rth's formation, corresponds, with the strictest
propriety, to the nature of the discourse; which is not an account of
the system of the universe, but of the process of preparation of this
earth for the abode of man. Compared with the influences of "the two
great light-bearers," those of the stars are very insignificant; since
the sun sheds more light and heat on the earth in one day, than all the
fixed stars have done since the creation of Adam. It is evident, from
the words, that Moses is not speaking either of their original creation,
or of their actual magnitude, but of their appointment and use in
relation to us, when he says, "And God made two great light-bearers (the
greater light-bearer to rule the day, and the lesser light bearer to
rule the night), and the stars. And God set them in the firmament of the
heavens, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and the
night, and to divide the light from the darkness."

Neither here nor elsewhere does he say they were _created_ at this time,
but in all the subsequent references uses other words, such as
"prepared," "divided," "made," "appropriated," "made for ruling,"
"gave;" a studious omission, which shows that the Author of the Bible
had not forgotten how long it was since he had called them into being.
_The Bible, then, does not say that God created the sun and stars only
two days before Adam._

Another correction of careless Bible reading is necessary, that we may
be satisfied about what the Bible _does not say_, ere we begin to defend
what it does say. The Bible does not say, nor lead us to believe, that
the darkness spoken of in the second verse of the first of Genesis had
existed from eternity. Darkness is not eternal; it requires the exercise
of creative power for its production. Light is the eternal dwelling of
the Word of God.[251] The darkness which brooded over our earth, at the
period of its formation, is very plainly described in the Bible as a
temporary phenomenon, incident to, and necessary for, the birth of
ocean. It is confined by the adverb of time, _when_, to the period of
condensation, upheaval, and subsidence, occupied by the birth of that
gigantic infant, "_when_ it burst forth as though it had issued from the
womb; _when_ I made the cloud a garment for it, and thick darkness a
swaddling band for it, and broke up for it my decreed place, and set
bars and doors."[252] The sun may have shone for millions of years
before upon the ear