Revelation and Speculation
It is astonishing to see how readily some who profess to regard the Bible as a revelation from God will yet assent to the undemonstrated claims of geologists, even when these claims squarely contradict the plain statements of the Scriptures. With the observed facts of geology there can be no quarrel, but when deductions are drawn from these facts which impugn the reliability of the inspired account of creation, it is time for those who really believe the Bible to be the word of God to take their stand squarely and uncompromisingly upon revealed truth, and against those human speculations which would overthrow the very foundations of the gospel of salvation from sin. When geology came with its message that the world was not created in six literal days, but that this world was slowly evolved into its present habitable condition through immensely long periods of time, and the theologians sided with the geologists as against the simple statements of the record in Genesis, those who should have stood as defenders of the faith yielded in principle all that has since been logically developed6into a complete evolutionary system of religion. The work of creation, accomplished by the direct action of a personal God through the eternal Word in a series of unique acts in a definite time, is the groundwork, the concrete constitution as it were, of the plan of salvation from sin through faith in the atoning work and the renewing power of the same eternal Word, who “became flesh, and dwelt among us.” There is, therefore, a deep significance in the fact that in the opening chapters of the Bible we have a brief and simple but comprehensive account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. Here is found the true genesis of the gospel, “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” It is further remarkable that so many will still cling to the theories of a certain class of scientists, even after these same men have been compelled to abandon as untenable so many of the positions at one time advocated by them with the greatest positiveness. In almost any other department of human effort such experiences would cast a strong suspicion upon other undemonstrated claims, but there seems to be a kind of glamour surrounding a great scientist which gives to mere assertions of opinion all the air of certainty. And it is still further a matter of surprise that when the confident predictions of scientific men relating to matters within the range of actual experience have been proved to be utterly contrary to fact, still so many will accept without the possibility of proof the theories of these same men concerning the method of creation, even though they contradict the Creator’s own account of his work. A paragraph in a recent issue of The Church Standard, a leading organ of the Episcopal Church, has set this matter out in a clear light. The world hears so much of scientific certainties in dealing with physical operations extending through myriads of millions of miles, that it is startling to learn how utterly worthless scientific prognostications may be within a very narrow field. In the construction of the Simplon tunnel, the prophecies of geologists have been completely falsified at every step. The geologists predicted that the rock strata through which the tunnel was to be made would be found nearly or quite perpendicular; as a matter of fact they were found to be nearly or quite horizontal, and the difference of labor and cost owing to this unexpected variation was very great. Again, the geologists predicted that there would be very little water on the Italian side of the tunnel; as a matter of fact the amount of water was enormous, and for the last four years and a half a stream of more than two hundred and fifty gallons a second has been pouring from the south end. At the north end of the cut, where the geologists predicted that the water would be troublesome, the rock was found perfectly dry. It was foretold that the maximum temperature would probably be one hundred and seven degrees Fahrenheit, but suddenly the temperature rose to one hundred and thirty-one degrees, and when the refrigerating apparatus had been adjusted to meet this new condition, the temperature fell again as suddenly to its original level. The history of the Simplon tunnel will long remain to testify to the uncertainties of scientific prediction.
We do not wish to cast any reflections upon true science, or upon really Christian scientists, but we are unwilling to cast aside the fundamental principles of the gospel of Christ at the command of men whose investigations give us an Infinite Energy in the place of a personal God, a cosmic Force in the place of the eternal Father. The firm foundation of God still stands, and it will stand forever. Be sure that you are building upon that sure foundation.