UMAN teachers and teachings have, indeed, frequently set themselves in opposition to some of the statements of the Bible; and it has often been announced, upon human authority, that errors in history and in matters of science had been detected in the Bible. Some, indeed, have endeavoured to save the reputation and authority of the Bible by saying that it was not written to teach men "science." In a sense this is true. The Bible was not written to impart that kind of knowledge which "puffeth up"; but just the contrary. It was written to impart that kind of information which takes man down, by showing him his true position as a ruined, perishing creature, under the condemnation and power of death, and utterly "without strength," that is to say, incapable of doing anything to deliver himself out of this deplorable condition. It declares that, "if any man think that he knoweth ANYTHING, he knoweth NOTHING yet as he ought to know" (I Cor. viii. 2).

      Such is the plain declaration of Scripture as to the limitations of all human knowledge; and he [31] who knows the most is most conscious of those limitations. But if, by the statement that the Bible was not written to teach "science," it be meant that the Bible is unscientific, that statement is not true. On the contrary, the Bible is the only Book in the world that is truly "scientific"; for it is the only Book which gives precise, accurate, and absolutely reliable information upon every subject whereof it treats. It is the only Book in the world upon every statement of which one may safely put implicit confidence. Countless millions have believed the statements of the Word of GOD, every one of them to his unspeakable advantage, not one of them to his hurt.

      We used to hear a great deal, some thirty years ago, about the many "mistakes of Moses," and the errors which "science," with her keen eye, had detected in the Scriptures. But we hear very little to-day from scientists themselves, about the "conflicts between science and religion." These conflicts have, one by one, ceased as "science" has revised her hasty conclusions and corrected her blunders. The writer has been a diligent student of the physical sciences and of the philosophies based on them, for upwards of twenty-five years, and a practising lawyer for a still longer period, and having now acquired a fair knowledge of the text of Scripture, he can say that he is aware of no demonstrated fact of science which is in conflict with a single statement of the Bible. Among [32] all the "assured results of science" there exists not, to his knowledge, evidence sufficient in character and amount to convict the Bible of a single error or misstatement. Of course, such evidence could not exist. The LORD JESUS said of the Word of GOD, "Thy Word is truth" (John xvii. 17); and of course, true knowledge of GOD'S creation cannot conflict with His Word.

      A recent book by Alfred Russel Wallace entitled Man's Place in the Universe (1904) furnishes a striking illustration, on a large scale, of the way in which "science" after leading the thought of cultured and highly educated minds away from the truth revealed by Scripture, sometimes leads it back again.

      Before referring to what Mr. Wallace says, we would point out that the reading of Scripture undoubtedly gives, and was clearly intended to give, the impression that the earth is the centre of interest in the universe, and the object of the CREATOR'S special care; that it was fitted with elaborate pains to be the habitation of living creatures, and especially of man; and that the sun, moon and stars were created with special reference to their service to the earth. Hence, for many centuries, man believed that the earth was the centre of the universe, and (though the Bible does not say so) that the sun and stars were relatively [33] small bodies which moved around and waited upon it.

      But these ideas have been completely upset by the discoveries (or supposed discoveries) of modern astronomers, who ascertained, at least to their entire satisfaction, that not only is the sun enormously larger than the earth, but that it is attended by other planets, the largest of which is twelve hundred times larger than the earth. Moreover, it has also been learned, so we are told, that our sun itself is but one of an almost infinite number of stars, many of which are immensely greater in size, and which, it may be assumed, are themselves the centres of planetary systems on a much grander scale than our little solar system.

      In such a universe as modern astronomy has presented to the view of man, our little earth, once thought to be its centre of interest and importance, shrinks into utter insignificance. In proportion to the vast universe of which it is a member, its size is represented as being relatively less than that of a tiny particle of dust in proportion to the mass of the earth itself. How, therefore, can it be supposed that the CREATOR of so inconceivably great and complex a universe, would have a special regard for this insignificant attendant of a fourth-rate sun, and for the still more insignificant creatures who dwell upon it? The earth with all its occupants could drop out of the universe and be no more missed than a single grain of sand from [34] the seashore or a single drop of water from the ocean.

      It is inevitable that these teachings of astronomy concerning the universe should have produced impressions directly opposite to those produced by Scripture, and should have placed obstacles in the way of believing the doctrine of redemption by the incarnation and sacrificial death of the SON OF GOD. For it almost incredible that the ALMIGHTY CREATOR of the heavens and the earth should have such intense love for a microscopical fragment of this universe.

      But now comes Mr. Wallace, the contemporary of Charles Darwin, and probably at the present day one of the most prominent men of science, and reverses the ideas which have been so widely disseminated in the name of science. Mr. Wallace masses a great body of evidence, derived both from astronomy and physics, to support the propositions, first, that the solar system occupies (and always has occupied) approximately the central portion of this vast universe, getting all the advantages due to such favourable position; second, that the earth is certainly the only habitable planet in the solar system, and presumably the only habitable spot in the whole universe. Mr. Wallace, by a vast accumulation of facts and inferences, shows that the physical conditions necessary for the maintenance of life, depend upon a great variety of complex and delicate adjustments, [35] such as distance from the sun, the mass of the planet, its obliquity to its orbit, the amount of water as compared with land, the surface distribution of land and water, the permanence of this distribution, the density of the earth, the volume and density of the atmosphere, the amount of carbon-dioxide therein, etc. These, and other essential conditions, are met (says Mr. Wallace) only in a planet such as this earth, situated and constructed as it is. From Mr. Wallace's premises, if the universe is assumed to be the work of an intelligent CREATOR, it would follow that everything in this inconceivably vast and complex universe has been planned and arranged with special reference to making this little earth of ours a place suitable for the habitation of living beings, and especially of mankind.

      We give Mr. Wallace's conclusions in his own words. He says:

      "This completes my work as a connected argument, founded wholly upon the facts and principles accumulated by modern science; and it leads, if my facts are substantially correct and my reasoning sound, to one great and definite conclusion--that man, the culmination of conscious organic life, has been developed here only in the whole vast material universe we see around us."

      Thus we have the surprising fact that one of the foremost living exponents of the teachings of science, a man who certainly attaches no [36] importance to the teachings of Scripture, has been at great pains to show that the earth is, after all, the centre of and most important place in the whole universe; and that, so far as any purpose can be detected in it, the universe may well be supposed to exist for the sole benefit of the earth, and for the sake of producing therein those peculiar conditions which are necessary for the existence and maintenance of life.

      We may say then that, considered merely as a Book of instruction, the Bible is, as to every subject whereof it treats, not merely abreast of, but far ahead of, the learning of these and all other times, whether past or future. The impressions it makes upon believing minds are the impressions of truth, even though (as in the instance we have just been considering) contemporary science may give, as its settled conclusions, impressions directly to the contrary.

      Unlike other books of instruction the Bible does not become obsolete. This is a fact of immense significance; and its only explanation is that the Bible is a living Book, the Word of the living GOD. The books of man partake of the infirmity of their authors, and are either dying or dead. On the other hand, "The Word of GOD is living." [37]

[LIWE 31-37]