CHAOS (Ica'Os). a term taken from the Greek mythology, according to which Chaos was the first existence and the origin of all subsequent forms of being (Hesiod, Theogon. 116; Ovid, llietamorfih. i:5).
The description which Ovid gives of Chaos it self, and of the formation of the world from the chaotic mass, bears so many striking resemblances to the Mosaic account of the creation that one can scarcely fail to regard it as having been derived from tradition.
(1) The Chaos of Genesis. Our present object is to inquire what the Chaos was of which Moses speaks (Gen. i :2). Was it the first form in which matter was created? and do the succeeding opera tions described relate to the very beginning of material order and animal life? Or was it merely a condition preparatory to the reorganization of the world, which had already been the abode of living beings ?—in other words, is the first verse of the inspired record to be dissociated from the succeeding, and to be understood only as a declaration of the important truth, that the visible universe was not made from anything already existing (Heb. xi :3) ; whilst the con fusion and darkness which are described in the succeeding verse relate to a state long subse quent to the 'beginning,' and were introductory to a new order of material existence, of which man is the chief and lord? The first of these opinions is not only in accordance with the an cient notions of chaos to which we have referred, but is that which would be naturally maintained, unless cause be shown to the contrary. No one would gratuitously assume a long interval, where it must be admitted there is no intimation of such an interval having occurred. Accordingly, most interpreters who have been ignorant of geological phenomena. have at once decided that the chaos of which Moses speaks was the form in which matter was first created. Some have even de clared that there cannot have been any such in terval as we have spoken of. But on the other hand, the world gives intimations, in the roc.ts which compose its crust, of various and long-con tinued changes both of condition and of inhabi tants.
(2) Rock Formation. Those who have care fully examined these different forms of being, and have attentively studied the circumstances in which their remains are now found, have been forced to the conviction that in many cases the rocks have been gradually formed by deposition at the bottom of an ocean, which has been suc cessively the habitation of races differing alike from each other and from those now existing: that the coeval land likewise has had its distinct races of inhabitants, and that the land and water have changed places many times in the history of the world.
It is impossible to do more than barely glance at these geological facts; but it will be seen that they lead to these three conclusions: (t ) That the world has existed during some long period before the Mosaic record of creation in six days : (2) that during that period it was the abode of animals differing in organization and structure from those now found on its surface; and (3) that it has been exposed to various convulsions and reorganizations, more or less general.
(3) Common View Not Biblical. In the face of these facts it appears impossible to hold the ordinarily received opinion that the universe was created only just before the creation of man ; and the question then is, how are these facts to be reconciled with the Mosaic narrative ? Not by denying the evidence of our senses (which is, in truth, a very dangerous mode of upholding the sacred record, though it has been adopted by those who especially claim to themselves the title of Scriptural Geologists), nor, on the other hand, by treating the Mosaic account as a mythus, or allegorical representation (a mode of explana tion which, if ever admissible, ought not to be resorted to without the most pressing necessity), but surely by re-examining the interpretation we have put on the words of Scripture, and by seek ing to ascertain whether the discrepancy does not arise from our view of the narrative.
(4) Biblical Teaching. If we keep in mind that the revelation of God to man is not intended to teach physical science, that it never speaks the language of philosophy, but of appearances, and that it tells of these only so far as they relate to the human race, we obtain a clue by which we may be safely guided through these difficulties. \Ve shall not then wonder that no notice should be taken of previous conditions and inhabitants of this earth, supposing such to have existed. The first sentence of the inspired record will then be regarded as the majestic dec laration of a fact, which the world had lost sight of, but which it deeply concerned men to know. What occurred subsequently, until the earth was to be furnished for the abode of man, is to be gathered not from the written word, but from the memorials engraven on the tablets of the world itself. The succeeding verse of the Mosaic account then relates to a state of chaos, or con fusion, into which the world was thrown imme diately before the last reorganization of it. Geol ogists are not, indeed, at present (if ever they may he) in a condition to identify the disruption and confusion of which we suppose Moses to speak with any one of these violent convulsions; but that events which might be described in his language have taken place in the world's history, over considerable portions of its surface, seems to be fully established. XVIiether the chaos of which we are now speaking was universal, or was confined to those regions which formed the cradle of the human race, is a question on which we do not feel it needful to enter. \Ve do not regard the evidence which geology furnishes as com plete enough to decide such a point. (See COS NIOGONV.)