One of the most vaunted objections, which infidels bring against the Bible, is that which represents God as creating light before the sun, and the sun, moon and stars, only two days before the creation of man. They seem to forget that the term to create is nowhere used in connection with the preparing of the earth for the habitation of man. By careful reading it will be seen at once that the darkness spoken of in the first chapter of Genesis had reference to this planet only. There is not the remotest hint, in any portion of scripture, that any other planet or star was shrouded in gloom at that time. On the contrary, we are most distinctly informed that the wonders which God was performing in this world, at that very time, were distinctly visible amid the cheerful illumination of other orbs. "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy," as this earth emerged from its primeval darkness. {166} True the Bible represents that this earth was illuminated at a time when the sun was not visible from its surface. Now, if any one will presume to scoff at the Bible for speaking of light without sunshine--as infidels frequently do--what will he say of the light which exists in the midst of a London fog or on the banks of Newfoundland? To understand, how there may be day without sunshine, we need only conceive the whole earth enveloped in vapors such as Humboldt describes a portion of Peru. "A thick mist obscures the firmament in this region for many months. If by chance the sun's disc becomes visible during the day, it appears devoid of rays, as if seen through colored glasses. According to what modern geology has taught us concerning the ancient history of our atmosphere, its primitive condition must have been unfavorable to the transmission of light" (_Humboldt's Cosmos, Vol iii, p_. 139). Dr. Dana is evidently of the same opinion. In speaking of the formation of coal and the peculiar vegetation which flourished upon the earth during that period, the remains of which are found imbedded in the coal measures; he says, "In the Pacific ocean, off the coast of Chili, there is an island named Chiloe, where it rains 300 days in the year, and where the light of the sun is shut out by perpetual fogs. On this island, arborescent ferns, form forests, beneath which grow herbaceous ferns, which rise three feet and upwards above a marshy soil, and a mass of plants flourish there, {167} resembling in their main features the plants found in the coal fields" (_Manual of Geology_, 1880). Thus science corroborates the word of God.