Gladstone to produce any contemporary
authority in geological science who would support his so-called
scriptural view. And when, in a rejoinder, Mr. Gladstone
attempted to support his view on the authority of Prof. Dana,
Prof. Huxley had no difficulty in showing from Prof. Dana's
works that Mr. Gladstone's inference was utterly unfounded.
But, while the fabric reared by Mr. Gladstone had been thus
undermined by Huxley on the scientific side, another opponent
began an attack from the biblical side. The Rev. Canon Driver,
professor at Mr. Gladstone's own University of Oxford, took up
the question in the light of scriptural interpretation. In
regard to the comparative table drawn up by Sir J. W. Dawson,
showing the supposed correspondence between the scriptural and
the geological order of creation, Canon Driver said: "The two
series are evidently at variance. The geological record contains
no evidence of clearly defined periods corresponding to the
`days' of Genesis. In Genesis, vegetation is complete two days
before animal life appears.
Pages:
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469