48 ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE
mustbelaidatthedoorofbigotryandpriestcraft. It
isnottheinfluenceoftheBible.
TakeanotherexampleoftheinerrancyoftheWord:Menhave alwaysknown somethingoftheair. It
has propelled their ships, thrust itself against the
bodiesofmen,andoverturned theirworks. Butthe
greatreasonforallthis,thegreatprinciplebywhich
theseatmosphericphenomenaaretobeexplained,had
neveronceenteredtheirheads. Theywitnessedeven
the devastation of the whirlwind, but never once
dreamedthatweightwasnecessarytogivemomentum.
Theycouldonlyattributetheworktosomeof their
idolgods. Andsolongasmendidnotthinkofair's
havingweight,theywouldnot,ofcourse, make any
investigationsinthatdirection. Atlast,however,the
questionwasraised. Menasked,Hastheairweight?
How this question first arose, no one nowcan say.
Possibly it was suggested by the phenomena them-
selves. If so,thefactsofnaturewerepointingmen
towardthetruth. Or itmaybethat men read Job
28:25,andthenwenttonaturewiththequestion. If
so,itwastheWordleadingmentothefactsthatex-
plainedthetruthoftheWord. Howonecouldread
thistextinJobandnothavethequestionsuggested,
itis not easyto understand. Butin some way, at
last,thequestionwasraised, Hastheairweight?
"Duringtheearlierperiodoftherevival oflearn-
inginEurope,thequestionwasoccasionallydiscussed,
and was always decided in the negative. No such
pressurecouldbefelt. Allexperienceandsensation
seemedtobeopposedtotheideaofitsexistence.