The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1885-02-13
THE FIRST CHAPTER OF
GENESIS.
is IT CORRECT GEoLoGICALLY?

tCOHHHHtu JFUW "tst tsSue.
Is. Science. Vegetation reached its per.
fection by gradual steps eliminating in the
Pliocene. Up to this time the testimony
of the rocks indicates uniform climate all
over the globe. This is probably due TO
the fact that the Garth was first formed
with its axis Zine about which il revolves)
perpendicular to the ecliptfc or the plane
of its orbit. The moon is nearly so now.
But il tilted over about this time aud is
now inclined 23i degrees (nearly) from
the perpendicular. In consequence of This
the sun at once began to produce and in.
dicatc the seasons by its (apparenD motion
between the solsticial points and winter,
summer, spring and autumn thus began to
indicate the years. The sun, also, by its
position north or south Of the equator at
that time originated the inequality of the
days and nights.
Is. BiJie, vs.. 1t, "And God said, The
lights in The expansc Of heaven shall be
for TO divide between the day and The
night and shall be for signs and for sea-
sons and for days and for years.
Vs. 15, "And they shall be for lights in
the eXpansc of heaven TO give light upon
the earth, and it was so done.
Is 16, ("And God made the two great
lights; The greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light TO rule the night; he
made the stars also.
vs. II, 1S. And God set them in the
eXpanse of heaven to give light on the
earth. And to rule over the day and
over the night; and to divide between The
light and the darkness.) And God saw
that it was good.
And tie erening and the moraing 'ceys tie
fourth deg.
Here appears, according to The theory of
Prof. Warning, the first apparent dscrepan
cy between the Biblical and scientific oc-
counts. Apparently the Bible says sun.
moon and stars were created during the
fourth day Let us first consider the
numerous remarkable condolences which
precede this statement. Some NAV re-
mark that these condolences may be ac-
cidental. | would suggest to such one
that he bring to bear upon this question
Of the accidental coincidence above men,
toned the mathematical theory of proba.
bilitics. and the absurdity of the suppos-
tion that this is accidental will at once APP
pear. No. it is The height of irratonaliiy
to see in this anything other than divine
revelation TO the darkest ages of history.
We would infer from the foregoing tliat
the contradiction in verses 16, II, 1S, is
explicable and this will at once appear as
we further consider ii. Note that in
verse IA, Moses speaks of something al.
ready existing and lighting the world,
and Immediately after speaks of the crea-
ton of the lighting power. An !dio. of
any age would know better than TO speak
of the lighting Of q candle at n later period
than the illumination Of the room thereby.
1t is therefore evident that verses 1G, II
and 1S are parenthesis thrown in ty
Moses as simply explanatory of the ex-
istence of the lighting power and does
not refer at all to The period Of its crea-
ton, This being exterior 10 the globe
partakes Of the astronomical rather than
the geological discussion of the text.
The phases of the moon which determine
the months were not altered at this time
by tho change in the position the carth's
axis, and consequently the Biblical &C.
count makes no mention of months, rs in
the erroneous uninspircd Genesis of the
Chaldeans. 1t refers 10 the days simply,
to the seasons, to the years ana to the
signs of the great Jewish festivals which
depended upon the full moon in connec.
ton with the vernal equinox, and before
this period there was no vernal equinox.
Ergo we perceive that the sacred writer
hits TIC scientific nail exactly on The head
in each Of these particulars.
We note that this arrangement is pro-
nounced good" J. e. satisfactory and
permanent. Scientists state that there has
been no chance since this period.
10. Science. During the earliest period
of geological history in Archaean and 81.
lurian seas q large number of invertebrates
were created. These are the lowest forn
of created life Following these came
the vertebrate diving structures with back
bone) life of sea, land and mir. But these
latter were not of permanent varieties
and were destroyed by peculiar circum-
stances and tho extreme cold of the gla.
cial (or ice) epoch which occurred at the
time of change of the carths axis above
mentioned. Prof. Dana says mot n
bird, fisb. reptile or mammal of the tertia-
ry is alive to day." After that epoch liv-
ing creatures Of permanent varieties were
created and air and water swarmcd there
with.
10. Bi5l. W.. 90. 81, %, %, "And God
said, Let the waters bring forth abundant.