[Page 229] XI.

THE WORLDS AND THE WORD.

“The worlds were framed by the word of God.”—­Heb. xi., 3.

[Page 230]
  “Mysterious night! when our first parent knew thee
  From report divine, and heard thy name,
  Did he not tremble for this lovely frame,
  This glorious canopy of light and blue? 
  Yet, ’neath a curtain of translucent dew,
  Bathed in the rays of the great setting flame,
  Hesperus, with all the host of heaven, came,
  And lo! creation widened in man’s view. 
  Who could have thought such darkness lay concealed
  Within thy beams, O Sun!  Oh who could find,
  Whilst fruit and leaf and insect stood revealed,
  That to such countless worlds thou mad’st us blind! 
  Why do we then shun death with anxious strife? 
  If light conceal so much, wherefore not life?”
    BLANCO WHITE.

[Page 231] XI.

THE WORLDS AND THE WORD.

Men have found the various worlds to be far richer than they originally thought.  They have opened door after door in their vast treasuries, have ascended throne after throne of power, and ruled realms of increasing extent.  We have no doubt that unfoldings in the future will amaze even those whose expectations have been quickened by the revealings of the past.  What if it be found that the Word is equally inexhaustible?

After ages of thought and discovery we have come out of the darkness and misconceptions of men.  We believe in no serpent, turtle, or elephant supporting the world; no Atlas holding up the heavens; no crystal domes, “with cycles and epicycles scribbled o’er.”  What if it be found that one book, written by ignorant men, never fell into these mistakes of the wisest!  Nay, more, what if some of the greatest triumphs of modern science are to be found plainly stated in a book older than the writings of Homer?  If suns, planets, and satellites, with all their possibilities of life, changes of flora and fauna, could be all provided for, as some scientists tell us, in the fiery star-dust of a cloud, why may not the same Author provide a perpetually widening river of life in his Word?  As we believe He is perpetually present in his worlds, we know He has [Page 232] promised to be perpetually present in his Word, making it alive with spirit and life.

The wise men of the past could not avoid alluding to ideas the falsity of which subsequent discovery has revealed; but the writers of the Bible did avoid such erroneous allusion.  Of course they referred to some things, as sunrise and sunset, according to appearance; but our most scientific books do the same to-day.  That the Bible could avoid teaching the opposite of scientific truth proclaims that a higher than human wisdom was in its teaching.

That negative argument is strong, but the affirmative argument is much stronger.  The Bible declares scientific truth far in advance of its discovery, far in advance of man’s ability to understand its plain declarations.  Take a few conspicuous illustrations: