p. 107 | Science and the Bible by Dr. Cumming

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 24, 1859

Science and the Bible

By Dr. Cumming

In speaking of this book there is one question which, though it does not occupy so large a space as formerly, nevertheless exercises a great and growing interest, and it is this: Is it true that science in its freest development in the least degree contradicts any written word of God? Once it was said that it did; but what are the last results? That the progressive science of the nineteenth century and the statements in that blessed book show that true science and true religion have a common origin—the bosom of God. Now, mark, your Bible was not written to teach science, but it is the only book that will stand the test of science. The Veda, the Shaster, and the Koran cannot stand the test, but the Bible can, and even where it seems to us beset with difficulty and mystery, those passages by modern investigation shine with a brilliant light. Let me mention to you one or two proofs of this. First of all, the Bible never hints at a system of science. If it had been written by mere human writers, they might have indicated here and there something like a system of science. It speaks of flower trees, from the hyssop on the wall to the cedar of Lebanon; but there is not a hint of a system of botany. It speaks of stars and sun and moon, but not a hint of a system of astronomy. So that no investigator or professor of science can assert that he is in the least degree assisted or impeded in his system of science by the Bible; so that it seems to me, the silence of the Bible is as impressive as its eloquence, just as on the dial the shadow and the sunshine are alike instructive as to the hour of the day. Then take the word “firmament,” which you find in Genesis. In the Greek it is translated by a word signifying a concave with a vast solid mass. Translators translated it according to their knowledge; but when you go back to the original word you find that it means a space without limit. So that, you see, Moses was far in advance of those who translated him; for the actual truth is disclosed by modern science. Take another instance: Job speaks of himself as standing on the circle of the earth; and Isaiah speaks of the circle of the sea. Now, you know that the rotundity of the earth was for some years regarded as a heresy by the Church of Rome; but no one believes now that it is a flat surface, except, perhaps, Archbishop Cullen. Take one thought more: “Who can sway the influence of the Pleiades.” Many have wondered what was the influence of the Pleiades. Science, however, tells us that the stars, and the sun and the moon, and the earth, and their leading satellites, constitute one group which revolves round a central sun, and that central sun is one of the Pleiades. Here, then, we see that, while the Bible does not teach science, when it does refer to science it is always correct.—Dr. Cumming at the Anniversary of the Bible Society in London.