Hugh Williamson (1735-1819). He was a signer of the Constitution of the United States, a member of the Continental Congress, a member of the U.S. Congress, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a land speculator and scientist. Hugh Williamson joined Dr. Benjamin Franklin in many of his electrical experiments. He studied for the ministry as a young man. Williamson visited and prayed for the sick in his community. When his father died, he pursued the study of divinity and became a preacher.
“In 1759 he went to Connecticut, where he pursued his theological studies and was licensed to preach. After returning from Connecticut, he was admitted to membership in the Presbytery of Philadelphia … [and] preached nearly two years.”
A chronic weakness in his chest would not permit him to continue a career in public speaking. He entered medical school, working as a professor in mathematics to finance his education. After graduating from college, he practiced in Philadelphia. After traveling to Europe, he became surgeon general and distinguished himself in medical service during the American Revolution. He became wealthy through land speculation and investments after his service in Congress. Williamson wrote extensively for medical and literary societies. He wrote a powerful book in 1811 that refuted the claims of “higher criticism” of Scripture. His book Observations of the Climate in Different Parts of America, provided scientific explanations for the credibility of the Holy Scriptures in regard to Noah’s flood and the events of Moses’ exodus.
Showing posts with label Scientists of Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scientists of Faith. Show all posts
Friday, November 28, 2008
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947). He was a renowned British philosopher and mathematician. His works include: Principia Mathematica (1910-1913); Principles of Natural Knowledge (1910). To my knowledge, Alfred North Whitehead was not a Christian; but affirmed that Christianity was the mother of Modern Science which began with the Scientific Revolution in Europe. In Science and the Modern World (1925), chapter 12, Alfred North Whitehead wrote:
“The religious vision, and its history of persistent expansion, is our one ground for optimism. Apart from it, human life is a flash of occasional enjoyments lighting up a mass of pain and misery, a bagatelle of transient experience.”
“The religious vision, and its history of persistent expansion, is our one ground for optimism. Apart from it, human life is a flash of occasional enjoyments lighting up a mass of pain and misery, a bagatelle of transient experience.”
John Tyndall (1820-1893). He was a British physicist and philosopher who became the director of the Royal Institute. The areas of his scientific study included: glacier flow, transmission and radiation of heat, the Tyndal effect which demonstrates how light is scattered by microscopic particles such as dust and colloids in suspension. In Fragments of Science, vol. II, “Professor Virchow and Evolution,” Tyndall declared:
“Religious feeling is as much a verity as any other part of human consciousness; and against it, on the subjective side, the waves of science beat in vain.”
“Religious feeling is as much a verity as any other part of human consciousness; and against it, on the subjective side, the waves of science beat in vain.”
Lord Rayleigh John Strutt (1842-1919). He was a leading scientist at Cambridge, 1879-84; a member of the Royal Institution, 1887-1905; and the chancellor of Cambridge, 1908-1919. Strutt was the discoverer of argon, 1895, and other rare gases. He pioneered the studies of electromagnetic wave motion, optics, sonics, gas dynamics, and perfected similitude and dimensional analysis as scientific tools. Strutt was a pioneer in developing molecular acoustics, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1904.
In the introduction to his published papers; Lord Rayleigh John Strutt declared:
“The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.”
In the introduction to his published papers; Lord Rayleigh John Strutt declared:
“The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.”
Sir James Young Simpson (1811-1870). He pioneered modern anesthesiology through the discovery of “Chloroform” in 1847. He said that he was inspired by the “deep sleep” that Adam was put into by God. He was considered a chief founder of the medical field of gynecology. Simpson was the Professor of Obstetric Medicine at Edinburgh University. He invented the Simpson forceps, introduced iron wire sutures, and acupressure. Simpsons’ writings on medical history, fetal pathology, and hermaphroditism are highly regarded. He declared his greatest discovery:
“That I have a Savior!”
He wrote a gospel tract which concluded with the following words:
“But again I looked and saw Jesus, my substitute, scourged in my stead and dying on the cross for me. I looked and cried and was forgiven. And it seems to be my duty to tell you of that Savior, to see if you will not also look and live. 'He was wounded for our transgressions…and with His stripes we are healed'” (Isaiah 53:5,6)
Sir James Young Simpson declared:
“The unregenerate, unbelieving soul is compared to a corpse; it is 'dead in sins.'” Of all of you who are now living by faith in Christ it may be truthfully said to-day, as it was said eighteen centuries ago of the Ephesians converts to whom the Apostle Paul wrote, 'You hath He quickened, who were dead.'"
