DEFENCE 
 
 SCRIPTURAL, DOCTRINE 
 
 CONCERNING THE 
 
 COND ADVENT OF CHRIST; 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 ERRONEOUS REPRESENTATIONS 
 
 MODERN MILLENARIANS. 
 
 WILLIAM* HAMILTON, D. J> 
 
 MINISTER OF STRATHBLANE. 
 
 GLASGOW: 
 
 MAURICE OGLE, 17 & 19, WILSON 
 
 [AUGH & INNES; W. OLIPHANT ; W. WHYTE; R. OGLE; 
 W. LINDSAY; J. ROBERTSON; J. LOTHIAN; 
 AND J. BOYD, EDINBURGH. 
 
 MDCCCXXVIII. 
 
 i?i.£ 
 
DEFENCE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE 
 
 CONCERNING THE 
 
 SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST; 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 ERRONEOUS REPRESENTATIONS 
 
 MODERN MILLENARIANS 
 
 WILLIAM* HAMILTON, D. D 
 
 MINISTER OF STRATHBLANE. 
 
 GLASGOW: 
 
 MAURICE OGLE, 17 & 19, WILSON 
 
 WAUGH & INNES; W. OLIPHANT ; W. WHYTE; R. OGLE; 
 W. LINDSAY; J. ROBERTSON; J. LOTHIAN; 
 AND J. BOYD, EDINBURGH. 
 
 MDCCCXXVIII. 
 
ANDREW YOUNG, PRINTER. 
 
TO THE 
 
 Rev. THOMAS CHALMERS, D. D. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF EDINBURGH .* 
 THE FOLLOWING VOLUME; 
 AS A MARK OF RESPECT 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 UNWEARIED AND EARNEST APPLICATION OF ALL THE 
 
 POWERS OF HIS MIND, 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ILLUSTRATION AND DEFENCE OF SACRED TRUTH; 
 
 AND 
 
 AS AN EXPRESSION OF DELIGHT AT THE SOUND JUDGMENT 
 
 AND 
 
 KIND-HEARTEDNESS WHICH ACCOMPANY ALL HIS EXERTIONS 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 ADVANCEMENT OF THE CAUSE OF RELIGION AND HUMANITY; 
 
 IS INSCRIBED 
 
 BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND AND SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PR - 
 
 THSOLOGIG 
 PREFAC 
 
 Mr. Cunninghame and some other Mille- 
 narians ; who express surprise and disap- 
 pointment, that the revival of the prin- 
 ciples which they espouse, has excited so 
 little attention in Scotland, may, perhaps, 
 he also astonished that no attempt has 
 been made to refute them. 
 
 When Mr. Cunninghame's pamphlet ap- 
 peared, it is highly probable that many of 
 the clergy in this country, had no idea 
 whatever of the number of those who had 
 embraced his tenets. Amongst those who 
 had heard of the re-appearance of these 
 opinions ; many might imagine that there 
 was no occasion whatever to expose the 
 groundlessness of notions, whose falsehood 
 and absurdity, must, to all who were pos- 
 sessed of the Bible, and capable of reading 
 and understanding it, appear so manifest 
 and glaring as to supersede all criticism 
 or confutation. 
 
VI 
 
 Amongst those who might entertain a 
 different view of the matter ; and might 
 fancy that, though the theory was utterly 
 groundless and untenable, it possessed 
 something plausible and imposing, various 
 causes might prevent them from appearing 
 before the public upon such a subject. 
 The tone and temper of those who had 
 then come forward in the controversy, 
 were the reverse of what a man of piety 
 and peace would wish to find in an op- 
 ponent. Though labouring under a de- 
 plorable lack of theological knowledge, 
 and an unusual ignorance of the elements 
 of Biblical interpretation ; few controver- 
 sialists had ever displayed a greater de- 
 gree of arrogance and self-conceit ; or 
 breathed a spirit of more fierce and stern 
 disdain of all who ventured to dissent from 
 their dogmatical dictates. And who that 
 values either his own quiet or respectabil- 
 ity, would like to encounter such antagon- 
 ists? Some, who, in defence of Divine 
 truth, might be willing to brave all the 
 consequences of such an irksome conflict, 
 might want opportunity. Oppressed with 
 a charge of five, ten, or twenty thousand 
 souls ; how is a clergyman in such a situ- 
 
Vll 
 
 ation, who wishes to fulfil his duty to 
 God and man, to prepare works for the 
 press ? At a distance from public libra- 
 ries, how are we, on such occasions, to 
 procure the books, which it is necessary 
 to consult ? While one third of my breth- 
 ren, and some of these too endowed with 
 the finest talents and distinguished by the 
 highest literary and theological attain- 
 ments ; to the disgrace of this age and 
 country, are condemned to starvings of 
 £150 per annum ; after defraying the ex- 
 penses inseparably connected with their 
 station, how are they both to secure food 
 for their families, and purchase the pub- 
 lications requisite for the liberal and ef- 
 fectual prosecution of their studies ? Even 
 supposing these difficulties surmounted, 
 how are they to obtain command of lei- 
 sure and retirement ? The minister of the 
 smallest parish, has many indispensable 
 duties to perform, which consume a large 
 proportion of his time : and in many pain- 
 ful cases, his necessary toils are sadly ag- 
 gravated by needless and harassing tasks. 
 If the population of the parish has im- 
 measurably outgrown the capacity of the 
 church, or his own habitation has become 
 
V1I1 
 
 ruinous and dangerous : let the necessity 
 for instant and generous accommodation 
 be ever so clear, clamant, and urgent; 
 some individual is generally at hand, 
 ready to resist every call of religion and 
 humanity, and willing to subject the in : 
 cumbent to all the arrogance and distrac- 
 tion of an odious and interminable litiga- 
 tion, rather than submit to the perform- 
 ance of the most plain and indisputable 
 obligations which he owes to God and 
 his brethren. How many ministers have 
 had their earthly happiness destroyed, and 
 their lives shortened by wanton, but vex- 
 atious, actions in the courts of law ; never 
 can be known till the day shall declare 
 them. But in this manner as much time 
 and talent have been frittered away in 
 vain, as might have prepared all the poly- 
 glotts and commentaries in existence. 
 
 It is a matter of regret that the service 
 which I have attempted in the following 
 pages to discharge, has fallen into my 
 hands. Few of my brethren could have 
 been more unqualified for the undertak- 
 ing. Prophecy and the Millennium had 
 attracted less of my attention than the 
 other parts of revelation. They had sel- 
 
IX 
 
 dom presented themselves to my notice 
 in the course of expounding the Scrip- 
 tures weekly to my congregation. I never 
 had found myself called on to make them 
 the subject of particular investigation: and 
 the little knowledge respecting them which 
 I possessed, I had obtained exactly in the 
 same way in which every Christian should 
 endeavour to secure it, by examining them 
 for th£ purpose of acquiring a general ac- 
 quaintance with the invaluable oracles of 
 Gpd. 
 
 The work has been composed during a 
 busy season of the year, when I was im- 
 peratively bound to attend to more im- 
 portant matters, and unable to secure the 
 time requisite to arrange and digest my 
 observations in a more concise and lumi- 
 nous form. When I began to prepare 
 for the press, I expected that the publica- 
 tion would not have exceeded one-third of 
 its present bulk. But, in spite of every 
 effort to abridge it, by omitting some topics 
 altogether, and shortening the remarks 
 upon others, the work has insensibly swel- 
 led out to its present size. 
 Of the Millennium itself little has been said. 
 Though to distinguish them from those who 
 
abide by the Scriptural representations of 
 the subject, the advocates for visionary no- 
 tions respecting it, are denominated Millen- 
 arians ; it has been remarked long ago that 
 this designation is unjust.* We who re- 
 ject the idea of the Redeemer's personal 
 reign on earth, believe as firmly as our 
 opponents in the reality of a Millennium. 
 But it is a Millennium of righteousness 
 and peace, of truth and holiness; when 
 the people shall all know the Lord, love 
 him with their whole heart, and serve him 
 with all their strength and mind. It is a 
 Millennium consisting of an unusual bles- 
 sing upon the ordinances of religion, and a 
 rich effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the 
 souls of believers. The reader, who is 
 desirous of farther information respecting 
 that interesting era, will find on the sub- 
 ject many judicious observations, and of 
 a most practical tendency, in the works 
 of Bogue and Hopkins. Notwithstanding 
 
 * Lectures in MS. on the Book of Revelation, by 
 the Rev. David Connell, Minister of East Kilbride, 
 Lecture on Rev. xx. The manuscript dated 1777. 
 
XI 
 
 all that Mr. Maitland* has urged to the 
 contrary; in every other case, a day, in 
 the language of prophecy, denotes a year. 
 Whether that happy season will be limited 
 to one thousand years : or agreeably to the 
 uniform analogy of the prophetic writings, 
 each day, in the predictions relating to the 
 Millennium, denotes a year ; and the whole 
 period of the blissful reign of righteousness 
 will extend to three hundred and sixty thou- 
 sand years, time only can determine. 
 
 On the subject of Prophecy, of which 
 very little could be said in these pages, 
 much information may be found in Fra- 
 ser's Key to the Prophecies, Bishop Hurd's 
 Introduction to the study of Prophecy, 
 Bishop Newton's Dissertations, and Mr. 
 Keith's Evidences of the Truth of the 
 Christian Religion, derived from the ful- 
 filment of Prophecy ; in the works of John- 
 stone, Fuller, Holmes and Cuthbertson on 
 the Revelation ; in the writings of Mr. Ma- 
 
 * Enquiry into the grounds on which the Prophe- 
 tic period of Daniel and St. John, has been supposed 
 to consist of 1260 years. 
 
Xii 
 
 son; but above all in the profound and 
 masterly productions of Mr. Faber. Many 
 of the Millenarians have displayed much 
 learning and ingenuity in their publica- 
 tions on the Prophecies. In this class 
 none are superior to Mr. Cunninghame. 
 But their premises appear to be so wide 
 from probability, that no dependence can 
 be placed upon their conclusions : and, as 
 if on purpose to render the whole ridicul- 
 ous, some of them have interlarded their 
 disquisitions upon the inspired predictions 
 of Daniel and St. John, with comments 
 upon the incoherent and senseless dreams 
 of Esdras. 
 
 On the subjects discussed in this volume 
 several excellent papers have appeared in 
 the Christian Observer, under the signa- 
 ture of D. D. The reviewer in the Edin- 
 burgh Theological Magazine has twice 
 shewn himself willing and well able to 
 combat the advocates of Modern Mille- 
 narianism. A contributor to the Edinburgh 
 Christian Instructor has furnished two ju- 
 dicious and dignified articles on the same 
 topics. But nothing on the question has 
 interested me more than the admirable 
 
Xlll 
 
 strictures of Mr. Faber, in his recent 
 work, the Sacred Calendar of Prophecy. 
 
 Had I been aware that such accomplish- 
 ed and powerful writers as these would 
 have taken up and continued the defence 
 of this branch of revealed truth ; it is very 
 unlikely that I ever would have printed a 
 single sentence on the subject. To con- 
 troversy of any kind I have a strong aver- 
 sion. Notwithstanding the utmost solici- 
 tude to avoid every thing offensive to an 
 opponent, it is seldom possible to expose 
 the fallacy of his reasoning and the ground- 
 lessness of his erroneous conclusions, with- 
 out disturbing his self-complacency, and ex- 
 citing uneasy or angry feelings. Though 
 desirous to guard against every thing 
 of an irritating description, it is perfect- 
 ly possible that I may have sometimes 
 failed. In combating writers, everywhere 
 betraying the most consummate vanity and 
 arrogance, combined with an ignorance and 
 absurdity, which happily have been seldom 
 equalled ; it was no easy matter always to 
 select in return the mildest and softest 
 terms. 
 
 The Millenarians are welcome to treat 
 this performance as they please. But as 
 
XIV 
 
 they undoubtedly by this time have put 
 forth their utmost strength, and have no- 
 thing new in the shape of evidence to of- 
 fer y it would be extremely foolish and idle 
 in me to continue the discussion. When 
 once the arguments on any question are 
 exhausted, the continuance of the contro- 
 versy uniformly degenerates into wrangl- 
 ing and personal altercation. To such 
 conduct I am resolved to be no party. 
 From first to last, the present employ- 
 ment has been very unpleasant. The 
 publications of the Millenarians contain 
 very little to interest or edify. They 
 have darkened many a precious doctrine 
 of Christianity, and mistified many a plain 
 text of Scripture : but it is not easy to spe- 
 cify any religious truth which they have sim- 
 plified, or any passage of revelation which 
 they have illustrated. Several months 
 have been consumed in examining their 
 writings: but never was any portion of 
 my time so unprofitably spent : and to my 
 dying day I fear I shall have cause to re- 
 gret that so many hours have been so sadly 
 wasted. With this volume I intend to take 
 leave of the subject: and it will be no ordi- 
 nary consideration which will induce me 
 
XV 
 
 to return to such a disagreeable and use- 
 less task. 
 
 At any rate, the Millenarians are very 
 little entitled to demand farther discus- 
 sion : for they evidently have not read what 
 has been already written. One and all of 
 them seem strangers to the unanswered, 
 and unanswerable work of Dr. Whitby : or 
 if they have seen it, they have shewn more 
 good sense than to attempt a reply to his 
 unquestionable facts, and irresistible rea- 
 soning. 
 
 W. H. 
 
 Strathblane Manse, |_ 
 September 1, 1828. j 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. Page 
 
 Introductory Remarks. — Statement of the Subject. 
 
 Erroneous notions early appeared respecting the second ad- 
 vent — difficulty to ascertain what modern Millenarians ex- 
 pect — they seem to look for Christ's personal presence, to 
 raise the just, transform the living saints, and reign on 
 earth a thousand years — extracts from their writings ~~ 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Specimens of the opinions of Millenarians respecting pas- 
 sing Events, of their unintelligible Statements, and in- 
 consistencies. 
 
 Great confidence — high pretensions — specimens of their pol- 
 itics — their bigotry — represent religion as declining — and 
 as reviving — specimens of their absurd and unintelligible 
 writing — delighted with their own unanimity — irreconcile- 
 able differences and contradictions — some positive that 
 Christ is to come and reign visibly — others invisibly — cer- 
 tain that fire will accompany his presence, and change 
 the substance of the earth — others sure that there will be 
 no general conflagration — the people to be all righteous 
 and peaceful in the Millennium : but the world to be at the 
 same time unconverted, and kept in peace with difficulty 
 — specimens of contradiction in the same individual , — 30 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Difficulties of Modern Millenarianism, arising from the 
 state of the earth after ilie supposed coming of Christ. 
 
 The Bible connects the resurrection of the body with the 
 'coming of Christ, and assures us that the bodies of believ- 
 
XV111 
 
 ers shall be raised incorruptible and glorious. After their 
 resurrection, Either, l.The earth must be wholly changed, 
 which some Millenarians admit, and the preservation of 
 the wicked rendered impossible : but their hypothesis 
 supposes that the wicked shall be preserved: and the 
 Bible intimates that they shall continue till the end of all 
 things. Or, 2. The earth must remain as it is. In this 
 case no good end can be accomplished by bringing back 
 the glorified saints to such a world : and it is incongruous 
 to place them amongst men in the flesh, and subject them 
 to the society of the wicked. Or, 3. The earth must un- 
 dergo a partial alteration. This notion is inconsistent 
 with the principles of Millenarianism, and the language of 
 revelation. 61 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Some of the Difficulties arising from the clianges both in 
 the natural and moral world. 
 
 1. In the absence of the ordinances of the Gospel, the con- 
 version of men cannot be carried on during Christ's per- 
 sonal reign. The ordinances will be abolished when he 
 returns. But the men in the flesh will need to be con- 
 verted. No other instrument than the Gospel is known 
 for converting men : and yet the Gospel and its ordinances 
 are then abolished. 2. Difficult to reconcile the minds of 
 the saints to death during the Millennium. Millenarians 
 represent death as formidable at present. It must be 
 worse then, when it removes them from the world where 
 Christ is, to one where he is not. 3. The thousand years 
 of Christ's personal reign is regarded by Millenarians as 
 the great day of judgment. Incongruity of carrying on 
 the business of life, during the transactions of the great 
 day of decision. Inconsistency with the Scriptural rep- 
 resentation of the subject. 4. Millenarian hypothesis ren- 
 ders an attack upon the saints, at the end of the Millen- 
 nium incredible. The word of God assures us of such an 
 attack : but it is highly improbable that it can be made, if 
 
XIX 
 
 the saints are under the personal protection of the Re- 
 deemer. 5, This hypothesis renders an attack upon the 
 saints at the end of the Millennium, and the conversion of 
 the world at its commencement, impossible. For it as- 
 serts that Christ comes to judge the quick and the dead; 
 to destroy every living sinner, and glorify every living 
 saint. No sinners can survive to need conversion ; nor to 
 attack, under Gog and Magog, the camp of the saints. 
 Quotations from Mr. Faber, exposing these absurdities — 
 From Mr. Fuller, shewing that this hypothesis excludes 
 Christ's spiritual reign, and allows antichrist to domineer 
 till the whole number of the human race is completed. 
 No object can be attained by the personal reign of Christ, 
 but what can be accomplished by his spiritual presence.~~- 88 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Inconsistency of the Millenarian Theory with the doc- 
 trines of Scripture respecting the universal propagation 
 of the Gospel, and the time and manner of the Resur- 
 rection. 
 
 1. It is inconsistent with the scriptural representation of the 
 manner in which religion will become universal. — Relig- 
 ion shall be universal. But only by the blessing of God 
 upon the preaching of his word. — Direct assurances of this. 
 Figurative representations. Grain of mustard-seed. Leav- 
 en hidden in meal till the whole is leavened. Stone cut 
 out without hands becometh a mountain, and filleth the 
 whole earth. 2. Time and manner of the resurrection. 
 No resurrection till the heavens be no more. Resur- 
 rection to be at one hour, at the last day ; and the same 
 hour at which those who have done good come forth to 
 the resurrection of life, those who have done evil come 
 forth to the resurrection of damnation. It is to be accom- 
 plished by one and the same act of Omnipotence, the 
 voice of the Son of God, at the sound of the last trumpet. 132 
 
XX 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Inconsistency betwixt Modern Millenarianism and the doc- 
 trines of Scripture respecting the proceedings of the 
 day of judgment, the time, manner, and consequences of 
 Christ's coming, and the place of the everlasting resi- 
 dence of tljLe redeemed. 
 
 3. Scriptural representation of the judgment corresponds with 
 that of the resurrection. It is simultaneous. All judged 
 at one time; when some shall receive mercy, others not; 
 and when ail shall see the justice of God. Wheat and 
 tares cut down at the same time. Good fish not gathered 
 
 . into vessels till the bad are cast away. Mat. xxv. 31 — 46, 
 explained from Edinburgh Theological Review. 4. Time 
 of our Lord's coming. He will come personally. But not 
 till the accomplishment of all the things foretold by the 
 prophets. Acts iii. 19—21. Quotation from Faber ex- 
 planatory of this passage. 5. The manner and conse- 
 quences of Christ's coming. He will come in power and 
 great glory. Every eye shall see him, not on the earth, 
 but as he approaches it. All the dead shall be instantly 
 raised. All shall be immediately judged. Instead of 
 reigning on the earth, at his return he will deliver up the 
 mediatorial kingdom to the Father. 6. The earth is not 
 to be the everlasting residence (ff the redeemed— their 
 inheritance is in heaven — God is their portion — they 
 shall see him— they seek a better country — a house 
 eternal in the heavens — Christ is in heaven — they are to 
 be where he is — their kingdom prepared for them from 
 the foundation of the world. From his presence the 
 heavens and the earth flee away. The earth and the 
 works that are therein shall be burned up , * ~~*~ 151 
 
XXI 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Examination of the proof produced for the first 
 Resurrection. 
 
 Mr. Cunninghame's proof of a resurrection before the Mil- 
 lennium. Examination of the resurrection of the just. 
 Luke xiv. 14 : xx 35. J Cor. xv. 23—24. Extract from 
 the Edinburgh Theological Magazine. Resurrection from 
 amongst the dead: Phil. iii. 11. The dead in Christ 
 shall rise first : 1 Thess. iv. 13 — 18. The first resurrec- 
 tion . Rev. xx. 4 — 6. I. Examination of this passage. I. 
 This is a resurrection of souls : and as they cannot die 
 literally, they cannot be literally raised from the dead. 2. 
 It is confined to the martyrs. 3. If literal, and none are 
 blessed but those who share in it, then all at the final 
 resurrection must rise to perdition. 4. The final resurrec- 
 tion, Rev. xx. 11 — 13, possesses every characteristic of 
 the general universal resurrection. 5. All shall be judged 
 according to their works. But the judgment of all ac- 
 cording to their works, takes place long after the first 
 resurrection. Rev. xx. 13 : xxii. 12. 6. If the first res- 
 surrection be the re-animating of the body, the second 
 death can be no more than the second dissolution of the 
 body. 7. The apostle, in the same chapter, describes a 
 second resurrection of the wicked ; which is not the re- 
 storation of their bodies to life, but the prevalence of im- 
 piety and vice. On the principle of consistency Mr. Fa- 
 ber shews, that the first resurrection can only be spiritual, 
 the general reign of religion and of righteousness. II. 
 The real meaning of that passage. As the resurrection of 
 the rest of the dead at the close of the Millennium, is not 
 literal but figurative ; the revival of vice and impiety : the 
 first resurrection at its commencement, cannot be literal, 
 but only figurative ; the prevalence of religion and right- 
 eousness. Rev. xix. 21 ; identified with xx. 5. Conver- 
 sion represented as a resurrection. Of the resurrection of 
 the Witnesses, Rev. xi. Conversion and restoration of 
 
XXII 
 
 the Jews : Ezek. xxxvii. III. Righteous who shall live 
 in the Millennium identified with the martyrs because they 
 possess their spirit. Irreligious Jews in the days of Isa- 
 iah called rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah. The 
 Baptist called Elias 180 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Review of the Evidence for the personal advent of Christ, 
 prior to the Millennium ; and his reign on earth. 
 
 Whenever a future advent is foretold in Scripture, Millena- 
 rians understand one and the same advent to be uniformly 
 intended. Mr. Cunninghame mentions, 1. That the chron- 
 ological prophecies all refer to the period immediately in- 
 troductory to the Millennium. In the list of predictions, 
 which he considers as referring to one event, he has 
 thrown together prophecies relating to no less than four 
 distinct and distant events : the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 the fall of antichrist, the introduction of the Millennium, 
 and the end of the world. The prophecies respecting 
 Christ's coming to destroy antichrist are shewn to relate 
 to a figurative advent. 2. Mr. Cunninghame affirms that 
 the nouns used in the New Testament imply that Christ's 
 advent is personal ; and, 3. That two of these words con- 
 joined link that advent to an event which precedes the 
 Millennium. It is shewn that these nouns do not uni- 
 formly denote a personal presence. Other words 
 equally expressive of a personal presence, are applied to 
 the spiritual coming of Christ. 4. In the list of texts sup- 
 posed to refer to the pre-millennian advent, Mr. Cunning- 
 hame has thrown together texts relating to four different 
 events -. the destruction of Jerusalem, the death of believ- 
 ers, the fall of antichrist, and the end of the world. The 
 attempt made by a Prophetic Inquirer to establish a dif- 
 ference in the meaning of the same word when used in a 
 prediction and when used in a promise. This distinction 
 leads to the conclusion that the prophecies are to be liter- 
 ally interpreted, and the promises figuratively. — „« »«*««, 227 
 
XX111 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Observations on the miscellaneous proof of the MiUenari- 
 an hypothesis from the language of scripture, the types, 
 and the Christian Fathers. 
 
 I. The language of Scripture. Christ's feet shall stand on 
 the mount of Olives — he shall have the throne of his Fath- 
 er David. Jerusalem shall be the throne of the Lord. The 
 seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent. 
 The prophecy of Enoch. All nations shall be blessed in 
 the seed of Abraham. Job's expectation. The eighth 
 Psalm in connection with Heb. ii. Thy kingdom come — 
 thy will be done on earth even as it is in heaven. Now is 
 my kingdom not from hence. Petition of the penitent 
 thief. The age or world to come. Let the whole earth 
 be filled with his glory. The meek shall inherit the earth. 
 The glorified saints shall inherit the earth. The synchron- 
 ism betwixt the last trump of Paul and the seventh trumpet 
 of John. 
 
 II. The types. No doctrine which is condemned by the plain 
 language of Scripture, can be established by fanciful alle- 
 gories drawn from its historical incidents or typical insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 III. The testimony of the Christian Fathers. The principles 
 of the ancient Millenarians totally different from those of 
 the moderns. Never admitted into any creed. Rejected 
 by the most eminent of the Fathers. Inspiration of the 
 book of Revelation doubted on account of the sanction 
 which it was supposed to give to Millenarian tenets. 
 Millenarians obliged to defend themselves from opponents. 267 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Recapitulation and concluding Remarks 314. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 34, line 18, for Philalethos, read Philalethes, 
 
 — 112, — 6, — conessions, — concessions. 
 
 — 194, — 10, — Phil. iii. 4, — Phil. iii. II. 
 Page 303, Note, for Augustin, read Augustini : and in the last 
 
 line, dele xviii. 
 
 Page 309, Note, for Eusebia, read Eusebii. 
 
 Page 310, Note, for Prolegomina, read Prologomena : and last line, 
 
 Note, for Augusteni de Lenitate, read Augustini de Civitate. 
 Page 331, Note, 2d line, for and Letter, read and Mr. Cole's Letter. 
 
*%. 
 
 RLC. NOV I 
 
 chXPT^r I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. STATEMENT OF 
 THE SUBJECT. 
 
 Weakness anfl imperfection are inseparable at- 
 tendants on our fallen condition. Folly and ab- 
 surdity in every age have possessed a wide and 
 commanding sway: and in general none have given 
 more deplorable proofs of the imbecility of human 
 reason, nor wandered farther from the truth, than 
 those who have had the greatest confidence in the 
 strength of their own intellect, and the wisdom and 
 excellence of their own opinions. 
 
 No situation can be more deplorable and dread- 
 ful than a state of guilt and depravity, and nothing 
 on this side of heaven can be more desirable and 
 delightful than freedom from the power and the 
 presence of sin, and the possession of a soul su- 
 premely and ardently devoted to God and holiness. 
 From the degradation and misery with which it is 
 attended, in Scripture a natural condition is de- 
 scribed as a state of death, aud that blessed and 
 glorious change which believers undergo at con- 
 version is represented as a resurrection, and a pas- 
 sing from death unto life. 
 A 
 
10 
 
 From misapprehending this language of Scrip- 
 ture and the preaching of the Apostles, it is pro- 
 bable that Hymeneus and Philetus inferred, not 
 only that conversion is the best and noblest bles- 
 sing which the Gospel confers, but the only re- 
 surrection which we are warranted to expect. 
 They no doubt could urge many plausible argu- 
 ments in support of their dogma. They could af- 
 firm that it was forced on them by the rigid literal 
 interpretation of Scripture; that it tallied well with 
 the general design of revelation; and gave the most 
 honourable view of the character of God, who had 
 such a regard to holiness, that, when this was se- 
 cured, the grand and ultimate design of the gospel 
 was gained, and there was nothing nobler nor bet- 
 ter that it could bestow. And they too might de- 
 claim, in well set phrase, upon the theological 
 ignorance of the age, and bewail the blindness and 
 unbelief of the Christian world, who were so low, 
 besotted, and grovelling, as to cling to the carnal 
 hope of a resurrection of the body, and refuse to 
 fix their whole desires on the blessings of a spirit- 
 ual birth. But notwithstanding all the excellence 
 of their intentions, the supposed strength of their 
 arguments, and the firmness of their convictions 
 of the truth of their notions; Paul enjoins Timo- 
 thy to "shun profane and vain babblings; for they 
 will increase unto more ungodliness: and their 
 word will eat as doeth a canker: of whom is Hy- 
 meneus and Philetus; who concerning the truth 
 have erred, saying that the resurrection is past al- 
 
11 
 
 ready; and overthrow the faith of some." 2 Tim. 
 if. 16—18. 
 
 After delivering his farewell address to the Jews; 
 as our blessed Lord was for the last time retiring 
 from the temple, and bending his steps to the 
 mount of Olives, " his disciples came to him to 
 shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus 
 said unto them, See ye not all these things ? Ver- 
 ily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one 
 stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 
 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the dis- 
 ciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, 
 when shall these things be? and what shall be the 
 sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" 
 Matt. xxiv. 1—3. 
 
 After enumerating the various events which 
 should precede the fall of Jerusalem, and the signs 
 which should announce his coming, he added the 
 solemn asseveration, " Verily 1 say unto you, This 
 generation shall not pass, till all these things be 
 fulfilled." Matt. xxiv. 34. 
 
 These words have been very differently explain- 
 ed: but whatever may be their genuine interpre- 
 tation, from this declaration of our Redeemer the 
 belief immediately spread among some of his fol- 
 lowers, that the end of all things was at hand, and 
 that death should not seize upon the last of that 
 generation, till he should return in glory, and lay 
 the world in ruins. 
 
 It was in vain to plead, in opposition to this 
 opinion, that in the very prophecy which was sup- 
 
 A 2 
 
12 
 
 posed to predict the dissolution of all things, he 
 had also affirmed, that Jerusalem should be trod- 
 den down of the Gentiles, until the times of the 
 Gentiles were fulfilled, Luke xxi. 24. It was in 
 vain to urge that Daniel had foretold the history 
 of four successive empires, the division of the last 
 empire into ten kingdoms, and the rise of another 
 kingdom which should subdue three of the ten, be 
 diverse from them all, and that the saints should 
 be given into his hand until a time, and times, and 
 the dividing of time, Dan. vii. 17 — 27. It was to 
 no purpose to shew that the prophets had predic- 
 ted a dispersion of the Jews, on account of their 
 unbelief and other crimes, among the different na- 
 tions of the earth, where they would abide many 
 days without a king, and without a prince, and 
 without a sacrifice, and without an image, and 
 without an ephod, and without teraphim: but af- 
 terwards they should return, and seek the Lord 
 their God and David their king, and fear the Lord 
 and his goodness in the latter days, Jer. ix. 16. 
 xxx. 11. Ezek. vi. 8. Hos. iii. 4, 5. It was use- 
 less to maintain that the Messiah was to have do- 
 minion from sea to sea, and from the river unto 
 the ends of the earth; that all the ends of the world 
 were to remember and turn unto the Lord; and 
 all the kindreds of the nations to worship before 
 him, and that the whole earth should be filled with 
 his glory, Psal. lxxii. 8. xxii. 27. 
 
 It was idle to contend that the day of the Lord 
 would not come till all these predictions and pro- 
 
13 
 
 mises were accomplished. The students of pro- 
 phecy in that age, who were carefully watching 
 the horizon of Providence, could tell that they 
 thought they saw the signs of Immanuel's return; 
 and point to his own plain declaration, that that 
 generation should not pass till all that he had fore- 
 told respecting his second coming should be ful- 
 filled; and quote the inspired commentary of Paul, 
 that the day of the Lord was coming as a thief in 
 the night; and that it was only by their superior 
 information respecting the event, that the believers 
 at Thessalonica could be preserved from being 
 overtaken, like others, by its arrival, 1 Thess. v. 
 1—5. 
 
 But notwithstanding the confidence with which 
 they asserted that the end of all things was at hand, 
 and that time would terminate before the last of 
 that generation could reach the grave; that gener- 
 ation went down to the dust, and fifty-three gen- 
 erations have followed them to the tomb; and yet 
 the tide of time maintains its flow, the moon walks 
 in brightness, the sun unwearied pours along the 
 sky his flood of light, the seasons come regularly 
 round, and all things continue as they were from 
 the beginning of the creation. That the church 
 might be relieved from the agitation and perplex- 
 ity, into which the mistakes of their brethren were 
 calculated to throw them, the Apostle sets himself 
 purposely to expose the groundlessness of the no- 
 tion that Christ would immediately appear. He 
 tells them of events which were to intervene; which, 
 
14 
 
 from the book of Revelation, it is evident must 
 occupy thousands of years, before the second ad- 
 vent of our Lord. " Now we beseech you, bre- 
 thren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and by our gathering together unto him, that ye 
 be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, nei- 
 ther by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from 
 us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no 
 man deceive you by any means: for that day shall 
 not come, except there come a falling away first, 
 and that man of sin be revealed, the son of per- 
 dition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above 
 all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so 
 that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, 
 shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye 
 not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you 
 these things ? And now ye know what withhold- 
 eth that he might be revealed in his time. For 
 the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only 
 he who nowletteth will let, until he be taken out 
 of the way: And then shall that Wicked be re- 
 vealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the 
 spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the 
 brightness of his coming: Even him, whose com- 
 ing is after the working of Satan, with all power, 
 and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceiv- 
 ableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; 
 because they received not the love of the truth, 
 that they might be saved." 2 Thess. ii. 1 — 10. 
 
 There is no end to the rovings of the human 
 mind, nor any possibility of guessing what strange 
 
15 
 
 and incredible tenets may be adopted, even by some 
 of the best and most intelligent of men. The he- 
 resy of Hymeneus and Philetus ha3 long since 
 sunk to rest. The expectations of Christ's imme- 
 diate return, entertained by some of the primitive 
 christians, were dissipated by the authority of Paul, 
 and have been completely disproved by the event. 
 But the church is just as far as ever from being 
 secured against the agitation and distraction oc- 
 casioned by mistakes relating to the second coming 
 of our Lord. On this subject opinions as ground- 
 less, and far more extravagant, than those which 
 disturbed the peace of the brethren at Thessalonica, 
 have lately been advanced with an assurance and 
 confidence, and propagated with an activity and 
 ardour, which have seldom been equalled. It is 
 boldly affirmed, that the Lord Jesus Christ will 
 speedily return to the earth as judge of quick and 
 dead; that he will at his coming rai^se the just to 
 life; and reign with them in majesty and glory in 
 this world for a thousand years. During this de- 
 lightful and marvellous era, religion will flourish; 
 vice and impiety disappear; and knowledge and 
 righteousness, peace and happiness, universally 
 prevail. At the close, however, of this millennium 
 of bliss, a general apostacy will take place. The 
 infidels will attack the camp of the saints; when 
 the Redeemer will interpose for the protection of 
 his followers; send fire from heaven to devour his 
 enemies; raise the dead who have not been raised 
 at the commencement of the thousand years of his 
 
16 
 
 personal reign; bring all, who have not been pre- 
 viously judged, to his tribunal; banish the wicked 
 into everlasting fire; and either carry off his peo- 
 ple to heaven, or reign with them in this world, 
 refined and purified by the final conflagration, for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 Though the advocates of this theory are far from 
 coinciding, this statement is designed to be a fair 
 outline of the scheme, which possesses the great- 
 est number of adherents. Some of those readers 
 who have not looked into any of the Millenarian 
 publications, may imagine that this description is a 
 caricature of their hypothesis. In order, therefore, 
 at once to remove such a suspicion, and to gratify 
 the defenders of that system, it will be proper to 
 allow a few of them to speak for themselves. 
 
 " This kingdom" of Christ, or his personal reign 
 on earth, " then, will be contemporaneous with 
 what is commonly called ( the day of judgment,' 
 or ' the day of the Lord,' a term descriptive, not 
 of the ordinary jieriod of twenty-four hours, but the 
 day foretold, and appropriate to him with whom 
 < one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand 
 years as one day.' At the dawn of this day, or 
 rather period of time, c the first resurrection,' or 
 the resurrection of the c dead in Christy will take 
 place. These will awake fashioned after the glo- 
 rious body of Christ; while the saints at that time 
 living on the earth will undergo a momentous 
 change; a change, effected not through the ordi- 
 nary medium of death, but of some rapid and spi- 
 
17 
 
 ritual process, which will at once assimilate them 
 to the glorified dead, now restored to immortal life, 
 and these saints, the dead thus revived, and the 
 living thus changed, (and both glorified after the 
 pattern of Christ,) these saints will ascend to meet 
 the Lord, as he approaches towards the earth, in 
 the mingled * glories of his Father, and of the 
 holy angels.' These saints, thus revived and 
 changed, will form the elect church, and be 
 presented as the glorious bride to Christ, being 
 now ( made perfect, without spot, or wrinkle, or 
 any such thing/ Then will the joyful hour be ar- 
 rived when the marriage supper of the Lamb will 
 be celebrated, ■ because the bride will have made 
 herself ready/ Then will the happy and redeemed 
 church, thus united to her Lord, prepare to reign 
 with him on the earth, and to share his millennial 
 glory. On his approach the dreadful overthrow 
 of impious and ungodly men will take place; at 
 least throughout the range of that apostate Chris- 
 tendom, which so awfully shall have abased 
 (abused ?) its noble privileges, and slighted its gra- 
 cious warnings. At this time the Jewish nation 
 will be miraculously restored to their own land, 
 and this long outcast people will again be honour- 
 ed of God, and submit to the sway of the glorified 
 Messiah their Prince. Satan will then be bound, 
 and his influence over the earth be cast out during 
 the millennial period; while the 'latter rains' of 
 the Eternal Spirit, now no longer limited as on the 
 day of Pentecost, but falling in gentle showers 
 A 3 
 
18 
 
 over the whole earth, the time of the world's con- 
 version will be arrived, and the knowledge of the 
 Lord * will cover the earth as the waters cover 
 the sea.' 
 
 " Over the world thus reduced to obedience, 
 though not yet rescued entirely from death, (« the 
 last enemy to be destroyed,') the Saviour and his 
 glorified saints will reign in glory. The subjects 
 of this kingdom will be composed of the restored 
 Jews, the converted heathen, and the remnant con- 
 verted and saved from the ungodly hosts who will 
 have perished during the convulsions of the last 
 plagues of the great judgment. During this peace- 
 ful dominion of the Messiah, the earth will exhibit 
 anew spectacle of justice, allegiance, and felicity. 
 The curse will be greatly mitigated, and the ma- 
 lignant excitements of Satan unfelt. But towards 
 the conclusion of this great day of God, impiety 
 will once more prevail, and Satan be permitted 
 again to * deceive the nations;' but a miraculous 
 victory will finally subvert his power: the last 
 judgment will take place; Satan and his rebellious 
 associates will be cast into the lake of fire; death 
 be destroyed ; the curse already taken from the 
 Elect Church at the first resurrection will now be 
 removed entirely from the earth; and every foe 
 being put down, the distinction betwixt Jew and 
 Gentile destroyed, and the Mediatorial sceptre no 
 longer needed, the mediatorial kingdom of the 
 Messiah will be delivered up to the Father; God 
 « will be all in all,' and the earth at length be trans- 
 
19 
 
 formed into a tranquil scene of happiness, an ever- 
 enduring monument of praise to Him who shall 
 have achieved its rescue from the terrific doom of 
 death." * 
 
 The system is more fully detailed by Mr. Irving 
 in his Preliminary Discourse to his translation of 
 Ben-Ezra. It would be unjust to our Millenarian 
 friends to withhold a few extracts from that per- 
 formance. 
 
 " The present visible church of the Gentiles, 
 which hath been the depository of the oracles and 
 the sacraments, and the ordinances, since the 
 Jewish state was dissolved, I mean the mixed mul- 
 titude who are baptized in the name of the Father, 
 
 and the Son, and the Holy Ghost; standeth 
 
 threatened in the Holy Scriptures because of its 
 hypocrisies, idolatries, superstitions, infidelity, and 
 enormous wickedness, — with such a terrible judg- 
 ment, as hath not been, nor ever shall again be 
 seen upon the earth; in the which deluge of wrath 
 she shall be clean dissolved, as the synagogue was 
 heretofore in the destruction of Jerusalem, when 
 she in like manner had filled up the measure of 
 her iniquity: — which fearful consummation I judge 
 to be near at hand, both by the signs of the times, 
 and from the prophetic numbers expressly given 
 to guide us in the anticipation of those great Gen- 
 
 * A Brief Enquiry into the Prospects of the Church of Christ 
 in connexion with the Second Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 By the Hon. Gerard T. Noel, A. M. Curate of Richmond, pp. 
 31—34. 
 
20 
 
 tile judgments which are mentioned in Scripture, 
 wherever and whenever the coming of the Lord is 
 mentioned. 
 
 " When the Lord shall have finished the taking 
 of witness against the Gentiles, and summed up the 
 present dispensation of testimony in this great ver- 
 dict of judgment, and while the execution is pro- 
 ceeding, he will begin to prepare another ark of 
 testimony, or rather to make the whole earth an 
 ark of testimony; and to that end will turn his 
 Holy Spirit to his ancient people the Jews, and 
 bring unto them those days of refreshing spoken 
 of by all the holy prophets since the world began : 
 in the which work of conveying to them his Spirit, 
 by the preaching of the word, he may, and it is 
 likely, will use the election according to grace, who 
 still are faithful among the Gentiles ; though I be- 
 lieve it will chiefly be by the sending of Elias who 
 is promised before the dreadful and terrible day of 
 the Lord, and by other mighty and miraculous 
 signs. This outpouring of the Spirit, is known 
 in Scripture by 'the latter rain,' of which I deem 
 the religious revivals of the last thirty years to be 
 as the first droppings of the shower, and our re- 
 ligious works and societies to be a sickly uncertain 
 hue of verdure which the withered stump by the 
 scent of the waters hath put forth." pp. 4, 5. 
 
 " That these judgments," a great warfare in the 
 neighbourhood of Jerusalem, when Antichrist 
 shall fall, and his powers be broken in the battle 
 of Armageddon, "upon the Gentile nations and all 
 
21 
 
 the earth, he will finish by his own personal ap- 
 pearance in flaming fire, taking vengeance on 
 those who know not God, and obey not the gos- 
 pel of our Lord Jesus Christ; raising those who 
 sleep in Jesus, and changing those of the Gentile 
 church who still abide in life; and preserving the 
 mourning Jewish church, as Goshen was preserv- 
 ed in the plagues of Egypt: and when the promis- 
 ed land shall have been cleared of all intruders, 
 and they themselves by suffering perfected for the 
 habitation of it, he shall lead them into it with a 
 mighty and outstretched arm: and sit upon the 
 throne of David, judging and seeking judgment, 
 and hasting righteousness; and send forth the law 
 from Zion, and'the word of the Lord from Jeru- 
 salem ; and rule among the nations, and be the 
 Prince of universal peace; using in this judg- 
 ment and government of the earth his risen saints, 
 who shall be his ministers to execute whatever his 
 pleasure is. And thus, Satan being cast out, and 
 the Prince of light, and the heavenly Jerusalem, 
 the dwelling place of his elect church being present, 
 the Jerusalem on earth, with the house* of Jacob, 
 and all the nations shall enjoy that fnlness of peace 
 and joy, that millennial reign of righteousness, 
 for which we all hope and pray, and diligently la- 
 bour." pp. 6, 7. 
 
 " Now this third province of our High Priest's 
 work," the redemption and purification of the 
 earth whereon we dwell, " I find to be thus writ- 
 ten in the Scripture. That at the coming of the 
 
22 
 
 Lord there will be such a purification of the earth 
 by fire, and amelioration of its condition by other 
 means, known perhaps to God only, though our 
 author," Ben-Ezra, "hath well, yea, magnificently 
 speculated thereon, as shall realize the blessedness 
 of that millennial kingdom, whereof some part of 
 the delineation is set down above. This will take 
 place by the casting out of Satan, that prince of 
 the power of the air, and of spiritual wickednesses 
 from their high places, with all the inferior rulers 
 of the darkness of this world; and by the subjuga- 
 tion of all things to the Prince of Peace, and to 
 the saints who shall be raised to be partakers of 
 his government and kingdom. But forasmuch as 
 death, generation, and corruption, growth, and de- 
 cay, shall still have a place in that new earth, (Isa. 
 Ixv.) it cannot yet have received its entire purifica- 
 tion at the hands of the Great High Priest, 
 but looketh forward with expectation still to the 
 end, when death the last enemy shall be destroyed. 
 But in the meantime the earth and all the inhab- 
 itants thereof, shall possess the bright assurance 
 of this bright consummation, by the presence of 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, into which nothing enter- 
 eth that defileth, or maketh a lie, which flesh and 
 blood cannot inherit, which is incorruptible and 
 unchangeable in its beauty, the habitation of the 
 risen saints and elect church of our Priest. This 
 material city, I say, in which the saints shall dwell, 
 and from which they shall go forth on their errands 
 terrestrial or celestial, shall bring to the Matter of 
 
23 
 
 the earth that same assrurance of an unchangabie 
 beauty and perfection yet to be, as the pure body 
 of Christ that rose to the eternal throne doth bring 
 at this moment to my body and to the body of the 
 Church now living or mouldering in the grave." 
 pp. 123, 124. 
 
 " We say that the day of the Lord which in 
 the face of Peter's warning, they" who hold the 
 popular creed of the church, "interpret of a nat- 
 ural day, but which we in the spirit of his warn- 
 ing, and of John's exposition, interpret of a thou- 
 sand years, is the period during which this mani- 
 festation" of Christ's kingly office, "will be made. 
 We interpret the conflagration of the earth to be 
 its purification or baptism with fire, and not its 
 annihilation. We doubt if annihilation be an 
 idea contained in the Scriptures at all; nor are 
 wicked men annihilated; nor is Satan, nor is 
 death, nor is *&i?, the place of separate spirits, 
 which are all cast into a lake of fire. We believe 
 that our Lord shall reign a certain limited time 
 with his enemies under his feet, that is in a state 
 of subjection ; and afterwards that he shall reign 
 for ever, with his enemies under the dominion of 
 the second death. That there shall be a period 
 of Satan's imprisonment, and of death's subjuga- 
 tion, and of the earth's protection, government, 
 and blessedness, in despite of all the powers of 
 darkness; and that after this there will be an 
 eternity of Satan's second death, and death's 
 second death, and the second death of all wicked 
 
24 
 
 men and wicked angels, and their fruits of wick- 
 edness ; which shall be to the earth an eternity of 
 infallible blessedness, of God's immediate presence, 
 of the concentration of his love, of the peculiar 
 abode and government of his Son. And that this 
 immortal earth for ever, and the redeemed saints 
 inheriting for ever their inheritance, incorrupti- 
 ble, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, and the 
 Son of God their King, united to human nature 
 for ever, shall be for ever the monument of God's 
 love and mercy to believing sinners, the enduring 
 proof unto the universe of the incredible power of 
 faith in the word of God, which when all the un- 
 fallen creatures of God behold, they may adore 
 the triumphs of faith, and hold fast their alleg- 
 iance, and delight in the glory of redeeming love, 
 and in the victory of almighty grace over sin. 
 While on the other hand the lake of the second 
 death which burnetii with fire and brimstone, 
 where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not 
 quenched, where Satan, the Prince of darkness, 
 and the angels which kept not their first estate, 
 where the grave and place of souls accursed, with 
 all unbelievers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and, 
 in short, every thing in the kingdom which offend- 
 eth, are tormented for ever and ever ; this hell of 
 the second death, with all that are doomed to 
 abide therein, shall serve the opposite purpose to 
 all God's intelligent and unfallen creatures, of de- 
 monstrating to them the horrors of disloyalty and 
 disobedience to the Great King, the fearful fruits 
 
25 
 
 of sin, the indestructible horrors of death, the 
 passive and impotent misery of those who disobey 
 the will of the Highest, the awful stability of the 
 laws of Heaven, and the indefeasible sovereignty 
 of the word of God. But if these theorists des- 
 troy the earth, or make of it their hell, for neith- 
 er of which ideas can I find a single passage in 
 Scripture, and against them a thousand ; if they 
 carry off the race of the redeemed men to mingle 
 with, and be lost amongst the countless myriads 
 of the unfallen angels, the whole end and termin- 
 ation of redemption is lost. And the manhood of 
 Christ is lost. He is not God and man in two 
 distinct natures and one person for ever. And 
 our honour to have all put under our feet is lost; 
 and the crowning truth of the whole mystery is 
 lost, which is, that God's power and love is able 
 from the dust of the ground to create a substance 
 worthy of being incorporated with his own eternal 
 essence; and that of the children of sin and frailty, 
 his redeeming word and regenerating Spirit can 
 make the kings and the priests of the universe. 
 For I have no idea that after the purification and 
 exaltation of this earth, those who passed through 
 Christ's trials and attained unto his glory, shall 
 dwell above in isolated blessedness, or be seen 
 from afar like a solitary star in the spangled 
 heavens; but do conceive that we shall be as it 
 were the heralds of faithfulness, carrying in our 
 person both the lesson and the example wherever 
 we go; ministering to all his creatures the pro- 
 
26 
 
 found mysteries of God's love to his faithful child- 
 ren, judging angels, ruling principalities and 
 powers, and having all things under our feet, 
 partakers of the prophetic, priestly, and kingly 
 throne of Christ. This I conceive to be the mys- 
 tery of the God-man, which is not a phenomenon 
 or appearance made to the earth only, but is a 
 reality, a substantial union of the two natures 
 which cannot be hidden, but must be known to 
 all creatures in and under heaven. And if this 
 be the orthodox doctrine of Christ's humanity, 
 who can doubt, that under Christ creatures of the 
 same glorified humanity may be the stewards of 
 that universal kingdom, and that the saints who 
 are redeemed out of great tribulation, washed 
 and made white in the blood of the Lamb, shall 
 reign upon the earth, where Christ for ever reign- 
 eth, and from that as the court and centre of 
 their government, exercise under their King uni- 
 versal government to the end of the world." pp. 
 153, 154. 
 
 (i Why may it not be that the Son may admin- 
 ister the kingdom of all the universe by that race 
 of kings and priests whom he hath brought 
 through the same tribulations through which he 
 passed himself. It may be that he may appoint 
 the whole multitude of the ransomed for a court 
 and ministry to the whole creation, as he ap- 
 pointeth the present elect church for a court and 
 ministry to the earth." "If angels be my minis- 
 ters in this my humiliation, what in my exaltation 
 
27 
 
 may not I hope to become? The Lord knows I 
 am not ambitious of these dignities, and that I 
 write not these things in any ambitious mood. 
 But to justify his power and his grace, which hath 
 already made me, a worm, to become a spiritual 
 member of his eternal Son." pp. 162, 163. 
 
 " That there is a personal coming and reign of 
 our Lord, at the commencement of the millennium, 
 is not only to be proved from the passages in Acts, 
 already referred to, but also by the 110th Psalm. 
 This is also the period of the changing of the liv- 
 ing, and of the raising of the dead saints. All 
 the Gentile fulness is to be brought in now, dur- 
 ing this dispensation; but there may be, and pro- 
 bably will be, a remnant of the Jewish fulness which 
 is yet to be brought in at the time of their return, 
 although great numbers of the Jews in the restor- 
 ed land may join the opposers of the Lord. The 
 two last chapters of Isaiah seem to relate to that 
 period. The first judgment will be on the ecclesi- 
 astical, the second on the temporal powers. I con- 
 ceive the heavenly city and the bride are one and 
 the same thing; the living stones which meet the 
 Lord in the atmosphere; from whence Christ shall 
 be transiently visible to all, but permanently visi- 
 ble only in the aerial city. It matters not to the 
 point in hand, whether the 1000 years, mention- 
 ed as the duration of our Lord's reign, be really 
 that period, or a longer, as is maintained by 
 some; the principal point expressed by it is, 
 that it is finite. During this period it seems that 
 
28 
 
 the men on earth would be in the same state that 
 Adam was in before he fell; and the Apostles 
 were in a state somewhat similar, between the 
 time of the crucifixion and the day of Pentecost, 
 previous to their being in possesion of the Holy 
 Ghost." Dialogues on Prophecy, Part V. pp. 
 43, 50. 
 
 " The essence of this statement " of the mil- 
 lenarian scheme "is, 1. a literal not a figurative 
 coming, a personal, not an energetical manifesta- 
 tion of the great God and our Saviour, in his 
 day. — We believe that he shall come as he hath 
 never yet come, in a form of glory, the form 
 of adorned manhood, so as to be seen and own- 
 ed of men. Yet such seeing shall be transient 
 to men in the flesh, abiding only to men in 
 the spirit. 2. Such his coming shall be at the 
 commencement, not the close, of his earthly 
 reign: that new era of peace and righteous- 
 ness which most christians profess to be looking 
 for 1 . Yet he shall come while nations are dwelling 
 upon the earth, in their ancient form, and shall 
 continue to maintain their existence in that form, 
 during a limited period. 3. His raising of the 
 blessed dead, and his changing the bodies of the 
 blessed living, shall be simultaneous with the annun- 
 ciation of his approach, and, together with the ven- 
 geance then executed upon the unbelieving mem- 
 bers of his visible church, shall constitute a dis- 
 tinct integral part of his work of judging the world. 
 Yet shall there be un-raised and un -judged ones 
 
29 
 
 still; yet shall the earth have a judgment still to 
 undergo; yet shall there be temples, and services, 
 and an epoch to be waited for. 4. The restora- 
 tion of the Jewish nation as a whole, shall be sub- 
 sequent to, and shall be effected in quick succes- 
 sion to, the blessings and cursings of the instant 
 of his coming. Yet shall that nation have receiv- 
 ed a partial restoration before, and individuals of 
 • the glorified fulness,' shall have been taken out 
 of it ; yet shall the joy of Canaan, and of the Jew, 
 be distinct from that of the spiritual Israel. 5. 
 Christ's spiritual empire shall be co-extensive 
 with the earth, with the world; yet its seat shall 
 not be earth, though communicating with it; his 
 saints shall reign as well as serve with him, but 
 they shall not justle with the men of the flesh, 
 and, though intermixing, when need be, individ- 
 ually, shall be visible only by special appointment 
 and operation. 6. A second apostacy, a second 
 conflict, a second resurrection, a second judg- 
 ment shall follow close upon the sun-set of the 
 millennial day; yet even these events shall not 
 finish the transactions of earth which shall sur- 
 vive her conflagration, as she has survived her 
 deluge — though the last which God has seen 
 good to reveal by the Bible, with a very brief 
 intimation that there are others still to come." 
 Vaughan's Sermon on the Church's Expectation, 
 pp. 15— 17. 
 
 Some of these Extracts are abundantly curious. 
 Others equally strange might be multiplied al- 
 
30 
 
 most without end. A few more will hereafter be 
 produced. In the meantime these must suffice. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SPECIMENS OF THE OPINIONS OF MILLENARI- 
 ANS RESPECTING PASSING EVENTS, OF 
 THEIR UNINTELLIGIBLE STATEMENTS, AND 
 INCONSISTENCIES. 
 
 The advocates of this theory, like their prede- 
 cessors in the primitive church who had wandered 
 from the truth, imagine that the Scriptures are 
 completely on their side, and that their tenets are 
 attended with innumerable and invaluable advan- 
 tages. They seem to believe that their hypothes- 
 is is possessed of paramount importance; that it 
 is interwoven with the whole Christian system; 
 that to withhold assent from it, is tantamount to 
 the rejecting of revelation, and endangers the 
 eternal salvation of the soul. Some of them 
 mourn over our want of faith in their fancied dis- 
 coveries ; and others liberally pour upon us the 
 grossest abuse, and regard us with the greatest 
 indignation and contempt on account of our blind- 
 ness and incredulity. 
 
 In the preface to his Summarjr View, page. 15, 
 Mr. Cunninghame invites his opponents to the 
 
31 
 
 amicable refutation of his views by Scriptural 
 arguments. An opponent had embarked in this 
 task with more speed and spirit than had been ex- 
 pected. Before his pamphlet left the press, a 
 short but able article in opposition to his notions 
 had appeared in the Edinburgh Theological Mag- 
 azine: and did the same Mr. Cunninghame, who 
 had begun by inviting discussion, thank him for 
 his services, and request their continuance ? Af- 
 ter many angry remarks upon the writer, he con- 
 cludes by exhorting him to " beware, lest in deny- 
 ing the plain literal meaning of the promises of 
 the Lord's second coming," prior to the Millen- 
 nium, "he should be chargeable with exalting his 
 own carnal reason above the oracles of the living 
 God." Summary View, page 27. 
 
 Mr. Cunninghame refers, page 5, with marked 
 approbation to the labours of Mr. Irving in the 
 Milleniarian cause. And how does Mr. Irving, 
 the great and indefatigable champion of the 
 scheme, speak of the nature and importance of the 
 subject? He tells us, that the work of Ben-Ezra 
 is "the best gift that hath been offered her," the 
 Church, "in these latter times." Preliminary 
 Discourse, page 22. 
 
 The huge work of Ben-Ezra contains a lengthy 
 attempt to expound the system: but before Mr. 
 Irving had met with the book, he had anticipated 
 the whole, and was master of all the parts of the 
 theory. How had this singular event been produc- 
 ed? By "revelation," Mr. Irving has no pa- 
 
32 
 
 tience with those who strip the figurative parts of 
 Scripture of their metaphors, and reduce the 
 passages to their plain and genuine meaning. See 
 Pre. Dis. pp. 78, 142. There can be no doubt there- 
 fore that he himself uses words in their strict lit- 
 eral import. Yet these are his own words: "The 
 truth which he," Ben- Ezra, "had been taught in 
 the midst of Catholic superstition, — met with the 
 truth which God's Spirit had, during a season of 
 affliction, taught me, in the midst of the intellec- 
 tual pride of my native country." Pre. Dis. page 
 17. The Lord did reveal in me the knowledge, 
 and hope, and desire of his Son from heaven," 
 Pre. Dis. page 74. 
 
 If this system is really revealed in Scipture, if 
 these gentlemen are acquainted with its varied de- 
 tails, and able to guide the public mind in a mat- 
 ter, which they regard as of the most engrossing 
 interest ; it surely may be expected that they will 
 judge correctly of events passing under their own 
 observation, write intelligibly on their favourite 
 theme, and preserve a perfect harmony with each 
 other in their exposition of this wonderful hypoth- 
 esis. 
 
 Now is this the case? 
 
 How do they speak of passing events? 
 
 Do you wish for a specimen of their politics? 
 Take the following. Speaking of the occurrencies 
 of 1827, they use this language. " One of the 
 most upright and conscientious ministers this 
 
33 
 
 country ever possessed, virtually no more. The 
 Tory administration saute en Vair. Mr. Canning 
 dead. An administration of liberals formed un- 
 der Mr. Robinson. An English army on the Con- 
 tinent. A war with Turkey brought about in vio- 
 lation of the laws of nations, of public faith, and 
 justice, by an act of this country, which ever be- 
 fore has been the asserter and defender of that in- 
 ternational code." Dialogues on Prophecy, Part 
 V. pp. 11, 12. 
 
