dren, children that will not hear the law of the Lord; which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy. not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits. 2 Tim. 4. 3. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching

ears.

CHAPTER VI.

Creation.

Q. 1. What is meant by creation?

A. The act of giving existence, or the production of all creatures and things. Creation is either immediate or mediate. Creation immediate is the production of something out of nothing or where nothing existed before. Creation mediate is giving existence in a new form, or the production of something out of materials, that before existed. The production of this world, at first, in a chaotick state, was creation immediate. The production of man, in his corporeal nature, from the dust of the earth, was creation mediate.* This last kind of creating is sometimes termed forming, moulding, fashioning, and making.(a)

Q. 2. What are included in the works of crc

ation?

A. The heavens and the earth, and all things in them-the whole universe-all finite existences, animate and inanimate, rational and irrational, visible and invisible.(b)

(a) Gen. 1. 1. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Gen. 2. 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

(b) Col. 1. 16. For by Him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible, and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him.

* The production of the soul of man is creation immediate.

Q. 3. Who created all things?

A. The almighty_God.(c)

Q. 4. How did He create all things?

A. It is usually said, that God created all things by the word of His power, but by this cannot be meant any thing more, than that He willed, or signified His pleasure, and creation took place. His power accompanied His word.(d)

Q. 5. Did God create all things at one time?

A. He did. From the time He commenced creating, He ceased not, till the whole work of creation was finished.

Q. 6. How long was God in creating all things? A. He was six days in creating them, though He could have created them in an instant of time, had He seen fit. Creation was successive, and thus gradual, though it is always instantaneous, when it takes place.(*)

Q. 7. How long is it since the world was created?

(c) Gen. 1. 1. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

(d) Heb. 11. 3. Through faith we understand, that the worlds were framed by the word of God; so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Ps. 33. 9. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded and it stood fast,

(e) Gen. 1. 3, 11, 21, 25, 27. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind. So God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Gen. 2. 1, 2. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had made.

A. According to the best chronology, it was created about five thousand and eight hundred years

ago.

Q. 8. Would there have been any more holiness and happiness in the universe, had it been created before it was, or would any good purpose have been answered by its earlier creation?

A. Certainly not. The reasons for creating the world ten thousand years before it was created, would have existed, at that time, for its creation ten thousand years earlier still, and so on, in infinitum. Good and sufficient reasons existed in the Divine mind, for creating the world at the time He did, and not before, and not after, though he may not have divulged them to us. Eternity may be represented by a circle, and, in calculating the distance round a circle, it matters not where measurement commences, the distance will be the same.

૨. 9. In what season of the year, did the world begin to exist?

A. Most probably in Autumn. This seems to have been the fact from astronomical calculations, and from the circumstance, that every thing was created in its most mature and complete state. The fruits of the earth were ripe or mature, and fit for the use of man and beast. The first fruits of the earth were produced, not by growth, but by mediate creation, and were so constituted, as to propagate their own species.(f)

Q. 10. In what state did God create all things? A. In the most perfect state. There was no blemish in the natural or moral world. Every thing came from the hand of its Creator, perfect in its kind.(8)

(f) Gen. 2, 5. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

(g) Gen. 1. 31. And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good.

Q. 11. What end had God in view in creating all things?

A. The gratification of His benevolent feelings by exhibiting His own glorious perfections in the production of holiness and happiness. In the communication of holiness and happiness, God must necessarily display His perfections; and in displaying His perfections, He must necessarily communicate holiness and happiness. God had both these objects in view in creating angels and men, and all the works of His hands. The supreme glory of God, and the supreme good of the universe are necessarily, and inseparably, connected.(1)

(h) Rom. 11. 36. For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory for ever. Rev. 4. 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. 1 Cor. 10. 31. Whether, therefore, ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.