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DISSERTATIONS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PROPHECIES 
 
 \^^ or THE ^ \ 
 
 SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 GEO^cSlND^Pi^IELD, 
 
 •ASTOR or THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF DETROIT. 
 
 " 1 cajujol believe that truth can be prejudiced by the discovery of truth, but I 
 fear that the maintenance thereof by fallacy or falsehood may not end with a 
 
 blessing.*'— Medk. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY DAYTON & NEWMAN, 
 199 Broadway. 
 
 1842. 
 

 Entered according to the Act of Congress, iu the year 1842, by 
 DAYTON 4; NEWMAN, 
 
 In the Clerk's office of tlie District Court of the United States, for the Southern 
 District of New York. 
 
 ^-x-zs*^ 
 
 S. W. BENEDICT, PRINT. 
 
CONTEPfTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Duty of Studying the Prophecies, and the Ob- 
 jections COMMONLY urged AGAINST IT, . . . 9 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 The System of Interpretation, .... 32 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 The System of Interpretation, .... 61 
 
 « 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The System of Interpretation.— The Nature oar 
 Figurative Language, . . . . . .97 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The System of Interpretation. — Symbolical and 
 Typical Language 122 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A General Outline of the Literal and Spiritual 
 System of Interpreting the Prophecies, . .148 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Traditionary History, 167 
 
iv CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Traditionary History, 199 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Traditionary History," 227 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Principles of Interpretation applied, and the 
 Second Coming of Christ shown to be Pre-mille- 
 NIAL, 267 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The CoaiiNG of Christ Pre-millenial, or prior to the 
 Destruction of Popery, 291 
 
 CHAPTER XH. 
 
 The Nature of the Day of Judgment supposed to 
 
 AFFORD AN OBJECTION AGAINST THE PrE-MILLENIAL 
 
 Coming of Christ, 326 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 The Season and Signs of Christ's Coming, . . . 368 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Skeptic's Objection, . . . ' . . . 407 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The author of the following dissertations respectfully 
 bespeaks the reader's attention before he enters on their 
 perusal. They are the substance of part of a series of lectures 
 delivered during the winter of 1841-2 to the people of his 
 charge, and are now given to the public in compliance with 
 the desire expressed by many to have them in some visible 
 and permanent form. 
 
 He is aware that he needs the reader's favor, so far at least 
 as to dismiss the influence of preconceived opinions, and dis- 
 passionately to examine the subject presented in these pages. 
 But he is satisfied, that the intrinsic merit of the subject, as 
 well as its important bearing on personal interests, on Chris- 
 tian practice, on social welfare, and on the destinies of nations, 
 will gain the reader's attention sufficiently to examine the 
 evidence presented whether these things are so. 
 
 The great question which forms the^nucleus of the whole 
 discussion, is one, and very simple, viz. Is the kingdom of 
 heaven a nexo dispensation^ to be introduced on earth by the 
 visible personal coming of Jesus Christ ? or has it been com- 
 menced,and is it now in the progress of its expansion, through 
 the influence of moral and political causes, and especially the 
 preaching of the gospel, designed in the providence of God 
 to overcome human corruption, to prostrate every system of 
 superstition, idolatry, and oppression, and to mould society, to 
 control the legislation, to efi"ect changes in the organic laws 
 or constitutions of nations, and to restore to the world the do- 
 minion of truth, peace, and righteousness, without any acces- 
 sion of miraculous agency ? The statesmen and politicians of 
 the day will reason and speculate, intrigue and plan, and think 
 that they descry, in the march of improvement, the increase 
 of light, and the very posture of nations, the pledges that 
 1* 
 
I 
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 earth shall be redeemed, and liberty, virtue, science, and in- 
 telligence bless the human race. The experience of the past 
 presents but a sad, sad retrospect; and little, very little to af- 
 ford a ground of hope for the future. What right have we 
 to conclude, that as a people we have attained to superior 
 knowledge and purity, and possess such superior skill in self- 
 government, and such perfect social and political institutions, 
 that we must certainly escape the disasters and ruin which 
 have befallen the highly civilized and refined nations of anti- 
 quity. It is the dictate of wisdom to suspect the suggestions 
 of self-flattery when they thus come athwart the experience 
 of the world. Nor should we be blind to the numerous proofs 
 apparent, that some cementing and consolidating principles 
 are yet wanting to give permanence and perpetuity to our 
 institutions. 
 
 The Christian will betake himself to the word of God as 
 to his guide, when he attempts to forecast the political des- 
 tinies of the nations of the earth. No book can be found so 
 full of general politics, so replete with valuable instruction, 
 and so essential to the right understanding of the means, se- 
 curities, and very elements of national prosperity, as the Bible. 
 It unravels a thousand perplexing mysteries in human gov- 
 ernment, and gives a clue to the profitable study and practical 
 uses to be made of the great principles which mark the pro- 
 vidence of God, and the development of the plans of Heaven. 
 It is of infinite importance to him, that he should be familiar 
 with this blessed Book, and have drunk deep of its spirit. 
 Erroneous views entertained with regard to the general 
 scheme of God's providence, will not, and cannot fail to 
 leave us ever at fault in understanding its particular evo- 
 lutions. 
 
 The writer of these dissertations looks to the " more sure 
 word of prophecy" as to the best and safest guide for our 
 researches into the future. God, who sees the end from the 
 beginning, and has laid his wise and holy plans in full view 
 •of all contingencies, and of all the various events that might 
 arise, is prepared for every exigency, and has apprised us of 
 the great crises which shall occur, as he unfolds his wondrous 
 scheme. Nor has he left us without sufficient means of 
 
pr:bface. vii. 
 
 knowing and judging what is the grand design towards which 
 all his movements tend, and what shall be the great and 
 glorious result in which they shall all ultimate. That, it will 
 be admitted, by every student of the Bible, is the coming a.nd 
 KINGDOM OF Jesus Christ. The first promise implied in the 
 threat against the serpent, brings it into view ; and the suc- 
 cessive promises and dispensations of God have but enlarged, 
 defined, and eclaircised the Christian's legitimate hopes and 
 expectations. 
 
 These things will scarcely be denied by any professed be- 
 liever in the truth and authority of the Sacred Scriptures. 
 Yet great is the difference in the results which flow from the 
 use and application of them. According as the church of God, 
 considered as a spiritual society, visibly organized in this 
 world, and destined to ascendant influence, may be regarded, 
 will men's views of the divine plans and providence take their 
 character, and their estimate of divine procedures affecting it, 
 be made. If we believe that the world is to be converted and 
 blessed by the expansion of the church, and the gradual difiu- 
 sion of her light, and means of moral influence: — if, in other 
 words, the Gospel is destined to find its consummation entirely 
 through the action of secondary causes, and the moral means, 
 and social and spiritual influences, at present possessed, it 
 is easy to perceive, that our ideas of the second coming of 
 Christ, and of the great results designed by that Gospel, will 
 and must be essentially diff'erent from what they would be, 
 were we persuaded, that that coming is as literally to occur 
 as did this first, and the present to be superseded by, and find 
 its consummation in, a new and glorious state of things, as 
 miraculously to be introduced as have been any and all the 
 dispensations of his grace before it. 
 
 Whether that long-predicted and expected coming of Jesus 
 Christ, and of the kingdom of Heaven, are matters of literal 
 verity, according to the grammatical import of the expres- 
 sions, or analogically to be understood, and therefore to be inter- 
 preted altogether figuratively or spiritually, is a question of 
 deep and wonderful bearing: nor is it to be slighted and 
 sneered at, by any one professing to love and reverence the 
 sacred oracles of God. It is vital to all our hopes, and forms 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 the very warp and woof of all the scriptural revelations on 
 the subject. It must be met ; and will be candidly examined 
 by every man who loves the truth, and is unwilling to be 
 swayed by the dogmas of others. The decision, we contend, 
 must be had from the word of God itself It seems reason- 
 able, and is the very dictate of all simple and unsophisticated 
 minds, that the ideas of those who indicted the Scriptures, — 
 their notions of the things of which they wrote and spoke, and 
 their rules and principles of interpretation, — should be respected 
 by us. We are not at liberty to assign different meanings to 
 their words, and to understand them as teaching things of 
 which they had no conception. Nor are we to take any part 
 of their writings, and apply them to scenes and events which 
 we may have excogitated, and pass it off as their description. 
 The same authority which dictated the oracles, in the first 
 instance, must be appealed to, as interpreter of their meaning. 
 If words have changed their import, and a spiritual or analo- 
 gical system has superseded a literal, we must be distinctly 
 APPRISED OF the CHANGE. It is easy for us to excogitate for 
 ourselves an import of expressions which shall eviscerate the 
 sacred oracles. 
 
 This, it is thought, by some excellent and beloved brethren, 
 is what the millenarian has done ; while he, in his turn, be- 
 lieves that the spiritualist is the aggressor here. The most^ 
 common and plausible objection against the millenarians' 
 literal interpretation of prophecy, grows out of an assumption 
 of certain things, which must be proved, before they can be 
 employed as the key to unlock its meaning. The conversion 
 of the world, by means of present appliances and instrumen- 
 talities, increased in number and power, — and the universal 
 and ascendant influence of Christianity, as a system of moral 
 and religious truth, at present known and understood amid 
 discordant philosophical and ecclesiastical sects, and expound- 
 ed by different theologians and metaphysicians, — are points 
 assumed, from which motives to exertion are drawn, and at- 
 tempts made to urge the Christian community forward in 
 deeds of Missionary daring and benevolent activity. Too much 
 activity and benevolent expenditure cannot be made, for the 
 accomplishment of the great end, which God designs by his 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 Gospel. Nor should we ever look indiflFerently on, or willing- 
 ly and unnecessarily throw away, the motives by which the 
 Christian church may be stimulated to action, in obedience 
 to the command of Jesus Christ, to go and " teach all na- 
 tions," to evangelize all nations, and to preach his Gospel to 
 every creature. 
 
 But it certainly may be suggested, and is worthy of the 
 gravest consideration, whether we may not appeal to and 
 employ a class of motives, which neither the word nor provi- 
 dence of God will justify. The hope of success, it is correctly 
 urged by Mr. Harris,* is an essential element of activity, and 
 if this be gone, and we are to believe that the world is not to 
 be evangelized by the noiseless and gradually augmented in- 
 strumentality of the Christian church, accompanied by the 
 energizing influence of the Holy Spirit, at least one powerful 
 class of motives will be rendered unavailable or inoperative. 
 He has made an issue between those who believe in the in- 
 strumentality of man, as designed of God, for the conversion of 
 the world, and for the consummation of the Gospel scheme, and 
 of those whose views in prophecy lead them to look for a fear- 
 ful and solemn crisis, to be signalized by the personal coming 
 of Jesus Christ for the introduction and establishment of his 
 kingdom, on the ruins of existing nations hostile to his supre- 
 macy. He admits, that many, who adopt the latter view, 
 are not only friendly to Missionary enterprise, but profess to 
 derive from it motives to increased diligence in the cause of 
 God : and he bears very honorable testimony to their piety, 
 and to the fact, that some of them " number among the libe- 
 ral and active supporters of our religious institutions." But 
 he allows himself,— certainly by no means conformably with 
 the Christian rule, or the Christian spirit, — to " suspect that 
 in many of such instances, we are indebted for what they do, 
 rather to the very natural desire of recommending their pecu- 
 liar views to others, than to the views themselves, — that their 
 conduct is in this respect better than their creed, — that it is 
 the triumph of their piety over their opinions," — and that 
 whatever of Missionary zec^Ji and benevolent activity they now 
 evince, is to be referred rather to the influence of principles 
 
 * See his Great Commission, p. 135. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 which date anterior to their peculiar views of prophecy. The 
 warrant he adduces for these suspicions and fears, will apply 
 with equal force to many who adopt his own views, among 
 whom, as numerous instances may be found, of those, who, at 
 one period of their history, " did run well," but who have subse- 
 quently become as inactive in reference to the diffusion of the 
 Gospel, as if a prophet had been deputed to say to them, 
 " your strength is to sit still." 
 
 Such impeachment of motive is not allowable. It is the 
 ARGUiviENTinyi AD INVIDIAM, and is totally unfounded, if not 
 suggested by ignorance of the views condemned, and of their 
 legitimate bearing on Christian practice. 
 
 Suppose that a man believes the world is to be gradually 
 brought under the dominion of the Gospel, by the present in- 
 strumentalities employed. The prospect of success, it is true, 
 will quicken effort, and induce liberality, just in proportion as 
 his benevolence expands, and he longs for the welfare of the 
 human race. But it is necessary, for the activity and efficiency 
 of that motive, to keep him always advised of measurable 
 success, and stimulated by bright and glowing pictures of the 
 future. When disappointment, disasters, and defeat occur, 
 as they often do, what then is the resource ? nothing is left, 
 but to fall back upon the promise of God, which presents the 
 arm of Omnipotence, the faithfulness of Jehovah, for our sure 
 reliance, and hope of ultimate victory. Who does not see 
 that, in having recourse to such sources of hope and consola- 
 tion, we must be sure that we understand the import of the 
 promise, and know the mind of God expressed in it ? Imagi- 
 nation may electrify; but it is not for one moment to be 
 admitted as the expounder of God's word and promises. 
 
 As long as he can be kept stimulated, and his passions thus 
 be fired, he may be roused to action. But the electric fires 
 die— a morbid state of mind and heart ensues upon the exces- 
 sive use of stimulants, applied to men's fancies and passions. 
 It is only as we can fall back on fixed and stable principles, 
 that we can look for continuous, increasing and devoted ac- 
 tion. Those principles can never be found, but in intelligent 
 and believing views of God's own mind and will. Our bene- 
 volence and action must embrace the objects, and take the 
 
PREFACE. atl 
 
 direction, and be with the design, of God's own, to be truly 
 successful and permanently efficient. It would be just as 
 legitimate here to suspect, were it proper so to do, that much 
 of the fickleness and spasmodic action of many friends of Mis- 
 sions, who avow their expectation of the world's conversion 
 by such instrumentality, may be referred to such causes. 
 
 Suppose, now, on the other hand, that a man believes in the 
 approaching speedy personal coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 to destroy the guilty nations of the earth by positive acts of 
 retributive violence, to raise the bodies of his dead saints,^ to 
 quicken the living, and to establish the kingdom of Heaven in 
 their joint dominion, and that in the mean time, he will have 
 his gospel preached as a witness to all nations, that he may 
 visit the Gentiles, and take out of them a people for the glory 
 of his own name, — with what peculiar emotions, and invinci- 
 ble energy, will he address himself to ihe great design and 
 business of his Christian life ? He looks upon the kingdoms 
 of this world as being under the dominion of " the god of this 
 world," " the great enemy and avenger," that foe of Jesus 
 Christ, the old '^ roaring lion" which goeth about seeking whom 
 he may devour. The kingdom of Heaven, he is persuaded, is 
 designed to supersede this accursed dominion, and to fill the 
 earth with joy and blessedness. Its honors, and privileges, 
 and rewards, as administered by the subordinate agency of 
 the saints, he believes can only be attained by the contempt 
 of this world's wealth and greatness, power and glory, and by 
 a life of suffering, devoted, and faithful attachment unto Jesus 
 Christ. He may, indeed, in common with others, be blinded 
 by a false philosophy, which will not permit hira to make a 
 right estimate of human agency, obligation, and instrumentali- 
 ty, in carrying on the designs of God. In this respect, he is, 
 however, np otherwise affected than are multitudes, who do 
 not believe in the personal, visible appearance of Christ, to 
 introduce the reign of Heaven. Whatever inaction and in- 
 difference to the Missionary enterprise he may evince, must be 
 referred to his system of philosophy, not to his faith in this 
 matter. With right views of human obligation and instru- 
 mentality, and with intelligent views of the great scheme of 
 providence, of which the coming and kingdom of Christ form 
 
XII PREFACE. 
 
 the grand result, he will find in his millenarian faith, not only 
 a solace in the midst of sorrows, distresses, and disappoint- 
 ments, but an incentive to ever-active effort in bearing testi- 
 mony to the glory of his Saviour, and in swelling the tri- 
 umphs of his heavenly kingdom. 
 
 He is met, at the very moment of enlisting in the service of 
 Christ, by a solemn question — whether to renounce his hopes 
 and prospects, his pleasures and plans, so far as they stand con- 
 nected with the kingdoms of this world, and are inspired by the 
 promises of earth, to cast in his lot, for time and eternity, with 
 the people of God, and to prefer the reproach of Christ to the 
 treasures of Egypt. Till this question is decided, and with all 
 his heart and soul he gives himself to Jesus Christ, he is none of 
 his. There can be no neutrality here. Indifference and luke- 
 warmness — an attempt to reconcile God and Mammon, Christ 
 and Belial — will only cause him to be spewed out of the mouth 
 of Christ, and to have his name blotted out of the book of life. 
 It is " to him that overcometh," and to him alone, that the 
 promise will be verified, that Christ will give him *' to 
 sit down with him on his throne, as he hath sat down 
 with the Father on his throne. He feels that as he enters 
 on the service of Christ, he enlists as a soldier, commences a 
 warfare, and that both the service and the war are for life. 
 He is not dazzled by great and brilliant prospects of sharing 
 with the world in its honors, and enriching himself by its 
 spoils. He knows that victory is certain, and thai nothing 
 can more effectually promote his honor, and swell his share 
 in the triumphs of the Great Captain of salvation, than to fall 
 a sacrifice, as he did himself. He looks not on the govern- 
 ments of the earth, expecting them to be grasped, and under 
 this dispensation subjected to the supremacy of Jesus Christ, 
 but knows that they are under the influence and direction of 
 intrigue and duplicity, of falsehood and treachery, of selfish- 
 ness and corruption;— fit illustrations of his character, who has 
 usurped the dominion of earth, and claimed its kingdoms as his 
 own. He is thus fortified against their seductive influence. 
 
 If, in the providence of God, he is called to take a part, and 
 to share in the obligations devolving on those who administer 
 that rule which God has made essential to the welfare and 
 
PREFACE, Zm 
 
 existence of society, he is reminded of an authority superior to 
 that of man, and of the necessity of keeping a conscience void 
 of offence towards both. He is a witness for Christ, let him 
 be where he may or do what he will. Having made his 
 choice, and preferred the glory of the heavenly kingdom to 
 that of the kingdoms of this world, he is willing, if needs be, 
 to seal his testimony with his blood, knowing that this will 
 increase the brilliancy of his crown. Firmness, decision, un- 
 compromising fidelity and attachment to Jesus Christ, are 
 promoted by the views he takes, not of the blending, but of 
 the contrast, of Christ's kingdom with those of this world. 
 Believing that in the present dispensation of his grace, his 
 Lord and Master is calling out a people from the Gentiles for 
 his own glory, and preparing the whole elect company of his 
 priests and kings, who are to share with him in the triumphs 
 of his dominion ; feeling the oligation of his Master's com- 
 mand to preach the good news of his kingdom to every crea- 
 ture, and to enlist recruits in his service ; and not being para- 
 lyzed by a false philosophy relative to human agency, which 
 has long pervaded the church, irrespective of millenarian 
 views, he becomes, in fact, a Missionary, wherever he is and 
 wherever he goes, telling of the doom of a guilty world, of the 
 authority, glory, and claims of the Saviour, and of his grace and 
 promises of pardon and blessedness to all that will come to him. 
 His story is very simple. His testimony is full, and it 
 strikes as directly against the intrigue, selfishness, violence, 
 and oppression of the haughty potentates of earth, as it does 
 against the ambition, cupidities, and lusts of individuals. The 
 native influence of his faith in this wondrous matter, is to dis- 
 encumber him from earth, to relieve him of a thousand 
 embarrassments, to fortify him against the ensnarements and 
 fascinations of a world that lieth in wickedness, to enkindle 
 his zeal and devotion to Christ and his cause, to direct him 
 to the source of all inspiring influences, and to the treasures of 
 wisdom and strength laid up for him in Jesus Christ. He is 
 not to be excited and stimulated by the prospect of immediate 
 and speedy or partial success, nor in danger of intriguing with 
 princes, and rulers, and nobles of the earth, to secure the tem- 
 porary triumph of Christianity. He falls back upon the re- 
 
 It 
 
XIV PKEFACE. 
 
 sources of his Saviour. He knows the end to be secured. 
 Every sinner saved is a soul added to the number of the 
 heavenly kingdom. He works in detail, and whether in the 
 full tide of the Spirit's gracious influences, or in seasons of re- 
 buke and blasphemy, of disappointment and disaster, he feels 
 that the march is steady and onward, and that the triumph is 
 to be hastened by the delivering of his testimony, in common 
 with the whole company of the faithful, and the preaching 
 of the Gospel throughout the world. 
 
 Thus did the apostles feel and act. Thus, too, did the 
 primitive Christians, There was a simplicity, a moral sub- 
 limity of character, a transparency of principle, which kept 
 them unharmed by the polluting influence of governmental 
 intrigues, and ever true and faithful to their suflfering and 
 crucified Redeemer. To him they looked, and not to kings, 
 and courts, and cabinets, for the success and triumph of 
 their cause. Nor was it till the church construed herself 
 into the kingdom of Christ on earth, the hierarchy rose, 
 and governmental powers were claimed as best adapted to 
 promote the Saviour's cause, — till reliance was placed more 
 upon an arm of flesh than upon the grace and omnipo- 
 tence of Jesus Christ and the influence of his Spirit, that 
 the work of Missions became almost exclusively that of 
 the officers of the church, and the object of Missions, not so 
 much the conversion of souls, as the subjugation of dominions 
 to her authority. There is no want of powerful motive to 
 Christian activity, and to Missionary enterprise, in the millena- 
 rian faith. It exalts Christ, lifts the heart high as Heaven, 
 and fires with the prospect of entering into the joy of our Lord, 
 of living and reigning with him, if so be that we suffer with 
 him ; and thus reconciles us to toil and sorrow — nay, gives us 
 a complacency in these very things, and helps us, as Paul did, 
 to glory in tribulation. 
 
 It is ungenerous, and we feel it to be especially unkind to 
 attempt to charge a faith so fertile in motive, with an ineffi- 
 ciency that might have been referred, legitimately, to other 
 causes than to millenarianism, even to those which have 
 more or less for centuries paralyzed the church, and which 
 still affect the minds of many, whether believing or not in 
 the pre-millenial advent of Christ. 
 
PKEFACE. iV 
 
 The author of the following pages has deemed these re- 
 marks necessary, to bespeak a candid attention to the subject 
 presented in them. He has not enlarged on the practical 
 bearing of the millenarian faith, believing that it was unne- 
 cessary, and that the good sense and piety of professing Chris- 
 tians, under the guidance of God's Spirit, will make the 
 proper use of them, whenever and wherever they are seen and 
 felt to be the truth of God. He commends the work to the 
 Christian public with much deference, and requests that the 
 attention which the subject merits may be given, if not to these 
 pages, certainly to their great and glorious theme. He offers no 
 apologies for the imperfections which must necessarily mark a 
 performance, prepared in the midst of extended pastoral care 
 and labors, and with but limited means of access to the works 
 of the learned, and especially those which are but rarely to be 
 met with, except in large public libraries. The candid and dis- 
 cerning reader will make all due allowance. 
 
 The course of lectures, of which the dissertations are the 
 substance, comprised a wider range, embracing, as well the 
 objects or designsy as the reality of the Saviour's personal 
 and pre-millenial coming. The author has thought it proper 
 to preserve the unity of the work, by confining attention to the 
 latter. Many and very interesting details, in the exposition 
 of prophecy, have, by this course, been excluded. But should 
 the providence of God indicate it, they may at some future 
 day be given to the public. 
 
IFOE^l^' 
 
 DISSERTATIONS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PROPHECIES 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE DUTY OF STUDYING THE PROPHECIES, AND THE 
 OBJECTIONS COMMONLY URGED AGAINST IT. 
 
 The diligent and careful study of prophecy is 
 highly commended in the Sacred Scriptures. Motives, 
 urging to it also are suggested ; so that, whoever may 
 practically undervalue the prophetical parts of the 
 word of God, cannot, with any fair pretext, question 
 either the obligation or the importance of their study. 
 Yet have both been done. In commencing a series of 
 disquisitions, therefore, designed to aid in the dis- 
 charge of this duty, it becomes proper and necessary 
 to illustrate and to enforce, to some extent, the obliga- 
 tions binding all to it. Its importance will be manifest, 
 at every stage, in the progress of the investigations 
 proposed. 
 2 
 
10 THE PUTY OF 
 
 I. The same obligation which binds us to the study 
 OF the holy scriptures, also binds us to the study 
 OF the prophecies they contain. 
 
 The blessed Redeemer has commanded us to 
 " search the Scriptures."* In having so done, He has 
 enjoined something more than the loose casual read- 
 ing of them, or the things which pass current with 
 many for their study. It will not suffice, having 
 brought into view this or the other doctrine, the 
 notions of this or the other theological school or pro- 
 fessor, to examine and collate the texts by which they 
 may be proved : nor will it suffice to search for all 
 the texts, by which this or the other system of theo- 
 logical truth, this or the other body of divinity, this 
 or the other theory of religion, may have its general 
 and particular parts or features confirmed. This is 
 but studying the doctrines or opinions, the theories or 
 systems, of man's excogitation and arrangement. 
 
 Nor does the careful investigation of the creeds of 
 diffijrent churches, and the adoption of that pro- 
 fessed by the one to which we may belong, meet our 
 obligations in this matter. It is not designed, either 
 to disparage creeds, or to object to their legitimate 
 use ; but the study of any creed, or confession of faith, 
 is not the study of the word of God. No man ever 
 dreamed that he is studying Newton's Principia, 
 Cavallo's Philosophy, Gibbon's Rome, or Hume's 
 History of England, who does no more than consult the 
 index, turn over their pages, and examine whether 
 this or the other proposition or fact, previously stated, 
 is contained in them. No more can he be said to study 
 the Sacred Scriptures — no matter how diligent he may 
 
 * John, 5. 39. 
 
STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 11 
 
 be in the use of his concordance — who merely collects 
 and assorts his texts under different heads, and either 
 makes his own, or adopts some other, system of theo- 
 logy. 
 
 Nor can he be said to study the Scriptures, who 
 consults this and the other commentator, and selects, 
 from all their different commentaries, the opinions 
 that strike him most favorably. A man may spend 
 his life in this way, and manufacture volumes of notes, 
 and scholia, and expositions, and yet, all the time, 
 have been but studying the writings and opinions of 
 men on particular passages, without digging into the 
 inexhaustible mines of truth which the word of God 
 contains. 
 
 Nor can he be called a student of the Scriptures, 
 who is always on the search for novelties and recondite 
 meanings, and betrays an anxiety to differ from all that 
 have gone before him, and to startle by the unexpected 
 and extraordinary interpretation given to plain and 
 obvious passages. This is rather to affect a display 
 of ingenuity, and to study to appear singular. 
 
 It behoves us to read the Scriptures attentively, 
 carefully, and with a view to ascertain what they 
 affirm j pondering the language, connection, argu- 
 ments, and illustrations employed by the sacred 
 writers, so as to ascertain, what they meant, and what 
 they designed to teach. The obligation to this will be 
 denied by no protestant. But if such be our obliga- 
 tions "to search the Scriptures," it is impossible 
 for us to discharge them without the diligent and 
 careful study of the prophecies, which form so large a 
 portion of them. It is not a part only — not the New 
 Testament merely — not the Gospels — but both Old 
 and New — the entire word of God, that we are bound, 
 according to our time, means, and opportunities, to 
 investigate. Whoso denies his obligation to study 
 
12 THE DUTY OF 
 
 the prophetical parts of Scripture, by the very same 
 mode of reasoning, must deny his obligations to study 
 the word of God at all. When did God give any of 
 us the right to say what parts, or how much, of his 
 revealed will we would attend to, and what we 
 would neglect % 
 
 II. The Spirit of God has especially commanded 
 
 AND URGED THE STUDY OF THE PROPHECIES. 
 
 This He has done in several ways. First, He has 
 distinctly and directly met that spirit of practical con- 
 tempt, with which many are apt to treat the prophet- 
 ical parts of Scripture, enjoining it on us to " des- 
 pise not prophesyings."* And this injunction was 
 immediately given after the solemn mandate, " quench 
 not the Spirit," as though one of the most common 
 and effectual means to quench the Spirit, is to des. 
 pise prophesyings. In addition to this. He has, in the 
 most formal and explicit manner, expressed His ap- 
 probation of those who were studious of the prophe- 
 cies. The Bereans were commended as being " more 
 noblef than they of Thessalonica, in that they re- 
 
 * 1 Thes. 5. 20, npo(priTeiai. The word is used in its generic 
 import here. " Prophecy may include exhortation, and some sort of 
 instruction, (Acts, 15. 32) as well as the faculty of foretelling 
 distant events. Lightfoot. Locke. Wells. Macknight. See 
 also Collyer's Sacred Interpreter, p. 2, c. viii., sub fin." — Slade's 
 .Annotations, vol. i. p. 269. 
 
 The Hebrew n^oj, or Greek i:pn<priTm, denoted one who uttered 
 the words of God, either as the organs Or interpreters of the divine 
 oracles. See also Gaussen's Theopneusty, pp. 285, &c. 
 
 t Acts, 17. 11, tvytviartpoi. More ingenuous, of better spirit. 
 "They were, say the Greek fathers, inuiKtartpoi, more impartial; 
 they thought patiently, meditated, and inquired diligently on the 
 subject ; they were eiQervrepoi, more apt towards the kingdom of 
 God; they were more prepared or marshalled, rfray//£»/oj, towards 
 eternal life. — Elsley^s Annotations^ vol. iii. pp. 285, 286. 
 
- STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 13 
 
 ceived the word with all readiness of mind, and 
 searched the Scriptures daily whether these things 
 were so." A reference to the subject of Paul's preach- 
 ing will show, that they were the prophetical parts 
 particularly which they searched. For he " reasoned 
 with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging 
 that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again 
 from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach unto 
 you is Christ."* 
 
 Peter, speaking by the- Holy Ghost, says, in the 
 plainest manner, that we do well to " take heed" to 
 the ^" more sure word of prophecy."! Surely if the 
 Spirit of God commends, we should not care who 
 condemns. 
 
 Beside, the example of the prophets themselves, 
 yea and of the very angels, is referred to in proof of 
 the propriety and obligation of this duty. *' Of which 
 salvation the prophets have inquired and searched dili- 
 gently, who prophesied of the grace that should come 
 unto you : searching what, or what manner of time, 
 the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, 
 when it testified before hand the sufferings of Christ 
 and ihe glory that should follow. Unto whom it was 
 revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they 
 did minister the things which are now reported unto 
 you by them that have preached the gospel unto you 
 with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven — which 
 things the angels desire to look into. "J It ill be- 
 comes us, therefore, with examples of such an ele- 
 vated character before us, — when the very prophets 
 themselves studied their own predictions, and the 
 angels also desired to look into them, — to treat, with 
 lightness or indifference, such an' interesting, solemn, 
 and wonderful portion of the word of God. 
 
 • Acts, 17. 2, 3. t 2 Peter, 1. 19. X 1 Peter, 1. 10-12. 
 2* 
 
14 
 
 Farther — the volume of inspiration closes with the 
 most extended and intricate portion of the prophetical 
 writings, the revelation of John the divine, in the 
 commencement, and at the close of which, the 
 study of the prophecies it contains is pointedly and 
 solemnly commended.- " Blessed is he that readeth, 
 and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and 
 keep those sayings which are written therein."* " And 
 if any man shall take away from the words of the 
 book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part 
 out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and 
 from the things which are written in this book."! 
 We know no more likely, or more dangerous way, for 
 any one to incur the curse here denounced, than prac- 
 tically to disesteem, and to discourage, the study of the 
 prophetical writings, by neglecting them altogether. 
 It is virtually taking away the whole. 
 
 These considerations will justify this attempt, by 
 a series of disquisitions, to induce the study of the 
 prophecies. The obligation seems to be so clear and 
 strong, as to excite surprise that it should have been 
 questioned. Yet, by far the greatest portion, both of 
 the ministry and laity, it is to be feared, accord with the 
 proverb they had in the land of Israel, " in the days 
 of Ezekiel the prophet," saying, " The days are pro- 
 longed and every vision faileth. The vision that he 
 seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of 
 the times that are far off."X The very fact of many 
 prophecies being unfulfilled, or of difficult and doubt- 
 ful interpretation, is pleaded as sufficient reason for 
 their being neglected. 
 
 In enforcing the obligation to study the prophecies, 
 therefore, the motives appropriate, and furnished by 
 the Spirit of God, ought not to be overlooked. He 
 
 * Rev. 1.3. t Rev. 22, 19. % Eaek. 12. 22. 
 
STUDYING THE PEOPHECIES. 15 
 
 has styled the whole system of prophecy " a light 
 shining in a dark place," affirmed it to be " a sure 
 word," and given to exert its cheering and enlighten- 
 ing influence " till the day dawn, and the day-star 
 arise in our hearts;"* that is, it is to be our light till 
 the events predicted shall have transpired. The 
 apostle Peter compares the knowledge of prophecy to 
 the dawn, and morning star. The system itself is the 
 midnight lamp, to guide our way, and to comfort us 
 in the darkness that enshrouds us. It behoves us to 
 take heed to it or study it, till, through our knowledge 
 o[ prophecy, we feel the light break in upon us, like 
 the dawn and morning star betokening the approach 
 of the rising sun, or, in other words, the realization 
 of the things predicted. The force of these motives 
 will be most felt, and best appreciated, when it is seen 
 how fully they meet and answer the objections com- 
 monly urged against the study of the prophecies. 
 
 1. It is objected, that many eminent ministers of 
 
 THE GOSPEL, ATTACH BUT LITTLE IMPORTANCE TO THE STUDY 
 OF THE PROPHECIES, CONFESS THEMSELVES ENTIRELY IGNO- 
 RANT OF THE IMPORT OF A LARGE PORTION OF THEM, AND 
 PROFESS THEMSELVES SKEPTICAL AS TO THEIR LITERAL FUL- 
 FILMENT. It by no means, however, follow^s from these 
 facts, that the prophecies are unimportant, and the 
 study of them may be well neglected. It is an argu- 
 ment wholly unbecoming a Christian man, to say, that 
 this or the other great divine, this or the other good 
 man, thinks thus or thus — regards with indiiTerence 
 the subject of prophecy, and does not believe in their 
 literal fulfilment. The question of chief importance 
 with us, should ever be. What doth God say — what 
 
 * 2 Peter, 1. 19. 
 
16 • OBJECTIONS AGAJNST 
 
 is the mind of Jesus Christ — how hath the Spirit testi- 
 fied 1 The opinions of men are not the rule of faith ; 
 not even the opinions of the fathers. They are of 
 value no farther than, as matter of history, they help 
 us to trace to the days of the apostles, what views 
 were entertained by those to whom were first com- 
 mitted the oracles of God. 
 
 The authority of the fathers has been substituted, 
 by the papal and other hierarchies, for the word of 
 God. Wherever it has been improperly, supersti- 
 tiously, or inordinately regarded, it has led to the 
 worst of despotism. No man, no church, is infallible. 
 Even the apostles themselves laid claim to no such 
 thing. Their word and opinions are no law or au- 
 thority, except as they were divinely inspired, and in- 
 structed by the Holy Spirit what to testify to the 
 churches. Peter differed from Paul in relation to the 
 circumcision of the Gentiles — a question involving the 
 cardinal doctrine of justification by faith alone in the 
 righteousness of Jesus Christ j and Barnabas was car- 
 ried away by Peter's influence, so that he actually 
 abandoned the views which he before held in common 
 with Paul : yet were they both wrong ; and Paul 
 hesitated not to rebuke them.* How foolish and dan- 
 gerous, therefore, must it be, to make any man or set 
 of men our standard, and to adopt their opinions — no 
 matter what may have been their erudition or attain- 
 ments in piety, even though they may have been " pil- 
 lars" in the church. It is only wherein any have been 
 actually inspired, that their word is authority. 
 
 It is no uncommon thing for men of undoubted 
 piety to be slow of heart to believe things predicted, 
 which the providence of God afterwards has made so 
 
 ♦ Gal. 2. 12, 14. 
 
STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 17 
 
 plain, that it seems wonderful how for one moment 
 they could have doubted. Peter was skeptical in re- 
 lation to the death of Christ, though He had taken 
 pains "to show unto his disciples, how that he must 
 go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the 
 elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and 
 be raised again the third day."* Here was plain 
 minute detail, in the statement of events which were 
 literally to transpire ; but the things predicted so of- 
 fended Peter, that he could not believe them ; and he 
 carried his skepticism so far, that he even rebuked the 
 Saviour for having thus spoken. The Saviour, how- 
 ever, referred Peter's skepticism to the influence of 
 Satan, and rebuked the devil in his mouth. " Get thee 
 behind me, Satan : thou art an oflfence to me, for thou 
 savorest not the things that be of God, but those that 
 be of men."t 
 
 In like manner, the two disciples that went to Em- 
 maus, and Thomas, were so skeptical in relation to the 
 resurrection of Christ, that they would not at first be- 
 lieve, even after the prediction had been literally ful- 
 filled. The rebuke and reproach of the Saviour pro- 
 nounced against the former, " Oh fools and slow of 
 heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,"J 
 are enough to show the weakness and absurdity of the 
 objection, against the study of the prophecies, founded 
 on the opinions of great and good men. Deference 
 to such authority may suit papists, and high church 
 ecclesiastics, to be found in different denominations, 
 but it illy becomes those revering His divine authority, 
 who has enjoined it on us all, *' Despise not propesy- 
 ings 5 but prove all things, and hold fast that which is 
 good."§ 
 
 » JVJatt, 16, 21, 22. f Mark, 8. 33. 
 
 X Luke, 24. 25. § 1 Thess. 5. 20, 21. 
 
18 OBJECTIONS AGAINST 
 
 2. It is objected again, that while the study of the 
 
 PEOPHECIES ALREADY FULFILLED MAY BE PROPER AND 
 USEFUL, THAT OF THE PROPHECIES UNFULFILLED IS BOTH 
 
 USELESS AND DANGEROUS. There is a vast amount 
 of, what appears to us, both effrontery and presump- 
 tion in such an objection. The objection admits, that 
 God has revealed a portion of his will in predictions 
 yet unfulfilled. Who then gave the objector a right 
 to say, that this portion of his revealed will is of no 
 use to us, and dangerous to be studied till fulfilled, 
 and therefore may well be neglected % Paul did not 
 so teach, when, by the dictation of the Holy Ghost, 
 he said '' J^ll scripture is profitable for instruction,"* 
 nor Peter when he said, that " we do well to take 
 heed" to the " more true word of prophecy," and that 
 the prophets themselves " inquired and searched dili- 
 gently," and the holy '' angels desire to look into" the 
 things predicted-! The objection contradicts expli- 
 citly the testimony of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Moreover, it undervalues and pours contempt upon 
 the experience of a large portion of the church of 
 God for centuries. Did the ancient saints, from the 
 days of Adam down till the coming of Christ, find it 
 useless and dangerous to study unfulfilled prophecy 1 
 The time was when all the revelations, which God 
 made of a Saviour, and of the way of salvation, were 
 predictions not yet fulfilled. What, think you, would 
 Seth, and Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, 
 and David, and all the prophets, have thought of such 
 an objection 7 What, too, would have become of the 
 church of God, and of the entire human race, if this 
 objection had been universally adopted 1 Hundreds 
 and thousands felt the benefit, yea, found their salva- 
 
 * 2 Tim. 3, 16. f 1 Pet. 1, 10-12, and 2 Pet. 1, 19. 
 
STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 19 
 
 tion, through the study of unfulfilled prophecy, and 
 shall we be told, that it is useless and dangerous 
 for us 1 
 
 The objection is just as opposed to the universal 
 experience of the Christian church, as to that of 
 ancient believers. What are the 'promises given for our 
 support and consolation, but unfulfilled prophecy 1 
 Many if not all of the most important promises, which 
 form the foundation of hope, and serve for our encou- 
 ragement and consolation, are part and parcel of the 
 system of prophecy, and need, to their right under- 
 standing, to our knowledge of the use to be made of 
 them, and of our warrant to apply them, that we be 
 somewhat acquainted with that system. It is lament- 
 able to see the ignorance that prevails on this subject, 
 and how arbitrarily, capriciously, and confusedly, the 
 promises, especially of the Old Testament, are often 
 used and applied by Christians. Ask them for their 
 warrant to apply them to their own case and circum- 
 stances, and to show how they intelligently extract 
 their consolation from them, and they are wholly at 
 fault. It is not surprising, that the faith of many 
 should be so weak and sickly, when they neither 
 understand the true import and bearing of many of 
 the most precious promises of the word of God, nor 
 how or upon what warrant they can apply them, and 
 make use of them, for their own encouragement and 
 confirmation. 
 
 The very first promise of mercy to the guilty race 
 of man, was a prediction, which, even at this day, has 
 not been wholly fulfilled. Multitudes, which com- 
 forted the hearts of believers in past ages, and yet are 
 fraught with consolation to Christians, remain unful- 
 filled. By " these exceeding great and precious pro- 
 mises" do we " become partakers of the divine 
 
20 OBJECTION'S AGi^INST 
 
 nature," and find the exciting, purifying and rejoicing 
 influence of the hope of " good things to come" — 
 "the recompense of reward" — the heavenly glory. 
 How rash and presumptuous, therefore, is it to tell us, 
 that we have no interest in unfulfilled prophecies, and 
 that it is dangerous for us to study them ! Who gave 
 the objector a right to draw a line of distinction here, 
 or to say what is a precious promise, and what a use- 
 less prediction 1 It is all precious, and all profitable, 
 which God has revealed for our hope and encourage- 
 ment, in relation to his church on earth and his king- 
 dom to come. 
 
 The objection is founded on a very false assump- 
 tion, viz. an alleged impossibility of understanding, 
 or judging, of a prediction, till the event has proved its 
 meaning. There may be, and indeed are, some pre- 
 dictions so cautiously expressed, and so dependent 
 on others to be previously fulfilled, as to create some 
 difficulty, and require much diligent searching to 
 understand them. But does it therefore follow, that 
 all unfulfilled prophecy is equally difficult to be com- 
 prehended, and our study, even of what is obscure, 
 unprofitable and dangerous 1 The Lord Jesus Christ 
 thought otherwise, and Noah, Abraham, the children 
 of Israel, and the Christians who escaped to Pella 
 during the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman army, 
 found it otherwise. 
 
 There is something, in the spirit of this objec- 
 tion, which seems to call for a rebuke, as well as a 
 reply. Prejudices against the study of unfulfilled 
 prophecy have been excited by various means, and all 
 said, or preached, or written, on the subject, has been set 
 aside with the invidious and sweeping charge of being 
 mere speculations. "No speculations on prophecy 
 
OF THE ''; 
 
 STUDYING THE PROPHECIES.^ ^^ ^%p 
 
 yet unfulfilled hay e charms for us,"* it has bee% boldl^/ '^ 
 and publicly asserted, even by Christian editors ; and 
 we are gravely told, that the design of God in pro- 
 phecy was *' to assure us of the all-controlling provi- 
 dence of God, from the " beginning to the end," and 
 to attest the truth of doctrines coming from the lips of 
 prophets and apostles, for the instruction of the 
 world." These, indeed, are some of the results which 
 flow from the study of prophecy, but not the leading 
 and primary design of God. Peter says expressly, 
 the word of prophecy, not the events fulfilling the 
 predictions, is a light for us, to supply, in the present 
 darkness of our way, and till the things predicted 
 occur, the place of the things themselves. It is for 
 the support and consolation, the safety and sanctifi- 
 cation, of his church that he has given us this light. 
 
 The design that the Saviour had, in giving his pre- 
 dictions to his disciples, was, that they should " take 
 heed that no man deceive" them.f Paul expressly de- 
 clares, that he delivered his predictions, that Christians 
 might " comfort one another with these words," — 
 that they should not be in darkness, but having the 
 light, should not " sleep as do others," but " watch" 
 and " be sober" and " edify one another."}: Peter 
 also declares, that he delivered his predictions to 
 forewarn Christians, and to put them on their guard, 
 so that, while looking for the very things predicted, 
 ye might, says he, " be diligent that ye may be found 
 of him in peace without spot and blameless" and not 
 misinterpret the long-suffering of God, but account it 
 salvation. He admits that there were "things hard to 
 be understood" in the prophecies, and especially in 
 
 • The Boston Recorder for Oct. 22, 1841. 
 t Mat. 24. 4. t 1 Thess. 4. 13 ; 5. 11. 
 
 3 
 
22 OBJECTIONS AaklNST 
 
 those delivered by Paul, which they that are unlearned 
 and unstable, as they do also the other Scriptures, 
 " wrest to their destruction," but he would have 
 Christians " to know these things before^ not wait till 
 the events fulfilled predictions J and understand before- 
 hand, so as to " beware lest they should be led away 
 by the error of the wicked, and fall from their own 
 steadfastness."* And the angel, whom God sent, in 
 answer to Daniel's prayers and diligent study of un- 
 fulfilled prophecy, says expressly, that his design, in 
 giving further predictions to him was, " to make thee 
 understand what should befall thy people in the latter 
 days."f Christ also says, that he told his followers 
 what things would come to pass as signs of the com- 
 ing of his kingdom, expressly that they might " know"! 
 when it was nigh, i. e. before it arrived. He says, 
 also, that he told them things beforehand, which he 
 would have them consider, that when they came to 
 pass, they might know§ who he was, and what he was, 
 — the promised Saviour and Deliverer. And John, 
 both in the beginning, and at the close, of the book of 
 Revelations, declares expressly, that they are given to 
 show imto the servants of God beforehand " thing-s 
 which must shortly come to pass."|| Now, after all 
 this, what shall we think of those, who will tell us, 
 unfulfilled prophecy needs not to be studied, — is of 
 no use, but dangerous — till the events have fulfilled 
 them ? Assuredly, such instructors deserve reproof, 
 and to be sent back to their Bibles, themselves to 
 study more carefully lest they should mislead others. 
 They have reason to fear, that the charge, and cen- 
 
 • 2 Pet. 3. 14-17. t Dan. 10. 14. 
 
 t Mark, 13. 29; Luke, 21.31. 
 
 § John, 13. 19. II Rev. 1. 1 ; 22. 6. 
 
STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 23 
 
 sure of the Saviour, for hypocrisy, may be applicable. 
 For, not a few of the unfulfilled prophecies are warn- 
 ings against evils to come, with hints as to the way 
 in which they may be avoided, and which, in the 
 nature of things, must be of no use, if not to be re- 
 garded and studied previously to their fulfilment. 
 The Pharisees, in the days of Christ, professed to be 
 religious, and concerned about heavenly things. 
 Their interest in worldly matters led them to discern 
 the signs of the weather ; but, although God had deli- 
 vered abundant predictions indicating the coming of 
 the Messiah, yet they took so little interest in study- 
 ing the prophecies, and in watching the signs of 
 coming events, that he reproachfully exclaimed : " Oh 
 ye hypocrites ! ye can discern the face of the sky, but 
 can ye not discern the signs of the time^l"* It was 
 the very circumstance of their neglecting prophecy, 
 which subjected them to the charge of hypocrisy. It 
 proved that they were not in earnest about heavenly 
 things, which, nevertheless, they professed to seek 
 and admire. 
 
 III. It is also objected, that even the apostles, though 
 
 DIVINELY INSPIRED, WERE GREATLY MISTAKEN IN THEIR 
 UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROPHECIES, AND THAT THERE- 
 FORE IT MUST DEMAND REQUIREMENTS OF SO LOFTY A 
 CHARACTER, AS TO RENDER IT ALMOST, IF NOT ALTOGE- 
 THER, IMPOSSIBLE FOR THOSE NOT INSPIRED TO COM- 
 PREHEND THEM. 
 
 This objection is founded on a false assumption. 
 The apostles did not misunderstand the general scope 
 of the prophecies. They confidently looked for the 
 coming of Jesus, and for the establishment of his king- 
 
 * Mat. 16. 3. 
 
24 OBJECTIONS AGAtNST 
 
 dom, and they preached these things wherever they 
 went. They did not, indeed, comprehend all the details, 
 nor would they speak pointedly as to the time of His 
 manifestation. They erred chiefly, in confining their 
 attention to one class of predictions, while they over- 
 looked those, which showed, that Messiah must first 
 suffer, and afterwards enter into His glory. 
 
 Whatever mistakes, however, they made on the sub- 
 ject of the predictions, before the resurrection of 
 Christ, it does not appear that they erred afterward. 
 He was with them forty days after he had risen, 
 " speaking with them of the things pertaining to the 
 kingdom of God." * Even before his death, they 
 seem to have had many of their mistakes, about the 
 nature of his kingdom, corrected ; for, after having 
 carefully instructed them on this subject, by a great 
 variety of comparisons and parables. He asked them, 
 expressly, " Have ye understood all these things \ 
 and they say unto him, Yea, Lord,"f which he does 
 not appear to have doubted. They did, indeed, just 
 before his ascension, ask whether that was the period 
 when he would " restore the kingdom to Israel,"J or, 
 in other words, re-establish the Theocracy : but the 
 question does not at all imply, that they mistook its 
 nature, or that they even confidently expected it at 
 that time. He had told them after they left Galilee, 
 to tarry at Jerusalem, and to wait for the promise of 
 his Father, of which he had spoken to them, for they 
 should be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days 
 hence. Upon their re-assembling at Jerusalem, and 
 his appearing among them, they naturally inquired, 
 whether this baptizing of the Holy Ghost w^as to be 
 the time, and the way, of the restoration of his king- 
 
 * Acts, 1. 3. t Matt. 13. 51. \ Acts, 1. 4-8. ' 
 
STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 25 
 
 dom to Israel. He told them that the times and 
 seasons were not to be made known to them, 
 but, they should be endowed with power from on 
 high, by the Spirit coming on them,* and that they 
 should be dispersed, and go forth as his witnesses into 
 Judea, and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the 
 earth. He very plainly taught them, that the descent 
 and gifts of the Holy Spirit were not the kingdom j it 
 was something yet future, whose precise date they 
 were not to know. Who, therefore, will say, that the 
 coming of the Spirit or His influence, was the king- 
 dom, and that the apostles ignorantly mistook its na- 
 ture 1 This is to impeach the instruction of Christ as 
 utterly inefficacious, to reprove the apostles where He 
 did not, and to claim for uninspired men, a knowledge 
 of the mysteries of the kingdom, which the apostles 
 
 * V. 8. aWa 'Xnipcade Svvafnv cneXOovTog tov ayiovi: v£Vjia-o( ctj)' vjiai. 
 — The verb here is in the middle voice, and denotes evidently the 
 active voluntary apprehension, or co-operation with the Spirit in 
 the exercise and use, of the 6vvaiiiv or power. The power, dvvauis, 
 was not their own natural power, but the miraculous gifts and 
 qualifications, ifor their official work, which should be imparted by 
 the Spirit, eireXdovTOi. The idea clearly is, that the Holy Spirit, the 
 personal Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, should put forth 
 an efficient influence, imparting miraculous gifts and other influ- 
 ence, which they should, as voluntary agents, exercise, and by 
 doing so, become active instruments in His hands, co-operating 
 with Him in the great work for which they were called and com- 
 missioned, i. e. to be witnesses or bear testimony to Jesus Christ. 
 This influence of the Spirit, of which they were to be the medium, 
 is spoken of in contradistinction from ruling and governing in a 
 kingdom. The right apprehension of the doctrine of the Spirit^s 
 influence, and especially the possession of that influence, is calcu- 
 lated most efiectuaUy to rebuke and repress all lust for governmental 
 power with which to rule in the church of God, as though it were 
 His kingdom, according to the opinion and spirit of the asserters 
 and advocates of " High church PRiNcirLES." 
 3* 
 
26 OBJECTIONS AGaInST 
 
 had not, and which Christ failed, notwithstanding all 
 his pains, to impart to the apostles ! 
 
 The objection is altogether inconsistent with itself ', 
 for, to convict the apostles, though inspired, of mistakes, 
 it attributes to uninspired men superior knowledge than 
 they had, and then from the mistakes and ignorance of 
 the apostles, thus fallaciously inferred, attempts to 
 prove the utter impossibility of uninspired men know- 
 ing anything on the subject. But, not to take advan- 
 tage of such sophistry, the objection, urged from the 
 lofty requirements insisted on as necessary to the 
 study of the prophecies, is much more imposing than 
 real. Modest, humble-minded men, especially plain 
 and unlettered persons, are indeed apt to be intimidat- 
 ed, when they hear this and the other learned divine 
 say, how much reading, and how much learning, and 
 how many and various qualifications and endowments 
 of mind and spirit are necessary, and are therefore too 
 apt to conclude, that to them the prophecies must ever 
 be a sealed book. But who, we ask, are they that urge 
 these high requirements 1 Not those that have been 
 laborious and studious themselves, but those who-con- 
 fessedly know little or nothing on the subject — who 
 lay heavy burdens on other men's shoulders — who 
 will not move a finger to lighten them, and who, 
 claiming to have the key of knowledge, neither enter 
 on the study themselves, nor suffer others that would. 
 The essential requirements, in order to the study of 
 the prophecies, are not the learning and wisdom of 
 the world, but the spirit of faith and love, and that 
 lowliness and docility of mind, which, as in Daniel 
 and John, w\\\ lead to devout and prayerful study of 
 the Sacred Scriptures. 
 
STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 27. 
 
 IV. It is further objected ; that the whole subject of 
 
 PROPHECY IS SO VAGUE, THAT SO LITTLE CAN BE KNOWN 
 with CERTAINTY AND SATISFACTION ABOUT IT, THAT IT IS, 
 AND MUST BE, TOTALLY DEVOID OF ANY PRACTICAL 
 UTILITY. 
 
 Thus Speaks the infidel, in reference to the Bible al- 
 together. He alleges, with just as much force and 
 propriety, the discordant sects and contradictory 
 creeds, among the professed believers of the Bible, 
 as he does the objection against the study of the prophe* 
 cies, because of the insobriety, dogmatism, extrava- 
 gance, and speculations of some who have written on 
 the subject. There has been just as much, and far 
 more vagueness and obscurity, thrown around the doc- 
 trines of grace, the subjects of election, justification, 
 regeneration, faith, repentance, pardon, the Spirit's in- 
 fluence, assurance of salvation, and eternal life, as 
 there can be alleged to be, in relation to the prophe- 
 cies ; and if the confusion and perplexity introduced 
 by commentators and writers on the subject, is a valid 
 objection against the latter, it is also against the for- 
 mer. Beware, lest in disparaging the prophecies by 
 such objections against their study, you do not take 
 the infidel's ground, and give him a fair pretext for re- 
 jecting the Bible altogether. 
 
 It is not the fact, that there is so much obscurity, and 
 difficulty to understand the prophecies, as to render 
 them totally devoid of practical utility. So far from 
 it, the Bible employs the grand theme of prophecy, 
 expressly, and in an endless variety of ways, for prac- 
 tical uses, exhorting by it to repentance* to hope^\ to 
 love^X to obedience,§ to sanctification,\\ to moriification 
 
 • Acts, 3. 19, 20. § Matt. 16, 27. 1 John, 2. 28. 
 
 t 2 Peter, 3. 11, 12. || 1 John, 3. 2, 3. 2 Pet. 3. 13, 14. 
 
 t 1 Thess. 3. 13. 1 Cor. 16. 22. 
 
28 OBJECTIONS AGAINST 
 
 of fleshly lusts* to spiritual-mindedness,\ to benefice7ice 
 and mercy^i to patience and endurance^^ to watchful- 
 ness and 5o/>er;ie55,|| to charity in judgment,^ to minis- 
 terial faithfulness and diligence.** To these and many- 
 other practical uses is the study of prophecy applied. 
 So far from the objection haying truth in it, the fact is, 
 that nothing, according to the showing of the Bible, 
 has a more practical tendency than this very thing. 
 
 V. It is still objected that some persons have become 
 
 DERANGED OR FANATICAL, AND UTTERLY DISQUALIFIED 
 FOR THE DUTIES OF LIFE BY THE STUDY OF THE PRO- 
 PHECIES. 
 
 The like objection has been urged against religion 
 and the study of the Bible altogether. Peculiar 
 temperaments, — men of weak minds and strong 
 passions, — men of ardent fancies and of doubtful 
 piety, may indeed be injured, as some have been, 
 when they have turned their thoughts to religion ; but 
 these things are not to be referred to the prophecies, — 
 nor to the Bible, — nor to religion, — any more than 
 the derangements and fanaticism of men in business, 
 in literature, and in scientific pursuits, are to be at- 
 tributed to them as to their cause. For one Austin, or 
 Irving, or others, whose derangement and fanaticism 
 have shown themselves on the subject of the study of 
 the prophecies, we can point to ten or more, whose 
 business and literary and scientific pursuits, have ren- 
 dered them insane. The truth is, some minds and 
 temperaments are incapable of close and assiduous 
 application j but does it therefore follow, that study 
 
 * Col. 3. 4, 5. t Phil. 3. 20, 21. J Mat. 25. 31-36. 
 
 § 2Thess. 1. 4-7. Heb. 10. 36, 37. James, 5. 7, 8. 1 Pet. 1. 6, 7 ; 
 4. 12, 13. II Matt. 24. 42, 44 ; 25. 13. Luke, 12. 35, 37. Rev. 
 16. 16. 1 Thess. 5. 4, 6. ir 1 Cor. 4. 3. ** Matt. 24. 46. 
 
 1 Tim. 6. 13, 14. 2 Tim. 4. 1, 2. 1 Thess. 2. 19. 1 Pet. 5. 1-4. 
 
STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 29^ 
 
 and business must be abandoned by all 1 This objection 
 is exceedingly frivolous. 
 
 VI. The wild extravagant novelty of what is called 
 
 MODERN theories ON THE SUBJECT OF THE PROPHECIES 
 IS OFTEN ALLEGED AS AN OBJECTION AGAINST THEIR STUDY. 
 
 This term theory, is generally used, by those who are 
 but little conversant with the study, and is generally 
 applied to the views of those, who believe and teach 
 the personal coming and glorious appearance of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, prior and preparatory to the intro- 
 duction of the Millenium, and the establishment of the 
 kingdom of Heaven on earth, through the glorious 
 reign, of Christ and of his risen saints. This is the 
 view intended to be unfolded in these pages, and in 
 reference to it, it is, at the very outset, denied, that 
 there is any theory about it. It is a simple question 
 of fact which is proposed for discussion, viz. does 
 the Bible, or does it not, teach the premillenial 
 coming of Christ'? So far from having adopted a 
 theory on the subject, the views that shall be exhibited 
 have been the result of careful and painful study 
 of the Sacred Scriptures, and have forced themselves 
 upon the author's mind, not as the reasonings, or 
 " speculations," or theories of men, but as the testi- 
 mony of God, interpreted on principles of common* 
 sense, the very principles of interpretation which the 
 Bible itself confirms. As to the charge of wild and 
 extravagant novelty it may suffice to state, that so 
 far from its applying to the doctrine of the pre- 
 millenial advent of Christ, history will show, that 
 no other behef obtained in the Christian church' 
 for nearly three centuries after the death of Christ ; 
 and that the present popular and prevailing notion of 
 a Millenium, consisting of the universal triumph of the 
 
30 OBJECTIONS AGAINST 
 
 gospel among all nations, and of a high degree of 
 religious prosperity for 1,000 years before the coming 
 of Christ, is itself the novelty, being of very recent 
 origin, and receiving no countenance, either from the 
 reformers, the fathers, the apostles, Christ Himself, 
 or the prophets before him. 
 
 The objections noticed are chiefly those to be found 
 in the mouths of professing Christians. A word in 
 conclusion, in relation to that urged by the infidel, 
 who alleges that the prophecies of Scripture are 
 of no more value than those of the Pagan oracles ; and 
 are either so vague and ambiguous, as to be incapable 
 of any well-defined interpretation, or have been written 
 after the event. 
 
 Porphyry, a great enemy to Christianity, who 
 flourished in the second century, urged the latter part 
 of this objection, as the only answer he could make to 
 the argument in favor of religion from the prophecies 
 of Daniel. So far, however, from alleging that they 
 were vague and unintelligible, he censured Origen, and 
 asVe think, very justly, for forsaking the plain and 
 obvious import of the Jewish Scriptures, and sub- 
 stituting " expositions," of what, in the pride of his in- 
 fidelity, he called their " absurdities inconsistent with 
 themselves, and inapplicable to the writings. He was 
 always, says Porphyry of this great scholar, in com- 
 pany with Plato, and had the works also of Numenius 
 and Cranius, of Apollophanes and Longinus, of Mode- 
 ratus and Miromachus, and others whose writings are 
 valued, in his hands. He also read the works of 
 Charaemon the Stoic, and those of Cornutus. From 
 these he derived the allegorical mode of interpretation 
 usual in the mysteries of the Greeks, and applied it to 
 the Jewish Scriptures.* 
 
 • Euseb. Hist. Eccles., lib. vi. cap. 9. 
 
STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 31 
 
 It was the strict, literal, historical accuracy of the 
 prophetical writings of the Old Testament, which 
 forced Porphyry to deny their genuineness, as the best 
 and only way, in which he could waive the force of the 
 argument, taken from them, in favor of divine revelation . 
 Both Porphyry and Celsus have long since been 
 refuted, and the authority, of Daniel, and of the Old 
 and New Testaments, irrefutably established. If our 
 modern infidels are ignorant of the fact, and now 
 revive and urge objections long since exploded, it is only 
 one among the many proofs we have, that ignorance 
 is the greatest enemy with which Christianity has to 
 combat. But little is to be feared from the ignorance 
 of the infidel. Far more is to be dreaded from the 
 ignorance of professed Christians. It is not with the 
 former, that these disquisitions are so much concerned, 
 as with the latter, whose neglect of their Bibles, and 
 whose ignorance of the great and wonderful things 
 contained in them, are a reproach to the religion they 
 profess. 
 
 The prophetical portions of the Sacred Scriptures 
 commend themselves to our study, by the most cogent 
 arguments. They are in fact God's exposition of our 
 hope, holding forth the great objects presented to the 
 attention of our faith, and promised for our future 
 enjoyment. They are a beacon light, in times of storm 
 and agitation on the great ocean of human life, thrown 
 out to guide us as we navigate, and to warn us of the 
 breakers on dangerous coasts. They are the pledge 
 and dawnings of the glory to be realised by us. The 
 careful and prayerful study of the prophetical writings, 
 cannot be neglected without incurring guilt, and ren- 
 dering us justly liable to the righteous condemnation of 
 God. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 The duty of studying the prophecies having been 
 proved expressly from the word of God, and the fal- 
 lacy of the objections commonly urged against it 
 having been exposed, a question of deep interest pre- 
 sents itself, viz. " can they be understood 1" On this 
 subject many doubt, and their doubts contribute not a 
 little to the practical neglect of the prophetical writ- 
 ings. These doubts often arise from, and are justified, 
 in the opinion of many, by the different expositions 
 given by different commentators. These expositions, 
 it is alleged, depend on different principles of inter- 
 pretation ; and, in the midst of most discordant sys- 
 tems, and rules often adopted most arbitrarily, what, 
 it is asked, is to become of the plain unlettered 
 student 1 
 
 This objection may be urged, with as much pro- 
 priety, against the study of any other portion of the 
 Scriptures, as against the prophecies. Historical nar- 
 ratives have been pronounced allegories, — a mystical 
 meaning has been substituted for or enveloped in the 
 liter al^ — what has been called par excellence the spi- 
 ritual has claimed preference above that of common 
 sense, and the recondite been sought after with eager- 
 ness, to the neglect of the obvious. The infidel has 
 therefore turned away with contempt from the Bible 
 altogether ; and the advocates of the papal hierarchy 
 have taken occasion to assert the claim of the Roman 
 
THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 33 
 
 pontiff to be the infallible interpreter, and to prescribe 
 magfisterially opinions and matters of faith for the 
 minds and consciences of men. Even the grand fun- 
 damental rule of interpretation which the apostle 
 Peter has inculcated, has been plead in support of 
 such arrogant pretensions, and men have been prohi- 
 bited from the study of the word of God, because He 
 has said that "no prophecy of Scripture is of any 
 private interpretation,"* as though the decisions of 
 his Holiness are to be accounted oracular, authori- 
 tative, and final. 
 
 The reference is most unfortunate. It furnishes no 
 proof, in support either of the inexplicable nature of 
 prophecy, or of the oracular gift of the self-styled 
 successors of Peter. So far from Peter claiming for 
 himself to be the infallible interpreter of Paul, whose 
 predictions he confesses were hard to be understood, 
 he admits the right of every one to examine and study 
 for himself, though he says that " the unlearned and 
 unstable wrest them to their own destruction," adding 
 that this charge is not confined exclusively to their 
 use of the prophecies, but is just as true in their per- 
 version of "the other Scriptures."! If he, in the 
 days of his apostolical authority, gave no hint what- 
 ever of an infallible interpreter, either in himself or 
 
 * 2 Peter, 1. 20. 
 
 t 2 Peter, 3. 16. The admission of Peter has been sometimes 
 employed very incorrectly and injuriously. He does not mean that 
 Paul's style or language, his modes of reasoning or of writing, 
 have anything peculiar in them, which, as pieces of composition, 
 render his epistles obscure and difficult to be understood. His lan- 
 guage is ev his (not ETTtoToAaic, but v^iayfiaaiy) tort Svcrvorira riva, and 
 
 the meaning is, that there were some things, some subjects or facts, 
 brought into view by Paul, in his epistles, which were difficult to 
 be understood, and liable to be wrested. His reference is to the 
 coming and kingdom of Christ, as this verse shows. 
 4> 
 
3^ THE SYSTElt 
 
 in the other apostles, it is usurpation of the worst 
 description to maintain that a living oracle has heen 
 perpetually established in a succession of Roman 
 bishops. Equally preposterous and arrogant is it, to 
 claim for the church, or for any other hierarchy, au- 
 thority in these matters. All such ambitious preten- 
 sions Peter utterly overthrows, by laying down a plain 
 rule of interpretation to assist the private Christian 
 to interpret for himself, in all matters of general 
 importance, " the written oracles of prophecy." 
 
 It is of chief moment, at this stage of our investi- 
 gations, to observe, that the apostle does distinctly 
 recognize some rule or standard of interpretation, 
 and refers private Christians as well as others to it, 
 for the correct understanding of that " more sure 
 word of prophecy," " to which," he says, " we do 
 well to take heed." What is that system 1 
 
 Two very different, and in some respects, antago- 
 nistical systems are, and have been for centuries 
 adopted by commentators. They may be designated 
 the literal and the spiritual. By the literal we under^ 
 stand that system which assumes the literality, or 
 HISTORICAL REALITY of the cvents predicted, and re- 
 sorts to the grammatical interpretation of the lan- 
 guage of prophecy to determine its meaning. By the 
 SPIRITUAL we understand that system which assumes the 
 SPIRITUALITY of the cvcnts predicted. It traces some- 
 thing analogous, it may be, to the literal, but entirely 
 different from it, and peculiar, of which the literal may 
 be employed as the representative or allegorical ex- 
 hibition. The LITERAL is what Ernesti, in his " Tracts 
 on the Interpretation of the Scriptures," has called 
 the grammatical ; and the spiritual, the mystic, me- 
 taphysical, or philosophical. 
 
 The grammatical method "adheres to the words, and 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 ii 
 
 directs us to comprehend things through the medium 
 of words, and not words through the medium of 
 things."* The mystic or spiritual is that " which 
 philosophizes rather than interprets, and prefers to 
 be metaphysical rather than grammatical, or, as it is 
 uncouthly expressed, I'eal rather than verhaW^ His 
 meaning is, that the grammatical or literal interpre- 
 tatioji, which is concerned with the proper meaning 
 of words, "proceeds entirely upon grammatical prin- 
 ciples," and is first, in all cases, to be resorted to, to 
 know what are the things which the writer asserts or 
 means j but that the mystic or spiritual interpretation 
 inverts this order, and undertakes to determine the 
 meaning of words by preconceived notions about the 
 things. 
 
 Right interpretation, Ernesti contends, " depends 
 entirely upon the knowledge of words," witb great 
 force inquiring, *' For what la the busineiss of inter- 
 pretation, but to make known the signification and 
 sense of words 1 And in what does the signification 
 and sense of words consist, but in the notions at- 
 tached to each word % This connection between the 
 words and ideas, in itself arbitrary, has been fixed by 
 usage and custom. And what art, but that of the 
 grammarian, is employed in discovering and teaching 
 this usage and custom of speech, especially of the 
 dead languages 1 To the grammarian this business 
 has been conceded by every age. For the knowledge 
 of this usage depends entirely upon observation, and 
 not upon the nature of things ascertained by necessary 
 inference in any science. Theologians are right, 
 therefore, when they affirm the literal sense, or that 
 which is derived from the knowledge of words, to be 
 
 * Bib, Reper., vol. Hi. p. 125. 
 
36 THE systebI 
 
 the only true one ; for that mystical sense, which, in- 
 deed, is incorrectly called a sense, belongs altogether 
 to the thing, and not to the words. The former, ac- 
 cordingly, which is the only true sense, they denomi- 
 nate the grammatical, and some also, as Sixtus, of 
 Sienna, because it is ascertained by an observation of 
 facts, style it the historical sense."* 
 
 An example, by way of illustration, may make. this 
 description intelligible even to the feeblest mind. 
 Suppose that certain commentators should assume, 
 as it was done in the days of the apostles, that the 
 resurrection of the body is a thing not to be compre- 
 hended, involving a thousand difficulties and mysteries 
 altogether incredible j and suppose that, prepossessed 
 with this metaphysical or theological notion, they 
 should undertake to interpret the New Testament 
 declarations on the subject. The grammatical inter- 
 pretation would enable them to elicit no other sense 
 than the literal fact, that Jesus Christ had risen from 
 the dead, and that, in like manner, the bodies of his 
 saints should also be raised. Whatever difficulty they 
 might think there was in believing the thing, the 
 grammatical interpretation would not obviate it, but 
 only present it in the strongest manner. Some other 
 method of explaining the language, therefore, would 
 have to be resorted to. The spiritual, mystical, or 
 theological interpretation, which would enable them 
 to bring their preconceived notions about the impossi- 
 bility, absurdity, and incomprehensibility of a literal 
 resurrection of the body, to bear on the passages, 
 would at once suggest the explanation, actually given 
 in the apostles' days, viz. " that the resurrection is 
 past already," whatever of literal resurrection of the 
 
 ♦Bib. Reper., vol. iii. p. 126. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. \s^d^9^ "^^ 
 
 body there may have been, having been accomplisk^ z^ ^ 
 in that of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of his.*^*^ V 
 saints being but allegorical, i. e. their regeneration ^'^ — ' 
 and rising, as it were, from the death of trespasses 
 and sins to newness of life. This would be spiritual 
 interpretation in opposition^ to literal. 
 
 Origen affords abundant specimens of this sort of 
 spiritual interpretation. Although the best qualified, 
 among the Greek fathers, by a knowledge of the 
 Hebrew language, for the grammatical interpretation 
 of the Old Testament, and although he actually did 
 much, by bis Hexapla, to facilitate the labors of 
 grammatical interpreters, nevertheless he allowed 
 himself to mingle his philosophical, metaphysical, and 
 theological notions about the things asserted, in deter- 
 mining the meaning of many passages, and deviated 
 most widely from the principles of grammatical inter- 
 pretation. Thus he has furnished an example, which 
 has been copied in every age, and contributed im- 
 mensely, by his allegorical meaning, to introduce 
 endless confusion into the interpretation of the Scrip- 
 tures. Epiphanius says, and very truly, that, by his 
 erroneous doctrinal views concerning faith, and his 
 mal-interpretation of many passages of the Scriptures, 
 he did a serious injury to the world at large.* Even 
 Ernesti, his apologist, is forced to confess " that Ori- 
 gen pressed the matter too far through a fondness for 
 allegory, since in some passages he acknowledges no' 
 other than the allegorical sense. But adds, he seems 
 to have come to this pitch of folly when he was now 
 advanced in years, and after he had bestowed gram- 
 matical labor upon the sacred writings." f 
 
 * De Pond, et Mens., c. 7. 
 t Bib. Reper., vol. iii. p. 269. 
 
38 THE SYSTEMS 
 
 The radical difference, between the literal and spi- 
 ritual interpretation, is nowhere more striking, or 
 important, than on the great themes of prophecy, 
 designed to be brought into view in these disquisitions, 
 viz. the coming and kingdom of Jesus Christ. That 
 the Sacred Scriptures speak of a second coming of the 
 blessed Redeemer, and of a kingdom to be established 
 at his coming, will not be denied. But how is that 
 coming to be understood 1 and what is meant by his 
 kingdom 1 The grammatical interpretation says, lite- 
 rally and truly, i. e. the second coming of Christ will 
 take place, actually and visibly, as truly a matter of 
 observation as was his first coming, long since become 
 a matter of history, and the kingdom of Christ, a domi- 
 nion which he will then establish in this world, as 
 truly a matter of sensible observation, as was the The- 
 ocracy once established in Israel. Now, if it should 
 be thought, by any metaphysical or theological com- 
 mentator, that these things are incredible, and impos- 
 sible to be believed and understood, or that they are, 
 in themselves, absurd, foolish and visionary, of course, 
 instead of taking the literal, grammatical interpreta- 
 tion as true, they will look for another and more recon- 
 dite meaning, — some mystic or allegorical interpre- 
 tation, as the only means of reconciling the language 
 of the Bible with their previous notions. That is, 
 they will make the things^ according to their own 
 metaphysical or theological notion of them, explain 
 the words, and not suffer the words to guide them in 
 their notion of the things. 
 
 It must be obvious to every one, at first sight, how^ 
 greatly the two systems differ, and how widely differ- 
 ent, too, must be the results obtained from them. The 
 former or literal interpretation was adopted by Mede, 
 Sir Isaac Newton, Bishops Newton and Horseley, and 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 39 
 
 Other distinguished writers on prophecy. The latter, 
 or the spiritual interpretation, was avowed by Bishop 
 Hurd, and finds most favor with the great body of the 
 ministry at the present day, in these United States. 
 " It may be proper," says Bishop Hurd in his Lec- 
 tures on Prophecy, " to observe that the second advent 
 of the Messiah is not, like the first, confined to one 
 single and precise period, but is gradual and succes- 
 sive. This distinction is founded in the reason of the 
 thing. He could only come m person at one limited 
 time. He comes in his power and providence through 
 all ages of the church. His^r*^ coming was then 
 over when he expired on the cross. His second com- 
 menced with his resurrection, and will continue to 
 the end of the world. So that this last coming of 
 Jesus is to be understood of his Spirit and kingdom ; 
 which is not one act of sovereignty exerted at once, 
 but a state or constitution of government, subsisting 
 through a long tract of time, unfolding itself by just 
 degrees, and coming, as oft as the conductor of it 
 thinks fit to interpose, by any signal acts of his admi- 
 nistration."* 
 
 We give this as the fairest and best specimen of 
 their views, who reject the literal, and prefer the spi- 
 ritual interpretation. Every one can see that it is, 
 in the strictest sense, philosophical, founded, as the 
 Bishop says, m the reason of things, — of which, of 
 course, he is the judge, and liable to err. , The first 
 advent was confined to a precise time, the second, 
 he says, could not be, — but why not, he has not even 
 hinted. Yet, on this metaphysical basis, — the impossi- 
 bility, in his view, of its being a literal coming, has 
 he reared a vast spiritual system, the mediatorial pro- 
 
 ♦ Kurd's Lect. on Proph., p. 102. 
 
40 THE SYSfEKE I 
 
 vidence of Jesus Christ, and his dispensation of the 
 Spirit, in the progress of its development, as being the 
 thing we are to understand by the words of prophecy, 
 viz. the coming and kingdom of Christ. This is making 
 preconceived notions of things, the interpreters of the 
 words, directly in violation of Ernesti's principle, 
 instead of gathering, from the words, the idea of 
 what the coming and kingdom of Christ are to be. 
 It is unquestionably allegorizing, and of the same gene- 
 ral nature with the interpretations of Neological doc- 
 tors, — divines who, assuming that there could have been 
 no such things as miracles, and going with this notion 
 to the Scriptures, allow themselves any and every 
 licence of imagination to explain the language of the 
 evangelists, describing the preternatural works of 
 Christ, as though they meant to assert no miracle, 
 but related mere natural phenomena. 
 
 Very different were the views of the learned Dr. 
 Dodwell, who observes : " We should neither, with 
 some, interpret it into allegory, nor depart from the 
 literal sense of Scripture, without an absolute neces- 
 sity for so doing," — which, it may be remarked, is 
 not the case here. " Neither should we with others," 
 he adds, " indulge an extrav^agant fancy, nor explain too 
 curiously the manner and circumstances of this future 
 state" — as was done by many, in their sensual descrip- 
 tions of Christ's kingdom. "It is safest and best, faith- 
 fully to adhere to the words of Scripture, or to fair 
 deductions from Scripture, and to rest contented with 
 a general account, till time shall accomplish and eclair- 
 cise all the particulars." Still more pointed is the 
 learned Vitringa, who, in a tract on the Interpreta- 
 tion of Prophecy, first published in Latin in 1716, lays 
 it down as a fundamental canon : " We must never 
 depart from the literal meaning of the subject mentioned 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 41 
 
 in its own appropriate name, if all or its principal 
 attributes square with the subject of the prophecy — an 
 unerring canon, he adds, and of great use."* 
 
 These quotations may suffice for the general pre- 
 sentation of the two systems of interpretation. We 
 adopt the literal in preference to the allegorical, 
 for reasons we proceed to state. 
 
 I. It is the most natural, consistent, and satisfac- 
 tory MODE OF interpretation, AND THEREFORE COM- 
 MENDS ITSELF TO THE COMMON SENSE OF MANKIND. 
 
 By the common sense of mankind, a thing often 
 spoken of) frequently misunderstood, and by many 
 abused, we mean nothing more nor less than the judg- 
 ment of men, under the guidance of their unsophisti- 
 cated, unperverted reason, in matters which legiti- 
 mately fall within its sphere, and for judging of which 
 it is competent. If asked to define it, we would say,"^ 
 that common sense is the common judgment of human 
 reason, in matters about which it is competent to 
 judge. We claim not the power for the human mind 
 to excogitate the truths of revelation. Nor is it admis- 
 sible to form our a priori judgment, on the nature of 
 facts and phenomena, and in the light of our philo- 
 sophical theories, and explanations of their quo modo, 
 determine the meaning of the language of Scripture. 
 We judge of God's meaning, and of the facts he states, 
 as we do in other matters. 
 
 The great mass of readers instinctively adopt this 
 very system. They naturally first inquire into the 
 meaning of words, and that for the purpose of ascer- 
 taining w^hat the writer asserts or teaches. In all 
 matters of science also, the same course is pursued. 
 All technical expressions, or terms of art, are first 
 
 * Typns Doctrinse PropheticsB, Canon III, 
 
4»ll TttE SVSTE!«f 
 
 CETefally defined, ot their meaning previously settled, 
 before a man deems himself at all competent to under- 
 stand the subject of which it treats. When addressed 
 by unother, whether in the set harangue, the popular 
 oration, or familiar converse, we all most naturally 
 apprehend his meaning, according to the comtflon, 
 prevailing, grammatical import of his terms. 
 
 We never dream of applying other rules of inter- 
 pretation, until we are distinctly and formally apprised, 
 that the author's or speaker's words conceal a recondite 
 meaning, and his terms are used in a sense different 
 from their common and obvious import. When 
 this is the case, and a man writes or speaks to us, 
 making use of words in some peculiar, mystic, con- 
 cealed, or allegorical sense, we feel disappointed, and 
 somewhat irritated, unless he is very careful to ap- 
 prise us distinctly of the fact, and to give us a key by 
 which to unlock his meaning. Nor will this always 
 satisfy. The question will come up, — " Why should 
 he thus speak 1 What is the use of perverting the 
 import of terms, and wishing to be understood in a 
 sense quite different from the common and obvious 
 import of his language V Persons engaged in plots 
 of treason, of fraud or treachery, or in danger of their 
 lives if detected, may perhaps feel satisfied, and un- 
 derstand the reason and necessity of such secret cor- 
 respondence. But there must always be some special 
 design, or obviously important use, to be subserved by 
 such a style of language, to justify it, or even to sug- 
 gest it ; and then the import of terms must be well 
 settled between the parties. 
 
 Now the whole volume of Revelation is delivered to 
 us in styles of speech with which men in general are 
 familiar, and is therefore to be interpreted in the very 
 same way by which we discover the meaning of other 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 43 
 
 books. The prophetical parts of it possess the same 
 character. The idea that ptophecy is peculiar, and 
 affects styles of speech different from all other writ- 
 ings, has led to much confusion and error in inter- 
 pretation. It is the favorite notion of all enthu- 
 siasts and mystics, and especially of — Sweden- 
 borgians. 
 
 There may be, and are, occasionally, phrases and 
 passages, the import of which is not immediately ob- 
 vious — some that are ambiguous — and some, too, that 
 must be understood by the rules of rhetoric, applica- 
 ble to tropes and figures of speech. It is true, too, 
 that there is also a style of speech, which may be justly 
 called symbolical, and having its own appropriate 
 meaning. But, in these respects, the language of the 
 Bible, and of prophecy, is not peculiar j and the gene- 
 ral principles of what is called grammatical interpreta- 
 tion, are abundantly sufficient to satisfy us as to their 
 meaning. We never think of applying any other rules 
 of interpretation, than those admitted to be correct, in 
 reference to the ordinary forms of prosaic or poetic 
 style and diction, or even where symbols are preferred 
 for the purpose of instruction. " There is in fact," 
 says Ernesti, with great truth, "but one and the same 
 method of interpretation common to all books, what- 
 ever be their subject. And the same grammatical 
 principles and precepts ought to be the common guide 
 in the interpretation of all."* 
 
 It behoves the advocates of the allegorical or spiritual 
 interpretation, therefore, to show that the Bible is pecu- 
 liar, and different from all other books, having its own 
 particular rules of interpretation, by which to detect the 
 
 * Bib. Rep. 3. 131. See also Manual of Sacred Interpretation, 
 by Dr. M'Clelland, p. 10. 
 
44 THE system' 
 
 hidden meaning of its language. And it further 
 behoves them to give us, from the Bible itself, the 
 key to its meaning, those private definitions and hints 
 which will enable the reader to determine when 
 the meaning is to be taken in a sense quite foreign 
 from its natural and literal, or grammatical import. 
 This has never yet been done. It is true we have 
 been told that the literal meaning is the lowest and 
 most unimportant — that there* is a style of speech 
 peculiar to God alone — that when He speaks He is 
 not to be understood in the ordinary sense of the 
 terms He uses, but in some recondite spiritual sense — 
 and that to understand which, a new faculty is neces- 
 sary, or power to be imparted by the direct illumination 
 or new creating agency of the Holy Ghost. And it is 
 true, too, that some have even affected to be greatly 
 shocked, and struck with horror, by the alleged impi- 
 ety of those who have dared to say, that God has 
 spoken to us in familiar language, and is to be under- 
 stood, according to the dictates of common sense, upon 
 principles of grammatical interpretation. But this 
 feeling is the result of education sustained by a 
 peculiar theology, fostered by a particular cast of 
 preaching, and by no means natural and common. On 
 the contrary, the spiritualising or allegorising of the 
 Bible, is, to the great mass, as offensive as it is unin- 
 telligible ; nor is it ever favorably received, till mis- 
 taken views of piety, of the very nature of inspira- 
 tion, and of spiritual illumination, have led men to 
 renounce their common sense. 
 
 Who does not see how disgusting and ridiculous 
 the Bible must become, when interpreted by allegoris- 
 ing and spiritualising commentators, who, in every 
 historical incident, prophecy, parable, or poem, are 
 looking for a philosophical, or for a recondite spiritual 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. , 45 
 
 meaning V.. We see no difference, as far as the princi- 
 ples of interpretation are concerned, between the Unita- 
 rian who tells us that the stories of the paradisiacal 
 state and fall of Adam, of the temptation of Christ, 
 and other historical matters in the Bible, are mere 
 fables or allegories, and the Neologist, who, assuming 
 the language of the sacred writer to be often that of 
 the superstitious vulgar, or of the extravagant poet, 
 accounts for every miracle upon natural principles, 
 and the ignorant Mystic who sees no use or value in 
 the Bible, but as he can give a spiritual gloss to its 
 historical and literal statements. Our common sense, 
 in each case, is insulted. We feel disappointed j and 
 the Bible is concluded to be a most uncertain and 
 unsatisfactory book, just as truly, when, with the Uni- 
 tarian we allegorize, the Neologist we philosophize, the 
 Swedenborgian we spiritualize, as when with the Mys- 
 tic we lose sight of plain history, and seek a recon- 
 dite theological or spiritual meaning, as did that inter- 
 preter who made " the man going down from Jerusa- 
 lem to Jericho (to be) Adam wandering in the 
 wilderness of this world ; the thieves who robbed and 
 wounded him, evil spirits j the priest who passed by 
 on the other side without relieving him, the Levitical 
 law; the Levite, good works; the good Samaritan, 
 Christ ; the oil and the wine, grace, &c."* 
 
 Such allegorising, for theological uses, is altogether 
 gratuitous and censurable ; and such must the alle- 
 gorising, or spiritual interpretation of prophecy be 
 considered, till it is shown that the Spirit of God, in 
 the mouth of the prophets, meant something very dif- 
 ferent from what their language imports, when that lan- 
 
 * See Elementary Principles of Interpretation of J. A. Ernesti, 
 by Moses Stuart. 3d ed. p. 79. 
 5 
 
46 THE SYSTEM 
 
 guage is interpreted grammatically, i. e. according to 
 rhetorical rules applicable to their several styles of 
 speech. 
 
 II. The literal or grammatical interpretation is far 
 
 MORE definite AND CERTAIN, AND FAR LESS LIABLE 
 TO THE CHARGE OF VAGUENESS AND THE VAGARIES 
 OF men's IMAGINATIONS, THAN THE SPIRITUAL OR AL- 
 LEGORICAL. 
 
 " It will be acknowledged by all who would avoid 
 the imputation of dulness in logical matters," as Er- 
 nesti has well remarked, " that whatever, in any 
 department of science, is certain and absolutely free 
 from doubt, possesses this character of certainty from 
 some necessity belonging to the thing itself 5 not in- 
 deed a necessity invariably the same in all cases, but 
 such as the nature of the thing admits j so that the 
 certainty of interpretation is derived from some neces- 
 sity of signification. That there exists such a neces- 
 sity of signification in words will easily be seen. For 
 the connection between ideas and words, although at 
 first arbitrary and unconstrained, nevertheless, when 
 once fixed by use and custom, it becomes necessarj'^, 
 and preserves its necessity so long as this use and 
 custom continue. It is left to our option, for ex- 
 ample, whether to describe two parallelograms upon 
 the same base and of the same altitude, or not. But 
 as soon as we give the same base and altitude to both, 
 the necessity of equality immediately follows, which 
 is again removed when this condition is taken away. 
 Nor do the frequent changes, to which the usage of 
 speech is liable, and which, in all languages, so long 
 as they continue to be spoken, are owing to various 
 causes, destroy this necessity. For, as, in speaking 
 of the usage of speech, we wish to be understood as 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 47 
 
 inquiring in what sense each word was employed, in 
 each particular age, by every description of men, and 
 in a certain connection ; so also we understand the 
 necessity of signification in words to be determined 
 by the same circumstances of time and place. If 
 these be changed a new necessity is induced. 
 Wherefore, since the act of the grammarian alone 
 ascertains and teaches this usage of speech, it follows, 
 that from the knowledge of that art alone, a sure 
 method of interpretation is to be sought, both in 
 human writings and the inspired volume, so far as this 
 is to be understood by human effort. But this point 
 has already been decided by the most distinguished 
 -theologians and interpreters of the sacred books j and 
 by their decision we ought certainly to abide, since 
 it has been the result of reasonings so clear and 
 necessary. It was said by Melancthon, that the Scrip- 
 tures could not be understood theologically ^ without 
 first of all being understood grammatically y and, in 
 support of this assertion, he argues in very many 
 places. Camerarius also, an eminently great man, 
 urges, more than once, the same sentiment. But, 
 omitting all other authorities, no one more earnestly 
 or frequently commends the study of the original 
 languages, which is altogether grammatical, and de- 
 clares, that in it consists all true interpretations of the 
 sacred books, than the illustrious Luther : particularly 
 in that golden epistle, which he wrote concerning the 
 establishment of schools throughout the German 
 states; in which, among other things against the 
 Waldenses, who despised the knowledge of languages 
 in sacred things, and attributed everything to divine 
 influence, he writes as follows : * Spirit here or Spirit 
 there, what signifies it 1 I also have been in the Spirit, and 
 have also seen spiritual things (if a man may be per- 
 
48 THE system' 
 
 mitted to boast of himself) more, perhaps, than these 
 same persons will see for a year to come, however they 
 may glory. My spirit also has accomplished somewhat. 
 But this I know, full well, that how much soever we 
 are dependent on spiritual influences, I had been left 
 entirely unmolested by my vigilant adversaries, if the 
 languages had not come to my assistance, and afforded 
 me confidence in the Scriptures. I might also have 
 been very pious, and have preached well in retirement 
 and quietness, but I must then have left the pope, and 
 the sophists, and the whole regiment of their fol- 
 lowers, just where they were. The devil gives himself 
 much less concern about my spirit than about my tongue 
 and pen. For my spiritual exercises take from him 
 nothing but myself alone, whereas the knowledge of 
 the Scriptures and of the sacred languages makes the 
 world too narrow for him, and strikes at his king- 
 dom.' Let such then as aim really to be, as well as 
 to be accounted emulators of his example, respect the 
 authority of this experienced man, without heeding 
 those upstart advocates of ignorance, who recom- 
 mend them to pursue that way to proficiency in inter- 
 pretation, which conducts to the meaning and sense 
 of words, through the knowledge of things. For, in 
 this method of interpretation, it is impossible that 
 either the necessity, of which we have already spoken, 
 or the certainty, which should principally be aimed at 
 in the interpreting, can exist. The reason is obvi- 
 ous. For who does not see, that a sense may be 
 true in itself, which is not, however, conveyed by the 
 words under consideration."* 
 
 How much of scriptural interpretation possesses this 
 character ! Multitudes of promises and predictions are 
 
 • Bib. Rep., iii. 129-132. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 49 
 
 applied for various purposes of Christian experience, 
 consolation and practice; and truths, exceedingly 
 grateful and refreshing, are often presented, in the 
 very language of the Scriptures, when the passages, 
 interpreted grammatically, and the mind and meaning 
 of the writer thus obtained, are widely different. 
 
 The extent to which this thing was carried, in the 
 days of Cromwell, and the extravagancies to which it 
 has led, at different times, and in different grades and 
 states of society, cannot have escaped the notice of 
 those acquainted with history. A text of Scripture, 
 suddenly brought to recollection and powerfully im- 
 pressed upon the mind, has been conceived to be the 
 token of the Spirit's special agency. Although the 
 words could easily be accommodated to the circum- 
 stances by a lively imagination, yet the truth taught 
 in the text, viewed in its connection, had no relation 
 whatever to them. The appositeness of the language, 
 and the actual adaptation of it to^he case and circum- 
 stances of the individual by the aid of his fancy, have 
 been practically regarded as the intimation of the 
 Spirit, and men have essayed to act as though 
 they had been divinely instructed, and have dismissed 
 all further care about the future, or attempt to esti- 
 mate their duty. Fanatical views and practices, in 
 reference to prayer, have hence been originated, 
 and fostered by such fallacious assumptions. The 
 authority of direct Revelation, and the fact of per- 
 sonal inspiration, have been plead, and all attempts to 
 get men to look at the passage of Scripture in its 
 proper connection, to ascertain thus the mind of the 
 Spirit, and to bring their chastened judgment to the 
 consideration of the word and promises of God, have 
 been utterly ineffectual. ,., 
 
 The subjects of such impressions conlmonly claim 
 
50 THE SYSTEM) 
 
 to be taught directly by the Spirit of God j and, to 
 honor that teaching, they therefore feel themselves 
 called upon to pour contennpt on every effort to 
 bring them to a sober and dispassionate examination, on 
 ordinary principles of exegesis, of the passages of Scrip- 
 ture by which they are impressed, that they may thus 
 determine whether it warranted them to judge, hope, 
 or act, as they felt impressed to do. Kationality 
 gives way, and the inspiration of the Spirit is claimed 
 as the licence for reveries, extravagance, folly, and 
 fanaticism. The biography of not a few, in the days 
 of the puritans and since, might be cited in proof of 
 these things.* 
 
 The whole subject of Christian experience has been 
 mixed up with, and shaped, sometimes, in the history 
 of individuals, by means of allegorical interpretations, 
 of historical passages of Scripture ; and an use, wholly 
 unwarranted, has been made of them as vehicles of in- 
 .spired instruction in matters of personal interest, and 
 on points utterly foreign from the design of the Spirit in 
 them. Halyburton's Memoirs, though teeming with 
 valuable matter on the subject of Christian experience, 
 nevertheless is fruitful in specimens of this sort of 
 accommodating Scripture promises, precepts, and 
 statements, by means of a strong and lively fancy. 
 Wesley took a shorter course, and substituted the use 
 of the lot for the aid of memory and the play of the 
 imagination.! There is reason to fear that there is 
 much, very much of these things to be found among 
 professing Christians still, and that not a few quote, 
 plead, believe, and apply promises, the genuine and 
 legitimate import of which they know not, and care 
 
 * See Huntingdon's Bank of Faith, 
 t See Southey's Life of Wesley. 
 
