ON MATTER AND FORCE. 45 



physical science by the Almighty to man, then 

 the existence of vital force separate from the 

 full-formed body is true, and must be believed ; 

 but if this book, so far as regards science, 

 represents only the existing state of knowledge 

 at the time when it was written, as is shown by 

 the facts mentioned in it contradicting the 

 revelation which the Almighty has made in his 

 works,* then, whatever may be the interest we 

 feel in the earliest record of scientific know- 

 ledge, still it cannot be allowed to possess any 

 scientific authority in determining what is the 

 true relation of matter and vital force. 



By the early Hindus, the human soul, or 

 life, was thought to be a portion of the Supreme 

 Kuler ; as a spark of the fire ; as a part of the 



* The contradictions between the Book of Genesis and the 

 revelation given in God's works, are seen in the statement 

 1, that day and night and light existed before the sun was 

 made ; 2, that darkness was as much an entity as light ; 

 3, that the moon had a light of its own like the sun ; 4, that the 

 firmament divided the waters from the waters in other words, 

 that there was water compared to the sea above the heavens ; 

 and 5, in the particulars regarding the order and time of crea- 

 tion of inorganic and organic things. Similar or identical 

 ideas are met with among other nations and tribes before the 

 dawn of natural knowledge. The supposition that an untrue 

 revelation was willingly made by omniscience in consequence 

 of the ignorance of the Jews is far beyond all possibility of 

 belief. 



