\" Yet\nFaith penetrates the vail and sees the glorious land of promise--the\ninheritance of our race. Even to those who have not faith, the\nvictories of God's truth over the vagaries of men is an earnest of\nfuture triumph. When men shall understand what is the true gospel and\nwhat is true science then will come not conflict, but the peace of\nmutual recognition and mutual understanding. Oh, let us be calm, and\nwait reverently for God to vindicate His own everlasting TRUTH.\n\n \"It breaks--it comes--the misty shadows fly;\n  A rosy radiance gleams upon the sky;\n  The mountain tops reflect it calm and clear,\n  _the plain is yet in shade but day is near_.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nThe Table of Contents was not present in the original edition, but\nwas added by the transcriber for the HTML edition, and reproduced in\nthe text edition for consistency.\n\nMany cases of archaic spelling have been preserved. However, the\nfollowing have been judged to be errors in printing, and have been\ncorrected as indicated:\n\n  On page 13, where the original reads \"ninty,\" this edition reads\n   \"ninety.\"\n  On page 42, where the original reads \"destribution,\" this edition reads\n   \"distribution.\"\n  On page 81, where the original reads \"Eygptian,\" this edition reads\n   \"Egyptian.\"\n  On page 100, where the original reads \"doeth,\" this edition reads\n   \"doth.\"\n  On page 118, where the original reads \"Pasover,\" this edition reads\n   \"Passover.\"\n  On page 120, where the original reads \"diciple,\" this edition reads\n   \"disciple.\"\n  On page 120, where the original reads \"Messiaic,\" this edition reads\n   \"Messianic.\"\n  On page 160, where the original reads \"evelasting,\" this edition reads\n   \"everlasting.\"\n  On page 163, where the original reads \"orginal,\" this edition reads\n   \"original.\"\n  On page 164, where the original reads \"philospher,\" this edition reads\n   \"philosopher.\"\n  On page 177, one of a set of duplicated words (be be) was deleted.\n  On page 198, where the original reads \"enornous,\" this edition reads\n   \"enormous.\"\n  On page 211, where the original reads \"spendid,\" this edition reads\n   \"splendid.\"","title":"Gospel Philosophy: Showing the Absurdities of Infidelity, and the Harmony of the Gospel with Science and History","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":50500}