INFIDEL OBJECTIONS

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 12, 1861

INFIDEL OBJECTIONS.

Unwearied efforts are made at the present day to undermine the Christian faith of the young and the thoughtless. Infidel tracts are extensively circulated, and societies formed, that the institutions and restraints of Christianity may be swept from the land. But there never yet has been an argument adduced against Christianity, which has not been triumphantly refuted. Notwithstanding the efforts which have been made by unbelievers in all ages of the church, Christianity has been advancing with a steady and ever-increasing power. It has triumphed over all former opposition. Voltaire boasted that he could overthrow it. And if there ever was a man who could have shaken Christianity to its foundation, Voltaire was the man. He was the idol of his nation. The theaters of Paris, and every literary circle in the empire resounded with his praises. Whatever he wrote was at once communicated to millions of minds. He was possessed of a memory almost miraculous in its powers of retention. His command of language was perfect. His powers of sarcasm unrivalled. The peculiar circumstances of the times were remarkably favorable to his enterprise. He summoned all his powers to the work.

Voltaire is now dead. Christianity still lives and thrives with ever-increasing vigor. Every day tells us of her triumphs; every hour proclaims her victories. The sarcasm of Voltaire, the sneers of Gibbon, the sophistry of Hume, were alike unavailing. Christianity still lives. Modern infidels are retailing, at second-hand, the objections which have already been refuted, and which have proved powerless. We have no fears for Christianity. Her omnipotence is proved. The only thing to be feared from the efforts of infidels at the present day is, that they may blast the hopes of many families, and bring down the gray hairs of many parents in sorrow to the grave. They may succeed in undermining the foundations of virtue in the bosoms of not a few of the young and the thoughtless; leading them to cast off the fear of God, and to restrain prayer, and thus, perhaps, to come to all the horrors of the infidel's death-bed, and be undone forever. It is for them that we write, that they may be guarded against the seductions of vice, and against the sophistry of those who would betray them.

Again we say, we have no fears for Christianity. From a lowly origin it has risen to greatness, and has spread over a large portion of the globe. Wherever it has appeared, it has been the dispenser of the choicest blessings. Every weapon that has been lifted against it has proved of no avail. Where can you find infidels more powerful than Hume, and Gibbon, and Bolingbroke, Rousseau and Voltaire? Where can you find persecutions more violent and bloody than that of Nero or Domitian? If Christianity could have been overthrown, it would have been done long before now. But the lash of the satirist, the sophistry of the philosopher, and the sword of the persecutor have been alike ineffectual. In defiance of all opposition, religion has been steadily advancing, and her progress is now more rapid than it ever has been before. If what we write may be instrumental in saving any young man from the downward path of sin and woe, our object will be accomplished, and our reward will be great.

The Old Testament is the great storehouse of infidel objections. Most persons are less acquainted with the Old Testament than with the New, and are therefore less prepared to contradict bold assertions, or to detect incorrect statements and sophistical reasonings. We shall now answer a few of the most plausible objections which are urged against the divine authority of the Bible. Commencing with the first chapter of Genesis, we shall take the objections in the order in which they arise, and shall endeavor to present the arguments of the infidel in all their strength, assured that Christianity has nothing to fear from the most determined attacks of her foes.

Objection 1. Of the history of creation it is said by Palmer, "One thing is remarkable in the account: that there were three days and three nights before the creation of the sun, which is the sole cause of day and night. This proves that Moses, or whoever wrote the first chapter of Genesis, was neither a good world-maker nor a good astronomer."

Answer. This objection infidels have urged for many centuries. But unfortunately for them, the light of modern science has disclosed that the sun is not a great globe of fire, as they have supposed. Dr. Herschel's telescope has completely annihilated their argument. It has shown to the satisfaction of every scientific man, that the sun is a solid globe similar to the earth and other planets, and that the splendor which it emits comes from a region of luminous clouds with which it is enveloped. Thus modern philosophy has shown that the Mosaic account is minutely, and even scientifically accurate. The matter of light is a substance altogether distinct from the sun. It was called into existence the first day of the creation. On the fourth day the sun assumed his station as the great light-bearer. This is the precise word which Moses uses.

