ation of these "natural causes,"
and the existence of certain "established laws" by which they are
regulated, are explicitly recognized or obviously assumed in
Scripture.[186] "Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth; they
continue this day _according to thine ordinances_, for all are _thy
servants_."

The established constitution and settled order of Nature, as well as the
"laws," "decrees," or "ordinances" by which it is regulated, are thus
explicitly recognized in Scripture itself; and there are several reasons
why this fact should be deliberately considered. First, because it seems
to have been assumed by our opponents, that the discovery of "natural
laws," and the admission of "second causes," must necessarily be
adverse, and may ultimately prove fatal, to the cause of Religion; or,
in other words, that Faith must recede just in proportion as Science
advances; whereas the Bible speaks both of natural objects, possessing
peculiar properties and powers, and also of natural laws, as God's
"ordinances" both in the heavens and the earth, but speaks nevertheless
of a presiding Providence or governing Will, without ever supposing
that the two are incompatible or mutually exclusive. Secondly, because
some of the less intelligent members of the Christian community itself
seem to be influenced, to a certain extent, by the very same error which
we ascribe to our opponents; and evince a very groundless jealousy of
Science, as if they feared that the progress of physical research might
have the effect of weakening the grounds on which they believe in the
care of Providence and the efficacy of Prayer; whereas the Bible gives
no countenance to any jealousies or fears of this kind, but affirms
God's providential government and encourages man's believing prayer, at
the very time when it founds upon and appeals to the established
constitution and course of Nature.[187] And thirdly, because a right
apprehension of the properties and powers belonging to created beings,
and of the laws to which they are severally subject, will be found to
conduce largely to a clear and comprehensive view of the relation which
God sustains to His works. His Providence, as it is declared and
exemplified in Scripture, has _a necessary reference to the natural
constitution of things_; and hence the Westminster Confession, in the
spirit of the highest philosophy, and with admirable discrimination and
accuracy, affirms that "God, the Creator of all t