52 ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE
knowledge and the power of his understanding."
—CharlesTalbotPorter.
Weknowthattheweight,ordownpressure,ofthe
air, is enormous. Its pressure, or weight, is about
fifteen poundstothesquare inch,oroveratonfor
eachsquare footoftheearth'ssurface. Thisis not
felt;foritisthroughusaswellasaboutus;weare
immersedinit. Thewholepressureoftheaironthe
surfaceoftheearth,expressedintons,wouldrequire
sixteen digits. Inroundnumbers,wemaysay,itis
fivethousandmilHons ofmillions oftons;orifyou
wantitmoreexactly,itiscloseto5,517,823,961,480,-
000 tons.
Thusweknowthattheweightoftheairistremen-
dous. God gave air this weight. He regulated it
withmathematicalnicetytoourneeds. AndHedid
notleaveusinignoranceofthefact,buttoldusofit
inHisWord. Theairbindstheearthwithanelastic
hoop. If God were to unclaspthis air from about
theearth,andtakeoffthisenormouspressure,would
notthepent-up forces withinthe earthbreak forth?
SomedayHewillremoveit,asoneremovesthepeel-
ingfromanorange. Somedayitwill berolledto-
gether as a scroll. Rev. 6:14. What about your
science then? Will you, with all your science, be
founded onHis immutable Word? Ifso, you may
lookcalmlyup,inthatawfulhour,andsay.Wewill
notfear, "thoughtheearthbe removed,and though
themountains becarried intothemidst of the sea;
thoughthewatersthereofroarandbetroubled,though
themountainsshakewiththeswellingthereof."