“As many of you as are unbelievers are, in the strong language of Scripture, 'dead.'” You are dead in the eye of Divine justice; for as the condemned criminal is as a 'dead man,' when his crimes have brought on him the legal doom of death, you re likewise 'dead,' because 'he that believeth not is condemned already.'"
“Furthermore, you are also spiritually dead on account of being cut off by your sins from communion with the living God. For as a corpse moves not, stirs not, feels not, and can not be aroused, so are you dead to all love of God, and to everything pertaining to the wondrous Gospel of Jesus Christ. Of the dread and crushing burden of their own sins your souls are not all conscious; for the dead feel not.”
“But in the infinitude of His love to our fallen race, God offers to each of us individually a free and full pardon, and life now and forever, if we only believe on Jesus Christ, His Son, who He sent to suffer in our stead – to die that we might live – if we rely and rest entirely on Him as the all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins – as our substitute and security.”
“That I have a Savior!”
He wrote a gospel tract which concluded with the following words:
“But again I looked and saw Jesus, my substitute, scourged in my stead and dying on the cross for me. I looked and cried and was forgiven. And it seems to be my duty to tell you of that Savior, to see if you will not also look and live. 'He was wounded for our transgressions…and with His stripes we are healed'” (Isaiah 53:5,6)
Sir James Young Simpson declared:
“The unregenerate, unbelieving soul is compared to a corpse; it is 'dead in sins.'” Of all of you who are now living by faith in Christ it may be truthfully said to-day, as it was said eighteen centuries ago of the Ephesians converts to whom the Apostle Paul wrote, 'You hath He quickened, who were dead.'"
“As many of you as are unbelievers are, in the strong language of Scripture, 'dead.'” You are dead in the eye of Divine justice; for as the condemned criminal is as a 'dead man,' when his crimes have brought on him the legal doom of death, you re likewise 'dead,' because 'he that believeth not is condemned already.'"
“Furthermore, you are also spiritually dead on account of being cut off by your sins from communion with the living God. For as a corpse moves not, stirs not, feels not, and can not be aroused, so are you dead to all love of God, and to everything pertaining to the wondrous Gospel of Jesus Christ. Of the dread and crushing burden of their own sins your souls are not all conscious; for the dead feel not.”
“But in the infinitude of His love to our fallen race, God offers to each of us individually a free and full pardon, and life now and forever, if we only believe on Jesus Christ, His Son, who He sent to suffer in our stead – to die that we might live – if we rely and rest entirely on Him as the all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins – as our substitute and security.”
Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864). He was an honored physicist, chemist and geologist. In 1818, he founded and edited the American Journal of Science and Arts. Silliman was an original member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1863. He published his research on the potential uses of crude oil in Silliman Report, 1855, which made significant contributions and influence in establishing the American oil industry. The mineral Sillimanite (a form of aluminum silicate, Al2SiO5 is named for him.
Silliman was profoundly influenced by President Timothy Dwight of Yale. Professor Silliman wrote of the atmosphere on the Yale campus during the tenure of President Dwight.
“It would delight your heart to see how the trophies of the cross are multiplied in this institution. Yale College is a little temple: prayer and praise seem to be the delight of the greater part of the students.”
Silliman made the statements which follow:
“The relation of geology, as well as astronomy, to the Bible, when both are well understood, is that of perfect harmony. The Bible nowhere limits the age of the globe, while its chronology assigns a recent origin to the human race; and geology not only confirms that the Genesis presents a true statement of the progress of the terrestrial arrangements, and of the introduction of living beings in the order in which their fossil remains are found entombed in the strata.”
“The Word and the works of God cannot conflict, and the more they are studied the more perfect will their harmony appear.”
Silliman concluded his course of college lectures on June 13, 1885.
“Thus, O Almighty God, hast Thou led me on in mercy almost to the close of a long life…For myself, in the evening of my life, may I be every day ready to die, trusting in Thy mercy through the Redeemer of men; and if power and opportunity to be useful are still continued to me, may I have a disposition, as well as ability, to honor Thee, and to benefit my fellow men.”
“For my salvation I depend entirely upon the Redeemer. In the sight of God I have no merits of my own, and feel deeply that if I am saved it will be of grace and not of works. I have none to offer that are worthy of Thine acceptance. And now, my Heavenly Father, I implore Thy blessing upon my dear children and their children, and upon the faithful and devoted companion whom Thou hast in mercy given me.”
