8. New Theory of Earth Structure:—"In recent years theories of mountain formation have changed like everything else scientific. * * * The new theories hark back to the original formation of the earth. The conception of a hot drop of a world swinging in space, gradually cooling and forming a shell as smooth as a billiard ball, has been partly abandoned. The nebular hypothesis has been modified, the so-called meteoritic hypothesis has been found inadequate; and the more plausible planetesimal theory of Professors Chamberlin and Salisbury has been put forth.
"The latest theory argues the formation of the world by gradual accretions from planetary bodies. It assumes the origin of our solar system in a common spiral nebula—the nebula being in a thin solid or liquid state, as suggested by the spectrum analysis of it. The knots or portions of the nebula showing the most concentration, are the nuclei of future planets, and the thinner haze the portions from which the knots are formed. All these knots move about the central mass (the sun) in elliptical orbits of considerable eccentricity. The planetesimals are gathered in, and through accretions from such a world as ours, by the crossing of the elliptical orbits in the course of their inevitable shiftings." ("The High Alps," by John C. Van Dyke, Scribner's Magazine, June, 1908.)
9. Worlds Organized on Pre-Arranged Plan: "The organization of the spiritual and heavenly worlds, and of spiritual and heavenly beings, was agreeable to the most perfect order and harmony: their limits and bounds were fixed irrevocably, and involuntarily subscribed to in their heavenly estate by themselves, and were by our first parents subscribed to upon the earth. Hence the importance of embracing and subscribing to principles of eternal truth by all men upon the earth that expect eternal life." (Joseph Smith, Conference at Nauvoo, Oct. 8, 1843, Millennial Star, vol. XXII, p. 231.)
10. Our Revelations Local: That is, our revelations in the Scriptures—all four books—pertain to our earth, and its heavens; to those intelligencies, spirits, men, angels, arch-angels, God, and Gods, pertaining to that order of existences to which we belong. I call attention to the fact for the reason that I believe the principle indicated is very important, not only in the discussion in hand, but it has an important bearing upon the whole phraseology and meaning of our scriptures. When God's word says, for instance, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," etc.; and "thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them," he has reference not to any absolute "beginning" or absolute "finishing," but only the "beginning" and "finishing" as pertaining to our earth and the order of creation with which it is connected; and the "hosts" that pertain to our order of existence, not absolutely to all existences. The revelations we have received of God, let it be said again, are local, they relate to us and our order of existence; they may not at all, except in the most casual and general way, refer to that order of worlds connected with and governed by the Pleiades, or of Orion, much less to the further removed constellations and their systems of worlds.
We learn from the Pearl of Great Price that when the Lord gave those revelations to Moses by which the prophet was enabled to write the creation story of our earth, the local character of those revelations was expressly stated: "Worlds without number," said the Lord to Moses, "have I created—but only an account of this earth and the inhabitants thereof give I unto you—Behold, I reveal unto you concerning this heaven, and this earth; write the words which I speak. * * * In the beginning I created the heavens and the earth on which thou standest." The subject is too important for treatment in a mere note, but in passing I desired to call attention to the important bearing it has upon the subject in hand, as also upon our whole system of thought and exposition of the scriptures.
LESSON VI.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
(A Discourse)
EXTENT AND GRANDEUR OF THE UNIVERSE.[A]
[Footnote A: In lieu of the usual detached notes, in lesson viii and ix, I present an unbroken discussion of the Fall of Adam and the Purpose of Man's Earth Life, which I think will be more satisfactory than any collection of detached notes that I could present to the students upon this very important subject. The students will be under the necessity of selecting from the discussion such ideas and data as wrill apply to the part of the subject assigned to him.