OF iNTERpaEtAtlON. 51 
 
 not to understand, nor their warrant to appropriate 
 them, but construe plain historical facts and state- 
 ments into special spiritual revelations made to them, 
 while utterly ignorant and reckless of the principles 
 of Providence embodied in them, and of the true 
 and proper principles of biblical exegesis. 
 
 It is not enough that a sentiment should be in itself 
 true, nor that the language can be happily accommo- 
 dated to express it. In order to correct interpreta- 
 tion, it must be, demonstrably, the very sentiment the 
 sacred writer intended to teach by the words he 
 spoke. But it is obvious, if words have no definite 
 meaning, and must be understood, not literally and 
 grammatically, according to rhetorical rules, but 
 according to impressions or to preconceived spiritual 
 notions of the truth of things, then must there, of 
 necessity, be a vagueness and fluctuating import in 
 the language of the Bible, just in proportion to the 
 number, wildness, and extravagance of the imagina- 
 tions of different individuals and commentators. 
 
 The truth and force of these remarks are felt by 
 many in relation to the prophecies. Some, adopting 
 the allegorising plan, and interpreting the language by 
 their o\Vn assumed mystic or spiritual notions of the 
 coming and kingdom of Christ, have confessed them- 
 selves perfectly at a loss, neglected the study of the 
 prophecies, — yea, treated them with contempt, — and 
 made no other use of them than their fanciful adapta- 
 tions of them to the experience of the Christian, or to 
 the spiritual condition and prospects, the hopes and 
 benevolent efforts of the church. There is no telling 
 where this spiritual interpretation too will end, — one 
 carrying it to this and the other to a still greater 
 extent ; and different commentators quarreling about 
 their interpretations, while all alike have lost sight of 
 
5^ 
 
 THE SYSTEM 
 
 the only true ground of certainty, the literal and 
 grammatical interpretation. 
 
 III. The literal interpretation is sanctioned by the 
 
 EXAMPLE OF THE PATRIARCHS, THE PROPHETS, AND THE 
 APOSTLES, IN THEIR STUDY AND EXPOSITION OF THE 
 PROPHECIES. 
 
 The prediction relative to the flood was understood 
 by Noah, in its literal sense, while the unbelieving 
 world either esteemed it false altogether, or probably 
 explained away its literal import. Noah did not suffer 
 any preconceived notion of the impossibility of the 
 thing predicted, to suggest to him what was the 
 meaning of the prophecy. He made the word* a 
 guide to his notion of the thing. In like manner 
 Abraham understood, literally, the predictions con- 
 cerning the enslavement of his posterity in Egyptf 
 and their emancipation j and especially that most ex- 
 traordinary one of the birth of Isaac, — an event alto- 
 gether contrary to the established laws and course of 
 nature. So also did Sarah| and all the worthies of 
 old. 
 
 The words which God employed were the ex- 
 pounders of the thing. Abraham's faith is extolled, 
 expressly, in that he did not reason, did not philoso- 
 phise, or allegorise about it at all. " He staggered 
 not," says Paul, " at the promise of God through 
 unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. 
 And being fully persuaded that what He had pro- 
 mised, He was also able to perform. "§ Isaac, Jacob, 
 Moses, all believed that the predictions would be ful- 
 
 •Heb. 11. 7. t Gen. 15. 13-16. 
 
 t Heb. 11. 11-13. § Rom. 4. 20, 21. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 53 
 
 filled, according to their grammatical import ; and thos9, 
 too, with respect to the coming of the Messiah. 
 They all expected it to be literal, an event historically 
 to be true. No instance whatever occurs, in which 
 they ever thought of interpreting prophecy, by making 
 their notions of the thing explain the words, and by 
 extracting a spiritual or allegorical import from the 
 literal expressions, other than as the things them- 
 selves, — when the plain and obvious meaning of the 
 words was understood — were of a spiritual nature. 
 
 Paul does, indeed, in one or two places, comment 
 upon Abraham's faith in such terms as to have led 
 many to think, and to affirm, that he sanctions the 
 allegorical interpretation ; but on a close examination 
 we shall find he does not. In the fourth chapter of 
 Romans, this illustrious apostle explains the nature of 
 the Abrahamic covenant, which brought, among other 
 things, distinctly to Abraham's faith, the prospect of 
 his being " the heir of the world.^^ This, he says, was 
 represented to him by God, in such a way that he 
 expected to be " the father of all " j to stand at the 
 head of the great family, of all the great company of 
 nations who should exercise the like faith which he 
 did in God — whether they were among his natural 
 descendants, the Jewish race, or the Gentile nations j 
 all which things were to occur literally as matter of 
 fact. 
 
 Abraham did not understand the prediction that he 
 should be " heir of the world," to mean, that either 
 himself or his progeny should possess the land of 
 Canaan during their mortal life. This Paul expressly 
 asserts, when he says that, "he looked for a city 
 which hath foundations whose builder and maker is 
 God ;" and that he and all his offspring who died in 
 faith, while they actually dwelt in the land of Canaan, 
 
54 THE SYSTEM 
 
 did so, not as having received possession of the thing 
 God had promised, but as " strangers and pilgrims on 
 the earth." " By faith he sojourned in the land of 
 promise, in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles 
 with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same 
 promised* " These all died in faith, not having 
 received the promises, (the promises not having been 
 fulfilled,) but having seen them (the things promised) 
 afar off, and embraced them, and confessed that they 
 were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.''^ 
 
 Neither does the grammatical interpretation of the 
 language of the covenant made with Abraham, imply 
 or teach that any temporary occupation of Palestine 
 or the land of promise, by the Jews, prior to the glo- 
 rious advent of the Messiah, was the thing promised. 
 It is true that the occupancy of Palestine, by Abra- 
 ham's posterity during their mortal life, was a thing 
 promised and confirmed to Abraham, but it was, by 
 another covenant, entirely distinct from that pre-emi- 
 nently called the Abrahamic covenant, in which God 
 promised that he should be " heir of the world.*' 
 The transactions related in the 17th and 22d chapters 
 of Genesis,! although involving or implying some 
 occupancy of the land of Palestine by Abraham and 
 his seed, are connected with spiritual blessings to be 
 enjoyed in the highest degree, and by all nations on 
 the face of the earth. In the 12th, 13th, and 15th 
 chapters of Genesis,J reference is made to the specific 
 grant of the land for the occupancy of Abraham's 
 posterity, at a future period not very remote, in the 
 fourth generation, or four hundred years thereafter. 
 
 The promise of a nnmeroas posterity, with a grant 
 
 • Heb. 11. 9-16. tGen. 17. 1-15 ; 22. 15-18. 
 t Genesis, 12.7; 13.14-17; 15. 13-16. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 59 
 
 o( the land of Canaan for their occupancy, made to 
 Abraham, together with the covenant confirming the 
 same, occurred fourteen years* before the Abrahamic 
 Covenant — strictly and properly so called — was insti- 
 tuted, in which God stipulates that Abraham shall be 
 " heir of the world." This phrase does not occur in 
 the original record of the covenant, but is evidently 
 the apostle's short and pithy comment on or condensa- 
 tion of the import of the promises contained in it, 
 that he should be " the father of many nations" that 
 " kings should come out of kim,^'-f and, as it is else- 
 where expressed, " a company of nations, "J should 
 be of him. The apostle means something very diffe- 
 rent from the temporal and temporary possession of 
 the land of Palestine by Abraham's posterity, which 
 is the favorite opinion of some learned critics and 
 commentators, as Schleusner§ and Rosenmiiller.(| 
 
 The phrase " heir of the world," according to its 
 grammatical import, means, lord, possessor, IT inheritor 
 
 * See the Christian's Magazine, vol. 1. p. 141, and Dr. Mason's 
 works. In his first essay on the church of God, the Doctor asserts 
 and successfully maintains the distinction above referred to. 
 
 t Genesis, 17. 4-6. 
 
 {Genesis, 35. 11. 
 
 § See Schleusner, Lex., Art. K\ripovojidu 
 
 II See Rosenmiiller, ad Rom. 4. 13., torn. iii. p. 593. rd /cX»?f>;- 
 vonQv avTov elvat tov koct[iov, forBy ut terram possideat. Td est pleon- 
 asmus Atticus, voff/ios formula Judaica hie nihil aliud esse videtur, 
 quamy^-, p-^N, Gen. 12. 7, et in specie, terra Canaan, nam Pales- 
 tina apud Hebraeos Kar' tf i y»V 7">n dicta est. Facile tamen phrasis 
 y^Hr\ nms loc. cit., et aliis Geneseos locis de orbe terrarum universr 
 intelligi potuit a Judaeis, praesertim quum prophetae saepius populo 
 Israelitico imperium in omnem terrarum orbem promiserint, e. c. 
 Is. 54. 3. 
 
 IT KXripopoiiSs non est haeres sed possessor, s. dominus, et proprius 
 quidem, qui portionem terras Cananaeorum sorte accepit ; a, peuu 
 distribuo, et K\fjpos calculus, quo Hebraici, ut videtur, usi sunt in 
 
56 THE SYSTEM ^ 
 
 of the world, one who, by virtue of a bequest or grant, 
 may rightly claim and occupy it as his own. Now, 
 no occupancy which either Abraham or the Jews have 
 as yet had of the land of Canaan, comes any way 
 near to the grammatical import of that expression. 
 Nor does the spiritual extension and enlargement of 
 the Christian church, as some suppose ; for it is just 
 as obvious, according to the gramrnatical import of 
 the prophecy of the Abrahamic covenant, that the 
 occupancy of the land of Canaan, or the promised 
 land, by Abraham and his seed, was to be in some 
 way connected with his being " a blessing to all the 
 nations and families of the earth," a thing not true to 
 this hour. 
 
 The covenant, too, which guarantees the possession 
 of the land of Canaan, with the fulfilment of the pro- 
 mise that he should be heir of the world, looks for- 
 ward to something, then only to be accomplished when 
 both Abraham and all his seed should together enter upon 
 it as " an everlasting possession." Neither the tempo- 
 rary possession, therefore, of the land of Palestine, 
 by the natural descendants of Abraham, nor the exten- 
 
 sortibus dandis, v. Jos. 1 1. 23 ; 14. 2. The above is the grammat- 
 ical interpretation or criticism of Rosenmiiller. The following is 
 his exposition, as vague and indefinite, and unlike the text, and as 
 wide from the promise, as it well can be, yet a fair specimen of 
 the allegorical interpretation. "Videtur autem h. 1. possessione 
 mundi intelligi omnis generis felicitas Abrahami posteris promissa." 
 Abraham should possess the world, be its lord or inheritor, — « the 
 heir of the world," says Paul. Abraham himself is the person 
 spoken of; but Rosenmiiller, and the whole class of interpreters 
 who adopt his principles, tell us it means all sort of happiness pro- 
 mised to Abraham's posterity ! ! What part, interest, or concern 
 had Abraham personally, in the Jews' temporary possession of 
 Canaan ? He did not care for it himself, and would he be more 
 captivated by his children's temporary occupancy of it ? 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 57 
 
 sion of the church of God among the Gentile nations, 
 during the whole period of the rejection of the Jews, 
 was, or could be, the thing intended by the prophecy, 
 according to its literal or grammatical import. That 
 teaches, that the blessed inheritance connected with, 
 and intended by the land of Canaan for " an ever- 
 lasting possession," is one, the enjoyment of which 
 will belong, in some way or other, to Abraham, 
 together with all who walk in the footsteps of his 
 faith. " For," the apostle says, " the promise must 
 be sure to all the seed^ not to that only which is of the 
 law, (viz. believers under the Mosaic dispensation, as 
 he has explained himself to mean,) but to that also 
 which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father 
 of us all, (as it is written, I have made thee a father 
 of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even 
 God who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things 
 that be not as though they were."* 
 
 Here the apostle, who is explaining Abraham's faith 
 of this promise, or, in other words, setting forth the 
 things that Abraham expected, tells us expressly, that 
 Abraham was regarded, and regarded himself, as the 
 father or representative of a numerous seed before 
 God, and that, too, as he who raiseth the dead, and 
 calleth things that be not as though they were. It 
 was, in the sight of God, as raising the dead, and 
 speaking of things far distant in futurity, as though 
 they were present, that Abraham's faith looked for- 
 ward to the events to be realized by the fulfilment of 
 the promise. Some occupancy of the land of Canaan, 
 therefore, which Abraham and all the saints should 
 have together in the resurrection state, and when 
 Abraham should be conspicuously and gloriously the 
 
 * Romans, 4. 13. ^^i ... j ji. 
 
58 THE SYSTEM ^ 
 
 heir or possessor of the world, was Kterally the thing 
 promised of God, and expected by Abraham, — the 
 heavenly city which hath foundations, whose builder 
 and maker is God, for which he looked, and of which 
 Paul speaks, — the New Jerusalem, the holy city, which 
 John in vision saw coming down from God out of 
 heaven, as a bride adorned for her husband. 
 
 To make the promise refer to the spread and preva- 
 lence of the gospel, under the evangelical dispensa- 
 tion, and to say that Abraham becomes " heir of the 
 world," by the diffusion and triumph of the gospel, 
 is to allegorise and to accommodate the language of 
 the Spirit, to contradict the grammatical import, and 
 not grammatically to interpret. For, to dwell a moment 
 longer here — 
 
 Paul says explicitly, Abraham and all the fathers 
 looked for a heavenly city, as one great and glorious 
 thing held forth in " the covenant of promise." That 
 heavenly city, allegorically interpreted, must mean 
 either the invisible state, i. e. the state of happiness 
 into which the saints now enter, when they die, and 
 pass into the heavenly paradise, or it must mean the 
 church of God, enlarged, extended, and universally 
 established — what the Spiritualists call the kingdom 
 of God, etc., especially towards the close of the gos- 
 pel dispensation, i. e. during the millenial glory. That, 
 it means the paradisiacal heaven, or the heavenly 
 state, on which all the Fathers entered after death, 
 Paul expressly denies, for he says, " These all died 
 in faith, not having received the promises, but having 
 seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and 
 confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims upon 
 the earth ; for they that say such things declare 
 plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they 
 had been mindful of that country from whence they 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 59^ 
 
 came out, they might have had opportunity to have 
 returned. But now they desire a better country, that 
 is an heavenly ; wherefore God is not ashamed to be 
 called their God, for He hath prepared for them a 
 city."* At their death they did not enter into that 
 heavenly city for which they hoped, neither did the 
 prophets, who succeeded the patriarchal fathers, such 
 as Moses, David, Samuel, Isaiah, and many others ; 
 for Paul says of them ,also, that " having in this life 
 obtained a good report through faith, they received 
 not the promise, God having provided some better 
 thing for us, that they without us should not be made 
 perfect,"! i- e. be consummated in bliss. 
 
 The literal or grammatical meaning of this is, that 
 the patriarchs and prophets were not to enter into the 
 promised glory without, and consequently before, we 
 Christians. But, lest it be said, that a change took 
 place, after the death and ascension of Christ, in the 
 heavenly state, and that Abraham and the prophets 
 passed into the glory into which Christians now enter 
 when they die — whatever may or may not be the 
 truth of this, it is not, and cannot be, what the apostle 
 understands by the thing promised. That, he uni- 
 formly speaks of as being the glory accruing to the 
 saints, when Christ shall return to earthy raise their 
 dead bodies, and establish His kingdom for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 Of that inheritance, Peter says explicitly, they have 
 not yet obtained possession, whether patriarchs, pro- 
 phets, apostles, or any now with Christ, for it is 
 " reserved in heaven," and " ready to be revealed in 
 the last time.^^X The grace for which patriarchs, pro- 
 phets, apostles, and Christians in all ages hope, is the 
 
 ♦ Heb. 11. 13-16. t Heb. 11. 39-40. t 1 Peter, 1. 4, 5. 
 
60 THE SYSTEM OF INTEKiRETATION. 
 
 grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation 
 of Jesus Christ, i. e. at his second coming. But if the 
 heavenly city, the inheritance for which Abraham and 
 all the fathers hoped, and for which Christians are yet 
 hoping, be not the state immediately after death, and 
 the allegorical interpretation fails here, much more 
 must it, when it is alleged that it is the gospel state 
 of the church on earth, especially in a millenium to 
 be enjoyed before the return of Christ. In that Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the dead saints have no 
 part for which they now wait, the heavenly city is not 
 to be entered until the resurrection, and the return of 
 Christ to this world. It is explicitly said that Abra* 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob are to enter at that day into 
 the kingdom, and " many from the East and from the 
 West, from the North and from the South, are to 
 come, not before, but at the day of Christ's appearing, 
 and to sit down with them in the kingdom of heaven." 
 The allegorical interpretation makes utter confusion 
 of all this, but the grammatical interpretation sets it 
 before us as clear and intelligible as it is transcendent 
 in glory. 
 
'^ OF THE ^r 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 Two very opposite systems of Scriptural interpreta- 
 tion have been brought into view ; the one denominated 
 THE LiTERiiL or GRAMMATICAL, and the Other the alle- 
 gorical or spiritual. The general nature of each 
 has been defined, and to some extent illustrated ; the 
 literal or grammatical having been shown to be the 
 method commonly adopted by men in their attempts to 
 understand each other's language, according to which, 
 the words, grammatically understood, are taken as the 
 proper guide to the meaning of the writer or the 
 nature of the thing expressed \ — the allegorical or 
 spiritual being an attempt to explain the meaning of 
 the words according to some assumed or preconceived 
 notions of the nature of the thing. 
 
 We have affirmed the literal system to be the true 
 and proper one for the interpretation of the prophetical 
 Scriptures ; because it is the most natural, consistent, 
 and satisfactory mode of interpretation, commending 
 itself to the common sense of mankind; because it is 
 more definite and certain, and far less liable to the 
 charge of vagueness and to the vagaries of men's 
 imaginations, than the spiritual or allegorical j and 
 because it is sanctioned by the example of the 
 patriarchs, the prophets, and the apostles, in their 
 study and exposition of the prophecies. We add 
 another reason. 
 6* 
 
62 THE SYSTEM J 
 
 IV. The entire system of prophecy contained in the 
 
 SCRIPTURES, AS FAR AS IT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED AND 
 EXPOUNDED BY THE PROVIDENCE OF GoD, RECOGNIZES 
 AND ESTABLISHES THE LITERAL OR GRAMMATICAL AS ITS 
 APPROPRIATE METHOD OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 In order to understand the force of this argument, 
 it will be necessary to notice more particularly than we 
 have done, the nature and character of prophecy. On 
 this point there has been much confusion, which has 
 not been much relieved by treatises designed expressly 
 to give us philosophical explanations of the manner in 
 which the minds of the prophets were affected. It has 
 been taken for granted, that there is something 
 essentially difficult to be understood in prophecy ; not 
 only from the necessary obscurity in every attempt to 
 describe future events, but especially from the mode in 
 which the minds of the prophets were acted on and 
 affected by the Spirit of God, who made to the prophets 
 his revelations. Peter says, that prophecy is not the 
 result of human excogitation. " it came not in old 
 time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake 
 as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."* 
 
 As to the precise amount of meaning in this word 
 " MOVED," there has been much disagreement among 
 those who have written on the nature of prophecy. 
 This diversity of sentiment has ranged from those 
 satisfied with a general knowledge of the fact that God 
 acted on them in some miraculous way, and who 
 attempted not even to form an idea as to the mode, be- 
 lieving that Peter intended to intimate no notion what- 
 ever on this subject — to those, who, supposing that he 
 did, have allowed themselves to class the phrenzy of the 
 
 • 2 Pet. 1. 21. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 63 
 
 false prophets among the heathen, with the ecstasy of 
 the true, as being of the same essential nature. Accord- 
 ingly, it has been assumed, that " the true explanation 
 depends on a correct theory of prophecy."* I quote 
 the language of Dr. Hengstenburg,! of the University 
 of Berlin. He admits it to have been the prevailing 
 opinion of the church, since the controversies with the 
 Montanists, " that the essential difference between the 
 prophets of God and the heathen diviners, consists in 
 the fact, that the latter spake in an ecstasy, but the 
 former in full possession of reason and consciousness ; 
 and consequently with a clear knowledge of what they 
 uttered." He does not seem satisfied with the 
 orthodox belief on this subject, preferring the notions 
 of Platonic philosophy as better adapted to his peculiar 
 metaphysics. For, applying to the true prophets, 
 
 * Christology of the O. T., vol. i. p. 217. 
 
 t This style of speech adopted by Professor Hengstenburg has 
 become common in these United States. Editors of religious papers, 
 professors, ministers and others, talk about theory on the subject of 
 the prophecies, as though the study of prophecy was necessarily 
 connected with theorising and speculations — favorite expressions 
 used when it suits their convenience to condemn others and excuse 
 their own ignorance. The predictions of Scripture seem to be 
 regarded much in the same light that many do the phenomena of 
 nature, as affording materials on which the student is to display his 
 ingenuity by inventing some theory to explain them. Theory is 
 out of place and unallowable in the study of prophecy ; and as long 
 as men assume it, and act on the principle that they are to excogi- 
 tate some mode of explanation, some clue to the meaning, and by 
 its guidance interpret particular parts, or weave the whole system 
 of prophecy together, we shall have nothing but schemes originating 
 in the imagination, and as endless varieties as we meet among 
 cosmogonists. It is a simple question that in all cases must be 
 asked, what is the fair and legitimate meaning of the words — a 
 matter-of-fact investigation — no theorising^ no speculations. 
 
64 THE SYSTEM ' 
 
 what Plato has enlarged upon in his Ion and Phagdrus, 
 viz. " that prophesying is necessarily accompanied by 
 the suppression of human agency, intelligence, and 
 consciousness," he is prepared to look for more or 
 less obscurity growing out of the very mode in which 
 the divine communication was made, although he has, 
 notwithstanding, made many valuable remarks, and 
 decidedly, but not designedly, favorable to the literal 
 or grammatical interpretation. 
 
 It does not comport with our design, nor indeed is 
 it necessary, to enter into any discussion as to the 
 physiology of inspiration, a subject, of which it is 
 utterly impossible for us to have any accurate know- 
 ledge, or any means of investigation. Those, who 
 deny that prophecy is the revelation of future events 
 made miraculously by the Spirit of God, and who 
 assume it to be a mere natural gift or power, of the 
 same character with the divinations among the hea- 
 then, may, very naturally, attempt the explanation of 
 the one by the other, and class what Dr. Hengsten- 
 burg has called the ecstasy of the prophets of Israel, 
 with the AFFLATUS and phrenzy of the prophets among 
 the heathen. But it does not appear, from anything 
 recorded in the Scriptures, that the prophets of God 
 were thrown into an ecstasy by the inspiration of the 
 Holy Ghost, and deprived of intelligence, conscious- 
 ness and voluntary agency, when they uttered his ora- 
 cles.* There is nothing in the character of the dreams 
 and visions, etc., of the prophets to prove it. What- 
 ever effects may have sometimes been produced upon 
 their animal system and sensations, by the disclosures 
 thus made to them, — and these, as in the case of 
 Daniel and John and others, were very remarkable — 
 
 * See Gaussen's Theopneusty, pp. 313, 314. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 65 
 
 the scriptural account of their visions and dreams and 
 other divine communications made to them, does not 
 intimate that they were unintelligible, or hard to be 
 understood, in consequence of any supernatural mode 
 by which they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 The obscurity of prophecy arises entirely from 
 other sources, such as the partial character of the 
 revelation ; the impossibility of forming any vivid ideas 
 of things yet future and but partially described ; igno- 
 rance of the precise time and relations of distant events; 
 the want of well-defined views as to the nature of the 
 language and style in which the several prophets may 
 have delivered their several predictions ; the inci- 
 dental difference, in the accounts of different prophets 
 predicting the same things, — growing out of the cir- 
 cumstance, that some scenes connected with the 
 events predicted, are noticed and more particularly 
 described, by one prophet, while another has not even 
 alluded to them ; the difficulty there ever must be in 
 harmonising an almost endless variety of future scenes 
 and circumstances not chronologically arranged by 
 the prophets, but described in some order of succes- 
 sion, and at intervals not always disclosed ; and the 
 pictorial character of the representations made to 
 the prophets often in dreams, and more especially in 
 visions, which doubtless often rendered them as much 
 the matter of anxious study to the prophets thena.^ 
 selves as to others in order to understand their im» 
 part.* 
 
 Professor Stewartf has fully and unanswerably vin- 
 dicated the writings of the ancient prophets from any 
 charge of obscurity founded on the peculiar psycho- 
 logical system of Dr. Hengstenburg, and his philoso- 
 
 * 1 Pet. 1. 10, 11. 
 
 t Biblical Repository, vol. ii. p. 245. 
 
66 THE SYSTEM 1 
 
 phical theory of the mode of inspiration, and the nature 
 of prophecy, and concludes: "I must believe that, 
 when (God) reveals anything to men, he does not 
 wrap it up in darkness. I must continue to cherish 
 the belief, that when he undertakes to instruct them, 
 he does not leave them ignorant. All which he in- 
 tends to accomplish, he does accomplish. His accre- 
 dited messengers are not " blind leaders of the blind," 
 but " clothed with light and salvation." They are 
 not men bereaved of their understanding, their reason, 
 their consciousness, their free agency ; but the most 
 enlightened, the most free, of all men on the face of 
 the earth.* 
 
 f- Entertaining precisely such views of the nature of 
 inspiration, whether of the prophetical or other parts 
 of Scripture, we expect to find, in the word of God 
 itself, a sanction of the principles of interpretation 
 applicable to the speech and writings of men in gene- 
 ral, in their application to the system of prophecy 
 contained in it. In this we are not disappointed. For, 
 1. The prophets^ communications were so interpreted 
 and understood generally by their cotemporaries who 
 heard them. I need not cite the examples of Micaiah,t 
 ElijahJ and Elisha,§ of Isaiah,|| Jeremiah,1F Ezekiel,** 
 
 • Similar sentiments are to be found in Mr. Barnes' Introduction 
 to his Notes on the book of Isaiah, when unfolding the views of 
 Professor Hengstenburg and his own, on the nature of prophecy. 
 ** There was an essential difference between the effect of true in- 
 spiration on the mind, and the wild and frantic ravings of the pagan 
 priests and the "oracles of divination. Everything in the Scrip- 
 tures is consistent, rational, sober, and in accordance with the 
 laws of the animal economy : everything in the heathen idea of 
 inspiration was wild, frantic, fevered and absurd." — Vol. i. p 19. 
 
 1 1 Kings, 22. 15-36. X 1 Kings, 19. 20. 21 ; 2 Kings,!. 
 
 § 2 Kings, 3. 10-27 ; 7. &c. || Is. 37. 38. 39. &c. 
 
 IT Jerem. 32. &c. ** Ezek. 4. 5. 6. &c. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 67 
 
 Hosea,* and others, many if not most of whose predic- 
 tions were understood, and that so well, that, being con- 
 trary to their taste and prejudices, and consequently to 
 their cordial reception, the people and rulers became so 
 indignant with them, that scarcely any of them escaped 
 without severe persecution,! and even unto death. 
 
 To avoid delay in the details of the argument, I pre- 
 fer to avail myself of the reasonings and conclusion 
 arrived at on this subject by Professor Stuart, whom I 
 am the more disposed to quote, because he cannot be 
 suspected of prejudice on this subject, having classed 
 himself with those who, in reference to most of the 
 unfulfilled predictions, interpret them allegorically or 
 spiritually, and not literally. "Admitting," says he, 
 "that the prophets spake intelligibly, and that they 
 were actually understood by their cotemporaries, and 
 this without any miraculous interposition, it follows of 
 course that it was the usual laws of interpretation 
 \vhich enabled their hearers to understand them. 
 They spontaneously applied to their words the same 
 principles of interpretation which they were wont to 
 do to the language of all who addressed them. By 
 so doing, they rightly understood the prophets j at 
 any rate, by so doing, they might have rightly under- 
 stood them : and if so, then such laws of interpreta- 
 tion are the right ones ; for those laws must be right 
 which conduct us to the true meaning of a speaker, 
 I can perceive no way of avoiding this conclusion, 
 unless we deny that the prophets were understood, or 
 could be understood, by their cotemporaries. But to 
 deny this, would be denying facts so plain, so incon- 
 trovertible, that it would argue a desperate attachr 
 ment to system, or something still more culpable."t 
 
 * Hos. 9. &c. t Acts, 7. 52. 
 
 X Biblical Repository, voJ. ii. p. 132. 
 
68 THE SYSTEM ^ 
 
 These very just and excellent remarks, however, 
 are by many admitted only with restrictions. So far 
 as the predictions of the ancient prophets related to 
 temporal events, it is admitted that these remarks are 
 true J but not to be construed as applicable to the 
 spiritual interests and events of Christ's kingdom. 
 Here, it is contended, the cotemporaries of the pro- 
 phets mistook their meaning, as have done and still 
 do all others who understand them literally, instead 
 of taking out of them a spiritual or allegorical mean- 
 ing.* This, however, is a point much more easily 
 assumed than proved. It will be shown, in another 
 and more convenient place, that the idea of the per- 
 sonal coming of the Messiah — for the purpose of judg- 
 ment and of establishing His kingdom — the kingdom 
 of Heaven on earth — upon the ruins of the great per- 
 secuting nations which for centuries have enslaved 
 and oppressed the people of God — for the restoration 
 of the tribes of Israel and of Judah to their own land, 
 and for the perfection and glorious dominion of the 
 Theocracy — was very common among the Jews, and 
 can be traced far back in the traditionary interpreta- 
 tion of the prophets, even from the days of their 
 cotemporaries till the first appearing of Jesus Christ, 
 and subsequently in the Christian church, without 
 
 ♦ For a striking example of this, see Lowth's Notes on Isaiah, 
 chap. 63, p. 392, and also S. Noble's Lectures on the Plenary In- 
 spiration of the Scriptures, p. 180-215, &c. After a metaphysical 
 dissertation on the intellectual powers, the latter says : " And if 
 we consider these three orders of intellectual powers to have three 
 distinct provinces of the mind appropriated to them as their seats, 
 we shall see why they are represented by the three countries of 
 Egypt, Assyria, and Israel— such representation following accu- 
 rately the law of that analogy, which, we have before seen, we all 
 intuitively recognize, between the relations of mind and the rela- 
 tions of space." 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 69 
 
 denial or dispute, for three centuries after the Chris- 
 tian era. 
 
 There were, indeed, errors in relation to the time 
 of Messiah's appearing, and a confounding of his first 
 and second coming, with more or less of imaginary 
 details in the description of his kingdom, not taken 
 from the prophetical writings, but from the glosses of 
 commentators ; but even these errors, and whatever 
 of extravagant imagination may be found in the de- 
 tailed accounts of the nature of the Messiah's king- 
 dom which have come down to us from antiquity, 
 only prove our position, that the prophecies were in- 
 terpreted and understood literally, as well those which 
 r.elate to Messiah's kingdom, as to the nations of 
 earth. They were admitted and known to be the fore- 
 telling of certain things or events to happen^ as really 
 and literally true in their accomplishment with regard 
 to the Messiah^s appearing and reigning in his king- 
 dom on this earth, as with regard to the kingdoms of this 
 world, on whose ruins it should be established. 
 
 Here again it will be objected, that the expectation 
 of the Jews, founded on the literal interpretation of 
 the prophecies, viz., that the Messiah would come and 
 establish a glorious kingdom on the earth, making 
 Jerusalem its centre and bringing all the nations of the 
 earth in subjection to it, has been proved fallacious 
 by the providence of God. It is freely admitted by 
 those who urge this objection, or rather taken for 
 granted, that the cotemporaries of the prophets, and 
 others of the Jewish nation, were greatly in error on 
 this subject ; so much so, as to have their minds filled 
 with prejudice and their hearts hardened through un- 
 belief. Their error, we affirm, did not consist in the 
 system of literal interpretation adopted by them, but 
 in their very partial examination and knowledge o( 
 7 
 
70 THE SYSTEM ^ 
 
 what the prophets did utter. They did not perceive, 
 that there were two distinct comings of their Messiah 
 predicted ; that each of these comings had its own dis- 
 tinct attributes; and that the first was so definitely- 
 marked out as to time, that attention to the chro- 
 nology of certain events in their history, would have 
 enabled them to come very near, if not exactly, to the 
 period of it. 
 
 Neither did they seem to be aware, that the cir- 
 cumstances, occasion, manner, condition, and other 
 particulars of their Messiah's first appearing, were all 
 apparently inconsistent with, and contradictory of the 
 pomp and glory, the splendor, and triumph, and lofty 
 dominion, that should attend his second appearing. 
 It was distinctly predicted, for example, where he 
 should be born, and what should be his condition 
 through life ; that he should be a man of sorrows, de- 
 spised and rejected of the people, be put to death, 
 rise from the grave, and ascend to Heaven. All this, 
 doubtless, they could not reconcile with the other 
 predictions relating to his coming, in triumph and 
 glory, to establish his kingdom on the earth. But 
 the careful and diligent study of prophecy would 
 have enabled them generally, as it did some, to recog- 
 nize and acknowledge him when he did come ; and, 
 having done so, to get, from his own lips, the instruc- 
 tion necessary to understand that portion of the pre- 
 dictions remaining to be fulfilled. This they did not. 
 
 Attracted by the predictions relating to his king- 
 dom — which comprehend by far the greatest part of 
 the prophetical descriptions and communications — 
 they lost sight, altogether, of those relating to his first 
 personal coming.* Having thus confounded the two 
 comings of the Messiah, they were totally unprepared 
 to recognize him, when he came, in his humiliation, 
 ♦ Is. 53. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 71 
 
 to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. If, there- 
 fore, through ignorance and inattention, the Jews 
 made mistakes, and looked for the glorious dominion 
 of the Messiah to be set up at his first appearing, that 
 does not at all prove the system of interpretation 
 prevalent among them to be wrong. It only proves, 
 that they were not accurate and diligent students of 
 the prophecies — that they did not apply correctly 
 their own principles. And the sad result, which 
 flowed to them^ through their neglect of the careful 
 and prayerful study of the prophecies, and of the ap- 
 plication of the literal principles of interpretation 
 which they had adopted — even the unbelief and rejec- 
 tion of their whole nation — should administer a re- 
 buke, and excite alarm on the part of those, who, at 
 this day, neglect the study of the prophecies, and are 
 just as incredulous and unprepared to meet him at his 
 second coming in glory, to establish his kingdom on 
 the earth, as they were at his first. 
 
 Neglect of the prophecies led to the ruin of their 
 church and nation ; and the same neglect so extensive 
 at the present day, we doubt not, will lead to the ruin 
 of many more churches and nations, now just as con- 
 fident, in their belief, that the providence of Grod has 
 falsified the Jews' expectation as to the Messiah's 
 kingdom, and proved the error of the literal princi- 
 ples of interpretation adopted by them. There is 
 great reason to fear that the coming of Jesus Christ 
 in glory and triumph, to establish his kingdom on the 
 earth, has proved, and will continue to prove, as great 
 a stumbling-block to the mass of Christian ministers 
 and professors, as his coming, in humiliation and sor- 
 row, for suffering and death, did to the learned doc- 
 tors of the Sanhedrim, and to the majority of the Jew- 
 ish nation. 
 
72 THE SYSTEM 
 
 The weakness of this objection, as well as the fal- 
 lacy of this conclusion, may be rendertsd yet more ap- 
 parent, if we advert to. the singular coincidence, in 
 sentiment and practice, between the Jews since the 
 death of Christ, and the great mass of the Christian 
 ministry and churches at the present day, in relation 
 to the spiritual or allegorical interpretation. The 
 Jew contends just as strenuously for the spiritual in- 
 terpretation of the predictions, which the spiritualist 
 says have been literally fulfilled, as does the spiritual- 
 ist for the spiritual interpretation. of those remaining 
 to be accomplished, and which the Jew says must be 
 literally fulfilled. Together, they present the most 
 singular phenomenon. Although agreeing, as to the 
 system of interpretation in part to be applied, it is 
 utterly impossible for them to agree as to the results 
 derived from their application of them. The Christian, 
 who adopts the spiritual interpretation of the prophe- 
 cies, in relation to the second coming of Jesus Christ 
 in his kingdom, approaches the Jew, and telling him, 
 that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, exhorts him to 
 cease from his unbelief, and to embrace the Saviour 
 of the world. 
 
 The .Tew, in his infidelity, denies the fact, and ask- 
 ing him how he knows that, calls upon him to prove 
 it. The Christian reads to him the psalm which says, 
 "They part my garments among them, and cast lots 
 upon my vesture,"* and tells him, this and other par- 
 ticulars stated in this prophetic psalm, were literally 
 accomplished in the sufferings, and circumstances of 
 the death, of Jesus Christ. The Jew replies, " Admit 
 it as your historian Matthew and others have related : 
 but cast your eye forward and there read, ' All the 
 
 ♦ Psalm 22. 18. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 73 
 
 ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the 
 Lord 5 and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship 
 before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He 
 is governor among the nations.'* What do you make 
 of this ] When did ever such a thing as this occur 1 
 The kingdom is not Christ's. He is not governor 
 among the nations. Where is there a nation, on the 
 face of the earth, that, since his crucifixion, has ever, 
 in its national character, owned and honored, and 
 in all things submitted to, Jesus Christ as its gov- 
 ernor 1" 
 
 The Christian replies, " You mistake : these pre- 
 dictions about his kingdom, and being governor 
 among the nations, are to be understood spiritually. 
 They refer to his spiritual kingdom, the church, or to 
 his invisible kingdom, and to the influence of his 
 grace, in subduing impenitent rebels, and in bringing 
 them to the obedience of the faith, and more espe- 
 cially to that period yet future, the millenial glory, 
 when, by increased missionary zeal and labors, by 
 the universal preaching of the gospel, by the effusions 
 of the Holy Spirit, and by great and extensive revivals 
 of religion, the great mass of mankind will be con- 
 ^rg|i^^ and the kings, and princes,* and rulers of the 
 ^esutt^, the executive, legislative and judicial function- 
 aries of the nations, be universally brought under the 
 influence of Christianity." 
 
 To this the Jew rejoins, "I object to your princi* 
 pies of interpretation. You make one part literal, 
 and another spiritual, just as it suits you. Now I 
 claim, that the whole psalm be interpreted either lite- 
 rally or spiritually. I have just as good a right to 
 say, as 1 do, of that part which you tell me was lite- 
 rally fulfilled, in the sufferings and death of Jesus 
 
 ♦ Psalm 22. 27, 28. 
 7* 
 
74 THE SYSTEM 1 
 
 Christ, that it must be understood spiritually, as you 
 have of the other." Thus they are at perfect issue, 
 and yet agreed as to the principles of interpretation. 
 This first effort therefore fails. 
 
 But the Christian brings another and most re- 
 markable passage to his aid from the psalm where 
 it is said, " Thou hast ascended on high, and hast 
 led captivity captive," &c.* This, he says, was 
 literally and truly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and 
 reads the story of the ascension of Christ from the 
 evangelists in proof. *' Admit it," replies the Jew, 
 *' but pray read the verses of this same psalm, in 
 which it is said, ' They have seen thy goings, O 
 God, even the goings of my God, my King, in the 
 sanctuary. The singers went before, the players on 
 instruments followed after : among them were the 
 damsels playing with timbrels. Bless ye God in the 
 congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of 
 Israel. There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the 
 princes of Judah and their counsel, the princes of 
 Zebulon and the princes of Naphtali. Thy God hath 
 commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that 
 which thou hast wrought for us. Because of thy 
 temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto 
 thee.'t " All this," the Jew says, " the prophet has 
 predicted, shall come after the ascension of God. 
 We yet look for our Messiah, who will bring us to our 
 land, and show himself in his temple to be built at 
 Jerusalem. What make you of all thisl" 
 
 To this the Christian replies, " You mistake : this 
 must all be understood spiritually of the presence of 
 Christ in his church, which is his temple— not lite- 
 rally but allegorically, or retrospectively, at least to 
 the days of Solomon." 
 
 • Psalm 68. 18. f Psalm 68. 24-29. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 75 
 
 " Then," rejoins the Jew, " was the ascension of 
 God all spiritual ; and 1 will not consent that you take 
 advantage of this one verse in the psalm to apply it 
 literally to Jesus of Nazareth, and understand all the 
 rest, which you cannot literally apply to him, as true 
 allegorically or spiritually. I claim," says the Jew, 
 " that it must be all interpreted on the same general 
 principles, either all spiritual or all literal. If you 
 say the predictions relating to the humiliation, and 
 sufferings, and death of the Messiah are literal, then 
 must those also be literal which relate to his glory 
 and the triumphant establishment of his kingdom on 
 the earth. If the predictions relating to his second 
 coming in his kingdom and glory must be spiritually 
 understood, then must those also be spiritual, which 
 relate to his first coming, in his humiliation, and suf- 
 ferings, and death. You may take your choice." 
 
 The same issue may be made by the Jew, with 
 equally unanswerable point, let the spiritualist quote 
 from any portions of the Scriptures whatever, which 
 speak of " the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that 
 should follow." 
 
 Who does not see how greatly the Jew has the 
 advantage of the Christian, who interprets prophecy 
 in this chameleon-like method 1 It is unjust and un- 
 generous, uncandid, undignified, and inconsistent with 
 all sound logic, honorable argument, fair dealing, and 
 common sense, to treat the Jew or any one else thus. 
 No wonder, therefore, that for centuries so little im- 
 pression has been made upon him. Certainly the alle- 
 gorizing interpretation of the Scriptures is not calcu- 
 lated to convince or to convert him. He may most 
 equitably demand that one or other system be adopt- 
 ed, and adhered to consistently. The spiritual inter- 
 pretation cannot universally apply to the system of 
 
76 
 
 THE SYSTEM | 
 
 p ophecy, for he that attempts it will be involved in 
 endless embarrassments and difficulties, and must of 
 necessity, by the licence it gives his imagination, ren- 
 der the Bible a vague, uncertain, and unsatisfactory 
 book, and prophecy a thing utterly contemptible, and 
 fit to be classed with the ambiguities and equivoques, 
 and unmeaning rhapsodies of the oracles of the hea- 
 then. The literal interpretation, however, is wholly 
 devoid of such embarrassment j and while it is the 
 only system which can present the argument fairly, 
 fully, and consistently, to convince the Jew that Jesus 
 of Nazareth was the Messiah predicted, cuts him off 
 from all objections urged from the predictions of his 
 coming in glory in his kingdom, and renders the Bible 
 a plain, intelligible, and consistent book. This leads 
 to a second remark in the exhibition of the argument. 
 
 2. That the adoption of the literal system of inter- 
 pretation by the cotemporaries of the prophets — ac- 
 cording to which the ancient Jews expected the literal 
 coming of the Messiah, and the literal accomplishment of 
 the events predicted, has been sanctioned and confirmed by 
 the providence of God, in the actual literal fulfilment of all 
 the prophecies relating to it, yea, and of the entire system 
 of prophecy, as far as it has been verified. 
 
 It is impossible here to give anything more than gene- 
 ral references, inasmuch as the argument would be much 
 too far extended were we to enter into minute details. 
 Every one, however, acquainted with his Bible, must 
 know, that the prophecies of Scripture are a vast 
 chain, beginning and ending with the course of this 
 present world : — one end of that chain lay in Paradise 
 lost, commencing in the prediction, that if man should 
 eat the forbidden fruit, he should die: nor shall we 
 reach the other end, — pursue it as we may, through the 
 histories of ages and nations, and midst its thousand 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. ' 77" 
 
 times ten thousand convolutions, — till it brings us- 
 back again to Paradise restored, — the glorious domi- 
 nion of Jesus Christ over all the earth, in more than 
 Eden-like blessedness. " This chain of prophecy," 
 says the Rev. D. Simpson,* " is so evident in the 
 Sacred Scriptures, that we are more embarrassed with 
 the selection and arrangement of that vast profusion 
 of them, than doubtful of their import and accomplish- 
 ment. To a superficial observer, they may seem to 
 be without order or connection j but, to a well-in- 
 formed mind, they are all disposed, in such a mode 
 and succession, as to form a regular system, all whose 
 parts harmonize in one amazing and consistent plan, 
 which runs parallel with the history of mankind,' 
 past, present and to come." But one and the same 
 principle of interpretation runs throughout the system, 
 whatever may be the character and style of its lan- 
 guage, and that is the literality or historical verity 
 
 OF THE events AND THINGS PREDICTED. 
 
 The predictions delivered immediately after the 
 fall, with regard to the seed of the woman's 
 bruising the serpent's head,f though uttered in 
 symbolical language, and perhaps partly at the^ 
 time illustrated by symbolical transactions,J as well 
 
 * Key to the Prophecies, p. 30. 
 
 t Genesis, 3. 15. 
 
 X It is not at all improbable that God, our first parents, and the 
 serpent in its pristine form, while yet possessed by Satan, and actu- 
 ated as his instrument, were all visibly present together. The 
 curse pronounced upon the serpent, (v. 11), was calculated and 
 doubtless designed, in the most cautious manner, to apprise our 
 first parents of the presence of a malignant spirit, without excit- 
 ing too much their fears. Dr. Hengstenburg has some excellent 
 remarks on this subject in his Christology, vol. i. 34, 36. There 
 was nothing in the nature of things, or in the obligations of God 
 as moral governor, to prevent a sudden, violent, visible, and mira- 
 
78 THE SYSTEM ^ 
 
 as those relating to the curse, upon the man, and 
 soil, and the female sex,* — all contemplated historical 
 verities ; — so too did the predictions of Lamechf con- 
 cerning his son Noah ; — of Noah concerning the del- 
 uge, J and his sons§ Shem, Ham and Japhet j — of the 
 angel of the covenant concerning Abraham j|| — of 
 Abraham concerning the afflictions and emancipations 
 of his posterity by Isaac ;1F and the condition of those 
 by Ishmael ;** — of Isaac concerning Jacob and Esauff 
 and the coming of Shiloh jjt of Jacob concerning his 
 twelve sons, the heads of as many tribes ;§§ of Joseph 
 concerning his own promotion ; the fate of the butler 
 and baker, the famine in Egypt, and the deliverance 
 of his nation j — of Moses concerning the plagues of 
 Egypt,|||| the overthrow of Pharaoh,irir and the extir- 
 pation of the Amorite and other Canaanitish nations '*** 
 the fortunes of the twelve tribes ;ff f — their renunci- 
 ation of the worship of Jehovah, and the establishment 
 of idolatry jJtJ — the appearance of a prophet like him- 
 self ;§§§ the sieges and disasters which should attend 
 their city ; the invasions and the cjiptivity of the tribes 
 
 ctQous change of the external form and appearance of the animal, 
 and of its instincts and habits. Our first parents, seeing a sudden 
 degradation of the serpent take place, would be apprised of some 
 intelligent agent concealed in it, against whom the blow was direct- 
 ed, of whose degradation and exemplary punishment the scenic 
 transformation of the animal before them from an upright form 
 and manly gait to the reptile crawling in the dust, would be a 
 pledge of the ultimate triumph over Satan by the seed of the 
 woman. 
 
 ♦ Gen. 3. 16-19. f Gen. 5.29. J Gen. 8. 21. 
 
 § Gen. 9. 25. || Gen. 16. 5. IT Gen. 15. 13-21. 
 
 •• Gen. 21. 13-18. ft Gen. 27. 27-29, and 39, 40. 
 
 tt Gen. 49. 1-28. §§ Gen. 37. 5-10 ; 40 and 41, and 50. 24. 
 
 Ill) Exod. 8. 9. 10. irir Genesis, 11. **• Deut. 31. 3-6. 
 
 tft Deut. 33. JJt Deut. 31. 16-18. §§§ Deut. 18. 15-18. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 7^ 
 
 by the Assyrians and Babylonians and Romans ; the 
 distresses of the Jews during their long dispersion 
 and their second captivity in Egypt ;* the calling 
 of the Gentiles ; the eventual and final return of the 
 Jews to their own land, and their glorious and happy 
 condition under the dominion of the Messiah. f 
 
 All these things, with the exception of the two last, 
 have been literally verified, according to the plain 
 grammatical import of the words of the prophecy. 
 Why, therefore, we ask, when nearly all Moses' pre- 
 dictions, with those of all before him, have been liter- 
 ally fulfilled, must we apply a different rule, and say, 
 the balance, yet unfulfilled, must be understood spirit- 
 ually 1 Being part of the same system, some divine 
 warrant must be produced for interpreting unfulfilled 
 prophecy on different princi4)les from that fulfilled. 
 To the predictions just referred to, we might add 
 those of Joshua against the re-building of Jericho ;J of 
 Balaam,§ of Deborah, || — the predictions concerning 
 GideonlF and Samson ;** those of Hannah,tt and Sam- 
 uel,JJ and the man of God§§ who foretold the destruc- 
 tion of Eli and his house ; of Nathan j|||| of David con- 
 cerning the sufferings of the Messiah, and the oppo- 
 sition he should meet with from the kings and gov- 
 ernors of this world, but of his eventual overthrow 
 and destruction of all his enemies, and establishment 
 of his kingdom on their ruins ]^^ — of the prophet of 
 
 * Deut. 28. 21-68. t Deut. 32. 
 
 t Josh. 6. 26, compared with 1 Kings, 16. 34. 
 
 § Num. 23 & 24. il Judges, 4. 9, 21. 
 
 IT Judges, 6. 11-16, and ch. 7. & 8. 
 
 ♦♦ Judges, 13-16. ft 1 Sam. 2. 10, and 7. 10. 
 
 tt 1 Sam. 10. also 18. 19, and 31. 6. 
 
 §§ 1 Sam. 2. 27-36 ; 4. 10-22 ; 22. 9-23 ; and 1 Kings, 2. 26, 27. 
 
 nil 2 Sam. 7. 15, 16; 12. 10-29, &c. 
 
 iriT Psalms, 22. 2. 69. 110. 
 
80 THE SYSTEM ] 
 
 Bethel concerning the name and conduct of Josiah ; of 
 Abijah concerning the advancement of Jeroboam and 
 his ruin '* of the old prophet of Bethel jf of Ahijah jj 
 of Micaiah, who announced the destruction of Ahab 
 and the defeat of his army ;§ of Shemaiah concern- 
 ing the affliction of Jerusalem by the hand of Shi- 
 shak j|l of Azariah concerning the success of Asa ;1F 
 of Hanani concerning the wars of Asa j** of Jehu 
 and Eleazar against Jehoshaphat jff and of Jahaziel 
 in his favor ; XX — the predictions of Elijah §§ and 
 Elishajjlll of Zechariah the priest against JoashjITIF of 
 Huldah concerning the death of Josiah, and the Baby- 
 lonish captivity ;*** — tKe predictions that after that 
 captivity, the Jews should have no king of their own 
 till the Messiah came jfft — of Isaiah, who predicted 
 the humiliation and downfall of all the rich and great 
 men among the Jews, and the subversion of idolatry 
 among his countrymen,tH the general distress and 
 ruin of his nation,§§§ the shame and confusion of 
 the fashionable and gay-dressed women of his coun- 
 try, |||||| the infatuation of his countrymen, till their 
 country should become desolate jIFIFIF of the invasion of 
 Egypt and Ethiopia by the Assyrians ;**** and of Ke- 
 dar in Arabia ;tttt of the deliverance of Jerusalem from 
 Sennacherib — the destruction of his army ;:{:m of the 
 destruction of the kingdom of Israel and capture of 
 
 * 1 Kings, 13. 1-3, compared with 2 Kings, 22. 23. 
 
 t 1 Kings, 13. 11-34. 
 
 t 1 Kings, 1 1. 12. ; 14. 1-20, and 15. 29, 30. 
 
 § 1 Kings, 22. || 2 Chron. 12. IT 2 Chron. 15. 
 
 ** 2 Chron. 16. 9. ft 2 Chron. 19. 2, and 20. 1, 2 & 37. 
 
 tt 2 Chron. 20. §§ 1 Kings, 17. 18. 19. 21. 22. 
 
 nil 2 Kings, 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 12. 13. ITIT 2 Chron. 24. 15-26. 
 
 *♦* ^ Kings, 22. 14-20 ; 23. 29, 25. ftt Ezek. 21. 27. 
 
 tn Is. 2. 10-17; 21. 18-21. §§§ Is. 3. 16-26. 
 
 Jill II Is. 3. 16-26. iririr Is. 6, 9-12. **»* Is. 20. 
 
 tftt Is. 21. 13-17. tin 2 Kings, 19, and Is. 10. & 29. 1-8. 
 
OP INTERPRETATION. 81 
 
 the ten tribes,* of the destruction of the Assyrian em- 
 pire,! and of Babylon and the Babylonian empire,t of 
 the birth, name, fame, and fortune of Cyrus, king of 
 Persia,§ of the preservation of the Jews as a distinct 
 people, — of the conception, birth, character, suffer- 
 ings, and circumstances of the life and death of the 
 Messiah, II — and, together with other historical inci- 
 dents, of the glorious triumph and reign of the Mes- 
 siah, when he should have executed the vengeance of 
 Heaven against his and their enemies, restored, in his 
 person, the throne and dynasty of David, and estab- 
 lished his kingdom over all the earth. Similar pre- 
 dictions might be referred to in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 
 Daniel, Joel, Amos, Micah, Haggai, Zechariah, Mala- 
 chi, and others of the prophets, who have predicted the 
 political fortunes of many, and the fate of all the na- 
 tions of the earth, and the final and glorious establish- 
 ment of the kingdom of the Messiah, combining, in 
 one blessed and happy confederacy of nations, Gen- 
 tiles and Jews, and all people under heaven, joyfully 
 and gratefully submissive to his sway. 
 
 These predictions are all parts of one vast system, 
 comprising alike the unfulfilled with those fulfilled. 
 So far as the system has been developed, and, without 
 possibility of denial, up to the resurrection and as- 
 cension of Jesus Christ, the predictions have been 
 LITERALLY FULFILLED. The grammatical construction 
 is proved, by the providence of God, to be the true 
 and proper guide to the meaning of the prophecy. 
 We ask, then, for the proof, that any other method or 
 system of interpretation is to be applied to the balance 
 which remain to be fulfilled. They are but part and 
 
 • Is. 7. 8. t Is. 17. 12-14, and 37. 36. 
 
 t Is. ch. 13. & 14. § Is. 44. 45. and 2 Chron. 36. 22, 23. 
 II Is. 7. 14, and 53. 
 8 
 
82 THE SYSTEM 
 
 parcel of the one system — the one great chain of 
 prophecy, contained in the Sacred Scriptures, many 
 links of which have been unfolded, and confirmed, by 
 the providence of God. To Him therefore do we 
 look, as to the only true and faithful interpreter of 
 prophecy. Having spoken to us, in familiar language, 
 by the mouths of our fellow-men — to whom He directs 
 his communications — we interpret His language, on 
 the same principles of grammatical construction, 
 which we apply to that of each other. And having, 
 Himself, by His providence, illustrated, and verified, 
 the principles of literal interpretation, by the most mi- 
 nute and accurate fuljilment of every particular iota pre- 
 dicted, we give up our reasonings and objections, sub- 
 mit our judgment entirely to Him, believing that, un- 
 less He has distinctly apprised us of a change made 
 in the principles of interpretation, we are bound, im- 
 plicitly and rigidly, to interpret the prophecies yet re- 
 maining unfulfilled, by the very same rules, and upon 
 
 THE VERY SAME PRINCIPLES, WHICH He HIMSELF HAS SANC- 
 TIONED AND ESTABLISHED, IN HiS PROVIDENCE, BY THE 
 
 VERIFICATION OF THOSE FULFILLED. This Icads to a third 
 remark. 
 
 3. That there is no intimation whatever, in the word 
 of God, nor has there been any given by the providence of 
 God, that any other principles of interpretation are to be 
 applied to that part of the system of prophecy remaining 
 unfulfilled, than what God has taught us are to be ap- 
 plied to that fulfilled. If there is, we claim that it be 
 pointed out. A divine warrant must be produced for 
 the change. We must have it distinctly and defi- 
 nitely made known. The key to the meaning must 
 either be given us directly by some new revelation 
 from Jesus Christ, or his apostles ; or the providence of 
 God must so clearly and fully indicate the meJining, 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 83 
 
 that no room shall be left us to doubt. Neither of 
 these things is the fact. 
 
 In all the conversations of Jesus Christ, and in all 
 the preaching and writings of the apostles, there is not 
 the most remote hint dropped, that any such change 
 has been made — that the spiritual or allegorical is to 
 be substituted for the literal or grammatical. On the 
 contrary, we find, that when they acted as prophets, 
 and added to the system their several predictions, they 
 adopted the very same style, often the very same terms, 
 and recognized in their auditors the right and pro- 
 priety of their applying the same principles of inter- 
 pretation to them, that they themselves did to the 
 former prophets. 
 
 The predictions of Christ, with regard to his suffer- 
 ings and death, his resurrection and ascension, are 
 precisely of this character.* They were literally, 
 yea, most punctiliously and minutely verified. So 
 also were his predictions in relation to the treatment 
 which his disciples should receive from the world. 
 Their trials and afflictions, and the persecutions they 
 should endure on his account, are graphically des- 
 cribed.f 
 
 Such too were his predictions relative to the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, and all that he uttered in 
 the 24th and 25th chapters of Matthew, in answer to 
 the questions of his disciples. As he spake of the 
 destruction of the temple, they put to him three very 
 distinct questions, "When shall these things be'? 
 What shall be the sign of thy coming V and what 
 the sign " of the end of the world V'J To each of 
 
 * Matt. 20. 18, 19. 
 t Matt. 10. 16-22. 
 
 J Matth. 24. 3, rrjs awTeXting tov aiwvoi. It is Universally admit- 
 ted, that the Greek word ai(.iv does not denote the astronomical 
 
u 
 
 THE SYSTEM 
 
 these questions he replies definitely and ^in order, 
 after having given some general cautions and advice 
 
 world — the planet or globe we inhabit — nor the physical constitu- 
 tion of things, but an age or dispensation. Its period or duration 
 must be determined by a reference to the subject spoken of. Used 
 absolutely, — £«s rov aicjva Tuv aiMvui- — it is comprehensive of all, 
 and, in this form, denotes eternity. Scapula gives seculnm, id est, 
 70 annorum spalium — vita, tempus vitce hominis, and cevum, as its 
 appropriate meaning in Hieron., Hom., Herodot., and Xen. 
 
 Mede says, Seculumfuiurum Hehrms est N3n o'^ij?. Uride, Mark 
 
 10. 30, Luke, 18. 30, muiv 6 tp^o/^ievoj. Ephes. 2. 7, tv roFs aidat Tols 
 
 «7r£(3;^o//£i/otf. Vide Psalm 71. 18, no'-'^o'?. Is. 27. 6, n>N3n, Ven- 
 turis svb diebus, id est, posthac Imposterum. — Mede's Works, fol. 
 907-8. 
 
 Cuninghame says, "The word world is given up by the majority 
 of English commentators, as an improper rendering ; and in the 
 Latin versions of Jerome, Erasmus, Beza, and Montanus, aio^vog is 
 not translated mundi, but, seculi." He quotes Waple on the 
 Revelations, p. 248; Dr. Hammond on Luke, 1. 70; Leigh, in his 
 Critica Sacra, as authority.* 
 
 The apostles' inquiry related to the end of the dispensation, when 
 another atwt, or dispensation, was to be introduced. And accord- 
 ingly in the writings of the fathers (see Suicerus), the word atwv 
 frequently stood for this last period, that is to say, for a thousand 
 years. From Tobit, 14. 5, it appears manifestly to signify the first 
 of these great periods; viz. that which is to continue till the com- 
 mencement of the Millenium; for it is there said of the Jews, that 
 when the times of the age are fulfilled (TrXfjpwfiwo-t Kaipoi rov atcovos, 
 are the words of the Septuagint), they shall return from all places 
 of their captivity. In Isaiah, 66. 18, the age to come signifies the 
 second of these long periods, viz., the Millenium. So Christ is 
 called (Is. 9. 6.) narrjo rov jieWovTos aio>pos. See Cuninghame on 
 the Apocalypse, 3d ed. pp. 295, 296. 
 
 In the question, as propounded by the apostles, they contemplated 
 the end of the one dispensation, which should give way to the 
 other and more glorious, to be introduced at the coming of Christ. 
 In Heb. 9. 26, £in awreXeia ruiv aiwvCfv, and in 1 Cor, 10. 11, refer- 
 ence is had to the Christian dispensation, as succeeding the Jew- 
 ish, and as the last of all the dispensations, preparatory to the 
 kingdom which is to be eternal. 
 
 *See Cuninghame on the Apocalypse, pp. 294, 296. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 85 
 
 to prevent their being imposed upon. The cautions 
 and advice, according to the plain grammatical inter- 
 pretation, grow out of the condition of things in the 
 world, which he foresaw would continue till the very 
 time of his coming, i. e. the end of the dispensation, 
 viz. there should be impostors, false Christs, wars and 
 rumors of wars, nations rising up against nations, 
 famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. These things 
 should be but the harbingers or the beginning of sor- 
 rows, leading to the persecution and martyrdom of 
 Christians, to offences and treachery in the church, 
 to false teaching, to apostasies, and aboundings of 
 corruption, while, nevertheless, the gospel would 
 work its way through the earth, and be preached as a 
 witness among all nations ; and then, but not till then, 
 should the end come. This general description of the 
 state of things during the evangelical dispensation up to 
 the time of the end, is given from the 4th to the 14th 
 verse of the 24th chapter of Matthew, inclusive. 
 
 From the 15th to the 28th verse, he answers the 
 first question, — referring to the predictions of Daniel 
 describing the time when Jerusalem should be laid 
 waste and the temple destroyed — not by chrono- 
 logical dates, but by indicating certain events 
 which should take place — and exhorting his fol- 
 lowers, whenever they should occur, to hasten 
 from the place. These things were so well under- 
 stood beforehand, according to their plain grammati- 
 cal import, that there was not a Christian that per- 
 ished in the overthrow of Jerusalem, all having 
 previously escaped out of it to Pella. At the same 
 time he told them distinctly, that they were not to • 
 look for his coming at that time, notwithstanding 
 many false Christs should arise, and it should be said, 
 Lo, he had come here, or, Lo, he was there. His 
 8* 
 
I 
 
 86 THE SYSTEM 
 
 coming would be like the lightning's flash, whenever 
 it should take place, and not be reported beforehand. 
 The tribulations that should commence in the world, 
 at the destruction of Jerusalem, should not terminate 
 until the time of his coming, but for the elect's sake 
 they would be shortened. There would be troubles 
 such as the world had never seen before, and never 
 would again, after they should have terminated with 
 his coming.* These things have been literally ful- 
 filled, and are now at this day still going on. 
 
 * Matth. 24. 21, 22. It is taken for granted by many commenta- 
 tors, that these unparalleled tribulations occurred during the siege, 
 and at the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus ; and therefore it is 
 inferred that the prediction of Dan. 12. 1-3, which apparently 
 dates that tribulation at the final destruction of Antichrist, Dan. 
 11. 44, 45, and at the resurrection, Dan. 12. 3, must either be spirit- 
 ually interpreted, or the one must be regarded as the type, and the 
 other the antetype, or must be explained in some other way than 
 according to the literal or grammatical interpretation, which, if 
 applied to both the predictions of Christ and Daniel, would make 
 them contradict each other. There is no necessity, however, for a 
 departure from the grammatical interpretation ; nor is there any 
 contradiction between Christ and Daniel. 
 
 From Luke, 21. 20-24, which is parallel to Matth. 24. 15-22, il 
 is obvious, that the tribulation of which Christ speaks, is not re- 
 stricted to the days of Titus, as though it had reached its crisis in 
 the siege and destruction of Jerusalem ; but extends through the 
 whole period of Gentile oppression and of Jewish depression, even 
 to the termination of what is called " the times of the Gentiles." 
 Christ, in Matthew, and Daniel, both make the tribulation to be 
 unprecedented ; but the former comprehends the whole period of 
 Jewish oppression and Gentile domination, from the siege and de- 
 struction of Jerusalem by Titus, till the fulfilling of " the times of 
 the GentUes,^* i.e. to their complete termination — comparing this last 
 with other periods of Jewish tribulation, which whole period he 
 calls in Luke, 21. 22, " these days of vengeance," during whose 
 continuance, " all things which are written are to be fulfilled." 
 The tribulations of the Jews, in other words, Christ says, should 
 be greater, during the whole period in which " Jerusalem shall be 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 87 
 
 Having answered the first question, he proceeds, 
 from the 29th to the 35th verse, to answer the second, 
 stating, in symbolical language, that after the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, both the political and ecclesiastical 
 world, designated by the symbols of the sun, moon, 
 and stars, should be in a state of confusion, even unto 
 shaking down and utter dissolution ; and that when 
 this shaking and utter dissolution of the ecclesiastical 
 and political governments of earth should occur, then, 
 and in them, would the world have the sign of his 
 coming — which would be, at the proper time, a visible 
 coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great 
 glory, for the gathering of his elect from one end of 
 heaven to the other. As certainly as the putting forth 
 of leaves by the fig tree, indicates the approach of 
 summer, so certainly should these things indicate his 
 coming. 
 
 The generation then present when he spoke, should 
 not have left the earth till all these things begin to 
 
 trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be 
 fulfilled," (Luke, 21. 24,) than ever they had been previously, or 
 shall be thereafter — strictly and properly designated as " the days 
 OF VENGEANCE," cxpressly arranged and marked out by God, for 
 the purpose of executing his predicted wrath — fulfilling all the pre- 
 dictions — ^iiepai eKSiKfjo-ews avrai eiai, rov ^XripcjQijvai -ravra ra yeypafi- 
 niva. Daniel, in ch. 12. 1, 2, speaks of the close of this same 
 extended period, when the times of the Gentiles shall be nearly 
 fulfilled, and when the Jewish tribulation, which commenced under 
 Titus, and has been ever since prolonged, is about reaching its 
 climax. " The time of Jacob's trouble," (Jer. 30. 7,) out of which 
 he shall be saved, will prove the time for the overthrow of the 
 Gentile nations, when Jerusalem shall prove a cup of trembling, 
 and a burdensome stone to all that come against it, (Zech. 12. 1, 2,) 
 and the fearful, terrible, and unprecedented crisis when the sym- 
 bolical " earthquake such as was not since men were upon the 
 earth, so mighty and so great," (Rev. 16. 18,) shall occur. 
 
88 THE SYSTEM 
 
 be,* which is the meaning of the word " fulfilled," in 
 verse 34. What he had said was more certainly to 
 take place, than the continuance of Jaeaven and earth. 
 
 * Matth. 34. 34, ews av rravra ravra yivrtrai. Mr. Cuninghame re- 
 marks that the most proper and original signification of the verb 
 yivonai is not to he completely fulfilled, as it is rendered in our 
 English version of this passage ; but rather, " commencement, run- 
 ning into subsequent continuance, of action." This generation 
 shall not pass away, till all these things be fulfilling : — the aorist 
 subjunctive. He quotes Luke, 21. 24, to show that yej/wrrat cannot 
 be understood as synonymous with nXripojetoai, and Rev. 15. 8, that 
 it cannot mean Te^eadumr. In confirmation of this meaning, he says, 
 "It may be observed that the phrase h hi ycveaOai ev rax^h ii^ I^ev. 1. 
 1, is explained on the same principle by Vitringa, Doddridge, Dr. 
 Cressner, Woodhouse, the Jesuit Ribera, and others. So in Matth. 
 8, 24, HtKTfxoi neyai zyzvtTo, does not signify that the storm was over, 
 but was begun. In Matth. 8. 16, we have the words, oxhias 6£ yt- 
 vojxevrig, the evening being come ; in Mark, 6. 2, yevoiievov aajSParov, 
 the Sabbath being come ; John, 8. 58, npiv Af3paajx ycvecOai, before 
 Abraham itas born ; John, 13. 2, ienruov ytvojuvov, according to our 
 version is rendered, supper being ended ; but according to Whitby, 
 Doddridge, Macknight, Schleusner, &c., supper being come. — See 
 Cuninghame on the Apocalypse, pp. 318-323, where the merits 
 of the criticism are fully discussed. I only add, that Scapula gives 
 the meaning of the word yivoixui, nascor, orior. 
 
 Nothing more can be fairly inferred from the Saviour's use of the 
 word yEVT)Tai, if the word ycvea be used in the common sense, to de- 
 note the period during which men simultaneously dwell together on 
 the earth, a period of thirty years, than that, during the age of the 
 inhabitants of the world, then living in his day, there would be the 
 commencement, the rise, the opening, of the series ; the birth of 
 that course of events, he was then predicting. The scenes he 
 predicted, in other words, would soon begin. With this view we 
 are satisfied, as being conformable alike with the import of the 
 Saviour's language, and the comment of His providence. 
 
 But if any prefer the criticism which determines the meaning of 
 ytvta difterently from the current acceptation of the word generation, 
 we do not object. In either case, the tgxt cannot be understood to 
 mean that all should be accomplished during the lifetime of the men 
 who were cotemporary with Christ ; and we are relieved from the 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 89 
 
 In the 36th verse he replies to the third and last 
 question, stating- that, as to the precise day and hour 
 when the end should come, it was not to be made 
 
 labored efforts of those who make the destruction of Jerusalem to 
 be the main event referred to, and typical of that of the world, at 
 the day of Judgment, and who quote this passage in proof of what 
 they call a double sense of prophecy, and of the fallacious rule 
 of interpretation founded on it. 
 
 It is certain that the word ysvea very often, both in sacred and 
 profane writers, means a race, a family, a tribe, a nation, a class of 
 persons united by sameness of character, disposition, or other ties, 
 a people of common origin. Scapula assigns genus, progenies, as 
 its proper meaning, and quotes Philo de Vita Mosis, as authority 
 
 — KaToXzinei [tsv TzarpiSa Kui yeveav kul rraTpcoov oIkoi/. A Writer in the 
 
 Investigator, vol. i. pp. 53-56, has quoted, in proof of this meaning, 
 from Homer, Iliad Y. 303, 304,— 
 
 Oippa nev airiTEpnos yevst] kui aipapToS oXr/Tai 
 AapSavuiv' 
 
 « That the race (or posterity) of Dardanus become not extinct." 
 Iliad f. 191,— 
 
 Jipeiaacov 6' avre Aioj yEveri iroTanoio rervKTUtf 
 
 **The race (or descendant) of Jove is superior to a river." 
 And from Hesiod, E. Kai H. 281,— 
 
 TovJe t' a[xavpnr£pri yEven fxEroiriade XEXetrrrai. 
 
 "The race (or progeny) of the perjurer is left to more obscurity." 
 
 And Josephus, A. J. 1, 10, — 'O Qsoi kui traiSa uvtm yEvriasaOai. e^ay- 
 
 ysWei KUI TToXXriv £| ekeivov ytvEva, — ^' a numeroils race." — And Sep- 
 tuagint, Josh. 22. 27, — Twv yEvEwv rjixdv ficff fijxas. — '* Our genera- 
 tions after us." 
 
 The following passages are given in proof of the absolute import 
 of the word, as synonymous with a tribe, or people, or nation, with- 
 out reference to the ancestor : 
 
 Sophocles, Ajax, 190 — Taj atrcorov JliavtptSav yEvsas. Euripides, 
 Hecuba, 470— Ttrai/w^ ysveav — « The race of the Titans." ^schy- 
 lus, Agamemnon, 1538— 
 
 6 6e \oivov iopt' 
 EK Tu)v6e Sopwv a\\r]v yEVEav 
 Tpiffsiv Oavarois avOerraifftr. 
 
 " To afflict another race (or family) ; opposed to that of the Plit- 
 thenidae." 
 
90 THE SYSTEM 1 ^ 
 
 known, but it should come upon the world just as the 
 flood did in the days of Noah. It behoved them, 
 
 Pindar, Nem., VI. 54 — naXaKpaTos yeveaj^an anciently celebrated 
 family."— Homer, Iliad E. 265,— 
 
 Tris yap rot yEvsrig ^s Tpai rep Evpvoira Zcvs 
 ^wj^' vtos noivriv Faj/u/iJ/^ecJf. 
 
 " Of that breed (or race) of horses." 
 
 The following, among other passages from the Septuagint, may 
 be added to the above :— Psalm, 14. 5 ; 24. 6 ; 73. 15. Gen. 31.J3. 
 Lev. 25. 41. The word is used in the New Testament in the sense 
 of race, tribe, people, nation. See Phil. 2. 15, where our transla- 
 tors render it nation. The above is sufficient to justify the re- 
 marks of the learned Mede, who in Epist. 12, p. 752 of his works, 
 says, " I prefer, as I said," speaking of Ithe import of the word in 
 this passage, " gens JudcBOrum ; for what reasons nihil nunc attinet 
 dicere. No man can deny but this is one of the native notions of 
 yeveof yea, and so taken in the gospels : as in the foregoing chapter, 
 Matth. 23. 36, Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come stti 
 -riv yevsav ravTrjv — upon this Tuztion. So Beza renders it twice in 
 the parallel place, Luke, 10. 50,51, and seven times in this gospel. 
 Again, Luke, 17. 25, The Son of Man must be first rejected ano rm 
 yeveas ravrm — Beza, a gente ista. The LXX. renders by this word 
 QVj populus, nnsttro, familia, r^•\^^n, progenies, patria. See Gen. 
 25. 13, and 43. 7 ; Numbers, 10. 30, &c. I suppose here is enough 
 for the signification of the word." * 
 
 We are not concerned to decide which one, or whether both of 
 these critical expositions should be adopted. The idea evidently 
 is, that the things which Christ predicted, should now begin to de- 
 velope themselves. The Jewish people, or race, should not perish 
 till all should be fulfilled : according to Mede, or according to Cu- 
 ninghame, the men of that day should not all have died, till the 
 scenes Christ predicted should begin ; or blending both, — the Jew- 
 ish race should not become extinct during the whole course of the 
 days of vengeance, in which all the things he predicted were to be 
 fulfilled. See Stonerd's Dissert, on the Disc, of Christ, pp. 188-193. 
 
 Much more might be added here. Suflicient has been said to res- 
 cue this passage from the use which has been made of it, for con- 
 firming the double sense of prophecy, and introducing that confu- 
 sion, which the spiritual interpreter and the rules of exegesis founded 
 on the assumed double sense of prophecy, have always led to, in 
 the interpretation of these predictions of Jesus Christ. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION 
 
 therefore, to watch, for, ere they were awate, they y^ 
 
 should be involved in the terrible scenes connected "<J^ . ' 
 with his coming to judgment, which he describes i»,^ ^ ;>> 
 the remainder of the 24'th and through the 25th ch^J^? " J^^ 
 ters of Matthew. We shall have occasion, hereafter^"- _^-- 
 to refer to these chapters for another purpose. We 
 have given this brief exposition at present, merely to 
 confirm the truth of our position, that the predictions 
 of Christ recognize no new principles of interpreta- 
 tion, but are as literally to be verified as those of the 
 ancient prophets, and to be understood according to 
 the grammatical construction and import of the lan- 
 guage employed in delivering them. 
 
 Equally true is it of the predictions of Paul, of 
 Peter, and of Jude. They plainly refer to events in 
 the church and world, to be literally, historically veri- 
 fied, i. e. matters of direct, public, visible observation, 
 not allegorical resemblances, and are easiest and best 
 understood according to the grammatical interpreta- 
 tion. As for those of John, in the book of Revela- 
 tions, they are indeed delivered mainly in symbolical 
 language, but the symbols are not all new. They are 
 chiefly taken from Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah, 
 and are an exposition of many things contained in 
 them, and therefore must be subjected to the same 
 principles of interpretation applicable to them — which 
 is not the allegorical but grammatical interpretation — 
 according to the established import of the symbols, 
 and to designate things, as really and historically 
 TRUE, i. e. events to occur, as if they had been 
 described in alphabetical terms.* 
 
 Besides, they are interspersed with alphabetical 
 interpretations, which serve as the clue to the mean- 
 
 ♦SeeRev. 1. 20; 4.5; 5.8; 7. 13-16; 11.3, 4, 8; 17. 13,14. 
 15, 18; 19.8,10; 20.2,4,5. 
 
9ft THE SYSTEM J 
 
 ing of some of the more complicated symbols. Sym- 
 bolical language has indeed been called figurative, and 
 made a pretext for the spiritual interpretation, founded 
 on a hidden sense. But we shall have occasion, else- 
 where, to show that symbolical language is even 
 more definite and immutable, as to its import, than 
 alphabetical — that it does not possess the character 
 of what rhetoricians call allegory — and that it is used, 
 as truly and designedly as the alphabetical, to desig- 
 nate events and scenes that are to occur in the church 
 and world, as literally matters of public observation, 
 events of history. 
 
 The common and most plausible attempt made to 
 prove the allegorical or spiritual interpretation to be 
 correctly applicable to unfulfilled prophecy, is the 
 following. — The phrase, the kingdom of God, or the 
 kingdom of heaven, or, the kingdom of the heavens, it is 
 said, evidently, very often in the New Testament, de- 
 notes the church of God as a spiritual society, and, 
 therefore, the language of prophecy relating to it, must, 
 of course, possess an allegorical or spiritual meaning. 
 In like manner, it is said, that the coming of Christ is 
 a phrase employed in the New Testament, not in its 
 literal sense, but analogically, to denote some special 
 movement, or interposition of his providence, and, 
 therefore must be analogically and spiritually under- 
 stood. 
 
 In reply to this, we remark, that the thing thus 
 assumed must be proved- The phrase, the kingdom 
 of heaven, we affirm, is not of mutable import, ac- 
 cording to men's fancies — now denoting the church 
 of God on earth, as it is visibly organized, and then, 
 its invisible members, the elect of God — then, again, 
 the intermediate state after death — then, the Mille- 
 nium — and then, eternal glory. It properly, according 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 93 
 
 to fair grammatical construction, denotes the glorious 
 dominion of Jesus Christ, to be established on earth 
 at his coming, not a kingdom in the heavens, some- 
 times illustrated, it is true, and frequently spoken of, 
 as in its embryo condition, in its forming, preparatory, 
 or inchoate state, comprising the saints on earth with 
 the saints in heaven — destined to a future state of tri- 
 umph and joint dominion with Jesus Christ, but never 
 as an organized spiritual society, either in union with, 
 or opposition to, or in contradistinction from, the 
 kingdoms of this world. 
 
 And as to His coming,* we utterly deny, that the 
 phrases which are employed by Christ himself, and 
 the New Testament writers, to designate His interpo- 
 sition for the introduction and establishment of His 
 kingdom, either do, or can, upon any fair principles 
 of grammatical construction, mean anything but His 
 VISIBLE PERSONAL APPEARING — His sccoud coming, or 
 glorious return to earth. The assumptions, therefore, 
 on which this whole system of spiritual interpretation 
 is based, we pronounce to be altogether fallacious and 
 untenable. They never have been proved. 
 
 In a proper place, we shall show, that the idea of 
 the church being the kingdom of God, was nOt .cur- 
 rent in the world for several centuries after the Chris- 
 tian era ; yea, was not excogitated till after the intro- 
 duction of the Platonic philosophy, from the schools 
 of Alexandria, by Origen, and the rise of the spiritual 
 interpreters. After the conversion of the Emperor 
 Constantine to Christianity, and the establishment of 
 the church and of the Christian religion by the laws 
 of the Roman empire, the idea of an allegorical king- 
 dom was conceived and adopted, and became, through 
 
 * See Chap, XL 
 
94« THE system' 
 
 the corruptions of the times, the grand means, the lad- 
 der, as it has been called,* by which the Bishop of 
 Rome ascended to his lofty seat, where, claiming the 
 kingdoms of this world, as the vicegerent of Jesus 
 Christ, " he 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, showing himself 
 that he is God."t 
 
 There is, indeed, an analogical use of language, 
 which, founded on an assumed relation between moral, 
 spiritual, and intellectual things, and physical, sensi- 
 ble, and material forms, determines the meaning and 
 use of terms originally taken from the latter, as suit- 
 able representatives or expressions of our thoughts in 
 relation to the former. It cannot, however, be claimed 
 as a basis for Scriptural exegesis any more than for 
 any other description of exposition. It, however, has 
 been carried by a writer on the plenary inspiration of 
 the Scriptures, to the most extravagant results, and 
 claimed as ample warrant for the double sense, alle- 
 gorical or spiritual interpretation of the Scriptures. 
 But the author's whole system is founded on the fol- 
 lowing vague, mystic, Aristotelian assumption, " that 
 all things in nature, being outward productions from 
 inward essences, are natural, sensible, and material 
 types, of moral, intellectual, and spiritual antitypes, 
 and finally of their prototypes in God. "J This is 
 avowedly making a physico-theological, or metaphysi- 
 cal speculation about the origin of creation, the phi- 
 losophical key for the interpretation of the Scriptures, 
 and needs but to be stated for its refutation. It dif- 
 
 ♦ The Glad Tidings, by H. D. Ward, p. 65, 82. f 2 Thess. 2. 4. 
 X S. Noble's Lectures on the plenary inspiration of the Scrip- 
 tures, pp. 156, 157. 
 
OF INTERPRETATION. 95 
 
 fers in its characteristic details, but is essentially of 
 like character with the system of interpretation intro- 
 duced by Origen, and which, in the progress of our 
 discussions, we shall have occasion to notice. 
 
 Whether, therefore, we contemplate the manner in 
 which the cotemporaries of the prophets interpreted 
 their predictions, — the manner in which the providence 
 of God has interpreted, by their actual accomplish- 
 ment, those which have been fulfilled — and the man- 
 ner in which Christ and his apostles delivered theirs — 
 using the very same phrases and language with the 
 former prophets, and never giving the least intima- 
 tion of any change to be made in the principles of 
 interpretation — there is but one conclusion to which 
 we can come, viz. — that the entire system of pro- 
 phecy, UNFOLDED IN THE SaCRED ScRIPTURES, RECOGNIZES 
 AND ESTABLISHES, THE LITERAL OR GRAMMATICAL INTER- 
 PRETATION, AS THE ONLY APPROPRIATE METHOD. 
 
 Here we might rest, but we advance a step further. 
 We claim for this system of interpretation the expli- 
 cit direction and sanction of God himself. 
 
 4. The spirit of inspiration long since authorized 
 us to expect, and has pledged the literal fulfillment of 
 prophecy, and God himself authoritatively and formally 
 ordained that to this test must every prophet subject 
 his predictions. The prophet exhorts us to study the 
 predictions, and to compare them carefully with their 
 accomplishment.* 
 
 " Seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read : 
 No one of these shall fail; 
 None shall want her mate : 
 For my mouth it hath commanded, 
 And his Spirit it hath gathered them." 
 
 ♦ Isaiah, 34. 16. 
 
9ft THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 It is admitted by commentators* that while the lan- 
 guage here is taken from the pairing of animals, it is 
 designed to teach, that, as each has its mate, so shall 
 it be with the prediction and its accomplishment. 
 They shall be as certainly paired ; none shall want its 
 fulfillment. 
 
 But over and above this, it was formally enacted by 
 Jehovah, as a fundamental law in His government of His 
 people, that this should be the rule or test, which, down 
 to the time of the end, they should apply to the sayings 
 of any prophet, who might arise among them. Moses 
 commanded in the name of the Lord, in all cases of 
 doubt about the genuineness and divine authority of 
 a prediction, that if events did not verify the word of 
 the prophet literally interpreted as men are wont to 
 do the language of each other, they were to be set 
 aside. " The prophet which shall presume to speak a 
 word in my name, which I have not commanded him 
 to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, 
 even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine 
 heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord 
 hath not spoken 1 When a prophet speaketh in the 
 name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to 
 pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, 
 but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously."! 
 The common sense of mankind requires the applica- 
 tion of the salne test or rule to every one still who 
 pretends to be a prophet j and it is equally important 
 for the cause of truth and the honor of God's word, 
 that in the study and interpretation of the divine pre- 
 dictions, it should be as rigidly observed. 
 
 * See Barnes on Isaiah, ad loc. f Deuter. 18. 20-22. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. THE NATURE OF FIGU- 
 RATIVE LANGUAGE. 
 
 The general nature of the system of interpretation, 
 applicable to the prophetical writings, has been affirm- 
 ed to be THE LITERAL, in contradistinction from the 
 SPIRITUAL. Various arguments have been adduced to 
 prove the affirmation. In presenting those arguments, 
 it has not been deemed necessary to give anything 
 more than a very general definition or description of 
 the two systems. It is possible, however, that mis- 
 takes and misapprehensions may exist, in relation to 
 the distinctive features of the system of literal inter- 
 pretation, and that further information and illustration 
 may be desired by those who would pursue, for their 
 own benefit, the study of the prophecies. It is im- 
 portant, therefore, to correct such mistakes, and to 
 meet such wishes. It is possible that some may claim 
 the authority of the apostle, for spiritualizing or ex- 
 plaining by way of allegory, important moral and re- 
 ligious truths.* He did unquestionably employ alle- 
 gory for the illustration and enforcement of the im- 
 portant truth, that no one minister in the Christian 
 church should be vaingloriously exalted and honored 
 for his work, above another. He selected the case of 
 Apollos and himself, who were the favorites of par- 
 ticular portions or parties in the church of Corinth, 
 and by means of an allegory, suggested by the process 
 of building a temple, undertook to show that all who 
 
 • 1 Cor. 4. 6. 
 
^8 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 contributed, of whatever material, to the growth of 
 the edifice, were co-workers ; and that, so far from 
 men's sitting in judgment, and condemning or honor- 
 ing one laborer more than another, God was the only 
 proper judge, who, as umpire does the building, would 
 try the relative and absolute value of the materials and 
 labor contributed by each. " These things," says he, 
 " I have transferred to myself and Apollos, in a figure." 
 He made Apollos and himself examples, and schemed 
 from them an illustration, on rhetorical principles, 
 suited to the taste and genius of the Greeks, who were 
 fond of eloquence, for the purpose of reproving the 
 spirit of rivalry and faction among them. This is all 
 he means, * and it is a great mistake to plead this as 
 a sanction for the general and indiscriminate spiritual- 
 izing of the Scriptures. 
 
 The literal interpretation has been defined to be 
 what Ernesti has called the grammatical, and cannot 
 better be exhibited in a few words, than in those 
 which Dr. John Pye Smith states to be " the common 
 rule of all rational interpretation ; viz., the sense afford- 
 ed by a cautious and critical examination of the terms 
 of the passage, and an impartial construction of the 
 whole sentence, according to the known usage of the 
 language and the writer." f 
 
 From this general view of its nature, it is obvious 
 that there must be a careful attention to the different 
 styles of speech, or modes of writing, adopted by the 
 prophetical writers. By the different styles of speech 
 we do not mean the varieties and peculiarities ob- 
 servable between different writers— the things which 
 distinguish the composition of one from another ; but 
 those modes of speech which the same speaker or 
 
 * See Bloomfield's Greek Test, ad loc. 
 
 t Smith's Script. Test, to the Messiah, vol. i. p. 214. 
 
TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 99 
 
 writer is apt to adopt under different circumstances and 
 states of feeling, and which are easily and generally 
 interpreted by the rules of rhetoric, founded on the 
 well-established and essential laws of human thought. 
 In unfolding the features, therefore, of literal inter- 
 pretation, we remark — 
 
 I. That it does not reject the tropes of speech and 
 rhetorical embellishments of style, but interprets 
 the meaning of the prophet always by the same 
 rules of exegesis that would be applied to the 
 same kinds of composition. 
 
 In doing so, however, it does not admit any precon- 
 ceived notion of the nature of things, according to any 
 metaphysical, philosophical, or theological views, to be 
 the guide and interpreter as to what the language of 
 the prophet means. In this respect, it differs radically 
 from the course adopted and sanctioned by the spiritual 
 interpretation. Thus, for example, when the prophets 
 speak of the coming and kingdom of Jesus Christ, 
 whatever style of speech they may see fit to employ, 
 the literal interpretation inquires first what is the true 
 and proper meaning of the prophet's words — that which 
 he himself attached to them, and designed to convey. 
 In order to determine this, resort is had, not to any 
 theory of prophecy, or preconceived opinions, but to 
 the ordinary rules of rhetoric, applicable to the par- 
 ticular style of speech employed by the prophets. 
 That is, he first inquires whether, in the predictions 
 examined, the prophet's language contains any of the 
 tropes of speech, or whether it is a plain historical 
 statement, free from any rhetorical embellishments of 
 diction. Having done so, he takes the appropriate 
 meaning of the words, determined by the character of 
 style, as the ideas designed by the prophet to be com- 
 municated. Whether that coming and kingdom, 
 
100 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 therefore, are events literally and historically to occur, 
 or are to be understood figuratively, the literalist deter- 
 mines by his previous examination of the language of 
 the prediction, whether tropical or not. The spiritual 
 interpreter, however, pursues a different course. Hav- 
 ing conceived beforehand, whether from education or 
 the authority of commentators, that the coming and 
 kingdom of Christ are and must be wholly spiritual, — 
 that is, invisible interpositions of his divine power and 
 influence, to affect and control the minds and hearts of 
 men, — he takes it for granted, that the words are, and 
 can only be, strong rhetorical figures of speech, em- 
 ployed to express merely some general resemblance. 
 The thing, he says, is spoken of as though it were 
 really the fact that Christ should visibly appear and 
 set up a kingdom on earth, to be visibly administered 
 by him ; but is not so to be understood, the language 
 being merely figurative — strong metaphors to express 
 the resemblance or analogy between Christ's invisible 
 influence, and the visible means of influence by which 
 the kings of this world assert and maintain their power 
 — a mere rhetorical accommodation of language. 
 
 Because, confessedly, a portion of prophetical 
 language is delivered with metaphorical and other 
 tropical embellishments of diction, the spiritual inter- 
 preter thinks that he triumphantly answers the literal 
 interpreter, by arrogantly refusing to concede to him 
 any right at all to apply the rules of rhetoric, and re- 
 quiring him, in all cases, to interpret the words liter- 
 ally, that is, in his sense of the word, totally devoid of 
 figure. Attempting thus to force the literal inter- 
 preter into the assertion of things monstrous and ab- 
 surd, he flatters himself, or with great self-compla- 
 cency concludes, that he has triumphantly answered 
 and exposed his folly. How often have we heard such 
 
TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 101 
 
 attempts at wit and ribaldry — such satirical flings as 
 these ! Shall the sun be literally turned into darkness, 
 and the moon into blood 1 Shall such wonders occur 
 in Heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, as 
 literal blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke 1 Do we 
 not read of the stars falling from Heaven, of a beast 
 with seven heads and ten horns, of a little horn behind 
 the ten, having a mouth speaking blasphemy ; and of 
 a certain lady that had her seat upon seven moun- 
 tains 1 Must not all these, and such like monstrous and 
 incredible things, the spiritualist asks, be spiritually 
 understood % Who can be so weak and foolish as to 
 understand them literally 1 Such things being evi- 
 dently figurative, he concluded that the spiritual 
 interpretation is and must be the only true system, 
 and consequently that dl who advocate the literal 
 only betray their own weakness. 
 
 Such sophistry almost destroys the uespect we wisb 
 to entertain for the men that employ it. Because we 
 advocate the literal verity of the events or things pre- 
 dicted, interpreting the language of prophecy accord 
 ing to the grammatical or rhetorical rules applicable 
 to its particular character, it does not therefore fol- 
 low, that every metaphor and symbol, or trope of 
 speech, must be stripped of all its ornament, and we 
 be charged with absurdly maintaining, either directly 
 or by fair implication, that when a man is called a lion, 
 he is a lion indeed, or when a woman is said to have 
 appeared in heaven clothed with the sun, having the 
 moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 
 twelve stars, there ever, literally or in reality, was 
 such a thing. It is disingenuous, yea, worse than 
 puerile, to endeavor to excite odium against, or to 
 pour ridicule upon, the literal interpretation of such 
 sophistry. For we remark — 
 
10^ THE SYSTEM OF INTERPKETATION. 
 
 II. The LITERAL INTERPRETATION CAREFULLY SEARCHES 
 FOR THE GREAT AND LEADING THEME OF PROPHECY, 
 WHICH GIVES SHAPE, CHARACTER, AND IMPORT, TO THE 
 ENTIRE SYSTEM, AND APPLYING TO THEM THE RULES 
 OF PHILOSOPHICAL AND BIBLICAL EXEGESIS, THE PRIN- 
 CIPLES OF GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION AND INTERPRE- 
 TATION, DETERMINES WHETHER THEY ARE TO BE IN- 
 TERPRETED LITERALLY OR ALLEGORICALLY. 
 
 Admitting the existence of tropes, or figures of 
 speech, in the different predictions, the literal inter- 
 preter, however, assumes no general notion or precon- 
 ceived opinion about the nature of the thing, for the 
 interpretation, in any case, of the language of a pro- 
 phecy, until its import has been established by the 
 ordinary rules of exegesis. 
 
