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Article SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE. * ← Page 6 of 7 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Science And The Bible. *
I the paddle of the whale and pectoral fin of the fish ; and so precisely , that the homologous bones may be traced , and the changes or obsolescence of this or that bone , as the type becomes adapted to its various purposes . There is in this unity of structure an expression of one single fundamental idea .
This kind of research has been further pursued , and it has been found that there is a like parallelism through the whole structure even to the relations of every bone in fishes , reptiles , birds , quadrupeds , and man ; so that there is one type at the basis of all . Still deeper has investigation gone ; and now we know that in a single vertebra and its appendages , all the elements of the bony structure in these classes of animals are comprised , the repetition and modifications of a type-vertebra , with its accessories , producing
all the various results . Thus God throughout nature has evolved diversity out of unity , eliciting ten thousand concordances out of single profound enactments in His plans of creation . These laws are universal truths , limited so far only as the range of objects to which they relate is limited . Thus any truth with regard
to life which characterises all living beings , is a law in the Science of Life . So as to the leaves of plants , any quality which is found to be an universal truth , as for instance their spiral arrangement , as explained , or their function of respiration , or their general structure , is a law in the Science of Plants . The chemical combination of elements in
simple ratio and according to constant equivalents by weight , is another law or universal truth ; and the general truths relating to the dependence of chemical combinations on heat , light , or electricity , are other laws . The parallel relations of structure or homologies between all vertebrates , is another law , universal as
regards the vertebrates ; and the other great groups have their corresponding laws . The reciprocal relations between the parts of an animal , due to the fact of type-structures , as between the hoof , leg , teeth , stomach , & c , through the structure , which is so exact , that a knowledge of one of these parts is equivalent to a knowledge of the general nature of all , is another law of universal truth .
Thus there are laws having reference to force , motion , form , dimensions , general structure , functions , affinities of family , class , & c . ; homological type-relations ; reciprocal relations between the parts of a structure ; development or growth , whether organic or inorganic . And such facts or conditions may be considered also with reference
to one another , and afford still other laws ; or specially with regard to forces or influences of any kind ; and in this line are mainly what we call causalities . They may all bo of various grades of generality ; and they may be reduced in some instances to mathematical
expressions , in which last case we reach nearest to the prototype enactments ol . Divinity . Such laws are literally announcements of concordances in nature . They are not in any sense phenomena , but expressions of the rela-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Science And The Bible. *
I the paddle of the whale and pectoral fin of the fish ; and so precisely , that the homologous bones may be traced , and the changes or obsolescence of this or that bone , as the type becomes adapted to its various purposes . There is in this unity of structure an expression of one single fundamental idea .
This kind of research has been further pursued , and it has been found that there is a like parallelism through the whole structure even to the relations of every bone in fishes , reptiles , birds , quadrupeds , and man ; so that there is one type at the basis of all . Still deeper has investigation gone ; and now we know that in a single vertebra and its appendages , all the elements of the bony structure in these classes of animals are comprised , the repetition and modifications of a type-vertebra , with its accessories , producing
all the various results . Thus God throughout nature has evolved diversity out of unity , eliciting ten thousand concordances out of single profound enactments in His plans of creation . These laws are universal truths , limited so far only as the range of objects to which they relate is limited . Thus any truth with regard
to life which characterises all living beings , is a law in the Science of Life . So as to the leaves of plants , any quality which is found to be an universal truth , as for instance their spiral arrangement , as explained , or their function of respiration , or their general structure , is a law in the Science of Plants . The chemical combination of elements in
simple ratio and according to constant equivalents by weight , is another law or universal truth ; and the general truths relating to the dependence of chemical combinations on heat , light , or electricity , are other laws . The parallel relations of structure or homologies between all vertebrates , is another law , universal as
regards the vertebrates ; and the other great groups have their corresponding laws . The reciprocal relations between the parts of an animal , due to the fact of type-structures , as between the hoof , leg , teeth , stomach , & c , through the structure , which is so exact , that a knowledge of one of these parts is equivalent to a knowledge of the general nature of all , is another law of universal truth .
Thus there are laws having reference to force , motion , form , dimensions , general structure , functions , affinities of family , class , & c . ; homological type-relations ; reciprocal relations between the parts of a structure ; development or growth , whether organic or inorganic . And such facts or conditions may be considered also with reference
to one another , and afford still other laws ; or specially with regard to forces or influences of any kind ; and in this line are mainly what we call causalities . They may all bo of various grades of generality ; and they may be reduced in some instances to mathematical
expressions , in which last case we reach nearest to the prototype enactments ol . Divinity . Such laws are literally announcements of concordances in nature . They are not in any sense phenomena , but expressions of the rela-