2. HOLDING SACRED THAT WHICH IS NOT SACRED

2. Holding Sacred that which is not Sacred ~ 90 ~ investigations. He devoted his whole life to studying the construction of the earth and its rocks, which showed that the earth in its present form has evolved over millions of years. Charles Lyell’s observations subsequently confirmed Hutton’s theory. The first volume of his renowned book, Principles of Geology, was first published in 1830. This book was to a great extent responsible for the disappearance of the biblical time-scale from all serious discussion. “Indeed, Lyell’s books were largely responsible for convincing the world at large that the Bible could be wrong, at any rate in some respects—a hitherto unthinkable thought.” 41 Concepts of the kind enshrined in the Bible acted as barriers to the scientific progress of Europe. Anyone who dared to present any theory other than those approved of by the Church risked being severely chastised on the grounds that his theory was sacrilegious. But, in Islam, such unreal concepts had never gained currency. That is why no religious opposition presented itself when scientific research began in Islamic Spain.