The Bible true; or The cosmogony of Moses compared with the facts of science. Containing the origin and correlative position of the different races of men, and a description of our earth as it was, as it is, and as it must be.

Front matter

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

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Preface

TO no one is the arduous difficulty of this self-imposed task so apparent as to the author.

There is a large class of Christians who consider it unnecessary to adduce evidence to substantiate the claims of the Bible, arguing that the proof is 'prima facie and self-evident, and therefore to all who read the Holy Word the conviction of its divine authenticity will certainly come with overwhelming power.

Experience proves this to be a mistake.

Others demand for the inquirer a rationalistic answer to all questions, arguing that the mind must have everything fully and clearly demonstrated before it can be convinced.

This is also an error.

Two and two added together make four must be accepted by the reason. " God is love " is accepted by the heart.

There are truths in the Divine code not demonstrable. Where they occur, the mind and heart both enter into the investigation. There are truths everywhere we cannot demonstrate, yet they are none the less true.

Yet the rationalistic tendency of the age requires from the Christian deeper investigation and more catholicity of spirit.

Infidelity, like a simoon, is sweeping the field of religious investigation, and he who would escape its withering influence, must — as the individual in the caravan on the desert — independently of all others, labor for his safety.

The seeming contradictions and inconsistencies in the Bible, so harped upon by those who disbelieve, are apparent to every one who carefully reads the Scriptures.

VI PREFACE.

They are not denied, not explained ; and the honest mind is often driven into infidelity.

We must have a " living reason " for our faith, and not conclude, because the evidence of a fact is convincing to our mind, it is necessarily so to others.

Christians should be able and willing to accept the invitation of the skeptic, " Come now, let us reason together," with the full confidence of success which a thorough knowledge of our subject always inspires.

The earnest investigator begins with the firm conviction that the Bible is true, and meeting these, to him, inexplicable passages, seeks the professed believer, and to him looks for a solution of his honest doubts.

Unfortunately for him, frequently too, unfortunately for both, the only answer to his inquiry is, u It is so because the Bible says so."

This does not, will not satisfy the vigorous and independent mind of the nineteenth century.

The idea that it is sacrilegious to attempt the elucidation of the so-called " hidden mysteries " belongs to the past.

The Bible is true ; and its truths, adapted to the wants of the human race for all ages, are in their nature progressive ; hence their revelation will keep pace with mental and moral progress so long as time shall last.

We must " search the Scriptures " in this age of rationality.

To those who reject them, we would say a truth is none the less a truth because we do not accept it.

To the honest thinker, we would say, investigate fearlessly the word of God — but be thorough. Be independent, patient, but above all, not easily discouraged.

We were made to labor.

Our minds were given us for use.

Our earth is to us the primary school of heaven, and there intellect is free.

John Henry Kern.

Chapter IV

Description of the Firmament — God uses Adequate Means to Accomplish all his Designs — Attraction, when first began to operate — formation of beds of Rivers — Circulation of the Waters — Waters Gathered into one Place 39

Viii CONTENTS.

Chapter X

The Influence of the Moon upon the Seasons — Superior Chronology — The Age of the Earth — The Condition of the Pre-Adamic Races — The Negro the Servant of the Red or Governing Race— Necessity of Creating the White Race 90

CONTENTS. ix

Computation of Time — Science vs. Moses — The First Democratic Government — First Monarchy — Creation of Eve 120

Chapter XIV

The Means God uses in the Accomplishment of His Designs — Thr Trinity in Unity — Spiritual Results are Effected by Spiritual Agencies — Physical Results are Effected by Physical Means — The Connecting Link between Mind and Matter — God's Medium of Communicating with Man — Instances — Proof 128

Chapter XXXIII

The Different Forms of Government Noticed — Death sent as a Blessing upon Adam — Our Desire for Immortality — How can the Sons of Adam become the Sons of God ? — Christ the Second Adam

Xll CONTENTS.

