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THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S vative theologians have come gradually to see, the names in these genealogies are not necessarily to he construed as only individuals. But I would add th a t I am not disposed to question the tra d i tion of th e extraordinary longevity in those olden times. Death, as I under stand it, is not a necessary p art of man’s lot a t all. Had man not sinned he would never have died. Death— th e separa tion of soul and body, th e two integral p arts of his n atu re— is something for him abnormal, unn atu ral. I t is ■not strange, then, th a t in th e earliest_period life should have been much longer than it became afterw ard. Even a physiolo gist like Weissmann tells us th a t the problem for science today is—not why organisms live so long, bu t why they £ver d ie .' I have referred to th e Babylonian story of th e flood, and can only add a word on the alleged contradiction of science on th is subject. Very confident ' statem ents are often made as to th e im possibility of such a submergence of the inhabited world, and destruction of h u man and animal life as th e Bible rep re sents. I t would be-w ell if those who speak th u s confidently would study the accumulated evidence which distin guished scientific men have brought for ward, th a t such a catastrophe as Genesis describes is n 9 t only possible, b u t has actually taken place since the advent of man. My atten tion was first drawn to this subject by an interesting lecture by the late Duke of Argyle given in Glas gow, and the same view has been advo cated by other em inent geological specialists on glacial and post-glacial times, as Prestw ich, Dawson, Howorth, Dr. W right, etc. The universal term s employed need not be read as extending beyond the regions inhabited by man. There seems to be no substantial reason for doubting th a t in the flood of Noah we have an actual historical occurrence
of which traditions appear to have su r vived in most regions of the world. In conclusion, it is clear th a t th e n ar ratives of Creation, th e P all, th e Flood, are not myths, bu t n arrativ es enshrin ing th e knowledge or memory of real transactions. The creation of the world was certainly not a myth, bu t a fact, and the representation of the stages o f cre ation dealt likew ise w ith facts. The language used was not th a t of modern science, but, under divine guidance, the sacred w riter gives a broad, general picture which conveys a tru e idea of the o rder of the divine working in cre ation. Man’s fall was likewise a tre mendous fact, w ith universal conse quences in sin and death to th e race. Man’s origin can only be explained through an exercise of direct creative activity, whatever subordinate factors evolution may have contributed. The flood was an historical fact, and the preservation of Noah and his family is one of th e best and most widely attested of human traditions. In these n a rra tives in Genesis and th e facts which they embody are really laid the founda tion of all else in the Bible. The unity of revelation binds them up With the Christian Gospel. DID HE HAVE A “B. A.” ? • The story is told of a gilded youth who, afte r struggling for four years w ith th e vicissitudes of^college life, u l tim ately achieved a diploma. Proud' in the possession of his new distinction he retu rn ed to ,th e ancestral h earth , which happened to be located on a farm in the Middle West, jaun tily fitted out w ith an English plaid suit, a flashy tie, a large gold-headed cane, an eye-glass, and a Turkish cigarette. When his fath er saw him, he turned to a neighbor who was standing by and said, “ In th e lan guage of Aaron in th e wilderness, ‘I poured in my gold and out th ere came th is calf.’ ” I
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