Here he begins to enter upon particular Exceptions: And his first Head
is against the _Formation of the Earth_, _pag._ 45. as explained by the
Theory. To this he gives but one Exception in this Chapter: Namely, That
_it would have taken up too much Time; the World being made in six
Days_. Whereas many Separations of the Chaos, and of the Elements, were
to be made, according to the Theory, which could not be dispatch’d in so
short a Time. To this Exception, the general Answer may be this; either
you take the Hypothesis of an ordinary Providence, or of an
extraordinary, as to the Time allowed for the Formation of the Earth: If
you proceed according to an ordinary Providence, the Formation of the
Earth would require much more Time than six Days: But if according to an
extraordinary, you may suppose it made in six Minutes, if you please.
’Twas plain Work, and a simple Process, according to the Theory;
consisting only of such and such Separations, and a Concretion: And
either of these might be accelerated, and dispatch’d in a longer or
shorter Time, as Providence thought fit.
However, this Objection does not come well from the Hands of this
Author, who makes all the Mountains of the Earth (the most operose Part
of it, as one would think) to be rais’d in a small Parcel of a Day by
the Heat and Action of the Sun; as we shall find in the tenth Chapter,
hereafter. He seems to proceed by natural Causes; for such are the Heat
and Action of the Sun: And if so, he will find himself as much
straiten’d for Time, as the Theorist can be. But if he say, the Work of
Nature and of the Sun was accelerated by an extra-ordinary Power, he
must allow us to say the same Thing of the Separations of the Chaos, and
the first Concretion of the Earth. For he cannot reasonably debar us
that Liberty which he takes himself, unless we have debarr’d and
excluded our selves. Now ’tis plain, the Theorist never excluded an
extraordinary Providence in the Formation and Construction of the Earth;
as appears, and is openly express’d in many Parts of the Theory, _Eng.
Theor. p._ 88. See, if you please, the Conclusion of the _fifth
Chapter_, which treats about the Formation of the Earth. The last
Paragraph is this: _Give me leave only, before we proceed any farther,
to annex here a short Advertisement, concerning the Causes of this
wonderful Structure of the first Earth: ’Tis true, we have propos’d the
natural Causes of it, and I do not know wherein our Explication is false
or defective; but in Things of this Kind we may easily be too credulous:
And this Structure is so marvellous, that it ought rather to be
consider’d as a particular Effect of the Divine Art, than as the Work of
Nature. The whole Globe of the Water vaulted over, and the exterior
Earth hanging above the Deep, sustain’d by nothing but its own Measures
and Manner of Construction: A Building without Foundation or
Corner-stone. This seems to be a Piece of Divine Geometry or
Architecture; and to this, I think, is to be referr’d that magnificent
Challenge which God Almighty made to_ Job; Where wast thou, when I laid
the Foundations of the Earth? Declare, _&c._ Moses _also, when be had
describ’d the Chaos, saith_, The Spirit of God mov’d upon, _or sat
brooding upon_, the Face of the Waters; _without all doubt, to produce
some Effects there_. _And St._ Peter, _when he speaks of the Form of the
Anti-deluvian Earth, how it stood, in reference to the Waters, adds_, By
the Word of God, _or by the Wisdom of God_, it was made so. _And this
same Wisdom of God, in the_ Proverbs, _as we observed before, takes
notice of this very Piece of Work in the Formation of the Earth_: When
he set an Orb over the Face of the Deep, I was there. _Wherefore to the
great Architect, who made the boundless Universe out of nothing, and
form’d the Earth out of a Chaos, let the Praise of the whole Work, and
particularly, of this Master-piece, for ever, with all Honour, be
given._ In like Manner, there is a larger Account of Providence, both
ordinary and extraordinary, as to the Revolutions of the natural World,
in the last Paragraph of the eighth Chapter; and like Reflections are
made in other Places, when Occasion is offer’d.
We have not, therefore, any where excluded the Influence and Benefit of
superior Causes, where the Case requires it: Especially, when ’tis only
to modify the Effect, as to Time and Dispatch. And in that Case, none
will have more need of it than himself; as we shall find in the
Examination of his tenth Chapter, about the Origin of Mountains.
The rest of this second Chapter is spent in three Excursions. One in
justifying the _Cartesian_ Way of forming Light and the Sun, as
agreeable to _Moses_. The second about the _Jewish Cabala_, and
_Cabalistical Interpretations_. And the third about _mystical Numbers_.
But the Theory not being concern’d in these Things, I leave them to the
Author, and his Readers, to enjoy the Pleasure and Profit of them. And
proceed to the third Chapter.