PAGE

— Difference between Adam and his Descendants — The Doctrine of Election — Office of the Second Adam 340

Chapter XXXIV

The First and Second Advent — The Faith of the Christian — The Faith of the Jew — Both Taught in the Bible — Misapplication of Prophecy 365

Chapter XXXV

The First and Second Advent, Continued — The Prophecies in Relation to the First have been Fulfilled — Who will be Christ's Subjects in His Reign of Power ? — How can this Earth be Made the Abode of Peace? — "But the Day of the Lord shall Come as a Thief in the Night" — The New Jerusalem 381

Chapter XXXVI

Description of the New Jerusalem— Where Situated — Its Inhabitants — Ezekiel and John 396

Chapter XXXVII

The Ecpyrosis — The New Earth — Its Inhabitants — Man made Immortal again through the Resurrection — Reproduction, consequent Death in the New Earth 419

Chapter Xxxviii

The " Ancient of Days " — " One like unto the Son of Man " — The Prayer " Thy Kingdom come," &c, now fully Answered 43&

THE BIBLE TRUE.

INTRODUCTORY.

IN the investigation of any subject, there can be but little chance of arriving at the truth, if we approach it with our minds trammelled by preconceived ideas, so stubborn as to amount to ineradicable prejudices. Yet how few are there in this, or have been in the former ages, who have not, by this means, been prevented from attaining to that height in the development of the laws of mind and of matter which is within the reach of the human intellect. Reason is bestowed upon man for wise and noble purposes ; but if those aspirations for knowledge which are essential to superior intelligence, are to be forever repressed by the dogmata of schoolmen, then is the power of thought, of investigation, given to us in vain ; and our thirst for knowledge, instead of being our greatest blessing, is an unmitigated curse.

The bane of Christianity, in all ages, is the absurd and bigoted manner in which its professors frown down investigation. Good men, but men with narrow minds and prejudiced views, have had their theories, their standards of orthodoxy, and all thought must be squared by their rule ; and woe be to him who dares to think outside of and beyond the tread-mill circle prescribed by the commentators. How much more honoring to the word of truth to invite investigation with a manly, ay, with a Christian confidence that the Bible will prove true, though the heavens fall, because it was given to us by the very God of truth, for the purpose 2 13 of leading us when blind, and without any sufficient guide, into the contemplation of the glory of his works and the perfection of his attributes.

If, in the future pages of this work, any good man should think that we are disposed to make bold comments on the Scriptures, let him be assured that we do not so in a spirit of rashness ; for we tell him now, that his reverence for the sacred record is not greater than our own ; and if he will reflect that he may not be in possession of the whole of the truth, he may be disposed to give us a patient hearing ; when, if he is able to overthrow our position by fair, logical deductions, we will admit that he and the fathers may possibly be right, and that we are wrong ; otherwise, as an honest man, he must concede that there are truths attainable by profound thought and patient investigation, not yet dreamed of in his or our philosophy. We feel the necessity of deprecating the flings of scientific men, not less than the anathemas of theologians ; for, strange as the assertion may at first appear, we believe the former to be more imperiously dogmatical than the latter.

We hope, however, that no one will conclude that we •despise the learning of the one, or the opinions of the other. On the contrary, we reverence learning ; we bow to the minds which have thought, and gladly adopt the truths which they have eliminated. We only claim for ourselves the same liberty of thought which they enjoyed ; and we will not be restrained in our investigations now, or at any time, by the foolish charge of infidelity, or any other ugly epithets which may be applied to us by the ignorant and the silly ; for such persons not only "wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction," but they are the votaries of error and enemies to truth at all times. " There is more hope of a fool than of a man that is wise in his own conceit."

When shut in from the outside world, and prevented, by the disease of our eyes, from conversing with those who had thought and written before, our mind began to investigate that most sublime of all prayers, which was taught us by Him "who spake as never man spake." Especially was our mind directed to the petition, " Thy kingdom come ; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." If prayer be the sincere desire of the heart, directed to a superior being, then, to use the words of a prayer without comprehending their import, seems very much like solemn mockery. A petitioner to an earthly tribunal always knows what he wants before offering his petition; and should we not have some conception of the things contained in the prayers which we offer up to the Majesty of the heavens? Do we use the Lord's prayer because the desires of our hearts are more energetically expressed by this than by any other form of words, or do we repeat it merely as a duty?

