Genesis And Geology Hand In Hand.

2 nd from Nature , for we learn the existence of light from coal and fossils . In the coal we know it was laid up in good keeping . By the fossils we learn that it was enjoyed by sight—and of the sun also by the impressions of the rain drops in the old red sandstone , to give now but a single

proof , clearly evidencing to an honest scientific reasoner the evaporation of water—the gathering into clouds , as water is now influenced by the selfsame action of the sun and afterwards condensed , sometimes in conjunction with thunderstorms . We should be ever content to be led by the

strictly scientific propriety of the terms of Scripture , and not be governed on the one hand by the ignorance of man who may have supposed for thousands of years that li ght was created on the first day ; nor on the other be unduly ruled by what is so evidentl y only the language of phenomena , or

appearance , when we find God by his inspiration , so condescendingly lowering his revealed description , as to suit his teaching to the level of man ' s comprehension—unenlightened by reason , when the Bible uses the same expressions as philosophers do , who well know them to be scientifically incorrect—such as the sun rises—and the sun sets .

To value the expressions used in the Bible with reference to Genesis i . 2 , we should recollect that whereas light is positive , darkuess on the contrary is not positive , being only negative light . With reference to Genesis i . 3 , and God said , " Let there be light and there was light , " there

are some who think that the word " Let , " being imperative , is a command so strong that it amounts to an expression of creation by God's will . But let us respect the inspired Hebrew Scriptures and net allow it to be sullied iu its parity by the present usages of English—for there is no

such absolute command of creation in the Hebrew . The Hebrew word Yehi , "let there be , " is the third person singular , masculine gender , of the future tense , apoc . Ival , primitive of the verb root , ha yah , to be . The literal meaning of Yehi is " shall be , " though with something of the force of

the imperative . Bat the word translated " there was" is also Yehi , exactly the same as the former—with the addition of vau , which is both copulative and convcrsive , changing the future by absolute government into the imperfectandas is shown

, , by the complex vowels , without losing its junction piower . Therefore , however admirably the third verse is rendered into English , it affords no foundation for building up a commanding authority for the creation of li

The word Ohr , light , occurs twice in Gen . i . 3 , twice in Gen . i . 4 , once in Gen . i . 5 , aud again in Gen . i . IS , and these are the only passages where the noun masculine occurs in the book of Genesis . The Word mahohr occurs three times in the plural form Meoroth , in Gen . i . 1-1 , 15 , and 16 , and twice in the singular in Gen . i . 16 , and does not

occur again in Genesis . Ifc does not seem to be ; used at all to signify the sun as in Gen . i . 16 , after the word Shemesh , sun , occurs . This word Mahohr means luminary , light bearer , the instrument of light , as distinct from light itself ; so correctly rendered by the Greek Translators , Phosteres ,

lamps , and by the Latin ( vulgate ) Luminaria —¦ and equivalent also to the Latin word Lucifer . Shemesh , the sun , appears to be a name given from its office , Shemash , verb root , to minister , to wait upon—being appointed to be the minister of lihtriding the dayand governingwith

theg , , , lesser light bearer , for signs and for seasons , for days and for years . Therefore , as there is no authority in Scripture ,, as the Word of Grod , for supposing that the sun or lig ht was created within the first six days ,

there should be no difficulty or unwillingness iu , believing . in their pre-existence , provided thai- le earth , as the work of God , clearly demonstratesthe fact , which ifc does most positively .. The sun may be believed to be the reverse of the earth—the earth carries her fire inside , and her

rock outside ; whereas the sun is known to carry its rock inside , and its fire outside . But I fancy I hear one reminding me that Gen ., i . 2 , clearly teaches of darkness , i . e ., negative ' light , if not also the want of light . Most true—but the darkness belongs to the

state of being empty and desolate , and it may have been by its continuance , an influence adding to the emptiness and desolation ; or it must have been itself an effect ofthe producing cause , whatever that may have been , so unknown to man and known onlv to God .

Ifc would be both unwise and irreverent to speculate about God ' s truths where they are not revealed ; therefore let us accept as truth the desolate state the earth fell into , because Gen . i . 2 teaches the fact to us , and the evidence of the earth does not militate against such a state .

But Scripture does not tell us that thafc state was a permanent one , nor even one of very long continuance , whereas the earth proves by the clearest demonstrative evidence , that before that period ifc was not empty , being furnished with a most luxuriant flora , and by no means desolate ; as ifc was teemiii '' - with life in a most extensive

faund , man always excepted . Therefore Scripture prepares us to accept readily the unquestionable evidence ofthe Fossil riches ofthe globe . Facts prove iltat the la-mime of gneiss and mica are contorted in a way which could only be the result of a very high temperature . That the seas ,

as shown by their deposits , must have been in tho troubled state of water nearly at boiling heat . The natural result of these circumstances ( perhaps occasioned by God's permitting greater heat from within the globe ) would be , that the atmosphere must have been densely obscured by excessive and impervious vapours , as of steam , probably altogether excluding the solar light , and