448 
true meaning of tlie Semitic text lias been developed by the 
inductions of the philosophers ; and we shall presently find that 
some truths, which are mere speculations so far as philosophy 
is concerned, may be rendered certain when Scripture is called 
in aid as an interpreter. 
To any person who has given attention to the subject, and 
taken note of the progress of ©pinion, it must be obvious that 
there has always been a disinclination, even among the best 
informed and most religiously inclined members of the com- 
munity, to engage in the actual work of bringing Scripture 
.and -science into harmony. Timid counsels have prevailed in 
/high places, and earnest inquiry has been discountenanced, 
j^kt *©®Le time, it has been urged that the facts of science are 
not sufficiently ascertained; and at another time, that the 
'language of Scripture is not sufficiently certain. The question 
is always adjourned to a more convenient season, which never 
arrives ; and in the mean time, not only have great opportu- 
nities of putting the relations of Scripture and science on a 
.solid foundation been lost, but the position has been prejudiced 
by presenting a weak front to the enemy. For instance, when 
Mr. Goodwills article on the Mosaic Cosmogony appeared in 
Essays and Reviews , the equally mischievous article of Mr. 
Borison was put forward by the clergy of the Church of Eng- 
land as the best answer that could be given to it ; and in the 
“ Aids to Faith 33 the cosmogony of Dr. McGaul did not add 
much to his reputation as an astronomer or geologist, or 
advance the claims of the Mosaic record to be a divine 
inspiration. 
Some there are who understand and value science, and dis- 
regard and ignore revelation ; and some who value the Scrip- 
tures and disregard science. Both these classes — and they 
are numerous and influential — are equally hostile to, and 
deprecate, any attempt to reconcile Scripture and science ; the 
former because they despise Scripture and repudiate its autho- 
rity ; the latter because they cannot, or will not, distinguish 
between what is true and what is false in science. But there 
is a third class, composed of those who regard Scripture as 
the exposition of divine and infallible truth, and who, at the 
same time, respect science as the true interpreter of the 
phenomena of nature. Such men are honestly seeking for the 
harmony that must necessarily exist between the well-ascer- 
tained facts of science and the rightly understood words of 
revelation, and are not to be silenced. Their demand is fair, 
and must be satisfied. It will not do to tell them, in the 
exploded language of a bygone generation, that scientific 
inquiries are not only an unprofitable pursuit, but absolutely 