"When ye pray, say, Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This was given to us as a form of prayer by Him who knows all things ; therefore, it is our privilege to use the petition ; but, when we do so, it is certainly our duty to endeavor to understand for what we are asking. The language of this prayer may have an individual and a universal application. Individual obligations and responsibilities are abundantly insisted on by the preachers ; but the enlarged view of the subject, the principal idea presented in the petition under consideration, which, indeed, involves the other, or minor view, is not deemed by them to be of sufficient importance to practical piety to demand their attention ; and, therefore, we consider that to be a subject open to our investigation. Can we obtain no insight into what the kingdom of God will be on earth, and how his will must be clone here ? If it be our duty, both to offer up these petitions, and to desire their accomplishment with all the vigor of the soul, then, certainly, we should try to understand their meaning. Since God is immutable, so far as we may go in comprehending what was his original design in regard to the government of the world, so far will we proceed in establishiny a rational view of what it will be in the end. Our subject opens up a vast field of thought, and we intend to take so wide a range in our investigations, that we will enter freely into every path of learning which may promise to lead us into light, hoping that they will all converge in the very temple of the truth.

In the olden time, Moses veiled his face when he had been with his God, because the children of Israel could not bear the light of the truth ; yet the revelation which he made was intended to be understood at some time, and was given for our instruction. Then, is it not strange that expounders of the Christian religion, even at this late day, should persistently shut out the light contained in the writings of the inspired philosopher, by declaring that the subjects of which he treats are "the hidden mysteries" of God, and are not therefore to be understood ? Our Saviour spoke to the Jews in parables, lest they should understand, but it was given to the disciples to know the truth. "All Scriptures are given by inspiration," and are intended " for our instruction ; " wherefore we boldly take the ground that at some time they must be understood, else were they written in vain.

In the effort to eliminate the truth, the mind must be free ; for if we are trammelled by the dogmata of others, there is but little chance for progress of a decided character, and much less of the thorough eradication of error. We are impatient of restraint in our civil rights and physical actions ; and yet, strange paradox, we are the willing, obsequious intellectual slaves of those who have thought and written in other ages. The original thinkers of former times were under no greater obligations to think than we are, nor are their researches entitled to any higher consideration than our own. On the contrary, aided as we are by the results of their investigations, the modern thinker ought certainly to be able to go farther, rise higher, and bring out truth in a clearer light, than those who lived and thought in the dark, the middle, or any of the former ages. If the conclusions to which they came are correct, we ought to receive them gladly ; but, if they will not bear the test of reason, they ought to be rejected ; for it is absurd slavery in us to be influenced by them.

That philosophy, as taught in our schools, is not what it ought to be — a satisfactory elucidation of the laws of mind and matter, an explanation of the causes of the effects with which we are acquainted — cannot be denied ; and yet, theologians and philosophers are agreed in repressing investigation in the fields beyond themselves, by the assumption that those tilings cannot be understood; and no rational attempt to ascertain the real cause of human depravity and of the warring elements in nature is allowed. The one frowns, the other sneers, but we shall disregard them both ; for we are in search of truth. Many things now thoroughly comprehended, even by the ignorant and unlearned, were in the olden times classed by the most profound philosophers among " the hidden mysteries of God." Why then should it be deemed presumptuous in those, even of our humble pretensions, to brave the authority of the great thinkers of bygone days, and endeavor to ascend the higher heights, which Locke and Bacon and Newton and Franklin — the church-fathers and philosophers of other ages — have not been able to scale ? They were but men as we are, and had no more right to trammel our investigations than we have to prescribe limits to the thoughts of those who shall come after us.

The dogmatical rules and traditions of the fathers have, at times, wellnigh driven the world into infidelity; and that the prescriptive tyranny of the friends of Christianity has not utterly destroyed the entire system with all thinkiDg men, is a powerful argument in favor of its divine authenticity. Is it not passing strange that we should be required to stand in awe of the wisdom of the philosophers who cannot answer satisfactorily our plainest and simplest questions? They cannot tell us what gravitation is, or why matter is attracted by matter; what light or heat is; how water is evaporated ; how rain is formed : in a word, the learning of the philosophers, instead of satisfying our desire to know, only leads us into the thick mazes of mysticism, and then they attempt to crush out the spirit of inquiry, by declaring that what they do not teach, is beyond the comprehension of the human mind. So much may not be written in their books, yet the idea is so successfully inculcated, that the declaration that this or that is one of the things which can never be known, is as often in the mouths of the blind disciples of the philosophers as of the unthinking advocates of the infallibility of the church fathers — the ne plus ultra of modern commentators. Nothing human is perfected yet, and the vast fields of unexplored wisdom still lie out before us.

