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GEOLOGY
AND
- THE BIBLE.
3 Scplu to
W«
Wm
Itainlmrt,
COLL I N S,
Price One Penny.*
LONDON:
PROGRESSIVE PUBLISHING
28 Stonecutter Street.
1885.
•
*
COMPANY,
�GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
A REPLY TO DR. LAMBART
W.
W.
COLLINS.
------- ♦------Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,—I feel
extremely sorry that Dr. Lambart should have faller;
ill at this season of the year ; and this feeling o |
sorrow is increased inasmuch as no one would hav 7
been more happy than myself to have him among nr \
audience this evening to listen to what I have to say a
and that I might be open to a full and fair criticism. \
Being, as I think I may claim to be, an earnest seeker \
after truth, and attacking as 1 do that which I believe )
to be untrue, I feel that truth has nothing what-l
ever to fear in its conflict with error. Let us state 1
our ideas fearlessly and openly, not stooping in debate 1
to attempt to gain a position for ourselves by un- *
generous attacks upon the character or the position of
those whom we may oppose. Such a position I would
wish to maintain during my lecture this evening, and
I would if I could in justice to myself and the cause I
represent dismiss at once from my mind everything
approaching a personal character, but I am bound to
say how absolutely I object to the style of debating
adopted by Dr. Lambart when replying to the lecture
of Mrs. Besant on “ The Flood ”—a reply, remember,
coming as this did two years after Mrs. Besant’s lecture,
when the facts and the arguments based upon them
would by many be quite forgotten. Under such
circumstances a man should be at least just to an
opponent. But perhaps it may be that two years ago
Dr. Lambart was unacquainted with geology and has
since then been studying the science ; if this be so
then there is some explanation for the extremely
illogical geology contained in his lectures—(loud
By
�GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
3
cheers)—errors into which surely no man would fall
who had more than a two years’ acquaintance with the
subject.
Of the many conflicting opinions held to-day all
cannot be true, and the truth can only be obtained by
bringing these conflicting opinions into contact with
each other. As Milton well said, we must “ Let truth
and error grapple. Who ever knew truth put to the
worse in a free and open encounter ?” All I want is
a fair field and no favor, for great is the truth and
truth must prevail. If Dr. Lambart intended to reply
to Mrs. Besant, why did he not only wait two years
after her lecture was delivered, but reply to her in her
absence ? Why did he not attack her when she
delivered her lecture, and not leave it to a time when
she should be unable to defend herself from his un
generous and undignified insinuations. Dr. Lambart
surely forgot that he was replying to a lady when in
this ungentlemanly manner he attacked her behind
her back, classing her among those shallow pates in
science who, unable to go to the roots of things, satisfy
themselves with mere “ surface skimming,” knowing
as he ought to have known, that in controversy Mrs.
Besant always took her own part with characteristic
honesty, while in the scientific examinations she had
passed she had succeeded in maintaining that high
reputation for ability—a reputation perhaps unequalled
by any other lady in the United Kingdom ; nay, in the
whole world. (Applause.) When a man strikes a man
behind his back he is a coward, when a man strikes a
woman he is worse than a coward, but when he strikes
a lady behind her back he is a blackguard. Now,
whether Dr. Lambart has done this you must judge,
and I shall perhaps be taunted with saying this behind
his back. Well I had rather he had been present, 1
should have said just what I have said, and I must
leave you to draw your own conclusions. (Cheers.)
Novr, friends, I want, as far as I am able, to place
before you as true a picture of geological science as it
is possible to do in the time at my command, and then
to ask you to place side by side scientific facts an<)
scriptural statements, and then ask yourselves which
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GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
you ate going to believe. With me it is simply a
question of truth and error, and I want your con
clusions to be drawn entirely from their respective
merits. (Cheers.) If the Bible is true, if it is the
revealed word of God, it will be sure to stand in spite
of anything man can say or do. If the Bible is a human
production it may in the end be found to- be in error,
in which case it will not agree with the truths of
scientific teachers. The Bible commences with a very
off-handed—shall I say ?—account of the origin of
things. It carries us back to the beginning—whenever
that may have been—and of this beginning of things
it gives us two separate and contradictory accounts.
