, 1875-04-26

wv NtCA1 o[s
srRMoS M THE nEy. ARrruR SWAzEf
The Isey. Arthur Hwazoy, pnstor Of tho ASH
land Avenue ptcnbyterlen Church, preached ~
follows yesterday morning. choosing ior his
text:
Thou art worthy, o lord, to receive Glnry, ana
homer mil power for THU hast created all hngs
AMI forThy ptasure they ara and were creatcd.-Asr
IT,, II.
Tho revival Of iifo alter the winter hns passed.
away recalls us 10 the thought OF God as Author
OF oil life. At auch ecasons always wish to Hay
somotling, bo 1t moro or less significant, about
tho gyoas joyful myslory. oGcr fow remarks
this morning Oh God as Creator"
II is vain to undertake to separate relgon
from unturo. It is all orcrrstlning Of things
spiritual, which is out Of all harmony with tho
Bible. 1t ts not only .ruo that God Ia Croator,-
that TIM glass Of spring and frnits Of autumn
arc lIts work,-but it is tho part OF religion to
opsorva It aud to loari, tho timely lesson.
The trst ohaptor Of our Dtblo is IN account OF
creation given for religious purposes. Tho orig
in OF stone or fish, or world lsas roligio,is
rnluc. Tho idea Of tho fourth commandment is
par!ly memorinl. II IL enforced By tho considcr-
ntson: "For III six diys tho Lord mado Heaven,
Garth, tho sca, and all that in them IT," The
meat tide Of sacred spnG reaches iss hoight
In recalling tbo tias a tho Almighty over chnos.
md wind, aud sea, among tho mountains and
tho stars. Davlls psalms, Tho prophecies Of
Nehctuul,, Isaiah. and Jeremiah abound In
nscr,pliors Of prniEo to tho "Ereator."
The Now Tostament adopts iheold habit OF
connecting God aud NatnEo, =" Every house tB
things ia God" Iu adnlring, tho goodness Of
qol. Flo Ia callod tho "faithful Creator" Aud
boyond this comes nnother typo Of thoneht.
CLr,at Ia declared to be tho right arm Of the Al
mighty power. The first chapter q John con-
Of Paul: For by Him lUhrlst) were all thinga
created that are In l,oayon and that arc Ia Tho
earth, yislblo and invisible, -. all things woro
created by Him nntf for Him."
Jowish culture knew nothing Of sidezcal days,
OF uptations nebulous worlds, Of aqueous or
igneouB rocks, or any other Of tue ticta Of mod-
cru science, but 1t did include q recognition OF
Nature ~ shn appeared TO thoughtful minds, and
moro especially It included tlo idea Of God. al
before nIl aud the Muker Of all, md using oil for
His glory. Tho B.blo, somo affirm, teaches
science: and hence tho lnnumerable entangle-
ments OF tho ccclcsiRatica! and tho scientific
world. to thu grcat aid oft1epeatel discolntlturn
Of tho ccclesiahtics. Tho right distinction Is that
tho Diblo declares somc Of tho phenomena of
nature to bo accounted for IN one way or M
other, tho record itself ororing no theory
but recognizing every day as tho work Of Coda
land. and everything ns yet plastic by tho word
Of His power. Tho farmer tells you that his
ilcid, by tho blessing Of God. hua brought forth
pleuiifClly. The stiontlfc man resiewh tho Bntuo
ietd, and tells you that the earth Is rich in limo
mud ammonia. Tho former Is tho religious re-
count. Tho Bible records tho occnrronee, by tho
power Of God, Ut days and nights. Of months
and years, OF great hail-storms and floods. Sci
euce. in review Of the sAmo phenotuonnt tolls
you OF 1iurual aud annual revolutions, Of ovap.
