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charged the atmosphere—as a single drop which God created could never have been annihilated except by his own power . The great utility of this economy of nature is as obvious as its existence is apparent . Without such a vast solution of water combined with the air , there could not be those reflections and refractions of the solar rays which are of the utmost importance to vision . And if the atmosphere were to be divested of its humidity , or of a large proportion of what it now contains , it would not only be
defective for the sight of objects at any distance not exposed to the direct beams of the sun , but it would be unsuitable on account of its aridity for the functions of animal life as at present constituted . Thus , then , on the second day were instituted , by Infinite Wisdom , some at least of the curious
and wonderful principles on which the science of optics depends , and the pneumatic laws enacted that are necessary for rendering the atmosphere subservient to the purposes of light , which are necessary also for exciting
and controlling the occasional agitations of the air , or the winds , and which are essential to the support and preservation of the vegetable and animal productions which the all-wise Creator designed .
The third day ' s account presents the disposal of the waters that remained on the face of the earth after the atmosphere had been sufficientl y replenished with moisture , and determining what portions of the world should be the dry land . Let the
waters below the expanse be gathered together in one place , and let the dry land appear . And let the earth bring forth graasy &c . It may be property supposed , that on this day there was not merely a separation of the hind and water , which of itself would have
left the latter a stagnant mass , except as it might be disturbed by gales of wind , but that the ocean was saturated with salt for securing it from putrefaction , and its regular motions begun ; and that the land was made tit for the
uses intended , those occult principles ordained which guide chemical affinities anil combinations in the formation of secondary rocks , crystallizations and minerals ; fertility given to the soil of the earth ; and the laws of vegetation established , which direct
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the various selections of proper mucilage , and all the astonishing chemical transmutations that compose vegetable substances in their indescribable variety . The narrative given of the fourth day relates to the celestial ordinances
and the institution of the periodical seasons ; and this , in general estimation , is attended with as great , if not greater , difficulty than any other part of this sacred history . As the statement is commonly received , it appears
to represent all the celestial luminaries as having been created in one day , while as many as five days were employed in creating the earth and adjusting its appendages . This being so highly improbable , has caused the whole narration to be discredited as a
fiction of human device , and repugnant to enlightened reason . But if the idea before expressed be just , concerning the first verse , that God created ( he heavens and the earth in the beginning , or that this original creation of worlds is to be understood as having been antecedent to the
commencement of the six days , then this account of the fourth day can have no such meaning as has been commonly supposed ; but , on the contrary , it
declares what is agreeable to facts and perfectly right . The Common Version begins the narrative of the fourth day with—God said , Let there be lights in the firmament , which imports that the celestial luminaries were first
brought into existence on this fourth day ; but the Hebrew words have a signification that obviates this opinion which reason and science pronounce to be erroneous , cu'Di ^ n tf > pn : i ni « D » rv
Let the lights in the expanse of the heavens be , and the Greek Version iii the Septuagint will admit of the same rendering , revYjOrjTaarccv c ^ u ^ P ^
eV TO ) <^ £££ CCfJLOtTl T SpOLVS U £ ( ptV&lV Wl Trjq yr \ q . So translated , the passage will read , consistently with probability , Let the lights , so called because they had been shining to the earth during the three preceding days , in the expand of the heavens , be to divide the day from the night , and let them be ft * signs and season , and times and years :
evidently meaning , that the luminaries before created were then permanently appointed to these uses . The remaining verses , which describe this fourth day , have the appearance of a paren
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280 Mr * Fry ' s Observations on the First 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 280, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2512/page/24/
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