The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-08-11

oiniib bll OF INC DlRn'B WHICH, tuoi
! fore, can be estimated at any length that may
be deemed meet ssary for the production Of
effects by natural causes set in motion during
the days Bat as it is net likely that there
was long night after the sixth day Huxley
might reply:
The RENAME of animals are found as low
down rs the Upper Siurian strata, which were
formed not less than 10 900 to 25 900 years ago;
but. the Bible says that animals were created
on the fifth and sixth daye !. Q, 6OOO years ago;
therefore your explanation 10 not sufficient.
Huxley argues this way because he does not
believe in God. Before entering on the other
way Of snswering him have to call attention
to the fact that our theologians define eternity
TO be duration without beginning OF end or
succession of moments;'' while time 10 "dura-
tion having beginning and end and succession
of mOments." Conseq uently to say that o
period of duration has beginning and end is
the same rs eaying that it 10 finite, limited. 1t
may be twenty-fo hours or more, or less. It
may be "a 900 years or more, or less. These
def nitions must be borne in mind while read
ing what follows.
have already shown that st. Thomas and
st. Augustine were in favor of giving the laws
of nature foil opportunity to produce natural
effects. and we shall now see that creation can
be most naturally explained by attending to
the real meaning IF the language OF Moses. /
shall now endesvor to show that the word
''dsy" Is used In the English TRANSLATION in
6gurative sense, because the seven periods of
of creation prefguEed the six working days of
the week and the Sabbath. The trsnslators
fudng it SO used in the Goth chap, Of Exodus
would conclude that the Herbrew word, tho
siguifyipg either day" or "period." had best
be translated into the English "dsy." Catho-
lie theoiogians knowing both languages could
easily by comparison ASCERTAIN that "day I"
was fgurative. d. P. s., says:
''If Moses was an ordinary writer, or had
never written anything but the first chapter of
Genesis; there might be some excuse for some
of bis iuterpre ters believing that he had some
indefinite, some concealed meaning in his use
OF the term day"
That remark would be excellent if Moses had
written in English. But the inspired writer
did not use the term "day" and the Hebrew
word which he did use may be translated into
the English "day" or into the English "dura-
tion" or period" All Catholics must admit
that the Hebrew text authorized by the Church
Is as good the English translation. The
original and the TRANSLATION alway 8 illuminate
one another.
"And there was evening and morning one
day."-Gsn. chap. l., v. 5.
In that verse it is found that the Hebrew
word which has been translated evening" can,
with equal correctness, be translated ending.
So also, the word which has been translated
morning can be translated beginning. When
thus translated the text reads:
"And there was ending aud beginning one
period"
This conveys the same meaning as the fol-
lowing:
"And there was (fguratiTe) evening and
(fgurative) morning, one (6gurative) day"
The came ex xpressons should be similarly
de' ood in the other text which seemed 80
conclusive in the hands of D. P. s-v.g.
Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath
day. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy
work, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath
of the L. ord thy God. For in six (6gur-
atve) days the Lord made heaven and earth
and the sea and all things that are in them,
aud rested on the seventh (fgurative) day
therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and
sauctfed it,"
1t will be at once noted that the fgura-
tive sense does not alter the meaning, nor de-
tract in the least from the impressive power
of the command. l regret very much that my
library ia not just now available, and for that
reason can not quote number of theologians
in support of this view. 1t is unnecessary,
however, as there are few priests who have not
heard this opinion discussed often during
their college course and frequently since.
Adam was created about 5000 years ago. In.
fdels constantly question and deny that pro-
position, but they have not solitary f4ot to
support them. Their claims that the earth
and many inferior animals existed thousands
cause Moses does not tell us the length of the
six periods or fgurative days. We cannot es-
innate their lengths with any accuracy,
nor the lengths of the intervening nights.
The only Success the infdels can hope for is,
to enable us TO make such an estimate They have
attempted to prove that man existed on earth
more than 5000 years, but Father Thebaud, s.
j., has exploded their theory of "Quaternary
Deposits" properly called Drift Geological
researches constantly confirm revelation be-