Astronomy and the Bible;

54 ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE

thatnaturedoesnotabhoravacuum,butthatairhas
weight;andthatnotionpavedthewayforthedoctrine
thatallmatter hasweight, andthat theforce which
producesweightiscoextensivewiththeuniverse,—in
short, tothetheoryofuniversalgravitation andend-
lessforce."—ThomasHuxley.
WehavefoundintheWordanannouncementthat
airhasweight. Sincethetruthofacoextensiveforce
lies inthatrevelation,itfollowsthatso far,atleast,
gravityispointedout. ButtheScripturesareplainer
andmoreexplicitregardinggravitythanthis;forthat
thereissuchaforceismorethanoncedeclared.
TheBibleplacesbeforeus averystrikingpicture.
The apothecary, infillinga prescription, orin com-
poundingamixture,firstmeasuresoutthematerials.
Hethenknowsinjustwhatproportiontheingredients
areused,andthecombinedweightofthewhole.
That suchapicture with reference to theCreator
shouldbegivenusintheWordofGod agesbefore
theso-calleddiscoveryofNewton,ismostsignificant.
The Creator is represented as weighing out and
measuring,whenHe establishedtheuniverse,allthe
elementsthatenterintoit. Heisrepresentedasknow-
ingtheweightofallthedifferentpartsoftheearth,
even asa manknows the weightof theparcels he
placesinthescales.
''ForHelookethtotheendsoftheearth,andseeth
underthewholeheaven." WhydoestheCreatordo
this?—"Tomake theweightforthewinds; andHe
weigheth the waters by measure." Job 28 :24, 25.
"Hemadealawfortherain,andawayforthesound-