The Origin of the World According to Revelation and Science. Sir John William Dawson
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well, before proceeding farther, to present to the reader this ancient document in a form more literal and intelligible, and probably nearer to its original dress, than that in which we are most familiar with it in our English Bibles:
THE ABORIGINAL SONG OF CREATION.
Beginning.
In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth,
And the Earth was formless and empty,
And darkness on the surface of the deep,
And the Breath of God moved on the Surface of the Waters.
Day One.
And God said—"Let Light be," And Light was. And God saw the Light that it was good. And God called the Light Day, And the darkness he called Night. And Evening was and Morning was—Day one.
Day Second.
And God said—"Let there be an Expanse in the midst of the waters, And let it divide the waters from the waters." And God made the Expanse, And divided the waters below the Expanse from the waters above the Expanse. And it was so. And God called the Expanse Heavens. And Evening was and Morning was, a Second Day.
Day Third.
And God said—"Let the waters under the Heavens be gathered into one place, And let the Dry Land appear." And it was so, And God called the Dry Land Earth, And the gathering of waters called he Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said—"Let the earth shoot forth herbage, The Herb yielding seed and the fruit-tree yielding fruit containing seed after its kind, on the earth." And it was so. And the earth brought forth herbage, The Herb yielding seed and the Tree yielding fruit whose seed is in it after its kind, And God saw that it was good. And Evening was and Morning was, a Third Day.
Day Fourth.
And God said—"Let there be Luminaries in the Expanse of Heaven, To divide the day from the night, And let them be for Signs and for Seasons, And for Days and for Years. And let them be Luminaries in the Expanse of Heaven To give light on the earth." And it was so. And God made two great Luminaries, The greater Luminary to rule the day, The lesser Luminary to rule the night, The Stars also. And God placed them in the Expanse of Heaven To give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, And to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And Evening was and Morning was, a Fourth Day.
Day Fifth.
And God said—"Let the waters swarm with swarmers, having life, And let winged animals fly over the earth on the surface of the expanse of heaven." And God created great Reptiles, And every living thing that moveth, With which the waters swarmed after their kind, And every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying— "Be fruitful and multiply, And fill the waters of the sea; And let birds multiply in the land." And Evening was and Morning was, a Fifth Day.
Day Sixth.
And God said—"Let the Land bring forth living things after their kind, Herbivores and smaller mammals and Carnivores after their kind." And it was so. And God made all Carnivores after their kind, And all Herbivores after their kind, And all minor mammals after their kind. And God saw that it was good. And God said—"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, And let him have dominion over the fish in the sea And over the birds of the heavens, And over the Herbivora, And over the Earth, And over all the minor animals that creep upon the earth." And God created man in his own image, In the image of God created he him, Male and female created he them. And God blessed them. And God said unto them— "Be fruitful and multiply, And replenish the earth and subdue it, And have dominion over the fishes of the sea And over the birds of the air, And over all the animals that move upon the earth." And God said—"Behold, I have given you all herbs yielding seed, Which are on the surface of the whole earth, And every tree with fruit having seed, They shall be unto you for food. And to all the animals of the land And to all the birds of the heavens, And to all things moving on the land having the breath of life, I have given every green herb for food." And it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good. And Evening was and Morning was, a Sixth Day.
Day Seventh.
Thus the Heavens and the Earth were finished,
And all the hosts of them.
And on the seventh day God ended the work which he had made,
And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it,
Because that in it he rested from all his work that he had created and made.
CHAPTER III.
OBJECTS AND NATURE OF A REVELATION OF ORIGINS—Continued.
| "What if earth |
| Be but a shadow of heaven, and things therein |
| Each to the other like; more than on earth is thought." |
| Milton. |
(3) Character of the Biblical Cosmogony, and general Views of Nature which it Contains or to which it Leads.—Much of what appertains to the character of the revelation of origins has been anticipated under previous heads. We have only to read the Song of Creation, as given in the last chapter, to understand its power and influence as a beginning of religious doctrine. The revelation was written for plain men in the infancy of the world. Imagine Chaldean or Hebrew shepherd listening to these majestic lines from the lips of some ancient patriarch, and receiving them as truly the words of God. What a grand opening to him of both the seen and unseen worlds! Henceforth he has no superstitious dread of the stars above, or of the lightning and thunder, or of the dark woods and flowing waters beneath. They are all the works of the one Creator, the same Creator who is his own Maker, in whose image and shadow he is made. He can look up now to the heavens or around upon the earth, and see in all the handiwork of God, and can worship God through all. He can see that the power that cares for the birds and the flowers of the field cares for him. He is no longer the slave and sport of unknown and dreadful powers; they are God's workmanship and under his control—nay, God has given him a mission to subdue and rule over them. So these noble words raise him to a new manhood, and emancipate him from the torture of endless fears, and open to him vast new fields of thought and inquiry, which may enrich him with boundless treasures of new religious and intellectual wealth. Imagine still farther that he wanders into those great cities which are the seats of the idolatries of his time. He enters magnificent temples, sees elaborately decorated altars, huge images, gorgeous ceremonials, priests gay in vestments and imposing in numbers. He is invited to bow down before the bull Apis, to worship the statue of Belus or of Ishtar, of Osiris or of Isis. But this is not in his book of origins. All these things are contrivances of man, not works of God, and their aim is to invite him to adore that which is merely his fellow-creature, that which he has the divine commission to subdue and rule. So our primitive Puritan turns away. He will rather raise an altar of rough stones in the desert, and worship the unseen yet real Creator, the God that has no local habitation in temples made with hands, yet is everywhere present. Such is the moral elevation to which this revelation of origins raises humanity; and when there was added to it the farther history of primeval innocence, of the fall, and of the promise of a Redeemer, and of the fate of the godless antediluvians, there was a whole system of religion, pure and elevating, and placing the Abrahamidæ, who for ages seem alone to have held to it, on a plane of spiritual vantage immeasurably above that of other nations. Farther, every succeeding prophet whose works are included in the sacred canon, following up these doctrines in the same spirit, and added new treasures of divine knowledge from age to age.
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