E02 - Creation - Bible Standard Ministries

585 Pages·2013·2.5 MB·English

by  The Bible Standard

EPIPHANY
STUDIES
IN THE
SCRIPTURES

"The Path of the just is as the Shining Light,
That Shineth More and More
Unto the Perfect Day."

SERIES II

CREATION

12,000 Edition

"The Invisible Things of Him since the Creation of the
World are Clearly Seen, being Perceived throug h the
Things that are Made, even His Everlasting Power and
Deity" (Rom. 1: 20).

PAUL S. L JOHNSON
PHILADELPHIA, PA., U. S. A.
1938
To the King of Kings and Lord of Lords

IN THE INTEREST OF

HIS CONSECRATED SAINTS,

WAITING FOR THE ADOPTION,

—AND OF—

"ALL THAT IN EVERY PLACE CALL UPON THE LORD,"

"THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH;"

—AND OF—

THE GROANING CREATION, TRAVAILING AND WAITING FOR

THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD,

THIS WORK IS DEDICATED.

________________

"To make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God," "Wherein He hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having
made known unto us the mystery of His will, accord-
ing to His good pleasure which He hath pur-
posed in Himself; that in the dispensation
of the fullness of the times He
might gather together in one
all things, under
Christ."
Eph. 3: 4, 5, 9; 1: 8-10.

_____________

COPYRIGHT 1938

BY PAUL S. L. JOHNSON
ii
THE AUTHOR'S FOREWORD

THE SUBJCET of this book—Crea—tioisn one of
compelling interest. No subject in nature, and very few in
revelation possess more interest to universal man than it
does. In its appeal it is fa-rreaching, inasmuch as it enlists
the attention of the learned and the unlearned, the young
and the old, the civilized and the uncivilized alike. And it is
proper that it does command such intere st and make su ch
appeal; for next to the Creator comes Creation in the
estimation of the average person, since it is contin ually
attracting his five senses, knocking at the door of his
perceptive faculties, challenging his reasoning powers an d
seeking an entrance into his affections. Moreover, as a par t
of Creation, universa l man feels his relation to it , just
because he is a part of it, which fact continually arouses his
interest therein. But it is to the religiously disposed m an
that Creation, both as a process and as a product, makes the
strongest appeal; for to him the subject is es pecially
arresting, because i t brings him into a deepe rk nowledge
and appreciation of th e Creator, and thus brings him i nto
closer touch with H is wise, powerful, just and l oving
Maker. Thereby he reaches a condition of spir it that
ennobles, enriches and elevates him. Thus God becom es
more and more a living reality to him, and more and mor e
the Goal of his endeavors. Our subject is a broad one; for,
among other things, it embraces the field of the na tural
sciences: Here astronomy is brought to view. Here Physic s
asserts itself. Chemis try underlies it. Mine raislo gy
anciently a feature of it. Meteorology is a part of it. Botany
marks it. Geology figures largely in it. Zoology in all its
departments belongs to it. In its earthly feature it
culminates in Anthropol ogy and Sociology. Even
Mathematics has in various oitfs branches a share in
Creation. Yea, it rise s above the domain of the material,
and brings us into the sphere of the spiritual world with it s
varied orders of spirits. And, finally, it brings one to the
science of Theology, in its narrow sense, as referring to the
iii
knowledge of God, especia lly as to His attribu tes of
wisdom, power, justice and love, as these display
themselves in creative work.

Having so broad a subject, we, of course, could not
expect to give details on its many ramifications; for it is not
our object to write a scientific treatise on the minute details
of science as these ar e displayed in Creation. Rath er, we
content ourself with giving generalities on its d etails,
especially as these are brought to our attention in Gen. 1:
1-31; 2: 7, 21-24, additionally drawing into our discussion
other pertinent Scriptures. Our endeavor has been to
elucidate the Mosaic account of Creation and to show its
harmony with the assured results of science. And as the
mainspring of this endeavor our constan t purpose has been
to magnify and enhance our gracious Creator to the head
and heart of the reade r. If, as a fruit of this work , this
purpose is attained, it will be the chief joy of the author.

PAUL S. L. JOHNSON.

Philadelphia, PA., U. S. A.
September 12, 1937.
iv
CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
GENERAL REMARKS.

THEIR NECESSITY. BIBLE PROOF FOR GO'SD CREATORSHIP. THE
NATURE OF THE CREATIVE AC T. T HE WORLD OF SPIRIT AND
MATTER AS THE CREATIVE SPHERES. THE CREATIVE DAYS. T HE
LAWS OF NATURE. THE BEGINNING. ......................................................... 9

CHAPTER II.
THE WORLD OF SPIRIT.

