The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1871-04-20

oIlRosoIsoaiiY 81 Tn1 n liiIIi,.'
ED1roR JouRNAL-It may. be we'll
TO notice one or two points in the ar
tiole Of MI. Gates 10 tho Time. Of last
Saturday on "Religion and Science"
and bearing directly upon those Of mine
which appeared in THE JOURNAL.
When We arc so often told that the
scriptures do not teach s'soienoe," it il
we'll e inquire, Where are wa taught the
true science Of mans creation ? II is
in the Bible alone. Therein We are
taught chat the "Lo,d God formed man
Of tho dust ofths ground e 81 And not
only 50, but i further adds, ..and
he brea,hed into his nostrily The breath
Of life; and man became l living SOUL"
that i. With tho spirit Of Immortality
within him. This Is recognized il tho
Nav Testament: s'The first man Adam
was made living sout; tbe; last Adam
q. e.Chrht) was made : quick ening {.
',fe-giving) spirit" I. Cor. ". 45. We
must either receive this account Of
mans creation, or reject the scriptures
which teach it. But the same SCRIP
lures which teach Us Of the first orea.
ton Of man, also inform Us how long
lived the different progepitors of the
race, in the line Of descent in which it
is traced, thus giving Us definite pc.
Rod cf its existence. Acknowledging
them - our guide in the one particu.
lar, We should also acknowledge them
10 the other, wherein they speak with
like de6niteness. Ny remarks had no
reference to the age Of the earth, but
only 70 that Of man upon it, and which
scripture marks 80 definitely, though
its account be 10 brief.
+. At this point we are met by the in
timation that the scripture measure
ment Of time is different from our own.
But it not only measures the time, but
also numbers the generations, and if
tho time ..were multiplied, it would be
necessary, in consistency, to multiply
the years to which We are told Adam
and many others lived, which, accord.
ing to tho estimate Of some, they
would be made to have lived many
hundred thousand years, instead of only
hundreds as the scriptures teach.
I see no good reason for the presump-
ton nor any reason to sustain it, that
the scripture measurement of time is
different from our own. Too frequent
Is the mention Of days, which are evil
IDENTIFY such as our OVID, to need any
quotation Of them. They were divided
into weeks, and from the very first the
seventh day was to be kept As q day
Of rest, holy unto the Lord. And the
continual observance Of that day to
the coming Of our Lord 10 the flesh and
His resurrection from the dead, is an
unimpeachable testimony to the length
of days there spoken Of. The days
we're divided into months, and in Gen.
Oh. vii, '. II, aud Oh. viii, 4,5, they will
be found about as our own, and that
five months comprised one huadred and
fifty days, or thirty days each. There
wero twelve months in the year, while
the annual return of the seasons indi-
cate unmlstakably their measure ment
,by the revolution Of the earth and sun
in their yearly course. Where the
wording is so very plain aud positive, on
tho suggestion of doubt the burden
Of proof should be give to sustain it.
I have no hesitation whatever, as
Mr.. Gates appears to presume I would
have, in reading to my congregation the
quoted passage from St. Peters epistle,
"But beloved be not ignorant Of this
one thing, that one day is with the
Lord as = thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day." Neither
do I hesitate to endeavor to impress 1t
upon them in that specification in which
the apostle SO evidently adduced It
and which is 50 very different from
that Mr.. Gates makes Of it. If the
reader will examine that passage With
its context iu the Sd chap. Of the I'd
Epistle Of St. Peter, he will find that the
apostle was answering the gainsaying
Of doubtefs who scof6ngly inquired,
"Whero is the promise Of His (our
Lord) coming? for since the fathers
fell asleep, al things continue as they
were from the beginning Of tho crea-
tion :" and he assures them of God
faithfulness in fulfilling every promise
and threat Of Judgment. He remind
ed them Of tho mighty power of God
unaffected in the works Of creation,
and which they were iguorsnt or un-
mindful Of. he adduced tho destruction
occasioned by the Overflow of the
food. Then he assured them, "But
the heavens and the earth, which are
nov, by the same word are kept in
store, reserved unto fire sgainst the doy
Of judgment and perdition Of ungodly
men." 1921 ~, So =. T.,
Thus he assured them of Gods
faithiulness, and abundant power to
punish to the extreme. And that they
should not doubt His justice or HI.
faithfulnese, he assured them that With
the ETERNAL AND OMNISCIENT