The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1903-01-22
1 AEANGE OF LIVE TOPICS
Penned for Journal Readers
by a Local Scribe.
IMPUDENCE.

his absolute disbelief in the first
chapter of Genesis and has hidden
his congregation to discard 1t as
an article of faith.
Religion, biography and as
tronomy," he declared, "have each
given evidence that makes it i'm
possible to believe that the world
was created i'll six days. Il is i'm
possible also to give serious con-
sideration to the efforts that have
been made to reconcile science and
religion. All nations have their
ideas of the creation Of the world
and in every case the creation has
been ascribed to their favorite
Gods. The world has gradually
progressed from polytheistic to
monopolyth eistic and there is no
doubt that the first chapter OF
Genesis Is simply a relation by
some Jewish writer of the stories
told by the Babylonians which the
Jews had carried from their cap
tivity in Babylon six hundred
years before Christ"
This fellow speaks so positively
that one would suppose he was
present at the beginning of the
world and saw every step by which
this world of ours and all that it
contains was evolved, that he was
with his kindred when they were
captives in Babylon, knew the ira
ditions of the Babylonians at that
time aid stood by the writer of
the book of Genesis and saw him
record in that book these tradi-
tions. The fellows attitude in
this case is fair example of the
disgusting implIdence and igno-
rance of modern ratlonalists.
The late John Fiske was an evo-
lutlonist but not a rationalistic
atheist. In an article in Harper's
Magazine he undertook to show
tLat the canons of the Colorado
river were caused by the erosion
of the bed of the river by the wa
ter which cut away one-tenth of
an inch per apnum; and as the
conons are one mile deep he con-
cluded that it required one million
years for the bed of the river to
reach its present position The
writer believes that this assump-
tion and all other assumptions as
to the age Of the earth are entirely
gratuitous. What reason have we
to believe that the Colorado river
was in existence one million years
ago, and that the earth is incon-
cievably older than the river?
Thele are men now living who
have seen great streams dry up
aud disappear or change entirely
their courses. New streams may
appear at any time. Why should
not some great earthquake or other
cataclysm have caused the canons
of the west, thereby divertlng the
course of the Colorado river and
causing the river to flow through
them? In one night recently the
Missouri river left its former bed
taking another two and one-half
miles distant. The Mississippi
river now shows an inclination to
take the channel (which it declined
at the time) dug for it at Vicks-
burg by General Grant.
Darwin himself admitted that
unless infinite time were supposed
his theory would fail. Some of
the pictures that are given of
strange and extinct animals and
reptiles which are alleged to prove
the vast age of the earth and
which, because such creatures do
not now exist and because no
modern forms have been discov-
cred in the strata of the earth, are
supposed to be the ancestors of all
animate creation must be taken
with great deal of allowance.
frequently only bone or two of
4 VhO SuPpOSSo cAUlICU lOTIu mas
been discovered and from this
very insufficient data alleged scien-
fists have, through their magma
tions, constructed the entire crea-
ture. The bones may have IN fact
belonged to horse or a COW or a
sheep whose species may have
changed little since they left
Noah's ark. Coal has been pro-
duced artificially in a short time
instead of requiring millions of
years as the scientists assert was
the case with that found in the
earth. Why could not the chem
ical forces acting under the hands
of nature have accomplished the
same result?
In late number of the Literary
Digest German critic has shown
conclusively that at the time the
Jews were in Babylon the Baby
lOnians had no idaa of rarsODol