The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-09-02
Tho Scientific Accuracy of the Bible.

I make three propositions, that the
Bible has never been convicted of one
essential error; 2, when it touches science
it is entirely correct; 3, its elastic terms
accommodate it to scientific advance.
Let US take sciences in their order and
subject the Bible to the successive tests.
First, cosmogony, the science of creation.
Let us consider that first verse in Gene..s :
sis; and We find eight creative stages
shown in science exactly as declared by
Moses. Both tell Us that first of all was
a watery waste, and the sun was obscured
by vapors; life follows, preceding light;
the atmosphere expands, the continent
appears above the surface of the water; !.
the heavens and the sun aud sta.s shine
out, the sen develops the monsters of
the deep, and last of all man is created.
Second, geology shows the succession of
the great stages of the worlds creation.
The Hebrew word day translated
means also a "period, J" and the word is
used for the forty years sojourn in tho
wilderness by the ,Israelites, as the Sdays
of temptation, and in Genesis iv. "the
days that the Lord God made the earth
and the heavens" Thus geology supports
the biblical statement of creation taking
place in succession of days. Again,
geology shows that all carboniferous veg
citation shows that the three orders Of
growth, herbs, plants and trees must have
been developed without tbesun, exactly
in accord with the Mosaic assertion.
Third, natural philosophy sustains the
Bible. Light wasylong supposed to be: a
substance tits known nowlto be only q
form of motion, and God knew it when
he said, "Let there be light this being
the only instance when "be" is used
instead Of the work make. And in obe-
dience to Gods word, light instantly
began to move. Job did not understand
what he said when he described the sun
and stars singing together; but We know
the connection between sound and muse.
And when 1900 B. @. the Bible refers 10
the fact of the refraction of the suns
rays at the ends of the earth, Job
xxxviii. II, no one could understand 40
then. The Bible plainly referred to the
weight of the air, Job xviii Is, when
it said, ITO make the weight for the
winds,A bnt Calico thought he had dis:
covered it; and Solomon knew the uatu-
raj course of the winds when in Ecclesi-
astes l.: 6, he said sthe wind returpeth
again according to his circuits" When
the inspired writer said in Job XVI.
aHe stretched out the North over the
empty space, and hapgeth the earth upon
nothing" he proclaimed for the first time
the great fact of grayitation and. ether
beyond the atmosphere; aud how many
dreary centuries before man could under
stand it'll Solomon again said: Gall the
rivers run into he.sea, yet the sea is not
full; into the place from whence the
rivers came, hither they return again, &
Ecclesisstes j q, but be nor any other
man knew that bespoke of the; fact OF
the evaporation of water. 5. How does
the Bible stand the test of chemistry |?
Moses said man was made out of dust of
the ground, land it is. a scientific fact; for
lime, phosphate, silex, gas and water en-
ter in the composition of both: When
Peter wrote: 1.-THE earth standeth out
of the water, and in the water persisted; /;
but the heavens and earth which now by 5
the same word are kept in store, reserved
into fire against the day of Judgment,
and perdition of ungodly men," he re-
ferred unwittingly to the chemical com.
position of water and air; for oxygen is !
the greatest feeder of fire known, and is
kept from consuming the rocks and
metals by the presence of nitrogen in the
air, the lazy giant: and water is compos-
ed of hydrogen and oxygen: hydrogen
being the most infammable substance
known, and need only to be separated for
the total destruction of the world. 4.
And what do we find from comparative
anatomy. of the order of creation Of liy.
ing beings as told in Genesis? What
shows the grade to which animals belong
to-day? the proportion of the brain to-
5the spinal column /; and We find that the
brain. of fish has the proportion of 2 to
i to 1.-THE spinal column, of reptiles q to !.
l, birds 8 to /, Of mammsls 4 to and of
man 33 to /, proving exactly what we are
told in Genesis of the order of creation
The Reu. DR.. Person AZ M. Hermon.