 Do you wish to have a sample of their liberal- 
 ity ? Turn to pp. 66, 67, of the same publica- 
 tion, and you will find what ensues. " Since his," 
 Andrew Fuller's, "day we have seen a union of 
 a religious nature, between Christians and Socin- 
 ians, in the Bible Society, boasted of as the per- 
 fection of Christian love." — <; There is another 
 damning fact, marking the actual extent of infidel- 
 ity, which cannot be gainsaid, and that is the es- 
 tablishment of the London University. The pre- 
 sent day has given rise to the first attempt which 
 has ever been made in the history of the world to 
 establish a system of national education without be- 
 ing founded on the religion of the state." What 
 succeeds is still worse. But the above is abundant- 
 ly bad. Will the writer charge the House of 
 Commons with infidelity, because, at the close of 
 every twelfth or twentieth speech, one of their 
 number is not uniformly required to deliver a ser- 
 mon? If there were a Divinity Chair in the Lon- 
 don University, and this secured by a disguised 
 B 
 
Si 
 
 Socinian; what advantage would the religion of 
 the state gain by the endowment? And if the pro- 
 fessors of the liberal arts and sciences are men 
 of piety, and the former schools of Theology 
 open for the students who have passed through 
 this University; what damage will the interests 
 of Christianity sustain from the temporary want 
 of a professor specially destined to teach the doc- 
 trines of revelation ? 
 
 All who possess any information of what is pass- 
 inff in the religious world, know that since the 
 Reformation, or rather since the age of the apos- 
 tles, the Gospel never has been accompanied with 
 such success as at present; and greater numbers of 
 late, than in any former period, have given evidence 
 of experiencing its transforming power. But how 
 do these gentlemen speak of the present state of re- 
 ligion ? Read what is subjoined. " Philalethos — I 
 find that amongst those who refuse to examine in- 
 to the subject of the second Advent, there prevails 
 a strong opinion that the church is so much more 
 numerous now than ever, and that it has produced 
 so great an effect upon the world, that it is impos- 
 sible it can be so ripe for judgments, as those who 
 have studied most closely the prophetic Scriptures 
 say it is: how can that erroneous opinion be met r" 
 « Anastasius — It is rather a prejudice than an op- 
 inion, and therefore idle to contend with it." 
 " The very idea of the world having become bet- 
 ter is absurd, unless they mean to contend that 
 they have bound Satan, or made him better too; 
 
35 
 
 and whenever you hear any one contend that the 
 world has got better, you may be sure that that 
 man's heart is in it, and he is searching for 
 an excuse to pacify the conscience for remaining 
 in and of it. A little observation will serve 
 to convince you that the effect of the peace 
 which the church has so long enjoyed has been 
 to make her quite content with the world as 
 it is. She has not been called to partake of 
 the sufferings of Christ, and she has lost all 
 wish to share his crown." Dialogues on Pro- 
 phecy, Part V. pp. 63 — 65. Mr. Irving laments 
 the condition of the Church of Scotland. " How 
 surely art thou steering to the gulf of infidelity!" 
 Pre. Dis. page 89. It has been his "hard lot to 
 have found few bretheren in the ministery of 
 Christ." Idem, p. 19. "Christ is not received any 
 more by the Church as her prophet." — (i You con- 
 temn Christ as a Prophet; you despise the pro- 
 phetic character of his word; you make light of 
 those who esteem it or take any account of it; and 
 I say unto thee, thou backsliding intellectual 
 demi-infidel church, thou knowest nothing of the 
 prophetic- office of Christ, or the prophetic char- 
 acter of his word." Idem, page 82. " This pres- 
 sent dispensation of the incarnate God and the 
 out-poured Spirit is to end, and is now ending in a 
 desertion and apostacy, in an almost total absence 
 of faith and eclipse of light." Idem, page 164. 
 " In good truth, the days have grown sick, and 
 we are grown sick in the days; the atmosphere is 
 B 2 
 
36 
 
 unwholesome, and we are meagre skeletons of 
 Christians. But it was not always so: it was nev- 
 er so in the Protestant Church till within these 
 latter years of what they burlesque by calling it a 
 revival. ,, Preface to Part V. of Dialogues on 
 Prophecy. Extract from a M S. page 7. If 
 this really is the result of all our unions for pray- 
 er, efforts to educate the young in the principles 
 of Christianity, to circulate the Scriptures, and 
 evangelize the world; these religious associations 
 have been the greatest plague inflicted on the 
 Church for centuries. It is high time that the 
 whole were abolished, and that matters were re- 
 stored to the same state of languor and apathy, 
 formality and indifference in which they were fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 But have these gentlemen always entertained 
 the same gloomy and desponding views of the pre- 
 sent condition of the religious world? Not at all. 
 The same Mr. Irving informs us, Pre. Dis. page 
 5, that the il out-pouring of the Spirit, is known 
 in scripture by 'the latter rain,' of which I deem 
 the religious revivals of the last thirty years to be 
 as the first droppings of the shower." The same 
 Anastasius, Dialogues on Prophecy, Part III, 
 page 199, tells us: "The great sign to the 
 church of the end of all things being at hand, is 
 the increase of religious knowledge which has tak- 
 en place within the last thirty years, and the reviv- 
 ed attention which is now paid to the expectation 
 of the coming Lord from heaven." " The forward- 
 
37 
 
 ness of some speaks, in the language of preced- 
 ing providence, Christ's appearance to approach. 
 The fig-tree buds towards the spring. I think 
 Christ's speecli to be more than a parable, the 
 springing of the vines notes the return of the sun. 
 The spiritual approaches of Christ upon the souls 
 of sober saints, is, to me, as the rising of the sap 
 in the tree, as a clear forerunner of that summer. 
 I have a long time thought and sometimes said, 
 the children crying Hossanna, notes Christs' be- 
 ing on the way to Jerusalem. Our children are 
 talking earlier than ourselves : I am sure the 
 younger Christians talk as if it were day, while 
 the more ancient and drowsy slumber." — " And 
 really I think as the chirping of robins and less- 
 er birds, speaks break of day, so the more than 
 ordinary workings of Christ upon young Christ- 
 ians, and his gifts and appearances in them, are 
 a providential prognostic that his appearance is at 
 hand, and that the day thereof is dawned and is 
 dawning." Christ's Appearance the Second Time 
 for the Salvation of Believers, page 113. If ever 
 it shall be ascertained that the preacher, the pre- 
 facer, Anastasius, and Mr. Irving are one and the 
 same, these contradictions, as a literary curiosity, 
 will be possessed of still greater interest. 
 
 So much for the manner in which they judge of 
 passing events. 
 
 Do they write intelligibly on their favourite 
 theme ? 
 
 If the subject be intelligible, and a man under- 
 
38 
 
 stand it, it certainly may be expected that he 
 will be able to communicate his ideas of it with 
 clearness and precision. Have the Millenarians 
 formed any conception of what they are vigorously 
 straining to comprehend? or have they found the 
 faculty of expressing themselves in a form cap- 
 able of being understood either by themselves or 
 others ? 
 
 Can they tell any man what idea they have of 
 " living stones which meet the Lord in the atmos- 
 phere?" of the product which arises from the 
 compound of " the same slate Adam was in before 
 he fell," with "the somewhat similar state" the 
 Apostles were in "between the crucifixion and 
 the day of Pentecost?" It would be desirable to 
 know what this is, as we have already heard that 
 it is to be the state of the men on earth during the 
 Millennium. See above, pp. 27, 28. Have they 
 any conception of what they mean when they 
 apply to the Lord Jesus Christ, the epithet "The 
 Man-God;" Irving's Preliminary Discourse, pp. 
 142, 156, 157, 159, 170, 171, 172: and speak 
 of his "anointing by the dove?" when they 
 talk of the conversion " of the ships of Tarshish? 
 Dialogues on Prophecy, Part III. page 196: 
 of "the earth living in peace and blessedness?" 
 Irving's Pre. Dis. page 65: of "an assurance 
 brought to the Matter of the earth ?" and to the 
 "body" of the Author of the Preliminary Dis- 
 course ? page 124. Can they tell us how mucfi 
 of the body of the church "is now living in the 
 
39 
 
 grave?" and how "the grave and place of souls 
 accursed are tormented for ever and ever,'* or 
 even tormented at all? What is meant by "the 
 glorious effloresence of the present dispensation 
 into a universal fulness?" Irving's Pre. Dis. 
 page 7. How is the "burying of Satan" to be 
 accomplished? Sermon by a Spiritual Watch- 
 man, page 5. If they understood what they 
 were writing would they have indited sentences 
 such as the following ? "I hold it to be a great 
 principle, which may almost be laid down as a 
 canon of exposition, that every fundamental 
 truth of faith should be shewn to be present un- 
 der some form or other, in every part, or rather 
 I should say, in every period of Divine revelation, 
 unfolding itself more and more onwards unto 
 the end ?" Irving's Pre. Dis. page 14. "When 
 besides the reason, the sense, and understand- 
 ing also are to be satisfied, it seems to me neces- 
 sary that the truth conveyed should be surround- 
 ed with, and, as it were embedded in the con- 
 ditions of space and succession, in order that 
 through the avenues of the bodily sense and nat- 
 ural understanding the pure truth may pass into 
 the soul, and, being there redeem both soul and 
 body from their fallen state." Irving's Pre. Dis. 
 page 75. " In this state — in which their external 
 glory, the glory of the bodily form of each, 
 and consequently of all, viewed as one united 
 mass made up of many parts, is so vast, they shall 
 need no temple, any more than they shall need 
 
40 
 
 the light of the sun: God, in the substance of the 
 person of the Holy Ghost, residing in the in- 
 wards of the Lamb, and so making him a temple, 
 the Lamb shall be to them for a temple, in which 
 to present their spiritual sacrifices and offerings, 
 and shall also be to them for a light of brightness, 
 above that of the sun." Vaughan's Church's 
 Expectation, page 87. 
 
 What do they mean when they say, that "the 
 coming of the Son of God in flesh to offer him- 
 self for our sins, was only the manifestation or 
 revelation of that which he had done from all 
 eternity?" Irving's Pre. Dis. page 9G. Do they 
 intend to assert that Christ was an actual sufferer 
 before his birth, and crucified before the crea- 
 tion ? If this is their meaning, they may as just- 
 ly maintain that the earth was burned before it 
 was made, and Judas hanged before he was born. 
 Would any man who knows the difference be- 
 twixt a narrative and a prediction, say, when 
 addressing the modern Church: "Let me tell 
 thy present ignorance, there is as much" proph- 
 ecy " in the gospels as in the prophets, as much in 
 the epistles as in the psalms?" Irving's Pre. Dis. 
 page 84. When they say that "no prophecy is 
 of a private or limited application, so as to run 
 out before the end, but every one of them hath 
 something in it unaccomplished:" Irving's Pre. 
 Dis. pp. 77, 78: do they really wish to affirm 
 that the sceptre has not yet completely depart- 
 ed from Judah, that Jerusalem is not completely 
 
41 
 
 destroyed, nor Christ completely born ? When 
 we read, "If haply any one' should think the 
 position, that all God's word is at one and the 
 same time prophetic and historical, too broadly 
 stated, and refer me to those parts thereof which 
 are purely biographical and historical, as the 
 books of Moses, and Samuel, and Kings, and 
 to those parts which are purely moral, as Job 
 and Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, &c and to 
 others which they say are purely doctrinal; I an- 
 swer, that I believe every one of those books 
 to be both the evidence of a prophecy in fulfil- 
 ment, and a prophecy itself:" Irving's Pre. Dis. 
 page 69; it would be exceedingly important to 
 know what were the events foretold by the con- 
 duct of Josiah at the time, 2 Kings xxiii. 15 — 18, 
 when he fulfilled the things which were proclaim- 
 ed by the prophet from Judah : and it would be 
 also very obliging to instruct us in the facts of 
 which the birth and death of Christ are either 
 the predictions or the types. 
 
 Can they explain how "the new Jerusalem," 
 which is a 'material cit}',' Irving's Pre. Dis. 
 p. 123. " cometh down out of heaven from our 
 God;" living's Pre. Dis. page 124, how 
 " the Shechinah, or glory between the cherubim, 
 was the emblem" of this same material city, 
 Irving's Pre. Dis. p. 14 : and yet how " the Jews 
 are not only a type of the New Jerusalem, but 
 they are the New Jerusalem?" Dialogues on 
 Prophecy, III. page 177. Did they try to com- 
 B 3 
 
42 
 
 prehend what they wrote, when speaking of our 
 Lord's being present " in his body," they go on 
 to say, " In his temple he may be manifested 
 — through the Prince of the temple ruling in his 
 power and name ?" Dialogues on Prophecy, III. 
 pp. 198, 199. Transubstantiation itself is not 
 nearly so incomprehensible as this. The papist 
 says that the wafer is the body of Christ. But 
 he does not affirm that Christ manifests his body 
 through the person or body of another. 
 
 While their writings abound with language 
 and statements as unintelligible, as the above, 
 to themselves and all mankind; it is time to ask 
 if they preserve any concord in their incompre- 
 hensible assertions? 
 
 There is nothing which has given them greater 
 surprise and delight than their harmony. They 
 regard it as perfectly "wonderful." living's Pre. 
 Dis. page 189. To people who can believe that the 
 day of judgment is the Millennium, that the Son 
 of God is to dwell a thousand years on the earth, 
 and the glorified saints to be associated during 
 that period with mortal men: to people who 
 have powers to believe all this, that harmony 
 must be perfectly marvellous which could excite 
 their " wonder." 
 
 Let us look at this strange concurrence, and 
 mark its amazing extent. 
 
 Is Christ in his glorified body to return to the 
 earth ? Yes. " His feet shall stand on mount 
 Olivet." He shall sit " upon the throne of David, 
 
43 
 
 and upon his kingdom." " It appears therefore 
 from this great prophecy of the incarnation," 
 Isa. ix. 7, " that the idea which was given of the 
 Man-God, or Emmanuel, was that of a deliverer 
 and rightful inheritor of the land, the destroyer 
 of all its oppressors, the remover of all its bond- 
 age, the multiplier of the nation, the increaser 
 of its joy, the occupant of its throne, and the 
 governor of its people for ever, yea, and the 
 monarch of a universal and eternal dominion 
 upon the earth. These predictions concerning the 
 Child are in this prophecy, and no others are 
 in it." " If any one say that Jesus of Nazareth 
 shall never sit upon David's throne, nor rule 
 over the house of Jacob. Then I say that 
 Jesus of Nazareth is not the person here pro- 
 phesied of, but some other. If they say, yea, 
 but he is Emmanuel born of the Virgin, who 
 now is spiritually filling the spiritual throne of 
 David, and spiritually reigning over the spiritual 
 house of Jacob, and spiritually holding universal 
 empire. Then all I have to say is, I do not 
 know what the spiritual throne of David is." 
 Irving's Pre. Dis. pp. 84-, 142, 143. Is Christ 
 in his glorified body to return to the earth? No. 
 " The heavenly city and the bride are one and 
 the same thing ; the living stones which meet the 
 Lord in the atmosphere; from whence Christ 
 shall be transiently visible to all, but permanent- 
 ly visible only in the aerial city." Dialogues on 
 Prophecy, V. page 50. 
 
44 
 
 Will Christ return openly visibly and in great 
 glory? Most undoubtedly. We have heard 
 Mr. Irving affirming that "he will finish his own 
 appearance in flaming fire, taking vengeance on 
 those who know not God;" and Mr, Noel de- 
 claring that " he approaches towards the earth, 
 in the mingled glories of his Father and of the 
 holy angels." page 17. "Having come visibly, 
 he will remain visible; with this difference, 
 that, at his coming he will be manifest to eyes 
 of flesh; in his remaining only spiritual eyes 
 will behold, or be capable of beholding him." 
 Vaughan's Church's Expectation. page 13. 
 " The Son of Man is revealed." " Christ comes 
 with fire." "It is called the appearing of the 
 glory of the great God," Dialogues on Prophecy. 
 Part V. page 17, III. page 186. Christ's Ap- 
 pearance, page 38. To this advent Mr. Cun- 
 ninghame applies Rev. i, 7; which tells us that 
 "every eye shall see him." Summary View, pp. 
 8, 9. See also the Letters of Basilicus, pp. 8, 9; 
 Vaughan, p. 80. " The annointed Ruler, the King 
 of Kings, and Lord of Lords, shall dwell in our 
 world, not, as once, in the midst of one nation, 
 and by the mysterious radiance of the cloudy She- 
 chin ah; but in the wide circle of the whole earth, 
 and by the glorious brightness of a personal mani- 
 festation." Noel's Prospects of the Church, pp. 
 164, 165. See also pp. 101, 152, 153. 
 
 Well then they expect that he is to return 
 openly, visibly, in power and great glory, so 
 
45 
 
 that every eye shall see him? No. "It is 
 possible that his reign with his saints over 
 the unconverted world, may be carried on in an 
 invisible manner, in the same way as Satan 
 carries on his reign at present with his subordin- 
 ate agents. Our Lord has many risen saints 
 with him already; Enoch, Elijah, Moses, and 
 many who rose at the same time when he himself 
 rose, we know of; and it is not improbable 
 therefore, that he often raises up his people to 
 sit and reign with him." " We do not know that 
 our Lord may not be in his body in this room, 
 in which we are now assembled, and Moses and 
 Eliaswith him; and although invisible to us, they 
 are doubtless visible to one another. Thus he may 
 reign with his saints in this regenerated world, 
 he and they visible to each other, whilst to his 
 restored Jews he may be only manifest in his re- 
 built temple at Jerusalem." Dialogues on Proph- 
 ecy. Part III. pp. 197, 198. "The appearances 
 of the Lord to raise his saints, and a^ain in 
 order to save his national Israel, appear to be 
 distant from each other by all that period occu- 
 pied by the war of Armageddon, during which 
 time the Lord may be, though on earth, yet in- 
 visible to all but his risen saints." " He may, 
 after his second advent, remain invisible to the 
 world, and only be manifested at the grand 
 crisis of his ancient church." Dialogues on Pro- 
 phecy, V. pp. 22—25. Last Trump, pp. 16, 17. 
 Are the saints at Christ's appearance to be 
 
46 
 
 raised in visible majesty and glory ? Yes. " The 
 gathering of the wheat is explained by our Lord 
 to be, the righteous shining forth as the sun in the 
 kingdom of their Father, which can be nothiug 
 but the first resurrection and changing of the 
 saints." Dialogues on Prophecy, V. 20. " At 
 this resurrection the children of God are manifest- 
 ed; during the present life they compose the in- 
 visible church, each indeed having a new name 
 ■written, which no man knoweth, saving him 
 that receiveth it." Dialogues on Prophecy, III. 
 pp. 166, 167. See also Irving' s Pre. Dis. pp. 6, 
 84. The Letters of Basilicus, pp. 8, 9. Christ's 
 Appearance, page 49. Are the saints then real- 
 ly to be manifested at the first resurrection, and 
 appear with Christ in glory? No. "It is the 
 restoration of the Jews which is 'the outward and 
 visible sign ' of the invisible resurrection of the 
 bodies of the saints." " This visibility of the 
 saints to each other, but not to the world, is pre- 
 cisely analogous to that which we are told took 
 place at the time that our blessed Lord himself 
 arose, as related in Malt, xxvii. 52, when many 
 saints also arose, and appeared unto many," 
 Dialogues on Prophecy, V. pp. 22, 23, 25. 
 
 When Christ comes will fire accompany his 
 presence, and change the substance or surface of 
 the globe? Who can doubt it? "Christ our 
 Lord shall come, when the Beatum Millennium 
 is to begin, sv w^i <pxoyos, in flaming fire; by the 
 Divine and miraculous efficacy whereof the world 
 
47 
 
 that now is shall be refined^ and delivered from 
 the bondage of corruption which came upon it for 
 the sin of man." Mede's Works, 3d edition, 
 page 618. Who can doubt it? « The third 
 subject of the priestly office of our Lord is, the 
 redemption and purification of the earth where- 
 on we dwell, and which, with all that it contains, 
 was. originally put under the dominion of Adam." 
 Irving's Pre. Dis. page 119. "Now this third 
 province of our High Priest's work I find to be 
 thus written in the Scripture. That at the coming 
 of the Lord there will be such a purification of the 
 earth by fire, and amelioration of its condition 
 by other means, known perhaps to God only, 
 though our author hath well, yea magnificently 
 speculated thereon, as shall realize the blessed- 
 ness of that millennial kingdom, whereof some 
 parts of the delineation is set down above." 
 Irving's Pre. Dis. page 123. Who can doubt it? 
 when we are assured that "Our Lord has many 
 risen saints with him already: Enoch, Elijah, 
 Moses, and many who rose with him at the same 
 time when he himself rose, we know of; and it 
 is not improbable therefore, that he often raises 
 up his people to sit and reign with him. When 
 he returns to earth, a change will be effected on 
 the material world, similar to that which has 
 taken place on their bodies." Dialogues on Pro- 
 phecy, III. page 197, and pp. 162 — 165. 
 
 W T ho can doubt it? "On the coming of the 
 Lord Jesus in his glory and his majesty, the 
 
48 
 
 heavens and the earth which now are, being en- 
 tirely destroyed, new heavens and new earth 
 shall begin to be, wherein righteousness shall 
 thenceforward dwell." Ben-Ezra, vol. II. 231. 
 How is this entire destruction to be produced? 
 " According (saith St. Peter) as the heaven and 
 earth which were before the universal deluge, 
 perished at the word of God by means of water, 
 c Whereby the world that then was, being over- 
 flowed with water, perished,' 2 Peter iii. 6: in 
 like manner the heaven or heavens, and the 
 earth which now are, shall also perish by the 
 same word of God and by fire." " The apostle, 
 St. Peter, spake in the most proper and natural 
 terms, when he said, the earth and the heavens 
 which were before the deluge, perished by the 
 word of God and by water : — He adds, that the 
 heavens and the earth which are now, (certainly 
 inferior to the Antediluvian) shall likewise perish 
 in their time, not however by water, but by fire." 
 Ben-Ezra. vol. II. pp. 231, 233. 
 
 Can words more unequivocally proclaim their 
 conviction that at the commencement of the 
 Millennium, the whole substance, or at least the 
 whole surface of the earth shall undergo a com- 
 plete change by fire ? But are we at liberty to 
 imagine that they believe what their words ex- 
 press ? and that they actually expect the world to 
 be " entirely destroyed " " by fire?" Not at all. 
 This would be doing them great injustice. 
 
 The same Mr. Mede who has already refined 
 
49 
 
 the world by the flaming fire, that accompanies 
 the Redeemer's descent, and who elsewhere fre- 
 quently provides for the combustion of the globe 
 to the same extent in which it was overflowed by 
 the deluge; supposes that the lower hemisphere 
 will escape the firey inundation, which shall deso- 
 late the upper hemisphere, containing the old 
 continents of Europe, Asia and Africa; that this 
 upper hemisphere will become the camp of the 
 saints and the site of the New Jerusalem ; and 
 that from the lower hemisphere, the greater part 
 of which, God, in his secret judgment, will never 
 pervade with the light of his gospel, Gog and 
 Magog will ascend to storm the city of the re- 
 deemed, Mede's Works, p. 575. 
 
 The same Ben-Ezra, after he has, vol, II. pp. 
 231 — 238, gotten the world "entirely destroyed " 
 "by fire;" contrives pp. 239—246, to get it first 
 entirely drowned. " This great change," the res- 
 toration of the earth to its Antediluvian state, 
 "which we look for in our present world from 
 evil to good, it appears to me, ought to com- 
 mence according to my system, in that same way 
 in which, in the time of Noah, it commenced from 
 good to evil, that is to say, by the restoration of the 
 axis of the earth to that very situation in which it 
 stood before the deluge, or which is the same, 
 by the union of the ecliptic with the equator." page 
 244>. What is the consequence of this union? A 
 universal deluge: for he informs us that it was 
 by the loss of this union that the former deluge 
 
50 
 
 was effected: and the restoration of the union 
 most undoubtedly will produce a second deluge, 
 and to the same extent as the first. Well, after 
 he gets it " entirely destroyed " " by fire," and 
 entirely drowned with water; is he done with it? 
 Not yet. Quoting the words of Peter, " The 
 heavens and the earth which are now, by the 
 same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire;" 
 he adds, " Whence it legitimately follows, first, 
 that in the same manner and in the same sense in 
 which that ancient world perished by water, this 
 present one shall perish by fire. It follows legit- 
 imately, in the second place, that as that ancient 
 world did not perish in its substance, but only in 
 its accidents, — So this world which now is shall 
 likewise perish by fire, not in respect to its sub- 
 stance, but shall only be changed from bad to 
 good." page 243. And then, after having so 
 repeatedly assured us that the destruction pro- 
 duced by fire is to be commensurate with the des- 
 truction produced by water, or the deluge; he 
 has the courage at last to turn round and tell us, 
 (i That fire which is so oft announced against the 
 great and terrible day of the Lord, cannot ac- 
 cording to the scriptures, be a universal fire to 
 cover all our globe, as did the waters in the time 
 of Noah." page. 24<7. See also vol. I. pp. 129, 
 130. " Thus our author hath well, yea, mag- 
 nificently speculated thereon !" 
 
 If this is not enough to remove the supposition 
 that they believe in a general conflagration before 
 
51 
 
 the Millennium, listen to Mr. Cunninghame» 
 Summary View, pp. 21, 22; " I shall begin 
 what I have to offer in answer to his attack, '' the 
 Reviewer's in the Edinburgh Theological Mag- 
 azine, " upon us, by telling this writer, that the 
 first qualification of one who sits in the chair of 
 criticism, particularly objurgatory criticism, ought 
 to be knowledge, but of this in relation to the 
 scheme which he condemns, he exhibits no evi- 
 dence. He supposes that we hold the general 
 conflagration at the commencement of the Millen- 
 nium. Now I will tell him we hold no such 
 thing. The conflagration of Sodom was not gen- 
 eral, even with respect to the promised land of 
 which it was a part, (See Gen. xv. 20.) Nor do 
 we believe that the conflagration which we learn, 
 Dan. vii. 11. and Rev. xix. 20, is to destroy the 
 body, or territories of the fourth beast, the mystic 
 Sodom is to be a general one, extending over the 
 whole earth. It is probable, however, that the fire 
 of our Lord's coming, while it destroys the beast, 
 may have a purifying efficacy over the atmosphere 
 of the whole earth; changing the heavens, and 
 fitting the earth for its new slate of beatitude." 
 See also Dialogues on Prophecy, III. 168. 
 Was the conflagration of Sodom incomplete? 
 Do conflagrations purify the atmosphere? Did 
 the conflagration of Sodom purify the atmosphere 
 over the whole promised land? Has Sodom, 
 since its conflagration, been rebuilt and re- 
 peopled ? What kind of fire is to destroy the 
 
52 
 
 limited body or territories of the fourth beast, 
 and yet purify the atmosphere of the whole 
 earth ? 
 
 The language of Mr. Cunninghame is ambi- 
 guous. Since the fire mentioned in Dan. vii. 11, 
 and Rev. xix. 20, is generally understood to be 
 figurative, greater explicitness would have been 
 very desirable. The following extract will shew 
 that his words as they at present stand, leave it 
 extremely doubtful whether he expects a mat- 
 erial or spiritual fire to accompany our Redeem- 
 er's advent, *« It is evident from Daniel vii. 8, 9, 
 25, 26, that the Ancient of Days begins to sit at 
 the end of the papal period, or 1260 days. Rev. 
 xiv. 14, seems to describe the same sitting as 
 Daniel: and, after this, immediately follows 
 the harvest, from which it would appear, that 
 the harvest begins to be reaped at the end of the 
 1260 days. If this be correct, the burning of 
 the tares has been going on during the last thirty 
 years, and is still going on in the Peninsula; as 
 soon as it is completed, the wheat will be gathered 
 into the garner, and the earth left for the un- 
 mingled judgment of the vintage." Then follows 
 what has been already quoted about the gather- 
 ing of the wheat, when "the righteous shall shine 
 as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, which 
 can be nothing but the first resurrection, and 
 changing of the saints." Dialogues on Prophecy, 
 V. pp. 19, 20. 
 
 Will there be any wicked men on earth during 
 
53 
 
 the Millennium? No. "Thy people also shall 
 be all righteous." Diologues on Prophecy, III. 
 165. " The knowledge of the Lord will cover 
 the earth as the waters cover the sea." Noel, 
 page 33. " All the impious and sinful being 
 exterminated thence— in every thing it," the 
 millennial earth, «< shall be at least as good 
 as it was in its primitive state." Ben- Ezra, II. 
 page 248. But is this really so ? Not at all. 
 The enemies of Christ and his people are not 
 destroyed. " Thus in present peace and brighter 
 hope, shall the earth dwell and endure the long 
 season of the Millennium, and thus shall Christ 
 and his saints reign over it, having their enemies 
 under their feet, but not destroyed." Irving's Pre, 
 Dis. page. 124. Well then, since he and they 
 are to have their enemies under their feet, they 
 must have enemies? No. They are to have 
 no enemies. " In this way the Lord will be 
 preparing for himself an ark of testimony in 
 the Jewish nation, through whom to make 
 the whole world one great and universal ark of 
 faithful testimony." Idem page 7. " The elect 
 church is the whole extent to which, for the pre- 
 sent, the application of his righteousness is ex- 
 tended; and why no further? because so the or- 
 der of God's wisdom willed it. But will it go 
 farther? Yes it will. And how far? To the 
 whole world." " When shall they be presented 
 unto the Father? When their bodies are deliver- 
 ed from the power of the grave, for while there 
 
54 
 
 they are underlying his curse. And when shall 
 that be? At his coming. And then shall he 
 present unto his Father a glorious church, * with- 
 out spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.' And 
 then another stage of the redemption is complete, 
 the presenting of the church unto the Father; 
 at which time shall take place those holy espousals 
 of the second Adam to the second Eve, who was 
 taken out of his bleeding side: when I may say, 
 they are also in the mystery, commanded to mul- 
 tiply and replinish the earth; for then will the 
 multitude of children begin to be born unto 
 Christ. And now endeth the mystery of election 
 which then hath its accomplishment, 'accomplish 
 the number of the elect and hasten thy kingdom. 
 And now the bastings of unfaithful Arminianism, 
 (' he that believeth shall not make haste,') the 
 blinding hopes of our present Millenarians, (but 
 their proper name is Optimists,) will begin to be 
 harmless, which now are ruinous; for as yet their 
 time is not come. The dispensation of election 
 is ended; and the dispensation of universality is 
 begun. And then will I myself become a Wes- 
 leyan Methodist, and preach Christ the Saviour 
 of all." Idem p. 128. "His" Emmanuel's "power, 
 his counsel, his Divine might shall pervade every 
 thing and make it blessed, even as Satan's power 
 and counsel and devilish might do now pervade 
 every thing and make it cursed." Idem p. 147. 
 When his power pervades all things, and all the 
 inhabitants of the world are saints and saved, is it 
 
55 
 
 possible that there can be any on earth to oppose 
 the authority of Christ? Yes. Read the next sen- 
 tence. "In which age to come there shall be a 
 first period, during which his enemies are under 
 his feet, trampled upon but not destroyed, impris- 
 oned but not executed." Idem p. H7. Well then 
 since these enemies are so effectually trampled upon 
 and so securely imprisoned, will they give any 
 disturbance and annoyance?. No. "The crea- 
 tion shall then be pure; and the bondage of Satan 
 shall have ceased." Idem p. 13. There will then 
 be no occasion for Peace-officers or Police to keep 
 order? More need than ever. All the Police 
 on the globe will be unequal to the task. It 
 will require nothing less than the whole hosts of 
 the glorified saints to fulfil that arduous service. 
 "These are the shining ones— by whose active min- 
 istry, by whose speedy obedience, passing too and 
 fro at will with angelic freedom and readiness, thev 
 shall maintain that peace and blessedness amoncrs't 
 the sojourners of the earth, in which the Millen- 
 nium will consist." Idem page 14. 
 
 Is the whole earth regenerated? Surely. 
 " He," Christ, " may reign with his saints in 
 this regenerated world, he and they visible to 
 each other." " To his elect bride he shews him- 
 self as Solomon in all his glory; in his glorified 
 body and ruler over the purified habitable globe." 
 Dial, on Proph. III. pp. 198, 199. Is the habita- 
 ble globe purified and the world regenerated? 
 No. The world is still what it was, as unconvert- 
 
56 
 
 ed as ever. "It is possible that his reign with 
 his saints over the unconverted world, may be 
 carried on in an invisible manner/' Idem p. 197. 
 If this is harmony, it is truly " wonderful :" and 
 nothing would be more astonishing than to wit- 
 
 O CD 
 
 ness what they would denominate discord. If to 
 affirm that Christ is to appear in flaming fire, 
 and at the same time to maintain that he is to 
 continue invisible; that the saints are to shine 
 forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father, 
 and yet to be raised and reign invisibly; that the 
 earth is to be purified by fire, and its substance un- 
 dergo a change like what has taken place upon the 
 glorified bodies of Moses and Elias, and yet that 
 it is to suffer no general conflagration; that there 
 is no election, but the reign of universality, or the 
 salvation of all, begins, and yet there will be 
 enemies to Christ, and an unconverted world: 
 if these are not the most gross and palpable 
 contradictions, it will be impossible to find one 
 in the whole history of human weakness and 
 folly. 
 
 After all that they have published in support of 
 the personal coming of Christ, the resurrection of 
 the saints, and the universal or partial purification 
 of the earth by fire prior to the Millennium; it is 
 even questionable if they believe in these matters 
 at all. If Mr Cunninghame's rule be correct that 
 "a figurative or spiritual coming is no coming at 
 all," there are many of them who reject the very 
 articles for which they profess to contend. For 
 
57 
 
 what better are an invisible advent, an invisible 
 resurrection, and a fire without combustion, such 
 as "has been going on during the last thirty 
 years:" what better are these than a figurative or 
 spiritual coming, a figurative resurrection, and 
 a figurative conflagration? 
 
 There is little cause of surprise that the ad- 
 vocates of Millenarianism contradict each other, 
 when we find that they are unable to preserve 
 their own consistency. The same Mr. Cunning- 
 hame, who, in his Summary View, in general 
 pleads strenuously for "the real" "personal" and 
 "corporeal" advent of our Lord; tells us, Pre- 
 face, page 8, that " the presence of the Lord 
 may be manifested in a manner somewhat analog- 
 ous, but far more glorious than the display of the 
 glory of the Divine Shechinah, in the Holy of 
 Holies." A Prophetic Inquirer, Christian Ob- 
 server for March, 1828, concurs with him in 
 this notion. " I am inclined to believe that our 
 Lord's presence with men in the future dispensa- 
 tion, will be manifested by a presence analogous 
 to, but far more glorious than the Shechinah." 
 Was the Shechinah a corporeal presence ? Deut. 
 iv. 12, 15. And will a presence analogous to 
 that of the Shechinah, which was not corporeal, 
 be, however glorious, a real personal bodily 
 presence ? 
 
 Time after time Mr. Irving informs us that 
 the last Antichrist is a person. Pre. Dis. pp a 
 6, 31. In the 43d page, he finds it manifest 
 C 
 
58 
 
 that the personal Antichrist is the eighth head ot 
 the beast, or Roman Empire, and the head or lead- 
 er of the infidel conspiracy. But in page 137, 
 he discovers clearly that Antichrist is both an in- 
 dividual personage, and the beast, or Roman 
 Empire itself ! " The Apocalypse, in Chap. xx. 
 declareth that it shall continue so," as it is writ- 
 ten, Ephes. ii. 2, "until the beast'and the false 
 prophet, that is, the personal Antichrist and the 
 papal power, with all that follow them shall have 
 been destroyed in the battle of Armageddon. 
 And this we do not yet perceive, for the personal 
 Antichrist is not yet made manifest, and the false 
 prophet still sitteth as God in the temple of 
 God." 
 
 In a Fast Sermon preached January 1st, 1828. 
 p. 18, he says; " There is indeed, a controversy 
 still maintained for the Divinity of Christ, by the 
 quotation of texts, but seldom by any deep argu- 
 ments drawn from the nature of the Godhead it- 
 self, or from the work of the redemption and re- 
 generation of the creature; and it is maintained, 
 not so much for its own dignity and use in the- 
 ology, as for the securing of the doctrine of the 
 atonement, which hath swallowed up almost every 
 other doctrine, and become the great indulgence 
 of ignorance and idleness, which in a selfish age, 
 will ever be the case." At this rate, Paul must 
 have been incomparably ignorant and idle, who 
 drew no deep arguments from the nature of the 
 Godhead, but determined " not to know any 
 
59 
 
 thing save Jesus Christ and him crucified :" and, 
 which is still more extraordinary, the angels must 
 be as ignorant and idle as the apostles, when in- 
 stead of contemplating "the personal subsistences 
 in the Trinity," they « desire to look into" " the 
 sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should 
 follow." 1 Pet. i. 11, 12. But how long is it 
 since Mr. Irving himself escaped from the charge 
 of this criminal ignorance and idleness? Only 
 since he published his Preliminary Discourse to 
 Ben- Ezra: for then he thus wrote, page 12. 
 " Such is the skeleton of that body which God 
 hath given to his great purpose of saving the 
 world, by that one truth the < Incarnation of his 
 Son, for the salvation of men, through the right- 
 eousness which is by faith.' " This single truth 
 was then sufficient for saving the world : and are 
 preachers bound to undertake more than the sal- 
 vation of the world ? In that Preliminary Discourse, 
 dated Christmas Day, 1826, on the subject of 
 which he had been profoundly meditating for 
 months preceding Christmas, 1825; be frequent- 
 ly reprobates the idea that' the earth is to be des- 
 troyed, and the redeemed taken to heaven. He 
 again and again asserts that the world is to endure 
 for ever, and the redeemed to have their eternal 
 habitation here. But how long has this formed 
 an article in his creed ? Not very long. In an 
 Introductory Discourse to Home on the Psalms, 
 dated May, 1825, page 27, he furnishes us with 
 the following sentences. « It is the capital princi- 
 C 2 
 
60 
 
 pie of all sound doctrine, that the world is to be 
 destroyed. It is the deep-rooted source of all 
 heretical doctrine, that the world is to be mend- 
 ed." 
 
 Double or quadruple the number of cases of as 
 gross or even grosser contradiction might be 
 easily produced from their publications. But 
 these must suffice as specimens of the rashness 
 and recklessness with which they write. It has 
 been with pain that they have been transcribed; 
 and to push the task much farther would be not 
 only irksome but invidious. Before these gentle- 
 men assumed the attitude of distance, haughti- 
 ness, and defiance towards their opponents, which 
 they have chosen, it might have been expected 
 that they would have shewn themselves better ac- 
 quainted with theirown principles and more capable 
 of expounding them to others. From the opinions 
 which they have hazarded on passing events, from 
 the unintelligible language which they employ, and 
 the glaring inconsistencies into which they have fal- 
 len; the reader may judge for himself how far 
 they are worthy of that^deference which they claim, 
 qualified to dictate to their brethren, and entit- 
 led to exact from the Christian public submission 
 to their dictates. 
 
61 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF MODERN MILLENAR- 
 IANISM, ARISING FROM THE STATE OF THE 
 EARTH AFTER THE SUPPOSED COMING OF 
 CHRIST. 
 
 The Bible is the word of God. Every sentence 
 which it contains is founded on infallible truth, 
 and demands the instant and unqualified assent 
 of every mind. Nothing can be more daring 
 nor criminal than to reject a single fact which it 
 asserts, because we are unable to comprehend its 
 nature, or account for its production. The know- 
 ledge of the Omniscient cannot be brought within 
 the limits of our narrow intellects, nor the opera- 
 tions of his hand measured by any process within 
 the contracted grasp of our feeble faculties. He 
 sees the end from the beginning. Immensity with 
 all that it contains, and eternity with all the events 
 which it shall disclose, he has distinctly and fully 
 in his view. With him all things are possible: 
 and before the march of his power the mightiest 
 mountains sink into plains, and the most formi- 
 dable obstacles dwindle into insignificance and dis- 
 apear. And however unable we are to trace the 
 steps of his providence or the wonders of his 
 grace, his unchanging faithfulness is a sufficient 
 pledge for the reality of every article which pos- 
 sesses the authority of that matchless sanction. 
 
But whilst the declaration, Thus saith the Lord, 
 is an ample security for receiving every propos- 
 ition to which it is affixed; it is no warrant for all 
 the comments that ignorance or folly may attempt 
 to fasten on it: and before we subscribe to any 
 alleged averment of Holy Writ, we have a good 
 title to know that the supposed affirmation is act- 
 ually there. And whilst we have no right to hes- 
 itate to embrace any of the doctrines of revelation, 
 because they are mysterious or incomprehensible; 
 nothing can be more preposterous than to multi- 
 ply difficulties, and renounce the tenets which are 
 drawn from the plain, obvious, and consistent in- 
 terpretation of the Scriptures, for those absurd 
 and unintelligible notions, which are forcibly ex- 
 torted from the sacred text. From the moment 
 that Jesus assured Nicodemus that, by being born 
 again, he meant a change of heart and life; no- 
 thingcouldhave been more uncandid in that ruler of 
 the Jews than to have maintained that our blessed 
 Lord taught the absurd and monstrous dogma of 
 a second literal birth. Though the truth affirmed 
 by our Redeemer is free from objection; nothing 
 could have been more fair than to have asked the 
 Master in Israel, how such a thing as he report- 
 ed could be possible ? The hand of the Almighty 
 could daily whirl the whole host of heaven as 
 easily round our globe, as roll the earth round its 
 own axis : but after the planetary motions have 
 been explained, it would be difficult for folly to go 
 
63 
 
 farther than to relinquish the Newtonian for the 
 Ptolomaic hypothesis; and exchange the simple and 
 demonstrated principles of the British Astronomer, 
 for the whirlpools and ether of Des Cartes. And 
 after the Bible has delivered a clear, consistent, 
 and intelligible account of the second coming of 
 Christ at the close of all earthly things; when the 
 dead shall be raised, the living changed, and all 
 judged according to their works; nothing can be 
 more unreasonable and ridiculous than to abandon 
 the plain statements of scripture on this subject, 
 for opinions either incomprehensible; or as far 
 as they can be understood, at war alike with each 
 other and with the plainest dictates of reason and 
 revelation. 
 
 That this is the case with the modern Millen- 
 arian theory, seems beyond the possibility of a 
 doubt. The preceding chapter has furnished 
 several specimens of the contradictions and ab- 
 surdities which clog this fantastical scheme. In 
 order however to afford a more adequate idea of its 
 extravagance, it is absolutely necessary to subjoin 
 a few addional instances of its repugnance to 
 Scripture and common sense. 
 
 The Bible assures us that at the coming of 
 Christ, the body which is sown in corruption, shall 
 be raised in incorruption; that which is sown in 
 dishonour, shall be raised in glory; that which is 
 sown in weakness, shall be raised in power; that 
 which is sown a natural body, shall be raised a 
 spiritual body ; and that he will change our vile 
 
64 
 
 body that it may be fashioned like unto his glo- 
 rious body. The Bible also declares that we who 
 are alive and remain to his coming, shall not pre- 
 vent, or have any advantage over, them who are 
 asleep; for the Lord himself shall descend from 
 heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch- 
 angel and the trump of God; and the dead in 
 Christ shall rise first : then we who are alive 
 and remain shall be caught up together with them 
 in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. In a 
 moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead 
 shall be raised incorruptible; and we, the saints, 
 who shall be alive at his second coming, shall be 
 changed. 1 Cor. xv. 43, 44. Phil. iii. 21. 1 Thes. 
 iv. 15—17. 1 Cor. xv. 52. 
 
 At whatever time therefore the saints shall be 
 raised; from these passages it is evident beyond a 
 doubt, that those who are alive shall be changed; 
 and that both those who are alive, and those who 
 are raised from the dead, shall be clothed with 
 incorruptible, powerful, spiritual bodies, which 
 shall be fashioned like unto the glorious body of 
 our Lord. 
 
 Now after the supposed resurrection of the 
 saints prior to the Millennium, the earth must 
 either be wholly changed, or remain what it is, or 
 undergo a partial alteration. If it exist at all ; 
 and the Millenarians who believe that Christ is to 
 reign personally on it for a thoussnd years, if not 
 for ever, take its existence for granted; there cer- 
 tainly can be no alternative, but either that it 
 
65 
 
 must be wholly changed, or remain as it is, or be 
 partially altered. 
 
 I. Let us suppose that it shall be changed, and 
 see what is likely to happen. 
 
 The general opinion among the Millenarians 
 is, that it will be changed. As we have already 
 seen, page 48, Ben-Ezra, in a long dissertation, 
 endeavours to prove that the earth shall be chang- 
 ed, and that this change will be accomplished by 
 bringing the Ecleptic and Equator to coincide. In 
 the Dialogues on Prophecy, Part III. page 197; 
 which are understood to be the result of the Con- 
 ferences on Prophecy, held at Albury Park, and 
 which embody the tenets of the principal Millen- 
 arians; Polydorus, one of the Collocutors, with- 
 out contradiction or criticism, says: " Our Lord 
 has many risen saints with him already; Enoch, 
 Elijah, Moses, and many who rose at the same 
 time when he himself rose, we know of; and it is 
 not improbable, therefore, that he often raises up 
 his people to sit and reign with him. When he 
 returns to earth a change will be effected on the 
 material world, similar to that which has taken 
 place on their bodies." 
 
 Let us suppose that the Ecliptic, according to 
 the idea of Ben-Ezra, is brought to coincide with 
 the Equator. At present they are inclined to 
 each other at an angle of nearly twenty three de- 
 grees and a half. This is a distance of more than 
 1600 miles. By such a revolution as he imagines, 
 C 3 
 
66 
 
 every point upon the globe would undergo a 
 change of latitude of more than 1600 miles. By 
 such a prodigious transition, every work of hum- 
 an art would perish; the buildings would give 
 way; the cities would belaid prostrate; the rivers 
 would be stopped up; the sea would leave its 
 channel; the continents would be overflowed; the 
 bed of the ocean be laid dry; a second deluge 
 would traverse the globe; and a universal des- 
 truction of animal life would follow. Neither 
 man nor beast could escape: and no remnant 
 either of the righteous or the wicked would be left 
 to replenish the earth. 
 
 That all this would be the case he fully admits 
 not only in express terms, but likewise by ascrib- 
 ing the deluge to the removal of the equator from 
 the ecliptic. " The same general cause which 
 produced over all our globe a new sea and a new 
 dry land, did likewise necessarily change the 
 whole aspect of the heaven : I mean to say not 
 only the ancient order and temperament of our at- 
 mosphere, but the ancient order and disposition of 
 the sun, of the moon, and of all the heavenly bodies, 
 with respect to the terraqueous globe. And what 
 general cause was this ? To me it appears that no 
 other can be pointed out, than the very omnipo- 
 tent hand of the Creator, who, in his wrath 
 against all the earth, corrupted to the last degree, 
 caused it suddenly to move from one pole to the 
 other, inclining its axis 23J°. ,> Ben-Ezra, vol. ii. 
 page 241. And as the distance over which the 
 
67 
 
 poles must travel is as great, when the equator re- 
 turns to the ecliptic, as when it left it; it nec- 
 essarily follows, as he himself concedes, that an 
 equal change must be produced, and that a sec- 
 ond deluge, of the same extent as the first, must 
 ensue. 
 
 Polydorus is not at the trouble to inform us by 
 what instrumentality " a change will be effected 
 on the material world, similar to that which has 
 taken place upon the bodies " of Enoch, and 
 Elijah. But by whatever agent this marvellous 
 alteration may be accomplished : it must, during 
 the transition, be equally fatal, as the change of 
 the earth's polarity, to animal life. Neither man 
 nor beast could survive this spiritualizing process: 
 and when it was completed, flesh and blood could 
 no longer inhabit our planet. Earth and wmter, 
 refined in the same, or even in a similar, manner 
 to the glorified bodies of the saints, could afford 
 neither footing nor sustenance for the present 
 classes of the animated creation. Such a visita- 
 tion would sweep every living thing from the 
 earth; and in the succeeding ages of its duration, 
 there could be no more marrying nor giving in 
 marraiage, than among the angels of heaven. 
 
 On either hypothesis the whole human race 
 would be extinguished. No solitary family would 
 be left to fill the earth with those multitudes, 
 whom the Millenarians expect to be born to the 
 church in these blissful ages: nor could progeni- 
 tors be found for that generation of rebels who 
 
es 
 
 will over-run the world before the consummation 
 of all things. Rev. xx. 7 — 9. Even supposing 
 that a family were preserved by miracle, or that 
 a second Adam and Eve were created by a special 
 act of Divine power, the latter hypothesis rend- 
 ers it physically impossible that they could, for 
 even a single day, subsist in a world so transform- 
 ed and rarified. 
 
 To the theory of Ben-Ezra it is an insurmount- 
 able objection, that it requires the earth to be de- 
 stroyed with water, in direct opposition to God's 
 own declaration, that "all flesh shall not be cut 
 off any more by the waters of a flood, neither shall 
 there any more be a flood to destroy the earth." 
 Gen. ix, 11. To the theory of Polydorus it is 
 equally fatal that it is contrary to the scriptural 
 representation of the millennial world; which 
 speaks of it as possessing land, and sea, and cities, 
 and camps, and as subject to rain. Rev. xx. 
 Zechar. xiv. 17. And the notions of both are 
 alike open to the objection of being inconsis- 
 tent with the tenets of Millenarians respecting the 
 state of the world during the Millennium, and the 
 doctrines of the Bible on that subject. 
 
 The Millenarians expect that during the thou- 
 sand years of our Redeemer's personal reign, 
 there will be men in the flesh as well as men in 
 the spirit; that there will be generation and cor- 
 ruption: that children will be born, and men 
 sicken and die. Irving's Pre. Dis. pp. 13, 123. 
 Dial, on Proph. III. pp. 172, 196. Vaughan's 
 
69 
 
 Sermon on the Church's Expectation, pp. 17, 63 9 
 64, 112, 123, note, 124. 
 
 And the Scriptures, so far from intimating 
 the annihilation of animal life during the Mil- 
 lennium, evidently imply that both the human 
 race and brute creation are to be then pre- 
 served, and that it is to be a period of uncommon 
 felicity to man and beast. For if the numbers of 
 our race were completed before the Millennium, 
 and animal life cut off; how could the prophet 
 have said, "the cow and the bear shall feed; their 
 young ones shall lie down together: and the lion 
 shall eat straw like the ox: and the sucking child 
 shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned 
 child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den: 
 they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy 
 mountain : for the earth shall be full of the know- 
 ledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea?" 
 Isa. xi, 7—9. See also lxv. 17 — 25. Is this lan- 
 guage which could have been used respecting the 
 earth, if its inhabitants had been overwhelmed by 
 one general unsparing catastrophe at the begin- 
 ning of the millennial era? 
 
 At the close of the world's eventful history, 
 when the Son of man will come to bring all into 
 judgment, impiety and violence will fill the earth. 
 Rev. xx. 7 — 9. Are these impious creatures who 
 engage in the last conflict with the saints, descen- 
 dants of Adam, or not? If they are not, they 
 have no affinity with our race, and have no inter- 
 est either in the fall or redemption of man: and 
 
70 
 
 the putting of this new race in possession of the 
 earth for a thousand years could no more illustrate 
 our Redeemer's triumph over Satan, of which the 
 Millenarians talk so much, than the creation of 
 another planet, and the peopling of it with a new 
 class of creatures. But if these rebels are descen- 
 dants of Adam: then it necessarily follows that no 
 universal change upon either the substance or the 
 surface of the earth, precedes the Millennium. 
 The notion therefore of such an alteration upon 
 the globe, is not only far from simplifying our 
 ideas of the Millennium, but must even be aban- 
 doned as altogether untenable. 
 
 Let us then suppose, 
 
 II. That the earth continues as it is, and see 
 what will be the consequence. 
 
 If it remains as it is ; it may be justly asked, 
 What end can be gained by the restoration of the 
 departed saints to the world, which cannot be ac- 
 complished in a far superior degree by their resi- 
 dence in heaven? There is no service which 
 they can perform here, but what they can ren- 
 der with far greater effect in that better world; 
 and there is no felicity which they can possess be- 
 low, but what they can enjoy with a purer relish 
 and more exquisite delight in the realms above. 
 
 Confirmed in holiness and perfect in bliss; the 
 ordinances of religion and the exercises of piety, 
 even allowing that they were to continue after the 
 coming of our Lord, could contribute nothing 
 
71 
 
 either to their happiness or improvement. Ac- 
 quitted when they were judged, and welcomed in- 
 to the kingdom prepared for them from the found- 
 ation of the world; whatever may be gratuitously 
 said of their earthly ministrations, they cannot 
 return to the toils and trials of mortality. They 
 have no families to rear, nor children to educate ; 
 no indigent neighbours to relieve, nor ignorant 
 relatives to instruct, admonish, and warn. They 
 have no social duties to discharge, nor any public 
 services to fulfill. They cannot act as magistrates, 
 nor ministers, as merchants, nor mechanics, as 
 authors, nor teachers, nor engage in any employ- 
 ment that requires effort or is accompanied with 
 solicitude or pain: for they rest from their labours, 
 and their works follow them. 
 
 Having their bodies fashioned like unto the 
 glorious body of our Lord, and freed from hun- 
 gering any more or thirsting any more; they are 
 independent of all the comforts to be derived from 
 building and planting, from the cultivation of the 
 soil and the prosecution of trade and commerce. In 
 vain for them shall the ocean roll its tide, or the 
 earth pour forth its luxuriance, the pastures be 
 clothed with flocks and the valleys covered with 
 corn. To them the resources of nature would 
 be absolutely useless, and all the discoveries of 
 science and inventions of art utterly uninteresting 
 and insignificant. 
 
 On the wide surface of the earth there is noth- 
 ing which they could gain, but what they already 
 
72 
 
 possess iti a larger measure and in an incompar- 
 ably higher degree in the world of bliss. But 
 there is much that they would be compelled to lose 
 by the exchange. 
 
 Since, on the supposition on which we are ar- 
 guing, the earth remains as it is ; the clouds will 
 distil their fatness, and the ordinances of heaven 
 retain their influences; the sun will smite by day 
 and the moon by night; the rain will drench; the 
 frost will benumb and chill; the tempest will 
 spread havoc and desolation where it rages; the 
 seasons will walk their accustomed rounds, and 
 the night continue to tread upon the heels of day. 
 Amidst such a war of elements, in a world where 
 we pass so instantaneously from the fervours of the 
 torrid-zone to the rigours of the pole; where the 
 darkness lasts as long as the light, and the whole cre- 
 ation is groaning and travailing in pain together; is 
 this really a residence fit for those, who, for ages 
 have inhabited that world where there is fulness of joy 
 and pleasures for evermore ? where no interruption 
 is experienced in their sublime and delightful ser- 
 vices, because night is unknown, and the city has 
 no need of the sun nor of the moon to shine in it, 
 for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the 
 Lamb is the light thereof? 
 
 The Millenarian hypothesis supposes, and some 
 of its advocates allow, that a remnant of the wick- 
 ed shall survive during the Millennium. We 
 have seen that their preservation seems absolutely 
 requisite to account for the general apostacy which 
 
73 
 
 takes place at the termination of that interest- 
 in o- era, when Satan shall be loosed out of his 
 prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations 
 which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog 
 and Magog, to gather them together to battle; 
 the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
 Rev. xx. 7, 8. This army of Gog and Magog 
 certainly is not composed of the wicked who are 
 raised from the dead: for at the resurrection, 
 instead of being permitted to engage in fresh con- 
 spiracies against the Most High, they will be im- 
 mediately brought into judgment, Rev. xx. 13. It 
 has, in the wildness of conjecture, been asserted 
 that this army consists of saints who have apos- 
 tatized from the service of the Redeemer. Ir- 
 ving's Pre. Dis. p. 165. But this notion cannot for 
 a moment be entertained, since it is well known that 
 they who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, in- 
 stead of revolting from his standard, grow in admi- 
 ration of his person and devotedness to his cause. 
 And as it cannot be immagined that this Satanic 
 army is formed of men who are created at the 
 time, and have no connection with the posterity 
 of Adam; it appears inevitably to follow, that this 
 army must be marshalled from the descendants 
 of those who have lived in the successive ages of 
 the Millennium. 
 
 But since the wicked survive, how incongruous 
 must it be to mix glorified immortals with the car- 
 nal and ungodly. What a privation of happi- 
 ness must the redeemed undergo, to be torn from 
 
u 
 
 the purity and bliss of Paradise; from the society 
 of angels, seraphim and cherubim; where no 
 sound is heard but the notes of grateful enraptur- 
 ed adoration, and no sight is seen but the unin- 
 terrupted joyful efforts of every rank to perform 
 their Creator's will and celebrate his matchles and 
 infinitely merited praise; to be torn from a world 
 where God is all in all, and condemned to listen 
 to the oaths of the profane, and witness the vio- 
 lence and abominations of the profligate and cruel ? 
 The vile conduct and filthy conversation of the 
 impenitent and hardened often wring our hearts, 
 and force us to exclaim, " Woe is us, that we so- 
 journ in Mesech, and that we dwell in the tents 
 of Kedar! Oh that we had wings like a dove! 
 for then would we fly away, and be at rest." 
 And are we to suppose, that, after we have made 
 a clean escape from their foul and hateful pres- 
 ence, it can be an object of desire to be replaced 
 within the view of their impure practices and the 
 reach of their disgusting and odious annoyances! 
 Will the vicinity of vice be less painful and revolt- 
 ing, after a sojourn for ages in the regions of perfect 
 purity and unbounded bliss? Or will the weari- 
 ness and uneasiness which their detestable pres- 
 ence creates be diminished, because we know 
 that, instead of terminating with a pilgrimage of 
 three-score and ten, it shall last for a thousand 
 years? Is such a state as this consistent with the 
 progressive nature of the works and communica- 
 tions of God? When we find that the Mosaic 
 
75 
 
 economy succeeded the patriarchal dispensation* 
 and the Gospel superseded the law; that one more 
 bright and endearing manifestation of Divine ben- 
 eficence rises on another, and that the longer we 
 cleave to our Master we see greater things than 
 ever we beheld before: are we to believe that the 
 kindness of the Most High is to retrograde; and 
 that just when we expected that his generosity was 
 to take a sublimer range, the tide of bliss is to 
 fall? and that, after reaching the kingdom of 
 heaven, and bearing a part in the services be- 
 fore the throne; instead of going on from strength 
 to strength; we are to be sent back for ten long 
 centuries to the scenes of our past toils and sor- 
 rows, and the seat of fresh distress and contests, 
 where we must witness the helplessness and suffer- 
 ings of infancy, the languors and pains of the sick, 
 the debility and exhaustion of the aged, and the 
 groans and agonies of the dying; and be doomed 
 to sustain the heart-rending sight of the reckless- 
 ness and folly, the ribaldry and filth of the impi- 
 ous and unbelieving, and behold their dreadful 
 preparations for their final and desperate assault 
 on the servants of the living God ? 
 
