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Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, Volume 1
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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William Buckland
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William Buckland DD, FRS was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist. Buckland wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus.
William Buckland DD, FRS was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist. Buckland wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus.
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February 27, 2025
THE 6TH BRIDGEWATER TREATISE: EXTINCTION AS EVIDENCE OF "REPEATED ACTS OF CREATION"
William Buckland (1784-1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster, as well as a geologist and paleontologist, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus. He was a proponent of the "Gap Theory" interpretation of the biblical account of Genesis.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1837 book, "Three important subjects of enquiry in Natural Theology come under consideration in the present Treatise. The first regards the inorganic Elements of the Mineral Kingdom, and the actual dispositions of the Materials of the Earth; many of these... afford abundant proofs of wise and provident Intention... The second relates to Theories which have been entertained respecting the Origin of the World; and the derivation of existing systems of organic Life, by an eternal succession, from preceding individuals of the same species; or by gradual transmutation of one species into another... to all these Theories the phenomena of Geology are decidedly opposed.
"The third extends into the Organic Remains of a former World the same kind of investigation, which Paley has pursued with so much success in his examination of the evidences of Design in the mechanical structure of the corporeal frame of Man, and of the inferior Animals which are placed with him on the present surface of the Earth... extinct forms of Organic Life were so closely allied, by Unity in the principles of their construction... supply a chain of connected evidence, amounting to demonstration, of the ... highest Attributes of the One Living and True God." (Pg. vii-viii)
He reassures the reader, "No reasonable man can doubt that all the phenomena of the natural world derive their origin from God; and no one who believes the Bible to be the word of God, has cause to fear any discrepancy between this, his word, and the results of any discoveries respecting the nature of his works." (Pg. 9)
Later, he says, "it should be recollected that the question is not respecting the correctness of the Mosaic narrative, but of our interpretation of it.; and still further, it should be borne in mind that the object of this account was, not to state in what MANNER, but BY WHOM, the world was made." (Pg. 33)
He suggests, "From the high preservation in which we find the remains of animals and vegetables of each geological formation, and the exquisite mechanism which appears in many fossil fragments of their organization, we may collect an infinity of arguments, to show that the creatures from which all these are derived were constructed with a view to the varying conditions of the surface of the Earth, and to its gradually increasing capabilities of sustaining more complex forms of organic life, advancing through successive stages of perfection." (Pg. 107)
He asserts, "the strata of aqueous formation have become the common repository not only of the Remains of aquatic, but also of terrestrial animals and vegetables. The study of these Remains will form our most interesting and instructive subject of inquiry, since it is in them that we shall find the great master key whereby we may unlock the secret history of the earth. They are documents which contain the evidences of revolutions and catastrophes, long antecedent to the creation of the human race; they open the ... Records of many successive series of animal and vegetable generations, of which the Creation and Extinction would have been equally unknown to us, but for recent discoveries in the science of Geology." (Pg. 128)
He states, "In no kingdom of nature, therefore, does it seem less possible to explain the successive changes of organization, disclosed by geology, without the direct interposition of repeated acts of Creation." (Pg. 295)
He adds, "The design of the Creator seems at all times to have been, to fill the waters of the seas, and cover the surface of the earth with the greatest possible amount of organized beings enjoying life; and the same expedient of adapting the vegetable kingdom to become the basis of life of animals, and of multiplying largely the amount of animal existence by the addition of Carnivora to the Herbivora, appears to have prevailed from the first commencement of organic life unto the present hour." (Pg. 301)
This book will be of interest to those studying the development of Natural Theology.
William Buckland (1784-1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster, as well as a geologist and paleontologist, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus. He was a proponent of the "Gap Theory" interpretation of the biblical account of Genesis.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1837 book, "Three important subjects of enquiry in Natural Theology come under consideration in the present Treatise. The first regards the inorganic Elements of the Mineral Kingdom, and the actual dispositions of the Materials of the Earth; many of these... afford abundant proofs of wise and provident Intention... The second relates to Theories which have been entertained respecting the Origin of the World; and the derivation of existing systems of organic Life, by an eternal succession, from preceding individuals of the same species; or by gradual transmutation of one species into another... to all these Theories the phenomena of Geology are decidedly opposed.
"The third extends into the Organic Remains of a former World the same kind of investigation, which Paley has pursued with so much success in his examination of the evidences of Design in the mechanical structure of the corporeal frame of Man, and of the inferior Animals which are placed with him on the present surface of the Earth... extinct forms of Organic Life were so closely allied, by Unity in the principles of their construction... supply a chain of connected evidence, amounting to demonstration, of the ... highest Attributes of the One Living and True God." (Pg. vii-viii)
He reassures the reader, "No reasonable man can doubt that all the phenomena of the natural world derive their origin from God; and no one who believes the Bible to be the word of God, has cause to fear any discrepancy between this, his word, and the results of any discoveries respecting the nature of his works." (Pg. 9)
Later, he says, "it should be recollected that the question is not respecting the correctness of the Mosaic narrative, but of our interpretation of it.; and still further, it should be borne in mind that the object of this account was, not to state in what MANNER, but BY WHOM, the world was made." (Pg. 33)
He suggests, "From the high preservation in which we find the remains of animals and vegetables of each geological formation, and the exquisite mechanism which appears in many fossil fragments of their organization, we may collect an infinity of arguments, to show that the creatures from which all these are derived were constructed with a view to the varying conditions of the surface of the Earth, and to its gradually increasing capabilities of sustaining more complex forms of organic life, advancing through successive stages of perfection." (Pg. 107)
He asserts, "the strata of aqueous formation have become the common repository not only of the Remains of aquatic, but also of terrestrial animals and vegetables. The study of these Remains will form our most interesting and instructive subject of inquiry, since it is in them that we shall find the great master key whereby we may unlock the secret history of the earth. They are documents which contain the evidences of revolutions and catastrophes, long antecedent to the creation of the human race; they open the ... Records of many successive series of animal and vegetable generations, of which the Creation and Extinction would have been equally unknown to us, but for recent discoveries in the science of Geology." (Pg. 128)
He states, "In no kingdom of nature, therefore, does it seem less possible to explain the successive changes of organization, disclosed by geology, without the direct interposition of repeated acts of Creation." (Pg. 295)
He adds, "The design of the Creator seems at all times to have been, to fill the waters of the seas, and cover the surface of the earth with the greatest possible amount of organized beings enjoying life; and the same expedient of adapting the vegetable kingdom to become the basis of life of animals, and of multiplying largely the amount of animal existence by the addition of Carnivora to the Herbivora, appears to have prevailed from the first commencement of organic life unto the present hour." (Pg. 301)
This book will be of interest to those studying the development of Natural Theology.
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