In various sermons the Prophet dealt more fully with the doctrines here set forth and showed more strongly than is done in his doctrinal writings, that he understood perfectly the far reaching nature of his astronomical teachings. Did Joseph Smith teach these truths by chance? or, did he receive inspiration from a higher power? Chapter VII. GEOLOGICAL TIME. [Sidenote: The history of the world written in the rocks.] God speaks in various ways to men. The stars, the clouds, the mountains, the grass and the soil, are all, to him who reads aright, forms of divine revelation. Many of the noblest attributes of God may be learned by a study of the laws according to which Omnipotent Will directs the universe. Nowhere is this principle more beautifuly illustrated and confirmed than in the rocks that constitute the crust of the earth. On them is written in simple plainness the history of the earth almost from that beginning, when the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Yet, for centuries, men saw the rocks, their forms and their adaptations to each other, without understanding the message written in them. Only, as the wonderful nineteenth century approached, did the vision open, and the interpretation of the story of the rocks become apparent. [Sidenote: Water and heat among the shaping forces of the earth.] How the earth first came into being has not yet been clearly revealed. From the first, however, the mighty forces which act today, have shaped and fashioned the earth and prepared it for man's habitation. Water, entering the tiny cracks of the rocks, and expanding as, in winter, it changed to ice, crumbled the mighty mountans; water, falling as rain from the clouds, washed the rock fragments into the low-lying places to form soil; the water in mighty rivers chiseled the earth with irresistible force, as shown by the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. The internal heat of the earth, aided by the translocation of material by water, produced large cracks in the earth's crust, through which oceans of molten matter flowed and spread themselves over the land; the same heat appeared in volcanoes, through which were spurted liquid earth, cinders and foul gases; as the earth heat was lost, the crust cooled, contracted and great folds appeared, recognized as mountains, and as time went on, many of the mountains were caused to sink and the ocean beds were brought up in their stead. Wonderful and mighty have been the changes on the earth's surface since the Lord began its preparation for the race of men. [Sidenote: The geological history of the earth is in many chapters.]