The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1871-11-21

may not be co-extensivc with space, we,
at all events, know that it extends as far
as the most distant stars" And with
Tyndall agree Whewell Sir John Her.
schel, Thompson, Mayer, Lithrow. Helm.
boldt, Grove, Watson, McCosh, Comte.
Rorison, and, in short, says Prof. Winch
ell, every physicist who has investigated
the subject Thus does science do hon.
age to Bible.
But, to return. "Thc word Rahia
signifies expanse is also proved from Jew
ish tradition" "The Jewish School and
Family Bible, by DR.. Benisch, has " ex-
panse"-Luther, Calvin, Vatallus,-who
wrote before Copernicus and Galileo, and
hence were not advocating new inter-
probation to help them out of difficulties,
give it Rakia-frmament-the same de-
finition. And so do host of authorities
The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgatc
render Rahia by stereoma, 6rmamentum
The Septuagint, according to LeClcrc,
adopted the word stereoma from the Ori.
entail or Chaldaic PHILOSOPHERS; and the
Jewish authors of that translation under.
stood the word they used to convey the
idea Of fine and subtle ether, which held
the heavenly bodies in their places, or a
fine subtle fluid pervading space thu
agreeing with Biblical usage, which makes
it an expansc extending from the earth
to the heavenly bodies, including the airy
space in which birds fly.
What now about that "occan Of water
these Spiritists tell us about, which thoy
allege the first chapter of Genesis and
the Bible writers generally did ?" Have
these gentlemen and ladies of the Spirit
fraternity got out of Bibles. that they
don't refer to them more accurately? We
know they have discarded it as a worn
out and effete revelation but if they are
going to criticisc it, would it not be well
for them to read it? The gathering to-
gether of waters abore the armament
and the formation of an " ocean there.
Who ever heard or read Of such thing
except from inidel lips or in infdel
books? No one. 1t is pure fiction
And yet Spiritists have got so used to
swallowing down the nonsensica twaddle
which fills, from week to week, their
Banners of Light that such dose
as this goes dawn with the gratifying gus
to. And because they are incapable Of
apprcciating the exquisite poetic imagery
Of the Hebrew Scriptures, when they
speak of heaven as having pillars, found
alton, windows, doors, on the opening Of
which the rain descended, they cry out,
"What clumsy explanation of rain
And yet we are told the Soul Of the Uni.
verse dictated such childish nonsense r.
Why did these wise interpreters say ''that
the Hebrews believed that there were
bottles in heaven, and that the celestial
ocean, or part of it, was first bottled OF
before the earth could be supplied with
rain ~ Childish nonsense" indeed but
by this time we begin to see who held the
parental relation. Such wise critics had
better creep into Sabbath School and
take their seats in the juvenile depart
ment, and learn Of lisping babes. TIL,
Hebrews knew well enough the connex-
ion between evaporation and rain.-lIeal
them. "For he maketh small the drop,
Of water they pour down rain according
to the vapor Thereof, which the clouds d,
drop and disti upon man abundantly.
And even this unscientic and absurC
Book of Genesis says, (Gcu. >: g. "Bu
there went up mist from the earth, anc
watered the whole face of the ground.
But why multiply such passages, the Ole
Testament is full of them. But do yo,
say that Gen. : speaks Of waters a
bove the armament. And so does DR.
Whcwell in his Theory of the Solar Sys
TEN. He says, "The planets exterior tc
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn especially, a
the best known Of them, appear by thu
best judgment which we can form, to b,
spheres Of water and of aqueous vapor
combined it may be, with atmospheric
mir. Can We see any phys
ical reason for the fact which appears tC
us that all the water and vapor of tn,
system is gathered IN its outward parts
1t would seem that we can. Water ant
aqueous vapor are driven off and retane,
at distance by any other source Of heat
1t was then agreeable to the
general scheme that the excess of wste
and vapor should be packed in rotatin;
masses, such as Jupiter and Saturn, IRA
nus and Neptune. And thu
the vapor, which would have otherwis'
wandered loose about the atmosphere, wa
neatly wound up into balls, which agail
are kept in their due place by being mad
to revolve in nearly circular orbits abou
the sun"
May it not be possible, when these true
ulent and concet-bloated scientific spir
itists know little more about the ethe
real medium which fills space, and il
which the heavenly bodies move, the,
may also learn something more abou
q this water and aqueous vapor," and b
better able to understand the Mosai
statement about the waters above tn
armament" Thus do the irreconcilabl
Records, or Geology and Astronomy har
monize; and thus God in his Works an
in his Word are one.
Mr.. Gladstone is pedestrian of Il