The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1871-12-05
Spiritualistic Exuviae-No. @.

SpiriiuaIistic Exuviae-No. @.
Having thus far examined the exu-
viae from the crratic nest oil Spirituaism,
aud having shown how utterly bas ,less
are the objections against Moses and the
Bible as founded upon geology or astron-
omy, We reach another objection founded
upon the supposed great antiquity of
man. This | might pass, inasmuch as
many devout and earnest believers 10 the
Scriptures advocate this view, men ofhigh
standing as thinkers. writers and men of
science, such as the Duke of Argyle, DR..
McCausland, and Rev. DR.. j. p. Thomp-
son and others. A late Christian writer
in Scrbncr's Monthly takes the same
view. So that the objection fails to be
one, which in the estimation Of such men,
can be made to initiate against the Sa-
cred Record. shall not, therefore, pur.
sue this matter, leaving it for those suf-
hcieutly interested to obtain and peruse
the works Of the above authors at their
will. One remark only would | further
indulge in in this place and that is, that
we have found time enough in the Mosaic
account for any antiquity Of any thing
that now, or that ever has existed, be it
Eozoou or be it man.
Just here we pause moment to notice
cavl, argument, or semblance to an ar
giment it is not, respecting the declara-
tion Of the 1st aud ID verses of chapter
ID, in which it says that the heavens and
the earth were flushed So, and that
God rested on the seventh day. Aud
forsooth, because "the rivers do not cease
to run. the glaciers to slide, the waves Of
the ocean to heave, the
sun to shine, the rain to fall,
sediment to be deposited,
earthquakes shake, and so on" God dil
not flush his work, that is the work he
then had in hand in preparing the heav-
ems and the earth as fit abode Cor man !;
and for the accomplishment of his design
in placing man upon it Well, men who
determine to find fault with the Bible
will do so. not because it is the faulty
revelation they would make It, but rath-
er because of that "evil heart Of unbcliei
they cherish in departing from the liv-
ing God" 1t is but one Of the many H.
ustratons Of the truth, that men, some
men at least, are fully set in themselves
10 do evil and that because they love
not to retain God 10 their know ledge, be
has given them over to Il reprobate mind
and 10 The vanity of their own niagn.
iugs, (Roln ! chapter).
"These are they
That strive to pull Jehovah from his throne,
And in the place of Heavens eternal king
Set up their demous."
Geology teaches clearly. that just as
the world was being made in the ages
past, SO is it being made to-day and, ii
God was at work then, he is equally at
work now know not which to brand
with deeper ignominy, the fallacy Of such
Il statement or its brazen spirit of irrev.
erence and disrespcct toward God. That
Ood "is at work at present, aud that the
earth is one theatre Of his operations, the
Bible, 50 far from denying, constantly
atiirms. "My Father" says Jesus, "work-
eth hitherto and l work" But that God
does the same work to-day that he did
In creating the heavens and the earth.
neither geology nor any thing else teach.
es. These Spiritualist teachers may
sneer at the idea of Gods resting from
his labors but it is the sneer Of ignor-
ance or hypocrisy. They either do not
know and appreciate the sublime anthro-
pomorphisms of the Scripture, or know.
ing, they seek to prevent others from un-
derstandng them. Knowing what is
true in the nature Of things, in science as
we'll as in religion that 'the first great
cause is least understood of ALL" the Bi-
bic, as divine revelation, stoops in its
language to our dim perceptions and to
our finite natures. 1t does, what sci
ence, confessedly-as have shown from
Tyudall-cannot do, makes us acquainted
tn the mysteries OF causaton. But iu
order to do this it accommodates its de.
scrlptlon or teachings to our human in.
'elects. Avoiding false anthropomor.
phism-which is term used to signify
the representation Of divinity under
human form,-avoidiug l say the false
representations Of heathcnism. or Spirit
uallsni--ior they are in essence Identical
the Bible employs such analogies as
will best convey to Us the nature, attri-
butcs, affections aud acts Of the Divine
Being. Hence, in the passage under
consideration, God is spoken of a. rest
ing from all his work which he had made
rne term "rcs,ed" is rendered by the
Septuagin by a Greek term (katepause)
which signifies simply TO cease, cease do.
ny, and does not convey the idea OF re-
creation or retreshment from fatigue. So
! says Taylor Lewis in Lange', Commenta-
ry. Further, says that profound scholar
"Rest is not inertia. Rest in physics is
the equilibrium OF power, and 50 the
maximum of power. Motion is the
yielding or letting out of power, necessa-
ry, indeed, for its manifestation is pa.
tent effect, yet still disbursng or speud-
lug OF that static energy, which was in
the qulescence. Absolute rest in the kos
mos (lhe bringing into or keeping it in
that state) would be the highest exercise
Of the divine might but as it would pre-.
clude ali sensation, and all sentiency, both
OF which are inseparable from change or
motion Of some kind, it would be an alb
sencc Of all outward manifestation that
is, it would be uon-phenomenal or non
mauiIesting. So also rest is the highest
power (activity) Of mind or spirit, and
thus its highest state" Nor is this to be
regarded as refinement of Christian
philosophy, forced into being by the
pressure OF skeptical objections for Aris-
totle, who lived long enough before such
objections existed, gave utterance to sim
liar ideas What shall we then say to
such spirit verbiagc as ,his,-"But the
God that this writer (Moses) believed in,
was evidently large man, who worked
with muscles, stood off to see the effect as
"A sculi,ture mipht do and could not ra