;j8 



which have justly gained for their illustrious author a first 

 place among naturalists. Jjut Darwin himself never said that 

 his arguments amounted to absolute proof. Then we have the 

 most wonderful theory of all, propounded in glowing language 

 by TyndalJ, that '' not alone the mechanism of the human 

 body, but that of the human mind itself — emotion, intellect, will, 

 and all tlieir phenomena — were once latent in a fiery cloud. ^' 

 We need not wonder that, after enunciating such a dogma to 

 the assembled scientific magnates of the British Association, 

 he should have intimated that to man there is, or may be, no 

 future, except " to melt away into the infinite azure.'* * To 

 this may be attached another theory of a kindred type, that 

 there is nothing in this world of ours but matter, force, and 

 necessity; and that consequently, as Huxley has put it, ''the 

 thoughts to which J am now giving utterance, and your 

 thoughts regarding them, are the expression of molecular 

 changes in that matter of life which is the source of our other 

 vital phenomena. '^t All these, it will be observed, are theoriens. 

 No scientific man of recognised position will affirm of any one 

 of them that it is an established fact. It is useless, therefore, 

 as I shall show more fully in the sequel, to argue that the 

 truths of Kevelation are, or can be, affected by them. It is 

 with the facts of Science alone that we have to deal. 



We shall now consider for a moment what are the teachings 

 of the Jiible upon those great proljlems which lie on the 

 border-land of Science. There is, I venture to think, no little 

 misapprehension prevailing with regard to them. The Bible 

 is not a systematic treatise upon theology, much less is it a 

 text-book of Science. Its teaching was progressive, beginning 

 with simple elements and gradually developing truths more 

 and more clear, and more and more profound, during a long 

 succession c;f uges. God revealed lliniself in His nature and 

 p]'(jvidential dealings at such times and in such ways as man 

 required the revelation. Another marked characteristic of 

 Divine Revelation was, that its language was largely figurative. 

 The fundamental truths of salvation were at first chiefly 

 embodied in types and symbols and metaphorical language. 

 The great doctrines wore not as a rule laid down in logical 

 propositions, but were shadowed forth in symbolic acts, the 

 real significance of which could only be ascertained l)y spiritual 

 illumination. These must all be interpreted, not in their literal, 

 but in their symbolic or figurative sense. 



So, in like manner, we are warranted in interpreting certain 



* Address at Meeting of Britiah Aysociation in Belfast.— Ori|7??(c(/ edition. 

 t Lay Scnnons, p. 1138. 



