The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-04-25
isfactory Evidence That the Entir
Earth Wa Not Inundated.

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Geological and archaeological rea-
sons combine to prove that geograph.
ically the deluge was not universal At
the time assigned for the deluge the
surface of the earth was substantially
as it is now. II, then, some great por-
ton of the dry land had been SUBJ
merged, a proportionate rise of land
above the waters would have been nee
essary in some other part of the globe.
For, as Prof. Alexander Winchell OBJ
serves. 1.-THE terrestrial globe, in some
of its behavior, may be compared to an
india-rubber ball filed with water. II
indented by pressure in one place, there
must be protuberance equal in vol
ume in another place.
Hence, If all Asia had been sub
merged, proportionate amount of dry
land would have been lifted above tho
waters some where else. That Asia,
Africa, Europe, Australia and America
were all submerged at the same time
seems geologically impossible, and we
have no evidence which would Justify
us to assume that God wrought so stu
pendous a wonder.
On the contrary, there are geological
and archaeological facts which evident.
ly prove that some portions of the
earth have not been inundated by the
Noachian deluge. For instance, in
Auvergne, France; in the Eifel country
of the Prussian Rhine Province; in
New Zealand and elsewhere, there are
extinct volcanoes, evidently older than
Noe. that are marked by cones OF
pumice-stone, ashes and such light sub
waters of tho deluga"
Whereabout was the deluge? Indt.
cations seem to point to Western Con-
trail Asia. 1t is quite probable that the
leading descendants of Adam, the di-
rect line of the ancestors of Gods
chosen people of old, continued to re-
side near the former happy home OF
our first parents, the Garden of Para
disc. Now, this was undoubtedly sit,,-
ated in Western Central Asia, as the
Book of Genesis Enthusiastically indi-
Gates by stating that four rivers. the
Prison, the Gehon, the Tgris and the
Euphrates, had their source in the re-
gion of the Paradise. That really the
Tigris and the Euphrates Of to-day were
meant can not be doubted In the first
place. of the Tigris it is expressly
stated that it is the same that passeth
along by the Assyrians. Secondly,
there is no geological reason known
why the present Tigris and Euphrates
should not have existed in the days OF
Adam, or even long before.
Thus, for instance, our Missouri, Ohio
and Mississippi, the latter about az far
south as Tennessee, seem to have been
in existence during the tertiary age,
long before the appearance Of man upon
earth.
Moreover, it is not likely that the
transient inundation caused by the DEL
uge has permanently changed the cham
nels of these rivers, which it could not
have done without changing the entire
surface OF the surrounding territories.
And, finally, the Book Of Genesis was
written at time when no other rivers
were known as the Tigris and the
Euphrates than the rivers which still
bear these names.
For these reasons it can not be
doubted that the Paradise was located
somewhere near or about the sources Of
the present Tigris and Euphrates, in
Armenia This is the opinion of COM
petent authorities. Gmeiner, IL
Catholic World.