The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-06-24
No More Sea.

NU MUIc SCds
In the 21st chapter of Revelation we
are told that John saw new heaven and
a new earth. And he adds Immediately,
as if it was the great and striking differ
ence between the new and the old, "And
there was no more sea-" A reader wants
me to tell what this means. I wish that
somebody would tell me. I have paused
on that verse at least hundred times in
reading this chapter, and tried to picture
10 myself the earth without any ocean,
lakes or rivers, for it is evident that by
sea here is meant the watery portion of
the world. 1t is the word used in Acts
iv. "a, where the disciples say, "Thou art
God, which hast made heaven and earth
and the sea-" The rivers, the clouds, the
rain, are all connected with tbe ocean.
If it fails. they fail. We have, then, the
idea of q globe without water, OF at least
without the present water supply-no
springs, no wells, no fountains, no show
ers. Os all that vast system by which
the land is irrigated, the thirst of plants,
beasts and men allsyed, the ocean is the
center, the heart. Destroy it and the
system is destroyed. Such is the result,
if we take this statement literally.
Some believe that the statement is 6g-
urative merely. The ocean is to US
symbol Of unrest, of mystery and of peril.
1t is the dwelliug.place of creatures that
prey upon each other. 1t is the scene Of
constant rapine and war and is the birth.
place of storms. Its that portion of the
globe which man has not been able to
subdue and control. In saying there
shall be no more sea the inspired writer
means merely that there shall be no more
mystery, no more trouble, no more war,
no more storms and wrecks on the earth.
1t is like the statement in the 25th verse,
"There shall be no night there" Night
is the symbol of ignorance, of fear, of de.
bauchery and of crime. The end Of
night in the reconstructed universe means
only the end of all the evils associated
with it.
This is an easy and popular way of in.
terpreting Scripture. Swedenborg could
explain everything in.the Bible, ifyou
accepted his theory of symbolism. But
there is danger of carrying the theory too
far. We.must receive Gods statements
as literal wherever the context does not
require to regard them as 6gurative.
Here he is telling rs about the destiny of
the material. universe. is not to:be
destroyed, hut renewed, reconstructed,
purified by fire. And the first manifest
result of the renewal, as John beheld the
wonderful panorama, was the absence of
that element which filled the ocean and
all its tributaries-tno. more sea"
Regarding this as literal, letus study
it. Only about a third of the earth's
surface is land. Fully two,t thirds is COW
cred with water. And yet in bulk or
weight the water makes only one part in
two hundred. In other words, it is only
the half of one per cent. of fthe matter
composing the globe. The drying up of
the water then would be like wiping off
few drops of moisture from the depress-
ion in the rind of an orange. The aver.
age depth of the ocean is only from two
to five miles, while the diameter of the
earth is about 5000 miles. Again, the
bottom of the ocean is proved, by our
deep sea soundings, to be very much like
the continents. There are valleys and
hills, plains and mountains. If, therefore,
this ocean bed were lifted up, or the water
drained off, America would be united
with Europe on the one side and with
Asia on the other by just such land as
composes the continents now. We would
be able to run railroads where steamboats,
run to-day. We would soongo to Liver
pool by rail in half the time that We go
now, by steamer, and much more comfor.
tabIy and safely. Hence, with our pres.
ent facilities for locomotion, the different
parts of the globe would be nearer to
each other without the ocean than with
it, provided we could run cars by electric,
ity, as seems probable.
Then, drying upthe sea would increase
the habitable area of the globe 200 pei
cent. And would enable it to sustain an
immense population in free and easy in
tercourse with each other, provided thai
they could live without water or some
other mode of quenching thirst was pro
yided. On this point we have two facts
to consider: 1. this new earth. without
ocean or rivers, is to be the home of mer
who will dwell in spiritual bodies-bodies
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