"Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him "He that reproveth God, let him answer."
In other words, Who and what is man to penetrate the counsels and purposes of the Creator; and who are you, Job?--
"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare it, if thou hast understanding.
"Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who has stretched the line upon it?
"Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner-stone thereof?
"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy."
Consider, Job, the littleness of man, the greatness of the universe; and what right have you to ask Him, who made all this, the reasons for his actions?
And this is a sufficient answer: A creature seventy inches long prying into the purposes of an Awful Something, whose power ranges so far that blazing suns are seen only as mist-specks!
But I may make another answer:
Although it seems that many times have comets smitten the earth, covering it with débris, or causing its rocks to boil, and its waters to ascend into the heavens, yet, considering all life, as revealed in the fossils, from the first cells unto this day, nothing has perished that was worth preserving.