“I implore it, also, for the precious youth who are about to go into the world. Bless them all in time and eternity through Christ our Lord and Redeemer.”
Silliman was profoundly influenced by President Timothy Dwight of Yale. Professor Silliman wrote of the atmosphere on the Yale campus during the tenure of President Dwight.
“It would delight your heart to see how the trophies of the cross are multiplied in this institution. Yale College is a little temple: prayer and praise seem to be the delight of the greater part of the students.”
Silliman made the statements which follow:
“The relation of geology, as well as astronomy, to the Bible, when both are well understood, is that of perfect harmony. The Bible nowhere limits the age of the globe, while its chronology assigns a recent origin to the human race; and geology not only confirms that the Genesis presents a true statement of the progress of the terrestrial arrangements, and of the introduction of living beings in the order in which their fossil remains are found entombed in the strata.”
“The Word and the works of God cannot conflict, and the more they are studied the more perfect will their harmony appear.”
Silliman concluded his course of college lectures on June 13, 1885.
“Thus, O Almighty God, hast Thou led me on in mercy almost to the close of a long life…For myself, in the evening of my life, may I be every day ready to die, trusting in Thy mercy through the Redeemer of men; and if power and opportunity to be useful are still continued to me, may I have a disposition, as well as ability, to honor Thee, and to benefit my fellow men.”
“For my salvation I depend entirely upon the Redeemer. In the sight of God I have no merits of my own, and feel deeply that if I am saved it will be of grace and not of works. I have none to offer that are worthy of Thine acceptance. And now, my Heavenly Father, I implore Thy blessing upon my dear children and their children, and upon the faithful and devoted companion whom Thou hast in mercy given me.”
“I implore it, also, for the precious youth who are about to go into the world. Bless them all in time and eternity through Christ our Lord and Redeemer.”
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895). He was the French scientist who developed the process of “pasteurization” for milk. He developed the vaccine for anthrax and chicken cholera in 1881 and the rabies vaccine in 1885. Pasteur was a chemist and physicist who revolutionized the medical field by establishing the germ theory of disease, organic basis and regulation of fermentation, and bacteriology. Pasteur’s research laid the foundation for the control of Tuberclosis, cholera, diphtheria, tetanus, and several other diseases. He was appointed dean of the faculty of sciences at Lille University in 1854. In 1888, the Pasteur Institute was founded to treat rabies and advanced biological research.
Pasteur made the following comments when describing anaerobic bacteria:
“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator. Into his tiniest creatures, God has placed extraordinary properties that turn them into agents of destruction of dead matter.”
He was questioned in his mature years about his faith and replied:
“The more I know, the more does my faith approach that of a Breton peasant. Could I but know all, I would have the faith of a Breton peasant woman.”
He was one of the first European scientists who rejected the theory of spontaneous generation and evolution, Pasteur insisted that life only arises from life.
“Microscopic beings must come into the world from parents similar to themselves…There is something in the depths of our souls which tell us that the world may be more than a mere combination of events.”
Louis Pasteur once declared in his lectures,
“Science brings man nearer to God.”
Pasteur made the following comments when describing anaerobic bacteria:
“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator. Into his tiniest creatures, God has placed extraordinary properties that turn them into agents of destruction of dead matter.”
He was questioned in his mature years about his faith and replied:
“The more I know, the more does my faith approach that of a Breton peasant. Could I but know all, I would have the faith of a Breton peasant woman.”
He was one of the first European scientists who rejected the theory of spontaneous generation and evolution, Pasteur insisted that life only arises from life.
“Microscopic beings must come into the world from parents similar to themselves…There is something in the depths of our souls which tell us that the world may be more than a mere combination of events.”
Louis Pasteur once declared in his lectures,
“Science brings man nearer to God.”
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). Renowned “Father of the Science of Hydrostatics” Pascal helped establish the principles of hydrodynamics and made invaluable contributions in mathematical treatment of conic sections, the theory of probability, and differential calculus, with his invention of Pascal’s triangle for calculating the coefficients of a binomial expansion. Pascal helped develop the barometer through his discoveries in fluid mechanics which is known as “Pascal’s Principle.” Pascal wrote in Lettres provincials in 1656-57. In 1670 he published his highly influential religious work, entitled Pensee su la religion. In Pensee Pascal wrote:
“Men blaspheme what they don’t know.”
He was well known for his famous “Wager of Pascal.”
“How can anyone lose who chooses to become a Christian? If, when he dies, there turns out to be no God and his faith was in vain, he has lost nothing – in fact, he has been happier in life than his nonbelieving friends. If, however, there is a God and a heaven and hell, than he has gained heaven and skeptical friends which have lost everything in hell.”
