The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-06-16
The Science of Geology not %Inconsist-
emf with the Teachings f,the Bible.

1ISSDDtSlfINs lLStSS 49, AN AeN
Lesson first Sabbath in July, 1850" taking for
his text Genesis I, %; Ill, As. In this lecture
we think thctcaclier exposes less
on his own part, than the average Sunday
School scholar is presumed to possess, and IN
that "lcsson" the learned u. d., furnishes the
ANNA with one more proof, Us strong us no.
" writ, that he must do ~ little OF his own
thinking, and not blindly accept as gospel
truth everything that may GOMEZ from the pen
of one who has even had the honor OF having
u. .. affixed to his name. This learned ID.
D.. seems to have imbibcd the ideas which
were prevalent before the days Of Gallileo,
and II would seem from his writings that no
ray of light, discovered since that time, has
entered his brain. He would cling to the old
exploded idea tina there is a conflict between
science and the teachings Of the Bible, ana
that IL was necessary TO bring at least the
science of geology into disrepute to malh-
tain the integrity and inspiration Of the Holy
Scriptures, 1t is Il fact which cannot be S;lh'
said thatany man wEoexpccts to establish the
truth OF tho inspired word by attempting to
mt tho sciences ut nouSht. will defeat his W
aims in the most clfectual manner. The or
thodox world are ready TO admit, ana G"
maintain, that the discoveries OF science are
not Il, all in conflict With the. teachings OF the
Bible. and any assumption that the inspired
word prctends to advance particular views
on my of the sciences dcgradcs the holy book,
and that degradation tends to fill the world
with infidcls. Scientists of the present day.
for instance, know exactly how the rainbow
I'm the cloud is produced, and they know also
that the phenomena must have been seen DF
our earliest progenitors, but ncVerthcicSs 'ia'
fact does not by any means disprovc that ON
err fact, that God promised, or Sworc, by the
.'rninbow in the cloud' that there should be
no othe err flood to destroy the GARTH and we
presume that no Christian ever looks upon
the RAINBOW in the cloud" withoutrecallinG
TO mind, with feelings of gratitude, the prom
Use which He made to Noah. 1t is n wei!
established fact, known to all persons,
except n few Of the supcrstltious preach
crs, who upon principle refuse 10 learn
anything, that the Bible does not pre-
tend TO 4cach geology or any other OF inc
sciences. 1t is a book which teaches us our du-
~ to God and man, and furnishes the only
revelation from the Creator to the created.
The sciences are nowhere taught in the Bible,
! DuI Ildl Dooh 10 - S'N
common use ut tina time and no fair
reader will deny that the Dib!c writer's were
not only ignorant Of geology but were also
~unacouaintcd with q thousand other discoF'
cries which science has since revealed. In
proof that there was ignorance, on one SUD
jcct Mt least, VIC will instance this expression
in one @. the prophets" From the rising Of the
sun, even unto the going down OF the same
my name shall be great among the GcntleS.
When that sentence was written 1T was be-
lievcd to be literally true but 1t Is now a well
established fact that the sun docs not rise,
! neither does 1t Ego down," and when we make
use Of these terms it Isl perpetuation OF al
expression which perpetuates the fact OF on
former ignorance upon q subject on whlcf
every man of the present day is agreed.
The learned d. D. uses the word r"Gcologis
ters'' in contradistinction from "Geolosists.'
AS VIC nave no information of any such SCI
cntists as &c: ologistcrs," and can find no s'ci
word in our dictionary, which is the lates
edition of "Wcbster's Unabridged" he has Il:
Mt q disadvantage, but we presume 1t mus
be from them that he obtains the information
as to the exact depth the water OF the ocean
would cover the whole earth. We are toll
by late writer's on that subject that much o
the waters of the earth have not been SOUNDED
and that the exact depths of the oceans have
not. as yet, been ascertained, but 1t is said tina
within the last forty years the belief ha
gained ground that the oceans are not byan!
means rs deep rs they were formerly believed
to be. The learned u. D. no doubt ascertain
cd the exact spoonful Of water to be found II
the great basins from the "Geologisters," a
such fact could from no one else be learned
But even admitting his half mile" statemcn
to he exactly true, we cannot see tho relcvan
CIV between the statement and the text, an'
this important announcement must hav'
been brought in merely to show his won
drous learning on other subjects than the on
under discussion.
The learned d. D.. also falls into the erro
which overtalcs nearly all OF the iliterat'
preachers of the present day, and which tht
great >Spurgeon truthfully says. has done
more to foster and perpetuatc infidelity thai
all the Bob Ingersolls that have ever lived
We refer to the common practice Of men pos
sessing no literary attachments whatever pre-
tending to point out errors in the translation
of the Bible. King James OF England, In TIL
beginning Of the seventeenth century select
cd for this work a large number of the mos
learned divlncs OF that day who, after a Srea
deal Of labor, produced the present translation
but If we are TO believe crossroads preacher
and scIfconstitutcd translators of the holy
scriptures, we would be led to hin that Thu
translators who did their work under Kin:
James were idiots, and knew nothing OF TIT
task with which they had been entrusted.
TO correct" translationS Of the Bible seems
TO form the warp amt wool Of the discoursc'
of a number of preachers who do not ever
understand to any degree of perfection, thciI
own mother tongue, TO say nothing of the
the Greek or Hebrew languages. We shall
not discuss the propriety, the dellcacy, or The
politcness of speaking In the manner which
characterizes the article of the learned divine
nor will We speak Of the utter lack Of infor
nation to be found in the article, but we will
only say that after he has spoken IN this Sun
day School lesson about mud" and "tad.
poles" md ~"monkeys,' and waters" and
"lands,'' and 'lnspiration," and "Moses," and
"Geologisters, and 'blood in Adams veins
and affecting to ridicule the science OF gcolo'
gy," and pointing out palpable and gross err
rors (?) into which the real translators of the
Bible had fallen, he goes of into the subject
of geography, and with a degree Of candor
wonderful to note, he makes the acknowledge
ment thai in this department there are some
facts about which he himself is not perfectly
certain, but, nevertheless, true to his instincts
he manifests all the same, a disposition to
ridicule whatever he may be disposed to nd
nit that he does not understand.