We do not claim perfection, and willingly concede to others the right of free and full investigation, while claiming the same privilege for ourselves, so long as our thoughts run not contrary to the laws of God, as manifested to us in the great volumes of Revelation and of Nature. The book of nature is complete in itself; but owing to its seeming inconsistencies, which arise from the imperfections of our minds, and from the palpable warfare in nature itself, a revelation was absolutely necessary ; and in our opinion these two volumes are so intimately blended, that to separate them is to mar the beauty of a symmetrical whole, and to preclude the possibility of arriving at the truth.

We can but pity those would-be philosophers who assume to themselves the ability to unravel and elucidate the laws of nature without the aid of revelation — who see no necessity for such divine direction, and therefore very unphilosophically reject the Scriptures as a cunningly devised fable. Such an assumption on the part of men who evidently think, most strongly proves the utter perversity of human nature ; and the imbecility of their attempts to unveil the truth is an unanswerable argument in favor of the absolute necessity of a revelation from the universal intelligence, such as that given us in the Bible. Another class of persons, who unconsciously and ignorantly labor to shut out the light of truth from the world, are those who read the revealed word, but scorn or pass by unheeded the profound lessons of wisdom written by the finger of God in the great book of nature. The dogmatical folly of the one, and the stupid bigotry of the other, are the mental tyrants of the age, and equal obstacles to every effort to rise into the regions of intellectual eminence. If, however, we will throw off the one or the other of these humiliating yokes, whichever we have the misfortune to wear, and honestly apply our minds to the investigation of the wisdom of the ages, in an independent, yet not in a licentious spirit ; if we will embrace the truths which may be so richly drawn from the storehouse of nature ; if we shall drink in the floods of light poured down upon us from the glowing pages of inspiration — then will we be in the way where truth may be found ; then will we be in the path which leads up to an intellectual elevation, whence we may obtain a rational view of the laws of mind and matter.

Notwithstanding our indifference to the querulous carpings of fault-finding critics, yet, in order to save them much labor and precious time, we will advertise them in advance that in the earlier part of this work we will use the technicalities of other systems of science, and keep the old ideas before the reader ; because we do not think that we can better develop our own views than by an exhibition of the process of ratiocination by which we have arrived at the conclusions here given to the world. Indeed, we should scarcely expect a hearing should we announce the opinions which we entertain of the laws of mind and matter, of God, and nature, fully, and at once, without explaining to some extent the process by which our own mind has reached them. When this is done, when we have gone step by step through the entire train of thought, we expect that what will stand the test of right reason will be accepted by the wise ; and we hope that whatever does not come up to this standard will be unconditionally rejected.

It may be safely laid down as a rule, that whosoever tears down a building not his own, is under weighty obligations to erect in its room what he considers to be a better one ; and we are willing to be tried by this rule in all that we may say in these pages. The Romans were ages in developing the arts and sciences, which the Goths and Vandals destroyed in a few days. An insane barbarian, by the simple application of a torch to the library at Alexandria, blotted out the very footprints of the grand procession of ideas there collected from the wisdom of the mighty past. God requires a thousand years for the perfection of the strength of the giant oak, and yet the veriest fool may destroy it in an hour. It were cruel to destroy any part of the Christian's hope without offering a substitute for it ; and it were reckless to annihilate a science or scientific theory without giving something which is believed to be better than its predecessor.

If, in the course of this work, we shall come in conflict with this theory or that, if we shall appear wantonly to attack the professors of one system of science or of another, let no one therefore conclude that we aim to rise upon the downfall of others, or that we are actuated by the small ambition to shine only as a demolisher of the edifices of other men ; for our endeavor shall be to batter down and clear away so much only of their rubbish as to make room for our own structure. Should the building, when erected, not be squared by the rules of right reason, let it follow in the track of ruin made by theories which have perished before; yet we do insist that no man shall attempt to tear down our, or any other system, unless he can build up a better — shall not discard our theory of the laws of nature, and of nature's God, unless he can offer something more rational as a substitute.

A fact is believed only after the evidences of its truth have been presented and carefully weighed in the scales of the understanding ; then, to say that we believe this or that to be true, without previous thorough investigation, is puerile, not to say idiotic. Absolute certainty is not attainable in our present mode of existence ; but a rational belief, that is, an opinion formed upon the subjects before us, after thorough investigation, is a duty which every man owes to himself, his kind, and his God. Should any one be disposed to charge us with being theoretical in our views, let him consider that in the very nature of the subjects before us, rational theorizing is indispensable in making inquiries after the truth. Sir Isaac Newton was the greatest theorizer of his age; Dr. Franklin, too, was a great theorizer; and every other philosopher, from the sages of Greece down to the present time, have formed their theories and built their systems : then let it not be thought strange if, in our humble way, we also should have our theories and should build up our system.