Pascal declares in his work Thoughts, Letters, and Opuscules:
“We know God only through Jesus Christ. Without this Mediator, is taken away all communication with God; through Jesus Christ we know God. All those who have pretended to know God; and prove Him without Jesus Christ, have only had impotent proofs.”
“But, to prove Jesus Christ we have the prophesies which are good and valid proofs. And those prophesies, being fulfilled, and truly proved by the event, indicate the certainty of these truths, and therefore the truth of the divinity of Jesus Christ. In Him, and by Him, then, we know God. Otherwise, and without Scripture, without original sin, without a necessary Mediator, we can not absolutely prove God, nor teach a good doctrine and sound morals.”
“We know life, death, only through Jesus Christ. Except by Jesus Christ we know not what life is, what our death is, what God is, what we ourselves are. Thus, without Scripture, which has only Jesus Christ for its object, we know nothing, and we see not only obscurity and confusion in the nature of God, but in nature herself. Without Jesus Christ, man must be in sin and misery; with Jesus Christ, man is exempt from sin and misery. In Him is all our virtue, and all felicity. Out of Him, there is nothing but sin, misery, error, darkness, death, and despair.”
After Pascal died the writing that follows was found among his effects:
“’The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,’ not of philosophers and scholars.”
“Men blaspheme what they don’t know.”
He was well known for his famous “Wager of Pascal.”
“How can anyone lose who chooses to become a Christian? If, when he dies, there turns out to be no God and his faith was in vain, he has lost nothing – in fact, he has been happier in life than his nonbelieving friends. If, however, there is a God and a heaven and hell, than he has gained heaven and skeptical friends which have lost everything in hell.”
Pascal declares in his work Thoughts, Letters, and Opuscules:
“We know God only through Jesus Christ. Without this Mediator, is taken away all communication with God; through Jesus Christ we know God. All those who have pretended to know God; and prove Him without Jesus Christ, have only had impotent proofs.”
“But, to prove Jesus Christ we have the prophesies which are good and valid proofs. And those prophesies, being fulfilled, and truly proved by the event, indicate the certainty of these truths, and therefore the truth of the divinity of Jesus Christ. In Him, and by Him, then, we know God. Otherwise, and without Scripture, without original sin, without a necessary Mediator, we can not absolutely prove God, nor teach a good doctrine and sound morals.”
“We know life, death, only through Jesus Christ. Except by Jesus Christ we know not what life is, what our death is, what God is, what we ourselves are. Thus, without Scripture, which has only Jesus Christ for its object, we know nothing, and we see not only obscurity and confusion in the nature of God, but in nature herself. Without Jesus Christ, man must be in sin and misery; with Jesus Christ, man is exempt from sin and misery. In Him is all our virtue, and all felicity. Out of Him, there is nothing but sin, misery, error, darkness, death, and despair.”
After Pascal died the writing that follows was found among his effects:
“’The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,’ not of philosophers and scholars.”
Dr. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813). Rush was a physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence, “father of public schools,” and promoter of the American Sunday School Union. Rush served his country as Surgeon General of the Continental Army. He helped write the Pennsylvania Constitution and was treasurer of the U.S. Mint. Dr. Benjamin Rush established the first free medical clinic in 1786. He helped found the first American anti-slavery society. After the adoption of the United States Constitution in 1798, Dr. Rush declared:
“The only foundation for…a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can ne no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.”
Dr. Rush published Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical in 1798. In that work he declared:
“I know there is an objection among many people to teaching children doctrines of any kind, because they are liable to be controverted. But let us not be wider than our Maker. If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary. The perfect morality of the Gospels rests upon the doctrine which, thought often controverted has never been refuted: I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son of God.”
Benjamin Rush described himself as:
“I have alternately been called an Aristocrat and a Democrat. I am neither. I am a Christocrat.”
Dr. Rush wrote to his wife when facing his final illness,
“My excellent wife, I must leave you, but God will take care of you. By the mystery of Thy holy incarnation; by Thy holy nativity; by Thy baptism, fasting, and temptation; by Thine agony and bloody sweat; by Thy cross and passion; by Thy precious death and burial; by Thy glorious resurrection and ascension, and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, blessed Jesus, wash away all my impurities, and receive me into Thy everlasting kingdom.”
“The only foundation for…a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can ne no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.”
