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CONTENTS.

PSALM CXI. 2. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them

that have pleasure therein.

Object, design, and importance of geological science. Requisites
and method of the study. Harmony of all science with the announce-
ments of Revelation. Truth. Evidence. The world. The SUPREME
BEING. Authority of Scripture.

DEUTERONOMY xxxIII. 13, 15, 16. Blessed of the Lord be his land; for

the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that couch-

eth beneath,-- -and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and

for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things

of the earth and the fulness thereof.

Change in the material universe, constant, but according to law.
Description of facts in relation to the crust of the earth. Internal con-
dition. Pyrogenous rocks. Stratified formations. Remains of crea-
tures which once had life.

ROMANS XI. 36. Of HIM, and through Him, and to HIM, are all things:

to whom be glory for ever.

Recital of opinions which are by many assumed to be asserted or
implied in the Scriptures, but which are contrary to geological doc-
trines. I. The recent creation of the world. II. A previous universal
chaos over the earth. III. The creation of the heavenly bodies after
that of the earth. IV. The derivation of all vegetables and animals
from one centre of creation. V. That the inferior animals were not
subject to death till the fall of man.

GENESIS VI. 17. And behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon

the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under

heaven: and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Continuation of apparent discrepancies between Geological doo-
trines and the testimony of Scripture, as generally understood. VI.
Concerning the Deluge. The reason for that judicial infliction, in the
righteous government of God. The testimony of history and tradi-
tion. Common ascription of geological phenomena to the Deluge :-

erroneous.-

2 PETER II. 5. God spared not the old world,-bringing the flood upon

the world of the ungodly.

Continuation. More accurate and discriminating inquiry. Inves-
tigation of the masses of rolled stony fragments which have been at-
tributed to the diluvial action. Those masses found to be of different
character and age. Effect of the investigation upon the convictions of
the most eminent geologists. Evidence from phenomena in Auvergne
and Languedoc. The quantity of water requisite for a deluge geo-
graphically universal. The effect of such an addition to the bulk of
the earth. The reception of animals in the ark. Other difficulties.

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II. Sacrificing the Mosaic records, as unintelligible, or as being the
language of mythic poetry. III. Regarding the Mosaic six days as
designed to represent indefinite periods. IV. Attributing stratification
and other geological phenomena to the interval between the Adamic
creation and the Deluge, and the action of the diluvial waters.

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PSALM XII. 6. The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in

a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

The certain and infallible truth of all that is taught in the Holy
Scriptures, when taken in its own genuine sense. Our duty to elicit
that sense. Induction and examination of the forms of language used
in Scripture to convey to man a knowledge of the Nature and Perfec-
tions of GOD. The gracious condescension and benefit of this method,
for the religious instruction of mankind. This character of the scrip-
tural style displayed in the descriptions of natural objects. General
rule of interpretation hence derived. Superiority of the Christian dis-
pensation.

Application of the principle established, to the interpretation of
the narrative concerning the Creation. The independent position of
the first sentence. The subsequent description refers to a limited re-
gion of the earth. The series of operations. The human creation.
Death, before the fall of man.-The same principle applied to the fact
of the Deluge, which is shown to have been universal as to the extent of
the human population, but not geographically universal.-Concluding
vindication of the principle, and its applications, as irrefutable, and
absolutely necessary for maintaining the honour of the word of God.

ON THE RELATION

BETWEEN

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

AND SOME PARTS OF

GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE.

LECTURE I.

PSALM CXI. 2. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

GEOLOGY SO seeks out the works of the Most High. It has claims upon the regard of all cultivated and pious minds. It leads us to study that which God has made our earthly abode, in its present state, filled with monuments of past conditions, and presages, I venture to think, of the future. It leads us into some acquaintance with a magnificent part of the counsel of Jehovah's will, according to which He worketh all things; the machine of dependent beings and subordinate causes, by which the Supreme Cause accomplishes his purposes of wisdom and righteousness. We see those causes to be the same in their nature, and similar in their mode of operation, now, as in countless ages past; though differing through a wide range in the intensity of their action and the form of their results.

Rain, rills and rivers, aided by the electric and chemical and mechanical agency of the atmosphere, are continually wearing away the solid earth, transporting it into the estuaries of the sea, and committing it to the currents

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