Astronomy and the Bible;

THEATMOSPHERICHEAVENS 47

speakoftherisingandthesettingofthesun. Itis
perfectlyproper to use such an expression; for we
speakofthephenomenononly,withoutanyreference
tothecauseproducingit. Todootherwisewouldbe
toplaceuponusaburdenthatneitherwenorourlan-
guageofcommonconversationcouldbear.
Wehave saidthatthe Scripturalname fortheat-
mosphericheavensisabetterwordthanthatgivenby
science; and so itis. Theword thatscience gives,
means"aballofvapor." Itdescribestheappearance
ofthething. But theBible wordsuggests thereal
condition and nature by using the word "expanse,"
suggestingtoustheinnerfact,andpromptingusto
learnwhat was expanded,and what causedthis ex-
panse.
Atree is knownby its fruit. The Wordof God
doesnotgivemen narrow,foolishideasofeventhis
materialuniverse. Itgives us, indeed,the mightiest
ofspiritualtruths; butits wordsregarding thema-
terialcreation,thoughfewerandbriefer,aresogrand
andsosublimeastocomportwiththefirst.
TheBiblehasgiventhegermtruthofallthegreat
scientific discoveries ofthese modern times. As we
proceedwiththesubject,thiswillbe moreandmore
clearlydiscerned. TheseprinciplesoftheWordhold
trueeveninthefieldsofmathematics,physics,chem-
istry,andbiology. IfmenhadusedthetruthofGod's
Wordasabasisofscientificinvestigation,therewould
to-daybeseena far better stateof affairs. But re-
ligion,toooften, hasbeenmadethemeans offetter-
ing men's souls rather than of freeingthem. This