Dr. Rush published Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical in 1798. In that work he declared:
“I know there is an objection among many people to teaching children doctrines of any kind, because they are liable to be controverted. But let us not be wider than our Maker. If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary. The perfect morality of the Gospels rests upon the doctrine which, thought often controverted has never been refuted: I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son of God.”
Benjamin Rush described himself as:
“I have alternately been called an Aristocrat and a Democrat. I am neither. I am a Christocrat.”
Dr. Rush wrote to his wife when facing his final illness,
“My excellent wife, I must leave you, but God will take care of you. By the mystery of Thy holy incarnation; by Thy holy nativity; by Thy baptism, fasting, and temptation; by Thine agony and bloody sweat; by Thy cross and passion; by Thy precious death and burial; by Thy glorious resurrection and ascension, and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, blessed Jesus, wash away all my impurities, and receive me into Thy everlasting kingdom.”
John Ray (1627-1705). Ray was a founder of the Royal Society. He was considered to be the father of English natural history. He was a respected expert in the fields of botany and zoology. Ray compiled an extensive catalogue of English flora. A book he authored was titled:
“The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Work of Creation.”
Ray stated in the book that God’s works of creation were:
“The works created by God at first, and by Him conserved to this day in the same state and condition in which they were first made."
“The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Work of Creation.”
Ray stated in the book that God’s works of creation were:
“The works created by God at first, and by Him conserved to this day in the same state and condition in which they were first made."
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). Newton was the discoverer of the laws of universal gravitation. He formulated three laws of motion. The laws aided in advancing the discipline of dynamics. Consequently, Newton helped develop calculus into a comprehensive branch of mathematics. He was a mathematician, scientist, and philosopher. Sir Isaac Newton constructed the first refracting telescope and established the foundation for the law of energy conservation. Newton was responsible for the particle theory of light propagation. The following comments are from his work Optics which was published in 1704.
“God in the beginning formed matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles, of such sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and in such proportion to space, as most conduced to the end for which he formed them.”
Newton emphatically asserted:
“We account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever…Worshipping God and the Lamb in the temple: God, for his benefaction in creating all things, and the Lamb, for his benefaction in redeeming us with his blood.”
“There is one God, the Father, ever-living, omnipresent, omniscient, almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus…”
“To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. That is, we are to worship the Father alone as God Almighty, and Jesus alone as the Lord, the Messiah, the Great King, the Lamb of God who was slain, and hath redeemed us with His blood, and made us kings and priests.”
“The Book of Revelation exhibits to us the same peculiarities as that of nature…The history of the Fall of Man – of the introduction of moral and physical evil, the prediction of the Messiah, the actual advent of our Savior, His instructions, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, and the subsequent propagation of His religion by unlettered fishermen of Galilee, are each a stumbling-block to the wisdom of this world…”
“But through the system of revealed truth which this Book contains is, like that of the universe, concealed from common observation, yet the labors of the centuries have established its Divine origin, and developed in all its order and beauty the great plan of human restoration.”
“God in the beginning formed matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles, of such sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and in such proportion to space, as most conduced to the end for which he formed them.”
Newton emphatically asserted:
“We account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever…Worshipping God and the Lamb in the temple: God, for his benefaction in creating all things, and the Lamb, for his benefaction in redeeming us with his blood.”
“There is one God, the Father, ever-living, omnipresent, omniscient, almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus…”
“To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. That is, we are to worship the Father alone as God Almighty, and Jesus alone as the Lord, the Messiah, the Great King, the Lamb of God who was slain, and hath redeemed us with His blood, and made us kings and priests.”
“The Book of Revelation exhibits to us the same peculiarities as that of nature…The history of the Fall of Man – of the introduction of moral and physical evil, the prediction of the Messiah, the actual advent of our Savior, His instructions, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, and the subsequent propagation of His religion by unlettered fishermen of Galilee, are each a stumbling-block to the wisdom of this world…”
“But through the system of revealed truth which this Book contains is, like that of the universe, concealed from common observation, yet the labors of the centuries have established its Divine origin, and developed in all its order and beauty the great plan of human restoration.”
Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872). Samuel F.B. Morse was the inventor of Morse Code. He also developed the telegraph and built the first camera in America. He was the son of Jedediah Morse, “Father of American Geography.” Samuel Morse was one of the greatest portrait painters of antiquity. He was the founder and president of the National Academy of Design. In 1831, he received the distinction of being appointed to the first chair of fine arts in America. He was Professor of Sculpture and Painting at the New York University. He erected the first telegraph wires between Baltimore and Washington D.C. in 1844. The first message sent over this new communications system would revolutionize the world. The message was four words from a verse in the Bible found in Numbers 23:23:
“What hath God Wrought!”