 It is true, that some ignorant sectaries and wild 
 fanatics, such as the Mormons, and a certain class of 
 perfectionists, who adopt the views of a Mr. Beman, 
 on the subject of the kingdom of Heaven, and others 
 of kindred ignorance and error, insist upon every ex- 
 pression being taken literally, without any reference 
 whatever to any tropes of speech, so that when God 
 is called a rock and Christ a lamb, and Christians sheep, 
 they are not to be understood as metaphorically, but 
 really such — a pretence so utterly absurd and inso- 
 lently ignorant, as to merit nothing but pity for the 
 weakness, or contempt for the nonsense of those that 
 make it. The literal interpretation, for which we 
 contend, knows no alliance with such absurdity ; and 
 they who object to it, as identical with such nonsense, 
 only display their own ignorance or malice. 
 
 To this, perhaps, it will be objected ; where then is 
 the difference between the literal and spiritual inter- 
 pretation! If the literalist admits the existence of 
 
TROPICAL LANGUAGE. " 103 
 
 figurative expressions in prophecy, and the spiritualist 
 admits the literal character of many predictions, 
 wherein do they differ 1 Do they not after all substan- 
 tially come to the same thing 1 To this we reply, that 
 they differ as greatly in their mode of interpreting as in 
 their results. The spiritualist, for example, assumes that 
 THE COMING AND KINGDOM OF GHRisT are things which are 
 not and cannot be literally meant and understood, but 
 wholly figurative representations of something spi- 
 ritual. By means of this assumption, every expression 
 inconsistent with his spiritual idea of the nature of 
 Christ's coming and kingdom, also becomes figurative, 
 and his whole interpretation of the prophecies and 
 exposition of the Scriptures, assumes a correspondent 
 spiritual hue or character. His assumed or precon- 
 ceived notion of the nature of the things, is the colored 
 glass or lens through which he reads the Sacred 
 Scriptures. The literalist denies all such assumptions, 
 and calls for proof, subjecting the language of the 
 prophets, on these points, to the most careful investi- 
 gation by means of philological and rhetorical tests 
 and rules. The spiritualist, however, does not in the 
 first instance, by the application of philological and 
 rhetorical tests and rules, determine whether these 
 terms, the coming and kingdom of christ, are, or are 
 not, literally to be understood j nor does he undertake 
 to prove either from Scripture or from any other 
 source, that his assumed notion or opinion of the 
 nature of the things is correct. That must not be 
 disputed. Here, then, is one essential difference 
 between them. 
 
 These expressions obviously are the key-note to the 
 entire system of prophecy. If they are literal, at once 
 they give the pitch, or help us to fix the meaning of 
 many predictions, and to judge when other expressions 
 
104 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION, 
 
 used by the prophets, are metaphorical or literal. If 
 they are spiritual, in the same way they give tone to 
 the entire language of prophecy, and shape its meaning 
 accordingly. It is not our design at present philo- 
 logically or grammatically, to settle the meaning of 
 these terms. That must be done in another place. 
 Our object here is merely to unfold the principles by 
 which the literalist proceeds in his investigation of 
 the language of the prophets. 
 
 Here, perhaps, it will be objected, how is it possible 
 to settle this difference between the two systems, and 
 to determine whether these expressions are figurative, 
 or whether they are not. We reply, as we have 
 already stated, that recourse must be had to the 
 ordinary and well-established rules of rhetoric. How, 
 we ask, do you tell when another uses metaphors and 
 figures of speech, or when he speaks according to the 
 plain alphabetical import of his language 1 Although 
 the reader may be just as ignorant as a little child of 
 the rules of rhetoric, yet he finds no difficulty, nor 
 does the child. According to the established laws of 
 human thought, on which those rules are founded, the 
 meaning is at once perceived. The import of the 
 metaphor at once appears when you call a man a lion 
 to denote his strength and magnanimity, or a puppy to 
 denote his meanness, impertinence, and insignificance'^ 
 or when you compliment a lady by telling her she has 
 a rosy face and a snowy skin. 
 
 We are not concerned to quote the rules of rhetoric 
 applicable to tropical words ; but it may be proper to 
 remark, that the evidence of our senses and that of 
 intuition and of consciousness, which we all have in 
 common, enables us, whether children or adults, at 
 once, as the case may be, to perceive whether the 
 thing asserted be literally or figuratively spoken. If 
 
TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 105 
 
 literally taken, as when we call a man a lion or an ass, 
 we see it would contradict the evidence of our senses 
 or involve an absurdity. At once, therefore, we 
 apprehend the speaker's design' to denote some re- 
 semblance of properties, and not identity of substance. 
 No one ever dreams of interpreting language literally, 
 when it is directly contradictory of the evidence of his 
 senses at the time, or his consciousness, or any 
 intuitive truth. 
 
 There is nothing in the idea of Christ's visible 
 coming, and of the establishment of a kingdom on the 
 earth, with a visible administration adapted to its 
 elevated nature and designs, at all contradictory of 
 any evidence of sense or of consciousness, or incon- 
 sistent with any intuitive truth. Yet is it manifest, 
 that if the literal idea be esteemed absurd, and the 
 notion of his coming and kingdom as mere spiritual 
 matters be adopted, there is much in the language of 
 the prophets that must be accounted figurative, which 
 would otherwise be plain enough literally understood. 
 To the allegorical or figurative import of these words 
 the literalist objects, affirming that the only correct 
 philological and biblical interpretation requires them 
 to be understood literally, and consequently, that the 
 general import of the prophecies must be determined 
 accordingly. 
 
 III. The literal interpretation requires a careful 
 
 ATTENTION TO THE DIFFERENT STYLES OF PROPHETICAL 
 LANGUAGE, FOR THE PURPOSE OF APPLYING THE APPRO- 
 PRIATE RULES BY WHICH TO ASCERTAIN THEIR IMPORT. 
 
 No one can long turn his attention to this subject ^ 
 without discovering that there are various styles of 
 speech employed in the prophetical Scriptures, which 
 10 
 
I 
 
 106 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 may be, and are properly denominated the alphabeti- 
 cal, THE TROPICAL OR FIGURATIVE, THE SYMBOLICAL, AND 
 THE TYPICAL. 
 
 1. Alphabetical langua&e is the plain ordinary style 
 of speech which men employ to state or to set forth 
 simple matters of history, and unembellished by 
 figurative expressions. Many of the predictions are 
 expressed in this style, entirely devoid of figures and 
 tropes of speech. Occasionally, passages are thrown 
 into the book of Revelations in the sanfe style, intended 
 as a clue to the meaning of some of its highly- 
 wrought and complicated symbolical descriptions. In 
 alphabetical language, words are used in their proper 
 sense, i. e. " the sense which is so connected with them 
 that is first in order, and is spontaneously presented to 
 the mind, as soon as the sound or the word is heard."* 
 
 2. Beside alphabetical language, there is what may 
 be called tropical or figurative language. This the 
 prophets use, in common with all writers, sacred or 
 profane, who, discussing or describing things which 
 deeply interest their feelings, naturally employ figures 
 and tropes of speech, to express, in a more lively man- 
 ner, their ideas. Thus, proud and stately aristocrats 
 are called cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan ;t 
 the troops of Egypt and of Assyria are called the fly 
 of Egypt and the bee of Assyria ; and God is said to 
 shave with a hired razor,J and his hand to be stretch- 
 ed out still, and many such like mere tropical words, 
 which the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, the rules of 
 rhetoric, and the connection of thought, generally en- 
 able the reader to understand. 
 
 Here, it may be proper to remark, that in the pro- 
 phets' use of figurative language, we meet with every 
 variety of tropical expressions and rhetorical embel- 
 
 * Ernesti on Int. p. 7. f Isaiah, 2. 13. t Isaiah 7. 18-20. 
 
TROPICAL LANGUAGE. . r 107 
 
 lishments. It is perfectly natural to expect this, as 
 well from the very nature of their commission — which 
 was to enlighten, reprove, comfort, and reform — as 
 from the condition and circumstances of those whom 
 they addressed. The very nature of their messages 
 rendered it impracticable for them to speak without 
 emotion. Different emotions, however, have different 
 ways of expressing themselves ; and, therefore, the 
 method adopted by those under their influence, and 
 who seek to persuade others, will not be, by logical in- 
 vestigation, or cool dispassionate argument, to enlight- 
 en and convince, but, by exciting and enlisting the affec- 
 tions and passions appropriate to the nature of the 
 subject, or to the purpose of the speaker, to gain the 
 party addressed. The language of the prophets, there- 
 fore, naturally became that of the passions. They ap- 
 peal, not directly to reason, but use it only as auxiliary. 
 Often, indeed, they are highly poetical, adapted in 
 this respect to the mass of common people, who are 
 swayed infinitely more by feeling than reason. Ac- 
 cordingly, the prophetical writings are far more replete 
 with feeling than argument, highly descriptive, often 
 exceedingly impassioned, and therefore abound with 
 all those tropes and figures of speech, which nature 
 suggests and which the rhetorical art has classified. 
 
 This feature of prophetical language has furnished 
 occasion to the spiritualist, to claim for his method of 
 interpretation, entire respect and confidence, as the 
 only true and proper system. And, accordingly, we 
 hear a great deal about the extravagance or intensity 
 of Hebrew poetry, the turgid, hyperbolical cast of 
 oriental imagery, and the semi-barbarous taste, which 
 is pleased with and requires such things. On this 
 ground some have given undue prominence to the 
 prophets' use of figure, and deprived the prophecies of 
 
108 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 all substance and meaning, until with the rationalists 
 of Germany, and certain Unitarians of the United 
 States,* having so generalized, or spiritually explained 
 the predictions, they have utterly destroyed all coin- 
 cidencef between the prophecies thus explained, and 
 the events which were their literal fulfillment, and 
 have thus prepared the way for the denial of such a 
 thing as prophecy altogether. 
 
 To all this the literal interpretation objects, contend- 
 ing, that however abundant may be the employment 
 of figures and tropes of speech, by the prophets, we 
 are not authorised to allegorise the whole, any more 
 than your friend or neighbor, addressing you under 
 the influence of impassioned feeling, and abounding in 
 
 • See Gesenius on Isaiah. A late Unitarian discourse preached 
 in Boston, (May 19, 1841,) may be quoted in proof of the tendency 
 of this system of spiritual interpretation. Speaking of the simple 
 faith, required to be given to the Bible, according to its plain 
 grammatical import — because of its infallible inspiration, the au- 
 thor says : " On the authority of the written Word, man was taught 
 to believe impossible legends, conflicting assertions ; to take fiction 
 for fact ; a dream for a miraculous revelation of God ; an oriental 
 poem for a grave histoiy of miraculous events; a collection of 
 amatory idylls for a serious discourse, * touching the mutual love of 
 Christ and the church ;' they have been taught to accept a picture, 
 sketched by some glowing eastern imagination, never intended to 
 be taken for a reality, as a proof that the infinite God has spoken 
 in human words, appeared in the shape of a cloud, a flaming bush, 
 or a man who ate and drank and vanished into smoke ; that he 
 gave counsels to-day, and the opposite to-morrow ; that he violated 
 his own laws, was angry, and was only dissuaded by a mortal man 
 from destroying at once a whole nation, — millions of men who 
 rebelled against their leader in a moment of anguish." Th. Parker's 
 discourse on the transient and permanent in Christianity, pp. 19,20. 
 " The most distant events, even such as are still in the arms of 
 time, were supposed to be clearly foreseen and predicted by pious 
 Hebrews several centuries before Christ." — p. 20. See also p. 30. 
 
 t Hengstenburg, Christol., vol. i. p. 233. 
 
TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 109 
 
 figurative expressions, must be understood, in all he 
 says, to speak allegorically, and not just what the 
 rhetorical import of his words expresses. All that the 
 fact of the prophets' language abounding with figures 
 of speech, does or can prove, is, that we must be careful, 
 according to proper rhetorical rules, to distinguish be- 
 tween the images or figures employed, and the facts 
 they are designed to represent, — that is, to interpret 
 similes and allegories, metaphors and metonymies, 
 synecdoches and antitheses, hyperboles and irony, 
 prosopopoeias and apostrophes, and all such rhetorical 
 embellishments, just as we would in any other writ- 
 ings. 
 
 Here, perhaps, a few general remarks on the inter- 
 pretation of figurative language, may be proper. If 
 words occur together, which, the evidence of our 
 senses shows, are perfectly contradictory and incon- 
 sistent with each other in their literal meaning, we at 
 once detect a metaphor, and search for the resem- 
 blance, as when God calls Jacob his battle-axe,* Jeru- 
 salem a burdensome stone,! Moab his washpot,J and the 
 like. The very nature of things, in such cases, intui- 
 tively proves the language to be figurative. So when 
 Christ said to his disciples, taking and holding the 
 bread in his hand, which he brake before their eyes, 
 " This is my body which is given for you,"§ their 
 sight taught them that he spake metaphorically, and 
 could not possibly, without absolute rejection and 
 contempt of the evidence of their senses, be under- 
 stood literally, according to the absurd pretence of the 
 Papists, who reject the evidence of their senses. 
 
 The metaphorical import of expressions, however, 
 cannot always be thus easily detected ; for often their 
 
 * Jer.51. 20. t Zech. 12. 3. | Psalm, 60. 8. § Luke, 22. 19. 
 10* 
 
.110 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 figurative import depends upon the nature of some 
 truth or fact either proved or assumed to be true, with 
 which it is utterly inconsistent to interpret them liter- 
 ally. Here, therefore, there is great danger of 
 false interpretation, and the greatest care should be 
 taken, lest we assume things to be true which are not, 
 and think we have demonstrated positions, which are 
 untenable. A vast amount of error and confusion, in 
 tbe interpretation of the figurative language of pro- 
 iphecy, arises from this source. A thing may seem to 
 US to be contrary to our physiological and philoso- 
 phical theories ; yea, to some known and established 
 law of nature, altogether inconsistent with our expe- 
 rience and observation, a perfect miracle, and yet, in 
 the nature of things, it be not impossible for the power 
 of God to accomplish. In itself there may be nothing 
 absurd and contradictory, although, to our limited know- 
 ledge, and within our contracted sphere of observation, 
 it may appear so. In such cases we must be very 
 cautious how we pronounce the language of prophecy 
 to be figurative. 
 
 Thus God promised to Abraham, that Sarah should 
 have a son. This was a thing altogether inconsistent 
 with the established order of nature as Paul has 
 shown,* and might, at first, have created a doubt in 
 Abraham's mind, v/hether it would be or ought at all 
 to be literally understood, and whether there might 
 not be some recondite spiritual meaning involved in 
 the words. But the thing, though inconsistent with 
 the ordinary operations of nature, was not im- 
 possible with God, and the event proved that God 
 meant that Abraham should believe it as a thing to be 
 literally true, and no figure about it. He has given 
 
 * Romans, 4. 19. 
 
TROPICAL LANGlffAGE. Ill 
 
 US also a valuable hint here, because this very thing 
 so wonderful was made a type or symbol of further 
 things which God intended to do. So the prophecy 
 of the miraculous conception of the Messiah, deli- 
 vered by Isaiah, when he said, " Behold, a virgin 
 shall conceive and bear a son,"* might have been 
 supposed for the same reason, altogether figurative : 
 and the very minute incidents, apparently inconsist- 
 ent with other descriptions of the Messiah, viz. that 
 he should ride upon an ass,t that he should be prized 
 at and sold for thirty piecesj of silver, the price of a 
 slave, and similar prophecies, might have been judged 
 altogether contradictory of other and glorious things 
 predicted of him, and therefore to be incapable of any 
 other than some allegorical or spiritual explanation. 
 But the event has shown how far they would have 
 erred who should have thus allowed themselves to 
 interpret the prophecies. 
 
 Ernesti has correctly remarked, that in relation to 
 uninspired writings, it very rarely happens, that there 
 is any doubt about (the meaning of metaphorical lan- 
 guage,) because the objects spoken of are such as 
 may be examined by our senses external or internal, 
 and therefore the language may be easily under- 
 stood. "6 The remark is just as applicable to the 
 metaphorical language of the prophecies, and proves 
 the principle which he has quoted from Donhauer, 
 Tarnoffand Calovius, to be the true one, viz. " that 
 the literal meaning is not to be deserted without evi- 
 dent reason or necessity." We must therefore be- 
 ware, how we assume a thing to be true, which is not 
 either intuitively so, or obvious to the senses, and 
 
 • Isai. 7. 14. t Zech. 9. 9. t Zech. 11. 12, 13. 
 
 § Elementary Priaciples of Interpretation, p. 72. 
 
112 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 then, in the light of that assumption, pronounce this 
 and the other statement of a prophet to be inconsist- 
 ent, and contradictory, and consequently of necessity 
 figurative. It is lamentable to see, how much of this is 
 done. 
 
 Theology has suffered, nearly, if not fully, as much 
 as prophecy, from this thing. How are men's views 
 of regeneration, and their interpretation of the lan- 
 guage of the Bible on the subject, founded on certain 
 physiological notions and theories of the nature of 
 life, or on metaphysical opinions about the nature of 
 the will, and of human dispositions and states of mind, 
 and the language of inspiration made to teach their 
 theories, their systems, and their philosophy, and to 
 mean more and other things than the Spirit of God 
 intended. In like manner, we can trace the influence 
 of their views as to the nature of justice upon the 
 interpretation of scriptural language in relation to the 
 atonement of Jesus Christ, and of their metaphysical 
 notions about the foundation and certainty of know- 
 ledge in relation to the doctrine of election. The same 
 may be said of justification, and sanctification, and 
 holiness. 
 
 A specimen or two of inattention to the principle 
 just stated from Ernesti, we give, in relation to the 
 prophecies, from the interpretation of the spiritualists. 
 Dr. Hengstenburg allows himself thus to reason. 
 " The prophets, in many places, give especial promi- 
 nence to the fact, that the kingdom of the Messiah is 
 to be a kingdom of peace, and all the heathen, under 
 a divine influence, are voluntarily to become its sub- 
 jects. If now the same prophets, who describe the 
 kingdom of the Messiah as entirely peaceful, never- 
 theless speak of wars and triumphs of the Theocracy, 
 (comp. Is. chap. 2. with chap. 9, &c.,) in the one 
 
TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 113 
 
 case or the other, their expressions must necessarily 
 be figurative."* 
 
 This we deny — the inference is by no means just ; 
 for it is easy to conceive, that the wars and triumphs 
 of the Messiah, of which the prophets speak, relate to 
 the period of vengeance to be executed upon the 
 guilty nations that opposed his sway, and that they 
 are designed and prosecuted expressly to prepare the 
 way for the introduction and establishment of that 
 kingdom of heaven, which is " righteousness, peace, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost." 
 
 A careful attention to times and dates, as contem- 
 plated by the prophets, will show that they describe 
 two great epochs in the Messiah*s kingdom, the first 
 of retributive vengeance and destruction on anti- 
 Christian nations, and the second, its peaceful, pros- 
 perous, and universal establishment throughout the 
 earth. Yet have spiritual interpreters, by assuming 
 false positions, and judging by them, whether language 
 is figurative or not, instead of confining themselves to 
 plain rhetorical rules, actually lost sight of, and ex- 
 plained away, those fearful and appalling predictions, 
 hereafter to be fulfilled, which describe the revolu- 
 tions, convulsions, conspiracies, overthrow, and poli- 
 tical destruction of the existing nations lying within 
 the field of prophecy. 
 
 An example of the same kind may be cited, from 
 the manner in which they explain the coming and 
 appearance of Jesus Christ. There is nothing in the 
 thing itself, literally understood, that is contradictory 
 or absurd — nothing at all impossible or inconsistent 
 for God. It is just and reasonable to believe that He 
 will personally come, and appear in triumph and 
 
 • Christology, vi. p, 237. 
 
114 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 glory, as that He actually did so come, and appeared 
 in humiliation and suffering — yea, far more so. But 
 the spiritual interpreters, assuming that the visible 
 church is the kingdom of Heaven, and that its general 
 and universal influence and establishment among the 
 nations of the earth, constitute the triumph and glory 
 of Christ in His kingdom, of course are forced to in- 
 terpret the expressions metaphorically, and conse- 
 quently to allegorize or spiritualise all the descrip- 
 tions of the prophets on these themes. They have 
 assumed, too, a vague spiritual notion of the day of 
 judgment, as though it were simply and exclusively a 
 short period allotted for judiciary purposes and none 
 other, when there would be a universal, simultaneous 
 assemblage of mankind before God for judicial trial, and 
 with this limited and imperfect notion, taken from 
 human tribunals, have undertaken to judge what is 
 and what is not figurative in the language of the pro- 
 phets, in reference to the coming and kingdom of 
 Christ. They should have compared prophecy with 
 prophecy, thoroughly examined the dates and epochs 
 of the scenes described, grouped together the whole 
 description of what the prophets meant by the day of 
 judgment, weighed well the character of all the several 
 acts, and whether they do not comprehend much more 
 in their account of it, even all the functions of gov- 
 ernment, legislative and executive, as well as judi- 
 ciary, instead of taking up a partial, imperfect, ima- 
 ginary idea, running an analogy with human courts, 
 and in the light of such an assumed idea, rather than 
 by the careful investigation and application of rheto- 
 rical rules, judging what is figurative and what is not, 
 and so mistaking altogether the Scriptural notion of 
 the day of judgment. 
 
 It is unnecessary to add anything further on the 
 
.1:^^V TROPICAL LAN(JnAGK. 'i* 115 
 
 figurative language of prophecy than that the ordinary 
 rhetorical rules will enable us to judge, — when the 
 prophet employs the tropes of speech ; — when he 
 uses metaphor or metonymy, synecdoche or hyper- 
 bole, prosopopaeia or apostrophe ; — when he employs 
 a simile, or extends his similes into an allegory j — 
 when, assuming the narrative or historical style, his 
 allegory becomes a fable or parable, as in EzekiePs 
 lamentation over the princes of Israel,* he speaks of 
 them, and of their doom, as of the whelps of a lioness, 
 one of whom should be caught and caged by the king 
 of Babylon ; — when in the same chapter he describes 
 the history and fate of the commonwealth and church 
 of Israel, by a vine, for a season prosperous in its 
 growth, but afterwards rooted up and scattered 
 abroad, and burned with fire jf — or when by the 
 parable or riddle of two eagles and a vine, he showed 
 the judgments of God, on Zedekiah'sJ minute rules 
 on this subject, may be learned from hermeneutical 
 and rhetorical works ; but none, or all, are of any great 
 value, without that common sense which men feel to 
 be important and necessary in their study of other 
 books than the Bible. Valuable hints may be obtained 
 from Mede, Vitringa, Newton, Bishop Horsley, Cun- 
 inghame, Brooks, Anderson, and other writers on pro* 
 phecy ; but especially from Bickersteth,§ who, al- 
 though he has not been as discriminating as he might 
 have been in reference to the principles of interpre- 
 tation, has nevertheless " suggested some excellent 
 rules and cautions, most of which commend them- 
 selves to the good sense and piety of the reader." 
 
 * Ezek. 19. 1-9. f Ezek. 19. 10-14. t Ezek. 17. 5^-10. 
 
 § See Bickersteth's Practical Guide to the Prophecies, chap. 2. 
 pp. 12-40. . . . 
 
-116 THE SYSTEM OF INTER AeTATION. 
 
 3. There is yet a third style of prophetical lan- 
 guage, characteristically different from tropical, or 
 that sort of figurative language which is to be inter- 
 preted by the application of the ordinary rules of 
 rhetoric, viz. symbolical language. Symbols are 
 very frequently confounded with ordinary figures, 
 although they have their own peculiar and distinctive 
 traits. Similes state distinctly the resemblance be- 
 tween two things, as when the Psalmist says, the 
 righteous is like an evero^reen.* Alleofories are ex- 
 tended resemblances. Metaphors are implied resem- 
 blances, as when wc describe the property of one 
 person or thing, by giving to it the name of another 
 person or thing, in which that property may be parti- 
 cularly conspicuous, calling an eminent statesman a 
 pillar of state, or, as Christ did the Pharisees, "a 
 generation of vipers." Symbols are yet more general, 
 and imply more than metaphors. They are things, 
 either of nature or art, used and understood to be the 
 signs or representatives of some intellectual, moral, 
 political, or historical truth. Symbolical language 
 speaks to the mind, as the picture does to the eye. 
 It is ratlier a language represented by things than by 
 words. The fixed unalterable nature of things, in the 
 various objects presented in the physical world, the 
 prophets have preferred, as furnishing a better means 
 to convey definite and immutable ideas, than even the 
 definitions, which men frame, in the use of alphabetical 
 language. 
 
 These remarks will be better understood from a 
 brief and comprehensive account of the origin, use, 
 and nature of symbolical language, in giving which 
 we avail ourselves of the very lucid and valuable 
 
 • Psalm, 1. 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 117 
 
 chapter of Mr. Faber on this subject.* In the infancy 
 of all nations and languages, ideas are much more 
 numerous than words. The few words which men 
 possess, such as the names of animals, and of things 
 around them, are therefore used, not only in their natu- 
 ral and primary sense, but also in an artificial, tropical, 
 or figurative sense. Hence, all infant nations, and half 
 civilized tribes, abound in metaphors, and allegories, 
 and various styles of figurative speech. We hear a 
 great deal about Oriental imagery, and the highly 
 wrought figurative style of the Hebrew prophets, as 
 though there was something peculiar to the East in 
 general, and in the highest degree among the Hebrew 
 prophets ; but the Indians of our own forests abound, 
 as much as they do, in the tropes of speech. It is 
 not any peculiar taste for poetry, but sheer necessity, 
 induced by the poverty of language, that leads to 
 this. 
 
 The Indian, devoid of language suited to diplo- 
 macy, resorts to significant objects and acts, and talks 
 of burying the tomahawk and lighting the pipe, by the 
 very same law of human thought, which made the an- 
 cient Hebrew talk of cutting a covenant, or lifting his 
 hand, both alluding to ceremonies well known and un- 
 derstood to be emblematic. 
 
 This sort of tropical language is perfectly natural, 
 and the very child soon becomes familiar with it. 
 How natural is it to call warlike and ferocious men, and 
 tribes, lions or tigers, and artful, insidious, malicious 
 persons, vipers, snakes in the grass, — the plodding in- 
 dustrious man an ox, — the cunning knave a fox, — the 
 quick-sighted attorney a lynx, — the vigilant and prowl- 
 ing adventurer a hawk, — the faithful and afl^ectionate 
 
 * See Faber's Sacred Calendar of Prophecy, vol. i. chap. 1. 
 11 
 
118 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 domestic a spaniel, and the like V The names of lion, 
 tig^er, panther, great buifalo, bloodhound, &c., given 
 by our savages to their warriors, are in accordance 
 with the fact, that in proportion to the poverty of a 
 language, and to the want of abstract terms, — which 
 is always the case where there is defective civilisa- 
 tion, — will the language of people become more or 
 less symbolical, that is, they will be disposed to em- 
 ploy things as the representatives of ideas. 
 
 Now, supposing that such a people should have" 
 occasion to communicate with each other at a distance, 
 of necessity they would revert to pictures,* being as 
 closely analogous as possible to their spoken language 
 The image of a man would be the most natural sign 
 of a man, but if it should be desired to describe some 
 particular properties of that man, the most natural 
 method would be to delineate, in connection with the 
 image of a man, the likeness of some animal or object 
 remarkable for that property, until, presently, the 
 natural object would be used as the shortest and best 
 description, — the picture of a snake, a fox, a lion, or a 
 dog, as the case might be, being substituted for the man. 
 These things would then acquire a permanent mean- 
 ing, and be used to denote a whole class of men of 
 like properties. Hence originated the hieroglyphical 
 style of writing. Carrying the system out, and ap- 
 plying it to families and nations, in the most natural 
 and easy way, it would lead to what has been called 
 the tropical hieroglyphics of Egypt, and lay the foun- 
 dation of the whole science of heraldry. 
 
 Accordingly we find that it was anciently, and con- 
 tinues still to be, the practice of nations to use sym- 
 bols, or things, as signs and representatives of their 
 
 • See Warburton's Divine Legation, vol. ii. p. 234, &c. 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGTTAGE. 119^ 
 
 character, — the dove heing the device of the ancient 
 Assyrian empire, — the lion of the Babylonish, — the 
 ram of the Medo-Persian — the he-goat of the Grecian 
 or Macedonian, and the eagle of the Roman. So at 
 this day, the lion is the device of Great Britain, the 
 bear of Russia, and the spread-eagle of the United 
 States. From such a use of language and style of 
 writing, very naturally arose what is called the fable, 
 or apologue, or parable, in which objects in nature are 
 made to represent persons, and the whole to conceal 
 some moral or historical truth, of which we have a 
 very striking example in the fable or parable of Jo- 
 tham,* and abundant among other nations than the 
 Hebrews, as the Greek fables of jEsop, the Roman 
 fables of Menenius Agrippa, the Arabic fables by 
 Lochman, the Indian fables by Pidpay, and the 
 French fables by Lafontaine. The fable is a speaking 
 hieroglyphic, and if the story of it be delineated, either 
 by the pencil Or the chisel, it becomes at once a painted 
 or a sculptured hieroglyphic. 
 
 It was on this very same foundation, the poverty of 
 language, that the whole system of the Oneirocritics, 
 as they are called, i.e. interpreters of dreams — supposed 
 to be prophetical, was built, of which we have speci- 
 mens in Jacob's interpretation of Joseph's dreams,! 
 Joseph's interpretation of the baker's and butler's and 
 Pharaoh's dreams,J and Daniel's interpretation of Ne- 
 buchadnezzar's.§ The interpretation was not arbitrary 
 or imaginary, according to the whim and caprice of 
 the soothsayer, but proceeded according to fixed and 
 definite rules, founded on the import of symbolic lan- 
 guage, so that this branch of divining became a sci- 
 ence, which was studied and practised among heathen 
 nations, highly respected and honored in Egypt and 
 
 * Judges, 9. 8-15. t Gen. 37. 10. 
 
 t Gen. 40. 5-20 ; 42. 1-32. § Dan. 2. 3M5. 
 
120 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATIOr^. 
 
 Babylon, and cultivated by the Hebrews.* There is 
 reason to believe, that much of the studies pursued 
 in the school of the prophets, instituted in the days of 
 Samuel, was designed to qualify for the right use and 
 interpretation of symbolic language. The dreams 
 related by Herodotus,! of Astyages, that a vine 
 sprang from the womb of his daughter, and rapidly 
 overspread all Asia, and of Xerxes that he was crown- 
 ed with the wreath of an olive tree which covered all 
 the earth, but which suddenly and totally disappeared, 
 may have been, for anything we can say to the con- 
 trary, as truly from God as those of Pharaoh and 
 Nebuchadnezzar, and capable of being interpreted 
 even by the heathen Oneirocritics correctly, accord- 
 ing to the definite and established import of symbols. 
 Mr. Faber has referred to Artemidorus, Astrampsy- 
 chus, and Achmetes, and the other Oneirocritics, who 
 are mentioned by them, as assuming the general prin- 
 ciple, that such and such hieroglyphics bear such and 
 such a meaning ; and this point having been laid 
 down, they very readily fabricate their interpretations 
 of dreams accordingly. " Thus," adds he, " because 
 poverty of language had anciently produced such a 
 figurative mode of expression, — heaven, from its ex- 
 alted situation, having been made the symbol or hiero- 
 glyphic of supreme regal power, — if a king dreamed 
 that he ascended into heaven, the ancient Indians and 
 Persians, and Egyptians, as we learn from Achmetes, 
 interpreted his dream to signify, that he would obtain 
 the pre-eminence over all other kings. And thus, an 
 earthquake being, very naturally, for the same reason, 
 made a symbol of a political revolution, if a king 
 dreamed that his capital or his country was shaken by 
 an earthquake, his dream, according to the same writer, 
 
 * Warburton's Divine Legation, vol. ii. p. 67. 
 t Herod. 1. i. c. 108, and 1. vii. c. 19. 
 
t 
 
 SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 121 
 
 was explained to portend the harassing of his do- 
 minions by external or internal violence."* 
 
 Such is the principle, on which is built the symboli- 
 cal language of prophecy. Like the ancient hiero- 
 glyphics, and like those non-alphabetical characters, 
 which are divided from them, it is a language of ideas, 
 rather than words. It speaks by pictures quite as 
 much as by sounds ; and through the medium of those 
 pictures, rather than through the medium of a labored 
 verbal definition, it sets forth with equal ease and pre- 
 cision, the nature and relations of the matters pre- 
 dicted.f Hieroglyphics are the painted or sculptured 
 images of the things employed to represent or express 
 some moral, political, historical or religious ideas. 
 Symbols are those things themselves, and symbolical 
 language but the setting forth or expressing such 
 ideas by means of the names of those things which 
 represent them. 
 
 Many of the predictions of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, 
 Zechariah, and other of the Old Testament prophets, 
 were delivered in this style of speech. The Kevela- 
 tions of the apostle John are almost wholly of this 
 character. But it must be obvious to every intelli- 
 gent reader, that the language of symbols is no less 
 appropriately employed to represent real things, 
 events literally and historically to occur, than is 
 either alphabetical or metaphorical language. All 
 that is requisite, is to ascertain the import of the sym- 
 bol, and to apply the rules appropriate for the inter- 
 pretation of such language. So far from being vague, 
 and liable to the whims and caprice and fancies of in- 
 terpreters, it is even more fixed and definite in its 
 import than alphabetical language. 
 
 * Faber's Sac. Cal., v. i. p. 10. 
 t Faber's Sacred Calendar, v. i. c. 1 . 
 11* 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. — SYMBOLICAL AND 
 TYPICAL LANGUAGE. 
 
 The fact that the Sacred Scriptures, and especially 
 the prophetical parts, abound in figurative language, is 
 not to be questioned. God has expressly declared, 
 that He sometimes spoke alphabetically by the pro- 
 phets ; at other times employed visions, and at others 
 still, used similitudes, i. e. symbolical objects and ac- 
 tions, for the purpose of making known his will : " I 
 have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multi- 
 plied visions and used similitudes by the ministry of 
 the prophets."* The style of speech, therefore, 
 adopted by Him, must be duly and carefully attended 
 to, in order to understand his meaning. It would be 
 altogether inappropriate, to interpret alphabetical 
 speech by the rules applicable to tropical language. 
 Equally so would it be to lose sight of the peculiar 
 nature of symbolical language, and to interpret it as 
 we would ordinary metaphors. Each has its own 
 character ; and the rules of rhetoric and the general 
 laws of human thought must be appealed to, in order 
 to understand its import. 
 
 This, we have shown, does not militate against what 
 is called the literal, in contradistinction from the spir- 
 itual interpretation, the leading and essential charac- 
 teristic of which is, that the prophecies set forth 
 
 * Hos. 12. 10. 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 123 
 
 real persons and events, as literally and historically to 
 arise and occur in the world, as any matters of his- 
 torical observation and verity which have already 
 transpired. In defending and illustrating this posi- 
 tion, we noticed, in the last chapter, the alphabetical 
 style of writing, which is devoid of rhetorical embel- 
 lishment and explains itself, and the metaphorical or 
 tropical, to be interpreted according to the ordinary 
 rules of rhetoric. Notice, too, was taken of a third 
 style of speech in the prophetical Scriptures, viz. 
 symbolical language j on the origin, use and nature of 
 which some remarks were submitted. We resume 
 the consideration of this subject. 
 
 It was shown that symbols are things, used as signs 
 or representatives of ideas, instead of words j that 
 this style of speech originated in the poverty of lan- 
 guage, and is the most natural, appropriate, and uni- 
 versal method adopted by infant nations and half civil- 
 ized tribes, to express their thoughts to each other ; 
 and that hieroglyphics are but the painting or exhibi- 
 tion to the eye, which the sound or name of the things 
 are to the ear, both being the representatives or signs 
 of thought. Symbolical language, it was shown, was 
 the language of ideas rather than of words, and found- 
 ed on some definite, established, and well-understood 
 import of the thing, when used as an emblem or sym- 
 bol of thought. This well-understood import of sym- 
 bols, it was further shown, formed the foundation on 
 the one hand of the whole science of heraldry — yet 
 prized in some parts of the world — and on the other 
 hand, of the whole system of the Oneirocritics, or of 
 divining future events by dreams believed to be pro- 
 phetical — pretensions to which sort of sorcery are yet 
 made, even in Christian countries^ and books circu- 
 lated purporting to aid the fortune-teller and others in 
 
124 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 the interpretation of symbols. There is scarcely a 
 nation on the face of the earthy among whom, in some 
 form or other, either of science or of superstition, the 
 language of symbols does not to some extent obtain. 
 It is characteristically different from what are called 
 emblems, though symbols and emblems are often con- 
 founded. Symbols, as we have shown, are things, 
 either of nature or of art, used to denote ideas. Em- 
 blems are no more than paintings, carvings, engrav- 
 ings, basso-relievos, or other representations intended 
 to hold forth some moral or political instruction — pre- 
 senting one thing to the eye and another to the under- 
 standing. Inlaid Mosaic works and all kinds of orna- 
 ments, vases, statues, sculptured and fine-wrought 
 productions, were called emblems by the Greeks, 
 We more commonly mean by them, some pictured 
 representation with a device, such as are found on 
 seals, or use the word in a tropical sense. Some, who 
 have undertaken to write what are called symbolical 
 dictionaries, as Daubuz, and Wemyss who has fol- 
 lowed him very closely, are not careful to distinguish 
 between metaphors, emblems, symbols, and allegories, 
 but use the term synonymously with figurative — a 
 thing very common among commentators, and which, 
 we doubt not, has contributed to much confusion in 
 the study and interpretation of the prophecies. Bishop 
 Warburton has shown,* that the hieroglyphical style 
 of writing, which led to the employment of emblems^ 
 and, in the progress of idolatry and superstition, to 
 the use of sacred gems called abraxas and of the talis- 
 man, grew most naturally out of the necessity there 
 was in infant nations and high antiquity, before lan- 
 guage was refined and extended, to employ symbols, 
 or make things the representatives of ideas. 
 * Divine Legation, v. ii. sec. iv. 
 
SYMBOLICAI. LANGUAGE. ^W% 1^5 ''<<« <^ 
 
 The practice of the Mexicans, whose onl^^irfethod *^^/a. 
 of writing their laws and history washy vaeB.niSif^^r-' ^ 
 ture writing — the hieroglyphics of Egypt— the pfce^ "^ A. 
 sent characters of the Chinese, which are an improve- 
 ment on the hieroglyphics of Egypt, the images having 
 been thrown out, and the outlines and contracted 
 marks only being retained — all are to be traced to the 
 necessity there was for the employment of symbols. 
 He accounts it the uniform voice of nature speaking 
 to the rude conceptions of mankind ; for not only the 
 Chinese of the East, the Mexicans of the West, and 
 the Egyptians of the South, but the Scythians, like- 
 wise, of the North, and the intermediate inhabitants 
 of the earth, viz. the Indians, Phoenicians, Ethiopians, 
 &c., used the same way of writing by pictures and hie- 
 roglyphics — written symbols. 
 
 That the prophets, who had alphabetical characters, 
 and were thus enabled to write in a manner entirely dif- 
 ferent from these rude attempts, should nevertheless 
 preserve in their writings a l^rge amount of sym- 
 bolical expressions, need not be thought a strange 
 thing, nor derogatory to the spirit of inspiration, which 
 indicted their communications. For, the language of 
 symbols is not only the natural language of men in 
 the primitive state of society, but also the most uni- 
 versal — all nations, whether civilized or barbarous, be- 
 ing capable of understanding it much better than the 
 abstract alphabetical, or unfigurative language of those 
 highly cultivated. It is, therefore, the fittest and most 
 appropriate, for the Spirit of God to employ, in utter- 
 ing those predictions, which involve the interests of 
 the world. None can be more universal. In order to 
 understand symbolical language, it is not necessary to 
 understand the vernacular language of the nation 
 which uses it. It is said that those who understand 
 
126 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 the import of the hieroglyphical characters employed 
 by the Chinese, can read their books, though the^^ 
 may not understand a word of their spoken language, 
 because its characters are no£ alphabetic, the signs of 
 words, but of things. 
 
 The immutable nature of the thing which is used as 
 a symbol, forms a better representative, than the 
 changing character of the words which denote that 
 thing. It matters not how much living languages may 
 change, or how much the sounds of words, which ex- 
 press things, may vary, if we understand the thing 
 that forms the symbol, we catch more readily the idea 
 symbolised by that thing. Thus, for example, it is a 
 matter of little moment with us, when we understand 
 what the sun symbolises, whether it is called Schemesch 
 by the Hebrew, Shemsco by the Syrian, Sckams by the 
 Arab, Schims by the Moor, Je by the Chinese, Zahado 
 by the Ethiopian, Helios by the Greek, Sol by the 
 Latin, Soleil by the Frenchman, Sonne by the Ger- 
 man, Schiin by the Mantschou Tartar, Sunna by the 
 Anglo-Saxon, or Sun by the English. Whatever may 
 be the written mark or character, or syllabic sounds, 
 which in different languages denote the thing, the 
 thing itself is the same, and stands an immutable sym- 
 bol, much to be preferred as a representative of thought, 
 than naked unfigurative lang-uage. What we thus 
 say of one is true of every symbol, and therefore the 
 definite and fixed import of symbolical language, ren- 
 ders it the best and fittest vehicle of prophecy. 
 
 This conclusion contradicts the opinion of many. 
 For, against such language it has been often objected, 
 and especially by persons predisposed to infidelity, 
 that it is of necessity very obscure and uncertain in 
 its meaning. Persons of this description, having read 
 the prophecies of Daniel, of Zechariah, and of the 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 127 
 
 apostle John, which abound in symbolical language, 
 and having met with some symbols exceedingly com- 
 plicated and monstrous, are apt to lay the Bible down, 
 and to pronounce the whole prophetical portion of it 
 unintelligible. It would be just as rational and be- 
 coming, to reject every work written in a foreign dia- 
 lect, and to pronounce it unintelligible. Let but the 
 key to the meaning of the words, or of the characters 
 we attempt to decipher, be obtained, and there will 
 be comparatively little difficulty. 
 
 Now the key to the meaning of the symbols used by 
 the prophets, is to be found in the Sacred Scriptures. 
 Symbols are often used and interpreted precisely as 
 did the ancient Oneirocritics, that is, upon the known 
 and admitted import of the thing as the representative 
 of ideas ; examples of which we referred to in the last 
 chapter, in the interpretation of the dreams of Joseph, 
 and Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar. At other times, 
 where the import of the symbol is not so obvious, 
 where it may be a complicated symbol, and nothing 
 like it exists in nature, but be the creation of the 
 prophet, or description of something seen by him in 
 vision, there there is generally found a clue to the 
 interpretation in some alphabetical hints or definitions 
 incidentally thrown in. We give a few examples. 
 
 Daniel, in describing the things he saw in one 
 of his visions, speaks of a ram with two horns,* one 
 higher than the other, seen in the very act of growing 
 out of his head, the higher one growing up last ; 
 which ram pushed westward, and northward, and 
 southward from the river Ulai in Persia, and fought 
 with the other beasts, so that none could stand before 
 him. He also tells us, that some time after, while he 
 
 • Dan. 8. 1-12. 
 
128 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 was yet considering the exploits of this ram, he saw 
 a he-goat come from the west with astonishing 
 rapidity, bounding, as it were, on the face of the 
 whole earth, and not even touching the ground. 
 This goat, which he describes as having one notable 
 horn between his eyes, came against the ram, and ran 
 unto him in the fury of his power. " I saw him," says 
 he, " come close unto the ram, and he was moved 
 with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake 
 his two horns, and there was no power in the ram to 
 stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, 
 and stamped upon him, and there was none that could 
 deliver the ram out of his hand."* This he-goat 
 became exceeding strong j but presently his notable 
 horn was broken, and in its place came up four other 
 notable horns toward the four winds of Heaven, i. e., 
 north, south, east and west, out of one of which came 
 a little horn whose exploits also he describes. This 
 is not metaphorical language, but symbolical ; and the 
 clue to its interpretation! is afterwards given in 
 alphabetical words so plain that they cannot be mis- 
 taken, the ram being the Medo-Persian empire, estab- 
 lished by Cyrus, and the he-goat the Grecian empire 
 established by Alexander of Macedon, the histories of 
 which empires, both in their rise and overthrow, 
 correspond exactly, I may say literally, with the 
 description given of these two beasts. 
 
 Another example is taken from the Revelations of 
 John the apostle,^ where, relating his vision, he 
 describes a lascivious and lecherous woman, who had 
 yielded her embraces to the kings of the earth, and 
 was riding on a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of 
 blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. On 
 
 • Dan. 8. 7. f Dan. 8. 19-25. | Rev. 17. 1-18. 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 129 
 
 her forehead was a name written, — Mystery, Babylon 
 the Greaty the mother of harlots, and abominations of 
 the earth. Arrayed in purple and scarlet color, decked 
 with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a 
 golden cup in her hand full of abominations and 
 filthiness of her fornication, she became drunk with 
 the blood of the saints, and of the martyrs of Jesus. 
 
 This is a complicated symbol, but there are alpha- 
 betical hints and definitions given in the very same 
 chapter * and other parts of Scripture, which furnish 
 the key to unlock its meaning. The seven heads are 
 seven mountains on which the woman sitteth, and also 
 seVen kings or forms of sovereignty, five of which had 
 fallen or ceased, at the time John prophecied, the 
 sixth being then extant ; and the seventh, another form 
 of sovereignty, to arise at a future period, and to 
 last but a short time, but be resuscitated shortly in 
 some one of the seven, prior to the destruction of 
 the beast and the woman together. The ten horns of 
 the beast are ten kingdoms, which were not in being 
 when John wrote, but should arise, and conjointly 
 persecute the saints, and afterwards turn against the 
 woman that rode upon the beast. The woman is 
 that great city which reigneth over the kings of the 
 earth. And her name was Babylon the Great, the very 
 title by which Peter, writing from Rome, meta- 
 phorically designated that city.f 
 
 *Rev. 17. 9-18. 
 
 t 1 Pet. 5. 13. The church that is at Babylon elected, &c. 
 " On the Ba^vXwvi there has been no little diversity of opinion. 
 Some as Mill, Bertram, Pearson, Wolf, Wall, and Fabrie, take to 
 denote Babylon in Egypt. But this has no probability, and has 
 been refuted by Lardner, who with the ancients, and many eminent 
 moderns, as Grotius, Hamm., Whitby and most of the Romanists^ 
 think that by Babylon is figuratively meant Rome : and this is 
 12 
 
130 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 We need scarcely name the complicated power here 
 described. The picture speaks for itself to every one 
 acquainted with the history of the Roman empire, the 
 rise, growth, and abominations of popery, and the 
 persecutions for a time while devoted to the see of 
 Rome, of the ten papal kingdoms that originated co- 
 temporaneously with popery, but which have since, 
 one after another, begun to hate the whore. There 
 are yet parts of the prediction remaining to be fulfilled, 
 the resuscitation of one of the heads of the beast, a 
 form of sovereignty which had previously existed — 
 which, however, we are not told, and therefore 
 whether it is to be the consular, republican, or iln- 
 perial form, the dictatorship, the decemvirate, the 
 military tribunate, or its last and now defunct form, 
 time must show. Were we to hazard a conjecture here, 
 we should say with Mr. Faber,* that in all probability, 
 the seventh and last head of the beast, the political 
 Roman empire, was the military empire of France, 
 which reached its greatest power and glory under 
 Napoleon, — which continued but a short time, and was 
 killed by the sword of the allied sovereigns ; and 
 which will revive in some ascendant political and 
 military dynasty, in the formation and development 
 of which, France is destined to act a conspicuous 
 part, and by means of which, we add, the way will b^ 
 prepared for the exhibition of the last and infidel phase 
 of popery, under which aspect she is to be suddenly, 
 violently, and irrecoverably destroyed by the deso- 
 lating vengeance of Heaven inflicted on the city of 
 
 supported by the united voice of antiquity. Certain it is there are 
 many points of resemblance between that queen of cities, and what 
 weconceive of ancientBabylon." — Bloomfield's Recensio Synoptica, 
 Ann. Sac, vol. viii. p. 692, ad loc. 
 * Faber's Sacred Calendar of Prophecy, vol. iii. p. 177-218. 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 131 
 
 Rome, and the system which has so long made Rome 
 its capital.* 
 
 Whatever may be the truth or probability of such 
 conjectures, in relation to the parts of this extended 
 symbolical prophecy remaining to be fulfilled, certain 
 it is, that the alphabetical interpretations given in the 
 seventeenth chapter of Revelations, the accuracy of 
 the description, both of the beast, viz., the political 
 Roman empire, and of the woman riding on the beast, 
 i. e. papal Rome, and the amount of the prediction 
 already fulfilled, direct us to literal historical verities 
 which have occurred in the world, and are yet destined 
 to occur, in the cotemporaneous destruction of the ten 
 kingdoms and of the papacy. Other examples might be 
 adduced, but these may suffice to prepare the reader 
 to understand what we mean by the literal interpreta- 
 tion of symbolical prophecy, and to appreciate a few 
 further remarks on the subject. 
 
 In alphabetical language, words are signs of things, 
 and often different words are used to denote the same 
 thing, giving rise to what we call synonyms, which, 
 instead of rendering language obscure, only serve to 
 render it more precise and beautiful. When a word, 
 however, as is sometimes the case, is used to denote 
 different things, or as Paul does the word law, in dif- 
 ferent senses, then obscurity is apt to arise. Symbo- 
 lical language avoids this obscurity. The same sym- 
 bol is not used to denote different things, which have 
 no analogical resemblance and relation to each other, 
 for there would then be inextricable confusion in the 
 interpretation of prophecy. Different symbols are in- 
 deed used to denote the same thing, but the same 
 symbol is not used to denote different things, unless, 
 
 * Rev. 18.21. 
 
132 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 indeed, there is a close relationship and a manifest re- 
 semblance between them ; as when the sun is made the 
 symbol of supreme power, it may denote the supreme 
 power either in the church or state, according to the 
 nature of the subject spoken of. " Hence," as Mr. 
 Faber has remarked,* " the language of symbols, be- 
 ing purely a language of ideas, is, in one respect, 
 more perfect than any varied language ever known 
 and employed ; it possesses the varied elegance of 
 synonyms, without the obscurity which springs from 
 the use of ambiguous terms." 
 
 The symbols employed in the prophetical Scrip- 
 tures, may be divided into pure and mixed, and the 
 former again into simple or natural, and compound or 
 artificial. Mixed Symbols are those which possess 
 sometimes a metaphorical and sometimes a symbolical 
 character, being found in allegorical description, in 
 theological and didactic statements, and in prophetic 
 story. Thus, parturition or birth is used metaphor- 
 icallyt to denote the sinner's change of heart, and 
 symbolically! the origin of a community. The world, 
 metaphorically,§ denotes wicked men, but symboli- 
 cally, || a body politic, either ecclesiastical or political, 
 or a dispensation. Sores, metaphorically speaking, 
 denote both morally and theologically the vices or 
 corruptions of society, and symbolically the profligacy 
 of a state, or the corrupt notions and principles in the 
 body politic, after they have broken out into overt ac- 
 tion, as Isaiah has allegorically described the condition 
 of a corrupt and degenerate church and state.lT It is 
 unnecessary to multiply examples : but it must be obvi- 
 ous, that, in the interpretation of this class of symbols, 
 great care and discrimination are necessary, to deter- 
 
 * Sacred Calendar of Prophecy, vol. i. p. 15. f John, 3. 5, 6. 
 t Is. 66. 8. § John, 17. 14, &c. \\ Heb. 2. 5 ; 6. 5. IT Is. 1. 6. 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 133 
 
 mine when the prophet speaks metaphorically, merely 
 to embellish his description or to illustrate a truth, and 
 when he speaks symbolically, to set forth things or 
 events to occur. The neglect of this sort of discrimi- 
 nation, has led to much confusion with some, as to the 
 nature of symbols, and of the figurative language of 
 prophecy in general, as well as to their interpretation 
 of it. 
 
 Pure Symbols comprehend those things, which, 
 either in their simple state, as existing in nature or art, 
 or as compounded by the fancy of the prophet, are 
 used as the representatives of ideas. Of simple sym- 
 bols, the most numerous class is those taken from the 
 natural world, with its various divisions and constitu- 
 ent parts. As a whole, the world symbolically de- 
 notes a body politic, and that, according to the ana- 
 logy above referred to, may be either sacred or profane, 
 ecclesiastical or secular. 
 
 But, as the world may be viewed as associated with 
 other parts of the universe, as for example, the hea- 
 vens, the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, and the 
 earth, as comprising several constituent parts, such as 
 the seas, the rivers, the islands, the mountains, &c.,so, 
 each part becomes in its turn a distinct symbol : — the 
 Heavens^ from their high elevation, and from their be- 
 ing the region or space in which the sun and stars, &c., 
 are placed, denoting in general the constitution or fun- 
 damental structure or basis of the government, — the 
 sun, the supreme authority — the moon, the next high- 
 est co-ordinate authority, the Queen, for example, in 
 regal governments — the stars, the principal officers, 
 such as princes and magistrates of the realm, or of 
 the territorial domain— Me mountains, principal king- 
 doms — the islands, inferior states — the sea, the mass of 
 the people collectively taken, — rivers, the people of 
 12* 
 
134« THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 different provinces, or the subordinate kingdoms of an 
 empire — a.nd floods^ the irruption and invasion of hos- 
 tile armies or predatory communities. 
 
 These symbols, applied to ecclesiastical bodies or 
 churches, possess an analogous import,. Accordingly, 
 when applied to secular empires, the blackening of the 
 sun or a solar eclipse, denotes the destruction or sus- 
 pension of the supreme authority — the turning the 
 moon into blood, the destruction of the higher subor- 
 dinate authorities — the falling of the stars, the revolt 
 or destruction of the princes, or principal officers of 
 state — the rolling of the heavens together like a scroll, 
 great revolutions issuing in the destruction of the 
 constitution — and taking all together, in general, great 
 political convulsions tending to the subversion of the 
 state or empire. 
 
 In reference to ecclesiastical and spiritual things, 
 the darkening of the sunwi]\ denote the decay of evan- 
 gelical religion by obscuring the light and influence 
 of Jesus Christ, who is metaphorically and symbolic- 
 ally the Sun of Righteousness — the turning the moon 
 into blood, the calamities, afflictions, and persecution of 
 the church — the falling of the stars, apostasies among 
 ministers of religion — the heavens rolling together like 
 a scroll, the revolution and subversion of the visible 
 church. 
 
 In like manner, an earthquake, politically, denotes a 
 revolution — a storm of hail and fire, the desolation 
 of an empire by invasion, or the irruption of barbarian 
 hordes — the removal of mountains and islands, the 
 subversion of kingdoms and communities — the turn- 
 ing of the sea and rivers into blood, the destruction by 
 sanguinary war of large masses of people — and the 
 drying up of rivers, the wasting of the population and 
 revenues of a kingdom. These may be called simple 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 135 
 
 Of NATURAL SYMBOLS, whether used singly or grouped 
 together, for they, both individually and collectively, 
 really exist in nature. ..jM; .- 
 
 Compound symbols are those which, although in 
 their individual or integral parts they have a veritable 
 existence in nature, are nevertheless grouped or com- 
 bined together, sometimes in monstrous forms, and 
 always in such combinations as find nothing answer- 
 able to them in nature, but are the creations of the 
 prophet's mind, or the pictures that were presented to 
 him in vision. Of this sort are the wild beasts des- 
 cribed by the prophets, differing, sometimes mon- 
 strously, from any actually existing. A beast being 
 the symbol of an empire, its different members are 
 employed to denote something pertaining to that 
 empire. Thus, the beast with the seven heads and ten 
 horns, is explained to denote the political or secular 
 Roman empire — the heads^ distinct forms of supreme 
 authority — and the horns^ separate and distinct king- 
 doms. Others of like complicated character might 
 be noticed, such as the woman clothed with the sun,* 
 having the moon under her feet, and on her head a 
 crown of twelve stars, while in parturition attacked 
 by a great red dragon with seven heads, and ten 
 horns, and seven crowns upon his head, having a tail 
 which drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and 
 cast them to the earth, all which, when interpreted 
 according to the import of the symbols, gives us, as 
 we are disposed to believe, though differing from 
 most commentators on this subject, a description of 
 the opposition made by the secular government of 
 pagan Rome against the piety of the Christian church, 
 and which finally issued in the birth and prevalence of 
 popery for 1260 years. 
 
 ♦Rev. 12. 
 
Id6 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 It is unnecessary to notice the variety and desul- 
 tory character of many other symbols, taken from the 
 elements — thunder and lightning, hail and tornado, 
 tempests and volcanoes, from a great city, from a 
 sealed book, from the harvest, and the vintage, a sup- 
 per, and a great battle, and the like. Nor is it neces- 
 sary to detail the rules which different commentators 
 have laid down, by which to determine the import of 
 a symbol, in any of its particular uses ; some excel- 
 lent remarks on which subject may be found in John- 
 son's introduction to his Exposition of the book of 
 Revelations, and Mr. Faber's Calendar of Sacred 
 Prophecy, and other works of kindred character. 
 Enough has been brought into view to give some 
 general idea of the nature and structure of symbo- 
 lical language, and to show that while things, either 
 simple or compounded, are made the representatives 
 of ideas, such language, nevertheless, as distinctly and 
 definitely as alphabetical, directs us to literal matters 
 OF FACT, real OBJECTS AND EVENTS, matters of visible 
 observation in this world, historically to be verified. 
 
 4. There is yet what may be called a fourth style 
 of language in which prophecy has been sometimes 
 delivered, viz. that of types. 
 
 Types are often confounded with symbols, because 
 they bear a very strong resemblance to them, being 
 visible signs, figures, actions, persons, rites, or insti- 
 tutions, representing something intended to be made 
 known. There are, however, one or two essential 
 points of difference. A type was understood to 
 represent something future, just as a copy does the 
 original, and in this sense, the word is generally used 
 in contradistinction from antetype, which denotes the 
 original or thing itself.* In this sense Paulf says 
 
 • See Warburton's Div. Leg., vol. ii. pp. 646, 647. f Rom. 6. 14. 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 137 
 
 Adam was a type of Christ. Isaac, too, as required 
 by God to be sacrificed, and as offered by Abraham,* 
 was a type of Christ, by which Paul says Abraham 
 received some clearer views as to the love and provi- 
 dences of God in sacrificing the Lord Jesus Christ, his 
 Son, the Messiah. The paschal lamb was a type of 
 redemption by Jesus Christ. The brazen serpent was 
 a type of the cross of Christ as the means of salva- 
 tion. The Levitical priesthood, and, indeed, the 
 whole tabernacle and its furniture, with its various 
 ordinances and worldly sanctuary, were typesf of 
 Christ, the great High-priest of our profession, ofiici- 
 ating, as He now does, in a greater and more perfect 
 tabernacle not made with hands, the original or ante- 
 type which the tabernacle, suited to a migrating state 
 in the wilderness, and the temple afterwards adapted 
 to a more permanent state, were designed to represent. 
 Another difference between types and symbols is, 
 that the import and use of the latter grew naturally 
 out of the poverty of language, whereas the former 
 depend, originally and entirely, upon the appointment 
 of God, or the fact that He designedly employed them 
 as a means of instruction. This, idea is of great im- 
 portance in the study and interpretation of the Scrip- 
 tures ; for it will administer, in the first place, a 
 necessary check to those who are disposed to give 
 loose to their imaginations, and interpret everything 
 historical and ceremonial, under the Old Testament, 
 as typical of something under the New — and, in the 
 SECOND PLACE, supply the proper guide and limitations 
 as to what is called the secondary, occult, or double 
 sense of prophecy. We are not authorized to say 
 this action or the other, this person, event, cere- 
 
 • Heb. 11. 17-19, t Heb. 9. 9 ; 10, 1. 
 
138 THE SYSTEM OF INTEBPRETATION. 
 
 monial, or the other, was typical, unless we learn, 
 from the Sacred Scriptures, directly or indirectly, that 
 God so intended it to be. Nor are we to take it up 
 as a general principle, and employ it for the interpre- 
 tation of all prophecy, that because some predictions 
 have been unquestionably delivered intentionally with 
 a double reference, therefore we must seek a double 
 meaning — first a literal, and then a spiritual — in all. 
 
 These remarks will be better understood from a 
 brief view of the nature and origin of types. One of 
 the most ancient, simple, and natural modes of com- 
 municating men's conceptions to each other, is by 
 expressive actions. It is equally applicable to civil 
 and religious matters. There is reason to believe 
 that the very first revelation God ever made to man, 
 of the fact and scheme of redemption through Jesus 
 Christ, was made in this way. From the historical 
 account given by Moses in the 3d chapter of Genesis, 
 of the pronouncing of the curse on the human race, 
 it would appear that God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent, 
 were all present. Whatever may have been the ori- 
 ginal form or character of the serpent, which there is 
 reason, from the very words of the curse pronounced 
 on it, to believe was different from what it is now, one 
 thing is certain, that it was but the innocent visible 
 instrument, employed and actuated by an invisible 
 and malignant spirit for the seduction of the " Mother 
 of us all." 
 
 One design of the pronunciation of the curse was, 
 to teach our first parents the existence and presence 
 of a malignant, invisible being,* hostile to their hap- 
 piness 5 and also that, notwithstanding his temporary 
 triumph over them, he should nevertheless be over- 
 come, and there be escape for men from under his do- 
 
 * See Hengstenburg's Christology, v. i. p. 26 41. 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 139 
 
 minion. God can change at will, without violating any 
 moral obligation or impeaching his benevolence, the 
 form and functions of any mere animal devoid of a 
 rational soul ; especially should this be done for the 
 purpose of illustrating or giving a lively exhibition of 
 important moral truth. Presuming, as we may justly, 
 that the serpent instantly, on the pronouncing of the 
 curse, changed its form, and, falling prostrate on the 
 earth, began to creep abjectly and disgustingly on its 
 belly, there could not have been given to our first pa- 
 rents a more significant illustration, and pledge of the 
 ultimate fulfilment of the prediction, that " the seed of 
 the woman should bruise the serpent's head." And if, 
 as is most likely, the special dislike of mankind to 
 the serpent, where the light of revelation is had, was 
 the result of these historical recollections, we have, 
 in these very feelings, a perpetuated proof of God's 
 veracity and faithfulness in the fulfilment of his pro- 
 mise, to destroy the dominion of Satan, and to estab- 
 lish a lasting enmity between him and the seed of the 
 woman. While the whole was veritable matter of his- 
 tory, obvious to the eye, it became a very appropriate 
 and significant type of other things, as literally and 
 truly to occur. Such typical actions were afterwards 
 very common — examples of which we have in the sig- 
 nificant or typical actions of the prophets Ezekiel, 
 Jeremiah, Hosea, Isaiah, and others : such as the car- 
 rying out of the household stuff 5* the portraying of 
 Jerusalem on a tilef and laying siege to it ; the bury- 
 ing of a linen girdle ;| the lying on the side so many 
 days;§ the marring of the vessel on the potter's wheel ,*|| 
 the breaking of the potter's vessel jIT the marriage of 
 
 • Ezek. 12. 1-11. t Ezek. 4. 1-3. J Jer. 13. 1-15. 
 
 § Ezek. 4. 4-6. !| Jer. 18. 1-10. IT Jer. 19. 1-15. 
 
14-0 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPifiTATION. 
 
 whoredoms, and birth and names of the prophets' chil- 
 dren.* 
 
 Whatever may be the truth and force of these re- 
 marks, as to the typical actions of God when he first 
 pronounced the curse, it is certain, that very soon 
 after the fall of our first parents, God ordained the 
 rite of sacrifice, which afterwards was adopted into 
 the Levitical ritual, and was, as we learn, from the be- 
 ginning, a type of the sacrifice of the woman's seed — 
 the atonement of Jesus Christ for the redemption of 
 the world.f 
 
 The passover, a rite divinely instituted to com- 
 memorate the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, was 
 also a type of redemption from sin, and death, and 
 hell, by the sacrifice of Christ, our passover or pas- 
 chal lamb without spot and blemish, who was oiFered 
 for us.J We need not notice further examples. Suf- 
 fice it to say, that the priesthood of Melchizedek and 
 of Aaron the high priest, and the essential ordinances 
 of the Mosaic ritual, were all divinely appointed types 
 or foreshadowing resemblances and copies of the great 
 original, Jesus Christ. For it was not only actions 
 that were made typical, but also persons. Thus, 
 Isaac offered for sacrifice by his father Abraham, Israel 
 collectively called and delivered out of Egypt, Moses 
 as a prophet and mediator, David as a conqueror, and 
 Solomon as a peaceful and glorious king, and others, 
 were employed by God, and in his providence placed 
 in circumstances, to foreshadow or represent some at- 
 tributes and features in the character and work of 
 Jesus Christ. The one was the type of the other, but 
 both were equally veritable persons, and real actors in 
 
 *Hos. 1.2.3. 
 
 t See Delancy's Revelation Examined, v. i. Diss. 8. 
 
 t Warburton's Divine Legation, v. ii. p. 499. 
 
.nc^r^r- SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 141 
 
 scenes and events bearing a strong and striking re- 
 semblance. 
 
 It is of very great importance to attend to this prin- 
 ciple in the interpretation of the book of Psalms. The 
 typical character of David, known and understood by 
 himself to be a type of Christ, and the typical charac- 
 ter of many of the great events in his history, are the 
 only true clue to his meaning in many of the Psalms. 
 Primarily he may have had his eye on the events and 
 circumstances of his own life ; but it is only as he 
 saw and understood them to be typical, and illustra- 
 tive of something correspondent in the character and 
 history of the Messiah, towards whom his hapes and 
 aspirations were directed, that they excited the deep 
 interest of his heart. The Spirit thus gave him typi- 
 cal revelations, and through him the church. For thus 
 were they understood and quoted by Christ and his apos- 
 tles. So too did the ancient rabbinical writers among 
 the Jews understand the Psalms. The 22d and 69th 
 psalms are a striking description of the sufferings of the 
 Messiah ; the 2d, 21st, 45th, 68th, 72d, 89th and 110th, 
 of the triumph of the Messiah ; the 16th, 35th, 40th, 
 102d, and others, of his' humiliation and exaltation, 
 actually so understood and quoted in the New Testa- 
 ment. So frequent and indeed continual are the 
 references in the Psalms to the Messiah, upon the 
 principle just stated, as to justify the position taken 
 by the Rev. John Fry,* Rector of Desford, Leicester- 
 shire, and formerly of the University College, Oxford, 
 that Christ and the events of his first or his second 
 advent are the perpetual theme from one end to the 
 other of this sacred book. This fact affords an abun- 
 dantly satisfactory solution of what in that book ap- 
 pears to be inconsistent with a Christian spirit, and 
 * See his New Translation and Exposition of the Psalms. 
 13 
 
142 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 has led some to denominate particular parts of it curs- 
 ing psalms — such as the 109th, &c. They are but de- 
 nunciations and predictions of divine vengeance on 
 the enemies of Christ, and might have been just as 
 correctly translated in the future tense as in the im- 
 perative mode. 
 
 This typical character of some predictions not be- 
 ing duly considered, has led some to great mistakes 
 about what has been called the secondary or double 
 sense. It is undoubtedly the fact, that sometimes pre- 
 dictions have been delivered in terms which describe 
 a near and literal fultilment, and yet look forward to a 
 more remote and analogous fulfilment. Hence some 
 have contended, as they thought unanswerably, in favor 
 of the allegorical or spiritual interpretation, as though 
 there is always an occult sense behind the literal ex- 
 pressions. But a closer attention to this subject will 
 show that the argument is fallacious. 
 
 One or two examples, and the statement of the ob- 
 vious principle of interpretation in relation to them, 
 will set this matter in a plain and intelligible light. 
 Joel, in his first and second chapters, predicted ap- 
 proaching ravages of the land of Israel by the palmer- 
 worm, the locust, the canker-worm, and the cater- 
 pillar. Afterwards he predicts the invasion of the 
 country by a mighty '•'• nation y"* whose strength and 
 numbers and ravages, he describes, by language sug- 
 gested from the desolating character, numbers, pro- 
 gress, and effects of an army of locusts. These two 
 events are so blended together in that description, as 
 to make it evident, that the first desolation by the lo- 
 custs was regarded by the prophet as a type of the more 
 terrible desolation to follow by the Assyrian army. 
 A careful attention to the language of the prophet, 
 shows evidently that he had the two literal events in 
 view, and, in filling up his description taken from the 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 143 
 
 type, i. e. the locust ravages, uses terms applicable 
 and evidently pointing to the antetype, i. e. the Assy- 
 rian invasion.* 
 
 Of like character are other typical predictions, of 
 which we notice that of the destruction of Babylon, 
 given in the 13th and 14th chapters of Isaiah. The 
 description is most graphic, so far as the literal Baby- 
 lon, is concerned, and all has been verified to the very 
 letter ; but both at the commencement (ch. 12. 6-16) 
 and at the close (ch. 13. 24-27), the language directs 
 us to a far more terrible and extensive desolation of 
 the kingdoms of this world than took place at the 
 overthrow of ancient Babylon by the Medes. 
 
 Other prophets and Christ himself adopted the very 
 words of Isaiah, and especially the apostle John, when 
 they predicted the great convulsions, revolutions, 
 and overthrow of nations, which should take place 
 at the destruction of the Roman power, whose capitol 
 has been metaphorically denominated " great Baby- 
 lon" — the first literal Babylon being the type of the 
 last, and the destruction of the first being the type and 
 pledge of the destruction of the last. 
 
 The same thing is also true in relation to the pre- 
 dictions concerning Edom, and Moab, and other wick- 
 ed nations, whose destruction was predicted by ihe 
 prophets as events not very remote from their day, 
 but which events were spoken of as types and proofs 
 or pledges of the fulfilment of predictions looking to 
 a much more remote period and to future powers to 
 arise in the world, not having, as yet, in the days of 
 
 * Joel, 1. 2. Warburton did not discern the peculiar force of 
 JoePs expressions, (1. 6, compared with 1. 4,) and has supposed 
 the whole to be allegorical, without any private hint, as in v. 6, 
 that Joel referred to two literal events — the locust and Assyrian 
 devastation— the one a type of the other. — Divine Legation, v. 
 U. 499. 
 
144* THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 the prophet, even been organized or received a name, 
 and which therefore were named, metaphorically, de- 
 scriptively, or typically, from nations then known, 
 whose character and destruction those of the more 
 distant nations, yet to be developed in the political 
 world, should resemble. 
 
 The principle on which all such predictions are to 
 be understood, and which predictions have led to much 
 confusion about " the double sense," is a very simple 
 and intelligible one. The prophets looked down the 
 long vista of the world's and church's history, to the 
 day and hour of the Messiah's ultimate and glorious 
 triumph, and of the establishment of his kingdom on the 
 earth. When the church was in distress, and calami- 
 ties threatening her from the invasion of hostile 
 nations, they delivered, under the direction of God, 
 predictions for her comfort and hope. These brought 
 distinctly into view, the final hour of glory and 
 triumph, as the true reason and ground of hope for 
 deliverance and redemption from any intervening 
 seasons of distress and peril, of disaster and apparent 
 desolation. In disclosing these sources of hope, the 
 prophets sometimes began their predictions with a 
 reference to the greatest and final deliverance, and 
 then prophesied, in relation to the calamities or de- 
 liverances nearer hand, from which again they glanced 
 to the last, and which precedent events themselves 
 they described as types and pledges of its glorious 
 accomplishment. Sometimes the prophets, in ad- 
 tninistering consolation, would predict and describe 
 the last coming of the Messiah, and glance from it to 
 the second, viewing both as reasons for the events 
 which should occur nearer at hand, and which, when 
 verified, would be types and pledges of still greater. 
 Sometimes, too, even symbolical language, such as 
 the sun being darkened, the moon being apparently 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 145 
 
 turned into blood, and the stars falling from Heaven, 
 would receive a literal verification in the extraordinary 
 celestial and atmospheric phenomena which should 
 occur before, or simultaneously with the events pre- 
 dicted by the symbols, and be, as it were, God's 
 sensible exhibition of the symbol or type itself, as was 
 remarkably the case towards the destruction of 
 Jerusalem ; and indeed has been, at different periods 
 since in the world's history, so as to have swayed 
 men into the superstitious notion, that frequent extra- 
 ordinary eclipses of the sun and moon, the appearance 
 of comets, unwonted brilliancy and forms of the 
 Aurora Borealis, the decadence of meteoric vapors, 
 and explosion of meteoric bodies, which astronomers 
 and natural philosophers know not how to account for, 
 are sure signs and omens of wars and calamities about 
 to come upon the nations of the earth.* 
 
 The nature and use of types and of typical language 
 as employed by the prophets, enable us easily and 
 satisfactorily to understand all these things, so that, 
 while we are delivered from all superstitious fears, we 
 may know exactly, what use to make of, and what 
 lessons to learn from, the prophetical writings. 
 
 Two things are obvious from the prophets' use of 
 types — the first is, that while types are not to be 
 rejected utterly, they are not to be multiplied at the will 
 of the interpreter. We must look carefully through 
 the whole compass of the prophet's view, study well 
 the import of his words, and only admit typical events, 
 where the prophets themselves meant that the events 
 should be so regarded. It will not do for us to assume 
 it as a universal principle, which we may apply ac- 
 cording to our own whims and conceits, and on the 
 
 * See N. Webster^s History of Plagues, Comets, &c. 
 13* 
 
146 XHB svsxEM o. ,.tbkp1ht.t:ok. 
 
 foundation of which we shall claim, as some have done,* 
 that because Edom, Moab, Babylon, the Assyrian, 
 are unquestionably used as metaphorical descriptions 
 or types of wicked nations, not yet arisen, nor known 
 by name in the world in the days of the prophets, 
 therefore such words are to be generalized or 
 spiritualized in their import, as denoting compre- 
 hensively and only, wicked men in general. 
 
 In this, we conceive, consists one of the fundamental 
 mistakes of Mr. Miller, and of those who, with him, 
 confidently assert the coming of Christ in the year 
 1843. Although he and his school differ greatly in 
 their result from the great body of the spiritualists in 
 this country, yet do they practically hold the same 
 principles of spiritual interpretation in common, with 
 this leading exception, that Mr. Miller affirms the 
 visible coming of Christ to be before the Millenium. 
 In this respect he agrees with the millenarians or 
 literalists, but this is almost the only one. In all 
 other particulars he is with the spiritualists, and his 
 whole system is but the legitimate application and 
 carrying out of their principles of interpretation to the 
 prophecies.! He has infinitely more in common with 
 
 * Jones' Spiritual Interpretation. 
 
 t By spiritualists here, we mean those in general who make the 
 kingdom of Christ altogether an allegorical thing, denying his 
 visible appearance and personal administration in it, and maintain- 
 ing, that it and the Millenium consist, mainly, in the dominion of 
 abstract truth or evangelic doctrine, swaying the minds of men, 
 and thus the nations of the earth. Some who hold these views have 
 advanced and reasoned conclusively and happily, in reference lo 
 the true principles of interpretation, opposing successfully the alle- 
 gorical system of Origen ; and the occult or double sense of pro- 
 phecy. But they have very often practically departed from their 
 own principles, and by their exegesis in particular cases, violated 
 their own rules. — See some excellent remarks in Professor Stuart's 
 Hints on the Int. of Proph. p. 11-47. 
 
SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 14-7 
 
 them than the literalists ; though he is by far more 
 injuriously and slanderously treated, and frequently 
 styled a fanatic and madman, by certain spiritualists 
 with whom he holds so much in common, than by the 
 literalists, who can agree with him in so very little. 
 
 The other thing that obviously results from the 
 prophets' use of types and typical language, is the 
 literality of the results predicted in both cases, as 
 fully and as certainly in those 'most remote, as in 
 those near at hand, which were their types and pledge. 
 The brazen serpent, for example, was a literal carnal 
 ordinance, but the type of Christ upon the cross as 
 the means of healing, just as literally and truly lifted 
 up from the earth. The locusts were literally an army 
 of devastation, but the type of the Assyrian army, 
 which, too, was as literal a verity as the locusts them- 
 selves. So, too, the ancient Assyrian and his destruc- 
 tion, Moab, Edom, and the ancient Babylon and their 
 destruction, were literal types of Rome and of its 
 veritable destruction, as the last political power and 
 empire that should arise in the world, and be destroyed 
 by the coming of Christ ; and therefore, on the prin- 
 ciples of literal interpretation, we look for something 
 more than the meliorating influence of Christianity, 
 the reformation of popery, and the evangelization and 
 civilisation or conversion of the world, even the 
 violent and terrible destruction of the city of Rome, 
 of the whole ecclesiastico-political system of popery, 
 and of all the anti-Christian nations and powers which 
 form the constituent parts of the last universal Roman 
 empire. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL 
 SYSTEM OF INTERPRETING THE PROPHECIES. 
 
 The importance, in the study of the prophecies, of 
 having correct principles of interpretation, has in- 
 duced us to pursue the subject more extensively than 
 we had at first designed. Having affirmed them to be 
 the same substantially with those we apply to all ordi- 
 nary works, written in the same characters of style ; 
 having at some length unfolded the varieties of pro- 
 phetical style, comprising, in general, the Alphabetical, 
 the Tropical, the Symbolical, and the Typical j hav- 
 ing, as we think, proved the literal system of interpre- 
 tation in contradistinction from the spiritual or allego- 
 rical to be the true j — and having endeavored to guard 
 against the more common mistakes and misapprehen- 
 sions growing out of ignorance, as to what the literal 
 system is, we deem it proper, before applying these 
 principles of interpretation, to the predictions concern- 
 ing THE COMING AND KINGDOM OF JeSUS ChRIST, tO lay 
 
 before the reader a general outline of the two systems 
 as applied to these subjects, and brought out in their 
 general results, and after having done so, to trace 
 THEIR history, SO far as traditionary records may 
 throw any light upon then^^ 
 
 We do not, it is true, hold to tradition as deci- 
 sive authority ; nor do we admit it, for one moment, 
 to be either a source of original information, of equal 
 
GENERAL OUTLINE, ETC. 149 
 
 value with the written Scriptures, or the only infalli- 
 ble interpreter : but we nevertheless affirm that as 
 history, it is of great use in determining how primi- 
 tive Christians, either in the apostolic days, or imme- 
 diately after, understood the language of the inspired 
 writers. We value the writings of the fathers, and of 
 the ancient Jewish Rabbis, as exponents of the views 
 entertained in the church, both before, and immediately 
 after the coming of Christ. When those views coin- 
 cide with the written Scriptures, as grammatically in- 
 terpreted, we feel bound to treat them with respect. 
 
 Retracing the stream of traditionary history on this 
 subject, we admit that much will be found deserving 
 of no respect whatever, being the opinions, the specu- 
 lations, and the additions of different individuals and 
 ages. Because certain heretics, as Cerinthus and oth- 
 ers, whd, according to Eusebius' account of this here- 
 siarch, adopted some of the leading features of the 
 millenarian views, and gave them altogether a sensual 
 dress,* until they were incorporated into thfe belief of 
 the eastern nations, who adopted the religion of Ma- 
 homet, and indulged the expectation of a sensual Hea- 
 ven, is no more reason why the whole of their views, 
 and the system of literal interpretation, should be re- 
 jected, than the anti-millenarian, or spiritualist, would 
 feel it to be a good and valid reason for rejecting his 
 views, and the spiritual system of interpretation, because 
 some of his notions about the coming of Christ, and 
 the nature of the kingdom of Heaven, together with 
 his system of spiritual interpretation, have led to the 
 despotism and splendid extravagance of Papal and 
 other hierarchies ; — to the reveries and mysticism, and 
 unintelligible allegories of the Hon. Emanuel Sweden- 
 
 * Eusebii Pamphili Ecclesiasticse HistoriaB, Mb. iii. cap. 28. 
 
160 GENERAL OUTLINE O^ THE 
 
 borg and his followers, or to the generalization and 
 philosophical expositions of the Neologists of Ger- 
 many, and of the Unitarians of Great Britain and the 
 United States, who boldly, but falsely, and as we think, 
 blasphemously speak, of " the contradictions of the Old 
 Testament, its legends, so beautiful as fictions, so ap- 
 palling as facts, its predictions that have never been 
 fulfilled, its puerile conceptions of God, and the 
 cruel denunciations that disfigure both Psalm and pro- 
 phecy."* 
 
 Our object is; not to give the history of either 
 system in its details ; nor to contrast them mi- 
 nutely ; but merely to present the general outlines of 
 both, as they take their form from the leading and es- 
 sential ideas on which they are respectively founded. 
 
 Both admit the fact of the second coming of JesuS 
 Christ, suddenly, visibly, and gloriously, for the pur- 
 pose of raising the dead bodies of his saints, quicken- 
 ing the living, judging the world, and establishing for 
 ever the florious dominion or kingdom of Heaven. 
 They, therefore, both believe and teach these five 
 great general facts, viz. the visible appearance of Je- 
 sus Christ — the resurrection of the bodies of the dead 
 — a day of universal judgment — a Millenium, and a 
 kingdom of glory inconceivable and eternal. They 
 differ greatly, however, as to the import of these facts, 
 and the time, order, and manner of their occurrence. 
 
 The spiritualist objects to any attention being given 
 to chronological prophecy, afiSrming that it is design- 
 edly kept secret, and therefore almost impious to at- 
 tempt to determine when Jesus Christ shall come 
 again to this world, partly, because he says it is not 
 revealed, and partly, because he takes it for granted, 
 
 * Th. Parker's Discourse, p. 31. 
 
LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 151 
 
 that it is not to be expected, at all events, till some 
 time after the Millenium. He pleads that the Saviour, 
 after his resurrection, rebuked the disciples for pry- 
 ing into this matter, observing that it was not for them 
 " to know the times and the seasons, which the Fa- 
 ther hath put in his own power,"* and had previously 
 and explicitly declared " of that day and of that hour 
 knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in Hea- 
 ven, neither the Son, but the Father."! 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that since the time these 
 things were said by the Saviour, the counsels and plans 
 of the Father have been further revealed, and that 
 since the return of the Saviour to the Father, He has 
 given very copious comments on former predictions, 
 and added greatly to the field of prophecy by the re- 
 velations which he has made through the Spirit, by 
 the apostles, and especially by John, who carries us 
 down to the very time of the end. We do not, indeed, 
 plead for any attempts to fix certainly the date of the 
 Saviour's second coming, and the epoch of the resur- 
 rection of the saints, and of the introduction of His 
 glorious kingdo(n : but this we affirm, that it will not 
 do, as^ it is very often done, to plead the remarks made 
 by the Saviour, which were literally true up to the date 
 when they were made, and appeal to them as authori- 
 tative and absolute, in reference to a later period, in 
 the discharge of the duties confided to him by the Fa- 
 ther, and when, from the fact of extended revelations 
 having been subsequently made, and chronological 
 prophecies too, delivered, it is evident that the Father 
 has subsequently made known to the Son, officiating 
 as the Mediator, more of his counsels and plans. Still 
 we do not mean to say, that the precise day and hour 
 
 * Acts, 1.7. t Mat. 24. 36. 
 
152 GENERAL OTTTLINE OF THE^ 
 
 can be known; nevertheless, every one can see, that 
 while these may be unknown, nevertheless the general 
 season, or period of the world's history, if not the 
 ytar^ may be known, and there be no real contradic- 
 tion between these things. Even should we be able 
 to come within a century of the truth here, we come 
 sufficiently near for all practical purposes of warning, 
 preparation, and watchfulness to the church and to the 
 world. 
 
 That this may be done, will be obvious to all, who 
 will look so far into the prophecies, as to see, that 
 there is a definite order in the succession of certain 
 great epochs, connected with the introduction and es- 
 tablishment of Christ's kingdom. For example, as the 
 personal coming of Christ, the resurrection of the 
 saints, the judgment, the Millenium, and the eternal 
 kingdom, are all admitted, by both the literalist and 
 spiritualist, it becomes a very appropriate inquiry, in 
 what order will these great events occur 1 Does pro- 
 phecy say anything on the subject 1 or give us any 
 hints, whether the Millenium is to precede the second 
 coming of Christ, or the second coming precede it \ 
 Is the judgment, a mere judging or trial of all mankind, 
 simultaneously collected, and speedily despatched \ 
 or is it a new and wonderful, and glorious dispensa- 
 tion, having its distinct epochs, at its commencement 
 and its close, and calling into exercise other than 
 Judiciary powers, even the Legislative and Executive, 
 and all that pertains to the work of government, which 
 is the sense of the word to judge, as often used in the 
 Sacred Scriptures 1* Is there to be any difference, 
 
 * The work of a Judge, as given in the Sacred Scriptures, is to 
 rule or govern^ to deliver and protect his people — X6 execute the 
 laws, and to avenge or punish enemies or transgressors. Such were 
 Gideon, Sampson, Jephtha, Samuel, and others. When Christ is pre- 
 
LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 153 
 
 JIft point of lime, between the resurrection of the 
 tighteoiis and the wicked, and if so, what are the ac- 
 companiments, and pec'iliarities, of each of these great 
 events 1 In what specifically does the kingdom of Hea- 
 ven consist 1 By what means, and agencies, is it 
 conducted and administered ( and what are its dis- 
 tinctive features 1 
 
 These, and similar inquiries, which every one must 
 ^e may be started, are not to be met and answered by 
 any preconceived notions had as to the nature of the 
 coming of Christ, of the kingdom of Heaven, or of 
 the Millenium. We must do here, as did the ancient 
 l^rophets, viz. search "what, or what manner of time 
 the Spirit which was in them did signify when it tes- 
 tified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory 
 that should follow."* 
 
 It is obvious, that there is room for difference, as to 
 the general import of these facts, their mutual rela- 
 tions, and the order of their succession. To the 
 word of God alone, must the appeal be made — as all 
 ^dmit. The spiritualist explains the general import 
 of the facts in one way, and the literalist in another. 
 Each states th ir m Uual relation, and the order of 
 tlieir succession, differently. 
 
 The spiritualist believes that the Millenium is nothing 
 more than a hi<rhly-prosperous state of the church, 
 which shall be introduced through the gradual diffusioti 
 6f light and knowledge, by means of missionaries, 
 bibles, tracts, and other instrumentalities employed 
 f6r that p irpose ; that during this illustrious period, 
 S^tan will be restrained from the practice of his 
 
 dieted as Jiidare, it i-^J often as exercising princely and governmental 
 rule. Psalm, 9. 7, 8; 10. 14-i8; 67. 4 ; 72. 1-1,7,8} 96. 13; 98. 9? 
 99. 4 ; Isaiah, 2. 4 ; Mic. 4. 3 ; Jer. 23. 5. 
 • 1 Peter, 1. 11. 
 U 
 
154 GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE 
 
 deceitful and corrupting arts, and his influence almost, 
 if not entirely, suppressed ; — that the Jews in their 
 dispersion, and the Gentile heathen nutlons throughout 
 the whole world, shall be converted ;— the church 
 enjoy an increased and astonishing influence of the 
 Spirit of God, of like character with that which he 
 exerts in extensive and powerful revivals of pure 
 religion, and in this way realize all the glowing and 
 glorious anticipations of the Old Testament prophets j 
 — that the principles of the gospel becoming univer- 
 sally prevalent, all wars will cease ; — that the nations 
 of the earth becoming a vast confederated family for 
 the preservation of peace, and for the promotion of 
 human happiness, shall no longer cultivate the warlike 
 arts — civilisation be carried to the highest pitch, the 
 blessings of civil, political, and religious liberty 
 universally be enjoyed — all forms of oppression cease, 
 — the rulers of this world becoming righteous and 
 religious, rule in the fear and love of God — and the 
 entire population of the globe, increased and enriched 
 by industry, frugality, virtue, and piety, present an 
 Eden-like scene of prosperity, and glory, and blessed- 
 ness ; — that at the end of a thousand years, or of this 
 Halcyon period, the spirit of piety, which, like that of 
 the martyrs of Jesus, had prevailed in the world, will 
 begin to decline, — the great adversary who had been 
 imprisoned, be let loose again, and gain an influence 
 over the nations so as to deceive them, and to produce a 
 general defection from the millenial purity and truth j 
 — that the apostate nations, under the denomination of 
 Gog and Magog, shall conspire together, and commence 
 hostile movements for the destruction of " the camp 
 of the saints and the beloved city," and bring about a 
 general and dreadful corruption of morals and of 
 religion in the world ; — that then, but not till then, the 
 
LITERAL AKD SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 155 
 
 h&td shall suddenly rain down fire from Heaven and 
 destroy them all ; — that immediately thereafter, the 
 second personal visible coming of Jesus Christ shall 
 take place, and the resurrection of the dead, the final 
 judgment, and the dissolution by fire of this entire 
 globe ensue; — and that then, but not till then, will 
 the new Heavens and the new earth be created, and 
 that glorious heavenly kingdom be established, which 
 is to be the inheritance of the saints for ever. 
 
 Among those who in the main adopt the spiritual 
 system of interpretation, many are to be found difl^er-' 
 ving as to the extent to which its principles are to be 
 applied, and who therefore shape their theory of the 
 prophecies, in some respects, different from the above 
 outline, and from each other. Thus, there are some 
 who find it impossible to believe that all the predic- 
 tions about the return of the Jews and restoration to 
 their own land, and the recovery of the ten lost tribes, 
 with their reunion unto and re-establishment with the 
 two tribes again, as one nation in Palestine, in more 
 than the pristine glories of the theocracy, are mere 
 allegorical descriptions of their conversion, and ab- 
 sorption into the church, in the lands of their disper- 
 sion. They therefore dissent from the above view in 
 this particular, and look for the national and political 
 restoration and re-establishment of the twelve tribes 
 in the land of Palestine, as well as their conversion to 
 Christianity. Of this class is Mr. Faber, and others, 
 who, although they defer the visible coming of Christ 
 till after the Millenium, and spiritually interpret what 
 is said in relation to that glorious epoch, nevertheless, 
 cannot apply their own principles to the prophecies 
 concerning the Jews, Not a few, however, in these 
 United States, feel the obligation that consistency 
 imposes on them, to allegorize the prophecies about 
 
166 GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE 
 
 the Jews, as well as about the Millenium and the king- 
 dom of heaven. < 
 
 Others again, believing in the literal restoration of 
 the Jews, are not prepared to admit that the Millenium 
 will be ushered in by the gradual increase of mission- 
 ary labors and success, and the multiplication of re- 
 vivals of religion. They look, — for a fearful crisis in 
 the affairs of the world, — a time of trouble, grow- 
 ing out of the conflict between truth and error, be- 
 tween tyranny and liberty,-— for terrible judgments from 
 heaven on the guilty nations of the earth, especially 
 the anti-Christian, — for some sudden, signal, marked, 
 and astonishing interpositions of divine Providence, 
 which will, in a surprising manner, prepare the vvay 
 for the rapid spread of the gospel. The national coo* 
 version of the Jews, they believe, will have a power* 
 ful influence, and throw out, in all parts of the earth, 
 ■ innumerable teachers of religion, ministers, and am- 
 bassadors of Christ, acquainted with the languages of 
 the people among whom they dwell, and fitted to preach 
 the gospel with powerful success, so that their conver- 
 sion, scattered as they now are through the earth, will, 
 like the match applied to trains of powder, now laid 
 by Missionary, and Bible, and Tract societies all over 
 the earth, suddenly fill the world with the full blaze of 
 " the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the 
 waters cover the sea." This event they designate as 
 the metaphorical " coming of Christ," and as " the 
 brightness of his appearing." 
 
 How far the spiritual interpreters, however, go in 
 their explanations, it is not easy to say. Some have 
 carried out the system still further, and allegorized 
 all the existing churches into Antichrist, and the king- 
 dom of heaven into the pure and perfect ones, who 
 have advanced farthest in piety j while others hayie 
 
LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 157 
 
 actually proclaimed the New Jerusalem already to 
 have descended from heaven, and to be found, either 
 among the followers of the Hon. Emanuel Sweden- 
 borg, or some other self-applauding sect. 
 
 Others still have made war against all organiza- 
 tions, and all government — even the marriage relation 
 and family ties, — and announced the Millenium to have 
 already dawned, and to be destined speedily to per- 
 vade the earth, in the universal prevalence of the prin- 
 ciples which they advocate, viz. unrestricted liberty, 
 equality of property, and community of wives. 
 
 Others still, more speciously infidel in their allego- 
 ries, have predicted the golden age, when the tran- 
 sient in Christianity shall have been fully separated 
 from the permanent — when religion shall bring the 
 world to adopt " the only creed it lays down, the 
 great truth which springs up spontaneous in every 
 heart — ^there is a God ; the only form it will demand 
 will be a divine life, doing the best thing in the best 
 way, from the highest motives, perfect obedience to 
 the great law of God, its sanctions be the voice of 
 God in the heart, the perpetual presence of Him who 
 made us, and the stars over our head, Christ and the 
 Father abiding in us,"* bringing all of the Godhead 
 which flesh can receive, and leading man to worship 
 the divine Being without any mediator, or anything 
 whatever, between God and the mind. Others still, 
 modify their views difll?renlly, as the Shaking Quakers, 
 some Universalists, and other heretical sects, the vari- 
 eties of whose opinions it is not necessary to detail. 
 
 Mr. Miller and his followers, who believe in the 
 
 ' personal coming of Jesus Christ and the great day of 
 
 judgment and general conflagration in the year 184<3, 
 
 * Th. Parker^s Discourse. 
 