These two contradictory accounts are contained in the
first and second chapters of Genesis. Now, I will ask,
can any reasonable thinking man read these two
accounts and believe them both in spite of their con
tradictions ? Surely no unbiassed mind can conclude
that they are both true. You cannot believe two
statements to be true if they contradict each other.
We must go to the examination of these questions with
unbiassed minds. We must draw our own conclusions,
and not allow others to draw them for us. I want you
first to notice that when God in the beginning created
the heavens and the earth, that the earth is described
as being “ without form and void.” Now surely if any
thing were created at all it must have had some form
and must too have occupied some space. To speak of
something as neither occupying space nor having form,
is to deny its existence, and is utter nonsense. In the
first chapter of Genesis we are told that God divided
the light from the darkness, showing a total scientific
misconception, and ushered in the first day. On the
second day he divided the waters, showing that the
author of this story was under the impression that
light and darkness were entities which could be
operated upon just as the substance water could.
After this, God separated the water from the land,
ordered the earth to bring forth the grass, the
herb and the fruit-bearing trees — all this before
he made the sun, without whose light and heat these
living organisms could not exist. He made the sun
�GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
5
and moon and set them in the firmament.- On the
fifth day he made the waters to bring forth every
moving creature that hath life, fowls and great whales.
And the earth was made to bring forth all kinds of
cattle and creeping things. Then on the sixth day
God created man in his own image, together with
woman. In the language of the Bible, “ male and
female created he them, giving them dominion over
every other living thing. And on the seventh day
God rested.” The omnipotent was tired, the eternal
wanted repose. In the second chapter of Genesis we
find quite a different story. Though we read in the
first chapter that the earth brought forth plants of
every kind before the creation of man, yet in the
second chapter we are informed that plants and herbs
did not grow because there was no man to till the soil.
In the first chapter the animals are created before
man, in the second afterwards. In the first chapter
man and woman are created together, in the second
enough time elapses after the creation of Adam for the
creating by God of all the beasts, and for the naming
of them by Adam, after which Eve is created to be a
helpmate for Adam, the all-knowing and all-wise
having found out that it “ was not good for man to be
alone.” (Cheers.)
Now,'friends, both these stories cannot be true. They
not only differ from each other, but they differ from
the fifth chapter of Genesis, where we are told that
God made man in his own likeness, male and female
created he them and called their name Adam—I sup
pose Mr. and Mrs. Adam—(laughter)—but if they did
not thus contradict each other they are so crude, so
childish, so stupid, that we cannot but regard them as
the work of illiterate and pseudo-scientific men. So
intense does the stupidity of these stories appear in
the light of modern science, that that any should be
found believing them seem beyond comprehension.
Besides this account of the origin of the world,
together with its living forms, both animal and vegetal,
as presented in the Bible, we have another account
written not by man but by—shall I say—the world
itself. Our geologists have laid before us page after
�6
GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
page, as it were, of the history of this world, a history
indelibly written by the finger of nature on the rocks
themselves. This is the greatest, the grandest history
that could possibly be produced, for the rocks cannot
lie, cannot be accused of wishing to deceive. A book,
on the contrary, may lie, and may have been written
by fallible men who erred in their statements
or who had some advantage to gain by wilfully
deceiving. Read this history of the world, written by
the world itself, and compare it with the history written,
or claiming to be written, with the aid of “ divine
revelation.” Then if you can make these two accounts
agree, if you can reconcile the one with the other, then
all I can say is that your power of reconcilement, like
the wisdom of Almighty God, surpasseth all comprehen
sion. Now all I ask is that you shall read these histories
carefully, read them without bias, and decide for your
selves which is to be believed, for I am sure you cannot
accept both. The six days’ creation story, the chrono
logical order of the creation of animal and vegetal
forms, including man, find no counterpart in the
geologic records, and no amount of intellectual leger
demain can convert the biblical story into a scientific
account. Not only is the time altogether inadequate,
but the manner and order of their appearance is, as I
shall show, absolutely contradicted by modern science.
