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PROFESSOR LOU
An interesting story
dealing with the theory of evolution
and other phases of modern teaching
as unscriptural and unscientific.
(From the original dust cover.)
By
Mary E. McDonough
Copyright, 1924
HAMILTON BROS.
SCRIPTURE TRUTH DEPOT
120 Tremont St.
Boston, Mass
Printed in the United States of America
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CHAPTER I
Very slowly swayed the hammock under the old
apple trees. One might have thought its occupant asleep, were it not
that now and then a slender hand might be seen gently brushing back
a stray lock of hair which the summer breeze had tossed across her
face.
Suddenly the silence of the twilight hour was broken by a girlish
voice in the rose garden across the hedge. "Louise, Loo-ease, where
are you?"
"Here, in the hammock, Nell. Don't stumble over Ted's
wheelbarrow. He left it right in the path when Sam whistled for
him."
"All right, Lou, I'll be careful. Just like boys,—they
are always leaving things about!"
A moment later another girlish form lay snuggled in the depths of
the capacious hammock.
"Were you asleep, Lou, when I called you?"
"Oh, no indeed. I was just watching the lovely evening star.
Isn't it beautiful, Nell?"
"There, I might have known that you were stargazing. Really, I
don't see how you can find those old stars so interesting. You are
always gazing at them."
"Why, Nell, how can you talk so? Old they are certainly, but
wonderfully interesting if you only study them; besides they are
God's beautiful handiwork which He created ages ago and has kept
shining through the centuries."
"Forgive me, Lou. I did not mean to speak disrespectfully of
anything that God has created; but I was impatient. You seem to
really enjoy astronomy, while I hate it. It is my worst study and I
always get poor marks in astronomy exam. I wish that I had not
decided to take it this year. It is not a bit interesting to me. My
poor little mind becomes actually giddy when I read of the
immeasurable distances from star to star: I cannot remember how many
millions of miles Neptune is from the sun, nor how many trillions of
miles away is the nearest star, and I don't care, either."
A half-amused smile might have been seen upon the face of Nell's
listener, had the light been a bit brighter. "Why, Nell, I do not
blame you for disliking astronomy studied in that way. Just a dry
collection of facts and figures is not very interesting."
"Well, how do you study, Lou?"
"Why, I just try to make the acquaintance of the stars, and I
like to read about their creation and all the interesting things
that the Bible tells us about them."
"The Bible," laughed Nell; "why the Bible was written long ago.
Just think of all the astronomical discoveries that have been made
since that time. The Bible may have poetical things to say about the
stars, but you could not call its statements scientific."
There was silence for a moment, then slowly came the rejoinder,
"Nell, dear, I am afraid that you do not know your Bible very well.
While we do not call it a scientific book, yet there are many, many
statements contained in its pages that anticipate by thousands of
years the latest verdict of scientific men. It is a wonderful book,
Nell, I wish that we might study it together some time."
A low rustle in the grass near them and a half-suppressed laugh
caused both the girls to sit upright in a moment. "Don't be alarmed,
Professor Lou. We are just enjoying your lecture and being properly
edified as Deacon Brown would say."
"Why Ted," exclaimed his sister, "how long have you and Sam been
lying there?"
"Only a moment, sister; but long enough to wish that we might ask
the eminent authority a few questions."
"You good for nothing boys!" exclaimed Nell indignantly. "You'd
better put that wheelbarrow in the tool-house before someone falls
headlong over it, Ted; and as for you Sam, Mother has been looking
hours for you. She wants you to do an errand at the store for her."
"Wait a minute, Nell. Let's be patient. Boys will be boys. What
are the questions that are troubling you, Ted?" asked Louise.
"Well," slowly replied Ted, "how could the Bible make statements
hundreds and hundreds of years ago that agree with up to date
scientific facts?"
"Because the Bible, unlike any other book, was written by men
directly inspired by the Holy Spirit," replied his sister. "Would it
not be reasonable," she continued, "to expect God to reveal what he
wished and as He wished it if He made a revelation to men at all?