Samuel Morse wrote the following message to his wife during anxious days between failure and success.
“The only gleam of hope, and I cannot underrate it, is from confidence in God. When I look upward it calms my apprehensions for the future, and I seem to hear a voice saying: ‘If I clothe the lilies of the field, shall I not also clothe you?’ Here is my strong confidence, and I will wait patiently for the direction of Providence.”
When he was informed of the death of his wife; he wrote to his father:
“Oh, is it possible? Is it possible? Shall I never see my wife again? But I can not trust myself to write on this subject. I need your prayers and those of Christian friends.”
He graduated in 1910 from Yale College where he studied under the godly influence of President Timothy Dwight. Four years before his death; he gave this testimony of his faith.
“The nearer I approach to the end of my pilgrimage, the clearer is the evidence of the divine origin of the Bible, the grandeur and sublimity of God’s remedy for fallen man are more appreciated, and the future is illumined with hope and joy.”
“What hath God Wrought!”
Samuel Morse wrote the following message to his wife during anxious days between failure and success.
“The only gleam of hope, and I cannot underrate it, is from confidence in God. When I look upward it calms my apprehensions for the future, and I seem to hear a voice saying: ‘If I clothe the lilies of the field, shall I not also clothe you?’ Here is my strong confidence, and I will wait patiently for the direction of Providence.”
When he was informed of the death of his wife; he wrote to his father:
“Oh, is it possible? Is it possible? Shall I never see my wife again? But I can not trust myself to write on this subject. I need your prayers and those of Christian friends.”
He graduated in 1910 from Yale College where he studied under the godly influence of President Timothy Dwight. Four years before his death; he gave this testimony of his faith.
“The nearer I approach to the end of my pilgrimage, the clearer is the evidence of the divine origin of the Bible, the grandeur and sublimity of God’s remedy for fallen man are more appreciated, and the future is illumined with hope and joy.”
Jedediah Morse (1761-1826) He was a pioneer American educator and geographer. Jedediah Morse was called the “Father of American Geography.” He was the father of Samuel F.B. Morse who invented Morse Code and the telegraph. Jedediah Morse taught for several years in New Haven schools. He compiled his notes and published them in 1784 entitled, Geography Made Easy. He set the standard for American Geography and authored several books. Jedediah Morse published, The American Geography, 1789; Elements of Geography, 1795; The American Gazetter, 1797; A New Gazetter of the Eastern Continent, 1802; A Compendious History of New England, 1804; and Annals of the American Revolution. He was founder of the New England Tract Society, 1814 and The American Bible Society, 1816. Jedediah Morse was also a member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1811-1819.
In 1799 Jedediah Morse declared:
“To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through unbelief, or the corruption of its doctrines, or the neglect of its institutions; in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom, and approximate the miseries of complete despotism.
“All efforts to destroy the foundations of our holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness.
“Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them.”
In 1799 Jedediah Morse declared:
“To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through unbelief, or the corruption of its doctrines, or the neglect of its institutions; in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom, and approximate the miseries of complete despotism.
“All efforts to destroy the foundations of our holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness.
“Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them.”
Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873). Maury was a scientist and the pioneer hydrographer known as the “Pathfinder of the Seas.” While serving in the Navy; He charted the sea and wind currents. Maury was the founder of modern hydrography and oceanography. He was Professor of Meteorology at the Virginia Military Institute. The following remarks are from his book Physical Geography of the Sea published in 1855.
“I have always found in my scientific studies, that, when I could get the Bible to say anything on the subject it afforded me a firm platform to stand upon, and a round in the ladder by which I could safely ascend.”
“As our knowledge of nature and her laws has increased, so has our knowledge of many passages of the Bible improved.”
“The Bible called the earth “the round world,” yet for ages it was the most damnable heresy for Christian men to say that the world is round; and, finally, sailors circumnavigated the globe, and proved the Bible to be right, and saved Christian men of science from the stake.”
“And as for the general system of circulation which I have been so long endeavoring to describe, the Bible tells it all in a single sentence: “The wind goeth toward the South and returneth again to his circuits.”
A verse from Psalm 8 is engraved on Maury’s tombstone at the U.S.Naval Academy. It is the verse which inspired him.
“Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.”
“I have always found in my scientific studies, that, when I could get the Bible to say anything on the subject it afforded me a firm platform to stand upon, and a round in the ladder by which I could safely ascend.”