}^ 6,£N£RAL OUTLINE (k THE 
 
 are the most ultra spiritualists of the day. They 
 have calculated, as they think, from chronological 
 prophecy, the time of Christ's coming to be pre-mil- 
 lenial, and fixed its very date j and seeing no other 
 way to get rid of those prophecies which speak of the 
 restoration of the Jews, the battles of Gog and Magog, 
 the destruction of Antichrist, the Millenium, &c., 
 which, by the post-millenial spiritualists are believed 
 to precede and to prepare the w^ay for the coming of 
 Christ and day of judgment, they allegorize the whole, 
 and say they will have their accomplishment in the 
 resurrection of the dead, the renovation of the globe, 
 and the eternal state of things to be introduced imme- 
 diately at Christ's coming. 
 
 However discordant in their views as to the resultfi 
 are all these different commentators on prophecy, yet 
 do they more or less adopt the system of spiritual in^ 
 terpretation. The diverseness and contrariety of these 
 results, we thmk, afford ground for valid objection 
 against the system. It is a system which has no 
 standard, which gives an unbridled rein to men's imj^-r 
 ginations, and which has engendered some of the 
 most pestiferous heresies and ridiculous and fanatical 
 sects that have disgraced the Christian name. 
 
 But, lest we may be suspected of not dealing fairly 
 in the statement of views, so diverse and difficult to be 
 determined, existing mostly in vague and ill-defined 
 notions and speculations, most frequently found in 
 speeches and addresses before missionary and other 
 societies, and seldom well arranged and digested, w€: 
 present the following extract, as furnishing the more 
 general opinions of the spiritualists on the subject. 
 After affirming that the church will arrive at a state 
 of unprecedented prosperity, which will last a thou- 
 sand years, the writer conj.ectur€s that the world will 
 
LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYST 
 
 be SO filled with real Christians, and be ^^i^^^T^JJ^T V^^ 
 constant propagation, to supply the place oft^^^-^n^ '^. 
 die, that there will be many thousands born and ^ii^'-^j^^^^ 
 on the earth, to each man and woman who has lived 
 the six thousand previous years ] so that if most of 
 them, as is probable, be saved, there will, on the whole, 
 be many thousands of mankind saved, to one that shajl 
 be lost. 
 
 This state, continues the writer, will be one of greajt 
 happiness and glory. Nothing more is meant by the 
 predictions of Christ's coming with his saints and 
 reigning on the earth, than that, before the general 
 judgment, the Jews shall be converted, genuine Chris* 
 tianity be diffused through all nations, and Christ shall 
 reign by his spiritual presence in a glorious manner. 
 It will, however, be a time of eminent holiness, clear 
 light and knowledge, love, peace and friendship, and 
 agreement in doctrine and worship. Human life, per- 
 haps, will rarely be endangered by the poisons of the 
 mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. Beasts of 
 prey will perhaps be extirpated or tamed by tne power 
 of man. The inhabitants of every place will rest 
 secure from fear of robbery and murder. War shall 
 be entirely ended ; capital crimes and punishments 
 be heard of no more ; and governments placed on fair, 
 just, and humane foundations. The torch of civil dis- 
 cord will be extinguished. Perhaps Pagans, Turks, 
 Deists, and Jews, will be as few in number as Chris- 
 tians are now. Kings, nobles, magistrates, and rulers 
 in churches, shall act with principle, and be forward 
 to promote the best interests of men. Tyranny, op^, 
 pression, persecution, bigotry, and cruelty, shall cease. 
 Business shall be attended to without contention, dis- 
 honesty, and covetousness. Trades and manufac- 
 tures will be carried on with a design to promote the 
 
160 GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE 
 
 general good of mankind, and not with selfish inte- 
 rests, as now. Merchandize between distant coun- 
 tries will be conducted without fear of an enemy ; and 
 works of ornament and beauty, perhaps, shall not be 
 wanting in those days. Learning, which has always 
 flourished in proportion as religion has spread, shall 
 then greatly increase, and be employed for the best of 
 purposes ; astronomy, geography, natural history, 
 metaphysics, and all the useful sciences, be better un- 
 derstood, and consecrated to the service of God. And 
 "I cannot help thinking," adds the author, "that by 
 the improvements which have been made and are 
 making in ship-building, navigation, electricity, medi- 
 cine, &c., that ' the tempest will lose half its force, 
 the lightning lose half its terrors, and the human frame 
 be not near so much exposed to danger.' Above all, 
 the Bible will be more highly appreciated, its harmony 
 perceived, its superiority owned, and its energy felt, 
 by millions of human beings. In fact, the earth shall 
 be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters 
 cover the sea." 
 
 " The time when this Millenium will commence," 
 says the author, " cannot be fully ascertained, but the 
 common idea is, that it will be in the seven thou- 
 sandth year of the world. It will most probably come 
 on by degrees, and be, in a manner, introduced before 
 that time. And who knows but the present convul- 
 sions among different nations ; the overthrow which 
 popery has had in places where it has been so domi- 
 nant for hundreds of years ;* the fulfilment of pro- 
 phecy respecting infidels, and the falling away of many 
 in the last times ; and yet, in the midst of all, the 
 number of missionaries sent into different parts of the 
 
 * The author wrote more than thirty years ago, but events are 
 falsifying his anticipations. 
 
LITERAL AND S?IEITUA]^ §X«TEMS. 1,^' 
 
 world, together with the increase of gospel ministers, 
 the thousands of ignorant children that have beei> 
 taught to read the Bible, and the vast nunaber of diffei^ 
 ent societies that have been lately instituted for the 
 benevolent purpose of informing the minds and inar 
 proving the hearts of the ignorant j who knows, I say, 
 but what these things are the forerunners of events of 
 the most delightful nature, and which may usher ink 
 the happy morn of that bright and glorious day, whe«i 
 the whole world shall be filled with his glory, and all 
 the ends of the earth see the salvation of God."* The^n 
 are the prevailing views. 
 
 We have exhibited them iu the language of the awr 
 thor, because they are the more current, by reason <4' 
 being found ifi a ver,y pppulaif wark, extensively oi^, 
 culated, and doubtless contributing, no little, to mouji4 
 the prevalent opinions on the subject of the prophe- 
 cies, as interpreted by the spiritualists. 
 
 The literalists differ greatly in their views from. 
 them, and what is remarkable, they mostly agre« 
 among themselves in the general outline and results, 
 It is true, they sometimes differ as to minor and subr 
 ordinate prophecies not yet fulfilled, but not as to tb/8 
 general system, in its bold and radical features. Th© 
 Millenium is regarded by them, not as the expansion 
 and universal diffusion of the gospel, in a season <^' 
 unprecedented religious prosperity — not as the con^ 
 summation of the present evangelical dispensation, bi^t 
 as a new dispensation, to be miraculously introduced^ 
 as all the former dispensations were, and to possess 
 its own distinct and peculiar attributes. The gospel 
 dispensation, which commenced with the ministry QJ^ 
 Christ, and was fully introduced on the day of Pent« 
 
 ♦ See Buck's Theological Dictionsury, art. Mi|leniu|p. 
 
1 
 
 162 GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE . 
 
 cost, they believe — as Christ and the apostles styled 
 it — is the dispensation of the good news of the kingdom 
 of Heaven drawing nigh^ but the Millenium, the king- 
 dom itself, commenced with the awful retributions of 
 Divine justice on the enemies of Christ — the one, the 
 proclamation or heralding of the kingdom corning, and 
 the other, the kingdom come, introduced by terrible 
 displays of divine vengeance, and established and per- 
 petuated by the exercise of all the high functions of 
 executive, legislative, and judicial sway, entitling it to 
 the denomination of tuc Day of Judgment. 
 
 This kingdom, they affirm, is not the Church of 
 God, as she now exists in her visible organizations, 
 and in which Christians, or the saints, are the suhjectSy 
 yielding obedience to the commands of Jesus Christ j 
 but it is a new and glorious development of Almighty 
 power, and grace, and justice, in which the saints of 
 all ages, that have died in the faith, and been with 
 Christ, shall return with him to the earth, and 
 receive their bodies raised from the dead, and made 
 like to his most glorious body ; when those that love 
 the Lord and his appearing, alive on the earth at 
 the period of his coming, shall undergo an instanta- 
 neous change in their mortal bodies, assimilating 
 them to the saints of the resurrection, and shall all be 
 employed by Jesus Christ as his kings and priests, his 
 subordinate agents and officers, to administer under 
 him the government to be then established over the 
 nations that shall yet remain in the flesh, ^he saints 
 in the millenial state are to reign with Christ — to be 
 the rulers and not the ruled — having been schooled in 
 affliction, persecuted, tried, and many of ihem put to 
 death for the testimony of Jesus, and no longer self- 
 ish, ambitious, covetous, and vindictive, like most 
 rulers of this world, become fit and safe depositaries 
 
LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 163 
 
 of power for the government of the nations of the 
 earth. 
 
 Such is the general idea of those who adopt the 
 literal interpretation- As to the nature, order, and 
 succession of events, preparatory and designed to 
 usher in and to establish this kingdom, there are, as has 
 been hinted, some differences ; but the following are 
 among the points, or fa3ts I elievcd by different writ- 
 ers* who have pursued their investigations farthest, 
 to be taught in prophecy, viz. : That the Jews will be 
 restored to their own land ; — thatthis will become the 
 occasion, or be in the midst of great revolutions and 
 convulsions among the European and Asiatic nations, 
 particularly those that occupy the territory of the Ro- 
 man empire, embracing Western and Central Asia, and 
 Northern and North-eastern Africa; — that a general 
 dissolution of society shall take place through the 
 spirit of lawlessness and violence, of corruption and 
 revolution, which shall prevail, and be especially pro- 
 moted by the irruption of Northern hordes into South- 
 ern E.irope and Western Asia, like a devastating storm 
 of hail ; —that there shall be a great conspiracy 
 among the anti-Christian nations, led on by some one 
 
 * See Rev. J. W. Brooks on the Advent and Kingdom of Christ; 
 also, his Elements of Prophetical Interpretation. Sermons on the 
 Second Aivent, by Rev. Hugh M'Neile; also his Prospects of the 
 Jews. Hon. Gerard T% Noel's Brief Inquiry into the Prospcfcts of 
 the Church of Christ. Cox on the Comin2: and Kingdom of 
 Christ. Letters by Joseph D'Arcy Sirr, on the First Resurrec- 
 tion, anJ other works, to be met in the Literalist, published by O. 
 Rogers of Philalelphia — especially Cuniaghame on the Apoca- 
 lypse, and Habershon on the Prophecies and on the Revelation. 
 Also, Frazer on the Prophecies, though not believing in the per- 
 sonal advent, the Investigator, the Morning Watch, Fry on the 
 Second Aivent, Mode's Clavis Apocalyptica, and various letters and 
 discourses contained in his works, Begg on the Prophecies, &c. &c. 
 
t^4} (BfiiStRA'L O^CrTLi^NE OF tftE 
 
 ^ the tett sovereignties of Europe, or of some T^e^*^ 
 oriental power to arise within the bounds of th6 
 (Ad Ronnan empire, which sovereignty shall be the 
 Assyrian of Isaiah, the last form of Antichrist ; — 
 that this conspiracy will lead to the great war of Gog 
 *iftd Magog predicted by Ezekiel, and the battle of Ar- 
 mageddon, by John, issuing in the terrible destruction 
 of the anti-Christian nations ; — that some time, either 
 previous to, or during these movements, the sign of 
 ttie Son of man coming in the heavehs, shall be seen, 
 *ttd He descending from Heaven into the air, with his 
 saints for the resurrection of their bodies, and catch- 
 ing up the saints alive on the earth into the presence 
 of the Lord ; — that at this coming, which will be sud- 
 den and unexpected, he will inflict dreadful judgments 
 on the apostate nations by means of volcanic and 
 Other fires, which will destroy the seat of the Beast, 
 the mystic Babylon, but not all the nations of the 
 earth j — that while his saints remain for a series of 
 years in the immediate presence of Christ, before He 
 descends from the air to the earth, being judged and 
 allotted to their stations and work, He will be conduct- 
 ing his retributive judgment on the nations of th^ 
 earth, preparing the way for the full restoration of 
 Israel, and their national conversion, in a manner analo- 
 gfous with his Providence toward them for forty 
 years in the wilderness ; — and tha^ when the work of 
 judgment by various interpositions of His Providence, 
 shall have gone on, and the wickedness of the anti-Chris- 
 tian nations shall hnve come to the full, at the last sig- 
 nal stroke of Divine vengeance, he will descend from 
 the air, and stand upon the Mount of Olives, utterly to 
 destroy the hosts of the wicked, to change the geo- 
 logical structure of Jerusalem and its vicinity, by a 
 fWrrible earthquake, and to produce those transforma- 
 tions designed to fit it for being made the metropolis 
 
LITERAL AND SPIHITTTAL SYSTEMS. 165 
 
 of the world ; — that He will re-establish the Theocra- 
 cy in Jerusalem in more than its pristine glory, with 
 its temple rebuilt, and rites of worship adapted to the 
 dispensation in which Jerusalem and the Jewish nation 
 are to stand pre-eminent among the nations; — that 
 having concluded his work of retributive justice by 
 various means, through a series of years, to the entire 
 extermination of the wicked on the face of the whole 
 Roman earth, there shall be found remnants of people 
 on whom the abundant and mighty influences of the 
 Spirit of God shall have been poured out, and nations 
 be born in a day, by their thorough conversion and 
 cordial submission to the dominion of Heaven by 
 means of the saints ; — that these powerful effusions of 
 the Spirit, and the dominion of Christ by means of 
 his raised and quickened saints, will bring the heathen 
 nations and the uttermost parts of the earth, the 
 whole world, into peaceful blessed subjection ; — that 
 the risen and glorified saints will be His kings and 
 priests for the administration of the political and reli- 
 gious interests of the nation ; — that the Theocracy, 
 with its temple rebuilt as described by Ezekiel, and 
 established in Jerusalem, shall be the nucleus and cen- 
 tre of all political and religious influences, and all the 
 nations of the earth be united to it ; — that while 
 Christ will indeed dwell on the earth, his presence 
 will be displayed but occasionally at Jerusalem as 
 King, according to rites and at seasons appointed by 
 him ; — that his constant and immediate presence will 
 be in the Heavenly City, the New Jerusalem, not built 
 by the hands of men, but directly and miraculously by 
 God, in which there shall be no temple, but Christ's 
 presence constitute its glory, and the delight of His 
 risen saints ; — that while Heaven shall thus descend 
 on earth, the saints will have communication with the 
 15 
 
166 GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE 
 
 nations in the flesh, and the Theocracy be made the 
 ehannel of Heavenly influence for the happiness of 
 the world ; — that this glorious dominion as establish- 
 ed at its first epoch, shall last a thousand years, during 
 which time Satan shall be confined, and his power to 
 tempt and corrupt the nations be restrained ', — that 
 although during this period death will still prevail 
 among the nations in the flesh j yet the climates and 
 habits of earth having undergone such a remarkable 
 transformation, by great geological and atmospheric 
 changes, as to be denominated a new heaven, and a 
 new earth, death will not be so common, the age of 
 man will be prolonged like that of a tree, and a hun- 
 dred years be but the time of youth ; — that thus the 
 judgment of Heaven will be prolonged upon the earth, 
 and the righteous be made to triumph j— that at the 
 close of this blessed period, the last act in the great 
 work and day, or dispensation of judgment, shall take 
 place, when Satan shall be released from his confine- 
 ment, all the nations of the wicked raised from the 
 dead, the Gog and Magog of John metaphorically or 
 typically described by the Gog and Magog of Eze- 
 kiel, and be summoned before Christ to receive their 
 final sentence ; — that then, in mad desperation, these 
 hosts of hell, led on by the Devil and his angels, shall 
 make their last and violent assault upon the holy city 
 where Christ and his saints dwell, and think to storm 
 the heavenly city, which shall be but the occasion for 
 the last signal interposition of Divine justice and Al- 
 mighty vengeance for their eternal destruction j — and 
 that doomed and hurled to the bottomless abyss by the 
 power of Omnipotence, earth shall be for ever purged 
 and Tedeemed from the dominion of Satan, placed 
 back again amidst the heavenly worlds — restored to 
 more than paradisiacal purity and glory — death for 
 ever cease in it., and that state of glory and blessed- 
 
LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 167 
 
 nessbe confirmed in which the dominion of Heaven shall 
 be absolutely, immutably, and eternally established in 
 righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and 
 this ransomed, renovated, and recovered globe, shine 
 resplendent in Heaven's brilliancy, never more to be 
 invaded or polluted by the entrance of sin. 
 
 Well might the prophets, who caught a distant 
 glimpse of these stupendous glories, be wrapt in 
 ecstasy ! Truly, " eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, 
 nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive 
 the things prepared for them that love God." " Belov- 
 ed, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet ap- 
 pear what we shall be." Loud and ecstatic shall be 
 the shout of triumph, when earth and heaven shall 
 mingle in full chorus, as " the voice of a great multi- 
 tude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
 of many thunderings, saying. Alleluia, for the Lord 
 God Omnipotent reigneth!" My heart kindles at the 
 prospect, and is ready to catch the strain of Heaven : 
 
 Glory to God ! 
 And to the Lamb, who bought us with his blood. 
 From every kindred, nation, people, tongue, 
 And washed, and sanctified, and saved our souls, 
 And gave us robes of linen pure, and crowns 
 Of life, and made us kings and priests to God ! 
 Shout back to ancient time ! Sing loud, and wave 
 Your palms of triumph ! Sing, " Where is thy Sting, 
 Oh death ! where is thy victory, oh grave !'* 
 Thanks be to God, eternal thanks, who gave 
 Us victory through Jesus Christ our Lord ! 
 Harp, lift thy voice on high! — shout! angels, shout! 
 And loudest ye redeemed ! glory to (xod, 
 And to the Lamb all glory and all praise ! 
 All glory and all praise at morn and even. 
 That come and go eternally, and find 
 Us happy still, and thee for ever blest t 
 Glory to God and to the Lamb ! — Amen ! 
 For ever and for ever more — Ameftf *« 'j:'i^^i 
 
168 GENERAL OUTLINE, ETC. 
 
 Impenitent reader ! will you participate in the glory 
 and triunnph of that scene 1 or shall you perish in the 
 overthrow of the ungodly 1 Fearful and horrible shall 
 be the doom of the wicked. Devils and damned spir- 
 its, as hell pours forth her millions to be judged, may 
 think to storm the citadel of heaven, and compass the 
 camp of the servants of the Most High, led on by the 
 madness of desperation ; but it will prove like the 
 last gleam of hope that flares in the socket for an in- 
 stant, and then is quenched in the blackness of dark- 
 ness for ever ! Methinks I see them, as they fall be- 
 fore God and the Lamb, repulsed and driven by the 
 fierce blast of Almighty vengeance. 
 
 They upon the verge 
 Of Erebus, a moment, pausing stood, 
 And saw, below, the unfathomable lake. 
 Tossing with tides of dark, tempestuous wrath, 
 And would have looked behind ; but greater wrath 
 Behind forbade, which now no respite gave 
 To final misery. God, in the grasp 
 Of his almighty strength, took them, upraised. 
 And threw them down unto the yawning pit 
 Of bottomless perdition, ruined ! damned ! 
 Fast bound in chains of darkness ever more I 
 And second death and the undying worm 
 Opening their jaws with hideous yell, 
 Falling, received their everlasting prey. 
 A groan returned ! as down they sunk, and sunk, 
 And ever sunk, among the utter dark ! 
 A groan returned ! The righteous heard the groan — 
 The groan of all the reprobate — when first 
 They felt damnation sure ! and heard hell close ! 
 And heard Jehovah and his love retire ! 
 A groan returned ! The righteous heard the groan. 
 As if all misery, all sorrow, grief. 
 All pain, all anguish, all despair, which all 
 Have suffered, or shall feel from first to last — 
 Eternity — had gathered to one pang. 
 And issued in one groan of boundless woe I 
 
CHAPTER Til. 
 
 TEADITIONARY HISTOEY. 
 
 Our object in this chapter is to unfold the tra- 
 ditionary history of what has been called Millenarian 
 doctrine. The term Millenarian is sometimes used as 
 a term of contempt j but is, nevertheless, admitted by 
 those who adopt the literal system of prophetical 
 interpretation, to be an appropriate designation, in 
 contradistinction from the spiritualists, who, in their 
 turn, are denominated Anti-millenarian. It is in- 
 tended by it to denote those who believe that the 
 prophets of the Old and New Testament predict the 
 personal visible coming of Jesus Christ with his saints 
 before the Millenium, to raise their dead bodies, to 
 destroy the anti-Christian nations, and to establish his 
 glorious kingdom or dominion over all the earth, in 
 which, by the ministry of his saints raised from the 
 dead, and quickened at his coming, He will reign for 
 1,000 years and judge the world. The term Anti- 
 millenarian denotes those, who aflSrm that the coming 
 of Christ to judgment will not take place till after 1,000 
 years' great prosperity in religion, during which He 
 may be said spiritually, that is allegorically, to be 
 present and to reign with his saints on the earth. 
 
 It is a matter of some interest to inquire what were 
 the views on this subject, entertained by -the successors 
 of the prophets and the early Fathers of the Christian 
 church — those who lived nearest the days of the 
 prophets and apostles, and who may be, therefore, 
 presumed to have derived by tradition their views 
 15* 
 
no TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 relative to the meaning of the prophecies concerning 
 the coming and kingdom of Jesus Christ. Were they 
 Millenarians or Anti-millenarians ? Did they expect 
 the personal visible coming of Christ, before or after 
 the Millenium 1 The views they entertained on this 
 subject will enable us to decide, whether they under- 
 stood the prophets and apostles to predict a literal or 
 metaphorical coming of Christ ; and also, what prin- 
 ciples of interpretation they adopted in relation tp the 
 prophecies. 
 
 It is certainly a reasonable presumption, that those 
 who lived nearest the apostles, would be most likely 
 to understand the general import of their teaching 
 and charges and exhortations- about the coming of 
 Christ, and practically to adopt their principles of 
 interpretation. 
 
 We cordially subscribe to the remarks of Mr. Faber, 
 on the subject of historical testimony, in reference to 
 the doctrine of election, although he has failed to 
 apply them to the important themes of prophecy on 
 which he has so largely written. "In revealed 
 religion, by the very nature and necessity of things, 
 as Tertullian well teaches us : Whatever is first is true^ 
 whatever is later is adulterate. If a doctrine totally un- 
 known to the primitive church, which received her 
 theology immediately from the hands of the apostles, 
 and which continued long to receive it from the hands 
 of the disciples of the apostles, springs up in a subse- 
 quent age, let that age be the fifth century or let it be 
 the tenth century, or let it be the sixteenth century, 
 such doctrine stands, on its very front, impressed with 
 the brand of mere human invention. Hence, in the 
 language of Tertullian, it is adulterate : and hence, 
 with whatever plausibility it may be fetched out oi a 
 particular interpretation of Scripture, and with what- 
 
TEADITIONAKY HISTORY. 171 
 
 ever practical piety on the part of its advocates, it 
 may be attended, we cannot evidentially admit it to be 
 part and parcel of the divine revelation of Christi- 
 anity."* We claim no greater respect than this for 
 traditionary testimony as to the doctrine of Christ's 
 coming and kingdom. The views entertained by the 
 early fathers, expressed their understanding of the 
 Scriptures on this subject, and is valuable historical 
 testimony as to their principles of interpretation. 
 This cannot well be denied by the spiritualist; for we 
 find that the principles of allegorical interpretation, 
 which originated in the schools of philosophy and re- 
 ligion, and which, though originated in the second 
 century, were first brought out and applied by Origen 
 in the exposition of the Sacred Scriptures, have 
 actually been respected for centuries, and even now 
 serve to shape the views of a large portion of the 
 church of God. The question then is, shall tradition, 
 starting with Clement of Alexandria and Theophilus, 
 and systematized by Origen, who lived three centuries 
 later, or tradition starting with the apostles, or the 
 prophets before them, be most regarded % 
 
 We are free to say, that much greater deference is 
 due to the traditions starting with the apostles, or 
 respected by them, and found embodied in the views, 
 opinions and comments of the early fathers of the 
 Christian church, than to those of later origin; and 
 that for the following reasons : — 
 
 1. The apostle Paul states expressljr, that there 
 were traditions in his day on this very subject, which 
 he had taught the Thessalonian Christians, and which 
 he exhorted them to maintain. " Stand fast and hold 
 the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by 
 
 • Faber's Primitive DoctriQe of Election, pp. 158, 169. 
 
1^72 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 word or our epistle."* He commended also the 
 Corinthians for this thing,t and exhorted Timothy to 
 " hold fast the form of sound words which he had 
 heard of him."J We shall have occasion presently to 
 see how tenacious primitive Christians were on this 
 very matter j and although afterwards, the disposition 
 to adhere to apostolic traditions, became the means of 
 gross corruptions, which the church of Rome, by the 
 council of Trent and the decretals of popes, imposed 
 on popular credulity, when piety had greatly deterio- 
 rated ; yet, in the primitive church, this respect for 
 traditionary information operated so beneficially, as to 
 prevent schismatic divisions, and to render specific 
 creeds, which have since become the badges of sect, 
 unnecessary. 
 
 2. There was a greater lenity and simplicity of 
 faith, too, during that period, and much less of the 
 subtleties, speculations, and refinements of philosophy 
 than afterwards. Christianity was the religion of the 
 heart and of the life, and remained more pure, more 
 elementary, more influential, more efficacious, during 
 the trials and persecutions of plain, humble, unlettered 
 early Christians and martyrs, than when Platonic 
 philosophers, subsequently converted, and dwelling at 
 ease, began to incorporate their mysticism and meta- 
 physics, with its precious and efficacious truths. 
 " Because it is of the very essence of truth in religion,^^ 
 observes Isaac Taylor, the author of Ancient Chris- 
 tianity, " to blend itself with a certain series of events, 
 and to mix itself with history ; example more than 
 precept, biography more than abstract doctrine, are 
 made to convey to us in the Scriptures the various 
 elements of piety. Truth in religion is something that 
 
 • 2 Thess. 2. 15. f 1 Cor. 11. 2. t 2 Tim. 1. 13. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 173 
 
 has been acted and transacted ; it is something that 
 has been embodied in persons and societies." 
 
 These remarks apply, in some degree, equally to the 
 primitive history of the Christian church. It is in the 
 sentiments, writings, lives, sufferings, and martyrdom 
 of primitive Christians, that we are to get an acquaint- 
 ance with the motives, hopes, and views that animated 
 and sustained them ; or in other words, the manner in 
 which they apprehended the grand distinctive influen- 
 tial truths and facts revealed in the Sacred Scriptures. 
 "All mystification apart, as well as a superstitious 
 and overweening deference to antiquity, nothing can 
 be more simple than the facts on which rest the 
 legitimate use and value of the ancient documents of 
 Christianity, considered as the repositories of those 
 practices and opinions which, obscurely or ambiguously 
 alluded to in the canonical writings, are found drawn 
 forth and illustrated in the records of the times imme- 
 diately succeeding. These records contain at once a 
 testimony in behalf of the capital articles of our faith, 
 and an exposition of minor sentiments and ecclesi- 
 astical usages, neither of which can be surrendered 
 without some serious loss and damage."* 
 
 While, therefore, we do not overvalue and exalt 
 tradition as of equal authority with the written word, 
 yet are we far from undervaluing it as a legitimate aid 
 in attempting to ascertain the import of that written 
 word, being, as far as it goes, the exponent of their 
 views who lived nearest the apostles, and possessed 
 much of their spirit. We claim, however, that this 
 remark be not understood to apply to a later period, 
 however far in antiquity from us, when W3 know, from 
 abundant historical documents, that the church, 
 
 * Ancient Christianity, pp. 71, 72. 
 
ilnip TEADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 agreeably to apostolical predictions, had become 
 greatly corrupted through philosophy and vain deceit. 
 
 With these preliminary remarks, we are prepared 
 to trace the history of the views entertained by the 
 primitive church, relative to the coming and kingdom 
 o( Jesus Christ. They did not apprehend such a 
 Millenium as the spiritualists anticipate ; nor did they 
 regard the church to be the kingdom of Heaven. 
 They looked for the personal visible coming of Jesus 
 Christ and his kingdom as drawing nigh. All their 
 jay and hope of triumph centred in His " appearing" 
 nor did they look for the arrival of his kingdom oa 
 earth, till he should have destroyed the Antichrist, 
 which the apostles had predicted would arise, and was 
 destined to be destroyed "by the brightness of Christ's 
 appearing." 
 
 It is proper, however, in order to the full and fair 
 exhibition of the views of the primitive church on this 
 subject, to remark, that we must first start with the 
 tiaditions, so far as we can ascertain them, which were 
 current before Christ, and sanctioned and transmitted 
 hy the apostles. Here, too, we must discriminate 
 between what were matters of faith, simple statements 
 of their belief, founded on the word of God, — and 
 what were conjectures and opinions, founded on their 
 inferences. This is always necessary, for we cannot 
 long or often speak on the mere facts of Christianity, 
 without mixing up with them more or less of our own 
 reasonings and philosophy, which may or may not be 
 erroneous, but which do not form part of revelation. 
 
 Whoever will read the New Testament attentively, 
 cannot fail to perceive that John the Baptist, the 
 forerunner of Christ, Christ himself, and his apostles, 
 adopted phrases, and a style of speech on various 
 subjects, quite current among the Jews of that day. 
 
TBADITIONARY HISTORY. IW 
 
 The burden of their preaching was, " Repent, for the 
 kingdom of Heaven is at hand j"* i. e. is drawing 
 nigh, approaching. They assumed that their hearers 
 had some ideas in common with them, about an 
 approaching kingdom, called sometimes the kingdom 
 of Heaven^ and sometimes the kingdom of God. They 
 did net commence it as a new things and startling to 
 the Jewish faith. Nor did they deem it necessary to 
 define their terms, and carefully correct any current 
 mistakes and misapprehensions about its nature, 
 although the Saviour took occasion, both for the 
 benefit of his disciples, and for the reproof of the 
 Pharisees, to illustrate, by similes and parables, many 
 of its important features. The points inculcated, 
 were the motives and obligations to repentance drawn 
 from the fact, that the kingdom of Heaven was 
 drawing nigh, of course not yet arrived. Thus John 
 the Baptist preached, till God out of Heaven, by 
 nairaculous sights and sounds at his baptism, pro- 
 claimed Jesus of Nazareth to be his beloved Son the 
 Messiah, and John announced him to be " the Lamb 
 of God which taketh away the sin of the world, "f and 
 <juickly ended his ministry. 
 
 The general opinion of the Jews was, that, imme- 
 diately on the appearance of the Messiah, He would 
 set up his kingdom so long predicted. On one occa- 
 sion, multitudes collected around Jesus of Nazareth 
 ready to enlist under his banner, and to embark in any 
 measures for the purpose of proclaiming and estab- 
 lishing him as their king. But the Saviour, so far 
 from favoring the idea that his kingdom had arrived, 
 disdained all their professions of attachment, and 
 proffers of help to make him a king. He never, how- 
 
 * Mat. 3. 2 ; 4. 17 J 10. 7. f John 1. 29. 
 
176 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 ever, for a moment, denied, either that he was a king 
 or the king's son. On the contrary, he distinctly 
 affirmed it, thus directing the Jews, to whom his 
 ministry was restricted, to look to him for the verifi- 
 cation of all the great and wondrous things, which 
 their prophets had proclaimed about him and his 
 kingdom. At the same time, he expressly intimated, 
 that his kingdom had not yet come. All that He pro- 
 claimed on the subject was, that it was at hand — ap- 
 proaching — how near or how far off, he thought not 
 proper to declare. 
 
 It is, therefore, of some moment for us to inquire, 
 what were the views entertained by the Jews prior to 
 the coming of Christ, we mean, especially, by the more 
 devout \ What was their exposition of the pro- 
 phecies ] We cite them not as decisive authority, but 
 as historical testimony of value, under all the circum- 
 stances of the case, in attempting to ascertain the 
 import of Christ's preaching and predictions. It is 
 true, there is but little testimony up to the time of 
 Christ, beside that of the inspired writers, which latter 
 we do not now bring into view, — the question being, 
 how were, and are, they to be understood \ Still there 
 is enough of orthodox Jewish testimony, which de- 
 serves not to be confounded with the writings of 
 later and anti-Christian Rabbis. 
 
 The writer of the Apocryphal book of Esdras II. 
 who was captive in the land of the Medes, in the reign 
 of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians,* relates a dream 
 which he had, with the interpretation, which we quote, 
 not as of canonical authority, but as historical testi- 
 mony to the manner in which the ancient Jews under- 
 stood the prophecies before the coming of Christ. 
 
 • 2 Esdras, 13. 25-50. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORy. 
 
 irt^ 
 
 " This is the meaning of the vision ; whereas thou 
 S&west a man coming up from the midst of the sea. 
 The same is he whom God the highest hath kept a 
 great season, which by his own self shall deliver his 
 creature— and he shall order them that are left behind. 
 And whereas thou sawest that out of his mouth there 
 came as a blast of wind, and fire, and storm ; and that 
 1^6 held neither sword nor any instrument of war, but 
 that the rushing in of him destroyed the whole raul^-' 
 tif\lde that came to subdue him. This is the interpre- 
 tation — Behold the day is come when the Most High 
 will begin to deliver them that are upon the earth — 
 itid He shall come to the astonishment of them that 
 dwell upon the earth — and one shall undertake to' 
 fight against another, one city against another, one 
 place against another, one people against another, 
 one realm against another. And the lime shall be 
 when these things shall come to pass, and the signs 
 shall happen which I showed thee before, and then 
 ^all my Son be declared, whom thou sawest as a 
 man ascending. And when all the people hear hi& 
 voice, every man shall leave the battle they have one 
 ag-ainst another. And an innumerable multitude shliU 
 be gathered together as thou sawest them, willing to 
 come and to overcome him by fighting. But he shall 
 stand upon the top of the Mount Sion — and Sion shall 
 come and be showed to all men, being prepared and 
 builded, like as thou sawest the hill graven without 
 hands. And this my Son shall rebuke the wicked in- 
 ventions of those nations which for their wicked life 
 are fallen into the tempest. And they shall lay be- 
 fore them their evil thoughts ; and the torments 
 wherewith they shall begin to be tormented, which 
 are like unto a flame, and he shall destroy them with- 
 out labor by the law which is like unto fire. Aiid 
 16 
 
178 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 whereas thou sawest that he gathered another peace- 
 ahle multitude unto him ; these are the tribes which 
 were carried away prisoners out of their own land, in 
 the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanassar, the 
 king of Assyria, led away captive, and he carried 
 them over the waters, and so came they into another 
 land. But they took this counsel among themselves, 
 that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and 
 go forth into a further country where never mankind 
 dwelt — that they might there keep their statutes which 
 they never kept in their own land — and they entered 
 into Euphrates by the narrow passage of the river. 
 For the Most High then showed signs for them, and 
 held still the flood, until they were passed over. For 
 through the country there was a great way to go, 
 namely, of a year and a half; and the same region 
 is called Arsareth. Then dwelt they there until the 
 latter time j and now, when they shall begin to come, 
 the Highest shall stay the springs of the stream again, 
 that they may go through ; therefore sawest thou the 
 multitude with peace. But those that he left behind 
 of thy people, are they that are found within my 
 borders. Now, when he destroyeth the multitude of 
 the nations that are gathered together, he shall defend 
 his people that remain — and then shall he show them 
 great wonders." 
 
 The writer also of the book of Tobit, which, ac- 
 cording to Dr. Gray and other critics, was written in 
 Chaldaic, during or soon after the captivity, expresses 
 the same sentiments. " Go into Media, my son, for 
 I surely believe those things which Jonas the prophet 
 spake of Nineveh, that it shall be overthrown ; and 
 that for a time peace shall rather be in Media ; and 
 that our brethren shall be scattered in the earth from 
 that good land j and Jerusalem shall be desolate, and 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 179 
 
 the house of God in it shall be burned and shall be 
 desolate for a time. And that again God will have 
 mercy on them and bring them again into the land, 
 where they shall build a temple, but not like to the 
 first, until the time of that age be fulfilled ; and after- 
 wards they shall return from all places of their cap- 
 tivity, and build up Jerusalem gloriously, and the 
 house of God shall be built in it for ever with a glo- 
 rious building, as the prophets have spoken thereof. 
 And all nations shall turn and fear the Lord God truly, 
 and shall bury their idols. So shall all nations praise 
 the Lord, and his people shall confess God, and the 
 Lord shall exalt his people, and all those which love 
 the Lord God in truth and justice shall rejoice, show- 
 ing mercy to our brethren."* 
 
 The writer of the book of Wisdom,! who was cer- 
 tainly a Jew of high antiquity, supposed by Grotius to 
 have lived between the time of Ezra and Simon the 
 Just, says of the dead, " In the time of their visitation 
 they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among 
 the stubble ; they shall judge the nations and have 
 dominion over the people, and their Lord shall rule 
 for ever." These testimonies carry tradition back to 
 the very days of Daniel, and the prophets of the cap- 
 tivity ; which, although we receive it not as canoni- 
 cal, is nevertheless of value as the current exposi- 
 tion of prophecy, showing the manner in which the 
 prophecies were interpreted and understood in that 
 early age. 
 
 The Targums of the Jews were paraphrases of the 
 law, supposed to have been first used in Ezra's time, 
 but not reduced to writing till the days of Onkelos 
 and Jonathan, about thirty years before Christ. The 
 
 • Tobit, 14. 4-7. f Chap. 2. 7, 8. 
 
iSlQ TRADITIONARY IlISTORY. 
 
 Babylonian Targum says, "Christ shall come, whose 
 is the kingdom, and him shall the nations serve."* 
 
 The Jerusalem Targum on the same passage says^ 
 " the king Christ shall come, whose is the kingdom, 
 and all. nations shall be subject to Him." These, it is 
 true, are general statements, and will be admitted by 
 all to be correct expositions of the passage, but in 
 what sense they were understood will appear from the 
 writings of their ancient Rabbinical doctors. 
 
 Rabbi Eliezarf the Great, supposed to have lived 
 soon after the second temple was built, referring to 
 Hosea 14. 8, applies it to the pious Jews, who seemed 
 likely to die without seeing the glory of the Lord, 
 sfiying, " As I live, saith Jehovah, I will raise you 
 up, in the time to come, in the resurrection of the 
 dead, and I will gather you with all Israel.''^ 
 
 Mr. Brooks,^ in his Elements of Prophetical Inter- 
 pretation, states that " the Sadducees are related to 
 have asked Rabbi Gamaliel, the preceptor of Paul, 
 whence he could prove that God would raise the 
 dead. Nor could he silence them until he brought 
 against them, Deut. 11.21, 'which land the Lord, 
 moreover, sware he would give to your fathers,^ 
 The Rabbi argued, as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had 
 it not, and God cannot lie, therefore they must be 
 raised from the dead to inherit it." Christ's argu- 
 ment from the Pentateuch, in favor of the resurrec- 
 tion, is substantially the same, taken from the Abra- 
 hamic Covenant. 
 
 Mede quotes the testimony of Rabbi Simai, though 
 of later date, who argues the resurrection from 
 
 • On Gen. 49. 10. 
 
 t See his Capitula, c. 34, referred to in Elements of Prophetical 
 Interpretation, by Brooks, p. 33. 
 I El. Proph. Int. 33. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 181 
 
 Exodus 6. 4, insisting, that the law asserts, in this 
 place, the resurrection from the dead, viz. when it is 
 said, " and also I have established my covenant with 
 them to give them the land of Canaan j" for he adds, 
 it is not said to you but to them. 
 
 We deem it pertinent here, having traced the chain 
 of tradition, from the days of Daniel down through 
 the Jewish church, to refer to the traditionary testi- 
 mony, starting from the same date, and running down 
 through a much more corrupt channel, the Gentile 
 philosophy. We refer to the testimony of Zoroaster, 
 which, although given in the midst of all the fables 
 and falsehoods of his Zendavesta, the work of an 
 arrant impostor, and which laid the foundation of the 
 whole system of Islamism, the religion of Mahomet, 
 yet, nevertheless, embodies, distinctly, the same 
 general views received by the Jews from their pro- 
 phets. Zoroaster, the author of the Zendavesta of the 
 Persians, and the restorer of the religion of the an- 
 cient Magians, was, as Dr. Prideaux* has shown, 
 the servant of the prophet Daniel, and not, as Dr. 
 Burnet supposes, a cotemporary of Abraham and Job. 
 In that work, he has copiously borrowed from the 
 writings of Isaiah and the book of Psalms, mixing up 
 with them his own heathenish philosophy in various 
 allegorical illustrations of the origin and destruction 
 of evil. Although he attributes the renovation of the 
 world to three miraculously begotten persons, or pro- 
 phets, whose origin he immediately derived from him- 
 self ; yet his plagiarisms can be detected, and his pre- 
 
 • See Prideaux's Connection of Old and New Testament, vol. i. 
 p. 203, Oxford edition. See also Frazer's Hist, and Descript. Ac- 
 count of Persia, p. 147, referring to the Abbe Foucher as his au- 
 thority, in Memoires de 1' Academic des Inscriptions, vol. xxvii., 
 xxix., xxxi., xxxix. 
 16* 
 
182 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 dictions traced to the Hebrew prophets, and to their 
 references to the things spoken concerning Jesus 
 Christ, the Messiah. " In The last times," says Zoro- 
 a^ter, " after the earth shall have been afflicted with 
 evil of every kind, plague, pestilence, hail, famine 
 i^nd war, Oschederbami and Oschedermah first appear, 
 with great and supernatural powers, and eflbct the 
 conversion of a large portion of mankind. At last 
 Sosioch, (a name resembling v«ry nearly in sound the 
 Hebrew Messiah), makes his appearance. Under him 
 follows the resurrection. He will judge the living 
 and the dead, give new glory to the earth, and remove 
 from a world of sorrows the germ of evil. And 
 finally, at the command of ihe righteous judge Or- 
 muzd, Sosioch will, from an elevated place, render to 
 all men what their deeds deserve. The dwelling of 
 the pure will be the splendid Gorotmann — Ormuzd 
 himself will take their bodies to his presence on 
 
 high." 
 
 Dr. Hengstenburg,* in commenting on these and 
 other passages extracted from the Zendavesta, says — 
 "If we leave out of view the division of that among 
 three persons, which belongs only to one, analogous 
 to which is the notion of the two Messiahs among the 
 later Jews and the Samaritans, we shall not fail to 
 perceive the coincidence of this expectation, with the 
 prophecies of the Old Testament and the fulfilment, and 
 shall not be disposed to ascribe it to any mere human 
 origin." He means that it is the truths of revelation 
 which Zoroaster, that successful impostor, stole from 
 the Jewish prophets, adulterated and worked up in his 
 own splendid and artful imposition of a false religion, 
 which although the parent of Islamism, and superseded 
 
 • Hengstenburg's Christology, v. i. pp. 16, 17. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 188 
 
 by it, nevertheless still exists to some extent among 
 the Ghebres in Persia and the Parsees of India.* 
 
 We quote and value this testimony, only as his- 
 torical evidence of the manner in which the writings 
 of Isaiah, Daniel, and other prophets, were interpreted 
 and understood by their cotemporaries and succes- 
 sors. The grammatical or literal interpretation, and 
 not the mystical or allegorical, evidently formed 
 the guide to the leading import of the predictions, 
 understood to authorise the expectation of the per- 
 sonal appearance of the Messiah for judgment, the 
 resurrection of the dead, the renovation of the world, 
 and the consequent universal happiness of mankind. 
 
 It is not necessary to trace the entire stream of pro- 
 fane tradition, which has flowed down among the 
 oriental nations. It may suffice to add one or two 
 general testimonies on this subject. Plutarch quotes 
 the views of Zoroaster, and adds, "that Theopom- 
 pus relates it as the opinion of the Magians, that 
 the struggle between the evil and the good principles of 
 Zoroaster is to continue 6,000 years, and that, at the 
 end of this time, the evil principle should be utterly 
 overthrown, and that then mankind should be happy." 
 
 The doctrine of the revolution of all things, and of the 
 renovation of the world consequent thereon, was 
 taught by Plato and his followers. But Dr. Burnet 
 has shown,! that he received it from the barbaric phi- 
 losophers, and particularly the Egyptian priests. The 
 Sibyls sung this song of old, as we find it copied by 
 Virgil in his fourth Eclogue. Pythagoras, the pupil of 
 Zoroaster, taught it before Plato, and Orpheus before 
 both. The tradition reaches as high as the Greek 
 philosophy. The barbaric nations, as they were 
 
 * See Frazer's Hist, and Descript. Account of Persia, pp. 141, 161. 
 t Burnet on Creation, p. 607. 
 
J 
 
 184» TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 called, the Egyptians, Persians, Chaldeans, Indians, 
 Brachmans, and other oriental nations, were more 
 ancient than the Greeks. They all had this doctrine 
 of the future renovation of the earth. It supposed, says 
 Dr. Burnet, an Annus Magnus or great year, at the end 
 of which, an entire mundane revolution should be per- 
 formed, when all the celestial bodies should have 
 finished their courses, and be come about to the same 
 point in the heavens, and the same position with 
 regard to each other, they were in, when first created, 
 and that when this great round of time (or cycle) 
 should be performed, a restoration of the moral world 
 should likewise ensue, and universal nature be reco- 
 vered from all its disorders, and reinstated in its pris- 
 tine happy condition. Accordingly, this doctrine is 
 called Palingenesia,* the Scripture term for the regene- 
 ration or renovation of all things. Gale,f in his Court 
 of the Gentiles, has traced certain Ethnic stories of 
 the last judgment, man's future immortal state, and 
 the resurrection of the body, from the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures, and styles the Platonic year an ape of the last 
 judgment. 
 
 In addition to these testimonies, which are mostly 
 written tradition, embodied in the formal interpreta- 
 tion of scriptural passages, by Jewish writers, and 
 transferred to those of profane authors, we may notice 
 some of the more general and floating traditions of 
 the early Jewish church, which do not find any direct 
 support from any part of the Scriptures, but seem to 
 have been deduced analogically, or from the assump- 
 tion, generally entertained, that the six days' work of 
 creation and the Sabbath, were typical, as well as the 
 
 • Burnet on Creation, p. 611. 
 
 t See Gale's Court of the Gentiles, v. i. ch. 6. 
 
TRADITIONARY UlSTOEY. 185 
 
 Sabbatical and Jubilean cycles. It was a commonly 
 received opinion, that the world was to last, in its pre- 
 sent state, 6,000 years, and in the seventh should be 
 renewed, when all the promises of God, made to the 
 fathers, should be accomplished.* Losing sight of the 
 fact, that the prophets predict two comings of the 
 Messiah, this tradition contributed to confirm the Jews 
 in their unbelief, replying to the Christian proofs of 
 the Messiah having come in the person of Jesus Chri&t, 
 that the world was not yet 6,000 years old.f Still 
 they were not agreed as to which of the seven mille- 
 naries would be selected for the coming of the Mes- 
 siah. " The more general one was, that the world was 
 to be 2,000 years void of the law, 2,000 under the 
 law, and 2,000 under the Messiah." This opinion, 
 which Christians employed against the Jews' rejection 
 of Jesus Christ, was called " a tradition of the house 
 of Elias," an eminent Rabbi, who lived before Gbriat. 
 The same tradition also taught, that, in the seventh 
 millenary, the earth would be renewed, and the right- 
 
 * Mede quotes Irenseus, lib. v. c. 28. 30, Justin Martyr, in his 
 dialogue with Trypho the Jew, Cyprian, lib. de exhortatione mar- 
 tyrii,Lactantius, de div. proBrn. lib. 7. c. 14, as entertaining this idea. 
 
 The ancient Jews, he says, also had a tradition to the same pur- 
 pose, as appears by these testimonies recorded in th€ Genuara or 
 Gloss of their Talmud, Cod. Sanhedrim cap. Kol. Jisrael. F(W 
 there, concerning that of Esay chap. 2. (Exaltabitur Dominug solus 
 die illo) thus speal<s the Talmudical Gloss. 
 
 Dixit Eabbi Ketina, Sex annorum Millihus stat Mundus, et uno 
 {Millenario) vastabitur ; de quo dicitur, Atque EXALTABiTtm 
 DoMiNus SOLUS Die illo. Note. — By vastabitur, Ihey mean the 
 vastatiou of the world by fire in the day of judgment, whereby i), 
 shall become new, or a New Heaven and New Earth. — Mede'j 
 Works, lib. 5. c. 3. p. 893. 
 
 He gives also the tradition of the house of Elks to the s?une 
 effect, pp. 776 and 893. 
 
 t See Pezron's Antiquities, ch. 4. 27. 
 
1B6 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 eons dead raised ; that these should not again be 
 turned to dust, and that the just then alive should mount 
 up with wings as the eagle ; so that, in that day, they 
 would not need to fear though the mountains (quot- 
 ing Ps. 46. 3) should be cast into the midst of the sea. 
 
 These traditions we do not quote, as authority, but 
 as historical evidence of what the views and expecta- 
 tions of the church were, during the period that 
 elapsed from thp captivity to the coming of Christ. And 
 they are of value as such, inasmuch as they originated 
 about the time the splendid predictions of Daniel and 
 Ezekiel were delivered, and embody in them ample 
 proof, that, from the very days of the prophets them- 
 selves, long prior to the first coming of Christ, the 
 literal system of interpretation prevailed. If the rule 
 of TertuUian, as quoted by Mr. Faber, be applied here, 
 that what is first is true, and what is later is adulter- 
 ate, the spiritual system of interpretation will find no 
 support. 
 
 But lest it may be said these were Jewish fables, de- 
 serving of no alteration, and condemned by Christ and 
 his apostles, who introduced and sanctioned the spi- 
 ritual interpretation, let us next inquire whether there 
 is any proof that they did so, or that they taught dif- 
 ferent views about the Millenium, and the kingdom of 
 Heaven, and what were the views of the primitive 
 church on these subjects. As has been already inti- 
 mated, neither Christ nor his apostles, saw fit to change 
 the general style of speech prevailing, but talked of 
 the kingdom of Heaven as approaching^ not as arrived. 
 Not one word or hint is heard from any of them, about 
 the gospel's enjoying a thousand years' prosperity be- " 
 fore his coming. Not the slightest trace of such a 
 Millenium as the spiritualists describe, consisting in 
 the universal prevalence and prosperity of the gospel. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 187 
 
 is to be found in the New Testament, excepting the 
 disputed passage in Revelations. From the Saviour's 
 lips there never dropped the most remote hint on the 
 subject. On the contrary, he said that in the world 
 his disciples would have tribulation ; he forewarned 
 them of persecutions and trials as their uniform lot, 
 and of such nature as to be totally incompatible 
 with the idea of a temporal Millenium, of the charac- 
 ter expected by the spiritualists. Nay, more ; He ex- 
 pressly predicted, that down to the very time of the 
 end, his followers would have to guard against decep- 
 tion, and the imposition of false Christs and pretend- 
 ers — that wars and rumors of wars should prevail, and 
 instead of a thousand years of universal peace, under 
 the preaching of the gospel, nation would rise up 
 against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and 
 there should be famines,, and pestilences, and earth- 
 quakes in divers places,* and other things wholly in- 
 consistent w^ith the spiritualists' notions of a Mille- 
 nium. 
 
 So far from the kingdom being established, he says, 
 the gospel of the kingdom, i. e. the good news of the 
 kingdom, not the kingdom itself — the very thing both 
 He and John the Baptist were preaching — would be 
 preached in all the world, not as the reign of Heaven 
 on earth, not as actually converting the world, but "for 
 A wiTNESsf to all nations," and that " then the end would 
 come," The nations would be agitated, and continue to 
 be so, in their wars with each other, down to the very 
 time of the end, while, nevertheless, His gospel, the glad 
 news of the kingdom of Heaven, the only hope of man 
 and of this fallen world, should be preached or herald- 
 ed. God would bear his testimony of grace and mercy, 
 
 * Mat. 24. 4^14. f Mat. 24. 14. 
 
188 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 in a fallen world, proclaiming the? coming of his king- 
 dom in the midst of the din and confusion, the clangor 
 of arms, the thunder of cannons, the shocks of earth- 
 quakes, the roar of volcanoes, the wail of famine and 
 pestilence, and the awful inflictions of Divine judg- 
 ment upon the nations that reject) his' sway. Nor 
 would he make an end of them, till in despite of all 
 their conspiracies, persecutions, and vengeance, his 
 gospel had delivered his testimony among them all, 
 but that then the end would come, and come with fury 
 and desolation, just as the flood broke loose upon the 
 guilty inhabitants of the old world. 
 
 Where is there the least hint in all this, or in any 
 other of the predictions of Christ, of such a Millenium 
 as the spirit lalist expects 1 We defy any man to pro- 
 duce a single passage on the subject from the lips of 
 Christ ; and is it at all likely that, if the prophets had 
 predicted such a Millenium, and sung so nobly and 
 sweetly, and in such exalted and extravao^ant strains 
 about it, he would have never referred to it during 
 the whole period of his ministry — especially when he 
 undertook expressly to expound one of the most im- 
 portant predictions of Daniel, and to answer explicitly 
 his disciples' question, what should be the sign of his 
 coming and of the end of the world 1 
 
 If the Saviour knew that a thousand years, of reli- 
 gious prosperity before his coming, are to supervene, 
 after all wars, and famines, and earthquakes, and pes- 
 tilences cease — and if he meant a spiritual coming, 
 when they asked about, and understood him to speak 
 of, his personal visible coming — he certainly evaded 
 the disciples' question, and led them wide astray from 
 the truth. For we do not hear one of them ever breathe 
 the least hint of such a period. We defy any evidence 
 of such a thing to be produced from them. Paul, on 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 189 
 
 the contrary, (Jelivers a prediction about the judgment, 
 and the resurrection, exactly in accordance* with the 
 tradition of the house of Elias. Moreover, he often 
 spake of the coming of Christ to judge the nations, 
 and to establish his kingdom ; in accordance with the 
 notions of the more eminent and devout Jews, he 
 employed language which actually filled the Thessalo- 
 nians with alarm, as though the day of his coming 
 had already arrived, and afterwards allayed their ter- 
 rors by predicting the terrible apostacy that should 
 take place in the Christian church, and the general 
 and frightful corruption of society which should pre- 
 cede his actual appearance. Peter, too, and Jude, 
 also, express themselves in the very same way ; but 
 are just as silent, as were Christ and Paul, on the sub- 
 ject of a great day of religious prosperity, to occur one 
 thousand years previous to the coming of Christ. 
 And, surely, if any one would be likely to have given 
 a hint of such a period, it would have been Peter, 
 whose visions carried him forward to the coming of 
 Christ — to the conflagration of the soil and of men's 
 works — and to the new heavens and the new earth, 
 wherein dwelleth righteousness.f 
 
 There is nothing in the predictions of Christ and 
 his apostles, or in their style of speech, which is in- 
 consistent with the views expressed by the angel Ga- 
 briel, in his revelation to Mary, that the child to be 
 born of her should be called " The Son of the Highest, 
 and that the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of 
 his father David, and He shall reign over the house of 
 Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no 
 end."t .. 
 
 The apostle John does, indeed, expressly predict 
 
 • 1 Thess. 4. 16, 17. f 2 Pet. 3. 13. J Luke, 1. 32, 33. 
 17 
 
I&O TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 a Millenium ; and he is the only writer in the New 
 Testament that does. But the Millenium John pre- 
 dicts is exactly coincident, in its leading features, with 
 the expectations of the pious Jews before the days of 
 Christ. He falls in, precisely, with the current of tra- 
 ditionary testimony, and proclaims a Millenium, which 
 is to be introduced by violence done to the old ser- 
 pent, the devil and Satan, and by the resurrection of 
 the saints, called the first resurrection, and which is 
 to be characterized by Christ's reigning with them a 
 thousand years. 
 
 Leaving now the writings of the New Testament, 
 which are in accordance with the old traditions from 
 the days of Daniel, and starting again from this point, 
 in following down the chain of traditionary or histori- 
 cal testimony in the primitive church, we find nothing 
 for the first century even approximating the views of 
 the spiritualists. The prophecies were not allegori- 
 cally^ but literally, interpreted and understood. 
 
 But little from the pens of the writers of the first 
 century has been preserved ; yet, what little has, 
 affords its testimony in favor of the literal interpreta- 
 tion, and against the spiritualists' views of the mil- 
 ienium. Barnabas, affirmed to be the companion and 
 fellow-laborer of Paul the apostle, was, if not the same 
 person, of very high antiquity. The epistle under his 
 name, first published by Archbishop Usher and two 
 years afterwards by Hugo Menardus, was declared to 
 be genuine by Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and 
 Jerome. 
 
 Giesseler,* after detailing the authorities who had 
 questioned its authenticity, and indeed the whole con- 
 troversy on the subject decides, along with Archbishops 
 
 • See his Text Book of Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. pp. 67, 68. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 191 
 
 Usher, Wake, Vossius, and others, in its favor, and 
 admits that it must have been written soon after the 
 destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. In this ancient 
 epistle, Barnabas declares that the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant survives and supersedes the Mosaic ; and, inquir- 
 ing whether it has been fulfilled, argues that it Y^s only- 
 been so fulfilled, that God has sent Christ, who is to 
 be the covenant pledge for the remainder of it ; and 
 having quoted and commented on Is. 4<2. 6, and 61. 
 1, 2, notices the typical character of the six days' 
 work of creation and of the Sabbath as the old Jews 
 understood them, saying, " Consider, my children, 
 what that signifies : ' He finished them in six days.' 
 The meaning is this : that in 6,000 years the Lord will 
 bring all things to an end ; for with Him one day is 
 a thousand years, as himself testifieth, saying, * Behold 
 this day shall be as a thousand years ;' therefore, 
 children, in six days (i. e. 6,000 years) shall all thinga 
 be accomplished. And what is that He saith, 'He 
 rested the seventh day V He meaneth, that when his 
 Son shall come and abolish the wicked one, and judge 
 the ungodly, and change the sun, and moon, and stars, 
 then He shall gloriously rest on the seventh day. 
 Behold, He will then truly sanctify it with blessed 
 rest, when we have received the righteous promise — 
 when iniquity shall be no more, all things being re- 
 newed by the Lord."* 
 
 The next testimony, which we adduce from the first 
 century, is that of Clement of Rome, supposed to be 
 the friend and " fellow-laborer" of Paul, whom he 
 commends to the Philippian church, who was one of 
 the most distinguished Roman Christians, became pas- 
 tor of the church in that city towards the close of the 
 
 * See Bihliotheca Vet. Pat., torn. ii. p. 21. 
 
192- TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 first century, and is said to have lived till the third 
 year of the reign of Trajan, or about A. D. 100. Of 
 his writings, there are extant two epistles to the Co- 
 rinthians. The first is generally admitted to be genu- 
 ine, and to it Eusebius* has borne a very high testi- 
 mony. •Of the second, the same early historianf says, 
 " We know not that this is as highly approved as the 
 former, and know not that it has been in use with the 
 ancients." He does not deny its existence, nor even 
 its authenticity. All he says about it is, he knows not 
 that it was as highly approved, or as much in use by 
 the ancients.J In this epistle, Clement says, " Miser- 
 able are they of doubtful mind and uncertain heart, 
 who say (in reference to the promise of future delights 
 and glory) * All these things we have also heard from 
 our fathers ; but we, expecting day after day, have 
 seen none of these things.' Ye fools ! compare your- 
 selves to the tree. Take ye a vine : first indeed it 
 casts off its leaves ; then it begins to bud ; afterwards 
 comes the sour grape ; and then the ripe grape. So 
 also hath my people borne agitation and tribulation ; 
 but afterwards they shall receive the good things. 
 Therefore, my brethren, let us not vacillate in our 
 mind, but abide in hope, that we may receive the re- 
 ward. For he is faithful who hath promised that he 
 would render to every one according to his works. 
 If, therefore, we shall place righteousness before God, 
 we shall enter into his kingdom, and receive the pro- 
 mises which ear hath not heard, nor eye seen, and 
 the things which have not entered into the heart of 
 
 •Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. ch. 16. — Tovrov 6hovv tov KMitevros 
 
 oiioXoyovfiivri fiia imaroXii ^epcrai, fteyaXrj rt koX Qavnaaia, 
 
 t Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. ch. 38. — OonrwlQ' hfioioa Trirporipa 
 
 Koi ravTriv yvcjpinov eriarafxeQaj on ytri 6e rovi ap'^aiovs avrrj Kt^prifitvovi laficv, 
 
 X Patres Apostol., vol. i. pp. 245-7, Oxf. ed. 
 
TRABITIONARY HISTORY. 193 
 
 man. Therefore, let us hourly expect the kingdom 
 of God in love and righteousness, since we know not 
 the day of the advent of God." 
 
 Here the kingdom of God is spoken of as future, 
 and to be enjoyed, not after death, but at the coming 
 of Christ — an object of ardent and constant expecta- 
 tion in this life. But lest the spuriousness of this 
 second epistle of Clement be plead, it may suffice to 
 remark, that almost the very same words occur in 
 the first epistle admitted to be genuine, differing only 
 in the extent to which the simile is carried, and the 
 manner in which it is applied. " Ye see how in a lit- 
 tle time the fruit of the tree comes to maturity. Of a 
 truth, shortly and suddenly shall His will be accom- 
 plished, the Scripture even testifying, that 'He will 
 quickly come and not tarry ; and suddenly the Lord 
 shall come into his temple, and the Holy One whom 
 ye expect."* The illustrations he afterwards intro- 
 duces from the succession of day to night, the stories 
 related among the Arabs about the bird called phoenix, 
 and from the sower casting his seed into the ground, 
 in order to set forth the resurrection, show plainly 
 that this coming of the Lord, which he exhorted Chris- 
 tians continually to expect, was not a spiritual com- 
 ing, but his personal appearance at the resurrection, 
 for the introduction of his kingdom. There is not the 
 most remote hint of a temporal Millenium, consisting 
 in 1,000 years' religious prosperity before the coming 
 of Christ, but that coming was the object of anxious, 
 diligent, daily expectation. 
 
 Thus also does Ignatius,! another of the apostolic 
 fathers as they are called — who, according to Eusebius, 
 succeeded Peter at Antioch, who died an illustrious 
 
 * Patres Apostol., vol. i. pp. 97-99, Oxf. ed. 
 t Patres Apostol., vol. ii. pp. 455-6, Oxford ed. 
 
 17* 
 
194 TRADITIONARY HISTORy. 
 
 martyr, A. D. 107, and who, speaking in several of his 
 epistles, of the expectation of Christ's coming", and 
 particularly in that to Polycarp, says : " It behoves 
 us especially to endure all things for God's sake, that 
 he also may endure us. Become more studious than 
 you are. Consider the times : expect Him who is 
 above time, the eternal invisible, for our sakes visi- 
 ble." The same expectation of Christ's coming so 
 commonly and forcibly urged by Christ and his apos- 
 tles, continued to be the expectation of their suc- 
 cessors. 
 
 Polycarp, who was the angel of the church in 
 Smyrna, to whom Christ, it is supposed, addressed 
 one of his seven epistles by John, and who was or- 
 dained by the latter,* to whom Eusebius bears the 
 highest testimony, saying that he had been instructed 
 by the apostles, and had familiar intercourse with 
 many that had seen Christ, and whom, he says, he had 
 himself seen, while he was a youth, having lived to a 
 great age, and died at last a martyr, A. D. 167 — this 
 pattern of orthodoxy, as he was regarded by Eusebius, 
 beside other allusions to the same subject, says, in his 
 epistle to the Philippians, so therefore let us serve 
 (Christ) with fear and all reverence, according as He 
 commanded, and the apostles have preached the Gos- 
 pel to us, and the prophets who have heralded the 
 advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, " being zealous of 
 good works, abstaining from scandals and false breth- 
 ren, even those who hypocritically bear the name of 
 the Lord, and who make vain men to err. For every 
 one who confesseth not that Jesus Christ hath come 
 in the flesh is Antichrist : and whosoever confesseth 
 not the martyrdom of His cross is of the devil : and 
 
 • See Spanheim's Hist., p. 192. 
 
TBADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 whosoever perverts the discourses of the 
 
 own desires, and hath said there is neither a f . 
 
 tion nor a judgment, he is the first born of Satan.>?!-i. 
 
 " If we please (the Lord) in this dispensation, we shall 
 
 also partake of that which is to come, according as 
 
 He has promised us to raise us from the dead, and that 
 
 if we demean ourselves worthy of Him and truly 
 
 believe, we shall also reign with Him."f 
 
 Papias is the next writer of the first century, whose 
 testimony we quote. He was bishop, or pastor, of 
 Hierapolis in Phrygia, and supposed, by Irenseus, to 
 have been instructed by Johnf the apostle. Eusebius 
 says, he was a hearer of John, and associate of Poly- 
 carp, and quotes from his historical work, in five books, 
 not now extant, entitled an explanation or account of 
 the Lord's sayings or oracles. The following is Pa- 
 pias's own account of the authorities he refers to, as 
 reported by Eusebius. " Whatsoever I have at any 
 time accurately ascertained and treasured up in my 
 memory, as I have received it from the elders, I 
 have recorded it in order to give additional confirma- 
 tion to the truth by my testimony. For I have never, 
 like many, delighted to hear those that tell many 
 things, but those that teach the truth, neither those 
 that record foreign precepts, but those that are given 
 from the Lord to our faith, and that come from the 
 truth itself. But if I met with any one, who had been 
 a follower of the elders anywhere, I made it a point 
 to inquire, what were the declarations of the elders, 
 what was said by Andrew, Peter or Philip, what by 
 Thomas, James, John, Matthew, or any other of the 
 disciples of our Lord ; what was said by Aristion, and 
 
 ' *PatresApostol.,v. ii. pp. 498-501, Oxford ed. ' '^ 
 
 t Patres Apostol., v. ii. pp. 494-497, Oxford ed. 
 t Spanheim's Hist., p. 194. 
 
196 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 the presbyter John, disciples of the Lord, for I do not 
 think I derived so much benefit from books, as from 
 the living voice of those that are still surviving." 
 
 This 4s the very method which should be adopted 
 by, and these the essential qualifications of, a faithful 
 historian. What his language was in setting forth 
 the faithof the apostles, and their cotemporaries, about 
 the Millenium, and the kingdom of Christ, we do not 
 know, but his statements come to us through a preju- 
 diced channel, through Eusebius, who was a courtier 
 and philosopher of the Platonic school, who lived 200 
 years after Christ, and adopted and extolled the allegori- 
 cal or mystical interpretation. The following, never- 
 theless, is Eusebius^s account of Papias's sentiments 
 and interpretation of the Scriptures. " He says there 
 would be a certain Millenium after the resurrection^ and 
 that there would be a corporeal sign of Christ on this 
 very earth : which things, adds Eusebius, he appears 
 to have imagined, as if they were authorized by the 
 apostolic narrations, not understanding correctly those 
 matters which they propounded mystically in their rep- 
 resentations."* 
 
 It is worthy of remark here, that Eusebius does not 
 impeach the veracity of Papias, who does not profess 
 to discuss doctrines; but simply to give a narrative 
 of the traditions he derived from those that conversed 
 with the apostles, and which, he says, were, in the 
 very words, of the apostles themselves, for the truth 
 and fidelity of which, he pledges himself. It is also 
 worthy of remark, that Eusebius admits, that the plain 
 and literal meaning of the apostolical narratives, 
 would seem to sanction the views of Papias, because 
 he charges him with taking the plain meaning, instead 
 
 • Eusebius's Hist., v. ill. p. 110. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 197 
 
 of understanding them ^^ mystically " and by this means 
 with being led into error. 
 
 Because Papias displayed no skill in the allegorical 
 or mystical interpretation, Eusebius says he was very 
 limited in his comprehension. That is, his millenarian- 
 ism was proof of folly, according to Eusebius, whose 
 principles of interpretation were so opposite ; yet he 
 admits that he was both eloquent and learned in the 
 Scriptures— a far better learning than the philosophy 
 of the schools. 
 
 It is also still more worthy of remark, that however 
 foolish the views of Papias appeared to Eusebius, he 
 was constrained to admit, that the great body of eccle- 
 siastical writers coincided with Papias ; and he en- 
 deavors to account for the fact, by his antiquity. "He 
 was the cause," saysEusebius, "why most of the eccle- 
 siastical writers, urging the antiquity of the man, were 
 carried away by the same error."* 
 
 With the testimony of Papias we conclude that of 
 the first century. In review of what has been ad- 
 duced, and what shall be submitted in the next 
 chapters, the following facts, we think, are abundantly 
 established. 
 
 1. That cotemporaneously, almost, with the pro- 
 phets of the captivity, who are the most remarkable in 
 the fulness and precision of their predictions, relative 
 to the coming and kingdom of Christ, there arose the 
 belief, that the Messiah would come, and personally 
 appearing, raise the dead, and establish His kir«gdom 
 in this world. 
 
 2. That this belief was propagated, and may be 
 traced down, through the Jewish church, to the days 
 of Christ, not in the legends of the nation, but in the 
 influential views of the most devout and godly of that 
 people. 
 
 *Eusebius's Hist., lib. iii. p. 110. 
 
t9S TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 3. That neither the Saviour, nor his apostles, ever 
 undertook to deny or disown this belief, but, on the con- 
 trary, used the very same technicalities and style of 
 speech on the subject, with which the ears of the Jew- 
 ish church had been long familiar, holding forth the 
 coming and kingdom of the Messiah in this world, as 
 the grand inducement to faith and repentance, and 
 making it the very burden, the sum and substance of 
 their preaching. 
 
 4. That immediately after their day, in the direct 
 line of their successors, and in the writings of all the 
 fathers of the first century that are extant, the same 
 unbroken testimony is to be found, in favor of the 
 literal interpretation of prophecy, as it held forth the 
 approaching, personal, and visible coming of Christ ta 
 judgment, and for the establishment of his kingdom, 
 M the great object of earnest and universal hope and 
 expectation in the church of God. 
 
 5. That nowhere throughout this whole period, do 
 we meet with the least hint of a 1,000 years' univer- 
 sal religious prosperity, or the conversion of the 
 world, before Christ's coming to judgment. 
 
 6. And that even, by the testimony of its enemies, 
 it appears to have been the general expectation of the 
 church — which contributed to their self-denial and 
 holiness and practice of Christian graces — that Christ 
 would visibly come, and, having raised his saints, reign 
 with them 1,000 years on the earth ; nor was it ever 
 for a iTAoment questioned, till a new style of interpret- 
 ing the Scriptures — which, originating with Platonic 
 philosophers, found favor with heretics, was com- 
 mended by Eusebius, and admired and adopted by 
 the learned — led the wise and philosophical to pour 
 contempt upon the simplicity of the ancient faith, as 
 the merest credulity, fostered by the wild and extrava- 
 gant legends of the Jews. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 Our examination of traditionary history, in the last 
 chapter, brought us down to the close of the first cen- 
 tury. Beginning with the prophets of the captivity, 
 we traced the stream of tradition through two chan- 
 nels : 1. The Jewish, flowing in the testimony of their 
 Targums, their apocryphal historians, their learned 
 and pious Rabbis,, down to the days of Christ. 2. 
 The profane, flowing down through the Gentile na- 
 tions, in the writings of Zoroaster, the servant of 
 Daniel, the instructor of Pythagoras, and the restorer 
 of the Magian religion in Persia. 
 
 These five things formed the object of ancient ex- 
 pectation, and prevailed, to a greater or less degree, 
 in greater or less distinctness, through the Oriental 
 nations, and among the Greeks and Romans of the 
 West; viz. the coming of some illustrious being, — the 
 destruction of the dominion of evil in this world,-^the 
 resurrection of the dead, — the dispensation of judg- 
 ment, — and the consequent happiness of the world. 
 This testimony, it was remarked, is not quoted, as 
 evidence of any other value than to establish the fact, 
 that the prophetical writings — as grammatically inter- 
 preted in the traditionary explanations of the Jews, 
 from the very days of the captivity — have made an 
 extensive impression on the world, and may be traced, 
 even to this day, among the Oriental sects and nations. 
 
 We resume the chain of historical testimony, where 
 we left it, at the close of the first century. 
 
200 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 The first author, in the second century, whose testi- 
 mony we quote, is Justin Martyr. He was born A. D. 
 89, and suffered martyrdom A. D. 163. He vvasnn his 
 early life cotemporary with Papias and Polycarp, was 
 originally "a Platonic philosopher, but was converted 
 to the Christian faith. He taught the gospel," says 
 Spanheim,* " at Rome, with great success and bold- 
 ness until he suffered martyrdom in the reign of An- 
 toninus Pius. Many of his writings against the here- 
 tics have perished. His genuine works are two 
 apologies, and his dialogue with Trypho, the Jew, 
 which are still extant." 
 
 Eusebius speaks in high terms of him, saying, 
 " This Justin has left us many monuments of a mind 
 well stored with learning, and devoted to sacred 
 things, replete with matter profitable in every re- 
 spect." f This learned and excellent writer, in his 
 dialogue with Trypho, the Jew, on the advent of 
 Christ, expresses himself in the most pointed terms, 
 and quotes passage after passage, from the writings of 
 Isaiah, and from the revelations of John, in proof of 
 the visible coming of Christ to raise the dead, to es- 
 tablish his kingdom, and to reign with his saints on 
 the earth. 
 
 " Tell me,"J says Trypho, " do you honestly allow 
 
 ♦ Spanh. Eccles. Annal., p. 194. f Euseb. Eccles. Hist., p. 137. 
 
 I Kai 6 T^pvipiov TTOos ravTa e^rj' tlzov npog <tEj co avOpwire, oti dapaXiii 
 Iv -rrSai (titovSix^his eivai raii ypapais irpoffTrXsK^fJievoi. eme Si fxol^ dA^jScTs' 
 Vfjieli dvoiKodoiiTjOiivai t6v tvitov lepova-aXjft rqfirov o^r/XoyjTrSj kui trvva^OfiffSff- 
 9ai Tov \aov vjuoji/, koX £V(f>pav9fjvai avv rt) Xptorw Sfia rots iruTpidp^ais Kai 
 ToTs Trpof^rais, Kai rotf and rov fjfiETipov yevoiievoi^^ 5) koX tmv i!pwari\vTb)v 
 yevofievojv npiv eXQeiv Vfiwv rov Xptoroj/ TTpocSoKare, ^ eva S6^r}S ncpiKparstv 
 fjHOiiv iv rati ^riTftaea-i irpos to raora onoXoycXv cx^ojpnaats- Kayo e^TO^^ 
 o«j|/ ovTO} raXas cyw, w Tpifoiv^ wf 'irepa Xeyeiv Trap' a cppovo). li^ioXoyrtira ovv 
 cot Koi irpSrepov, bri cyoi jxiv koI aXXoi noXXol ravra cppovovfisv, oif (cat 
 rravrwi titiaaaQe tovto yevrjaoiuvov' JroAXoiy iJe av koX tcov ttis KudapSs k«i 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 201 
 
 this Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and do you expect our 
 nation will be gathered, and with joy be brought back, 
 together with the Messiah, and the patriarchs, and 
 prophets, and proselytes, before the coming of your 
 Messiah ; or do you hold this that you may seem to 
 triumph in argument 1" 
 
 Justin, in reply, protests that he was honest in his 
 sentiments, and that the Jew need not fear to be 
 caught in a trap by what appeared to him a new and 
 ingenious mode of argument. According to some 
 copies, he admits that some Christians reputed ortho- 
 dox, did not acknowledge {non agnoscere) these senti- 
 ments. That this is the genuine reading, however, 
 both Mede and Bishop Newton and Mr. Vint deny, 
 affirming, what Mr. Homes, by a diligent examination 
 of manuscript copies, has proved, that the word " not" 
 
 imeSoXq 6vT(jiv '^(^piariavuiv yva)nri<;, tovto jxtj yvdjpi^eiv sa-fifiava aoi. Tovj 
 yap \eyo[iivoii [ilv ^picmavois, ovras Se aOcois kui aatiPeis ajpeatwraj, oti 
 KUTCi TTOLVTU (3\d(7(pr]jia Kat adea koX dvoriTaTa 6i6acrKov<Tiv^ sSrj^coaa aoi. on 6i 
 ovK £<j)' V[iO)v [xovoyv tovto 'Kiyetv jjlc eiriaTaaOe. twv ytyevrifitvwv fjixTv ^oywv 
 aTtavTcoVj wj SHvajjiis jJiov, trvvra^iv -noiiidonai' ev ois kclI tovto o/ioXyyouira ftc 
 KoX irpos Vfjiai 6/ioAoyw, eypdipco, Ov yap avOpwrrots fia)<\ov ri avdpiovi- 
 votS 6i6ayfia(nv aipovjiai aKoXovOeiv, aXXa Gcw, Koi rots nap' tKeivov StSdyfia- 
 aiv, El yap Kai avpe/3d\er£ vixeis tkti XEyo/xevots x^piaTiavoTg, Kai tovto ftri 
 buoXoyovcTiv, dXXd Kai ^Xaatpin^EXv T-oX/^coo-t tov Qeov A0padjXj Kai rdv laauK^ 
 K-ai Tov 0£o^• lajccS/?, o" Kai Xeyovci jxr] Eivai vcKpwv avaa-raaiv, dWd afia rw 
 j.no9vfi(TKeiVj Tag xbv'^a<; avTOiv dvaXafilidvEaOai eIs tov ovpavov, fir) vnoXd^riTE 
 auTovs ^ptcrtavoiff. waizEp ovSi lovSai'Hf, av tis opOcHs E^Eraar]^ buoXoyfiaaiEv 
 Eivat Tovi ^aSSovKaiois, ri raf hfioiui alpsaag T^EviffTtJUvj koi Mcpiortoj/j kui 
 VaXiXaicjVj Kai EiXXtjviayuyVy Kai ^api(rai(t)v ParrTiaTuV (^kuI fjifi dtjSoos 
 dKovarriTE [iov iravTa a (ppoyQ XiyovTEs^ aXXa, XEyo^iEvoig fiEra Yoviaioii te 
 TEKva APpadu, Kai ^eiXeitiv OjioXoyovv raj tov Osdv, wj dvTOs KEKpayEv o 
 Qeos^ Tr)v 6e KapStav trdpfiot E)(Eiv air avrov. iyCy 81, te ei rivcg Eiaiv dpOo- 
 yvdJ^EVES KOTa irdvTa ^picmavol, Js aapKdg dvaaTaaiv yevr\<jEaQai EirtaTdjjiEOa' 
 Kai X^iXia ETTi £v IspovaaXriji. oiKo6ofir}QEiar\ Kai Koap.r)9Eicri te irXaTVyQeiai)^ oi 
 rrpocp^Tai Ie^ekitjX kuI Hffaiaj, Km ol aXXoi bi/oXoyovovaiv. — Justini IMftT' 
 
 tyris Dialogus cum Tryphone Judaeo. Op. Om. Paris Ed. Sec. 
 80, pp. 177, 178. ■■-'* >r -«^ 
 
 18 
 
202 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 is an interpolation, and that Justin Martyr affirmed that 
 orthodox Christians universally believed it. He tells 
 Trypho, " That some indeed called Christians, are in 
 fact atheists, and impious heretics, because, in every 
 way, they teach blasphemy, impiety, and folly." He 
 gives proof of his sincerity, and protests that he v^as 
 "determined to follow not men, nor human authority, 
 but God, and the doctrine taught by Himj" adding, 
 " Should you happen upon some who are called Chris- 
 tians, indeed, and yet are far from holding these sen- 
 timents," (which is a blow at the Platonism then be- 
 ginning to creep into the church,) " but even dare to 
 assail the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob with 
 blasphemy, and say, ' There is no resurrection of the 
 dead ; but instantly when they die, their souls are re- 
 ceived up into heaven,^ do not count these among Chris- 
 tians, even as they are not Jews, if accurately consid- 
 ered, who are called Sadducees, and the like sects of 
 GenistaB, Meristse, Galileans, Hellenists, Pharisees, and 
 Baptists, and others, (that I may not tire you to hear 
 me express all I think,) but under the name of Jews 
 and sons of Abraham, they worship God, as he accuses 
 them, with their lips only, while their heart is far from 
 him. But I, and all that are orthodox Christians, are 
 acquainted with the resurrection of the body, and the 
 thousand years in Jerusalem, that shall be rebuilt, 
 adorned and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, 
 and others, declare." Then he quotes a variety of pas- 
 sages from Isaiah, commenting on them, and conclud- 
 ing with this testimony from the book of Revelations. 
 "Moreover, a certain man among us, whose name is 
 John, being one of the twelve apostles of Christ, in that 
 Revelation which was shown to him, prophesied that 
 those who believe in our Christ shall fulfil a thousand 
 years at Jerusalem ; and after that the general, and in a 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 203 
 
 word, the everlasting resurrection and last judgment 
 of all together.* 
 
 This testimony scarcely needs a comment, but it is 
 the more valuable, inasmuch as it is confessed by Dr. 
 Murdock, translator of Mosheim's Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory, that his writings are numerous, erudite, all of 
 them theological, all of a polemical character, and, 
 *' being the first of the learned divines, and a very 
 zealous and active Christian, he merits our particular 
 attention."! It proves what were Justin's principles of 
 interpretation. Although once a Platonic philoso- 
 pher, " having had successive masters in philosophy. 
 Stoic, Peripatetic, Pythagorean, and lastly Platonic," 
 he had received the Scriptures, and interpreted the 
 prophecies in their plain, literal import, and not as 
 mystically or allegorically understood. It proves, also, 
 what was his judgment in reference to those who did 
 not so receive and believe the Scriptures. He de- 
 nounced them as heretics, and exhorted Trypho to 
 shun them. 
 
 The next author of the second century whose 
 testimony we cite, is IrenaBus. He was successor 
 to Pothinus,{ as pastor of the church of Lyons, about 
 A. D. 171, and was martyred A. D. 202 or 208. He 
 was a disciple of Poly carp, of whom IrensBus§ says, 
 that " having been instructed by the apostles, he always 
 taught what he had learned from them, what the 
 
 * Brooks' Elements of Scriptural Interpretation, p. 38. First 
 Report of Second Advent Gen. Conf., p. 15. 
 fMurdock's Tr. of Mosheim, vol. i. p. 118. 
 t Scriptor. Eccles. Hist. Lit. Gulielmi Cave. pp. 39, 40. 
 
 § KaiTTcpi Tov K.vp\ov Tiva i^v airap' CKCivoiv aKTjKoeij Kal irepl riov Swajxecov 
 avTOv, Koi mpl rns SiSaa-KaXias, uis irapa tmv avToiTToiv Trji ^cJiis rov X6yov 
 niipet'Xrii'Oii o Ylo^^vxapTroi, dnfiyYeWe Kai/ra avfKpoiva rati ypacpais. — Frag- 
 ment Epist. ad Florinum. Irenaei, p. 464. Oxon. Ed. 
 
204 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 church had handed down, and what is the true 
 doctrine." He has left behind him, what Mosheim 
 calls " a splendid monument ot" antiquity,"* a work in 
 five books against the Valentinian heresy, originally 
 written in Greek, but preserved only in a Latin trans- 
 lation, of rather barbarous style and diction. In this 
 work, Irenseus having noticed certain heretical opinions 
 on the subject, springing from ignorance of the 
 mystery of the resurrection and of the kingdom of the 
 just, proceeds to state the true doctrine. " It is 
 fitting," says he, " that the just rising at the appearing 
 of God, should, in the renewed state, receive the 
 promise of the inheritance whiph God covenanted to the 
 fathers, and should reign in it ; and that then should 
 come the final judgment." This fitness he sets forth, 
 confirming his views by a reference to the promise 
 which God made to Abraham, concluding, " Thus, there" 
 fore, as God promised to him the inheritance of the 
 earth, and he received it not during the whole time he 
 lived in it, it is necessary that he should receive it, 
 together with his seed, that is, with such of them as 
 fear God and believe in him — in the resurrection of 
 the justy-f Having so concluded, he goes on to show 
 
 * Murdock's Tr. of Mosheim, vol. i. p. 120. 
 
 f Oportet justos primos in conditione hac quae renovatur, ad 
 apparitionem Dei resurgentes recipere promissionem haereditatis, 
 quam Beus promisit patribus, et regnare in ea : post deinde fieri 
 judicium. In qua enim conditione laboravenint, sive afflicti sunt, 
 omnibus modis probati per sufferentiam, justum est in ipsa recipere 
 eos fructus sufferentise ; et qua conditione interfecti sunt propter 
 Dei dilectionem, in ipsa vivificare : et in qua conditione servitutem 
 sustinuerunt in ipsa regnare eos. — Repromisit autem Deus haeredi- 
 tatem terrse Abrahee et semini ejus : et neque Abraham neque semen 
 ejus, hoc est, qui ex fide justificantur, nunc sumunt in ea haeredi- 
 tatem ; accipient autem eam in resurrectione justorum. — Iren<gi^ 
 lib. v.. adversus Haereses, pp. 452, 453. 
 
TRADITIONAaY HISTORY. 205 
 
 that Christ, and believers or true Christians, being of 
 the seed of Abraham, and partakers of the promise, 
 according to the apostles' showing, and having as yet 
 enjoyed no inheritance in the land of promise, will 
 undoubtedly receive it at the resurrection of the 
 just. In his 34th chapter he quotes Isaiah, Ezekiel, 
 Daniel, Jeremiah, and Revelations, in support of these 
 views, showing that he adopted the same principles 
 of interpretation with Polycarp, and Papias, and 
 Justin Martyr, and expected the personal visible 
 coming of Christ, for the resurrection of his saints, 
 and for the establishment of his kingdom on the earth. 
 In his 35th and 36th chapters he says, that in the end 
 of Antichrist's time, " the Lord will come from Heaven 
 with clouds, in the glory of his Father, and hurl him 
 and his followers into the lake of fire ; but he will 
 introduce the times of his righteous reign, i. e. the 
 rest^ the seventh day sanctified^ and will restore to 
 Abraham the promised inheritance, in which kingdom, 
 the Lord says, many shall come from the east and the 
 west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and 
 Jacob." He identifies the kingdom of Heaven and 
 the Millenium, and the times of the kingdom he makes 
 to be, when consequent on the coming of Christ, the 
 earth shall be renovated, and Jerusalem that now is, 
 be rebuilt after the fashion of the Jerusalem above,* 
 but distinct from that heavenly city, which John in 
 vision, saw descending out of Heaven to earth. 
 
 Tatian, a rhetorician and disciple of Justin Martyr, 
 who flourished about A. D. 170, after the death of his 
 master, swerved from the faith, and became the founder 
 
 * Nihil allegorizari potest, sed omnia firma et vera, et sub- 
 stantiamhabentia, adfruitionem hominum justoruia a Deo facta. — 
 Iren, adv. Hares,, lib. v. ch. 35. p. 460. 
 18* 
 
} 
 
 20G TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 
 
 of a rigorous sect called Encratites. There is nothing 
 in his writings on the subject of the Millenium. 
 While he professes his belief in the resurrection of 
 the body and a day of judgment, he says nothing 
 about any great glory and religious prosperity of the 
 church, before the coming of Christ. Nothing can be 
 inferred from his writings as to the views of the 
 churches on the subject of the kingdom of Heaven. 
 
 Athenagoras, pronounced by Dr. Murdock to have 
 been one of the most elegant and able writers the 
 church has produced, but scarcely mentioned by any 
 of the fathers, belongs to this century. It is reported 
 that he was converted to Christianity by reading the 
 Scriptures with a design to confute them. He was 
 principal of the school at Alexandria, and in A. D. 177, 
 wrote an apology for the Christian religion addressed 
 to the Emperors Aurelian and Commodus, descanting 
 on the same topics, and employing the same arguments 
 with Justin Martyr. He also wrote another work on 
 the subject of the resurrection, designed to meet the 
 philosophical objections of the heathen against the 
 doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and contain- 
 ing no intimation as to the time, place, circumstances, 
 or condition of the resurrection. There is no direct 
 testimony in his writings on the subject of the pro- 
 phecies ; nor is there any intimation given of an 
 allegorical Millenium, a period of great religious pros- 
 perity prior to the resurrection, such as the spiritualist 
 accounts the hope of the church and the world. This 
 writer, therefore, is no witness either way. 
 
 Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria are the only 
 writers of this century which we deem it necessary par- 
 ticularly to notice. They properly belong, as authors, 
 to the second century, though they did not die till 
 some time in the third. Tertullian is the first Christian 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 207 
 
 writer in Latin, whose works have come down to us. 
 " He was the son of a pagan centurion of proconsular 
 rank, and born at Carthage, A. D. 160. He was bred 
 to the law, but becoming a Christian, was made a 
 proselyte in the church of Carthage, where he appears 
 to have spent his whole life. ' Mosheim* says, 
 " Which were the greatest, his excellences or defects, 
 it is difficult to say. He possessed great genius, but 
 it was wild and unchastened. His piety was active 
 and fervent, but likewise gloomy and austere. He 
 had much learning and knowledge, but lacked 
 discretion and judgment : he was more acute than 
 solid." 
 
 Milner speaks in very harsh strains of him, particu- 
 larly on account of his paying so much attention to 
 the dress of Christians and their style of living, urging 
 simplicity and nonconformity to the pagan fashions 
 and extravagance. " All his writings," he says, 
 " betray the same sour, monastic, harsh, and severe 
 turn of mind." Yet, after having freely censured and 
 severely condemned the man, he says, " The abilities 
 of Tertullian as an orator and a scholar, are far from 
 being contemptible. It is not for us to condemn, 
 after all, a man who certainly honored Christ, defended 
 several fundamental Christian doctrines, took large 
 pains in supporting what he took to be true religion, 
 and ever meant to serve God."t Spanheim says that 
 "he occupies a place in the first rank of the fathers, 
 in erudition, acumen, and eloquence. "J 
 
 The testimony of Tertullian is very explicit. " We 
 also," says he, " confess that a kingdom is promised 
 us on earthy before that in Heaven, but in another state, 
 
 • Murdock's Tr. of Mosheim's Hist., vol. i. p. 122, note, 
 f Milner's Ch. Hist., vol. i. p. 270. 
 \ Spanheim's Hist., p. 195. 
 
I 
 
 208 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 riz. after the resurrection ; for it will be 1,000 years 
 in a city of divine workmanship, viz. Jerusalem hroxight 
 down from Heaven ; and this city Ezekiel knew, and 
 the apostle John saw,"* &c. " This is the city provided 
 of God to receive the saints in the resurrection, 
 wherein to refresh them with an abundance of all 
 spiritual good things, in recompense of those which, 
 in the world, we have either despised or lost. For it 
 is both just and worthy of God, that his servants 
 should there triumph and rejoice where they have 
 been afflicted for his name's sake. This is the manner 
 of the heavenly kingdom."! Again he says, " After the 
 1,000 years, in which is included the resurrection of 
 the saints, rising earlier or later according to their 
 merits, then we, being changed in a moment into 
 angelic matter, shall be transported to the heavenly 
 kingdom. "t Moreover, he says, that it was customary 
 
 * Nam et confitemur in terra nobis regnum repromissum sed 
 ante coelum, sed alio statu, utpote post resurrectionem in miUe 
 annos in civitate divini operis Jerusalem coelo delata, quam et 
 apostolus matrem nostram sursum designal, et noXirtvua nostrum, 
 id est, municipatum in cceHs esse pronuntians, alicui utique coelesti 
 civitati eum deputat. Hanc et Ezechiel novit, et Apostolus Joannes 
 vidit, et qui apud fidem nostram est novee Prophetiae sermo testatur, 
 ut etiam effigiem civitatis ante repraesentationem ejus conspectui 
 futuram in signura prsedicant. —Tertullian adv. Mardonenif liber 
 iii. page 680. 
 
 t Hunc dicimus excipiendis resurrectione Sanctis, et refovendis 
 omnium bonorum utique spiritualium copia in compensationem 
 eorum quae in seculo vel despeximus vel amisimus, a Deo prospectam, 
 siquidem et justum etDeo dignum illis quoque ex$ultare famulos 
 ejus, ubi sunt et afflicti in nomine ipsius. — Adv. Mere. lib. iii. 
 cap. 24, on which Mede remarks (N. B. hie vocat quod in terris 
 futurum asserit, utpote de coelo sine coelitis, vel in quo coelestis e 
 angelica vivetur vita.) B. iii. p. 618. 
 
 t Post cujus mille annos, intra quam aetatem concluditur sanc- 
 torum resurrectio, pro meritis maturius veV tardius resurgentium^ 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 209 
 
 for Christians in his times to pray " that they might 
 have part in the first resurrection ;" and it is confessed 
 by Cyprian, of the following century, that it was the 
 belief that those who suffered martyrdom for Christ, 
 should have their part in the first resurrection, which 
 made them to glory in their persecutions, and even 
 ambitious of suffering and dying for Christ. 
 
 The literal interpretation of the prophecies was? 
 obviously, that adopted by TertuUian,*^ who stands 
 acknowledged to have been the great defender of the 
 Christian faith in the second century. 
 
 The last writer of note in this century, was Cle- 
 ment, of Alexandria. He was, by his own confession, 
 a scholar of Pantsenus, who, although professing 
 Christianity, and the first master of whom we have in- 
 formation in the Christian school at Alexandria, said to 
 be established by Mark, nevertheless retained the title 
 of the stoic philosopher. " This sect of stoic philoso- 
 phers," Milner says, " were a sort of romantic pretend- 
 ers to perfection, which doctrine flattered human pride, 
 
 tunc et mundi destructione et judicii conflagratione commissa, 
 demutati in atomo ; in angelicam substantiam, scilicet per illud 
 incorruptelee superindumentum transferemur in coeleste regnum. — 
 Tertullian adv. Marcionem, lib. iii. ch. 24. page 680. 
 
