[228]
But the most brilliant service rendered to the theological
theory came from another quarter for, in 1726, Scheuchzer,
having discovered a large fossil lizard, exhibited it to the
world as the "human witness of the Deluge":[228b] this great
discovery was hailed everywhere with joy, for it seemed to prove
not only that human beings were drowned at the Deluge, but that
"there were giants in those days." Cheered by the applause thus
gained, he determined to make the theological position
impregnable. Mixing together various texts of Scripture with
notions derived from the philosophy of Descartes and the
speculations of Whiston, he developed the theory that "the
fountains of the great deep" were broken up by the direct
physical action of the hand of God, which, being literally
applied to the axis of the earth, suddenly stopped the earth's
rotation, broke up "the fountains of the great deep," spilled
the water therein contained, and produced the Deluge. But his
service to sacred science did not end here, for he prepared an
edition of the Bible, in which magnificent engravings in great
number illustrated his view and enforced it upon all readers.
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