oratons, air-currcutb. rapid condeusattons, and
tho same to everybody, tho samo in nll nxeu. IN
all conditions Of culture. Tho Bcencc 10 clsauge-
able, depends on tLo moaning of tclma or on
the progreas Of knowledge. Science, therefore,
tic listiuction NO make bning sufficiently nccu-
ratio for our purpose. y not to 10 expected IN n
book designed FOR NIL times and nil grades Of In
tcljgeute, But certain truths of nnturo have
great value for tho moral a4d religious aspects
md conditions of'life. We may Look for them,
therefore, in Our Bible. It Ia primo question,
" tlsre q God or oply nature? It is = prime
question whather God bo subject to nature, or
nature 10 subject to God7 1s uod only great
mau, moro sKIllfu1 in maintaining cettnin con-
troll OF nature, or did Ho mako tho instruments
OF His power? These aud otllor questions nro
answered by tho bible as teacher Of natural
truth.
econtihc and for tho world nt large in proportion
~ true sctcneo is lnaac popular. Tho Dblo doc
laratiou8 in regard 10 natnro have universal val
ue. They bring In their Testimony and moral pom-
os earlier extend them more widely, put them moro
painly. aud 1eop tncm aloof from tho patronage
or the criticism oi the dfferent ind often hostile
schools In the scientific world. 1atleed, you will
obsorvo TINT when a scientific writer wiAhes to
mpuEu tho voracity OF tho sacrtd record ho IL
oute likely to attribute to tho Dible HOMO theory
which ignorance has imposed on tho record, mud
which tho alvancomeut OF leaning Las over
thrown. limo and again. for c1aniple, has tho
Mosaic account Of Creation beon drawn out into
theory, and then made the object of violent at
tack; whereas Moses. or tho writer from whoE1
be derived tbs divine1y:approvcl tradition; puts
forward no thcor. at oil. He simply records tllt
phenomena and tho chronological order iu which
| tboy occurrcd-
Even 10 scholarly and brilliant writer af
| Prot. Draper. I nm aorry to see, cannot keef
himself clear Of n misconhtrac!ion which = tol
erabio acquaintance with Hebrew loarning wnull
he likely 10 avoid. According to him, tho Script
| ures teach that ''tho earth IL an oxtondod lave
surface which Run.nlnh the dome Of tie sky;
that "tho earth is the contre OK tho universe,
"sacrcd cosmosopy," ho doca not scEuplo Il
causes IN CREATION" Tha truth IL thA
the Mosaic account doeo not occupy itBel
with nny theory Whatsoever Of tho shape Of til
cngth, nor any theory OF q gcocentrio universe
iu tho crentiou OF tho world. It occupies itso!
with tho great idca Of tho origin, tho order O
| tho stops tu tho origin, and tho Great Omnp0
tent Moyor In tho origin OF tlis easth OH whic
| NO 1.-Two.
aro very likely, fho recorder himself being utter
II ignorant Of n!l theories, to shadow theory
wllscl. shado"ing may be perceived az once, or .
u later atago OF knowledge. This sladowiug !
found In tho Mosaic rccoTtt. And II, with otlc
Scriptures. suggests tho roundness Of tho eartl'
md indofiuitoy-long periods for days rathc
than the tlat earth md short pcrioda Of late
and extra Hebrew. cosmogony. The "crys
tallno spheres" Which Dfaper ncAnlH 70 sragar,
as patt OF tho Mosaic theory, /. would puzx!
q Billie reader TO find. Indeed. tho most lik
the crystalline spheres Of anything WAS the 10
Yoution Of an accomplished disciple of Plato
who departed from tho astronomy which la
beou tn vogue for several hundred year
at lonst, and which WAS essentially th
Cupernlcau, or accepted theory Of our time. III
deed suspect that Il would task the most learn
Ell to provo that tho ossonuR! foaturcH Of aatta
nomioal knowledge aro In any sense tho produs
ot modern investigation.
The Bible does not offor any theory 1t oil, Al
therefore dooa not dsny any theory whatevt
WHICH includes the idoa OF God al Creator.
neither a!llrtns nor dcnlcs the operation
secontlasy CAUSES. II leaves margin Of tim
for olaos, for the separating Of tho earth aa
tho zca for the production Of vegetable llfc, au
1 81 1fn Inn 1rr mi NM