 * We give some further testimony from Tertullian. " Etiam in* 
 Apocalypsi Joannis ordo temporum sternitur, quem Martyrum quo- 
 que animse sub altari ultionem et judicium flagitantes sustinere 
 didicerunt; ut prius et orbisf de pateris angelorum plagas suas 
 ebibat, et prostituta illaf civitas a decern regibus dignos exitus re- 
 ferat, et§ Bestia Antichristus cum suo Pseudopropheta certamen. 
 Ecclesiae Dei inferat, atque ita Diabolo inii abyssum interim rele- 
 gate, PRiMiE RESURRECTioNis prserogativa de soliis ordinetur ; 
 dehinc et igni dato, universalis resurrectionis censura de libris 
 judicetur. — De Resurrectione Camis. Cap. 25. 
 
 Ap. 6. t Ap. 15, 16. t Ap. 17. § Ap. 19. 
 
 Ap. 20. See also, adv. Hermogenem, cap. 1 1 ; quoted by Mede, 
 
 p. 619. 
 
210 THADITIONAEY HISTORY. 
 
 but was surely ill adapted to our natural imbecility, 
 and the views of innate depravity. The combination 
 of this with Christianity must have debased the divine 
 doctrine very much, in the system of Pantcenus ; and 
 although his instructions clouded the light of the gos- 
 pel, among those who were disposed implicitly to fol- 
 low his dictates, yet it is not improbable but that many 
 of the simple illiterate Christians there, might happily 
 escape the infection, and preserve, unadulterated, the 
 genuine simplicity of the faith of Christ. The bait of 
 reasoning pride lies more in the way of the learned, 
 and in all ages they are more prone to snatch at it."* 
 
 Clemens was of the same philosophical cast of mind 
 with his master. Justin Martyr, as we have observed, 
 though essentially orthodox in his faith, was among 
 the first to sanction a philosophizing spirit, and was 
 commended for his learning. However innocent it 
 prored in him, it did not remain so in others. Cle- 
 mept avowed that the Gentile philosophy was impor- 
 tant to prepare the way, and lay the foundation for 
 Christianity. 
 
 Dr. Murdock, in his notes to his translation of Mo- 
 sheim's Ecclesiastical History, says, " Clement had 
 vast learning, a lively imagination, great fluency, con- 
 siderable discrimination, and was a bold and indepen- 
 dent speculator. No one of the fathers, except Ori- 
 gen, has been more censured in modern times for an 
 excessive attachment to philosophy, or metaphysical 
 theology. His education, and the atmosphere in 
 which he lived, led him towards Platonism and Stoi- 
 tiistti. His great error was, that he overrated the 
 value of philosophy or human reason, as a guide in 
 matters of religion. He also indulged his imagina- 
 
 * Milner's Eccl. Hist., vol. i. p. 276. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 211 
 
 lion, as all the learned of his age did, to excess, and 
 construed the Bible allegorically and fancifully."* 
 
 We need not, therefore, expect to find much in his 
 writings, nor anything very distinct, on the subject of 
 the coming and kingdom of Christ ; for the simplicity 
 of faith on these themes, is and has always been im- 
 paired by human philosophy. A modern author says 
 of him, " This writer seems to me the most vapid of 
 the fathers, having no salt in him ; and though quot- 
 ing the pure word, yet losing it again instantly as a 
 man does the fashion of his face — the moment he 
 turns from the glass. I have no pleasure in his pages. 
 He says much more of Plato than of Christ, and takes 
 notice, neither of the Millenium nor of the coming of 
 Christ, nor of the judgment, nor scarcely of the king- 
 dom of heaven."! Yet even this author, in his ad- 
 dress to the heathen, betrays the influence of what we 
 have seen was the general belief of the Christian 
 church in the first and second centuries, viz. that the 
 kingdom of heaven had not yet arrived. " Therefore 
 Jesus cries aloud, personally urging us, because the 
 kingdom of heaven is at hand ; he converts men by 
 fear." This remark proves that he regarded the king- 
 dom of heaven, as we have seen the prophets and tra- 
 ditions testify, to be introduced by judgment, so that 
 the prospect of its approach to mankind generally, 
 was more an object of terror than joy, and therefore 
 an efficient means of exciting their fears, and,' through 
 fear, of converting them from the error of their ways. 
 The doctrine of the kingdom of heaven, as advocated 
 by the spiritualists, can in no sense be said to appeal 
 directly to men's fears, and, therefore, notwithstanding 
 
 * Murdock's Translation of Mosheim, vol. i. pp. 121, 122. 
 t Ward's History and Doctrine of the Millenium, p. 17. 
 
212 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 all Clement's philosophy and mystification, his ideas 
 of that kingdom must have been radically different. 
 His language is perfectly intelligible and forcible, 
 however, according to the views of the literalists, 
 who apprehend the Scriptures to teach that the king- 
 dom of heaven is to be introduced by the persojjal, 
 visible coming of Christ, and terrible visitations of 
 divine judgment on the wicked. It is the very argu- 
 ment of Peter when he says, " The end of all things 
 is at hand j be ye therefore sober and watch unto 
 prayer:* and if ye call on the Father, who, without 
 respect of persons, judgeth according to every man's 
 work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear."f 
 
 The other writers of this century, whose Works are 
 extant, are few^ and the object of their writings seems 
 to have been, either to offer an apology for the Chris- 
 tian religion in opposition to pagan infidelity, or to 
 confute some particular heresy. Of this description 
 were the Apologies of Quadratus, bishop of Athens, 
 and of Aristides, his cotemporary, an eloquent Chris- 
 tian philosopher of that city, which made such an 
 impression on the Emperor Adrian, to whom they 
 were presented, that Lampridius says he intended to 
 have built a temple for Christ. 
 
 To these may be added the names of Agrippa Cas- 
 tor, of Athanagoras, Pantaenus, Melito, Claudius Apol- 
 linarius, Theophilus, Serapion of Antioch, an& per- 
 haps Hermias, Philip of Gortyra, Modestus, Miltiades, 
 and ApoUonius, most of whose writings are lost, and 
 whose testimony, therefore, cannot be obtained. 
 
 In closing up the testimony of this period, it is 
 worthy of notice, as Mr. Brooks has stated, that, 
 
 • 1 Peter, 4. 7. f 1 Peter, 1. 17. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 213 
 
 although Dr. Hamilton, of Strathblaine, in his work 
 against Millenarians, has said, that the principles of 
 Millenarianism were opposed and rejected, by almost 
 every father of the church, with the exception of Bar- 
 nabas, Clement, and others whom he mentions, he does 
 not seem to have been aware, that his numerous ex- 
 ceptions are almost the whole of those whose works 
 have been preserved down to the time of Origen, 
 "He may be safely challenged to adduce one single 
 passage in any father, during that period, opposing or 
 rejecting the view. The utmost that can be said of 
 any is, that they do not mention the subject ; when 
 they do advert to it, they support and maintain the 
 view that has been here given."* 
 
 To the testimony of Christian writers, in the first 
 and second centuries, it may be proper, before we 
 pass to that of the third and later centuries, to add 
 that of profane history. Eusebius quotes a passage 
 from the writings of Hegesippus, a converted Jew of 
 the second century, to whom he bears honorable testi- 
 mony as an historian, giving an account of his writ- 
 ings, and showing what impression the doctrine of 
 Christ's coming and kingdom made upon the mind of the 
 emperor Domitian, who, in the year A. D. 93 or 94, au- 
 thorised the second base and cruel persecution against 
 Christians ; and, during which, the Apostle John was 
 banished to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the 
 book of Revelations. 
 
 The immediate cause of this persecution, according 
 to Hegesippus, was the alarm of the emperor, at the 
 appearance of Christ, which, he says, was as great as 
 that of Herod, whose conduct he imitated, seeking, 
 especially, by murdering the kindred of Christ accord- 
 
 • El. Propb. Int., p. 36. 
 19 
 
1 
 
 214 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 ing to the flesh, and those of the Jews of the lineage 
 of David, to prevent the appearance of any aspirant 
 to his throne. He is related to have had an interview 
 with some of the relatives of the Saviour, and that 
 when he found they expected the appearance of their 
 deceased Saviour, and the kingdom of heaven at the 
 end of the world, he dismissed them as simpletons, 
 and ordered the persecution to cease.* 
 
 Gibbon has noticed this fact at some length, and 
 Mosheim also. It is of value, as collateral testi- 
 mony, showing what were the expectations of Chris- 
 tians, and their style of speech at that time, in relation 
 to the coming and kingdom of Christ. The language 
 of Gibbon is well worthy of being quoted on the sub- 
 ject.! " It was universally believed," he says, " that 
 the end of the world, and the kingdom of heaven, were 
 at hand. The near approach of this wonderful event 
 had been predicted by the apostles j the tradition of 
 it was preserved by their earliest disciples, and those 
 who understood, in their literal sense, the discourses 
 of Christ himself, were obliged to expect the second 
 and glorious coming of the son of man in the clouds, 
 before that generation was totally extinguished, which 
 had beheld his humble condition upon earth." This 
 is rather Gibbon's own version of the matter than a 
 faithful report of the actual views of Christians. 
 They did, indeed, look for . the speedy coming of 
 Christ, but they did not feel themselves bound to give 
 the same meaning to the Saviour's use of the word 
 " generation" which this sneering historian has done. 
 
 " The ancient and popular doctrine of the Mille- 
 nium," continues Gibbon, " was intimately connected 
 with the second coming of Christ." Having stated 
 
 * Euseb. Hist. Eccles., lib. iii. ch. 19. 
 
 tHist.of the Decline and Fall of the Rom. Emp., vol.ii. pp. 25, 26. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 215 
 
 the views we have already quoted, of the ancient 
 Jewish and Christian expectations, founded on the 
 prophecies relative to the Millenium, though with his 
 own gloss, he adds," the assurance of such a Millenium 
 was carefully inculcated by a succession of fathers, 
 from Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, who conversed with 
 the immediate disciples of the apostles, down to Lac- 
 tantius, w^ho was preceptor to the son of Constantine. 
 Though it might not be universally received, it ap- 
 pears to have been the reigning sentiment of the orlho- 
 dox believers ; and it seems so well adapted to the 
 desires and apprehensions of mankind, that it must 
 have contributed, in a very considerable degree, to 
 the progress of the Christian faith. But when the 
 edifice of the church was almost completed the tem- 
 porary support was laid aside. The doctrine of 
 Christ's reign on the earth was, at first, treated as a 
 profound allegory, was considered, by degrees, as a 
 doubtful and useless opinion, and was at length re- 
 jected, as the absurd invention of heresy and fanati- 
 cism. A mysterious jrrophecy, which still forms a 
 part of the sacred canon, but which was thought to 
 favor the exploded sentiment, has very narrowly es- 
 caped the proscription of the church."* 
 
 From this unbroken chain of testimony, during the 
 first and second centuries, in favor of the pre-millenial 
 coming of Christ, to establish his kingdom on the 
 earth, we pass to the third. Gibbon has correctly 
 stated the case. It was not till two centuries had 
 passed away, that anything unfavorable to this be- 
 lief seems to have been entertained in the primitive 
 church. Toward the close of the second century, the 
 
 * Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire? 
 vol. i. pp. 411-413. 
 
1 
 
 2J6 tkaditionjIry history. . 
 
 allegorical style of interpretation began to find favor. 
 A tendency to it had gradually manifested itself. 
 Theophilus of Antioch, who died A. D. 182 or 183, 
 displayed a great fondness for allegorical and fanciful 
 interpretations, and founded many of his arguments 
 in vindication of Christianity on them, assuming that 
 many things, both in nature and revelation, were of 
 typical import, confounding analogy and allegory with 
 types.* It is not surprising that he, and other apolo- 
 gists for Christianity, who adopted this method, 
 should have failed to make any great impression on 
 the minds of pagan unbelievers. 
 
 ^ PantajnuSjOf whom we have already spoken, as having 
 introduced the Platonic philosophy into the Alexan- 
 drian school, exerted a powerful influence on the minds 
 of his pupils, among whom were Clement of Alexandria 
 and Origen, both of whose writings contributed 
 greatly to form the taste for the allegorical or mysti- 
 cal style of interpretation. Nothing, however, ap- 
 pears in the writings opposed to the millenarian views 
 of the personal coming of Cfirist and his kingdom on 
 the earth. There were differences of opinion among 
 many, about the enjoyments and the employments in 
 the millenial state, some describing the happiness in 
 more sensual strains than others. " That the Savi- 
 our," says Mosheim, " is to reign 1,000 years among 
 men, before the end of the world, had been believed 
 by many in the preceding (second) century, without 
 offence to any: all, however, had not explained the 
 doctrine in the same manner, nor indulged hopes of 
 the same kind of pleasures during that reign. In 
 this century (i. e. third) the millenarian doctrines fell 
 into disrepute through the influence, especially, of 
 
 * Murdock's Tr. of Mosheim's Ecc. Hist., vol. i. p. 121. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 217 
 
 Origen^ who strenuously opposed it, because it con- 
 travened some of his opinions. But Nepos, an Egyp- 
 tian bishop, attempted to revive its authority, in a 
 work written against the jJllegorists, as he contemptu- 
 ously styled the opposers of the Millenium. The 
 book and its arguments were approved by many in the 
 province of Arsinoe, and particularly by Coracion, a 
 presbyter of some respectability and influence. But 
 Dionysius of Alexandria, a disciple of Origen, allayed 
 the rising storm, by his oral discussions and his two 
 books on the divine promises."* 
 
 This is Mosheim's account of the rise of Anti-mil- 
 lenarian views, whom Gibbon accuses of a want of 
 candor in what he has written on the subject, having 
 referred its origin to Jewish fables, and supposed that 
 Christian doctors received or tolerated it, because 
 they hoped, by it, to make the Jews more willing to 
 embrace Christianity. Dr. Murdock, the American 
 translator of Mosheim, says that Dr. Walch, a Ger- 
 man writer, admits that the doctrine had a Bible 
 origin, but that the explanation of it, from which he (Dr. 
 M.) dissents, was Jewish. We may hereafter have 
 occasion to notice this subject more critically j at 
 present it may suffice to say, that gradually, as piety 
 decayed in the primitive church, more or less of sen- 
 sual enjoyment was comprehended in the descriptions 
 which were given of the pleasures of the kingdom of 
 Heaven j and thence a prejudice was excited, which 
 becamevery strong, in the minds of those whose ideas 
 of holiness had been impaired, and which, through the 
 influence of Gnosticism, they were led to believe, con- 
 sisted mainly in the subjugation of the senses, and 
 especially in chastity and the extirpation of the sexual 
 appetite. 
 
 • Murdock's Tr. of Mosheim's Ecc. Hist., vol. i. pp. 185, 188. 
 19* 
 
J 
 
 218 TBADITIONARY HISTOHY. 
 
 Origen had these ideas of holiness, and emasculated 
 himself to attain to it, and therefore could not look 
 favorably on any view of Christ's corporeal presence 
 and millenial reign on the earth, which admitted those 
 yet in the flesh to be, in any way, included in it, or 
 that recognized the holiness in the marriage relation. 
 In order to estimate rightly the objections of such 
 men as Origen, against what they call the sensual 
 character of the millenarian views, it is necessary to 
 examine carefully their ideas of the nature of holiness, 
 and to discriminate, in examining the millenial views, 
 between the pleasures of the millenial state appro- 
 priated to the risen saints, and those appropriated to 
 that portion of mankind who, during that state, shall 
 survive the terrible convulsions, and remain in the 
 flesh, and over whom, and their ofl!spring, the sway 
 of the heavenly kingdom is to be extended.* The 
 confounding these things has doubtless led to much 
 error and prejudice, and prepared the way for oflTen- 
 sive sensual descriptions of the heavenly state. 
 
 " The first open opposer of Chiliasm that we meet with 
 was Caius, a teacher in the church of Rome, towards 
 the end of the second century. On this ground he 
 denied that the Apocalypse was written by John, and 
 ascribed it rather to Cerinthus. But he effected very 
 little."! Yet this old and exploded story has of late years 
 been revived, and some modern Anti-millenarians have, 
 in their profound ignorance of the subject, pronounced 
 
 • Dr. Whitby, the originator, as we shall presently show, of the 
 modern doctrine of the Millenium, has been very, and culpably, 
 neglectful here, having taken the representations of mille- 
 narian views in the primitive church, made by avowed enemies, 
 and condemned them on the authority of Origen and Dionysius 
 Alexandrinus, both prejudiced witnesses in this matter. 
 
 t Murdock's Trans, of Mosheim's Ecc. Hist., vol. L p. 186. 
 
THADITIONARY HISTORY, 23,9 
 
 Cerinthus, the heretic, to have been the author ©f 
 millenarian views. " Origen," says Dr. Murdoch, 
 " was a more powerful opposer of the doctrine. He 
 did not, like Caius, deny the canonical authority of 
 the Apocalypse, but explained the passages in it, which 
 described the millenial reign of Christ, allegorically, 
 as referring to spiritual delights suited to the nature 
 of spirits raised to perfection, and then to be enjoyed, 
 not on the earth, but in the world to come."* 
 
 Of Caius, Mede says, " Eusebius, who found out one 
 Caius to father it upon Cerinthus, deserves no credit. 
 He was a party, and one of those which did his best 
 to undermine the authority of the Apocalypse. Nor 
 did any know of any such Caius but from his relation ; 
 and, if there were any such, he should seem to be one 
 of the heretics called Alogi, who denied both St. 
 John's Gospel and Apocalypse,^ as is testified in Epi- 
 phanius ; and their time jumps with the age which Eu- 
 sebius assigns to Caius. Yet I deny not but some 
 might maintain very carnal and intolerable conceits 
 about this regnum of a thousand years, as the Maho- 
 metans do about their paradise ; but these are not 
 to be imputed unto those primitive fathers and ortho- 
 dox Christians."! 
 
 Origen was the first who gave form, and sym- 
 metry, and system to the allegorical interpretation. 
 The great influence of his learning and talents soon 
 gave it authority. He was born A. D. 185, and died 
 A. D. 254. His learning, labors, writings, and proofs 
 of ardor and sincerity, are wonderful. " His genius," 
 says Spanheim,:{: " was too luxuriant and inclined to 
 allegory: and he fell into several doctrinal errors, 
 
 ♦ Murdock's Trans, of Mosheim's Ecc. HisJ., vol. i. p. 186. 
 t Mede's Works, lib. iii. p. 602. 
 t Spanheim's Hist., p. 219. 
 
) 
 
 220 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 which afterwards supplied fuel for the flames of dis- 
 cord, and produced deplorable efTects in the church." 
 
 " He was first," says Mosheim, " among those who 
 have found, in the Sacred Scriptures, a secure retreat 
 for all errors and idle fancies. As this most ingenious 
 man could see no feasible method of vindicating, what 
 is said in the Scriptures, against the cavils of the here- 
 tics, and the enemies of Christianity, provided he 
 interpreted the language of the Bible literally, he con- 
 cluded, that he must expound the sacred volume in 
 the way in which the Platonists were accustomed to 
 explain the history of their gods. He therefore taught, 
 that the words, in many parts of the Bible, convey no 
 meaning at all j and in some places where he acknow- 
 ledged there was some meaning in the words, he 
 maintained, that under the things there expressed, 
 there was contained a hidden and concealed sense, 
 which was much to be preferred to the literal mean-* 
 ing of the words. And this hidden sense it is, that 
 he searches after in his commentaries, ingeniously 
 indeed, but perversely and generally to the entire neg- 
 lect and contempt of the literal meaning."* 
 
 We think it proper to give, here, a more minute 
 account of his system of interpretation, which has 
 done so much to neutralise the influence of the Sacred 
 Scriptures in the world. His system of philosophy 
 could not be reconciled with the Sacred Scriptures, 
 except by a resort to allegories, and therefore they 
 must be allegorically interpreted. His Platonic idea 
 of a twofold world, a visible and invisible, the one 
 emblematic of the other — or according to the philoso- 
 phy and metaphysics of Noble— analogically related, 
 led him to search for a figurative description of the 
 invisible world, in the Biblical history of the nations 
 • Murdock*s Translation of Mosheim, v. i. p. 181. 
 
TEADITIONARY HISTORY. 2511 
 
 of the earth. He thought that he honored the Sacred 
 Scriptures by considering them different from all 
 other compositions, and containing hidden mysteries, 
 a conceit that has done much for ignorance and 
 mysticism. His general principles of interpretation 
 resolve themselves into the following positions, as 
 stated by Dr. Murdock. 1. The Sacred Scriptures re- 
 semble man. As a man consists of three parts, a 
 rational mind, a sensitive soul, and a visible body, so 
 the Scriptures have a threefold sense, a literal sense 
 corresponding with the body, a moral sense analo- 
 gous to the soul, and a mystical or spiritual sense 
 corresponding with the rational mind. 2. As the body 
 is the baser part of man, so the literal is the less 
 worthy sense of Scripture. And as the body often 
 betrays men into sin, so the literal sense often leads 
 us into error. 3. Yet the literal sense is not wholly 
 useless. 4>. They who would see further into the Scrip- 
 tures than the common people, must search out the 
 moral sense. 5. And the perfect, or those who have 
 attained to the highest degree of blessedness, must 
 also investigate the spiritual sense. 6. The moral 
 sense of Scripture instructs us relative to the changes 
 in the mind of man, and gives rules for regulating his 
 heart and life. 7. The spiritual sense acquaints us 
 with the nature and state and history of the spiritual 
 world. For, besides this material world, there is a 
 spiritual world, composed of two parts, the heavenly and 
 the earthly. The earthly mystical, or spiritual world, 
 is the Christian church on earth : the heavenly mystical 
 world is above, and corresponds, in all its parts, with 
 the lower world, which was formed after its model. 
 8. As the Scriptures contain the history of the two- 
 fold mystical world, so there is a twofold mystic 
 sense of Scriptures, an allegorical and anagogical. 9. 
 
) 
 
 222 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 
 
 The mystic sense is diffused throughout the Scrip- 
 tures. 10. Yet we do not always nieet with both the 
 allegorical sense, and the anagogical, in every passage. 
 11. The moral sense likewise pervades the whole 
 Bible. 12. But the literal sense does not occur every- 
 where, for many passages have no literal meaning. 
 13. Some passages have only two senses, viz. a moral 
 and a mystical (the mystical being either allegorical or 
 anagogical, rarely both) ; other passages have three 
 senses, the moral, the mystical, and the literal. 14. 
 The literal sense is perceived by every attentive 
 reader. The moral sense is somewhat more difficult 
 to be understood. 15. But the mystic sense none can 
 discover with certainty, unless they are wise»men, and 
 also taught of God. 16. Neither can ever such men 
 hope to fathom all the mysteries of the Sacred 
 volume."* No wonder that when such principles of 
 interpretation became current, and such a cloud of 
 mist and darkness was thrown around the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures, the way was soon prepared for the priests to 
 claim exclusive right to interpret the Scriptures, and 
 to deny the common people access to them ; and that 
 the common people should have consented to get rid 
 of them. 
 
 Origen had the boldness to affirm, that the Scrip- 
 ture does not much help those who understand it as 
 it is written. He could not discover in the sacred 
 books all that he considered true, so long as he 
 adhered to the literal sense : but allow him to aban- 
 don the literal sense, and to search for recondite or 
 occult spiritual meanings, and those books would con- 
 tain Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and the whole tribe of 
 philosophers. And thus nearly all those who would 
 
 * See Murdock's Translation of Mosheim's Ecc. Hist., v. i. p. 181. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY, 223 
 
 model Christianity, according to their own fancy, or 
 their favorite system of philosophy, or pre-conceived 
 notions, have run into this mode of interpreting 
 Scripture. 
 
 There is no reason to wonder, that in the thick 
 cloud of darkness, which he drew over the word of 
 God, he should have lost sight of a Millenium alto- 
 gether, and made the church on earth the mystic 
 kingdom of Heaven. The opposition of Nepos to his 
 views, and the influence of Coracion in Arsinoe, in 
 preserving, for a season, the ancient faith on the sub- 
 ject, have already been noticed. It was left, however, 
 for Dionysius of Alexandria, a disciple of Origen, to 
 establish the authority and system of his master. 
 Eusebius has an extract from Dionysius's works, in 
 which he gives an account of his oral discussion with 
 the presbyters and teachers of Arsinoe, and how he 
 induced Coracion, and, as he says, with "him all the 
 rest, to promise that they would no longer adhere to 
 the millenarian view, nor discuss it; neither mention 
 nor teach it," having, as he not very modestly says of 
 himself, " been fully convinced by the opposite argu- 
 ments."* 
 
 Yet this same Dionysius, while he professed not 
 to do so in reality, rejected the book of Revelations, 
 and gives a long argumentf founded on the comparison 
 of the style of the Apocalypse with that of the three 
 Epistles of John, the absence of John's name in the 
 latter and its announcement in the former, and what 
 he calls idiotisms or odd peculiarities of expression, 
 to prove that the book of Revelations was not the 
 production of John the apostle. After stating how 
 
 • Euseb. Ecc. Hist., p. 278. 
 
 t Which Dr. Lardner has examined and refuted in his Credi- 
 bilia, vol. ii. 
 
I 
 
 >ld^ TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 some attributed it to Cerinthus, and set it aside alto- 
 gether, pronouncing it without sense or reason, he 
 says : " For my part I would not venture to set this 
 book aside," and then states the reason, not because 
 he believed it to be canonical, but from mere policy j 
 " because," says he, " there are many brethren that value 
 it much ; but having formed a conception of its sub- 
 ject as exceeding my capacity, I consider it also con- 
 taining a certain concealed and wonderful intimation 
 in each particular. For though I do not understand, 
 yet I suspect, that some deeper sense is enveloped in 
 the words, and these I do not measure and judge by 
 my private reason ; but allowing more to faith, 1 have 
 regarded them as too lofty to be comprehended by 
 me, and those things which I do not understand, I do 
 not reject, but I wonder, the more I cannot compre- 
 hend." This all seems very humble and pious ; yet it 
 is obvious, that he was much more disposed to be 
 skeptical, and to act the part of a critic in reference 
 to the book of Revelations, than to study and prize it 
 as a divinely inspired work. For, after having said 
 many things to prove, that the apostle John was not 
 its author, — all of them mere presumptions founded 
 on his criticism, — he remarks, as though the truth 
 might be suspected as to his skepticism, "neither 
 would I have any one suppose, that I am saying these 
 things by way of derision, but only with the view to 
 point out the great difference between the writings of 
 these men, that is, the apostle John who wrote the 
 Epistles, and another John, who Dionysius persuaded 
 himself was the author of the book of Revelations."* 
 In concluding this chapter, the following facts are 
 worthy of being recapitulated. 
 
 ♦ Euseb. Ecc. Hist., p. 276. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 225 
 
 1. That while the primitive church retained her 
 greatest simplicity of faith, and purity of life, and 
 spirit of martyrdom, the pre-millenial coming of Christ 
 for the establishment of his kingdom on the earth, was 
 extensively and generally received, and used for the 
 purposes of holy living. 
 
 2. That the very first evidences of dissent from it, 
 appear among those who attempted to unite philoso- 
 phy with Christianity, and to adapt the truths of. 
 Scripture to the decisions of human reason. 
 
 3. That it was not tillCerinthus, and other heretics, 
 had perverted and given a sensual gloss to the millenari- 
 an doctrine, a,nd the notions of Origen and of other con- 
 verts from Platonism as to the nature of holiness, had 
 undergone a very important change, that opposition to 
 millenarian views began to find favor. In the first 
 and second centuries, holiness was understood to be, 
 as it is in truth, the love of God and of man, regulat- 
 ing the feelings of men and all their senses, appe- 
 tites, and actions. There was nothing felt to be sinful 
 in the senses and appetites, but only in their illicit and 
 excessive exercise. But the Platonic notions of the 
 nature and origin of evil, led the wise and learned to 
 suppose that sin sprung from the contact of spirit with 
 matter, and therefore to regard the appetites them- 
 selves as sinful, and to make holiness to consist in 
 sexual chastity, celibacy, virginity, and only to be 
 perfectly attained by the extirpation of the appetites, 
 and liberation from the body. It was a false philoso- 
 phy, therefore, against which the apostles warned the 
 church, and which they predicted would corrupt it, 
 that excited prejudices against the millenarian doc- 
 trine, and prepared the way for its rejection. 
 
 4. That even when those prejudices, engendered by 
 a false philosophy, had been excited, still success did 
 
 20 
 
J 
 
 2^ TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 not crown the attempt to get rid of millenarian doc- 
 trine, till a style of ioterpretation was introduced, 
 sanctioned, and worked into a system, which ac- 
 tually rendered the Sacred Scriptures useless to 
 common people, and prepared the way for their be- 
 coming the exclusive possession of the priests. 
 
 5. And that it became necessary, on the part of the 
 first opposers, to deny or to doubt the canonical au- 
 thority of the book of Revelations, or practically and 
 skeptically to reject, and to undervalue a portion of 
 the Word of God, from the beginning admitted to be 
 genuine and of divine authority, and especially com- 
 mended to our study and valuation. 
 
'fr'^'\*H..-'i 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. ) 
 
 In pursuing the history of the views entertained in 
 the primitive church, relative to the coming and king- 
 dom of Jesus Christ, we have found but one unbroken 
 chain of testimony in favor of the personal pre-millenial 
 advent and appearance of the Saviour until the close of 
 the second century. The opposition first publicly 
 raised by Caius, against what was called the orthodox 
 faith on this subject, became subsequently much more 
 formidable, as prosecuted by Origen, and his disciple, 
 Dionysius of Alexandria. It was not, however, till 
 an entire new system of interpreting the Scriptures 
 had been excogitated, and received the sanction of 
 the wise and learned, that the millenarian views began 
 to fall into disrepute. 
 
 In speaking of this method of interpretation, 
 wrought into a system by Origen, Milner says, " No 
 man, not altogether unsound and hypocritical, ever 
 more hurt the church of Christ, than Origen. From 
 the fanciful mode of allegory introduced by him, un- 
 controlled by Scriptural rule and order, arose a viti- 
 ated method of commenting on the Scriptures, which 
 has been succeeded by a contempt of types and 
 figures altogether, just as his fanciful ideas of letter 
 and spirit, tended to remove from men's minds, all 
 right conception of genuine Christianity. A thick 
 mist, for ages, pervaded the Christian world, supported 
 by his absurd allegorical mode. The learned alone 
 
1 
 
 228 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. • 
 
 were looked at as guides implicitly to be followed ; 
 and the vulgar, when the literal sense was hissed off 
 the stage, had nothing to do but to follow the author- 
 ity of the learned. It was not till the days of Luther 
 and Melancthon that this evil was fairly and success- 
 fully opposed."* 
 
 With Origen commenced a new era in the church. 
 He prepared the way for that union of paganism and 
 Christianity, which, soon after his day, became so ex- 
 tensive and corrupting in the world. This he did by 
 means of his philosophy, being, according to Milner, 
 " full of Platonic notions concerning the soul of the 
 world, the transmigration of spirits, free will, the pre- 
 existence of souls, and allegorical interpretations with- 
 out end."t 
 
 Echard says, that " being a vast proficient in philo- 
 sophy, and too much possest with the notions of Pla- 
 to's school, he grew very solicitous to accommodate 
 the divine truths to his beloved opinions. And from 
 three of them, all his errors seem to have proceeded, 
 1. That all intelligent beings ever did and ever shall 
 exist J 2. That they have always been free to do good 
 and evil ; and 3. That they have been precipitated in 
 lower places and confined to bodies for a punishment 
 of their sins."{ The allegorical system of Scriptural 
 interpretation, which he introduced, was itself the 
 genuine offspring of his pagan philosophy. 
 
 Mr. Taylor, in his work on Ancient Christianity, 
 has shown, that the evangelical truths of redemption 
 by the blood of Jesus Christ, which lie everywhere on 
 the very surface of the Sacred Scriptures, attracted 
 very little of Origen's attention, and that his whole 
 
 * Milner's Ch. Hist., vol. i. pp. 435-6. 
 t Milner's Ch. Hist., vol. i. p. 428. 
 } Echard's Ecc. History, b. iu. p. 609. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 229 
 
 system of mythic interpretation, as he calls it, had 
 its origin and foundation in Gnostic sentiments and 
 feelings. By these, he understands those particular 
 notions with regard to the nature of God, engendered 
 by the Platonic philosophy, and which compromise 
 his moral, by means of a refinement of his natural 
 attributes, and fashions a Deity allied to the imagina- 
 tion,* and not to the conscience. 
 
 The elements of the Gnostic philosophy were in 
 existence in the days of the apostle. It was but the 
 Oriental philosophy, which Cerinthus, the heretic, first 
 wrought into a system, although they were not by him 
 fully and consistently developed, but in some respects 
 accommodated to Jewish opinions. " The Alexan- 
 drian Gnostics," says Giesseler,t " in their specula- 
 tions on these subjects, (viz. the origin of evil, the 
 creation of the world, and the internal relations of the 
 world of light), followed vaguely a notion borrowed 
 from the Platonic doctrine of ideas, that the visible 
 world is an image of the invisible. With this, they 
 readily united the allegorical interpretation of the 
 Scriptures, already in use, which they managed in the 
 most arbitrary way." 
 
 The present world, with its material elements jar- 
 ring with each other, with its organized and animated 
 orders, perishable, corruptible and inimical, and its 
 intelligent races degenerate and wretched, was pro- 
 ntJunced by the Gnostic philosophy, in direct contra- 
 diction^ of the Mosaic theology, to be altogether 
 unworthy of the Supreme and Infinite power — that it 
 was in fact the work of inferior and imperfect beings, 
 and consequently, that Jehovah, the God of the Jews, 
 
 • Ancient Christianity, p. 212. ^ 
 
 t Giesseler's Eccles. Hist., vol. i. p. 70. 
 
 20* 
 
I 
 
 230 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 / 
 
 was not the Supreme Deity. Accordingly, it rejected 
 the expiatory sacrifice of Christ. It wanted no such 
 Saviour as Jesus Christ, according to the literal and 
 historical account of the New Testament. Sin and 
 guilt were not, according to it, the immediate obsta- 
 cles in the way of happiness, but the connection of 
 the immortal mind with matter was. Let the human 
 spirit break away from the material thralls of the 
 Demiurge, the creator of this gross system, and it 
 would instantly be happy. Matter being dropped, sin, 
 its accident, would fall with it. The Gnostic philoso- 
 phy admitted, that to effect this emancipation, Christ 
 was sent, and that he, by his opposition to Demiurge, 
 the imperfect Creator and God of the Jews, recalls 
 the purer minds of the human family to their original 
 place in the intellectual system. 
 
 Moshelm* gives the following account. Under 
 the appellation of Gnostics, arc included all those 
 in the first ages of the church, who modified the 
 religion of Christ, by joining with it the Orien- 
 tal philosophy, in regard to the source of evil, 
 and the origin of this material universe. All those 
 eastern philosophers — believing that rational souls 
 become connected with matter, and the inhabit- 
 ants of bodies, contrary to the will and pleasure of the 
 Supreme God— were in expectation of a mighty legate 
 from the Deity, possessed of consummate wisdom and 
 power, who would imbue with a knowledge of the true 
 God, the spirits now oppressed with the load of their 
 bodies, and rescue them from their bondage to the 
 lords of this material world. When, therefore, some 
 of them perceived, that Jesus and his friends wrought 
 miracles of a salutary character, they were ready to 
 believe, that Jesus was that mighty legate of God, 
 
 ♦ See Mosheim's Ecc. History, vol. i. pp. 63, 64. 
 
TRADITIOKARY HISTORY. 231 
 
 come to deliver men from the power of the Genii who 
 governed this lower world, and to rescue souls from 
 their unhappy connection with material bodies. This 
 supposition being admitted into their minds, they 
 interpreted, or rather perverted whatever Christ and 
 his disciples taught, so as to make it harmonize with 
 other opinions. Their belief, that matter is eternal 
 and the source of all evil, prevented them from putting 
 a due estimate upon the human body, and from favor- 
 ing marriage, whereby bodies are produced, and also 
 from admitting the doctrine of the future resurrection 
 of the body. They could not admit Christ to be truly 
 God, or truly man ; and hence originated Arian specu- 
 lations about his inferiority to the Supreme Deity, and 
 superiority of the Demiurge, or God of the Jews. 
 Their belief in the existence of Aons or Genii, pre 
 pared the way for a resort to magic, and all the arts of 
 witchcraft, and the devices of superstition, for the 
 intercession of saints, and prayers for the dead. The 
 cause of Christ's coming among men, was, they held, 
 simply to strip the evil Genii of their power over the 
 virtuous and heaven-born souls of men, and to teach 
 them how to withdraw their divine minds from their 
 impure bodies, and fit them for a union with God. 
 Hence originated the ascetic rites and the monastic 
 institutions, and thus, in the progress of a few centu- 
 ries, paganism triumphed over Christianitj^ and the 
 way was prepared for the grand apostasies of Mahom- 
 edanism in the East, and Popery in the West. 
 
 It was the influence of such philosophy thnt led the 
 way to celibacy, to the contempt of marriage, to the 
 invocation of the dead saints, to fastings and penance, 
 and to various ascetic rites to mortify the flesh— in a 
 word, to the whole system of monkish religion, which 
 began to spring up in the third and fourth centuries, by 
 
232 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 means of which, the churches of the West became as 
 truly paganised, as were the millions of the East by 
 ** its parent Sooffeism, and its grand parent, Bhudism." 
 In the progress of this philosophy, in the struggle to 
 become extricated from matter, the seat of sin, undue 
 importance came to be attached to the sacraments of 
 the church, to ablutions and penances, to disciplinary 
 and various ascetic rites, by the observance of which 
 the attainment of holiness was made the more certain. 
 The very " first symptom of decay and decline in tru« 
 evangelical holiness, has ever been, a revival of the 
 ritual part of religion, which ere long becomes a*tnass 
 of solemn formalism, and of impious mummeries : — r 
 the Ichabod of the church has ever borne this inter- 
 pretation."* 
 
 To such a degree and extent did this system prevail, 
 in the fourth and fifth centuries, that the church was 
 pronounced the ark of safety, and the sacraments 
 were regarded as the conduits of grace. The beauty 
 of holiness was to be seen in conformity to the ritual j 
 and various advices and instructions were given, about 
 baths and diets, and efforts to maintain celibacy, until 
 at la%t, in the exaltation of the sacraments and their 
 alleged potency to convey holiness, it was proclaimed, 
 that " Although a man should be foul with every vice, 
 the blackest that could be named, yet should be fall into 
 the baptismal pool, he ascends from the divine waters 
 purer than the beams of noon."t This, as we might 
 show, with much more minute detail, was the genuine 
 offspring of Origenism. 
 
 It is true that the churches did not pass into it sud- 
 denly, nor without a struggle ; but the errors and sys- 
 tem of Origen led to it ; and although Origen him- 
 self was condemned and excommunicated, and did not 
 
 • Ancient Christianity, p. 341. f Ancient Christianity, p. 325. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 233 
 
 perhaps, dream of the results td which his sys- 
 tem would be carried, yet, as Mosheim states *' of 
 all the religious controversies, those concerning Ori- 
 gen and Origenism, made the greatest noise. Although 
 churches fought resolutely against them, yet did they 
 triumph. The monks were enthusiastic admirers of 
 Origen ; and by the year 533, when the papacy was 
 firmly established by Justinian, the system of Origen 
 had triumphed, and swayed the western nations, 
 almost undisturbed for one thousand years. 
 
 It does not comport with our design to trace out 
 the horrible corruptions flowing from this system. It 
 led directly to the predicted apostasy j and while its 
 philosophy introduced radically different ideas of 
 holiness, from those of Christ and his apostles, and 
 reared an awful system of rites and ceremonies, and 
 invocation of saints — in fact, a system of baptized 
 paganism, its criticisms and expositions as to the 
 import of the phrase, the kingdom of Heaven, and its 
 views as to its nature, prepared the way for the Bishop 
 of Rome — claiming to be the vicegerent of Christ, and 
 the church to be His kingdom on earth — to grasp the 
 sceptre of universal dominion, and to exercise a 
 tyranny over the bodies and tl^e souls of men, unlike 
 anything the world had ever witnessed. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, remarks a modern author, 
 who has carefully examined the writings of Origen on 
 this very point, that the same remarkable man and ac- 
 credited heretic, whose name is an abomination in both 
 the Greek and Latin churches, throughout all their 
 borders, and in all their generations, is the inventor of 
 both the doctrine of the kingdom of Heaven come, and 
 also of the keys of the kingdom of Heaven having 
 been received by Peter for Peter's own personal use. 
 But Origen had no more idea of the Pope's using Pe- 
 
1 
 
 234 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 ter's keys, to open and shut Heaven upon poor souls, 
 at the Pope's will, than the Pope himself has, that he 
 is wholly indebted to that detested heretic of Egypt 
 for the sole invention of the doctrine of Peter's keys 
 and kingdom, with the power of which, the Koman 
 sways whole nations, and shakes the wide earth.* 
 
 We need not, therefore, be surprised that with the 
 growth and spread of Origen's system of interpretation 
 and philosophy, the plain doctrines of the gospel 
 should have disappeared, and that we should find less 
 and less trace of the ancient faith as to Christ's com- 
 ing and kingdon, from the rise of Popery to the Re- 
 formation. Still, however, can we trace it down after 
 the days of Origen. Even Origen himself could not 
 wholly extricate himself from the influence of views, 
 which were embraced by the decided majority of 
 Christians in his day, and for some time afterward. 
 Occasionally he betrays, in his writings, sentiments 
 that must be referred to it. " If any man,"t says he, 
 ** shall preserve the washing of the Holy Spirit, he 
 shall have his part in the first resurrection ; but if any 
 man be saved in the second resurrection only, it is the 
 sinner that ne.edeth the baptism by fire. Wherefore, 
 seeing these things arc so, let us lay the Scriptures to 
 heart, and make th€m the rule of our lives, that so be- 
 
 • Glad Tidings, p. 82. 
 
 t Si qtiis servaverit lavacriim Spiritus Sancti iste in resurrectio- 
 nis primac parte communicat. Si quis vero in secunda resurrec- 
 tione servatur, iste peccator est, qui ignis indiget baptismo. Quam- 
 obrem cum talia post mortem nobis residere videamus, Scripturas 
 diligenter simul recitantes reponamus eas in coruibus nostris, et 
 juxta earum vivere praecepta nitamur ; ut ante exeessionis diem, 
 peccatorum sordibus emundati (he means human passions and ap- 
 petites) cum Sanctis valeamos assumi in Christo Jesu. — Homil. 13, 
 inKJerem, 
 
^V^^TX 
 
 //^ 
 
 ^>"v<e 
 
 v^ 
 
 \i 
 
 TRADITIONARY HISTOKT. . ^N^C^^I?^' '*^ O' 
 
 ing cleansed from the defilement of sin, before 
 part, we may be raised up with his saints, and ha 
 our lot with Christ Jesus." Here he makes the dis- 
 tinction between the first and second resurrection, ac- 
 cording to the millenarian view, but instantly perverts 
 and applies it to his own system, as Mrs. Sherwood has 
 done, employing it in support of his belief in universal 
 salvation, or the final restoration of the wicked, which 
 was one of the ultimate and legitimate results of his 
 pagan philosophy. 
 
 In pursuing the chain of historical testimony down 
 from the days of Origen, we notice first Cyprian,* 
 bishop of Carthage, whose character has been so 
 
 • Mede, in his letter to Mr. Estwick, b. 4, p. 837, quotes the 
 following from Cyprian, lib. de Exhortatione Martyrii, in the preface 
 of which, he says : — 
 
 '< Desiderasti, fortunate charissime,^ nt quoniam persecutionnm 
 et pressurarum pondus incumbit, et in fine atque consammatione 
 mundi, Antichristi tempus infestum appropinquare nunc caepit, ad 
 prseparandas et corroborandas fratrum meutes, de divinis Scriptu- 
 ris hortamenta componerem, quibus milites Christi ad coeleste et 
 spirituale certamen aniraarum — paulo post — sex millia annorum 
 jam pene complentur. Si imparatum invenerit Diabolus militem 
 Christi," &c. 
 
 On which he remarks, " He, you see, (expected the eoming ©f 
 Antichrist should be at the end of the six thousandth year, which 
 he supposed then near at hand, yet thought the world would last 
 seven thousand, viz. a thousand years after the destruction of Anti- 
 christ, ut patet ex iis quae disserit, cap. ii., in these words, Quid 
 vero in Maccabeis septem f.atres et natatium pariter, et virtntum 
 sorte consimiles, Septenarium numerum perfectae consummationis 
 implentes ? Sic septem fratres in martyrio cohserentes, ut primi 
 in dispositione divina septem dies, annorum septem millia con- 
 tinentes — ut consummatio legitiraa compleatur, &c. This, to him 
 that knows Chiliasm, is plain Chiliasm. Look, and compare your 
 Austin, cap. vii. lib. 20, de Civit. Dei, those words. Qui propter 
 hsBC hujus libri verba primam resurrectionem, &c. Compare also 
 what Cyprian hath in the end of that book, out of the gospel, 
 
J 
 
 236 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 highly lauded by Milner, and who flourished about 
 the middle of the third century. He exhorts Chris- 
 tians " ever in anxiety and cautiousness, to be awaiting 
 the sudden advent of the Lord."* For, " as those 
 things which were foretold, are come to pass, so those 
 will follow which are yet promised ; the Lord himself 
 giving assurance, and saying. When ye see all these 
 things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of 
 God is nigh at hand. Dearest brethren, the kingdom 
 of God has begun to be nigh at hand."f 
 
 Lactantius, who was contemporary'with Constantine 
 the Great, and tutor to his son, and was considered, 
 as Mosheim says, the most eloquent of the Latin fa- 
 thers, did not, with Origen, relinquish the ancient 
 faith. He Has, indeed, been reproached by Jerome 
 with being sensual in his views of the kingdom of 
 heaven, and accused by others with holding the sen- 
 timents of the Manichees. But Dr. Lardner J has 
 vindicated him from the latter charge ; and as to the 
 former, an examination of Lactantius's own words 
 shows that Jerome, that great opposer and enemy of 
 raillenarian views, entirely misapprehended his mean- 
 ing, and understood him, when speaking of the nations 
 yet remaining in the flesh after the coming of Christ, to 
 refer to the risen saints. § Speaking of the coming of 
 
 Mark, 10. 29, 30, and Apocalypse, 20, and you will acknowledge 
 him to be (as he was wont to profess himself) Tertulliani diaci- 
 pulum." 
 
 * Oxford Tr. of Cyprian, p. 149. fldem, 217. 
 
 t Credibilia, vol. iii. pp. 316-3 19. 
 
 § St. Hierom was a chief champion, says Mede, to cry down this 
 opinion, and (according to his wont) a most unequal relator of the 
 opinion of his adversaries. What credit he deserves in this, may 
 appear by some fragments of those authors still remaining, whom 
 he charged with an opinion directly contrary to that which they 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. * 237 
 
 God to judge ,the world, he says : But when he shall do 
 that, and shall restore the just, that have been from the 
 beginning, unto life, he shall converse among men, and 
 
 rule them with a most righteous government. 
 
 They that shall be raised from the dead, shall be over 
 the living as judges. And the Gentiles shall not be 
 utterly extinguished, but some shall be left for the vic- 
 tory of God, that they may be triumphed over by the 
 just, and reduced to perpetual subjection. About the 
 same time, the prince of devils, the forger of all evil, 
 shall be bound with chains, and shall be in custody all 
 the thousand years of the heavenly empire, under 
 which righteousness shall reign over the world.* 
 
 expressly affirmed. And yet when he had stated it so as it must 
 neeJs bs heresie and blasphemy, whosoever should hold it, he is 
 forced to say, he durst not damn it, because, multi virorum eccle- 
 siasticorum et martyrum ista dixerunt. (Comment, in Jerem. 19. 
 10.) Many ecclesiastical persons and martyrs affirmed the same. 
 —Med^'s Works, b. 3, p. 602. 
 
 The reader may see slill further and deserved censure of Jerome, 
 for his reproaches and charges of sensualizing against the ancient 
 millenarian Christians, by the same author, in his Works, b. 5. c. 
 5. De Hieronymi pronunciata dogmata Millenariorum. 
 
 Also, b. 4, Ep. 51, pp. 811, 812, in his answer to Dr. Twisse's 
 fifth letter. 
 
 Lardner remarks, " It is well known that Lactantius expected a 
 terrestrial reign of Christ for a thousand years before the general 
 judgment. Jerome has riJiculed his millenarian notions, which 
 are chiefly enlarged upon in the seventh and last book of his Di- 
 vine Institutions. Jerome took the same freedom with Irenseus, 
 Tertullian, Vistorinus, and other Christian writers, who had the 
 like sentiment." — Credibilia, .3. 520. 
 
 * Sed et ipse doemonum princeps, auctor, et machinator malorum, 
 catenis igneis alligatus, custoJise dabiiur ut pacem mundus acci- 
 jpiat, et ut vexala tot seculis terra requiescat. Pace igitur paria 
 compressoque omni malo, rex ille Justus, et victor, judicium mag- 
 num de vivis et mortuis faciei super terram : viventibus quidem 
 justis tradet in servilutem gentes universas; mortuos au;ein ad 
 21 
 
1 
 
 238 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 Methodius, bishop of Olympus, a martyr under De- 
 cius, A. D. 312, died in the same faith, having written 
 a book against Origen on the subject of the resurrec- 
 tion, from which an extract has been preserved by 
 Proclus in Epiphanius. " It is to be expected," says 
 he, " that at the conflagration, the creation shall sufl^er 
 a vehement commotion, as if it were about to die ; 
 whereby it shall be renovated and not perish^ to the end 
 that we, then also renovated, may dwell in the renewed 
 world, free from sorrow. Thus it is said in Psalm 
 104, ' Thou wilt send forth thy Spirit, and they shall 
 be created, and thou wilt renew the face of the earth.' "* 
 Epiphanius,! a historian of the fourth century, speaks 
 favorably of the millenarian doctrine, and says that it 
 was held by many in his time. 
 
 The Council of Nice, which was called by Constan- 
 tino the Great, for the purpose of deciding all contro- 
 verted questions respecting the faith and discipline of 
 the Christian church, and which consisted of 318 
 members, beside a vast concourse of clergymen and 
 others attending from curiosity, is accounted by many 
 to have been one of the most important assemblies 
 ever convened; it was held A.D. 325, in the twentieth 
 year of the reign of the first Christian emperor of 
 Rome. This Council, which framed what is called the 
 Nicene Creed, beside their definition of faith and ec- 
 clesiastical canons, set forth certain forms of ecclesi- 
 astical doctrines, which Gelasius Cyzicenus has given 
 in his history of its Acts. 
 
 fieternam vitam suscitabit, et in terra cum his ipse regnabit ; et 
 condet sanctam civitatem et erit regnum justorum mille annis. 
 — Lactantius de Divinis Instit, Epitome Hbrorum 7, 11, p. 517, 
 cont. ex ojffic. Jo. Hayes, 1685. 
 
 ♦Epiphan. lib. 3. 2. El. of Proph. Int., p. 45. 
 
 t Idem, p. 46, lib. 3. 2. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 239 
 
 We quote from these Acts, — not because we recog- 
 nize the Council of Nice as an authority, in any 
 respect whatever, having been convened by the em- 
 peror, having conducted its deliberations in his pre- 
 sence, and deserving just as little respect for its 
 authority over conscience, as all such councils and 
 assemblies are, where the church and state are 
 united ; — but because it furnishes, incidentally, some 
 valuable testimony as to what continued yet to be, at 
 that period, the method of interpretation most prevalent. 
 The following is among their acts, as reported by 
 Gelasius :* '* We expect new heavens and a new earth, f 
 according to the Holy Scriptures, at the appearing of 
 the great God, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. And as 
 Daniel says,J ' The saints of the Most High shall take 
 the kingdom.' And there shall be a pure and holy 
 land, the living and not of the dead ; which David, 
 foreseeing with the eye of faith, exclaims, I believe to 
 see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the liv- 
 ing — the land of the meek and humble. ' Blessed, 
 saith Christ, ' are the meek, for they shall inherit the 
 earth.'§ And the prophet saith, ' The feet of the 
 meek and humble shall tread upon it.' "jj 
 
 * In his Historia Actorum Concilii Niceni. — Am tovto Kaivovi ovpa- 
 
 vovs KoX Kaivijv yrjv TrpoaSoKCOixev^ Kara Icpa ypa^naraj ^aivoii£vr]S {jixTv rris e~i- 
 (baveiai Kai ^affi'Seias rov [xeyaXov Qsov Kai JlcoTrjpos i'iiimv Iriffov A.pi(irov 
 Kai TrapaXriiJ/ovTa rdre, Kad' a (prjai Aavir]\, Tr]V 0aaiKziav, Simile quid 
 
 habet Irenaeus, lib. v. c. 36, lin. 6. 
 
 t " Judge by this," says Mede, " (notwithstanding fifty years' 
 opposition) how powerful the chiliastical party yet was at the 
 time of that council. By some of whom if this formula were not 
 framed and composed, yet was it thus moderated, as you see, that 
 both parties might accept it, salva cuique interpretation e sua, as 
 being delivered in the terms and language of Scripture." — Mede's 
 Works, b. 4, Ep. 3, p. 813. 
 
 JDan. 7. 18. § Matth. 5. 5. || Is. 26. 6. 
 
1 
 
 ^4/& TBADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 It required a century and more to give currency to 
 the principles of Pagan philosophj'^, and the style of 
 interpretation which Origen sanctioned and intro- 
 duced ; and although the errors and corruptions of 
 popery were not wrought completely into a system, 
 till some time in the beginning of the sixth century, 
 yet were all the elements at work, and the different 
 capital forms of error existed in their embryo 
 state, which afterwards characterized the apostate 
 church of Rome. " That the Nicene divines," says 
 Mr. I. Taylor, " were, most of them, sincere, devout, 
 assiduous in their duties, and anxiously intent on the 
 welfare of the churches under their care, is incontest- 
 ibly proved by their remains. But does it appear, 
 from the same documents, that their hearts were 
 warmed by those truths, which are the glory of the 
 Christian system, and which, when so entertained, im- 
 part an unction and an animation to Christian commu- 
 nion 1 I think the affirmative cannot be pretended in 
 favor of these divines, by even their most devoted 
 admirers."* The dim traces of the simple faith of 
 the primitive church, to be found among them, gradu- 
 ally disappeared, and left the world shrouded in the 
 gloom of darkness, which brooded for ages over the 
 nations of Europe, and blighted the human mind. 
 
 Yet, here and there, from the days of Origen till 
 those of Jerome, we meet with the primitive faith. 
 Gregory of Nyssa, and Paulinus, bishop of Antioch, 
 also, as Jerome affirms, Victorinus, bishop of Pattaw, 
 and Apollinaris, bishop of Bituria, and Sulpicius, too, 
 a chaste and classic historian of the fourth century, 
 had not entirely renounced the millenarian faith. 
 
 Augustine, too, admits that at one period of his life, 
 
 * Ancient Christianity, p. 316. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY 24 1 
 
 he held the same views.* Eusebius, the historian, 
 bishop of Pamphylia, was prejudiced against this faith, 
 and from him appears to have originally sprung the 
 obloquy, which was afterwards cast on those who held 
 it. He does not indeed attack them openly, but 
 covertly, — by raising questions on the canonical au- 
 thority of the book of Revelations, — by confounding 
 the primitive faith on this subject with the views of 
 heretics, — by attributing their origin to Cerinthus, — 
 by insinuating that their early upholders were Ebion- 
 ites, in which assertions he afterwards contradicts 
 himself, attributing the origin of these views to Pa- 
 pias, and about whom his testimony is contradictory. 
 
 This Eusebius was tinctured with Arianism,t which 
 may have been the origin of his opposition to mille- 
 narianism. He is pronounced, by Bishop Jeremy 
 Taylor,t not to be clear of a suspicion of having 
 endeavored to corrupt and to falsify the Nicene 
 creed. He is justly suspected of time-serving, having 
 boasted of his conversations with the Emperor Con- 
 stantine. Yet on the credit and judgment of such a 
 man, cited by Dr. Whitby,§ as decisive authority, 
 rests the whole weight of the objection at this day 
 brought against the millenarian doctrine held in the 
 primitive church. 
 
 Baronius has preserved a letter of Julian the apos- 
 tate, emperor of Rome, and nephew of Constantine, in 
 
 * St. Austin himself, Daubuz quotes, as approving millena- 
 rian views. Interea dum mille annis ligatus est diabolus, sancU 
 regnant cum Christo etiam ipsis mille aiinis eisdem sine dubio, 
 et eodem modo intelligendis. Augustin de Civil. Dei. Lib. 20. 
 cap. 5. 
 
 t See Magdeburg Centuriators Hist. Eccles., ch. 10, sec. 3. 
 
 X Liberty of Prophesying, folio ed. p. 954. 
 . § Treatise on the Millenium. 
 21* 
 
1 
 
 242 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 which he sneers against the belief of those Christians 
 of his day, who expected the kingdom of Heaven. 
 
 Jerome teems with abuse and ridicule in relation to 
 it, and by his abuse and silencing of Vigilnntius, a 
 religious reformer, who opposed the corruptions and 
 superstitions of popery, then widely spread, and 
 his general character for fierceness, acrimony, and 
 ribaldry, toward all who differed from him, has for- 
 feited all claims upon our respect ; yet Jerome, the 
 vehement adversary of the doctrine, in his comment- 
 ary on Jer. 19. 10, says, "that he durst not con- 
 demn the doctrine, becausls many ecclesiastical per- 
 sons and martyrs affirmed the same," thus admitting 
 that it had not in his day wholly disappeared.* 
 
 Cyril, Basil, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, and 
 other eminent fathers of the fifth and sixth centuries, 
 can lay no claim to authority, nor can anything, de- 
 rogatory to the primitive faith, be inferred from their 
 silence or skepticism in relation to millenarian doc- 
 trine. Speaking of these very writers, and others, 
 their cotemporaries, Mr. 1. Taylor says, " Whether 
 they belong to the eastern or to the western, to the 
 north African, or to the Alexandrian churches, they 
 hold the same language, and seem to emulate each 
 other in their zeal to promote every one of those no- 
 tions and practices which, when digested into canons, 
 decrees, or ecclesiastical usages, make up what we 
 mean by popery or Romanism, as the system adopted 
 and enforced by the papacy."f 
 
 The truth is, the churches, from Origen to Jerome, 
 were occupied with distracting controversies about 
 the essence of the Godhead, the trinity of persons in 
 
 • See Bishop Newton's Dissertations on the Prophecies, xx. 5. 
 t Ancient Christianity, p, 448. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 24f3 
 
 the divine nature, and a thousand matters of philo- 
 sophical abstraction ; and about the religion of form^, 
 and rites, and ceremonies. The hierarchy was making 
 rapid and ambitious strides towards oecumenical 
 sway. The true scriptural and elementary ideas of 
 holiness and virtue, had undergone a radical change* 
 Pretensions were set up, for the power and authority 
 of the church, which had never before been thought 
 of. The efficacy of sacraments and of forms was much 
 insisted on, and the sadly misnamed holy Cathojic 
 church, took precedence of the kingdom of Heaven, 
 and claimed to be the ark of safety. Men's thoughts 
 were directed to it, as to their sanctuary rather thc^n 
 to Jesus Christ and to his heavenly kingdom. From the 
 time of the conversion of Constantine, the Roman 
 Emperor, to the Christian faith, a marvellous and 
 rapid change took place in the interpretation of 
 prophecy, for which the way had been prepared })y 
 the system and philosophy of Origen. 
 
 " Previous to this period," says Mr. Brooks,* " it 
 was the uniform and constant opinion of the church, 
 that Rome would become the seat of Antichrist ; that 
 the empire would by a revolution first be divided into 
 kingdoms J that then Antichrist would be revealed and 
 prosper for a time ; and that after the reigning power 
 should have suffered a signal discomfiture, the do- 
 minion should be altogether taken from " the eternal 
 city."t Such a notion could not be palatable to the 
 Roman Emperor, if known to him j and the less so, if 
 it was further understood, that some, in times of pag^n 
 persecution, had already mused in their hearts, whether 
 the Emperor himself, for the time being, were ftot 
 
 ; • Elem. of Prophet. Int., pp. 48, 49. 
 
 t See Jerome's Commentary on Dan. 7. in which he declares the 
 uniform testimony of the fathers on this head, and was persuaded 
 of it himself. 
 
244« TRADITJIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 • 
 
 personally the Antichrist. These things must have 
 been very perplexing to those ecclesiastics, now 
 mingling with the court, who were of a compliant and 
 secular spirit, which may be judged of, when we find 
 an honest and bold, and godly man, like Lactantius, 
 now expressing himself with avowed reluctance on 
 these topics. He says, " the Roman power which now 
 governs the world, (my mind dreads to declare it, yet 
 I must speak it, because it will surely come to pass !) 
 the Roman power will be taken away from the earth, 
 and the empire will return into Asia, and the East will 
 again have the chief dominion, and the "West be in 
 subjection.*" 
 
 "The convenient explication, however, was soon 
 afterwards discovered, and adopted by many, that Anti- 
 christ was Pagan Rome, and that from the date of Con- 
 stantino's conversion, the Millenium commenced." 
 Able men were found to maintain such an interpreta- 
 tion, and the church was pronounced to be the kingdom 
 of Heaven. The irruption of the barbarians divided the 
 Western part of the empire into ten kingdoms. Con- 
 stantinople became the metropolis. The sceptre de- 
 parted from Rome, and the East had sway. But 
 amidst the revolutions, convulsions, and desolations, 
 of the city and empire, the Bishop of Rome gained a 
 powerful influence, and was elevated to the highest 
 rank. The conversion of the barbarian kings, and of 
 the nations that deluged Europe, to the faith of the 
 church, and the general anarchy and confusion conse- 
 quent on the new order of things, gave ascendant in- 
 fluence to the church, which retained and preserved 
 the only civilizing influence, and the only fit persons 
 for the dispensation of justice and for the necessary re- 
 
 • Lactantius de Div. Institut. ch. 15. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 2ift: 
 
 straints of government. The civil power of the empire 
 did indeed, as Lactantius from prophecy had declared^ 
 depart to the East ; but the Roman Bishop soon sway- 
 ed his sceptre over the barbarian kings and their king' 
 doms, and obtained from Justinian, the Emperor, the 
 full and formal recognition of his authority as Uni- 
 versal Bishop, and a code of laws which changed the 
 entire character of the government, brought the 
 church and state into close alliance, and laid the basis 
 of the legislation of Europe, until Napoleon broke the 
 spell, imprisoned the Bishop of Rome, and introduced 
 a tide of revolution, the first waves of which only 
 have passed over the dynasties of Europe. 
 
 " When the Bishop of Rome was elevated to the 
 high rank he attained under the papacy, the incon- 
 venience of explaining Rome to be the capital city of 
 Antichrist, and * the Babylon,' and 'Harlot,' and 'Mo- 
 ther of Harlots,' of the Apocalypse, was more sensir 
 bly felt than ever ; because it could not be asserted, 
 without giving occasion for the very obvious conclur 
 sion, that the Bishop of Rome would some day apo«r 
 tatize, together with the church in general over whicli 
 he was the head. Accordingly, from the time of Jua^ 
 tinian, efforts were, both openly and clandestinely, 
 made to get rid of the doctrine altogether, by remov- 
 ing or corrupting the evidence in its favor, or by affix- 
 ing to it the stigma of heresy. Pope Damasus eBr 
 deavored peremptorily to put it down by a decree ; 
 and some works of the Fathers, which were in favor 
 of it, (such as the works of Papias, the treatise of Ne- 
 pos already adverted to, several of the more direct 
 works of Irenseus on the subject, TertuUian's Treatise 
 on Paradise, and various others), were successfully 
 suppressed ; and in regard to those which could not 
 be so well withdrawn, a systeim of inteipcJs^ting or 
 
1 
 
 246 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 Otherwise altering the text commenced, which, in 
 some instances, has affected only a portion of the 
 manuscript copies that have come down to us, and in 
 other instances the entire of them."* 
 
 The council of Rome, convened under Damasus 
 A. D. 373, prepared the way for the general contempt 
 and rejection of millenarian doctrine. " The heresy," 
 says Baronius, "however loquacious before, was 
 silenced then, and since that time has hardly been 
 heard of. Moreover," he adds, " the figments of the 
 Millenarians being now (16th century) rejected every- 
 where and derided by the learned with hisses and 
 laughter, and being also put under the ban, were en- 
 tirely extirpated."! 
 
 Such is the history of millenarian doctrine till it is 
 lost in the dark ages. Occasionally, however, the 
 views of private Christians, in opposition to those of 
 Rome, peep out through the darkness, and appear in 
 the admission of their opposers ; and although great 
 pains had been taken to instil into the minds of the 
 people, that Antichrist had already appeared, and was 
 now engulphed in the lake of fire, it appears, never- 
 theless, even from Baronius, Sabellinus, and Platina, 
 all Roman Catholic authors, that in the year 1106 a 
 very general opinion prevailed that Antichrist was 
 about to appear, being partly induced by the extraor- 
 dinary natural phenomena and heavenly signs which 
 then appeared."^ 
 
 Bishop Newton says, . distinctly, '* Wherever the 
 influence and authority of the church of Rome have 
 extended, she hath endeavored by all means to dis- 
 credit this doctrine j and indeed not without sufficient 
 
 *E1. ofProph. Int., p. 51. 
 
 t Baronius, A.D. 373. 14, and 411. 48. 
 
 X El. of Proph. Int., p. 60. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 24-7 
 
 reason, this kingdom of Christ being founded on the 
 ruins of the kingdom of Antichrist. No wonder, 
 therefore, that this doctrine lay depressed for many 
 ages ; but it sprang up again at the Reformation, and 
 will flourish together with the study of the Revela- 
 tion."* 
 
 It does not, however, appear that the earlier re- 
 formers embraced very distinctly the idea of a Mil- 
 lenium, or of a thousand years' triumph of the church, 
 either according to millenarian or anti-millenarian 
 views. The tenet of one thousand years was carefully 
 avoided, most probably because of the obloquy which 
 for ages had been cast upon it ; but it is a remarkable 
 fact, that all the important truths connected with it, 
 were, almost universally, entertained by the reformers 
 and their early successors ; such as the coming of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ to set up a glorious kingdom on the 
 earth, in which all the saints should partake ; the re- 
 surrection of the bodies of the dead saints ; the quick- 
 ening of the living ; the national conversion and lite- 
 ral restoration of the Jews to Palestine j the earth be 
 renewed and Jerusalem rebuilt ; and the previous 
 manifestation and destruction of Antichrist. f Hence 
 it is, that you may find in the writings of some of them, 
 as for example in Bishop Jeremy Taylor, that while 
 Chiliasm or Millenarianism is deprecated in one 
 page, sentiments are avowed in another, which, at this 
 day, are recognized as decided millenarian doctrine. 
 Luther, in his answer to the book of Ambrosius 
 Catharinus, having affirmed that the papacy is Anti- 
 christ, and having expressed his confidence in the do- 
 minion of Jesus Christ, puts forth his prayer that God 
 
 * Newton's Dissertations on the Prophecies, ch. 25, p. 592, Lond. 
 ed. of 1838. 
 t El. of Proph. Int., p. 62. 
 
Ml TRADITIONARY HISTOKY. 
 
 "would reveal the day of the glorious advent of his 
 Son, in which he shall destroy the man of sin."* 
 
 We deem it unnecessary to make many extracts 
 from the writings of the reformers, preferring to quote 
 -the creeds and confessions of fjiith adopted in the 
 earliest and purest periods of the Reformation, begin- 
 ning with the Lutheran, called the Augsburg Confes- 
 sion, because adopted at Augsburg, when (A. D. 1530,) 
 the reformers appeared there, before the Emperor 
 Charles V., the princes of the empire, the Pope's 
 legates, and the nobles and prelates of the Latin king- 
 dom. In the 17th article of that confession, they say, 
 "In like manner they (i. e. our churches) condemn 
 those who circulate the judaizing notion, that prior to 
 the resurrection of the dead, the pious will engross 
 the government of the world, and the wicked be every- 
 where oppressed." This strikes directly against the 
 modern notions of the Millenium, one essential item of 
 which is, that the governments of earth will be adminis- 
 tered by pious rulers in the flesh. No doubt this clause 
 in the confession of faith was introduced in direct oppo- 
 sition to the Anabaptists of Germany, who, not satis- 
 fied with Luther's plan of reformation, undertook the 
 visionary enterprise to found a new church, entirely 
 spiritual and divine ; and began their fanatical work 
 under the guidance of Miinzer, Stubner, Storick, and 
 others, and declaring war against all laws, govern- 
 ments, and magistrates, of every kind. Simon Menno, 
 the founder of the sect of Mennonites, recalled many 
 of the German Anabaptists from their extravagances, 
 and set before them the true principles of primitive 
 Millenarianism. There was much piety in this sect 
 
 * Ostendat ilium diem adventus gloriae Filii sni quo destraator 
 iniquus iste. L. OppiJ. let. ii. p. 162. 
 
TEADITIONARY HISTORY. 249 
 
 during the greater part of two centuries. Mosheim* 
 says that they " maintained the ancient hypothesis of 
 a visible and glorious church of Christ upon earth." 
 
 J. Cocceius, professor of theology at Bremen, was 
 the founder of a sect called Cocceians, who held, 
 among other singular opinions, say the Encyclopae- 
 dists,! that of a visible reign of Christ in this world, 
 after a general conversion of the Jews and of all other 
 people to the true Christian faith, as laid down in his 
 voluminous works. 
 
 The Pietists of Germany, whose purer and stricter 
 religion provoked reproach and gained for them this 
 name, of like import with the Puritans of England and 
 the Methodists of later day, were in general Millena- 
 rians.J 
 
 The Mystics, both of England and the Continent, 
 held millenarian views, as appears from the testimony 
 of Rev. T. Hartley,§ Rector of Winnick, Northampton, 
 himself a Mystic. Next, says Mr. Brooks, may be 
 mentioned the sect of the Jansenists, existing in the 
 bosom of the Roman Catholic church in France, but 
 holding sentiments which approximate to evangelical 
 Protestantism. Ben Ezra, a work by a catholic author, 
 translated by Mr. Irving, contains millenarian views. 
 John Wesley II and FletcherIF of Madeley also held some 
 parts of the doctrine. 
 
 The force of truth, the influence of the Spirit, and 
 
 * Ecc. Hist., vol. V. p. 497. 
 
 t English Encyclopaedia, art. Cocceius. 
 
 \ See a work entitled Useful Information respecting Pietism, or 
 a Statement of the real Faith and Doctrine of the so called Pietists, 
 by J. P. Klettwich, who was deposed by the Consistory of Leipsic. 
 
 § See his work entitled Paradise Restored, or a Testimony to the 
 Doctrine of the Blessed Millenium, 1764. 
 
 II See El. of Proph. Int., p. 77. 
 
 ir See Fletcher's Works, vol. ix. p. 368. 
 22 
 
t 
 
 250 TRADITIONARY HISTORV. 
 
 the multiplication of moral means, are now relied 
 upon, by spiritualists generally, to promote the pros- 
 perity and the dominion of the church. The sword and 
 violence were preferred by the fanatical sects. Both 
 alike contended for a dominion of the church, in the 
 state and over the state, somehow or other, by the 
 authority and influence of men in the flesh. 
 
 The Fifth-Monarchy men of England were a small 
 political faction, who availed themselves of the belief 
 of Christ's speedy personal coming, in order to at- 
 tempt the subversion of the government, and with 
 whom, very unjustly, it has been attempted to identify 
 those who held millenarian doctrine. Having adopted 
 and associated with the belief of Christ's personal and 
 speedy manifestation, the spiritual idea of the Mille- 
 nium, that the pious Christians, while in the flesh, are 
 to govern the world, they inferred it to be their duty, 
 previous to his coming, to possess themselves of the 
 kingdoms of this world. 
 
 No such idea is embraced in the millenarian doc- 
 trine. It concedes the kingdom only to the saints 
 raised from the dead. It has been the engrafting, on 
 the belief of the speedy coming of Christ, the same 
 notion of a temporal Millenium, viz. that Christians in 
 the flesh are to govern the world, which has led, if 
 we are correctly informed as to their opinions and 
 practice, to the formation of a rapidly growing and 
 wretchedly corrupt and deluded sect, and which has 
 already been the occasion of much disturbance in our 
 own country — we mean the Mormons or Latter Day 
 Saints — deceived by the artful schemes and imposture 
 of a corrupt and selfish leader. 
 
 The Augsburg Confession, in disowning altogether 
 the idea of the saints yet in the flesh governing the 
 world, and consequently a spiritual Millenium before 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 251 
 
 the coming of Christ, bears its testimony against all 
 such fanaticism ; so that whatever may have been the 
 views of the Lutherans as to the kingdom of heaven 
 and the day of judgment, their early divines cannot 
 be quoted in favor of the Millenium now expected by 
 the great mass of professing Christians. 
 
 The churches of the reformation, it is worthy of 
 remark, had their attention directed mainly t6 the cor- 
 ruptions of Popery in essential matters of faith. The 
 doctrine of justification by faith without the deeds of 
 the law, as the only means of acceptance with God 
 and of a sanctified life, and its kindred truths, attracted 
 their chief attention ; while they directed their oppo- 
 sition to the superstitions, and tyranny, and corruptions 
 of the papacy. The idea of a separation of the church 
 and state seems not to have entered their minds, and, 
 of necessity, in their struggles against popery, they 
 became involved in political contests, designed to 
 secure the authority of the state in support of the 
 reformation. 
 
 We have evidence, during the early period of the 
 reformation in Great Britain, of what was the voice of 
 those opposed to the corruptions of popery. In the 
 Catechism*" published in the reign of King Edward 
 
 * Secundo loco petimus, ut adveniat Regnum ejus. Adhuc enim 
 non videmus omnes Christo esse subjectos ; non videmus ut lapis 
 de monte abscissus sit sine opere humano, qui contrivit et in niM- 
 lum redegit statuam descriptam a Daniele : ut petra sola, qui est 
 Christus, occupet et obtineat totius mundi imperium a patre con- 
 cessum. Adhoc non est occisus Antichristus : quo fit ut nos desi- 
 deremus et precemur, ut id tandem aliquando contingat et implea- 
 tur; utque solus Christus regnet cum suis Sanctis, secundum divi- 
 nas promissiones ; utque vivat et dojninetur in mundo, juxta Sancti 
 Evangelii decreta, non autem juxta traditiones et leges hominum 
 et voluntatem Tyrannorum mundi. M. faxit Deus, ut Regnum 
 ejus adveniat quana eitissime. Mede's Works, b, 4, ep. 53, p. 814, 
 
1 
 
 ^52 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 VI., which Burnet says* Archbishop Cranmer owned 
 to be from his pen, and which was sanctioned by cer- 
 tain high ecclesiastics of that day, we have the follow- 
 ing on the subject of Christ's kingdom : " We ask 
 that this kingdom may come, because, as yet, we see 
 not all things subject to Christ : we see not yet how 
 the stone is cut out of the mountain, without human 
 help, which breaks in pieces and reduces to nothing 
 the image described by Daniel 5 or how the only rock, 
 which is Christ, doth possess and obtain the empire of 
 the whole world, given him of the Father. As yet 
 Antichrist is not slain ; whence it is that we desire 
 and pray that, at length, it may come to pass and be 
 fulfilled ; and that Christ alone may reign with his 
 saints^ according to the divine promises j and that He 
 may live and have dominion in the world, according 
 to the decrees of the holy gospel, and not according 
 to the traditions and laws of men and the will of the 
 tyrants of the world. God grant that his kingdom 
 may come speedily." 
 
 This was the faith of the Episcopal church of Eng- 
 land in the days of Edward VI., with which some 
 things in her liturgy still exactly accord. It is true 
 that in 1553, in the forty-two articles which then 
 expressed her faith, the forty-first was pointed directly 
 against the Millenarians of that day, just as we have 
 seen the Augsburg Confession was. The Anabaptists, 
 who had spread to England and engrafted their fanati- 
 cal views on some features of millenarian doctrine, 
 were most probably the cause of this 5 for nine years 
 after, when there was nothing to fear from that fanati- 
 cal sect, and millenarian views came to be better 
 understood, it, together with two others, was with-» 
 
 * Hist, of his own Times, vol. iii. p. 4. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 253 
 
 drawn, having been struck out by Archbishop Parker, 
 leaving the present thirty-nine articles of the English 
 church. 
 
 The sentiments of Bishop Latimer* are very clearly 
 expressed — " St. Paul saith, The Lord will not copne 
 till the swerving from the faith cometh,"t which thing 
 is already done and past. Antichrist is already known 
 throughout the world. Wherefore the day is not far off. 
 Let us beware, for it will one day fall on our heads. 
 Saint Peter saith, " the end of all things draweth very 
 near." St. Peter said so at his time — how much more 
 shall we say so 1 for it is a long time since Peter spake 
 these words. The world was ordained to endure — 
 as all learned men affirm and prove it with Scripture — 
 6,000 years. Now of that number there be passed 
 5,552 years ; so there is no more left but 448 years. 
 And, furthermore, those days shall be shortened: it 
 shall not be full 6,000 years : the days shall be 
 " shortened fo'r the elect's sake." 
 
 In his sermon for the second Sunday in Advent, 
 speaking of the days being shortened, he says, " so 
 that, peradventure, it may come in my days, old as I 
 am, or in my children's days. There will be great 
 alterations at that day : there will be hurly-burly, like 
 as ye see when a man dieth, &c. There will be 
 such alterations of the earth and the elements, they 
 will lose their former nature, and be endued with 
 another nature. And then shall they see the Son of 
 Man come in a cloud with power and great glory." 
 He speaks of the living saints being caught up into 
 the air to meet Christ, and says, all those, I say, who 
 be content to strive, and fight with sin, these shall in 
 such wise be taken up into the air and meet with 
 
 * His third Sermon on the Lord's Prayer. 
 t2Thess.2.3. 
 
 22* '' 
 
I 
 
 254 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 Christ, and so shall come down with him again. In all 
 this there is not the most remote thought of such a 
 period as the spiritualist's Millenium. 
 
 Bradford, the martyr, on Rom. 8, expresses the 
 same expectation.* Mr. Brooks says, " At the latter 
 end of this century (the sixteenth) several individuals 
 of eminence are known to us as having professed mil- 
 lenarian sentiments on prophecy ; among whom may 
 be named John Piscator, Alphonsus Conrade, Carolus 
 Gallus, Tycho Brahe, Dr. F. Kett, Abraham Fleming, 
 Hugh Broughton, and Anthony Marten !"t 
 
 It might be supposed that the reputation for piety 
 and erudition^deservedly held by many advocates of 
 millenarjan doctrine, both in England and on the con- 
 tinent, would have secured its greater prevalence. 
 But prelacy was bitterly opposed to it, because it pro- 
 claimed the Pope to be Antichrist, and they that did 
 so were contemned as puritans. In the preface of 
 Eph. Huet's Commentary on Daniel, sighed by Simeon 
 Ash, Samuel Clarke, and W. Overton, eminent divines, 
 it is stated, that such was the iniquity and imperi- 
 ousness of the times tha.t few works of this nature were 
 suffered to see the light. The same spirit of persecution 
 against millenarian doctrine exhibited itself on the 
 continent 'in the suppression of numerous works, 
 " among which may be instanced the Scriptural|Ex- 
 position and Demonstration of the Millenarian Reign, 
 &c., by Dr. J. W. Peterson, professor at Rostock, in 
 1677, and afterwards superintendant at Lunenberg; 
 for which publication he was cited before the consis- 
 tory of Zell and deposed, and his work withdrawn : 
 and likewise a work of S. P. Klettwich, entitled, " The 
 answer which has been demanded to two curious 
 
 • Fathers of the English Church, vol. iv. p. 608. 
 t Elements of Proph. Int., p. 70. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 809 
 
 questions ; viz. how long the present world will con- 
 tinue — i. e. whether it will continue for 6,000 years 1 
 and if not, whether, before the end and total consum- 
 mation of this world, a previous, different, better»and 
 more happy world and times are to be hoped for," 
 which work was suppressed by the consistory of 
 Leipsic* 
 
 Nevertheless, the majority of the assembly of West- 
 minster divines, when met in 1643, as it appears, both 
 from their writings and from the testimony of Princi- 
 pal Baillie,t an Anti-millenarian, adopted millenarian 
 doctrine. " The most of the chief divines here," 
 says he, meaning the assembly, " not only inde- 
 pendents, but others, such as Twisse, Marshall, Pal- 
 mer, and MANY MORE, are express Chiliasts." 
 
 To these may be added the names of Simeon Ash, of 
 St. Brides, W. Bridge, A. M., Jeremiah Burroughs, 
 A. M., J. Carlyl, A. M., T. Goodwin, D. D., W. 
 Gouge, D. D., J. Langley, prebendary of Gloucester, 
 and Peter Sterry of London, members of that assem- 
 bly, whose writings speak for themselves. Nor is 
 there anything in the Westminster confession of faith 
 inconsistent with such views ; nothing of 1,000 years' 
 spiritual and religious prosperity before the coming of 
 Christ. On the contrary, both in the Confession of 
 Faith and the Directory of Worship for the church of 
 Scotland, and the Larger and Shorter Catechismsj: 
 there is language which expresses millenarian 
 doctrines. 
 
 The same may be said of the article of the Reformed 
 
 * Elements of Proph. Int., p. 24. 
 t Elements of Proph. Int., p. 72. 
 
 X Confession, c. 32, sec. 3. Larger Catechism, Q. and A., 191. 
 Shorter Catechism, Q. and A., 102. 
 
256 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 Dutch church, oo the subject of the judgment. Mil- 
 lenarian doctrine is plainly and honestly avowed in 
 the Confession of Faith, published by the Baptists in 
 1660,* signed by 41 names, and said to be approved by 
 raore than 20,000. 
 
 The writings of Mede, who published his Key to 
 the Eevelations, in 1627, have done more to revive the 
 study of the prophecies and to promote millena- 
 rian doctrine, than those perhaps of any other man. 
 He was the first to open that sealed book ; and, un- 
 folding the millenarian doctrine, to pour in a light 
 never seen before. He stands, in fact, the acknow- 
 ledged father of interpreters of that wonderful book. 
 Men, whose praise is in all the churches, corresponded 
 with him, and acknowledged their obligations to him 
 for the information he gave them. Among them were 
 Dr. Twisse, prolocutor of the Westminster assembly 
 of divines, Samuel Hartlib, Thomas Hayn, Dr. Med- 
 dus, Sir W. Boswell, Archbishop Usher, Goodwin, 
 Charnock and Hussey, who all avowed their belief 
 in the coming and kingdom of Christ. 
 
 We may close the account of this century, says 
 Mr. Brooks, by giving, for the guidance of the student 
 of prophecy, some other names of those who are 
 known by their sentiments, published within this 
 period, to have been millenarian ; viz. Doctors W. 
 Alabaster, W. Allen, T. Burnet, D. Cressener, W. 
 Hakewell, G. Hicks, N. Homes, J. Mather, W. Potter, 
 and the following divines abroad and of this country : 
 T. Adams, W. Alleine, J. Archer, E Bagshaw, T. 
 Beverly, W. Burton, M. Cary, J. Cocceius, W. Deus- 
 bury, J. Durant, W. Erbery, G. Foster, T. Gale, G. 
 Hammon, S. Hartlib, E. Huet, J. Hussey, P. De Lau- 
 
 * See the Coming and Kingdom of Christ, by John Cox, p. 132. 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. SSI' 
 
 nay, R. Maton, J. Mede, W. Medley, R. Mercer, C. 
 S. Nuncius, A. Peganius, S. Petto, J. Ranew, W. 
 Sherwin, and J. Tillinghast. Having ourselves ac- 
 cess to but few of the writings of the above authors, 
 we give, for the benefit of those who may feel curious 
 on the subject, and have greater facilities, the list 
 which has been furnished by Mr. Brooks.* 
 Milton looked for no Millenium till the Saviour — 
 
 Last in the clouds from Heaven shall be revealed 
 In glory of the Father, to dissolve 
 Satan with his perverted world ; then raise 
 From the conflagrant mass, purg'd and refined, 
 New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date. 
 Founded in righteousness, and peace, and love. 
 To bring forth fruits, joy and efieroai Wiss.^ 
 
 Nor did Cowper expect that blessed and glorious 
 day until 
 
 The groans of nature in this nether world, 
 Which Heaven has heard for ages, have an end 
 Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung ; 
 Whose fii'e was kindled at the prophets* lamp. 
 The time of rest, the promised Sabbath comes* 
 Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh 
 Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course 
 Over a sinful world ; and what remains 
 Of this tempestuous state of human things, 
 Is merely as the working of a sea 
 Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest. 
 For He whose car the winds are, and the clouds 
 The dust that wait upon his sultry march. 
 When sin hath moved him, and his wrath is hot, 
 Shall visit earth in mercy ; shall descend 
 Propitious in his chariot paved with love. 
 And what his storms have blasted and defaced 
 For man's revolt, shall with a smile repair. 
 
 * Elements of Proph. Int., pp. 74, 75. 
 
I 
 
 258 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 Heberand Watts, and other sweet poets, have sung 
 in noblest strains of the same bright hope of a fallen 
 ruined world. 
 
 The eighteenth century abounds in writers on the 
 subject. Dr. John Gill was very decided in his 
 views. The same* author, from whom we quoted 
 the list of names in the last century, gives the follow- 
 ing additional list of later writers, whose views, often 
 differing, and sometimes not confirmed by proof, were 
 more or less millenarian. Bishops Clayton, Horseley, 
 Newton and Newcome. Doctors P. Allix, G. Frank, 
 S. Glass, J. E. Grabe, L. Hopkins of R. I., N. A., J. 
 Knight, F. Lee, S. Rudd, and E. Wells. Among the 
 divines of lesser degree, T. Adams, of Winteringham, 
 R. Beere, J. A. Bengelius, C. Daubuz, R. Homing, J. 
 Hallet, R. Hort, R. Ingram, P. Jurieu, J. B. Koppius, 
 C. G. Koch, P. Lancaster, A. Pirie, R. Roach, J. D. 
 Schoeffer, A. Toplady, E. Winchester. Among the 
 laity, Sir L Newton, H. Dodwell and E. King, Esqs. 
 
 The name of Sir Isaac Newton is sufficient to shield 
 the doctrine from the charge of weakness or fanati- 
 cism, or of being supported by insufficient evidence. 
 He gave his powerful mind two whole years to the 
 study of the prophecies, and has avowed his belief in 
 the pre-millenial coming of Christ.f 
 
 The contests between prelacy and the puritan 
 non-conformist divines, for a time, drove the millena- 
 rian doctrine out of the Episcopal church among the 
 dissenters; but, during the last and present centuries, 
 the tide has turned, and among the most zealous ad- 
 vocates of the present day are to be found some of 
 the most pious and evangelical, learned and eloquentj 
 
 • Elements of Proph. Int., p. 79. 
 
 t See his Commentary on Daniel, and his Observations on the 
 Apocalypse. 
 
TRADITIONAEY HISTORY. 259 
 
 divines in the church of England, such as Bickersteth, 
 Burgh, Fry, Girdlestone, Hales, Hoare, Hooper^ 
 Hawtrey, Marsh, the Maitlands of Brighton and Glou- 
 cester, Madden, Mellville, M'Neil, Noel, Pym, Sirr, 
 Sabin, Stuart and others, are to be found among the 
 Dissenters, particularly Begg, Cox, Tyso, Baptists ; 
 and among the laity, Frere, Habershon, Viscount 
 Mandeville, T. Pi Piatt, Granville Peen, Wood, of 
 England, Cuninghame of Scotland, and the late Judge 
 Boudinot, of Jersey, and others in our own country, 
 men of distinction in their profession, though few, 
 comparatively, there is reason to fear, have ever turned 
 their attention to the subject. Robert Hall* regretted, 
 on his dying bed, he had not preached the millena- 
 rian views he entertained. 
 
 Some circumstances have contributed to throw 
 odium, not only on millenarian views, but on the 
 study of the prophecies — such as the fall of Mr. Ir- 
 ving, whose earlier works have thrown much light on 
 the subject, the rise and extravagance of different 
 fanatical sects, and the erratic conduct of some who 
 have adopted part of the millenarian views. This, 
 however, is no more valid objection against the doc- 
 trine of the pre-millenial coming of Christ, than is the 
 same objection when urged by infidels and skeptics, 
 with equal foundation, against Christianity. 
 
 Much more decided and influential, however, is the 
 opposition which grows out of the common and cur- 
 rent views of the Millenium, assumed so extensively, 
 and used so frequently and laudably, for urging for- 
 ward the missionary and other benevolent efforts of 
 the present day, so immensely important and invaluable 
 to the world. 
 
 Anti-millenarian views, as at present entertained in 
 
 * El. Proph. Int., p. 82. 
 
I 
 
 280 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 these United States, are but of recent date. Dr. 
 Daniel Whitby, who died A. D. 1726, seems to have 
 been the first to reduce them into order. He has 
 written a commentary on the Apocalypse, to which 
 he has appended a treatise on the Millenium, denying 
 the distinctive features of the ancient millenarian 
 faith, and spiritualizing the restoration of the Jews, 
 the coming of Christ, and the first resurrection. 
 
 In that treatise, Dr. Whitby explains the manner in 
 which his mind was led to the views he originated, of 
 an allegorical Millenium. He confesses it to be, and 
 calls it a " new hypothesis." It was excogitated by 
 him, wholly by means of the allegorizing or spiritual- 
 izing interpretation. The treatise was written to sup- 
 port his " hypothesis," or, as he says, " framed ac' 
 cording to it." He proposes in it — to state the true 
 Millenium of the ancients — how far and by whom re- 
 ceived and opposed in the first four centuries — -to 
 show the reasons of his own hypothesis — to answer 
 the arguments in favor of a literal resurrection before 
 the Millenium — and to offer some arguments against it. 
 
 We are not concerned to review this treatise. It 
 has been most ingeniously arranged and written, but 
 its arguments are exceedingly sophistical, and it 
 abounds in bold assertions without proof. 
 
 We take notice of it, only in so far as it is brought 
 farward to invalidate the testimony we have sub- 
 mitted. The only fathers whose writings Dr. Whitby 
 quotes, in order to set forth the ancient view of the 
 Millenium, are Irenaeus and Justin Martyr. The ad- 
 mission of Justin Martyr, that many Christians of pure 
 and pious judgment did not adopt the views he con- 
 fessed to Trypho, Dr. Whitby fully claims to be proof 
 that Justin's orthodoxy was of his own asserting. The 
 criticism of Mede and Daille, who very plausibly and 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 261 
 
 forcibly attempt to prove that the word not^ before 
 acknowledge, is an interpolation, he rejects, confirm- 
 ing, as he thinks, the reading by the admission of 
 Ireneeus. The reader will find an examination of this 
 point in Brooks' Elements of Prophetical Interpreta- 
 tion, who refers to N. Homes, as having actually seen 
 some copies of Justin's Dialogues, according to the 
 amended reading of Mede and Dailla. It is entirely 
 on this foundation that Dr. Whitby endeavors to prove 
 that the orthodoxy of the Christian church on tht« 
 subject, was different from the opinion of Justin. 
 
 It behoved him, however, before hastening to such 
 a conclusion, to account for the fact, that all the writ: 
 ings of the early fathers, which are extant, contain 
 the idea. Barnabas, Papias, Polycarp, Clement, Igna- 
 tius, have been referred to, and directly or indirectly 
 quoted by us. Dr. Whitby has not noticed them, 
 except that he extracts, as from Papias, out of the 
 thirty-fifth chapter of Irenseus, certain extravagant 
 attempts — surmised, with great plausibility, by Mr. 
 Greswell,* to have been incorrectly translated, and to 
 be nothing but a general indefinite number, used hy- 
 perbolically — to illustrate the fertility of the neW 
 earth. This he has done, very unfairly and sneer- 
 ingly, to shake our confidence both in the judgment 
 and veracity of Papias. 
 
 The authorities that he quotes, in opposition to mil- 
 lenarian views, and by which, to prove that the ortho- 
 doxy of the early church was not coincident, on this 
 subject, with the views of Justin Martyr and Irenseus, 
 are Origen, a noted heretic, who taught the eternity 
 of the world, and the universal restitution of th» 
 
 * Greswell on the Parables, vol. ii. p. 296. 
 23 
 
1 
 
 262 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 
 
 wicked ; Dionysius of Alexandria, who, according to 
 his own historical account of the efforts he made in 
 Egypt to suppress millenarian views, labored, by the 
 most winning and flattering arts, to shake the faith of 
 the churches in Egypt on this subject ; Eusebius, sus- 
 pected of Arianism, and who lived after the Platonic 
 philosophers had begun to corrupt the church, and 
 who was himself, by no means, a candid, impartial, 
 and competent judge on this question ; and Epipha-- 
 nius, who opposed the views of Apollinarius, of which 
 we shall have occasion to speak hereafter. 
 
