CHAPTER II.
WORKS OF GOD--CREATION.
GOD CREATED ALL THINGS OUT OF NOTHING.[1]
Originally, nothing existed but God; no matter, out of which visible things
were formed, and no spiritual substance, out of which angels and human souls
were made; but God gave to all things that exist their entire being.
It has been argued that matter cannot be eternal, because self-existence is too
noble a property to be attributed to an inferior nature; but this argument is
not satisfactory. Why may not a small thing exist without a cause, as well as
a greater? The producing of some particular effect we may conceive to be
easier for a higher nature than a lower; but, is self-production, the effect is
equal to the cause, and the difficulty of producing it must be as great for the
one nature as for the other. In all such a priori reasoning, we are
liable to deceive ourselves; and perhaps the danger is greatest where the
reasoning appears most profound. For aught that philosophy can teach us, an
atom of matter is absolutely indestructible; and, on philosophical principles,
if it must exist through future eternity, it may have existed through past
eternity. The miracle of creation is as far beyond the demonstrations of
philosophy as the miracle of annihilation. When we have proved the existence
of a God, able to work miracles, a probability arises that matter may be a
production of his power, and we may see creative intelligence displayed in the
properties and quantities of the various kinds of matter, and their adaptedness
to beneficial purposes. But, for decisive proof that all things were made out
of nothing, we turn to the word of God, and receive it as a truth of faith,
rather than of reason. "Through faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of
things which do appear."[2]
In the text just quoted, the doctrine of creation is not expressed in the
language in which it is most commonly stated. It is not said the world was
made out of nothing; but the same idea is expressed in a different manner.
When we see a statue, we see the marble of which it consists; and when we see a
house, we see the materials of which it is constructed. Paul teaches that the
world which we see was not made of the visible substances that we behold, i.e.,
it was not formed of pre-existent matter, but the materials of which it now
appears to be formed, were brought into existence at the time when the things
themselves were created.
The work of creation was performed without effort. God spake, and it was done.
He said, let there be light, and there was light. After working six days, he
rested on the seventh; not because he was weary, but that the seventh day might
be sanctified, and made a day of rest for man. Wherefore it is said, the
sabbath was made for man.[3]
From an examination of the earth's crust, geologists have discovered, as they
think, that animals and plants existed long before the Mosaic date of creation.
Methods have been proposed to reconcile the account, as contained in the first
chapter of Genesis, with these professed discoveries. Some have supposed each
of the days of creation to have been a long period of years. The seventh day
of rest, or cessation from the work of creating, they understand to have
continued to the present time, though nearly six thousand years have passed;
and they suppose that each of the preceding days may have included an equally
long period. Others understand "the beginning" mentioned in the first verse of
the history, to refer to a time long anterior to that referred to in the second
verse, "the earth was without form, &c." A similar transition, though not
so sudden, is made in the first chapter of John: "In the beginning was the
word;--and the word was made flesh."[4] Many
divines have been disposed to regard the science of geology with suspicion, and
to consider its deductions as inimical to the faith. But there can be no just
ground to fear science, in any of its departments, so long as it pursues its
investigations legitimately, and makes its deductions with becoming modesty.
The Author of the Bible is the maker of the world, and the author of all truth;
and his works and his word must harmonize, for the truth is always consistent.
Passages in his word have been thought to be inconsistent with each other; but
a more careful examination has shown their harmony, and we need not fear but
that due investigation will show the word to be consistent will all the
legitimate deduction of science.
The undersigned coincidences which have been discovered in the Scripture
narratives, constitute a highly satisfactory part of the internal evidence
which the Bible contains, that its records are true. The proof which these
furnish is always the more satisfactory, the more manifest it is that the
coincidence was undesigned. When two portions of Scripture, which appeared to
disagree with each other, have been found, on careful investigation, to be
perfectly harmonious, a coincidence has been discovered, that has the best
possible evidence that it was undesigned. In this way the supposed
discrepancies, which at first embarrassed us, turn out to the establishment of
our faith; and when some still remain which we have not yet learned to
harmonize, we are taught to wait patiently, with the confident expectation that
these dark places also will at some time be illuminated. The same faith and
patience should be exercised when science and Scripture are supposed to
disagree. The infidel delights to point out apparent discrepancies in
Scripture, and he exults when he can announce some supposed discovery of
science inconsistent with the word of revelation. While the infidel triumphs,
men of weak faith stagger; but it is truly a weak faith that cannot withstand
such a shock. We might as well doubt whether the sun shines, when his
brilliance is eclipsed by a passing cloud. The mass of evidence that the Bible
is the true word of God, is so great that we can ill afford to wait till the
temporary cloud passes, with the confident expectation that the light will
again shine, perhaps with increased splendor. Geology is yet a recent science.
