io6 GEOLOGY A AD HISTORY 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE PALANTHROPIC AGE IN THE LIGHT OF 

 HISTORY 



THE time was when the earlier books of the He- 

 brew Scriptures stood almost alone in their notices 

 of the creation and antediluvian times, and when 

 critics could quietly take for granted that they were 

 altogether mythical. This state of things has now 

 passed away from the minds of the better informed, 

 and it may be profitable before proceeding farther to 

 glance for a moment at some of the recent corrobora- 

 tions, if they may be so called, of the Bible history 

 from altogether unexpected quarters. 



In the first place, there can now be no doubt that 

 the order of creation, as revealed to the author of 

 the first chapter of Genesis, corresponds with the 

 results of astronomical and geological research in a 

 manner which cannot be accidental. 1 This old docu- 

 ment thus stands in the position of a prophecy which 

 has been fulfilled in its details. Besides this, the dis- 



1 For evidence of this I may be permitted to refer to my work, 

 The Origin of the World, 



