I. "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."-HEBREWS xi., 3. S the God of the Bible is the only living and As true God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, so the Bible itself gives the only true account of the origin of the world, and of all things that are therein. The speculations of philosophy on this subject are full of contradiction and absurdity, and serve only to darken counsel by words without knowledge. Since the truth has been published to the world, incessant attempts have been made to disprove it. In this unholy enterprise cosmogonists and geologists have been distinguished for their zeal, if not for their ability, some in avowed opposition to the sacred Scriptures, and others under plausible professions of respect for their authority. The last class is most dangerous, inasmuch as their professions lay to sleep the vigilance of Christians, until the poison of infidelity has been infused, and many are brought within its pestilential sphere of influence who would otherwise have been aware of the danger and avoided it. In whatever else these classes differ, they agree in the main point- they contradict the testimony of holy writ; and if their position be established, it gives to infidelity a fulcrum by which it can overturn the last hope of man. I shall first state the question, next confirm the doctrine of the Scriptures and of the church, and next refute its opposites. we could know of ourselves. 1. This is strictly a theological question, and not one of scientific investigation or nomenclature. "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen, were not made of things which do appear." -Heb. xi., 3. But for the testimony of its Author, nothing of the origin of the world or We are not then at liberty to overlook that testimony, nor to put upon a level with it the inferences of erring and ignorant men from the extremely scanty knowledge which they have, or ever can have, of the work itself. Whenever Jehovah speaks, his testimony is decisive, and we are not at liberty to withhold our full and implicit faith until we learn from other sources of evidence that it is true. This were, according to his own construction, to treat the Most High as a common liar, whom we will not believe on his own testimony. "He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar." The most conclusive argument with a Christian is, "Thus saith the Lord." When we have the testimony of the author of a work as to the time when he made it, and the materials of which it is com posed, it is worse than useless to go about examining the work, to make out for ourselves the same points; which, if our informer be true, we know already far better than we could ever learn by any investigation of the work itself. But when the author of the work is God, and he has told us when he made it, and that he had no pre-existing materials out of which it was constructed, it is worse than absurdit is high-handed rebellion to attempt to make out from the very work, that its author is a liar. The doctrine of the Christian church, in all its denominations, is truly expressed in the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Assembly-the most truly learned and pious assembly that ever convened since the days of the apostles, or the Synod at Jerusalem. "The work of creation, is God's making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good." The opposing doctrines, not of true science, which has always been the humble ally and friend of revelation, but of philosophy, falsely so called, have varied their forms at different periods. One posi tion was that the world was older, in its present organization, than the Bible chronology makes it. This position is avowedly infidel, and has been refuted by Cuvier himself, the highest scientific authority on such a point. That is not the question at this time. There are two other positions professing respect for the Scriptures, but agreeing substan |