And having all knowledge could He not easily put in a sentence a
statement concerning facts that men with their limited knowledge
would be ages finding out?"
"Yes, He could," replied Ted; "but where are such statements to
be found? I have never seen any."
"Boys," cried Nell abruptly, "finish your work and let us all go
in to the study and compel our fair professor to prove her
statements."
"Agreed!" they shouted, and were out of sight in a moment.
A half hour later a little group might be seen gathered around
the study-table in Louise Harper's pleasant home. Ted and Sam had
seen fit to invite two of their chums and Nell called for her cousin
Sallie who was home from boarding-school. Mrs. Harper had joined the
group, while Mr. Harper and Mr. Marshall, his neighbor, sat just
outside on the piazza busily discussing the political situation.
"Now Professor Lou, we demand the proof of your statements,"
exclaimed the irrepressible Nell.
"Very well," calmly replied Louise, "as our conversation a little
while ago began with the stars, suppose we return to the subject.
Let me read you a few words," she continued; and reaching for a
well-worn volume she read as follows: "Hipparchus, about a century
and a half before Christ, gave the number of the stars as 1,022, and
Ptolemy, in the beginning of the second century of the Christian era
could find but 1,026 .... When the telescope began to be pointed to
the heavens less than three centuries ago, by Galilee, then men
began to know that Jeremiah was right when he made the stars as
countless as the sand of the seashore. When Lord Rosse's instrument
turned its great mirror to the sky, the number of visible stars
increased to nearly 400,000,000 and Herschel compared the multitude
of them to glittering dust scattered on the black background of the
heavens. When John Herschel at the foot of this dark continent,
resolves the nebulae into suns, and Lord Rosse, as with the eye of a
Titan, finds in the cloudy scarf about Orion 'a gorgeous bed of
stars', and the very milky way itself proves to be simply a grand
procession of stars absolutely without number,—how true is the
exclamation of Jeremiah 600 years before Christ, 'the host of heaven
cannot be numbered.'"
"Whew!" cried Ted as Louise finished; "did Jeremiah really say
that?"
"Suppose we turn to the thirty-third chapter and twenty-second
verse and see for ourselves," replied his sister. Bibles were passed
and a somewhat noisy turning of leaves followed.
"Oh dear, where is Jeremiah?" cried Nell, after a hasty search
from Genesis to Job.
"It is after Psalms and Proverbs and—and—two or three more
books," helpfully volunteered Ted. When all had found the passage,
Louise requested it to be read aloud.
"Sure enough, there it is," said Ted, "'The host of heaven cannot
be numbered.'''
"Surely God must have told Jeremiah to say that, for they did not
have telescopes until long, long after his day," said Sam.
"You are quite right Sam," said Mrs. Harper approvingly. "If
Jeremiah had not been inspired of God to make that statement, he
would have been as sure that he could count the stars and record
their number as were Hipparchus and Ptolemy hundreds of years after
his time."
By this time the discussion upon the piazza had ceased and both
men were listening to the voices within the study. Before Louise
could proceed, Mr. Harper called to the little group—"It seems to me
that you are having a wonderfully interesting time in there. Would
you mind if we joined you?"
"Oh no, no, father," replied Louise, "You and Mr. Marshall are
quite welcome if you will bear patiently with us."
"Well, really, this is pleasant," said Mr. Marshall, as he was
led to an easy chair. "By the way, I think that you may be
interested in this clipping from a scientific paper that I found
only this afternoon. I slipped it into my pocket for future
reference and as I listened to that wonderful passage in Jeremiah I
was reminded of it. I will not trouble you with the words relating
to the various maps of the heavenly bodies, but permit me to read
the concluding sentence. 'Notwithstanding the increased facilities
for ascertaining the secrets of the starry heavens, the latest
verdict of astronomers is that the starry host cannot be
numbered.'"