Had the learning of the past ages, collected in the grand old library of Alexandria, been preserved to us, how different would have been the condition of the world ! The learning in that noble collection, in all probability, would have placed the world as far in the march of mind then as it was in the days of Sir Isaac Newton, or possibly up to the present standard ; and it may be that truths perished in those barbarous flames which even yet have not been reproduced.

It is quite evident that the knowledge of the magi of the East, and of the priesthood of Egypt, is lost to us. They were secret orders, whose time was spent in the study of the laws of nature and of God ; but by the conditions of their organization, their learning was confined to themselves, while they invented a system of teaching for the people, as different from the truth as held by themselves as night is from day. We can only conjecture what would have been the state of learning now, had these ancient philosophers thrown the accumulated wisdom of their colleges upon the world. Unfortunately, they were bound to secrecy by such obligations, that no one ever had the temerity fully to lift the veil and show the populace what they knew and what they believed.

Moses, the great Hebrew lawgiver and philosopher, was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians ; and although he could not release himself from the obligations not to reveal it to the world, yet, under the power of inspiration, he uttered the words of wisdom, which, when properly understood, places us on the highest pinnacle of knowledge ever attained by the intellect of fallen man. He spoke to the Israelites with a veil upon his face, because they could not then bear the light of the truth; and until this day the priests are unwilling that the veil should be removed from his writings. The first part of Genesis is either covered still, or it means nothing ; it is a grand exposition of the penetralia of nature and of the purposes of God in creation, or it is a jargon of meaningless words.

We once heard a poor old preacher say, that when he came to a hard place in the Bible, he "just called it Jacob and went on;" and he is far from being singular in this respect. If, however, the Spirit of God indited the matter -Moses wrote, it must be the very truth ; and it is our bounden duty to try to unveil the mystery, and bring out clearly and fully its real and glorious meaning.

To gain a clear understanding of a kingdom, we must study its laws and its constitution ; and this is not less true of the Divine government than of any other. We have already said that the laws of God are made manifest in the book of revelation and of nature. The constitution of His government is contained in the eternal principles of justice, mercy, and truth, the inalienable attributes of Him who rules in the heavens. Kevelation is the acknowledged law of God, but it is no more so, than are the so-called laws of nature. God is unchangeable, and his laws must form a perfect system, unique and indivisible ; wherefore, no more dignity or importance can be properly attached to one of His laws than to another.

That which cannot be discovered by reason, has been revealed to us. " Thou shalt not kill " was not enacted on Mount Sinai, but simply promulgated there ; the principle contained in it being as old as the laws governing the motions of the heavenly bodies, — ay, as old as is the very truth of God. Whoso thrusteth his hand into the fire shall suffer pain, is upon the same platform, of equal dignity and binding force, with the above or any other revealed declaration in the law. If these laws be of equal authority, why, it may be asked, is the one set forth upon the pages of inspiration, and the other not mentioned there ? The plain and sufficient answer is, that the latter could be discovered by the light of experience, and as God never does a superfluous work, it was not given to us by inspiration. Where the ability of reason fails, there the light of revelation begins to shine upon the darkness of our understanding.

To a perfect human intellect, as was that of Adam prior to his fall, the laws of nature and of nature's God were plain, or could be thoroughly comprehended by patient investigation ; and when our intellect becomes perverted by the transgression of a fundamental law, His mercy revealed all that is necessary to restore us to the condition of perfectability. The thorough understanding of the laws of physics is as necessary to our happiness as is the moral law ; and yet theologians ignore the former as unworthy of their attention, and are utterly astonished that all men do not devote themselves exclusively to the study of the revealed code ; while the views of the philosophers are equally absurd in regard to the investigation of the physical laws.

It is our purpose to look into these laws, not attaching more dignity to the one than to the other ; but treating all as emanating from the infinite mind. We are led to adopt this course with the greater assurance, because reason teaches us that the moral and physical laws are parts of the same universal code; and because, according to our understanding of the subject, the revelation contained in the first part of the book of Genesis is intended to be an exposition of the physical laws, and to show how intimately they are interwoven with the moral laws, if indeed it be not intended to teach us that they form an unique system ; and because they all flow from the immutable God, we conclude that the sole difference between them is, that one controls mind, and the other governs matter.