"Now we ask, Is it likely that those vast orbs—with masses and densities so wonderfully modified and adjusted in accordance with what we perceive to be the requirements of living creatures—with years and months, days and nights, seasons and climates—with atmosphere and twilights, trade-winds and currents—with clouds and rains, continents and seas, mountains and polar snows—with sun, moon, and stars, and, in short, with all the elements that make up the conditions of a habitable globe—is it likely that those glorious works of the Creator should have been formed to lie waste, sterile, and unprofitable? Or even if we could bring ourselves to think that those masses, whose united bulk dwarfs our Earth into insignificance, had been solely created as make-weights to keep this little atom of Earth in its place, why should they have been provided with complicated systems of moons revolving round them to give them auxiliary light? The Sun's light they share in common with ourselves; but for what conceivable purpose should deserts void of life have been supplied with those wonderful lamps to light them up in the absence of the Sun? Conditions that might be incompatible with our organization, may be by adjustment of creative wisdom exactly suited to the beings placed to inhabit them. All life, even if it be essentially the same in principle, may not everywhere assume the same phase of outward existence, nor need we attempt to set limits in this respect to the Lord of Life. The spaces lie there furnished ready—the Word was only required to people them with life.
"Such inquiries have an interest which goes beyond their mere astronomical import, for they touch our conceptions of God's greatness, wisdom, and power. Is there one who does not long to be able reasonably to cherish the thought that, far away from this tiny speck of Earth, in the remote realms of space, we behold worlds inhabited by beings who, it may be, are privileged to know their Creator, and to bless, praise, and magnify Him forever."
We have seen that all leading Astronomers agree in the fact of a "plurality of suns," and a "plurality of worlds," and their numbers so vast that they are beyond our computation. Now we hold that in all this vast creation, there is a controlling element, and that this element is necessarily manifest in all things, and so predominates that percipient intelligences should, and we believe can—to a certain extent—comprehend it. Do you ask, what is this element? we answer fire!
We have presented to your mind—as far as we are able to comprehend—the Infinity of God's wisdom and power, as manifested in his wonderful Creations; not only in creating this Earth on which we live, and all pertaining thereunto, but of Heavens, Suns, Planets and Worlds, whose numbers are millions, as they are seen standing out and peopling the realms of boundless space, and yet we know that so vast is the infinity of His wonderful creations, that we have given to the mind only a bird's-eye view within the borders of His boundless Empire.
We are aware that the idea we advance—that the vast globe, encircled by the photosphoric, ethereal flame (that which we denominate the Sun), is our heaven, as also the heaven for intelligences of the other planets of our solar system, and that there are numerous other suns of similar import which may also be heavens for created intelligences inhabiting their surrounding planets—is new to the mind of man, and that at first thought some may be incredulous; thus, as we said in the beginning, it has ever been with all important discoveries, and especially so of discoveries through the lights and science of astronomy. Nevertheless, the wondrous works of the Creator, as we have surveyed and contemplated them—we think—will justify our hypothesis. But to all the foregoing we shall still add stronger, and we think, more convincing evidences, when we come to contemplate the elements of the Sun—fire, heat, and light—in connection with God's intercourse by His Spirit, and His dealings with man.