"Thank you, Mr. Marshall," smilingly responded Louise. "I think
that we have proven one point satisfactorily. God has certainly
expressed in a single sentence the latest verdict of astronomers;
but although astronomers know that there are stars not yet
discovered, and the complete number cannot be ascertained or
recorded, yet God knows the exact number, because He has made them
and keeps them moving in orderly arrangement through the starry
heavens. Just let us turn to the twenty-sixth verse of the fortieth
chapter of Isaiah."
"Isaiah comes before Jeremiah," said Ted in an undertone to Nell,
who returned his officiousness with a withering glance.
Having found the place, all read the majestic passage: "Lift up
your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that
bringeth out their host by number; He calleth them all by name by
the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power, not one
faileth."
"What a wonderful passage!" exclaimed Mr. Harper, "Here we see
God as Creator and Sustainer of all the millions of stars which
astronomers tell us move in their course billions and trillions of
miles apart. And here too, we see the difference between stars,
indicated in the words 'He calleth them all by name.' Name,
signifies individuality. Astronomers speak of stars as of varying
magnitude, and there are also differences in color and general
appearance."
"That reminds me of the expression in the forty-first verse of
the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians," said Mrs. Harper. "'One
star differeth from another star in glory.'"
"What a wonderful book the Bible is!" exclaimed Mr. Marshall,
thoughtfully. "I have never studied it as I ought. Why I begin to
see that instead of being behind the times, as so many persons think
it to be, it is so far ahead of us even in the scientific realm,
that we are not able to overtake it."
During all this time Nell's cousin Sallie had remained very
quiet, but her face was a study. When the Bibles were first opened,
a bored look, accompanied by a half pitying, half patronizing smile
might have been seen. As the passages were read and the various
comments were made, the smile vanished and a look of surprise which
deepened into interest took its place. This in turn was followed by
an expression of embarrassment and perplexity, and now she somewhat
timidly ventured to speak.
"May I ask if you take all the words of the Bible literally? For
example, how can you reconcile the statement that God created the
earth in six days, when geology plainly shows us that untold ages
must have elapsed before the earth became as it is today?"
"There, Professor Lou, you have a question that I should like to
hear answered; that is, if you can answer it," laughed Nell.
"Sallie dear, excuse me if I suggest that you read the first
verse of Genesis," said Louise with a smile. "Certainly," replied
Sallie; and opening her Bible she read: "'In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth.'''
"You will notice dear, that this statement makes no reference to
six days." Here Sam, who had been scanning the chapter, exclaimed,
"but in verse five we read of the 'first day,' and in verse eight of
the 'second,' and so on until verse thirty-one, when the 'sixth day'
is mentioned."
"Yes, Sam," replied Louise, "that is true; but let us look again
at the first verse. Here we have a short declarative sentence, of
which 'God' is the subject, and 'created' is the predicate; as we
would say in a grammar exercise. This sentence simply tells us that
God created the heaven and the earth; in other words,—the universe:
and we readily see that God existed before He created, just as truly
as after He had spoken the universe into existence. It does not tell
us anything more than that; although the verb 'create' in the
original Hebrew, meaning—to bring into existence without the aid of
preexisting material—reveals the fact that the creation was
instantaneous and not a process of evolution."
At the word evolution, Sallie gave a quick start. "You do not
believe in evolution, Louise? Why the theory of evolution is fully
established. There can be no other theory concerning the origin of
things."