 Is this any thing at all like what we might ex- 
 pect from the blessed assurances, that there re- 
 mains a rest for the people of God, where the 
 wicked cease from troubling? that they enter into 
 peace? that they hear no more the sound of the 
 trumpet nor the alarm of war ? that they finish 
 their course? sit down with Christ on his throne 3 
 and follow him whithersoever he goeth ? 
 
76 
 
 According to this novel hypothesis, death, in- 
 stead of closing, only suspends their conflicts. For 
 after returning to the earth, at the end of a 
 thousand years, they are to be subjected to a 
 more formidable and furious attack than ever from 
 their foes, Rev. xx. 9. 
 
 To anticipate some of these objections, we have 
 seen Mr. Vaughan affirming, see page 29, that the 
 glorified saints " shall not justle with the men of 
 flesh, and, though intermixing, when need be, in- 
 dividually, shall be visible only by special appoint- 
 ment and operation," But this is a mere gratui- 
 tous assertion, for which no proof can be given, and 
 for which none has been attempted. Mr. Cunning- 
 hame will inform him that he regards a "spiritual" 
 or invisible presence, of a corporeal being to be no 
 presence at all, any more than the spiritual com- 
 ing of such a being can be called an advent. Af- 
 ter all that we have heard about " the righteous 
 shining forth in the kindom of their Father," 
 " of their shining above the brightness of the fir- 
 mament;" how is it possible that they can remain 
 invisible even to <{ the men of flesh?" But even 
 though they were invisible to these men, the con- 
 duct of the latter must be distinctly seen by them. 
 And intermix with the men of the world they 
 certainly must, if the gates of the New Jerusalem 
 shall not be shut at all; and if the kings of the 
 earth shall bring their glory and honour into it. 
 How can they bring their glory and honour to 
 
77 
 
 men with whom they can have no intercourse, 
 and whose very persons are invisible ? 
 
 Let us now consider another notion which has 
 been proposed. 
 
 III. Some of the Millenarians maintain that the 
 earth will neither remain as it is, nor undergo a 
 total or general change; but only a limited or par- 
 tial alteration. 
 
 Mr. Mede has already informed us, p, 48, that no 
 more than the upper hemisphere of our globe will 
 be burned at the coming of our Lord : and that 
 he had assertained that the lower hemisphere 
 would escape the flames; which in itself might be 
 so far well, but unfortunately for those who occu- 
 py it, he had succeeded somehow or other in dis- 
 covering, what God had in vain attempted to con- 
 ceal, that the Most High in his secret judgment 
 has determined that the greater part of its inhab- 
 itants shall never be favoured with the light of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 But in the genuine spirit of Millenarian incon- 
 sistency, of which he set an illustrious example, 
 which has been faithfully copied by his worthy 
 followers; he himself is so obliging as to refute 
 the whim that the conflagration is to be confined 
 to the upper hemisphere. He reiterates the asser- 
 tion, and enforces it by great stores of illustration 
 and learning; that the fire, which shall accom- 
 pany our Redeemer's advent, will in its range and 
 operation be as great as the deluge, and produce 
 
78 
 
 as great a change upon our globe. Mede's 
 Works, pp. 609 — 619. And he elsewhere asks, 
 p. 776, " What may be conceived to be the 
 cause of this rapture of the saints on high to meet 
 the Lord in the clouds, rather than to wait his 
 coming to the earth? What if it be, that they 
 may be preserved during the conflagration of the 
 earth and the works thereof, 2 Pet. iii. 10: that as 
 Noah and his family were preserved from the de- 
 luge by being lift up above the waters in the ark; 
 so should the saints at the conflagration be lift up 
 in the clouds unto their ark, Christ, to be preserv- 
 ed there from the deluge of fire, wherein the 
 wicked shall be consumed ?" 
 
 And since he imagines that he has demonstrat- 
 ed that the conflagration will be as extensive as 
 the flood : and that there is no safety for the saints 
 but in being "lift up in the clouds unto their ark 
 Christ, to be preserved there from the deluge of 
 fire ;" how can he believe that any portion of the 
 earth or of its inhabitants can escape that conflag- 
 ration ? 
 
 We have also, p. 50, heard Mr. Cunning- 
 hame declaring: " The conflagration of Sodom 
 was not general, even with respect to the pro- 
 mised land, of which it was a part, (see Gen. xv. 
 20.) Nor do we believe that the conflagration 
 which we learn from Dan. vii. 1 1, and Rev. xix. 
 20, is to destroy the body or territories of the 
 fourth beast, the mystic Sodom, is to be a general 
 one, extending over the whole earth. It is pro- 
 
79 
 
 bable however that the fire of our Lord's coming, 
 while it destroys the beast, may have a purifying 
 efficacy over the atmosphere of the whole earth ; 
 thus changing the heavens, and fitting the earth 
 for its new state of beatitude." A similar theory 
 is advanced in the Dialogues on Prophecy, Part 
 III. p. 168: The last Trump, p. 10: and sanc- 
 tioned by Mr. Noel, p. 32. 
 
 But pray, how can the idea of a limited and 
 partial change be reconciled with what they have 
 elsewhere so broadly and dogmatically taught, re- 
 specting a universal change upon the surface, if 
 not the substance, of the earth ? How can a local 
 change be rendered consistent with their own as- 
 sertions that the effects of the conflagration, ac- 
 companying the descent of the Redeemer, will be 
 as great as those produced by the deluge ? Can 
 a local and partial change ever be made to agree 
 with the glorification of every living saint, and 
 the death or destruction of every living sinner 
 found on earth at the return of Christ? How 
 can these limited and local consequences of our 
 Redeemer's advent be made to harmonize with 
 Mr. Cunninghame's own assertions, that Christ is 
 then to come " in glory to judge the world," and 
 " to judge the quick and dead ?" Summary View, 
 pp. 10, 12, 14. 
 
 Will these gentlemen, who stickle so obstinate- 
 ly for the rigid literal interpretation of those pas- 
 sages' which they imagine refer to the personal 
 coming of the Messiah before the Millennium) 
 
80 
 
 seriously contend that the body or territories of 
 the fourth beast are commensurate with the globe ? 
 that none without the pale of the visible church, 
 are amenable to the tribunal of Christ? or that 
 there are neither quick nor dead beyond the boun- 
 daries of Christendom ? Will they really main- 
 tain that a judgment confined to the professed 
 members of the Church, is worthy of the names 
 which they have given it, of " the great judg- 
 ment," " the general judgment," " the judgment 
 of the world," " the judgment of the quick and 
 dead ?" Will they boldly affirm that what is lo- 
 cal and partial, is general, unlimited, and univer- 
 sal ? Let them assert what they please, we know 
 that " the Lord Jesus Christ shall judge the 
 quick and the dead at his appearing and his 
 kingdom." 2 Tim. iv. 1. 
 
 Does Mr. Cunninghame believe that the terri- 
 tories of the fourth beast bear the same propor- 
 tion to those of the Christian Church, that So- 
 dom bore to the land of promise? and that whilst 
 the soil occupied by the Christian Church is to be 
 preserved, that which is possessed by the votaries 
 of Popery and Infidelity, is to be burnt up and 
 destroyed? If this is his belief, we may well ask 
 him and Mr. Vaughan, who speaks of " the fire 
 which burneth as an oven in the valley of Jehos- 
 aphet, propagated by secret streams to the dwell- 
 ing-houses even of Britain :" Church's Expecta- 
 tion, p. 110: When true and false Christians are 
 so much intermixed, have they any idea how the 
 
81 
 
 fire, which lays waste the lands and habitations of 
 the one, will inflict no injury on those of the 
 other? Do they imagine that the dwellings of the 
 righteous and the fields of their possession, are to 
 be distinguished like " the beloved city," which, 
 at the conflagration which closes the Millennium, 
 Mr. Vaughan, p. 132, tells us, "floats as a second 
 ark on the surface of the fiery flood ; the can- 
 opy of the saints overshadowing it ?" It must 
 require a very great alteration upon the substance 
 of the whole earth to occasion even such an effect 
 as that. 
 
 It is a favourite notion with the Millenarians 
 that the world is to be eternal. " The grand 
 work of redemption is to manifest the goodness of 
 the work of creation, — to recover and not to de- 
 stroy. How can a thing be redeemed which is an- 
 nihilated ? If it were so, Satan, and not God, 
 would have the triumph ; for he would have suc- 
 ceeded in the destruction of one of God's works." 
 Cry from the Desert, p. 28. See also Noel's In- 
 quiry, pp. 231 — 234; Irving's Pre. Dis. pp. 61, 
 62, 119—128, 154. 
 
 But if the soil of the papal and infidel part of 
 Europe is to be burnt up, destroyed and rendered 
 uninhabitable before the Millennium; what will 
 Mr. Cunninghame's coadjutors say to this? If 
 the destruction of the whole earth would give Sa- 
 tan great satisfaction, and afford him a complete 
 triumph over God ; the destruction of a portion 
 of the world, even of such a part of it as Europe; 
 D 
 
82 
 
 the rendering of it uninhabitable, and preventing 
 Christ and his people from reigning over it ; must 
 defeat the fulfilment of the promises to give Jesus 
 and his saints the possession of the whole earth, 
 and occasion the Devil a victory and joy, equal to 
 the proportion that the part destroyed bears to 
 the rest of the globe. 
 
 The overthrow of Sodom and Gommorah was 
 designed as an example of the awful, irremediable, 
 endless punishment of the ungodly : 2 Pet. ii. 6, 
 and Jude 7. But it is impossible to divine what 
 connection it has with the physical change to be 
 produced upon our planet at the second coming 
 of the Son of God. 
 
 If no other intimation were given of a confla- 
 gration, accompanying the personal advent of the 
 Redeemer, than Dan. vii. 11, and Rev. xix. 20; 
 Mr. Cunninghame's reasoning from them might 
 be possessed of some strength. But when we read 
 of Christ being " revealed from heaven in flaming 
 fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God 
 and obey not the gospel," 2 Thess. i. 7, 8; of 
 " the heaven and the earth" being " reserved 
 unto fire against the day of judgment and perdi- 
 tion of ungodly men," of the " heavens passing 
 away," of " the elements melting with fervent 
 heat," and of " the earth, and the works that are 
 therein, being burned up," 2 Pet. iii. 7, 10; his 
 argument has no force whatever. 
 
 Many of the Millenarians themselves apply the 
 whole of 2 Pet. iii. 7 — 12, to which we have just 
 
83 
 
 now referred, to the second coming of Christ. 
 Some of them indeed make very wild work of it; 
 and seem to fancy like Mr. Fry, Second Advent, 
 vol. II. pp. 279 — 281, that, though the events which 
 are there foretold begin at the commencement of 
 the Millennium, they will not be completed till its 
 close. But whether they consent or not to apply 
 the passage to our Redeemer's second advent; the 
 apostle himself expressly tells us that it is of that 
 event that he is speaking. He assures us that he 
 is treating " of the coming of the Lord and Sa- 
 viour," of " the day of judgment," and "the day 
 of the Lord." 
 
 Now, let any man read the following words, 
 and say if they describe a local or partial change 
 upon either the substance or surface of our globe ? 
 " The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the 
 night; in the which the heavens shall pass away 
 with a great noise, and the elements shall melt 
 with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works 
 that are therein, shall be burnt up. Seeing then 
 that all these things shall be dissolved, what man- 
 ner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conver- 
 sation and godliness; looking for and hasting 
 unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the 
 heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the 
 elements shall melt with fervent heat?" 2 Pet. iii. 
 10—12. 
 
 Will Mr. Cunninghame seriously maintain that 
 the elements, the heavens, and the earth, and the 
 works that are therein, are names to denote the 
 D 2 
 
84 
 
 body or territories of the fourth beast ? If he do ; 
 Anastasius, who regards his own opinion as equal- 
 ly oracular, will tell him that the elements are the 
 saints. " The saints are called ' the salt of the 
 earth;' that is, the preservative by which alone 
 the corruption and dissolution of the whole polit- 
 ical body is prevented. As soon as they shall have 
 been caught up to meet the Lord in the air, there 
 seems to be no further reason for the preservation 
 of the present frame-work of human society, 
 which is only kept, in order to preserve the church, 
 so that the very elements which compose it shall 
 be dissolved, as well as the powers which rule it 
 melt away." Dial, on Proph. V. 26. See also 
 Last Trump, p. 9. And Mr. Noel, pp. 63, 64, 
 will as positively assure him that the heavens, the 
 earth, and the elements are " the earthly and 
 guilty system under which God has been dishon- 
 oured, and sin has triumphed." " The whole re- 
 bellious system — c all that is in the world, the lust 
 of the eye, and the lust of the flesh, and the pride 
 of life;' the abuse of authority, the bloodshed of 
 oppression, the havock of ambition, the cruel rav- 
 ages of sensuality, the iron yoke of ignorance, 
 these will be utterly dissolved ; this system will 
 melt in the fervent heat of the Divine indignation, 
 and will be exchanged for the peaceful government 
 of the Son of God." 
 
 From the language of the apostle, verses 6, 7, 
 we know that the earth which is now reserved 
 unto fire, is " the world that, being overflowed 
 
85 
 
 with water, perished." From the comment of these 
 expounders of the sacred oracles we learn, that 
 the one believes that the deluge did not touch the 
 body of the earth, but merely washed away " the 
 earthly and guilty system under which God had 
 been dishonoured, and sin had triumphed ;" and 
 that the other holds that, without affecting the 
 surface of the globe, it only destroyed or " dis- 
 solved " the saints, who are the salt of the earth. 
 And as the fire, for which the earth is reserved, is 
 little more than a counterpart of the deluge with 
 which it has been visited; they will inform Mr. 
 Cunninghame that the fire will do no harm to 
 " the body or territories of the fourth beast;" but 
 only consume the wickedness of the world, and 
 destroy the saints. " Thus our authors have well, 
 yea magnificently," and yea with marvellous har- 
 mony, " speculated thereon." 
 
 After all the clamour which the Millenarians 
 have made for the literal interpretation of the 
 metaphorical language of revelation ; it requires 
 no ordinary degree of fortitude to affirm that the 
 words of Peter denote only an improvement of 
 the state of society, or a local and partial change 
 upon the earth: and it would be exceedingly de- 
 sirable to see a set of terms, which they would 
 regard as sufficiently strong and definite to convey 
 the idea of a universal and total alteration upon 
 the globe. To all who admit the testimony of the 
 apostle it inevitably follows, either that Christ 
 will not return in person before the Millennium, 
 
m 
 
 or else that the earth and all that is therein must, 
 previously to his personal reign with the saints in 
 this world, undergo a thorough alteration ; and 
 the notion of a partial or local change must be ut- 
 terly abandoned. 
 
 It is with pleasure that the following judicious 
 remarks on this subject are here introduced to the 
 attention of the reader. " He seems to think 
 that Dan. vii. 11, which speaks of the beast being 
 slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the 
 burning flame ; and Rev. xix. 20, which speaks of 
 the beast and the false prophet being cast into the 
 lake offlre, burning with brimstone, are the only 
 passages where the final conflagration is mention- 
 ed, at least he refers to no other; yet surely he 
 cannot be so ill acquainted with the scriptures as 
 not to know that there are passages which speak 
 of a conflagration very different from this, and one 
 which shall prove commensurate at least with the 
 limits of our globe. The flood of Noah, even Mr 
 Cunninghame will allow, drowned the whole of 
 the world " which then was ;" and, by " the same 
 word," says Peter, " the heavens and the earth 
 which are now, are kept in store, being reserved un- 
 to fire against the day of judgment and perdition 
 of ungodly men." Is it not a fair inference from 
 this, that the conflagration will be as extensive as 
 the deluge, and are we not told a little further on, 
 that it will be much more extensive ? Are we not 
 told that the " heavens shall pass away with a 
 great noise, that the elements shall melt with fer- 
 
87 
 
 vent heat, and that the earth, and the works which 
 are therein, shall be burnt up ?" Are we not told 
 that " all those things shall be dissolved,'* the 
 whole mundane system, and that the heavens and 
 the earth which afterwards exist, shall be " a new 
 heaven and new earth," in which righteousness 
 shall dwell? This is unquestionably the conflagra- 
 tion destined to take place at the coming of the 
 Lord, his final coming : And if at his coming to 
 destroy antichrist, there is only to be a partial 
 conflagration ; such a conflagration as was prefig- 
 ured by the burning of Sodom, or such as is men- 
 tioned in Dan. vii. and Rev. xix. (which some 
 people think, and have reason to think, will be no 
 real conflagration at all) — if this be the case, 
 might not Mr. Cunninghame, or might not any 
 reasonable man, have discernment to see, that the 
 coming for the destruction of antichrist, and the 
 final coming to judge the world, cannot be the 
 same coming, but they must be different events, 
 which shall take place at different periods, and be 
 attended with very different concomitants ?" Edin- 
 burgh Theological Magazine for May, 1828. pp. 
 269, 270. 
 
88 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES ARISING FROM 
 THE CHANGES BOTH IN THE NATURAL AND 
 MORAL WORLD. 
 
 We have already seen some very puzzling dif- 
 ficulties with which this marvellous hypothesis is 
 beset. To obtain a clearer idea of its extraordin- 
 ary character, it may be proper to consider a few 
 more of the impediments and obstacles with which 
 it is encumbered ; and which, till they are remov- 
 ed, will obstruct its reception among men, who 
 are in the practice of reflecting before they assent 
 to novel and startling theories. 
 
 I. In the absence of the ordinances of the Gos- 
 pel, we are at a loss to conceive how the conver- 
 sion of men can be carried on during the person- 
 al reign of the Redeemer. 
 
 It is true indeed that there are times when some 
 of the Millenarians expect the ordinances to re- 
 main during that period. This opinion has the 
 sanction of Mr. Noel in his Prospects of the 
 Christian Church : pp. 136—146. And the read- 
 er may perhaps remember that Mr. Irving, p. 54, 
 in the intervals of his missions to other planets, 
 
89 
 
 has volunteered his services to the Methodist 
 Conference, and engaged "to become a Wesleyan 
 Methodist, and preach Christ the Saviour of all." 
 But his itinerary labours will then be super- 
 seded: for we are assured by authority as high 
 as his own, that there will then be no occasion 
 for either preaching or any other christian ordi- 
 nance. "The apostle," says Mr. Noel, p. 10, 
 " saw no temple therein^ for the material type was 
 no longer needed. The inhabitants then see face 
 to face." Anastasius, in the Dialogues on Pro- 
 phecy, Part V. p. 26, informs us that during the 
 war at Armageddon "those who on earth will 
 have any respect to the word of God, will be his 
 ancient people alone, and the New Testament 
 will have concluded its office, when those who 
 have believed it, and have been saved by it, shall 
 be safe in glory." See also Last Trump, p. 17. 
 Aristo afterwards tells us that " one of the ne- 
 cessary properties of the Church is, that in its 
 present state it should be invisible, which is the 
 great key to the visible church ; and all the ordin- 
 ances of a church are to help us out of this condi- 
 tion of invisibility, and to carry on worship by vis- 
 ible signs." Dialogues on Prophecy, VIII. p. 214. 
 Since "all" the ordinances of a church are to 
 help us out of this condition of invisibility, which 
 is the present state of the church; then, most un- 
 doubtedly, when the church becomes visible, which 
 Aristo expects to be the case in the Millennium, 
 the ordinances will be altogether abolished, 
 D 3 
 
90 
 
 But whether the Millenarians admit or reject 
 the abolition of the ordinances of religion at the 
 second coming of Christ; the scriptures most un- 
 equivocally proclaim their entire cessation then. 
 St. Paul informs us that prophecies or preaching, 
 tongues, knowledge, and types or ordinances, will 
 cease; and when that which is perfect is come, then 
 that which is in part shall be done away. 1 Cor. xiii. 
 8 — 13. And he expressly assures us that the 
 Lord's supper is to be celebrated only till the re- 
 turn of Christ. "As often as ye eat this bread and 
 drink this cup ye do show the Lord's death till he 
 come." 1 Cor. xi. 26. 
 
 From these scriptural testimonies there can be 
 no doubt that, at whatever time our Lord returns, 
 the ordinances will be superseded. 
 
 But we have repeatedly heard the Millenarians 
 telling us that there will be " sojourners on earth, '' 
 "men of flesh" as well as "men in the spirit," 
 "mortal men" as well as "glorified immortals." 
 
 Now we know that "that which is born of the flesh 
 is flesh;" that "the carnal," or natural mind, "is 
 enmity against God," that "they that are in the 
 flesh cannot please God;" that "the natural man 
 receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God :" 
 and therefore " except a man be born again, he 
 cannot see the kingdom of God." 
 
 If within the whole compass of the sacred vol- 
 ume there is one fact stated more plainly than an- 
 other, it is that there is salvation in no other than 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptures most dis- 
 
91 
 
 tinctly assure us that he that believeth on him and 
 is baptized, shall be saved, but he that believeth 
 not shall be damned. 
 
 " If these sojourners of the earth " are descen- 
 dants of Adam, they must be born in his own 
 image, in his own likeness. For who can bring a 
 clean thing out of that which is unclean ? Men 
 do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles. 
 A bitter and impure fountain cannot send forth a 
 sweet and transparent stream: nor a sinfnl and 
 depraved progenitor produce a spiritual and holy 
 offspring. Unless therefore each of the inhabitants 
 of the Millennial world believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and be renewed in the spirit of his mind, 
 he must be a child of disobedience, and a vessel 
 of wrath. 
 
 The Bible intimates that the process for the 
 conversion of the soul, from the commencement 
 to the close of time, is uniform and unvarying. 
 This is by the agency of the Holy Ghost through 
 the instrumentality of the word. " Of his own 
 will begat he us with the word of truth." " Faith 
 cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of 
 God." Accordingly, we are informed that it was 
 by faith that the first saint entered the world of 
 glory. And till time shall be no more the ser- 
 vants of God are enjoined to traverse the earth, 
 and preach the Gospel unto every creature, in or- 
 der that those, and those only, who believe it, 
 may be saved. 
 
92 
 
 But when the New Testament, having previous- 
 ly accomplished its office, is set aside, when the 
 Lord's Supper is abolished, and there is an end 
 to preaching ; how is the renovation of the heart, 
 and the conversion of the soul to be produced ? 
 " How then shall they call on him in whom they 
 have not believed ? and how shall they believe in 
 him of whom they have not heard, and how shall 
 they hear without a preacher?" 
 
 Will any tell us that their conversion will then 
 be accomplished by the bodily presence of Christ? 
 Multitudes of Millenarians will tell them that 
 that is absolutely impossible. With many of 
 them it is a leading tenet, that, though at his 
 coming Christ will be manifest to eyes of flesh, in 
 the words of Mr. Vaughan, " in his remaining, 
 only spiritual eyes will behold, or be capable of 
 beholding him." And Mr. Cunninghame who 
 has told us that "a figurative or spiritual coming 
 is no coming at all;" will probably inform them 
 that an invisible bodily presence is also no presence 
 at all: and therefore, since he will be no more vis- 
 ible, according to their own ideas, during the 
 Millennium, than now, his bodily presence can 
 no more convert the inhabitants of the earth then, 
 than it does at this moment. 
 
 Do some of the Millenarians tell us, that the 
 person of Christ will be visible during the Millen- 
 nium ; and that the sight of his glory will convert 
 the sojourners on earth ? Pray, is there a single 
 case on record of a soul converted by an external 
 
93 
 
 manifestation of the Divine glory ? The experi- 
 ment has been often made. At Sinai God appear- 
 ed in overwhelming majesty: but though the 
 people trembled and fled, their hearts remained 
 more firm and inflexible than the rocks around 
 them. His glory illuminated the camp, and rest- 
 ed on the tabernacle. But were the people sof- 
 tened or sanctified by the sight ? Scarcely was 
 there an age in their painful history, when their 
 complaints were more frequent, and their conduct 
 more criminal and perverse, or when they be- 
 trayed a more total want of the power of renovat- 
 ing grace. 
 
 The experiment was afterwards tried in the en- 
 dearing form of love and tenderness. " The 
 Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and 
 we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only be- 
 gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." 
 But did the presence of the incarnate Saviour 
 change the heart of Judas, or convert the Jews? 
 
 Shall we be told that the case of Paul forms 
 an exception to this rule? Then we must tell 
 the objector that, extraordinary as it was, it forms 
 no exception : else why was he sent into the city 
 to enjoy the instructions of Ananias? Acts ix. 
 6—18. 
 
 If these remarks are not sufficient; then we 
 must request these gentlemen to inform us, how 
 the presence of Christ, however visible and glor- 
 ious, will convert the first and the succeeding gen- 
 erations in the Millennium, when it does not con- 
 
94 
 
 vert the last ? Though as much in the world 
 during the closing days of the Millennium as at its 
 opening; it is evident from the immense army 
 under Gog and Magog which attacks the camp of 
 the saints, that his presence does not convert the 
 last of its generations ; and on what authority can 
 it be asserted that this presence will convert those 
 which precede ? 
 
 II. It must be no easy matter to reconcile the 
 saints to death during the Millennium. 
 
 Death must become unspeakably more terrible 
 to believers then, than during the former ages of 
 the world. 
 
 The Millenarians give us fearful representations 
 of the forbidding and terrific nature of death even 
 to Christians at present, and of the imperfect and 
 defective happiness of their disembodied spirits. 
 They talk of the state betwixt death and the re- 
 surrection "as a state of longing expectation, not 
 a state of perfect blessedness — a state of desire, not 
 a state of rest — a state of weakness and waiting for 
 power." See Irving's Pre. Dis. pp. 55, 61, 115, 
 116. 
 
 But however far it may be inferior to the state 
 which succeeds the resurrection; we know that it 
 is far superior to our present condition. It se- 
 cures to the believer the possession of what con- 
 stitutes the perfection of his blessedness; his pres- 
 ence with Christ, and his view of his Redeemer's 
 glory. "To depart, and to be with Christ, is 
 
05 
 
 far better." "We are confident, and willing 
 rather to be absent from the body, and present 
 with the Lord." 
 
 But if now, when death introduces us into the 
 immediate presence of Christ, and the general as- 
 sembly and church of the first-born; into the joy 
 of our Lord ; where we shall see him as he is ; 
 walk with him in white; be made exceedingly 
 glad in the light of his countenance; and, behold- 
 ing openly his glory, be changed into the same 
 image from glory to glory: if notwithstanding all 
 this, these gentlemen regard death as so irksome, 
 painful, and revolting; what language can express 
 its horrors, when during the personal reign of 
 Christ on earth, it shall tear the inhabitants of 
 the world away from the place of his bodily resi- 
 dence, and send them into the place of departed 
 spirits ? Whether it is called paradise or heaven; 
 still, since Jesus has removed his throne and pres- 
 ence ; since there they can neither see his face, 
 hear his voice, nor behold his glory; it is strip- 
 ped of its best and most endearing beauty and de- 
 light, and rendered a dark and dreary abode. 
 Whatever the saints, who now fall asleep in Jesus, 
 may be supposed to gain by the first resurrection; 
 a grievous inexpressible injury is inflicted on all 
 the faithful who die during the long years of the 
 Millennium. 
 
 How, in the face of these facts, the Millenar- 
 ians can speak of death as " without alarm " and 
 "full of peace," Noel, p. 148., is strange indeed. 
 
96 
 
 Deprive it of as much as they please of the bodily 
 suffering which it creates; since it removes the 
 believer from the presence of him whose favour is 
 life, and whose loving-kindness is better than life; 
 the regret and distress which it then must occas- 
 ion must be indescribable, and the loss sustained 
 irreparable. 
 
 III. To increase the difficulties under which 
 the Millenarian system labours, its advocates af- 
 firm that the thousand years of Christ's personal 
 reign on earth is the day of judgment. See 
 Mede's Works, pp. 530—537, 772, 892, 893. 
 Noel, pp. 31, 101. and Cunninghame's Summary 
 View, Note, p. 15, and p. 23. With these Mr. 
 Irving and others so far coincide as to convert one 
 day into a thousand years. Pre. Dis. p. 153. Dial, 
 on Proph. III. 169—172. 
 
 Men, who fancy that they are possessed of the 
 greatest talents and learning, entertain different 
 notions respecting these momentous matters. 
 
 Mr. Bicheno very much to his own conviction 
 demonstrated that the Millennium is only a thou- 
 sand weeks, and that it would pass over this fav- 
 oured generation, some time betwixt A. D. 1800. 
 and 1822: See his Destiny of the German Em- 
 pire, pp. 95 — 124. 
 
 Mr. Thorn, who has an idea, as lofty as that 
 of any man, of his own consequence, agrees with 
 infidels and scoffers in rejecting the belief of a fut- 
 ure judgment altogether. Three Questions Pro- 
 
97 
 
 posed, &c. pp. 86 — £8. The Millenarians pro- 
 tract the day of judgment into a thousand years, 
 and transform it into the Millennium/ 
 
 Now here again those who have been able to 
 adopt nothing higher than " vulgar notions " 
 are obliged to complain that the Millenarians are 
 completely beyond their reach. If the judgment is 
 to sit throughout the whole of the Millennium, 
 we cannot understand how the business of life is 
 at the same time to be conducted, as these writers 
 have repeatedly assured us that it shall. The 
 pick-pocket, who persists in depredations in a 
 criminal court, in the presence of a judge, or at 
 the foot of the gallows where his brother is suffer- 
 ing the last penalty of the law for a similar offence; 
 displays an incurable outrageous degree of wicked- 
 ness. But what is all that compared with the 
 profligacy and depravity implied in the monstrous, 
 the incredible supposition, that whilst the trans- 
 actions of the great day of decision are going on, 
 whilst the King eternal and immortal is seated on 
 his great white throne, and the inhabitants of the 
 earth are mourning, and men of all its kindreds are 
 wailing because of him; others, indifferent to the 
 whole of the affecting realities around them, are 
 plying their worldly affairs, marrying and giving 
 in marriage, eating and drinking, or working un- 
 righteousness with greediness? 
 
 But if the judgment does not sit at all during 
 these ten centuries; if none of the wicked are 
 raised at the descent of our Lord; if the fate 
 
98 
 
 of the living wicked shall be quickly dispatched ; 
 and the living saints and their glorified brethren 
 who come along with him, are not judged " until- 
 the thousand years are finished ;" Rev. xx. 5, 12, 
 13; so that, during the whole day of judgment, 
 there is not a single creature judged at all, we do not 
 understand how it has obtained the name of the 
 day of judgment. We are accustomed to regard 
 descriptive names as expressive of the nature of 
 the objects to which they are applied. A day of 
 temptation, we have regarded as a day of trial ; 
 a day of feasting, as a festival; a day of mourning, 
 as a day of affliction : and we greatly need some 
 Millenarian illumination to comprehend how the 
 day of judgment has obtained that name from the 
 total absence of the exercise of judgment; and 
 from its proving a season of delight to the inhabi- 
 tants of the earth, and the long-looked for jubilee 
 of the creation. 
 
 On the redoubtable argument supposed to be 
 comprised in these words, " We say that the day 
 of the Lord which in the face of Peter's warning, 
 they interpret of a natural day, but which we in 
 the spirit of his warning, and of John's exposition, 
 interpret of a thousand years:" Irving's Pre. Dis. 
 p. 153: we have to remark that this interpre- 
 tation is in the teeth of both Peter's text and John's 
 commentary. W T hen the apostle John speaks of 
 the day of judgment, it is in language which 
 shews that its transactions will be compressed into 
 a short period indeed. Rev. xx. 11 — 15. John 
 
99 
 
 v. 26 — 29. And with respect to the text of Peter % 
 it is astonishing and deplorable that any man can 
 write and print, that that apostle intimated that 
 the day of judgment will last a thousand years. 
 The apostle is warning his readers of scoffers who 
 would arise in the last days. And what were these 
 scoffers to ask? How long will the judgment 
 last when it arrives ? How long will the Judge re- 
 main when he comes ? Not at all. The scoffers 
 are men of the world, who mind earthly things, 
 disregard the admonitions of the Most High; and 
 from the stability of the mundane system, and 
 the long uninterrupted course of human affairs, 
 reject the belief of a judgment entirely ; and con- 
 clude that matters will hold on as they have done, 
 in an endless succession. " Knowing this first, 
 that there shall come in the last days scoffers, 
 walking after their own lusts, saying, Where is 
 the promise of his coming ? for since the fathers 
 fell asleep, all things continue as they were from 
 the beginning of the creation." To such a ques- 
 tion as this, what is the legitimate and proper an- 
 swer ? Is it an account of the duration of the final 
 judgment? or a declaration of the certainty of its 
 arrival, even though irreligious men imagine that 
 our Lord delays his coming, and never will re- 
 turn ? When a stranger asks his friend at St. 
 Paul's, how long time it will require him to walk 
 to the Caledonian Church, Compton-street; would 
 it be a fair and candid reply to say, the service 
 there lasts only three hours ? When in Novem- 
 
100 
 
 ber, a child inquires, how many days there are 
 till the new year: would it be a correct or ration- 
 al return to the question to say, the new year will 
 contain three hundred and sixty-five days ? And 
 when the apostle is directing his readers how to 
 deal with the scoffers who would ask, Where 
 is the promise of Christ's coming ? is it credible 
 that, instead of entering into an explanation how 
 that with Him who has eternity at his command, 
 the apparent delay of a day, a year, or a thou- 
 sand years, could make no alteration upon his 
 purposes, nor screen his enemies ultimately from 
 their fate: Is it credible that instead of meeting 
 and exposing the cavil of the scoffers, the apos- 
 tle would enter into a disquisition respecting the 
 length of time during which the judgment is to 
 sit? 
 
 The apostle gives a far more appropriate and 
 rational answer. He tells us that these scoffers 
 shut their eyes to facts : that the world is not now 
 what it originally was : that, notwithstanding the 
 incredulity of the Antediluvians, the flood came, 
 swept them all away, and created a complete 
 change upon the earth : that, notwithstanding the 
 unbelief of future reprobates, the day of the Lord 
 will most assuredly come, in which the earth, to 
 the stability of which they trust so firmly, shall 
 be burnt up: but though* the Lord is not slow to 
 fulfil his promise of returning, he waits to be 
 gracious and gives the most careless and harden- 
 ed space and opportunity to repent. " The Lord 
 
101 
 
 is not slack concerning his promise." What pro- 
 mise? a promise of a long judgment; a judgment 
 to last ten centuries, and during which none of 
 the great family of man shall be judged at all? 
 Where is the promise of such a judgment to be 
 found? The promise, of which the apostle is 
 speaking, is the promise of our Lord's " coming." 
 verse 4. " The Lord is not slack concerning his 
 promise, as some men count slackness; but is long- 
 suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should 
 perish, but that all should come to repentance." 
 The interval betwixt the ascension and the return 
 of our Redeemer is fitted to manifest his forbear- 
 ance, and bring sinners to repentance : but since 
 all the sinners found alive at his second advent 
 will be instantaneously destroyed; what tendency 
 can a judgment protracted for a thousand years 
 have to bring them to repentance ? 
 
 IV. The Millenarian hypothesis renders an at- 
 tack by the wicked upon the faithful, at the end 
 of the Millennium, incredible. 
 
 From Rev. xx. it is certain that there will be a 
 general war against the saints immediately prior 
 to the last judgment. On the common hypothesis, 
 such an attack is perfectly simple and credible. 
 After a long period of unprecedented piety and 
 felicity, it is quite possible that a generation will 
 arise destitute of the life and power of godliness: 
 and that, as the integrity and spirituality of the 
 faithful will interfere with their selfish schemes 
 
102 
 
 and worldly interests, they will organize a campaign 
 against the saints, in the vain hope of clearing the 
 earth of their hated presence, and securing to 
 themselves the sovereignty of the world. 
 
 But that any race of mortals will attack the 
 Church of the redeemed, under the immediate 
 protection of the Lord Jesus Christ, is completely 
 beyond the bounds of belief. In every age the 
 followers of Jesus have, to the irreligeous and car- 
 nal, been the objects of dislike, reproach, perse- 
 cution, and outrage. But in all their cruel treat- 
 ment of the heirs of heaven, they never are aware 
 of the real nature of their conduct, nor dream 
 that they are embarked in a contest with their 
 Maker. Their enmity is excited, and their hos- 
 tility directed against, what they fancy, bigotry 
 and enthusiasm, superstition and fanaticism. But 
 they believe that they love God himself, and would 
 be glad through eternity to enjoy his favour. 
 Paul thought that he ought to do many things 
 against the name of Jesus of Nazereth; and many 
 of those who have dyed themselves deepest in the 
 blood of the saints, have supposed that by mur- 
 dering his people they were doing him the most 
 signal service. Mat. xxv. 44, 45. Acts xxvi. 9. 
 John xvi. 2. And Satan himself, with all his 
 malignity against the cause of God and goodness, 
 has not infatuation enough to imagine that he is a 
 match for the Almighty, nor the insanity to pro- 
 voke such an unequal combat. In the days of the 
 Redeemer's humiliation the Devil shrunk from 
 
103 
 
 his presence with dread. Mark i. 24. And can we 
 believe that there is stupidity and frenzy in all 
 earth or hell sufficient to lead on an attack against 
 the camp of the saints, crowded with glorified 
 immortals, and protected by the presence and the 
 power of the King of kings and Lord of lords? 
 
 In the last enterprise against the faithful, is it 
 likely that the ground of hostilities will be chang- 
 ed ? Is their any probability for believing that the 
 wicked will either be able or inclined to attack 
 the Church, knowing that it is the city of the liv- 
 ing God ? Granting, as the Millenarians sup- 
 pose, that the faithful who are born during the 
 Millennium, are swept away by death; the accumul- 
 ated multitudes of the saints, who in all preced- 
 ing ages have fallen asleep in Jesus, when raised 
 from the dead at the commencement of that inter- 
 esting period, if they retain their fidelity, will so 
 far surpass the number of the wicked of any single 
 generation, that the impious of that age must be 
 possessed of more than mortal courage, if they 
 have the hardihood to meditate a war against 
 such fearful odds. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the attempts of the Millen- 
 arians to conceal the person of Immanuel, and to 
 shut him up in the temple of Jerusalem; and not- 
 withstanding all the jargon they have written 
 about his manifesting himself as "by the Urim 
 and Thummim," and "through the prince of the 
 temple;" we know that when he next appears, 
 whether at the commencement of the Millennium, 
 
104 
 
 or at the great day of judgment, he will come 
 " in his own glory and in the glory of his Father." 
 This glory is immutable. It can neither wax nor 
 wane: but will be as bright and over-powering 
 at the expiration, as at the beginning of these 
 centuries of bliss. For if it undergoes an eclipse 
 or decrease, how can the Millenarian expecta- 
 tions be realized that he is to ct sit on the iden- 
 tical throne of David," and " reign before his an- 
 cients gloriously?" And can we believe that the 
 wicked will have the blind boldness to engage in 
 a conflict not only with the glorified immortals, 
 but their glorious King ? When he comes the 
 wicked flee from his presence, all the kindreds of 
 the earth mourn because of him ; and the most 
 daring and sturdy of them all cry to the rocks 
 and mountains to fall on them and hide them 
 from his presence. And when no length of time 
 can diminish his power and glory; but millions of 
 ages after his fancied return to the earth, it will 
 be as dazzleing and overwhelming as at the first 
 moment when he is discerned returning to the 
 globe: are we to believe that these guilty, trem- 
 bling criminals, filled with such consternation 
 and horror, at the blazing symbols of his eternal 
 power and Godhead, are to rise in hostilities 
 against him; and though they would rather be 
 crushed beneath a mountain, or swallowed up in 
 the convulsions that shake a dissolving world, 
 than encounter the terrors of his frown ; they will 
 muster the audacity to wage direct and open 
 
105 
 
 war against Him and the called and chosen and 
 faithful in his train ? 
 
 Several other difficulties, equally strong and in- 
 surmountable as those which have just now been 
 enumerated, might be mentioned. But any ad- 
 ditional exposure of this chimerical scheme may 
 be superseded by the illustration of one general 
 remark; which, if the task has not been already 
 accomplished, will go far to unfold the glaring 
 inconsistency and monstrous absurdity of the 
 whole of the visionary system. 
 
 Throughout this chapter we have been arguing 
 on the supposition that the human race is to be 
 perpetuated during the imaginary personal reign 
 of Christ on earth, and we have just now been 
 saying, that, on the modern theory, an attack 
 upon the saints at the end of the Millennium, is 
 incredible. It is now time to add, that, on this 
 notion, 
 
 V. An attack upon the saints, at the end of 
 the Millennium, and the conversion of the world 
 at its commencement, are impossible. 
 
 But how can these events be shewn to be impos- 
 sible? Very simply and very shortly. By the 
 plain fact that the Millenarian hypothesis clears, 
 at the coming of Christ, the earth of all his en- 
 emies, and clothes his friends with spiritual and 
 immortal bodies. It exterminates, consumes, 
 and destroys every living sinner; and glorifies 
 every living saint. Irving's Pre. Dis. pp. 5, 6, 
 
 E 
 
106 
 
 147, 148. Ben-Ezra, vol. II. p. 248. Noel's 
 Prospects, &c pp. 31, 32, 46, 47, 93, 94, 101. 
 
 If the Gentile nations and the Jews are convert- 
 ed before the descent of the Redeemer; then they 
 will, when he appears, be instantly glorified. If 
 they are not converted, they must be ranged 
 amongst his foes, and be instantly destroyed. 
 Now after the destruction of every living sinner, 
 and the glorification of every living saint; where 
 are they to find " men to abide in the flesh, and be 
 heirs of death?" From whence come the multi- 
 tudes of which they speak, that shall be born to 
 Christ, and fill the Millennial Church ? There is 
 no work nor device in the grave: and therefore 
 the wicked dead cannot give them birth. The 
 issue of the glorified just they cannot be: for 
 " they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain 
 that world, and the resurrection from the dead, 
 neither marry, nor are given in marriage, for 
 they are equal to the angels." From whence 
 then are the multitudes to arise, who shall replen- 
 ish the earth, and swell the hosts of the re- 
 deemed ? 
 
 Shall we be told that a remnant shall be pre- 
 served to be the ancestors of succeeding genera- 
 tions ? Indeed there is nothing, provided only 
 that it is far enough removed from the regions of 
 common sense, and the plain dictates of revela- 
 tion, but what some modest Millenarian will 
 have the simplicity to tell us ; and if they believe 
 as they write, there is nothing too absurd and 
 
107 
 
 ridiculous to be beyond the reach of their belief. 
 They have not only told us that a remnant shall 
 escape at the coming of Christ: but Mr. Vaughan 
 has had the wisdom to discover, and the for- 
 titude to assure us, that, after the last judgment 
 and universal conflagration, when "the beloved 
 city floats as a second ark upon the fiery flood;" 
 M Israel comes forth, a new seed for the new 
 heaven and the new earth." Sermon, p. 132. 
 And when, after the dissolution of the earth and 
 the consumation of all things, they anticipate new 
 races to arise from immortal glorified Israel ; is it 
 any wonder to hear them asserting, as they do, 
 that a remnant will be preserved unchanged at 
 the second coming of the Son of man ? But then, 
 have they shewn, or attempted to shew, how this 
 is to be accomplished, or can be accomplished ? 
 When they tell us that it is "the glorious coming 
 of our Lord to judge the quick and dead;" that 
 then there will be " no ark, Zoar, nor Pella for the 
 Church on earth;" that " all his chosen ones will 
 be saved by being caught up to meet him^" that 
 " the chief figure used for the gathering of the 
 elect is that of harvest, at which time the wheat 
 is gathered into the garner, and the chaff and 
 stubble burned;" that "this figure is succeeded 
 by another in Rev. xiv., of vintage, in which 
 there is no separation, but every single grape is 
 trampled to pieces;" that his coming is " the day 
 of judgment and perdition of ungodly men;" that 
 " the change made on earth by fire at his coming 
 
 E 2 
 
108 
 
 will be as great as that produced by the deluge;" 
 that " both St. Paul and St. Peter understood the 
 term 'perish 9 as only a material alteration in the 
 outward visible form of the earth, and that can 
 be effected by fire in the second destruction as it 
 was in the first by water;" that the earth is to be 
 " baptized with fire," "purified by fire;" that "a 
 change will be effected on the material world sim- 
 ilar to that which has taken place on " the bodies 
 of Enoch, Elijah, and Moses; that his coming 
 will be like that of the flood, when a the succes- 
 sive waves swept along the plain, the rushing tor- 
 rents rolled alike over vallies and mountains, and 
 precluded any escape from their fury;" and that 
 "as Noah and his family were preserved from the 
 deluge by being lift up above the waters in the 
 ark; so shall the saints at the conflagration be lift 
 up unto their ark Christ, to be preserved there 
 from the deluge of fire, wherein the wicked shall 
 be consumed :" Can they reconcile such represen- 
 tations as these with the possibility of preserving 
 any remnant, whether great or smail ? See Cun- 
 ninghame's View, p. 10; Dial, on Proph. V. pp. 
 16, 26, 28; Last Trump, pp. 6, 8; Christ's 
 Appearance, pp. 103 — 105. Ben-Ezra, vol. II. pp. 
 230, 233; Cry from the Desert, pp. 29, 45; 
 Vaughan's Sermon, p. 81; Irving's Pre. Dis. pp. 
 122, 123; Dial, on Proph. VIII. p. 218; III. p. 
 97; Noel's Prospects, p. 101. Mede's Works, 
 pp. 609—619, 776. 
 
 They may elsewhere talk as they please of " the 
 
109 
 
 preservation of a hemisphere," of " a remnant 
 that escapes," and of " the subjects of the millen- 
 nial kingdom composed of the restored Jews, the 
 converted heathen, and the remnant converted 
 and saved out of the ungodly hosts who will have 
 perished in the convulsions of the last plagues of 
 the great judgment:" but in the passages just now 
 quoted, or referred to, they have told us that 
 " escape " is precluded ; and, what is more, they 
 have shewn that escape is impossible. If " all " 
 Christ's chosen ones are saved by being caught up 
 to meet him ; how can any of the saints be left to 
 repeople the earth ? Does his church contain 
 more than " all " whom he has chosen ? And if 
 " every single grape is trampled to pieces," and 
 if the " ungodly perish :" how can any of the 
 wicked survive, to fill the world with a new race, 
 and perform all that is ascribed to the sojourners 
 on earth during the millennial reign ? 
 
 But they have not only in express terms assert- 
 ed the glorification of all the saints, and the en- 
 tire perdition of the ungodly; but have, uncon- 
 sciously indeed, but effectually, demonstrated that 
 the preservation of any man in a mortal body is 
 an absolute impossibility. 
 
 Except those who were in the ark, " all in 
 whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that 
 was in the dry land died " by the flood. The 
 destruction was complete. No creature escaped, 
 Gen. vii. 21 — 23. And when a second deluge, 
 not of water, but of fire, shall traverse the globe; 
 
110 
 
 shall " sweep along the plains, roll alike over val* 
 lies and mountains;" shall " baptize," "purify," 
 and " spiritualize " the earth : and " no ark," " no 
 Zoar, nor Pella" is to be found on the wide sur- 
 face of our planet ; when "the New Jerusalam is 
 in the air," and not yet set afloat *< on the surface 
 of the fiery flood ;" when " the elements are 
 melting with fervent heat, and the earth also and 
 the works that are therein are a-burning up:" 
 How can a " single sojourner of earth," whether 
 saint or sinner, escape this all-pervading and 
 overwhelming visitation; or resist the strength 
 and intensity of these devouring flames ? 
 
 To the whole enlightened brotherhood of mod- 
 ern Millenarians we may apply the remarks of 
 a distinguished critic, upon the speculations of one 
 of their far-famed predecessors. " Place now the 
 Millennium after the conflagration of the world, 
 and all things in it; and where will you find 
 these pious men alive, or how will you pre- 
 serve them from those flames? Dr. Burnet 
 finds a great difficulty, not common to all, as 
 he imagines, but peculiar to his own invention, 
 of a Millennium after the conflagration of the 
 present earth ; viz. How Gog and Magog should 
 get into this new earthy the wicked being all consumed 
 in those Jlames. He is not hardy enough to say 
 that this is the poetic tale of the Giants, though he 
 saith it hath great affinity with it. And therefore 
 he produces these men, according to the philos- 
 ophy of Lucretius and Mr. Hobbes, from the slime 
 
Ill 
 
 of the earth, and the heat of the sun, as brute crea- 
 tures were at first: but whence come these pious 
 men that have not yet slept, into this new earth, 
 is a fresh difficulty; and to this the doctor hath 
 yet nothing to say: for he either thought not of 
 them, or was unwilling to take up with the 
 Rabbinical notion, that they had eagle's wings 
 given them to mount up into the air whilst the 
 earth was on fire." Dr. Whitby on the Millen- 
 nium, appended to his Commentary on the New 
 Testament, 2 edit. Vol. II. pp, 740, 741. 
 
 In the day of judgment each receives from 
 Christ according to his works; and the sentence 
 of the Son of God fixes unalterably the eternal 
 condition of those on whom it is pronounced. 
 From his tribunal the wicked " go away into ever- 
 lasting punishment, but the righteous into life 
 eternal." 2 Cor. v. 10. Mat. xxv. 45. This 
 conclusively closes their temporal transactions; 
 and precludes the possibility of returning to the 
 business of life, or the present occupations of 
 mortals. Now after the real, personal, and 
 glorious coming of our Lord to judge the quick 
 and the dead;" how is it possible to perpetuate 
 the humam race, and replenish the earth with 
 successive generations of either saints or sinners? 
 Do the Millenarians suppose that at the second 
 advent of our Redeemer, there will be some of 
 the descendants of Adam who are neither alive 
 nor dead ? Unless they do ; since Christ comes 
 iS to judge the quick and the dead," they inevit- 
 
112 
 
 ably admit that at bis appearing the number of 
 our race is completed; and that no additions can 
 be made either to the children of light or of 
 darkness. 
 
 This is a conclusion which follows alike from 
 their own language, and from their own cones- 
 sions. But whether they admit or reject it; it is 
 a conclusion irresistibly forced on all who ad- 
 mit the authority of revelation. Notwithstanding 
 all the attempts to fritter away its meaning, or es- 
 cape from its application, the language of 2 Peter 
 iii. 5 — 12, which has already been quoted, affirms 
 a universal conflagration at the coming of Christ, 
 at the day of judgment, in terms too distinct 
 and clear for any stupidity to mistake, or any 
 sophistry to evade. 
 
 After these accumulative proofs of the termina- 
 tion of the present system of the world's affairs, 
 and of the impossibility of continuing the propag- 
 ation of the species after the second advent of the 
 Messiah; the Millenarian hypothesis cuts off 
 the possibility of removing *' the blindness which 
 has happened to Israel," and of bringing in " the 
 fulness of the Gentiles." Rom. xi. 1 1—26. Often 
 have these writers assured us that the world ** ne- 
 ver will be cleansed, except by the spirit of judg- 
 ment, and the spirit of burning;" that the con- 
 version of the nations before the personal advent 
 of the Redeemer, is hopeless: that " this present 
 dispensation of the incarnate God and the out- 
 poured Spirit is to end, and is now ending in a 
 
113 
 
 desertion, in an apostacy, in an almost total ab- 
 sence of faith and eclipse of light;" and that Sa- 
 tan " never will give up his reign by any preach- 
 ing of the Gospel, nor by any other means than 
 by the manifestation of Christ in person, on pur- 
 pose to cast him out of this earth." Dial, on 
 Proph. III. pp. 163, 164, 176; V. 65; Irving's 
 Pre. Dis. p. 164. Now, if " this present dispen- 
 sation is to end in an apostacy," and " Satan will 
 never give up his reign by any other means than 
 by the manifestation of Christ in person :" when 
 by their own principles and the express declara- 
 tions of Scripture, we find that Christ at his com- 
 ing decides the everlasting destiny of every child 
 of Adam, that he then judges the quick and 
 dead, and births and deaths are impossible : then 
 we are compelled to repeat the question, How 
 can either "the fulness of the Gentiles come in?" 
 or " all Israel be saved ?" How can all the na- 
 tions be blessed in Christ ? and he recieve " the 
 heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost 
 parts of the earth for his possession ?" Are these 
 promises no part of revelation ? or are Millenar- 
 ians regardless whether they shall be fulfilled or 
 falsified, provided they can bolster up their own 
 favourite but fanciful and baseless theory ? 
 
 By glorifying all the faithful, who at the appear- 
 ing of Christ shall be found upon earth, and des- 
 troying all the ungodly ; from whence can the army 
 of apostates, who, before the second Millenarian 
 E 3 
 
Ill 
 
 judgment, attack the camp of the saints, be re- 
 cruited ? 
 
 On these topics the author is glad to find that 
 his opinions are supported by the powerful author- 
 ity of the ablest modern interpreter of Prophecy. 
 
 " According to the necessary consequence of 
 the speculation now before us, the renovated 
 earth, during the Millennian period, can on- 
 ly be tenanted, by the martyrs who have been rais~ 
 ed from the dead at St, John's first resurrection, 
 and by the pious corporeally changed individuals who 
 were found alive in the day of Christ's literal second 
 advent. For the universal mundane conflagration, 
 which attends upon our Lord's second coming, 
 will have effectually destroyed all the wicked, who 
 shall be found alive at that epoch : and these wicked 
 persons, together with their wicked predecessors 
 who died anterior to the second advent, will not be 
 raised again to receive their final sentence until 
 the general resurrection subsequent to the Millen- 
 nium. Therefore clearly, by the hypothesis, 
 there can be no other occupants of the renovated 
 earth, than the pious raised dead and the pious 
 changed quick, 
 
 " Now, by the express declaration both of our 
 Lord himself and of his Apostle St. Paul, persons 
 so circumstanced can die no more: for death will 
 then have been swallowed up in victory. Conse- 
 quently, during the millennian period as viewed 
 according to the present speculation, death can 
 no longer prevail, 
 
115 
 
 " But here we are immediately encountered by 
 another flat contradiction. St. John, by the full 
 admission of Mr. Mede himself, distinctly teaches 
 us, that death is not annihilated until the univer- 
 sal judgment subsequent to the Millennium. There- 
 fore, if death be not annihilated until after the 
 Millennium, it must evidently prevail through the 
 Millennium precisely as it does at present : and, 
 accordingly, we find, in matter of fact, that the 
 confederates of Gog and Magog, though inhabi- 
 tants of the millennian earth, are nevertheless 
 slain by the descent of fire from heaven. Hence 
 it will follow, since death prevails through the 
 Millennium, and since the only occupants of the 
 renovated earth are the pious raised dead and the 
 pious changed quick, that the pious raised dead 
 and the pious changed quick, notwithstanding the 
 declaration of our Lord and St. Paul to the con- 
 trary, will all continue to die, exactly like our- 
 selves, during the entire triumphant period of the 
 Millennium. 
 
 " Of this inconvenience, a man, like Mr. Mede, 
 could not be insensible: but, upon his principles, 
 the difficulty was, how to avoid it. The matter, 
 however, is not given up in dispair. He solves 
 the problem by supposing, that the mundane con- 
 flagration, which confessedly attends upon Christ's 
 literal second advent, will be only partial, not 
 absolutely universal. The collective continents 
 of Europe and Asia and Africa will, indeed, be 
 
116 
 
 subjected to its influence : and, when purified 
 and renovated by it, will constitute what St. John 
 calls the parembole of the saints, whether raised 
 from the dead or corporeally changed in the day 
 of the Lord's coming. But the continents of 
 America and of the Terra Australis Incognita will 
 escape; for, to them, the conflagration will not 
 extend : and their inhabitants will still be liable 
 to death, though the inhabitants of the renovated 
 parembole of our upper hemisphere will be exempt 
 from it. 
 
 "Respecting such a solution, which many per- 
 haps will deem somewhat arbitrary, the only real 
 question is ; how far it can be reconciled with St. 
 Peter's predictive account of that mundane con- 
 flagration, which will accompany the second ad- 
 vent of our Lord in judgment. 
 
 " Now the whole tenor of the Apostle's language, 
 unless the very plainest expressions may be legiti- 
 mately pronounced equivocal, most distinctly and 
 precisely imports universality. The material at- 
 mosphere, he tells us, and the earth, which now 
 exist, are reserved unto fire, against the day of 
 judgment and perdition of ungodly men. For the 
 day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night: 
 in which the material atmospheric heavens shall pass 
 away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt 
 with fervent heat, and the earth and all the works 
 that are in it shall be burned up. From an im- 
 pending catastrophe thus awful, he draws the in- 
 ference : Seeing, then, that all these things shall be 
 
117 
 
 dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in 
 all holy conversation and godliness. 
 