“As our knowledge of nature and her laws has increased, so has our knowledge of many passages of the Bible improved.”
“The Bible called the earth “the round world,” yet for ages it was the most damnable heresy for Christian men to say that the world is round; and, finally, sailors circumnavigated the globe, and proved the Bible to be right, and saved Christian men of science from the stake.”
“And as for the general system of circulation which I have been so long endeavoring to describe, the Bible tells it all in a single sentence: “The wind goeth toward the South and returneth again to his circuits.”
A verse from Psalm 8 is engraved on Maury’s tombstone at the U.S.Naval Academy. It is the verse which inspired him.
“Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.”
Alexander MacAlister (1844-1919). MacAlister was professor of anatomy at Cambridge and was a distinguished author of textbooks on the subjects of physiology and zoology.
“I think the widespread impression of the agnosticism of scientific men is largely due to the attitude taken up be a few of the great popularizers of science, like Tyndall and Huxley.”
“It has been my experience that the disbelief in the revelation that God has given, in the life and work, death and resurrection of our Savior, is more prevalent among what I may call the camp followers of science then amongst those to whom scientific work is the business of their lives.”
“I think the widespread impression of the agnosticism of scientific men is largely due to the attitude taken up be a few of the great popularizers of science, like Tyndall and Huxley.”
“It has been my experience that the disbelief in the revelation that God has given, in the life and work, death and resurrection of our Savior, is more prevalent among what I may call the camp followers of science then amongst those to whom scientific work is the business of their lives.”
Joseph Lister (1827-1912). Lister was an English surgeon who developed “antiseptic surgery” by using the application of chemical disinfectants. He was the founder of the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine in London. He served as President of the British Association and the Royal Society. Lord Lister was of Quaker background and declared:
“I believe in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity.”
“I believe in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity.”
Paul Lemoine (1878-1940). Lemoine was the director of the Natural History Museum in Paris. He was also President of the Geological Society of France. He was chief editor of the 1937 edition of the Encyclopedia Francaise. I do not know Lemoine’s religious convictions concerning the validity of Christianity. He made the following comments in an article on evolution.
“The theory of evolution is impossible. At base, in spite of appearances, no one any longer believes in it …Evolution is a kind of dogma which the priests no longer believe, but which they maintain for their people.”
“The theory of evolution is impossible. At base, in spite of appearances, no one any longer believes in it …Evolution is a kind of dogma which the priests no longer believe, but which they maintain for their people.”
Johaan Kepler (1571-1630). Kepler was the founder of physical astronomy and discovered the laws of planetary motion. He was the pioneer of the discipline of celestial mechanics. Kepler proved the heliocentric nature of the solar system – all planets revolve around the sun. He published ephemeris tables which were necessary for plotting star movement and contributed to the theory of calculus. Johann Kepler made the following statement in regard to his invaluable scientific discoveries.
“O, Almighty God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee! Nothing holds me! I will indulge in my sacred fury, I will triumph over mankind by the proud confession that I have stolen the golden vases to build up a tabernacle for my God, far away from the confines of Egypt. If you forgive me, I rejoice; if you be angry, I can bear it. The die is cast; the book is written, to be read either now or by posterity, I care not which. It may be well to wait a century for a reader, as God has waited six thousand years for an observer.”
Kepler concludes his treatise Harmony of Worlds with these words,
“I thank Thee, my Creator and Lord, that Thou hast given me this joy in Thy creation, this delight in the works of Thy hands; I have shown excellency of Thy works unto man, so far as my finite mind was able to comprehend Thine infinity; if I have said aught of Thy glory, graciously forgive it.”
Kepler declared the following remarks in Homage to the Book.
"We astronomers say, with the common people, the planets stand still or go down; the sun rises or sets. How much less should we require than the Scriptures of Divine inspiration, setting aside the common mode of speech, should shape their words according to the model of the natural scientist, and, by employing a dark and inappropriate phraseology about things which surpass the comprehension of those whom it designs to instruct, perplex the people of God, and thus obstruct its own way towards the attainment of far more exhalted object at which it aims.”
“O, Almighty God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee! Nothing holds me! I will indulge in my sacred fury, I will triumph over mankind by the proud confession that I have stolen the golden vases to build up a tabernacle for my God, far away from the confines of Egypt. If you forgive me, I rejoice; if you be angry, I can bear it. The die is cast; the book is written, to be read either now or by posterity, I care not which. It may be well to wait a century for a reader, as God has waited six thousand years for an observer.”
