126 



THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER. 



CHAPTER IV. 



SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINES AND FACTS ILLUSTRATED FROM THE SYSTEM OF NATURE.&quot; 



WITHOUT spending time in any introductory 

 observations on this subject, it may bo remarked 

 in general, 



I. That scientific knowledge, or an acquaintance 

 with the system of nature, may frequently 

 serve as a guide to the true interpretation of 

 Scripture. 



It may be laid down as a universal principle, 

 that there can be no real discrepancy between 

 a just interpretation of Scripture and the facts 

 of physical science ; and on this principle, the 

 following canon is founded, which may be con 

 sidered as an infallible rule for Scripture inter 

 pretation, namely, That no interpretation of 

 Scripture ought to be admitted which is inconns- 

 tent with any well-authenticated facts in the ma 

 terial world. By well-authenticated facts, I do 

 not mean the theories of philosophers, or the 

 deductions they may have drawn from them, nor 

 the confident assertions or plausible reasonings 

 of scientific men in support of any prevailing 

 system of &amp;lt;iatural science ; but those facts which 

 are universally admitted, and the reality of 

 which every scientific inquirer has it in his power 

 to ascertain : such as that the earth is not an ex 

 tended plane, but a round or globular body, and 

 that the rays of the sun, when converged to a focus 

 by a large convex glass, will set fire to combus 

 tible substances. Such facts, when ascertained, 

 ought to be considered as a revelation from God, 

 as well as the declarations of his word. For 

 they make known to us a portion of his charac 

 ter, of his plans and his operations. This rule 

 may be otherwise expressed as follows : Where 

 a passage of Scripture is of doubtful meaning, or 

 capable of different interpretations, that interpreta 

 tion ought to be preferred which will best agree 

 with the established discoveries of science. For 

 since the Author of revelation and the Author of 

 universal nature is one and the same infinite 

 being, there must exist a complete hartnony be 

 tween the revelations of his word, and the facts or 

 relations which are observed in the material uni 

 verse. To suppose the contrary, would be to 



* Under this head, it was originally intended to 

 embrace an elucidation of a considerable variety of 

 the facts recorded in sacred history, and of the 

 allusions of the inspired writers to the system of 

 feature ; but as the volume has already swelled be 

 yond the limits proposed, I am reluctantly compelled 

 to confine myself to the illustration of only two or 

 three topics 



suppose the Almighty capable of inconsistency 

 a supposition which would go far to shake our 

 confidence in the theology of nature, as well as 

 of revelation. If, in any one instance, a record 

 claiming to be a revelation from heaven were 

 found to contradict a well-known fact in the 

 material world ; if, for example, it asserted, in 

 express terms, to be literally understood, that the 

 earth is a quiescent body in the centre of the 

 universe, or that the moon is no larger than a 

 mountain ; it would be a fair conclusion, either 

 that the revelation was not divine, or that the 

 passages imbodying such assertions are interpo 

 lations, or that science, in reference to these 

 points, has not yet arrived at the truth. The 

 example, we are aware, is inapplicable to the 

 the Christian revelation, which rests securely 

 on its own basis, and to which science is gradu- 

 ually approximating, as it advances in the ampli 

 tude of its views, and the correctness of its de 

 ductions ; but it shows us how necessary it is, 

 in interpreting the word of God, to keep our eve 

 fixed upon his works; for we may rest assured, 

 that truth in the one will always correspond with 

 fact in the other. 



To illustrate the rule now laid down, an exam 

 ple or two may be stated. If it be a i act that 

 geological research has ascertained that the 

 materials of the strata of the earth are of a more 

 ancient date than the Mosaic account of the com 

 mencement of the present race of men ; the 

 passages in the first chapter of Genesis, and 

 other parts of Scripture, which refer to the origin 

 of our world, must be explained as conveying 

 the idea, that the earth was then merely arranged 

 into its present form and order, out of the mate 

 rials which previously existed in a confused 

 mass, and which had been created by the Al 

 mighty at a prior period in duration. For 

 Moses no where asserts, that the materials of 

 our globe were created, or brought into existence 

 out of nothing, at the time to which his history 

 refers; but insinuates the contrary. &quot;Forlh 

 earth&quot; says he, prior to its present constitution, 

 &quot; was without form and void,&quot; &c. Again, ifit 

 be a fact that the universe is indefinitely extend 

 ed, that, of many millions of vast globes which 

 diversify the voids of space, only two or three 

 have any immediate connexion with the earth , 

 then it will appear most reasonable to conclude, 

 that those expressions in the Mosaic history of 

 the creation, which refer to the creation of the 

 fixed stars, are not to be understood as referring 