 " Such is the language, employed by St. Peter 
 to describe a mundane conflagration, which Mr. 
 Mede would limit to the continents of Europe 
 and Asia and Africa, and from which he would 
 wholly exempt the continents of America and the 
 Terra Australis Incognita. But this limitation is 
 so plainly made for the mere purpose of serving 
 the necessities of a system, and is so utterly irre- 
 concileable with the palpably universalising lan- 
 guage of the Apostle, that no sober inquirer, I 
 think, can for a moment hesitate to reject it. The 
 original contradiction, therefore, still remains in 
 full potency : nor can it be removed by any ex- 
 pedient, short of an entire retractation of the 
 theory, which would place St. Peter's universal 
 mundane conflagration immediately before the 
 commencement of the Millennium. But, if this 
 theory be retracted, the theory of the literal 
 second advent at the same epoch must be re- 
 tracted also: for, since the universal mundane 
 conflagration indisputably accompanies the liter- 
 al second advent, the two theories of the liter- 
 al premillennian second advent and of the uni- 
 versal premillennian conflagration stand or fall to- 
 gether. 
 
 " Yet, even if we could justly concede to Mr. 
 Mede his untenable expedient of an arbitrary 
 limitation, his system would soon be found equal- 
 ly to halt with a new contradiction. 
 
ns 
 
 u If the continents of Europe and Asia and Africa 
 be burned up and entirely dissolved immediately 
 before the Millennium, it is clear, that none of 
 the wicked, within those geographical limits, 
 whether active members of the Roman antichris- 
 tian confederacy or not personally taking a direct 
 part in its operations, can possibly escape inevit- 
 able destruction. Accordingly, Mr. Mede ex- 
 pressly states, that such will be their lot: for, 
 while the saints, he remarks, will be caught up 
 to Christ in the air, and will thus be preserved 
 from this tremendous conflagration; the wicked 
 will be consumed in the deluge of fire, which will 
 then be let loose upon the whole of our upper 
 hemisphere. 
 
 i6 But this necessary result from the excellent au- 
 thor's system, even as explained and limited and 
 modified by himself, directly contradicts the joint 
 positive attestation of Isaiah and Zechariah. 
 
 " The former of these two prophets, when speak- 
 ing of that advent of the Lord which synchronises 
 with the restoration of Judah and with the over- 
 throw of the Roman faction at the end of the lat- 
 ter 1260 years ; that is to say, when speaking of 
 that very advent which Mr. Mede would have to 
 be the literal second advent ; declares, that God 
 will send those, who shall escape out of the gen- 
 eral destruction of that faction, to the distant na- 
 tions of the earth : when they shall celebrate his 
 glory among the Gentiles, and shall thus be in- 
 strumental in bringing back the still unrestored 
 
119 
 
 remnant of Israel from out of all nations to the 
 holy mountain of Jerusalem. 
 
 "The latter of these two prophets, still speak- 
 ing of that same advent of Christ which syn- 
 chronises with the restoration of Judah and with 
 the overthrow of the Roman faction, distinctly as- 
 sures us, that certain individuals shall escape out 
 of the destruction of all the confederated nations 
 which will then come against Jerusalem, 
 
 " Now, according to Mr. Mede's system even as 
 modified by himself, the escape of any individuals 
 out of the fiery destruction of the antichristian 
 confederacy is plainly impossible : for, as he teach- 
 es us, Christ, in this day of his literal second ad- 
 vent, will let loose upon the wicked a deluge of 
 fire, which will burn up and clean dissolve the 
 whole collective continents of Europe and Asia 
 and Africa. 
 
 "As, however, we cannot concede to Mr. Mede 
 his untenable expedient of an arbitrary limitation 
 of that universal mundane conflagration, which 
 St. Peter associates with the literal second advent 
 of the Lord : we must prepare ourselves to en- 
 counter yet another contradiction, which inevit- 
 ably flows from his most infelicitous speculation. 
 
 " By the concurrent voice of Prophecy, the gen- 
 eral conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of 
 of Christ is placed after the restoration of Judah 
 and after the confessedly synchronical overthrow 
 of the antichristian faction. Accordingly Mr. 
 Mede himfelf most justly remarks, that, until the 
 
120 
 
 calling of the Jews (which Daniel and our Lord 
 definitely fix to the end of the three times and a 
 half or to the end of the times of the Gentiles), 
 the general conversion of the Gentiles is not to be 
 expected: for the receiving of Israel shall be the 
 riches of the world; in that by their restitution, the 
 whole world shall come unto Christ* 
 
 " But, if the literal second advent of the Lord, 
 and consequently the universal mundane conflag- 
 ration, occur at the precise time, when, immed- 
 iately before the commencement of the Millennium, 
 Judah is restored, and the Roman faction is over- 
 thrown : it is manifestly impossible, that any sub- 
 sequent conversion of the now unbelieving Gen- 
 tiles can be accomplished. 
 
 " An ardent follower of Mr. Mede may perhaps 
 remind us, that he limits St. Peter's mundane 
 conflagration to the old continents; and may 
 thence send us to the unscathed continents of 
 America and Australia for the predicted future 
 conversion of the Gentiles. But, even to say 
 nothing of the fact that America is already evan- 
 gelised and that the Terra Australis still remains 
 an unknown land, Mr. Mede's arbitrary limitation 
 of what St. Peter makes strictly universal has been 
 shewn to be altogether untenable. 
 
 " One difficulty yet remains, of so very peculiar 
 a nature, that it must by no means be silently 
 pretermitted. 
 
 " St. John tells us, that, when Satan is liberated 
 at the close of the Millennium, he will go out to 
 
121 
 
 deceive the nations which are in the four quarters 
 of the earth, that he will gather them together to 
 battle, in number as the sand of the sea, that they 
 themselves will come up on the breadth of the 
 earth, that they will compass the paremboU of the 
 saints and the beloved city, and that fire from 
 God out of heaven will at length devour them. 
 
 " Now, on the system adopted by Mr. Mede and 
 his followers, where shall we find materials for the 
 construction of this formidable ultimate confeder- 
 acy, which the Apostle collectively denominates 
 Gog and Magog ? 
 
 " The venerable hierophant himself, whose in- 
 genuity never fails him, would in strict conformity 
 with the prophet's own express language, bring up 
 the conspirators from the lower hemisphere of 
 America and the Terra Australis Incognita. 
 
 " This, however, is impracticable : for the mun- 
 dane conflagration, which St. Peter associates 
 with the literal second advent, is clearly universal. 
 
 "Dr. Thomas Burnet, who admits, what cannot 
 be reasonably denied, the universality of St. Pet- 
 er's mundane conflagration, resorts to yet another 
 expedient. According to this learned writer, the 
 innumerable hosts of Gog and Magog, in all the 
 four quarters of the earth, will be generated, like 
 the classical Python, by the productive heat of 
 the sun, from the teeming slime of the renovated 
 earth. 
 
 " The speculation is sufficiently ingenious; but 
 I apprehend, that few systematisers of the present 
 
122 
 
 day would have nerves strong enough to adopt it 
 in good sober contoversial earnest. 
 
 " Again, then, we are constrained to ask the per- 
 plexing question: Where, on the system adopted 
 by the literalists, shall we discover materials, out 
 of which we may consistently fabricate the innum- 
 merable hosts of the final daring apostacy ? 
 
 " Truly, on this most extraordinary system, 
 our sole materials are, the holy martyrs who 
 were raised from the dead in the day of the 
 first resurrection, and the holy living individuals 
 who were corporeally changed at the time of Christ's 
 literal second advent immediatly before the com- 
 mencement of the Millennium: for such will be the 
 only inhabitants of the earth, when it shall have 
 been first dissolved and then renovated by the grand 
 universal mundane conflagration." Faber's Sacred 
 Calendar of Prophecy; vol. III. pp. 445 — 454. 
 
 To Mr. Irving and those who coincide with 
 him, this is no difficulty at all. They tell us, on 
 the one hand, that the Millennium is to " end in 
 an insurrection of the long blessed inhabitants of 
 the earth, requiring the loosing of Satan, and that 
 last infliction of wrath which brings on the con- 
 summation." Irving's Pre. Dis. p. 164. And on 
 the other hand, they assure us that, during the 
 Millennium, " if any sinner does arise, he will be 
 instantly cut off." Dial, on Proph. VIII. p. 240. 
 
 " Since then every sinner as he arises is to be 
 1 instantly cut off;' there can be none left to oc- 
 cupy our globe but the glorified immortals, and 
 
123 
 
 the faithful who are " still in the flesh and heirs 
 of death." But since no mortal could outlive his 
 apostacy for a single second, it follows therefore, as 
 a matter of course, that this " insurrection of the 
 long blessed inhabitants of the earth" must be com- 
 posed exclusively of the saints, who were raised 
 from the dead, and those who were glorified, at 
 the supposed descent of Christ. What therefore, 
 Mr. Faber regards as the height of absurdity, 
 these enlightened Millenarians gravely assert to be 
 not only a possible, but an unquestionable fact. 
 
 " Some of them may be disposed to imagine that 
 the insurrection will be confined to the if sojourn- 
 ers of earth," the saints who are still '* abiding in 
 the flesh." 
 
 But this does not lessen the difficulty much. 
 For they inform us that one of the effects of the 
 Millennium will be u great longevity." Dial, on 
 Proph. VIII. p. 240. They have not exactly as- 
 certained the length of life during that wonderful 
 era. But Mr. Vaughan, Church's Expectation, 
 p. 123, note, has discovered that the youth of men 
 will then extend through the first hundred years 
 of their age. Of course their whole life must last 
 for at least a few centuries. 
 
 From the great fertility of the earth, and the 
 rapid increase of the species in the absence of war, 
 sickness, and all the calamities, so hurtful to hu- 
 man life; the population of the world, during the 
 last ages of the Millennium, must be immense. 
 From Rev. xx. the conspiracy seems to be very 
 extensive. If therefore the " insurrection of the 
 
124 
 
 long blessed inhabitants of the earth," were to be 
 limited to " the sojourners of the earth :" since 
 the greater part of those born in the Millennium 
 will be " still abiding in the flesh," when they are. 
 seduced by Satan, and led to embark in their 
 dreadful conspiracy against the Most High ; this 
 hypothesis necessarily requires a prodigous de- 
 struction of our race, and renders it doubtful 
 whether such a Millennium would prove a blessing 
 or a curse. 
 
 Those who are inclined to espouse this opinion, 
 will probably, on more mature reflection renounce 
 it, and adopt the idea of their brethren, that the 
 army of Gog and Magog will be composed of 
 glorified immortals. This is an idea which, wheth- 
 er they will or not, they must adopt. For it is 
 evident from Rev. xx. 8, 9, that it requires some 
 time to organize the army of Gog and Magog. 
 Now, if every sinner as he arises will be "instant- 
 ly cut off;" if Gog, Magog and their followers 
 were mortal men, they could not survive their 
 revolt a single moment. These ungodly forces 
 never could be mustered. Before they could 
 march one step to attack the camp of the saints, 
 every conspirator would be laid lifeless on the 
 ground. 
 
 It therefore inevitably follows ; from the facts 
 that there is a conspiracy formed, an army collect- 
 ed, and an attempt made to compass the camp of 
 the saints ; that some time must be spent in re- 
 cruiting the troops of the apostates : And since 
 
125 
 
 this is absolutely incompatible with the instantane- 
 ous death of every mortal that sins, this army 
 must consist solely of just men made perfect; and 
 Gog and Magog themselves must be saints, who 
 either came with Christ on his return to earth, or 
 were found alive at his coming, and glorified at 
 the time that the bodies of their brethren were 
 raised from the grave. 
 
 " Thus well, yea, magnificently have our auth- 
 ors speculated thereon." 
 
 To men of the genius and learning of Millenari- 
 ans, this scheme must be perfectly simple, clear, and 
 intelligible: but to those who adhere to the " vul- 
 gar" notions, and whom they have dignified by the 
 names of "moles and bats," the whole appears utter- 
 ly incredible and absurd. How can the words, 
 " nations which are in the four quarters of the 
 earth," be applied to the glorified saints ? How 
 can it be supposed that they will " gather togeth- 
 er to battle" against their brethren ? How can 
 the revolt either of glorified or of mortal saints 
 be reconciled with the unvarying representations 
 which the scriptures give us of their state and 
 character, and the repeated assurances that they 
 shall have eternal life, and shall never perish, 
 neither shall any pluck them out of their Redeem- 
 er's hand ? 
 
 The assertions, involving these untenable con- 
 clusions, are advanced in order to free the Mil- 
 lenarian hypothesis from a perplexing and insur- 
 mountable difficulty, with which it has been long 
 
126 
 
 beset. The doctrine of Christ's personal reign on 
 earth has had a few votaries in different ages of 
 the Church. But when formerly adopted, it was 
 generally accompanied with a belief that, during 
 this period, there would be an entire cessation 
 from the business of life, that the number of our 
 race would at its commencement be complete, and 
 that during its currency there would be neither 
 births nor deaths. 
 
 This fancy was exposed to the following unan- 
 swerable objection. " The idea of a personal 
 reign appears to me nearly to exclude that of a 
 spiritual o?ie, by leaving little or no place for it, 
 — It is clear that the pouring out of the seven 
 vials is principally for the purpose of destroying 
 the Antichristian system, and that when this is 
 accomplished, the Millennium follows. No sooner 
 are the beast and false prophet taken under the sixth 
 vial, and the world, (like the temple after being 
 polluted by Antiochus) purified from its abomina- 
 tions by the seventh, than the dragon is bound 
 for a thousand years. If then this thousand years 
 reign be personal, the second coming of Christ 
 must immediately succeed the ruin of Antichrist. 
 But if so, how, or when, are all those prophecies 
 to be fulfilled which describe the prosperity of the 
 church in the latter days? How are wars to 
 cease in the earth, and peace to succeed to them, 
 when as soon as the troubles of the earth are de- 
 stroyed, the world will be at an end ? On this 
 principle Antichrist will reign till the heavens are 
 
127 
 
 no more. The end of 1260 years will be the end 
 of time, and the church will have no existence 
 upon the present earth but in the wilderness? In- 
 stead of the stone after breaking in pieces the 
 image, becoming a great mountain, and filling 
 the whole earth ; no sooner is the image broken 
 to pieces, than the earth itself shall be burnt up. 
 And on the destruction of the little horn, Dan. 
 vii. 26, 27, instead of the kingdom, and dominion, 
 and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
 heaven being given to the people of the saints of 
 the Most High, no sooner shall that horn be broken 
 than the whole earth will be destroyed with it." * 
 
 The modern Millenarians may imagine that 
 they have profited by the blunders of their pred- 
 ecessors, and managed matters better. They 
 may fancy that they have gotten completely rid 
 of this objection by retaining births and deaths, 
 after the second coming of Christ and the first 
 resurrection. But births and deaths will not re- 
 main for them. They cannot survive the physical 
 changes which the Millenarian hypothesis requires, 
 and which the scriptures declare will accompany 
 the second advent of Christ and the judgment 
 which he will then execute upon the quick and 
 dead. By the awkward expedients to which our 
 modern friends have had recourse, to give plaus- 
 ibility and consistency to their scheme, they have 
 
 * Fuller's Expository Discourses on the Apocalypse, pp. 348, 
 349. 
 
128 
 
 prodigiously increased the darkness and confusion; 
 and rendered a theory, which at the best was 
 abundantly baseless and visionary, utterly ridicu- 
 lous and absurd. 
 
 And for what purpose, we may ask, are we re- 
 quired to renounce the clear, intelligible, sublime, 
 and animating doctrine of Scripture respecting the 
 future triumphs of the Gospel, when " all the 
 ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God," 
 and when " the kingdom and dominion, and the 
 greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, 
 shall be given to the people of the saints of the 
 Most High;" to believe in the personal reign of 
 Christ in this world, and all the strange and un- 
 accountable consequences with which it must be 
 attended? If he appear in person and fix his 
 residence upon a particular spot, say Jerusalem 
 or Mount Zion; what valuable end can be accom- 
 plished by such a return to the world, but what 
 can be as effectually secured by his spiritual pres- 
 ence? If he were to fix his throne in the sky; 
 the members of his church might, as the earth 
 revolves on its axis, have an opportunity of daily 
 beholding him. But a station in the sky surely 
 cannot be called a dwelling with man upon earth, 
 nor a sitting on the identical throne of David. 
 And if he fix his abode on any spot of the earth ; 
 from its convexity and opacity his saints upon the 
 antipodes can no more see his face, nor enjoy his 
 personal presence, than if he were to retain his 
 place in heaven. Their intercourse with him then, 
 
129 
 
 must after all be maintained exactly as at present, 
 by the exercise of faith, love, and obedience on 
 their part, and on his by the communication from 
 his fulness of spiritual life, light, strength, and 
 joy. These blessings he now freely imparts to 
 them who know their value, and humbly, earnest- 
 ly, believingly, implore them. And if we are 
 honoured to possess them richly and amply, we 
 need no more. They ought to suffice till our 
 warfare is finished, and we are permitted to see 
 him as he is. If we would only use our privi- 
 leges, much of him might just now be seen and 
 enjoyed. We might have all and abound. We 
 might be complete in him ; made exceeding glad 
 in the light of his countenance, and filled with all 
 the fulness of God. If the people were all right- 
 eous; if the Gospel were embraced by all the in- 
 habitants of the world; and every believer to 
 avail himself of his vast and inexhaustible trea- 
 sures, the Millennium would begin. We should 
 instantly have a heaven upon earth. The earth 
 would yield her increase; and God, even our own 
 God, would bless us. 
 
 But without his spiritual presence, the vision of 
 his personal glory would impart no saving bene- 
 fit either to the church or the world. 
 
 Before our friends print much more about " that 
 man's heart being in the world" who contends that 
 " the world has got better;" and about " that an- 
 nual deluge of trash which issues from the press 
 under the name ' Practical Sermons :' " it is to be 
 / F 
 
130 
 
 hoped that they will be careful to keep their own 
 hearts out of the world, and to entertain higher 
 ideas of practical religion, than to imagine that it 
 consists in the possession of honour and power on 
 earth, however much the earth maybe refined and 
 purified. 
 
 In concluding these two chapters, we may ask, 
 are these things so ? If either the substance or 
 
 CD 
 
 surface of the earth shall be wholly changed ; is it 
 impossible that any flesh can be preserved ? If the 
 earth remains as it is ; is it unsuitable to mix glo- 
 rified immortals with mortal men, and subject 
 them to the privations of this world, and the 
 presence and annoyances of the irreligious and 
 profane ? If the earth is neither altogether chang- 
 ed, nor left entirely as it is, but undergoes merely 
 a partial alteration; is this inconsistent with the 
 Millenarian tenets that it is to be purified by fire, 
 and its substance to be made like the glorified 
 bodies of the redeemed ? If after the second ad- 
 vent of Christ there are to be men in the flesh, 
 how is their conversion to be accomplished in the 
 absence of the ordinances of the Gospel ? If 
 Christ reigns in person on earth, and they who 
 die during the Millennium are not to be raised 
 from the grave till it close; does this greatly aug- 
 ment to believers the horrors of death? If the 
 whole Millennium is the day of judgment; is it 
 incongruous to pursue the business of life, while 
 others under their eye are placed at the tribunal 
 of their Judge, answering for the deeds done in 
 
131 
 
 the body, and receiving the sentence which de- 
 cides their eternity ? But if there is only a mo- 
 mentary judgment at its commencement, and no 
 more are judged till it is conclusively done, can 
 it with no propriety be denominated the day of 
 judgment when in fact there is no judgment pro- 
 nounced at all? If Christ with his saints reign in 
 person on the earth 5 is it impossible to account 
 for the infatuation of Satan and his followers 
 in attempting to storm the camp of the saints 
 under the immediate protection of their glorious 
 and Almighty Defender? If Christ comes as the 
 judge of quick and dead, and judgment decides 
 the everlasting condition of those who undergo 
 it; if he glorify every living saint, and destroy 
 every living sinner; does this render it impos- 
 sible that the race can be perpetuated? and in 
 such a state of things can neither saints nor sin- 
 ners be born, nor any invasion made upon the 
 saints at all, unless the kingdom of Christ be 
 divided against itself, which would assuredly bring 
 it to desolation, Mat. xii. 25 ? If these things are 
 so: then this theory possesses very little indeed 
 either of truth, beauty, or simplicity. 
 
 F 2 
 
132 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE INCONSISTENCY OF THE MILLENARIAN 
 THEORY WITH THE DOCTRINES OF SCRIP- 
 TURE RESPECTING THE UNIVERSAL PROPA- 
 GATION OF THE GOSPEL, AND THE TIME 
 AND MANNER OF THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 Many may perhaps suppose that enough has 
 been already stated to expose the groundlessness 
 of this visionary scheme. They may regard a 
 hypothesis, which is self-contradictory, absurd, 
 and loaded with insurmountable difficulties, as 
 evidently and glaringly false and incredible. 
 
 Others however may not be so easily satisfied. 
 Many a thing which is beyond the reach of hu- 
 man comprehension is true; and our Millenarian 
 friends are not startled by difficulties ; nor put out 
 of conceit with their favourite fancies, though they 
 can be demonstrated to be impossible. You may 
 exhaust the whole strength of demonstration on 
 the papist. The man finds that Christ says of the 
 bread in the Lord's Supper, " This is my body ;" 
 and in spite of all that you can urge, he clings to 
 his fond delusion of transubstantiation. You may- 
 reason and remonstrate with a Millenarian on the 
 obvious, moral, and physical impossibility of his 
 tenets. The worthy man pities your ignorance, 
 
133 
 
 and mourns over your unbelief and bondage to 
 carnal reason. He reads in his Bible of the man 
 of sin being destroyed <c with the brightness of 
 Christ's coming;" of some " living and reigning 
 with Christ a thousand years," and of " the rest 
 of the dead not living again till the thousand 
 years are finished :" and having secured, as he 
 imagines, scriptural authority for his creed, in de- 
 fiance of all that you can advance to the contrary, 
 he cleaves tenaciously to his strange and monstrous 
 conceits. 
 
 It becomes necessary therefore to prosecute the 
 subject farther; and to shew the utter repugnance 
 of the Millenarian scheme to the plain and posi- 
 tive statements of revelation, 
 
 The Lord is not the author of confusion, but 
 of order. The prophecies of Scripture coincide 
 with its doctrines; and every part of the sacred 
 volume is in most perfect harmony with the rest. 
 If the Millenarian theory were founded in truth, 
 we might naturally expect to find it in complete 
 agreement with the whole word of God. But if 
 on examination we discover it to be irreconcilably 
 opposed to the most plain and explicit declara- 
 tions of the lively oracles; we are necessarily com- 
 pelled to pronounce it false and pernicious. 
 
 Now, on inquiry, what is the result we obtain ? 
 We have seen a long exposition of the scheme; 
 and are now prepared to judge how far it agrees 
 with what the Scriptures teach respecting the pro- 
 pagation of the Gospel in the world, the time and 
 
334 
 
 manner of the resurrection, the nature of the final 
 judgment, the time of our Lord's return, the con- 
 sequences of his advent, and the place of the ev- 
 erlasting residence of the redeemed. On these 
 articles does it coincide with the statements of 
 scripture ? 
 
 Let us see. 
 I. Does the Millenarian scheme agree with the 
 scriptural representation of the manner in which 
 religion will become universal? 
 
 The Bible holds out the bright and animating 
 assurance that, long before the consummation of 
 all things, the people shall be all righteous, all the 
 ends of the world shall see the salvation of God, 
 and the whole earth be filled with his glory. 
 
 The Millenarians too entertain the belief of such 
 a delightful state of things. But how do they ex- 
 pect that their hopes will be realized? By the 
 gradual diffusion of religious knowledge, and 
 prevalence of Christian principles? By the bless- 
 ing of God upon the reading and preaching of 
 his word ? and upon the labours of pious mis- 
 sionaries and philanthropists? Not at all. This 
 is W Optimismn," and that is another name for in- 
 fidelity. In as far as Millenarians can agree, they 
 hold it as a tenet that vice can never be expelled 
 from the globe, nor the world filled with the Di- 
 vine glory, but by the personal advent and resi- 
 dence of Christ. " Satan will never give up his 
 reign by any preaching of the Gospel, nor by any 
 
135 
 
 other means than by the manifestation of Christ 
 in person, on purpose to cast him out of this earth." 
 See above, p. 113. 
 
 This is the instrument on which Millenarians rely 
 for the expulsion of vice from the earth, and the 
 establishment of peace and righteousness in the 
 world. But is this the instrument which the 
 Scriptures have taught us to expect will accom- 
 plish these blessed and glorious effects? They 
 tell us of another, which has been long in use ; 
 often wielded with powerful energy; and fitted, 
 in the hands of the Eternal Spirit, to work won- 
 ders, and reduce all nations to the obedience of 
 the faith. This is the Gospel. " The preaching 
 of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but 
 unto us who are saved it is the power of God.— 
 For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world 
 by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the 
 foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 
 — We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a 
 stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 
 but unto them who are called, both Jews and 
 Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom 
 of God." " The weapons of our warfare are not 
 carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling 
 down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, 
 and every high thing that exalteth itself against 
 the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity 
 every thought to the obedience of Christ." " The 
 law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul." 
 " The word of God is quick and powerful, sharp- 
 
136 
 
 er than any two-edged sword, piercing even to 
 the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the 
 joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the 
 thoughts and intents of the heart." 1 Cor. i. 18, 
 21, 23, 24: 2 Cor. x. 4, 5 : Psalm xix, 7: Heb. 
 iv. 12. 
 
 By the blessing of God on the preaching of 
 its despised and hated doctrines, the Gospel has 
 already crowded the Church with converts, and 
 filled heaven with a multitude, which no man can 
 number, of happy and glorious spirits. Without 
 the knowledge of the Gospel, and faith in the 
 Saviour whom it unfolds, no man hitherto has 
 been really converted, or admitted into the re- 
 gions of everlasting blessedness. And have the 
 Scriptures given the slightest intimation that, in 
 the future ages of the world the process for con- 
 verting souls is to be altered; and that when the 
 times of refreshing shall come from the presence 
 of the Lord, and all nations shall serve and obey 
 him, the Gospel shall belaid aside; and his word, 
 instead of being clothed with power, and allowed 
 to have free course and be glorified, shall be 
 abolished? Is this the inference which we are 
 compelled to draw from the assurance that " all 
 the ends of the world shall remember, and turn 
 unto the Lord ?" from the declaration that " it 
 shall come to pass in the last days, that the moun- 
 tain of the Lord's house shall be established in 
 the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted 
 above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it: 
 
13? 
 
 and many people shall go and say, Come ye, and 
 let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the 
 house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us 
 of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for 
 out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word 
 of the Lord from Jerusalem ?" Is this the infer- 
 ence which we are forced to draw from the re- 
 peated assurances that " the earth shall be full of 
 the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover 
 the sea?" and from the promise of our adorable 
 Redeemer: " I, if I be lifted up from the earth, 
 will draw all men unto me ?"" Psalm xxii. 27: Isa. 
 ii. 2, 3: xi. 9: Micah iv. 1, 2: Hab. ii. 14: John 
 xii. 32. Is the act of " remembering and turning 
 unto the Lord ;" of " flowing unto the house of 
 the Lord ;" of the earth being " full of the know- 
 ledge of the Lord ;'- and of all men being " drawn 
 unto Christ?" is this act really descriptive of 
 Christ's appearing personally to each? of his car- 
 rying his salvation round the globe? and of con- 
 verting men by the glory of his bodily presence? 
 If the house of God were actually to travel to us, 
 would we be represented as walking to it? And 
 if we are to attract the personal presence of Christ 
 to us, would he have called it his drawing of us 
 unto himself? 
 
 The kingdom of heaven is a well known scrip- 
 tural phrase for the Gospel dispensation. Our 
 Redeemer informs us that this kingdom " is like 
 to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and 
 sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all 
 F 3 
 
133 
 
 seeds; but when it is grown it is the greatest 
 among herbs, and becometh a tree." He adds, 
 that M the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, 
 which a woman took and hid in three measures of 
 meal, till the whole was leavened." Speaking of 
 the same dispensation in his interpretation of Ne- 
 buchadnezzar's dream, Daniel says, " Thou sawest 
 till that a stone was cut out without hands, which 
 smote the image upon his feet that were of iron 
 and clay, and brake them in pieces. — And the 
 stone that smote the image became a great moun- 
 tain, and filled the whole earth. In the days of 
 these kings shall the God of heaven set up a king- 
 dom, which never shall be destroyed: and the 
 kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it 
 shall break in pieces and consume all these king- 
 doms, and it shall stand for ever." Mat. xiii. 31 
 —33 : Dan. ii. 34, 35, 44. 
 
 Can any man in his sober senses conclude from 
 these passages, that the world will ultimately be 
 brought under the authority of the Redeemer, by 
 any other process than that by which men have 
 hitherto been delivered from the power of dark- 
 ness, and translated into his kingdom ? Is the full 
 sized tree not the effect of its gradual growth? but 
 the consequence of some foreign substance, arti- 
 ficially attached to the small seed, or tender plant? 
 Is the fermentation of the whole mass, not the re- 
 sult of the operative energy of the leaven ; but 
 of some adventitious body, of quite an opposite 
 nature and different properties? Did the great 
 
139 
 
 mountain that filled the whole earth, possess no 
 connection with the stone which was cut out without 
 hands: but after this stone had grown to a certain 
 size, and smitten the image; did its growth stop, 
 and the great mountain in its utmost mighty di- 
 mensions, descend from heaven, and at once bury 
 the stone, and fill all the earth ? 
 
 It was the small mustard seed that grew into a 
 tree; it was the leaven, which was hid in the meal, 
 that fermented the whole mass; it was the stone; 
 and let it not be forgotten, that this stone is the 
 emblem, not of the King, but of the kingdom of the 
 Gospel; that was cut out without hands, that be- 
 came a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 
 The last particle of meal in the outer portion of 
 the mass that was fermented, was leavened exactly 
 in the same way and by the same principle as the 
 first. The last accession to the size of the tree and 
 the stone, was produced by precisely the same 
 process as the first. And if there be either mean- 
 ing in language or consistency in the illustrations 
 of Scripture, the last saint that is fitted for the 
 world of glory, will be called converted and saved 
 by exactly the same means as the first who en- 
 tered the kingdom of heaven. Believers " are all 
 one in Christ." There may be different gifts and 
 dispensations: but all along there is "the same 
 Spirit:" " and there are diversities of operations, 
 but it is the same God who worketh all in all." 
 Salvation began in grace; and when the last stone 
 is placed on the spiritual building, the shouts of, 
 
140 
 
 Si Grace, grace unto it," will be as loud, rapturous, 
 and justly merited, as they were when the first 
 stone was laid on the Rock of ages. The remotest 
 ends of the earth, and the last of the generations 
 who are saved; will be converted exactly in the 
 same way as the regions which lie nearer, and the 
 souls who first enjoyed the riches of redeeming 
 love ; not by the personal glory of Immanuel, but 
 by the effectual application to their hearts through 
 the power of the Holy Ghost, of the truths of his 
 word and the blessings of his grace. From the 
 commencement to. the close of the sacred canon, 
 we have no warrant to expect a revival of religion 
 at any time, nor its unlimited prevalence in the 
 world at last, in any other way than that in which 
 it has hitherto prospered, and secured its present 
 conquests. As it has been, it will continue to be, 
 by sending labourers to the work, that the har- 
 vest will be reaped : and even when Babylon her- 
 self is overthrown, and the kingdoms of this world 
 become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his 
 Christ, it will be by the " preaching of the ever- 
 lasting gospel unto them that dwell on the earth." 
 Mat. ix. 37, 38 : Rev. xiv. 6. Instead of being 
 filled with the personal glory of the Lord ; we are 
 assured that the earth shall be " full of the know- 
 ledge of the Lord," and " filled with the know- 
 ledge of the glory of the Lord." 
 
 By looking at the eleventh chapter of the Ro- 
 mans, the reader will find this subject most feel- 
 ingly and forcibly illustrated. The apostle there 
 
HI 
 
 speaks of the salvation of the Gentiles, and of the 
 salvation of the Jews. He represents the salvation 
 of the Gentiles as already partially accomplished, 
 and speaks of its certain completion at a future 
 period. But how has the partial salvation of the 
 Gentiles been occasioned ? By the fall of the 
 Jews, verse 11. How is the general salvation or 
 conversion of the Gentiles to be effected ? Is this 
 to be by a different process from that by which 
 their partial conversion has been secured ? By 
 the personal presence of Christ ? No : but by the 
 fulness of the Jews, verse 12, 15. 
 
 The Jews were once in the good olive-tree. 
 They are now broken off, and the Gentiles are 
 graffed in in their room. But neither the Jews 
 nor the Gentiles were united to the olive-tree by 
 the personal presence of Christ. And when all 
 the Jews and all the Gentiles shall be graffed in, 
 shall this be accomplished in a different manner 
 from that by which they have previously been 
 joined to the stem ? In other words, when the 
 fulness of the Gentiles is brought in, and all Israel 
 are saved, shall this be produced by other means 
 than those which have been employed, for the 
 partial fulness of the Gentiles, and the primitive 
 fulness of the Jews ? From first to last the pro- 
 cess is the same. Through the unbelief of the 
 Jews, and by preachers of the Jewish nation, the 
 Gentiles, who formerly had not believed God, 
 have now obtained mercy. Even so, have the 
 Jews also now not believed, that through the 
 
142 
 
 mercy of the Gentiles, and by preachers from 
 among them, they also may obtain mercy, verse 
 30, 31. 
 
 If the general and ultimate prevalence of re- 
 ligion and righteousness, were to be produced by 
 other means than those by which their partial suc- 
 cess has been accomplished, these means never would 
 have been represented by figures descriptive of a 
 gradual and progressive energy till they became 
 absolutely irresistible and universally triumphant. 
 The branches, leaves, and fruit, are part of the 
 tree, and are unfolded and matured by its growth. 
 But the snow with which it may be occasionally 
 covered, is no part either of the tree or of its pro- 
 duce. The general conversion of men by the 
 preaching of the same truths, by which all those 
 who hitherto have reached the kingdom of heaven, 
 have been saved ; might justly be regarded as the 
 natural result of the steady and progressive pro- 
 mulgation of Christianity, and the blissful and 
 glorious consummation of its benign and saving 
 efficacy. But if the conversion of the world is to 
 be produced by the personal residence of Christ 
 upon earth; what honour can the final prevalence 
 of religion do to the Gospel, when in fact the un- 
 limited reign of piety no more flows from the pub- 
 lication of those doctrines which hitherto have 
 been the wisdom of God and the power of God to 
 salvation; than snow grows out of trees, or golden 
 helmets from the gray hairs of the human head ? 
 The command of the Redeemer is, " Go ye 
 
143 
 
 into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every 
 creature," If the Gospel were to be instantly 
 preached in all the world, and instantly received 
 by every creature; the whole world would be im- 
 mediately filled with the Divine glory. Now, is 
 God unable to produce obedience to this com- 
 mand ? and to give universal effect to the word of 
 his grace ? If the Millenarians say that he is un- 
 able ; then we ask, How could it be affirmed that 
 with him " all things are possible ?" If they say 
 that he is unwilling; then we must ask, Why did 
 he give the injunction, and accompany it with 
 the gracious promise which follows, t( he that be- 
 lieveth, and is baptized, shall be saved ?" Would 
 a sovereign order his officers to batter down an 
 enemy's wall, when he well knew that all the en- 
 gines they could employ, never could pierce it; 
 and that, let them do what they would, it would 
 remain uninjured till levelled by the bolts of heav- 
 en ? And if the strong-holds of vice and im- 
 piety never can be stormed but by the personal 
 descent of the Son of man ; why have we been 
 enjoined by the God of grace to traverse the earth 
 with the message of reconciliation and of mercy, 
 and to point the soul-subduing artillery of redeem- 
 ing love against the most lofty massy and inacces- 
 sible of the bulwarks of sin and darkness ? 
 
 In themselves these observations appear to be 
 perfectly plain, and the conclusion to which they 
 tend completely obvious and inevitable. Some of 
 our Millenarian friends however will perhaps as- 
 
14.4 
 
 sent to them the more readily when they find them 
 supported by one of their own number. " At first 
 the word of God is as a seed, it may be of the oak 
 or any other plant, in which the whole majestic 
 form and various parts of the future tree lie undis- 
 closed, ready to reveal themselves when the times 
 and seasons, and other conditions which God hath 
 appointed to determine its being shall have taken 
 their course; and there is no break, nor leap, nor 
 start in its growth, which proceedeth by a slow, 
 and sweet, and beautiful progression, to perfect 
 that purpose or word of God which said at the 
 beginning, ' And produce every tree yielding fruit 
 whose seed is in itself/ " " Wherefore it is written 
 both of Christ and of his church, that they shall 
 rule the nations with a rod of iron, and dash them 
 in pieces like a potter's vessel, and have all their 
 enemies under their footstool. Now I have not 
 room to trace the progress of this seed sown in 
 paradise, as it is developed in the progress of rev- 
 elation, and shoots its roots into the soil of a fal- 
 len world, and spreads its branches into the at- 
 mosphere of time, until it shall possess the whole 
 earth with its roots, and purify the whole heaven 
 with its boughs, and all nations shall find shadow, 
 and repose, and blessedness, under its branches." 
 Irving' s Pre. Dis. pp. 71, 72. 
 
 It will require more than the sagacity of an 
 CEdipus to discover how these figures, borrowed 
 from the continuous growth of a tree, which is 
 without any " break," " leap," or " start ;" can 
 
145 
 
 be applied to the progress of religion, which 
 after having gained its present state by the bless- 
 ing of God upon the gradual diffusion of Divine 
 truth, is suddenly to make a break, leap, or start, 
 and complete its final triumphs by a process 
 altogether different, the personal presence of the 
 Redeemer. 
 
 Does the scheme under consideration agree 
 
 II. With the scriptural doctrine concerning the 
 time and manner of the resurrection? 
 
 So far from warranting us to expect the resur- 
 rection of the saints before the Millennium, the 
 Bible intimates that, whenever the grave closes 
 upon our mortal remains, it retains them in its 
 grasp till the dissolution of the visible creation. 
 
 Of the righteous and the wicked indiscriminately, 
 it affirms, "Mandieth, and wasteth away; yea, 
 man giveth up the ghost and where is he? As 
 the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decay- 
 eth and drieth up; so man lieth down, and riseth 
 not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not 
 awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." " The 
 eye also which saw him shall see him no more; 
 neither shall his place any more behold him." 
 Job xiv. 10—12; xx. 9. 
 
 The Scriptures invariably intimate that the re- 
 surrection of the righteous and wicked is simulta- 
 neous, and that this is at the last day. 
 
 At whatever time those who sleep in the dust of 
 the earth shall awake; some shall awake " to 
 
146 
 
 everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting 
 contempt," Dan. xii. 2. 
 
 Martha expressed the belief of her countrymen 
 in general ; when, upon our Lord's observing to 
 her that her brother should rise again, she replied : 
 M I know that he shall rise again in the resurrec- 
 tion at the last day." John xi. 24. Instead of 
 correcting her mistake, which he certainly would 
 have done if she had been labouring under an er- 
 ror, by telling her that her brother who was so 
 much beloved by himself should rise a thousand 
 years before the last day; he sanctions the truth of 
 what she uttered, both by making no remark on 
 what Millenarians regard as her " vulgar preju- 
 dice," and by previously applying her language to 
 the resurrection of every believer. No words 
 can more forcibly convey the idea of union to 
 Christ, and an interest in the blessings of salva- 
 tion, than those which speak of Christians as giv- 
 en to him of his Father; as seeing him and be- 
 lieving on him; as drawn to him by the Father; 
 and eating his flesh and drinking his blood. And 
 yet even these have no promise of a resurrection 
 before the end of all things. As if on purpose to 
 place the matter beyond a doubt, Jesus declares, 
 no less than four times within the compass of 
 sixteen verses, that he will raise them up " at the 
 last day." John vi. 39, 40, 44, 54. " Whoso 
 eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath 
 eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last 
 day." 
 
147 
 
 If there is meaning in words this language is 
 absolutely incompatible with a separate resurrec- 
 tion of the saints prior to the Millennium; a 
 thousand years before the first supposed resurrec- 
 tion of the wicked ; Rev. xx. 5; and an unknown 
 length of time, previous to the supposed third, or 
 final resurrection, and the last day. Rev. xx. 12. 
 
 This however is far from being all. Whatever 
 is produced by one and the same act, must cer- 
 tainly take place at one and the same time. The 
 man who tells us that his brother was killed by 
 the same thunderbolt by which his dwelling was 
 thrown down, surely means that the events were 
 coincident. No man would imagine that he in- 
 tended to assert that days, or years, or centuries 
 intervened betwixt them. Now the Scriptures 
 not only speak of the resurrection of the righteous 
 and the wicked as being at the same time, on the 
 last day : but to mark the concurrence of the 
 events, and prevent the supposition that the one 
 shall be long prior to the other, they speak of 
 them as effected by one and the same act; the 
 voice of the Son of man. " The hour is coming 
 in the which all that are in the graves shall hear 
 his," Son of man's, " voice, and shall come forth; 
 they that have done good, unto the resurrection 
 of life; and they that have done evil, unto the 
 resurrection of damnation." John v. 28, 29. 
 
 St. Paul tells us that " the Lord himself shall 
 descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
 of the archangel, and with the trump of God ;" 
 
i48 
 
 that " in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at 
 the last trump, — thedead shall be raised incorrup- 
 tible, and we shall be changed." 1 Thess. iv. 16. 
 1 Cor. xv. 52. The Millenarians are deeply 
 conversant in the doctrine of Synchronisms. To 
 the list which they have already invented, the fol- 
 lowing may be added. The Son of God will not 
 lift up his voice over the graves till he come again : 
 at least no intimation is given of a resurrection 
 of the dead till then. But before the resurrection 
 we find from John v, 28, 29 ; that the Son of God 
 will utter his voice, and this voice will penetrate 
 the tomb, and raise all the dead. " The trump 
 of God" evidently synchronises with "the last 
 trump :'• for they are both sounded at the second 
 advent of Christ, and productive of the resurrec- 
 tion of, at least, all the pious dead. But the voice 
 of the Son of God is uttered also at his second 
 advent, and is productive of the resurrection of all 
 the dead, which includes the resurrection likewise of 
 the whole of the pious dead. Since therefore the 
 " voice of the Son of God" is uttered exactly at the 
 same time at which " the last trump" and " the 
 trump of God" are blown, it plainly synchronises 
 with "the last trump" and " the trump of God ; 
 and since it accomplishes all that they effect, it 
 necessarily follows that " the voice of the Son of 
 God " is the same as " the last trump," and " the 
 trump of God." 
 
 Now, do our worthy friends imagine that 
 the last trump, the trump of God, and the 
 
149 
 
 vpice of the Son of God, will be prolonged for a 
 thousand years? and that while the Messiah is 
 sitting on the throne of David, or stationed in the 
 temple of Jerusalem, reigning over the Millennial 
 world, and carrying on the transactions of the great 
 day of judgment, he will at the same time be call- 
 ing aloud to the wicked to come forth from their 
 graves? Do they seriously believe that, though 
 the first sound of his voice will awaken the just 
 and bring them forth: he who spake and it was 
 done, who commanded and all things stood fast, 
 will be obliged to call ten centuries before he can 
 reach the ears of the wicked, and be able to 
 bring them forth from their graves? "Sure," 
 said Dr. Whitby, " that must be a long hour 
 which lasteth a full thousand years." But "the 
 hour" John v. 28, synchronises with the "mo- 
 ment " and the " twinkling of an eye." 1 Cor. 
 xv. 52. These marvellous critics therefore ex- 
 tend the moment also to ten hundred years. 
 
 John v. 28, 29, completely excludes the cre- 
 dibility of a resurrection of the saints, preceding, 
 by a thousand years, the resurrection of the 
 wicked : for our blessed Lord affirms that at one 
 and the same "hour," and by one and the same 
 act, ALL that are in the graves shall hear his voice 
 and come forth; they that have done good unto 
 the resurrection of life, and "they that have done 
 evil unto the resurrection of damnation." If at 
 one hour all come forth, how can any of the wick- 
 ed be left behind ? And unless the wicked are 
 
150 
 
 raised ther^ how can it be said that at that hour 
 "they that have done evil * shall come forth 
 " unto the resurrection of damnation ?" By affirm- 
 ing that " they that have done good " and " they 
 that have done evil " shall come forth at one and 
 the same hour, our blessed Lord identifies the 
 resurrection of the righteous and wicked. 
 
 It is true indeed that Mr. Irving, speaking of 
 " those spiritual witnesses, who since the calling 
 of Abraham have been raised up in the likeness 
 of Christ Jesus, to preserve the testimony of the 
 righteousness which is by faith in his blood;" 
 very gravely informs us that these are they who 
 "shall come with Christ to be partakers of his 
 glory; "these are the dead who shall hear the 
 voice of the Son of God and live." Pre. Dis. pp. 
 13. 14. But unless their souls were interred with 
 their bodies; which the Spiritual Watchman, 
 who talks of the burying of Satan will no doubt 
 think quite practicable; how can Christ find these 
 witnesses in the grave ? 
 
 But if their souls were actually interred with 
 their bodies, and Christ finds them in the grave 
 at his coming; how can he be said to bring them 
 with him ? And if Christ raises none at his ad- 
 vent but the righteous, or those whom he brings 
 with him ; then it necessarily follows that some of 
 the righteous come forth to the resurrection of 
 damnation. And is this what either that gentle- 
 man supposes, or wishes others to believe ? 
 
151 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 INCONSISTENCY BETWIXT MODERN MILLEN- 
 ARIANISM AND THE DOCTRINES OF SCRIP- 
 TURE RESPECTING THE PROCEEDINGS OF 
 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, THE TIME MAN- 
 MER AND CONSEQUENCES OF CHRIST'S COM- 
 ING, AND THE PLACE OF THE EVERLAST- 
 ING RESIDENCE OF THE REDEEMED. 
 
 We have discovered a complete repugnance 
 betwixt the Millenarian hypothesis and the doc- 
 trines of scripture respecting the manner in which 
 the gospel will be propagated in the world, and 
 the time and nature of the resurrection of the 
 dead. Does this scheme possess any greater har- 
 mony 
 
 III. With the scriptural account of the proceed- 
 ings of the day of judgment? 
 
 Their account corresponds most exactly with 
 the representation which, in the preceeding chap- 
 ter, has been given of the simultaneous resurrection 
 of the righteous and the wicked. 
 
 Were a long interval to elapse betwixt the re- 
 surrection of the two, it would be reasonable to 
 expect to hear of a similar space intervening be- 
 twixt the judgment of the one and of the other. 
 
152 
 
 But so far is this from being the case, that no lan- 
 guage can be employed to mark identity of time, 
 but what is actually used to describe the judgment 
 of the whole human race. It is affirmed to be at 
 the same period, in the presence of each other, 
 and for the manifestation of the justice of Jehovah 
 unto all. 
 
 The judgment of all takes place at the same 
 time. So far from giving the slightest intimation 
 that the trial of the human race shall last for ages, 
 that the righteous shall be placed before the Di- 
 vine tribunal long prior to the resurrection of the 
 wicked, and have their state determined ten hun- 
 dred years before the latter are brought into judg- 
 ment: the Bible declares that the parties shall be 
 tried in each other's presence; and their sentence 
 pronounced, not indeed in the same moment, but 
 at the same period or day. 
 
 No matter whether this day shall last twelve 
 hours, twelve years, or twelve centuries. See 
 Cunninghame p. 15, note. It is the last day that 
 shall dawn upon our globe. When it arrives, 
 suns shall rise and set no more: the heavens and 
 the earth shall flee away; and time be no longer. 
 Let the duration of the period be what it will ; 
 there is one circumstance connected with the 
 judgment, fatal to the Millenarian hypothesis; and 
 that is, instead of the righteous and wicked being 
 judged in the absence of each other and after a 
 long interval, they are all judged at the same time 
 and in the presence of each other. 
 
153 
 
 What can more completely demonstrate this 
 fact, than the uniform practice of the sacred writers 
 calling the season of final reckoning and retribu- 
 tion a "day?" "the day of God ?" "the day of 
 the Lord?" "the last day?" "the day of judg- 
 ment?" It tells us that God "has appointed 
 a day in the which he will judge the world in 
 righteousness by that man whom he hath or- 
 dained;" that there is "a day when God will 
 judge the secrets of men; " and that "we must all 
 appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that 
 every one may receive the things done in his body, 
 according to that he hath done, whether it be 
 good or bad." Acts xvii. 31. Rom. ii. 16. 2 Cor. 
 v. 10. It is a day in which mercy will be granted 
 to some, and withheld from others: in which the 
 real characters of men will be discovered; when 
 many that are now first shall be last ; and the last, 
 first : in which every man's work will be made 
 manifest; for the day shall declare it. 2 Tim. 
 i. 18. Mat. xix. 30. 1 Cor. iii. 13. 
 
 But unless the judgment is simultaneous, why 
 is it limited to one day? Why shall we search 
 the scriptures in vain for two judgment days? 
 Unless the wicked are to be brought into judg- 
 ment at the same time with the righteous: how 
 can any on that day receive according to the bad 
 works which they have done, or be deprived of 
 mercy? Will the Lord on that day withhold 
 his mercy from any of the saints who have been 
 accepted in the Beloved ? 
 G 
 
154 
 
 One great design of a future judgment is to dis- 
 play the justice of Jehovah in the boundless and 
 everlasting blessedness conferred on those who have 
 embraced the righteousness of his Son? and in the 
 endless punishment inflicted on those who have ne- 
 glected the great salvation, and lived without God 
 in the world. Ps. 1. 6 ; xcvi. 10 — 13; xcviii. 7 — 9. 
 "Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord 
 come, who will bring to light the hidden things of 
 darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of 
 the hearts. ,, 1 Cor. iv. 5. But unless the righteous 
 and wicked are brought before the same tribunal, 
 and at the same time; how can the wicked behold 
 the justice of God in the gracious rewards be- 
 stowed upon the righteous; or the Redeemed see 
 his equity in the condemnation of the profane and 
 hardened? If they are not the spectators of each 
 other's trial, the justice of God could be no object 
 of sight, but only a matter of report. But witness 
 each other's trial they cannot, if the one is to be 
 in their graves ages after the state of the other has 
 been unalterably decided. If none but the right- 
 eous are concerned in the first resurrection and 
 first judgment; there would be no "hidden things 
 of darkness" to be brought to light at the coming 
 of the Lord. These deeds would for centuries 
 remain covered with the mantle of death and the 
 grave. But the apostle tells us that " the hidden 
 things of darkness shall be brought to light" when 
 the Lord comes. We are therefore obliged to con- 
 clude that the wicked as well as the righteous shall 
 
155 
 
 be judged at his appearing and his kingdom; in 
 other words, that all shall be judged together. 
 
 Unless all are spectators of each other's doom, 
 why are we told, in the parable of the house-hold- 
 er who hired labourers into his vineyard, that 
 when the even was come and payment made of 
 their wages; those who had been hired in the 
 morning murmured against the goodman of the 
 house, when they saw those, who had been en- 
 gaged at the eleventh hour, receive as large a re- 
 muneration as themselves, who had borne the bur- 
 den and heat of the day? Mat. xx. 1—16. The 
 murmurers must represent the wicked: for the 
 righteous, instead of complaining of his proceed- 
 ings, will admire the equity of his decisions. 
 
 In the explanation of the parable of the wheat 
 and tares, our blessed Lord employs the following 
 words. " He that soweth the good seed is the 
 Son of man; the field is the world ; the good seed 
 are the children of the kingdom ; but the tares are 
 the children of the wicked one; the enemy that 
 sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of 
 the world; and the reapers are the angels. As 
 therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the 
 fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The 
 Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they 
 shall gather out of his kingdom all things that of- 
 fend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast 
 them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing 
 and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous 
 shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Fa- 
 G2 
 
156 
 
 ther." Mat. xiii. 37—43. Our friends may make 
 what criticisms they please upon the supposed dis- 
 tinction betwixt the word translated "world" and 
 the word which they contend ought to be render- 
 ed " age." The whole structure of the parable 
 and explanation proves that the two terms are sy- 
 nonimous; that the tares would continue to grow 
 while there was any wheat upon the ground; and 
 that the two would be cut down together, and 
 severd from the soil by one and the same stroke 
 of the sickle. In other words, it is affirmed that, 
 as the growth of the grain is perfected before it is 
 cut down, the numbers of the human race will be 
 completed at the end of this world, or age. Do 
 these gentlemen suppose that the same seed pro- 
 duces two or more crops? or that there are two 
 harvests in the same season? Unless they do; 
 they must admit that when this world or age ter- 
 minates, there is an end to the increase of the 
 species, and no additions shall be made to the 
 ranks either of the just or unjust. 
 
 Mr. Cunninghame, Summary view, p. 24, has 
 been so obliging as to inform us, "when identity in 
 time is meant, the Greek particle used, is not 
 uru but tots as every one knows/' Our Millenar- 
 ian friends will therefore be so good as remember, 
 that we are informed that it is exactly when " the 
 Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they 
 shall gather out of his kingdom all things that of- 
 fend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast 
 them into a furnace of fire:' , where •' there shall 
 
157 
 
 be wailing and gnashing of teeth : " that " THEN 
 Tore shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in 
 the kingdom of the Father." Ver. 41. — 43. 
 
 This certainly ought to be sufficient to remove 
 all dubiety respecting the sameness of meaning 
 conveyed by the words "world" and "age," and 
 the identity of time at which the righteous and 
 wicked are judged. But if this is not enough to 
 remove their doubts, let these gentlemen read 
 what follows. "Again the kingdom of heaven is 
 like a net, that was cast into the sea, and gather- 
 ed of every kind: which, when it was full, they 
 drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the 
 good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So 
 shall it be at the end of the world ; the angels 
 shall come forth, and sever the wicked from a- 
 mong the just, and shall cast them into the fur- 
 nace of fire : there shall be wailing and gnashing 
 of teeth." Mat. xiii. 47—50. 
 
 Can any language render it more clear and un- 
 questionable, that the righteous and wicked shall 
 be separated at the end of the world, or age; but 
 not separated till then ? And if they shall not be 
 separated till then ; how can this be reconciled 
 with the Millenarian hypothesis, that the right- 
 eous shall be glorified a thousand years before the 
 resurrection of the wicked ? And how can Mr. 
 Irving, Pre. Dis. p. 129, talk of the righteous be- 
 ing "separated in the last judgment," when on 
 bis own principles they must have been separated 
 
158 
 
 by having been raised and glorified at least a 
 thousand years before that period ? 
 
 Unless the whole human race are to be rais- 
 ed at the same time and judged together; why 
 do we find our blessed Lord declaring, "when 
 the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all 
 the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon 
 the throne of his glory, and before him shall be 
 gathered all nations: and he shall separate them 
 one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
 from the goats?" Mat. xxv. 31 — 46. Unless the 
 righteous and wicked meet in the day of decision, 
 there can be no necessity for separating them from 
 each other as a shepherd divideth his sheep from 
 the goats. But they could not meet and be mix- 
 ed together before the judgment seat, if the one 
 were to be raised up, and judged centuries before 
 the other had left their graves. 
 
 Before this article is dismissed, justice to the 
 subject under discussion, requires that the follow- 
 ing masterly remarks should be transcribed into 
 these pages. 
 
 " We shall now take a look at the canon of cri- 
 ticism which Mr. Cunninghame lays down, p. 24. 
 ' When identity in time is meant,' he says, 'the 
 Greek particle used is not nrx but tots, as every 
 one knows.' Since this canon is so universally 
 admitted, it may not be improper to make a trial of 
 it. Let us apply it to a single passage, Math. xxv. 
 from ver. 31 downward. ■ When the Son of Man 
 shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels 
 
159 
 
 with him, then shall he sit — ran K»u<rii — on the 
 throne of his glory. And before him shall be gath- 
 ered all nations, and he shall separate them one from 
 another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from 
 the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right 
 hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the 
 King say to them on his right hand — tots eg« — 
 Come ye blessed of my Father, &c. Then shall 
 the righteous answer him, saying, Lord when saw 
 we thee, &c. — rcn xTroK^idyitrovroi^ &c. — Then shall 
 he say also to those on his left hand — tots s§s< xou, 
 &c. — Depart from me ye cursed, &c. &c. Then 
 shall they also answer him — Ton e67roK£t$nwreu — 
 Lord when saw we thee, &c. Then shall he answer 
 them, saying, tots cvxcKyfainreu — Verily I say unto you, 
 inasmuch, &c. These shall go away into everlasting 
 punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." 
 
 " ' Ton denotes identity of time, as every one 
 knows.' Let Mr. Cunninghame judge, then, — 
 let our readers judge, — what events are identified 
 in point of time in the above quotation. The 
 coming of the Son of Man — his sitting on the 
 throne of judgment — his gathering all nations be- 
 fore him, not the just alone, not solely his elect, 
 but elect and non-elect, sheep and goats — his 
 pronouncing sentence on the righteous, recount- 
 ing their virtuous deeds, the fruits of his own 
 grace, and inviting them into the possession of the 
 kingdom — his pronouncing sentence also on the 
 workers of iniquity, recounting not what they have 
 done, but what they have left undone, deeming 
 
160 
 
 that quite sufficient for their condemnation, and 
 driving them from his presence into everlasting 
 fire. All this is proved, and proved irrefragably, 
 by Mr. Cunninghame's own canon — a canon which 
 'every one knows.' What, then, becomes of the 
 Millenarian theory? Either the canon or the the- 
 ory must fall. Mr. Cunninghame must allow him- 
 self to part with the one or with the other. He 
 may take his choice, but he can no more retain 
 both than he can serve God and Mammon." Ed- 
 inburgh Theogical Magazine, May 1828. pp. 279, 
 280. 
 
 Unless the resurrection and judgment of the 
 righteous and wicked are to be simultaneous, what 
 meaning can we assign to the following words of 
 Paul? "It is a righteous thing with God to re- 
 compense tribulation to them that trouble you : and 
 to you who are troubled rest with us, when the 
 Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his 
 mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance 
 on them that know not God, and that obey not 
 the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be 
 punished with everlasting destruction from the 
 presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his 
 power : WHEN he shall come to be glorified in 
 his saints, and to be admired in all them that be- 
 lieve in that day." 2 Thess. i. 6—10. From this 
 paragraph we find, that the time for the punish- 
 ment of the wicked, instead of being a thousand 
 years posterior to the advent of Christ and the 
 resurrection of the just, is precisely at the time, or 
 
161 
 
 on the day, when he comes to be glorified in his 
 saints, and to be admired in all them that believe. 
 
