"THEOLOGY FOR THE PEOPLE."

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 161, 10 July 1899, Page 2

"THEOLOGY FOR THE PEOPLE."

11, CBJBATXON.

The Boy. Joseph Clark, preaching at the Auckland Tabernacle, yesterday from Hebrews si, 8, said: "Through faith we understand that the worlds were frameil by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." (Vrtnin fscJeotistß not long since were jubilant that their geological findings Had overthrown the, statement of ,<r«atjon in the Book of Genesis, TUeo(lndiana were bitter nod these two ' aught, nud I cannot but think that >s these men look back to the great -wrest they have caused, in people's minds they must regret it deeply. Sir ,I. M. Dawaon says; "The borderland between science and religion is one which men cannot be prevented from "Titering, but what they find there depends very much on themselves. Under wise guidance it may prove to us an Eden, the very gate of Heaven; but ort the other hand it may be found to be a battlefield or a bedlam, a pln.ee of coijfused cries and incoherent ravings, and strewn with the wrecks of human hopes and aspiriv tipng," When we look at the Mosaic account of the Creationi we are led to one of two conclusions, either that he was one who had a fanciful imagination or that he had knowledge of a kind not generally possessed by man. We love wiae old Mopes. Would that some of our legislators would learn » few things from him. We are quite safe if we take our stand on the first chapter of Genesis. Science is in per* feet accord with it, and I am glad to tell you that the writing is of such a character that it "-will adapt itself to any me.nsu.re of advance in knowledge, '•In the beginning God created," What do wo mean by creation? The free act of God by which in the begin' ning He made the whole visible and invisible world without the use of preexisting material, Creation is not to fashion what already exist*, God areated. Till then there was no material. Nothing will take the place of th,Q thought. If you deny this you deny the supernatural Deity. You are driven against a wall which you cap ""neither see through nor peer over. Sir Cbas, Lyell eaid: "Geology is the autobiography of the %6rld, but like all autobiographies if does not go b&ck to the beginning." The Christian sees by faith. He accepts the revelation, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed, by the Word of God, po that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." The most advanced thinkers of the century now tell us that the Bible is in no sense against science. Darwin never uttered a truer thing than when he wrote: "Men of science, like young colts in a. fresh pasture,, are apt to be exhilarated when turned into a new field of inquiry, and to go off at a hand gallop into total disregard of hedges and ditches, losing sight of the :; J«# limitations of their in quiriejgana*to. forget the extreme imperfec<Jpß of what is known." In his s'MlHJp.bie lecture on the *']sdueation of^HglPragment, 1' Prof. Farraday dwells upon the importance of reserving judgment in matters imperfectly known. Genesis and geology are agreed. God created heaven before earth. Science and Scripture both say that. Soience suggests a period when the earth was surrounded by mists and vapoure, of the gradual condensation of nebulous matter, and cooling1 of the earth's crust. Genesis confirms this. In these processes there is room for millions of years. Science points to great convulsions, mighty upheavals, in which, mountains, lakes and conti^ nents were formed. Science and Scripture, are again exact upon this. We read in Genesis that herbs, grasses, flowers and living creatures were created. Geological research goes to prove that things came in that o?der. Lastly, we hare man; God's masterpiece, liet me emphasize this point. Here are fifteen distinct creative acts, told us by Moses, which are accurate descriptions of what Science tellsi _ii» in later times. How came it that this San in the early a«es of the world could be so scientifically accurate? One thing- is certain, he did not copy iVaciUtiats of the 19th century. We relieve that God has two booke— the Sble aud Nature, the latter a food old Puritan said has th«ejr«t lejweß-the heavens, the earth and the sea. Wordsworth wrote:

ThrV^tll the year? of thfc our life to From* joy to joy; for she can so inform The mirtd that le within W, so Impress With quietness *nd beauty; and so feed WUh- lofty thoughts, that neither evil p»sh fudgm&nta, nor the sneers of selfish men, j*p,r freetlnss wbW« no klndnetss is., nor aJI The drtary lntesroour«« of dally Jl|e ghajl «>p prev*U' against us, or disturb Our cheerful faith, that all which we bahold |s full of blessings.

Plato, when he looked abroad and found that the world could not create a fly, wafii driven by thig necessity to acknowledge God. By faith we know the origin. The agnostic stops and cannot discern it. As a piece of intricate machinery {fives us an interest in the maker, so let the works of Qod in creation fill us with, a deaire to know Him. At the meeting of the British Association in 1885 some 617 scientific men signed a paper containing the following declaration: "We conceive that it is impossible for the Word of God as written in the Book of Nature and God's Word as

written in the Holy Scripture to wu« tradiot. onei another, however much they way appear to differ. We are not forgetful that pliys!oa.j science is uot complete, but is only iv a condition of progress, and that at present, our finite reason enables us to see as through a glass darkly, and we confidently believe that a. time will come when the two records will be. %mx\ to agree In every portieulnr." Wft \yeve created for His glory, no we glorify Him? "By faith we understand tlmfr the worlds were framed by the Word of God, b<? that things which are seem were not made of things which do appear," I believe God to be the Author of all nature, the Author of thl« blessed Hook, for by Him inif! from Hira. and through Him are all things, to whom be glory ever. Amen.