Kepler concludes his treatise Harmony of Worlds with these words,
“I thank Thee, my Creator and Lord, that Thou hast given me this joy in Thy creation, this delight in the works of Thy hands; I have shown excellency of Thy works unto man, so far as my finite mind was able to comprehend Thine infinity; if I have said aught of Thy glory, graciously forgive it.”
Kepler declared the following remarks in Homage to the Book.
"We astronomers say, with the common people, the planets stand still or go down; the sun rises or sets. How much less should we require than the Scriptures of Divine inspiration, setting aside the common mode of speech, should shape their words according to the model of the natural scientist, and, by employing a dark and inappropriate phraseology about things which surpass the comprehension of those whom it designs to instruct, perplex the people of God, and thus obstruct its own way towards the attainment of far more exhalted object at which it aims.”
Sir William Thompson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907). Lord Kelvin was the famous scientist who developed degrees Kelvin to document temperatures based on an absolute scale. Lord Kelvin held the chair of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 54 years. He formulated the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics and introduced the Concept of Energy.
Lord Kelvin went on to make tremendous advances in the areas of physics and mathematics. The ships’ compass which was free from the magnetic influence of iron on ships was one of his greatest inventions. Kelvin helped to design and lay the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable.
In 1903 Lord Kelvin declared,
“With regard to the origin of life, science…positively affirms creative power.”
Lord Kelvin addressed the Chairman of the Christian Evidence Society in London on May 23, 1889.
“My primary reason for accepting the invitation to preside was that I wished to show sympathy with this great Society which has been established for the purpose of defending Christianity as a Divine Revelation.”
“I also thought something was due from Science. I have long felt that there was a general impression in the non-scientific world that the scientific world believes Science has discovered ways of explaining all the facts of nature without adopting any definite belief in a Creator. I have never doubted that impression was utterly groundless.”
“It seems to me that when a scientific man says – as it has been said from time to time – that there is no God, he does not express his own ideas clearly. He is, perhaps, struggling with difficulties; but when he says that he does not believe in a creative power I am convinced he does not faithfully express what is in his mind. He is out of his depth…”
“I may refer to that old but never uninteresting subject of the miracles of geology. Physical Science does something for us here. Peter speaks of scoffers who said that ‘all things continue as they were from the beginning.’ But the Apostle affirms himself that ‘all these things shall be dissolved.’”
“It seems to me that even physical science absolutely demonstrates the scientific truth of these words. We feel that there is no possibility of all things going on forever as they have done for the past six thousand years. In science, as in morals and politics, there is absolutely no periodicity.”
Lord Kelvin went on to make tremendous advances in the areas of physics and mathematics. The ships’ compass which was free from the magnetic influence of iron on ships was one of his greatest inventions. Kelvin helped to design and lay the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable.
In 1903 Lord Kelvin declared,
“With regard to the origin of life, science…positively affirms creative power.”
Lord Kelvin addressed the Chairman of the Christian Evidence Society in London on May 23, 1889.
“My primary reason for accepting the invitation to preside was that I wished to show sympathy with this great Society which has been established for the purpose of defending Christianity as a Divine Revelation.”
“I also thought something was due from Science. I have long felt that there was a general impression in the non-scientific world that the scientific world believes Science has discovered ways of explaining all the facts of nature without adopting any definite belief in a Creator. I have never doubted that impression was utterly groundless.”
“It seems to me that when a scientific man says – as it has been said from time to time – that there is no God, he does not express his own ideas clearly. He is, perhaps, struggling with difficulties; but when he says that he does not believe in a creative power I am convinced he does not faithfully express what is in his mind. He is out of his depth…”
“I may refer to that old but never uninteresting subject of the miracles of geology. Physical Science does something for us here. Peter speaks of scoffers who said that ‘all things continue as they were from the beginning.’ But the Apostle affirms himself that ‘all these things shall be dissolved.’”
“It seems to me that even physical science absolutely demonstrates the scientific truth of these words. We feel that there is no possibility of all things going on forever as they have done for the past six thousand years. In science, as in morals and politics, there is absolutely no periodicity.”
Sir William Herschel (1738-1822). The renowned English astronomer discovered the planet “Uranus.” He also noted the recognition of double stars. Herschel constructed the greatest reflecting telescopes of his time and catalogued and studied nebulae and galaxies as never had been done before. Sir William Herschel declared:
“The undevout astronomer must be mad.”
“The undevout astronomer must be mad.”
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