The difficulty as to time has been recognised at last,
even by our opponents. No thanks, however, are due
to them for the admission. As long as they could they
held tenaciously to the Bible account, and not until
compelled by scientific progress did they venture
to pull up their courage and modify the crude ideas
they had so long held. For centuries science was prac
tically prohibited and its advancement made next to an
impossibility; discoverers and teachers were prosecuted
and persecuted even to death itself ; while even of late
years no epithet has been deemed too vile to hurl at
the devoted scientist who has had the courage to give
to the world the result of his own researches. And
yet, forsooth, we are blandly asked to believe that
science and the Bible are perfectly at one if we read
both aright—and with faith ! To make the Bible and
�GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
7
science agree, we must make science absolutely un
scientific, and the Bible must be construed so as to
advance ideas which are at once seen to be entirely
opposed to the ideas evidently held by its unknown
authors.
The “ six days ” of creation we are now meekly told
really signify “ six epochs.” Yes, six indefinite epochs
of unknown duration, for “ a day with the Lord is as a
thousand years and a thousand years is as a day.”
Geology, however, knows nothing of these “ six
epochs ”—they are altogether inadequate to account for
geologic phenomena. Besides, is, it not most palpably
evident that the “ six days ” of the Bible were really
six days of ordinary duration ? The days of the author
of the first chapter were undoubtedly six ordinary
days ; the story itself forbids any other interpretation.
Again, do we not get a further confirmation of this
view when we read the commandment as given in the
20th chapter of Exodus, “ in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and
rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the
seventh day, and hallowed it ” ? Here the Bible distinctly
reaffirms the “ six-days ” story, and it is idle to pretend
that six epochs were meant. Nay, we know that these
ideas would never have been advanced had it not been
that something must be done, done quickly, however
desperate, to bridge the gap which geology had created.
With the internal peculiarities of the Bible stories I
have nothing to do at present, though the picture of
omnipotence resting must have been a scene worthy
the Gods themselves. We will proceed at once to
unroll the earth’s historic scroll, and decipher the
characters legibly written on those most lasting tablets,
the rocks themselves.
When we come to deal with the subject of geology,
we are at once brought face to face, as it were, with
those mighty changes which in their totality consti
tute nature’s operations—changes vast of past epochs,
changes equally taking place at the present time, changes
periodical, and continuous ; for nature knows no rest
not even one day, much less one epoch in seven.
Now these changes, gradual, almost imperceptible, as
�s
GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
they are, and which never strike us as producing any
great modification in the configuration of the earth,
are the very changes which have produced all the phe
nomena of past geologic epochs. As we go back through
the world’s history we discover evidences of changes
vast, stupendous ; but these changes, great as they ap
pear, are simply the result of what I would describe as
accumulations of infinitesimal changes, changes similar
to those taking place all around us. Though everything
appears fixed, nothing is still : the “ everlasting rocks ”
and “ changeless seas ” are ever exchanging places.
There is nothing like idleness in nature. Every breath
of air, every beam of light, every tiny rain-drop, effec
tually does its work. And what is this work ? It is
the great work of disintegration. Just as when a build
ing is in course of erection the stone of which it is being
constructed has to be obtained from a distance, thus
giving employment to those who quarry and to those
who convey the stone, so in nature there are agents
ever at work, removing these rocks from one situation
to another. There are atmospheric agents ; there are
chemical agents ; there are mechanical and marine
agents, all doing their work, trying, as it were, to con
tinually lower the surface of the land. Under the
influences of frost, rain, river and sea-waves, the land
is constantly wearing away. Everywhere the work of
these agencies may be seen, though of course the effects
produced will be much greater in some places than in
others, owing to the position and nature of the sub
stances acted upon. The waves may beat against the
granitic rocks of Orme’s Head for centuries and pro
duce but little result—the work is so slow. The lime
stone rocks of the Durham coast and the sand-stones
of Devonshire are, however, rapidly succumbing to the
constant action of the waves of the German Ocean and
the English Channel respectively.
