SCRIPTURAL FACTS ILLUSTRATED. 



127 



to the time when they were brought into exist 

 ence, as if they had been created about the 

 same time with our earth ; but, as simply de 

 claring the fact, that, at what period soever in 

 duration they were created, they derived their ex 

 istence from God. That they did not all com 

 mence their existence at that period, is demon 

 strable from the fact, that, within the space of 

 2000 years past, and even within the space of 

 the two last centuries, new stars have appeared 

 in the heavens which previously did not exist 

 in the concave of the firmament ; which, conse 

 quently, have been created since the Mosaic 

 period ; or, at least, have undergone a change 

 analogous to that which took place incur globe, 

 when it emerged from a chaotic state to the 

 form and order in which we now behold it. 

 Consequently, the phrase, &quot; God rested from all 

 his works,&quot; must be understood not absolutely, 

 or in re .erence to the whole system of nature, 

 but meicly in relation to our world ; and as im 

 porting, that the Creator then ceased to form 

 any new species of beings on the terraqueous 

 globe. The same canon will direct us in the in 

 terpretation of those passages which refer to the 

 last judgment, and the destruction of the present 

 constitution of our globe. When, in reference 

 to these events, it is said, &quot;that, the stars shall 

 fall from heaven,&quot; that &quot; the powers of heaven 

 shall be shaken,&quot; and that &quot; the earth and the 

 heaven shall flee away,&quot; our knowledge of the 

 system of nature leads us to conclude, either that 

 such expressions are merely metaphorical, or 

 that they describe only the appearance, not the 

 reality of things. For it is impossible that the 

 stars can ever fall to the earth, since each of 

 them is of a size vastly superior to our globe, 

 and could never be attracted to its surface, with 

 out unhinging the laws and the fabric of univer 

 sal nature. The appearance, however, of the 

 &quot; heaven fleeing away,&quot; would be produced, 

 should the earth s diurnal rotation at that pe 

 riod be suddenly stopped, as will most probably 

 happen ; in which case, all nature, in this sublu 

 nary system, would be thrown into confusion, 

 and the heavens, with all their host, would ap 

 pear to flee away. 



Now, the scientific student of Scripture alone 

 can judiciously apply the canon to which I have 

 adverted ; he alone can appreciate its utility in 

 the interpretation of the sacred oracles ; for he 

 knows the facts which the philosopher and the 

 astronomer have ascertained to exist in the sys 

 tem of nature ; from the want of which informa 

 tion, many divines, whose comments on Scrip 

 ture have, in other respects, been judicious, 

 have displayed their ignorance, and fallen into 

 egregious blunders, when attempting to explain 

 the first chapters of Genesis, and several parts 

 of the book of Job, which have tended to bring 

 discredit on the oracles of heaven. 



H. The system of nature confirms and illus 

 trates the scriptural doctrine of the DEPRAVITY 



OF MAN. 



In the preceding parts of this volume, I have 

 stated several striking instances of divine be 

 nevolence, which appear in the construction of 

 the organs of the animal system, in the con 

 stitution of the earth, the waters, and the atmos 

 phere, and in the variety of beauties and sublimi 

 ties which adorn the face of nature ; all which 

 proclaim, in language which can scarcely be 

 mistaken, that the Creator has a special regari. 

 to the happiness of his creatures. Yet the 

 Scriptures uniformly declare, that man has fallen 

 from his primeval state of innocence, and has 

 violated the laws of his Maker ; that &quot; histheart 

 is deceitful above all things, and desperately 

 wicked ;&quot; and that &quot; destruction and misery are 

 in his ways.&quot; Observation and experience also 

 demonstrate, that a moral disease pervades the 

 whole human family, from the most savage to the 

 most civilized tribes of mankind ; which has dis 

 played its virulence in those wars and devasta 

 tions which have, in all ages, convulsed the 

 world ; and which daily displays itself in those 

 acts of injustice, fraud, oppression, malice, ty 

 ranny, and cruelty, which are perpetrated in 

 every country, and among all the ranks even of 

 civilized life. That a world inhabited by moral 

 agents of this description would display, in its 

 physical constitution, certain indications of its 

 Creator s displeasure, is what we should natu 

 rally expect, from a consideration of those attri 

 butes of his nature with which we are acquainted. 

 Accordingly, we find, that, amidst all the evi 

 dences of benevolence which our globe exhibits, 

 there are not wanting certain displays of &quot; the 

 wrath of Heaven against the ungodliness and 

 unrighteousness of men,&quot; in order to arouso 

 them to a sense of their guilt, and to inspire 

 them with reverence and awe of that Being 

 whom they have offended. The following facts, 

 among many others, may be considered as cor 

 roborating this position. 



In the first place, the present state of the interi 

 or strata of the earth may be considered as a pre 

 sumptive evidence, that a moral revolution has 

 taken place since man was placed upon the globe. 

 When we penetrate into the interior recesses of 

 the earth, we find its different strata bent into 

 the most irregular forms ; sometimes lying hori 

 zontally, sometimes projecting upwards, and 

 sometimes downwards, and thrown into confu 

 sion ; as if some dreadful concussion had spread 

 its ravages through every part of the solid crust 

 of our globe. Tliis is visible in every region of 

 the earth. Wherever the miner penetrates among 

 its subterraneous recesses, wherever the fissures 

 and caverns of the earth are explored, and wher 

 ever the mountains lay bare their rugged clifls. 