This objection is thus blown to the winds. And yet, founded as it is in ignorance, it still holds sway over the minds of the ignorant. It happens that Moses was the good astronomer, and that Palmer and his coadjutors were the dupes of objections founded on ignorance. It happens that Moses in the very infancy of science, and before the powers of the telescope were known, had attained a degree of accuracy in astronomical statements which surpassed the knowledge of those who are enjoying all the light of the nineteenth century. It is the recent perfection of science which has proved the scientific accuracy of the Mosaic account. How tremendously, then, is the objection rolled back upon the objector, and if he be susceptible of shame, how must he be confounded, to learn, that with all his boasting he has been urging the argument of ignorance and folly. And if he will allow himself to think, how must he be perplexed to account for the fact that Moses, without the advantage of modern science, and without the perfection of modern art, was so far in advance of the learned men who have lived even within half a century of the present day.

Sir Isaac Newton, whose mind was as familiar with suns and stars as with household things, would have laughed to scorn the man who should adduce such an argument against revelation; and yet it is still circulated by the ignorant and the designing, to build up the cause of infidelity.

There is no geologist of more distinguished reputation than Cuvier. He says the Mosaic account of the creation of the world, "considered in a purely scientific view is extremely remarkable, inasmuch as the order which it assigns to the different epochs of creation is precisely the same as that which has been deduced from geological observations."

Where did Moses obtain this knowledge? Did he borrow it from the Egyptians? They were not acquainted with the science of geology. It is the laborious research of many centuries which has enabled learned men to come scientifically to those conclusions which Moses has stated with so much simplicity in the first chapter of Genesis. Again we ask, how are we to account for the fact, that thousands of years ago, the leader of a half-civilized nation had attained a degree of knowledge about the structure of the world, which is now only discovered by the observation of centuries, and the intense study of the most gifted minds? The man who can account for this on common principles, must be credulous indeed.

The Christian has a very simple and satisfactory answer: "He who made the world could reveal to Moses how it was made. It is a fact of deep interest that science, when matured by a series of careful observations and legitimate induction, teaches us precisely what Moses had taught more than three thousand years ago."

Objection 2. "It is said in the Bible that Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament; but it is impossible that he could have written them, for in his day the art of writing was not known." This is a bold assertion, and if true, a very formidable one. Let us inquire into its truth.

Answer. Not long since, the French army invaded Egypt. A corps of scientific men under the patronage of the French government, accompanied this army to examine the hieroglyphics, and to explore the far-famed antiquities of this land. They found in the pyramids—the sepulchral chambers of Egypt's embalmed kings—many manuscripts written in the time of Moses, and one in particular which was written two centuries before his day. These manuscripts were found with the mummies and funeral relics which were deposited in the tombs of the pyramids. They were read and their contents published to the world.

And yet infidels have been asserting for centuries that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch, because people did not know how to write then. This matter-of-fact discovery of the French philosophers has forever removed the argument from the mouths of intelligent men, but it is still bandied about to do its work among the ignorant.

Objection 3. "The creation of the world, according to the account of Moses, took place but about six thousand years ago. But the science of geology affords abundance of evidence that this world must have existed millions of ages."

Answer. The first chapter of Genesis, in its details, is not an account of the original creation of the globe, but of its adaption to its present purposes, and of the introduction of man upon its surface. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." When was "the beginning?" Does Moses say it was but six thousand years ago? No such thing. Moses says not one word upon the subject. For aught we are told, it may have been millions of ages.