THE WORD—LOGOS—GOD'S SON. HIS PRE-HUMAN EXISTENCE. HIS
CREATION. HIS RELATION TO GOD. HIS WORK. THE GOOD ANGELS.
THEIR NATURE AND WORKS. SATAN. AUTHOR OF SIN. HIS EMPIRE .
RELENTLESS PERSECUTION OF OPPONENTS. HIS CU NNING.
OVERTHROW OF HIS EMPIRE. HIS FINAL REBELLION AND
DESTRUCTION. THE FALLEN ANGELS. .................................................. 37

CHAPTER III.
THE WORLD OF MATTER.
Gen. 1: 1

ITS IMPLICATIONS. ITS QUALITIE-SUNITY, IMMENSITY, BEAUTY ,
SUBLIMITY, ORDER, WONDROUSNESS, COMPLEXITY. ................... 165

CHAPTER IV.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS.
Gen. 1: 1

PROOF THAT ORIGINAL MATTER CONSISTED OF GASES,
ORIGINALLY MOTIONLESS. CONDENSATION, THE CRE ATIVE
PROCESS. ITS ALLEGE D OPERATION UNDER THE N EBULAR
THEORY. THE PLANETESIMAL OR CAPTURE THEORY . THE
EXPLOSION THEORY FOR PLANETS, MOONS, ETC. .......................... 265

CHAPTER V.
CHAOS.
Gen. 1: 2

THE EARTH'S MOLTEN CONDITION. PROOFS OF THE EAS RTH'
MOLTEN CONDITION. "WASTE AND EMPTY". THE DEEP AND IT S
DARKNESS. THE CANOPY THEORY AS SHOWN IN SCRIPTURE AND
NATURE. THE SPIRIT'S HOVERING OVER THE WATERS. A REVIEW
OF THE GROUND SO FAR TRAVERSED. ............................................... 293

CHAPTER VI.
THE FIRST CREATIVE DAY—LIGHT.
Gen. 1: 3—5

THE NATURE OF LIGHT. A SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE. ITS SOURCE S.
ITS MISSION. THE DIVISION OF LIGHT FROM DARKNESS. HOW
"LIGHT BE" WAS SAID . LIGH'ST PRIORITY IN ORDERIN G TH E
EARTH. THE MOSAIC ACCOUNT OF CREATION INSPIRED. ........... 345
v
CHAPTER VII.
THE SECOND CREATIVE DAY—THE EXPANSE.
Gen. 1: 6-8

CONDITIONS DURING THE SECOND DAY. T HREA KIAEXPANSE.
LOGICAL ORDER OF THE SECOND DAY'S WORK. CREATION OF THE
ATMOSPHERE. THE SECOND DAYS IVEC REATPROCES S.
CONTINUANCE OF THIS PROCESS DURING THE RES T OF THE
CREATIVE PERIODS ENDING WITH THE FLOOD. .............................. 361

CHAPTER VIII.
THE THIRD CREATIVE DAY—DRY LAND,
SEA, VEGETATION.
Gen. 1: 9-13

THE POINTS OF DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL. THE ANTECEDENTS OF
THIS DAYS FRIST CREATIVE WORK . THE PERTINEN T CREATI VE
PROCESS. VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE EFFECTS. THE PRESSURE
EAST AND WEST RATHER THAN FROM NORTH AND SOUT H. T HE
PROCESS PROGRESSIVE THROUGH OTHER EPOCHS. IT WAS GOOD .
THREE POETIC DESCRIPTIONS QUOTED FROM THE BIBLE. ORDER ,
KINDS AND FIXITY IN VEGETATION. GRASS. PLANTS. TREES. SOME
PARTICULARS ON VEGETATION. .......................................................... 377

CHAPTER IX.
THE FOURTH CREATIVE DAY—SUN,
MOON AND STARS.
Gen. 1: 14 -9

LOGICAL ORDER OF THE FOURTH DAYS' WORK. SUN, MOON AND
STARS NOT CREATED, BUT MADE TON ES HITHROUGH TH E
CANOPIES DURING THE FOURTH EPOCH. HOW THIS CAME ABOUT .
THE FIVEFOLD MISSION OF THE SUN, MOON AND STARS AS TO
THE EARTH. IT WAS GOOD. PERTINENT BIBLE TESTIMONY. ........ 403

CHAPTER X.
THE FIFTH DAY—AQUATIC AND WINGED LIFE.
Gen. 1: 20-23

THE TWO PRODUCT S O F THE FIFTH DAY. CETACEANS. FISH.
CRUSTACEANS. MOLLUSCA. ANIMALCULES. THE A QUATIC
WORLD. THE WORLD OF FOWL. THE INSECT WORLD. .......................... 419

