No. 1.] NATURE AND THE BIBLE. 51 



theory on Moses — a theory which they they themselves evolved 

 out of their own consciousness, and which never was held by 

 Greek, Roman, Chaldean or Egyptian, but was invented in 

 modern times and foisted on Moses to bring the Bible into con- 

 tempt. No other book is treated so unfairly as the Bible. Our 

 English word '■ heaven " is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word, 

 "hefan," to heave up, and we every day speak of the " vault," 

 or the "arch," of heaven. Shakspere constantly speaks of the 

 "floor" of heaven. Could any one suppose that any idea of 

 solidity is conveyed by the use of this class of words? Dr. 

 Dawson gives a very apposite quotation from Milton, precisely 

 defining our English usage. 



" The firmament, expanse of liquid pure 



Transparent, elemental air diffused 



In circuit to the uttermost convex," 



and shows, by references to Job xxxvi and Ps. civ, that the idea 

 expressed by the Hebrew word was one simply of spreading or 

 expansion. The verb correlative to the noun "rakia" expresses 

 an idea of tenuity utterly opposed to solidity. It means to 

 stamp or beat out thin, as when gold is beaten out thin for 

 gilding, or, in another passage, when the enemies of God are 

 said to be scattered or trodden out, as it were, thin under foot, 

 so as to ofTer no further resistance. We repeat that the idea is 

 one solely of expansion and tenuity. 



The origin of the adoption of the word "firmament" must 

 be sought in the Septuagint translation, where rahia is trans- 

 lated u stertoma" and the enquiry naturally arises why that 

 word was selected in this particular passage ; for it has been 

 too hastily assumed that " stereoma " and "firmamentum " can 

 have no meaning but that of a solid arch whatever may be 

 asserted concerning the Hebrew " rakia." The Septuagint 

 translation was made at a time when Greek science had reached 

 its most brilliant period — at the court of the most cultivated of 

 ancient princes, and at Alexandria, the resort of all the scientific 

 men of the age. The advancement of astronomical science at 

 that day is often greatly under-estimated. The relative distances 

 of the planets and their movements were well known and calcu- 

 lated with precision. The heavens were all mapped out, and 

 the seasons, cycles, eclipses and other leading facts in astronomy 

 were thoroughly familiar to all in the year 277 B. C. What 

 specially impressed the mind of the ancient astronomer was the 



