CORRESP OXDEXCE. 



-187 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



SCIENCE AND THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 



To th^ Editor of the Popular Science Monthly : 



I HAVE been an attentive reader of The 

 Popular Science Monthly for over 

 two years, and in that time not one article, 

 editorial, or note of correspondence, has 

 escaped my notice. Also, I have been 

 deeply interested from the first in all the 

 advanced positions of the Monthly, and 

 have noted its strictures on the narrow in- 

 tolerance and ignorance of the clergy, and 

 the many hints that they should enlarge 

 the field of their observation and knowl- 

 edge ; and I am convinced that many of 

 these hints are well-timed. But, then, 

 ought not men of science also to be more 

 liberal and better acquauited with biblical 

 knowledge ? The theologian observes in 

 the writings of men of science the same 

 narrowness and ignorance of the Bible that 

 the scientist sees in the writings of theolo- 

 gians concerning his particular line of study 

 and investigation. 



In No. XXXVII. of The Popular Sci- 

 ence Monthly, the editor says, in his no- 

 tice of Dean Stanley's sermon on the death 

 of Sir Charles Lyell : " Dean Stanley is far 

 from being alone in his views ; they are 

 shared by many other eminent clergymen 

 who recognize that the Mosaic account of 

 creation is without authority." But, does 

 Dean Stanley indeed " recognize that the 

 Mosaic account of creation is without au- 

 thority ? " Be that as it may, ought not 

 any man to lose the respect of his fellow- 

 meu who will consent to remain a clergy- 

 man, and yet reject the authority of the 

 Bible ? 



Certainly no particular account of crea- 

 tion was intended by the author of the Book 

 of Genesis nothing more than a brief out- 

 line, and he gives no intimation as to the 

 time when this world began to be. Nor is 

 there any reason why the six days of crea- 

 tion should not be regarded as so many 

 general periods, without any limitation as 

 to duration. But, if you will carefully no- 



tice the statements of Moses, ycu will find 

 some things hard for the scientist to dis- 

 pose of, if the account of creation is with- 

 out authority. Moses says : " In the be- 

 ginning the earth was without form and 

 void." Does not the scientist say substan- 

 tially the same thing? 



Then take the diflferent stages in the 

 progress of the world, as stated by Moses, 

 and especially as to the appearance of life ; 

 do they not agree perfectly with the reve- 

 lations of science ? Moses says the first 

 life was vegetable grass, herb, tree. Next 

 came a low form of aquatic animal life 

 " the moving creature that hath life " de- 

 veloping into fishes and fowls of the air. 

 Then land-animals, and, lastly, man ap- 

 peared on the earth. Now, what says mod- 

 ern science of this arrangement ? Does it 

 not fully sustain this Mosaic account of 

 creation ? Even the modern doctrine of 

 evolution Darwinism, if you please is as 

 nearly taught in the first chapter of Gene- 

 sis as in the revelations of modern science ; 

 and spontaneous generation seems to ap- 

 pear on the very face of the statements of 

 Moses as therein recorded. Read verses 

 20 and 24 : " And God said. Let the waters 

 bring forth abundantly,''^ etc., " And God 

 said. Let the earth bring forth,''^ etc. And 

 as for man, if God saw fit to straighten 

 up a monkey and endow him with human 

 reason, whether that took the Almighty 

 one hour or a thousand years, who need 

 object ? It is certain that it can be proved 

 neither by the Bible nor modern science, 

 either that God did or did not make man 

 in that way. 



But here comes the question as to the 

 authority of the Mosaic account of crea- 

 tion : How was the author of that account 

 able to state in so brief a space the main 

 points in the earth's development, just as 

 they are now known by the revelations of 

 science, when he wrote at least three thou- 

 sand years before the sciences which have 

 now brought these things to light were 

 born ? Was Moses a profound scientist ? 