CHAPTER XI.
THE SIXTH DAY—BRUTE LIFE.
Gen. 1: 24, 25

THE EARTH THE MOTHER OF ANIMA L LIFE. DOMESTIC ANIMAL S.
WILD BEASTS. PRIMATES. CHEIROPTERANS. PREDACIOUS BEASTS.
RODENTS. EDENTATES. UNGULATES. RUMNANTS. PACHYDERM S.
MARSUPIALS. REPTILES. SAURIANS TORTOISES AND TURTLES. . 451
vi
CHAPTER XII.
THE SIXTH DAY—MAN.
Gen. 1: 26-31; 2: 7, 21-25

"LET US MAKE MA" NG. OD'S IMAGE NI MAN. ITS BIBLIC AL
ASPECTS GODS' LIKENESS IN MAN. MALE AND FEMALE. MSA N'
BLESSINGS. ADAM FORMED, EVE BUILT CREATIVELY . THE
CREATIVE PROCESS USED ON MAN.'S ABDOADMILY
CONSTITUENTS. HIS ALIMENTARY SYSTEM. THE BLOOD. THE
MUSCLES. THE BONES. THE LUNGS. NATIEVLEI MI AN D
REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. ...................................................................... 477

CHAPTER XIII.
THE SIXTH DAY—MAN (Continued).
Gen. 2:7, 21-25

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. THE FIVE SENSES. MAN'S BODY SUPERIOR
TO THAT OF EVERY OTHER ANIMAL. THE BREATH OF L—IV ES
NISHMAT CHAYIM. NESHAMAH. NAPHACH. SA'ST ANTRIPEL
FALSEHOOD AN EISEGESIS. RUACHPN—EUMA IN THE BIB LE.
THEIR TWELVE SENSES, WITH PROOF PASSA GES FOR EACH.
CERTAIN OF THEIR OCCURRENCES MORE CLOSELY EXAMIN ED.
THE NATURE OF DEATH. VITALIZING THE BOD Y. TH E SOUL IS A
SENTIENT BRING. THE THREE SENSES OF THE WORDS NEPHE SH
AND PSYCHE—LIFE, SOUL AND DISPOSITION. TH E WORD SO UL
MAY BE SUBSTITUTED FOR BY PERSONAL PRONOUNS, ET C. TH E
SOUL IS NEITHER THE BODY NOR T HE LIFE. IT RESULTS F ROM
THEIR UNION. ILLUSTRATIONS. DEAD SOULS, KILLING SO ULS,
DEATH OF SOULS, KEEPING SOUL S ALIVE. A SUMMARY OF T HE
DISCUSSION ON NEPHESH AND PSYCHE .................................................. . 503

CHAPTER XIV.
EVOLUTION NOT THE CREATIVE METHOD.

FIVE KINDS OF EVOLUTIONISTS. THE VOICE OF MATHEMATICS ON
THE AGE AND POPULATION OF MAN. THE UNITY OF THE RACE, OF
THE MAIN RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS, OF MA'SN ORIGINAL HOME ,
OF MANS' ANCIENT CIVILIZATION. MENDELISM AND BIOMETR Y.
NO NEW SPECI ES EVOLVED DURING RECORDED H ISTORY.
MATHEMATICAL PROBABILITY. NUMEROUS FACTS CONTRADIC T
EVOLUTION. AGE OF THE SUN AND THE EARTH. HISTORY AND
GEOLOGY. DISTRIBUTION OF PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE. DESIGN IN
CREATION. EIGHT GULF S IMPASSABLE BY EVOLUTION. S OME
UNANSWERABLE QUESTIONS. HYBRIDS. HONEY BEES AND ANT S
MORE INTELLIGEN T THAN APES. THE MOSAIC C REATION
ACCOUNT INSPIRED. EVOLU' TIONIASDTSMISSIONS.
ANTI-EVOLUTION TESMTOI NIES OF ABLEST SCIE NTISTS.
EVOLUTION FOUNDED UPON EXTRAVAGA NT AND
INHARMONIOUS GUESSES. EVOLUTIONS ' PUERILE ARGUMENTS .
ALLEGED MISSING LINKS. ANIMALS PAINTED IN CA VERNS.
VESTIGIAL ORGANS. BLOOD TESTS. RECAPITULATION THEOR Y.
INCREASE OF KNOWLEDGE AND INVENTIONS. EVO LUTION
CONTRARY TO GOD'S WORD. EVOLUTION'S INDICTMENT. ........... 539
vii
THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES

Hast thou not heard it, the universal music,
The throbbing harmony, the old e'erlasting rhyme,
In the wild billows roaring,
In the mad torrent pouring,
And keeping with the stars its beat and march sublime?
Hast thou not heard it when the night was silent,
And nothing stirred but winds amid the trees,
And the star-orbits, strings of harps celestial,
Seemed quivering to the rush of melodies?

