World in Ruins - The Rocks Don't Lie - page 55

of both the world and the modern landscape, he used scripture to confirm rather than define
his story. “We are not to suppose that any truth concerning the Natural World can be an
Enemy to Religion; for Truth cannot be an Enemy to Truth, God is not divided against him-
self.” 4 Burnet considered it a sign of divine providence that the world was set up to trigger
a flood at just the right time. His bold theory was widely hailed as a philosophical triumph.
Burnet sent an advance copy of his topic to Isaac Newton, soliciting his comments. In
reply, Newton cautioned that Genesis shouldn't be interpreted literally and that Moses de-
scribed reality in terms understandable to the common man. Newton even proposed an un-
usual theory of his own to explain how hills and mountains might have precipitated out of a
chaotic primordial fluid: “Milk is as uniform a liquor as the chaos was. If beer be poured in-
to it, and the mixture let stand till it be dry, the surface of the curdled substance will appear
as rugged and mountainous as the earth in any place.” 5 Newton was particularly troubled
by how, according to Burnet's theory, the oceans did not exist until after the Flood. If so,
fish and other marine life could not have been made at the Creation. This would have re-
quired a second round of creation not mentioned in the Bible. And that was unthinkable.
Burnet's grand theory had more unorthodox implications. In particular, the problem of
how Noah's descendants came to populate America after the Flood was difficult to recon-
cile with Burnet's broken planet. In contrast, it was easy to explain how they made it to
America before the Flood—they walked. So he proposed that although Native Americans
were descended from Adam, Columbus was the first of Noah's progeny to reach America.
Like Noah, a few people survived the Flood on other continents. Backed into this awkward
claim, Burnet abandoned literal interpretation of scripture to save his theory, which was
based on just such an interpretation.
Despite the problems with Burnet's theorizing, his Sacred Theory of the Earth attracted
so much attention that King William III had it translated from Latin into English, bringing
accolades and opportunities Burnet's way. Appointed chaplain to the king, Burnet seemed
sure to become primate of the Anglican Church. But the Church of England forced him
into early retirement when he rashly suggested that the Fall and the days of Creation were
meant allegorically rather than literally.