THE GENERAL CONFLAGRATION.
By Thomas Dick
WE are informed in the sacred oracles that a period is approaching when "the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Science has ascertained certain facts in the constitution of nature, which lead us to form some conception of the manner in which this awful catastrophe may probably be effected, and also of the ease with which it may be accomplished when the destined period shall have arrived. The atmosphere, or the air we breathe, is a compound substance, composed of two very different and opposite principles, termed oxygen and nitrogen. The oxygen, which forms about a fifth part of the atmosphere, is now ascertained to be the principle of flame; a lighted taper immersed in this gas burns with a brilliancy too great for the eye to bear, and even a rod of iron or steel is made to blaze under its energy. The modern infidel, like the scoffers of old, scouts the idea of the dissolution of the world, and of the restitution of the universe, because "all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation," "not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God," and not considering the principles and facts in the system of nature, which indicate the possibility of such an event. But from the fact now stated, we may learn how easily this effect may be accomplished, even in conformity with those laws which now operate in the constitution of our globe. For should the Creator issue forth his almighty fiat—"Let the nitrogen of the atmosphere be completely separated from the oxygen, and let the oxygen exert its native energies wherever it extends"—from what we know of its nature we are warranted to conclude that instantly a universal conflagration would commence throughout all the kingdoms of nature—not only wood, coals, sulphur, bitumun, and other combustible substances, but even the hardest rocks and stones, and all the metals, fossils, and minerals, and water itself, which is a compound of two inflammable substances, would blaze with a rapidity which would carry destruction through the whole expanse of the terraqueous globe, and change its present aspect into that of a new world. At the same time all the other laws of nature might still operate as they have hitherto done since the creation of the world. I do not mean positively to assert that this is the agent which the Almighty will certainly employ for accomplishing this terrible catastrophe (though we think it highly probable), since Infinite Power is possessed of numerous resources for accomplishing its objects, which lie beyond the sphere of our knowledge and comprehension. But I have brought forward this fact to show with what infinite ease this event might be accomplished when Almighty Power is interposed. By means of the knowledge we have acquired of the constitution of the atmosphere, and by the aid of chemical apparatus, we can perform experiments on a small scale, similar in kind, though infinitely inferior in degree, to the awful event under consideration. And, therefore, we can easily conceive that He who formed the expansive atmosphere which surrounds us, and who knows the native energy of its constituent principles, may, by a simple volition, make that invisible fluid, in a few moments, the cause of the destruction of the present constitution of our world, and, at the same time, the means of its subsequent renovation. For, as fire does not annihilate, but only changes, the forms of matter, this globe on which we now tread, and which bears the marks of ruin and disruption in several parts of its structure, may come forth from the flames of the general conflagration, purified from all its physical evils, adorned with new beauties and sublimities, and rendered a fit habitation for pure intelligences, either of our own species or of another order. For, though the "heavens," or the atmosphere, "shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat," "nevertheless," says the apostle Peter, "we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."—Thos. Dick, LL.D.