If in thy soul there pulse not some faint responsive echo
Of that supernal, everlasting hymn,
Thou'rt of the low earth, lowly,
Or livest life unholy,
Or dullest spiritual sense by carnal grossness dim.
Hear it, O poet, hear it! O preacher, give it welcome!
O loving heart, receive it, deep in thy inmost core,
The harmony of angels—glory, forever glory,
Glory and peace and joy, and love forevermore!
viii
CHAPTER I.

GENERAL REMARKS.

THEIR NECESSITY. BIBLE PROOF FOR GO'SD CREATORSHIP. THE
NATURE OF THE CREATIVE AC T. T HE WORLD OF SPIRIT AND
MATTER AS THE CREATIVE SPHERES. THE CREATIVE DAYS. T HE
LAWS OF NATURE. THE BEGINNING.

IN THE first volum e of the Epiphany St udies In The
Scriptures we discussed Gods' Existence, God's Attributes
of Being and Character and False Views of God. We desire
in this, the second volume, to study 's GWodorks o f
Creation. Before entering into the particulars of s God'
creative works we desire to set forth some general remark s
on God's works of creation, as introductory of the deta ils
that we hope to give thereafter. These general remarks a re
called forth for the most part, because there are so m any
misunderstandings on Gods' creative works. We doubt not
that the usual objections that many scientists make to what
is alleged to be the Christian view of Gods ' creative works
are due to this alleged Christian view of His wor ks of
creation being neither Christian nor Biblical; bu t are
creedal views largely the product of the D ark Ages and
alien to the Old Testament, the New Testament and the
assured results of scientific study. We hold that howe ver
much variance there may be between the Biblical view of
God's creative works and some of the theories, hypotheses ,
speculations and guesses of some scientists, real and
alleged, there is no disagreement between the Bi blical
statements on the subject under consideration and the
assured results of scientific discovery of facts as such.
Rather they dovetail into one another with marve lous
harmony, which agreement cannot be asserted o f the
creedal views of Go'sd creative works and the assu red
results of scienti fic discovery of facts. It is this
disagreement
9
10 Creation.
that has made not a few scientists reject the Bible a s an
authority on Go'sd creative works, under the mistaken
assumption that its and the creedal view on the subject ar e
identical, whereas on almost every point of fac t they are in
disharmony with one another. This fact makes some
general remarks on our subject necessary before proceeding
to the particulars later to be brought out.

But does the Bible set forth the though t that God is t he
Creator and that His creative works are as extensive as the
spiritual and material worlds? We claim no less than an
affirmative answer to the question just asked for the Bible's
teaching on the subjec t under study ; and our first gene ral
remark on the subjec t will prove such to be the Bib lical
view of it. So fa r as the creation of the material univer se,
including this earth and its belongings, is concerned, this is
set forth in many passages. The most detailed of these, of
course, is that with which the book of Genesis begins. W e
will first give a list of passages proving that God made th e
universe—the heavens and the earth. Gen. 1: 1; 2: 1-4; Ex.
20: 11; 1 Sam. 2: 8; 2 Kings 19: 15; Neh. 9: 6; Ps. 33: 6, 7 ;
89: 11; 102: 25; 103: 22; 104: 2, 3, 5, 6; 1 21: 2; 124 : 8;
136: 5-9; 146: 5, 6; Prov. 3: 19; 8: 2269-; 16: 4; 26: 10 ;
Eccl. 11: 5; Is. 37: 16; 40: 12, 26, 28; 42: 5; 44 : 24; 45: 12 ,
18; 48: 13; 51: 13, 16 ; Jer. 10: 12, 16; 31: 35; 32: 17; 5 1:
15; Jonah 1: 9; Zech. 12: 1; Acts 4: 24; 7: 50; 14: 15; Rom.
1: 20; 1 Cor. 8: 6; Eph. 3: 9; Heb. 2: 10; 3: 4; Rev. 4: 1 1;
10: 6; 14: 7. Next we will cite passages wherein there is no
mention of the earth as created by God, but tha t prove tha t
God created the heaven—s the starry heavens above: Gen .
1: 14-19; 1 Chro. 16: 26; Job 9: 8, 9; 26: 13; Ps. 8: 3; 19: 1 .
We now present a third list of passages, wherein is no
mention of the heavens as created by God, but that pro ve
that God created and ordered the earth: Gen. 1: 2, 9, 10; Job
26: 7; 38: 4; Ps. 24: 1, 2; 65: 6; 78: 69; 90: 2; 95: 4,