ld, was, as a
doctrine of divine revelation, announced more than three thousand
years ago by the Hebrew lawgiver; not for scientific purposes, but as
a part of the theology of the Hebrew monotheism.

7. Both records agree in assuring us that death prevailed in the world
ever since animals were introduced. The punishment threatened to Adam,
and considerations connected with man's state of innocence, have led
to the belief that the Bible teaches that the lower animals, as well
as man, were exempt from death before the fall. When, however, we find
the great _tanninim_, or crocodilian reptiles, created in the fifth
day, and beasts of prey on the sixth, we need entertain no doubt on
the subject, in so far as Scripture is concerned. The geological
record is equally explicit. Carnivorous creatures, with the most
formidable powers of destruction, have left their remains in all parts
of the geological series; and indeed, up to the introduction of man,
the carnivorous fishes, reptiles, and quadrupeds were the lords and
tyrants of the earth. There can be little doubt, however, that the
introduction of man was the beginning of a change in this respect. A
creature destitute of offensive weapons, and subsisting on fruits, was
to rule by the power of intellect. As already hinted, it is probable
that in Eden he was surrounded by a group of inoffensive animals, and
that those creatures which he had cause to dread would have
disappeared as he extended his dominion. In this way the law of
violent death and destruction which prevailed under the dynasties of
the fish, the reptile, and the carnivorous mammifer would ultimately
have been abrogated; and under the milder sway of man life and peace
would have reigned in a manner to which our knowledge of pre-Adamite
and present nature may afford no adequate key. Be this as it may, on
the important point of the original prevalence of death among the
lower animals both records are at one.

8. In the department of "final causes," as they have been termed,
Scripture and geology unite in affording large and interesting views.
They illustrate the procedure of the All-wise Creator during a long
succession of ages, and thus enable us to see the effects of any of
his laws, not only at one time, but in far distant periods. To reject
the consideration of this peculiarity of geological science would be
the extremest folly, and would involve at once a misinterpretation of
the geologic record and a denial o