 The arguments which Dr. Whitby has framed 
 against millenarian doctrines, by attempting to trace 
 them up to the Jews, and to the sybilline oracles, and 
 by noticing the differences between certain of the 
 ancient Millenaries, and Millenaries of a later date, 
 of the Mede school, are by no means conclusive. He 
 does not fairly state the ancient millenarian views. 
 Beside, endless shades of difference may be traced, on 
 other subjects, among those who, nevertheless, agree 
 in the leading and substantial truth. 
 . Equally inconclusive, too, are the objections found- 
 ed on the sensual descriptions in which some indulged, 
 who believed in the Millenium of the Chiliasts. Dr. 
 Whitby himself has been surpassed by those of his 
 own school, and we might just as well trace the dif- 
 ference between them, and found as good an argu- 
 ment against his spiritual Millenium, as he has done 
 against the Millenaries. He believed and taught the 
 conversion of the Jews, their ascendant influence in 
 the church, and their probable return to Jerusalem. 
 He differed, as he seems by way of apology to con- 
 fess, from the ancient Millenaries, only in denying the 
 personal reign of Christ on the earth, the re-establish- 
 ment of the theocracy, and the literal resurrection of 
 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 26o 
 
 the saints, — which, by the way, was a difference in 
 three very essential points of their belief. We have 
 no hesitation in saying that the Doctor's treatment of 
 the testimony of the Fathers is uncandid, exceedingly 
 partial, and would not have been attempted by him, 
 but to support his JVew Hypothesis. His arguments 
 and explanations of Scripture, in favor of his hypo- 
 thesis, are based on assumptions which have not been 
 proved ; and his attempts to show the falsity of mil- 
 lenarian expositions are founded on the assumption of 
 his own hypothesis. 
 
 Archdeacon Woodhouse, although he adopted the no- 
 tion of an allegorical Millenium, or the universal preva- 
 lence of Christianity in the earth, nevertheless very 
 justly observes, " It is remarkable that Dr. Whitby, who 
 had declined to comment on the Apocalypse, assigning 
 as his motive, that he felt himself unqualified for such a 
 work, has ventured to explain this particular predic- 
 tion of the Millenium ; which being, as all agree, a 
 prophecy yet unfulfilled, is, of all others, the most 
 difficult."* 
 
 It is sufficient to condemn the whole treatise that 
 his main reliance is on Eusebius, who assigns the 
 origin of millenarian views to Papias, not so much as 
 a matter of historical verity, as his opinion that Papias 
 misconceived tradition because he did not adopt the 
 mystical or allegorical interpretation ;t and who has, 
 without reason, questioned the genuineness of the 
 Book of Revelation. Dr. NolonJ has revived the old 
 reproach against millenarian views, and reiterated the 
 
 * Woodhouse on the Apocalypse, p. 470. 
 
 t'A vai hyovixai raj anoarToXKai TapeKSe^ajxevov Jt/jy^jcfitS viro^affeiv, ra tv 
 vnoiciyfiaai Trpng avruiv /iUOTi.vwj eipnfi^va /ir? avvEiopaKora. — Euseo. ECC. 
 
 Hist., lib. iii. ch. 39. 
 
 t See " The Time and Nature of the Millenium investigated,'' 
 by Rev. Dr. Nolon. London. 1831. 
 
1 
 
 264> TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 fallacies of Dr. Whitby. He has remarked as histori- 
 cal fact, "that the opinion of the primitive church, 
 respecting the nature of the Millenium, received more 
 than a tinge of error from the peculiar notions of Pa- 
 pias." On such opinions, and hypotheses, and reason- 
 ings, we place but little reliance, when we have such 
 decisive testimony as the following, from one* who 
 has carefully examined and collated, not a few preju- 
 diced and doubtful writers, but the fathers generally. 
 " Jill primitive orthodox Christians expected, accord- 
 ing to the words of the apostles, and the promises of 
 the prophets, a new heaven and a new earth, at the 
 second coming of the Messiah to restore the happiness 
 which flourished before the fall of Adam," «fec. 
 
 The early divines of New England, the Cottons a*id 
 Mathers, and their cotemporaries, knew nothing of 
 such a Millenium as that invented and advocated 
 by Dr. Whitby. The first who gave it their sanc- 
 tion in this country, appear to have been President 
 Edwards, in the middle of the last century, and Dr. 
 Bellamy. But the former looked for terrific judg- 
 ments and overwhelming sorrows coming on the 
 world before the Millenium, and destined to prepare 
 the way by cutting oflf the wicked, and purifying the 
 holy people before the latter day glory. The latterf 
 
 * See Grabe's Spicilegium Patrum, lib. ii. p. 230. — " Omnes pri- 
 msevi Christian! orthodoxi, secundum dicta apostoloruin et pro- 
 missa prophetarura, novum coelum et novam terram exspectarunt 
 in secundo Messiae adventu, isti restituendum felicitati quse ante 
 lapsmn Adami florebat. Atque banc felicitatem plurimi non in 
 spiritualibus bonis, sed et temporalibus posuerunt, persuasi tunc 
 solum tcrrse a maledictione ob peccatum Adami, et ei inflicta libe- 
 rum fore, ac abundantiam omnis boni sine humano labore prola- 
 turum. Quae et priscorum Judseorum fuit sententia, ut ex Rab- 
 binorum dictis a Raymundo Martini in Pugione fidei — Adductis 
 liquet." 
 
 t See Bellamy's Works, vol. i. pp. 496-616. 
 
TBADITIONARY HISTORY. 265 
 
 has carried out the views of Dr. Whitby in a plain and 
 interesting description of the Millenium, assumed to be 
 allegorical — a season of universal religious prosperity, 
 induced and sustained by the instrumentality and influ- 
 ences now employed, but then more efficiently, for the 
 sanctification of men. The general concert of prayer 
 which President Edwards recommended in his works, 
 originated with a memorial from certain ministers of 
 Scotland in 1746, the object of which was distinctly 
 stated, that Christ in his glory would himself appear 
 and favor Zion. A recent letter from the churches in 
 Scotland, addressed to the General Association of the 
 Presbyterian church of the United States, expresses 
 the hope of Christ's speedy personal coming in glory. 
 The missionaries generally in the East are said to look 
 for his coming. The midnight cry, " Behold, He 
 Cometh," has begun to be sounded, and it is only in 
 this country, where the churches generally seem to 
 be asleep on this subject, and fatal and dangerous sen- 
 timents, and the false, unreasonable, and unphilosophi- 
 cal hope extensively obtain, that the advance of civi- 
 lisation, the progress oi liberty, the improvement of 
 the arts, the extension of commerce, the rapidly in- 
 creasing facilities of intercourse among the nations, 
 the multiplication of missionaries and missionary sta- 
 tions and schools, the increase of revivals, the spread 
 of the gospel, the machinery of Bible, and Missionary, 
 and Tract societies, and other beneyolent operations, 
 are going to meliorate the condition of the world, and 
 peacefully and gradually introduce the Millenial Day. 
 Alas ! the condition of the world presents no reason- 
 able prospect of such a consummation. Our hope of 
 the world's redemption rests on a more solid basis — 
 even the promise, oath, and covenant of our God, who 
 stands pledged to Abraham to make him heir of the 
 ^3* 
 
1 
 
 266 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 A^orld, and to exalt his Son, our blessed Saviour, King 
 of kings and Lord of lords. We rejoice in the cause, 
 success, spread, and multiplication of Missions, and 
 feel that the church is deeply guilty in not causing 
 the gospel to be " preached in all nations for a wit- 
 ness," " that God may take out of the Gentiles a 
 people for the glory of his name," and " the end 
 may come ;" but we look not for the visions of phi- 
 lanthropists to be realized, nor for the conversion of 
 the world, but for " the blessed hope and glorious 
 appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ." We rejoice in all the good that is done by 
 Christian effort and missionary labors, and pray that 
 it may be much greater ; but, impenitent reader, we 
 cannot flatter ourselves into the belief, that a day is 
 coming when it will be any easier for you to repent 
 and become reconciled to God than it is now. There 
 is a day of wrath coming on the world. The nations 
 will be " broken with a rod of iron, and dashed in 
 pieces as a potter's vessel." Now the gospel is 
 preached to you ; it is " the good news of the com- 
 ing kingdom." If you do not repent, you can have no 
 part in the first resurrection — you must perish in the 
 overthrow of the ungodly. How soon the heavens 
 shall gather blackness, and the storm of wrath burst 
 upon this guilty world, and the nations be dashed 
 against each other, we know not ; but that Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who will shortly come to execute vengeance 
 on his enemies, has declared, " Behold, I come as a 
 thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his 
 garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame."* 
 " Watch, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be 
 accounted worthy to escape these things that shall 
 come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."t 
 
 • Rev. 16. 15. t Luke, 21. 36. 
 
Mik 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION APPLIED, AND THE 
 SECOND COMING OF CHRIST SHOWN TO BE PRE-MIL- 
 LENIAL. 
 
 " He shall send Jesus Christ which before was 
 preached unto you : whom the Heaven must ^^e cei^^ 
 until the times of restitution of all things, which 
 God hath spoken by thfe mouth of all his holy prophets 
 since the world began."* These words suggest the 
 theme of this chapter. We quote them here because 
 they state the subject in the plainest and most explicit 
 terms, and because they furnish an invaluable guide 
 for our researches into the predictions concerning the 
 
 SECOND COMING OF OUR LoRD AND SaVIOUR JeSUS ChRIST. 
 
 The subject is one of infinite moment. It addresses 
 itself alike to our personal hopes and interests, and to 
 those of the entire world. It involves the destiny of 
 each individual, and that of all the nations of the earth. 
 It has formed the object of hope and ardent expectation 
 to the pious in all ages. It is the grand epoch for 
 the consummation of the blessedness and glory of all 
 the saints, both of those now with Christ, and of those 
 still alive upon the earth. It is the hour of Heaven's 
 triumph and of hell's discomfiture — of the emancipa- 
 tion of the righteous and of the destruction of the 
 wicked, — of the rescue of this globe from the thraldom 
 of the devil, and of the renovation of all things. 
 
 It is to be the commencement of an eternal era, 
 during the first epochs of which the promises of God, 
 
 • Acts 3. 20. 
 
 vfe 
 
J 
 
 268 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILmNIAL. 
 
 which have supported and comforted his believing 
 people in all ages, shall be fully and gloriously 
 redeemed in all their details, and the universal empire 
 of Jehovah consolidated, and for ever protected from 
 the invasion of evil, by the righteous adjudications and 
 the terrible inflictions of vengeance by Jesus Christ, 
 the delegated sovereign of all worlds, on all those of 
 the two orders of God's intelligent creatures who 
 have dared to dispute his sovereignty, and to unfurl, 
 in his mighty empire, the standard of rebellion. 
 Christian reader ! it is the hour of your adoption ! 
 the season of your glorious manifestation ! and of 
 your participation in the rights, privileges, honors, 
 rewards, renown, and inconceivable delights of " that 
 inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and 
 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."* Impenitent 
 reader ! it is the day of your everlasting horror and 
 damnation ! " 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 admired in all them that believe."! 
 
 No theme demands your more serious and devout 
 attention j nor does any require more careful, discrimi- 
 nating, prayerful, and humble investigation. Your 
 hopes, your character, your destiny for eternity, as 
 well as your peace, consolation, and usefulness in this 
 life, depend upon the manner in which it afl^ects you, 
 and the views you entertain relative to it. It is of 
 
 • 1 Pet. 1. 4, 6. t 2Thess. 1. 7-10. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILtENIAL. 069 
 
 mfinite moment, therefore, that the Scriptural account 
 which God has given of it, by the mouth of his holy 
 prophets, should be understood and believed, instead 
 of the devices of your own imagination, op the 
 explanations of human wisdom. 
 
 Peter, in the passage under consideration, asserts 
 some facts, about which there can be no mistake, nor 
 even doubt, viz. that there will be a real personal 
 manifestation of Jesus Christ, in a mission to this 
 world which is yet future ; — that He is now conr 
 cealed from the eyes of men by having been caught 
 up into the heavens, and will remain so during his 
 continuance there ; — that while He must remain there 
 in accordance |with the plans of God, His advent 
 should be heralded, and thus the world be kept advised, 
 if they will hearken^to the cry, that his present absence, 
 the withdrawment of his corporal presence from the 
 earth, is not final and for over 5 that juct ae certainly 
 as the Heavens have received, and do now conceal 
 him from the view of men, will they again deliver 
 him up and disclose him to our eyes, and that thi» 
 event will take place when ^^the times of restitution of 
 all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of 
 all his holy prophets since the world began,'' shall 
 arrive. 
 
 There can be no questioning these facts by any one 
 who admits as truth supported by sufficient evidence, 
 and receives in the simplicity of faith, the testimony of 
 the apostle. The only point of doubt ^vhich can be 
 raised, is as to the time of his coming. The date 
 assigned by the apostle is " the times of restitution of 
 all things spoken by all the prophets." We are referred, 
 therefore, directly by the apostle to the prophets, froili" 
 them to ascertain the time of his coming. That, he 
 declares to be " the times of restitution of all things." 
 
1 
 
 270 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENlAL. 
 
 If, therefore, we can ascertain what is meant by " the 
 RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS," and WHEN it takcs placc, 
 we shall not err as to the time of the second advent of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 In the very threshold of this investigation, however, 
 we are met by the criticisms and the views of those 
 who adopt the spiritual or allegorical interpretation, 
 and who deny the pre-millenial* advent of Christ. The 
 
 • The word pre-millenial is here used in order to prevent a 
 periphrasis. In the use of it reference is had to the general 
 opinion both of Millenarians and Anti-millenarians, that a period 
 of a thousand years has been predicted, during which the earth 
 shall enjoy peace and blessedness under the dominion of Jesus 
 Christ and his saints, however they may differ from each other as 
 to the nature and mode of that dominion, or as to the manner of 
 its introduction and establishment. We enter not into the dis- 
 cussion relative to the question whether the Millenium of the 
 Apocalypse, chap. 20. 1-6, has or has not already passed away, 
 agreeably to the opinion of Professor Bush» that zealous and 
 indefatigable Biblical student, who, — affirming the dragon of John, 
 Rev. 12. 9, and Rev. 20. 2, to be the symbols of pagan Rome, and 
 the expressions old serpent, the devil, Satan, to be but synonyms 
 not alphabetical expositions, of that symbol, and that both the 
 symbolical ejections of the dragon had their accomplishment in the 
 overthrow of paganism by Christianity, from the days of Constan- 
 tino and forward — looks not for a Millenium of triumph and glory 
 according to the opinion of the ancient Millenarians, but for an 
 eternal state of honor and happiness to commence with the intro- 
 duction of a new dispensation, the kingdom come. The ancient 
 Millenarians, and the modern also, question not the perpetuity of 
 the kingdom of Heaven, although they admit that at the close of a 
 thousand years a great epoch will occur, which shall be marked by 
 the judgment of the wicked dead raised from their graves, the final 
 imprisonment and punishment of Satan for ever, and the adjust- 
 ment of the kingdom for eternity. Nor does Mr. Bush differ from 
 them in respect of the grand substantial nature of the last and 
 glorious dispensation, if we understand him, though denying the 
 Millenial epoch, as understood either by Millenarians or Anti- 
 millenarians. It is not essential to the argument here, to enter 
 into this investigation. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAl^V^ 271' •>> ^ 
 
 author of a work entitled " Modern Fanaticisn^^jSx "fj 
 veiled," and Mr. Faber, both affirm, in common wm^*//! 
 the great body of spiritualists in our own day ancP'^C^J:. 
 country, that the second advent of Christ is not to 
 occur till AFTER the Millenium. Of course it is of 
 essential consequence, if possible, to enlist this text in 
 favor of this view. This is attempted by a twofold 
 method : first, the import of the adverb {olxqi) u?itil, 
 is changed ; and second, that of the word restitution. 
 As this is done by criticism, we must for a few 
 moments refer to it. 
 
 The word until («/?t), as commonly used, denotes 
 the continuance of time, from the period just referred 
 to or spoken of, up to a second, or some other desig- 
 nated period. Thus, when I say, I shall be from 
 home to-morrow until four o'clock, the idea is, I will 
 be absent the whole preceding portion of the day, but 
 at four o'clock will be at home. This is the correct 
 meaning of the original Greek adverb {ocxqi). Its 
 import in the text is obvious. Christ will be absent, 
 and concealed from us in the Heavens, during the 
 whole period elapsing from that in which the apostle 
 spoke, to that " of the restitution of all things ;" but 
 then He will return, and no longer be hidden from our 
 view. The criticism designed to obviate the -force of 
 this, adduced by the anti-fanatical author, is that the 
 adverb («;!r?0 until, denotes simply duration, and does 
 not imply the idea of termination ; and therefore, 
 should have been translated during^ thus making the 
 text mean, "that Christ is to continue in Heaven 
 during,* and to the end of the time of the restitution 
 of all things." 
 
 We quote a few passages to show the fallacy of 
 
 * Modem Fanaticism Unveiled, p. 207. 
 
lit XHB CO..KO OK OH..X J^.KU. 
 
 this criticism. " The former history have I made, O 
 Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and 
 to teach j during {a/gi) the day in which he was taken 
 up."* The absurdity is apparent. According to this 
 criticism the dumbness of Zechariah must have been 
 confined to the day on which his son John was born ;f 
 — the wicked revelry of the antediluvians, must have 
 been only during the day on which Noah entered the 
 ark 5 J — David's sepulchre must have been with them 
 only during that day of Pentecost on which Peter 
 spoke ;§ — and the long tim^, during which Paul preach- 
 ed, the night that Eutychus fell from the window, 
 must have been only during the break of day.|| The 
 truth is, this criticism renders the use of this adverb, 
 in many places,*!! perfectly absurd and not to be trans- 
 lated. It is true, the duration does sometimes com- 
 prehend the period referred to, in which case the propo- 
 sition involves the idea of duration ; but whether it stops 
 at the commencement, or extends to the close of the 
 period referred to, depends always on the manner in 
 which it is used j as for example, when Paul says that 
 they sailed from Philippi and came to Troas in («/^*, 
 until) five days,** his meaning plainly is, that they did 
 not arrive at Troas till the close of five days, i. e. 
 their voyage lasted five days. If I should say I will 
 not eat or drink, until I have pursued the thief, my 
 meaning would be different from what it would be, 
 were I to say, I will not eat or drink till I am pursuing 
 the thief j the word until, in the first instance, express- 
 ing duration, till the pursuit was over, and in the 
 second case only till it had commenced. But in the 
 
 • Acts, 1. 1. t Luke, 1. 20. | Luke, 17. 27. 
 
 § Acts, 2. 29. II Acts, 20. 11. 
 
 IT Acts, 13. 6, &j(^pi ildipov. Acts, 20. 4, axfn rrii 'Aaiuf. 
 
 •* Acts, 20. 6. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 273 
 
 passage under consideration, the word until {(^xqO 
 cannot be construed to imply duration, ^ArowgAow^ the 
 times of the restitution of all things. 
 
 Mr. Faber does not found his explanation, however, 
 on this criticism ; but on another which he adopts in 
 common with the author referred to. The word resti- 
 tution (ctTToxaTadiaasMg) he contends does not denote ^Ae 
 act of resettling, or restoring all things, but the com- 
 pleted result, the actual settlement or restoration of all 
 things. If this be the meaning of the word, the text 
 furnishes a powerful argument against the pre-mille- 
 nial advent of Christ. But this is not the meaning, 
 and is disproved by the grammatical rules applicable 
 to the case. Verbal nouns among the Greeks are 
 derived from the first, second and third persons of the 
 perfect passive. Those derived from the first person, 
 denote the thing done, from the second the act of 
 doing, and from the third the doer, as the purifica- 
 tion, the act of purifying, and the purifier.* Thus, in 
 the text, the word restitution denotes the act of re- 
 settling, and the meaning is until the times of resettling, 
 that is, when that great decisive act or series of acts 
 is to be performed, which is to restore or resettle all 
 things. The appearance of Christ therefore occurs at 
 the commencement, and not the completion, of th€ act, 
 or process, or series of restoring acts. 
 
 The common explanation of the spiritualists is, that 
 Christ shall not reappear while, or as long as, the 
 times of the New Testament continue, i. e. till Chris- 
 tianity, which they say, is the means of restoring and 
 resettling all things, shall have completely secured 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 naOapua 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 Kadaprrts 
 
 apTtayna 
 
 ap-ra^ts 
 
 apTTUKTtJS 
 
 TToirjiia 
 
 ■zv.n(Tii 
 
 TTOlt]TDS 
 
1 
 
 274 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL, 
 
 this result. This is the explanation of Schleusner.* 
 But this is in opposition to the established grammati- 
 cal import of the words.f The act of resettling is not 
 to take place till Christ appears ; and he does not 
 appear during the times of the New Testament. 
 Beside, it assumes what is not asserted by the tex!, 
 and cannot be proved, viz. that Christianity, or the 
 New Testament dispensation, is the means of restoring 
 all things. The New Testament dispensation is but 
 " The Gospel" of the kingdom of Heaven to come — the 
 glad tidings of its approach. The restitution is to be 
 effected by the reappearance of Christ, and the physi- 
 cal, providential and retributive agents, and glorious 
 power he will employ. The world, and the church 
 too, have been in an unsettled condition, from the very 
 days of Christ's ascension to this hour ; and there is 
 no more prospect now of Christianity's going to set- 
 tle all things, by its enlightening and suasive influ- 
 ence, than there was eighteen hundred years ago. Not 
 a solitary kingdom of this world has been recovered 
 as yet from the dominion of the god of this world. 
 
 For a season, after the religion of Jesus Christ has 
 been introduced among a people, there may have been 
 proofs of the new influence ; and in some countries, 
 as in Scotland and Geneva, and for a while in some 
 of the early colonies that settled on these shores, the 
 fear of God and a love of righteousness prevailed to a 
 very great extent. But still it could not be said that 
 Christ and his saints reigned. The legislative, execu- 
 tive, and judiciary powers were not exercised under 
 
 * " Quamdiu tempora N. T. durant, quibus per religionem 
 Christianam omnia ia meliorem statum sunt redigenda ;" ad loc. 
 
 f 'ATo/carafrratrjj — the restoration of anything to its former state : 
 hence, a change from worse to better, melioration, introduction of 
 anew and better era. Acts 3. 21 ; Polyb. 4. 23. 1 ; Diod. Sic. 20. 
 34; Robinson's Wabl. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-3IILLENIAL. 275 
 
 the direction and control of religion. The kingdom 
 was not placed at the feet of Jesus Christ. And even 
 where religion was established by law, and the church 
 was superior to the state, the ecclesiastical became as 
 corrupt as the civil government. The union of church 
 and state has wrought infinite evil ; and few events, 
 perhaps, have contributed to greater corruption in the 
 church and world, than the establishment of religion 
 by law under Constantine, and among the nations of 
 Europe. The history of the Reformation discloses 
 melancholy facts on this subject. Our Missionaries 
 in the Sandwich Islands have had to meet serious 
 difficulties, incident to the relations between the civil 
 and ecclesiastical powers. The thrones of earth have 
 not been occupied by the righteous 5 and even where 
 the monarch and rulers may have been Christians ac- 
 cording to the judgment of charity, there has been 
 much wanting to prove that the kingdom belonged to 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Christianity has indeed been the means of saving 
 multitudes of individuals, of meliorating often the con- 
 dition of society, of restraining the corruptions of 
 men, of checking the wicked legislation of rulers, and 
 of promoting public morals, general virtue, social 
 order, refinements in civilisation, advancement in 
 science, and the general intercourse of nations. No 
 sooner however has a nation changed its religion, and 
 substituted Christianity for paganism, than some new 
 forms of corruption or instruments of oppression, or 
 eflEbrts of persecution, have shown, that the kingdom^ 
 THE GOVERNMENT, had not yet been restored to God, 
 and was not yet given to " the people of the saints 
 of the most High," but was under the influence and 
 control of the secular princes, the selfish politicians. 
 
1 
 
 276 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 the men who sought their own honor and aggrandise- 
 ment, and not the interests and glory of Jesus Christ. 
 The subjugation of the governments of earth, under 
 his control j the restoration of the kingdom to Israel; 
 the moral and political renovation of earth ; the estab- 
 lishment of the dominion of Heaven or the kingdom of 
 God, over this world, have not yet even begun to be 
 effected. Yet are these things predicted; and for the 
 times of their occurrence we are referred, by Peter, 
 to the prophets. They, he says, have spoken of them — 
 not one or a few, but all of them, since the world began. 
 
 Our business, therefore, is to examine what the 
 prophets have in common predicted, relative to the 
 re-settlement or " restitution of all things." They all, 
 he says, look forward to one grand and signal period, 
 which he calls " the times of restitution" — the times 
 when all the things the prophets have declared, rela- 
 tive to the restoration, shall be fulfilled. Of this 
 season, or these times, all the prophets, from the be- 
 ginning of the world, have spoken. Every one has 
 not predicted precisely the same circumstances and 
 events — one referring to one or more, and another ta 
 different scenes, but all to something or other to be 
 accomplished in that season, which Peter calls, " the 
 times of restitution," and which the prophets them- 
 selves have differently designated,* Isaiah and others 
 by the phrase, " in that day." At the very com- 
 mencement of this season of restoration, as the very 
 first act in the series, which forms the date of its 
 introduction, occurs the second advent of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 It is not necessary, and is indeed foreign to our 
 immediate design in this chapter, to show that Peter 
 
 * Isaiah, 2. 2 ; 4. 2, 3; 10. 20 ; 11. 10, 11. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 277 
 
 states the fact correctly, and that all the prophets, from 
 the beginning of the world, have spoken of something 
 or other which is to transpire in this season of resti- 
 tution. We might, indeed, show that Enoch,* the 
 seventh from Adam, the first prophet of whom we 
 read, prophesied of these, saying, " Behold the Lord 
 cometh with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment 
 upon all," and- also that Noah,t Abraham,^ Jacob,§ 
 Job, II MoseSjIT Balaam,** Hannah,tt David,H Joel,§§ 
 Amo^,l||| Hosea,1Fir Nahum,*** Isaiah,ttt Jeremiah,^^ 
 Ezekiel,§§§ Daniel,|||||| Zechariah,iriFir Habakkuk,**** 
 Haggai,tttt Zephaniah,fHJ Malachi,§§§§ all prophe- 
 sied of the glorious advent of the Lord, and some 
 events connected with his coming, to transpire in the 
 last days, the times of restitution. 
 
 It will suffice to adduce those passages which pre- 
 dict the millenial coming of Jesus Christ, and which 
 more appropriately belong to chronological prophecies. 
 
 The first we cite is from Daniel.|||||||| This vision of 
 Daniel extends to the times of restitution, even till 
 the kingdom is given to the people of the saints of the 
 Most High, which is to be everlasting, and all domi- 
 
 • Jude, 14. t Gen. 9. 27. 
 
 t Gen. 17. 7, 8 ; John, 8. 56. § Gen. 49. 10. 
 
 II Job, 19. 23-27. ir Exod. 15. 17, 18 ; Deut. 32. 34-43 ; 33. 3. 
 ** Numb. 24. 15-24. ft 1 Sam. 2. 8-10. 
 
 tt Psalm, 2. 8, 9; 50. 1-4. §§ Joel, 2. 28-32; 3. 9-17. 
 
 nil Amos, 2. 4-16; 3. 1-15; 5.27; 9. 11-15. 
 HIT Hosea, 1. 9; 10. 10-15 ; 2. 14-23. ♦** Nahum, 1. 15. 
 
 ttt Isaiah, 2. 10-21 ; 9. 5 ; 1 1- 4 ; 24. 1-23 ; 30. 25-33 ; 34. 1-10 ; 
 63. 1-6 ; 65. 13-15 ; 65 and 66, passim. 
 JJt Jer. 30. 5-24; 31. 27-40 ; 33. 14-22. 
 §§§ Ezek. 34-39, &c. |||||| Dan. 7. 13, 14. 
 
 iririr Zech. 14. 1-21. •*** Hab. 3. 3-16. 
 
 tttt Hag. 2. 21, 22; Heb. 12. 26-28. tttt Zeplr. 3. 8-20. 
 
 §§§§ Malaehi, 3. 2-4 ; 4. 2, 3. IIIIIIIIDan. 7. 7-27. 
 
 24* 
 
1 
 
 278 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 nions shall serve and obey their Lord and Redeemer. 
 Of this there can be no doubt or dispute. The pro- 
 phet describes the fourth universal monarchy or con- 
 quering kingdom, that should arise in the world, 
 virhich is the empire of Rome, and which he describes as 
 follows : " After this I saw in the night visions, and be- 
 held a fourth beast, dreadful, and terrible, and strong 
 exceedingly ; and it had great iron tee*h : it devoured 
 and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with 
 the feet of it : and it was diverse from all the beasts 
 that were before it, and it had ten horns ; I considered 
 the horns, and behold there came up among them 
 another little horn, before whom there were three of 
 the first plucked up by the roots : and behold, in this 
 horn, were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth 
 speaking great things."* 
 
 This is a symbolical description of the Roman 
 power. Its conquests and ravages are graphically 
 and accurately described. In almost every respect 
 it differed from the three previous universal mo- 
 narchies, the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, and the 
 Macedonian. 
 
 At a period in which this empire should be divided 
 into ten kingdoms, Daniel saw an eleventh power 
 rising in the midst, which eradicated three of them, 
 and displayed prodigious sagacity, and made the most 
 lofty pretensions and claims. That this was the 
 meaning of the symbol there is no room for doubt, for 
 it is interpreted to Daniel. 
 
 " Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, — 
 what it meant, which was diverse from all the others, 
 exceedingly dreadful, whose teeth were iron, and his 
 nails of brass, which devoured, brake in pieces, and 
 
 * Dan. 7. 7, 8. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 279 
 
 stamped the residue with hjs feet. And of the teu 
 horns that were in his head, and of the other which 
 came up, and before whom three fell : even of that 
 horn which had eyes, and a mouth that spake great 
 things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." 
 " Thus he said. The fourth beast shall be the fourth 
 kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all 
 kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall 
 tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten 
 horns out of this kingdom, are ten kings (or king- 
 doms, for the word is so used in this chapter,) that 
 shall arise, and another shall rise after them, and he 
 shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue 
 three kings. And he shall speak great words against 
 the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the 
 Most High, and think to change times and laws, and 
 they shall be given into his hands, until a time and 
 times and a dividing of time."* 
 
 The history of the Roman Empire exactly accords 
 with this description. It subdued the world ; but, in 
 the course of the fifth century, the western Roman 
 Empire, which was appropriately and peculiarly that 
 of Rome, was divided into ten distinct kingdoms, by 
 the irruptions of the northern barbarians. The Vandals 
 led on hylGodesilius, A. D. 406, into Gaul ; by Gunderic, 
 A. D. 409, into Spain ; and by Geiseric, A. D. 427, into 
 Africa. 2. The Suevi, whose kingdom was founded 
 by Ermeric, A. D. 407, in Spanish Gallicia and Lusi- 
 tania. 3. The Alans, who invaded Gaul, A. D. 407, 
 under their king, Goar, and were established, A. D. 
 412, near the Rhine. 4. The Burgundians, who, led 
 on by Gundicar into Gaul, A. D. 407, were established, 
 A. D. 412, by the emperor's ceding to them a district 
 
 • Dan. 7. 19-25. 
 
1 
 
 280 THE COmffG OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 near the Rhine in Gallia Belgica. 5. The Franks, led 
 on by Theudemir, A. D.407, and firmly established, A. D. 
 4 16 and 417, by Pharamond, in Gaul. 6. The Visi- 
 goths, who, A. D. 408, under the conduct of Jllaric, made 
 themselves masters of Italy, and finally, A. D. 585, after 
 various conquests, and wars, and expulsion from Gaul, 
 became lords of all Spain. 7. The Anglo-Saxons, 
 who, A. D. 449, planted themselves in the isle ofThanet, 
 and, in the course of a short time, founded the 
 primary and original kingdom of Kent, in Britain. 
 8. The Herulo-Tueingi, who, A. D. 476 or 479, 
 founded the first Gothic kingdom of Italy. 9. The 
 Ostrogoths, who, under their sovereign, Theodoric, un- 
 dertook, A. D. 489, the conquest of Italy ; and, A. D. 493, 
 founded the Italian Ostrogothic monarchy. And 10. 
 The Lombards, who conducted, A. D. 567 and 568, by 
 Alhoin^ from Pononia, where they had been estab- 
 lished, A. D. 526, by Audoin^ founded a kingdom in 
 that part of Italy which has ever since borne the name 
 of Lombardy. 
 
 This is the account Gibbon gives of the rise of the 
 ten kingdoms which were founded within the western 
 Roman empire, and adopted by Mr. Faber.* 
 
 It was precisely during the period of the rise of 
 these ten kingdoms, during the fifth and sixth centu- 
 ries, that the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, acquired 
 his mighty and extensive influence, just as the eleventh, 
 or little horn, arose on the head of the beast. From 
 the very conversion of Constantino to Christianity, 
 the influence of this ambitious prelate began to 
 be felt. The barbarian invasions in the west, and 
 the removal of the seat of the secular empire to Con- 
 stantinople, in the east, were peculiarly favorable to 
 
 • See Faber's Sacred Calendar, vol ii. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 281 
 
 the growth of his influence ; and so successfully was it 
 exerted, that by A. D. 533, when all the ten Gothico- 
 Roman kingdoms had been developed, the Em- 
 peror Justinian published an edict, and at the same 
 time addressed an epistle to the Pope, acknowledging 
 and declaring him to be the head of the churches^ thus 
 conferring on him the incommunicable title of Jesus 
 Christ, and putting himself as emperor, and his em- 
 pire, by his supreme legislation, under the dominion 
 of the Bishop of Rome.* 
 
 This emperor also published a volume of civil law, 
 which was adopted throughout the whole extent of 
 the Roman empire, and became the basis of the legis- 
 lation of Europe, down to the days of Napoleon. In 
 that volume of civil law are to be found the edict and 
 epistle of Justinian, creating the Pope supreme head 
 of the churches, and the epistle of Pope John in reply, 
 acceding to, and sanctioning the act of the emperor. 
 These documents, by being published in that collec- 
 tion, obtained the stamp of public and legislative au- 
 thority, as the laws of the empire. Subsequently, 
 A. D. 000, the Emperor Phucas confirmed tK«^ grant 
 made by Justinian, and by that time all the ten king- 
 doms had become, in fact, subject to the Bishop of 
 Rome, Great Britain, or the Anglo-Saxon, being the 
 last brought over by Augustine, A. D. 604. The decree 
 of Justinian, and the code of laws which he published, 
 based on the acknowledged supremacy of the Pope, 
 or Bishop of Rome, and which became thereafter 
 the basis of European legislation for centuries, did, in 
 reality, change times and laws, and give the saints 
 into the hands of the little or episcopal horn, i. e. the 
 horn that had eyes, the overseer, the Bishop of Rome, 
 
 * See Cuninghame on the Apocalypse, pp. 262-270, Ox. Ed. 
 
1 
 
 282 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 by whom they should be, as they have been, worn 
 out. 
 
 The mouth speaking great things belonging to this 
 horn, fitly symbolizes the assumed and asserted author- 
 ity of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, as the Vicar of 
 Christ upon earth. " He has at various times anathe- 
 matised all who dared to oppose him ; has laid whole 
 kingdoms under an interdict ; has excommunicated 
 kings and emperors 5 has absolved their subjects from 
 their allegiance ; has asserted greater authority, even 
 in temporal matters, than^sovereign princes ; and has 
 pronounced, that the dominion of the whole earth 
 rightfully belongs to him."* This little horn is reput- 
 ed also, as speaking great words against,f i. e. by the 
 side of the Most High, not opposing, but asserting an 
 equality with God, which the Bishop of Rome has 
 done, being not offended to be styled by his parasites, 
 " Our Lord God the Pope, Another God on earth, 
 King of kings, and Lord of lords. Our most holy 
 Lord, The victorious God and man in his See of 
 Rome, God the best and greatest. Vice God, The 
 
 LiAMB OJC Q-OD THAT iiUi-iSTH AW^AV TUii allNH Ut TJHi WOKLD, 
 
 The Most Holy who carrieth the Most Holy." 
 
 The last circumstance noticed of this little horn, in 
 this prediction, is, that three of the ten horns or king- 
 doms, fell before him. It is historically true — that 
 the Herulo-Turingic, the Ostrogothic and the Lom- 
 bardic, having their seat in states, " were necessarily 
 eradicated in the immediate presence of the papacy, 
 before which they were geographically standing — and 
 that the temporal principality which bears the name of 
 
 • Faber's Sac. Cal., vol. ii. p. 93. 
 
 t n-ii Chald. 1.9. Heb. No. 1, latus. — ns inlatus vulg. contra 7. 
 25. — Gesenius. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. ^83 
 
 St. Peter's patrimony, was carved out of the mass of 
 their subjugated dominions."* The Pope, as the little 
 horn, which subdued the three others before it, wears 
 to this day his appropriate triple crown, and answers, 
 in every respect, to the description which is given of 
 him to Daniel. 
 
 Having brought this colossal power into view, and 
 fixed the term of its continuance, the vision of the 
 fourth beast or Roman Empire does not terminate, but 
 extends down to the day of judgment. This, the 
 vision affirms, is to be at the same time with the de- 
 struction of the little horn's dominion. ' The coming 
 of the Son of Man, the destruction of Popery, and the 
 establishment of the dominion of the saints of the 
 Most High, are, according to the vision, cotemporane- 
 ous. Thus runs the record : " I beheld, till the thrones 
 were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose 
 garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head 
 like the pure wool : his throne was like the fiery flame, 
 and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued 
 and came forth from before him ; thousand thousands 
 ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thou- 
 sand stood before him : the judgment was set, and the 
 books were opened. I beheld then, because of the voice 
 of the great words which the horn spake ; I beheld, even 
 till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given 
 to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the 
 beasts, they had their dominion taken away j yet their 
 lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in 
 the 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 them. And 
 there was given him dominion, and glory, and a king- 
 
 * Faber's Sac. Cal., vol. ii. p. 102. 
 
^S4f THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 dom that all people, nations, and languages, should 
 serve him j his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 
 which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that 
 which shall not be destroyed. I, Daniel, was grieved 
 in my spirit, in the midst of my body, and the visions 
 of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of 
 them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. 
 So he told me, and made me know the interpretation 
 of the things. These great beasts.^ which are four, 
 are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But 
 the saints of the Most High shall lake the kingdom, 
 and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and 
 ever."* 
 
 After having noticed the fourth beast, or Roman 
 empire, and the ten horns on its head, or kingdoms 
 into which it was divided, he contemplated the horn 
 that had eyes, or Popery, and relates, " I beheld, and 
 the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed 
 AGAINST THEM J UNTIL the Aucicnt of Days came, and 
 judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and 
 the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus, 
 he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom up- 
 on earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and 
 shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, 
 and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this 
 kingdom are ten kings that shall arise, and another shall 
 rise after them ; and he shall be diverse from the first, 
 and he shall subdue these kings. And he shall speak 
 words against (beside) the Most High, and shall wear 
 out the saints of the Most High, and think to change 
 times and laws : and they shall be given into his hand 
 until a time, and times, and a dividing of time. 
 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away 
 his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the 
 
 * Dan. 7. 9-18, 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PEE-MILLENIAL. 285 
 
 end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the great- 
 ness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall 
 be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, 
 whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all 
 dominions shall serve and obey him."* 
 
 Our object is not to give a minute interpretation or 
 exposition of this prediction, but only, in so far as it 
 is necessary, to bring into view the pre-millenial 
 date which it assigns to the coming of Christ. The 
 following facts then are not to be questioned, — that the 
 judgment, as Daniel describes, the coming of the Son 
 of Man, the destruction of the Roman Empire and of 
 the papacy, and the establishment of the dominion of 
 the people of the saints of the Most High, occur at 
 the same season — at the time of the end, when the 
 act of restitution begins. Daniel distinctly and une- 
 quivocally teaches, that the destruction of the beast, 
 and of the little horn, and the setting up of the domi- 
 nion of Jesus Christ, are to be secured by the coming 
 of the Son of Man. These are events which are to 
 occur when Christ comes, in the clouds of Heaven with 
 a fiery flame, and which Daniel places before the Mil- 
 lenium or establishment and prosperity of the kingdom. 
 The argument, therefore, in a few words, is this ; 
 
 The fourth beast is the Roman empire. That beast 
 is to continue in existence, till there should be ten 
 horns seen on its head, i. e. ten kingdoms, into which 
 the Roman empire should be divided. Among those 
 horns, a little horn should spring up, which would 
 eradicate three, and affect an equality with God j all 
 which has been already verified in the barbarian inva- 
 sions, the universal supremacy and triple dominion of 
 the Bishop of Rome. Both the beast and the little 
 
 * Dan. 7. 19-27. 
 25 
 
I 
 
 286 THE COMING OF CHRIST PEE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 horn, are to continue, till the Ancient of Days should 
 sitj and the Son of Man come in judgment, and give the 
 dominion to the people of the saints of the Most High. 
 The conclusion, therefore, is irresistible, that as Pope- 
 ry and the Roman Empire are both to be destroyed 
 together, before the dominion is given to the saints ; 
 and as they are both to continue till the judgment 
 shall sit, and Christ shall come in the clouds of 
 Heaven, so his coming must be before the Millenium. 
 
 There are but two methods, by which to avoid this 
 conclusion. The one is, by saying, as Dr. Maclaurin 
 has done, that the coming of the Son of Man with the 
 clouds of Heaven, applies to the ascension of our Lord 
 to Heaven, which, apart from the forced meaning that 
 it gives to the whole passage, and the violation of all 
 chronological order, is utterly in violation of the 
 meaning of the original word here employed to express 
 his coming. It is never understood to signify ascent. 
 
 The other is, to deny that Daniel's vision refers to 
 the great day of judgment, or to any visible coming 
 of Christ at all. This the spiritualist must do, or give 
 up the passage as teaching a pre-millenial advent. If 
 he does so, then he must never quote this passage at 
 all, in proof of a day of final judgment and manifesta- 
 tion of Jesus Christ. Mr. Faber has taken this ground, 
 and affirmed that Daniel's description is all symbolical, 
 and that therefore the judgment is to be allegorically 
 explained, as being merely the providential inflictions 
 of Divine vengeance, on Popery and the anti-Christian 
 nations; and the coming of the Son of Man here 
 spoken of, merely an invisible providential interposi- 
 tion of Divine power. Having affirmed the whole 
 vision to be symbolical, he says that the symbols are 
 taken from the day of judgment, and thus ingeniously 
 claims to use it nevertheless, as descriptive of that 
 day. 
 
THfe COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 287 
 
 But this is altogether inadmissible ; for there is 
 nothing in the fire or flame, or any other, particulars 
 in the description, which render it naturally or morally 
 impossible to be understood in its plain, obvious, lite- 
 ral meaning, so as to require it, according to the law 
 of interpretation applicable in such cases, to be re- 
 garded a smetaphysical or allegorical. Besides, the 
 idea is absurd, that Daniel should borrow symbols from 
 the judgment^ a scene which he had nevef witnessed, 
 and which, according to the spiritualists' own showing, 
 had not been i;evealed to him. Such an idea is utterly 
 inconsistent with the nature, origin, and character of 
 symbolical language. 
 
 The passages in Revelations, such as the sixth chap- 
 ter, and others which are quoted in proof of this posi- 
 tion of Mr. Faber, are not conclusive. It is denied 
 that the judgment scene is ever made a symbol. 
 
 It cannot be the case here ; for then must the king" 
 dam of the saints of the Most High be symbolical too, 
 and not real, which none will pretend j and Mr. Faber 
 particularly will not admit ; for he affirms, that the 
 kingdom is a kingdom here upon earth — a literal aflair, 
 which the saints are to secure^ i. e. occupy, or possess 
 — a very different thing from the dominion of grace in 
 men's hearts. 
 
 Besides, this is to violate an essential principle of 
 interpretation, and utterly to confound every attempt 
 at explaining symbols ; for it is to make the antitype 
 a symbol of the type, just the reverse of what is usual, 
 and what Mr. Faber has taught. What Daniel saw in 
 vision we admit was all a scenical representation ; but 
 the entire scenes of judgment, such as the casting 
 down of the thrones, i. e. the pitching or setting them, 
 the sitting of the Ancient of Days, his garments and his 
 throne, the fiery stream before him, the ten thousand 
 
1 
 
 288 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 times ten thousand saints, the opening of the books, 
 and the coming of one like the Son of Man, with the 
 clouds of Heaven, and all the other accompaniments 
 of his presence, which were disclosed to him, were but 
 the pictorial representation of the real and true judg- 
 ment, the real and personal coming of the Son of Man, 
 the real redeemed spirits of the just, and the real and 
 terrible agents and instruments of vengeance, that 
 shall attend upon him, when, at the time of the end, 
 the heavens shall reveal him, and he shall come lite- 
 rally on the clouds of Heaven to restore all things. 
 
 As such they were understood and referred 
 to by the apostles, and by Christ himself. Daniel 
 does not predict a day of final judgment at all, 
 if he does not here describe it ; and all those who 
 have come after him, and borrowed their descriptions 
 of the judgment from him, have radically erred. We 
 may also ask, if this be the case, where have we any 
 proof at all, that there will ever be a day of judgment, 
 in which Jesus Christ will be personally visible 1 or 
 there be any other kind of judgment, than the signal 
 retributions of Providence % 
 
 By the very same rule of interpretation on the 
 spiritualists' own principles — ^which makes this passage 
 in Daniel to symbolize the retributive dispensations 
 of Providence, instead of its being a scenical repre- 
 sentation of the great day of final judgment at the 
 coming of Christ — we can get rid of all the evidence the 
 spiritualist can adduce from the Bible, that there will 
 ever be such a day. Let him produce any passage 
 whatever, and by this same prophetical canon, which 
 he adopts, we shall wrest it from him. 
 
 It is said that Christ speaks of Christ's literal coming, 
 when he says, "then shall appear the sign of the 
 Son of Man in Heaven, and then shall all the tribes of 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 289 
 
 earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming 
 in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory."* 
 There is certainly nothing in this language, which 
 makes it more likely to be literal, and not allegorical, 
 than that in Daniel. Part of it is the very language 
 of Daniel J and the events referred to, can be shown . 
 to be the very same spoken of by Daniel ; so that, if 
 Daniel's prediction in the seventh chapter of the coming 
 of Christ, is allegorical, so is Christ's prediction of 
 the same in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew — 
 and neither predict a day of judgment and visible 
 coming. 
 
 The same may be said of Paul's prediction,! and 
 even Acts, iii. 21, may be explained away. It is the 
 easiest thing imaginable, to put an allegorical inter- 
 pretation on it and others. 
 
 If Daniel's description of the judgment must be 
 allegorically understood, there is just as much reason 
 why any other should be. Thus, all the predictions of 
 a judgment, may be resolved into mere shadowy dis- 
 plays of Divine power, in effecting great political or 
 ecclesiastical changes, or great moral and spiritual 
 reformations. By giving a figurative or allegorical 
 meaning to Daniel's prediction of the advent of Jesus 
 Christ, therefore, — which every one must do who de- 
 nies that it will occur before the Millenium, — we are 
 cut off from one of the principal sources of proof that 
 there ever will be a day of judgment, and a literal 
 coming of Jesus Christ at all. Who does not see the 
 fallacy of such principles of interpretation 1 
 
 We must be consistent, and carry out our princi- 
 ples of interpretation. If Daniel's judgment and 
 coming of Christ be not literal, then are none literal 
 
 * Matt., 24. 50. t 1 Thess. 4. 15.17. 
 
 25* 
 
1 
 
 290 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLBNIAL. 
 
 whose language is taken from him. But this is a con- 
 clusion from which the expectants of a Millenium be- 
 fore the coming of Christ will start. Nothing but the 
 pre-conceived notion of such a Millenium, ever led 
 any to imagine that Daniel's prediction must be alle- 
 gorized. 
 
 The truth is, there is but the one fair, consistent, 
 and intelligible interpretation to be put upon it ; and 
 that is, that Daniel describes, as truly, a literal judg- 
 ment, and a literal coming of Jesus Christ, as he does 
 the literal destruction of the Pope, and of the Koman 
 Empire : and these things he teaches shall both occur 
 together, — ^both form events to be verified in "the 
 times of restitution of all things," spoken of by all the 
 holy prophets since the world began. The coming of 
 Christ is first in order. The very first epoch in the 
 day of judgment, and the first terrible infliction of the 
 vengeance of the Saviour returned to earth, will be 
 the utter destruction of Popery, and of the Antichris- 
 tian nations. The conclusion is, therefore, unavoida- 
 ble, that His SECOND ADVENT WILL BE BEFORE THE MlL- 
 LENIFM. 
 
m Mm> Jii% 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL, OR PRIOR TO THE 
 DESTRUCTION OF POPERT. 
 
 The coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 is the grand epoch of the world's redemption. It is 
 the glorious hope both of saints on earth and saints in 
 Heaven. It will be the hour of joy and triumph to the 
 whole body of the redeemed, whether they shall be 
 found in the flesh or out of the flesh. No wonder, 
 therefore, that it was looked for by the prophets, apos- 
 tles, and martyrs who died in the faith of his coming, 
 with the most intense interest and ardor of desire. 
 In like manner should it be by us. 
 
 The circumstance, however, of there being a shade 
 of uncertainty thrown upon the time of his coming, 
 has led many to think, that it is not so suitable a 
 theme for awaking the attention of the mind, for ex- 
 citing its fears, and for inducing a preparation for 
 eternity, as the approach of death, — an event regarded 
 as certainly much nearer, and virtually possessing all 
 the importance of the other. It is worthy of remark, 
 that the apostles did not so regard it j nor did they so 
 write and preach. Their allusions to the death of this 
 mortal body, are by no means frequent ; and seldom, 
 if ever, do they take their motives from it, for the 
 purpose of awaking and exciting the fears of the 
 wicked. On the contrary, their references to the per- 
 
1 
 
 292 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 sonal, visible coming of Jesus Christ are abundant j 
 and their most powerful motives to repentance, and 
 to a life of holiness, are drawn from it. So vividly 
 and constantly was this great event before their minds, 
 that they spoke of it as one by no means very remote ; 
 and they often made the impression on their hear- 
 ers, that it might be witnessed by some of them, even 
 before their death. 
 
 Such seems to have been the effect produced, upon 
 the minds of some Christians at Thessalonica, by the 
 language which Paul employed on this subject, in his 
 first epistle to " the church of the Thessalonians." 
 In that epistle, he wrote expressly of the coming of 
 Jesus Christ, — of its wondrous and appalling accom- 
 paniments, — of the first resurrection, — of the rapture 
 of the living saints, — of the sudden destruction which 
 should overtake the wicked — of the importance and ne- 
 cessity of great seriousness and watchfulness, lest they 
 should be surprised by the unexpected occurrence of 
 these scenes: — 
 
 " If we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, 
 even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring 
 with him. For the Lord himself shall descend from 
 heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 
 and with the trump of God j 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 we shall ever 
 be with the Lord ; but of the times and seasons, breth- 
 ren, 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 J and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 293 
 
 are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you 
 as a thief. Ye are all the children of the light, and 
 the children of the day : we are not of the night, nor 
 of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others, 
 but let us watch and be sober.* 
 
 In his second epistle, he again introduces the sub- 
 ject ; but evidently to correct the unnecessary alarm 
 and misapprehensions which had been produced in 
 their minds. He tenderly cautions them, and endea- 
 vors to counteract the impression, that that great and 
 dreadful day had already begun. " Now we beseech 
 you," says he, " brethren, by the coming of our Lord 
 Jesus, and by our gathering together unto him." The 
 preposition f translated " by" does not refer to the 
 motive he employed, but it means, after verbs 4>{ 
 speaking, q/i concerning^ respecting. He refers to the 
 subjects of his former epistle, which had excited their 
 fears, viz. the coming of Christ, the first resurrection, 
 the rapture of the saints, and their collection unto him 
 in the air. On these points, he entreated them, " that 
 (they) be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, 
 neither by spirit, nor by word, nor letter, as from us, 
 as that the day of Christ is at hand."t ^ 
 
 The word here translated at handj m not the same 
 which Christ and John used, when they preached, 
 " Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand."§ The 
 word they used,! means drawing nigh^ approaching ;■— 
 how near in its approach, however, must always be de- 
 termined by attending to the subject and times referred 
 to by the speaker, — the distance being relative. 
 
 • IThess. 4. 14-17,and5. 1-6. : : it ^m- 
 
 t Robinson's Translation of Wahl's Clav. Phil., art. ^Tref), .?; 
 X 2 Thess. 2. 1, 2. §Matth. 3. 2; 4. 17. 
 
 II HyyiKt. 
 
1 
 
 294 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 Thus, I may say, on the first day of the week, an- 
 other Sabbath is approaching ; and may use, on Satur- 
 day evening, the very same phrase ; but the remote- 
 ness or nearness of the period would, of course, and 
 most naturally, be determined by the point of time at 
 which I spoke, viewed in relation to the time past. 
 So when Christ and John preached, that the kingdom 
 of Heaven was approaching, they had reference to the 
 period already past, during which the church had been 
 expecting that kingdom. Four thousand years had 
 rolled over the world, while this hope had been cher- 
 ished by one generation after another. It was there- 
 fore just so much nearer in the days of Christ, than 
 when it was first announced. Supposing that the pe- 
 riod of his coming to judgment shall be, according to 
 the traditions current in his day, at the commencement 
 of the seventh millenary, at two thousand years from 
 the time of his personal ministry, or sooner, he might, 
 with great truth and important meaning, preach the 
 kingdom of Heaven was approaching ; — two-thirds of 
 the time of expectation having passed away. The 
 word approaching, as Christ and John used it, does not 
 necessarily mean, what our English phrase at hand 
 does, i. e. a very short space, absolutely considered. 
 Its import must be relatively understood. Compared 
 with the period passed, the kingdom of Heaven was 
 then certainly drawing nigh. 
 
 The word, however, which the apostle uses * in this 
 place, and which is translated " is at hand^"* does not 
 mean approaching — something near, but not yet pre- 
 sent. Its import is not relative, like that which Christ 
 and John used {v7Y^^^)i but absolute. It denotes 
 actual interposition, establishment, collocation, or 
 
 •2TheSS. 2. 2, ivsarriKef. 
 
THE COMING OF CHEIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 295 
 
 presence ; * and the idea is that they should not be 
 alarmed, as though that day had begun, was present 
 then, which some were led to fear might be the case, 
 from the fearful prodigies and sights in the heavens, 
 and the horrible fate at that time clustering round 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 The apostle cautions them against being deceived, 
 and proceeds to tell them that a fearful apostasy 
 should first take place, and the man of sin be revealed, 
 whom he describes, " Let no man deceive you by 
 any means j for that day shall not come except there 
 come a falling awayf first, and that Man of Sin be 
 revealed, the Son of Perdition, who opposethand exalt- 
 eth himself above all that is called God, or that is wor- 
 shipped, so that he, as God,J (as a god,*) sitteth in the 
 temple of God, showing himself that he is (a) God.§ 
 
 This description directs us at once to the Pope, the 
 Bishop of Rome, the little horn which Daniel saw 
 spring up among the ten horns on the head of the 
 beast — the fourth universal or Roman Empire. It con- 
 cerns us only to state the fact, that the Pope, we mean 
 not any one individual, but the whole series of these 
 ambitious and arrogant prelates, is the man of sin, the 
 son of perdition, titles which the apostle has taken 
 from the 7th, 9th and 10th Psalms, where " the wick- 
 ed one," " the enemy, " the man of the earth" that 
 oppresseth, and his horrible fate, are clearly described 
 and set forth. 
 
 Popery is a fearful apostasy. It is, in fact and form, 
 a system of idolatry which has grown up in the church 
 
 * See Rom. 8. 32. avre ivearo^ra — "and neither things present." 
 See also 1 Cor. 3. 22; 7. 26; Gal. 1. 4.— See Robinson's Tr. of 
 
 Wahl, art. ivio-rrint. 
 
 f 'H aTToaracria — the apostasy. | 'Qj 0«»r. 
 
 §'Ori etxTi Gw.— 2 Thess. 2.3, 4. 
 
296 THE COMING OF CHRIST PrIi-MILLENIAL. 
 
 of God, and having entirely transformed the gospel of 
 Jesus Christ, from its being the glad tidings of salva- 
 tion, into the most oppressive form of despotism — from 
 its being a pure and purifying religion, into a wretch- 
 ed, corrupt, debasing paganism, has baptized it with 
 the name of Christianity. 
 
 The following brief account of this apostasy is taken 
 from Gibbon. " The Christians of the seventh cen- 
 tury had insensibly relapsed into a semblance of pagan- 
 ism. Their public and private vows were addressed 
 to the relics and images that disgraced the temples of 
 the East. The throne of the Almighty was darkened 
 by a cloud of martyrs and saints and angels, the ob- 
 jects of popular veneration : and the collydrian here- 
 tics, who flourished in the fruitful soil of Arabia, in- 
 vested the virgin Mary with the name and honors of a 
 goddess. The devout Christian prayed before the 
 image of a saint j and the pagan rites of genuflexion, 
 luminaries, and incense, again stole into the Catholic 
 church. The scruples of reason or piety were silenc- 
 ed by the strong evidence of visions and miracles : 
 and the pictures, which speak and move and bleed, 
 must be endowed with a divine energy, and may 
 be considered as the proper object of religious 
 adoration. The use and even the worship of images 
 was firmly established before the end of the sixth cen- 
 tury : they were fondly cherished by the warm ima- 
 gination of the Greeks and Asiatics : and the Pantheon 
 and the Vatican were adorned with the emblems of a 
 NEW superstition. The worship of images had stolen 
 into the church by insensible degrees : and each petty 
 step was pleasing to the superstitious mind, as produc- 
 tive of comfort and innocent of sin. But in the be- 
 ginning of the eighth century, in the full magnitude of 
 the abuse, the more timorous Greeks were awakened 
 
THE COMmO OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 297 
 
 by an apprehension, that under the mask of Christian- 
 ity they had restored the religion of their fathers* 
 
 One essential branch of paganism was deraonology^ or 
 the worship of canonised dead men and women, call« 
 ed demons, a sort of subsidiary, subordinate and inter- 
 cessory deities. The Roman Catholic adoration of saints, 
 who are just the same,— mere canonised dead men 
 and women, — is therefore paganism revived. Jupiter 
 or Juno, Osiris or Adonis, Cronos, Astarte or Venus, 
 are not indeed the names of their canonised saints and 
 heroes ; but the adoration of Peter, of the Virgin 
 Mary, and of the hosts of later canonised saints, whose 
 names and days are noted in their calendar, as worthy 
 of homage by all Roman Catholics, is in principle and 
 essence the ancient paganism — the predicted apos- 
 tasy. 
 
 Another feature of the Man of sin, is his supremacy 
 to the civil magistrate, and in matters of religion* 
 What Paul says is literally true ; the Bishop of Rome 
 opposes and exalteth himself against all that is called 
 God or that is worshipped. The word God denotes, 
 not only the true object of adoration in Heaven, the 
 Supreme Being, but also civil rulers,! those in author- 
 ity who are justly deserving of respect. Now, that 
 the Pope opposes and exalts himself above all that 
 is called God in Heaven^ is evident from the fact, that 
 he has published his bulls, and undertaken to suppress 
 the divine Word which God has given to men to make 
 them wise unto salvation. He has set up his own 
 decrees in opposition to the truthir of God's revealed 
 will, and insists upon obedience to his counsels and 
 will and traditions, in preference to the revealed will 
 of God. He has denounced Bible Societies, and those 
 who undertake to circulate the Sacred Scriptures; 
 
 • Gibbon. f Psalm 97. 7. 
 
 26 
 
1 
 
 398 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 and in every way shown, that he accounts his will and 
 canons, as of far more authority and importance to be 
 known and observed, than the Bible which is the will 
 and word of God. 
 
 Moreover he has exalted himself above all kings 
 and governors, and those that are called gods on 
 earth ; for he has asserted that they derive their power 
 from him, and claimed it as his prerogative to pull 
 them down or set them up, — has excommunicated 
 kings and emperors, and absolved their subjects from 
 allegiance to them. And as to his sitting in the 
 temple of God, and showing himself that he is a God, 
 no clearer proof of this can be desired, than his arro- 
 gating to himself the titles of Supreme Pontiff or High 
 Priest, Sanctissimus Dominus, or Most Holy Lord, — 
 which belong only to God and to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, — and the language he has held in many of his 
 bulls. In that against Elizabeth, Queen of England, 
 Pius v., speaking of his lordly and godlike power in 
 the church and world, says, " This one he hath consti- 
 tuted prince over all nations, and all kingdoms, that 
 he might pluck up, destroy, dissipate, ruinate, plant 
 and build." The bull against Henry of Navarre 
 and the prince of Conde begins as follows : " The au- 
 thority given to St. Peter and his successors, by the 
 immense power of the eternal king, excels all the 
 powers of earthly kings and princes. It passes uncon- 
 trollable sentence on them all. And if it find any of 
 them resisting God's ordinance, it takes more severe 
 vengeance on them, casting them down from their 
 thrones, though never so puissant, and tumbling them 
 down to the lowest parts of the earth, as the ministers 
 of aspiring Lucifer.'"* 
 
 »* 
 
 * Barrow's Treatise on the Pope's Supremacy, p. 5. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 299 
 
 Is is not our design to enter into a minute examina- 
 tion of the full prophetic description of Popery, given 
 in the Scriptures. Our object is to exhibit and render 
 intelligible the proof of the personal visible coming 
 of Jesus Christ before the great day of the church's 
 prosperity. In order to this, it becomes necessary to 
 show, that the Man of sin and the son of perdition, of 
 whom Paul speaks, is the Pope. Thus far the des- 
 cription suits. 
 
 In the following verses* the apostle alludes to the 
 oral instruction he had given the Thessalonians, in 
 reference to this subject, and gives a general chrono- 
 logical date, by which to ascertain the period of the 
 rise and manifestation of the Man of sin. " Remember 
 ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these 
 things. And now you know what withholdeth, that 
 he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of 
 iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth 
 will let, until he be taken out of the way, and then 
 shall that wicked (one) be revealed, whom the Lord 
 shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall 
 destroy with the brightness of his coming. 
 
 It is admitted, on all hands, both by Millenarians 
 and Anti-millenarians, that the withholding power is the 
 Roman Empire. The fathers did not expect the reve- 
 lation of Antichrist, whom they identified with the 
 Man of sin, during the continuance of the undivided 
 Roman Empire ; but they did expect that the disrup- 
 tion of the empire would be immediately followed by 
 the manifestation of this terrible tyrannical power. 
 Tertullian said, " There is also another and greater 
 necessity for our praying for the emperors, even for 
 every state of the empire and Roman affairs, because 
 
 ♦ 2 Thess. 2. 5-7. 
 
1 
 
 300 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 we know thjit the greatest power impending over the 
 whole world, threatening the most horrid calamities, 
 and the very end of the world, are delayed by the pre- 
 servation of the empire."* 
 
 Lactantiusf and Jerome express themselves 
 strongly to the same purpose ; the latter affirming, 
 that when the empire of the Romans is to be de- 
 stroyed, there shall arise ten kings, who shall share 
 the Roman world among themselves, and that an 
 eleventh diminutive king shall come, who shall sub- 
 due three of those ten kings, and in him Satan shall 
 dwell entirely and bodily.J The reference is obvi- 
 ously to the prophecy of Daniel. The papacy arose 
 among the ten kingdoms, — and is as distinctly identi- 
 jfied by Paul as by Daniel, — being the anti-Christian 
 power which should continue till, but be destroyed by, 
 the coming of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Mr. Faber remarks on this point as follows : " What 
 St. Paul then told the Thessalonians was this : that a 
 tyrannical and irreligious power, which he denomi- 
 nates the Man of sin and the lawless one, should as- 
 suredly be revealed in its own appointed time, after 
 
 ♦ Est et alia major necessitas nobis orandi pro Imperatoribus, 
 etiam pro omni statu Imperii rebusque Romanis, quod vim maximam 
 universo orbi imminentem, ipsam clausuram seculo acerbitatisque 
 horrendas comminantem, Romani Imperii commeatu novimus retar- 
 dari. — Tertul. Jpol. adv. Gent. Oper. p. 869. 
 
 t Non imperii dignitas conservabitur, non militiae disciplina ; sed 
 more latrocinii depredatio et vastatio fiet, regnummultiplicabitur; 
 et decern viri occupabunt orbem, et partientur, et vorabunt, et 
 existet longe potentior, ac nequior, qui tritris deletis Asiam possi^ 
 debit ; cseteris in potestati sua redactis et abscissis, vorabit omnem 
 terram, leges novas statuet, veteres abrogabit ; rempublicam suam 
 faeiet, nomen imperii, sedemque mutabit. Tunc erit tempus infan- 
 dumet execrabile, quo nemini libeat vivere. — Div. Instit. p. 516. 
 
 t Quoted by Mede, lib. iii. p. 811. 5th Ed. 1664. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PBE-MILLENIAL. 301: 
 
 there had been a great apostasy from the primitive 
 faith, but BEFORE the arrival of the day of Christ, 
 whichv they erroneously deemed close at hand : that 
 
 THE COERCING POWER OF THE RoMAN EmPIRE,* effectually 
 
 *GrT. M.61/0V b Kare^C'tv apri eotg Ik jtiaov yevrirai, Kat' totc diroKa^vf- 
 9f}(r£Tai o at-Ojioi. 
 
 There is here an ellipsis which is common in popular language. 
 This has been differently supplied, and the meaning of 6 KarK^oiv thus 
 determined, as Bloomfield says, " according to the hypothesis of the 
 interpreter." Mede and others, following the old tradition, supplied 
 the Roman Empire, and understood it to apply strictly and properly 
 to the Western Roman Empire, and were led to date the rise of 
 the Man of sin therefore in the year A. D. 476 or 479, in one or 
 other of which years Augustus the Roman emperor was deposed, 
 a supposition disproved by events. Mr. Faber conjectures with 
 apparently very good reasons, that the reference is not to the 
 Western Roman Empire, but to the coercing law or power of the 
 Roman Empire, which, although it existed in the Eastern empire, 
 and nominally extended over the Western, became inefficient in the 
 latter, and left the way prepared for the Bishop of Rome to usurp 
 dominion. He supplies the ellipsis as follows — Kari'x^oiv vofuns rfji 
 'Apx^i Pcj/^arai- " The full import and nicety of the expression," he 
 remarks, " were probably not understood by theThessalonians : or at 
 least it is easy to see, how that, which in reality is not the substance 
 of the expression, might hastily be mistaken for its substance. St. 
 Paul had said, that the coercing power of the Roman Empire 
 must be removed, ere the man of sin is revealed. The co- 
 ercing POWER OF THIS RoMAN Empire was iucautiously, though 
 naturally enough, deemed synonymous with the Roman Empire. 
 Hence arose the universally prevalent belief in the primitive church, 
 that the Roman Empire was the impediment which prevented the 
 revelation of the Man of sin, and therefore that previous to his 
 revelation, the Roman Empire must be removed. Yet St. Paul 
 had made no such assertion : and so far was this from being the 
 substance of what he had really said, that it conveyed to the mind a 
 totally different idea ; at the same time, the mistake was so natural 
 and easy, that Jiad the apostle committed to writing his entire 
 expression, there can be little doubt that it would have excited the 
 ferociousjealousy of the imperial government. A prediction that 
 THE COERCING LAW OF THE RoMAN EMPIRE wos destined^ to be 
 26* 
 
1 
 
 302 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLm»IAL. 
 
 prevented the revelation of this oppressive tyranny ,' 
 but that when the coercing law of the Roman Em- 
 pire should be removed from the midst, then the Man 
 of sin, no longer restrained by the strong arm of law, 
 but acquiring his predicted character of the lawless- 
 one^ by setting himself up above all law, and by having 
 the laws and times given into his hands, should be 
 openly revealed."* 
 
 The Papists endeavor to evade the force of these 
 things in different ways — one affirming pagan Rome to 
 have been Antichrist, another that he has not yet been 
 revealed, but is some mighty power hereafter to arise 
 in the world ; and others still that he has long since 
 come. The apostle's meaning, however, is too plain 
 and explicit to be mistaken. 
 
 Other descriptions are given of Popery, which bring 
 into view the prohibition of marriage to the clergy, 
 the worship of saints and images, the system of 
 demonolatry, the ascetic monastic rites, and the ordi- 
 nances in relation to meats and drinks and holy days 
 and new moons, which form so important a part in 
 the canons and ritual of the Roman Catholic church. 
 Were it necessary, the identity of the Pope and of 
 the Man of sin might be further shown, by a reference 
 to these things: but as they are not brought into view 
 in the context now under consideration, nor are 
 necessary for our argument, we deem it unimportant 
 to dwell any longer on this point. It is part and 
 
 removed, would have been deemed by an imperial procurator fully 
 tantamount to a prediction, that the Roman Empire itself was des- 
 tined to be removed : and little regard would have been paid to any 
 explanation given by a hated Christian, who was charged with 
 circulating treasonable, or at least disaffected, expressions." — 
 Faber's Sac. CaL, vol. i. pp. 101, 102. 
 * Faber's Sacred Calendar, vol. i. pp. 100, 101. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 303 
 
 parcel of the testimony of the saints, the witnesses of 
 Christ in every age, fronn the first rise of popery down 
 to the present day, that the Pope or Bishop of Rome 
 is the Man of sin and son of perdition. 
 
 Now this apostate power, this corrupt system, 
 which the apostle told the Thessalonian Christians 
 was to arise in the world, he further declares " the 
 Lord," that is Jesus Christ (for this is his especial 
 title in the New Testament*) " shall consumef with the 
 spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the bright- 
 ness of his coming." Of course this system of abomi- 
 nations is to continue till the coming or appearance of 
 Jesus Christ ; and consequently, that coming must be 
 before the Millenium : for the account of the millenial 
 glory and blessedness, and of the kingdom and 
 dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under 
 the whole Heaven, which shall be given to the people 
 of the saints of the Most High, is utterly inconsistent 
 with the presence of such a power in the earth, ,', , 
 
 The introduction of the kingdom of the saints made 
 by Daniel is cotemporaneous with the utter destruc- 
 tion of Popery. The little horn's dominion shall, he 
 says, be taken away, and the judgment shall sit 
 expressly to consume and to destroy it unto the end4 
 
 * See Biblical Repository, vol. i. pp. 744-776. 
 
 t The first clause a j/aXwo-ci avrov is formed upon Is. 11. 4, and 
 
 Psalm, 33. 6. And avaXwaet is used for the dveXei of the Septuagint, 
 as being a stronger term, denoting total destruction. The next 
 clause designates the ease and spread of this destruction, here 
 represented by the equivalent term Karapy^o^Ef, to utterly destroy any 
 force. See 1 Cor. 15. 24; 2 Cor. 3. 7.—Se.e Bloomfield's Greek 
 Testament, vol. ii. p. 34. 
 
 ^ Nsic- from ^"13 (Syr. et Chald. id. perire fecit, exterminavit.) 
 Gesenius. ^11° Chald. id. finem habuit, i. e. completum est vati- 
 cinium. Dan. 4. 30. Aph. finem fecit rei. Dan. 2. 44 — Dan. 6. 
 27. for ever. 
 
1 
 
 304 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 The phrases consume and destroy unto the end, mean 
 utter and final, complete and eternal destruction. It 
 does not respect so much the time during which the 
 destroying process is to be carried on, as the absolute 
 perfect nature of the destruction. But this destruction 
 of Popery, Daniel says, is to take place when the 
 judgment sits — when the Son of Man comes, in the 
 clouds of Heaven, with the fiery stream issuing and 
 coming forth from before him, riding in a tempest of 
 fire. Thus Daniel and Paul agree exactly in their 
 description and date, and also in the means by which 
 Popery is to be destroyed, and the kingdom of Heaven 
 introduced. Both make the coming of Christ the 
 occasion, and for the purpose of exterminating Popery. 
 
 In confirmation of this conclusion we remark, that 
 every other description of Christ's coming in the 
 clouds of Heaven to judgment, is connected with some 
 event or circumstance referred to by the prophets as 
 antecedent to the establishment of the kingdom of 
 Heaven, which prove the date of that coming to be 
 prior to the great day of the church's prosperity, 
 popularly called the Millenium. Thus, the description 
 of his advent given by John, is precisely to this effect. 
 
 "And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white 
 horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful 
 and True : and in righteousness he doth judge and 
 make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on 
 his head were many crowns; and he had a name 
 written that no man knew but he himself. And he 
 was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name 
 is called. The Word of God. And the armies which 
 were in Heaven followed him upon white horses, 
 clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his 
 mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should 
 smite the nations : and he shall rule men with a rod of 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 305 
 
 iron : and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness 
 and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his 
 vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF 
 KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an 
 angel standing in the sun ; and he cried with a loud 
 voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of 
 Heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto 
 the supper of the great God : that ye may eat the 
 flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh 
 of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those 
 that sit on them, and the flesh of all men both free and 
 bond, both small and great. And 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. Then both were cast alive 
 into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the 
 remnant 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."* 
 
 This description agrees with that of Isaiahf where 
 he describes the Saviour's coming for the destruction 
 of the anti-Christian nations, which we shall have 
 occasion hereafter to notice. 
 
 This coming of Christ is described as occurring 
 cotemporaneously with the overthrow and slaughter 
 of the last grand conspiracy, of the beast and the kings 
 of the earth and their armies, against Christ and his 
 saints, called " the supper of the great God" made foj 
 the fowls of Heaven, and so minutely described by 
 Ezekiel,J and referred to by the apostle John,§ in his 
 * Rev. 19. 11-21. fls. 63. 1-6. 
 
 t Ezek. ch. 38, 39. § Rev. 16. 14-16, 
 
1 
 
 306 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 prediction of the great battle of that great day of God 
 Almighty, when the kings of the 'earth and of the 
 whole world shall be gathered into a place called in 
 the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 
 
 It is not necessary here to enter into a minute expla- 
 nation of the prophecies relating to this frightful scene. 
 The use we design at present to make of the reference 
 is, to confirm the argument for the coming of Christ, 
 before the Millenium. This we do by directing your 
 attention to the following facts, that the beast, i. e. the 
 secular Roman empire, and the false prophet, i. e. 
 Popery, or the man of sin — both the secular and 
 spiritual powers of the Roman empire — are to be 
 destroyed together ; that to this destruction immedi- 
 ately succeeds the church's glory and blessedness, — 
 and that this destruction takes place in the great day 
 of the battle of Armageddon, which John describes to 
 be at the coming of Christ. 
 
 The apostle John in another place* describes the 
 coming of Christ, and makes it to occur at the period 
 when the harvest of the earth is ripe, and the clusters 
 of the vine of the earth are gathered into the great 
 wine-press of the wrath of God. 
 
 " And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon 
 the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on 
 his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp 
 sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, 
 crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, 
 Thrust in thy sickle, and reap : for the time is 
 come for thee to reap ; for the harvest of the earth 
 is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his 
 sipkle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. And 
 another angel came out of the temple which is in 
 heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another 
 
 • Rev. 14. 14-20. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-OTLLENIAL. 
 
 307 
 
 angel came out from the altar which had power over 
 fire ; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the 
 sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and 
 gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; for her 
 grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his 
 sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the 
 earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the 
 wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden with- 
 out the city, and blood came out of the wine-press, 
 even unto the horse-bridles, by the space of a thousand 
 and six hundred furlongs." 
 
 This scene the apostle makes identical with the 
 great battle of the day of God Almighty* above 
 referred to, as occurring at the coming of Jesus Christ. 
 The symbols by which he deswibes this scene are 
 taken from Isaiahf and Joel.J 
 
 Who is this that cometh from 
 Edom, with dyed garments from 
 Bozrah ? this that is glorious in 
 his apparel, travelling in the 
 greatness of his strength? I that 
 speak in righteousness, mighty to 
 save. Wherefore art thou red 
 in thine apparel, and thy gar- 
 ments like him that treadeth in 
 the wine-fat? I have trodden 
 the wine-press alone ; and of the 
 people there was none with me : 
 for I will tread them in mine 
 anger, and trample them in my 
 fury, and their blood shall be 
 sprinkled upon my garments, and 
 I will stain all my raiment. For 
 the day of vengeance is in my 
 heart, and the year of my re- 
 deemed is come. And I looked, 
 and there was none to help ; and 
 I wondered that there was none 
 to uphold: therefore mine own 
 arm brought salvation unto me ; 
 and my fury, it upheld me. And 
 
 I will tread down the people in 
 mine anger, and make them 
 drunk in my fury, and I will 
 bring down their strength to the 
 earth. — Isaiah. 
 
 For behold, in those days, and 
 in that time, wken I shall 
 
 BHING AGAIN THE CAPTIVITY OF 
 
 JuDAH AND Jerusalem, I will 
 also gather all nations, and will 
 bring them down into the valley 
 of Jehoshaphat, and will plead 
 with them there for my people 
 and for my heritage Israel, whom 
 they have scattered among the 
 nations and parted my land. Put 
 ye in the sickle : for the harvest 
 is ripe ; come, get you down : 
 for the press is fuU, the fats over- 
 flow, for their wickedness is 
 great. Multitudes, multitudes 
 in the valley of decision ; for the 
 day of the Lord is near in the 
 valley of decision, &c. — Joel. 
 
 • Rev.fl9. 15. t Isaiah, 63. 1-6. | Joel, 3.1,2; 13, 14, 
 
308 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 The date of the coming of Christ being thus con- 
 nected with the national redemption of Israel, is there- 
 fore again fixed before the Millenium. 
 
 in like manner, where the same apostle* again 
 speaks of the coming of Christ, his language is so 
 strikingly coincident with that of Zechariah,| as to 
 prove that he had his eye on the very same event 
 referred to by that prophet. 
 
 Behold he cometh with clouds ; pierced, and they shall mourn for 
 
 and every eye shall see him, and him, as one mourneth for his only 
 
 they also which pierced him : and son, and shall be in bitterness for 
 
 all kindreds of the earth shall him, as one that is in bitterness 
 
 wail because of him. Even so, for his first-born. In that day 
 
 Amen. — Revelations. shall there be a great mourn- 
 ing in Jerusalem, as the mourn- 
 
 And it shall come to pass in ing of Hadadrimmon in the val- 
 
 that day, that I will sect to de- ley of Megiddon. And the land 
 
 stroy all the nations that come shall mourn, every family apart ; 
 
 against Jerusalem. And I will the family of the house of David 
 
 pour upon the house of David, apart, and their wives apart ; the 
 
 and upon the inhabitants of Jeru- family of the house of Nathan 
 
 salem, the spirit of grace and of apart, and their wives apart. — 
 
 supplications : and they shall Zechakiah. 
 look upon me whom they have 
 
 The prophecy of Zechariah relates to the destruction 
 of the nations that shall conspire against the Jews, and 
 to the conversion and restoration of the Jewish people ; 
 ev^ents which, while they occur cotemporaneously, 
 confessedly take place before the Millenium, so that 
 we are still further confirmed in the conclusion that 
 the coming of Christ is to be pre-millenial. 
 
 In the same way it can be shown, that the coming 
 of the Lord with the clouds of Heaven, spoken of by 
 the evangelists in Matthew,^ Mark,§ and Luke,U 
 must be pre-millenial. For it is connected in time by 
 Luke with the completion of the times of the Gentiles, 
 and the re-establishment of the Jewish nation — events 
 
 • Rev. 1. 7. t Zeeh. 12. 9-12. J Matt. 24. 30. 
 § Mark, 13. 26. || Luke, 21. 27. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 309 
 
 admitted by commentators generally to be cotempo- 
 raneous with the destruction of the anti-Christian 
 nations, and the commencement of the Millenium. 
 
 And then shall appear the sign And then shall they see the 
 
 of the Son of Man in Heaven : Son of Man coming in a cloud, 
 
 and then shall all the tribes of with power and great glory. And 
 
 the earth mourn, and they shall when these things begin to come 
 
 see the Son of Man coming in to pass, then look up and lift up 
 
 the clouds of Heaven with power your heads, for your redemption 
 
 and great glory. — Matthew. draweth nigh. — Luke. 
 
 And then they shall see the Son 
 of Man coming in the clouds with 
 power and great glory. — Makk. 
 
 Luke says, " And they (the Jews) shall fall by the 
 edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into 
 all nations ; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of 
 the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 
 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, 
 and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations, 
 with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring ; men's 
 hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those 
 things which are coming on the earth ; for the powers 
 of heaven shall be shaken."* 
 
 Beside these passages which give us chronological 
 dates as to the period or season of Christ's coming, 
 there are other passagesf which refer in general to 
 the event, without any chronological marks. 
 
 *' Jesus saith unto him. Thou hast said : nevertheless, 
 I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man 
 sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the 
 
 clouds of Heaven. And Jesus said, ye shall 
 
 see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, 
 and coming in the clouds of Heaven." 
 
 As the language is obviously taken from Daniel, or 
 so nearly like that of his description of Christ's coming, 
 
 ♦ Luke, 21. 24-26. f Mat. 26. 64; Mark, 14. 62. 
 27 
 
1 
 
 310 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MTLLENIAL. 
 
 at and for the destruction of the fourth or Roman 
 beast, we cannot consistently do other than the Spirit 
 himself has done, viz. refer to the scene of Daniel's 
 judgment, both for the language and meaning. Where- 
 fore Daniel, Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Christ, Peter, 
 Paul, and John, all agree in the circumstantial and 
 chronological descriptions which they have given of 
 the coming and kingdom of the Lord, and all of them 
 chronologically determine the period of that coming 
 to be before the Millenium. 
 
 The only possible method of evading the force of 
 this conclusion, — which we think to be demonstration 
 incontrovertible, — is to deny the plain literal import of 
 the expressions, and to affirm that the phrases, " the 
 spirit of his mouth," " the brightness of his appear- 
 ing," and other kindred forms of speech, such as " the 
 
 COMING OF CHRIST," his PRESENCE Or APPEARING, his 
 REVELATION Or MANIFESTATION, his '* GLORIOUS APPEARING," 
 
 are to be understood metaphorically or analogically. 
 To this the spiritualist is forced. It is impossible for 
 him to maintain the idea of a Millenium, or 1,000 
 years' prosperity and triumph of religion, as he under- 
 stands, before Christ's coming to judgment, in any 
 other way. It behoves us, therefore, before we 
 dismiss our argument, to settle the question whether 
 such expressions are to be literally, or metaphorically, 
 or analogically understood. 
 
 And here, in the very first place, we utterly deny 
 thai the language in the text, and similar expressions in 
 the Scriptures, are metaphorical. It behoves those who 
 say they are, to prove it. It is begging the question 
 for them to assume it. We must not take their asser- 
 tion, nor suffer them to pronounce the expressions 
 metaphorical, because they cannot understand or inter- 
 pret them literally, consistent with their views of the 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 311 
 
 nature of the Millenium, and of the meaning or the 
 time of Christ's coming. These views are not self- 
 evident, — are actually disputed,— must previously be 
 established, — and have never yet been proved. 
 ' When we come to the Bible, it must be as children, 
 to learn. We must not interpret its language by our 
 conceptions, or preconceived notions of the nature of 
 the things spoken of. Nor should we allow any com- 
 mentator to tell us, he cannot understand or conceive 
 how this thing or the other can be, or that it is utterly 
 inconsistent with all his notions of propriety, expe- 
 diency, or possibility. His notions are no standard* 
 His reason is not the umpire. The question is. What 
 has God said 1 — and to determine that, we must apply 
 the ordinary rules of grammar and rhetoric applicable 
 to the style of language in which God, by the prophet, 
 speaks. If he uses metaphors, of course the meaning 
 must be interpreted accordingly. If he does not, we 
 have no right to change his meaning by giving it a 
 metaphorical interpretation — an expedient too often 
 adopted to cloak men's ignorance, to excuse their 
 indolence, to display their ingenuity, and to wrest the 
 Scriptures to their own ends. 
 
 That such language, and similar expressions, em- 
 ployed in relation to the coming of Christ to judg- 
 ment, or for the establishment of his kingdom, are 
 metaphorical, we not only deny, but declare to be 
 incapable of proof. And, therefore, although we may 
 undertake a task confessedly and always difficult, viz. 
 to prove a negative, yet we shall, — 
 
 In the second place, undertake to show, that the 
 expressions^ '-'' the spirit of his mouthj' '''• the brightness 
 of his appearing,^'' cannot possibly be construed into metO" 
 phor^ and are, in common with other phrases employed 
 on this subject, always used in the strict literal sense, 
 when they occur in the New Testament. 
 
1 
 
 312 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 1. We remark, then, in the first place, that there is 
 no reason in the nature of things, which renders it 
 necessary that the phrases^ ^''spirit of his mouth^"* 
 " brightness of his appearing^'' should be understood 
 metaphorically. There is nothing absurd, or monstrous, 
 or contrary to any intuitive or demonstrated truth in 
 the idea of a terrible tempest, or of a visible splen- 
 did dazzling appearance of Jesus Christ, when coming 
 to judgment. Christ's person was actually near by 
 Peter and others, when his face shone in splendor like 
 the brilliancy of the sun, and his raiment was white 
 as the light.* 
 
 Even the spiritualists, too, admit, that when he will 
 come to judgment, it will be literally in tempests of 
 fire, and with great glory, just as Daniel and Paul, and 
 others have described ; so that the expressions being 
 not incongruous nor contradictory, in the nature of 
 things, do not necessarily require a figurative or meta- 
 phorical import. 
 
 Besides, when this same Lord Jesus Christ, long be- 
 fore he appeared as the babe of Bethlehem, did come 
 to this world as Jehovah, the angel of the covenant to 
 introduce the Sinaitic dispensation, to propose his 
 theocracy to Israel, and to pronounce his law in the 
 thunders of Sinai, it was precisely in this way, and 
 with these terrible physical agents attendant on his 
 presence. There were thunders and lightnings, and 
 a thick cloud upon the Mount, and the voice of the 
 trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people that 
 was in the camp trembled.f Mount Sinai was alto- 
 gether in a smoke, because the Lord descended upon 
 it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke 
 of a furnace, and the whole Mount quaked greatly. 
 And all the people saw the thunderings and lightnings, 
 
 » Mat. 17. 2. t Compare Ps. 68. 17, 18, and Eph. 4. 7-10. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 313 
 
 and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smok- 
 ing.* 
 
 The only reason that can be urged, why they 
 should be understood figuratively, is, that they de- 
 scribe an appearance of Christ before, and for, the 
 destruction of Popery or the Man of Sin, which the 
 spiritualist thinks to be inconsistent with all his ideas 
 of the Millenium, and of the efficacy of truth. Be- 
 fore he can be allowed, however, thus to assign a 
 metaphorical ori allegorical meaning to the expres- 
 sions, he must prove that his ideas of the Millenium 
 are correct, — that just such a Millenium as he expects 
 has been promised and described by the prophets, — 
 and that the destruction of Popery is to be gradual, 
 by the influence of the Spirit and the Scriptures, or 
 the light of evangelical truth, and not violently. He 
 must also settle definitely the import of the figures as 
 he understands them, and prove that the phrases, 
 " spirit of his mouth," and " brightness of his appear- 
 ing," are actually used in other places, to denote what 
 he says they do. Their alleged metaphorical or ana- 
 logical import, in the text, has been declared to be 
 the influences of the Spirit, and the light and power 
 of a preached gospel. That they are sound, they 
 must show, and also, that God has said. Popery shall 
 be destroyed by these means. We deny that there is 
 anything to this eflfect in the whole Bible. Whatever 
 revivals, or divine influences, and a preached gospel 
 mav do — and we rejoice in all that they have done, 
 and pray earnestly for their greater extent and power — 
 we challenge any one to prove, from the Scriptures, 
 that these are the things which God, by his prophets, 
 has said, will exterminate and destroy the Man of Siu^. 
 
 * Exodus, 19. 15, 18, 20; 20. 18. 
 
 27* 
 
314« THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 The Bible, and a preached gospel, and revivals, have 
 thus far failed to do it ; and we must be shown where 
 God has said they are «ver going to do it. So far 
 from this being the case, the apostle* states distinctly, 
 that the delusions, superstitions, lying wonders, and 
 deceitful sophistical reasonings, in support of unright- 
 eousness, or various forms of immoralitj^, which 
 characterize the Papacy, shall continue to prevent the 
 reception of the truth, that they might be saved. 
 For the proof that these things, especially false rea- 
 sonings to justify crime, are part and parcel of the 
 Popish system, we refer to Pascal's provincial letters, 
 who was himself a Catholic, and has exposed the hor- 
 rible corrupting doctrines of the Jesuits — of all Catho- 
 lics the most devoted to the See of Rome. Moreover, 
 the apostle says, that so far from the Scriptures, the 
 influence of the Spirit, and revivals of religion, going 
 to destroy Popery, God, because of their opposition 
 to these things, shall send them strong delusion, that 
 they should believe a lie ; that they all might be 
 damned who believe not the truth, but have pleasure 
 in unrighteousness. The system reaches a dreadful 
 crisis of damnation, its adherents giving themselves 
 over to horrible, fatal, damning delusion, because of 
 the imposition and lying wonders which they have 
 practised in the world, such as the pretended con- 
 version of the bread and wine in the Lord's Sup- 
 per into the literal body and blood of Christ, the spu- 
 rious miracles wrought by saints, the innumerable 
 legends of their superstition, the invention of purga- 
 torial flames for the purpose of alarm, oppression and 
 extorting of money from the ignorant, and hosts of 
 other things which need not be mentioned. There 
 
 * 2 Thess. 2. 9-12. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENLAL. 315 
 
 is not a ray of hope that the delusion^ of Popery will 
 gradually be dispelled. 
 
 Individuals may escape, who may be brought to 
 repentance, and to the renunciation of its abominable 
 idolatries ; but the great mass of its adherents will 
 cling to it to the very last. At this day there is a 
 stronger, blinder, and more devoted attachment to its 
 mummeries, and a greater expenditure of money and 
 of effort, to sustain and extend its influence and idola- 
 tries, than there has been for centuries, if indeed ever 
 before. 
 
 Since the flight of the angel in the midst of Hea- 
 ven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto 
 them that dwell on the earth,* — another angel has 
 followed, and the cry has been heard already. Baby- 
 Ion is fallen, is fallen, foretelling her doom, while a 
 third angel begins to lift his solemn and admonitory 
 voice, threatening the vengeance of Heaven " to be 
 poured out without mixture" for the torment of those 
 that shall worship the Beast and his image. God is 
 indeed giving warning, abundant and solemn, and 
 has been since the French Revolution, in the events 
 connected with the degradation of the Pope by Na- 
 poleon, and the political disaffection of some of 
 the principal states of Europe ; yet is the religious 
 influence of Rome, at present, exceedingly active and 
 extensive, and the zeal and devotion of her worship- 
 pers increasing in their intensity. The cause of mis- 
 sions, which began some fifty years ago to excite the 
 zeal and direct the efforts of a large portion of the 
 Protestant churches, has provoked and inflamed the 
 ardor of the Roman Catholics, whose missionary con- 
 tributions and labors are furnished with the design and 
 
 * Rev. 14. 6. 
 
316 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 expectation of inundating the world. Whatever suc- 
 cess has attended the evangelical missions of the 
 churches, and however great have been the moral and 
 civil revolutions wrought by their means in some coun- 
 tries, till recently pagan — for which we cordially render 
 thanks to Almighty God — still does the question of civil 
 government involve a variety of difficulties ; and the 
 legislation and execution of law, and dispensation of 
 justice, afford abundant proof even there, that the 
 kingdoms of this world have not yet become the king- 
 doms of our Lord and of his Christ. Christianitj'^ has 
 not established the dominion of Heaven over the na- 
 tions and governments of the earth, any more of late 
 years, on our own continent or elsewhere, than when 
 Constantine, the Emperor, professed to bow submis- 
 sive to its authority. 
 
 The position which alone can justify a figurative 
 import being given to these expressions, is wholly 
 without foundation, viz. that Popery is to be destroyed 
 by the progressive influence of light and truth. Indi- 
 viduals may and will be saved, but the system comes 
 to its death by violence. It will not do, therefore, to 
 assume a position which cannot be proved, which the 
 colossal and ancient systems of Islamism, Popery, Bud- 
 hism, and other forms of error, — that have for centuries 
 prevailed in the world, — proclaim to be unsupported by 
 fact J and in the light of that assumption, and by its 
 means, pronounce, as do the spiritualists, the expres- 
 sions, " the coming of Christ," " the brightness of his 
 appearing," "the spirit of his mouth," mere meta- 
 phorical or analogical expressions. 
 
 2. In the next place, we remark that the reference of 
 the apostle to his former epistle^ shows plainly that he did 
 not intend his readers to understand him as speaking 
 metaphorically. In his first epistle to the Thessalo- 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 317 
 
 nians,* he wrote very explicitly about the personal 
 visible coming of Jesus Christ from Heaven, with a 
 shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump 
 of God, for raising the bodies of the dead saints, for 
 the transformation and rapture of the living saints, and 
 for their being congregated to meet him in the air, and 
 ever to be with him. He had told themf that the day 
 of Christ's coming would be sudden and unexpected, 
 like the coming of a thief in the night j and that at the 
 very moment the wicked would be crying peace and 
 safety, sudden destruction should come upon them. 
 No one does or will deny that his reference, in his 
 first epistle, is to the personal coming of Christ. It 
 seems that some of the Thessalonians were alarmed 
 by the thought, and apprehended that that dreadful 
 day was actually impending or had commenced. To 
 correct this impression, he wrote the context now 
 under consideration. 
 
