The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-04
HoW ABoUr SoAn,s FLooD,
MIA II Cover the Earth or Was IL the Result
or Merely Local sbowerel

From The Kansas Cttv Times.
Tho Rev. William J. Dalton preached vt tho
Church OF the Annunciation yesterday on Tho
Dclugc.' His idea OF tho great hood Is that Il
did not cover tho cntiro earth, tut only such
pnrts Of 1t ns wern inhalitei by man, tho object
oc tho do'ngo hcing Tho destruction .! sinful
men,
There is no tradition moro ancient, memo
moro universal among tho Oldest nations than
tho dolugc. Il formed IA part OF the rude belief
oG the Egyptian, Chalicnr, Greek, Scythior, and
cote tribes. Tho rcruy!aas, MoNicans, South
Sea- I3laniGrs, uId tho agtivcs q inGiu hHyo
legendary tales OF n universe, catastrophe ly
water. Tho history OF Tho icingo told ~ Moses
has much in common with tao 2cact!ptiOns
found cXtant among tho otGgc peoples. a like
cause ruUs th.oagh them iii. j. Te3 Il punish.
men: on man 10. Nagraa! traasarcssiop. II this
science n terrestrial physics rofuacs to elnit
tho probability OF sufficient wat"- TO stand all
over tbs gllEG !iyO miicB IL height abdvS tho
surface Of tic Sos, u natural history says that
the myriads of spccics Of living creatures could
not be c%on,ncG, preserved, and continued IN tho
now could not construct Il vessel OF capacity and
strength 10 serve tho purpose Intended, there Is
u strong evidence ]iayuriny u dclugC--Gpd that is
its acceptance G;nCHg all nations.
What gains r~relcnco nnlong ]ra,!ouH widely
separated. a1nnnE peoples OF thought, OF Tarccp-
tons, of intellectual t]raiuiug 2u& sGgroung,ngs
"a varied "a taGir color, their languages and
their religious g~ui'nrr, u"sL GayD its origin
grounded on truth. l. IS e p"gr excuse TO sc1f
at the NOuCh!uH dn."ps hCnaUac tn. ancient iOrp
of India tells o: t)tcrgiale cat, "ysm ialt swept
men and all uuimu'g If tho "cli and biris u ito
mir on, of lifc. 4 common gri,in II ihg rrce and
Il general uxpcricnac como ~ ,onlllsiOr. Tho
general belief In a doluEo las not TrccluGra us
spreading as Mot%!sf Itself. It A}ao ?rcyoksl
discussions among chGrChmcn That have not yet
ccnscd. II was Is tru.t.lt t;ris Of debate and
sChoolmcn suc"Ccdud 20 Tho Inheritance OF trans
lators and interpreters " tho Bibl9 they flied
volumes and originated theories or tho q~uest!cn
al the univcrsnlity OF The dc'Grc and OF, ia, va
riOus phases OF the great food.
'A4 on the creation of Eve and the intcrp-cta-
ton of the book OF Jonah, the Catholic Churrh
permits its children fullest latitude Oh the u.ss.
lion of the universally ot the NUachinn dcIJgc.
Tho almost universally accented opinion of tho
fathers, school men. and gxe:ctist5 was THAI
Moscs's account Of tic dclusc was to he received
water, and that al mankind and all animuk,
birds, and inscr's were DESTROYED, uyccut thc
eight people i'll lh: ark and tho two Of each spc-
rirs Of ever other breathing existence here he
low. So widespread and ~ Gecpruoici was this
theory that to many II was a r]g.igious belief, and
to doubt or gnin-hy was Irrc,v. IA oJ-
icctions against This 'rrDDugitIgn were urged.
answers wcJo returned, cNplauaIiors e.styei
and systems formulated as h6y tns water snr1nt
forth with such fury and N such volume. Birds
md beasts, they said. presented themselves in.
stinctivcly, or clsu were 70 ufTriEhiol by the
ing catastrophe that they wcrs impei!cd to
gather near The ark, and 20 gave Noah an oUror.
tunitS TO select two of each AHri!'l, Tho DnNHiCnl
occasion which produced The breaking forth OF the
torrents was discussed. To QUO il was the near
approach TO tho earth OF a comet and the con-
dcnsAtion OF its tail into water, hence The deluge.
To another thcro seemed to be a central abyss
which burst forth It's dluvlal water when rs.
snrcs were made in the parched earth Jy tie
strong rays OF the sun.
n" Tho ark measured hy the Egyptian cuhit,
which is twenty-five inches, was 81 feet long''
% feet broad. and 81 feet high. This would
make a capacity OF storage Sl.uG2. The frst
person who seriously controvcrfcd The theory OF
The geographical universally of the dcluge was
n Protestant .hcologiau, in n learned dissertn-
ton printed "a 1855. His book was placed in
the hands OF a learned Bcncdictinc. who, in his
report 10 the CONGREGATION OF the Index AT Rome.
said there was nothing in IL against faith and
morals. From this time The Old school Of ihco,
riSts gradually disappeared. and to-day the non
ular aud sustained opinion is that the dcilsc
was local rather than uniyorsal; that all man.
Kind, with eight executions. was DESTROYED hy
the waters. ana thai only tho beasts and birds Of
tho locality of the dclugo were taken into the
ark. The new opinion Is sustained hv both the
sciences Of zoology and geology.
The Argument for Il universal dcluso which