Editing Philip Henry Gosse (section)

==''Omphalos''==
The often-repeated narrative about the events leading up to the publication of ''Omphalos,'' the analysis of the work, and the response to it, all based upon the writings of Edmund Gosse, are as follows: In the months following Emily's death, Gosse worked with remarkable diligence on a book that he may have viewed as the most important of his career. Although a failure both financially and intellectually, it is the book by which he is best remembered.<ref>John Rendle-Short, ''[https://search.worldcat.org/title/38924666 Green Eye of the Storm]'' (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1998), 20-21; {{harvp|Thwaite|2002|p=209.}}</ref> Gosse believed that he had discovered a theory that might neatly resolve the seeming contradiction in the [[Age of the Earth|age of the earth]] between the evidence of God's Word and the evidence of His creation as expounded by such contemporary geologists as [[Charles Lyell]].{{sfnp|Thwaite|2002|pp=209, 212}} In 1857, two years before the publication of [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''[[Origin of Species]]'', Gosse published ''[[Omphalos (book)|Omphalos: An Attempt to Untie the Geological Knot]]'' and thereby created what has been called the [[Omphalos hypothesis]].

In what [[Stephen Jay Gould]] has called "gloriously purple prose",<ref>Stephen Jay Gould, ''The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History'' (New York: W. W. Norton, 1987), 103.</ref> Gosse argued that if one assumed creation ''[[ex nihilo]]'', there would necessarily be traces of previous existence that had never actually occurred. ''"Omphalos"'' is Greek for "''[[navel]]''", and Gosse argued that the first man, [[Adam (Bible)|Adam]], did not require a navel because he was never born; nevertheless he must have had one, as do all complete human beings, just as God must have created trees with rings that they never grew.<ref>{{harvp|Thwaite|2002|p=216}}. Gosse called these apparent records of non-occurring events "prochronic", meaning "before time".</ref> Thus, Gosse argued that the [[fossil record]]—even [[coprolites]]—might also be evidence of life that had never actually existed but that may have been instantly formed by God at the moment of creation.<ref>Rendle-Short, 34-35.</ref>

The general response was "as the ''[[Westminster Review]]'' put it, that Gosse's theory was 'too monstrous for belief.'" Even his friend, the novelist [[Charles Kingsley]], wrote that he had read "no other book which so staggered and puzzled" him, that he could not believe that God had "written on the rocks one enormous and superfluous lie for all mankind."{{sfnp|Thwaite|2002|pp=222-223}} Journalists later sniggered that God had apparently hidden fossils in the rocks to tempt geologists to infidelity.<ref>Rendle-Short, 37.</ref>

''Omphalos'' sold poorly and was eventually rebound with a new title, ''Creation'', "in case the obscure one had had an effect on sales." The problem was not with the title. In 1869 most of the edition was sold as waste paper.<ref>{{harvp|Thwaite|2002|p=223.}} Because of the destruction of this edition, the book "is now extremely scarce and valuable."</ref>

Notwithstanding the universal repetition of Edmund Gosse's claims over the years, Douglas Wertheimer has argued that it is possible to dispense “with the myths surrounding ''Omphalos,'' its goal and reception.” Specifically, he challenges the prevailing explanation for the timing of the book; the subject of the book; its reception; and Gosse's goal in writing it.<ref> Wertheimer, ''Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography,'' pages 295-320.</ref>