 The day of which he speaks, in his second epistle, is 
 the same with that in the first : the great and notable 
 day of Christ's coming. He sets them right as to the 
 time — tells them it had not yet begun, and would not, 
 till a fearful apostasy should prepare the way for the 
 development of the Man of sin, the lawless one, who 
 would be bound on earth at his coming, and be de- 
 stroyed " by the spirit of his mouth and the brightness 
 of his coming." Now if the apostle spoke metaphori- 
 cally, and did not by these expressions mean the 
 actual personal coming of Christ, how was it possible 
 for him more efl?ectually to have misled and deceived 
 his readers 1 He was writing expressly, avowedly, 
 with special design, on the subject of Christ's personal 
 coming, as the first verse of the second chapter shows. 
 
 • 1 Thess. 4. 15, 17. f 1 Thess. 5. 2, 3. 
 
1 
 
 3l8 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 He proceeds to give certain great chronological dates, 
 to correct the alarm produced by his former epistle 
 on the subject. These dates were the apostasy that 
 should develope the lawless one. This lawless one 
 must^r*^ make his appearance ; after that, and during 
 his appearance and deceptions practised on the earth, 
 this " son of perdition" should be destroyed " by the 
 spirit of his (Christ^s) mouth and the brightness of his 
 appearing." He takes his name, " the son of perdition," 
 from the signal, marked, and horrible destruction to 
 be visited on him by the brightness of Christ's ap- 
 pearing. 
 
 This title would by no means be appropriate, on 
 the supposition that the suasive power and progressive 
 influence and increase of light and truth are going to 
 accomplish the overthrow of Popery. We disparage 
 not the value or the power of truth. None can prize 
 it more highly than we do. Nor would we discourage 
 the employment of it for the salvation of the poor de- 
 luded victims of this base, degrading, and enslaving 
 idolatry, as well as to counteract the influence and 
 efl^ects of the numerous other forms of error and de- 
 lusion, by which hien encourage and support each 
 other in their hypocrisy, self-flattery, and oppression 
 of their fellotvSi We rejoice in every attempt to en- 
 lighten the public mind, to reform the church, and to 
 promote the sanctification of Christians, the meliora- 
 tion of human condition, the extension of liberty, 
 and the diffusion of happiness, by means of truthful 
 appeals and the circulation of light and knowledge. 
 Would that they were a thousand fold multiplied ! 
 But other instruments are destined of God for the de- 
 struction of Popery — that rank and corrupt system, 
 which has filled the earth with the stench of its abomi- 
 nations. It is a blow of punitive vengeance that is 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PEE-MILLENIAL. 319 
 
 to bring it to the ground — truth taught and enforced 
 by such means ! Such has been God's method from 
 the beginning. The antediluvian world, the cities of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, the corrupt cities of antiquity, 
 Nineveh, Thebes, Petra, Babylon, Jerusalem, &c., 
 none of them were reformed and ultimately saved by 
 the power of truth, pressed on the intellects and con- 
 sciences of men by oral or written exhibitions merely. 
 The stroke of vengeance was necessary. Nor will 
 Rome form an exception. She is indeed in her 
 dotage, and her doom is nigh ; but that very dotage 
 requires something else to correct it than the mere 
 light and power of truth. The glorious Reformation, 
 it is true, has proved the importance and efficacy of 
 the truth as applied by the Spirit of God for the salva- 
 tion of individuals — for saving out of her a numerous 
 people ; and it may therefore be inferred, as it has 
 been, that no other instrumentality is needed. Let 
 us but have revivals and spread the truth, it is said, 
 and the world will escape from the delusions and 
 dominion of the Man of sin. But the Spirit of God 
 has not thus seen it fitting to destroy any corrupt sys- 
 tem. Providential violence and severe inflictions of 
 judgment, sometimes miraculously, wrought deliver- 
 ance for the church in Egypt, extirpated the corrupt 
 nations of idolaters in Canaan, overthrew Judaism, and 
 have been and are now wasting Islamism. The very 
 Reformation itself, while it has illustrated the value 
 and power of truth, has nevertheless demonstrated 
 that other means are needed to demolish Popery — this 
 master-piece of Satanic delusion ! 
 
 We are thus reduced to the necessity of believing, 
 that the apostle meant the literal personal coming of 
 Christ, as he comes to inflict vengeance on his ene- 
 mies ; and did not speak figuratively. 
 
1 
 
 320 THE COMING OF CHRIST PEE-MILLEINUL. 
 
 The nature of the subject on which he spoke, which 
 was the personal coming, — the character of the style 
 in which he writes of the apostasy and the Man of sin, 
 which is neither metaphorical nor symbolical, but 
 alphabetical, — and the special design he had in view, 
 which was to fix a great chronological date or period 
 yet future, when Christ should come, — all forbid the 
 thought that he suddenly shifts his subject, and meta- 
 phorically describes a signal interposition of Provi- 
 dence, a special revival of religion, or anything else 
 than the personal coming of Christ. 
 
 If the spiritualist, however, will not be satisfied with 
 this, and he still insists that it is an allegorical coming 
 of which Paul speaks, then must the coming spoken 
 of in the first verse be allegorical, and so must our 
 gathering to Christ be allegorical, and that great day 
 of Christ be allegorical ; and of course, as he refers to 
 the day and coming of Christ spoken of in his first 
 epistle, it too must also be allegorical ; and, conse- 
 quently, that Christ's descending from Heaven with a 
 shout, and the voice of an archangel, and the trump 
 of God, and the resurrection of the dead saints, and 
 the rapture of the living, and the whole of that descrip- 
 tion, must be altogether allegorical — the great day of 
 judgment itself being nothing, after all, but a figure ! 
 Verily, if this be the case, the apostle deserves our 
 execration. For he professedly, in the first epistle, 
 attempts to comfort us in view of the loss of our 
 Christian friends, by the prospect of their glorious 
 resurrection and return to earth with Jesus Christ ; 
 which, if he speaks figuratively, has not a word of 
 truth in it. Such is the utterly untenable and absurd 
 result to which the figurative interpretation brings us. 
 
 3. But we advance still a step further, and remark, 
 that the words which Paul employs here to express the 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLBMdm:../^ 321 *" '"^ ■ 
 
 coming of Christy are never used in any other^^hsj^^eJ R S j 
 plain literal sense in the JVew Testament. The expres- 
 sion " spirit of his mouth" is literally the breath or 
 wind of his mouth.* There is nothing here which 
 necessarily determines it to mean the Holy Spirit. The 
 " spirit of his mouth" is not a title of the Holy Spirit, 
 nor is the phrase ever used to denote an influence of 
 the Holy Spirit. It is indeed in one placef said that the 
 heavens and all their hosts " were made by the breath 
 of his mouth j" but the idea is, very obviously, that 
 God created them by his word — the words we utter 
 being formed, literally, by our breathing forth articu- 
 late sounds. 
 
 There are two ideas which the phrase breath or 
 spirit of his mouth, here, may literally express : either 
 a mighty tempest or a mighty voice. The Hebrews, 
 in order to express the superlative degree, employed 
 the name of God : thus, " the garden of the Lord" 
 meant a very fruitful garden, ".the cedars of the Lord," 
 very lofty cedars, &c. Sometimes the hand, or the 
 arm, or the mouth of the Lord, as the instruments of 
 divine power, were used in the same sense. To un- 
 fold an idiom of speech is not to spiritualize, but to 
 adhere to grammatical construction or interpretation. 
 Thus, the breath of his nostrils,^ — the blast of his 
 mouth, — denoted at one time a mighty wind or tem- 
 pest, and at another a mighty and terrible voice. In 
 both cases they are Hebraistic modes of speech, to 
 denote something superlative. 
 
 The expression " spirit of his mouth," as used by 
 the apostle here, may literally mean a mighty tempest, 
 ot apiighty voice, or both. The apostle, in his first 
 epistle, had said the Lord should descend with a shout ; 
 and literally this will be the blast or spirit of his 
 
 * T&» irvtvfiaTi Tov aTonaros avrov, f Ps. 33. 6. t Job, 4. 9. 
 
 28 
 
322 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 mouth. David* describes Christ's coming to judg- 
 ment, so as to show that the Hebraistic mode of speech 
 adopted by the apostle most beautifully and graphi- 
 cally expresses, in a few words, the superlative con- 
 ception he had of the fiery tempest, lighted up by the 
 spirit or breath of the Almighty, and the thundering 
 in the Heavens when the Highest gives his voice. 
 Still more forcible is Isaiah'sf language, where he de- 
 scribes the coming of the Lord ; " His lips are full 
 of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire, 
 and his breath as an overflowing stream." " The 
 breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth 
 kindle it. "J With both these descriptions the apostle 
 was familiar, and his expression, spirit or breath of his 
 mouthy needs no allegorical interpretation, but literally, 
 according to the Hebrew idiom of speech, most hap- 
 , pily and forcibly expresses the general idea of Christ's 
 
 "s^ coming in the midst of a terrible tempest, in which 
 
 commingle Jehovah's thundering voice and the fierce 
 lightnings, as they blaze from pole to pole. 
 
 As to the other expression, " brightness of his 
 APPEARING," (bJtiqxxveia Tijg nuqovaiag^) we defy the in- 
 y genuity of the best Greek scholar to select, from the 
 •' NJ ^ I whole compass of that rich and expressive language, 
 5 O^ \ words that can convey, more distinctly, definitely, and 
 * >^ I fully, the idea of a personal visible manifestation of 
 y. J ^ /the presence of Jesus Christ. The words are, as 
 ^vV^ closely as they can be rendered into English, the 
 APPEARING OF HIS PRESENCE — just such an appearing as 
 the shining of the sun or moon in the heavens — the 
 EPIPHANY OF HIS PRESENCE. Each word of itsclf is 
 sufficient to express the idea of personal manifesta- 
 tion. But here the two words are put together, to 
 Ns %4^ ' make the idea more explicit. 
 
 'l^5 • 1 Ps. 18. 7-13. t Is. 30. 27, 28. | Is. 30. 33. 
 
 s^4 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 323 
 
 ' There are three words commonly used in the Greek, 
 to denote the personal appearing of Jesus Christ. One 
 
 is dcTtOxdXvipig^ REVELATION, MANIFESTATION, of JeSUS 
 
 Christ. Another is imcpdvEin^ appearance, and the third 
 nagovaia^ PRESENCE or COMING. The word "revela- 
 tion," as applied to Christ, {dTtoxdXvtptg^') occurs seven 
 times, viz.: in 1 Cor. 1. 7; 2 Cor. 12. 1 ; Gal. 1. 12 j 
 2 Thess. 1. 7 ; 1 Pet. 1. 7 & 13, and 4. 13. In all, it 
 denotes his literal manifestation. In Rev. 1. 1, it is 
 used as the title of the book of Revelations — the 
 Apocalypse of Christ, — and that for a very obvious 
 reason : because that book specially treats of his per- 
 sonal coming. 
 
 The second (emcpdveia) epiphany or appearance 
 occurs six times in the New Testament. 1 Tim. 6. 
 14 : " The charge to Timothy to keep this command- 
 ment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing 
 (^i7tiq)&veiag) of our Lord Jesus Christ." Again, in 2 
 Tim. 1. 10 : " Now made manifest by the appearing 
 (^^Tticp&vstag^ of our Saviour Jesus Christ," referring to 
 his first personal appearing in this world. Again, in 
 2 Tim. 4. 1 & 8, where it refers literally to the second 
 personal appearing. Also in Titus, 2. 13 : " Looking 
 for the blessed hope and glorious appearing Qnt- 
 qi&veiav') of the great God." In none of these places 
 is it figurative. Its import is literal in all, and there- 
 fore in the passage under consideration* there is no 
 reason why it should be made figurative. 
 
 •The third word is Uagovata^ "coming" or "pre- 
 sence." In every instance, too, where it occurs, which 
 is twenty-four times, it is used literally, and not meta- 
 phorically or analogically.! 
 
 * 2 Thess. 2. 8. 
 
 t Thus it occurs in 1 Cor. 16. 17; 2 Cor. 7. 6, 7; 10. 
 10 J PhiL 1. 26; 2. 12; and is used to denote the visible coming 
 
1 
 
 324 THE COMING OF CHBIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
 
 There is another word translated coming,* which 
 is sometimes used metaphorically, but not this word ; 
 and English readers and commentators have often 
 been led astray by not attending to the original Greek 
 expressions and discriminating between them. Yet 
 this word has been shownf in all the places where it 
 is used, in the seven epistles to the seven churches of 
 Asia, to denote the literal coming of Christ. The 
 word that is used in reference to the coming or 
 presence of Christ to destroy Popery, is literal, never 
 metaphorical. Invariably, in every instance, in the 
 New Testament, it denotes the actual presence of that 
 of which it is predicted, whether it be the person of 
 Christ, the day of God, or the Man of sin. The aa-gu- 
 ment, therefore, we think is irresistible. It may be 
 now summed up in a few words. The apostle in the 
 text is speaking of the personal coming of Jesus 
 Christ, for he uses two words, neither of which is ever 
 used in a figurative or metaphorical sense in the New 
 
 or personal presence of Stephanas, Fortunatus, Achaicus and 
 Paul, to the churches. It is used in Matt. 24. 3, 27, 37, 39. It 
 occurs also in 1 Cor. 15. 23 ; 1 Thess. 2. 19 ; 3. 13 ; 4. 15 ; 
 5. 23 ; James, 5. 7, 8 ; 2 Peter, 1. 16 ; 3.4; 3. 12 ; and 1 John, 
 2. 28 ; and in every instance can only be literally understood. 
 Besides these it occurs only in the 2d epistle of Thess., in the 2d 
 ch. 9th v., where it refers to the literal personal coming or pre- 
 sence of Antichrist ; and in 2. 1, where it has been shown it can 
 denote only the personal coming or presence of Christ — and lastly, 
 in the passage under review, which, therefore, must not have an 
 allegorical or different meaning affixed to it from what it has in 
 every other place. Vol. ii. pp. 67-71. 
 
 * epxpjjievoi, 
 
 t Rev. 2. 5 ; 22. 25 ; 3. 3 ; 10. 1 1, 20. Also, James, 5. 7, 9. These 
 places are conunonly quoted in proof of Christ's figurative coming. 
 But they aU relate to one coming yet future. See J. D'A. Hist, 
 of the First Resurrection, vol. ii. pp. 67-71. 
 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 325 
 
 Testament. If neither, when separately used, can be 
 metaphorically understood to denote a spiritual ad- 
 vent, much less can both when united. If the words 
 the shining forth^ or appearance of His presence^ do not 
 mean the personal visible revelation or manifestation 
 of Himself, it is impossible to employ terms that can 
 express it. Human language is utterly incapable of 
 being interpreted on any fixed and definite principles 
 whatever, if it be not a literal personal manifestation 
 and coming. But this glorious personal manifesta- 
 tion or coming, takes place at the time, and /or the ex- 
 press purpose, of the destruction of Popery or Anti- 
 christ, which it is conceded must take place before 
 the millenial day of prosperity. It follows, therefore, 
 THAT Jesus Christ comes in glory to judge the world 
 
 BEFORE the MiLLENIUM. 
 
 28* 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE NATUKE OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT SUPPOSED TO AF- 
 FORD AN OBJECTION AGAINST THE PRE-MILLENIAL 
 COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 Our object in this chapter, is to meet an objection 
 commonly urged against the doctrine of Christ's 
 coming to judgment before the Millenium, as well as 
 to correct the practical mistake or error in relation to 
 the great day of final retribution, out of which it 
 grows. 
 
 It is a very prevalent opinion, that the day of judg- 
 ment, if not a day of twenty-four hours' length, is 
 nevertheless a very short period, during which a 
 strictly judicial process is to be conducted ; and that 
 for this purpose, all mankind, both the righteous and 
 the wicked, are to be simultaneously congregated be- 
 fore the judgment-seat of Jesus Christ, to hear the 
 sentence of approbation or condemnation, to be then 
 pronounced by the great Judge of quick and dead. 
 Such is the general account given of it in discourses 
 by those who have undertaken to describe the appal- 
 ling scenes of the last great day. 
 
 This general notion of the day of judgment, is sus- 
 tained by references to various passages of Scripture, 
 which, it is thought, imply evidently the universal 
 promiscuous congregation of the living and of the 
 dead at the judgment-seat of Jesus Christ. Of course, 
 it is objected, if such be the process of judgment, it is 
 altogether inconsistent with the idea of Christ's coming 
 
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 3^7 
 
 to raise the dead, and to change the living bodies of 
 his saints, to destroy Popery and the anti-Christian na 
 tions, and to extend the government of Heaven over 
 any remnants of the nations that may yet be left in 
 the flesh. 
 
 It is admitted that while the general result of a 
 judgment to come, may be the same according to 
 these differing views, yet are they entirely inconsist- 
 ent with each other, when regarded as a description 
 of the process of that judgment. It becomes us then 
 to make our appeal directly to the word of God ; and 
 to examine candidly, carefully, and solemnly, what 
 He has said on this subject. His testimony is our 
 sole guide and umpire here. ' j^ .- 
 
 In making this appeal to the scriptural account of 
 the day of judgment, we remark as preliminary — 
 
 That it must he borne in mind, and will unquestiona- 
 bly be at once admitted, by every intelligent reader of the 
 Sacred Scriptures, that all the different accounts of .the 
 day of judgment, given in the Sacred Scriptures, must 
 harmonize with each other. 
 
 These accounts are very numerous and various, — 
 some of them incidental and some extended, — some 
 delivered by one inspired writer and some by another, 
 involving, as a whole, abundant allusions, but not in 
 every minute particular identically the same. This 
 should not be accounted strange. It is in fact the 
 most natural thing imaginable. It is impossible for 
 different persons, who have witnessed the same com- 
 plicated series of events, to give a description of 
 them, in every minute particular, precisely the same. 
 One will give prominence to this class of events, 
 another to that : — some will omit incidents deemed 
 unimportant, while others will detail them :-r— some 
 will be more graphic and comprehensive than others, 
 
1 
 
 328 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT ! 
 
 and yet all will agree as to the general outline and 
 results. It is just so in the prophetic descriptions 
 given us of the day of judgment. It is therefore mani- 
 festly improper for us, to single out the description, 
 as given by any one writer, and assume it to be the 
 grand and leading view, according to which we must 
 judge of all the rest. All are but parts of one 
 great whole, and it behoves us so to ponder and place 
 the different facts, that they shall all harmonize with 
 each other. This requires labor and study ; and es- 
 pecially to have our minds divested of any precon- 
 ceived notions. The facts must be admitted, just as 
 stated by the writer, so far as his testimony goes ; 
 and must also be viewed in connection with the spe- 
 cific design which he had in communicating them. 
 
 It is the easiest thing imaginable to excite suspi- 
 cions, and to make false impressions, in relation to the 
 testimony of a witness, by taking it out of the imme- 
 diate connection, and viewing it, either entirely apart 
 from the circumstances to which it refers, or in the 
 light of others never contemplated by him. These 
 things are well enough understood, by those accus- 
 tomed to examine and weigh the import of testimony. 
 We claim, on this subject, the application of the same 
 general principles and rules, admitted to be appropri- 
 ate and deserving of attention in matters of ordinary 
 interest. 
 
 Following these principles we find that the sacred 
 writers crowd together an immense variety of inci- 
 dents and events ; denominate and designate the 
 period during which they occur, by different titles, as 
 " that day^'^ " the day of the Lord," " the day of judg- 
 ment," " the great day of God," and the like. Hence 
 we remark : — 
 
 2. Thai neither the usage of speech common among 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 329 
 
 the prophets^ nor the specific character of their descrip- 
 tions of the day of judgment^ requires us to believe^ that 
 the phrase designates a day of twenty-four hours or even 
 a very short space. Sometimes the word day is used 
 prophetically, to designate a year, as by Daniel, Eze- 
 kiel, and others. At other times it is used to denote 
 an indefinite period of time, a dispensation— a long 
 series of years possessing the same general charactej- 
 istics. 
 
 Christ called the period of his personal ministry, 
 " a day" lamenting that the Jews had not knaw^ 
 in that their day the things which make for their 
 peace.* The whole period of the children of Israel's 
 forty years' journey in the wilderness, was called a day 
 —the day ^f temptation,! and 4:1m apoetles icalled ^ 
 Gospel dispensation a day, saying, " now is the accept- 
 ed time, and to-day is the day of salyation."!|: 
 
 Isaiah and others of the prophets, but especially tthe 
 former, use the emphatic phrase, "In that day," to 
 denote the period of the judgment, though not accord- 
 ing to the popular idea ; but, on the contrary, in «ttci^ 
 way as to show that it was regarded as a season or dis- 
 pensation during which many wonderful eveBts W£3ie 
 to transpire in the world. o 'it||' 
 
 With these preliminary remarks, we are prepared to 
 appeal to the laws and to testimony, on the s(iii>ject 
 of the great day of judgment. 
 
 One of the most common and striking portions of 
 the Sacred Scriptures referred to, which, it is object- 
 ed, conflicts with the idea of Christ's pre-millenial 
 coming to judgment, is the twenty-fifth chapter of 
 Matthew, the parable of the sheep and goats. In this 
 context, it is contended, there is manifestly a descmp 
 
 * Luke, 19. 42. f Heb. 3. 13, 15. tJlCm. 6. 2. 
 
J 
 
 330 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT I 
 
 tion of the great day of final retribution, the post-mille- 
 nial judgment, for the Judge, the Son of Man, is 
 viewed as seated on his throne of glory, all nations, 
 and ail the holy angels with him, as gathered before 
 him, the sheep and the goats as separated, and sentence 
 pronounced on each according to their deeds. 
 
 In reply to this objection, we admit and feel the ob- 
 ligation to adhere strictly and fully to the words of 
 Christ, and in doing so we remark — 
 
 1 . That the Saviour evidently does not so immediately 
 intend to give a description of judicial processes in the 
 judgment scenes^ as of certain circumstances connected 
 with his coming. 
 
 In Matthew he asserts the general fact of his com- 
 ing with his holy angels and the gathering of his 
 elect. 
 
 " And then, shall appear the sign of the Son of 
 Man in Heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the 
 earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man com- 
 ing in the clouds of Heaven with power and great 
 glory. And he shall send his angels with a great 
 sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his 
 elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to 
 the other."* 
 
 These events, he states, shall occur after the ap- 
 pearance of certain signs which he details. 
 
 " Immediately after the tribulation of those days 
 shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not 
 give her light, and the stars shall fall from Heaven, 
 and the powers of the Heavens shall be shaken."! 
 
 The appearance of these signs should as certainly 
 foretoken his coming, as the budding of the fig-tree 
 does the approach of summer. This idea he illus- 
 trates in the parable of the fig-tree.- 
 
 * Matt. 24, 30-31. t Matt. 24. 29. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 331 
 
 " Now learn a parable of the fig-tree : when his 
 branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye 
 know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye 
 shall see all these things, know that it is near, even 
 at the doors — verily I say unto you, this generation 
 shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven 
 and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not 
 pass away."* 
 
 Having stated the certainty of his coming, he re- 
 fuses to give information as to its precise time — 
 " But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not 
 the angels of Heaven, but my Father only ;"t but re- 
 marks, that the world would be found in the same 
 careless, sensual, unbelieving, and supposed secure 
 condition, it was in the days of Noah before the 
 deluge. 
 
 " But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the 
 coming of the Son of Man be. For, as in the days 
 that were before the flood, they were eating and 
 drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the 
 day that Noah entered the ark ; so shall also the com- 
 ing of the Son of Man be. There shall two be in the 
 field, the one shall be taken and the other left. 
 Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one 
 shall be taken and the other left."| 
 
 The obligation to watchfulness, he enforces by com- 
 paring his coming to the approach of a thief. 
 
 " Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour 
 your Lord shall come. But know this, that if the 
 good man of the house had known in what watch the 
 thief should come, he would have watched, aTid 
 would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 
 
 * Matt. 24. 32-35. f Matt. 24. 36. | Matt. 24. 37-41. 
 
1 
 
 332 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: 
 
 Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as 
 you think not the Son of Man cometh."* 
 
 The importance and obligations, to be faithful in 
 the discharge of trusts and duties, he urges, by the 
 parable of the servant, that during his lord's absence 
 was inattentive and oppressive. 
 
 " Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom 
 his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give 
 them meat in due season 1 Blessed is that servant 
 whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. 
 Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler 
 over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall 
 say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming, and 
 shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat 
 and drink with the drunken ; — the lord of that ser- 
 vant shall come in a day when he looketh not for 
 him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall 
 cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the 
 hypocrites j there shall be weeping and gnashing of 
 teeth."t 
 
 In all this context, therefore, he is pressing the fact of 
 his coming, for practical uses, instead of describing 
 the process of judgment. He continues the same in 
 the next chapter, with the evident design of guarding 
 against the incredulity and indifference, on the subject 
 of his coming, which he foresaw would affect even the 
 church at the time of his coming. In the parable of 
 the ten virgins he sets forth the slumbering condition 
 in which half the church would be at that time ; and 
 how an immense body, one half of the professors of 
 religion, would be confounded, ashamed, rejected, dis- 
 mayed, overwhelmed, at his coming, when a portion 
 
 ♦ Matt. 24. 42-44. f Matt. 24. 45-51. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 333 
 
 of his church should enter into the marriage supper of 
 the Lamb, and they be shut out. 
 
 " Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be likened unto 
 the virgins which took their lamps, and went fotth to 
 meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, 
 and five were foolish. They that were foolish took 
 their lamps, and took no oil with them ; but the wise 
 took oil in the vessel with the lamps. While the 
 bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. And 
 at midnight there was a cry made ; behold the bride- 
 groom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all 
 those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the 
 foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil, for our 
 lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, 
 not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but 
 go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 
 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came ; 
 and they that were ready went in with him to the 
 marriage j and the door was shut. Afterwards came 
 also the other virgins, saying. Lord, Lord, open to us. 
 But he answered and said, verily I say unto you, I 
 know you not. Watch, therefore, for you know 
 neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man 
 cometh."* 
 
 Then, for once, poor formal professors, whose 
 hearts have not been given to Christ, whose minds 
 are not on him, whose confidence is not placed in 
 him, but who are drowned in the cares and pleasures 
 of the world, sunk in stupid carelessness and ease, 
 shall awake to realize their awful condition, and begin 
 earnestly to seek and pray. Terror, confusion, dis- 
 may, will overwhelm them. They will then knock at 
 the door of mercy, and seek to enter in, but it will 
 
 • Matt. 25. 1-13. 
 29 
 
1 
 
 334 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: 
 
 be too late for them. Their carelessness and folly, 
 their guilty slumber, and being content with the form 
 of godliness, while denying its power, will prove 
 their ruin. All will be shut out from his marriage 
 feast, that have not been truly converted and sancti- 
 fied in heart. 
 
 In the parable of the talents the Saviour sets forth 
 the rule of judgment that shall be adopted in reference 
 to his church. 
 
 "For the kingdom of Heaven is as a man travelling 
 into a far country, who called his own servants, and 
 delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he 
 gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, 
 to every man according to his several ability, and 
 straightway took his journey. Then he that had re- 
 ceived the five talents, went and traded with the same, 
 and made them other five talents. And likewise he 
 that had received two, he also gained other two. But 
 he that had received one, went and digged in the 
 earth, and hid his Lord's money. After a long time 
 the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with 
 them. And so he that had received five talents came 
 and brought other five talents, saying. Lord, thou 
 deliveredst unto me five talents, behold, I have gained 
 beside them five talents more. His Lord said unto 
 him, well done, thou good and faithful servant ; thou 
 hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee 
 ruler over many things ; enter thou into the joy of thy 
 Lord. He also that had received two talents, 
 came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two 
 talents, behold, I have gained two other talents beside 
 them. His Lord said unto him, well done, good and 
 faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few 
 things, I will make thee ruler over many things, enter 
 thou into the joy of thy Lord. Then he which had 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PEE-MILLENIAL COMING. 335 
 
 received the one talent came, and said, Lord, I knew 
 thee that thou wert an hard man, reaping where thou 
 hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not 
 strawed ; and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent 
 in the earth : lo ! there thou hast that is thine. His 
 Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and 
 slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I 
 sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed. 
 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to 
 the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have 
 received mine own with usury. Take therefore the 
 talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten 
 talents ; for unto every one that hath shall be given, 
 but from him that hath not shall be taken away, even 
 that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable 
 servant into utter darkness : there shall be weeping 
 and gnashing of teeth."* 
 
 All his professed followers, who style themselves 
 his servants, shall be rewarded or punished for their 
 improvement or neglect of the talents, the abilities, 
 opportunities and privileges allotted to them. The 
 three servants represent different classes of professors 
 of religion. All who do not live to some profitable 
 account, who do not exert a wholesome and saving 
 influence in the world, shall be rejected ; but those 
 who were awake and active, and lived to the honor 
 and glory of Jesus Christ, shall be rewarded accord- 
 ingly. The idea evidently is, that the honors and 
 distinctions which Christ, at his coming, will put upon 
 his followers, will be according to their devotion to 
 his honor and interests. This is the process of judg- 
 ment, which begins at the house of God. It is not 
 the judgment of his enemies but his professed friends. 
 
 * Matt. 25. 14-30. 
 
1 
 
 336 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT : 
 
 Neither the parable of the ten virgins, nor of the 
 talents, therefore, describes the judgment oUhe world^ 
 or the judicial process instituted against the openly- 
 wicked, but the judgment of the church of God. 
 
 In the parable of the sheep and the goats, the 
 Saviour brings into view another and very important 
 circumstance connected with his coming — the separa- 
 tion which should be made between the sheep and 
 the goats, and the gathering in of the elect. 
 
 " 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. And he shall set the sheep on his 
 right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the 
 king say unto them on his right hand, come ye 
 blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world. For I was 
 an hungered and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty and 
 ye gave me drink, I was a stranger and ye took me 
 in ; naked and ye clothed me ; I was sick and ye 
 visited me ; I was in prison and ye came unto me. 
 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying. Lord, 
 when saw we thee an hungered and fed thee % or 
 thirsty and gave thee drink 1 when saw we thee a 
 stranger and took thee in 1 or naked and clothed 
 thee ? or when saw we thee sick or in prison and 
 came unto thee 1 And the king shall answer and 
 say unto them, verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye 
 have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren 
 ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also 
 unto them on the left hand — depart from me, ye cursed, 
 into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his 
 angels. For I was hungered and ye gave me no 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMIIv'G. 337 
 
 meat ; I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink ; I was 
 a stranger and ye took me not in ; naked and ye 
 clothed me not ; sick and in prison and ye visited me 
 not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, 
 when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a 
 stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not 
 minister unto thee 1 Then shall he answer them, say- 
 ing, verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did if not to 
 one the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these 
 shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the 
 righteous into life eternal."* 
 
 This passage is the main reliance of those who deny 
 the pre-millenial coming of Christ, and maintain a 
 universal, promiscuous resurrection, and simultaneous 
 judgment of the race. It behoves us, therefore, to give 
 it very strict and close attention. 
 
 The hearers of Christ, when he delivered his dis- 
 course, were his disciples, who came privately to him 
 as he sat on the Mount of Olives, saying, tell me 
 when shall these things be 1 And what shall be the 
 sign of thy coming and of the end of the world If 
 
 The passage now under consideration is part of the 
 discourse he delivered to his disciples in answer to 
 these questions, and embraced in the twenty-fourth 
 and twenty-fifth chapters of Matthew. In the twenty- 
 fourth chapter, he had said, that after certain events 
 predicted to occur previously, they should see the sign 
 of the Son of Man in Heaven, when all the tribes of 
 the earth shall mourn, and they should see the Son of 
 Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and 
 great glory, with his angels, and a great sound of a 
 trumpet, and they should gather together his elect 
 from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the 
 
 * Matt. 25. 31-46. f Matt. 24. 3. 
 
 29* 
 
338 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT : 
 
 Other. It is to this same event he alludes in the con- 
 text, Matthew, 25. 31, &c. For he evidently resumes 
 the subject, and gives a more particular account of 
 this gathering together of the elect. " 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," 
 out of-which the separation of the righteous from the 
 wicked should be made, just as a shepherd divides the 
 sheep and goats, mixed up in the same flock. The 
 special events alluded to in these places, are, — the 
 gathering of all nations befoje him, — the separation of 
 the sheep from the goats, — and the gathering of the 
 elect together from the four winds, from one end of 
 Heaven the another. These events, he says, shall 
 occur when the Son of Man cometh. The coming of 
 the Son of Man itself, as has been already hinted, is 
 alluded to as something admitted and well understood 
 by his disciples; which their question proves, since 
 they evinced no doubt about the fact, or the nature of 
 that coming, but asked only as to the sign of it, and 
 of the end of the world. 
 
 The allusion, therefore, is, without doubt, to Daniel's 
 prediction, relative to the coming of the Son of Man. 
 
 " 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 aw^y, and 
 his kingdom that w^hich shall not be destroyed."* 
 
 In this prediction it is distinctly stated that, when he 
 
 • Dan. 7. 13, 14. 
 
KO OBJECTlOiN TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 339 
 
 should come, there would be given him dominion, and 
 glory, and a kingdom, that all people^ nations and lan- 
 guages should serve him. The idea is, very plainly and 
 explicitly, that he shall have the universal sovereignty 
 in the earth, which the empires of the beasts should 
 continue to exercise till his coming. This sovereignty 
 is to be exercised by the Son of Man over nations in 
 the flesh, — for the phrase, " peoples, nations, and lan- 
 guages," is the very phrase which Nebuchadnezzar 
 and Darius used when they addressed their subjects 
 and inscribed to them their decrees, and is indeed 
 the phrase which Daniel uniformly employs to denote 
 the inhabitants of earth subject to the imperial sway. 
 
 " Then a herald cried aloud. To you it is command- 
 ed, O people, nations, and languages."* " Then 
 King Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and lan- 
 guages, that dwell in all the earth ; peace be multi- 
 plied untoyou."! 
 
 The prediction, then, of the transfer of the nations of 
 the earth, from the sway of Imperial rulers to the do- 
 minion of Jesus Christ, is exactly what is elsewhere 
 predicted, that he shall be " king over all the earth." 
 The event, therefore, referred to by the Saviour, both 
 in Matt. 24 and 25, being the same with that of 
 which Daniel speaks, must be the separation or divi- 
 sion between the righteous and the wicked. 
 
 " And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man 
 in Heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth 
 mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in 
 the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory." 
 " And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a 
 trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from 
 the four winds from one end of Heaven to the other."t 
 
 • Dan. 3. 4. f Dan. 6. 26. | Matt. 24. 30, 31. 
 
340 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT : 
 
 " When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and 
 a!l 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."* 
 
 This separation shall take place, when he comes to 
 set up his kingdom in this world. But this, as Daniel 
 shows, and as has been already fully proved, is to occur, 
 not at the close, but at the commencement of the 
 Millenium ; and consequently the judgment, of which 
 the Saviour speaks in the twenty-fifth chapter, is, like 
 that of the twenty-fourth, pre-millenial, and altogether 
 unlike, in its attendant circumstances, to the final 
 judgment spoken of in Kev. 20. In that last conclud- 
 ing scene of the great day of judgment, the dead, 
 small and great, stand before God and ar^ judg- 
 ed J the seas give up their dead, and death and hell de- 
 liver up the dead in them, and they are individually 
 judged, every man according to his works. This is 
 unquestionably an universal resurrection and congrega- 
 tion of the dead, which is to occur at the close of the 
 Millenium. But in the discourse of Christ under consi- 
 deration, he does not say a word about the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead. Whatever allusion there may be 
 to any resurrection is implied in the nature of the 
 events to which he refers. 
 
 The events here particularly referred to, are to 
 characterize the well understood epoch of his coming 
 of which he had spoken. Those events are the 
 gathering of the nations in the flesh before him, 
 the separating between the righteous and the wicked 
 found in them, and the gathering of the elect. Not 
 a word is said about a resurrection. 
 * Mat. 25. 31, 32. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING, ^l 
 
 2. We remark, in the second place, ihat the language 
 of the Saviour necessarily confines his meaning to man- 
 kind existing on the earth at the time of his coming. 
 
 The phrase nations* is never applied to the dead, 
 but always to masses of men and women, living on 
 the earth together, under some form or other of or- 
 ganized government. This being the most common 
 meaning and use of the word, we cannot extend its 
 import according to the objection we are considering, 
 so as to embrace the innumerable hosts that have gone 
 down to the grave in all ages, and from all nations. 
 They exist, not as nations in the regions of the dead, 
 and therefore cannot come forth to judgment as na- 
 tions, but shall come as the throng of " the dead," just 
 as John, who more especially speaks of their judg- 
 ment, describes, " And 1 saw the dead, small and great, 
 stand before God, and the books were opened ; and an- 
 other book was opened, which is the Book of Life, and 
 the dead were judged out of those things which were 
 written in the books according to their works. And 
 the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death 
 and Hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and 
 they were judged every man according to his works/'f 
 
 Such being the fact, we are not at liberty to assume 
 that the Saviour, when speaking of all nations being 
 gathered before him, out of which the goats shall be 
 
 * See Scapula. Also Robinson's Tr. of Wahl's Clav. Phil. In 
 Rev. 21. 24, it does not denote a swarm, a multitude ; for the paral- 
 lelism in the text shows that they were regarded as having " kings.'* 
 Of course the proper idea of the word " nation" is involved. Ta »Qv^ 
 is indeed used as a noun of multitude, to denote the Gentiles or 
 nations of the earth, in contradistinction from the people of God, 
 or Jewish nation, but not so as to exclude the idea of organization. 
 So also is the Hebrew word -^m. — Gesenius says, LXX. satis con- 
 stanter d? reddunt lad?, >ii lOvo^, Vulg. gens, unde etiam io N. T. 
 Td iQvri opponuntur rw Xaui Qsov 'l(Tpaii\, Luc. 2. 32. 
 
 t Rev. 20. 12,13. ' 
 
I 
 
 342 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT : . 
 
 separated from the sheep, is describing the process of 
 final judgment to be passed upon the dead. Where- 
 fore, the account he gives, of the gathering of the na- 
 tions before him, and separating the sheep and the 
 goats, must be understood as applying solely to the 
 nations in the flesh, at the time of his coming, and not 
 to the hosts of the righteous and the wicked, as though 
 they were simultaneously raised from the dead at a 
 final judgment. And this conclusion, so inevitable 
 from these premises, is further confirmed by the fact 
 that, in the account of the judgment given by John,* 
 there is no mention made of rewards, but only of the 
 judgment and punishment of those men whose names 
 were not found written in the Book of Life. 
 
 3. We remark, in the third place, that there are two 
 or three circumstances of such essential difference, be- 
 tween the account of Christ in this parable, and tht 
 apostle John's account of the final act of judgment, that 
 they cannot at all be made to refer to the same events. 
 The first is, that the everlasting fire, into which the 
 goats are sent, is said to be " prepared for the devil 
 and his angels," and is identically the same with " the 
 lake of fire"t into which Satan is to be cast, and tor- 
 mented day and night for ever and ever. Now the 
 phrase, ^rejoare(/ /or, implies plainly that the devil and 
 his angels had not yet been cast into it, when the goats 
 are ordered to depart into it. Satan is bound for a 
 thousand years at the coming of Christ, find the goats 
 are cast into the fire long before him. But in John's 
 account the wicked dead, at the last act of judgment, 
 are cast into the lake of fire, after Satan had been cast 
 thorc-t The nations and the dead, therefore, cannot 
 be the same. 
 
 • Rev. 20. 11-15. ' t Matt. 25. 41. 
 
 1 2-wj'tt;^0^aerai tfiirpoaOev airov iravra ra idvri. — Matt. 25. 32. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 343 
 
 A second circumstance of essential difference is, 
 that John's account, "And the devil that deceived 
 them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, 
 where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall 
 be tormented day and night for ever and ever,"* does 
 not cast the devil and his angels into " the lake of 
 fire" until the end of the thousand years, a long time 
 after the beast and the false prophet had been cast in. 
 But the beast and the false prophet, which we have 
 seen are the secular Roman Empire and the Pope, 
 the Man of sin — the system of Papacy with its blinded 
 adherents — are cast into thQ lake of fire before the 
 Millenium, as is manifest from this passage : " And 
 the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet 
 that wrouo^ht miracles before him, with which he de- 
 ceived them that had received the mark of the beast, 
 and them that worshipped his image. These last were 
 cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone,"f 
 as we showed in the last chapter — destroyed at the com- 
 ing of Christy " by the spirit of his mouth and the bright- 
 ness of his appearing." The nations, therefore, spoken 
 of by Christ, cannot be the promiscuous dead of whom 
 John speaks. This leads us to remark — 
 
 4*. In the fourth place, that the gathering of all na- 
 tions before him^ of which he speaks here^ is not and 
 cannot be understood to refer to^ or to be effected by the 
 promiscuous resurrection of the dead. This is proved 
 by the fact just above noticed, that they are the na- 
 tions^ i. e. those living on the earth, and not the dead, 
 that are to be gathered before the Son of Man. The 
 word translated "gathered" in Matthew, where Christ 
 says, " and before him shall be gathered all nations," 
 (avv(xxOr}aeTai^) does not always denote the actual as- 
 
 • Rev. 20. 10. t Rev. 19. 20. 
 
844 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT : 
 
 sembling into one place. It is used to denote the idea 
 of conjunction, allicince, or formation of one society : 
 "And not for that nation only, but that also he should 
 gather together in one the children of God that were 
 scattered abroad,"* — the organization of different 
 parts or members, before separate, under one head or 
 government.! 
 
 This idea of the word at once directs us to what 
 Daniel predicted, when the different peoples, nations, 
 and languages, on the face of the whole earth, should 
 be gathered into one kingdom, i. e. all dominions be 
 consolidated and bound together under Christ, their 
 head, who is to rule them in conjunction with his 
 saints. "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 do- 
 minion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, 
 nations, and languages, should serve him: his do- 
 minion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not 
 pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be 
 destroyed. "J This was by no means a new idea, as 
 delivered either by Christ or Daniel. It was dis- 
 tinctly brought into view in the Abrahamic covenant, 
 in which God engaged that Abraham should be " the 
 father of many nations," yea, that " in him should all 
 the families of the earth be blessed ;'* which promise 
 Paul interprets as having constituted Abraham "^Ac 
 heir of the world^^'' and which promise will be redeem- 
 ed when Jesus Christ, the son or seed of Abraham, and 
 all Abraham's faithful seed together with him, shall 
 inherit the kingdom to be given at the coming of 
 
 • John, 11. 52. 
 
 t Kypke Obs. Sac. T. Ip. 392. Wettstenius' N. T. Ts. 920. 
 
 I Dan. 7. 13, 14. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MfLLENIAL COMING. 345 
 
 Christ — " the kingdom prepared from before the 
 foundation of the world." " And I will bless them 
 that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and 
 in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed."* 
 " Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, 
 but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of many 
 nations have I made thee."t " For the promise that 
 he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abra- 
 ham or to his seed through the law, but through the 
 righteousness of faith."J 
 
 Jacob had his eye on the same, when uttering his 
 prediction that the Messiah should come out of Judah, 
 and to him should be " the gathering of the people." 
 " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law- 
 giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; and 
 unto him shall the gathering of the people be."§ 
 
 David sang of the same glorious event, when he ex- 
 claimed, " Sing praises to our King, sing praises; for 
 God is the King of all the earth : sing ye praises with 
 understanding. God reigneth over the heathen (the 
 nations) : God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. 
 The princes of the people are gathered together, even 
 the people of the God of Abraham ; for the shields of 
 the earth belong unto God : he is greatly exalted." 
 "When the people are gathered together, and the 
 kingdoms, to serve the Lord."|| 
 
 Isaiah, too, had descried this same glorious event ; 
 for, having said, " Behold, the Lord will come with 
 fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render 
 his anger in fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire," 
 he adds, in the very language of the Lord, " it shall 
 
 * Gen. 12. 3. f Gen. 17. 5. X Rom. 4. 13. 
 
 § Gen. 49. 10 — the mn> ^r^py congregatio, ecclesia Domini. 
 il Psalm 102. 22. 
 30 
 
1 
 
 346 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT I . 
 
 come, that I will gather all nations and tongues, and 
 they shall come and see my glory."* 
 
 Paul, also, in the most explicit manner, speaks of 
 this marvellous procedure in the strongest terms, when 
 he refers to the mystery of the Divine will in Jesus 
 Christ, " that in the dispensation of the fulness of 
 times he might gather together in one all things in 
 Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on 
 earth, even in him."t 
 
 There is, then, to be a gathering of the nations be- 
 fore Christ, which has been the subject of prophecy 
 from the earliest period, and which is to take place at 
 his coming ; but which is not to be consummated by 
 a universal resurrection from the dead. Attention to 
 the harmony of the prophets, therefore, requires us to 
 believe, that the gathering of the nations spoken of by 
 Christ, which is to take place at his coming, must be the 
 organization of his universal dominion over the nations 
 in the flesh ; during which, it is declared by several 
 prophets, especially by Isaiah, that they shall not only 
 be incorporated together as one great universal 
 dominion, but, doubtless by their princes and represen- 
 tatives, assemble themselves before him, and behold his 
 glory. In confirmation of this view we further remark, 
 that the word translated " gathered," in Matt. 25. 31, 
 as applied to the nations, and which does not neces- 
 sarily always mean collection, or assembly at the same 
 place^ is not the same with the word in Matt. 24. 31, 
 eniavva^ovcri, where it is said the angels shall " gather . 
 his elect." This latter word does denote the collect- 
 ing together in the same place. It is obvious, how- 
 ever, that there is no contradiction between the two 
 accounts ; for the elect spoken of in Matt. 24. 31, and 
 
 * Isaiah, 66. 15, 18. f EpH. 1. 10. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 347 
 
 congregated in one place from under the whole hea- 
 vens, are not the '* all nations" that are gathered to- 
 gether before Christ at his coming, spoken of in Matt. 
 25. 32. 
 
 There is yet another idea which here deserves atten- 
 tion, and to which the harmony of the predictions re- 
 quires it to be given, viz. that at the coming of Christ* 
 the nations of the earth will be actually assembled to- 
 gether, by their armies and rulers, in the last fearful 
 conflict or war of Gog and Magog, as described by 
 Ezekiel,* and spoken of by John. " The spirits of 
 devils," the latter says previously, " go forth unto the 
 kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather 
 them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, 
 — and he gathered them together into a place called 
 Armageddon ;"t which event occurs in immediate con- 
 nection with the coming of Christ. Thus it appears, 
 that, by the immense armies and alliances of nations 
 with their crowned heads and rulers, they will be 
 actually, at his coming, gathered before him ; so that 
 whether we understand the expression, "gathered 
 before," &c., to denote the ultimate consolidation of 
 his dominion, or a local assemblage of the nations in 
 their last grand and bloody campaign on the field of 
 Armageddon, or perhaps both; the gathering of all 
 nations before Christ, spoken of in Matt. 25. 32, cannot 
 mean the universal resurrection of the dead. 
 
 We incline to the belief, that the gathering of the 
 nations, referred to by Christ, denotes both the ideas 
 just stated ; for it is by the assembling of the nations 
 at the great battle of Armageddon, under their kings, 
 and captains, and rulers, and by the destruction of 
 their great armies, that the then existing governments 
 of the earth will be utterly broken up, their national 
 * Ezekiel, ijh. 38. f Rev. 16. 14-16. 
 
J 
 
 348 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT I 
 
 organizations destroyed, and the way prepared for the 
 erection of the new sovereignty, Heaven's dominion, 
 which shall, under the new dispensation, re-organize 
 the remnants of the destroyed nations, and the heathen 
 nations that shall be left, and concentrate them in one 
 blessed and glorious kingdom. 
 
 There are some facts set forth by the prophets, on 
 this subject, of great moment. The first is, that while 
 the anti-Christian nations are to be destroyed, the 
 heathen, or the Gentile nations, i. e. those nations which 
 had not been anti-Christian, " shall be given to Christ, 
 and the uttermost parts of the earth for his posses- 
 sion."* The gospel is to be preached for a witness 
 among all nations, i. e. among the Gentiles, and then 
 the end should come. Still farther, Jerusalem, we are 
 told, should be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the 
 times of the Gentiles be fulfilled ; blindness was to 
 happen to Israel till the fulness of the Gentiles be 
 come in , i. e. till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled : 
 but at that period, when the anti-Christian powers 
 should be broken down, and the sovereignty on earth 
 be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, 
 a wonderful and marvellous change should take place. 
 The remnants of the nations would repent and give 
 glory to God. Nations should be born in a day ; and 
 the glory of the Gentiles, like a flowing stream, should 
 pour into Jerusalem, as the great centre and capital of 
 the new dominion to be established on the earth. 
 "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left 
 of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall 
 even go up from year to year to worship the King, the 
 Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 
 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the 
 families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the 
 
 » Psalm 2. 8. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 349 
 
 King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no 
 rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come 
 not, that have no rain j there shall be the plague, where- 
 with the Lord shall smite the heathen that come not 
 up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the 
 punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations 
 that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. In 
 that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, 
 HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD ; and the pots in 
 the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the 
 altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem, and in Judah, shall 
 be holiness unto the Lord of hosts ; and all they that 
 sacrifice sliall come and take of them, and seethe 
 therein : and in that day there shall be no more the 
 Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts."* 
 
 " Who hath heard such a thing 1 who hath seen 
 such things ] shall the earth be made to bring forth in 
 one day 1 or shall a nation be born at once 1 for as 
 soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 
 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth 1 
 saith the Lord : shall I cause to bring forth, and shut 
 the wombl saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusa- 
 lem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her : rejoice 
 for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her : that ye 
 may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her con- 
 solations ; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with 
 the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, 
 behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the 
 glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream : then shall 
 ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be 
 dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother 
 comforteth, so will I comfort you ; and ye shall be 
 comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your 
 
 ♦ Zech. 14. 16-21. 
 30* 
 
1 
 
 350 THE BAY OF JUDGMENT : 
 
 heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like 
 an herb : and the hand of the Lord shall be known 
 toward his servants, and his indignation toward his 
 enemies. For behold, the Lord will come with fire, 
 and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his 
 anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 
 For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with 
 all flesh : and the slain of the Lord shall be many. 
 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves 
 in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating, 
 swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall 
 be consumed together, saith the Lord. For I know 
 their works and their thoughts ; it shall come, that I 
 will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall 
 come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among 
 them, and I will send those that escape of them unto 
 the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the 
 bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar oflT, that 
 have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory ; 
 and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 
 And they shall bring all your brethren for an oflering 
 unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in 
 chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift 
 beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalenp, saith the Lord, 
 as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean 
 vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will also 
 take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. 
 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I 
 will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so 
 shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall 
 come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and 
 from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to 
 worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go 
 forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that 
 have transgressed against me : for their worm shall 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 351 
 
 not die, neither shall their fire be quenched ; and they 
 shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."* 
 
 5. I remark farther, that since " the gathering of 
 ALL NATIONS BEFORE Christ,! wMch tukcs place at his 
 comings must be understood to refer to something which 
 shall occur among the nations in the flesh, so " the 
 
 GATHERING TOGETHER OF THE ELECt" frOm the foWT 
 
 winds, from one end of Heaven to the other, % ^^st also 
 refer to something of the same nature. This gathering 
 of the elect together, cannot mean the resurrection of 
 the dead bodies of the saints, for they are already as- 
 sembled with the Lord, and come with him, as asso- 
 ciate judges, to sit with him in judgment, and rule 
 the nations. It is among the first acts, indeed, in the 
 process of judgment, to enrobe their disembodied and 
 invisible spirits with their risen bodies ; but this is a 
 very different thing from gathering them together. 
 They have been gathered together with Christ by the 
 death of their bodies, and shall come with him in 
 triumph. The saints, the redeemed from among men, 
 are the holy ones of whom Enoch prophesied, when 
 he said, " behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand 
 of his saints," &c. ;§ they, too, are the holy angels 
 with whom Christ says he shall come in the glory of 
 his Father ; the spirits of the dead saints that Paul 
 says he shall " bring with him." " For if we believe 
 that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also 
 which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him."|| The 
 word " angels" means messengers, and does not always 
 of necessity mean the pure unembodied spirits that 
 have never sinned, whom God has employed in past 
 ages, and employs still, as his messengers or minister- 
 
 ♦ Isaiah, 66. 8-24. f Matt. 25. 32. t Matt. 24. 31. 
 
 § Jude, 14. II 1 Thess. 4. 14. 
 
1 
 
 352 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT .* 
 
 ing spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be 
 heirs of salvation. 
 
 Besides, the saints, in their raised bodies, are to be 
 the messengers of Jesus Christ* at his coming, for ga- 
 thering together his elect, and by this very process 
 they take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom even 
 for ever and ever, according as Daniel has declared. 
 They come as joint heirs with Jesus Christ ; are sent 
 forth as his own messengers j and, having gathered 
 together his elect, sit down with Christ on his throne, 
 as he sat down on the Father's throne, and reign with 
 him, as kings and priests of the most high God. " And 
 if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs 
 with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we 
 may be also glorified together."! " To him that over- 
 
 * The words are, tovs dyyeXovs avTH, — avrov here has the same 
 force as savrov, and means, " his own.^' It can mean nothing else, as 
 in Rev. 2. 18, 6i ttoScs uvtov, his ovm, and not another's. The an- 
 gels, or messengers, will accompany the Saviour at his coming. 
 They are called his mighty angels, the messengers of his power — 
 his powerful, miraculous messengers, iict dyyiXuiv Swdixews airov. 
 These his angels or messengers accompany him at his coming. 
 But, from 1 Thess. 4. 14, it appears that the saints which now 
 sleep in Jesus, are to be his attendants when he comes. Also, 
 from Zech. 14. 5, the same is evident : " The Lord my God shall 
 come, and all the saints with thee." " The reapers are the angels," 
 Matt. 13. 39, — 01 de Oepis-al ayytXoi eIoiv, — the reapers are messen- 
 gers, definitely described in Matt. 24. 31, as his own, the attendant 
 messengers or accompanying saints. To Nathaniel, Christ said, 
 '* hereafter ye shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God 
 ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." John, 1. 51. 
 This will be signally true, when the saints of the Most High, who 
 are to take possession of the kingdom, and will be Christ's own 
 messengers, shall descend "from the New Jerusalem to their camp 
 contiguous to the terrestrial city, (Rev. 21. 9,) before the heavenly 
 city descends actually to the earth, (Rev. 21. 10, 24, 27,) when, 
 eajrth shall become a'fit site for its abiding place."* 
 
 t Romans, 8. 17. 
 
 • Sirr's Letters on the First Resurrection, p. 47. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 3§i3 
 
 cometh will I give to sit with me in my throne, even 
 as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father 
 in his throne."* " And hast made us, unto our God, 
 kings and priests 5 and we shall reign on the earth. "f 
 
 This is in exact accordance with the parahle of the 
 tares and the wheat, as interpreted hy Christ. " He 
 answereth and saith unto- them, 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 j 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 j so shall it be in the end of this world."J " The 
 harvest is the end of the world," or, as it is in the 
 original, awTslsia tb aimvog, the end or close of the dis- 
 pensation 5 the very same phrase that is used in the 
 very same period referred to in Matt. 24. 30, 31, and 
 25. 31, 32, in answer to the disciples' question, Matt. 
 24. 3, when should be "the end of the world," avojvog, 
 dispensation. " The reapers are the angels. As, there- 
 fore, the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so 
 shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of Man 
 shall send forth his angels (or messengers), and they 
 shall gather out of his kingdom all things that oflfend, 
 and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into 
 a furnace of fire ; there shall be weeping and gnashing 
 of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth in the 
 kingdom of their Father."§ 
 
 The very same idea is distinctly held forth in the 
 parable of the net cast into the sea, and gathering of 
 every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to the 
 
 * Rev. 3. 21. t Rev. 5. 10. 
 
 t Matt. 13. 37-40. § Matt. 13. 41-43. 
 
3&A THE DAY OF JUDGMENT : 
 
 shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, 
 but cast the bad away. " So shall it be," says Christ, 
 " in the end of the world," — at the close of the dispensa- 
 tion : " the angels (his own messengers) shall come 
 forth and sever the wicked from among the just." 
 " Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net that 
 was cast into the sea, and- gathered 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 
 among the just."* 
 
 Thus, both these parables refer to those that shall be 
 alive on the earth at the time of Christ's coming, and 
 not to the dead.; just as we have seen that the nations 
 gathered before Christ, are living masses of men, in 
 their various civil organizations. 
 
 The elect being gathered out from among the wicked, 
 just as the wheat is separated from the tares in the 
 harvest, or as the good fishes are separated from the 
 bad in the net where all were mingled together, is 
 plainly the idea which the Saviour has illustrated and 
 enforced in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, by the 
 shepherd's separating the goats from the sheep. What- 
 ever the one means, so must the other. But the elect 
 cannot mean the dead saints ; because, having them- 
 selves been previously gathered, and coming with 
 Christ to be clothed with their bodies, they become 
 his messengers, to conduct the gathering process. 
 The elect, therefore, must mean some portion of the 
 human race that shall be found alive on the earth, 
 mixed up with the wicked among the nations, at the 
 time of Christ's coming, — called at one time the elect, 
 
 ♦ Matt. 13. 47-49. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 355 
 
 at another time the wheat, at another, the good fish, 
 and at another, the sheep. Who, then, are they, if 
 they be not the righteous raised from the dead 1 
 
 Perhaps it will be alleged, that they are all the 
 saints alive on the earth, at the time of Christ's coming, 
 who are to be transformed and translated so that they 
 shall not see death, according to what Paul has said. 
 But this cannot be, for — 
 
 First, the saints alive on the earth at the coming of 
 Christ are suddenly changed, and instantly and simul- 
 taneously caught up with Christ into the air ;* where- 
 as the gathering process is one which occupies some 
 time, and is, in fact, according to the three parables 
 of the net' of fishes, of the wheat and tares, and of the 
 sheep and goats, a process of judicial investigation and 
 retribution. The rapture of the living saints is no 
 more a judicial process than is the coming of myriads 
 of the saints with Christ. 
 
 Secondly, this gathering of the elect is evidently 
 the process of taking possession of thekingdom, and 
 of establishing the dominion of Christ and of his saints 
 over all the earth, which kingdom, as we have seen 
 from Daniel and others, is the reign of Christ and his 
 saints over all peoples, nations and languages, under 
 the whole heavens — nations in the flesh. 
 
 But here it will be asked, who then can the elect be, 
 if not the dead saints called and chosen of God, or 
 the living saints on the earth, at the time of his 
 coming, elect according to the foreknowledge of God 1 
 In reply we remark, that we must be careful how we 
 assume, that the word elect, as used by Christ, means 
 exactly what theologians have used it to denote, ac- 
 cording to their schemes of systematic theology. 
 We must confine ourselves to the meaning in which 
 Christ used the term, if that can be ascertained. 
 ♦ 1 Thess. 4. 17. 
 
1 
 
 356 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT '. . 
 
 At the time he illustrated the kingdom of Heaven 
 to his disciples by the parables of the wheat and the 
 tares, and of the net of fishes, he asked them if they 
 understood these things, and they affirmed they did.* 
 He therefore evidently spoke of, and referred them to, 
 things of which they had other means of information 
 than his parables. The idea of gathering, or of culling 
 out and collecting, was a prominent one in these para- 
 bles. Was there then, we ask, anything held forth as 
 a prominent event taught by the prophets as destined 
 to occur at the coming of Jesus Christ, which answers 
 to this gathering of the elect, and separating between 
 the sheep and the goats 1 In reply we remark, that 
 the prophetic descriptions of the conversion and resto- 
 ration of the dispersed of Israel answer exactly to 
 this account of the Saviour. They are called the 
 ELECT OF God from the beginning, as the people whom 
 God had chosen " to be a peculiar people unto him- 
 self, above all the nations that are upon the earth." 
 " For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, 
 the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special 
 people unto himself above all people that are upon the 
 face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon 
 you nor choose you because ye were more in number 
 than any people ; for ye were the fewest of all peo- 
 ple."! " f^or thou art a holy people unto the Lord 
 thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a pecu- 
 liar people unto himself above all the nations that are 
 upon the earth."J " And to make thee high above all 
 nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name 
 and in honor ; and that thou mayest be a holy people 
 unto the Lord thy God as he hath spoken." || " For 
 Jacob my servant's sake and Israel mine elect, I have 
 even called thee (Cyrus) by thy name."§ 
 
 * Matt. 13. 51. t Deut. 7. 6, 7. t Deut. 14. 2. 
 
 § Deut. 23. 19. || Is. 45. 4. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 357 
 
 They were called by Isaiah "the elect of God," for 
 whose redemption and deliverance the Lord raised up 
 Cyrus ; but they are particularly so called by this 
 prophet, when he predicts that God would not destroy 
 them all, but would bring forth a seed out of Jacob, 
 and out of Judah an inheritor of his mountains ; and 
 his elect should inherit it, and his servants dwell 
 there. "And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, 
 and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains ; and 
 mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell 
 there."* 
 
 His prediction refers expressly to the condition of 
 the restored of Israel during the millenial kingdom and 
 glory, when " as the days of a tree should be the days 
 of his people, and his elect should long enjoy the work 
 of their hands."f 
 
 The apostle Paul also predicts the conversion and 
 restoration of the remnant of Israel at the time of the 
 coming of Jesus Christ, and designates them as " the 
 elect of God.":|: " For I would not," says he, " breth- 
 ren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, (lest 
 ye ^should be wise in your own conceits), that blind- 
 ness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of 
 the Gentiles § be come in. And so all Israel shall 
 be saved, as it is written. There shall come out of Zion 
 the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from 
 
 * Isa. 65. 9. t Isa. 65. 22. tRom. 11. 25-28. 
 
 §Rom. 11. 25. "The fulness of the Gentiles" does not denote 
 the conversion of the world, but the completion of the times of 
 the Gentiles. See Luke, 21. 24, axpi nXripdiOdat Kaipol idvuv — till 
 the times of the Gentiles, the nations, be fulfilled. This is a 
 sufficient guide and warrant for supplying the ellipsis in Rom. 11. 
 25, not as Mr. Bloorafield has done, assuming the nXfipwfxa there 
 to mean the fulness of the Gentile world, whereas Paul 
 evidently refers to time — the time of Israel's blindness, which 
 should last till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in — IxP^^ «« 
 31 
 
358' THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: 
 
 Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them when I 
 take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they 
 are enemies for your sakes j but as touching the elec- 
 tion, they are beloved for the fathers' sake." It ap- 
 pears, then, from these predictions, that the converted 
 among the Jews are " the elect" to whom the Saviour 
 refers. That conversion, however, it appears from 
 Zechariah, does not take place till after the coming of 
 Christ, and consequently till after the resurrection of 
 the bodies of the saints and the rapture of the living. 
 " And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon 
 the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and 
 supplication ; and they shall look upon me whom 
 they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as 
 one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitter- 
 ness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first- 
 born."* 
 
 The prophets who speak of this event, particularly 
 Daniel,! describe it as occurring in the midst of most 
 terrible calamities, such as never before befell that 
 guilty people, which, although they commenced at the 
 destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and have been pro- 
 longed ever since, reach their consummation, at the 
 awful and terrible juncture, when the time of trouble 
 and distress among the nations begins to be experi- 
 enced in its full power. The retributions of God upon 
 the anti-Christian nations ; the destruction of Popery 
 and of Rome, the seat of the beast, and of the great 
 body of the Roman Empire, by the fiery vengeance of 
 Heaven j the deliverance of the remnant of the Jews, 
 and their separation from the nations, together with 
 
 (rot) ^(povov^ rd irkfipuina (scil. tcji' Katpcjv) tcjv i.9voJv ciseXOtj. The 
 
 conversion of the Jews is to be the occasion of the conversion of 
 the Gentile nations, and not the reverse. 
 
 •Zech. 12. 10. fDan. 12. 1. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 359- 
 
 the infliction of vengeance on the great mass of the 
 wicked nations that opposed and persecuted the peo- 
 ple of God, are among the events which introduce the 
 dispensation, and form the first great epoch of the day 
 of judgment. The preservation and gathering together 
 of the remnant of converted Jews, in the midst of 
 these frightful scenes, is, therefore, the gathering of 
 the elect, of which the Saviour speaks. Mr. Faber 
 himself is constrained to admit that this is the event 
 referred to, although he pronounces the coming of 
 Christ, and the sending forth of his messengers, to be 
 altogether spiritual or allegorical. This being so, we 
 are now prepared to submit our last remark. 
 
 6. That the parable of the dividing between the sheep 
 and the goats, does not and cannot refer to the universal 
 resurrection of the dead, and the last epoch of the day of 
 judgment. It does indeed refer to a procedure of 
 judgment ; but evidently to the introductory scene 
 just noticed. For, there are several circumstances, 
 which prove conclusively that it cannot be the uni- 
 versal judgment of the race for the deeds which they 
 have individually done in the body. 
 
 (1.) The first we notice is, that so far from the dead 
 saints being embraced in the judgment, and the wicked 
 dead being raised, on the occasion referred to, there is 
 not a word intimated in the parable about a resurrection 
 from the dead. The idea of a general resurrection of the 
 dead is assumed and brought to interpret the parable. It 
 is not certainly expressed j and whatever resurrection is 
 implied, it is that of the holy afngels or messengers, 
 which we have shown, are the myriads of the saints 
 that come with Christ, and are sent forth to gather the 
 elect, i. e the remnant of Israel, according to the elec- 
 tion of grace. This gathering of the elect is the process 
 of separating the sheep and the goats, — a very different 
 
1 
 
 360 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT : . 
 
 thing from the resurrection of the promiscuous dead, 
 the separation of the righteous and the wicked, and 
 the punishment of the latter ; and consequently, the 
 separating of the sheep and the goats cannot be the 
 final act of judgment described by John. 
 
 (2.) The second circumstance we notice is, that the 
 judgment and separation here referred to, is a judg- 
 ment and separation of nations. They are Me -wa /tons, 
 that are gathered before Christ, and are divided one 
 from another.* For we have shown that the word 
 "nations" is never used to denote the promiscuous 
 mass of the dead, assembled at the final resurrection. 
 
 (3.) A third circumstance deserving of notice is, 
 that the rule of judgment which shall be adopted at 
 that time, is one which applies universally to the na- 
 tions. But that rule of judgment is to be the treat- 
 ment which was rendered to the sheep, whom Christ 
 calls his brethren. This is a very diflferent rule of judg- 
 ment from that which will be adopted at the final re- 
 surrection. Then^ each individual is to be judged 
 according to the deeds which he hath done in the body^ 
 i. e. the heathen, who never heard of Christ, by the 
 law of nature^ and those enlightened by Christianity, 
 according to the gospel. But the judgment here spoken 
 of, is a judgment of nations^ for their treatment of 
 Christ's brethren, allegorically spoken of as the sheep. 
 The sheep, who are the brethren of Christ, we have 
 seen are the remnant of Israel, according to the elec- 
 tion of grace, whom he regards as his brethren, be- 
 cause his kinsmen according to the flesh, as well as by 
 virtue of their submission to God, in a filial spirit, by 
 their conversion. These are not, indeed, exclusively 
 the brethren of Christ, for he recognizes all to be such, 
 
 ♦Matt. 25. 32. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 361 
 
 whether Jew or Gentile, who do truly possess like 
 precious faith with Abraham ; and the believing Gen- 
 tiles, being included in the covenant which God made 
 with him, the nations will be punished for their 
 treatment of them, but they, at this time, are all gath- 
 ered — the dead having come with Christ, and living 
 Christians having been changed at his coming. The 
 judgment on the nations then, it appears, is to be for their 
 treatment of the Jews — Christ's brethren according to 
 the flesh ; and for their treatment of true Christians — his 
 brethren according to the Spirit. Those nations which 
 have persecuted the Jews who have been scattered all 
 over the earth, and those which have persecuted the 
 church of God, are the goats, which God will give to 
 destruction. 
 
 This agrees exactly with the accounts given by Jere- 
 miah, in his twenty-fifth chapter, at large, and in other 
 places, and by Zechariah. " For I am with thee, saith 
 the Lord, to save thee, though I make a full end of all 
 nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not 
 make a full end of thee ; but I will 'correct thee in 
 measure, and will not leave thee altogether un- 
 punished."* " Fear thou not, O Jacob, my servant, 
 saith the Lord, for I am with thee ; for I will make a 
 full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee ; 
 but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee 
 in measure, yet I will not leave thee wholly unpun- 
 ished."! " And in that day will I make Jerusalem a 
 burdensome stone for all people, all that burden them- 
 selves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the 
 people of the earth be gathered together against it.":{: 
 He will make a full end of all nations, whither he 
 has driven his people, the Jews, who have trodden 
 
 • Jer. 30. 11. t Jer. 46. 28. \ Zech. 12. 3. 
 
 31* 
 
362 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT : 
 
 them down, but he will not of them. They shall be 
 gathered as the scattered sheep, as the flock of God, 
 and made the centre of renovating influences among 
 the remnant population of the nations that shall have 
 been destroyed, with their kings, and armies and in- 
 stitutions. Thus, the whole earth shall be brought 
 under the dominion of the people of the saints of the 
 Most High, and this elect people, rescued, gathered, 
 and saved by the risen saints, shall be the honored and 
 chosen nation through whom, in the re-establishment 
 of the theocracy, the risen saints, along with Christ, 
 shall reign over all the nations yet remaining in the 
 flesh. 
 
 (4.) The last circumstance we notice is, that the 
 retributions and other procedures referred to in the 
 two cases, do not correspond. In the judgment de- 
 scribed by Matthew, the saints come with Christ ; 
 receive the kingdom as their reward ; and, as the 
 heavenly rulers, take the empire out of the grasp of 
 the beast, and gather in the elect, at the time when 
 the Son of MaT> comes in his glory, and the glory of 
 his Father, with his holy messengers. They enter on 
 their glorious work and reward, to live and reign with 
 Christ. The sheep, as has been shown, are the rem- 
 nant of the Jewish nation^ according to election — con 
 verted and restored — who, together with the whole 
 body of the believing seed of Abraham, by whom they 
 are collected and marshalled, receive, at the right 
 hand of Jesus Christ, the place of favor and honor, 
 the reward of the kingdom prepared from the founda- 
 tion of the world. The raised and quickened saints 
 become the kings and priests of God, the associate 
 and subordinate rulers under Christ, through whom 
 the sway of Heaven is to be extended over the 
 earth ; each one receiving according as he has been 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 363 
 
 faithful ; being commissioned to rule over five or 
 ten cities, as the case may be. The restored Jewish 
 nation, under the dynasty of Heaven, receive the chief 
 imperial authority,* and while under the immediate 
 dominion of Christ and his saints, extend their sway, ac- 
 cording to all the blessed institutions of the theocracy, 
 over the nations of the earth that shall arise after the 
 scenes and shocks of that eventful day. The goats 
 are the nations that persecuted the Jews and the peo- 
 ple of God — the brethren of Christ. They are pun- 
 ished, utterly and for ever, — destroyed with everlasting 
 destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from 
 the glory of his power. Fearful and terrible will be 
 the fate of the wicked rulers and others, who have con- 
 ducted, "aided and abetted, or approved and counte- 
 nanced the persecution of Christ's brethren. The 
 treatment of Christ, in his members, is the rule of 
 procedure in this judgment. But in the judgment 
 referred to by John, there is express mention made of 
 very different scenes, and a very different rule of 
 procedure. The heaven and earth shall flee away 
 from before the face of him that shall sit on the great 
 white throne ; the dead, small and great, shall stand 
 before God, and each one shall be judged out of his 
 book containing the things recorded against him, — 
 judged according to his works. No mention is made 
 of rewards, — nothing said about inheriting a kingdom, 
 — nothinof about nations. It seems to be the last 
 stroke of divine vengeance inflicted on the congregated 
 dead, which prepares the way, and ushers in the full 
 and final triumph of Heaven, and the eternal state of 
 glory. 
 The parable of Christ, therefore, in the twenty-fifth 
 
 * Micah, 4. 6-8. 
 
364 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT : 
 
 chapter of Matthew, is but a condensed view of what 
 Ezekiel gives us, in his thirty-fourth chapter, where the 
 prophet describes the judgment of God upon the Gen- 
 tile nations, for having scattered his people abroad, 
 which people embrace, according to the Abrahamic 
 covenant, the natural descendants of Abraham, and 
 the Gentile believers, or churches, which have like 
 precious faith with Abraham. It is not necessary, 
 here, minutely to trace the resemblance between 
 Christ's and Ezekiel's account of this judgment. But 
 the following facts may be stated : — The sheep are 
 the people of Christ. They comprehensively include 
 the Jews first, and afterwards the church of God, who 
 take their place. The retributions of Heaven will be 
 awarded to the nations for their treatment of his peo- 
 ple. Those that have persecuted the Jews and the 
 church of God, will be regarded as having persecuted 
 the Saviour himself, and shall partake in the de- 
 struction and overthrow, by his avenging fire, which 
 shall destroy Popery and the anti-Christian nations. 
 Those that have nourished and cherished them, shall 
 be admitted as constituent members and parts of 
 that great kingdom which shall be established, " in 
 that day when, saith the Lord, I will assemble her 
 that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, 
 and her that I have afflicted. And I will make her 
 that halted a remnant, and her that was cast off a 
 strong nation, and Jehovah shall reign over them in 
 Mount Zion, from henceforth even for ever. And thou, 
 O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter 
 of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first domi- 
 nion ; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jeru- 
 salem." * This is the kingdom that shall be awarded 
 
 *Micah, 4. 6-8. 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 365 
 
 to the sheep — the remnant of Israel, according to the 
 election of grace, saved and gathered out of the na- 
 tions, — and into which those tribes and nations of the 
 earth shall be admitted as constituent parts, who shall 
 be found not to have persecuted, but nourished and 
 cherished the people of God ; but from which, by 
 their utter and everlasting overthrow, they shall be 
 excluded, who shall be consumed " by the spirit of his 
 mouth, and the brightness of his coming," along 
 with the beast and the false prophet — the secular and 
 spiritual Rome — for having persecuted the people 
 of God, and shed the blood of the saints. Thus, 
 then, it appears that the judgment .of Christ, set forth 
 in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, is the same 
 with that of Daniel and Paul, already examined, and 
 different in every essential particular from the general 
 floating notion, founded on it, of a universal, simulta- 
 neous, and promiscuous resurrection of the righteous 
 and the wicked, at some very remote day after one 
 thousand years' prosperity of the church of God : and 
 essentially different, too, from that described by John. 
 To sum up, then, what has been brought into view : 
 The twenty-fifth chapter is in perfect consonance with 
 the fact of Christ's pre-millenial coming ; and interpret- 
 ed, in connection with the twenty-fourth, and the pre- 
 dictions of the prophets referring to the same events, 
 the following are the grand and wonderful results we 
 obtain. We speak with diffidence, and presume not 
 to say that we may not have made some mistakes. The 
 scenes are too wonderful, and complicated, and ex- 
 tended, to harmonize fully before the events occur. 
 We wait, with ardent expectation, for the wondrous 
 scenes, and pray, that we may be accounted worthy to 
 escape the desolations of that day, and to stand before 
 the Son of Man, nor be ashamed at his coming. 
 
1 
 
 366 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT : 
 
 The general result of a pre-millenial coming of 
 Christ to judgment, is enough to excite our intensest 
 interest, even if we err in some of the minute details 
 of that wonderful procedure. 
 
 That this day of judgment is not strictly and exclu- 
 sively a short season of judicial investigations or trial j 
 but itself a dispensation, running through centuries, 
 and embracing the whole millenial reign of Christ and 
 his saints ; — that this dispensation is to be introduced 
 by the visible, personal coming of Jesus Christ ; — that 
 at his coming he will bring with him the myriads 
 of his saints who had died in faith, and who will then 
 receive their bodies^ raised from the dead in the like- 
 ness of Christ's glorious body j — that the saints then 
 living on the earth will also be changed, and caught lip 
 together with Christ in the air j — ^that this coming of 
 Christ will occur most suddenly, and, as it were, by 
 stealth, like a thief in the night ; — that the one half, at 
 least, of professing Christians being profoundly asleep, 
 and totally unprepared, will never awake to the sense 
 of their duty to look and watch for his coming, till the 
 wonderful scenes of the coming of Christ, the first resur- 
 rection, and the rapture of the living saints, shall over- 
 whelm them with horror and dismay j — that then the 
 church will be judged, and while honors will be awarded 
 to the raised and rapt saints, according to their works, 
 the unprofitable, formal professors shall be utterly and 
 eternally rejected, and perish in the overthrow of the 
 Man of sin and of his adherents, and in the destruction 
 of the anti-Christian nations ; — that an end shall be made 
 of all the nations that persecuted the Jews, and shed 
 the blood of the saints ; — that in the midst of these 
 scenes of destruction, as they shall be going on within 
 the territorial limits of the four great empires that 
 swayed the world, the raised saints will be sent to 
 
NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 367 
 
 collect the scattered Jews who shall have repented and 
 believed, at that time, that Jesus is their Messiah ; — that 
 the conversion of the Jews will be the occasion of the 
 conversion of whole nations among the Gentiles — 
 the remote heathen nations and others, among whom 
 the Jews were scattered, and the gospel was preached 
 for a witness, and that neither persecuted the Jews nor 
 shed the blood of the saints, but had not, nevertheless, 
 been Christianized ; — that the Jews will be re-estab- 
 lished in their own land, the theocracy restored, 
 Christ and his saints reign over them, and through 
 them, over all the nations of the earth ; — that Satan 
 will be cast into prison for one thousand years ; — that 
 thus the dominion of Heaven shall be established on 
 the earth, and the milleriial bliss and glory succeed j — 
 and that the final judgment of Satan, and the promis- 
 cuous throng of the wicked dead, who shall be raised 
 at the end of the thousand years, shall prepare the way 
 to usher in the glorious and eternal state when the 
 kingdom shall be delivered up into the hands of the 
 Father, and God shall be all in all. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE SEASON AND SIGNS OF CHRIST's COMING. 
 
 " They asked him saying, Master, but when shall 
 these things be 1 And what sign shall there be, 
 when these things shall come to pass."* The 
 question seems to have been suggested by the 
 remarks, which the Saviour had made relative to the 
 destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem. It 
 is obvious, from the terms in which Matthew proposes 
 it,t that it had an ulterior reference. The disciples 
 inquired, not only with regard to the fate of their 
 city, but also with regard to the period of the Saviour's 
 second coming, and of the end of the dispensation. 
 In this extended sense we understand the inquiry, and 
 propose to collate, from the prophetical Scriptures, 
 some of the more important and striking signs of the 
 coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We 
 shall thus be furnished with an additional argument 
 in proof of that coming being pre-millenial. 
 
 The theme is one of vast moment. The event 
 itself involves our eternal interests, and the destiny 
 of the world. If it be the fact that the once despised 
 Nazarene, the persecuted Galilean, who was crucified 
 between two thieves, but, having risen from the dead, 
 ascended to heaven, and received all power and author- 
 ity in heaven and on earth, is there waiting till the 
 
 * Luke, 21. 7. t Matt. 24. 3. 
 
THE SEASON AKD SIGNS OF CHRISt's COMING. 369 
 
 appointed season of God's forbearance shall have 
 been ended before he returns to earth to execute al- 
 nnighty and everlasting vengeance on his enemies, it 
 behoves us to be on the watch, and to inquire dili- 
 gently whether there shall be any, and if so, what will 
 be the signs of his coming. Inattention and neglect 
 here may prove fatal, as it has done, and will do yet, 
 to multitudes. 
 
 It is but a poor excuse, though often made and ex- 
 tensively entertained, that the whole subject is involved 
 in impenetrable mystery, and nothing definite or cer- 
 tain can be determined in relation to it. Enough i« 
 revealed to make us watchful, and to enable us to see 
 when it is near at hand, although we may not be able 
 to tell the hour or the 3'ear. Both the season and the 
 SIGNS of Christ's coming are accurately described. 
 
 I. The sEj\soN of his coming. — It appears from the 
 prophetical Scriptures that this is dated before thb 
 Millenium. The prediction of Daniel* with regard 
 to the destruction of the fourth beast, or Roman 
 empire, under the ascendant, despotic, and arrogant 
 sway of the little horn, or the Man of sin, furnishes 
 an irrefragable argument in proof of this. Let any man 
 carefully read this prophecy, and compare it with the 
 eleventh, nineteenth, and twentieth chapters of Reve- 
 lations, and he will see that they all refer to the same 
 season and to the same scenes. The coming of Christ 
 takes place at the destruction of the fourth, or Roman 
 despotism, before the Millenium. The only way to 
 evade the force of this argument is to make the co«h 
 ing not a literal but symbolical coming. This, how- 
 ever, cannot be done without assuming things which 
 have not been and cannot be proved, and without violat- 
 
 • Daniel, 7. 9-S». 
 32 
 
370 THE SEASON AND SIGNS • 
 
 ing the fundamental principles of that only true and 
 legitimate system of exegesis to be applied to the 
 Sacred Scriptures. 
 
 To the same effect is the prediction of the apostle 
 Paul,* which determines the chronology of the 
 Saviour's coming, and declares it to be at the time 
 of the destruction of the Man of sin, " that lawless 
 one," whom Jesus Christ shall " consume by the spirit 
 of his mouth, and destroy by the brightness of his 
 coming." 
 
 In like manner, the predictions concerning the con- 
 version and restoration of the Jews, which, it is ad- 
 mitted, are to be fulfilled before the Millenium, are set 
 forth as receiving their accomplishment in the same 
 season, and by means of the coming of Jesus Christ. 
 If the reader will compare Luke, 21. 24;-27, with Matt. 
 24. 29, 30, and Mark, 13. 24-27, he will find that they 
 all relate to the same coming, and describe the same 
 scenes. "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the 
 Gentiles (or nations), until the times of the Gentiles 
 be fulfilled,"! — at which period the Son of Man shall 
 be seen coming in the clouds of heaven. But it ap- 
 pears from Romans, 11. 25, &c., that the conversion 
 and restoration of the Jews do not take place " till 
 the fulness of the Gentiles be come in," i. e. the com- 
 pletion of the times of the Gentiles.J 
 
 * 2 Thcss. 2. 3-12. t Luke, 21. 24. 
 
 X The period during which the nations, in the exercise of their 
 political sovereignty, should oppose a harrier to the kingdom of 
 God, — the time of the continuance of the great systems of politi- 
 cal dominion which Daniel saw in vision, and described as the 
 four empires successively to arise in the world, during which the 
 kingdom of God would be delayed, and the saints be subjected to 
 the control and tyranny of the man of the earth. The words are, 
 
 i;^j3tf oi) TO nXt'ipwixa ruiv eOvCiv iiaiXQri. Bloomfield SayS TtXripwfta is 
 
 best explained as equivalent to ;rX»)Soj rdv cdvQv (as opposed to 
 
371 
 
 We add yet further, that the destruction of the nations, 
 which occurs in the war of Armageddon, predicted by- 
 John,* is evidently the same with that in the valley of 
 Jehoshaphat, predicted by Joel.f According to John,J 
 the beast and false prophet, the secular and spiritual 
 powers of the Roman Empire, are to be destroyed. 
 And in Joel's war in the valley of Jehoshaphat, Judah 
 and Jerusalem are to be restored, and according to 
 Zechariab,§ they are to be converted, as was Paul, 
 by the coming of Christ. The restoration and con- 
 version of the Jews, therefore, occurring at the des- 
 truction of the anti-Christian nations, and both being 
 pre-millenial, and cotemporaneous with the coming of 
 Christ, the season of his coming must be dated before 
 the Millenium. 
 
 The fact is, that all the other great events, which, it 
 is admitted, must occur before, or at the introduction 
 
 the {irrfina-L at V. 12) and signifying the great bulk of the hea- 
 thens — in a manner, all. At elacXOr) must be supplied eis rrii/ /Saai- 
 \eiav 70V Qeov, or cig rh.v niffTiv. The firrrina, or diminishing, referred 
 to in the twelfth verse, however, is not that of the Gentiles, but of 
 the Jews. The apostle there is not referring to time, but in the 
 twenty-fifth verse he is. He does not use the word TzMpoy^ia in re- 
 ference to the Gentiles, or their universal accession to the cause of 
 Christ, or entrance into his kingdom. The expression he applies 
 to this is TrXoSroj tGvM — the riches of the Gentiles — as opposed to 
 the diminution of the Jews. The TrXfinojxa avroii — " their fulness,^' 
 of the twelfth verse, is that of the Jews, and not of the Gentiles, as 
 the context plainly shows. During the oppression, and diminish- 
 ing, and scattering of the Jews, the Gentile nations are enriched 
 by the gospel. If this great result has flowed, says Paul, from 
 the diminution of the Jews, how much more enriched will the na- 
 tions of the earth be by their fulness, — the completion of God^s 
 designs of mercy towards them, in the full complement of their 
 redeemed nation ? If their depressed condition has enriched the 
 world, how much more their prosperous condition ? 
 
 • Rev. 16. 16. t Joel, 3. 2-12. 
 
 t Rev. 19. 19, 20. § Zech. 12, 10-12, 
 
1 
 
 31^ THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 of the Millenium, such as the harvest and vintage of 
 God's wrath, — the marriage supper of the Lamb, — the 
 supper of the great God made for the fowls of heaven 
 to eat the flesh of kings and captains, &c., and the 
 like, are spoken of in prophecy as cotemporaneous 
 with the coming of Jesus Christ; and the only pos- 
 sible method of evading the force of the argument 
 founded on them, in favor of his pre-millenial coming, 
 is to assume and to maintain, that the coming, contem- 
 plated in all these cases, is merely figurative. This, 
 we have shown, cannot be done consistently with cor- 
 rect principles of interpretation. We cannot, there- 
 fore, be at a loss with regard to the general season of 
 Christ's appearing. This season is designated by — 
 
 II. Various signs, premonitory or symptomatic of 
 its arrival. — These signs are of a twofold character — 
 1. Those in general descriptive of the season by 
 which it may be known when it arrives -, and, 2. Those 
 which mark, by definite events, how near we may be 
 .to it. The distinction here stated may be illustrated 
 by what occurs to the traveller. He has had a des^ 
 cription given him of a certain country, whither he 
 is wending his way. The country may be known 
 from its climate and soil, the character of its inhabit- 
 ants, and other general characteristic traits. With 
 this general description he is satisfied, till he enters 
 the country, and begins to inquire the way to the 
 place in it which he seeks— the end of his journey. 
 He wants then something more definite, and would 
 feel greatly pleased to find himself on the public high- 
 way, with its milestones regularly planted, appris- 
 ing him, from stage to stage, how near or distant it 
 may be. 
 
 It is thus with us, as time bears us forward to the 
 great epoch of the Saviour's coming. The season, or 
 
OF CHKIST S COMING. 
 
 general period in the dispensations of God?*T[T iuvi - '^^ 
 
 dence, in which the Saviour is to appear, is described 
 very accurately ; and certain events which form, as it 
 were, the milestones planted on the way, are predicted 
 to occur, as we draw nearer and nearer to the day of 
 his coming. It is true, they are not planted at regular 
 intervals, nor do they come up precisely to the very 
 date. They are rather like index boards, planted 
 here and there, which cease to give us definite infor- 
 mation, when we approach very near the event. 
 
 This distinction between the season and time, is 
 recognized in Scripture.* 
 
 The season in which Christ will appear is described 
 as — 
 
 1. j1 season of great increase of knowledge. Daniel 
 was told by the angel to shut up the words, and seal 
 the book to the time of the end, but at the same time, 
 that many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be 
 increased. f This most probablj^- has reference to the 
 obscurity which should hang around the page of pro- 
 phecy, like that of a sealed or unopened book. It 
 should not be removed till the time of the end — the 
 season of its accomplishment, but that then many 
 would investigate the truth, and knowledge be 
 increased. The word translated run to and fro,\ 
 is metaphorically used to denote investigation, close, 
 diligent, accurate observation — just as the eyes of the 
 Lord are said to run to and fro. The reference is not 
 to Missionary exertions in particular, but to the study 
 of the Scriptures, especially the sealed book of prophecy. 
 
 The season during which the great and dreadful 
 
 * 1 Thess. 5. 2. f Dan. 12; 4. 
 
 J V^Nn-Sojj D'caittTo in universa terra discurrentes. 2. Chron. 16. 
 9. Metaph. percurrere librum, i. e. perscrutari. Dan. 12. 4. — 
 Gesenius. 
 
 32* 
 
I 
 
 374 THE SEASON AND SIGNS. 
 
 day of the Lord shall come, will be a season of great 
 light and religious knowledge, and far beyond any- 
 thing ever known in the world before. Isaiah* says, 
 " In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, 
 and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity 
 and darkness." 
 
 This illumination or increase of Divine knowledge, 
 it is predicted, shall occur after a period of great 
 inattention and indifference to the sealed book of God 
 — the prophetical Scriptures. " Stay yourselves and 
 wonder, cry ye out and cry : they are drunken, but 
 not with wine : they stagger, but not with strong 
 drink. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the 
 spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes : the 
 prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. 
 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words 
 of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one 
 that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee : and he 
 saith, I cannot, for it is sealed. And the book is de- 
 livered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I 
 pray thee : and he saith I am not learned."! This is 
 an apt description of the state of things which has 
 existed, and to a great extent yet exists in the church 
 and world, especially in reference to the subject of 
 the prophecies. 
 
 If Daniel's prediction of increased knowledge ap- 
 plies mainly, though not exclusively, as is most pro- 
 bable, to the investigation and knowledge of the more 
 sure word of prophecy, it is at this day remarkably 
 fulfilled. The learned theologians and teachers since 
 the days of the Reformation — the men who have done 
 much to rescue the Scriptures from obscurity, to 
 throw light upon its pages, and through the study of 
 
 • Isaiah, 29. 18. f Isaiah, 29. 9-12. 
 
375 
 
 the Bible to liberate the human mind from the igno- 
 rance, darkness, and superstition, in which for ages it 
 was held, have nevertheless, with few exceptions, neg- 
 lected the study of the prophecies, and not a few of 
 them have assigned as a reason of the fact, that they 
 are a sealed book ; and while this was the case the 
 unlearned, both of the clergy and the laity, have 
 plead their want of learning as a sujSicient excuse 
 for their neglect of it. But within the last half cen- 
 tury the attention of many has been turned in this direc- 
 tion, and the discussions and publications which have 
 followed, have thrown great light on the whole subject. 
 The remark is true, not only in reference to the 
 great revival of theological and biblical literature and 
 studies; the greatly advanced knowledge of the ori- 
 ginal languages, Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek, in which 
 the Scriptures are written, and of the cognate dialects ; 
 of the general principles and value of philology, of the 
 oriental manners and customs, and of the geography 
 and history of ancient nations and places referred to 
 in the word of God ; but also to every branch of litera- 
 ture and science. This is pre-eminently a day of in- 
 vention and improvement. Bible Societies, Tract Soci- 
 eties, Sabbath Schools, Theological and Missionary 
 institutions, Temperance Societies, Lyceums, and in- 
 numerable different moral, literary, scientific, and 
 religious associations, have given a powerful impulse 
 to the human mind. Never was there a day so marked 
 with advancement in science, improvement in the arts, 
 and the diffusion of general intelligence, by the pul- 
 pit, the press, and the public lecturer, as the present. 
 It is obvious, however, to the most superficial observer, 
 that the great mass of this knowledge is unsanctified. 
 The improvements in the arts and sciences, and the 
 general literature of the day, instead of promoting 
 
376 THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 general virtue and religion, are leading men away 
 from God. A vast proportion of these things bears 
 the stamp of infidelity. Science has, in fact, been 
 made subservient to crime, and proves that however 
 valuable is knowledge, and however infinitely impor- 
 tant when sanctified and rightly directed, it furnishes 
 no barrier in itself, against immorality and vice, and 
 all the corruptions that sap the very life-blood of the 
 social state. 
 
 2. A second great feature of the predicted season of 
 Christ's coming is that of great luxury growing out of 
 increased wealth. James evidently had his eye on this 
 when he said, " Go to, now, ye rich men, weep and 
 howl for the miseries that shall come upon you : your 
 riches are corrupted and your garments are moth- 
 eaten : your gold and silver is cankered, and the 
 rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall 
 eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure 
 together for the last days.^^* 
 
 Seldom, if ever, has there been a period when there 
 has been manifested a greater ardor in the pursuit and 
 accumulation of wealth, than in these last days. In 
 former periods of the world, the kings and nobility 
 possessed the wealth, and held the people as their 
 vassals. But of late years the race has been thrown 
 open to all. Individual exertion has not been deemed 
 sufficient. Men have not been satisfied with personal 
 industry, but corporate and other associations have 
 been formed to increase the facilities for rapidly ac- 
 cumulating wealth. Companies and combinations have 
 been entered into for the purpose of heaping up trea- 
 sures. Minopolies have been attempted, and banking 
 institutions been formed, which have afl^orded the 
 
 * James, 5. 1-3. 
 
