Sir John William Dawson 18201899 Some Aspects

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Sir John William Dawson (1820-1899) - Some
Aspects of his Reconciliation of Scripture
and Geology
K. R. Aalto, Department of Geology, Humboldt
State University
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No continental glaciation
The Deluge
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Dawson, 1893 The Canadian Ice Age
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Character of palanthropic man
Stratified gravel resting on drift, Acadian
Geology
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The Site of Eden

It a Neanderthal skull may have belonged to one
of those wild men, half crazed, half idiotic,
cruel and strong, who are always more or less to
be found living on the outskirts of barbarous
tribes, and who now and then appear in civilized
communities, to be consigned perhaps to the
gallows, when their murderous propensities
manifest themselves. They antediluvian men
had split into two distinct races, one
amenable to the influences of civilization and
Christianity, while the other seem to have
been hopelessly depraved Dawson, 1864.
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The parting of the waters - modified
uniformitarianism
Route of the Exodus
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Described himself as a modified uniformitarian,
allowing - sufficient catastrophism to suit
Scripture - dramatic changes in rates of
geological processes - great capacity of
species to vary, but not speciation -
monogenism as regards the origin of man -
limitation of mans antiquity to some 6,000
years He was the last great spokesman of the two
theologies natural and revealed tradition
and chose science over Scriptural literalism
when a choice was required, but readily
ascribed inaccuracies to poor translation of
Scripture and/or to its authorship by untutored
observers.
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