The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-26

hDOuJcrehtlOn. IIHtOkot u kImfooo VI '' ''uNh'
But let us come to the difficulty. Christians
admit the truth Of the nebuar hypothesis, or
that the solar system was once In gaseous
state. and whirled through space as FIRE
mist. We are not absolutely certain that God
did n OF create the earth as II Is to-day with its
broken fragment Of animals. and that He did
not bury the luxuriant vegetation OF moment
In the bowels OF the earth. but we are nationally
certain He did not. The Bible says the earth
was created In ak days some few thousand
years ago Geology says II was billions oil
years ago that the earth began to exist. In
some Of tho coal regions sixty times forests
fourished and decayed In the same place.
Britain before and after the Age OF Coal must
have been submerged In water. IL took ages
for all this.
Now. the reader must remember that the
Bible does not fix the tlmo at which the FIRST
man was crentrd. 1t simply tells us: In the
beginning God created the heavens and the
earth" Plants and animals may have been
created millions OF years ago. and man very
much later. The three earliest versions OF the
Pentateuch. viz. the Hebrew. the Samaritan
and the Septuaeint, differ very materially, Ms
the following facts prove. From the crea-
ton OF Adam to the call OF Abraham. according
to tho Scptungint was 3,4O0 years, accord
ing to the Hebrew 2.023. ard according to
the Samaritan 1924. The Church used the
SeptuaRint version for six or seven hum
dred years. The truth is commentators over
looked. rather than rejected, the antiquity OF
the earth. That a long interval existed be-
tween the creation OF matter and man was
defended years ago by Wiseman In Science
and Revealed Religion" by Perrone in his
Theology" by Panciani In his "Cosmogony."
by auckland In his ''BridRewater Treatise"
hv In it, In EyiI nv mi
in his Geology" and by Miller In "Testi-
mony OF the Rocks" Some OF them put
forth tho hypothesis OF an indefinite In
terval between creation and the six days;
others Of them say the six days were long
periods Of time The sacred writer tells US: I'm
the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth" He does not say God created them
on the first day. but In tho beginning. We
may reasonably assume tho first day began
with the decree. Let there be light" II you
admit this. II follows that matter existed before
this particular time. which Moses calls the first
day. because, before light was created. the
heavens and the earth existed: and the earth
was void and empty. and darkness was on the
face OF the deep. and the spirit Of God moved
over the face Of the waters" II is truo
we read (Exod. XXX. Gill: six days shalt
thou labor. For in six days the Lord
made the heavens and the earth. and all that In
them IL. and rested on the seventh day" but
many able commentators say the text does not
refer to the first act OF creation, and the phrase
means the Lord fashioned the heavens and tho
earth. that Ia. gave them the form and shape they
have now Per:crius says we could say with
truth that God created the world before the
first day and within the six DAYS II was per
fected. Tostatus writes that the heavens and
the earth were made from matter already ex-
listing. but the matter itself was not made but
cren'si. PetayiuS adopts the same view. Lot
us look to- the Hebrew text. When Moses
wrote. In tho beginning God created
the heavens and the EARTH" he cm-
ployed tho word Jdrd. which means
to create out OF nothing. and when he de-
scribed the operations Of the ak days a rule
he used hasuh. to fashion. to produce some
thing out OF pre-. existing materials. See Gese-
MUS. tho great Hebrew scholar. on the word.
In Exodus, hdsah, TO fashion. not bnra, TO
create. is used. However. the words are
employed sometimes INTERCHANGEABLE. as We
Use the words create and make.
But we cannot overlook tho contrast In the
two sentences: God created the heavens and
the earth" In six days the Lord made the
heavens and the earth" Many great scholars
taught this ages ago. Basil adopts this
view Chrysostom writes that the earth was
,''' '''" VS. "'"'', "'' W" "'9'
ony began "heh hsh' was erea'eu' ambrose
teaones Tue sanc' nhn no aus 'nat the nrst
d"' " nov 'ho ose'nn'nR oI time ou' Simply an
epoch OF tihe' bcoe 'eaSncs 'hh' uod MADE
oeioro All Gays 'he nhsc"ca' n"'ure ana the
sh"P''es' i'.Ss' ie|er ""'ho"'u snSS 'nht
cha"s e@L'eu oo'ore 'n' hret Jay, hush St'
n',or aN"lns 'n"' matter 'As'eu oo'ore 'he
ntst Jay. AIu''ns says 'hat creation 'ook
pace oclore 'ho hrs' ua'' i'rfer'us. IN MS
commentary on "eh's'S' WrNeS 'hn' u N I'M
possible 10 ten no" ions matter eA'Steu oo'ore
the nist Gay
Mnat re"hy ~ lho meaning OF inc word
nay AuEus'lho ,o''S us 'ha' IL H'ery ann,
cult nay imPoSNo!e' 10 imagine that all
,m'nss wore erea,eu III n",heh. uhe'
Ih''"' .'enheht anu oriseh ,ausht inc sahle'
iroc"p'uS' Luchorius' Mo'r'u' hnshuS.
aq"'has anu urea" Pi"''Ea"p 'o"o"eu
hneuStne' hence l argue was mover
uhNersai' pen''od .n"' you created tne
heavens IN Blk "aSs OF twenty ,."ur hours eaen,
Inc wore pU" e1po'eu oy MOSES means VI! ~
'he per'ou " 'Rn' rom su"',eo W sunset "
anu 'he prriou o' twenty -'''r mou's eorreSpohu
ing 10 revolution VI 'ne eni'"' ~ n,So means