 Does the Millenarian hypothesis agree 
 IV. With the account which the Scriptures 
 give us of the time of our Lord's coming ? 
 
 The Bible is replete with assurances of our 
 Lord's second personal advent. But it most dis- 
 tinctly assures us that he will return only once, 
 and that this will be at the consummation of all 
 things. " As it is appointed unto all men to die, 
 but after this the judgment: so Christ was once 
 offered to bear the sins of many: and unto them 
 that look for him shall he appear the second time 
 unto salvation." " Repent ye therefore, and be 
 converted, that your sins may be blotted out, 
 when the times of refreshing shall come from the 
 presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus 
 Christ, who before was preached unto you: 
 whom the heaven must receive until the times of 
 the restitution of all things, which God hath 
 spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets 
 since the world began." Heb. ix. 27, 28. Acts 
 iii. 19—21. 
 
 «' In this important passage our English translat- 
 ors have ill rendered the leading clause in the man- 
 ner following; Whom the heaven must receive, un- 
 til the times of restitution of all things which God 
 hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, 
 
 " Now, doubtless, all the things which God hath 
 G S 
 
162 
 
 y 
 
 spoken by the prophets may be accomplished: 
 but it is hard to comprehend, how all the things 
 which God hath spo/cen by the prophets can be res- 
 tored. A restitution of the whole materia 
 prophetica is, so far as I can see, altogether unin- 
 telligible: an accomplishment of the whole mat- 
 eria prophetica is what we plainly must expect, if we 
 believe the divine inspiration of the holy prophets. 
 " Such, accordingly, in the present clause, is 
 doubtless the right translation of the Greek word 
 Apocatastasis : and such, therefore, was the mode, 
 in which it was understood by the well-judging an- 
 cients. They constanly so interpret it, as to ex- 
 press the idea of accomplishment or exhibition or 
 disposition ox final settlement. Thus the clause, 
 in which it occurs, is rendered by the Syriac; 
 Until the fulness of the time of all things: by the 
 Arabic; Until the times in which all the things 
 shall be perfected or finished: by Ireneus; Until 
 the times of the disposition of all the things which 
 God hath spoken by his holy prophets : by Tertul- 
 lian; Until the times of the exhibition of all the 
 things which God hath spoken by the mouth of the holy 
 prophets : and by Ecumenius; Until the time that 
 all the things come to an end. Agreeably to this 
 general interpretation of the word as it stands in 
 the present context, Hesychius and Phavorinus 
 state, that one of the senses of Apocatastasis is ac- 
 complishment or completion or consummation. On 
 these very ample authorities, therefore, and ac- 
 cording to the plain requisition of good sense, 
 
163 
 
 there can be no doubt, that the clause ought to 
 be rendered: Until the times of the accomplishment 
 of all the things which God hath spoken by the 
 mouth of all his holy prophets since the world 
 began, 
 
 " From this translation, which, with the ancients, 
 I conceive to exhibit the true sense of the original, 
 the inference is sufficient]}' obvious. 
 
 i( If heaven must receive and retain Christ, un- 
 til the full accomplishment of all the things which 
 God hath spoken by the prophets, since the world 
 began, down to the time when the Apostle utter- 
 ed the passage now under consideration: then, 
 assuredly, the literal second advent of Christ can- 
 not take place until after the complete expiration 
 of the Millennian period of blessedness. For 
 Daniel, and Isaiah, and Joel, and Zechariah, 
 all foretell the occurrence of such a period, as 
 immediately following the conversion of Judah 
 and the sychronical overthrow of the great Rom- 
 an confederacy. But, according to St. Peter, 
 heaven must retain Christ, until the accomplish- 
 ment of all the prophecies which had been deliver- 
 ed anterior to the time when he made such a dec- 
 laration. Therefore heaven must retain Christ, 
 until all the ancient prophecies, respecting the 
 millennian period of blessedness upon earth, shall 
 have received their full accomplishment : and, con- 
 sequently, the literal second advent of Christ can- 
 not occur, until after the close of the same pre- 
 dicted millennial period of blessedness. 
 
164 
 
 " 1 am quite aware, that the present passage has 
 been claimed as their own by Mr. Mede and his 
 followers, and that an argument has been con- 
 structed upon it which brings out a directly op- 
 posite result: but, the mode in which they inter- 
 pret the passage being utterly inadmissible, the 
 argument framed upon their interpretation will 
 of course be inadmissible also. 
 
 " By the Restitution of all things, as the phrase 
 stands in our common English version, they un- 
 derstand the paradisiacal renovation of the mun- 
 dane universe, both physical and moral, as effected 
 by the great conflagration which accompanies the 
 literal second advent of Christ immediately be- 
 fore the commencement of the Millennium: and, 
 from this interpretation of the phrase, they ar- 
 gue, that, since heaven has received Christ only 
 until the times of the restitution of all things; 
 then, as soon as the times of this restitution ar- 
 rive, or (in other words) as soon as the Millen- 
 nium is on the point of commencing, the Saviour, 
 by the very necessity of the passage, will person- 
 ally appear from heaven. 
 
 " Such is their interpretation of the phrase: and 
 such is the argument, which they would build up- 
 on that interpretation, 
 
 " Now, had their interpretation of the phrase 
 been admissible; the argument, constructed, upon 
 that interpretation, would doubtless have been 
 perfectly conclusive. But, unfortunately, this is 
 by no means the case. The phrase itself is, in truth, 
 
165 
 
 contextually incapable of bearing any such sense 
 as that of the restitution of the universe, St. Pet- 
 er's all things have no sort of concern with our 
 terrestrial mundane system. They are solely and 
 simply all the several matters which have been 
 foretold by the prophets from the beginning of the 
 world. Nor, save this, can any other sense be 
 put upon them, except, either by a flagrant viola- 
 tion of grammar, or by a constructively impossible 
 syntax. 
 
 " The former of these two expedients has been, 
 most unhappily, resorted to by the anonymous 
 authors of the recently published Dialogues on 
 Prophecy, 
 
 " In the clause, as it stands in our common En<*- 
 
 o 
 
 lish version, Until the times of restitution of all 
 things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all 
 his holy prophets, these writers make the word res- 
 titution to be the antecedent to the pronoun rela- 
 tive which : and thus, in our vernacular tongue, 
 they compel St. Peter to declare, what assuredly 
 he never did declare, that the alledged restitution 
 has been spoken of by all the prophets since the 
 world began * 
 
 • " The heavens, say they, have received Christ only until the times 
 of the restitution of all things, which HAS been spoken of by all the 
 prophets since the world began. Dial, on Proph. convres. v. p. 
 194. Here they plainly refer the pronoun which to the antece- 
 dent restituti on: in other words, since the original Greek runs 
 axoKizTtxcrTdo-iu; xcIvtuv u* t'xaA.«o-£v o Qio;, they make the relative 
 ui agree with the antecedent uTroxxTao-Txaa;." 
 
166 
 
 " Yet a mere mechanical inspection of the Greek 
 original will forthwith satisfy any person who 
 takes the trouble to consult it, that the pronoun 
 which is grammatically incapable of relating to 
 the antecedent restitution, 
 
 " The latter of these two expedients has been, 
 less blamelessly, resorted to by Mr. Mede. 
 
 " He would make the relative which agree with 
 the antecedent times : and thus, more mildly, he 
 would persuade the Apostle to declare, that the 
 times of the alleged restitution have been spoken of 
 by all the prophets since the world began. 
 
 €S But the excellent author has not observed, that 
 such a syntax, forced and unnatural in itself 
 though grammatically possible, is constructively 
 impossible. We may properly say, Until the times 
 concerning which God hath spoken s but we can- 
 not properly say, Until the times which God hath 
 spoken. Now, in Mr. Mede's construction of the 
 clause, the latter is that which St. Peter says real- 
 ly and actually: though Mr. Mede, in his transla- 
 tion, makes him say the Jormer, which in truth he 
 does not say. The preposition concerning is indeed 
 necessary to make the commentator's construc- 
 tion speak good sense: but that preposition is the 
 sole and exclusive property of the commentator 
 himself. St. Peter says simply which; not, 
 what Mr. Mede would make him say, concern- 
 ing which: and, accordingly, both Ireneus and 
 Tertullian so render the original Greek ; referring 
 the pronoun which, as it doubtless ought to be re- 
 
167 
 
 ferred, not to the imaginary antecedent times, but 
 to its true antecedent all things, 
 
 " The entire clause, in short, as I have already 
 observed, can only, with a proper regard both to 
 sense and to grammar and to construction, be 
 rendered in manner following: Whom heaven 
 must receive, until the times of the accomplishment 
 of all the things which God hath spoken by the mouth 
 of all his holy prophets since the world began. 
 Faber's Sacred Calendar of Proph. vol. III. pp. 
 454—461. 
 
 Does this hypothesis agree 
 V. With the scriptural account of the manner 
 and consequences of Christ's Advent ? 
 
 When he shall next appear in person, he will 
 come " in power and great glory :" " in the glory 
 of his Father with the holy angels." " Behold, he 
 cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, 
 and they also who pierced him." This proves 
 that they shall see him in the very act of descend- 
 ing; and this is rendered more certain from what 
 follows. u Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man 
 sitting on the right hand of power, and coming 
 in the clouds of heaven." Mark viii. 39 : Rev. i. 
 7 : Mat. xxvi. 64. But if the Millenarian system 
 were correct, how could this and similar language 
 be applied to the second advent of Christ ? If the 
 wicked are not to be raised from the dead till a 
 thousand years after his return ; how could it be 
 said that " every eye shall see him," as " he com- 
 
168 
 
 eth ;" and that the high priest and his company 
 should see him, not after he had reached the earth, 
 but in the very act of approaching it; " coming 
 in the clouds of heaven ?" 
 
 When he comes, he shall " descend from heav- 
 en with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 
 the trump of God." " The trumpet shall sound; 
 the dead shall be raised," and the living changed. 
 1 Thess. iv. 15—17: 1 Cor. xv. 50—54. When 
 the trumpet sounds, all the dead shall be raised. 
 " All that are in the graves shall hear the voice 
 of the Son of God, and shall come forth." Is the 
 trumpet to sound, is the voice to be prolonged for 
 a thousand years? Are centuries to elapse be- 
 twixt the commencement and the close of the act 
 of raising the dead ? No. The resurrection is to 
 be instantaneous: " in a moment, in the twinkling 
 of an eye, at" what Paul calls " the last trump," 
 and Christ " the voice of the Son of God." 
 
 And when all the dead are raised, what ensues ? 
 The judgment* " They that have done good" 
 come forth "unto the resurrection of life; and 
 they that have done evil unto the resurrection of 
 damnation." At the very time at which " some" 
 of those who sleep in the dust of the earth " shall 
 awake to everlasting life" " some" shall awake 
 " to shame and everlasting contempt." " Enoch 
 also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, 
 saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand 
 of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and 
 to convince all that are ungodly among them of 
 
169 
 
 all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly 
 committed, and of all their hard speeches which 
 ungodly sinners have spoken against him*" " I 
 charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead 
 at his appearing and his kingdom." John v. 28, 
 29. Dan. xii. 2. Jude 14, 15. 2 Tim. iv. 1. 
 Can any words more completely identify the gen- 
 eral judgment with the coming of Christ? Can 
 there ever be more in the human race, than the 
 quick and the dead? Yet the Lord Jesus is to 
 judge these " at his appearing and his kingdom." 
 But if the wicked are not raised till a thousand 
 years after his advent; how can he "judge the 
 quick and dead at his appearing?" and at his 
 coming " execute judgment upon all, and con- 
 vince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly 
 deeds?" 
 
 Instead of reigning upon earth a thousand 
 years after his return ; we learn from the word of 
 God, that, at his coming, Christ will abolish death, 
 present his people to his Father, without spot or 
 wrinkle; put them in possession of the purchased 
 inheritance ; and deliver up his mediatorial king- 
 dom to the Father, that God may be all in all. 
 M As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all 
 be made alive. But every man in his own order: 
 Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are 
 Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, 
 when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to 
 God, even the Father ; when he shall have put 
 
170 
 
 down all rule, and all authority and power. For 
 he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under 
 his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed 
 is death. For he hath put all things under his 
 feet. But when he saith, all things are put under 
 him, it is manifest that he is excepted which did 
 put all things under him. And when all things 
 shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son 
 also himself be subject unto him that put all 
 things under him, that God may be all in all." 
 1 Cor. xv. 22—28. The word " cometh", verse 
 24, is not in the original: and the text would 
 have been rendered with far greater justice, if it 
 had been translated then " is," or then «* shall 
 be" the end : indicating that the resurrection of 
 the dead, the end or consummation of all things, 
 and the surrender of his kingdom to the Father, 
 follow immediately upon the coming of Christ. 
 While death retains the dust of a single child of 
 Adam in the prison of the grave, and is carrying 
 on his ravages amongst the inhabitants of the 
 earth, he has an existence and a reign. Till 
 therefore, the dead are raised, death cannot be 
 swallowed up of victory. Since therefore, the 
 apostle assures us that at the coming of Christ 
 death shall be destroyed, how is it possible that 
 for a thousand years after his own destruction, 
 death can retain the wicked in his grasp, and con- 
 tinue to tyrannize over successive generations of 
 the righteous? 
 
 If the end arrives at the coming of Christ, and 
 
171 
 
 the resurrection of the saints will be the destruc- 
 tion of death, 1 Cor. xv. 54 ; there is no place for 
 a personal reign of a thousand years betwixt their 
 resurrection and the destruction of death. " Be- 
 sides, if death be the last enemy, and this enemy 
 be destroyed in the resurrection, how can there 
 be a Gog and Magog army to be destroyed a 
 thousand years after it ?" Fuller on the Apoca- 
 lypse, p. 351. 
 
 VI. Is the earth to be the final abode and ev- 
 erlasting residence of the saints ? 
 
 This our Millenarian friends have frequently 
 stated in the broadest and strongest terms. 
 
 But if their ideas are founded in truth, it would 
 be our clear and unquestionable duty to set our 
 affections on things on earth ; and we could not 
 begin too soon, nor prosecute too eagerly the ac- 
 cumulation of terrestrial wealth. 
 
 But are we really required to mind earthly 
 things ? to have our conversation on earth ? to 
 seek for ourselves great things in this world ? and 
 lay up our treasure here? Is the grand design of 
 the Gospel to secure an inheritance on earth, and 
 all the energies of the Holy Spirit to furnish us 
 with a capacity for enjoying a portion on the globe? 
 No indeed. The Bible enjoins us to lay up for 
 ourselves treasures in heaven; to set our affections 
 on things above, not on things on earth ; to have 
 our conversation in heaven ; to lay up in store for 
 ourselves a good foundation against the time to 
 
come, that we may lay hold on eternal life. It 
 tells us that our inheritance is in heaven, and that 
 the work of the Spirit of all grace is to make us 
 meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. 
 " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant 
 mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, 
 by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 
 to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and 
 that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 
 who are kept by the power of God through faith 
 unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last 
 time." 1 Pet. i. 3—5. 
 
 From the earliest ages a belief was inculcated in 
 another world, as the abode of the faithful. The 
 translation of Enoch is related in these few and 
 emphatic words: — " Enoch walked with God; and 
 he was not; for God took him." Gen. v. 24. It 
 is not said to what province of the universe this 
 eminent saint was conveyed: but the language most 
 strongly implies that God who removed him took 
 him to himself, that in his presence he might pos- 
 sess a purity and fulness of bliss which he could 
 not enjoy below. " After these things the word of 
 the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear 
 not Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding 
 great reward." Gen. xv. 1. Could the possession 
 of Canaan, and a residence, after the resurrection, 
 in this world for ever, reach the mighty amount 
 of this invaluable promise? In one Psalm David 
 rejoices in this assurance. " Thou wilt shew me 
 
173 
 
 the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; 
 at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore." 
 Psalm xvi. 11. In another, when addressing God, 
 he says, " They shall be abundantly satisfied with 
 the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make 
 them drink of the river of thy pleasures : for with 
 thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we 
 see light.'' Psalm xxxvi. 8, 9. And elsewhere 
 we find these remarkable words: " Thou shalt 
 guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive 
 me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? 
 and there is none upon earth that I desire besides 
 thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is 
 the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." 
 Psalm lxxiii. 24—26. It will not weaken the force 
 of these passages to assert that some of them are 
 primarily applicable to Christ. For granting that 
 they are; since where he is, there also shall his 
 people be, his presence in heaven ensures the 
 admission of his followers. 
 
 As we proceed in examining the sacred pages, 
 the proof multiplies, and the conclusion becomes 
 irresistible, that heaven is the everlasting resi- 
 dence of the redeemed. 
 
 Of the patriarchs we are informed that they de- 
 sired a better country, that is a heavenly ; and 
 that God was not ashamed to be called their God; 
 for he had prepared for them a city. Heb. xi. 
 16. The believing Hebrews had compassion of 
 Paul in his bonds, and took joyfully the spoil - 
 ino- of their goods, knowing in themselves that 
 
174 
 
 they had in heaven a better, and enduring sub- 
 stance. Heb. x. 34 We read of the hope laid 
 up for the faithful in heaven, and of their hope 
 entering into that within the veil. Col. i. 5. Heb. 
 vi. 19, 20. 
 
 Under the trials of life the apostle comforts 
 his afflicted brethren, not by telling them, as Mr. 
 Stewart in his Discourses on the Redeemer's Ad- 
 vent, Mr. Cunninghame and other modern Mil- 
 lenarians would do, that Christ would soon come 
 to establish his kingdom upon earth and reign 
 with them in this world ; but by raising their 
 views above it, and leading them to fix their affec- 
 tions on the invisible and unchanging realities of 
 heaven and eternity. a Our light affliction, 
 which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far 
 more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 
 while we look not at the things which are seen, 
 but at the things which are not seen; for the things 
 which are seen are temporal ; but the things which 
 are not seen are eternal. For we know, that if our 
 earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we 
 have a building of God, an house not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we 
 groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with 
 our house which is from heaven : if so be that be- 
 ing clothed, we shall not be found naked. For 
 we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being 
 burdened : not for that we would be unclothed, 
 but clothed upon, that mortality might be swal- 
 lowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us 
 
175 
 
 for the self-same thing is God, who also hath 
 given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. There- 
 fore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst 
 we are at home in the body, we are absent from 
 the Lord : (for we walk by faith, not by sight :) 
 we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be 
 absent from the body, and to be present with the 
 Lord." 2 Cor. i v. 17, 18: v. 1—8. 
 
 Here we are pilgrims and strangers. Heaven 
 is our inheritance and home. The world is a 
 place of distress and trial. But at death we enter 
 into the joy of our Lord. 
 
 If Christ is in heaven his people shall likewise 
 be there: for where he is, there shall they also be. 
 But in heaven he is. He " is not entered into the 
 holy places made with hands, which are the fig- 
 ures of the true: but into heaven itself, now to 
 appear in the presence of God for us." " He is 
 gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of 
 God." Heb. ix. 24. 1 Pet. iii. 11. Ephes. i. 20 
 — 23. In dying he said, " Father into thy hands 
 I commend my spirit." And Stephen, in the 
 face of a violent and bloody death, cried, " I see 
 heaven opened and the Son of man standing at 
 the right hand of God. And they stoned Steph- 
 en, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, 
 receive my spirit." Acts vii. 56, 59. When he 
 saw Christ standing on the right hand of God, 
 and called on him to receive his spirit, as Christ 
 had surrendered his own into the hands of his 
 Father; what did the martyr expect but that Je- 
 
176 
 
 sus would take his soul to himself, and place it 
 amidst the glory and bliss that encompass his 
 presence, as really as that Christ himself had 
 been received into heaven, and seated on its 
 throne? 
 
 When Jesus left the world, for what purpose 
 did he ascend into heaven? Was it to employ an 
 agency in his absence to fit the earth for the ever- 
 lasting habitation of his friends ? Not at all : but 
 to prepare heaven for them, and to send down the 
 Holy Spirit, by his converting and sanctifying 
 work, to render them meet for the celestial inher- 
 itance. " In my Father's house are many man- 
 sions. I go to prepare a place for you." John 
 xiv. 2. " Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
 the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 
 of the world." Mat. xxv. 34. Pray, has the 
 earth been prepared from the foundation of the 
 world as the residence of the redeemed ? Will 
 Millenarians say that the earth is even yet a fit 
 abode for the glorified followers of the Lamb ? If 
 they will make such an assertion; then, why do 
 they talk of the necessity of casting out Satan, 
 of purifying the earth by fire, of sanctifying the 
 body of the earth by the direct agency of the 
 Holy Spirit, and all the other means of its meli- 
 oration, on which some of them think they have 
 so magnificently speculated; as all requisite to 
 convert the world into a proper habitation for 
 Christ and the redeemed during their triumphant 
 reign on this globe ? 
 
177 
 
 And when Christ returns to the world, is it 
 to fix his everlasting habitation with the faithful 
 on earth? It is to receive them to himself ; that 
 where he is, they also may be. John xiv. 3. xii. 
 26. xvii. 24. When he descends from heaven, 
 '« we who are alive and remain shall be caught up 
 together with them," the dead in Christ who 
 have been raised from the grave, M in the clouds, 
 to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever 
 be with the Lord." And does his coming to re- 
 ceive us to himself, taking us up in a cloud to 
 meet him in the air, to be for ever with him ; does 
 this really mean his coming to dwell with man 
 upon earth, and making the world the eternal 
 seat of his glory ? 
 
 Instead of reigning on earth, either for ever, 
 or even for a thousand years; the Bible intimates 
 that the earth and all the things that are therein 
 shall be destroyed : Ps. cii. 26. Isa. li. 6. Mat. 
 xxiv. 35: and we are assured that this dissolution 
 shall take place at the second coming of our 
 Lord. 2 Peter iii. 7 — 12. It is no symbolical 
 heaven and earth, no system of superstitirn, im- 
 piety and vice, of which the apostle is there 
 speaking* It is no human invasion of the rights 
 and prerogatives of God, which is permitted to 
 retain its place till the times of the Gentiles are 
 fulfilled, and which is to be destroyed before the 
 Millennium by the preaching of the Gospel. It 
 is the identical earth which was swept by the 
 waters of the deluge; and the heavens which 
 H 
 
178 
 
 encompassed the globe when it was subjected to 
 that wrathful visitation; ver. 5 — 7. And thus 
 when in the day of the Lord, or at the coming 
 of Christ, the earth and the works that are therein 
 shall be burnt up; where can the bodies of the wick- 
 ed find a grave during the succeeding Millennium? 
 Where can the saints find a seat for their king- 
 dom during the thousand years of the Redeemer's 
 personal reign ? Where can a field be obtained 
 for the closing conflict betwixt the righteous and 
 the wicked, when the latter shall be finally ex- 
 pelled from our world ? And still more, where, 
 after the earth is laid in ashes, can a locality 
 here be found for the eternal reign of Christ and 
 the redeemed ? 
 
 It will not alter the case to tell us that the 
 apostle speaks of our looking, according to the 
 promise of God, " for new heavens and a new 
 earth." By these terms he evidently designates 
 the everlasting residence of the redeemed after 
 the day of judgment and dissolution of this world. 
 There can be no doubt from the unvarying tenor 
 of Scripture that heaven is the place of their final 
 abode. But at any rate the language of St. Peter 
 completely negatives the idea that the present earth 
 can have an existence then. No words can convey 
 ideas more distinct, nor more directly opposed to 
 each other, than the terms old and new. While the 
 one denotes what has already possessed a being; 
 the other is expressive of what has had no pre- 
 vious existence. To argue that " a new earth" 
 
179 
 
 denotes the continuance and improvement of the 
 present earth ; is nearly the same as to maintain 
 that " new wine" is old wine refined ; that a 
 "new year" is the revival of the former; and a 
 "new planet" the restoration of an old world. 
 
 Besides if the earth were to be the everlasting 
 habitation of the just: though it might be neces- 
 sary at the coming of our Lord, that it should be 
 renovated in order to render it a suitable dwelling 
 to him and his people, what occasion would there 
 be not only for a new earth, but for " new 
 heavens ?" 
 
 Now are these things so ? Is it true that no 
 man, who lieth down in the grave, shall rise till 
 the heavens be no more ? Is it true that believers 
 themselves shall not be raised till the last day? 
 Is it true that all who are in the grave shall be 
 raised not only at the same time, but by one and 
 the same act ? and that this shall be at the second 
 coming of Christ ? Is it true that the proceedings 
 of the day of decision shall display to the human 
 race the justice of God in the government of the 
 world ? and that for this purpose all nations shall 
 be gathered before the Judge, and every indi- 
 vidual witness the judgment of all the rest ? Is it 
 true that at his advent death shall be abolished, 
 and the earth and the works that are therein be 
 burnt up ? Is all this true ? And who, that 
 calmly considers the language of revelation, can 
 for a moment doubt its truth ? Then, where is 
 there room for the wonderful events of the Mil- 
 H 2 
 
180 
 
 ienarian scheme; two resurrections, two judg- 
 ments, and the reign of Christ on earth for a 
 thousand years betwixt them ? and still more, 
 where is there a possibility for his reigning here 
 for ever and ever ? 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE PROOF PRODUCED FOR 
 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 
 
 Wild and extravagant as the Millenarian hy- 
 pothesis is, its advocates fancy that the whole of 
 their scheme is founded in the language of reve- 
 lation: that they have established its truth by a 
 train of reasoning that is absolutely irresistible ; 
 and that nothing but ignorance or prejudice can 
 prevent any from acknowledging its reality and 
 admiring its excellence. 
 
 Before closing this discussion it, therefore, be- 
 comes necessary to examine the nature of the evi- 
 dence which has been advanced in its support. 
 
 A leading article in the system is a literal re- 
 surrection of the saints at the commencement of 
 the Millennium. This tenet is thus stated by Mr. 
 Cunninghame in his reply to the Reviewer in the 
 Edinburgh Theological Magazine. 
 
181 
 
 " The Reviewer next reasons against our views 
 of a resurrection of the just before the unjust; and 
 asserts, that the doctrine of the Bible is, that the 
 resurrection of the just will be the destruction of 
 death, and the end of all things. This, indeed, 
 is bold assertion, in the very teeth of Rev. xx. 4, 
 5. As for his argument from 1 Cor. xv. 23, 24, 
 it will be time for us to bend to its force, when he 
 shall have critically examined, and luminously 
 set before us the exact meaning of the Greek text, 
 particularly of the particles of time nana, and utcc 
 taken in mutual connexion. I observe, that the 
 last of them, when it occurs in the same sen- 
 tence with the first, as in 1 Cor. xii. 28, 
 has the same force, and a like signification; 
 therefore, as the first in chap. xv. 23, means 
 an interval, (as we already know,) of eighteen 
 centuries, so may the second, or ht* in v. 24. 
 signify a long period of at least 1000 years. Be- 
 sides, that it signifies sequence in time, not im- 
 mediate, but considerably distant, is plain from 
 its being employed in Mark iv. 28, to express 
 the intervals between the appearance of the green 
 blade of the corn and the ear, and also the full 
 ripe grain. 
 
 " When on the other hand, identity in time is 
 meant, the Greek particle used, is not Eiroc but tots 
 as every one knows. And even Macknight, whom 
 no one will suspect of Millenarian views, but who 
 is generally an exact critic and expositor of the 
 letter, sees that the words in verse 23 and 24, 
 
182 
 
 imply a succession in the order of the resurrection. 
 He renders the first clause of verse 23, * But 
 every one iv tu dmretypotTt in his proper band; for 
 TocyfA.cc denotes a band of soldiers, a cohort, a le- 
 gion.' And he adds, c Seeing the Apostle af- 
 firms, verse 22, that all men shall be made alive 
 by Christ, and in this verse, that every one shall 
 be made alive in his own band ; also seeing we are 
 told 1 Thess. iv. 15, that the righteous who are 
 alive at the coming of Christ, and who are to be 
 changed, verse 51 of this chapter, shall not anti- 
 cipate them that sleep, it is probable, as was ob- 
 served in the preceding note, that they will not 
 be changed till the righteous are raised. Their 
 change, however, will happen before the resurrec- 
 tion of the wicked, who, as they are to awake to 
 shame and everlasting contempt, will be raised, 
 I think, last of all.' To the above reasoning of 
 Macknight, let me add only one observation more 
 from myself. Since it is declared, that every one 
 of the dead will be raised in his own band, rccy/**, 
 and since the righteous and wicked are buried 
 promiscuously, it necessarily follows, that they 
 must be raised, not at the same moment, but at 
 distinct and successive points of time; and the idea 
 of succession being thus forced upon us, we con- 
 clude that there must be two resurrections, one 
 of the just, the other of the unjust; and what is 
 the interval of time which shall separate the two, 
 we can learn only from the word of God. 
 
 " Our Lord himself also speaks, in Lukexx. 35, 
 
183 
 
 of the resurrection, in such language, as to imply 
 the truth of the doctrine we have endeavoured to 
 prove. His words are, as the clause has been 
 strictly rendered; They which shall be accounted 
 worthy to obtain that age kbu rm etvetrretcrws vm **> voc^m 
 and of the resurrection from amongst the dead, 
 shall neither marry nor be given in marriage. It is 
 quite evident that he here speaks of the resurrec- 
 tion, as a privilege peculiar to some, and not to 
 all. In like manner, in Luke xiv. 14-, he men* 
 tions a peculiar resurrection of the just, «vt*woS«- 
 6n<nrcci <roi iv rq xvxa-ret<ni -rm ^ikuiuv\ and let the read- 
 er here mark well the change of expression in 
 the Greek. The meaning of these words is not, 
 as in the former case, " thou shalt be rewarded at 
 the resurrection from amongst the just" but 
 " at the resurrection of the just " i. e. the whole 
 body of the just. So also St. Paul, when in 
 Philip, iii. 11, he mentions, that to attain to the 
 resurrection is the great object of his ambition, 
 uses not the expression e<? tw uvxa-T»criv rm vik^uv 
 which would signify, "to the resurrection of the 
 dead" (generally); but his words are E<* mp 
 i%otvx<rrct<nv iav ny^av " to the resurrection from 
 amongst the dead" 
 
 " Now seeing that the just rise when Christ 
 comes, and the rest of the dead, together with 
 all who die during the millennial reign, not till 
 the end of the millennium, it follows, that with 
 respect to them, the last enemy will not be destroy- 
 ed till the end of that dispensation. The objec- 
 
184 
 
 tion of this reviewer, founded on the words, " the 
 last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death," is 
 thus deprived of all its strength, and like his 
 former arguments, is proved to be founded on ig- 
 norance of the system which he opposes." Sum- 
 mary View, pp. 23 — 26. 
 
 A few remarks may be made on these passages, 
 in the order in which they lie in the New Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 1. Luke xiv. 14, clearly proves that the individ- 
 ual who complies with the counsel of our Re- 
 deemer, shall be recompensed when the just are 
 raised and rewarded: but it proves no more: and 
 unless the resurrection of the just, ages before the 
 resurrection of the unjust, can be established from 
 other texts of Scripture, it never can be legiti- 
 mately deduced from this part of the sacred writ- 
 ings. Though this and Acts xxiv. 15, were the 
 only portions of the word of God in which the re- 
 surrection had been noticed at all; the last pas- 
 sage is of itself sufficient to negative the supposi- 
 tion, that the resurrection of the just will be prior 
 to that of the unjust. For how does the apostle in 
 that chapter speak of the resurrection ? Does he 
 use language which intimates that there will be a 
 resurrection " from amongst the dead ?" a resur- 
 rection of "a select number" long prior to that of 
 the rest ? He speaks of the resurrection of the 
 dead in general, of the " whole body of the dead," 
 and gives not the most distant insinuation that a 
 single moment will intervene betwixt the resurrec- 
 
185 
 
 tion of them all. And who are the dead, of 
 whose resurrection he speaks without any notice 
 of the lapse of an interval betwixt them ? Why, 
 they are exactly the "just and the unjust." 
 " And have hope toward God, which they them- 
 selves also allow, that there shall be a resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, both of the just and the 
 
 UNJUST." 
 
 Any single sentence, of such a description, is 
 sufficient to decide the question. But when we 
 take it in connexion with all that has already been 
 advanced, pp. 145 — 161, on the simultaneous 
 resurrection and judgment of the righteous and 
 the wicked ; it manifests no ordinary disrespect 
 for the authority of revelation, to renounce its 
 plain and positive annunciations for a theory 
 founded on the precarious basis of an inferential 
 argument, at open war with its most clear and 
 precise declarations. 
 
 2. If Luke xx. 35, had contained the only ac- 
 count of this conversation of our Lord with the 
 Sadducees; and if nothing more in Scripture had 
 been said respecting the resurrection, than what is 
 to be found there, and in Luke xiv. 14 : the Millen- 
 arians might have had some plausibility for urging 
 a separate resurrection of the righteous, prior to 
 that of the wicked. But this discourse is record- 
 ed by three of the Evangelists. Mat. xxii. 23 — 
 33. Mark xii. 18— 28. Luke xx. 27— 38. Now, 
 while Mark and Luke use the preposition g*, to 
 which our friends attach so much importance; to 
 H 3 
 
186 
 
 shew that its presence or absence does not in the 
 slightest degree affect the sense, Matthew omits 
 it. Can any thing therefore demonstrate more 
 conclusively that ccvcc<?tcx,<7i$ tuv mc^uv and uvot,<r?u<n<; b* 
 ta>v ysxgw are equivalent? and that, without the 
 smallest ambiguity the two phrases may be used 
 inter-changeably ? 
 
 According to Mr. Cunninghame's own observa- 
 tion on Luke xiv. 14, when he says, " The 
 meaning of these words is not, as in the former 
 case, " thou shalt be rewarded at the resurrection 
 FROM AMONG the just, but « at the resurrec- 
 tion OF the just,' i. e. the whole body of the just:" 
 the language of Matthew shews that our Lord 
 was speaking not of " a resurrection FROM 
 AMONGST the dead," but a "resurrection OF 
 the dead," i. e. of the WHOLE BODY of 
 DEAD. And as the same phraseology occurs 
 Actsxxiii. 6; xxiv. 15, 21: 1 Cor. xv. 13, 21, 
 42: Heb. vi. 2; if there be truth in the canon 
 which this gentleman lays down, these passages 
 all prove the simultaneous resurrection of THE 
 WHOLE BODY OF THE DEAD. 
 
 That in the conversation recorded by the three 
 Evangelists our Lord was actually speaking of 
 the general simultaneous resurrection of all man- 
 kind, is evident from the whole circumstances of 
 the case. An objection was made to the doctrine 
 of the resurrection by the Sadducees; who did not 
 confine their scepticism to the denial of the first 
 resurrection, or resurrection of the saints: but 
 
18? 
 
 who denied that there is "any resurrection" and 
 affirmed that there is "neither angel nor spirit." 
 And when the objection was proposed by such a 
 a sect, it is very unlikely that our Lord would 
 limit his proofs of a resurrection to that of the just : 
 and accordingly we find him closing his remarks 
 by adding, of all indiscriminately that are in the 
 grave, "Now that the DEAD are raised, even 
 Moses showed at the bush." 
 
 3. An anonymous writer who has already been 
 repeatedly quoted, has furnished a satisfactory re- 
 ply to the criticisms on 1 Cor. xv. 23, 24. 
 
 " What kind of critics would Mr. Cunninghame 
 have us to be? He calls upon us 'critically to 
 examine,' and 'luminously to set before him,' the 
 two Greek adverbs %tv» and iKin^ taken in mutual 
 connection. With precisely the same propriety, 
 might he call upon us critically to examine, and 
 luminously to set forth, the corresponding English 
 adverbs ten and afterwards. There is exactly 
 the same mystery in the one that there is in the 
 other, and the critical art may be exercised with 
 equal advantage upon both. We may tell Mr. 
 Cunninghame, for his satisfaction, that mot, and 
 inn™, as well as their English equivalents, when 
 they happen to denote sequence of time, may de- 
 note any sequence you please, — either immediate 
 or remote, — either that in which the events follow 
 each other rapidly, and consequently at short in- 
 tervals, or that in which they follow each other 
 slowly, and consequently at long intervals. You 
 
188 
 
 may say, properly enough, a man winked first 
 with the one eye, then with the other, and after 
 that with the other again; and you may say, with 
 equal propriety, the world was first made, then 
 was it drowned by the deluge, and afterwards it 
 will be consumed by fire. The then and the after- 
 wards are precisely the same in both these cases, 
 although in the one case each interval of the se- 
 quence occupies only the twinkling of an eye, 
 while in the other it occupies many centuries, or 
 even millenniums. There is, therefore, nothing 
 to be made of the stubborn adverbs. Interrogate 
 them as you please, you are never a whit the 
 wiser. They will not tell you either how short 
 or how long, how near or how distant: and if you 
 want information on these points, you must look 
 to some other quarter. As to %n^ it occurs, as 
 Mr. Cunninghame has himself remarked, not in- 
 deed in conjunction with stts<t*, but in a repeated 
 form, in Mark iv. 28. The earth bringeth forth 
 first the blade, then the ear, ura crct-^w^ after that 
 the full corn in the ear, utk ttm^ ^tov, &c. Now 
 this, to be sure, is not an immediate succession 
 —it requires a certain time, — yet as every person 
 knows it is for the most part completed, even in 
 the coldest climates, in the course of a few weeks. 
 How ridiculous, then, to refer to it when we are 
 speaking of thousands of years? In conjunction 
 with iTTuray utu. occurs in 1st Cor. xii. 28, God 
 has set some in the church, first apostles, second- 
 arily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that mirac- 
 
189 
 
 les, iiruTotdwecfAu$ 9 then gifts of healing, mot, xcc^Hrpxrot, 
 &c. Here, however, the sequence is not of time 
 but of dignity. The only other place we recol- 
 lect of where these particles occur in conjunction, 
 is 1st Cor. xv. and in that chapter we meet with 
 them no less than three times. He was seen of 
 Cephas, ver. 5, 6; then of the twelve, ur* rue 
 ^co^ikcc — after that he was seen of above five hun- 
 dred brethren at once, tsrww e/QOn, &c. Again, 
 ver. 7, after that murx, he was seen of James ; 
 then, uroc of all the apostles. How much time in- 
 tervened between our Lord's resurrection and his 
 being seen of all the apostles and of the five hun- 
 dred brethren ? Perhaps we could answer this 
 question pretty exactly, but we deem it unneces- 
 sary. We know it must have been less than forty 
 days, for forty days formed the whole period the 
 Saviour remained on earth after he had risen. 
 Yet allowing it had been full forty days, or even 
 more, what was that to a thousand years ? This 
 is all we can make of the two adverbs. We knew 
 we should make no more of them before we be- 
 gan the disquisition. We began it, however, not 
 to gratify ourselves, but to set the matter "lum- 
 inously" before Mr. Cunnighame.* 
 
 * These adverbs often occur in the New Testament. The 
 reviewer might have enlarged the number of his questions, and 
 asked, How long it was after the blind man had looked up, be- 
 fore Jesus "put his hands again upon his eyes?" How long 
 is it, after the careless hear the word, before "the devil cometh, 
 and taketh away the word out of their hearts?" How long was 
 
190 
 
 < c We doubt if Mr. Cunninghame will yet be 
 disposed to ' bend to the force of our argument 
 from 1st Cor. xv. 23, 24,' but we have something 
 farther to add, and we hope he will yield at last. 
 We must tell him, then, that his quotation from 
 Macknight is a piece of drivelling. True, indeed, 
 TotyftM may signify a { band of soldiers, a cohort, 
 a legion,' but nothing could be more absurd than 
 to render it by any one of these words, or any 
 word equivalent*, in the place under consideration. 
 Macknight did not know, and it appears Mr. 
 Cunninghame does not know, that the whole pas- 
 sage relates to the resurrection of believers, and 
 of them alone ; the resurrection of wicked men is 
 never once thought of, nor a circumstance re- 
 specting it introduced, from the beginning of the 
 chapter to the end. It is only the resurrection of 
 those who are Christ's, (ver. 23.) — those who 
 have fallen asleep in Christ, (ver. 18.) — those of 
 
 it after Jesus had girded himself with the towel, before he pour- 
 ed water into the bason with which to wash the disciples' feet ? 
 How long was it after Jesus had said to his mother, Woman, 
 behold thy son ; before he said to the disciple " Behold thy mo- 
 ther?" How many centuries elapsed, after Jesus had come, 
 when the doors were shut, and said to the disciples peace be un. 
 to you ; before he said to Thomas, " reach hither thy finger, and 
 behold my hands?" How many ages does the wisdom that is 
 from above, remain pure, before it becomes " peaceable and gen- 
 tle ?" Markviii. 25: Luke viii. 12: John xiii. o: xix. 27 : xx. 
 27. James iii. 17. Similar questions respecting the subjects, 
 stated in the passages where these adverbs are found, might 
 be multiplied fourfold. 
 
191 
 
 whom Christ is the first fruits, (ver. 20.) — those 
 who shall be raised incorruptible, (ver. 52.) — those 
 who shall inherit the kingdom of God, (ver. 50.) 
 True, the expression iv ra die* roty^xri is used, but 
 the one ncy^x is Christ himself, the other is his 
 people; and who would think of calling Christ 
 himself a 'band,' or a 'cohort/ or a 'legion?' 
 Our translators saw the absurdity of such a render- 
 ing, and with exquisite judgment adopted the word 
 ' order,' — every man in his own order. What 
 then becomes of Mr. Cunninghame's supplement- 
 ary remarks, ushered in with the modest intro- 
 duction, 'from myself?' What becomes of all 
 he has said about the righteous and the wicked 
 being buried promiscuously, and the consequence 
 necessarily following, that as each is to rise in his 
 own 'band,' there must be successive resurrec- 
 tions, separated from each other by a longer or 
 shorter interval of time? The whole depends on 
 the supposition, that the apostle speaks of some 
 other ' band' besides our Lord himself, and those 
 who are his — a supposition not only altogether 
 gratuitous, but contrary to fact. 
 
 " Having disposed of the criticisms of Mr. Cun- 
 ninghame, and of his coadjutor, Macknight, we 
 still affirm, that the resurrection of the just will 
 be the destruction of death and the end of all 
 things. We hold that the apostle teaches us, as 
 clearly as language can teach, that all these things 
 will be coincident, and that they will happen at 
 the coming of Christ. That our readers may the 
 
192 
 
 better see the force of the argument, we beg leave 
 to set down the passage at length : ' But every 
 man in his own order, Christ the first-fruits, after- 
 ward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then 
 cometh the end, when he shall have put down all 
 rule, and all authority, and all power. For he 
 must reign till he hath put all enemies under his 
 feet. Th£ last enemy that shall be destroyed is 
 death.' (^Cor. xv. 23—26. Our first remark is, 
 that cometh, in verse 24, is a supplement. Instead 
 of then cometh the end, it ought to be read simply, 
 then the end — or rather, supplying the substantive 
 verb according to the usual Hebraism, then is the 
 end. Beza, indeed, supplies erit, and probably 
 he has misled our translators. Instead of erit, he 
 ought to have supplied est. Our next remark is, 
 that shall have delivered up the kingdom, (^^a,) 
 and shall have put down all rule, &c. (ycxru^ywn,) 
 are both unhappy renderings, and tend to intro- 
 duce a degree of obscurity. Instead of the sec- 
 ond future, both verbs ought to have been put 
 into the first or simple future, or rather perhaps 
 into what may be called the prospective present, 
 and the passage ought to have been read, Then 
 is the end when he shall deliver up, &c. and shall 
 put down, &c. or rather, when he is to deliver up, 
 &c. and is to put down, &c. The original words 
 are in the aorist subjunctive, a form of the verb 
 which is rendered in the way we speak of, times 
 without number. An example occurs in verse 23, 
 and another in verse 28, of this very chapter, — 
 
193 
 
 till he put x%y$ ov xv 6y, — when all things shall be 
 subdued to him, orxv h bnoixyy Nay, the very 
 word w*z*l» itself, has much the same force in 
 Mark iv. 29, when the fruit is brought forth, orxv 
 **£*$» o Kx^Troi. Our translators, we suspect, have 
 been again misled by Beza and the Vulgate. Be- 
 za has quum tradiderit and quum aboleverit ; the 
 Vulgate has quum tradiderit and quum evacuaverit ; 
 but shall have is not always the correct rendering 
 of such Latin expressions. Our translators should 
 have attended to the force of the conjunction quum, 
 and should have rendered simply, shall deliver up 
 the kingdom, and shall put down all rule, &c7' 
 
 " The apostle says, then, that at the coming of 
 Christ is to be the resurrection of those who are 
 his — is to be the end — is to be the delivering up 
 of the kingdom to God, even the Father — is to be 
 the putting down, or final subversion, of all other 
 power, and authority, and rule. And how natu- 
 rally does he subjoin what follows in the next two 
 verses; — ■ For he must reign till he have put all 
 enemies under his feet: the last enemy that shall 
 be destroyed is death/ That is, as if he had said, 
 according to the promise in the 110th Psalm, the 
 Saviour's reign must be continued till every enemy 
 be subdued, but there is no need for its being 
 continued beyond the period I now speak of, for 
 the last enemy is death; and as that is destroyed 
 in the resurrection of his people, the promise is 
 then fulfilled, and his reign is terminated with 
 honour. We trust our readers are satisfied that 
 
194 
 
 we have made good our assertion. We trust 
 every one sees, that the resurrection of the just 
 is to be the destruction of death, and the end of 
 all things. And may we not, then, put again the 
 question we put in our former article, If the last 
 enemy be destroyed at the resurrection of the just, 
 how can there be another enemy called Gog and 
 Magog, requiring to be destroyed a thousand 
 years afterwards?" Edinburgh Theological Mag- 
 azine, May 1828, pp. 275—278. 
 
 4. In Phil. iii. 4, the apostle says " If by any 
 means I may attain unto the resurrection of the 
 dead." 
 
 In addition to what Mr. Cunninghame has 
 stated, it has also been asked, " What else can 
 this be than the first resurrection ? A spiritual 
 resurrection it cannot be : for that he had re- 
 ceived already. The resurrection of the body it 
 cannot be : for of that he was already absolutely 
 certain, since he knew that there shall be a re- 
 surrection of the dead, both of the just and of the 
 unjust. It remains, therefore, that it must be the 
 first resurrection ; and this is confirmed by the 
 original word, which properly signifies a resur- 
 rection out from amongst the dead" 
 
 If this passage is calmly viewed in connexion 
 with the context, there is the strongest reason for 
 affirming, that it possesses no reference whatever 
 to the resurrection of the body. Long before 
 this, the apostle had been made a new creature. 
 He had believed through grace, and was clothed 
 
195 
 
 with the righteousness of Christ. His spiritual 
 enjoyments were great, and his religious progress 
 altogether unrivalled. But mark the sublime am- 
 bition of his holy soul, and his ardent intense 
 engrossing solicitude to secure nearer access to 
 Christ, more close conformity to his image, and 
 more complete and uninterrupted possession of 
 the immense ineffable blessings of his salvation. 
 " Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Je- 
 sus my Lord': for whom I have suffered the loss 
 of all things, and do count them but dung, that I 
 may win Christ. And be found in him not hav- 
 ing mine own righteousness, which is of the law, 
 but that which is through the faith of Christ, the 
 righteousness which is of God by faith ; that I 
 may know him, and the power of his resurrection, 
 and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made 
 conformable unto his death; if by any means 
 I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 
 Not as though I had already attained, either were 
 already perfect : but I follow after, if that I may 
 apprehend that for which also I am apprehended 
 of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to 
 have apprehended : but this one thing I do, for- 
 getting those things which are behind, and reach- 
 ing forth unto those things which are before, I 
 press toward the mark, for the prize of the high 
 calling of God in Christ Jesus." Ver. 8 — 14. 
 
 He had already found Christ. He was in him, 
 He had received the righteousness of faith ; and 
 
196 
 
 was comparatively perfect. But stili, lie delares, 
 that he was striving to win Christ, following after 
 that he might apprehend that for which he was 
 apprehended of Christ; that he had not attain- 
 ed, neither was already perfect. In precisely the 
 same manner, therefore, in which he says, that, 
 though he had won Christ and was perfect; he 
 had not attained neither was perfect: he declares 
 that, though spiritually alive and risen with 
 Christ; he was not completely delivered from 
 spiritual death, and was labouring to lay hold 
 on all the honour and blessedness of the spiritual 
 resurrection from the dead. 
 
 But though the context obviously determines 
 that this was the resurrection which he had in 
 view; even granting, for the sake of argument, 
 that he alludes to the resurrection of the body, 
 this would not contribute the slightest support to 
 the Millenarian hypothesis. In that case the re- 
 mark of Macknight would be perfectly just. 
 " Since the Apostle represents the resurrection 
 from the dead, of which he is speaking, as a mat- 
 ter very difficult to be obtained, it cannot be the 
 restoration of the body simply, for that the wick- 
 ed shall arrive at whether they seek it or not; 
 but it is the resurrection of the body, re-fashioned 
 like to the glorious body of Christ, mentioned 
 ver. 21, which is a privilege peculiar to the sons 
 of God, and that by which they are to be distin- 
 guished from the wicked at the judgment." Though 
 at the resurrection all the saints shall be clothed 
 
197 
 
 with glorious and incorruptible bodies ; their 
 glory will not be the same. " There is one 
 glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, 
 and another glory of the stars : for one star dif- 
 fereth from another star in glory. So also is the 
 resurrection of the dead." And if the resur- 
 rection of the body was the object which the 
 apostle was here contemplating ; it is quite reason- 
 able to suppose, that his heart was set on a bet- 
 ter resurrection ; and that he was anxious to se- 
 cure a distinguished place amongst those, who 
 shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, 
 and as the stars for ever and ever. 
 
 Nor can any objection to this explanation be 
 drawn from the peculiar form of the Greek word 
 which the apostle employs. Though the mean- 
 ing of compound words is prodigiously modified 
 by usage ; in general, prepositions not only gov- 
 ern the same cases in composition which they do 
 without it, but also retain the same signification. 
 It is quite immaterial whither we say; an in-let- 
 ting, or a letting in ; an out-letting, or a letting 
 out; an out-stretched arm, or an arm stretched 
 out. And it could not have created the slightest 
 shade of difference, whether Paul had written 
 
 ccvottrrxa-ti; zk rm vik^m or i^ccvxarxriq tw hkquv. In the 
 
 one case the preposition is prefixed to the noun 
 governing: in the other to the noun governed. 
 This is the only mystery in the matter. The po- 
 sition of the preposition is indeed altered : but the 
 sense is exactly the same. Mat. x. 14: Acts viii. 7. 
 
198 
 
 If Polybius, III. 55, when describing the scram- 
 bling of Hannibal's soldiers, who had slipped upon 
 the frozen snow of the Alps, to recover their feet; 
 had used the word umtrvuv^ he would have express- 
 ed completely the object which they wished to gain, 
 to rise or recover the use of their feet: but though 
 he has actually employed the compound word e|*v- 
 «<tt*g-<?, he has added nothing to the idea which the 
 simple term would have conveyed. Could they 
 have secured an aveurrxm, they would have risen, 
 or regained the use of their feet: and supposing 
 that they could have obtained an tlecme-recs-^, they 
 could have procured no more. And if the apostle 
 had employed the simple term, followed by the 
 preposition, this would have distinctly expressed 
 his desire to be raised from the dead, or the state 
 of death : and by employing the compound term, 
 with the preposition prefixed, he has recorded a 
 wish for nothing more. In thousands of instances, 
 like Mat. viii. 28. x. 12. Phil. i. 6; the preposi- 
 tion in composition gives no addition to the sense; 
 and its omission does not, in the slightest degree, 
 diminish its force. 
 
 5. With their usual ingenuity and success our 
 friends have constructed a double argument for 
 their theory, from 1 Thess. iv. 13 — 18. 
 
 St. John, Rev. xx. 5, mentions a " first res- 
 urrection" by name. In this chapter, verse 16, 
 Paul uses the word " first." " The dead in 
 Christ shall rise first." This can be nothing else 
 than the first resurrection of St. John : and as it 
 
199 
 
 takes place at " the coming of the Lord," verse 
 15; and as they imagine that they have proved 
 that there can be no Millennium till he comes ; 
 this pins down the first resurrection to the com- 
 mencement of the Millennium. Besides, in 1 Cor. 
 xv. 23, ztthtx " means an interval, as we already 
 know, of eighteen centuries ;" and as this iden- 
 tical word returns, 1 Thess. iv. 17; where the 
 apostle, after saying that the dead in Christ shall 
 rise first, adds, " Then we who are alive, and 
 remain, shall be caught up together with them in 
 the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air;" there 
 can be no doubt that the word " then" ncuru. here 
 signifies also a long period of, at least, a thousand 
 years. 
 
 In reply to the reasoning of these worthy men ; 
 it is sufficient to observe, that the apostle in this 
 passage applies the word " first" to the resurrec- 
 tion of the saints, in contradistinction to the 
 transformation of the believers who are alive at 
 the coming of Christ. In other words, he merely 
 tells us in very plain terms, that the dead in 
 Christ shall be raised before the living saints shall 
 be glorified. The resurrection of the one will 
 not long precede the glorification of the other. 
 For in one and the same breath he says, " The 
 dead in Christ shall rise first : THEN we who 
 are alive aud remain shall be caught up TO- 
 GETHER with them." 
 
 Of all the passages in the word of God, it 
 might have been supposed that this would have 
 
200 
 
 been the last, that Millenarians would have pressed 
 into their desperate service. In the same compass 
 few give a more decisive negative to the leading 
 tenets of their system. If language can express 
 the facts, that the resurrection of the first saint 
 will be the signal for the resurrection of the last 
 that ever shall be raised from the dust of the 
 earth; that when the first saint is glorified, it will 
 be accompanied with the instantaneous glorifica- 
 tion of all that ever will share in that marvellous 
 and blessed transition; that all this shall be accom- 
 plished in an instant, and at the second coming of 
 Christ: if language can express these ideas, they 
 are expressed by the language in question. It 
 leaves no room for the " various progressions and 
 germinations," of which our brethren talk so 
 loudly. It affords no space for the different man- 
 ifestations of the person of the Son of God; for his 
 appearing and disappearing; for a millennial reign 
 betwixt the first and the last resurrection ; and all 
 the momentous revolutions which shall take place 
 in the majestic procession of the sundry acts of 
 their great drama of a judgment-day, prolonged 
 to a thousand years and a few additional centuries. 
 In terms the most distinct and clear it proclaims 
 the simultaneous instantaneous resurrection of the 
 believing dead, and an equally simultaneous and 
 instantaneous glorification of ALL the living 
 saints : and it as completely excludes the notion 
 of years, ages, and eras intervening betwixt the 
 commencement and the close of this consummat- 
 
201 
 
 ing act of Almighty love ; as years, ages, and eras, 
 are excluded from intervening betwixt the com- 
 mencement and the close of a single blast of a 
 trumpet; or, betwixt the word and the deed, 
 when God said, " Let there be light, and there 
 was light." Only read the verses, and say if ever 
 a more concise and satisfactory preservative from 
 the vagaries of Millenarianism could have been ex- 
 pressed in the language of mortals ? M I would not 
 have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning 
 them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even 
 as others which have no hope. For if we believe 
 that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also 
 which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 
 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, 
 that we which are alive and remain unto the com- 
 ing of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are 
 asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from 
 heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch- 
 angel, and with the trump of God : and the dead 
 in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive 
 and remain shall be caught up together with them in 
 the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so 
 shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore com- 
 fort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 
 iv. 13—18. 
 
 From these few sentences we learn, that all 
 that ever shall sleep in Christ shall be brought 
 with him ; that he himself will descend swiftly ; 
 that none shall have precedence of another : for 
 all the saints that shall ever taste death shall be 
 I 
 
202 
 
 raised, before one living believer is changed. But 
 how is Omnipotence itself to reconcile these facts 
 with the expectations of Millenarians ? How can 
 all the saints that shall ever die, be brought with 
 Christ; if he were to come fifteen, or even five, 
 centuries, before their birth? If at least ten or 
 twelve hundred years must elapse after the first 
 resurrection, before the last generation of the 
 saints, who shall be subjected to death, shall die; 
 how can these be raised from the dead, BEFORE 
 those saints, whom Christ found alive at his coming, 
 were glorified, and caught up in the clouds to meet 
 him P Unless they are raised and glorified, at 
 least, a thousand years before their death ; those 
 who were alive at the coming of the Lord, must 
 have the start, or advantage of them. But the 
 apostle declares that those who are alive at the 
 coming of the Lord, shall have no advantage 
 over any that sleep in Jesus. The word of God 
 and of the. Millenarians cannot both be true. Let 
 all judge for themselves which ought to stand. 
 One passage more remains for consideration. 
 6. Rev. xx. 4 — 6. In every age this has been 
 the strong-hold of Millenarians. It is the first for- 
 tress to which, when attacked, they retreat : and 
 when driven from every other post, it is the last 
 point which they defend, and which they defend 
 with all the fury and distraction of despair. 
 
 " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, 
 and judgment was given unto them : and I saw 
 the souls of them that were beheaded for the wit- 
 
203 
 
 ness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which 
 had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, 
 neither had received his mark upon their fore- 
 heads, or in their hands; and they lived and reign- 
 ed with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of 
 the dead lived not again until the thousand years 
 were finished. This is the first resurrection. 
 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 
 resurrection : on such the second death hath no 
 power: but they shall be priests of God and of 
 Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." 
 Rev. xx. 4 — 6. 
 
 " Can any language be more plain and precise 
 than this ? Is it not distinctly said that they lived 
 and reigned with Christ a thousand years ?" 
 
 But, good friends, be not too fast. Have the 
 kindness to tell us honestly what it was that the 
 apostle saw, and that lived and reigned a thous- 
 and years. Was it the mortal part of believers? 
 their bodies, which had been sown in corruption, 
 and which were now raised in incorruption ? 
 
 To ascertain the meaning of the passage, we 
 must 
 
 I. Examine it for ourselves. 
 
 Now on looking at it with our own eyes, we can 
 discover no body in it at all. The apostle tells 
 us positively that he saw " the SOULS of them 
 that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and 
 for the word of God ; and they lived and reigned 
 with Christ a thousand years." In vain shall we 
 12 
 
204 
 
 explore the whole New Testament to find the 
 word souls applied, either to the subjects of the 
 resurrection, or to the glorified persons of be- 
 lievers. 
 