Taking our own country, if you travel along the East
coast the encroachment of the sea upon the land is seen
to be taking place at a very rapid rate—so much so,
that we are apt to doubt whether it be true that “Bri
tannia rules the waves.” From Bridlington to Spurn
on the Yorkshire Coast, the waves erode something like
�GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
9
two and a half yards annually, and the sea has en
croached more than three miles since the time of the
Romans. Many villages have entirely gone, and over
where they once stood the waves now roll majestically.
The church tower at Eccles may still be seen peeping
above the sand on the sea-shore, for the waves are per
fectly impartial in their action : they are no respecters
of churches. What is now the small village of Dunwich
on the Suffolk coast was once a seaport, but the sea
has here encroached several miles within historic times.
Where are now the Goodwin Sands was once the main
land, so that at least on the East coast “ wave action ”
is at once apparent. To make up for the advance upon
the East coast the sea appears to be slowly retiring from
the West, as witness the great stretches of sand at Rhyl,
Southport, Lytham and other places. In some districts
green fielcls now, flourish where at one time the largest
of ships might have floated ; and from these facts we
learn to understand that great geological induction that
the relative positions of land and water are constantly
changing.
But besides wave agency we must note briefly the
amount of work done by streams and rivers. The
waves may modify the coast, but the streams and rivers
modify the land far inwards and equally assist in
bringing about the relative changes of place of land
and water. The river Ganges, in India, is, perhaps,
the swiftest river that flows ; and it has been computed
that the amount of mud which is carried down by this
one river and deposited in the Indian Ocean could not
be carried by less than 2,000 ships sailing every day,
each ship carrying 1,100 tons of mud. Thus you see
this river tearing down the land and gradually filling
up the ocean—land and watei’ changing places. In
the Mediterranean Sea an immense delta has been
formed from the mud brought down by the river Nile,
and this low, flat land is gradually increasing both in
elevation and extent at the same slow rate at which it
has always advanced. Probably the amount of eleva
tion does not amount to more than five or six inches
per century, and since, in some places these mud
deposits are known to be more than 60 feet in depth,
�10
GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
I must leave you to judge how vast a period of time
must be required for their deposition at the rate of only
five inches per century. From remains of pottery, human
bones, and burnt bricks, dug up from considerable
depths of this “ Nile mud,” it is evident that human
beings inhabited this part of the world at least thirty
centuries ago. The whole of Lower Egypt owes its
origin to this one river. Dr. Draper, the author of the
“ Conflict between Religion and Science,” tells us that
the coast line near the mouth of the Mississippi river,
in America, has been well known for the last 300 years,
and during that time it has made no perceptible
advancement upon the Gulf of Mexico, but there was a
time when the delta was at St. Louis, which is now
more than 700 miles from the river’s mouth. How
long, I would ask, must we allow for the deposition of
this 700 miles of land, seeing that the encroachment
is of so slow a nature that 300 years does not suffice to
alter the measurement ? Just think of these vast
changes, of the slow, gradual manner in which they
have taken place, of the mighty results they have
achieved, and then try to crowd all this into 6,000 years,
which is about the age of this earth if the Mosaic
account of things be true. But it cannot be true—the
facts of nature are against it. We are now told that
the Bible was never intended for a scientific book.
