Astronomy and the Bible;

THEEARTHINSPACE 83

wasagainstthenewidea;butevenRomehadtogive
waybeforethetruths ofastronomy. Menmightbe
ledtobelievethewordofRome,thoughitwasplainly
againstthestatementoftheWordofGod;butitwas
difficulttomakethembelievethewordofRomewhere
natureutteredaplaindenial. Theopeningtruthsof
astronomyshookRometoherveryfoundations. Men
wererackedandburned;butthetruthinitsmajesty
movedon. TheWordwas beginningtolightenthe
earth. Those truths were the truths of the Word.
God'sWordhadbeenawitnessallthroughthosedark
days,butRomehadsoughttoimpeachits testimony.
Then,behold! Godcalledanotherwitnessintocourt.
Naturebegantothunderforththetruthwhichproved
Romeunreliable. Nature wasagainstthe pope, be-
causethepope wasagainstnature; and men would
believenature inpreferencetothe pope.
WhileRomerackedthebodiesofmen,truthracked
theirminds. Thusthecontestraged; andthebattle
stillison. ButthattruthwasthetruthoftheWord,
andthatadvancinglightwasthelightofGod. And
so, from theideaof aflat earth set on pillars, men
have cometothegreattruththattheearthisround
andhunginspace.
Foramantogetawayfromtheoldidea,tocutloose
theearth fromallvisiblesupportandlaunchitforth
intospace, hisminditself hadto be cutloose, in a
sense,fromallvisiblesupports,andswungoutintoa
vast unknown. And it was truth which cut men's
mindsloose,andsetthemfree. "Thetruthshallmake
you free." Amindthussetfreefromerrorwaslike