 It will not do to tell us that souls is a meta- 
 phorical term to denote persons in general. For, 
 if our friends insist that the word souls is a met- 
 aphor for persons; then we have a good right to 
 maintain that the word resurrection is also a fig- 
 ure for conversion; and living and reigning with 
 Christ, a symbolical expression for spiritual pros- 
 perity, and the wide prevalence of piety. If they 
 explain the one half of the paragragh figurative- 
 ly to please themselves; we are entitled to explain 
 the other half figuratively, not to vex them, as 
 Mr. Irving very lovingly proposed ; but to vin- 
 dicate the principles of common sense and sound 
 scriptural interpretation. 
 
 The Greek is not such a scanty language as to 
 be unable to furnish a separate term for each 
 of the ideas conveyed by the words person, soul, 
 and body. Accordingly, when speaking of the 
 literal resurrection, the other sacred writers em- 
 ploy words which designate either the body, or 
 the whole man. " How are the dead raised up ? 
 and with what body do they come ?" 1 Cor. xv. 
 35. When therefore, the apostle, instead of say- 
 ing that he saw either the bodies, or persons of 
 those who had been beheaded for the witness of 
 Jesus; expressly informs us that he saw their 
 " souls," and that they lived and reigned with 
 
205 
 
 Christ a thousand years; this is enough to make 
 us pause before we adopt the notion of a literal 
 resurrection at the beginning of the Millennium. 
 Souls are not the subjects of a literal death, and 
 are utterly incapable of a literal resurrection. 
 
 Besides, we may remark that the very souls 
 whom the apostle here sees living, he saw alive 
 long before. For he says that, when the angel 
 had opened the fifth seal, " I saw under the altar 
 the SOULS of them that were slain for the word 
 of God and for the testimony which they held : 
 and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How 
 long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge 
 and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the 
 earth ? And white robes were given to every 
 one of them: and it was said unto them, that they 
 should rest yet for a little season, until their fel- 
 low-servants also, and their brethren, that should 
 be killed as they were should be fulfilled." Rev. 
 vi. 9 — 11. Millenarians may dispute about the 
 chronology of the fifth seal : but let them fix on 
 what date they please, they must admit that cen- 
 turies have elapsed since it was opened. But when 
 that seal was opened, the very souls which they 
 expect to be raised in the Millennium, were ac- 
 tually alive, crying from beneath the altar of 
 heaven, and clothed with white robes. These 
 souls have been alive for ages. The fact is they 
 never have been dead: and are as much alive, and 
 as really clothed with white robes at this moment, 
 as they can be during the Millennium. 
 
206 
 
 This single fact is perfectly fatal to the hypoth- 
 esis under consideration. The introduction of the 
 word souls into the narrative, intimates that the 
 whole language is prophetical or figurative, and 
 not intended to be literally understood. 
 
 2. The apostle saw the souls of none but of 
 those who had been beheaded for the witness of 
 Jesus. The resurrection of which he speaks is 
 confined to the martyrs, or at the utmost to those 
 who have resisted the impositions of antichrist. 
 And when the apostle says, " Blessed and holy is 
 he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such 
 the second death hath no power:" or it necessarily 
 follows on Millenarian principles that the second 
 death hath power on all others. The other dead, 
 who in different ages of the world have fallen 
 asleep in Jesus, and all who shall be born during 
 the Millennium, are excluded from any partici- 
 pation in this resurrection ; and must be doomed 
 to everlasting destruction. 
 
 3. If all, who shall be priests of God and of 
 Christ, and partakers of everlasting blessedness, 
 shall be raised from their graves at the first resur- 
 rection; then all who shall be raised at the second 
 resurrection, must be raised to certain perdition. 
 But at what they regard as the second resurrec- 
 tion, the dead do not rise to inevitable perdition : 
 for " the book oflife" is then opened ; intimating 
 that some of those who are then raised, shall re- 
 ceive eternal life. And instead of deciding, as 
 might in that case have been supposed, their 
 
20*7 
 
 eternal state by the fact, that they had no part in 
 the millennial resurrection; their condition is 
 determined by the circumstance, whether or not 
 their names were written in the book of life: and 
 none are cast into the lake of fire, except those 
 whose names are not written in that book. Rev. 
 xx. 12—15. 
 
 4. The supposed second or third resurrection, 
 ver. 11 — 13, possesses every mark and characteris- 
 tic of a general universal resurrection. There is no 
 preposition nor particle of any description to limit 
 its extent to a part of our race. The apostle de- 
 clares that he saw " THE DEAD, small and 
 great, stand before God:" that « THE DEAD 
 were judged :" that " the sea gave up the DEAD 
 which were in it; and death and hell delivered up 
 the DEAD which were in them." 
 
 According to Mr. Cunninghame's rule, lately 
 quoted, the absence of every restrictive word, 
 shews that the apostle is not speaking of the re- 
 surrection of a remnant of our race; or of " a 
 resurrection from amongst the dead:" but of " the 
 resurrection OF the dead," i. e. of the whole body 
 of the dead. Unless our worthy brethren believe 
 that there is none of the saints who have been 
 either small or great, and that none of the bodies 
 of the saints have been either in death or in the 
 grave : since all who have been either small or 
 great, and whose bodies have been either in the 
 possession of the sea, or of death, and the grave, 
 shall then be raised and judged : it seems inevit- 
 
208 
 
 ably to follow, that this is the resurrection of the 
 whole human race ; that, till then, there will be 
 no resurrection of the dead; but then the whole 
 collective body of mankind, without one exception, 
 shall be raised from the dead, 
 
 5. The Bible uniformly affirms that " all shall 
 be judged according to the things done in the 
 body," and " receive according to their works." 
 Long after the Millennium is ended, Jesus de- 
 clares, Rev. xxii. 12, *« Behold, I come quickly; 
 and my reward is with me, to give every man ac- 
 cording as his work shall be." Either, therefore, 
 those who are raised before the Millennium, con- 
 trary to the whole tenor of the sacred volume, do 
 not receive according to their works j or else 
 there is no pre-millennian resurrection at all. 
 
 The same conclusion is established by the ac- 
 count given of the final judgment in this twentieth 
 chapter of Revelation. We are there assured 
 not only that all the dead shall then stand before 
 God, and be judged according to their works; 
 but that they shall be judged, t6 every man ac- 
 cording to their works." And if " every man," 
 at the close of all things shall be judged accord- 
 ing to his works; the conclusion is forced on us 
 ao-ain, either that there is no resurrection nor 
 judgment prior to the Millennium, or that those 
 who share in the first resurrection are neither 
 judged at all, nor receive according to their 
 works. 
 
 6. If the first resurrection is the re-vivificatiou 
 
209 
 
 of the body ; then the second death can be no 
 more than the second dissolution of the body. No 
 two terms can be more completely explanatory of 
 each other, than the first resurrection and the sec- 
 ond death. Whenever, therefore, we can ascertain 
 the import of the one, we know exactly the mean- 
 ing of the other. If the second death is merely 
 the repetition of the act of dying; then the first 
 resurrection, to a certainty, is the re-animation of 
 our mortal frame, and nothing more. But is this 
 the nature of the second death ? No. It is noth- 
 ing less than the destruction of soul and body in 
 hell. " Death and hell were cast into the lake of 
 fire. This is the second death." Verse 14. 
 
 Finding therefore, that the phrase second death 
 is figurative, we are driven to the conclusion, that 
 the first resurrection is also figurative; and that 
 the language of the whole passage is metaphorical. 
 7. To prevent the possibility of mistake, and 
 place this conclusion beyond the reach of doubt; 
 the apostle gives us an account not only of a sec- 
 ond death, but also of a second resurrection. 
 
 We are just as distinctly told that the rest of 
 the dead lived not till the thousand years were 
 finished ; as we are taught that those who were 
 beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, lived and 
 reigned with him a thousand years. " Whence 
 of course it follows, that, so soon as the thousand 
 years are finished, the rest of the dead do live 
 again. 
 
 " These two particulars being thus uninterrupt- 
 13 
 
210 
 
 edly set forth in one and the same passage, and 
 being thus evidently foretold in direct mutual re- 
 lation, must, according to the rules of good com- 
 position, be interpreted homogeneously : that is to 
 say, whatever nature the one resurrection is, 
 whether literal or figurative, of that same nature 
 must also be the other resurrection. 
 
 " Now the resurrection of the rest of the dead 
 takes place, we are told, at the end of the thou- 
 sand years. But the end of the thousand years is 
 not the end of the world. On the contrary, the 
 thousand years are followed, in regular succession, 
 first by the liberation of Satan ; next, by the for- 
 mation of the confederacy of Gog and Magog 
 out of those deceived nations ; next, by the going 
 up of the confederacy to compass the holy city; 
 next by the miraculous destruction of that confed- 
 eracy through fire from heaven; and then, at 
 length, after the lapse of some undefined period 
 subsequent to the destruction of the confederacy, 
 by the ultimate universal judgment of the resusi- 
 tated dead, both small and great, at the literal 
 second advent of Christ, and at the final consum- 
 mation of all things. Therefore what is called 
 the resurrection of the rest of the dead, occurring 
 as it does only at the end of the thousand years, 
 and long before the consummation of all things, 
 cannot be the literal resurrection of the dead, 
 both small and great, both from the sea and from 
 hades, which the prophet as might naturally be 
 expected, determinately fixes to the unknown and 
 
211 
 
 undefined epoch of the literal day of universal 
 judgment. But, if it cannot be the literal resur- 
 rection at the literal day of universal judgment: 
 it must be a figurative resurrection before the lit- 
 eral day of universal judgment. Otherwise, what 
 is a palpable contradiction, we shall make TWO 
 general and literal resurrections : the one general 
 resurrection, at the end of the thousand years; 
 the other general resurrection, at some undefined 
 epoch subsequent to the destruction of Gog and 
 Magog. 
 
 " The resurrection, then, of the rest of the 
 dead, at the end of the thousand years, has been 
 shewn, by the very necessity of its collocation, to 
 De figurative. But homogeneity requires, that the 
 two resurrections, the one at the end, and the 
 other at the beginning of the thousand years, 
 should be similarly understood and interpreted. 
 Therefore, the resurrection of the martyrs, at the 
 beginning of the thousand years, must be a purely 
 figurative resurrection also." Faber's Sacred Cal- 
 endar, Vol. III. pp. 469—471. 
 
 From these facts it is evident that we must either 
 reject the doctrine of a literal resurrection of the 
 saints before the Millennium ; or else admit that 
 the souls as well as the bodies of the martyrs have 
 been put to death; that none except the martyrs 
 shall enjoy eternal life; that all who are raised at 
 the final resurrection, shall rise to certain perdi- 
 tion ; that the works of the martyrs will not fol- 
 low them, and that they shall not reap as they 
 
212 
 
 have sown ; and that the wicked, instead of rising 
 to shame and everlasting contempt, shall rise to 
 enjoy themselves on the earth, and plague and 
 persecute the redeemed for ages. But since the 
 latter alternative is utterly incompatible with the 
 plainest testimonies of the word of God ; we can- 
 not for a moment hesitate to reject a tenet which 
 entails so many falsehoods and absurdities. 
 
 But since this passage does not assert the literal 
 resurrection of the martyred saints, we may be 
 very properly asked, 
 
 II. What does it really mean. 
 
 We can be at no loss to determine what is meant 
 by the first resurrection, by attending to what is 
 intended by the second resurrection. 
 
 From the fact that the rest of the dead as really 
 live at the close of the Millennium, as that the 
 saints live during it: they must be raised at the 
 end of the Millennium, exactly in the same sense, 
 in which the martyrs are raised at its beginning. 
 But the end of the Millennium, as Mr. Faber has 
 justly observed, is not the end of the world. Cen- 
 turies intervene betwixt the termination of the 
 Millennium and the consummation of all things. 
 But as we find that the wicked when they rise, 
 come forth to the resurrection of damnation : it 
 is absolutely incredible that, when they are raised 
 at the expiration of the Millennium, they will be 
 let loose' upon the earth ; and permitted, in their 
 bodies which have been raised from the grave, to 
 
213 
 
 walk the world at large, to follow the pleasures of 
 life, and engage in molesting and injuring the 
 just. 
 
 As it cannot be a literal resurrection of the 
 wicked ; it naturally follows that it must be a fig- 
 urative one, the revival of the principles of vice 
 and impiety. That this is the case appears unde- 
 niable on comparing the nineteenth with the 
 twentieth chapter. In the close of the nineteenth, 
 the apostle says, w I saw the beast, and the kings 
 of the earth, and their armies, gathered together 
 to make war against him that sat on the horse, and 
 against his army. And the beast was taken, and 
 with him the false prophet that wrought miracles 
 before him, with which he deceived them that had 
 received the mark of the beast, and them that 
 worshipped his image. These both were cast alive 
 into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And 
 the remnant," «< homoi the rest, " were slain with 
 the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which 
 sword proceeded out of his mouth : and all the 
 fowls were filled with their flesh." 
 
 Such is the close of the nineteenth chapter. The 
 twentieth opens with an account of the binding of 
 Satan, and the first resurrection : and then at the 
 fifth verse adds, lQ But the rest" ol \oncoi, the iden- 
 tical remnant, who, chap. xix. 21, were slain with 
 the sword of him that sat upon the throne; the rem- 
 nant or " rest of the dead lived not again until 
 the thousand years were finished." Whenever 
 these thousand years expire, they recover the life 
 
214 
 
 which they had lost. Satan is let loose. He be- 
 gins to organize an army against the church of 
 God. He goes out to deceive the nations which 
 are in the four quarters of the earth. And now 
 the renovating influences of the Holy Spirit being 
 restrained, the enemy of all goodness is too suc- 
 cessful. Religion languishes. Worldliness and 
 carnality abound. The earth is overrun with im- 
 piety and profligacy. And the dreadful apostacy 
 ends in a general confederacy of the ungodly 
 against the saints of the Most High. Gog and 
 Magog, with forces numerous as the sand of the 
 sea, go up on the breadth of the earth, and en- 
 compass the camp of the saints. 
 
 This is the resurrection of the rest of the dead; 
 who had no share in the first resurrection ; who 
 were neither blessed nor holy; nor had their names 
 written in the book of life. Individually they had 
 no existence till the Millennium was ended. But 
 by adopting the irreligious principles, and imitat- 
 ing the lawless practices of their antichristian 
 predecessors, who had lorded it over the heritage 
 of God, during the long and dreary reign of in- 
 fidel, and papal tyranny, previous to the Millen- 
 nium; they are branded with the same name, and 
 subjected to a similar fate.* 
 
 And since the second resurrection is not the res- 
 
 * Those who wish to see a more ample elucidation of this sub- 
 ject, may consult Whitby on the Millennium, Chapter III. or 
 Faber's Sacred Calendar, vol. III. pp. 472 — 474>. 
 
215 
 
 urrection of the wicked dead to life, but the re- 
 vival of wicked and irreligious principles and 
 practices : common sense and rational consistency 
 require us to interpret the first resurrection, not of 
 the re-animating of the dead bodies of the martyrs, 
 but of the general and universal prevalence of 
 their pure principles, and devout, holy, and 
 heavenly conduct. 
 
 This interpretation is in perfect harmony with 
 the idiom of the sacred writings. There we fre- 
 quently find a natural unconverted condition re- 
 presented as a state of death. M The widow that 
 liveth in pleasure, is dead while she liveth." " Let 
 the" spiritually " dead bury their" literal " dead." 
 Conversion, on the other hand, is denominated a 
 resurrection from the dead, and a passing from 
 death unto life. The language of the Gospel to 
 the careless and irreligious is, " Awake thou that 
 sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall 
 give thee light." Eph. v. 14. Believers are ad- 
 dressed as having been dead in tresspasses and 
 sins ; and, by regeneration, quickened together 
 with Christ : Eph. ii. 1 — 6 : and are exhorted to 
 yield themselves unto God" as those who are alive 
 from the dead." Rom. vi. 13. 
 
 When on their restoration to Jerusalem Ezra 
 says, " Now, for a little space, grace hath been 
 shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a 
 remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his 
 holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, 
 and give us a little reviving in our bondage:" 
 
216 
 
 Chap. ix. 8: Does he intend to assert that he 
 and his brethren were literally dead; and that 
 through the kindness of the kings of Persia, they 
 were literally restored to life? When the Psalm- 
 ist says, C( Thou who hast shewn me great and 
 sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and bring 
 me up from the depths of the earth :" when in his 
 own name and that of the church he says, " Let 
 thy hand be upon the Man of thy right hand, 
 upon the Son of man, whom thou madest strong 
 for thyself: so will we not go back from thee : 
 quicken us, and we will call upon thy name:" 
 when he adds, " Wilt thou not revive us again, 
 that thy people may rejoice in thee?" Psal. lxxi. 
 20: lxxx. 17, 18: Ixxxv. 7: in these and in sim- 
 ilar cases ; though the words in the Hebrew and 
 Septuagint are still more forcibly expressive, than 
 those in our version, of the literal communication 
 of life; can any rational man believe that the 
 Psalmist supposed that himself, and the church 
 were literally dead ; and were, in answer to his 
 prayer, to be instantly restored to life ? 
 
 When in the joy of his heart upon the return 
 of the prodigal, the Father said to his elder son, 
 " It was meet that we should make merry and be 
 glad ; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive 
 again ; and was lost, and is found :" Luke xv. 
 32: Will any man affirm that the prodigal was 
 literally dead, and literally restored to life? When 
 Paul says, " If the casting away of them," the 
 Jews, " be the reconciling of the world, what 
 
217 
 
 shall the receiving of them be but life from the 
 dead?" Rom. xi. 15: Will any man, except a 
 Millenarian, maintain that the conversion of the 
 Jews will disturb the repose of the grave, and 
 produce a universal resurrection of the dead ? 
 
 All agree that the Millennium will not com- 
 mence till the seventh trumpet has sounded. But 
 on looking into the eleventh chapter of Revela- 
 tions, we find that during the blast of the sixth 
 trumpet, which began to sound, A. D. 1301, and 
 ended, A. D. 1697,* the beast that ascends out 
 of the bottomless pit makes war against two 
 Witnesses who are about to finish their testimony, 
 and overcomes, and kills them. The beast kills 
 them out-right : for their dead bodies lie upon the 
 street of the great city, which spiritually is called 
 Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was 
 crucified. This event gives the most unbounded 
 joy to the inhabitants of the antichristian world. 
 They will not allow the bodies of these murdered 
 men to be interred. But to their consternation 
 and terror, after three days and a half, the Spirit 
 of life from God enters into them, and they stand 
 upon their feet; and great fear falls on them that 
 see them. 
 
 Some have very strangely supposed that these 
 two Witnesses are the Holy Scriptures, and that 
 they were slain when Christianity was proscribed. 
 
 * Faber's Sacred Calendar, vol, II. pp. 430—432, 
 
SIS 
 
 A. D. 1793, by the French convention.* But, 
 as has been very justly observed by Mr. Cunning- 
 hame,"]' the calm revocation of this impious de- 
 cree, and the peaceful restoration of Christian 
 worship, A. D. 1796, is very unlike the powerful 
 emblems employed to describe the unexpected res- 
 urrection of the Witnesses, and the consternation 
 and terror with which that event inspired their 
 enemies, 
 
 It is far more credible that the death of the 
 Witnesses took place, either when the Protestant 
 confederates of the Smalcaldic league were defeat- 
 ed in the battle of Mulburgh, A. D. 1547: or in 
 the dreadful dispersion and carnage of the Vallen- 
 ses and Albigenses from A. D. 1686, till A. D. 
 1689. 
 
 In the " same hour" in which the Witnesses 
 arose, " there was a great earthquake, and the 
 tenth part of the city fell," or revolted from the 
 See of Rome. This was the case at the reforma- 
 tion, when Britain and several other states shook 
 off the papal yoke. And on the restoration of 
 the exiled Albigenses and Vallenses to their native 
 land; the Revolution in Great Britain, by which 
 Popery was proscribed, and the Protestant faith 
 secured, was accomplished. 
 
 But let the Witnesses be who they may, and 
 
 * Frere's Combined View, p. 90. Irving on Prophecy, pp. 
 97 — 118, second edition. 
 
 f Scheme of Prophetic arrangement, pp. 97 — 99. 
 
219 
 
 let them have been put to death when they would, 
 it is unquestionable that their resurrection is al- 
 ready past. And whether we refer it to the res- 
 toration of Christianity in France in 1796; to the 
 return of the Piedmontese Christians to their val- 
 leys in 1689; or to the independence of the Ger- 
 man Protestants in 1550: it must be admitted 
 that their resurrection is purely figurative. If the 
 Witnesses are considered as the holy Scriptures; 
 as they are incapable of a literal death, so are 
 they of a literal resurrection : and if the Witness- 
 es are allowed to be the faithful contenders for the 
 truth, either in France or Germany, their resur- 
 rection is equally metaphorical. Since the apos- 
 tles fell asleep no authentic record attests the resur- 
 rection of a single individual. If, as the former 
 class of interpreters maintain, the Witnesses are 
 the holy Scriptures, and both their death and 
 resurrection are metaphorical ; they can have no 
 just complaint when we affirm that the first resur- 
 rection, Rev. xx. 6, is also figurative. And those 
 who believe that the Witnesses are the faithful, 
 who resisted the abominations of Popery, and 
 sealed their adherence to the word of God with 
 their blood; must also acknowledge that these 
 men, Rev. xi, have enjoyed no literal resurrection; 
 and, that unless the context otherwise determines, 
 the language of Rev. xx. 6, apparently expressive 
 of a literal, may in reality denote no more than a 
 spiritual, resurrection. 
 
 But if this is insufficient to prove that the word, 
 
220 
 
 resurrection, is occasionally employed to denote a 
 moral or religious change, let us turn to Ezek. 
 xxxvii. Here is a description of the situation of 
 the Jews, in their present unbelief, dispersion, 
 and wretchedness. Language can afford no terms 
 more forcibly descriptive of death than what the 
 prophet actually applies to the present condition 
 of that ancient and interesting, but guilty and 
 miserable, people. " The hand of the Lord was 
 upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the 
 Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley 
 which was full of bones, and caused me to pass 
 by them round about, and behold there were very 
 many in the open valley ; and lo, they were very 
 dry." v. 1. 2. And no words can more strongly des- 
 cribe a literal resurrection than those which are em- 
 ployed to foretell their conversion to the Gospel 
 and their restoration to their own land. " And he 
 said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live ? 
 And I answered O Lord God, thou knowest. 
 Again he said unto me, Prophecy upon these 
 bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear 
 the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God 
 unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath 
 to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will 
 lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh 
 upon you, and cover you with skin, and put 
 breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall 
 know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I 
 was commanded : and as I prophesied, there was 
 a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came 
 
221 
 
 together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, 
 lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, 
 and the skin covered them above: but there was 
 no breath in them. Then said he unto me, 
 Propecy unto the wind, prophecy, son of man, 
 and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, 
 Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe 
 upon these slain, that they may live. So I proph- 
 esied, as he commanded me, and the breath came 
 into them, and they lived, and stood up upon 
 their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he 
 said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the 
 whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our 
 bones are dryed, and our hope is lost; we are 
 cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy, and 
 say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Be- 
 hold, O my people, I will open your graves, and 
 cause you to come up out of your graves, and 
 bring you into the land of Israel : And ye shall 
 know that I am the Lord, when I have opened 
 your graves, O my people, and brought you up 
 out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in 
 you, and ye shall live ; and I shall place you in 
 your own land: then shall ye know that I the 
 Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the 
 
 LORD." 
 
 After all however who, in his sober senses, will 
 assert that the Jewish nation is now literally dead? 
 and that their conversion will be accompanied 
 with the resurrection of their ancestors ? of all 
 their ancestors, whether religions or irreligious? 
 
222 
 
 Finding therefore that, when the prodigal was 
 said to be dead and alive again ; that when the re- 
 ceiving of the Jews is declared to be life from the 
 dead; that when the Spirit of life entered into the 
 Witnesses, and they stood upon their feet; and 
 that when speaking of the conversion of the Hebrew 
 nation, God promises to open their graves and 
 bring them up out of their graves ; no literal res- 
 urrection is intended: in the face of all that pins 
 down Rev. xx. 6, to a figurative sense, how can 
 we affirm that it denotes a literal resurrection ? 
 
 Since the first resurrection must be understood 
 figuratively, it may be asked 
 
 III. How the successive generations of those, 
 who, during the Millennium, shall possess the 
 spirit and principles of the martyred saints, can 
 be identified with them who have been beheaded 
 for the witness of Jesus and the word of God ? 
 In other words, How can those who merely in- 
 herit their fidelity be distinguished by their names? 
 
 These questions may be answered by others. 
 How can we speak of a second Knox ? another 
 Cranmer? a modern Luther? Ages after the 
 waves of desolation had flowed over the devoted 
 cities of the plain, and their guilty inhabitants had 
 gone to their own place; how could Isaiah, chap, 
 i. 10, addressing his countrymen, say, " Hear the 
 word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear un- 
 to the law of our God, ye people of Gommorrah?" 
 And why was John the Baptist called Elias ? 
 
223 
 
 John was the son of Zecharias and Elizabeth. 
 Centuries before his birth, the Tishbite had been 
 in the world of glory. But because he possessed 
 the same spirit, John was distinguished by the same 
 name. " His disciples asked him, saying, Why 
 then say the scribes that Elias must first come ? 
 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias 
 shall truly first come and restore all things. But 
 I say unto you, that Elias is come already, and 
 they knew him not, but have done unto him what- 
 soever they listed : likewise shall also the Son of 
 man suffer of them. Then the disciples under- 
 stood that he spake unto them of John the Bap- 
 tist." Mat. xvii. 10—13. Elsewhere when 
 speaking of the Baptist, Jesus declared, " If ye 
 will receive it, this is Elias, who was to come." 
 Mat. xi. 14. 
 
 This saying however of our blessed Lord is not 
 received. Our friends are quite unable to deter- 
 mine what to make of the prophecy of Malachi 
 respecting Elijah: but they are perfectly certain 
 that John the Baptist was not the Elias who was 
 to come. Mr. Irving and Ben-Ezra expect Eli- 
 jah to appear a second time in person. Irving's 
 Pre. Dis. p. 5: Ben-Ezra, vol. II. p. 302. Mr. 
 King is positive that Elijah was only the incarna- 
 tion of an angel, who re-appeared in the person 
 of the Baptist, and is to return a third time, be- 
 fore the supposed personal reign of Christ on 
 earth. Morsels of Criticism, vol. I. pp. 221 — 
 315. The collocutors in the Dialogues on Pro- 
 
224 
 
 phecy, Part III. pp. 236 — 239 ; have ascertained, 
 as they imagine, that it is not the person, but the 
 Spirit of Elias, which is to precede the second 
 coming of Christ. This Spirit has come already. 
 " The spirit of prophecy has been in abeyance, as 
 it were, ever since the third century, a period of 
 1500 years, until now, when it has pleased God 
 to awaken the attention of his church again to the 
 subject, and to excite many persons in every part 
 of England, at one and the same time, to cry, 
 6 Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour 
 of his judgments is come? The virgins are gone 
 out to meet the bride; the cry is making, ' Be- 
 hold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet 
 him.' This, then, is the spirit of Elias, testify- 
 ing in us of the second coming of Christ in his 
 glorified body, as it did in John of the first com- 
 ing of Christ in his body of humiliation." " Phi- 
 lalethes — I think you have made out this case 
 very clearly." 
 
 They imagine that the prediction of Malachi 
 could not be fulfilled in the Baptist, because the 
 prophet connects the coming of Elias with the 
 great and dreadful day of the Lord; and asks who 
 may abide the day of his coming? and stand when 
 he appeareth? This language, they suppose, can- 
 not be applied to the first, humble, and peaceful 
 advent of our Lord ; and therefore it must refer 
 to his second glorious appearing. 
 
 But when we remember that the writings of 
 Malachi were primarily directed to the Jews; that 
 
225 
 
 Jesus was set for the fall as well as the rising 
 again of many in Israel ; that in a certain sense, 
 he came not to send peace on earth, but a sword; 
 that the destruction of Jerusalem and the disper- 
 sion of the Jews, were to the Hebrew nation a 
 great and dreadful day; and that for eighteen 
 years " the earth," or the land of Israel has been 
 smitten with a curse: when we remember this, 
 we see abundant reason to maintain, that the 
 prophecy of Malachi refers to no other events 
 than those which followed the first advent of 
 Christ. This is farther manifest from the decla- 
 ration that he would " come to his temple." He 
 must therefore, have come while the temple was 
 standing. At his second advent, there will, even 
 on their own principles, be no temple. For 
 since they affirm that nothing can convert the 
 Jews but the second advent of the Messiah ; at 
 that advent the unconverted Jews can have no 
 temple, which could be called his own, ready for 
 his reception. This fact in conjunction with our 
 Lord's assurance " ELIAS IS COME AL- 
 READY," ought to decide the matter. " This 
 is he, whom the prophet spake of, whether they 
 receive and believe it or not." * 
 
 In the same manner, therefore, that the Baptist 
 by possessing the Spirit, was distinguished by the 
 name of Elias ; when the earth is filled with men 
 
 * Guthrie of Fenwick's Commentary on Mat. ii. 14. MS. 
 K 
 
226 
 
 endowed with the faith and fortitude of the mar- 
 tyrs, it may be said to be peopled with those who 
 have been beheaded for the witness of Christ and 
 the word of God. This will be the case in the 
 Millennium. The dark-minded ruffians, who shed 
 the blood of the saints; the unfeeling monsters, 
 who coolly gazed at the lamentable spectacle; the 
 profane witlings, who dressed up the heart-rend- 
 ing narrative of the sufferings of Christ's devoted 
 followers, to form a subject of merriment to mo- 
 dern infidels; and the baptized heathens of Bri- 
 tain, who had hearts to enjoy the revolting and 
 sickening tale, and applauded the wretched crea- 
 tures who had furnished them with the unhallowed 
 sport; will then enjoy no successors nor represent- 
 atives. The world will be occupied by men of 
 another description. Those, who then shall pos- 
 sess the place of our habitation, will never question 
 whether the patience, fortitude, and piety of our 
 illustrious martyrs; or the impiety and buffoonery 
 of their revilers have been most beneficial to society. 
 Those who live in that delightful era will make 
 Christ their all in all ; and receive and venerate 
 every character and deed that bears a resemblance 
 to his glorious image. " The cause in which the 
 martyrs have suffered will then triumph: and while 
 the names of their persecutors will rot in execra- 
 tion, their labours will be in request, and their 
 character embalmed in the memory of mankind."* 
 
 * Fuller on the Apocalypse, p. 355. 
 
227 
 
 So much for the separate resurrection of the 
 saints, a thousand years before that of the wicked; 
 an event of which no trace can be found in the 
 sacred volume, and which exists only in the brains 
 of our Millenarian brethren. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE FOR THE PERSON- 
 AL ADVENT OF CHRIST, PRIOR TO THE MIL- 
 
 The personal advent of Christ before the Mil- 
 lennium, is the life and soul of the Millenarian 
 scheme. Deprive Millenarians of this postulate, 
 and all their learned and laborious reasoning be- 
 comes utterly insignificant and useless, and the 
 whole of their magnificent and visionary system 
 falls to the ground. They must then bid adieu 
 to their physical ameliorations of the earth, to the 
 resurrection of the just and their reign upon this 
 globe for a thousand years, to the propagation of 
 the Gospel through the world by the bodily pres- 
 ence of the Redeemer, and the other wild and 
 chimerical dreams to which they cling with such 
 overweening fondness. 
 
 K2 
 
228 
 
 Fully aware of the importance of this article of 
 their creed, its advocates have exerted every effort 
 to establish its truth; and have employed all the 
 stores which they possess of erudition and argu- 
 ment to endow it with some kind of plausibility, 
 and force it upon the easy and capacious faith of 
 the ignorant and credulous, who are ever ready to 
 admire what is strange, and assent to whatever is 
 propounded with the airs of consummate self- 
 confidence, and high scorn of men of more mighty 
 intellect, and more exalted moral worth. 
 
 We have already seen that a personal advent of 
 Christ before the Millennium, is utterly repugnant 
 to the whole letter and spirit of the word of God; 
 and cannot, for a single moment, be entertained 
 by any man who knows the meaning of his Bible, 
 and bows to its sacred and paramount authority. 
 In the face of all that the Scriptures affirm to the 
 contrary, some may be disposed to inquire, what 
 can have induced any men who regard the Bible 
 as the word of God, to expect the immediate re- 
 turn of Christ, and his reign with his saints on 
 earth ? and by what arguments do they support a 
 notion so monstrous and incredible? 
 
 The proof which they have attempted to give of 
 this tenet, is uncommonly tedious, and of a most 
 multifarious description. Almost every thing in 
 the sacred volume relating to the incarnation of 
 Christ and his mediatorial undertaking; to his do- 
 minion over creation, and his sovereignty over his 
 church; to the work of grace in the hearts of be- 
 
229 
 
 lievers, and the glory laid up for them in heaven; 
 the types, promises, and prophecies, respecting 
 the religious privileges and spiritual enjoyments of 
 believers, have been dragged into the Millenarian 
 service, and violently compelled to prop up a hy- 
 pothesis against which they loudly and earnestly 
 reclaim. 
 
 In reviewing the evidence offered in support of 
 their theory, we shall follow the arrangement 
 adopted by Mr. Cunninghame; and add a few ob- 
 servations upon the subsidiary arguments* of a 
 miscellaneous nature which his auxiliaries have 
 brought to his assistance. 
 
 The reader may discover the design of his 
 pamphlet from the following avowal : " I feel no 
 hesitation in acknowledging that wherever a future 
 advent or presence, wxpvcuc, of our Lord is fore- 
 told in Scripture, we who believe in his personal 
 advent and reign, do understand one and the same 
 advent to be uniformly intended." Summary 
 View, p. 1. 
 
 On this we have to remark, in passing, that we 
 also believe in the personal advent of Christ, and 
 that he will come only once. But we never dream 
 of applying what is said of his spiritual or provi- 
 dential coming to his bodily presence: and whether 
 any particular passage refers to his personal or 
 spiritual presence, we never can ascertain in any 
 other way, than by examining the terms employed 
 in connection with the context where they occur. 
 
 In illustrating and confirming his leading posi- 
 
230 
 
 tion, Mr. Cunninghame thinks that he has arrived 
 at the following conclusions. 1. " That the prin- 
 cipal passages of prophecy which speak chrono- 
 logically and circumstantially of the future ad- 
 vent of Messiah, do one and all refer to the 
 period immediately introductory to the Millenni- 
 um. 2. That the three nouns substantive which 
 are used to express the advent in the New Testa- 
 ment, do every one of them negative the idea of 
 a spiritual coming, and do necessarily imply that 
 the advent is real, personal, and corporeal. 3. 
 That two of these words conjoined being used to 
 link the advent to an event, which by the unani- 
 mous consent of the church precedes in time the 
 Millennium, we are driven to the conclusion, that 
 the advent which synchronises with that event is 
 the real and personal coming of the Lord to 
 judge the world. 4. That to maintain a spiritual 
 advent is in direct contradiction to the angelic an- 
 nunciation, which was uttered at the ascension of 
 our Lord. 5. That to maintain a spiritual advent 
 of the Man Christ Jesus, includes in it the virtual 
 denial of his proper and complete humanity. 6. 
 That the return of our Lord to this earth, at the 
 period of the restitution of all things, which must 
 be identified with the Millennium, may be inferred 
 from the words of Peter, in Acts ill. 19 — 21." 
 Summary View, pp. 17, 18. 
 
 I. His first conclusion is, M That the principal 
 passages of prophecy which speak chronologically 
 
231 
 
 and circumstantially of the future advent of Mes- 
 siah, do one and all refer to the period immedi- 
 ately introductory to the Millennium." 
 
 In support of this position he states, that " The 
 first text in the chronological prophecies wherein 
 we find the second advent clearly predicted is Dan. 
 vii. 13, 14. After beholding in the preceding con- 
 text the judgment executed by the Ancient of 
 days on the body of the fourth beast, or the Ro- 
 man empire, in its last state, the prophet adds, 
 * I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like 
 the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, 
 and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought 
 him near before him. And there was given him 
 dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all 
 people, nations, and languages, should serve him: 
 his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which 
 shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which 
 shall not be destroyed.' 
 
 " If it be asked, to what period in the general 
 chronology of prophecy this vision belongs, the 
 answer must be, that it clearly and indisputably is 
 to be referred to that season when, the seventh 
 Apocalyptic trumpet having sounded, great voices 
 are heard in heaven, that f the kingdoms of this 
 world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and 
 of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.'. 
 Rev. xi. 15. In other words, the advent of Mes- 
 siah described by Daniel takes place at the destruc- 
 tion of the fourth or Roman monarchy, and imme- 
 diately before the millennium. — And that this is 
 
232 
 
 the case, is now so universally admitted by the 
 interpreters of prophecy, that to enter upon the 
 proof of it were altogether superfluous. Let the 
 reader who is uninformed on the general subject, 
 only consider with care and attention the parallel 
 passages of Dan. ii. 34, 35, 44, 45; and Dan. vii. 
 9—14, 18, 22, 26, 27, and then compare both 
 with Rev. xi. 15, xix. and xx. and he cannot for 
 a moment remain in doubt that they all refer to 
 the same period and the same events." Summary 
 View, pp. 3, 4. 
 
 To this a long note is subjoined, containing a se- 
 vere criticism upon Scott and Maclaurin. 
 
 " It might have been thought impossible that any 
 commentator should have so entirely mistaken the 
 meaning and time of Daniel's vision of the Son of 
 man coming with the clouds of heaven (so often re- 
 ferred to in the New Testament) as to apply it to the 
 Ascension of our Lord to heaven ; and yet it ap- 
 pears that Maclaurin, as quoted by Mr. Scott, in 
 his commentary, actually falls into this glaring 
 prophetic anachronism. ' The prophet,' says 
 Mr. M., ' does not represent him as coming in 
 the clouds from heaven to earth (as at the general 
 judgment) but as coming with the clouds of heav- 
 en from his former residence towards the throne 
 of God/ There is no end of the vagaries of 
 commentators, and certainly this is one almost of 
 unequalled magnitude. Happily, however, the 
 admirable precision of the scriptural language af- 
 fords a sure and easy means of refuting this most 
 
233 
 
 palpable error of Mr. Maclaurin, which, while it 
 absolutely sets every principle of prophetic chron- 
 ology at defiance, violates no less all the analogies 
 of the scriptural phraseology." — A great display of 
 learning succeeds to shew how ascent is expressed 
 in Hebrew and Chaldee. Though Maclaurin seems 
 wrong in his explanation of the prophecy, Mr. Cun- 
 ninghame is just as far from being right in his ani- 
 madversions. But on all this erudite and useless la- 
 bour, any remarks are superseded by the following 
 observations of an acute and intelligent critic. " To 
 us this appears somewhat amusing; and since Mr. 
 Cunninghame possesses so much learning, and is 
 so much inclined to meddle with criticism, we 
 would take the liberty of hinting to him, that, in 
 order to excel in the latter deparment, it is neces- 
 sary to make some use of the understanding. The 
 art of criticism, like every other art, is founded 
 in common sense; and if a man be deficient in that 
 gift, the mere knowledge of words will never make 
 him a critic. In all the languages spoken by men, 
 we presume the expressions to go up and to go 
 down, to come up and to come down, or what cor- 
 responds to them, signify just to go up and to go 
 down, to come up and to come down; but to come 
 and to go simply, or what corresponds to them, 
 signify to move in any direction you please, up- 
 ward or downward, hither or athwart, from any 
 one point in space, to any other point in space. 
 The business, then, of a critic or an interpreter, 
 if he would ascertain the precise direction of the 
 K 3 
 
motion when such expressions occur, is simply to 
 determine what is the place of the moving object, 
 in relation to the object towards which it moves. 
 If this is done, it cannot surely be difficult to say, 
 whether the motion is upward or downward, from 
 heaven to earth, or from earth to heaven ; and in 
 the case before us, we should think the decision is 
 abundantly easy. The Son of Man came to the 
 Ancient of days, or was brought near before him. 
 The only question then is, Where has the Ancient 
 of days his abode ? Where do the Scriptures uni- 
 formly represent him as erecting his throne ? If 
 it be on earth, then the coming of the Son of Man 
 was a descent, according to Mr. Cunninghame; if 
 it be in heaven, then the coming of the Son of man 
 was an ascent, according to the interpreters, Mac- 
 laurin and Scott." Edin. Theol. Mag. May 1828, 
 p. 267. 
 
 Passing on to the New Testament, Mr. Cunning- 
 hame refers to 2 Thess. ii. 3 — 12: and then to Rev. 
 xix. 11—21: Mat. xxiv. 30 : Mark xiii. 26: Luke 
 xxi. 27: Rev. xiv. 14: Isa. Ixiii. 1 — 9: Joel iii. 13, 
 14; Zech. xii. 10—12: Rev. i. 7: Mat. xxvi. 64: 
 Mark xiv. 62. These various passages he consid- 
 ers as strictly synchronical, and as all foretelling 
 the second personal advent of the Son of God, to 
 destroy Antichrist, and judge the quick and dead. 
 If either he, or any other man, can prove that 
 these passages are strictly synchronical; that they 
 foretell one and the same event: and if he can also 
 prove that any one of them either affirms or neces- 
 
235 
 
 sarily implies, that the advent which it announces is 
 personal: then our friends will carry their point, and 
 all must admit that Christ will come in person to 
 destroy antichrist, and introduce the Millennium. 
 
 But if these texts do not synchronise; if, on 
 examination, some shall be found to refer to one 
 event, and others to another; some to a period 
 anterior to the Millennium, and others to an era 
 long posterior; what will be the consequence? 
 Why, we shall be left exactly where we were : and 
 obliged to believe that some of them describe a 
 personal, and others a spiritual advent. 
 
 That this actually is the case, the most super- 
 ficial examination of the texts which have been en- 
 umerated, is perfectly sufficient to convince us. 
 
 1. In this list we find, 2 Thess. ii. 3—12. That 
 this passage refers to the destruction of antichrist, 
 and to a period prior to the Millennium, there 
 cannot be the slightest doubt. Whether it syn- 
 chronises with Rev. xiv. 14 : Isa. lxiii. 1 — 9 : Joel 
 iii. 13, 14; we shall not stop to inquire. But 
 with Rev. xi. 15: and xx 3 it clearly cannot coin- 
 cide. These passages refer to a period when the 
 people are all righteous, and the earth is filled 
 with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. 
 But 2 Thess. ii. 3 — 12, relates to the destruction 
 of antichrist; and betwixt his destruction and the 
 establishment of the reign of millennial blessedness, 
 when the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought 
 in, and all Israel shall be saved ; we learn from 
 
236 
 
 Dan. xii. 12, an interval of seventy-five years in- 
 tervenes. 
 
 Here then is one anachronism, as great as if 
 we should say that an event, which shall take 
 place in 1835, is synchronical with another which 
 will not occur till 1910. 
 
 2. In this list we find Mat. xxiv. 30: Markxiii. 
 26: and Luke xxi. 27, represented as identical 
 with 2 Thess. ii. 3 — 12. But whatever may be 
 the object which our Redeemer had ultimately in 
 view in these texts : by the declaration with which 
 that prediction is accompanied, " This generation 
 shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled;" 
 Mat. xxiv. 34 compared with xxiii. 36; our Lord 
 has rendered it unquestionable that his primary 
 object was to foretell the destruction of Jerusalem 
 and the termination of the Jewish economy. 
 
 Here then is a second anachronism of still 
 greater magnitude than the former. But this is 
 not all. 
 
 3. Mat. xxvi, 64: Mark xiv, 62: and Rev. i.7, 
 are also placed in the same list, and considered as 
 synchronical with 2 Thess. ii. 3 — 12. 
 
 Now these texts relate to an era when every 
 eye shall see the Son of God; when the high 
 priest, those that pierced him, and all kindreds 
 of the earth shall see Jesus, not on the earth, 
 but in the very act of approaching it. But as 
 none, even of the Millenarians, with the exception 
 of Ben-Ezra, vol, ii. p. 268, expect the resurrection 
 
237 
 
 of any of the wicked till the close at least of the 
 Millennium, if not for ages after it; it is absolutely 
 impossible that they can see Christ as he descends 
 from heaven, if he is to come before the Millen- 
 nium. But when he comes, these texts tell us that 
 the wicked shall see him. " Behold he cometh 
 with clouds, and every eye shall see him" The 
 advent therefore, to which they refer, is totally 
 distinct from that to which 2 Thess. ii. 3 — 12 re- 
 lates; and they prove the very reverse of that for 
 which Millenarians produce them. They prove 
 that Christ will come in person at the end of the 
 world, at the general resurrection, and final judg- 
 ment. They coincide with such texts as Mat. xxv. 
 31—46: Acts i. 11. hi. 19—21: 1 Cor. xv. 23— 
 28: 1 Thess. iv. 15—17: Rev. xx. 11: xxii. 12. 
 And unless, in opposition to the authority of Paul, 
 Heb. ix. 27, 28, we have recourse to the desperate 
 and audacious shift of the author of the " Cry from 
 the Desert," p. 51, and believe that Christ is to 
 come in person a third time; we shall be compelled 
 to conclude that he will not come personally to 
 destroy antichrist, and reign on earth during the 
 Millennium. 
 
 Since therefore, the respectable author has 
 thrown together texts, relating to no less than four 
 distinct events, the destruction of Jerusalem, the 
 overthrow of antichrist, the introduction of the 
 Millennium, and the end of the world; events 
 separated from each other by a long interval, some 
 by an interval of many centuries; his attempt to 
 
238 
 
 identify the personal coming of Christ with the 
 fall of antichrist is a complete failure. He leaves 
 the subject exactly where he found it. For though 
 the last class of texts refer to the personal ap- 
 pearing of the Redeemer ; yet since they refer to 
 a period far distant from that which is announced 
 by the texts of the second and third classes, it 
 by no means follows that Christ will return, either 
 at the extinction of Popery, or the commencement 
 of the Millennium. Since he did not come in 
 person at the destruction of Jerusalem, and his 
 advent is represented in the same terms on the 
 two latter occasions; the presumption certainly is 
 that he will not come in person either at the over- 
 throw of antichrist, or the introduction of the 
 Millennium. 
 
 Are any inclined to ask, " If the texts that 
 speak of the coming of Christ to destroy anti- 
 christ, are not to be interpreted strictly and lit- 
 erally of his personal appearing, what do they 
 mean ?" it may be answered, that they denote our 
 Redeemer's spiritual and providential presence to 
 overthrow vice and impiety, and clear the earth of 
 all that opposes the progress and power of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 That this is the case will very soon appear. 
 
 Wide as Popery has prevailed, who will affirm 
 that it ever has been, or ever will be commensur- 
 ate with the globe? And if it never has been, 
 and never will be universal ; is it credible that its 
 overthrow will be the crisis of all nations, and the 
 
239 
 
 ruin of the world ? Is this consistent with the gen- 
 eral analogy of the Divine administration ? Does 
 God involve the innocent in the punishment of 
 the guilty? and visit the sins of a single people 
 upon all the inhabitants of the earth ? When the 
 whole world alike participated in the heaven-dar- 
 ing impieties and profligacies of the antediluvians, 
 they were visited with one general and unsparing 
 catastrophe. But when in subsequent ages Egypt, 
 Assyria, and Babylon, signalized themselves, by 
 successively persecuting and oppressing the people 
 of God, did their overthrow convulse the unoffend- 
 ing states and empires ? stop the tide of time ? or 
 shake the solid globe? 
 
 When in the last years that shall pass over this 
 world, violence, outrage, and infidelity, shall 
 become universal; it is but just and meet that 
 the general combination of the ungodly shall be 
 punished with their entire destruction, with the 
 final judgment, and the end of all things earthly. 
 But is it right or reasonable to suppqse, that the 
 sins of Popery wilL be visited upon the heads of 
 those who never heard of its existence? and of 
 those who hate it? who have resisted its encroach- 
 ments? who have been the victims of its barbarity 
 and treachery? and have endured dreary centuries 
 of suffering and sorrow, while contending against 
 its degrading and cruel impositions ? 
 
 This is an opinion which bears improbability on 
 its front j and, unless it is distinctly taught in 
 
240 
 
 Scripture; is utterly inadmissible. But is it taught 
 in Scripture? 
 
 The Scriptures contain both the prediction and 
 the record of the destruction of many idolatrous 
 and persecuting powers. But how is the doom of 
 those criminal and incorrigible nations represented 
 in the sublime and animated language of prophecy? 
 Exactly like that of the fall of the antichristian 
 apostacy, the mystic Babylon, by images bor- 
 rowed from the transactions of the great day of 
 decision. At death men are rewarded individually, 
 and have their everlasting condition decided by 
 their personal character. But nations, as nations, 
 have, no existence in eternity : and therefore, their 
 national crimes are punished by temporal calami- 
 ties; and the punishment inflicted for their sins in 
 their corporate capacity, is represented as their 
 judgment-day: and the metaphors used to pour- 
 tray it, are derived from the proceedings of the 
 day of final retribution. 
 
 Foretelling the destruction of the literal Baby- 
 lon by the sword of the Medes and Persians, the 
 prophet cries, " Behold the day of the Lord Com- 
 eth, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to 
 lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the 
 sinners out of it. For the stars of heaven and 
 the constellations thereof, shall not give their 
 light : the sun shall be darkened in his going 
 forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to 
 shine. And I will punish the world for their 
 
241 
 
 evil, and the wicked for their iniquity." Isa. xiii. 
 9 — 11. See also Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8. Speaking of 
 the punishment of Egypt, the same prophet says, 
 " Behold, the Lord rideth on a swift cloud, and 
 shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt 
 shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of 
 Egypt shall melt in the midst of it," Isa. xix. 1. 
 The ruin of Assyria is thus represented. " Be- 
 hold, the name of the Lord cometh from afar, 
 burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is 
 heavy; his lips are full of indignation, and his 
 tongue is a devouring- fire. — For tophet is ordain- 
 ed of old ; yea, for the king it is prepared : he 
 hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is 
 fire and much wood ; the breath of the Lord like 
 a stream of brimstone doth kindle it." Isa. xxx. 
 27, 33. And the subversion of the Jewish state 
 and of Judaism, are thus announced. " Behold, 
 the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it 
 waste, and turneth it upside down, and scatter- 
 ed abroad the inhabitants thereof. — The earth 
 mourneth and fadeth away; the world languisheth 
 and fadeth away. — The earth is utterly broken 
 down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is 
 moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and 
 fro like a drunkard ; and shall be removed like a 
 cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be 
 heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again. 
 — Then the moon shall be confounded, and the 
 sun ashamed when the Lord of hosts shall reign 
 
242 
 
 in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his 
 ancients gloriously." Isa. xxiv. 1 — 23. 
 
 But though in these and in other cases, the 
 temporal calamities of the guilty nations are de- 
 scribed by figures taken from the second literal 
 advent of our Lord, and the literal day of judg- 
 ment; who will assert that in these instances our 
 Lord came in person to execute the judgments 
 which had been denounced, or that any supernat- 
 ural occurrence took place? And since the event 
 has long ago fulfilled these predictions, and ex- 
 plained the import of the language employed; 
 when the fall of antichrist is foretold in words 
 no more expressive of Christ's bodily presence, 
 than those which are used to announce the over- 
 throw of Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon ; on what 
 principle of rational and consistent interpretation, 
 are we authorized to affirm his personal advent to 
 destroy the mystic Babylon, any more than to 
 overthrow her guilty predecessors?* Without 
 some specific intimation to the contrary, we are 
 bound to believe that the destruction of antichrist 
 will be accomplished, not by his personal pres- 
 ence, but by his providential agency. But in- 
 stead of any such intimation, we have already 
 seen that the Bible connects the personal advent 
 
 * This subject has been treated with uncommon ability by 
 Mr. Faber in his Sacred Calendar of Prophecy, vol. I. pp. 215 
 —239. 
 
243 
 
 of Christ with the resurrection of the dead, the 
 universal judgment, and the close of all sublunary 
 affairs : and in the face of its repeated and clear 
 testimony to this fact, we are prohibited from ex- 
 pecting his personal return till time shall be no 
 more. 
 
 II. Mr. Cunninghame's second conclusion is, 
 " That the three nouns substantive, which are used 
 to express the advent in the New Testament, do 
 every one of them negative the idea of a spiritual 
 coming, and do necessarily imply that the ad- 
 vent is real, personal, and corporeal." 
 
 To do justice to his argument, it is necessary to 
 consider this in connection with his third conclu- 
 sion: 
 
 III. " That two of these words conjoined, be- 
 ing used to link the advent to an event, which 
 by the unanimous consent of the church precedes 
 in time the Millennium, we are driven to the con- 
 clusion, that the advent which synchronises with 
 that event is the real and personal coming of the 
 Lord to judge the world." 
 
 The three substantive nouns, to which Mr. 
 Cunninghame alludes, are Atto^xXv^ revelation, 
 E7Ti(pccnice, appearance, and n^ova-tcc coming, or pres- 
 ence. " These," he asserts, " are indiscriminately 
 used to signify the second personal advent of our 
 Lord to judge the world; and that it does not ap- 
 pear that any of them is ever used to denote the 
 
244 
 
 spiritual or figurative revelation, or appearance, 
 or advent, or presence of any object, or person, 
 which can be the object of sense." 
 
 Here are two assertions distinctly and broadly 
 advanced. But there is a third, as essential to 
 the success of the argument, which is forgotten : 
 and that is, that these are the only words applied 
 in Scripture to the coming of our Lord. Unless 
 those who adopt that mode of reasoning can 
 prove each of these three prepositions, they in 
 reality prove nothing. If either other words are 
 employed to denote the coming of our Lord, or 
 if the words in question are applied to other sub- 
 jects besides a personal advent, the demonstration 
 completely fails. If the witnesses in court, are 
 either the only persons who were present at a 
 transaction, or the only persons who were present 
 from the beginning to the end; the case under 
 investigation must be decided entirely by their 
 evidence. But if they were present only during a 
 part of the time, or if others as credible as they 
 were present during the whole affair; the parties 
 concerned are entitled to the benefit of their tes- 
 timony, and it is only by the evidence of them all 
 together, that the jury can arrive at a fair and 
 equitable verdict. 
 
 The proof produced by our opponents is de- 
 fective in every respect. Part of their witnesses 
 have been absent for a time; and other witnesses, 
 of equal credit, who were present, can be brought 
 into court, who give a contrary testimony. The 
 
245 
 
 words in question neither uniformly denote the 
 personal advent or presence of those objects or 
 persons which can become objects of sense, nor 
 are they the only words applied to the coming of 
 our Lord. 
 
 1. They do not uniformly denote the presence of 
 the object or person who can be an object of sense. 
 
 Let us try the experiment with Airuuikv^/tg, the 
 first term in the series. Does it uniformly de- 
 note the revelation appearance or presence of what 
 can become an object of sense? No indeed. The 
 person of Christ can be an object of sense. But 
 though the word under consideration occurs, 
 Luke ii. 32; who, that compares that passage 
 with Acts xiii. 47, will be hardy enough to affirm 
 that the Gentiles have been enlightened by the 
 " personal presence" of Christ ? The same word 
 returns, Rev. i. 1, " The revelation of Jesus 
 Christ" But would even Ben-Ezra or Mr. Irving, 
 who speak of the book of Revelation, being an 
 active " revealing of Jesus Christ:" Ir. Pre. Dis. 
 p. 32: would either of them maintain that that 
 book contains the body, or manifests the personal 
 presence of Christ? Whatever ideas they may 
 entertain respecting the transmutation of the ele- 
 ments in the Lord's Supper; it is not likely that 
 they are prepared to assert that the words of that 
 book are transubstantiated into his body. 
 
 " There is one text, Gal. i. 16, which I was 
 inclined to consider as an exception to this re- 
 mark; but as we know that the discovery of 
 
246 
 
 Christ to Paul was by a personal appearance or 
 revelation, (verse 12,) the text which I thought 
 an exception does rather powerfully corroberate 
 the general argument." Cun. Sum. View, p. 13. 
 Now it is to be observed that the apostle there 
 tells us as distinctly that Christ was revealed in 
 him, as that he had a revelation at all. But does 
 Mr. Cunninghame believe, or can he or any other 
 believe, that either the body, or person of Christ, 
 was revealed in Paul? Yet unless he is prepared 
 for this admission, he must allow that Attokcc^v^h 
 does not always denote the personal presence or 
 revelation of an object or person that can be an 
 object of sense. 
 
 More need not be said on this branch of the 
 subject. The above is sufficient to shew the total 
 failure of the attempt to prove, that these substan- 
 tives are never used to denote the spiritual, or fig- 
 urative revelation, or appearance of any object or 
 person, which can be the object of sense. 
 
 But not only do the witnesses produced by the 
 opposite party, contradict the statements which 
 have been made: there are also other witnesses 
 equally competent and credible, whom our op- 
 ponents have refused to call, who distinctly cor- 
 roborate that contradiction. 
 
 2. The terms in question do not exhaust the 
 subject. Other words, equally expressive of per- 
 sonal and corporeal presence, are applied to the 
 spiritual and providential advent of Christ. 
 
 No words are more expressive of personal pres- 
 
24-7 
 
 ence, than being with us, being formed in us, 
 coming to us, abiding and dwelling with us. How 
 can t( any of those persons or objects which can 
 be the object of sense," " be in us," " be formed 
 in us," «« come to us," " abide with us," and 
 "dwell in us;" without bringing their presence 
 along with them ? Yet will any man seriously 
 affirm, that when Christ says, " Lo, I am with 
 you alway;" Mat. xxviii. 20: that when Paul 
 speaks of Christ " being in him," Gal. ii. 20 : and 
 of Christ " being in the Colossians, the hope of 
 glory:" Col. i. 24: will any man gravely affirm 
 that this language is to be understood of his bodily 
 presence? Is it of his personal presence that Paul 
 says, " My little children, of whom I travail in 
 birth again until Christ be formed in you?" Gal. 
 iv. 19. Did Christ refer to his bodily presence 
 when he said, " He that loveth me shall be loved 
 of my Father, and I will love him, and will man- 
 ifest myself to him ?" " if a man love me he will 
 keep my words: and my Father will love him, 
 and we will come unto him, and make our abode 
 with him ?" John xiv. 21, 23. Is it of his corpo- 
 real presence that he adds, " Behold, I stand at 
 the door and knock ; if any man hear my voice, 
 and open the door, I will come into him, and will 
 sup with him, and he with me?" Rev. iii. 20. Is 
 it of a personal bodily visit that the apostle speaks, 
 when to the believers at Ephesus he says of Christ, 
 that he " came and preached peace to you who 
 
248 
 
 were afar off, and to them that were nigh ?" Eph. 
 ii. 17. 
 