Some get, or try to get over the difficulty by asserting
that the Bible account is simply poetry, and that poetic
license must be allowed for. Others again tell us that
underneath the story there is a hidden spiritual sig
nificance, only revealed to those who read in faith;
but the student of to-day asks which of these theories
is the true one. For years, hundreds and thousands
of men have been hounded down, persecuted to death,
tortured on the rack, imprisoned in the dungeon and
burned at the stake, for doubting a story of the true
meaning of which none are agreed at the present time.
Why did they torture first and find out their mistake
afterwards ? Why did they burn Bruno first and then
discover that the Bible is only poetry and was never
intended to be used as a scientific book ? Such, friends,
is the consistency of the human mind when warped
�GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
11
and distorted by the withering influences of super
natural religion.
I must now ask you to consider briefly the nature
and order of those rocks which to the geologist form so
important a feature of the earth’s surface—the strati
fied rocks. These rocks have all been produced by
the agency of water acting in the manner I have de
scribed. These stratified rocks occur, as the word strata ”
(from the Latin stratum, a bed) would suggest, in regular
layers, and could they be piled up bed upon bed in the
regular order of their depositions, they would form a
mass of stratified matter of from eighteen to twenty
miles in thickness. These rocks are divided into three
great classes—viz., the Palaeozoic, the Mesozoic and the
Cainozoic. These words simply denote ancient, middle
and recent organic forms, and so to avoid the difficulties
of geologic nomenclature, we will use the simple names
of primary, secondary and tertiary rocks. Now each of
these three classes is made up of various groups of
strata, these groups being related to each other, gene
rally speaking, both as to their lithological character
and their fossil contents. Altogether there are some
thing like twelve of these groups, to which the follow
ing names have been given :—(1) the Laurentian.
Cambrian, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and
Permian. (2) Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. (3)
Eocene, Miocene and Pliocene. Now all of these strata
beds, from the oldest to the most recent, contain
remains imbedded within them of those creatures
which inhabited the earth during the time of their
deposition in river, lake or ocean. These remains are
called fossils, and they reveal to us the true history of
the animal and the vegetal forms which have through
bygone milleniums inhabited this world. In the
oldest rocks these remains are of so indefinite a nature
that for a long time our ablest geologists were really
puzzled as to theirtrue character. The most ancient of all
fossils occurs, of course, in the Laurentian rocks, and
*
to this fossil Dr. Dawson gave the name of Eozoon
* For a full exposition of the fossil contents of the strata groups,
from the Laurentian upwards, see articles in Progress, January and
February numbers, 1885, by W. W. C.
�12
GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
Canadense. This creature is a Foraminifer, and belongs
to the lowest sub-kingdom of animals, the Protozoa.
From the Laurentian rocks upwards the fossils increase
in number and develop in form and complexity, until
at last, in the most recent deposits, they culminate by
revealing to. us the highest of all animal forms—man
himself.
In the Bible stories we are told that ont the fifth day
of creation God made the fowls that fly above the
earth, together with great whales and every living
thing that mov.eth in the waters. And on the sixth
day he created all creeping things and all beasts of the
field, and concluded the day’s work with making man
in his owfi image. Now, not only is it absolutely
impossible to reconcile this story with the one con
tained in Genesis the second, but both are entirely at
variance with the geologic record. From the rocks we
learn the true life-history of the world’s fauna and
flora. Species have evolved slowly, imperceptibly ;
the gradual changes in the inorganic world have pro
duced corresponding changes in the world organic.
Sudden changes, cataclysmic changes, kill; slow,
gradual changes modify. The geologic order of animal
appearance is just what the evolutionist would expect
to find it. The first fossil remains are those of in
vertebrate creatures. After a vast lapse of time the
fishes, the lowest of the vertebrates (back-boned)
appear, these anon being followed by reptiles, birds,
beasts, and finally man.
