The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1856-04-09
H!lsrtllallpullg.
From Ne Scientific Imerican.
SCIENCE AND REVELATION.


SCIENCE AND REVELATION.
The history of FOUR globe,a gwen by geo!o-
g'sts generally, from their Interpretation of
the remalnsot animals and vegetables found
i'll the eartl's crust, has excited much con.
troyersy among men of science-divines
and scholars-dnring the past half centu.
y; and the controversy is ill carried on
with no small amount of vehemence.-
The main subject of discussion is the ne.
count Of :hc Creation in the first chaptcr
OF tue Bible. The general Lelief eutor.
tanned from of old regarding the meaning
OF this chapter, is that the acts of distinct
creations, described therein took place du.
ring days like those we now cniov-of
twenty.iour hours duration also, that the
period OF time which has elapsed since
those grand events, amounts to about six
thousand years. Soon after geology com
mcnccd to DC studied as n science, this in
depreciation Of the acts of Creation BEGAN
to be disputed, by gcologists asserting that
The rocks presented evidence of the far
greater antiquity of the earth, and ,lra.
tue days of Creation mentioned in Gene
Sis meant gre epochs Of slime perhaps
millions of years. Fifty years since Dir.
Chalmers, combating the views of those
who asserted that geology taught iniiLcli-
~, said, "tl,is is II false alarm the wri-
tings Of Moses do not fix the antiouity of
the globe" Since then great has been
tne number Of essays and books which
have issued from the press, Disgusting the
question pro and con. These are too nu
merous for us to mention; our present OBJ
Ject is, principally TO notice two of the
most recent, viz, the work of Tavlor Lew.
's.,Prot of Greek in Union College, Schcp.
ecladv, n. Y, and IN elaLnrate Review of
1t IN the last member of the BiJi;.theca
'Sdcrd, 10y l'rof. Dana, Of Yale College.
Prof Lewis, who is stated to be jcepIv
learned i'll the Hebrew language, admits
that the days mentioned in the first chap
ter of Genesis mean great cpochs of time.
but he casts aspersions on Geology, men
ct science, and science itself. We ndp;,
that certain theorizings of individuals, like
the writings OF Aristotle, may pass currcn,
Tor science; but it is "science falsely SO cal.
led Real science is simple truths or
facts arranged or set in order; il is no,bino
more; l'rot. Lewis does not clearly make
this distinction, and Pro- Dana has an
swered Inn correctly and ably in defence
Of science.
we will now endeavor to prcscn, the
substance Of Prof Dana's account of the
history of Creation, because i. is the latest.
clearcSt, and best we have seen, and nust
be OF interest to every son of Adam lie
states that Geology proves our ca.th to
nave been ut one slime fiery ball in space;
then dry land and seas appeared, with /,
tropical climate over the whole r!obe.-
At later period, mountains began TO EN-
large, The dry land to expand, n temper
ate climate to gather about the poles, and
tribes OF animals became more localized
Then, in the last age before man, the con.
%nents take their full breadth; rivers flow.
everywhere valleys are formed; the Zones
OF climate became nearly like our own, and
every region of the globe has its peculiar
fauna: FINALLY, the features, and climates
and life attain all their present variety, rs
man appears to take his place at tie com.
mand Of his maker"
His ideas regarding the production of
light are peculiar, and as we have seen the
samcviews before, and now find them ell
dorsed 10y Prof Dana, VIC presume they
arc accepted as the most correct theory of
light by all who have paid any attention
to the svbject. lie says, "wilhout mutu-
nj molecular action, there could be neither
light nor heat. But let it be endowed
with intense attraction of different derraes
or conditions, and it would produce light
as the first effect Of mutual action begun.
the command, Let light be- was the sum.
mons to activity in matter" The plain
meaning Of this is, that the matter COM
posing the earth was in existence before
The law Of gravity, and that when il (mat-
ter) was endowed with gravity, the mutu.
al action resulting tlIerefrom produced
light; in other words, light is an effect Of
the law Of gravitaiion.
The records of the rocks, Prof Dana as
serts, declare that the creations of the ami.
NAL Kingdoms came not forth all at once
but in long progression. There was an
age when shell-fish, such as cutie fish,
corals, and trilobites, were dominant
The earth was then too warm, and the
atmosphere too impure for more exalted
forms. "ihis was the Siurian age of oe-
ologic u science" The next age was when
fishes filled the seas, which is the Devoni-
an Of Geology. Then followed another,
when reptiles, frogs, and sslamandcrs com
menced. Land plants then came forth,
and were Of exuberaut growth, TO abstract
carbonic gas from the atmosphere and
purify the air. The vegetable products Of
that age are now found in our coal fields.
After this came the "SeptiIisn sge,r when
there were reptiles larger than whales in
the water; leviathan reptiles on land, and
lying reptiles in the air.