h supposing that conclusions which are false in nature may be true
in theology is mere superstition or professional priestcraft, and has
nothing in common with the Bible; but there are still multitudes of
good men, trained in the verbal and abstract learning which at one
time constituted nearly the whole of education, who regard geology as
a mass of crude hypotheses destitute of coherence, a perpetual
battle-ground of conflicting opinions, all destined in time to be
swept away. It must be admitted, too, that from the nature of
geological evidence, and from the liability to error in details, the
solidity of its conclusions is not likely soon to be appreciated as
fully as is desirable by the common mind; while it is unfortunately
true that the outskirts of science are infested with hosts of
half-informed and superficial writers, who state these conclusions
incorrectly, or apply them in an unreasonable manner to matters on
which they have no bearing. On the other hand, the geologist, fully
aware of the substantial nature of the foundations of the science of
the earth, regards it as little less than absurd to find parallels to
its principles in an ancient theological work. Still there are
possible meeting-points of things so dissimilar as Bible lore and
geological exploration. If man is a being connected on the one hand
with material nature, and on the other with the spiritual essence of
the Creator; if that Creator has given to man powers of exploring and
comprehending his plans in the universe, and at the same time has
condescended to reveal to him directly his will on certain points,
there is nothing unphilosophical or improbable in the supposition that
the same truths may be struck out on the one hand by the action of
the human mind on nature, and on the other by the action of the Divine
mind on that of man. The highest and most nobly constituted minds have
ever been striving to scale heaven above and dive into the earth
below, that they may extort from them the secret of their origin, and
may find what are the privileges and destinies of man himself. They
have learned much; and if through other gifted minds, and through his
heaven-descended Word and Spirit, God has condescended to reveal
himself, there must surely be much in common in that which God's works
teach to earnest inquirers and that which he directly makes known. But
few of our greatest thinkers, whether on nature or theology, have
reached the firm ground of t