record, since it represents no exact or assignable duration. theory. What, then, may it be supposed to represent? Let us seek that which best explains the facts. Premising that the passage, "There was evening, there was morning, day one," and the corresponding sentences, constitute Prof. Pierce's merely a poetical refrain, closing the successive measures of the half-rhythmic account, Prof. Benjamin Pierce, some years ago, suggested an interpretation which has the merit of something more than ingenious novelty, though it may not precisely represent the primary meaning of the writer. The theory is elaborated with some detail by Dr. Thomas Hill, in his "Natural Sources of Theology," namely, that the term is not a measure of time or space at all, but that the six days are "logical divisions in the survey of the universe," the logical order of thought in the mind of the author of the account. As if it were written "In the first place there was light; in the second place a firmament, with uplifted mountains and depressed ocean basins; in the next place plants appeared, and then the sun," and so on, following the record through to the end. Viewed in this light, says Dr. Hill, "all the work of Ritter and Guyot, all the arguments of the Bridgewater Treatises and the Graham Lectures. are thus foretold in these brief sentences." We go farther than Dr. Hill, and say the account not only sets forth the logical order of thought, but approximately the actual order of events.* Let us see. 1. The elements in chaotic darkness and confusion, followed by light resulting from chemical action. Comparison of data. 2. The separation of the earth and heavens by an intervening firmament, together with the upheaval of mountains and corresponding depression of ocean beds. 3. The appearance of life in the form of vegetation, as will appear in the next lecture. 4. Appearance of the sun. If the theory developed in the second lecture be correct, this occurred at a somewhat advanced stage of the work. There was an extended lapse between the appearance of cosmic and solar light, though we have no means. of calculating the actual or even probable length of the period. 5. Appearance of the animal world. 6. The appearance of man-and 7. If you please, rest from the work of creating: no additions having been made to the forms * Dr. Hill regards this as one of the secondary meanings that may be found in the record in Genesis. It seems to us primary. of life since the introduction of man. There is no intimation here of weariness, or exhausted power as some inconsiderately assume. The Supreme Spirit may be as active in guiding and preserving what he created as he was in the act of creating. The meaning is, simply, that at this point he ceased to introduce new types of life. In what is usually called a second account of the creation, beginning at the fourth verse of the second chapter, the order of the first is reversed; that is to say, the order of time is not observed. The writer begins with man as the crown of the creation, and proceeds, in order, to those of less importance. The reader is left to consider all the facts, together with the suggestions offered, and reach his own conclusion. We return now from this digression, to mark, in closing, the point we reach in the development of of our subject. We began Conclusion. with the earth as it emerged from the ordeal by fire to have a thin crust about it, but shrouded still in a bed of fog and noxious gases. We have traced its progress as the vaporous surroundings gradually cleared, and a wide expanse separated the clouds that were above from the seas that were beneath. We have traced it, also, as the crust thickened and volcanic vents gave rise to hills and mountains, here and there. And then, as the crust stiffened and grew stronger, so that it was not easily broken, the imprisoned forces, like raging, struggling giants, heaved it into huge folds here and depressed it into deep basins there, till the seas gathered into the deep places of the earth, and the dry land appeared." |