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." How long had the earth remained this shapeless mass of inorganic matter? The Bible does not inform us. For aught we can tell, it may have been through the long lapse of many ages. Moses simply informs us that the earth had been created "in the beginning," and was in this situation when God said, "Let there be light."

But here again science appears in attestation of the truth of scripture. By a process of investigation of petrified bones and organic remains, which it is not necessary here to endeavor to explain, the most eminent geologists are satisfied that the human race cannot have existed on this globe for a longer period than that asserted by Moses. Thus science, instead of contradicting the Mosaic account, gives whatever influence she has in its favor.

Objection 4. "Modern astronomy teaches us that the world upon which we live is but one among unnumbered millions. As far as the eye of the telescope can penetrate into the regions of infinite space, we find suns and systems strewed with a profusion which no combination of numbers can express. This world is one of the most insignificant of them all, and compared with the rest, is but as a sand upon the shore of the ocean, or as a single leaf amid the countless myriads of the forest. It is, therefore, ridiculous to suppose that this insignificant world with its puny inhabitants, should attract so much of the attention of God as is represented in the Bible."

Answer. This argument implies, first, the assertion that Christianity is intended for the exclusive benefit of this world. We cannot reply to this assertion better than in the eloquent language of Chalmers.

"How does the infidel know that Christianity is set up for the single benefit of this earth and its inhabitants? How is he able to tell us that the person and the religion of Jesus are unknown in other worlds? We challenge him to the proof of this said positive announcement. He may make his argument out of an assertion, which he has no means whatever of verifying; an assertion the truth or the falsehood of which can only be gathered out of some supernatural message, for it lies completely beyond the range of human observation."

But the Christian can go farther than this. In the Bible he finds positive evidence that the plan of redemption is not confined in its moral effects to this world alone. The inhabitants of other worlds look with interest upon the scenes which are occurring here. And in these scenes they witness such a display of the Creator's love as constitutes one of the high songs of eternity.

The Christian can go farther still. Even admitting the infidel's bare and proofless assertion, that Christianity was intended for this world alone, his argument remains still to be defended.

He says, "Since astronomy has unfolded to us such a number of worlds, it is not likely that God would pay so much attention to this one world, and set up such wonderful provisions for its benefit as are announced to us in the Christian revelation."

And is this the character of the infidel's God? Is he so exhausted with his many cares that he cannot attend to the wants of the creatures he has made? Is he such a languid, powerless being, that he has called worlds into existence which he has no time to take care of? Is the God whom the infidel professes to worship so overwhelmed with business and perplexed with cares, that he cannot be the guide and protector of his frail children?

Such is not the God of the Christian. The God we worship is not like feeble man. He rules over an empire, vast in extent, beyond the conceptions of any finite mind. Infinity is filled with rolling worlds over which his boundless monarchy extends. And yet there is no minuteness which can escape his observant eye. Again, to quote the language of Dr. Chalmers, "In a word, I am told by the telescope, that the Almighty is now at work in regions more distant than geometry has ever measured, and among worlds more manifold than numbers have ever reached. But by the microscope I am also told, that with a mind to comprehend the whole in the vast compass of its generality, he has also a mind to concentrate a close and a separate attention on each and all of its particulars; and that the same God who sends forth an upholding influence among the orbs and the movements of astronomy, can fill the recesses of every single atom with the intimacy of his presence, and travels in all the greatness of his unimpaired attributes, upon every spot and corner of the universe he has formed. Does it not add much to the perfection of the benevolence of God, that while it is expiating over the vast field of created things, there is not one portion of the field overlooked by it; that while it scatters blessings over the whole of an infinite range, it causes them to descend in a shower of plenty on every separate habitation; that while his arm is underneath and round about all worlds, it enters within the precincts of every one of them, and gives a care and a tenderness to each individual of their teeming population?"

What low and degraded views the infidel must have of the character of God. The God he worships is a powerless being, so distracted with care that he cannot attend to his children's wants.—Abbott's Magazine.

(To be continued.)