The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-20
GEOLOGY OF THE BIBLE.
a SUBJECT OF GENERAL AND
SPECIAL INTEREST.
ar. TaImage Discussed 1t Yesterday.
His Church Not Big Enough For
the COngregntiOn-WhRt Geology
Finds in Mount Calvary.

at the First Presbyterian church, are all
the time increasing and far beyond the
capacity of his church TO hold. Ia this ser
mon he discusses a subject interesting TO
all viz: The Geology Of the Bible, or God
Among the Rocks. The text Is II Samuel
6:6-7: And when they came to Nachon's
threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand
TO the ark of God, and took hold of it; for
The oxen shook it. And the anger of the
Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God
smote him there for his error; and there
he died by the ark of God.
A band of music is coming down the
road. comets blown, timbrels struck, harps
thrummed, and cymbals clapped, all led
on by David who was himself a musician.
They are ahead of wagon on which is
the sacred box called the Ark" The yoke
of oxen drawing the wagon imperiled it.
Some critics say that the oxen kicked, be-
ing struck with the drivers goad,
but my knowledge of an oxen
leads me say that if on hot day they see
a shadow of a tree or wall, they are apt to
suddenly shy off 10 get the GOODNESS Of the
shadow 1 think these oxen so suddenly
turned that the sacred box seemed about
TO upset and be thrown TO the ground.
OLZdn rushed lOINdlu anu ldpA iiOih VI
abe ark 10 keep it upright. But ne had no
right to do so. A special command had
been given by the Lord that no one, save
the priest, under any circumstances should
touch that box. Nervous, and excited,
and irreverent, Uzzah disobeyed when he
took hold of the ark and he dies as a con-
sequence In all ages, and never more so
than in our own day, there are good peo-
pie all the time afraid that the Holy Bible,
which is the sacred ark of our time, viii
be upset, and they have been a long while
afraid that science, and especially geology,
would overthrow it. While we are not
forbidden to touch the Holy Book, and,
the contrary, are urged to fondle and
study il, any one who is afraid of the over
throw of the Book is greatly offending the
Lord with his unbelief The oxen have
not yet been yoked which can upset that
ark of the worlds salvation. Written by
the Lord Almighty, he is going to protect
il until its mission is fulfilled and there
shall be no more need of a Bible, because
all its prophecies will have been fulfilled,
and the human race will have exchanged
worlds. A trumpet and a violin very
different instruments, but they may he
played in perfect accord. So the Bible ac-
count of the creation of the world and the
geological account are different. One story
written on parchment and the other on the
rocks, and yet in perfect and eternal ac-
cord The word day" repeated in the
first chapter of Genesis, has thrown into
paroxysms of criticism many exegetes
The Hebrew word ''Yom' of the Bible
means sometimes what we call a day, and
sometimes il means ages; it may mean
twenty-four hours a hundred million
years. The order of creation as written
in the book of Genesis is the order of Gre
alton discovered by biologists crowbar.
So many Uzzahs have been nervousiy
rushing about for fear the strong oxen of
scientific discovery would upset the Bible
that / went somewhat apprehensively to
look into the matter, when l found that
the Bible and Geology agree in saying
that first We're built the rocks, then the
plants greened the earth; then marine
creatures were created, from minnow to
whale; then the wings and Threats of
aerial chOirs were cOlored and tuned, and
the ouadrupeds began to bleat, and below.
and neigh. What is all this fuss that has
been filing the church and the world, con-
corning a fight between Noses and Agas-
eiz? There is no fight at all. But is not
the geological impression that the world
was millions of years building antagonis-
tic to the theory of one weeks creation in
Genesis? No. A great house is to be
built A man take years to draw to the
spot the foundation-stone and the heavy
timbers The house is about done, but IL
is not finished for comfortable residence.
Suddenly the owner calls in upholsterers.
plumbers, gas-htters, paper-hangers, and
in one week il is ready for occupancy.
Now, Il requires no stretch of imagination
to realize that God could have taken mill
lions of years for the bringing of the rocks
and the timbers of this world together, yet
only one week more TO make it inhabita-
BILE and to furnish it for human residence.
Remember, also, that all up and down the
Bible the language of the times was used
common parlance-and it was not al
ways to be taken literally. Just as we say
every day that the world is round, when 1t
is not round. 1t is Observation-Disclosures
at the poles and protuberant at the equa-
tor. Prof. Smell, with his chain of tri-
angles and Prof Varin, with the short
ened pendulum of his clock, found it was
not round. but VIC do not become critical
of any one who says the world is round.
Let us deal as fairly with Moses or job
we do with each other.
But for years good people feared geol-
ogy, and, without any imploration on their
part, epprehended that the rocks and
mountains would fall on them, until Hugh
Miller, the elder of St. Johns Presbyte-
rian church in Edinburgh and parishioner
of DIR. Guthrie, came forth and told the
world that there was no contradiction be
tween the mountains, and the church. and
o. M Mitchell a brilliant lecturer before
he became brigadier general, dying al
Beaufort, S. c., during our civil war
took the platform and spread his map of
the strata of rock in the presence of great
audiences. ana Prof. Alexander Winchen
OF Michigan University and Prof TAYLOR
Lewis Of Union College, showed that the
without form and void" of the first chap
ter of Genesis was the very chaos out OF
which the world was formulated the
hands Of God packing together the land,
and tossing up the mountains into great
nights, and fiinging down the seas into
their great depths. Before God gets
through with this world there will hardly
be a book of the Bible that will not find
confirmation, either in archaeology or ge-
ology. EXhumed Babylon Nineveh, Jeru-
salem, Tyre and Egyptian hieroglyphics
are crying out in the ears Of the world:
1.-The Bible is right! All right! Everlast-
ingly right"' Geology is saying the same
thing, not only confirming the truth about
the original creation, but confirming so
many passages of the Scriptures that l
can only slightly refer TO them
But You do not really believe that story
OF deluge and the sinking of the noun
tains under the wave? Tell us something
we can believe. believe that" saws
geology, "for how do you account for
those sea-shels and sea-weeds and slele-