CONTENTS. PSALM CXI. 2. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them Object, design, and importance of geological science. Requisites DEUTERONOMY xxxIII. 13, 15, 16. Blessed of the Lord be his land; for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that couch- eth beneath,-- -and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof. Change in the material universe, constant, but according to law. ROMANS XI. 36. Of HIM, and through Him, and to HIM, are all things: Recital of opinions which are by many assumed to be asserted or GENESIS VI. 17. And behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven: and every thing that is in the earth shall die. Continuation of apparent discrepancies between Geological doo- erroneous.- 2 PETER II. 5. God spared not the old world,-bringing the flood upon Continuation. More accurate and discriminating inquiry. Inves- 1 THESSALONIANS v. 21. Prove all things: hold fast that which is good. Examination of various methods which have been proposed for the removal of the difficulties and alleged contradictions, between Geology and the Scriptures. I. Denial of any difficulty, by shutting the eyes to the evidence of geological facts, and representing the inquiry as im- II. Sacrificing the Mosaic records, as unintelligible, or as being the PSALM XII. 6. The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. The certain and infallible truth of all that is taught in the Holy Application of the principle established, to the interpretation of ECCLESIASTES XII. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole of man. Religion the perfection of our nature. The duty of scientific stu- dies, especially in a course of education. Exhortations to personal efforts for improvement. Peculiar claims of Geology. The proper accompaniments of scientific pursuits. Advantage to the comforts of life. Moral uses. Responsibility to the just and holy GOD. Interest and urgency of these considerations. The rational claims and attrac- B, referring to pages 60 and 61. On the number of species in the earlier Fossiliferous Rocks.- C, referred to at page 138. E, referred to at pages 74 and 197. On the Evidence of a very High Antiquity of the Earth................. Sentiments of John George Rosenmüller, Bishop Bird Sumner, and Mr. Conybeare, on the initial portion of the book of Genesis....... 344 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES AND SOME PARTS OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE. LECTURE I. PSALM CXI. 2. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. GEOLOGY SO seeks out the works of the Most High. It has claims upon the regard of all cultivated and pious minds. It leads us to study that which God has made our earthly abode, in its present state, filled with monuments of past conditions, and presages, I venture to think, of the future. It leads us into some acquaintance with a magnificent part of the counsel of Jehovah's will, according to which He worketh all things; the machine of dependent beings and subordinate causes, by which the Supreme Cause accomplishes his purposes of wisdom and righteousness. We see those causes to be the same in their nature, and similar in their mode of operation, now, as in countless ages past; though differing through a wide range in the intensity of their action and the form of their results. Rain, rills and rivers, aided by the electric and chemical and mechanical agency of the atmosphere, are continually wearing away the solid earth, transporting it into the estuaries of the sea, and committing it to the currents |