CHAP. III]

CHAOS ON EARTH

35

the temperature of the surface of the globe had not fallen below the boiling-point. But this steam, rising constantly up to meet the extreme cold of space, would be condensed into clouds of vast thickness and absolute opacity; and from these there would incessantly rain down on the earth torrents of scalding water. Then these floods, mixing with the other elements, still hot, would form a wide ocean of black, boiling mud, perpetually flinging up volcanoes and geysers, and volumes of fresh steam, and rent in every direction by earthquakes caused by the water giving access to the yet hotter central mass. Nor could any ray of light penetrate through the dense pall of cloud enveloping the whole globe.

This is what we know, from the sciences of astronomy and physics, must have been the condition of our globe when it first became solid. Now let us hear what the writer of Genesis says of it when he takes up the narrative of creation, observing that he deals with only so much as affects this earth.

Verses 1, 2. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was with

out form, and void; and darkness was upon the

D 2

face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

"Without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.' In these thirteen words there is accurately described the chaos of the earth, the water covering it, and the black darkness above, which our latest science tells us must have been its condition. But that follows which science also affirms: The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.' Yes, the Spirit of ordered progress, that should by slow degrees and in the lapse of countless ages change the scene of utter desolation and of wild conflict of elemental forces into an earth fit for man, and on which the Son of God should walk, did move upon the face of these seething waters. Nor could words be found that would more accurately, in a brief sentence, describe what we have learned, mainly by the researches of only the last hundred years (largely, indeed, the last twenty), must have been the condition of the primeval world.

In the long process of ages the gradual cooling of the heavens and earth would continue. Less steam would be sent up from beneath, less and less would be condensed above, and slowly the dense

CHAP. III]

BEGINNING OF LIGHT

37

clouds would grow thinner. Then would appear the first glimmering of light. Neither sun nor moon would yet be visible, but as in a gloomy day there is light, though its source cannot be perceived, so would light seem to grow into the sky during the day, to vanish again in the night by the earth's rotation. This is what is recorded in Genesis:

Verses 3-5. And God said, Let there be light : and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Certain gases, as we have seen, would combine to form liquids and solids; certain others would not combine. Among those which would not combine would be the nitrogen and oxygen, which uncombined form the greater part of our present atmosphere. These, liberated from the heated waters, would take their place as an envelope of the earth, and in this envelope the clouds of condensed water would float. This is what is called in Genesis the firmament, or space of heaven, as we read afterwards in verse 20 of the fowl that fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.'

Of the formation of this enveloping atmosphere, we read:

Verses 6-8. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

In the continued progress of cooling of both solids and liquids a contraction invariably (with the single exception of water under 39° F.) takes place. In the stage which the earth had now reached the liquid mud would have settled down, the solids having fallen to the bottom and become, to a certain degree, a hard and inelastic rind, separating the surface water from the still fused mineral matter in the centre of the earth. But this central fluid would also cool slowly, and, by a law of physics, would contract more in proportion than the external band which had become hard. The latter would therefore be forced into folds or corrugations. Thus parts would be elevated into mountain chains, while others would sink into

CHAP. III] SEPARATION OF LAND AND SEA 39

valleys, and there would be a flow of the water from the higher to the lower levels. Consequently the uplands would become dry land, while the depressions would become the beds of oceans and lakes. This process is exactly what is next narrated:

Verse 9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

On the dry land thus elevated above the water, but still moistened by copious warm showers from the clouds above, the beginnings of life would soon appear in the form of vegetation. Of what life is, and how it first comes to be breathed into matter, science utterly fails to give us any knowledge. There are some few persons who believe it would 'grow naturally;' but they can produce no evidence to support this assertion. We must be content, as far as our knowledge goes, to accept the fact that the mysterious principle of self-growth and reproduction which we call life was communicated first to plants, and next to animals, on this earth at some period when the conditions of the land, the water, the atmosphere, the light, and the temperature became compatible with the