The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-06
THE sUNDAY-scHooL LESSON.
God Is the Creator of All Things.
! Gen. i, 1, to XII, g..

INTRODUCTION lesson for the 2sd
of June pertained to that part of the vision
! Of John IN Patmos. in which he saw the
new heayen ana me the new earth which is to
| To-day we turn back TO the beginning Of
this worlds history. John was the seer of
the future; Moses OF the past The latter
who may have handed down from genera
ton to generation. possibly in writing, as
some think. more likely by tradition; what
was communicated by the spirit of God to
the first man or to some OF his earlier
descendants. 1t is believed by Doctor Muir
ply: professor in Hebrew in the University
OF Belfast, that this account of creation
formed part OF an earlier Bible from which
Moses copied, and with which men of other
nations may have been familiar, while a
few modern critics who have not been able
to impress :he people with their theories.
contend that this passage, together with
other parts OF Genesis: may be regarded as
folklore. destitute of historic value, but
worthy place in our book because of GER
tain truths contained therein.
DIFFICULTIES-Tne Interpretation of
this chapter mas been attended with much
difficulty, because men have endeavored to
explain 1t in the light Of current science. In
this way there has been read into it at one
time what coniiicted with later conclusions.
Of the lack of harmony. Whereas the only
trouble lay in setting human opinion of one
time against human opinion of another time:
Take Illustrations: /. Some were troubled
because light was created before the sun.
Later it was found that light does not all
emanate from the sun. and might, therefore.
precsde 1t. The word armament conveys
the idea OF something material and perma-
nent. and 1t was thought the notions of the
ancients had crept in here. But this was
the fault Of the translators. who used this
English word to meet their ideas. The He
brew word means expanse--the region occu..
pied by the atmosphere. g. The sun and
moon are mentioned as II produced on the
fourth day, leaving the impression that the
earth existed before them. Whereas the
text says no such thing. 1t Is simply stated
that the luminaries were appointed for times
ginning.
CHAOS-In single sentence (verse u
the fact is stated that the heaven and
earth ga were created-they were not eternal
worlds in space. Attention is then limited
to the globe on which we live Moses does
not give an astronomical account. except
as the the other bodies are related to this. He
earth was without form and void. in a
chaotic state, destitute of life at the time
OF which he began to write; He does not
say how It came to be so. There Is an in
tirnation that 1t was not always in that
condition. for the verb translated is in the
past perfect tense. and might properly be
the earth passed through changes prior to
the time Of Moses's writing; that possibly
upheavals occurred through the ages until
from which all life had persisted. over
WHICH darkness reigned. At that point
Moses began and showed how the globe was
set In order and prepared for man.
TIME.One Of the most prominent feat
ures of this record. deserving therefore ear
ly attention. Is the time element. 1t is
asserted that the creation of the universe
was I'm the beginning, an expression
used in reference to Christ. John i, ~ No
one knows when that was. Push 1t back as
far as may be necessary into the distant
past and the narrative Is not affected. The
chief DuTDOS9 here not much to fix
q chronology, as to designate starting
point. That was the beginning of time: the
mighty produced the material universe. The
stages of the after work are called days.
six In number. These could not have been
solar days OF twenty-four hours each, for
senses. and In the fourth verse of the sec
ond chapter all the days are included in
one day. Besides, the Hebrew. Yom, trans
lated day, denotes q period Of time of III
definite length, and Is so used in many
parts OF the Old Testament. CMal. w. ~
The conclusion is that Moses was not fix
ing a time for Gods work, but, rather. in
dicating an order in that work
MODEL is very important that the
method pursued by the creator should be
kept in mind. 1t is said that the spirit. of
(verse p; that is. brOoded over the shapeiess
mass. 1t was by the energy of the Holy
Spirit psalm civ. 800. that the life and beau
any power inhering in matter. That spirit
was the force which under various manifes-
tations Is known to modern science. 1t was
BY the Spirit. but an intelligent putting
forth of energy, preceded by a determine
ton and decree. God spake psalm xxxiii, .
and nature obeyed That speech or word
!. 40, which centuries after became fncarnate
in the person Of Christ. so that all things
were created by him; tCol. !. 49, There
strictly creative-the producing of something
out OF nothlng-indicated in reference to
matter, life and spirit-three entities. The
listing materials were used. And i'll this
there seems to be an evolutionary process
expressed by the words brought forth.
the results Of the divine working appeared
In this order: Cosmic light, the armament
or expanse. with atmosphere: the separation
of water from land and vegetation. the lum-
inaries, the lower animals, the higher ami
mails and man. This order Is progressive,
from lower to higher~chemical vital. spirit
nnte mna sa no eP Pa q. and a a
plan was In harmony with what Is now de-
nominated natural law. Indeed, there Is no
reason to doubt that primitive matter. un-
dent to the fiat of God. became subject to
those forces that now operate with unerring
precision. producing all that we behold;
Or, to state it differently, God was pleased
to establish at the beginning a definite pro-
cess in nature by which he wrought out a
dwelling place for man. Accepting the neb-
ular hypothesis. Sterry Hunt. the foremost
chemist of England, has shown in an essay
read before the Royal Institute that from
the ancient star dust to the present condi-
ton. the order would be as described in
scripture, with. certain breaks requiring
special energy at the points named in our
lesson.
MAN-Moses introduces human beings as
the browning work of God. made in his
image, distinguished thereby from all the
animal kingdom. That image doubtless re.
Ii r.
spirit q Thess. v. 23). comparable to the per-
SONS of the aodhead Matt. xviii. 19,: also
to his character as righteous and holy and
allied by three most interesting features:
J. He IS intrusted with dominion over the
inhabitants of the sea. the air and the land.
over er the s saFth made the yGe
icate and elevating kind of food-a purely
vegetable diet--to be used during the time OF
Innocence. 9. He is brought into direct in
tercourse with his maker. who speaks to
him and instructs him: indicating that at
that time he had mental capacity and moral
fitness for such elevating communion. for
SABBATH-Having created man, God en-
tered into rest for a period Of time called
Sabbath. That does not mean that he re-
to put forth his energy, for in either case
the world must perish. He upho!ds all
things Heb +. 81, governs all things. and
Dob xiii. 81 for the accomplishment of his
purpose. But he does not produce any new
thing. except through the agencies estab,
the trees and plants. the animals and man
with organs of reproduction. by which they
were to multiply their kind. and in so doing
to carry forward what he began; but all that
is by his energy. Verse 2s.) That rest day OF
God is probably the whole period of human
history, to be terminated when he shall en-
ter again into the creative work to produce
a new heaven and new earth. Gods Sab
bath is. moreover. the basis for man s. AS