BERINGER'S AUTOGRAPHED STONES by Donald E. Simanek In the early
18th century competing theories arose about the nature of
fossils. Some thought they were the bones of dead creatures
buried in floods, then turned to stone in relatively recent
(historic) times. Perhaps they had died in the Genesis flood.
Others thought fossils were simply rocks that happened to mimic
animal shapes. But some fossils clearly did not resemble any
animals still living. Those were thought to be oddities, pranks,
or sports of nature (lusi naturae). Perhaps God had chosen to
fashion some stones to look like fish skeletons. Who are we to
question His reasons for doing so? This was a period of history
when even the best scientists mixed science and religion,
producing a muddled mess. (For more historical background, see
Chapter V of White.) Dr. Hohann Bartholemew Adam Beringer of the
faculty of medicine of Würtzburg, thought that some few of these
stones might be dead animals (fossils), but most were just
handiworks of God, fashioned fo