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that it is a compilation of differen t documents ; nor to offer any remarks on the variations in the Divine name , adduced as evidences against the prophet Moses * being the author of the whole book of Genesis , as the need of
them is superseded by the in # eniou 3 observations of Ben David , and the quotations he has made from Essenus , which appeared in a late Repository [ pp . 24—26 , 95—98 ] . My object is to state the view I ' entertain of the first
chapter of this book , as containing natural philosophy consistent with the discoveries of modern ages , in the hope it may contribute to convince some of your readers of its correctness , and help to confirm the belief of its having proceeded from the infinite Fountain of wisdom and truth .
An attention to this chapter , with a desire , I own , to retain it as a valuable and important part of the Holy Scriptures , has led me to believe that it is a mistaken sentiment , though
commonly conceived , that the process represented to have been the employment of six days , includes the primitive creation of the world , which appears to have been prior to their commencement . In the first sentence of the
chapter we read , In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth , or the luminaries of the etherial space , usually termed the firmament , ( but in a sense different from the etvmology of this word , ) and this terraqueous globe . Understanding the word
be ginning to mean anterior to the measured time of this world , the sentence appears to be a proem to what succeeds , and entirely distinct from it , declaring all the existing worlds in the universe to be the product of ( iod ' s almighty power in a former period ,
without stating the mode in which the creative energy was exerted , or the duration of the process ; which , for aught we know , may have comprehended millions of such spaces of time as we denominate ages . If what irf contained in this declarative introd
uction were included in the narrative of six days , then the natural order would have been to begin with a p articular representation of the heavens , or heavenly luminaries , as having been first mentioned , und as xAummg ' priority in the account for their -stupendous grandeur ; whereas it begins with the
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Kidderminster , Sir , April 12 , 1822 . ALTHOUGH I entertain a very high respect for Mr . Belsham ' s learning , judgment and integrity , and greatly esteem the rich and glowing sentiments concerning the unity and glorious perfections of the Divine Majesty which appear in a sermon he has lately published ; [ see Mon . Repos . XVII . Ill , &c / j yet I cannot concur with him in some of the ideas
he has advanced respecting the contents of the first chapter of the book of Genesis , commonly called the Mosaic account of the creation . He
considers the narrative to be philosophically wrong , or inconsistent with the system of nature , as demonstrated by modern philosophy ; and I cannot but regret that such a decided opinion has proceeded from a person of his merited theological and literary eminence .
If the contents of this chapter be thus erroneous , they certainly could not have been communicated by divine inspiration to Adam , or any of his posterity , and transmitted from that
sacred origin to Moses ; nor could they have been imparted by the Creator immediately to him or any other writer . And as it must be utterly impossible that any human beingcould know what transactions
occurred before the human race had existence , without being favoured with such inspiration , the whole narrative can be nothing else than tire offuskm of man ' s imagination , which might have been conveyed from one generation to another as a tradition of the primitive
age ; and which may no t * b * e admired for its high atitufttity , aiKl regarded as w curiosity f 6 Y the singular information it gives of the fttls 6 ^ hilosophieal opinions of thatear'H " pW'id'd of the "world ,
but cannot be Venerated us a part of divine revelation ^ for wbi di it has been generally esteemed both by J-etvs and Christians . My design is not tx > consider the question whetlner or not there be -discordairaes in tlie former chapters of this book , tending to prove
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» ess ; " but , an different decrees , " enligfiteneth every man that cometh into the world . " AN OCCASIONAL READER .
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5278 Mr . Fry ' s Observations *> n the Ffast Chapter of Genesis .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1822, page 278, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2512/page/22/
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