Geology and Revelation: or, the Ancient History of the Earth, considered in the geological facts and revealed religion.Molloy, Gerald
Religion
Geology and Revelation: or, the Ancient History of the Earth, considered in the geological facts and revealed religion.
Molloy, Gerald
Bible and geology; Bible and science
Before taking leave of the subject, we would venture to bring under the
notice of our readers one very obvious reflection, which is sometimes
lost sight of in the heat of controversy. The Mosaic history of the
Creation absolutely stands alone. It has no rivals, no competitors.
Every other attempt that has been made to explain the origin of
the world, and of the human race, is refuted by its own intrinsic
extravagance and absurdity. The wisest nations of antiquity failed to
discover that great fundamental truth, which stands out so boldly on
the first page of Genesis, that there is One God who hath made all
things. The philosophers of Chaldæa were familiar with the course of
the Heavens, and could predict the eclipses of the sun and moon. But
the philosophers of Chaldæa could not rise from the contemplation of
creatures to the knowledge of the Creator: the creatures themselves
were the gods that Chaldæa worshipped. Egypt had greatness of mind to
conceive the idea of the Pyramids, and skill to devise the plan of
their construction, and strength of arms to lift up the huge stones on
these stupendous piles. But Egypt raised up temples to the river that
waters its plain, and offered sacrifice to the reptile that crawls
upon the earth, and the beast that grazes in the field. In Greece the
human mind soared to its highest flight, and ranged over the widest and
most beautiful fields of thought. Peerless is she among the nations,
the mistress of the arts, the fountain source of refined taste, the
storehouse of intellectual power, the great nurse of human genius.
Her schools of philosophy have influenced and guided to a marvellous
extent the thoughts and speculations of all subsequent times. The
song of her immortal bard has kindled the imagination of the poet in
every generation, and enriched his mind with glowing images. Orators
and statesmen still love to copy the lofty sentiments, the graceful
diction, the flowing periods, of her golden eloquence. And students
from every clime stand enraptured before the beauty and the majesty
of her sculptured marble. But Greece, Imperial Greece, knew not the
One God, the giver of all good gifts, by whom she was so highly
endowed. She fashioned for herself gods and goddesses after her own
fancy, and portioned out the universe between them. Jupiter hurled
his thunderbolts from the clouds: Neptune ruled the sea: Pluto swayed
the sceptre of the infernal regions: Minerva was the goddess of
wisdom: Vulcan the god of fire: Apollo the god of music. Nay, the very
infirmities and vices of human nature were personified under the names
of divinities, and worshipped in the Pantheon of the gods. Rome, too,
the conqueror of the world, had its philosophers and its orators, its
poets and its sculptors, whose productions still charm and instruct
mankind. Yet was Rome no exception to the common lot of the gentile
world. For Rome, like Greece, had its long array of gods and goddesses,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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