 Judgments are denounced against some of the 
 seven churches of Asia. Without repentance, 
 Jesus threatens the church of Ephesus, that he 
 " will come unto her quickly, and remove her can- 
 dlestick out of its place." He threatens the church 
 of Pergamos, saying, " I will come unto thee 
 quickly, and will fght against them with the 
 sword of my mouth.'* To Sardis he says, " If 
 thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a 
 thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will 
 come upon thee." To Philadelphia he says, " Be- 
 hold, I come quickly : hold that fast which thou 
 hast, that no man take thy crown." Rev. ii. iii. 
 
 Now has this promise been fulfilled, and these 
 threatenings executed ? It is long since the last 
 of that generation went down to the dust. Of 
 some of the cities and churches scarcely a vestige 
 remains.* If therefore, the above promise has 
 not ages ago been fulfilled, and the threatenings 
 executed, neither the one nor the other ever can 
 be realized. But none of the words of Christ 
 are allowed to fall to the ground. Soon after he 
 uttered the preceding promise, he came in mercy 
 to the church of Philadelphia, and received the 
 faithful there to himself; and he came in wrath to 
 
 • See Holmes on the Revelation, pp. 6—13. Croly on the 
 Apocalypse, pp. 53—64: and Mr. Lindsay's Letters in the 12th 
 Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 
 
249 
 
 the backsliding and impenitent churches, to sweep 
 them with the besom of destruction. But will 
 any man aver, that when he visited them with the 
 recompense due to their works, Christ came to 
 them in person ? 
 
 Jesus was in the world. He had been in it for 
 years. And yet when addressing the disciples he 
 said : " When they persecute you in this city, flee 
 ye into another: for verily I say unto you, ye 
 shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till 
 the Son of man be come" Mat. x, 23. He had 
 been long in the world, and had associated for 
 years with his disciples, when he said, " Verily 
 I say unto you, There be some standing here 
 who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son 
 of man coming in his kingdom." Mat. xvi. 28. 
 Whether he referred to his transfiguration, to the 
 effusion of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pente- 
 cost, or to the destruction of Jerusalem ; it is evi- 
 dent that this also is an advent which has long 
 ago taken place. For who will say that the apos- 
 tles have not yet tasted death, but are still toiling 
 at the task of traversing the cities of Judea ? 
 
 Foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and 
 the temple, our blessed Lord repeatedly mentions 
 his coming. Mat. xxiv. 27, 37, 39. Many have 
 chosen to consider this prediction, as referring to 
 the end of all things, and others as relating to 
 Christ's return at the overthrow of antichrist. 
 But whatever resemblance there may be betwixt 
 the fall of Jerusalem and the day of final judg- 
 L 
 
250 
 
 ment; on examining the passage, there cannot 
 be the slightest doubt that it was primarily, and 
 principally, intended to describe his return to de- 
 stroy the Jewish capital. It is a coming which 
 was to be preceded by false Christs and false 
 prophets; which was to be accompanied by the 
 captivity of the Jews amongst all nations; and 
 followed by the treading down of Jerusalem by 
 the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are 
 fulfilled. Luke xxi. 24. But can any expect the 
 recurrence of these things at the future personal ad- 
 vent of the Son of God ? When Christ comes 
 as the Judge of quick and dead, will any escape 
 his tribunal by hastening from his presence ? Will 
 any derive advantage from flight? Will some be 
 taken and others left? 
 
 The advent, of which our Redeemer is there 
 speaking, is an advent which was to arrive before 
 all the men of that age could be gathered to their 
 fathers; and which was to be succeeded " hnme- 
 diately" by the darkening of the sun and moon, 
 and the falling of the stars from heaven. To look 
 at the words of our Lord, and then say, that 
 " immediately after," means more than eighteen 
 centuries; and that " this generation shall not 
 pass till all these things be fulfilled," signifies 
 merely till some of them be accomplished ; discov- 
 ers no ordinary degree of critical hardihood. This 
 hardihood has frequently been displayed. But 
 every renewed exhibition of it, only gives fresh 
 evidence that our Lord actually foretold a com- 
 
251 
 
 ing at the destruction of Jerusalem; and demon- 
 strates more clearly, that he did not then come in 
 person, and therefore, that by the language which 
 he employed, he meant a spiritual providential 
 advent. 
 
 To the destruction of Jerusalem, the apostle 
 also evidently refers, when he says, " Yet a little 
 while, and he that shall come will come, and will 
 not tarry." Heb. x. 37, compared with ver. 25. 
 
 Such injunctions as the following are often 
 repeated, '* Be ye also ready; for in such an 
 hour as ye think not the Son of man cometk." 
 " Watch : for ye know neither the day nor the 
 hour wherein the Son of man cometh" And the 
 servant is pronounced blessed 6l whom his Lord 
 when he cometh shall find so doing." Mat. xxiv. 
 42—49; xxv. 13: Mark xiii. 32—37. 
 
 If " wherever a future advent, or presence of 
 our Lord is foretold in Scripture, one and the same 
 event is uniformly understood :" then of all the 
 generations that have passed, or shall pass over 
 the globe, from the ascension of our blessed Lord 
 till he come in the clouds of heaven ; none but the 
 generation alive at his second personal advent 
 could be affected by these injunctions. To the 
 apostles, and to all who have hitherto succeeded 
 them, they have been uttered in vain. The most 
 careless and remiss in the primitive ages, and in 
 the generations following, could neither be sur- 
 prised nor punished for being off their guard at 
 his arrival : for come he did not : nor could the 
 L2 
 
252 
 
 most faithful and zealous derive the slightest ad- 
 vantage from their utmost vigilance : for death 
 cut them down long before their eyes could be 
 blessed with a sight of their Lord's return. 
 
 The question then is, Were the apostles and 
 their successors, and are we stili to the present 
 hour, bound by these injunctions, or not? If 
 they were not, and we are not : then why did our 
 blessed Lord declare, " What I say unto you, I 
 say unto ALL, Watch." But if they and we have 
 been all alike obliged by his express command to 
 watch, because we know not when he cometh : then 
 it inevitably follows that " one and the same ad- 
 vent is not uniformly intended f for though he has 
 come to the apostles and all our believing ances- 
 tors, he has not yet returned in person. 
 
 Believers are often represented as M waiting for 
 the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;" as "look- 
 ing for the Saviour;" as " looking for that bless- 
 ed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great 
 God, even our Saviour;" as " looking for the 
 mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 1 Cor. i. 7: Phil. iii. 20: Titus iv. 13 : Jude 21. 
 
 Now only one generation of living believers can 
 witness the personal advent of Christ. Let all 
 others " wait" and <fi look" as they will, they 
 cannot see him coming in the clouds of heaven. 
 It therefore again follows, either that they are 
 encouraged and taught to entertain vain expecta- 
 tions: or else that the notion, that his coming 
 
253 
 
 always refers to one and the same advent, is false, 
 and must be renounced. 
 
 Do any ask, Since in the two preceding articles, 
 the coming of our Lord does not denote his sec- 
 ond personal advent, what can the expression 
 mean ? It means neither more nor less than the 
 death of the believer. Elsewhere we are informed, 
 that " he that endureth to the end shall be saved." 
 Mat. x. 22. What end ? the end of all things ? 
 No. The contemporaries of the apostles could not 
 live to the end of the world. The end intended is 
 the end of life. What in such texts is called " the 
 end," and in similar passages is denominated €i the 
 coming of Christ," and "the coming of our Lord;" 
 in other parts of the sacred writings is simply de- 
 signated " death." " Be thou faithful unto death, 
 and I will give thee a crown of life." Rev. ii. 10. 
 Neither John nor the believers at Smyrna, could 
 remain alive till the second personal advent of 
 Christ. But if he and they endured unto the end; 
 if they were faithful unto death ; if till the day on 
 which they died, they continued waiting for the 
 coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and held fast 
 their faith and hope; were they in the smallest 
 danger of perdition? Could any man have sur- 
 vived from the day on which the heavens closed 
 on the sacred body of the ascending Saviour till 
 the last beat of time; and unsubdued by the terrors 
 of pagan hostility, and unshaken by all the hor- 
 rors of popish persecution ; stood out undaunted 
 and invincible, and retained undiminished his at- 
 
2.54 
 
 tachment and devotion to his adorable Redeemer, 
 till the blast of the last trumpet: after all, he 
 could obtain no diadem more splendid and beau- 
 teous than the crown of life; and no seat more 
 honourable and joyous in the world of bliss, than 
 a place on the throne of the Son of God. And 
 if we and others only preserve our allegiance firm 
 to the Prince of peace till the close of our pil- 
 grimage ; our safety is just as sure, and our rank 
 in the regions of light will be just as elevated and 
 glorious, as his. The dead who die in the Lord, 
 are just as really blessed, as those who are alive 
 and remain unto his coming. 
 
 Unless Millenarians are disposed to deny this 
 fact; and willing to assert that all must everlast- 
 ingly perish, except the few who are alive at the 
 second personal coming of Christ; they must ad- 
 mit that the coming of our Lord, in such cases as 
 the above, denotes no more than the time of the 
 believer's death. 
 
 Never was there a man more fully instructed 
 in the counsels of Heaven, nor more possessed of 
 the faculty of distinctly and forcibly expressing the 
 truths which he wished to convey, than the apos- 
 tle of the Gentiles. And yet with the perfect 
 knowledge that the day of the Lord would not 
 come till the fall of the Roman empire, and anti- 
 christ had run his bloody and barbarous career: 
 how does Paul speak of the coming of Christ? 
 or, which is the same thing, 2 Pet. iii. 4, 10, 12, 
 of the day of the Lord ? Exactly like the " lazy 
 
255 
 
 and ignorant theologians" of the present day, who 
 adhere to the vulgar notions on the subject. " Of 
 the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no 
 need that I write unto you. For yourselves know 
 perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a 
 thief in the night. For when they shall say, 
 Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh 
 upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; 
 and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are 
 not in darkness, that that day should overtake 
 YOU as a thief." 
 
 The slightest inspection of the words proves, 
 that " that day" was to overtake every individual 
 in that and in every succeeding age. For the 
 apostle positively asserts that it would overtake the 
 believers at Thessalonica. But as they were 
 waiting and looking for the coming of the Lord 
 by death; he knew that that event would not take 
 them by surprise. To them it would be welcome 
 as a long-wished for and expected privilege. But 
 to the careless, ignorant, and ungodly of that, and 
 of every succeeding, generation ; this day would 
 come suddenly and unexpectedly. " YE, breth- 
 ren, are not in darkness, that that day should 
 overtake YOU as a thief" 
 
 Here again we are compelled to observe that 
 we must either reject the testimony of St. Paul ; 
 or admit that, by the day of the Lord or the 
 coming of Christ, " one and the same advent" is 
 not uniformly intended. Centuries ago Christ 
 
256 
 
 came to every believer at Thessalonica: but he has 
 not yet returned in person. 
 
 This surely should be enough to convince any 
 man, that other words as strongly expressive of a 
 personal bodily presence, as any that Mr. Cun- 
 ninghame has quoted, are employed in the New 
 Testament to denote no more than our Redeem- 
 er's providential spiritual presence. 
 
 A prophetic inquirer in the Christian Observer, 
 for June 1828, seems to feel the force of such 
 reasoning as the preceding : and has made a strong 
 effort to set aside the conclusions which necessarily 
 must be drawn from the application of the words, 
 which have just now been enumerated, to what is 
 clearly and unquestionably a spiritual advent, by 
 dwelling on a distinction which he imagines to 
 exist, betwixt promises and predictions. When the 
 coming of Christ is promised, then it means a spir- 
 itual advent: but when it is foretold, it means a 
 personal advent. The very same word, which in 
 a prophecy, denotes the personal bodily presence of 
 Christ ; when it occurs in a promise, denotes only 
 his spiritual presence. 
 
 This writer does not say whether or not his 
 rule is retrospective, and applies to every promise 
 and every prophecy. But as there appears no ne- 
 cessity for making any exception, and he himself 
 has stated none; it is likely that he wishes it to be 
 regarded as of universal application. According 
 then to the distinction which is supposed in all 
 
257 
 
 cases to exist betwixt prophecies and promises: 
 when a fruitful season is foretold, this denotes lit" 
 eral abundance : but when a fruitful season is pro- 
 mised, this denotes spiritual plenty. When the 
 reign of a good king is foretold s this must be un- 
 derstood of a literal king: but when the same 
 blessing is made the subject of a promise, it has 
 no relation whatever to an earthly sovereign, but 
 denotes the invisible presence of a spiritual and 
 ghostly prince. Before Christ was manifested in 
 the flesh; when his incarnation was foretold, that 
 denoted areal literal assumption of humanity : but 
 when it was made a subject of promise, then it 
 denoted only a spiritual or figurative advent. 
 
 At any rate, by admitting that one and the same 
 word, from the mere circumstance of being placed 
 in a promise or in a prophecy, signifies two different 
 things, a personal and spiritual advent; that indi- 
 vidual has yielded the whole matter in debate. He, 
 unintentionally indeed but effectually, proves the 
 fact for which we are contending, that one and 
 the same term is indiscriminately applied to a cor- 
 porcal and spiritual presence. The meaning, 
 therefore, of the term is to be ascertained from 
 the context and the general analogy of revelation : 
 and the wonderful truth which he has found out, 
 and which he states with all the formality with 
 which he would have announced the discovery 
 of a physical Jaw, merely amounts to this: — 
 When the words in question are employed to de- 
 note a personal advent, they signify a personal 
 L 3 
 
258 
 
 advent; but when they are used to express a spir* 
 itual advent, then you may be sure that they sig- 
 nify a spiritual advent. 
 
 But notwithstanding this precious piece of in- 
 formation! we are not a whit the wiser. The poor 
 stupid vocables themselves never can tell us what 
 they mean. Ask them if they relate to a literal or 
 spiritual advent: they cannot answer you. Do 
 they form part of a promise or prophecy ? They 
 know nothing about the matter: and can only 
 refer you to some of their more intelligent and 
 communicative neighbours: but they themselves 
 can tell you neither what they are, nor what they 
 were designed to express. 
 
 From this wonderful discovery, that the proph- 
 ecies are to be literally understood, and the pro- 
 mises figuratively ; the most important results may 
 be expected. It sometimes is not easy to decide 
 whether a particular passage is a promise or a 
 prediction. But unless that can be distinctly as- 
 certained, what mistakes shall we commit? The 
 reader may apply this distinction to a thousand 
 cases. But let him take for a specimen, Gen. viii, 
 22, " While the earth remaineth, seed time and 
 harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and win- 
 ter, and day and night, shall not cease." Is this 
 a prophecy ? Then it is to be literally understood, 
 and we are to regard it as an assurance of the con- 
 tinuance of the present natural order of things till 
 the world's end. But is it a promise? Then it is 
 to be figuratively understood ; and none but a Mil- 
 
259 
 
 lenarian adept can tell what it means : and you 
 may be certain that he will find in it the pre- 
 millennial advent. " The ■ seed-time' evidently 
 means the first resurrection; and the 'cold and 
 winter,' trie dreary state of the wicked while for a 
 thousand years their necks are under the feet of 
 the righteous. The < harvest' must synchronise 
 with Rev. xiv. 18—20, and denote the vintage of 
 wrath. But the, « day' is the well known repre- 
 sentative of the thousand years judgment. The 
 * heat and summer' are unquestionably types of 
 the comfort, light, and joy, possessed under the 
 effulgence of the Redeemer's personal reign. Oh 
 what moles are these lazy ignorant theologians, 
 incessantly digging in the earth, and blind to all 
 the wonders of the Millenarian system, though 
 disclosed with all the clearness of sunshine in a 
 single verse of the 8th of Genesis ! Their stu- 
 pidity is really too gross for mortal patience !" 
 
 The Millenarians ought to cling to the pro- 
 mises, and admit as few predictions as possible. 
 
 What has been stated in the preceding pages 
 seems sufficient to decide the question with Mil- 
 lenarians on their own ground. But it is far 
 from being the only proof that we are able to 
 adduce. Mr. Cunninghame's first conclusion, 
 " that the principal passages of prophecy which 
 speak chronologically or circumstantially of the 
 future advent of the Messiah, do one and all 
 refer to the period immediately introductory to 
 the Millennium:" unhappily for his hypothesis, 
 
260 
 
 this conclusion has been completely demolished 
 by finding that predictions, referring to no less 
 than four distinct and far distant periods, were 
 huddled together, and asserted to refer to one and 
 the same event. In justice to the subject in dis- 
 cussion we are obliged to add, 
 
 3. That, in support of his third conclusion, 
 texts relating to no less than Jour distinct and in- 
 dependent advents are also jumbled together, and 
 affirmed to relate to one and the same advent. 
 
 In this list we find 2 Thess. ii. 8. Whether 
 this is supposed to refer to the destruction of an- 
 tichrist or the commencement of the Millennium, 
 is a matter of little moment. It is at least one 
 advent. 
 
 In his list of texts where his three nouns sub- 
 stantive occur, Mr. Cunninghame includes 1 Cor. 
 i. 7: 1 Thess. v. 23: 1 Tim. vi. 14: 1 Pet. i. 7, 
 13. Here then is a second advent, which takes 
 place on the day of the Christian's death. For 
 these texts speak of faith being " found unto 
 praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing 
 of Christ:" of "waiting for the coming of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ;" of keeping " the command- 
 ment until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 But the most obedient and devoted believer can- 
 not survive till the second personal advent, and 
 can keep the commandment only till he dies. 
 And if our faith is not found unto praise, and 
 honour, and glory, at death, it will not be pos- 
 sessed of these properties on the day when the 
 
261 
 
 Son of man is revealed from heaven. For as the 
 tree falls, there it must lie. 
 
 Mr. Cunninghame's list also contains Mat. xxiv. 
 27, 37, 39 5 and James v. 7, 8. Now, do these 
 passages relate to the coming of Christ to destroy 
 antichrist? We have already seen that the former 
 refers to the destruction of Jerusalem ; and the 
 latter relates to the same event. Here then we 
 have a third period, and a third advent, totally 
 distinct from the two which have been already 
 noticed. 
 
 But this is not all. The same list comprises a 
 number of texts that relate to a fourth period, the 
 final universal judgment. Of this description are 
 1 Cor. xv. 23: 1 Thess. iii. 13: iv. 15: 2 Thess. 
 i. 7: 2 Tim. iv. i: 2 Pet. iii. 4, 12. These pas- 
 sages belong to the time when Christ shall come 
 to be " admired in all them that believe ;" when 
 he shall come "with all his saints;" when he 
 M shall judge the quick and the dead ;" when u the 
 heavens shall pass away with a great noise ; and 
 the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth 
 also, and the works that are therein shall be burnt 
 up." Now, without a long repetition of what has 
 been already stated; it may be simply asked, How 
 can Christ " come with ALL his saints," and be 
 admired in ALL them that believe;" if the one- 
 half of the saints have not then received an ex- 
 istence ? How can he judge THE quick and 
 THE dead; which, according to Mr. Cunning- 
 hame's excellent critical canon, signifies the quick 
 
262 
 
 and the dead in a body, or all that shall ever live, 
 and all that shall ever die ; when the one-half of 
 the human race have not been born ? And how 
 can Christ and his saints have a kingdom on earth, 
 after " the earth and the works that are therein 
 are burnt up ?" 
 
 Where now are Mr. Cunninghame's first three 
 marvellous and overpowering conclusions ? Why, 
 we have seen that the prophecies, which he fancied 
 one and all synchronical with the downfall of anti- 
 christ, actually refer to no less than four distinct 
 and far distant events. We have seen that the 
 very first word which he produced, in support of 
 his assertion, that the three " nouns substantive, 
 used to signify the advent, are never used to de- 
 note the spiritual or figurative revelation of any 
 objector person which can be the object of sense;" 
 is repeatedly used to denote the spiritual or figura- 
 tive revelation of what can be an object of sense. 
 We have seen that other words, as strongly ex- 
 pressive of personal presence as any of the three 
 substantive nouns, are again and again applied in 
 the New Testament to the figurative coming of 
 Christ. We have also seen that various texts 
 which he has quoted, in order to identify the per- 
 sonal advent of Christ with the destruction of an- 
 tichrist, refer to no fewer than four distinct events; 
 the time of the believer's death, the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, the overthrow of Popery, and the con- 
 summation of all things. And since these several 
 
263 
 
 texts are the passages where his three nouns sub- 
 stantive occur; it follows, on his own shewing, 
 that unless he can believe in four personal ad- 
 vents besides the incarnation, that the three sub- 
 stantives do not uniformly nor necessarily denote 
 the bodily presence of Christ in the cases in which 
 they are applied to him: and unless Mr. Cunning- 
 hame believes in four personal advents, he has no 
 evidence at all for our Redeemer's personal pres- 
 ence to destroy antichrist. 
 
 But has not Mr. Cunninghame told us that 
 " the coming of our Lord to destroy the Man of 
 Sin, in 2 Thess. ii. 8, is expressed by the union of 
 two of the above nouns? And if neither of them, 
 when us-ed singly, can denote a spiritual advent ; 
 how is it possible that this can be the case when 
 they are conjoined ? Now what reply can be made 
 to this?" 
 
 The answer to this need not be very long. A 
 thousand blacks will not make one white. None 
 of Mr. Cunninghame's substantives, taken singly, 
 necessarily denotes the bodily presence of Christ; 
 and though the whole were united, they could no 
 more necessarily denote a bodily presence, than in 
 a state of separation. 
 
 The coming of Christ to destroy the Man of 
 Sin, is no more bodily ; than the manifestation of 
 this Son of perdition has been corporeal. Accord- 
 ingly, the destruction of antichrist is ascribed as 
 much to the Spirit of Christ's mouth, or the word 
 
264 
 
 of God, Eph. vi. 17; Rev. ii. 16; xix. 15, 19; as 
 
 to the brightness of Christ's coming. 
 
 If each of the words singly denote a personal 
 corporeal manifestation; how would they look 
 when translated according to that interpretation ? 
 " Then shall that Wicked one be bodily revealed, 
 whom the Lord shall consume with the sword of 
 his mouth, and shall destroy with the BODILY 
 APPEARING of his CORPOREAL COM- 
 ING?" 
 
 IV. Mr. Cunninghame's fourth conclusion is, 
 * fi That to maintain a spiritual advent, is in direct 
 contradiction to the angelic annunciation, which 
 was uttered at the ascension of our Lord." 
 
 The angelic annunciation merely assures us that 
 Christ will as really return in person, as that he 
 ascended in person, but it gives no intimation 
 whatever of the time of his return. The spiritual 
 presence of Christ to destroy antichrist, to convert 
 the nations, and fill the whole earth with the Di- 
 vine glory; no more contradicts the angelic an- 
 nunciation, than the doctrine of his incarnation 
 contradicts his promise, " Lo, I am with you al- 
 ways, even unto the end of the world." 
 
 " Moreover, our Lord, in Spirit or as to his 
 divine nature, has never been absent from the 
 world." Sum. View, p. 16. Very true. But pray, 
 Has he been at all times alike present in spirit in 
 the same place? Is he now as powerfully spiritu- 
 ally present in Stewarton, as he was from 1625 to 
 
265 
 
 1630?* Mr. Cunninghame goes on to talk of 
 Christ's omnipresence. But does he really sup- 
 pose that we believe that Christ will be present on 
 earth during the Millennium, in no other way than 
 he is now in the place of woe ? If this is his be- 
 lief, he deserves our pity. But if it is not his be- 
 lief, he might have spared his remark, for it is 
 immensely remote from his purpose. 
 
 Mr. Cunninghame refers to Dan. vii. 13, as co- 
 inciding exactly with the period to which he sup- 
 poses that the angelic annunciation relates. But 
 Dan. vii. 13, no more coincides with Acts i. 11; 
 than the effusion of the first vial, Rev. xvi. 2, 
 synchronises with Samuel's anointing of Saul, 1 
 Sam. x. 1. See above, pp. 231 — 237. 
 
 V. " To maintain a spiritual advent of the Man 
 Christ Jesus, includes in it the virtual denial of 
 his proper and complete humanity." 
 
 To maintain the personal advent of Christ at 
 the close of all things, and his spiritual advent 
 before the Millennium ; no more subverts his hu- 
 manity, than the assertion of his personal advent 
 before the Millennium, overturns his Divinity. 
 
 If after all that we preach and print to prove the 
 personal coming of Christ to judge the quick and 
 
 * Fleming's Fulfilling of the Scriptures, vol. i. p. 355. Glas- 
 gow edition, 1801 ; and Gillies' Historical Collections, vol. i. pp. 
 306—308. 
 
266 
 
 the dead; any Millenarian believes that we deny 
 the reality of our Lord's second advent : he is ut- 
 terly unqualified to write a single sentence on the 
 subject, and not entitled to the least notice from 
 any whom he would wish to convert into oppo- 
 nents. 
 
 VI. " The return of our Lord to this earth, at 
 the period of the restitution of all things, which 
 must be identified with the Millennium, may be 
 inferred from the words of Peter, in Acts iii. 19 
 — 21." 
 
 The words of Peter assure us that Christ will 
 return when every prediction of the prophets is 
 fulfilled. If the Millennium has been no subject 
 of prophecy: then, if nothing else were said about 
 Christ's return than what Peter has stated, we 
 might expect the personal presence of Christ be- 
 fore the Millennium. But since the Millennium 
 has been made a subject of prophecy, and Peter 
 tells us that every prediction must be fulfilled before 
 Christ's return; the words of Peter forbid us to 
 expect the Redeemer's advent till the Millennium 
 is finished, and every prediction accomplished. 
 See above, pp. 161—167. 
 
 So much for Mr. Cunninghame's arguments and 
 conclusions. 
 
267 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE MISCELLANEOUS PROOF 
 OF THE MILLENARIAN HYPOTHESIS FROM 
 THE LANGUAGE OF SCRIPTURE, THE TYPES, 
 AND THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS. 
 
 I. The proof produced from the language of 
 Scripture. 
 
 This proof is of an uncommonly multifarious 
 description, and it is no easy matter to reduce it 
 into any regular form. The larger proportion of 
 the Bible has been violently pressed into this 
 service: but the greatest reliance seems to be 
 placed on such topics as the following. The 
 promise that the seed of the woman shall bruise 
 the head of the serpent: the prophecy of Enoch, 
 that the Lord will come with ten thousand of his 
 saints: the assurance given to Abraham that in 
 his seed all the families of the earth shall be bles- 
 sed: Job's expectation that his Redeemer will 
 stand at the latter day on the earth: the promises 
 that Christ shall have the heathen for his inheri- 
 tance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his 
 possession; that he shall have dominion from sea 
 to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth: 
 that he shall have the throne of his father David; 
 that Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the 
 
268 
 
 Lord; that his feet shall stand in that day upon 
 the mount of Olives : that the whole earth shall 
 be filled with his glory: and the petitions, thy 
 kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is 
 in heaven. With proofs of equal potency the writ- 
 ings of Fry, Irving, Noel, and others of the same 
 school abound. On the strength of these, and 
 similar texts, they challenge the Christian world 
 to the combat, and boldly defy all that can assail 
 them to dislodge them from their position. Who 
 can have the presumption to encounter them when 
 fortified by the declarations that " Christ shall have 
 the throne of his father David, that Jerusalem shall 
 be called the throne of the Lord, and his feet shall 
 stand upon the mount of Olives?" 
 
 To be sure, if we allow them to read the Scrip- 
 tures for us, and refuse to look at the word of God 
 with our own eyes; we may admit any thing. But 
 if we exercise our privilege as Protestants, to read 
 and judge for ourselves; it will require something 
 more than their own word to extort our consent 
 to their wild and chimerical assertions. 
 
 Let us look at a few of these passages with our 
 own eyes, and see what is the result. 
 
 Because the prophet has said, Zech. xiv. 4, "his 
 feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of 
 Olives :" our learned and enlightened friends infer 
 that Christ must return in person, and remain on 
 earth for at least a thousand years. It requires 
 rather a large stride from such premises to reach 
 such a conclusion. When they hear Isaiah, lx. 
 
269 
 
 14, speaking of Zion, or the church of the redeem- 
 ed ; saying, " all they that despised thee shall bow 
 themselves down at the soles of thy feet :" do these 
 worthy men suppose that, during the Millennium, 
 the whole collective body of believers will be 
 mounted upon a single pair of legs, and that their 
 enemies shall bow down at the soles of these feet ? 
 When God said to Nathan, 2 Sam. vii. 6, 7; 
 " Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the 
 time that I brought up the children of Israel out 
 of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a 
 tent and in a tabernacle : in all the places wherein 
 I have walked with all the children of Israel, 
 spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, 
 whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, 
 Why build ye riot me an house of cedar:" do 
 these worthy men believe that from everlasting till 
 the Exodus, the Most High had, with reverence be 
 it spoken, occupied a stone palace ? and that from 
 the Exodus he had literally walked in a tent and 
 in a tabernacle, and walked with all the children 
 of Israel ? When we read of " darkness" being 
 " under his feet;" and as it were " a paved work 
 under his feet:" Psah xviii. 9: Exod. xxiv. 10: do 
 they imagine that God is possessed of a human 
 form, and has a body with the same organs which 
 ours possesses? If they interpret the one passage 
 literally, they are bound in consistency to interpret 
 the others literally. But if they understand these 
 figuratively, as denoting no more than the spiritual 
 presence of God with his people, and the gracious 
 
270 
 
 guidance and protection which he afforded them: 
 they are required by every principle of sound 
 criticism to consider Zech. xiv. 4, as also descrip- 
 tive of his gracious interposition in behalf of the 
 Jews when attacked by their enemies. And that 
 this is the case is evident from the manner in 
 which the language is introduced by the prophet. 
 " Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against 
 those nations as when he fought in the day of bat- 
 tle" Zech. xiv. 3. In connection with the over- 
 throw of Pharaoh and the conquest of Canaan, 
 we read of the wars of the Lord. But where will 
 our good friends find an instance, in which the 
 Lord engaged in a corporeal form in battle? In 
 that day, however, he is to fight in no other man- 
 ner than he has fought before. 
 
 But are we not told that Christ shall have " the 
 throne of his father David? and that he shall sit 
 upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, 
 and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness?" 
 Luke i. 32: Isa. xvi. 5: ix. 7. Very true. But then 
 we are also told that " the children of Israel shall 
 return, and seek DAVID their king." Hosea 
 iii. 5. And if our literalists will insist that Christ 
 is to sit on the literal throne of David ; they must 
 also affirm that the literal David, the Son of Jesse, 
 is again to reign over all the tribes of Israel. For 
 we are expressly assured that w they shall serve 
 the Lord their God, and David their king," God 
 says, I " will set up one Shepherd over them, 
 and he shall feed them, even my servant David :" 
 
271 
 
 and " my servant David shall be their prince for 
 ever" Hosea iii. 5 : Jer. xxx. 9 : Ezek. xxxiv. 
 23, 24: xxxvii. 24, 25. If therefore, our literai- 
 ists will affirm that Christ is to sit on the literal 
 throne of David: they must also maintain that, 
 though he shall have the throne, and be steward 
 of the palace, Rev. iii. 7 : the literal David shall 
 have the kingdom, and be their prince for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 The texts must be interpreted consistently. 
 They either speak of a literal David and a literal 
 throne, or a spiritual David, and a spiritual throne. 
 Our friends may take their choice: but they have 
 no right to make the throne literal, and David 
 spiritual. If they literalise " the greater part to 
 please themselves;" we must literalise the lesser 
 part; not like Mr. Irving, Pre. Dis. p. 143, in his 
 great magnanimity, " to vex them," but to give 
 consistency and rotundity to their system. 
 
 We are told that it is in reference to the Mil- 
 lennium that it is said, u At that time they shall 
 call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all 
 nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of 
 the Lord, to Jerusalem." Jer. iii. 17. And un- 
 less Jesus is to sit on the throne of David, how 
 can Jerusalem be called the throne of the Lord? 
 
 But if the whole of Jerusalem, as this proph- 
 ecy implies, is to be the throne of the Lord ; how 
 can it also be at the same time, as the Millenar- 
 ians assert, the capital of the restored Jews ? the 
 seat of the church of the converted Jews and 
 
272 
 
 Israelites, and the metropolitan church of the 
 world ? We have yet to learn that two or more 
 bodies can occupy the same space. 
 
 From the time that the temple was reared; we 
 learn from the same prophet, that Jerusalem was 
 the throne of the Lord. " A glorious high throne 
 from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary." 
 Jer. xvii. 12. 
 
 Few men have been more worthless and impi- 
 ous than the successors of Josiah. But these gen- 
 tlemen, who make such a noise about Christ's sit- 
 ting, during the Millennium, on the literal throne 
 of David, and on the throne of Jerusalem; should 
 remember that, according to their own canons of 
 interpretation; when the throne of David was 
 occupied by an ungodly and persecuting wretch, 
 Jesus also must have been seated beside him : 
 for the prophet prays, " Do not abhor us, for 
 thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of 
 thy glory." Jer. xiv. 21. But are they prepared 
 to say that Christ then sat on the throne of Da- 
 vid ? and made the sons of Josiah his assessors ? 
 
 " The temple of Jerusalem was called the 
 house of God, and the place of his rest, or resi- 
 dence; the visible symbolical appearance of God, 
 which the Jews called the Shechinah, was in the 
 most holy place, between the wings of the cheru- 
 bim, above the ark. This was considered as the 
 throne of God, presiding as king over the Jewish 
 state ; and as a footstool is a necessary appendage 
 of a throne, the ark was considered as the foot- 
 
273 
 
 stool of God ; and is so called. Psal. xcix. 5 : 1 
 Chron. xxviii. 2." Jones' Biblical Cyclopedia 
 Footstool. 
 
 Christ will no more sit in person, during the 
 Millennium, on the throne of David, and on the 
 throne of Jerusalem, than he did during the Old 
 Testament dispensation. And accordingly the 
 prophet speaks of the converted Jews, being 
 gathered to Jerusalem, not on account of " the 
 throne," but of " the name of the Lord ;" or the 
 manifestation which he will there afford of the 
 perfections of his nature in promoting the holiness, 
 peace, and comfort of his people. 
 
 Before his incarnation, corporeal actions were 
 ascribed to Christ, when we know that he had no 
 body. The same phraseology is continued by the 
 same writers in reference to his providential dis- 
 pensations after his incarnation : and in precisely 
 the same sense. Nay, the writers of the New 
 Testament speak of Christ's government of the 
 church and of the world, in a manner exactly 
 similar. Rev. i. 16, 17, 20: ii. 1: Acts ix. 34: 
 Eph. ii. 20. For specimens of still bolder fig- 
 ures, see 1 Cor. vi. 15: Eph. v. 30: 1 John i. 7. 
 
 Having thus disposed of the proof from the 
 soles of his feet standing on the mount of Olives ; 
 of his having the throne of his father David; and 
 of making Jerusalem his throne,- let us for a few 
 minutes look at the other texts, and see what our 
 erudite brethren can make of them. 
 
 If they imagine that the first promise, the seed 
 M 
 
274 
 
 of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent ; 
 Gen. iii. 15; argues the literal personal reign of 
 Christ on earth : then they must also suppose that 
 Satan is possessed of a literal head, a head of 
 skin, flesh, bones, and brain. For what occasion 
 can there be for a literal foot to crush a spiritual 
 head ? And if this bruising is yet future, and 
 cannot be accomplished till the Millennium; why 
 do the sacred writers represent it as already past ? 
 " Having spoiled principalities and powers, he 
 made a shew of them openly triumphing over 
 them" on the cross. Col. ii. 15: Psalm lxviii. 18: 
 John xii. 31. Pray, whether do they imagine 
 that we are to follow them? or the " holy men of 
 God, who spake as they were moved by the 
 Holy Ghost?" 
 
 It is true that Enoch prophesied of the coming 
 of the Lord with ten thousand of his saints. But 
 then our worthy friends will be pleased to remem- 
 ber that this advent is to be, when he will " execute 
 judgment upon all, and convince all that are un- 
 godly among men of all their ungodly deeds." 
 Jude 14?, 15. But how can judgment be executed 
 upon ALL the ungodly a thousand years before 
 the ungodly are raised from their graves? and 
 more than a thousand years before some of them 
 are born, or have committed one unworthy deed? 
 
 If the promise given to Abraham, u In thy 
 seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;" 
 never can be fulfilled till Christ reign in person in 
 our world : why have the apostles represented it 
 
275 
 
 as already verified in the experience of every be- 
 liever? "The scripture foreseeing that God 
 would justify the heathen through faith, preached 
 before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee 
 shall all nations be blessed. So then they who 
 be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. If 
 ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and 
 heirs according to the promise" Gal. iii. 8, 9, 29. 
 
 " But does not Job say, I know that my Re- 
 deemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter 
 day on the earth ?"chap.xix. 25. Most undoubtedly. 
 But we would like to know what this has to do 
 with the Millennium. He does not say that his 
 Redeemer will stand during the latter thousand 
 years f but at the latter day upon the earth. And 
 what man of sound mind can mistake a day for a 
 thousand years ? We can be at little loss to as- 
 certain what Job means by the latter day, when 
 he has, chap, xiv, 12, told us that " till the heav- 
 ens be no more, they," the dead, " shall not be 
 raised, nor awake out of their sleep." 
 
 An argument has been drawn from the eighth 
 Psalm for the personal reign of Christ on earth. 
 In that Psalm, the goodness of God in the works 
 of creation, his condescension and kindness to 
 man, and his liberality in investing the human 
 race with the sovereignty of the world ; are cele- 
 brated in plain, but powerful language. But it is 
 truly difficult to discover what connection these 
 subjects have with the Redeemer's personal reign 
 on earth. 
 
 M 2 
 
216 
 
 In support of this opinion; our friends desire 
 us to turn to Heb. ii. 5 — 9. " Here Christ is 
 described to be greater than the angels, and to 
 have the promise of the dominion over the world 
 to come. This subjection of the world to come to 
 his sway, is explained by the apostle to be pre- 
 cisely the original grant of the heirship of the 
 earth to Adam, as depicted in the 8th Psalm ; a 
 circumstance which identifies Jesus Christ, in a 
 sense truly emphatic, to be the second Adam, the 
 true heir of the earth, in its restored state, called 
 the world to come : an expression identical with 
 the new heaven and the new earth, both of St. 
 Peter and of the Apocalypse." 
 
 There can be no doubt that the world to come, 
 of which St. Paul speaks, is identical with the 
 new heavens and the new earthy of St. Peter and 
 of the Apocalypse. But the question is, Are their 
 new heavens, and their new earth, the earth in its 
 restored state? Is it customary to give the name 
 of new to what is only restored? Is an old friend 
 restored from abroad, a new friend? Are old 
 goods restored by the house-breaker, new goods ? 
 Is the old earth restored to its original and prim- 
 itive state, a new earth? If this is the case, it 
 would have been more german to the purpose, to 
 have called it the old, or ancient earth : but new it 
 certainly never would have been named. 
 
 Did the old heavens also constitute a part of the 
 primitive earth ? And are they again to be included 
 in this earth, and form a part of it, in its restored 
 
277 
 
 state? If this is the supposed fact, then such 
 doctrines are as novel in philosophy as in divinity. 
 The new heavens and the new earth, of which 
 St. Peter and St. John speak, are a state of bles- 
 sedness and glory prepared for the redeemed, 
 when these heavens and this earth have fled away, 
 and no place is found for them. 2 Pet. iii. 10 — 14: 
 Rev. xx. 11. xxi. 1 : Psalm cii. 26: Isa. li. 6. Old 
 and ancient are the appropriate names for any 
 object, which, after having been deteriorated, has 
 been restored to its pristine condition. Writing 
 to us, in our fallen and depraved condition, with 
 hearts by nature deceitful and desperately wick- 
 ed ; the Apostle exhorts us to put off the " old 
 man," or our natural dispositions and tempers; 
 and to put on the " new man," or the gracious 
 principles and practices which the Holy Spirit 
 produces in them who believe. But if he had 
 been addressing Adam, who was made in the im- 
 age of God, and whose first was his best state; in 
 inculcating the same duty which he presses upon 
 us, he would have been obliged to have reversed 
 the terms, and to have enjoined him to put off 
 the " new," and put on the " old man," which 
 after God was created in righteousness and true 
 holiness. Eph. iv. 22 — 24. If the sacred writers 
 had expected the restoration of the earth to its 
 primitive condition, and believed that the reno- 
 vated earth was to have been the residence of 
 Christ and the glorified saints; they would have 
 reversed their epithets. They would have called 
 
278 
 
 the present system the new earth and the new heav- 
 ens : and they would have designated this globe, 
 in its future ameliorated condition, the old or an- 
 cient earth ; and these heavens, in their improved 
 form, the old or ancient heavens. But by revers- 
 ing this application of the terms, they have told 
 us as distinctly as language can express it, that 
 the future habitation of the redeemed is to be a 
 new, that is, another heaven and another earth ; 
 with which the present earth and heaven have no 
 connection, and of which they shall form no part. 
 
 In Heb. ii. the apostle says not one word of 
 secular power, nor of an earthly dominion* From 
 beginning to end he speaks of a spiritual salva- 
 tion : a salvation which at the first began to be 
 spoken by the Lord : which God attested by signs 
 and wonders: which was purchased by the suffer- 
 ings of the Lord Jesus Christ: which produced 
 sanctification, and admission into the family of 
 God: a salvation, which it is infinitely dangerous 
 to neglect from the Divine dignity of him who 
 procured it : and which is laid up in heaven ; for 
 it is thither that the Forerunner has entered, that 
 hope follows him, and that the believer goes to 
 enjoy it. Heb. vi. 19, 20 : x. 36. 
 
 " But unless he means a personal reign of the 
 Messiah on earth; why does the apostle speak at 
 all of a world to come, and talk of all things being 
 put in subjection under the feet of Christ ?" Just 
 in order to exclude the possibility of supposing 
 that ever the Redeemer would in person erect a 
 
279 
 
 kingdom upon earth. For if by the " world,'* he 
 had intended either the earth or the dispensation 
 of the gospel : he certainly would not have added 
 the epithet " to come:" since the gospel was 
 even then fully introduced, and the earth had 
 existed from the creation. And if by the sover- 
 eignty to which he refers, he had understood a 
 personal reign over the renovated earth ; since the 
 amelioration had not commenced, he could not 
 have represented that kingdom as begun. But he 
 positively avers that the reign of which he was 
 speaking was not only begun, but far advanced. 
 " Thou hast put all things in subjection under his 
 feet. For in that he put all things in subjection 
 under him, he left nothing that is not put under 
 him. But now we see not all things yet put un- 
 der him : but we see Jesus, who was made a little 
 lower than the angels for the suffering of death, 
 crowned with glory and honour." But the per- 
 sonal reign on earth, so far from having then 
 commenced, is not even yet begun. 
 
 " But if by the world to come, the apostle does 
 not mean the renovated earth, what does he mean?" 
 He means heaven ; that better country which was 
 promised to Abraham and his spiritual seed; and 
 which the patriarchs sought even when in the 
 heart of Canaan. Heb. xi. 16. In travelling to 
 Canaan, the Israelites were placed under the 
 guidance of an angel. Exod. xxiii. 20. In trav- 
 elling to the celestial Zion, angels are only min- 
 istering spirits to believers. Jesus himself; who 
 
280 
 
 i9 the way, the truth, and the life, and the Cap- 
 tain of their salvation, is their leader and com- 
 mander : and he does not conduct them to a rest 
 on earth, but to a place in glory. Heb. ii. 11. 
 
 " But argue as you will, Christ teaches us to 
 pray, Thy kingdom come : and his kingdom can 
 never come, till he return in person to the earth, 
 and reign in glory here." " Not Christ, but Sa- 
 tan, the enemy of Christ, still ruleth over the 
 powers of this world, whose kingdoms are not yet 
 become the kingdoms of our Lord. In no sense 
 can Christ, therefore, be said to have been invest- 
 ed with the kingdoms of this world. Satan in his 
 hearing said, These, the kingdoms of the earth, 
 and all the glory of them, are mine; and Christ 
 did not challenge the usurpation ; if indeed it may 
 be called usurpation, for Satan had achieved them 
 by his potent subtlety." Irving's Pre. Dis. pp. 
 136, 137. 
 
 But if Satan is king of the world, why does he 
 flee when believers resist him ? How had the 
 disciples power to tread " over all the power of 
 the enemy V How are Christians " more than 
 conquerors?" Flow has Satan fallen "as light- 
 ning from heaven ?" How did Christ on his 
 cross " spoil principalities and powers, and make 
 a shew of them openly triumphing over them ?" 
 How are believers already a royal priesthood? and 
 made not only priests, but kings unto God even 
 the Father ? 
 
 If Christ is in " no sense" invested with the 
 
281 
 
 kingdoms of the world : why is he said to be li set 
 King upon Zion?" to be " Lord of all?" to be 
 made " head over all things to the church ? to 
 have a name which is above every name; that at 
 the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
 things in heaven, and things in earth, and things 
 under the earth ; and that every tongue should 
 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of 
 the Father?" And why did he say to Pilate that 
 he was a king ? Ps. ii. 6, compared with Acts xiii. 
 33: x. 36: Eph. i. 22: Phil. ii. 9—11: John 
 xviii. 37. 
 
 If, in the Lord's prayer, the words, " Thy king- 
 dom," denote the personal reign of Christ on 
 earth : are we also, in Mat. xi. 12, to read " From 
 the days of John the Baptist until now, the per- 
 sonal reign of Christ on earth suffereth violence, 
 and the violent take it by force ?" And are we 
 also in John xviii. 36, to read, li Jesus answered, 
 My personal reign is not of THIS world ?" 
 
 " Oh for power to redeem the church of Scot- 
 land from its bondage to the babes who are be- 
 come her instructors ! Have these idiots not sense 
 and discernment enough to see that Christ says, 
 My kingdom is not NOW of this worlds implying 
 that the hour was coming, when it WOULD BE 
 of this world?" 
 
 Indeed brother ? This is not even so good as 
 
 West India logic; which argues, from the precept, 
 
 Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy: six 
 
 days shalt thou labour, and do ALL thy work: 
 
 M 3 
 
282 
 
 " THEREFORE the work which is not done 
 within the six days must be done on the seventh." 
 Our blessed Lord was stating an unquestionable 
 fact to Pilate. The servants, or subjects of earthly 
 kings, fight for them. If his kingdom had been 
 of an earthly nature, his servants, or subjects 
 would have taken arms in his defence. Since 
 therefore, no attempt was made to rescue him, it 
 was evident that his kingdom had no connection 
 with this world. " My kingdom is not of this 
 world. If my kingdom were of this world, then 
 would my servants fight, that I should not be de- 
 livered to the Jews : but now is my kingdom not 
 from hence." The word " now" marks the natural 
 inference from the truth which he had stated, and 
 is the same as therefore. See 1 Cor. vii. 14: xii. 
 20: Heb. xi. 16. 
 
 " But the personal reign of Christ on earth may 
 be inferred from the petition of the dying penitent, 
 and from the answer to it which our Lord return- 
 ed ; when they are properly translated and un- 
 derstood aright. The thief says, Lord, remember 
 me when thou comest in thy kingdom: and Christ 
 replies, Verily I say unto thee this day, Thou shalt 
 be with me in paradise." True. One of these 
 gentlemen has very laudably spent only fourteen 
 closely printed octavo pages, in misplacing the 
 comma in our Lord's answer, to preserve us from 
 the dreadful heresy of supposing that our Lord 
 had spoken these words on the day before, or a 
 year preceding the time on which they were ut- 
 
283 
 
 tered. It might otherwise have been supposed 
 perhaps, that this brigand was an accomplished 
 divine; that he had anticipated the discoveries of 
 the nineteenth century ; and from making merely 
 a small mistake in the chronology, had expected 
 the personal reign to begin immediately, and hav- 
 ing rashly headed the troops who were by force 
 to make Christ a king, John vi. 15; his army had 
 been routed, and he himself made prisoner, and 
 brought to the cross. 
 
 Now, was it not very much worth while, merely 
 at the expense of misplacing the comma, to pre- 
 serve us from all these dangerous heresies? But 
 still, notwithstanding the misplacing of the com- 
 ma, the soul of the penitent would on that very 
 day be with Christ in paradise. 2 Cor. v. 8. 
 
 " We are compelled to infer a personal reign 
 on earth from the frequent contrast betwixt this 
 world or age, aim, and the world or age to come." 
 Indeed ? But unless eternal life be shorter than 
 eternity, your age to come can do you no service: 
 for the Bible recognizes no world nor age to come 
 to Christians, but the one where they shall enjoy 
 eternal life. Till that is ended, the redeemed will 
 not trouble themselves with seeking other worlds 
 or ages to come. Mark x. 30: Lukexviii. 30. Do 
 our friends also expect another life besides the life 
 that now is, and that which is to come ? 1 Tim. 
 iv. 8. 
 
 " We are taught to pray, Thy will be done in 
 earth, even as it is in heaven: and are assured 
 
284 
 
 that the whole earth shall be filled with his glory* 
 But how can his will be done on earth as it is in 
 heaven, or the whole earth be filled with his glo- 
 ry; till he return to it in person, and establish his 
 personal reign amongst men ?" 
 
 Good learned and pious gentlemen, have you 
 really no higher idea of the glory of Christ, than 
 that it consists in the manifestation of his bodily 
 presence? When we are told that the heavens 
 " declare the glory" of God, and that " his glo- 
 ry covereth the heavens;" do you actually believe 
 that the heavens shew his body; and that his body 
 is spread over the heavens? And when you read 
 that the earth shall be filled with his glory, do 
 you seriously believe that his body is to encom- 
 pass and occupy the globe? If this is your opin- 
 ion : then how can this earth be a habitation for 
 his people? Are they to dwell in his body? or 
 on it? If his glory be his body: then he can 
 possess no glory but where his body extends. If 
 his body shall be confined to the earth, his glory 
 also must be limited to the globe : but if his glo- 
 ry pervade all space, then his body must likewise 
 fill immensity. 
 
 Is it of the body of Christ that the apostle 
 speaks, when he talks of our " obtaining the 
 glory of our Lord Jesus Christ ;" and when he 
 says, " We all with open face beholding the 
 glory of the Lord, are changed into the same im- 
 age from glory to glory?" 2 Thess. ii. 14: 2 Cor, 
 iii. 18. 
 
285 
 
 Will Christ's personal residence on earth enable 
 his people to do the will of God on earth, even as 
 it is in heaven? And can his will never be done 
 on earth till he himself reign in person here? Is 
 his will not done when he " works in us both to 
 will and to do of his good pleasure ?" Is his will 
 not done on earth when his " people are made 
 willing in the day of his power ?" Is his will not 
 done on earth, when his u grace is made sufficient 
 for us?" when he strengthens us " with might by 
 his Spirit in the inner man ?" when we " glorify 
 him in our body and spirit which are his?" when 
 " we live not to ourselves but to him, who died 
 for us, and who rose again ?" when we walk even 
 as he also walked, and have the same mind in us 
 which was in him?" Phil. ii. 13: Psalm ex. 3: 2 
 Cor. xii. 9: Eph. iii. 16: 2 Cor. v. 15: 1 John 
 ii. 6: Phil. ii. 5. 
 
 " But unless Christ is to reign in person on the 
 earth, how can this world be the everlasting resi- 
 dence of the redeemed ?" Yea ? Is this world 
 to be their final abode ? " Yea verily. For Christ 
 says, Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit 
 the earth: and in heaven the glorified saints sing, 
 Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, 
 and we shall reign on the earth. 79 
 
 But if the meek are to li inherit the earth /' 
 the poor in spirit, and those who are persecuted 
 for righteousness' sake, are to have * the king- 
 dom of HEAVEN." And that is at least as good 
 as the earth. 
 
286 
 
 And if the song of the glorified saints proves 
 that they are to reign personally on earth : then, 
 on precisely the same principle, the language of 
 Paul, " We who are alive and remain unto the 
 coming of the Lord ; — *we shall not all die, but 
 we shall all be changed:" 1 Thess. iv. 15: 1 Cor. 
 xv. 51: must also prove that he and all his be- 
 lieving contemporaries are not yet literally dead; 
 nay that they shall never literally die, but remain 
 alive till the second advent, and be changed at 
 the coming of Christ. But if it be true that Paul 
 and his believing contemporaries are literally dead, 
 and that they shall survive to the coming of 
 Christ only in the persons of their believing suc- 
 cessors: then, it is as true, that the glorified 
 saints will never pass another day on the globe, 
 nor reign on the earth in any other form than in 
 the persons of those who possess their faith, love, 
 and zeal. 
 
 " But all along you have shut your eyes against 
 a most simple but irresistible argument. St. Paul 
 informs us that the dead shall be raised, and 
 Christ will come, at c the last trump.' 1 Cor. 
 xv. 52: 1 Thess. iv. 16. Now, we know of no 
 prophetical trumpets but the seven mentioned by 
 St. John : Rev. viii. The seventh is the last in 
 that series. At its blast antichrist is overthrown, 
 and the kingdoms of the world made the kingdoms 
 of our Lord and of his Christ. Rev. xi. 15 — 19. 
 In other words the seventh trumpet of St. John 
 clears the earth of the enemies of God, and intro- 
 
28'T 
 
 duces the Millennium. But the ' last trumpet' 
 of St. Paul is no other than the * seventh* the 
 last { trumpet' of St. John. Since therefore, the 
 ' last trumpet' of St. Paul is accompanied by the 
 resurrection of the dead and the personal advent 
 of Christ : this identifies the resurrection of the 
 dead, and the descent of Christ, with the ■ sev- 
 enth trumpet' of St. John, and proves that those 
 events are synchronical with the fall of Popery, 
 and the commencement of the Millennium. Thus 
 the language of St. Paul casts a cross light on the 
 words of St. John : and the whole of revelation 
 bears" a harmonious and overbearing testimony to 
 the momentous fact of the immediate appearing 
 of the Messiah, and the resurrection of the believ- 
 ing dead: and nothing but the blindness and 
 obstinacy of the evil men in these evil days on 
 which we are fallen, can prevent them from see- 
 ing the overpowering lustre of the truth, which 
 shineth around them like the sun at noon-day." 
 
 But good Sirs, you have only said that the 
 seventh trumpet of St. John coincides with the 
 last trumpet of St. Paul. You have forgotten to 
 prove your assertion. Do you also suppose that 
 the first trumpet of St. John synchronises with 
 the giving of the Id w ? Rev. viii. 7, compared 
 with Exod. xix. 16, 19: xx. 18. These two 
 trumpets have a much greater resemblance than 
 your two. When you have disproved the syn- 
 chronism of the first trumpet of St. John with the 
 promulgation of the law at Sinai, it will be time 
 
288 
 
 enough to refute the supposed synchronism of the 
 seventh trumpet of St. John, with the last trum- 
 pet of St. Paul. 
 
 Let us now proceed to another branch of the 
 proof which has been offered in support of this 
 incongruous theory, 
 
 II. The types. 
 
 If there is one fact on which we can rely with 
 greater confidence than another, it is the absolute 
 and unbroken harmony of every part of the word 
 of God with itself. No system can derive the 
 slightest support from the figurative language and 
 typical institutions of revelation, which stands 
 condemned and reprobated by the plain, express, 
 and repeated declarations of Scripture. The Mil- 
 lenarian hypothesis is at open war with the most 
 clear and solemn statements of the sacred volume: 
 and no ingenuity, which man has at his command, 
 will ever succeed in demonstrating, from the alle- 
 gorical application of the words and facts of the 
 oracles of God, the truth of what these oracles, in 
 terms the most distinct and emphatic, pronounce 
 false ; openly, and glaringly false. 
 
 But allow a man of fancy free scope to his 
 imagination, and the unlimited liberty to twist 
 and pervert words and facts according to his plea- 
 sure : and there is no conclusion so monstrous and 
 revolting, which he will not draw from the sub- 
 lime, the holy, and the instructive dictates of in- 
 spiration. Only grant the Valentinians that the 
 
289 
 
 different hours, at which the householder went 
 out into the market-place to hire labourers into 
 his vineyard, were intended to represent the num- 
 ber of j£ons in the Divine fulness: and then you 
 must inevitably admit that their total number is 
 exactly what the heretics affirmed, thirty. For 
 one, and three, and six, and nine, and eleven, 
 make neither more nor less than thirty.* 
 
 Only allow one of my worthy expounders of the 
 Apocalypse, that the image on the plains of Du- 
 ra was the symbol of Popery : that the sixty cub- 
 its in the height of this image, multiplied by the 
 ten horns of the beast : and that the six cubits in 
 the breadth of this image multiplied, not like the 
 height simply by the ten horns, but by the ten 
 horns and the last head of the beast, were intend- 
 ed to represent the number of the beast: and 
 then you must of course concede that the long- 
 sought for solution of the number of the beast, 
 is found to a unit. For in multiplying the height 
 of the image by the ten horns, we have six hun- 
 dred: and in multiplying the breadth by the ten 
 horns and the last head, we have sixty-six : the 
 two together amount precisely to six hundred and 
 sixty-six. Now, the number of the beast is de- 
 clared to be six hundred and sixty-six. There 
 never was a calculation more correct, nor a de- 
 monstration more complete ! 
 
