Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-05-07
ORIGINAL PAPERS,
For the Spirit of the Age.
REJoINDER TO P. A. P.

Of God deceitfully, and had he not so self
complacently and so exultingly dared us
TO attempt it. We very readily acknowl-
edge that it is not without trembling and
self distrst that we undertake an enter
prise 50 full Of danger; for our opponent,
like Goliath of Gath, very evidently wields
a weapon, the weight of a weaver's beam.
Waving all consideration of his prelimina-
ry accusations and of his generous warning
TO the uninitiated, we will proceed, at once
TO notice, briefly, the most important OBJ
jections raised in his article
!. He contends for the exercise of mir
aculous agency in causing the deluge.-
And this, we will say, is the most impor-
tant objection which can be raised For,
if it can be established, it will entirely cut
off all discussion Of the subject, and we
will be compelled to make the whole mat
ter u subject of faith merely. Now, we
understand miracle to be +" a supernatu-
ral event, one which the laws of nature
could not produce by their ordinary mode
of operation" And if it can be shown
that deluges may be the result of the ordi-
nary operations Of the laws Of nature, then
we will be justified in the assertion that
. the Noachian deluge may be attributed to
the same cause. To prove that they may
be thus occasioned, and, therefore, are not
miraculous, we state /. Earthquakes of
ten cause sudden elevation of some por-
tions Of land and corresponding depress-
ion in other portions. As an example, the
coast of Chill, in the year 1922, was per-
mancntly elevated through an area Of 100,-
900 square miles. 1t may be the bed of
the bed of the ocean which is elevated, Gas
is often the case) and the adjoining dry
land which is depressed. In that case, it
would be both natural and likely that the
district suffering depression should be del
uged. 2. Deluges have occurred since the
days of Noah. A few centuries before
Christ, both Attica and Thessaly were de-
stroyed by water Several have occurred
in Modern Europe. In 1919 district of
1000 square miles in India, was perma-
nently submerged. Thus we see that del
uges not only may occur, but haze oc-
Cured, as the result of natural causes
And if so, why may we not conclude that
the Noachian deluge was brought about by
the same means? Certainly p. A. p. will
admit that it could have been thus pro-
duced, merely by giving "greater power
to these laws, and thus, through them,
producing uncommon results, without, in
the least, disturbing the connection be-
tween cause and effect. If 50, where is
the necessity for a miracle But, in his
reply to the idea that additional power was
given, he says, 4" the deviation, control
ment, or suspension Of these laws, to an,
extent, is miraculous" SO it is. Bu
the idea advanced certainly does not imply
any suspension nor do we believe it i'm
plies deUiation for, to instance, create
amount of watery vapor might be collected
in the atmosphere than usual, and thu
naturally produce more rain than usual
i. n. y. will not deny that, in this in
stance additional force was given, and
result produced which is entirely cousisten
with natural laws, and which does not de
viate in the least from their ordinary mod
Of operation And if there is anything
miraculous about it, it is found in the cause
Of this unusual collection of vapor, and no
in the effects. Again That the delug
was NOT strictly miraculous, is clear, fror
the fact that, a" the sacred writer distinct
ly assigns two natural causes of the increas
of the waters, Uiz rain of forty days an
the breaking up of the fountains of tn
deep, which doubtless means an overho,
of the ocean aud to hasten the subsidenc
Of the waters, it is said that " a wind wa
made TO blow over the snrface."
2. y. A. j. objectsto our method of il
terpreting the words "all, every" &c
in the Mosaic account of the deluge.
sustain his objection he quotes the who
account, preiaciug it with the dogmatic
assertion, that, it "will convince any re
s3naJic man, that it plainly teaches, tn
the delugc was universal" " Wevery rea
ily confess that we would prefer the lima
of a Pye Smith, or Chalmers, or Hitc
cock, with all the illustrious host who &
vocate the views we advanced, to the co
mon sense of p. A. p. and his dusty tin
worn confederatcs. He LAYS down Il
rule for the Interpretation of the words
question, viz /: When terms which lit
ally imply universally are employed il
restricted sense it must be obvious that Il
are so used He quotes several passa;
from the New Testament to establish {
rule The first is from the Acts of |
Apostles, and reads thus: awe have fou
this man a pestilential fellow, and mo,
of sedition among the Jews throughout
world" Now" continues he, " it is
ident that by the world he means
Roman Empire" We would ask hc
and to whom is it evident? 1t is not
from the text, and it Is only to those v
are, to some extent acquainted with
history Of that period. p A. z.
brings Roman History to his aid in in
preting Scripture; we bring to our aiC
Interpreting similar passages, facts wh
lie cannotcontrovert, and arguments wi
he signally failed to overthrow, and he
mediately "rolls up his eyes in holy
ror," and raises the cry of INFIDELITY
We think it useless to argue the propr
of T. A. P's. method of Interpretation
further until we are informed as to
limits of the rule whether he means
Il shall be obvious to all who read the
bic, or only to . favored few. His S
lures on our Interpretation OF pas
from the Book Of Exodus, are evid'