When we note the great thickness of the rock masses,
some of them such as the Laurentian, being more than
30,000 feet in thickness, we naturally ask ourselves what
vast seons of time must have been required for their depo
sition and for their solidification ; and again, what un
told millions of ages must be required to account for
the British strata alone, which, if superposed in chro
nological order, would reach an aggregate thickness of
nearly twenty miles. How altogether inadequate the
Bible theory is, in the face of these facts, becomes
painfully apparent. Let us be honest to the truth—the
wTorld itself cannot lie ; a book may.
The finding of marine shells inland, together with
�GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
IS
occurence, of sand, gravel and mud accumulation,
sometimes at high elevations, was for some consider
able time thought to bear witness to the Noachian
deluge. Indeed, Dr. Lambart has himself advanced
similar ideas in two of his lectures, and they form his
only attempt at scientific argument. Dr. Lambart is
the only man I know of who, pretending to a know
ledge of geology, would attempt to account for these
things in this manner, who would try to show that
they have been brought about by the agency of a deluge.
Science shows us that many thousands of years ago,
not only this country, but the whole continent of
Europe, was covered by ice and snow. This is known
as the glacial period. At this time the climate of
England was similar to that which now obtains within
the arctic circle, and it is probable that the arctic
circles are really remnants of this glacial age. An
examination of the boulder stones, the drifts, sands,
clays and gravels of this period, proves at once the
nature of the agencies which have been at work.
Whenever the drift rests on hard rock (say granite) its
surface is smoothed and striated. In the Snowdon
valleys, where several of these drifts occur, the rocks
are all smoothed, polished, rounded and striated. The
scratches always run parallel to the direction of the
valley, and have undoubtedly been caused by the
action of some hard substance which at some time or
other filled the valley, dragging forcibly through it,
scratching, grinding and polishing in its passage. Are
these things the effect of a flood ? No ! the explana
tion is altogether inadequate. The boulder stones,
which are found in various parts of the country,
fragments as they are of rocks hundreds of miles away
from where they now lie—are these the work of a flood ?
The fossil remains of species similar to those now
existing only in the ice-bound regions of the far North
—Can these be attributed to the deluge ? No; everything
bespeaks an arctic climate, arctic inhabitants, arctic
causes and effects ; and here we get an explanation of
the phenomena attributed to the flood.
We know that high up in the mountains of arctic
climes, glaciers are formed. These rivers of ice,
�14
GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
moving slowly at the rate of not more than 400 feet
a year, gradually descend into the valley. The valley
becomes filled with this frozen mass. As it slowly moves
along, it scrapes the mountain sides, smoothing and
polishing the rocks : it gathers on its edges loose stones,
earth and blocks, which fall from the cliffs above ; the
gathered load is carried until under the genial influences
of the sun’s warmth the glacier melts and the burden
is deposited many miles from its original position.
Glacial action in frozen regions is still doing exactly
the same work, thus witnessing to the truth of
the inductions of geology.
Geology has not a single evidence to put forward in
favor of the Bible story. That districts have been in the
past, as they are to-day, subject to inundation, no one
doubts; but these are insignificant in result and compara
tively of little importance so far as geology is concerned.
Besides, why should we try to reconcile our science
with a story so absurd ?—a story of no credit to the
man who wrote it, and dishonoring to the God whom
it makes the chief actor in a play repulsive to the best
instincts of our common humanity ? The story of the
flood, of Noah and his ark, is a childish fable unworthy
the acceptance of thinking people. There is no
necessity for science to disprove this fable, for its
absurdity is carried to so great a pitch as to literally
o’er-reach itself, and the whole story falls from its own
inherent stupidity. In this story we are told that God
commanded Noah to take into the ark of clean beasts
by sevens, male and female, and of beasts unclean by
twos, in order to keep their kind alive upon the earth.