 And only permit our modern Millenarians to 
 
 * Irena>i Opus cura Grabe Lib. i. cap. 1. p. 9, 
 
290 
 
 assume that Noah was a type of Christ : that No- 
 ah's being raised from the earth to the summit of 
 the waters, is a type of Christ's descent from heav- 
 en : that water is the emblem oifirc. that a uni- 
 versal deluge is the figure of a 'partial conflagra- 
 tion : only permit them to assume in each of their 
 arguments a few points of little greater conse- 
 quence than the preceding, and then you are 
 bound to receive the whole of their system in all 
 its length and breadth. But if you consent to the 
 assumption of no more than what is sanctioned by 
 the letter and spirit of the sacred writings : these 
 men will prove no more from the types, than from 
 the doctrines and prophecies of the word of God.* 
 Wherever the Holy Spirit has in the New Tes- 
 tament illustrated or confirmed any doctrine from 
 the history of the church, or the typical institu- 
 tions of the Jews; we are bound to embrace the 
 information with gratitude. But where the Holy 
 Spirit has been silent, we have no right to speak 
 in his name; nor impose our comments upon the 
 facts of sacred history, as the dictates of inspira- 
 
 * The reader will find some judicious remarks upon the ty- 
 pical arguments of the Millenarians in the Edinburgh Christian 
 Instructor, for July 1828. They appear to proceed from a cor- 
 respondent, who has furnished to that work many contributions 
 which would do honour to any name : and it is a matter of deep 
 regret that he has not hitherto favoured the world in a more 
 permanent form, with those profound and comprehensive views 
 of scriptural truth, which he knows so well how to express with 
 a most enviable simplicity and precision. 
 
291 
 
 tion. If any man imagines that he is possessed of 
 such a privilege, others are unquestionably war- 
 ranted to claim the same. If the Millenarians can 
 produce types to prove their theory, it is easy to 
 produce ours to overthrow it, and establish the 
 contrary. But to rest a system, which is destitute 
 of all other support, upon fanciful types and alle- 
 gories, is the consummation of weakness and 
 
 folly. 
 
 It only remains to take notice of the appeal 
 
 which is made to, 
 
 III. The testimony of the Christian Fathers. 
 
 From the days of Mede down to the last an- 
 onymous Pamphleteer, almost every Millenarian 
 tafks loudly of Antiquity : boasts that his own 
 notions are no novel opinions; but merely the re- 
 vival of the tenets of the ancient Fathers, which 
 were universally adopted in the first times of Chris- 
 tianity; and which in every age have flourished 
 or fallen, as religion has prospered or declined. 
 He studiously labours to impress his readers with 
 the belief, that his own creed has been the creed 
 of the primitive ages, and of the best and purest 
 portion of the Christian church. 
 
 If they had simply affirmed that their creed 
 was ancient; or at least, that there has been an 
 ancient expectation of a supernatural Millennium ; 
 they would have asserted a notorious and indubi- 
 table fact. But when they say that their notions, 
 respecting the Millennium, prevailed in the prim* 
 
292 
 
 hive church, and prevailed in the best and pur- 
 est ages of the church ; they either betray a child- 
 ish ignorance of the history of the Christian 
 church, or a deplorable want of Christian truth 
 and candour. The fact is, that from a very early 
 period an expectation was entertained of our Re- 
 deemer's personal reign on earth. But then it is 
 likewise a fact that that opinion was never general. 
 It was embraced only by a few of the Fathers. It 
 never was universally received. And it was widely 
 different from the modern edition of that hypoth- 
 esis. 
 
 To enable the reader to judge of the truth of 
 these positions, it will be necessary to illustrate 
 and prove them. 
 
 An expectation of Christ's personal reign on 
 earth was entertained from a very early period in 
 the Christian church : btit the notions which then 
 prevailed on the subject differed greatly from 
 those which now prevail; and they never were 
 generally received either in the primitive church, 
 nor in any subsequent age. 
 
 After repeatedly and loudly appealing to An- 
 tiquity, in defence of their theory, have any of 
 our modern Millenarians distinctly and honestly 
 told us what were the ideas which these Christian 
 Fathers who believed in a Millennium, enter- 
 tained on the subject? No indeed. On looking 
 into the last publication on the subject,* it might 
 
 * Reply to various criticisms on Mr. Irving's Course of Lec- 
 tures in Edinburgh, 1828; pp, 50-56; and Appendix, pp. 83-90. 
 
293 
 
 be supposed that there was nothing much more 
 extravagant in the ancient, than in the modern 
 Millenarian hypothesis. But how is this infer- 
 ence produced ? By a fair and full transcript of 
 all that the Christian Fathers have transmitted to 
 us on the subject ? Nay. No modern Millenar- 
 ian ever has had the honesty and courage to do 
 any such thing. He will roundly tell you that 
 his principles are identified with those of the 
 Christian Fathers : but catch him telling you 
 what the Fathers really believed. 
 
 One and all of them quote fully from those 
 Fathers, who, without explaining their creed, 
 merely assert in general terras that they expect 
 the personal reign of Christ with his risen saints 
 on earth for a thousand years. From such writ- 
 ers they quote all that they say. But from those 
 authors who have given a detailed view of the 
 system in all its absurdity and deformity: do they 
 make extracts equally copious and complete ? No 
 indeed. But some may say that these writers 
 were beyond their reach, and that they had no 
 opportunity of seeing and consulting them. But 
 this apology will not suffice. They must either have 
 seen and consulted the authors; and given man- 
 ufactured and garbled extracts to suit their own 
 ends, or they must have been guilty of the base- 
 ness of quoting, at second-hand, from authors, 
 whose works they have never seen. For passages, 
 exposing the whole theory to disgrace and ridicule, 
 lie in the very heart of the chapters and pages 
 
294 
 
 which they profess to quote : but of these formi- 
 dable passages they say not one word. 
 
 Just look at the following paragraph. " Lac- 
 tantius, who lived in the end of the third and the 
 beginning of the fourth century, in his * Book of 
 Divine Institutions', says, ' But when he, (i. e. 
 Christ,) shall have destroyed wickedness, and re- 
 stored the just to life, he shall be seen among men 
 a thousand years, and with most righteous gov- 
 ernment shall rule them. And at that same time 
 shall the prince of the devils be bound with a 
 chain, and kept in prison during the thousand 
 years of the kingdom, while justice shall reign on 
 the earth, that he may not attempt evil against 
 the people of God.' Again, « at the end of the 
 Millennial kingdom, Satan shall again be loosed, 
 and then shall be that second and public resurrec- 
 tion, in which the unjust shall be raised to eternal 
 pains'. ' This', says he in concluding, ' is the 
 doctrine of the holy prophets, w T hich we Christians 
 follow; this is our wisdom." * 
 
 The above is almost an exact transcript from 
 bishop Newton, on Rev. xx. 1 — 6. Now, what 
 inference would any individual naturally draw from 
 such a paragraph ? That this is all that Lactan- 
 tius has stated on the subject. But does this 
 really unfold the whole of what he held on the 
 Millennium ? It is but a part, and but a small 
 part too. But perhaps the remaining part of his 
 
 * Reply to various criticisms, &c. p. 53. 
 
295 
 
 millenarian creed might lie in a remote corner of 
 his works, and not be easily found by one who 
 had not carefully perused all his writings ? No 
 indeed. It does not lie very far remote. It is 
 just as easily found as the preceding: for it lies 
 in the same chapters, and it is interposed betwixt the 
 different parts of the above quotations on the sub- 
 ject. We cannot give his opinions at full length. 
 But we shall insert a few which these writers have 
 passed over. " When he shall have destroyed 
 wickedness, and executed the great judgment, and 
 restored to life those who, from the beginning, had 
 been righteous; he shall be conversant amongst 
 men a thousand years, and with most righteous 
 government shall rule them. This is what the 
 Sibyl elsewhere in her impassioned prophecy pro- 
 claims, 
 
 ' Ye mortals, hear : The King eternal reigns.' 
 
 Those who at that time are living in the body, 
 shall not die; hut during these thousand years 
 shall produce an hi finite multitude of children : 
 and their offspring shall be holy and beloved 
 of God. But those who shall be raised from 
 the dead, will, as judges, rule over the living. 
 The nations, however, shall not be altogether 
 destroyed : some of them shall be left for a con- 
 quest to God; that the just may triumph over 
 them, and subject them to perpetual bondage" 
 * After his, (Christ's) advent, the righteous shall 
 be gathered together from the whole earth : and 
 the judgment being finished, the holy city shall 
 
296 
 
 be built in the midst of the earth : in which its 
 builder, God himself, shall dwell along with the 
 reigning righteous. It is to .this city the Sibyl 
 refers, when she says, 
 
 1 God's city, which he reared, he made 
 T outshine the sun, and moon, and stars.' 
 
 Then that darkness, with which the heaven is 
 overspread and obscured, shall be removed. The 
 moon will acquire the brightness of the sun, 
 and wane no more. The sun will become seven- 
 fold brighter, than he is at present. The earth 
 will disclose her fertility; and spontaneously pro- 
 duce fruits in the greatest abundance. The rocks 
 will drop honey: wine will run in streams; and 
 the rivers overflow with milk. In fine, the world 
 itself will be glad: and all nature, rescued and 
 freed from the dominion of evil, impiety, and er- 
 ror, will rejoice. During this time, the savage 
 beasts will not live on blood, nor ravenous birds 
 on prey : but all things shall be peaceful and 
 gentle." After some quotations from Virgil and 
 the Erythraean Sibyl, and some speculations about 
 the duration of the world, and the time of the 
 Millennium, he goes on to describe the last effu- 
 sion of the wrath of God against the nations, 
 when he shall destroy them all to a man. " But 
 first he will most powerfully shake the earth : by 
 which commotion the mountains of Syria shall be 
 cloven asunder. The hills shall sink. The walls 
 of the cities shall fall. God shall, for three days, 
 
297 
 
 Restrain the sun from setting. He will set it on 
 fire: and a scorching heat and a mighty burning, 
 with showers of sulphur, hailstones, and sparks of 
 fire shall descend on his enemies and the wicked. 
 Their spirits shall melt with heat, and their bo- 
 dies be bruised with the hail. They shall wound 
 each other with swords: and the mountains shall 
 be filled with their bodies, and the valleys covered 
 with their bones. But during these three days, 
 the people of God shall be hidden in the caves of 
 the earth, till the wrath of God against the na- 
 tions, shall close the last judgment. Then the 
 righteous shall come forth from their concealment, 
 and find all things covered with carcases and 
 bones. But the whole race of the wicked shall 
 totally perish; and there shall no more be any na- 
 tion in the world, except the single nation of God. 
 Then for seven whole years the forests shall re- 
 main untouched; and no wood shall be cut down 
 from the mountains. But the weapons of the na- 
 tions shall be used for fuel : and then there shall 
 be no war, but everlasting peace and rest. 
 
 " When the thousand years shall be finished ; the 
 world shall be renewed by God; the heavens shall 
 be folded up ; and the earth changed. And God 
 shall transform men into the likeness of angels : 
 and they shall be as white as snow : and live con- 
 tinually in the presence of the Almighty: and 
 sacrifice to their Lord, and serve him for ever. 
 At the same time shall be the second and public 
 resurrection of all, in which the wicked shall be 
 N 
 
298 
 
 raised to everlasting pains." It is of all this, and 
 more of the same description, and not of the gar- 
 bled, mutilated, and manufactured extracts, which 
 our friends have chosen to give us: that Lactan- 
 tius in conclusion says, " This is the doctrine of 
 the holy prophets which we Christians follow: 
 this is our wisdom."* 
 
 This attempt to make the world believe that 
 Lactantius entertained no other opinions respect- 
 ing the Millennium, than what they have trans- 
 cribed, is a most culpable suppression of the truth. 
 And yet it is the work of bishop Newton, within 
 two pages of the severe lecture which he has 
 written against Dr. Middleton, for a supposed 
 misrepresentation of the sentiments of Justin 
 Martyr. The Bishop might have spared his cen- 
 sure, and looked to himself: for notwithstanding 
 all his attempts to exculpate him ; Justin, as you 
 shall soon see, has left enough on record to jus- 
 tify the worst that Dr. Middleton has said. 
 
 Does the reader wish for additional specimens 
 of the good faith and fair dealing of these gen- 
 tlemen ? Let him turn to the writings of Irenaeus. 
 It is not easy to tell how often, in this controversy, 
 excerpts have been made from the 35th chapter 
 of his fifth book against Heresies. But is that 
 all that that venerable Father has left us on the 
 subject? Our friends would be glad that we 
 
 Lactantii Opera. Lib. vii. Cap. 24—26. Oxonii, 1684. 
 
299 
 
 should believe that it is the whole. But any man 
 who has read his writings, knows the contrary. If 
 we are required to submit to the authority of Ir- 
 enaeus, we are entitled to his whole testimony. 
 Now, what is it that he has actually stated ? He 
 informs us that " Some Elders, who had seen 
 John the disciple of the Lord, relate that they had 
 heard from him ; that our Lord, speaking of these 
 times, (the Millennium,) said, the days shall come 
 in which a single grain of wheat shall pro- 
 duce ten thousand ears; and each ear shall yield 
 ten thousand grains; and each grain shall yield 
 ten pounds of pure white flour : and the other 
 fruits, seeds, and plants, shall possess a corres- 
 ponding fertility." A return of 1,000,000,000 
 pounds of pure white flour in one season from a 
 single grain of wheat ; is surely as much as any 
 farmer can desire. The produce of a few such 
 grains would soon render Britain independent of 
 foreign supplies. 
 
 But if this is not abundantly marvellous, let the 
 reader take another sample of the credulity of this 
 honest champion of Millenarianism. It imme- 
 diately precedes the extract which has just now 
 been given. " The days shall come, in which vines 
 shall grow ; each having ten thousand branches ; 
 and each of these branches shall have ten thousand 
 smaller branches; and each of these branches shall 
 have ten thousand twigs; and each of these twigs 
 shall have ten thousand clusters of grapes ; and 
 each of these grapes, being pressed, shall give 
 N 2 
 
300 
 
 twenty-five measures of wine." " That is," Dr. 
 Whitby says, " according to the mildest compu- 
 tation, 275 gallons of wine." Really we might 
 think 2,750,000,000,000,000,000 gallons of wine! 
 no bad vintage at all from a single vine : and that 
 this might have been amply honourable to his 
 millennial vines, without any additional recomend- 
 ation. But is this all that the good man has to 
 say in their favour ? No: the best is yet to come. 
 The grapes are endowed with perception and rea- 
 son, speech and piety. For this patriarch of the 
 creed goes on. " And when any of the saints 
 shall take hold of one of these clusters, another 
 will cry out, { IAMA BETTER CLUSTER: 
 TAKE ME; AND BY ME BLESS THE 
 LORD.'"* 
 
 The most distinguished ancient Millenarians 
 were Barnabas, Papias, Irenaeus, Nepos, Justin 
 Martyr, Lactantius, Apollinarius, Tertullian, and 
 a fictitious writer who assumed the name of Clem- 
 ent, and who, by the Defender of Mr. Irving, is 
 regarded as the companion of St. Paul. No an- 
 cient writer takes notice of more than one epistle 
 written by the genuine Clement. This is what is 
 generally called his first epistle to the Corinthians: 
 
 * Irensei Opera. Lib. v. cap. 33. Grabii ed. Oxonii 1702. 
 The good Father adds, " These things are credible to those 
 who believe. But Judas, the traitor, not believing, and asking 
 how the Lord could cause such productions? the Lord answer- 
 ed, They shall see who reach those times." 
 
301 
 
 and the best informed in such matters, consider 
 all the other writings that are circulated under his 
 name, as spurious.* 
 
 Such stuff as that, which has just now been 
 quoted from Irenasus, uniformly forms part and 
 parcel of the ancient Millenarian creed, wher- 
 ever it is given in detail. That such were the 
 notions of Justin Martyr, is evident from his 
 quotations, from Isaiah lxv. 17—25, in support 
 of his views of the subject. The application of 
 the whole of that passage to the Millennium, 
 proves that he expected that great part of the 
 happiness then possessed, would arise from sen- 
 sible enjoyments; and his version of the 23d 
 verse, " Mine elect shall not labour in vain, nor 
 bring forth children for a curse," distinctly inti- 
 mates that he expected the inhabitants of the 
 millennial world, not even excepting the risen 
 saints, would continue to marry and be given in 
 marriage.f 
 
 From his declamation about the land flowing 
 with milk and honey, the ruling over the earth, 
 and the possessing dominion over the fowls, fish- 
 
 * Vide Testimonia Veterum de S. dementis Epistolis apud 
 Cotolerii Patres Apostolicos. Tom. i. pp. 128—131. Grabii 
 spicileg. Tom. i. pp. 265-269. Cavii Hist. Liter, p. 18. Lard- 
 ner's Works, 4to, vol. i. pp. 290—293: and vol. v. pp. 432- 
 446. Memoires Ecclesiastiques par Tillemont. Tom. ii no 
 292—300. w * 
 
 t Seethe Paris edition of the Works of Justin Martyr, Folio, 
 1636: pp. 306—308: or Thirlby's edition, pp. 310—315. 
 
302 
 
 es, and beasts; Barnabas seems to have had as 
 sharp an eye after the good things of this world 
 as his brother Justin.* 
 
 The writings of Papias, Nepos, and Apollinar- 
 ius, on the Millennium, have perished. Dr. 
 Cavef has preserved a small fragment of Victor- 
 inus, containing merely a single allusion to the 
 subject. In his brief notice of the matter in his 
 work against Marcion, where he shews that his 
 own notions were not superior to those of his 
 brethren, Tertullian refers us to his Treatise 
 on the Hope of the Faithful, where he had 
 fully discussed the question. J But this work 
 has also fallen a sacrifice to the wreck of time. 
 If however, we are to confide in the testimony of 
 those Fathers who had read their works, we must 
 believe that these all entertained the most carnal 
 and degrading ideas of the nature of the Millen- 
 nium. The following are the words of Jerome. 
 " If we understand the Revelation of John liter- 
 ally, we must judaize ; if spiritually as it is writ- 
 ten, we shall seem to contradict many of the an- 
 cients ; amongst the Latins, Tertullian, Victori- 
 nus, and Lactantius; and amongst the Greeks, to 
 omit others, Irenseus Bishop of Lyons, against 
 whom, Dionysius, Bishop of the church of Alex- 
 
 * Vide BarnabseEpistol. cap. vi. apud Cotolerii Pat. ApostoL. 
 
 f Historia Literaria, p. 104. 
 
 f TertuUiani ad Marcionem Lib. iii. cap. 24. 
 
303 
 
 andria, a man of uncommon eloquence, wrote a 
 curious piece, deriding the fable of a thousand 
 years, and the terrestrial Jerusalem adorned with 
 gold and precious stones 5 the rebuilding of the 
 temple, bloody sacrifices, sabbatical rest, cir- 
 cumcision, child-births, nursing of children, del- 
 icate feasts, and the servitude of the nations : and 
 again after this, wars, armies, triumphs, and 
 slaughters of conquered enemies, and the death 
 of the sinner a hundred years old. Him Apolli- 
 narius answered in two volumes; whom not only 
 the men of his own sect, but a very great multi- 
 tude likewise of our own people follow in this ar- 
 ticle." * In the opinion of Jerome, which is cor- 
 roborated by the testimony of Origen, Augustin, 
 and Gennadius;f Apollinarius, Irenaeus, Ter- 
 tullian, Victorinus, and Lactantius, adopted the 
 same notions of the Revelation. The carnal, or 
 Jewish ideas of Irenaeus, Lactantius, and Ter- 
 tullian, are placed beyond a doubt by their own 
 writings. Apollinarius, the defender of Irenaeus, 
 certainly must have coincided with his principal. 
 And if Victorinus deserved to be included in the 
 same class with Apollinarius, Lactantius, Ter- 
 tullian and Irenaeus, his creed must have been 
 very little better than that of his companions. 
 
 * Hieronymi Comment, lib. xviii. in Esaiam prooem. 
 
 f Origenes in Mat. cap. xxii. Augustin de civitate Dei, Lib. 
 xviii. xx. cap. 7. 
 
304 
 
 So much for these five. Let us try to ascer- 
 tain the creed of Nepos and Papias, two noted 
 men amongst the ancient Millenarians. 
 
 Speaking of Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, 
 Eusebius informs us, that " he composed two 
 books concerning the Promises. This was occa- 
 sioned by Nepos, an Egyptian bishop, who taught 
 the saints that the promises were to be fulfilled in 
 a Jewish sense, and maintained that there would 
 be a thousand years of bodily pleasure upon eartru 
 Fancying that he could establish his notion from 
 the Revelation of John, Nepos composed a book 
 upon this subject, and entitled it, c A Refutation 
 of the Allegorists.' This Dionysius, in his work 
 upon the Promises, opposes." After relating the 
 reluctance of Dionysius to engage in the contro- 
 versy ; the historian goes on transcribing the 
 words of Dionysius concerning Nepos. " But 
 since a book has been published which some think 
 conclusive; and some teachers undervaluing the 
 law and the prophets; neglecting the gospels; 
 and despising the epistles: boast of the doctrine 
 of this book, as containing some precious hidden 
 mystery; and will not allow our more simple 
 brethren to expect any thing sublime and great; 
 neither the glorious and truly divine appearing of 
 our Lord, nor our resurrection from the dead, nor 
 our gathering together, and conformity to him: 
 but persuade them that nothing but mean mortal 
 things, such as we at present jwssess, are to be 
 hoped for in the kingdom of God : it is neces- 
 
305 
 
 sary for me to enter into a discussion with my 
 brother Nepos."* Of Papias, the author of the no- 
 tion,, and from whom Irenaeus seems servilely to 
 have copied it, we shall perhaps hear afterwards. 
 But from what Irenaeus has stated, no doubt 
 can exist that the notions of Papias were of the 
 most abject, unworthy, and ridiculous descrip- 
 tion, f 
 
 Since therefore, almost every ancient Millenar- 
 ian has left us an explanation of his views, and 
 each who has explained them, shews that he en- 
 tertained the most gross and contemptible ideas 
 of the nature of the Millennium; we are com- 
 pelled to conclude that these carnal notions were 
 universally held by all who embraced the system ; 
 and that they were uniformly regarded as entering 
 into its very essence. 
 
 Now, our modern Millenarians either know this 
 fact, or they do not. If they know it: then where 
 is their candour in suppressing such an important 
 and characteristic part of the ancient system ? But 
 if they are ignorant of it : then how is it possible 
 that they can have read the writings of the prim- 
 itive Millenarians, where such carnal representa- 
 tions are invariably incorporated with every de- 
 scription which they have given of their senti- 
 ments ? And if they pretend to quote authors 
 whom they have neither seen nor consulted : then 
 
 * Eusebii Hist. Ecclesiast : Lib. vii. cap. 24. 
 
 f Vide Irenaei centra Haereses Lib. v. cap. 33. 
 
 N3 
 
306 
 
 what reliance can be placed on their truth and 
 honour ? 
 
 It will not excuse them to say that they may 
 have seen the original writers, yet the passages 
 now produced, may have escaped their notice. 
 For unless they began at the end, how could they 
 arrive at the thirty-fifth chapter of the fifth book 
 of Irenaeus, without reaching the thirty-third? 
 And whether they began at the beginning or the 
 end ; how could they miss the extracts from Lac- 
 tantius, which lie in the heart of the chapters to 
 which they refer, and are mixed up with the very 
 paragraphs which they profess to translate from 
 his pages ? 
 
 And since these gross and carnal ideas uniformly 
 formed an essential part of the Millennium which 
 the ancients expected ; unless our modern Mille- 
 narians have adopted, or are willing to adopt, all 
 the nonsense and absurdity, the grovelling and 
 disgusting detail of the ancient theory : for what 
 purpose do they appeal to the Christian Fathers ? 
 Unless their tenets coincide with those who 
 advocated Millenarian principles in the first ages 
 of the church, an appeal to them is altogether 
 irrelevent. 
 
 But whether their tenets coincide with those of 
 the ancients, who held Millenarian notions, or 
 differ from them: a more important question re- 
 mains to be considered. Were Millenarian prin- 
 ciples, of any description, embraced by the prim- 
 itive church? or by the church in any age? 
 
307 
 
 After the specimens which we have lately seen 
 of the real nature of the ancient form of the sys- 
 tem; is there a reader, in his senses, who can 
 believe, that such childish, wild, and ridiculous 
 trash could obtain the sanction of the apostles, or 
 of any men imbued with the spirit of the apos- 
 tles, and who knew that the kingdom of God 
 cometh not by observation; that it is not meat 
 and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy, 
 in the Holy Ghost; that they who shall be count- 
 ed worthy to obtain the resurrection to life, neith- 
 er marry nor are given in marriage, but are as 
 the angels; and that they shall hunger no more, 
 neither thirst any more ? 
 
 How are we to prove that any particular opin- 
 ion never formed an article of the belief of the 
 Christian church ? Can this point be established 
 by shewing that it never formed an article of any 
 of the creeds, or formularies of the church ? that it 
 was rejected and opposed by the most eminent men, 
 whose opinions were held in the highest estima- 
 tion? that rather than admit the tenet, they ques- 
 tioned the inspiration of the parts of the scriptures 
 which were supjiosed to countenance it ? and that 
 its advocates complain that it has been resisted 
 and rejected? Will the establishment of such 
 things as these, prove that the tenet in question 
 was no article of the Christian church ? If it will, 
 no long process is necessary to evince that the 
 principles of Millenarianism never were embraced 
 by the church. 
 
308 
 
 1. These principles never obtained a place in 
 any creed, confession of faith, or formulary of 
 doctrine of the primitive church. If any assert 
 the contrary, let them produce the document in 
 which these principles are contained. 
 
 2. So far from being acknowledged as sound, 
 the principles of Millenarianism were opposed and 
 rejected by the most eminent Fathers of the church. 
 With the exception of Barnabas, the person who 
 assumes the name of Clement, Papias, Justin Mar- 
 tyr, Irenaeus, Nepos, Apollinarius, Lactantius, 
 and Tertullian; they were rejected by almost every 
 Father of the Church ; and openly opposed by 
 Dionysius, Origen, Eusebius, Epiphanius, Genna- 
 dius, Jerome, and Augustin: men whose piety 
 equalled, and whose learning and talents far 
 surpassed, any in the first centuries of the 
 Church. 
 
 It can be no difficult matter to ascertain the 
 sentiments of the Fathers upon the Millenarian 
 notions of their contemporaries. Gennadius, of 
 Marseilles, who flourished A.D. 495,* as cited by 
 Whitby,-]- declares, " In the Divine promises we 
 believe nothing concerning meat aud drink, as 
 Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Lactantius teach from 
 their author Papias; nor of the reign of a thou- 
 
 Cavii Hist. Liter, p. 376; and Lardner's Works, 4to London. 
 1815; Vol. iii. p. 41. 
 
 f On the Millennium, p. 720. 
 
309 
 
 sand years on earth after the resurrection, and 
 the Saints' reigning deliriously with him, as Nepos 
 taught." Speaking of Papias and his works, Euse- 
 bius uses the following language: — " The same 
 author has published some other things, which 
 he had obtained by report. For example, some 
 strange parables and discourses of our Saviour, 
 and some other things more fabulous. Among 
 which, he says there will be a Millennium after 
 the resurrection from the dead, during which the 
 Kingdom of Christ will be corporeally established 
 upon this earth; which I suppose he expected 
 from misapprehending the discourses of the Apos- 
 tles, by not understanding what they had figur- 
 atively spoken. For he was a man of a very 
 slender judgment, as may be conjectured from his 
 publications. However, he was the cause why 
 very many ecclesiastical persons, from regard to 
 his antiquity, adopted the same opinion, as Ire- 
 nseus, and any other who has professed the same 
 tenets."* Origen, who inflicted a grevious injury 
 upon religion, by setting an example of wild ex- 
 travagant allegorising of the Scriptures, repeatedly 
 reprobates the system. In one place he says, it 
 was a doctrine that was embraced only by " some 
 silly people." Elsewhere he adds, " They believe 
 that, after the resurrection, we shall, according to 
 the chief promises of the Gospel, eat and drink; 
 
 * Eusebia Hist. Eccles. Lib. iii. cap. 39. 
 
310 
 
 and, as some of them say, shall have children. If 
 these things should be divulged among the hea- 
 then, they would bring a great reproach for folly 
 upon Christianity: for many of the heathen enter- 
 tain a far better belief."* Jerome's opinion may 
 be easily discovered. " If we understand the Re- 
 velation literally, we must judaize; if spiritually, 
 as it is written, we shall seem to contradict many 
 of the ancients."f And Augustin, who informs us 
 that he himself had once embraced the tenets of 
 the sect, says, that their notions might be tolerat- 
 ed, " If they mentioned any spiritual delights 
 which the saints might enjoy by Christ's presence: 
 but since they affirm that those who shall then rise 
 shall indulge in carnal banquets, not only without 
 modesty, but beyond belief, none but carnal men 
 can believe such things.":]: 
 
 While these men employ such language, is there 
 any necessity for adding another word respecting 
 their sentiments concerning the system? 
 
 3. The absurdities of the Millenarian doctrines, 
 led some of the ancients to call in question the in- 
 spiration of the book of Revelation. 
 
 On this subject, a few sentences may be produc- 
 ed from Eusebius. " We have heard that at the 
 
 • Prolegomina to the Canticles and Philocalia, cap, 26, p. 99, add- 
 ed to Spencer's edition of his work against Celsus. 
 
 f Hieronymi Prooem, in Esaise lxv. 
 
 $ Augusteni De Lenitate, Dei. Lib. xx. cap. 7. 
 
311 
 
 same time one Cerinthus was the founder of ano- 
 ther heresy. Gaius, whose words I have already 
 quoted, in a disputation which is still circulating, 
 writes of him as follows: ■ Cerinthus, by revela- 
 tions, as if they had been written by some great 
 Apostle, has published some marvellous tales, 
 which he pretends were communicated to him by 
 angels: saying, that after the resurrection, the 
 Kingdom of Christ will be earthly; and that men 
 living again in the flesh at Jerusalem, will be sub- 
 ject to desires and pleasures. Being an enemy to 
 the Sacred Scriptures, and wishing to seduce into 
 error, he says there will be a thousand years spent 
 in marriage festivity ! Dionysius also, who in our 
 time was chosen Bishop of the church of Alexan- 
 dria, in his second book concerning the Promises, 
 speaking from ancient tradition of the Revelation 
 of John, says, " Cerinthus, the founder of the 
 heresy which bears his name, wishing to give a 
 respectable name to his forgery, was the author of 
 that book. For this was one of his tenets, that 
 the Kingdom of Christ would be terrestrial : and 
 being a licentious gluttonous man, he dreamed that 
 it would consist in those things which he himself 
 loved: that is, in meat, and drink, and marriage; 
 and that he might provide these things with a bet- 
 ter grace, it would consist in feasts, sacrifices, and 
 the killing of victims.' ,,# 
 
 * Eusebii Hist. Ecclesiast, Lib. iii. cap 24. See also more 
 to the same purpose, book vii. chap. 25. 
 
312 
 
 Does it follow from these statements, that tbe 
 Church was possessed of Millenarian tendencies, 
 either in the age of Eusebius or in any preceding 
 period? Was the rejection of the Apocalypse it- 
 self by some, from the sanction which it was sup- 
 posed to give to the system, any proof that Millen- 
 arian tenets were generally adopted by the Chris- 
 tian world. 
 
 4. The early Millenarians were obliged to 
 write in support of their principles, and to defend 
 them from attacks. 
 
 Nepos, believing that he could prove from the 
 Revelation of St. John, that the promises were to 
 be literally fulfilled, and that there would be a 
 thousand years spent in sensible enjoyments upon 
 earth, wrote a book, entitled a Refutation of the 
 Allegorical Expositors, or those who explained 
 the promises relating to the Millennium figura- 
 tively.* And Irenseus endeavours to confute 
 these expositors, by shewing the inconsistencies 
 and contradictions, in which he imagined that 
 they involved themselves, f 
 
 But if the whole Christian world had adopted 
 Millenarian tenets, would there have been occa- 
 sion for any such arguments and discussions at 
 all? 
 
 Each of the former proofs that was offered for 
 
 * Eusebii Hist. Ecclesiast: Lib. vii. cap. 21. 
 f Irenaei Operum Lib. v. cap. 35. 
 
313 
 
 the establishment of the modern Millenarian the- 
 ory, upon examination was found to give way. 
 This appeal to antiquity is really as unsuccessful 
 as any of its predecessors. The notions adopted 
 by the ancient Millenarians differed widely from 
 those held by the moderns. They were never 
 admitted into any creed. They were rejected by 
 the most eminent Christian Fathers. The aver- 
 sion to them was so general and strong, that some 
 questioned the inspiration of the Book of Reve- 
 lation on account of the sanction which it was 
 supposed to give them. And the ancient Mille- 
 narians themselves by their language, and by their 
 efforts to secure disciples to their tenets, de- 
 monstrate that their system never had gained a 
 general reception. 
 
 It is needless to say one word more to shew the 
 groundlessness of the assertions, that Millenari- 
 anism was the universal belief of the primitive 
 church, and that the modern doctrines are mere- 
 ly the revival of the faith of the first ages of the 
 Christian world. 
 
314 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 recapitulation: and concluding 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Our wearisome and irksome task is now near a 
 close. As we have proceeded, we have had 
 abundant evidence of the melancholy facts with 
 which we commenced these observations. " Weak- 
 ness and imperfection are inseparable attendants 
 on our fallen condition: and in general none have 
 given more deplorable proofs of the imbecility of 
 human reason, nor wandered farther from the 
 truth, than those who have had the greatest con- 
 fidence in the strength of their own intellect, and 
 the wisdom and excellence of their own opinions." 
 Seldom have any class of men come before the 
 public more big with pretension ; who more un- 
 blushingly asserted their own infallibility; and who 
 breathed a spirit of more stern defiance of all who 
 dare oppose them, and of proud and heartless 
 contempt for those who refuse or hesitate to sub- 
 scribe to their dogmas. From men of such won- 
 derful promise, it was only natural to expect some 
 respectable performance. The least that could 
 have been anticipated, was that they should be 
 masters of their own system, thoroughly convers- 
 ant with its varied details, and cordially united 
 
315 
 
 upon its leading articles. Nor was it extrava- 
 gant to hope, that they would be able to expound 
 their theory in a clear and intelligible manner, 
 and support it by arguments, which, if not fitted 
 to carry conviction, would at least command our 
 admiration of their theological attainments, and 
 intimacy with biblical criticism. 
 
 But on examining their writings, have these 
 just and reasonable expectations been realized ? 
 Every one of them has been most miserably dis- 
 appointed. Darkness, confusion, and inconsist- 
 ency, pervade their works. Few seem to have 
 any clear conception of the object for which they 
 are contending. The mass of unintelligible jar- 
 gon, with which their publications abound, give 
 sad indication of their own utter incapacity to 
 comprehend their subject: for no man who is 
 possessed of any ideas at all on the theme which 
 he proposed to illustrate, would expose himself 
 by committing to paper stuff, unspeakably worse 
 than nonsense. Of such pure nonsense, however, 
 we had samples in abundance. 
 
 And as for their harmony, though this is a 
 cause of their own vast self-complacency, rarely 
 have we encountered such total anarchy and irre- 
 concileable contradiction. There is scarcely a 
 single topic on which any two, who have not 
 servilely copied one the other, can be found 
 to coincide. Do you affirm that any particular 
 tenet which you find most distinctly and broadly 
 asserted in their writings, forms an article of their 
 
310 
 
 creed ? Instantly some of its abettors will turn 
 round : and reprobate your ignorance and pre- 
 sumption for judging of a matter of which you 
 know nothing: and produce some high authority 
 to prove that they hold exactly the reverse. Do 
 you say, That they expect Christ to reign visibly 
 upon the earth in power and great glory ? One 
 will instantly assure you that that is a gross mis- 
 apprehension of their notions: for they expect 
 that after his second advent, he will " remain in- 
 visible to the world, and only be manifested at the 
 grand crisis of his ancient church." Well then: 
 do you try to acquire their creed, to speak as they 
 dictate, and say, You hold that Christ is to re- 
 main invisible to the world, and only be mani- 
 fested at the grand crisis of his ancient church ? 
 Immediately you shall find that you are farther 
 wrong than ever ; and be told that that is a gross 
 and malicious calumny. " The anointed Ruler, 
 the King of kings shall dwell in our world, not, 
 as once, in the midst of one nation, and by the 
 mysterious radiance of the cloudy Shechinah ; but 
 in the wide circle of the whole earth, and by the 
 glorious brightness of a PERSONAL MANIFES- 
 TATION." 
 
 In short, quote what you please, and produce 
 ten who have asserted what you state : it is pos- 
 sible that some of the defenders of the system will 
 confront you with eleven who roundly and obsti- 
 nately deny it. 
 
 Nor are they at war merely with each other. 
 
317 
 
 Every one that has written largely, or rather 
 every one that has written on the subject at all; 
 either broadly or virtually contradicts himself, and 
 furnishes you with arguments and illustrations in 
 support of the most opposite tenets : so that, not- 
 withstanding the most scrupulous solicitude to do 
 them justice, if you attempt to give a general 
 outline of their scheme, the probability is, that 
 one and all will complain of prejudice and mis- 
 representation, and insist that you have wilfully 
 traduced and studiously perverted, and vilified 
 their views. 
 
 Our best effort to comprehend, what they 
 themselves evidently found incomprehensible; and 
 to collect something like the elements of a regular 
 system from the mass of their discordant and re- 
 pugnant materials; probably is utterly in vain. 
 But if they really hold that Christ is to come in 
 person before the Millennium, to raise the depart- 
 ed saints, to change the righteous who are alive, 
 and reign with these glorified immortals on the 
 earth for a thousand years : this is a theory which 
 must be pronounced altogether unscriptural and 
 false. 
 
 It is a theory which labours under multiplied 
 and insuperable difficulties. 
 
 We have seen that at whatever time the saints 
 shall be raised from the grave, the saints who are 
 alive shall be changed ; and both shall be clothed 
 with incorruptible, powerful, spiritual, bodies, 
 
318 
 
 fashioned like unto the glorious body of our 
 Lord. 
 
 After the supposed resurrection of the saints, 
 prior to the Millennium, the earth must either be 
 wholly changed, or remain as it is, or be partially 
 altered. 
 
 If it is wholly changed : it is impossible that 
 any of our race could survive the transition, or 
 that the world, in succeeding ages, could be the 
 seat of animal life. But the Millenarian hypoth- 
 esis supposes that a remnant of the wicked shall 
 be preserved ; and the Bible assures us that the 
 animal creation will remain during the Millenni- 
 um, and that the army of Gog and Magog which 
 shall attack the camp of the saints, long after the 
 Millennium is ended, will be composed of wicked 
 men in mortal bodies. And so far from teaching 
 us to expect a total change either on the sub- 
 stance or surface of the earth before the Millenni- 
 um ; the Scriptures intimate that the physical con- 
 dition of the globe will remain as it is, till the last 
 of its generations have finished their course. 
 " While the earth remaineth, seed-time and har- 
 vest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, 
 and day and night, shall not cease." Gen. viii. 
 22. 
 
 If the earth continue as it is, it must subject 
 the glorified saints to many a privation to reside 
 on it for a thousand years, and it is exceedingly 
 incongruous to mix them with mortal men, and 
 
319 
 
 expose them to the odious and disgusting society 
 of the wicked. 
 
 To assert that the earth is to undergo only a 
 limited and partial alteration, contradicts the plain 
 and repeated declarations of the word of God; 
 which assures us that Christ, when he comes, is 
 to be revealed in flaming fire ; that from his pres- 
 ence the heaven and the earth shall flee away; and 
 the earth and the works that are therein, shall 
 be burned up. 
 
 We know that at whatever time Jesus shall re- 
 turn, the Gospel and its ordinances will be abol- 
 ished. It has been by the Gospel hitherto, that 
 conversion has been carried on. The Millenari- 
 ans expect that, during the personal reign of 
 Christ on earth, there will be men in the flesh, 
 men in mortal bodies. These men must, by na- 
 ture, be corrupt and depraved ; and, before they 
 can be fit for the kingdom of God, must be born 
 again. But when the Gospel and its ordinances 
 are abolished, how can their conversion and re- 
 generation be accomplished ? 
 
 If Christ has his personal residence on earth, 
 how painful must death prove to his people, when 
 it removes them from a world where he is, to one 
 from which his presence is withdrawn ? 
 
 To increase the difficulties under which the 
 system labours, its advocates maintain that the 
 thousand years of the Redeemer's personal reign 
 on earth, is the great day of decision ; and that, 
 whilst the eternal state of men is under determin- 
 
320 
 
 ation, multitudes, unaffected by all the solemni- 
 ties of the scene, are deeply engaged in the busi- 
 ness of life, or keenly pursuing its pleasures. 
 
 The language of inspiration announces an at- 
 tack, by the wicked, upon the camp of the saints 
 and the beloved city, after the termination of the 
 Millennium. But if Christ is to reign in person 
 in the midst of glorified immortals on the earth, 
 such an attack is rendered altogether incredible. 
 
 If, as Millenarians admit, and the Scriptures 
 proclaim, Christ at his coming shall glorify every 
 living sinner; the conversion of the world at the 
 commencement of the Millennium, and the inva- 
 sion upon the saints by Gog and Magog after its 
 close, are rendered absolutely impossible. The 
 long series of prophecies proclaiming the univer- 
 sal prevalence of piety, is falsified; and antichrist 
 is, on this hypothesis, supposed to reign till the 
 numbers of our race are completed, and the ever- 
 lasting destiny of the children of men irreversibly 
 decided. 
 
 We have seen that this system not only labours 
 under insurmountable difficulties; but is also at 
 open war with some of the most plain declarations, 
 of scripture. This is the case with all that the 
 Bible records respecting the future history of our 
 race, and the nature and end of our Redeemer's 
 second advent. 
 
 The Bible declares that the people shall be all 
 righteous, and that the whole earth shall be filled 
 with the glory of God. Millenarians imagine that 
 
321 
 
 this never can be accomplished but by the per- 
 sonal presence of Christ, and the restoration of 
 the just, made perfect, to our world. But, by as- 
 suring us that the kingdom of heaven, or the Gos- 
 pel, is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which, 
 though the least of all seeds, groweth up into a 
 tree; that the stone cut out without hands, be- 
 comes a mountain and fills the whole earth : the 
 Bible intimates that conversion in future will be 
 produced as it has been in time past; and that all 
 nations and all the earth will be filled at last with 
 the glory of God, exactly as the souls of individ- 
 ual believers, and of the congregations of the 
 faithful in this and former ages, have been filled 
 with his glory ; by his plenteously blessing the 
 ordinances of religion, and imparting to them 
 freely and fully, the riches of his grace. 
 
 So far from authorizing us to expect a resur- 
 rection of the saints before the Millennium, the 
 Bible forbids the hope of the resurrection of any 
 till the heavens and the earth be no more. It 
 tells us that at the time at which some awake 
 to everlasting life, others shall awake to shame 
 and everlasting contempt. It tells us that when 
 those who have done good come forth to the res- 
 urrection of life, those who have done evil shall 
 come forth to the resurrection of damnation. 
 And so far from indicating that years and ages 
 shall be spent in the process of raising the dead ; 
 it teaches us to regard the resurrection of all as 
 simultaneous, the work of an hour, the act of an 
 instant, as accomplished in a moment, in the 
 O 
 
322 
 
 twinkling of an eye; as the effect of the single voice 
 of the Son of man, at the sound of the last trump. 
 
 So far from representing the final judgment as 
 a tardy and tedious gaol-delivery, in which the 
 individuals of our race, are successively brought 
 up to the tribunal, and the state of all decided 
 before the last solitary captive of death is dragged 
 from the grave: the Bible describes the transac- 
 tions of that decisive day, as conducted in the 
 presence of the whole inhabitants of the earth. 
 The parties are confronted with each other. The 
 men of one country and of one generation, rise 
 up in the judgment with those of another coun- 
 try and another generation. The judgment is ap- 
 pointed for the manifestation of the equity and 
 righteousness of the Most High, that all flesh 
 may see his glory. And accordingly, when the 
 Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, 
 before him shall be gathered ALL nations, and 
 he shall separate them one from another, as a 
 shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. 
 
 Unless the Millennium is no subject of prophet- 
 ic annunciation, Christ will not come before the 
 Millennium : " For the heavens must receive him 
 until the times of the accomplishment of all things 
 which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his 
 holy prophets since the world began." If it is a 
 subject of prophecy ; then he will not come till it, 
 as well as all the other predictions is fulfilled. 
 
 When Christ next appears in person, he will 
 come in power and great glory: and every eye 
 shall see him, not only after his advent, but in 
 
323 
 
 the very act of descending. But how can every 
 eye see him in the act of approaching the earth ; 
 if, at his coming, the wicked are in their graves, 
 and a large proportion of the human race are not 
 then born ? 
 
 So far from reigning on the earth for ever and 
 ever, or even for a thousand years; we are led to 
 believe that when he comes, he will abolish death, 
 deliver up the mediatorial kingdom to the Father, 
 and destroy the earth and the works that are 
 therein. 
 
 On proceeding to examine the evidence for 
 this system, which its advocates contemplate with 
 such matchless veneration, and regard as so clearly 
 and indisputably entitled to the instant and cor- 
 dial reception of the Christian church : did we 
 find the system fixed on a firm foundation, and 
 built on a rock of adamant ? On exploring its 
 strength and stability; the rocks crumbled into 
 dust, and the fancied firm foundations on which 
 they imagined that they had reared it, proved 
 more soft and yielding than snow. 
 
 We looked at their proof for a first resurrec- 
 tion, the resurrection of the saints before the Mil- 
 lennium. And what did we find ? A literal res- 
 urrection, like that of Christ when he left the 
 dead ? or like that of the human race at the close 
 of all? Why: the first resurrection, Rev. xx. 5, 
 on which they suppose that they never can lay too 
 great a weight; is no more literal than the second 
 resurrection in the 5th, 8th, and 9th verses of the 
 O 2 
 
324. 
 
 same chapter; than the resurrection of the Wit-* 
 nesses, Rev. xi. 17; or that of the Jews on their 
 return from their captivity in Babylon. Ezra ix. 
 8. The other passages, which they have pro- 
 duced to prove their notion, only proved the gen- 
 eral universal resurrection of the dead. 
 
 We looked at their proof for the personal ad- 
 vent of Christ, prior to the Millennium. And 
 did we find this rendered clear as sunshine, and 
 established with all the obvious and irresistible 
 cogency of demonstration ? Did the chronologi- 
 cal prophecies respecting the future advent of the 
 Messiah, all refer to the period immediately in- 
 troductory to the Millennium? In the idea that 
 they were all synchronical ; we found predictions 
 relating to no less than four separate events, the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, the fall of antichrist, 
 the commencement of the Millennium, and the 
 end of the world ; all heaped together, and 
 averred to belong to one and the rame event. 
 
 Did we find that the words specified, as ex- 
 pressing Christ's advent, negative the idea of a 
 spiritual coming, and imply that his advent be- 
 fore the Millennium is personal and corporeal? 
 This was asserted. But was it proved ? No in- 
 deed. The words specified are applied elsewhere 
 to his spiritual presence : and other words, as ex- 
 pressive of a personal presence, were mentioned, 
 which are repeatedly and unquestionably applied 
 to his spiritual presence. We were obliged to 
 take notice of a distinction affirmed to exist be- 
 twixt promises and predictions. We were told 
 
325 
 
 that the same word which, when it occurs in a 
 prophecy denotes a personal advent, when it oc- 
 curs in a promise indicates a spiritual coming. 
 We found that if there were any reality in this 
 ideal distinction, the language of every predic- 
 tion must be interpreted literally, and of every 
 promise figuratively. 
 
 Did we find that two of the words, supposed to 
 imply a personal presence, being conjoined, and 
 used to link the advent to an event which pre- 
 cedes the Millennium; that therefore the advent 
 which synchronises with that event, is the per- 
 sonal coming of the Lord to judge the world ? — 
 No, indeed. We found that the words which were 
 believed to denote a personal advent, and to relate 
 to one event, are applied to no less than four se- 
 parate events: the destruction of Jerusalem, the 
 death of believers, the overthrow of Antichrist, 
 and the end of the world. 
 
 We found that their miscellaneous proof from 
 the Sacred Scriptures, was exactly of a piece with 
 those to which we have just now referred. Some 
 of those passages which they have pressed into 
 the service, are so remote from any thing con- 
 nected with the purpose to which they have been 
 applied, that the only difficulty is to understand 
 how any man could conceive that they are capa- 
 ble of the application which they have received; 
 and the rest, when interpreted according to the 
 plain and obvious meaning of the words, will 
 prove any thing rather than the points for which 
 they have been produced. 
 03 
 
326 
 
 Finding the theory destitute of the shadow of 
 support from the plain language of revelation, 
 and in direct opposition to its most clear and un- 
 questionable declarations, we judged it needless to 
 spend time in examining their arguments from 
 the supposed types of Scripture: for no doctrine 
 can be entitled to our belief, which is repugnant 
 to the express authority of the word of God, and 
 supported merely by imaginary types and fanciful 
 allegories. 
 
 Their appeal to antiquity might have been dis- 
 missed in the same cursory manner. But to pre- 
 vent misapprehension of our motives, we found 
 it necessary to show that the creed of the ancient 
 Millenarians was still more grotesque, revolting, 
 and carnal, than even that of their modern repre- 
 sentatives; and that Millenarianism never in any 
 .form was embraced by the church. It has a place 
 in no ancient creed. It was resisted by the most 
 eminent of the christian Fathers. Its existence 
 led some of the primitive believers to question the 
 Divine authority of the book of Revelation, be- 
 cause it was perverted to support the Millenarian 
 hypothesis. And so far from being universally 
 received, Millenarians were obliged to defend 
 their system, and write against those who rejected 
 their notions. 
 
 After a patient examination of the principal 
 proofs which they have advanced, we must affirm, 
 that, so far from being able to shake the belief of 
 any man who is able to judge of evidence, they 
 have not produced a single argument capable of 
 
327 
 
 exciting a moment's doubt or suspicion. Their 
 efforts have neither been few nor feeble to force 
 their opinions upon the public mind. But every 
 renewed exertion fails more miserably than its 
 predecessor, and contributes to display more fully 
 the utter hopelessness of their cause, and the ab- 
 solute folly of attempting to support it. 
 
 No reverie of a lunatic was ever more baseless 
 and visionary. But still, notwithstanding all its 
 ineffable and matchless silliness, absurdity, and im- 
 piety, from the zeal, the ardour, the bitterness, 
 and vehemence, with which they plead and strive 
 for its prevalence, there can be no doubt that its 
 advocates believe in its reality. And if they are 
 as sincere as they appear, they administer a loud 
 admonition to all, not to lean to their own under- 
 standing; but to be humble, teachable, devoted to 
 the study of the scriptures, and persevering in fer- 
 vent believing prayer, to be taught and guided by 
 the God of grace. They afford a lamentable proof 
 that, without his teaching, there is no delusion 
 too gross and groundless for the human mind to 
 digest. 
 
 Had we been told a few years ago, that in this 
 century, amidst all the scriptural knowledge that 
 is possessed, and surrounded with the blaze of 
 British literature and science, a dozen of men 
 capable of reading the Bible in English ; and still 
 more, a dozen of men favoured with the advant- 
 ages of a liberal education, could be found capable, 
 not only of swallowing all the nonsense andjargon 
 of Millenarianism, but actually of avowing before 
 
328 
 
 the church and the world their belief of such pure 
 and unmingled absurdity; the intelligence would 
 have been scouted as a burlesque upon our coun- 
 trymen, and a libel upon human nature. Time, 
 however, has more than realized the worst part of 
 this startling and humbling intimation. It is not 
 easy to reckon the number of those who, in such 
 an age as this, have become the dupes of this de-v 
 lusion. 
 
 And after men of their piety and worth — of 
 their learning and talents, have not only, without 
 evidence, but in opposition to the plainest dic- 
 tates of revelation, actually become, in sober ear- 
 nest, the votaries of such a childish, stupid, and 
 groundless theory; we have little cause to marvel 
 at the wide sway of ignorance and error, and the 
 tenacity with which others adhere to the doctrine 
 of transubstantiation, the Pope's infallibility, and 
 all the dogmas of the Romish faith. Let those who 
 have been preserved from these and other anti- 
 scriptural tenets, give the praise to the Father of 
 lights, and the giver of every good and perfect 
 gift; and let all take care not to trust to their 
 own sagacity or wisdom, but to seek direction 
 and counsel from the Most High. 
 
 It is impossible to express how much we have 
 reason to lament their awful perversion of intel- 
 lect and industry. Talents and zeal like theirs, 
 under God, might have rendered the church the 
 most signal services. But in the direction which 
 they have given them, they are worse than useless. 
 Whilst they are employed in chasing phantoms, 
 
329 
 
 and combating their fellow-servants, they leave 
 the kingdom of darkness uninjured, and cause 
 Satan to rejoice that such an amount of energy 
 and activity is withdrawn from the invasion of his 
 dominions, and spent in harassing and annoying 
 the subjects of Him whom he hates. Infidels ex- 
 ult in the broils and contests amongst the profes- 
 sors of our common faith. Fools and fanatics are 
 encouraged, when perverting the Scriptures from 
 their genuine meaning, and forcibly twisting 
 them to support dogmas, and practices the most 
 directly opposed to the real import of the word 
 of God, to shelter themselves behind the shield of 
 their mighty name. Allow any set of men to fol- 
 low the lawless example of interpretation which 
 Millenarians have set them; allow them to spirit- 
 ualize what is literal, and to give a literal meaning 
 to all that is figurative, and then they will find it 
 easy to undermine the foundations of the Christian 
 system, and wrest from us our highest hopes and 
 dearest joys. There is not one article in the whole 
 scheme of revelation that could survive such a pro- 
 cess. We could not point to a single prediction 
 that has been fulfilled. No creatures correspond- 
 ing to the metallic image of Nebuchadnezzar, the 
 beasts seen in vision by Daniel and John, have 
 appeared. There is not a single fact in sacred 
 history which we could prove; nor one declara- 
 tion in the word of God on which we could rely* 
 One class of men would set aside the doctrine of 
 the incarnation, and another would reject the be- 
 lief of a future judgment. 
 
330 
 
 This system cherishes secular and carnal prin- 
 ciples; feeds the love of superiority; and even 
 cherishes a spirit of fierce, unchristian, and relent- 
 less warfare; annihilates all that is sublime, elevat- 
 ing, spiritual, and transforming in the Gospel; and 
 brings us back to the worldly services, and carnal 
 expectations of the Jews. It is totally unlike that 
 sacred system, which was announced by the an- 
 gels on the plains of Bethlehem ; and proclaimed 
 by Him who said, " The Spirit of the Lord is 
 upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach 
 the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal 
 the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the 
 captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to 
 set at liberty them that are bound, to preach the 
 acceptable year of the Lord." 
 
 It is seldom that any error comes alone. When 
 men depart from the faith once delivered to the 
 saints, one delusion generally is adopted after ano- 
 ther, till their folly becomes manifest to all. Mr. 
 Thorn has already nearly gotten rid of all that is 
 essential to Christianity, and reached the horrid 
 confines of complete apostacy. And many Milen- 
 arians are rapidly following him. When we find 
 men publishing to the world such sentiments as 
 the following, it is evident that they are either far 
 gone from the way of truth, or fully prepared to 
 adopt tenets the most opposite to the word of God. 
 " To establish election, it was necessary that the 
 whole world should worship the creature, which is 
 the worship of the devil." " It is an eternal ne- 
 cessary truth, that the creature, before it can wor- 
 
331 
 
 ship the Creator, must pass into the bondage of 
 sin, and be delivered out of it." — Dial, on Proph., 
 viii. 221, 222, If sin is necessary and unavoid- 
 able, it is no longer sinful : and men may live as 
 they please: for if they cannot resist sin, they can- 
 not be justly blamed or punished for its commis- 
 sion. When Aristo, Dial, on Proph. iii. 176, says 
 Satan " will never give up his reign by any preach- 
 ing of the Gospel, nor by any other means than by 
 the manifestation of Christ in person, on purpose 
 to cast him out of this earth;" he rejects by impli- 
 cation the divinity both of Christ and of the Holy 
 Spirit. For if he admitted them to be Divine, he 
 would discover no greater difficulty in expelling 
 Satan by the preaching of the Gospel, than by the 
 personal manifestation of Christ. Is any thing 
 too hard for God ? When Anastasius, Dial, on 
 Proph. v. 65, declares, "The very idea of the world 
 having become better is absurd, unless they mean 
 to contend that they have bound Satan, or made 
 him better," he broadly insinuates that the wick- 
 edness of the world is not owing to the depravity 
 of man, but to the strength and subtlety of Satan; 
 and that the devil has the graceless portion of our 
 race as completely at his disposal, as a planter his 
 negroes. And when Mr. Irving preaches the na- 
 tural mortality of Christ's body, and speaks of 
 Christ "feeling the perfect identity of 'fallen man- 
 hood in all its points "* there is no greater injury 
 
 • See Irving's Ancient Purity, &c. ; A Sermon preached Jan. 
 1st 1828, p. 21, 22: and Letter to the Rev. E. Irving in Refuta- 
 
332 
 
 that he can inflict on our holy faith. Who can bring 
 a clean thing out of that which is unclean ? If the 
 human nature of our Lord had not been absolutely 
 holy, he never could have done one action that was 
 perfectly good. He never could have finished 
 transgression, nor brought in everlasting righte- 
 ousness. The salvation of a single soul would 
 have been an absolute impossibility; and the whole 
 human race must for ever have remained under 
 condemnation, and exposed to all the horrors of 
 utter ruin. 
 
 From errors of such dreadful magnitude, may 
 God speedily rescue his church ! " Arise, O 
 God, plead thine own cause. O send out thy 
 light and thy truth. Be merciful unto us, and 
 bless us ; and cause thy face to shine upon us : 
 that thy way may be known upon earth, thy 
 saving health among all nations. Let thy king- 
 dom come: thy will be done on earth, even as it 
 is in heaven : and the whole world be filled with 
 thy glory." 
 
 tion of the Doctrines of the sinfulness, mortality, and corruptibili- 
 ty of the Body of Jesus Christ. The argument in this Letter is 
 conducted with the clearness and cogency of a geometrical demon- 
 stration. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 A. YOUNG, PRINTER. 
 
s 
 
■M! 
 
 
 w 
 
'*>*