instances of the variations of orthodoxy for
the purpose of intimating that the Bible is a nose of wax, which can be
twisted into any shape without injury--that it is a book which can be
made to mean anything or nothing, as the circumstances of the case may
require--but that it has a vital elasticity and power of adjustment to
all veritable findings of the human mind in every sphere; as indeed it
must have, if it is in any important respect such a communication to
mankind as it is claimed to be. Whatever may be said of the
infallibility of the Scriptures, it is certain that interpretation is
not infallible--a distinction that is not always kept in mind by those
zealous defenders of the faith who are ready to make the inspiration of
the Scriptures stand or fall with a given interpretation of a particular
passage.

But can the doctrine of man's antiquity be made to harmonize with the
essentials of Christianity and the inspiration of the Scriptures? If
Christianity be a religion for man, as the present writer believes, we
answer emphatically in the affirmative. Not the smallest feature that is
essential to make Christianity a religion for man, if it be such, will
be imperilled by this or any other well-established doctrine of
science. But precisely how much modification of existing opinion, how
much sepulture of traditionary relics, how much clearing away of rubbish
will be indispensable, it is now not easy to say. It is certain that it
must be conceded that we have as yet attained to no infallible
chronology. And it is equally certain that a larger amount of allegory
must be infused into the first chapters of Genesis than would have been
digestible by the theologians of the last generation, if we would ever
have theology and science stand upon the same plane. The question in the
child's catechism, '_Who was the first man?_' will by and by be easier
asked than answered. If, moreover, the narrative in Genesis refers to
some imaginary being supposed to have existed upon the earth about six
thousand years ago, it seems clear that this being cannot be regarded as
the 'federal head' of the human race, from whom 'all mankind have
descended by ordinary generation.' And we strongly suspect that a very
large amount of theological machinery will need to be readjusted; and
amid many pangs and with much tribulation will not a few canons of
orthodoxy pass away to the region of fossil forms.

In conclusion, we take leave of this work