"I will not attempt to refute your statement in my own words,"
replied Louise, "but permit me to quote the words of persons wiser
than I. Let me read a few extracts from this book which father
brought home last week. Here is what Lord Kelvin, the greatest
scientist of the age says in reference to evolution: —'I marvel at
the undue haste with which teachers in our universities and
preachers in their pulpits are restating the truth in terms of
evolution while evolution remains an unproven hypothesis in the
laboratories of science.' And here is a similar statement in the
next paragraph. 'The Darwinian theory of descent has not a single
fact to confirm it in the realm of nature.' Professor Tyndal, Sir
William Dawson, in fact the leaders of science generally, either
deny evolution altogether, or admit it is only an unproven
hypothesis. Virchow, the greatest world authority on physiology,
says: 'Evolution is all nonsense'; and here are the words of another
scientific man: 'Evolution is a puerile hypothesis'; and here is the
recent statement of Professor William Bateson, the greatest living
biologist: 'There is not a single shred of evidence in biology for
the theory of evolution.' There are many more but I will not read
them now; only let me give you two or three sentences that have a
special bearing upon this verse that we are considering. This
extract is from a teacher in a theological school. It reads as
follows: 'There is one book in the world which throws a clear light
on the problem of origins. That book is the Bible. The speculations
of men, even the most learned of them, lead the mind into mist and
uncertainty, but the Bible speaks with a firm full-toned voice, The
universe is here. How and whence did it come? The Bible solves the
problem in a very simple and rational way; for in its very first
verse it says: In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth.'"
"Then you mean to say that God created the earth in the twinkling
of an eye just exactly as we see it today, and there has been no
change since the moment of creation," said Sallie, somewhat
impatiently.
"No dear, I do not mean that," replied Louise. "The mystery
deepens," said Nell. "Do explain, for this is becoming too tense."
"Be patient a moment and I think it will become more clear to us
all," said Mrs. Harper sweetly. "Lou dear, I think it is time for
you to take the second verse of this chapter."
"Yes, mother, I will do so; but wait a moment until I read it
from this translation of the original Hebrew. Here it is:—'Now the
earth had become waste and wild, and darkness was upon the face of
the roaring deep.'"
"Had become," repeated Ted, "is that the tense in the Hebrew?"
"Yes," replied Louise.
"Oh, that means that the earth God created had gone to pieces,"
exclaimed Sam. A laugh followed, but Mr. Harper patted Sam's
shoulder saying, "you have a logical mind, Sam." Unwilling to be
outdone by his chum, Ted remarked, "then God had to make over the
earth."
"Quite right, my son," replied Mr. Harper, "but before He made it
over (or reconstructed it) thousands and thousands of years elapsed
and here we may find the so-called geologic ages. You see, boys," he
continued, "that geology and the Bible agree perfectly when the
statements of the Bible are understood."
"Yes," said Louise, "it becomes very plain as we rightly
interpret these simple but wonderful verses. I often try to picture
the beginning of this chaotic condition. I believe that a
disturbance in the solar system caused the sun to give forth less
heat and light, which of course quickly affected the earth. The
atmosphere grew increasingly cold until all vegetable and animal
life died. Twilight deepened into night, while colder and colder
became the atmosphere, ushering in the ice-age, of which we read in
geology. Great convulsions of nature followed, until the ruined
earth presented the picture painted here in Genesis: a formless,
lifeless mass of earth, amid the dark expanse of roaring waters.
When the ruin was complete, the Spirit of God, the same Holy Spirit
of which we read in the New Testament, who was brooding over this
chaotic earthly creation, began to reconstruct and bring in some new
creations, that the earth might be ready for His highest
creation—man."
Oh I see," cried Sam, "it was this made over earth that was done
in six days."
"Yes," added Ted, "God created the earth in the twinkling of an
eye, let it remain thousands and thousands of years a wreck, then
made it over in six days. I see now."
"But Lou, why did God let it become a wreck and why did it remain
so, such a long time?" asked Sam.
At this moment there appeared in the door-way Katie the maid,
bearing a tray of tempting cakes and ices. "I think that we shall
have to wait until some other evening for the answer to your
question, Sam," said Mrs. Harper smilingly. "What do you say to the
idea of another gathering of this kind next Wednesday evening?"
"Oh let's have it," shouted the boys.
"Very well, we will meet at half past seven next Wednesday
evening and meanwhile perhaps you will be able to look up some
answers to your own questions," suggested Mrs. Harper.
Before the refreshments were served, Mr. Harper arose and said
quietly, "Shall we not thank God for opening our eyes to behold
wondrous things out of His word, and shall we not ask Him for
further light?"
All arose, while in a few earnest, heartfelt words, Mr. Harper
led in praise and petition. |