Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-08-28
The Cable and Scripture.

plished by the Atlantic Telegraphic Cabl'
/! is its starting some of tie newspapers t,
reading tue Bible, aid aaotiag ysriou
texts which, in the opinion Of these emf
4ent theologians, are highly applicable t
the subject. For example, lending New
York Journal quotes tie following to show
"that the idea so far from being new or or.
iginal, is simply ful6lment Of prophecy
and carrying out of suggestions made by the
inspired writerss"
PsALAs. XIX. -Their line is gone ou
through all the earth, and their words t
to the end of the world. a8
JOB xxxv111 SO. Canst thou send The
|lightnings, that they may 60, and say untt
thee here We are7 81. s''a1
RsvrtArtoNs < And saw another
mighty angel come down from heaven
clothed with cloud and i rainbow war
upon his head, and his face was as II were
| the sun, and his feet as pillars Of fire.
| 2. And lie had Id his hahd a little book
open, and he SIT his Fight fdct upon the sea
| and his left foot tp5h The earth: ~
8. And cried with 4 loud voice as when
lion roaretE, and When he had cried, sew
| en- thundsfb Uttered their voices.
4. AID when the seven thunders had
uttered theit voices, / was about to write,
and t Heard voice from heaven saying un-
to ME, Seal up those things which the sew
en- thuhders uttered, and write them not
S. And the angel which saw stand up
on the sea aud upon the earth lifted up his
hand to heaven, d
g. And sware BY him that liveth forever
and ever, who created heaven and the things
that therein, are, and the earth and the.
things that therein are, and the sea and
the ttihgs which are therein, that there
should be time no longer.
Job xxty1l: 3.-He directeth it CHS
voice. under the whole heavens, and his
lightnings to the ends Of the earth.
JOB XVIII: 26.--When he made de-
cree for the rain, and way for the light
ming and the thunder.
JOB xxxvlI: 25.-Who hath devided q
water course for the overlooking Of waters,
Or a way for tha lightning or thunder.
PROVERBS, VII: 29.-When he gave to
the sea his decree that the waters should
not pass his commandment.
Our theological contemporary insists that
the coincidence of the seven thunders and
seven voices in the Evangelist's vision, with
the seven wires Of the cable; the several
illusions to the .'wsy for the lightning
the inquiry whether the lightning can be
made to speak; and the. direct reference to
the insulation Of the cable By giving a de-
cree to the sea, that ''the waters should not
pass his command" have obvious reference
to the Ocean Telegraph!
Such an application Of these texts vas
never dreamed Of before. When David
declared in one of the most sublime Of COM
positions that 1.-THE heavens declare the
glory Of God, and the armament showeth
Ills handy work" and when, expressing in
the same poetic strain the idea that,in these
heavens all men, no matter how remote.
may read, asin book, the greatness and
goodness Of the Divine Architect, he added,
''Their line is gone out through the earth,
and their works to the end Of the world" Z
he could scarcely have. imagined such a
wrestling of Scripture as the application
of that verse to a cline" of wire and gutta
percba at the bottom Of the Atlantic
When the the patriarch Job asked who
could open the clouds, to make way for the
lightning and thunder, he probably had
superior power in his mind to any, that are
operating at Valentia or Trinity Bay. The
climax is reached, however. in the Book Of
Revelations, where the "seven thunders'
are made to coincide with the. seven wires,
and the prediction that Time shall be longer,
is consumated in the success Of Cyrus W.
Field.
We have had some notable evidences that
when religions newspapers intrude upon
the secular field, they are apt to, make a
botch of it, and, on the other hand, the
shrewdest Of secular journals seem equally
out Of their elements in the business Of ex-
pounding and interpreting Holy Scripture.
| -Richn1ohd Dispatch