What it will do ultimately for the cause of truth, future years must decide,
and it is unwise to fear the result. We may trust that the ark of God will be
carried through safely. Already, to some extent, the discoveries of the new
science have turned out to the establishment of the faith. It has penetrated a
very small distance below the earth's surface, and, in the successive deposits
of animal remains, it has found a record from which it professes to read the
order in which the various species of animals came into being. Between this
record and that of Moses, there is an undesigned coincidence. It is especially
remarkable that, by the general consent of geologists, human remains are found
only in the last of the animal deposits. This fact points to a time agreeing
well with the Mosaic date of creation, when men began to exist, and when, of
course, a creating power was exerted. If geology can establish that, previous
to this, a convulsion of nature desolated the earth, and buried a whole
generation of inferior animals in its caverns, be it so. We will listen to her
arguments, and weigh them well; but we cannot omit to notice the agreement of
her facts with the faithful record of inspiration. If geology were to carry
back the origin of the human race to a date long anterior to that of Moses she
would contradict, not only the Bible, but all history, written and
traditionary. It cannot be accounted for, that our knowledge of ancient
history should be limited to so recent a period, if the race had previously
existed through thousands of generations. The progress in the settlement of
the world, the establishment of ancient kingdoms, and the building of cities,
are spread out before us on the pages of history, and geology does not
contradict the record.
Although science will never contradict Scripture, it may correct erroneous
inferences from it, and, in doing this, may incidentally demonstrate the wisdom
from which the Bible emanated. When we have arrived at mature years, we call
to mind instructions that we received in our childhood from a wise father, and
that were adapted to the purpose for which they were designed. They did not
teach the sciences which we have since learned, but they taught us nothing
contrary; and we are now able to see, in what was said and what was omitted to
be said, that the father fully understood the sciences, which it was then no
part of his design to teach us. Had he not understood them, he would have
employed other forms of speech, and we should be able to recollect some word or
words that would betray his ignorance. So the false revelations of the heathen
world contradict science. Some of them contradict the very first lessons in
geography, and a child in a christian school can prove them to be false. But
science, in all its advancement, though it has made its greatest attainments in
the lands where the Bible is most known, has found nothing in the Bible to
contradict. The only rational way to account for this, is to suppose that the
Author of the Bible understood the sciences. We nowhere read in this work that
the earth is supported by an elephant, and that the elephant stands on a
tortoise; but we read, "He hangeth the earth upon nothing,"[5] a statement which, made in the very infancy of revelation,
may satisfy us that the author of the Bible understood the mechanism of the
universe. In a past age of ignorance, men supposed that Joshua's command to
the sun to stand still, disproved the Copernican system of astronomy; but this
childish inference from the language of Scripture, is now well understood to be
unwarranted. Men of science, who firmly believe the Copernican system, speak
as freely of the sun rising and the sun setting, as those who never have heard
that these appearances are owing to the earth's rotation. Future science may
teach us to correct other erroneous inferences which many have drawn from the
Scripture; and we should be content to learn. The result will give further
proof that the Author of Nature is the author of the Bible.
Our hearts receive a strong impression of the power, wisdom and goodness of the
Lord, when we dwell on the thought that he made the heavens and the earth, with
all that they contain. Above all, when we reflect that he made us, and not we
ourselves, we are constrained to acknowledge his right to require what service,
praise and glory we are capable of rendering. He is the former of our bodies,
and the father of our spirits; and shall we not render to him that which is his
own? Shall we not serve and glorify him with our bodies and our spirits, which
are his? His right, by virtue of redemption, may present stronger claims, but
his right by virtue of creation , is sufficient to establish our obligation,
and we ought to recognise its force.
[1] Gen. i.; Neh. ix. 6; Job ix. 9; Ps. lxxxix. 11; xcv. 5; ciii. 19;
civ. 4, 19; Col. i. 16; Rev. iv. 11; Heb. iii. 4; xi. 3; Acts xvii. 24.
[2] Heb. xi.3.
[3] Mark ii.27.
[4] John i. 1-14.
[5] Job xxvi. 7.
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