Noah, however, chose to disobey God’s orders, for in
two distinct places we are informed that he took with
him into the ark two and two of all flesh wherein is
the breath of life. Now when Noah was released from
the ark, we are told that he took of every clean fowl,
and of every clean beast, and sacrificed upon the altar
unto the Lord. If, now, only two of each kind were
taken into the ark, how on earth were the species after
wards perpetuated, seeing that one of each clean kind
was thus sacrificed ,- or what was the use of thus miracu
lously preserving them if only to kill them afterwards ?
�GEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE.
15
Again, what contemptible ideas of God these people
must have had who make him, like an hungry man,
delighted to smell the “ sweet savor,” and like an
impetuous, thoughtless savage, destroying everything
at a moment, and the next promising “ neither will I
again smite any more everything living as I have done.”
Truly, we who try to save God from these vile imputa
tions must ever feel that, like an injured man, his
continuous cry must be, “0 save me from my friends.”
The collection of all the animals into the ark and
their storage, then, is a feat that has never yet been
explained and never will. Not only must the polar
bear and the kangaroo have been fetched from their
respective habitats, but they must have been trans
ported thither again after the flood, for the kangaroo
still occupies that portion of the earth which geology
assigns to him millions of years ago.
Dr. Colenso tells us that when translating the story
of the flood a simple-minded native asked him, “ Is all
that true ? Do you really believe all that happened ?
that all the beasts, the birds, the creeping things from
hot countries and from cold, came by pairs, and were
thus saved in the ark ? Where did Noah gather food
for them all, including the beasts of prey, and where
did he store it when gathered ?” And his heart answered,
“ Shall a man speak lies in the name of the Lord ?” He
dared not do so.
Dr. Lambart did not tell his audience where the water
came from which covered the earth, nor where the water
went to after it had accomplished its work. The water
now upon the earth is, as to quantity, about the same
as it has ever been, and I leave you to judge the possi
bility of its bathing the earth in a universal deluge.
The opening of the “ windows of heaven ” for the water
supply again exhibits the gross ignorance of the “ in
spired writer.” Every drop of water that falls upon
this world is a drop that has previously been taken up
from river, ocean or lake by the evaporating power of
the sun’s heat. In the air this evaporised water remains
until condensation takes place, when it is precipitated
on to the earth in the form of rain, which supplies the
springs, rivers, lakes and oceans—a constant cycle, a
�16
GEOLOGY AND- THE BIBLE.
perfect picture of nature, ever changing without'in-,
creasing or diminishing ; no creation, no destruction
—nothing except change.
My time has now expired. I have placed before you
the two theories—the geological One and the biblical;
one—and I, must again ask jmu to' draw your own con-;
elusions. Ii'et your one idea, however, be to find out'
what is true ; be deterred by no craven fear, for only ’
that which is true can be of lasting benefit to mankind.1 .
Instead of trying to believe stories which dishonor the
God they pretend to reveal, turn your attention to the! »'
teachings of those mdn, our scientific leaders, ^ho are'
ever placing before us the truths nature has revealed
to them. , These are the world’s true pathfinders, the:
bearers of the torchlight of knowledge' into the dark- .
realms 'of ignorance! and mystery. Search for the;
truth, and the truth shall make you fr.ee, for great;
is the truth and truth shall, prevail.
.... ,
•,
Rise sun of truth, arise, in glbry sliin6
Scatter the mists of night with light divine ;
Pierce through dark error’s clouds, and,let thy ray
.Reveal to toiling man glad freedom's day.
Printed and Published by Eamsey and Foote, at 28 Stonecutter St., London.
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Geology and the Bible : a reply to Dr Lambart
Creator
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Collins, W.W.
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 16 p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references. "Printed and published by Ramsey and Foote."-p.16. Text of a lecture. Reply to Dr Lambart (unidentified), in which he replied to a lecture by Annie Besant "The Flood." Part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
Publisher
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Progressive Publishing Company
Date
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1885
Identifier
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N172
Subject
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Bible
Rights
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Geology and the Bible : a reply to Dr Lambart), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Bible and Geology
Bible. O.T. Genesis-Criticism
Geology
NSS