The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-08-18
ls0rning Star and Catholic Messsnger.
XIV ORLEANS, SUNDAY, AUGUST IS ;'7s.
Comm unicatedD
DAYS OF CREATION.

u-n, AT have a good deal of respect for yoo
T., not m AXE auy more such explanation 1t
vEas very easy answering you az long as You
pstuck to one eide of this question, bur "hen
-s.,,r condemn both the literal meaning of Holy
Scripture, W hich and the Jewish and Chfis-
S.Rr world maintain, and also the hgurative
xtaaAnipg, including long periods OF tme' say
Dror. ten Thousand to one hundred and twenty
ysiliions of wears which Huxley, Bnffon, Hal
aev. Werner, Hutton and others, maintain,
Ht yvanld take too much space in the MORN
-r.ss5 STAR to follow you, and If we did we
lv~uaH be very likely to forget the original
,sx5;e eot Indeed, if ycu had not used the u.
u, S. 80 often in your explanation, would not
Gave thought it Ct all necessary to Say any
V5iaC; but for the honor of the initials ana
10 resent the iBdignity of coupling them with
%oxley's name, will make a few observations
. I'M your explanation.
IL seems, f;om your "explapation," that theIe
-<R1st have -been q great deal Of might Work
IGoue by the Almighty during the period oil
tSreation which Moses does not think it worth
.Shiio tc mention, and which 1 therefore en-.
&reiy overlooked. Bot your chief reliance for
&c bs support of yonr theory that the ''days' of
sreation could not have been days Ct twenty
gaer hours, is your knowledge of Hebrsto
~
Suaintsd with the mother tongue Of the human
family, nor even with my own mother tongue
thought you had quoted, as did. from an
ala English volume. which you must have
ssep, called "The Holy Bible, translated from
she Latin Vulgate." aud approved by the Pre-
gsSs,s of ireland, England and America. The
uaid Latin vulgate having been decreed by the
S2asrucil OF Trent to be ''Sscred and Canonical."
"Scu say. "All must admit that the Hebretc tert
ssztAorirsd by the Church is good as the
45$arl:sh trar Station" Quite as good, if it
ssxists but, like the holy monk of the twelfth
.osptury. have never heard of it before; and
Fky,ur version of the lst chap. of Genesis, 5th
1erse. ia ths best translation you can maxi
from that Hebrew text, I do not think you
eyill induce many of your readers to abandon
their English translation for yours. The pres
snt English translation reads, "And there was
,sNsuiue end morning one day" c. Jr. trans
4nso, his text from the Hebrew "Aud there
-'>'Sas ending and beginning one period" This
Hebrew translation of yours, for the purpose
.rs- showing that the days" mentioned by
. 9skoses were 6gurative days, puts me in minc
1f a note in Cardinal Wisem ans hfth lecture
Syshere he quotes from DR.. CEoly, that th'
IaaSs of creation mean nothing brt the spac
cg twenty foul. hours, because the Hebrew "ot'
tcx "das" literally means the period OF hgn'
or the tire between two sunsets" lou repea
-1hat as Gne sun was not created until the foufl
day, the first four days could net have bee
snsasured by it. But Moses wrote two thou
4nnd ye hundred years after the creation, al
-1Z37yes All his ca1cuf6utous of ue by the FeTe
zusions of the sun and earth
uuxleys Nashville speech seems 10 hsv
20 have -ueeu q godsend for c. Jr. He says
~cSSv Apswer to Huxley will be a Efficient ar
sSsr TO D. P. 81 But for the life OF me car
aot see what answer Huxley required iroi
Ann, nnIess. as intimated above, you wante
10 be on both sides You have stated thai u
-ssu1s Of creation could not have oten day
ss,~aosy-fGur hours each, but were peFiocs
unknown duration, and when hickey says u
sxAune thing you denounce him as an ssne'' L
The creation of the world by Almighty HS
Ss an article of faith to which every CSSnOi
-,rn.t aaseut but the time or manner of Il
srsst;ou is not so. The inspired writer atnFu
x4,,, creation TO have been instar tAneous: Il
that lives for ever and ever created Ali tam
Sazsther." :" And Moses says, I'm the oeS'nhl
God created heaven and earth"
Ru. the subsequent verses of the chapt
sttnaH a successive development of each d
vtnat portion in six ordinary consecutive da!
This is the simple, literal meaning of the te
sv.,d has been SO understood in all ages, Q
aessts, in6dels and atheists, acknowledge
ahis to be the belief of all Christians hi
sas,e their batteries at work, both PhiloSoPhi
aud scientific, to root out this belief WI
ss.ey call "a vulgar error of the dark days
Superstition"
The facts which geology disolosee were
6rst made ubservient to these inhdel puFpo
Scme Christians got scared at the repor
ssazts OF geology and were willing to m
Almost any concessions in favor Of the
theories. Cardinal Wiseman's lectures
science and revealed religion, Delivers
Roue over fifty years ago, fret called the
,ssntion of learned Catholics to the scienc
geology in connection with revealed reliE
EEe Cardinal himself was not geolOgist'