Earth's earliest ages

532 Pages·2010·18.7 MB·English

PRESENTED
XHE CHURCH OF ENGLAND BOOKSOCfETV
(LADAiVl STREET, LONDON.
PRESENTED
Cljurclj oi entjlanU
ADAM STREET, LONDON.
11,
Founded 1880.
CrtKsnrtr.
Frank A. Bevan, Esq.
S»tcittun.
John Shkimpton, Esq.

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EARTH'S EARLIEST AGES.
Wioxk% Bfjr tl^je sumt ^ixtTgat,
I.
THE ANTI-CHRIST, BABYLON, AND THE COMING
OF THE KINGDOM.
SecondEdition. Croiun 8vo, cloth, 3^. dd.
THE GREAT PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE
GENTILES, THE JEWS, AND THE CHURCH
OF GOD.
ThirdEdition. Crown Svo, cloth,'Js. 6d.
London
:
HODDER &> STOUGHTON, 27, PaternosterRow.
EARTH'S EARLIEST AGES;
AND THEIR
Connection iuU^ ^Tobern .^piritimltsm anb (thonoi^fy)
G. H. PEMBER. M.A.,
AUTHOR OF "the GREAT PROPHECIES," ETC.
FIFTH EDITION.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
27,
MDCCCLXXXIX.
\_Allrights resefTeU.]
PrintedbyHazell,Watson,&Viney,Ld.,LondonandAyleslury.
PREFACE.
IN 1876 the author ofthe present volume pubHshed a
smaller book, entitled "Earth's Earliest Ages and
Their Lessons for Us," in which his object was twofold.
He first attempted to remove some of the Geological and
other difficulties usually associated with the commencing
chapters of Genesis and then endeavoured to show that
;
the characteristic features of the Days of Noah were
reappearing in Christendom, and, therefore, that the Days
ofthe Son of Man could not be far distant.
For guidance in his efforts after the first of these aims,
—
he adopted the following obvious principles which, if
theybe admitted, renderthe interpretationeasyand precise,
and anticipate every possible Geological objection.
I. That the first chapter of Genesis, equally with those
which follow it, is, in its primary meaning, neither vision
nor allegory, but plain history, and must, therefore, be
accepted as a literal statement of facts.
II. That care must, however, be taken to elicit the
exact sense of the Hebrew text, which the English
Authorised Version often fails to express.
III. That, to those who really believe in a Supreme
iv PREFACE.
Being, the occurrence ofsupernatural interference, causing
physical convulsions and changes, presents no difficulty,
especially in connection with a world the moral condition
of which was evidently out of course ages before the
creation ofour race.
In the latter halfof the volume, it became necessary to
investigate Spiritualism, because that strange movement
was deemed to be an incipient revival of the last and
greatest cause of corruption in the days of Noah. And
possibly it may have been owing to this investigation, and
its admission of the supernatural character of phenomena
then generally ascribed to illusion or imposture, that the
book lay for a while incomparative neglect. When, how-
ever, its surmises began to be verified by the spread and
forcible intrusion upon public notice of Spiritualism, the
speedy sale of the remaining copies, and the letters
received by the author, testified to an awakening interest,
and determined the reissue, in some form, of the work.
It was, however, apparent that a mere reprint would be
very inadequate, since, apart from the author's increased
familiarity with the subject. Spiritualism itself had greatly
developed, and two other waves of kindred thought,
Theosophy and Buddhism, had followed it.
Not only, then, has the original work been revised with
copious additions, but fresh chapters have also been added
to deal with the later phases of that which, in spite of
great diversities among its supporters, we must, neverthe-
less, regard as one threefold movement. And in no point,
perhaps, is its real unitymore easily discerned than in the
main object of its teachings, which is, to set aside the