GEOLOGY IN GENESIS.— II. 83 



time all things had been prepared for his reception, and the earth fitted to be his 

 happy abode. It is doubtless true, as Dana says, if the earth's history had closed 

 in the Reptilian age we might have supposed it to be the work of a demon. But, 

 fortunately it did not close then. And there is abundant evidence, both in na- 

 ture and revelation, that the highest happiness of the highest inhabitant of this 

 earth was the central thought during its whole history. 



The subject of this article embraces references to the earth's history con- 

 tained anywhere within the limits of the book of Genesis. There are many such 

 allusions which we must pass unnoticed. Prominent among these are such as 

 refer to the origin, distribution and unity of the various races of men. These 

 suggest, for collateral information from the book of nature, the study of pre-his- 

 toric man by means of the implements, utensils, earthworks, and other remains 

 which are so widely distributed on the surface of the earth ; also the tracing of 

 the earliest wanderings, the traditions, and the physical, linguistic, and other 

 peculiarities of existing races. The history of the flood of Noah is another item 

 of rich geological interest ; but the fewest possible words in regard to its univer- 

 sality are all that space will allow. This deluge was long regarded as universal, 

 and even now it is by no means difficult to find men who suppose that the num- 

 erous strata of rocks, with their buried dead which have left their epitaphs upon 

 their horizontal tombstones ; the deposits of sand, clay, and gravel in alternating 

 layers, and the countless evidences of erosion and displacement of material by 

 water, are all and alike referable to the flood of Noah recorded in the Bible. To 

 say nothing of the absurdity of the notion that fifteen or twenty miles in thick- 

 ness of aqueous deposits, with their widely varying forms of plant and animal life, 

 could be found in a single year; the want of water to submerge all the elevations 

 of the globe ; the lack of space in the ark for the thousands of animals upon the 

 whole earth ; and the improbability — if not impossibility — that the few which the 

 ark contained could have multiplied and distributed themselves over the entire 

 surface of the globe in the time which has transpired since the flood, have led 

 students of geology to conclude that the Deluge extended over only those por- 

 tions of the earth which were occupied by the peoples whom God had sworn to 

 destroy. And now we see that the language of Scripture bearing on this point 

 does not indicate universality in any stronger terms than such passages as — 

 " every creature under heaven," "uttermost parts of the earth," "under the 

 whole heaven," and many others, which we know from the context to refer to 

 only a restricted portion of the earth's surface. 



No one is asked to accept what is here for brevity's sake suggested rather 

 than said, solely on the author's ipse dixit; nor should any reject it simply because 

 hitherto he may have thought differently. Whether these views be considered 

 tenable or not, if they may induce others to pursue a similar line of inquiry, I 

 think such will agree that the study of the two records side by side is not only 

 delightfully fascinating and exalting, but is the best, if not the only way to fully 

 understand either. 



