And therefore it
is, if I may so far anticipate my conclusion, that the narrative has no
direct concern with how, when, and where, the Creation slowly worked
itself out under the Divine guidance which is still elaborating the
great purpose of the "ages"; it confines our attention to what God, the
great Designer, did and said in heaven, as preliminary to all that was
to follow on earth. The former was not a proper subject for revelation,
because man would in time come to learn it by his studies on earth; but
the latter all ages could only learn--the first as well as the
latest--from a Divine Revelation.
Again, let me address a few words to those who are tempted, half
unconsciously perhaps, to think that any lengthy prelude and "elaborate"
explanation of Genesis must condemn the narrative _a priori_, or be
derogatory to the dignity of Revelation. Why the narrative should be
brief and concise I have just suggested. That it needs explanation of
_some_ sort is inevitable, because it _must_ be put into human language;
and directly such language is employed, we come upon such terms as "let
there be," "he created," and "days," which do not always call forth the
same ideas in all minds.
It will not have escaped the attention of any earnest student, that
Scripture has several different methods of describing things so as to
reveal them to men.
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