that learned Infidels make the grossest
blunders respecting the plainest Scripture records of scientific facts.
It is very unlikely that Infidels, who lay no claim to prophetic
inspiration, should make any predictions about religion more reliable
than those they have been telling so abundantly for two hundred years
past, respecting the immediate overthrow of Christianity and the Bible;
which, nevertheless, has been going on conquering new kingdoms every
year, its missionaries outstripping scientific ardor in exploring the
mysteries of African geography, honorably receiving the prizes which the
Infidel Volney instituted for philological proficiency, and printing
Bibles from Voltaire's printing-press. And it is very unlikely that
these physical sciences, so long worshipers in the temple of God, should
now become impious; as unlikely as that Hitchcock, or McCosh, or Hodge,
or Barnes should now, in their old days, renounce the Bible, and
blaspheme God. What! astronomy, and zoology, and botany, and
ethnography, that were suckled at the breast of the Bible, raise their
hands against the mother that bore them! Incredible! These sciences made
an early profession of religion; taught Sabbath-school in the days of
Job, Zophar, and Elihu; wrote sacred poetry, and were licensed to
preach, in the days of Solomon; poured forth prophetic raptures in the
days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; wrote volumes on the
politics of Christianity in Babylon, and painted glorious visions of the
victories of the Lamb of God, and dazzling views of the landscapes of
paradise restored, in Patmos; employed the gigantic intellect of Newton,
the elegant pen of Paley, the eloquence of Chalmers, Herschel's
heaven-piercing eye, and Miller's muscular arm, to guard the outer
courts of the sanctuary, while they sung sublime anthems to the music of
David's harp within. Have they now, after such a life of devotion,
relinquished all these sublimities and beatitudes, taken lodgings in the
sty, and renounced their faith in God, and hope of heaven, for the
Infidel maxim, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die?" God forbid!
On the contrary, all matured science glorifies its Creator.

As a specimen of the testimony of matured science to religion, let us
look at the progress of astronomy, as it has successively swept away one
Atheistic theory after another, answered anti-Bible objections, and
illustrated promises couched in heavenly figures, long incomprehen