Astronomy and the Bible;

(Ann) #1
THEPOWEROFGRAVITATION^61

ance,thirty-sevenandahalfpoundsateightthousand
milesfrom thecenter,andninepoundssixouncesat
sixteen thousandmiles fromthecenter, and he will
weighorbepulledbytheearthonetwenty-fourthof
a poundatthedistanceofthemoon. Butthemoon
wouldbelargeenoughandnearenoughtopulltwenty-
fourpoundsonthesameman,sotheearthcouldnot
drawhimaway. Thusthetwolawsofattractionare


:

(i)Gravityisproportionedtothequantityofmatter;
and(2) The forceofgravityvariesinversely asthe
squareofthedistancefromthecenteroftheattract-
ingbody."
Nowthesetwofactsbelongtothedomainofscience.
Menareleftentirelyfreetoknowallthattheymay
be able to discover regarding these. The Bible is
utterly silentrelativetothem.
Butto the threepoints which revelation declares,
science isallowedto addall thatitmaybyway of
illustration. Man is invited to reecho the wordsof
Godbyworking. TheBiblesays (i) thatthereisa
universalforceactingintheuniverse,and(2) thatit
upholdsallthings,and(3) thatitisduetothepower
ofthewordofGod. Sciencemayinanylegitimate
mannerreaffirmandreechothesetruthsofGod. But
thetwofactsdiscoverablebyscience,theBibleinno
wayattemptsto stateorname. Inother words,the
Wordinvitesconfirmationofitsstatements,butleaves
scienceentirelyfreeintheinvestigationswhichbelong
toitsownpeculiardomain.
Thusthere aretwofieldsofknowledge,—one for
revelation,theotherforscience. Thereshouldbeno

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