ThesupportersofatheorybasedupontheletterofScripture，whohadsolongtakentheoffensive，werenowobligedtofightuponthedefensiveandatfearfulodds。Variouslinesofdefenceweretaken；butperhapsthemostpatheticeffortwasthatmadeintheyear1857，inEngland，byGosse。Asanaturalisthehadrenderedgreatservicestozoologicalscience，buthenowconcentratedhisenergiesupononelastefforttosavetheliteralinterpretationofGenesisandthetheologicalstructurebuiltuponit。InhisworkentitledOmphaloshedevelopedthetheorypreviouslyurgedbyGranvillePenn，andassertedanewprinciplecalled“prochronism。”Inaccordancewiththis，allthingswerecreatedbytheAlmightyhandliterallywithinthesixdays，eachmadeupof“theeveningandthemorning。”andeachgreatbranchofcreationwasbroughtintoexistenceinaninstant。AcceptingadeclarationofDr。Ure，that“neitherreasonnorrevelationwilljustifyusinextendingtheoriginofthematerialsystembeyondsixthousandyearsfromourowndays。”
Gosseheldthatalltheevidencesofconvulsivechangesandlongepochsinstrata，rocks，minerals，andfossilsaresimply“APPEARANCES“——onlythatandnothingmore。Amongthesemere“appearances。”allcreatedsimultaneously，weretheglacialfurrowsandscratchesonrocks，themarksofretreatonrockymasses，asatNiagara，thetiltedandtwistedstrata，thepilesoflavafromextinctvolcanoes，thefossilsofeverysortineverypartoftheearth，thefoot-tracksofbirdsandreptiles，thehalf-digestedremainsofweakeranimalsfoundinthefossilizedbodiesofthestronger，themarksofhyenas’teethonfossilizedbonesfoundinvariouscaves，andeventheskeletonoftheSiberianmammothatSt。Petersburgwithlumpsoffleshbearingthemarksofwolves’teeth——allthese，withallgapsandimperfections，heurgedmankindtobelievecameintobeinginaninstant。Theprefaceoftheworkisespeciallytouching，anditendswiththeprayerthatscienceandScripturemaybereconciledbyhistheory，and“thattheGodoftruthwilldeignsotouseit，andifhedo，tohimbealltheglory。”[177]AtthecloseofthewholebookGossedeclared：“Thefieldisleftclearandundisputedfortheonewitnessontheoppositeside，whosetestimonyisasfollows：`InsixdaysJehovahmadeheavenandearth，thesea，andallthatinthemis。’“Thisquotationheplacedincapitalletters，asthefinalrefutationofallthatthescienceofgeologyhadbuilt。
[177]SeeGosse，Omphalos，London，1857，p。5，andpassim；andforapassagegivingthekeynoteofthewhole，withamostfarcicalnoteoncoprolites，seepp。353，354。
InotherpartsofEuropedesperateattemptsweremadeevenlatertosavetheletterofoursacredbooksbytherevivalofatheoryinsomerespectsmorestriking。Toshapethistheorytorecentneeds，vaguereminiscencesofatextinJobregardingfirebeneaththeearth，andvagueconceptionsofspeculationsmadebyHumboldtandLaplace，weremingledwithJewishtradition。OutofthemixturethusobtainedSchubertdevelopedtheideathattheSatanic“principalitiesandpowers“formerlyinhabitingouruniverseplungeditintothechaosfromwhichitwasnewlycreatedbyaprocessaccuratelydescribedinGenesis。Rougemontmadetheearthoneofthe“morningstars“ofJob，reducedtochaosbyLuciferandhisfollowers，andthencedevelopedinaccordancewiththenebularhypothesis。KurtzevolvedfromthistheoryanopinionthatthegeologicaldisturbanceswerecausedbytheoppositionofthedeviltotherescueofouruniversefromchaosbytheAlmighty。Delitzschputasimilarideaintoamorescholasticjargon；butmostdesperateofallwerethestatementsofDr。AntonWestermeyer，ofMunich，inTheOldTestamentvindicatedfromModernInfidelObjections。Thefollowingpassagewillservetoshowhisideas：“BythefructifyingbroodingoftheDivineSpiritonthewatersofthedeep，creativeforcesbegantostir；thedevilswhoinhabitedtheprimevaldarknessandconsideredittheirownabodesawthattheyweretobedrivenfromtheirpossessions，oratleastthattheirplaceofhabitationwastobecontracted，andtheythereforetriedtofrustrateGod’splanofcreationandexertallthatremainedtothemofmightandpowertohinderoratleasttomarthenewcreation。”Socameintobeing“thehorribleanddestructivemonsters，thesecaricaturesanddistortionsofcreation。”ofwhichwehavefossilremains。Dr。Westermeyergoesontoinsistthat“wholegenerationscalledintoexistencebyGodsuccumbedtothecorruptionofthedevil，andforthatreasonhadtobedestroyed“；andthat“intheworkofthesixdaysGodcausedthedeviltofeelhispowerinallearnest，andmadeSatan’senterpriseappearmiserableandvain。”[178]
[178]SeeShields’sFinalPhilosophy，pp。340etseq。，andReusch’sNatureandtheBibleEnglishtranslation，1886，vol。