OF Christ's coming. 377 
 
 means of doing so. What immense amounts of insur- 
 ance capital have been heaped together — how endless 
 have been the joint-stock operations — how infatuated 
 have men been with all kinds of stocks — how jealous 
 and oppressive have different nations been in laying on 
 their duties and imposts — how close and calculating, 
 and extensive have been the large manufacturer's plans 
 for the multiplication of his fabrics, and the power of 
 machinery, as far as possible, been substituted for ma- 
 nual or personal labor and attention ! How have the 
 various productions of domestic industry, so health- 
 ful and productive in any community — the system of 
 labor, which made every farm-house and hamlet a 
 happy and virtuous manufactory of all necessary and 
 essential fabrics — been broken d6wn and supplanted, 
 by the large and wholesale manufactories, where hu- 
 man beings, not only in the manufacture of necessary 
 articles from staple commodities, but in the multipli- 
 cation of luxuries, are used as mere parts of a vast 
 system of machinery, and the per diem allowance for 
 the support of life, made a matter of close calculation ; 
 and where by some sudden and unexpected change in 
 the trade or in the legislation of the country, hundreds 
 and thousands have been thrown out of employment, 
 and been left without the means of subsistence and 
 opportunities to obtain them ! Monopolies have been 
 the order of the day j and although the Lord, in his 
 providence, has thrown perplexity and confusion 
 ^mong men, has brought a heavy pressure on the 
 commercial world, and has deranged the working of 
 their systems, yet the public mind has not been cured. 
 To grind down the poor, and heap treasure- together 
 for the last days, is as much the object with the 
 great mass as it ever was. 
 
 The spirit of luxury, too, which always rises and 
 
1 
 
 37$ THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 falls with large and rapid accumulations of wealth, has 
 seldom been greater than of late years. The affluent 
 and pampered nobility of England, who luxuriate at 
 the expense of the suffering, and in the midst of the 
 slow and gradual starvation of the squalid poor around 
 them, are made extensively in these republican states 
 the objects of envy, and the patterns of luxury. The 
 extravagance and luxury of our large cities, a few 
 years since, were but the index of what was going on 
 in the world at large ; and although the derangement 
 of our currency, the fluctuations of commerce, the 
 depreciation of stocks, and the destruction of confi- 
 dence and credit, have administered a severe but 
 righteous punishment, yet is there no proof that the 
 public mind is cured, and that the people have repent- 
 ed and begun to fear God. The great god of Eng- 
 land, of France, of Turkey, of the United States, 
 indeed, throughout the civilized world, seems to be, 
 political reform ; but it is sought and adored only to 
 afford means for the more certain and rapid and suc- 
 cessful prosecution of men's covetous and avaricious 
 designs to heap up treasures for the last days. 
 
 3. A third feature of the predicted season of Chrisfs 
 comings is a season of perplexity and trouble. The angel 
 told Daniel that it should occur when " there shall be 
 a time of trouble, such as there never was since there 
 was a nation, even to that same time."* Luke also 
 reports the Saviour to have declared, that, in that sea- 
 son, " Men's hearts shall be failing them for fear, and 
 for looking after those things which are coming on the 
 earth."t It would seem that the season of Christ's 
 coming occurs before the actual development of those 
 troubles. Confusion and perplexity of mind, uneasi- 
 ness and anxiety, in view of the bearing of present on 
 * Dan. 12. 1. f Luke, 21. 26. 
 
379 
 
 future events, while yet the world is generally in 
 peace, is one of the most striking and distinctly 
 marked features of that eventful season. The fears 
 and perplexity precede those troubles to some extent, 
 but the great and terrible distress comes after it. 
 
 4-. This agrees with a fourth characteristic feature of 
 the predicted season of Christ's comings viz. the world 
 will be, to a very great extent, in a state of peace. I'he 
 Saviour has said, that as it was in the days of Noah, 
 so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. They were 
 eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,* 
 totally unaware of the approaching calamity. So 
 also was it in Sodom and Gomorrah, and the first 
 thing that brought them to realize the truth of what 
 had been foretold, was the torrents of judgment, that 
 burst forth upon them from the hand of God. The 
 world at this day appears to possess all these charac- 
 teristics. Was there ever a time when in the midst 
 of peace, and the most plentiful supply of the fruits of 
 the earth, there was so much perplexity and trouble 1 
 We see meil living in luxurious perplexity, in splendid 
 misery — in opulent poverty. The paradox is fully 
 realized, and the legislation of our own country and 
 of others, has received indelibly the stamp and im- 
 press of this feature of the times. 
 
 Twelve years ago the prying statesmen and astute 
 politicians of this world, descried that its peace was 
 portentous. " It is impossible," said a writer in the 
 Edinburgh Review,! " to look to the state of the old 
 world without seeing, or rather feeling, that there is 
 a greater and more momentous contest impending than 
 ever before agitated human society. In Germany, in 
 Spain, in France, in Italy, the principles of Reform 
 
 • Mat. 24. 38. t May, 1830. 
 
1 
 
 380 THE SEASOx^ AND SIGNS 
 
 tknd Liberty are visibly arraying themselves for a final 
 struggle with the principles of established abii«e, 
 legitimacy, or tyranny, or whatever else it is called by 
 its friends or enemies. Even in England, the more 
 modified elements of the same principles, are stirring 
 and heaving around, above, and beneath us, with unpre- 
 cedented agitation and terror; and everything betokens 
 an approaching crisis in the great European common- 
 wealth, by the result of which the future character of 
 its government, and the structure and condition of its 
 society, will, in all probability, be determined." The 
 terror since expressed, is much greater among those 
 statesmen to whom 
 
 " The aspiring heads of future things appear." 
 
 There are times, as it has been said, when naaa 
 stands nearer than usual to the mysterious fountain of 
 his destiny. Such a time is ours. 
 
 5. The last characteristic feature of the predicted 
 season of Chrises coming which we notice, is great, deep, 
 and profound slumber, in reference to it, on the part of 
 the church of God, though not universal. The parable of 
 the ten virgins refers directly to this subject. All are 
 described to be in deep sleep till the midnight cry was 
 heard, and one half to have lost their oil, and to have 
 been totally unprepared to meet the Lord at his coming 
 — while the other half, quickly awake, and having their 
 lights trimmed and burning, await, in momentary ex- 
 pectation, his appearance. How deep and extensive, 
 at present, is the lethargy of the Christian church oil 
 this subject. Our popular and most widely circulat- 
 ing periodicals ridicule the very idea* It is almost 
 impossible to persuade them to publish anything cal- 
 culated to excite attention. Multitudes of ministers 
 cannot be induced to investigate or even read upon 
 
COMING. 381 
 
 the subject. The few that do are accounted weak- 
 minded and erratic, — and the cry of peace and safety- 
 extends far and wide, — no evil shall come upon us is 
 the flattering unction which the multitude lay to their 
 own souls. In very many pulpits, and by various de- 
 nominations, the idea of future punishment is ridiculed 
 or denounced. Skepticism in various forms insinu- 
 ates itself even into the church of God. Peace, peace, 
 is the cry. There is no avenging God whose wrath 
 need alarm you. Never were the doctrines of univer- 
 sal salvation carried to such an extent, or so multi- 
 plied and varied in their forms, as at the present day. 
 Never did men boast more loudly of the advance of 
 civilisation, and contend more pertinaciously that the 
 regular action of established secondary causes is 
 abundantly competent for the government of the world. 
 God's agency is excluded and lost sight of j and the 
 cry is heard, with ribaldrous triumph, " since the 
 fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were 
 from the beginning of creation — where is the promise 
 of His coming V* 
 
 While infidelity scoffs, a large portion of the Chris- 
 tian world never dream of the personal coming of 
 Jesus Christ ; but are praying, and laboring, with 
 confident expectation, for the speedy conversion of 
 the world by means of the efforts and influences 
 now employed — so valuable and important in their 
 place — for the multiplication of Missionaries and 
 the spread of the Gospel ; while this and the other 
 zealot and bigot is hoping to see his church assume 
 ascendant influence and lead the way to the Mille- 
 nium. Verily, should the Saviour now return, the 
 event would just as fully surprise the world as did 
 the waters of the Deluge in the days of Noah. 
 * 2 Peter, 3. 4. 
 33 
 
382 THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 We mean not to insinuate that Missionary efforts, 
 and other labors of benevolence, should be relaxed. 
 The groans of a world perishing in its corruptions 
 call for quickened, multiplied effort, and for zeal ir- 
 repressible and inextinguishable. The Gospel of the 
 kingdom must be preached, in all the world, for a 
 witness unto all nations : and then shall the end 
 come !* It is our business to consecrate ourselves to 
 the service of God wholly and devotedly, and to the 
 utmost extent of our opportunities and abilities, en- 
 deavor to spread that Gospel and hasten the day of 
 his coming. As "God has visited the Gentiles to 
 take out of them a people for his name,"! and is seal- 
 ing his people by the influence of his blessed Spirit, 
 it is our privilege and honor to be his instruments, 
 and to co-operate with our glorious Redeemer for the 
 salvation of souls and the glory of his name. Every 
 sinner saved becomes an heir of the kingdom, and is 
 destined to live and reign with Christ. Our motives 
 to action are as powerful, as they are plain and intel- 
 ligible ; while we deceive not ourselves or others by 
 vain-glorious expectations, and stimulate to zeal and 
 Christian enterprise by appeals to their imaginations, 
 and by exciting hopes, however flattering, which God 
 has not authorized. We should rejoice to think that 
 there is no storm gathering round this world. ButZion 
 is to be redeemed with judgment. Jesus Christ will 
 break the nations with a rod of iron, and dash them in 
 pieces like a potter's vessel. Who will not be actively 
 engaged to rescue as many as possible of our guilty 
 race before the storm bursts'? 
 
 Besides the general description of the season, the 
 prophets have given us a variety of signs designed to 
 mark more particularly the time of Christ's coming. The 
 • Matt. 24. 14. t Acts, 15. 14. 
 
OF Christ's coming. 383 
 
 precise day and hour are not indeed defined, but a va- 
 riety of events are detailed, which, occurring consecu- 
 tively, enable us to judge, from time to time, of our 
 approach to that great and wonderful event. In gene- 
 ral the whole intervening period between the first and 
 second coming of the Saviour is described with suffi- 
 cient accuracy. Not one word was ever said by Christ 
 or his apostle* about a great and universal change in the 
 world, to be produced by the preaching of the Gospel, 
 which would take away the shame and reproach of 
 the cross, or render it easy and fashionable, and gene- 
 rally characteristic of men, to be active, zealous, and 
 consistent Christians. They have not dropped one 
 word about such a state of things as the spiritualist 
 expects in his Millenium. On the contrary, the whole 
 intervening period is described as one of trouble and 
 commotion. The Saviour has distinctly forewarned 
 us, that the world would never be long at peace — but 
 wars and rumors of wars, from generation to genera- 
 tion, and age to age, should prevail — that there should be 
 continually false Christs and false prophets arising, and 
 various predictions and explanations of Christ's being 
 and coming here and there — that opposition, tribula- 
 tion, and persecution in some shape or degree would be 
 the common lot of all his followers — that the govern- 
 ments of earth, yea, and those of the church, the 
 synagogues, would persecute and afflict his people — 
 that revolutions and confusion would often and exten- 
 sively prevail — and that the world shall never settle 
 down in the enjoyment of true and permanent peace 
 and felicity till he comes. He came not to send 
 peace on earth but a sword. All these things, there- 
 fore, as they have occurred from age to age, are 
 standing signs of his coming. They are the great 
 monuments which he causes to be raised in this fallen 
 
384 THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 world, on which are engraven, and men may read, the 
 proclamation of his coming. 
 
 III. But there are other and more particular signs of 
 HIS coming. 
 
 1. It was predicted that an extensive and powerful 
 apostasy should take place. That day shall not come 
 except there come a falling away first, ^d that man 
 of sin be revealed the son of perdition.* The Spirit 
 speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall 
 depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits 
 and doctrines of devils.f In both places the apostle 
 draws the image of Popery, and describes it so exactly 
 that there can be no doubt in any candid mind that he 
 regarded it as the apostasy. PeterJ declares that it 
 is in the church it is to be looked for, and that it 
 would be brought about by the influence of false 
 teachers, denying the Lord that bought them ; actu- 
 ated by covetous and avaricious designs, and prevail- 
 ing by hypocritical and imposing pretences to make 
 merchandise of the saints. Jude's description is to 
 the same effect. All the attributes of the great apos- 
 tasy predicted to occur before the coming of Christ, 
 are to be found in the Papacy — such as demonolatry, 
 or the worship of dead men and women, the prohibi- 
 tion of marriage, a superstitious abstinence from 
 meats, commerce in the souls of men, or making mer- 
 chandise of them, as is done by the sale of indul- 
 gences and the purchase of masses for the dead. 
 
 2. Another sign given to the church was, that this 
 apostasy should not occur till the Roman Empire or 
 fourth beastj whose appropriate territory is in the south 
 and west of Europe and north of ^frica^ should be 
 
 * 2 Thess. 2. 3. H Tim, 4. 1. J 2 Pet. 2. 3, 
 
385 
 
 divided into ten kingdoms. This is what both Daniel 
 and John meant by the ten horns on the head of the 
 beast, as has already been shown. This event took 
 place by the invasion of the northern barbarians du- 
 ring the fifth and sixth centuries, and in the establish- 
 ment of the ten kingdoms: — 1. of the Visigoths in Gaul 
 and Spain. 2. The Suevi in Spain. 3. The Heruli in 
 Italy. 4. The Francs in Belgium. 5. The Burgun- 
 dians in Burgundy. 6. The Saxons in Britain. 7. The 
 Alans in Gaul and Spain. 8. The Ostrogoths in 
 Pannonia. 9, The Lombards in Pannonia. 10. The 
 Vandals in Africa. 
 
 3. A third sign was to be the rise of a diminutiv^^ 
 power ^ which should subvert three of these kingdom^y^ 
 introduce radical changes in times and laws, and be the 
 very apo!>tasy embodied and personified. This power, 
 whom we have identified with the Pope of Rome, it 
 was predicted should make war with the saints of the 
 Most High, and prevail against them until the Ancient • 
 of Days should come j judgment should be given to 
 the saints of the Most High, and the time come when 
 they should possess the kingdom. This sign points 
 us near to the great and signal day. For — 
 
 4. The time of the continuance of this lawless and per- 
 secuting power is predicted. Several prophecies bring 
 this into view and all limit that time to 1,260 years. 
 If, then, we can ascertain the date of its rise, we may 
 be able to determine pretty nearly that of its destruc- 
 tion, which event is to be secured by the coming of 
 Christ. Two sources of difficulty, however, occur — 
 one is the fact that there are various marked epochs 
 or dates in the rise of the papal power, as 533, 538, 
 606, and 756. Which is the one meant in prophecy 
 we shall, probably, never know till the event occurs, 
 so that darkness hangs around the close of this pe- 
 
 33* 
 
386 THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 riod of 1,260 years. Another source of difficulty is, 
 the doubt whether the years are to be computed as 
 so many years of 360 or of 365 days, — if the former, 
 making a difference of some seventeen years and three 
 months. Still, having the time of the continuance of 
 this great persecuting and apostate power, we can 
 come so near the wonderful crisis, as to be awake and 
 eagerly expecting the great and glorious things pre- 
 dicted relative to the coming of Christ. 
 
 5. This chronological sign is further set forth by 
 various separate and independent periods, the duration of 
 which is given, and all converging to one point in the 
 last and terrible consummation of God's wrath upon his 
 enemies. Thus, the whole period of his church's 
 trials and tribulation, and of the times of the Gentile 
 domination, is said to be seven times,* or according to 
 prophetical calculation seven years of years, that is, 
 2,520 years, of which 1,260 is the one half. Also the 
 time of Daniel's vision, said to be 2,300 years,f and 
 the periods of 1,290 and 1,335,J one thirty, and the 
 other seventy-five years beyond the close of the 1,260 
 years of papal domination, and forming great epochs 
 in the development of God's plan. We enter not 
 into the discussions on the subject of chronological 
 prophecy, that being foreign from the design of these 
 dissertations. Hereafter the subject may receive at- 
 tention, and the views and reasonings of those be 
 examined, who affirm the prophetical numbers to be 
 indeterminate. Yet it may be proper to remark, that 
 the church, in seasons of affliction and oppression, 
 has generally had some chronological prediction, di- 
 recting her hope forward to events which should have 
 
 * Lev. 26. 14-39 ; especially verses. 18, 21, 24, 28. 
 t Daniel, 8. 14. | Daniel, 12. 11, 12. 
 
OF CHEIST'S COMING. «- 
 
 38;ii: 
 
 a bearing on her interests and prosperity ; and even 
 the world, too, have had great dates assigned for future 
 signal and punitive events. 
 
 When Noah began to preach to the antediluvian 
 world, and to forewarn them of the coming flood, 
 one hundred and twenty years* was stated to be the 
 term of God's forbearance till its occurrence. When 
 Israel were oppressed in Egypt, they had the predic- 
 tion, made to Abraham, of the four hundred yearsf 
 of their affliction, which dated at the mocking of 
 Isaac by Ishmael, and terminated in their deliverance. 
 Isaiah predicted the period when the kingdom of 
 IsraelJ should be overthrown j Jeremiah the seventy 
 years of Judah's captivity ;§ and Daniel the period 
 of seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, 
 when the Messiah would have appeared.|| We are 
 not therefore to be told that there is no such thing as 
 chronological prophecy. 
 
 It pleased God, however, in every instance to leave 
 the precise date for the commencement of the period 
 somew^hat obscure ; but the events fulfilling the pre- 
 diction demonstrated, not only when that date oc- 
 curred, but the precision with which the prophecy had 
 been accomplished. Daniel was not a poetical pro- 
 phet, but a plain, matter-of-fact man ; or, as we would 
 say, in our modern parlance, a business man, ac- 
 quainted with the nature and importance of statistical 
 matters. Events have proved that one of his chrono- 
 logical predictions was not indeterminate. It is there- 
 fore assuming too much to affirm, that his other pe- 
 riods are of a different character, and John's also, who 
 takes his principal chronological prophecy from him. 
 
 • Gen. 6. 3. f Gen. 15. 13. 
 
 i Isaiah, 7. 1-9. § Jer. 25. 12; 29. 10. 
 
 II Daniel, 9. 1, 4, 20-27. 
 
388 THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 Our object is not to adjust dates, but merely to 
 show that we have certain chronological signs or 
 series of dates, by which to compute the period of 
 Christ's coming. It is true, that the period of their 
 commencement cannot positively be determined, inas- 
 much as there are several series of events, occurring 
 at different periods^ from any one of which they may 
 be severally commenced, and calculating forward, we 
 shall be pointed to as many different dates for their 
 termination. Thus the period of 2,520, for the chas- 
 tening of the Jews, may be dated from 731 B. C, 
 when Shalmanezer invaded the ten tribes, and made 
 Samaria tributary to him j or 727 B. C, when he car- 
 ried Israel captive j or 724 B. C, when he laid siege 
 to Samaria ; or 722 B. C, when he took it the second 
 time 5 or 714 B. C, when Sennacherib invaded Judea ; 
 or 708 B. C, when his army was destroyed ; or 677 
 B. C, when Esarhaddon extinguished the kingdom of 
 Israel. Counting 2,520 years, the period of Israel's 
 trial, from each of these dates, we are brought to 
 important dates in the world's history from 1780 to 
 1843-4, in all of which, as far as they have transpired, 
 some remarkable movements have taken place in God's 
 providence, evidently preparing the way for a great 
 and final catastrophe in the affairs of the nations.* 
 In like manner, the period of 2,300 years in the vision 
 of Daniel, may be dated from the edict of Cyrus, 536 
 B. C. ; or of Darius Hystaspes, 518 B. C. j or of the 
 seventh year of Artaxerxes, 457 or 456 B. C. ; or of 
 the twentieth of the sanie monarch, 444, or 434, or 
 432 B. C, not to mention others, which will bring us 
 to A. D. 1764, 1782, 1843, 1856, 1866, 1868. 
 
 Mr. Miller has assumed the third date, and confi- 
 
 ♦ See Habershon's Dissertations on the Prophetic Scriptures, 
 
OF Christ's coming. 389&- 
 
 dently preaches that the coming of Christ will be in 
 1843. He has not proved his assumption to be cor- 
 rect j but, on the contrary, neglecting the harmony of 
 prophecy, and spiritualizing all that is said about the 
 conversion and restoration of the Jews, the war of 
 Gog and Magog, the battle of Armageddon, and other 
 important predictions, he relieves himself from much 
 trouble and embarrassment as an interpreter of pro- 
 phecy, and, as we think, with unauthorized confidence 
 announces the year and day of Christ's appearance. 
 
 God, we think, has purposely left these dates in 
 doubt, so that we may not be able to know precisely • 
 the day of Christ's coming. We regret, therefore, 
 that so much confidence and boldness of assertion, 
 not sustained by sufi[icient proof, should have been- 
 indulged in on this subject. We believe it is impos- 
 sible, for the reasons already stated, and others which 
 might be added, to demonstrate the precise day and 
 hour. Nevertheless, we can descry with sufiicient 
 distinctness the general period or season during which 
 the grand event will take place, so that we cannot be 
 more remote from it, at the furthest assignable date, 
 than one hundred and seventy-five years. We may 
 be, and most probably are, much nearer, and although 
 we cannot but condemn the confidence with which it 
 is asserted that next year will be the period, as do 
 Mr. Miller and many others, yet we believe that some- 
 where from 1843 to 1847, will be marked by very clear 
 and decided movements in God's providence, tending 
 to shape the character of approaching political com- 
 motions, and to affect the interests of the Jewish 
 nation, and of the church and the world, which shall 
 render it a marked epoch, and prove that we are ad- 
 vanced one stage nearer to the time of the end. 
 
 6. Another sign anterior to the coming of Christ is 
 
1 
 
 390 THE SEASON AND SIGNS . 
 
 the wasting of the Ottoman Empire. This is the sym- 
 bolical drying up of the river Euphrates, spoken of by 
 John as occurring under the pouring out of the sixth 
 vial, during which the note of warning is sounded by 
 the Saviour, " Behold, I come as a thief in the night."* 
 None can be ignorant of the rapid progress of disso- 
 lution which is now going on in the Turkish empire. 
 That sagacious traveller, Mr. Elliot, several years ago 
 remarked, *'The empire is hurried to destruction by 
 the pressure from without. Circumstances have 
 forced her into painful contact with the insatiable 
 ambition of the czars, the timid cautiousness of Eng- 
 land, the vacillating system of France, and the cold 
 calculating policy of Austria. All these have exer- 
 cised, and still exercise, a baneful influence on the 
 Divan, which is driven to and fro by fears and mena- 
 ces, distracted by contentions, and harassed by in- 
 trigues. Torn by so many conflicting interests, Tur- 
 key would long since have fallen into the hands of one 
 or other of the European powers, had not their recip- 
 rocal jealousies rendered it impossible for any one to 
 take possession of her without encountering the can- 
 nons of its rivals. The present is an interval of strife 
 with expectation, in which all are watching each, and 
 one is bafiling all."f 
 
 We may add that the present peace of Europe is 
 preserved by the very antagonism of the interests of 
 the allied powers. The partition of Turkey would 
 be the signal of general war. While the united efl^ort 
 of the despotic sovereigns is to uphold it in its integ- 
 rity, the plague is depopulating its principal cities ; 
 
 * Rev. 16. 16. 
 
 t See also the communication of Rev. Mr. Goodell, Missionary 
 of A. B. C. F. M., at Constantinople, in Missionary Herald for 
 April, 1841. 
 
391 
 
 earthquakes and fires and other calamities are hasten- 
 ing its ruin ; province after province has fallen away, 
 and insurrections are continually occurring. By the 
 treaty of Unkiar Skelessi the crescent was struck 
 from the Moslem's brow, and the Russian bear became 
 the protector of Turkey. Greece has declared her- 
 self independent. Moldavia and Wallachia have re- 
 volted, and been permanently occupied by Russia. 
 The French have wrested away Algiers, and are at- 
 tempting to found an empire on the northern coast of 
 Africa. Albania and Bosnia are torn by internal dis- 
 cords and dissensions. Ibrahim Pacha's victorious 
 march nearly to the gates of Constantinople, proved 
 the weakness of the empire. Egypt has been recog- 
 nized as an independent sovereignty. Syria is wasted 
 by insurrectionary wars, and must soon too be erected 
 into an independent nation. Servia, too, is wasted by 
 insurrectionary movements. Everything bears the 
 stamp of wasting and decay. The die is cast. The 
 Ottoman is reduced to the rank of a puppet among 
 the sovereigns of Europe, and Turkey now survives 
 only through their forbearance and mutual jealousies. 
 7. A further sign of Christ^s coming is the resusci- 
 taiion of the ancient oriental kingdoms. These we under- 
 stand to be " the kings of the East,"* for whose ap- 
 pearance the way is prepared by the drying up of the 
 waters of the mystic Euphrates. The king of the 
 north and the king of the south, spoken of by Daniel.f 
 which are the powers that respectively make Syria 
 and Egypt their dominion, are to be revived, and to act 
 their part in the last scenes of the great tragedy. Al- 
 ready have Persia, Greece, and Egypt taken a conspi- 
 cuous place among the nations of the earth. Syria 
 
 * Rev. 16. 12. t Daniel, 11. 40-45. 
 
39ii THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 and Palestine yet lie waste, but indications are very 
 clear and decisive that on the ruins of the Turkish 
 Empire, or in its future decline, they too are destined 
 to revive, and the questions of establishing a new 
 political sovereignty in Syria, and of the return and 
 re-establishment of the Jews in their own land, have 
 already engaged the attention of the cabinets of 
 Europe. 
 
 8. A further sign to precede the coming of Christy is 
 the rise of some great military power, emphatically the 
 .Antichrist, whose temporary triumph shall be marked 
 with violent persecution, and by the slaughter of the two 
 witnesses. We cannot see that either of these events 
 has as yet occurred. 
 
 Various opinions have been entertained on these 
 subjects, some believing the Pope to be Antichrist, — 
 some the secular Roman Empire under its last head — 
 some a politico-ecclesiastical power to be brought into 
 existence through the influence of the Pope, and to re- 
 ceive the temporary support of the ten kings or anfi- 
 Christian nations of Europe, who will make Syria and 
 Palestine the centre of his dominion, and probably Je- 
 rusalem his capital j and there, for a season, terribly 
 persecute the people of God, symbolized by the two 
 witnesses, or, in other words, suppress the profession 
 of Christianity. 
 
 Mr. Faber* supposes the two witnesses to have been 
 the two churches of the Vallenses and the Albigenses, 
 — which he thinks alone answer to the description, — 
 their death to bave been the dissolution in their cor- 
 porate capacity, by the edict of the Duke of Savoy at 
 the instigation of the French king — which edict bore 
 date the 31st of January, 1686, — and their resurrec- 
 
 * See Faber's Sac. Cal., v. 3. pp. 8-106. 
 
OF Christ's coming. 3^^ 
 
 tion to have been the successful invasions of Savoy, 
 by the exiles, who, on the I6th day of August, 1689, 
 crossed the lake of Geneva, and by April of 1690, 
 had firmly established themselves in their ancient 
 seats. 
 
 Mr. Cuninghame* thinks that the two witnesses are 
 the true spiritual church — that their death was accom- 
 plished in the promulgation in 1548 of the new sys- 
 tem of doctrine prepared by the command of the 
 Emperor Charles V., afterwards styled the Inte- 
 rim, which secured the suppression of the Protestant 
 doctrine and worship, and the persecution of Protes- 
 tant ministers, throughout the states of Germany, — 
 and that their resurrection was the successful com- 
 mencement, about three years and a half afterward, 
 towards the end of 1551, by Maurice of Saxony, of 
 those operations, which reinstated the magistrates, 
 whom the Emperor had deposed, and gave possession 
 of the churches to the Protestant ministers he had 
 ejected. 
 
 Mr. Frere supposes the two witnesses to be the Old 
 and New Testaments, their death the suppression 
 and contempt of the Scriptures in infidel France, and 
 their resurrection the cessation of the reign of terror, 
 the rise of a Missionary spirit and the spread of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 This also is substantially the opinion of Mr. Miller, 
 which, however, fails to commend itself to us, because 
 it corresponds not so accurately and fully with the 
 prediction, or the description, as we have a right to 
 expect the events will when fulfilled. 
 
 It is not designed, in these dissertations, to enter 
 into any expository examinations of the different 
 
 • Cuninghame on the Apocalypse, pp. 141-147. 
 34 
 
1 
 
 394 THE SEASON AND SIGNS • 
 
 branches of the prophecies. It is to the leading 
 theme, the key note of prophecy we direct attention. 
 The detailed statements or filling up of the outline, 
 should the present volume find favor with the Chris- 
 tian public, may, if the Lord permit, be given here- 
 after. Our object at present, in the remarks we make 
 upon the several signs of Christ's coming, is simply to 
 group together the more important and striking, and 
 to show their bearing towards that great event: but, 
 as we differ from most commentators on the subject 
 of the witnesses, we think it proper to exhibit their 
 views. 
 
 Daubuz* supposes, that the two witnesses are the 
 Christians, or rather the public asserters of the true 
 religion, whose dead bodies, during three years and a 
 half, that is, during the whole period of 1,260 years, 
 should " lie in the great place of the city," — that is, 
 that the worship of God shall be banished from the 
 capitol of corrupted Christendom, as well as from its 
 whole jurisdiction, and by these more particularly 
 scorned and profaned." 
 
 Medef is of the same opinion, differing, however, 
 from Daubuz in his understanding of the words 
 oTttJ' TeXsawaiy translated, according to our version. 
 " when they shall have finished their testimony," — the 
 former rendering them, *' when they are about to finish 
 their testimony," looking forward to a future and final 
 persecution at the close of the 1,260 years j — the lat- 
 ter, " whilst they shall perform their testimony," 
 referring to the whole period. OthersJ suppose the 
 witnesses to be the Jewish and Christian church ; 
 
 * See his Perpetual Comment on Rev., pp. 502-520, &c. 
 t Mede's Clavis Apocalyptica, ad Ice. 
 
 J See Cooper's Translation of Mede's Clavis Apocalyptica, ad 
 loc. 
 
395 
 
 especially the law of the one, and the Gospel of the 
 other— substantially the same with that of Mr. Frere, 
 &:c. 
 
 Professor Stuart* will have us understand the two 
 witnesses, to be the Christians in Jerusalem, during its 
 siege ; and the period of their lying dead in the streets 
 of Jerusalem, the period of invasion and conflict prior 
 to the capture and destruction of the city by Titus ; — 
 assuming certain positions which have not been proved, 
 as his guide to the meaning of the whole book of 
 Revelations ; and asserting things to be so very ob- 
 vious as not well to be denied, — which, however, we 
 respectfully remark, he cannot but have learned from 
 his researches, have actually been denied ; — which have 
 also been supported with much appearance of argu- 
 ment, at least among English commentators, what- 
 ever may be the fact among the Germans, — and which, 
 it does not appear that any one ever dreamed, at the 
 time of their occurrence, or for centuries afterward, 
 ■ — a thing reserved for modern hermeneutical disco- 
 veries, — were the fulfilment of the prediction — a cir- 
 cumstance, by the way, rather in opposition to the 
 great plainness of its import. 
 
 Amid the multitude of different opinions, — a fact 
 affording in itself a strong presumption, that the 
 prediction has not yet been fulfilled, — we find our- 
 selves totally at a loss ; and therefore believe, that the 
 events referred to, have not yet transpired. With re- 
 gard to prophecy unfulfilled, we would speak modestly. 
 What shall be the last form of Antichrist, — when the 
 death of the witnesses shall occur, — or how soon the 
 providence of God may throw further light on these 
 subjects, we will not now venture to say : nor, whether 
 
 * See Stuart's Hints on the Inter, of the Prophecies, ad loc. 
 
1 
 
 8^ THE SEASON AND SIGNS . 
 
 there may not yet be some embodyment of all that is 
 corrupt in Popery, Islamism and Judaism, &c. — to be 
 developed in some new anti-Christian opposition to 
 the cause of Christ, to be made in the resuscitated 
 nations of Syria and Palestine, among the Jews. Cer- 
 tain it is, that the eye of Napoleon was turned to that 
 part of the world, and that he entertained the design, 
 which it is said Louis XIV. had projected, to estab- 
 lish there an independent and maritime power, whose 
 alliance might be useful to France in her movements 
 in the Mediterranean, and in her jealousy of British 
 commerce. France thirsts for glory, and whether 
 this project may not soon be realized, by some 
 schemes of military enterprise, which she niay excogi- 
 tate, affecting Syria, Palestine and Egypt : or whether 
 Russia shall take possession of Constantinople, and 
 the Greek church ultimately be involved in the great 
 scenes and movements, to be acted in that part of the 
 world, we will not now hazard a conjecture. 
 
 Prophecy teaches us, that Egypt, Palestine and 
 Syria, -embracing the ancient Assyria, are to become 
 intimately united in interest, and it seems to intimate, 
 that they will be the theatre where the last form of 
 Antichrist will develope his blasphemies, idolatry, and 
 persecutions ; and the cause and glory of Jesus Christ, 
 and the kingdom of Heaven, have their most illus- 
 trious honors.* 
 
 Mr. Eraser,! a very close student of prophecy, who 
 does not believe in the personal pre-millenial coming 
 of Christ, nevertheless finds himself constrained to 
 think, that the papal power will be transferred from 
 Rome, be erected in Judea — consequent on the confla- 
 
 * Isa. 19. 23-25. 
 
 t Fraser's Key to the Prophecies, p. 236, &e. 
 
OF Christ's coming. 397 
 
 gration of Rome — extend its influence in the benighted 
 regions of Asia, and flourish on the ruins of Islamisnn. 
 
 We venture not to indulge in conjectures. Our ob- 
 ject is simply to show, that there are, both from pro- 
 phecy, and from present providential indications, 
 reasons to believe, that the rise of the last form of 
 Antichrist, and the slaughter of the two witnesses, are 
 events to which we are approaching, and which ere 
 long will announce to the student of the Bible, that he 
 has passed another stage nearer to the great eventful 
 day. 
 
 9. The general preaching of the Gospel throughout the 
 world is announced^ by the Saviour himself to be an 
 event which shall give notice of the end of this present 
 dispensation. "And this Gospel of the kingdom 
 
 SHALL BE PREACHED IN ALL THE WORLD, FOR A W^ITNESS 
 to all NATIONS, AND THEN SHALL THE END COME."* The 
 
 end of which he speaks, is the end of the dispensation^ 
 the auvTeXslu tov uiibvog^ about which the disciples had 
 inquired.! This remark of the Saviour is made, at 
 the close of his general cautions and observations, 
 intended to apply to the whole period prior to his 
 second coming. The world, of which he speaks, is 
 the habitable woxld, oiaovfievr]^ which some commenta- 
 tors, as Rosenmueller and others, suppose to be the 
 Roman world or empire — a sense in which the word 
 is sometimes used : but Mr. Bloomfield, following 
 Whitby and Doddridge, very justly extends its signi- 
 fication, yet inconsistently enough understands it to 
 mean, "by a slight hyperbole, the greater part of the 
 then known world.^^X Such an explanation would not 
 have been admitted, or even imagined, but for the as- 
 
 * Matt. 24. 14. t Matt. 24. 3. 
 
 ' t See his Gr. Test, ad loc. 
 34* 
 
1 
 
 398 THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 sumption, that Christ meant the end of the Jewish 
 nation and destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 Whether, by preaching the Gospel of the kingdom 
 be meant, the general preaching of evangelical truth, 
 or the more specific idea of the good news of the 
 kingdom of Heaven approaching, we shall not here 
 attempt to decide, although some incline to the latter 
 opinion. The statement of the Saviour is, that his 
 Gospel of the kingdom, whatever that may mean, 
 shall be preached throughout the habitable world. 
 This does not imply that the world will be converted, 
 any more, than that the preaching of the Gospel in 
 any place, does, that all its inhabitants will be con- 
 verted. It is for a witness or testimony to all nations 
 that it is to be preached j which implies, that it would 
 not be universally received. God is loath to destroy 
 men. He forbears for a long time with guilty nations. 
 He offers by his Gospel the grace, protection and do- 
 minion of Heaven ; not only for the salvation of indi- 
 viduals, but for the security, happiness, and perpetuity 
 of nations. Once he offered to the Jewish nation, and 
 established among them the benefits of his theocra- 
 cy ; — proposed to make them his people, to establish 
 his kingdom among them, and to reign over them in 
 glory and prosperity. But they rejected him. They 
 despised the benefits of the theocracy ; — they asked a 
 king ; — and they violated the laws of Jehovah, that 
 dwelt between the cherubims, Israel's God. When 
 he came afterwards, in person, as Jesus of Nazareth, 
 their promised Messiah, " to his own," and offered to 
 bless them, and to redeem his promises, they crucified 
 him! He had brought the kingdom nigh unto them. 
 For he stood among them within, or in their midst, 
 evTog ^fiiVj as their promised Lord and King. But 
 they disowned him, and imprecated the vengeance 
 
399 
 
 of his blood to be upon them. He took the kingdom 
 from them ; — and gave it in its offer, to a nation or 
 people bringing forth the fruits thereof ; — and broke 
 up their nation and scattered them to the four winds 
 of Heaven. 
 
 The good news of his kingdom, however, were not 
 to be announced to any, till Israel had fully and finally 
 settled the question, whether they would receive him. 
 This done, and being rejected by them, he sent it to 
 the Gentiles. God from that day began to visit the 
 Gentiles " to take out of them a people for his name."* 
 He has been ever since affording to them an opportu- 
 nity to obtain the benefits of his sway, and to inherit 
 the kingdom of heaven. Individuals embrace his 
 offer ; and God is making up his elect church, out of 
 every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue and people, 
 who shall live and reign with Christ. Not a nation 
 as such receives him, and hails his dominion. The 
 )i)olitical governments of earth are corrupt ; and the 
 authority of Jesus Christ is set at naught. He is 
 giving them ample time, as he did the Jews, to say 
 whether he should reign over them. In the mean 
 time he will have the Gospel preached for a witness 
 through the whole world. Every nation shall have 
 an opportunity to say whether they will come under 
 the sway of Heaven. When that Gospel shall have 
 accomplished its circuit round the globe, the time of 
 forbearance will cease. 
 
 For near two thousand years, God forbore with the 
 Jews ; and gave them the offer of his kingdom. For 
 tiear two thousand years, he has done the same with 
 the Gentile nations. And now, that Gospel has nearly 
 delivered its testimony throughout the globe. It has 
 
 • Acts, 16. 14. 
 
4)00 THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 found its way among the rude tribes of Laplanders 
 and Esquimaux j and penetrated through the northern 
 snows almost to the very pole. It has travelled 
 through the valleys, and over the mountains, and on 
 the table land, and the wide plains of central and eastern 
 Asia. Through the whole extent of our continent 
 also, stretching almost from the northern to the south- 
 ern pole, it has sounded its gladdening notes. There 
 is scarce a nation of Europe, Asia, or America, in 
 which it has not been preached. It has visited the 
 numerous isles of the sea. It has sailed round the 
 continent of Africa, and established its Missions from 
 the Cape of Good Hope along both its eastern and west- 
 ern coasts. Long since did it find its way into Egypt, 
 and Nubia and Abyssinia. And last of all, but not the 
 least wonderful, it has restored to their native land 
 some Mendi captives thrown on our shores, and pre- 
 sents the marvellous and interesting prospect that ere 
 long, even the unexplored regions of Central Africa, 
 shall hear the glad tidings of salvation. Verily, we 
 have in these things a spirit-stirring and portentous 
 sign of the coming of the great day of God, when, if 
 the nations will not embrace his Gospel, and submit 
 to his sway. He shall break them with a rod of iron, 
 and dash them in pieces, as a potter's vessel. 
 
 10. A further sign we notice of the coming of Christ, 
 is the spread and prevalence of the spirit of despotism, 
 of Popery, and of infidelity, among the nations of the 
 earth ; thus preparing the way for the last convulsive 
 scenes of revolution, and of the co?ispiracies, among kings 
 and their armies, against the peace and happiness of the 
 world, and the honor and glory of Jesus Christ. These 
 are the symbolical frogs, the unclean spirits of de- 
 mons, which John saw " come out of the mouth of the 
 dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of 
 
OF Christ's coming. 401 
 
 the mouth of the false prophet,"* prepare the way for 
 great commotions, and lead on and gather " the kings 
 of the earth, and of the whole world, to the battle of 
 that great day of God Almighty." 
 
 Who that witnessed the effects produced on the 
 mind of Europe by the American Revolution, and after- 
 wards by the glory of the French Republic, and had 
 seen the anti-Christian nations shaken like a reed be- 
 fore the wind, at the blast of the mighty hero of that 
 stormy day, during his short and eventful career, like 
 a devastating hurricane among them, would have ever 
 dreamed, that the despotism of the old Roman Empire 
 would have recovered its power, placed back the fallen 
 sovereigns of Europe on their tottering thrones, and 
 restored the world to its former state 1 Yet have we 
 seen these things. The spirit of absolute despotic 
 power is rife among the crowned heads, and they have 
 combined to support each other, in defence against, 
 and defiance of, the spirit of liberty among their sub- 
 jects. The privileged and pampered few oppress and 
 crush the mass. 
 
 When the Pope, too, was made the captive of Na- 
 poleon, and Rome became an appendage of the French 
 emperor ; when the Catholic religion was expelled 
 from France, and atheism established in its stead ; 
 when the Jesuits were expelled from different nations, 
 and the kings of the earth, in the language of Scrip- 
 ture, seemed to have been filled with such hatred of 
 the whore as to eat up her flesh ; who would have 
 ever thought that Popery should recover from the 
 shock 1 Yet has it regained a powerful influence in 
 France ; possessed itself of advantages in Great Britain ; 
 and is at present in a state of more ardent activity, 
 
 • Rev. 16. 13. 
 
1 
 
 402 THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 and buoyed up with more sanguine hopes of ultimately 
 and universally inundating the earth, than almost at 
 any previous period of its history. We need not de- 
 tain the reader by presenting statistical details, or re- 
 ferring to authorities on these matters ; but refer him 
 to the weekly periodicals and popular journals of the 
 day. The increase of Popery cannot fail to arrest the 
 attention of the most careless observer of the signs of 
 the times. 
 
 The atheistical and infidel spirit of France, likewise, 
 which has prevailed to a great extent for half a cen- 
 tury, is yet difTusing itself. This demon, proceeding 
 out of the mouth of " the dragon," appeared first, and 
 acted a most conspicuous part, in that prime intel- 
 lectual juggler Voltaire, who, with his confederates, 
 roused the world into the phrenzy of atheism ; not by 
 the accuracy of his reasoning, the depth of his phi- 
 losophy, or the extent of his information ; but by the 
 audacity of his false statements, the artfulness of his 
 insinuations, the wilfulness of his misrepresentation 
 of facts, the impudence of his mendacity, the profane- 
 ness of his wit, and the corruption of French litera- 
 ture, which invested him with prodigious power in 
 debauching the human mind. Like the spawn of that 
 salacious animal the frog, his malignant spirit multi- 
 plied its offspring with amazing rapidity. Having 
 filled France with its blasphemies and impiety, it 
 fecundated, and brought to life, the horrors of the 
 French Revolution — that tremendous political earth- 
 quake, which made the kingdoms of Europe totter to 
 their foundations, and which has left France the stag- 
 nant marsh, the putrid pool, that ever since has been 
 generating and diffusing its pestilential miasma. We 
 may trace it in the profane mirth and levity, the sci- 
 entific sensuality, the contempt of Christian institu- 
 
403 
 
 tions and of the obligations of the marriage compact, 
 the multiplication of crimes, the socialism, the wild, 
 restless, reckless spirit of insubordination, and the 
 thirst for glory, which mark that mighty and chivalrous 
 nation. 
 
 Other nations have not escaped from the influence 
 of infidelity. It has shown itself in diflferent forms -, 
 in the neology of Germany ; in the ridiculous boast- 
 ings and publications which some fifteen or twenty 
 years since poured forth from the British press ; in 
 the practical contempt of spiritual Christianity by the 
 priesthood and higher classes of Catholic countries, 
 mangled with a blind, zealous, superstitious observance 
 of the dead and putrid forms of the Catholic church ; 
 and in the modern Unitarianism of Great Britain and 
 the United States. Our own country has by no means 
 escaped from its baneful effects. While there has 
 been an advance in the standard of piety in the 
 churches, there has been an equal advance in the bold- 
 ness, impudence, and ignorant, arrogant pretensions 
 of infidelity, of which the press, especially in many of 
 our penny papers, and in some of our higher literary 
 periodicals, is but the exponent. We ought not to 
 flatter ourselves that the world has fallen in love with 
 peace and Christianity. The spirits of demons are at 
 work, and panting for opportunities to slake the thirst 
 for blood, which frequent scenes of violence and 
 cupidity betray. 
 
 11. The time of the end^ or the end of the times^ that is, 
 the season during which the great periods of chronologi- 
 cal prophecy run out, and the great things so long pre- 
 dicted will transpire, is described to us as characterized 
 by very strong and marked signs, and particularly by 
 signs in the heavens.* The sun shall be darkened, the 
 * Matt. 24. 
 
1 
 
 404 THE SEASON AND SIGNS 
 
 moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from 
 heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 
 There shall also be famines, pestilences, and earth- 
 quakes. It is supposed by some, and we think with 
 some plausibility, that while these physical events are 
 to be regarded as symbolical of the revolutions and 
 commotions of empires, and of the prevalence of all 
 the evils of earthquakes and famines wont to attend 
 them, they nevertheless will, to some extent, literally 
 occur. Striking atmospheric and celestial phenomena 
 shall be observed, which, being beyond the reach of 
 man's philosophy, may be regarded as the visible syvi' 
 hols w^hich God himself hangs out in the heavens to 
 predict the consummation coming. It is remarkable 
 that, for the last hundred, and especially the last fifty 
 or sixty years, the atmospheric and celestial phe- 
 nomena have been more marked, frequent, and varied, 
 than in any previous age of the world. There are not 
 many definite accounts of the Aurora Borealis* to be 
 traced further back than about one hundred and fifty 
 years. We have had a series of very marked total 
 eclipses of the sun, that will not occur again for many 
 
 * The following lines of Lucretius are as near to an accurate 
 description of this phenomenon, as anything we meet in remote 
 antiquity. 
 
 Nocturnasque faces cobU, sublimi volantes, 
 Nonne vides longos fiammarum ducere tractus. 
 In quascunque dedit partes natura meatum ? 
 Non cadere in terram Stellas et'sidera cernis ? 
 
 Lucr. ii. 206, &c. 
 See also Tac. Hist. v. 13. 
 
 The description by Josephus of the extraordinary sights in the 
 Heavens, at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, cannot, with- 
 out assuming too great liberties, as Archbishop Newcome has done, 
 be made coincident with auroral coruscations. See Newcome's 
 Observations, &c., pp. 263, 264. 
 
405 
 
 years ; and we have had meteoric showers that filled 
 the minds of beholders with wonder. 
 
 Some astronomers have told us, that they rejoiced 
 to live in these days, for the abundant and extraordi- 
 nary celestial phenomena transpiring. It is said, that 
 no less than fifteen hundred stars have recently faded 
 from the vault of heaven, and some of them were 
 observed in a state of conflagration. Frightful earth- 
 quakes have occurred in different parts of the world. 
 Famines have extensively prevailed, and of the most 
 fatal character, in several nations of the East. A large 
 portion of the population of Great Britain, through 
 oppressive legislation, are actually at this time in a 
 starving condition. France is but a slumbering vol- 
 cano, and other nations are in a restless and uneasy 
 condition. 
 
 Ever since the French Revolution, the peculiar signs, 
 both moral and political, which it is predicted shall 
 mark the time of the end, have been developing. In 
 a few words, the nations of the earth are rearing the 
 standard of infidelity ; Popery is propagating its 
 abominations ; the Ottoman Empire is wasting away ; 
 the Gospel is extensively propagated, and has been 
 preached in nearly every nation on earth ; the Bible 
 has been translated into more than one hundred and 
 fifty languages ; an extraordinary movement has been 
 made in favor of the Jews ; the world is sunk in fatal 
 security and indifference, and laughs at the thought of 
 danger ; a large portion of the church, like the foolish 
 virgins, has fallen asleep ; the spirit of despotism has 
 forged fresh chains to enslave the minds of men, and to 
 oppress the nations of the earth ; the preparation is 
 making for a great and fearful crisis j the kings and 
 rulers of the earth are leaguing and conspiring to- 
 gether, and becoming involved more and more in their 
 35 
 
1 
 
 406 THE SEASON AND SIGNS, ETQ. 
 
 ambitious schemes and enterprises ; and the Lord is 
 sealing his people, pouring out his Spirit, and gather- 
 ing in his elect. Verily we must be blind indeed, if 
 we cannot discern the signs of the times. 
 
 The judgment of the Ancient of Days, for aught we 
 can tell, may have already begun to sit in Heaven, and 
 the signs in the sun, moon and stars, distress of na- 
 tions, &c., may soon be transferred to earth. Already 
 we hear the roaring of the sea and waves ; the break- 
 ing forth of popular commotions ; men's hearts begin 
 to fail them through fear, in looking after those things 
 to come upon the earth ; and the powers of the political 
 heavens, or constitutions of governments, begin to 
 shake. All these things have been transpiring, in 
 greater or less activity, ever since A. D. 1792, when, 
 very probably, the twelve hundred and sixty years 
 ended, and the seventy-five years, for the time of the 
 end, commenced ; and if so, then lift up your heads, 
 ye saints, for your redemption draweth nigh. The 
 Lord's coming in the clouds of heaven is fore-signi- 
 fied by all these things, and is even at the doors. 
 
 Fellow Christian ! it is your privilege to rejoice. 
 You shall enter into the joy of your Lord. But, im- 
 penitent reader, the report of the coming of the Lord 
 should strike you with terror. Prepare to meet your 
 God ! " Be wise now, therefore, oh ye kings : be 
 instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord 
 with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son 
 lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when 
 his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they 
 that put their trust in him."* 
 
 * Ps. 10-12. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE SKEPTIC S OBJECTION. 
 
 " There shall come in the last days, scoffers, walk- 
 ing after their own lusts, and saying. Where is the 
 promise of his coming % for since the fathers fell 
 asleep, all things continue as they were from the be- 
 ginning of the creation."* The phrase, "last days," is 
 used in the Sacred Scriptures ; sometimes, indefi- 
 nitely, to denote futurity ; sometimes the general 
 period of the dispensation that should succeed the 
 Mosaic — the gospel days, as we say ; and sometimes 
 the period of that dispensation when it is drawing to a 
 close. In whatever sense we understand it here, it is 
 a prediction, — that the idea of the second visible and 
 glorious coming of Jesus Christ would be rejected 
 with ridicule and contempt, — and that men would jus- 
 tify their infidelity on this subject, by their appeals 
 to an alleged uniformity and perpetuity in the laws of 
 nature. ^ 
 
 The prediction receives, at this day, a remarkable 
 accomplishment. During the entire period of the 
 present dispensation, there has been more of incre- 
 dulity in the world, and of a disposition to scoff 
 at the idea of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah 
 of God, than there was before its introduction. Pre- 
 vious to bis first coming, not only were the Jews, but 
 
 * 2 Peter, 3. 3. 
 
1 
 
 408 THE skeptic's objection, 
 
 the whole world, in expectation of the appearance of 
 some great and illustrious personage, who should im- 
 part knowledge and diffuse happiness among men. 
 Whatever men thought of their several systems of 
 religion, and however multiform was their idolatry, 
 this was a favorite idea, entertained and inculcated 
 alike by poets and philosophers, priests and people. 
 Since that day, the spirit of scoffing infidelity has pre- 
 sumed much on the ground of the Saviour's outward car- 
 riage, and humble spirit, and ignominious death. Per- 
 haps at no period has there been more indifference and 
 practical infidelity on the subject of the second com- 
 ing of Christ than of late years. The spirit of infi- 
 delity has fortified itself by means both of mental and 
 physical science. The event, with its immediate and 
 necessary attendants, as set forth in the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures, seems to be so entirely miraculous, so contrary 
 to all the known and established laws of nature, so 
 unlike anything that has ever occurred within the ex- 
 perience of any now alive on the earth, or who have 
 lived for centuries, that they cannot believe it ever 
 will be. 
 
 We will not say, that infidelity on this subject exists 
 precisely in this form in the church ; but, it most un- 
 questionably has exerted its influence on the explana- 
 tions of the Bible, adopted by many learned theolo- 
 gians, taught in the schools, and preached in the pul- 
 pits at the present day. The neological writers in 
 Germany, and those in this country, and others who 
 adopt their psychological principles, find it by no 
 means difficult to explain away everything like mira- 
 cles recorded in the Bible, believing that in so doing 
 they commend it to rational minds ', and prophecy 
 itself, after it has been sufficiently generalized, and 
 rendered perfectly vague by the application of false 
 
4Q9 
 
 principles of biblical exegesis, by the misapplication 
 of the true, — has been resolved into the sagacious pre- 
 science and remarks of wise men ; — or rendered so 
 utterly unlike the fulfilment, as to make it difficult to 
 say, whether it is not even more ridiculous than it is 
 vague and fanciful.* Even where neological princi- 
 ples are condemned, and miracles admitted and taught, 
 still a style of exegesis extensively obtains, which 
 throws this grand and prominent event of prophecy in 
 the shade, — which destroys the harmony of predic- 
 tions, — which refers the promise of his coming to 
 mere providential movements, secured by the regular 
 action of existing moral, political, and physical 
 causes, — and which gives undue prominence and im- 
 portance to the efforts of man for the conversion of 
 the world, and makes this event, and not the coming 
 of Christ, the grand object of expectation. 
 
 Our design in this chapter is, to give due consider- 
 ation to the objection, against the second personal 
 coming of Jesus Christ, which is founded on the uni- 
 form and established action of secondary causes, and 
 its utter inconsistency with the laws of nature, and the 
 experience of the world. 
 
 There is a class of objections, commonly urged on 
 this subject, which deserve no answer — such as the 
 following : — This and the other man of learning and 
 piety think differently ; — the weight of public opinion 
 
 * We regret to say, that Professor Stuart's " Hints on the In- 
 terpretation of the Prophecies," — especially his remarks about the 
 two witnesses, their death and resurrection, and about the sep- 
 timo-octavo head of the beast having found its antitype in Nero, 
 and the superstitious fears and belief of many that he had not 
 died, but would re-appear upon the throne, — afford a striking spe- 
 cimen of this latter description of exegesis. The literal system 
 of interpretation, looks for precision, as well as the literality of 
 events, in the fulfilment of prophecy. 
 35* 
 
410 THE skeptic's OBJECTION.. 
 
 is against the doctrine, and has been for centuries ;— 
 the great mass of commentators for more than a thou- 
 sand years have explained the Bible declarations on 
 the subject in another way j — hundreds of fanatics 
 have been made, and led away with the wildest extrava- 
 gances, by such a belief; — it is a doctrine that strikes 
 at the very root of all industrial occupations, and dis- 
 pirits from the enterprise essential to great and perma- 
 -nent improvements ; — it is inconsistent with the com- 
 monly received notions of the day of judgment, a 
 general conflagration, and the dissolution of the 
 globe j — it is altogether ridiculous and absurd ; — it will 
 create excitement and trouble in the church ; — it will 
 destroy the spirituality of its advocates ; — it sanctions 
 the old judaizing spirit ; — it will interfere with our 
 benevolent machinery for the conversion of the 
 world ; — it will destroy the spirit of Missions ; — it will 
 paralyze Christian effort for the conversion of the 
 world ; — it will deprive us of the most powerful and 
 efficacious motives, drawn from the prospect of the 
 speedy and universal conversion of the world, by 
 which to induce and stimulate the Christian commu- 
 nity to liberal contributions and to active, prayerful 
 effort ; — it will derange all our fondly cherished no- 
 tions, hopes, and expectations about the march of im- 
 provement, the progress of civilisation, and the melio- 
 ration of the world ; — it will subject us to the neces- 
 sity of severer study and closer investigations of the 
 word of God, and to the renunciation of favorite dog- 
 mas or positions, which we have assumed and taught, 
 and never for a moment allowed ourselves to doubt ; — 
 it will place the Christian church in a very different 
 attitude and relation towards the world, shut us out 
 from active participation in the political contests of 
 human governments, and irritate the wicked ; — it will 
 
THE skeptic's OBJECTION. 411 
 
 throw a deep and sombre hue upon the religion of 
 Jesus Christ, and, instead of attracting by its loveli- 
 ness, repel by its horribleness ; and it has, in fact, been 
 used for various purposes injurious to personal holi- 
 ness, to social prosperity, and to political tranquil- 
 lity — not to mention other objections of kindred 
 character. 
 
 It may suffice to remark, that some of these objec- 
 tions are just as valid against the popular view of the 
 gospel, of the Millenium, and of the day of judgment, 
 as they are against the pre-millenial coming of 
 Christ ; — that others are totally without foundation ; — 
 and that many^, if not most, originate in perfect igno- 
 rance, or in the misapprehension, of the Scriptural 
 doctrine of Christ's coming, being suggested, either 
 by assumed and fallacious notions about the nature 
 of the day of judgment and the design of that coming, 
 or possessing importance and force entirely from a 
 want of due attention to the harmony of events and 
 circumstances precedent, connected with, and subse- 
 quent to it, as revealed by different prophets. The 
 existence and influence of such a multitude of objec- 
 tions current in the church, is proof that the skep- 
 ticism of the world has invaded the church, which 
 latter, by the way, is the more immediate field or 
 range within which the apostle contemplated the ob- 
 jection to be current. Much of the prevalent skep- 
 ticism on the whole subject of Christ's coming, is 
 called forth by the pre-millenial date assigned to it. The 
 spiritualist is just as much exposed to the force of the 
 objection, founded on the miraculous character of the 
 procedure as we are, and may it not be, that it is 
 somewhat of the same skepticism of the world, to be 
 found in the church, which is specially offended by the 
 proximity of the event '( 
 
1 
 
 4l2 THE skeptic's OBJECTION., 
 
 It is, however, a simple question with us, who 
 believe in the Divine authority of the Scriptures — 
 whether it be, or be not the fact, that Jesus Christ and 
 his prophets and apostles, infallibly inspired of God, 
 have testified that he will come and destroy the guilty 
 nations of the earth, raise the dead bodies of his saints, 
 transform his living saints, and establish his kingdom 
 over the remnant of mankind in the flesh, who shall 
 escape the general destruction of the anti-Christian 
 nations. In determining the import of their testimo- 
 ny, we have already seen that the language of the Sa- 
 cred Scriptures must be explained by the same gen- 
 eral principles of interpretation which are approved 
 and sanctioned by the common sense of mankind, and 
 which the human mind, left unembarrassed by sophis- 
 try and prejudices of any sort, naturally adopts and 
 applies to determine the import of speech, as used 
 among men on ordinary topics. These principles 
 have been asserted, defended, and applied ; and they 
 bring out, as we have shown by various arguments, 
 the results above stated as the true and only legiti- 
 mate meaning of the predictions. 
 
 The objection we at present contemplate, relates to 
 the credibility of the things themselves as set forth 
 in prophecy, inasmuch as the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ and his prophets, thus interpreted, requires us 
 to believe that events will occur which ate contrary to 
 our own experience, and to that of the world. Nothing 
 like them, it is said, has ever been seen. The uni- 
 formity of the causes which have been in action from 
 the beginning of the creation, renders it impossible 
 to believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The objection is of a mixed character, partly meta- 
 physical and partly historical. Of course our reply 
 must be of like character. 
 
THE skeptic's OBJECTION. 413 
 
 I. The objection is founded on a false assumption. 
 It assumes, that the evidence of testimony is of no 
 force or conclusiveness heyond the limits of expe- 
 rience. Thus, it is said, we see the fire burns, lead 
 sinks in water, a stone let fall tends to the earth, the 
 Rising sun diffuses light, and the withdrawal of his 
 beams leaves the world in darkness. These and 
 similar events, which we find uniformly related, the 
 human mind, naturally and instinctively, refers to some 
 established law of nature, and judges them to be re- 
 lated to each other as cause and effect, so that uni- 
 formly, invariably, where one occurs we expect the 
 other will follow. We are determined, it is said, by 
 the very constitution of our nature, thus to infer a 
 permanent, uniform, and established sequence of 
 events, and to believe that fire will always burn, iron 
 will always sink in water, and stone let fall will always 
 tend to the earth, and the rising and setting of the sun 
 will always continue to secure an alternation of light 
 and darkness. God has so made the human mind, 
 and he, it is said, is responsible for the results which it 
 thus instinctively and intuitively embraces. 
 
 Now, should a man tell us that he has seen the axe 
 of a woodman fly from its helve and float on the water, 
 the rock leap from its place and fly into the air, the 
 fire lose its power to consume, and the sun to dispel 
 darkness, his testimony, so contrary to our experience, 
 could not be believed. How, it is asked, can we have 
 any evidence of that which, before it can be believed, 
 we must set aside the experience of the world, yea, 
 and set at naught or violate a fundamental law of our 
 mental constitution. It is denied by some, that we can 
 have any evidence at all of events which contradict or 
 contravene the regular and established law of se- 
 quence, because the mind, by a sort of physical neces- 
 
1 
 
 414 THE skeptic's OBJECTION. 
 
 sity, is determined to believe that they occur by some 
 necessary or invariable connection between cause and 
 effect. Hence it has been maintained, that should we 
 even see such things ourselves, and others equally 
 miraculous, we must rather doubt the evidence of our 
 own senses, since they may possibly deceive us. 
 The rational evidence, by which the mind is deter- 
 mined, in the belief of the uniform infallible sequence 
 of events, is claimed to be paramount to all others. 
 
 This kind of specious sophistry has bewildered 
 some, who have not taken a sufficiently extended 
 range, in their analysis of the human mind, or in their 
 observation of the sequence of events. 
 
 This objection, by asserting the paramount claims 
 of this alleged intuitive evidence, does, in fact, de- 
 mand the rejection of almost every other species of 
 evidence ; such as the evidence of testimony, the evi- 
 dence of sense, the evidence of moral reasoning, yea, 
 and the evidence of our very consciousness, which 
 cannot well be separated from that of sense. When 
 these are contradictory of the evidence by which we 
 infer uniform effects from uniform causes, the objec- 
 tion declares, that they are only valid and conclusive, 
 in so far as they defer to this the paramount species of 
 evidence. But it is notorious, and it becomes the 
 skeptic to account for it, how it is possible that this 
 tendency of the human mind to yield to these several 
 species of evidence, is not as much a part of its con- 
 stitution as the other. The objector is bound to 
 prove, that the uniformity of causation, which forms 
 the basis of one species of evidence only, is to be the 
 umpire. This he cannot do. The mind is conscious 
 of a power to reason and judge, by weighing and 
 balancing these different sorts of evidence. It is true 
 that certain causes uniformly produce certain results, or 
 
that, under a given set of circumstances, certain events 
 are always found related in the order of sequences. 
 But it is also just as true, and the evidence in proof 
 of it is the very same with the former, that various 
 causes are antagonistical, and that often, a variety of 
 causes are so combined, that the results, which flow 
 from these opposing or combined causes, are very 
 diflferent from those which any one of them would 
 produce, when left singly to operate. 
 
 The great fallacy of the objection lies here. It takes 
 it for granted, that, in requiring us to believe a miracle, 
 or that which contravenes some law of nature, we are 
 required to reject the evidence flowing from the rela- 
 tion of cause and effect. Not so. A miracle requires 
 from us the admission of other causes in action than 
 those which our observation and experience are ac- 
 quainted with. 
 
 Thus, fire will burn, and a stone let fall will tend to 
 the earth ; such we naturally and instinctively be- 
 lieve will always be the case, if nothing intervenes to 
 prevent it. Other causes, however, may be brought 
 into action, to prevent the fire from burning and the 
 stone from falling. These causes become known to 
 some, but not to all. Chemical combinations, too, 
 of a most surprising nature, can be produced by those 
 acquainted with the more recondite laws of nature, 
 which perfectly overwhelm the ignorant, such as 
 visible' solids being produced out of invisible gases — 
 violent and brilliant inflammation by the action of water 
 and the like. The objection, if adhered to consist- 
 ently, would shut us out from the knowledge of 
 the more recondite laws of nature, since it claims to 
 make single, more obvious, and generally known laws 
 of nature the basis or standard of all evidence. This 
 mankind will never consent to. The skeptic may 
 
416 THE skeptic's objection. 
 
 talk, and speculate, and reason, as he pleases, but 
 mankind do not, and will not, pay that sort and degree 
 of deference he claims for the uniformity of causation. 
 This should not, and could not, be the fact if his ob- 
 jection were true. He is therefore bound to show 
 how it so happens, that if, as he says, the human mind 
 cannot believe a thing which contradicts the known 
 laws of causation, there should be such an immense 
 amount of credulity in the world. The fact of cre- 
 dulity, so extensively existing, is a proof that the 
 mind is not invariably, infallibly, and by a sort of phy- 
 sical necessity of its own, determined in the rejection 
 of all that is inconsistent with the uniformity of causa- 
 tion. The phenomenon is easily explained by us, 
 but utterly inexplicable on the skeptic's assumptions. 
 We are conscious of ignorance, with regard to the 
 manner and extent to which causes may be combined, 
 and of the results which will follow from such combi- 
 nation. The grand business of the mind, in the acqui- 
 sition of knowledge, is to become acquainted with 
 more and more of the endless forms and varieties of 
 combined causes and their results. Our conscious 
 ignorance daily admonishes us to be modest, and not 
 to presume to square all our own observations, and the 
 testimony of others, by any particular cause entirely 
 uncombined with others. We are continually our- 
 selves correcting the inferences, which, according to 
 the law of human thought referred to, we have erro- 
 neously drawn from too partial an observance and 
 knowledge of causes in action. This consciousness 
 of ignorance, and of continually extending and cor- 
 recting our own knowledge, predisposes us to receive 
 the testimony of others, as being itself a sufficient 
 evidence, where there is no reason to doubt the vera- 
 city of the witness, or his capacity of observation. 
 
417 
 
 when he reports to us facts which he has seen and 
 knows, but we do not. By far the largest por- 
 tion of our knowledge of physical science rests pre- 
 cisely on this basis. To indulge skepticism, because 
 the things testified are beyond and contradictory to 
 our experience and observation, is to consign our minds 
 to incurable ignorance on a thousand themes. 
 
 In fact, the thing is impracticable ; for however 
 strong may be the tendency of the mind to rest in the 
 uniformity of causation, that is, in the uniform and 
 established sequence of the events it has observed, 
 where there has been but a partial observance of 
 them, its consciousness of ignorance, till it has been 
 inflated by vanity, predisposes it to receive, and to rely 
 upon the testimony of others, whose veracity is not 
 doubted. Nowhere, and at no period of life, is this ten- 
 dency to place implicit reliance on testimony, so strong 
 — even where our own experience and observation are 
 contradicted — as in infancy and early youth. This is 
 just as much a law of our mental constitution as the 
 other. It is just as instinctive as the other, but much 
 stronger ; for it requires a long series of observation 
 and experience — establishing the fact that men are not 
 all veracious, but many among them disposed to de- 
 ceive — before the mind even feels the obligation of 
 balancing evidence. A tendency to rely on testimony, 
 and to rest in the uniformity of causation, are both the 
 constitution of God ; and if, at any time, as they often 
 do, they should conflict with each other, our consci- 
 ousness of ignorance, as to the endless varieties of 
 combined causes and their results, predisposes and 
 prepares us to receive the testimony of a veracious 
 witness, even where it contradicts our limited obser- 
 vation or experience, in preference to our reasonings 
 and philosophizings. It is true, that some minds, 
 36 
 
418 
 
 whose professional interest and occupations lead them 
 to sift and to impeach testimony, or whose own self- 
 approbation and vanity may be sustained by a more ex- 
 tended acquaintance with the numerous and common 
 liabilities to error, may become skeptical, and arro- 
 gating superior wisdom and discernment to them- 
 selves, begin to doubt the reality of all that lies not 
 within the range of their own perceptions ; but it is 
 not so with the vast mass of human beings. Self- 
 adulation, with the former, destroys the influence of 
 conscious ignorance, and they must pay, in their 
 skepticism, and consequently circumscribed know- 
 ledge, the just penalty which their wise and holy 
 Creator awards to presumptuous vanity. Such men 
 are ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge 
 of the truth. 
 
 The only question, then, that it concerns us to settle, 
 so far as it relates to the metaphysics of the objection, 
 is, were Jesus Christ and his prophets and apostles 
 possessed of sufficient veracity, wisdom, and discern- 
 ment, to be entitled to confidence 1 — in other words, 
 is there reason to believe that they had such a superior 
 knowledge of the various causes now in action, and of 
 those which may -hereafter be brought into action — 
 and of the manner and extent of their combination by 
 .our great Creator, as to meet us, in our own conscious 
 ignorance, and to forewarn us truthfully, of what we 
 could not possibly conjecture or foreknow 1 
 
 Admitting, as we who believe the Scriptures do 
 that God, — the great first cause, — who is perfectly 
 acquainted with all possible causes, and all possible 
 combinations of them, and who is ordering, arranging, 
 and combining them unceasingly in his Providence, — 
 has disclosed to them his plans and purposes, and the 
 results which he has intended to secure, we find no 
 
THE skeptic's objestion. 4«19 
 
 difficulty whatever in believing and realizing the 
 appropriate influence of those great and wonderful 
 things which are predicted concerning the visible 
 appearance of Jesus Christ for the triumph and glorifi- 
 cation of his saints, the infliction of vengeance, the 
 destruction of his enemies, and the establishment 
 of his kingdom on the earth. Our minds apprehend 
 just the very thing which cures their skepticism, and 
 gives them rest and contentment. We see in the 
 agency of God to be exerted in certain new combi- 
 nations of natural causes, just the power adequate to 
 the result predicted. The physical causes now in 
 action are but the uniform and established agency of 
 God, and therefore, just in proportion to our reliance 
 on the uniformity of the causation we witness, is our 
 confidence in the result predicted, when we have the 
 indisputable testimony of him who orders, — combines, 
 and gives energy to all causes, — that thus it shall be. 
 No metaphysical subtleties or skepticism can, under 
 such circumstances, impair our faith. The two 
 elements of our rational nature, — the tendency of the 
 mind to rely on the uniformity of causation, and on the 
 testimony of a veracious witness, — are not found here 
 conflicting, as in many cases, where mere human 
 testimony is concerned ; but are in perfect harmony, 
 as we rest in the great First Cause, which knows and 
 controls all others, and has made known to us the 
 result he designs to secure, by a future combination 
 of secondary causes — or, in other words, to bring 
 about a predicted crisis in the history of our globe. 
 In all this there is nothing unphilosophical. Nothing 
 to justify but everything to condemn, on rational and 
 metaphysical principles merely, the ribaldry and 
 scoffings of the skeptical, the superficial mockers of 
 the last days, who say, " Since the fathers have fallen 
 
430 
 
 asleep, all things continue as they were from the 
 beginning of the creation." And this leads me to 
 remark in reply to the objection, that 
 
 II. Both the past history of the world, and an 
 
 EXTENDED OBSERVATION OF THE VARIOUS PHYSICAL, 
 MORAL, AND POLITICAL CAUSES NOW IN ACTION, LEAD US 
 TO THE CONCLUSION, THAT JUST SUCH A CRISIS, AS THAT 
 PREDICTED TO BE BROUGHT ABOUT THROUGH THE COMING 
 
 OF Jesus Christ, may be expected. 
 
 There are monuments existing, on which are 
 engraven the memorials of fearful catastrophes which 
 have already occurred in the history of this globe. 
 The geologist finds, in the different rocky strata, which 
 form the crust of this globe, innumerable traced of 
 mighty revolutions, by which whole genera of animals 
 have been involved in utter ruin. It is clear to his 
 mind, that there have been convulsions which have 
 rocked the very globe ; — upheaving at one time, and 
 submerging at another, its loftiest mountains ; — driving 
 the ocean on the land^ and lifting up and making 
 bare the channels of the mighty deep. It is true he 
 finds, as he thinks, secondary causes now in action, 
 which are adequate to explain these phenomena. But 
 grant him all he asks on this subject, he must admit that 
 these causes, by various combinations, become more 
 potent and active, and develope themselves, at times, 
 with surprising rapidity and suddenness, in some 
 crisis which has proved fatal to animal life, and 
 involved in the very rock itself its imperishable 
 memorials. 
 
 While gazing on the wreck of a former world, and 
 studying the character of whole orders of its inhabit- 
 ants which have perished, he is constrained to admit, 
 that what has once, or as he thinks, oftener occurred, 
 
421 
 
 may occur again. Although he has seen nothing like 
 it, nor ever met with one whose experience and 
 observation can throw any light on such astounding 
 phenomena, and must date these great epochs of the 
 earth's convulsion beyond the history of man j yet does 
 he not, on that account, deny the evidence of his 
 senses, and skeptically reject the inference which his 
 mind draws from the facts everywhere meeting his 
 eye, that there have been terrible crises in the history 
 of our globe, when new and powerful and marvellously 
 active combinations of causes have been at work, 
 rending and rocking, ruining and re-modelling the 
 superficial framework of the globe. 
 
 It is indeed a gloomy prospect which the mere 
 philosophical geologist has, in looking down the vista 
 of coming ages, -Some have even thought they had 
 detected the mechanical forces in action, and calcu- 
 lated the periods at which the different powers, now 
 held dormant by their antagonism, shall accumulate 
 sufficient momentum to upset the axis of the globe, 
 and alternately to cause the waters of its oceans to rush 
 from north to south and from south to north, and to 
 bury its inhabitants in promiscuous ruin. 
 
 Prophecy bids all our fears upon this subject to be 
 at rest ; and while the Book which contains the pre- 
 dictions for the future, tells us of a past destruction of 
 the world, by the breaking up of the fountains of the 
 great deep, and by the deluge, which submerged the 
 loftiest peaks of the highest mountain ridges, it also 
 apprises us, that such a catastrophe shall never again 
 occur. Nevertheless, it as distinctly declares, that all 
 things shall not for ever continue the same ; for another 
 fearful crisis, even of the existing order of the globe, 
 is approaching, and other elements than that of water 
 are reserved and destined fpr its accomplishment. 
 36* 
 
422 
 
 The men who scoff and laugh at the idea of Christ's 
 second coming to destroy the anti-Christian nations of 
 the earth, and who found their confidence on the uni- 
 formity of causation, might learn the folly of their vain 
 boastingSjboth from the phenomena of physical science, 
 and from the monuments and records of history. 
 
 The facts which geological science, at this day, con- 
 siders to be fully established, respecting the internal 
 structure of our globe, are truly alarming j and, al- 
 though the superficial student of nature may be dis- 
 posed to think that its promptings are in opposition to 
 the word of God, it is but contributing to illustrate and 
 to confirm some of the most wonderful and appalling 
 truths of revelation. The rocky strata of the globe 
 are but a thin crust, compared with its entire mass, — 
 like the peel of an orange, or the shell of an egg, 
 compared with the whole. The centre is a mass of 
 liquid fire, which, coming in contact with the waters 
 that percolate and circulate beneath the channels of 
 the ocean and the foundations of the mountains, ge- 
 nerates the mighty chemical and mechanical agent of 
 steam, so capable of producing results the most as- 
 tounding. It storms and thunders through these sub- 
 terraneous regions, now driving and lashing the angry 
 surges of abyssmal fires against the columns and 
 arches which support the mountains' base, making 
 whole regions of the earth to shake and tremble with 
 its terrible internal tempests, — now lifting whole con- 
 tinents or vast segments of the globe, cracking, and 
 rending, and dislocating old formations, and throwing 
 up new mountains and islands from the very depths of 
 ocean, — and now forcing, through volcanic craters, 
 immense torrents of burning lava, or mud and ashes, 
 or rocks and stones, commingling with the steam es- 
 caping through these safety-valves, so necessary, and 
 
423 
 
 so wisely and widely scattered round the globe, to 
 prevent a general explosion, and the universal confla- 
 gration of the planet on which we dwell. 
 
 Milton's description of Hell is not altogether fiction, 
 when he speaks of Jehovah's 
 
 " Dungeon horrible, on all sides round 
 As one great furnace flamed." 
 His 
 
 " fiery deluge, fed 
 With ever burning sulphur unconsumed." 
 
 His 
 His 
 
 And 
 
 " sulphurous hail 
 Shot forth in storm, o'erblown." 
 
 " thunder. 
 Winged with red lightning and impetuous rage, 
 Bellowing through the vast and boundless deep." 
 
 " The tossing of his fiery waves," 
 
 " the force 
 Of subterranean wind, transporting hill 
 Tom from Pelorus, or the shattered side * 
 
 Of thundering Etna, whose combustible 
 And fuePd entrails thence conceiving fire. 
 Sublimed with mineral fury, aid the winds, 
 And leave a singed bottom, all involved 
 With stench and smoke." 
 
 They have their reality not many miles beneath our 
 feet. We need not think it strange and contrary to 
 the laws of nature — a thing incredible and impossible 
 to be believed — that these central fires should one 
 day rage with wilder fury, and these mighty agents, in 
 some new and more effective combinations, should 
 accomplish the prediction of the prophets, who said, 
 when they saw, in vision, the coming of the Lord, that 
 the mountains quake at him, the hills melt, and the 
 
4t24> THE skeptic's objection. . 
 
 earth is burnt up at his presence,* — the mountains 
 flowed down at his presence. It is only necessary for 
 God to give a greater degree of activity to causes now 
 in action, or to combine them more extensively than 
 at present, in order to secure this result. 
 
 But geology is not the only science that lifts the 
 veil and lets us see the preparation God is making, by 
 physical agents, for the catastrophe he has predicted. 
 The chemist adds his testimony of terror, and tells us, 
 that there are elements in our atmosphere, and mine- 
 rals within our soils and rocks, abundantly adequate 
 to the conflagration and destruction of the world. All 
 that is needed on the part of God, so far as physical 
 agents are concerned, is to increase the amount of 
 oxygen in the atmosphere, and the fiery elements of 
 dissolution and destruction will leap from the rocks 
 and stones, the earth and trees, and every object in 
 nature, and realize, most fully, the descriptions of the 
 prophets. " His throne was like the fiery flame, his 
 wheels as burning fire j a fiery stream issued and came 
 fo«th from before him."t " A fire shall devour before 
 him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about 
 him."J " Behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and 
 with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger 
 with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire."§ " 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 obej'^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 believe."|| 
 
 * Nahum, 1. 5. f Dan. 7. 9. t Ps. 50. 3. 
 
 § Is. 66. 15. II 2 Thess. 1. 7-10. 
 
THE skeptic's OBJECTION. 425 
 
 Nor do we want other corroborating evidence. 
 History informs us of two great and wondrous classes* 
 of facts in direct opposition to what the scoffing infi- 
 del may style the uniformity of causation j — first, 
 that sudden, terrible, and devastating convulsions have 
 at least once destroyed the entire world, and occa- 
 sionally thereafter various parts of it ; and, second, 
 that numerous, frequent, and visible appearances and 
 manifestations of God have been made, — yea, that at 
 no stage in the progress of the world's history, has 
 he long withheld from it the visible miraculous tokens 
 of his immediate and personal presence. 
 
 The apostle Peter refers to the destruction of the 
 world by the Mosaic deluge, as to an event in its his- 
 tory, of which none can be ignorant but those who 
 are so willingly. " For this," says he, " they willingly 
 are ignorant of, that, by the word of God, the heavens 
 were of old, and the earth standing out of the water 
 and in the water, whereby the world that then was, 
 being overflowed with water, perished."* The evi- 
 dence in proof of the fact is abundant and full.f An- 
 cient coins and medals, inscriptions on marble monu- 
 ments, the names of ancient cities, the customs and 
 traditions of ancient nations, not even extinct in our 
 own day, together with abundant diluvial deposits and 
 remains, to be found in all countries, beside other 
 geological phenomena, unite their testimony in con- 
 firmation of Moses' account of the submergence, and 
 the entire dissolution of the earth as it existed in the 
 days of Noah. 
 
 Many geologists think they have discovered monu- 
 mental proof, in the very rocks, of much more fearful 
 and wonderful convulsions of the globe, than that of 
 
 * 2 Peter, 3. 6, 6. t See Wiseman^s Lectures. 
 
1 
 
 4f^ THE skeptic's OBJECTION.. 
 
 the Mosaic deluge, and which must he dated far hack 
 •in the history of this planet before the deluge, and 
 before the period at which the Mosaic account takes 
 up the process of creation, and gives the details of 
 God's work, when, from the successive ruins of for- 
 mer worlds, he fitted up, in six days, the antediluvian 
 for the abode of man. We are not concerned to settle 
 questions of this sort, with our yet very limited know- 
 ledge of the earth's structure, and consequent liability 
 to err, in our deductions and attempts at generaliza- 
 tion. Suffice it to say, that we see nothing in the 
 Mosaic account of creation which, when fairly inter- 
 preted, would conflict with the position that, anterior 
 to the period at which Moses starts, when he says, 
 " the earth was without form and void, and darkness 
 was upon the face of the deep,"* — not indeed a chaos, 
 but devoid of arrangement and inhabitants, and in- 
 volved, as it were, in ruin, — there may have been 
 phases of earth, and orders of creatures inhabiting it, 
 as unlike the antediluvian as that was unlike this pre- 
 sent world, or as this is unlike to the new modification 
 and organization which shall take place at the coming 
 of Jesus Christ, and the consummation of his kingdom. 
 Admitting the fact, we only have increased proof that 
 as there have been former and various crises and 
 catastrophes in the history of our globe, so may there 
 be again, just as Christ and his prophets have predicted. 
 It is certain that different sections of the globe — 
 different countries, and regions, and cities — have been 
 suddenly involved in fearful and fatal ruin. We look 
 to the cities of the plain which once stood in the gar- 
 den of the Lord, and behold, at present, a sluggish 
 sea rolls its heavy waters over their site. Volcanic 
 
 * Genesis, 1. 2. 
 
4,27 
 
 agents have accomplished the destruction of many 
 others. But three hundred years since, and Monte * 
 Nuovo, not far from Naples, now luxuriant with vege- 
 tation, was upheaved some three thousand feet above 
 the level of the sea, in the space of thirty-six hours. 
 Within two years past a river burst forth from a moun- 
 tain in Armenia, and bore away with it over the sur- 
 rounding country a deluge of mud and water. Islands 
 and mountains, within our own day, have been thrown 
 up from the depths of ocean and again submerged. 
 The causes in action are enough to inspire us with 
 dismay, in looking down the vista of future ages. 
 And when we look out from our globe, and range be- 
 yond our system, the causes for alarm become yet 
 more portentous. 
 
 Astronomy teaches us that there are cometary 
 bodies which may come across the earth's path, in 
 her orbit round the sun, and excite our fears for 
 the result. Mathematical science does indeed cal- 
 culate the chances that no concussion will take place, 
 yet it can never demonstrate the impossibility of such 
 a thing. We point to the asteroids, and to the me- 
 teors which sometimes explode in our own atmos- 
 phere, as to the wrecks of a former planetary body, 
 which once revolved between the planets of Mars and 
 Jupiter, to learn the danger of a similar explosion in 
 our own. Recent observations among the fixed stars 
 have apprised us of the disappearance of many, and 
 some in a state of conflagration. Verily, science fur- 
 nishes infinitely more reason for the infidel to be ter- 
 rified than to scoflf. 
 
 The doctrine of chances, and the formulas of the 
 mathematical calculus, are but poor consolation for 
 us, when we look down the ages of futurity, and ask 
 the question, what will become of this globe \ It is to 
 the word, the nromise, and covenant of our God, 
 
428 THE skeptic's objection. 
 
 that we look for the certainty of its safety. He has 
 • declared, that Jesus Christ, the Lord from Heaven, 
 the everlasting God, who has all power and authority 
 in Heaven and on earth, will, ere long, visit it j and 
 though he shall accomplish prodigious revolutions and 
 desolation in it, and extensive destruction of the na- 
 tions, and of its guilty inhabitants, and will pour from 
 above and from beneath, the floods of fiery vengeance, 
 yet that it shall never be annihilated, but shall come 
 forth from the conflagration, — shall rise from its ashes, a 
 new and beauteous and glorious world,wherein dwell- 
 eth righteousness, and the will of God be done on 
 earth, by the remnant of our race that shall be saved, 
 as it is done in Heaven. For, Peter says, " the heavens 
 and the earth which are now, by the same word, (which 
 once drowned the world), are kept in store, reserved 
 unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of 
 ungodly men. Nevertheless, we, according to his 
 promise, look for new heavens and a new earth where- 
 in dwelleth righteousness." 
 
 Nor should we be startled at the thought of the 
 visible appearance of the invisible God. He has often 
 assumed an external form, and placed himself before 
 the eyes of men. The world is full of historical proofs 
 of this fact. They may be found in the words and 
 traditions, the customs and superstitions of nations 
 unblessed by revelation. But we have the volume of 
 the Sacred Scriptures — proved to be an infallible word, 
 by arguments, innumerable and irrefragable, — which 
 gives us abundant proof that God has often visited the 
 world in visible manifestations of his personal pre- 
 sence ; yea, and has never very long withheld them. 
 
 No sooner had man fallen, than God in mercy ap- 
 proached him in visible form, conversing with him, 
 and reproving him for his guilt, yet promising him a 
 
THE skeptic's OBJECTION. 4f29 
 
 deliverer. When he expelled our first parents from 
 the garden of Eden, he placed the cherubim, the visi- 
 ble tokens of the divine presence, on the edge of the 
 garden, with a flaming fiery sw^ord turning every way 
 to keep man oflf from adventuring to the tree of life.* 
 There, before that God, "who dwelleth between the 
 cherubims," in the shechinah of his glory, the ances- 
 tors of our race approached and ofiered their sacri- 
 fices. From him the visible tokens of acceptance and 
 approbation were vouchsafed to Abel and withheld 
 from Cain, which roused the envy of the latter to 
 such a degree, that he murdered his brother, and fled 
 into the land of Nod from the presence of the Lord.f 
 To Enoch he appeared and caught him away miracu- 
 lously soul and body from earth.J To Noah he ap- 
 peared, and gave warning of the Flood ; and, — after he 
 had instructed him to build his ark, had brought the 
 creatures into it, shut the door, poured out his tor- 
 rents of rain, broken up the fountains of the deep, and 
 borne the ark over the billows of the mighty deep, — he 
 preserved the remnant of the race, reappeared to him 
 in the new world, establishing his covenant, mak- 
 ing known his divine constitution, and introducing . 
 a new dispensation.§ 
 
 Divine appearances thereafter were frequent; so 
 much so, and so extensively, among the sons and chil- 
 dren of Noah, the founders of the nations, that there 
 is* not a nation of antiquity which did not only not be- 
 lieve in the visible manifestation of God, but had 
 abundant records and legends of his apparition. To 
 Abraham and Jacob, Isaac and Joseph, Moses and 
 Aaron, the visible tokens of his presence were given. 
 The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of 
 
 • Gen. 3. 24. f Gen. 4. 3-16. J Gen. 5. 24 ; Heb. 11.5. 
 § Gen. ch. 7. 8. 9. 
 37 
 
1 
 
 430 THE skeptic's objection. 
 
 the plain, was showed beforehand to Abraham. He 
 appeared to Lot also, and having led him forth from 
 the midst, the terrible ministers of justice, the fiery 
 agents of destruction, executed his vengeance on the 
 wicked. He sent his servants, Moses and Aaron, into 
 the court of Pharaoh, the proudest and loftiest monarch 
 of earth, at that day, and vindicated his glory by a series 
 of marvellous miracles, — turning the rod into a ser- 
 pent, — the waters of the Nile into blood, — discomfit- 
 ing the magicians, — and inflicting stroke after stroke, 
 — filling the land with frogs, — turning the dust into 
 lice, — sending swarms of flies,— inflicting murrain on 
 the cattle, — and the plague of boils and blains on man 
 and beast, — causing it to rain a very grievous hail 
 throughout a land in which it is not wont to rain, — 
 bringing vast armies of locusts to consume every 
 green thing in the land, — overspreading it with im- 
 penetrable darkness, — smiting with death the first-born 
 in every house, — making a passage through the channel 
 of the Red Sea for the whole nation of Israel to pass 
 through dry-shod — and drowning Pharaoh and his 
 hosts who followed after them in its depths. 
 
 His visible miraculous presence among the camp of 
 Israel was permanently lodged in the pillar and cloud 
 by day, and of fire by night, which guided them for 
 forty years in their march. The bitter waters he 
 healed ; the rock in the desert he cleft asunder, and 
 from it made the living water to gush forth. The 
 earth he caused to open up, and devour the wicked 
 conspirators of Korah and his company. He rained 
 down manna from heaven, by the space of forty 
 years to nourish an entire nation. He sent quails by 
 millions, and piled them up in heaps, that they might 
 have flesh to eat to their fill; and by a series of mira- 
 cles, conducted them on their march from Egypt, 
 
THE skeptic's OBJECTION. 431 
 
 through the wilderness to the promised land. He 
 came in terrible pomp and majesty, with cloud and 
 smoke, with thunder and lightning and tempest, and 
 the voice of a trumpet sounding louder and louder, 
 and took his station on Mount Sinai, on the rock of 
 Horeb, which overlooked the vast plain below, and 
 there, in all the glory and terror of his majesty, pro- 
 nounced his law within the sight and hearing of the 
 people. " The chariots of God are twenty thousand, 
 even thousands of angels ; the Lord is among them 
 as in Sinai, in the holy place."* 
 
 " Jehovah," as Moses simg, " came from Sinai. 
 His uprising was from Seir : 
 He displayed his glory from Mount Paran ; 
 And from the midst of the myriads came forth the Holy One, 
 On his right hand streams of fire.'^f 
 
 He called Moses up to him in the Mount, and con- 
 versed with him face to face. He gave him his laws 
 and ordinances, and publicly covenanted with the na- 
 tion of Israel to be their lawgiver and king, and to 
 rule and govern them as His peculiar people. His 
 glory filled the tabernacle. He led his hosts victorious 
 into Canaan, and, by a series of miracles, drove out 
 the heathen from before them, and established them 
 in the land that he had sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, 
 and to Jacob, to give to them for an inheritance for 
 ever. He descended, in the days of Solomon, in the 
 cloud of glory, and filled the temple which he had built 
 in honor of his excellent majesty. There, too, he 
 caused the mechinah to dwell, and lodged in the in- 
 most chamber of the temple the token of his visible 
 presence, and by Urim and Thummim pronounced his 
 oracles from off the mercy seat. 
 
 • Psalm, 68. 17. f Deut. 33. 2. 
 
4»32 THE skeptic's objection. . 
 
 He sent his prophets often to the nation, and, by 
 miracle after miracle, proved to them that he was not 
 slack concerning his promise, until, at last, he came 
 down, from Heaven again, — in the person of his Son 
 was born of a woman, — laid in a manger, — nursed as an 
 infant, — and reared as a child, — until having attained the 
 age of thirty years, he came forth to the people as the 
 prophet, long promised and expected, and wrought mi- 
 racles upon miracles, — healing the sick, — giving sight 
 to the blind, — hearing to the deaf, — and speech to the 
 dumb, — cleansing the leper, — loosing the bonds of the 
 paralytic, — causing the lame to walk, — the dead to live, 
 — and raising the putrid corpse from the tomb. He was 
 owned of Heaven, — a voice at his baptism proclaiming 
 "this is my beloved Son, hear ye him," — the Spirit de- 
 scending in luminous form as a dove, and hovering over 
 him, — and the winds and waves, and very devils, sub- 
 mitting to his command. When expiring on his cross, 
 the heavens were clothed in blackness — the sun with- 
 drew his beams, and for the space of three hours hid 
 his face from the crimes of men. The rocks were rent 
 asunder, the earth shook and trembled, and his scarred 
 and broken bodj?^, which had been laid in the tomb, 
 rose to life, and came forth with many of his attendant 
 saints, who quitted their tombs to attend his presence. 
 
 Angels were seen and conversed with, round the 
 tomb. He spent forty days with his disciples after 
 his resurrection, conversing with them about his king- 
 dom, to be established on the earth. In the presence 
 of a vast multitude of his disciples, he suddenly 
 ascended into Heaven, and left them wondering and 
 gazing, till a cloud received him out of their sight, 
 and attendant angels awoke them to reflection, asking, 
 " Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into the 
 heavens 1 This same Jesus which is taken up from 
 37* 
 
THE skeptic's OBJECTION. 433 
 
 you into Heaven, shall so return in like manner as ye 
 have seen him go into Heaven."* And this expecta- 
 tion authorized of Heaven, has been cherished ever 
 since. The miraculous descent of the Spirit on the day 
 of Pentecost, — the wonderful miracles performed by 
 the apostles and others, during the first age after the 
 Christian era, as well attested as it is possible for any 
 historical events to be, — the miraculous events con- 
 nected with the destruction of the temple of Jerusa- 
 lem and frustration of the attempts to rebuild the 
 temple, — together with the continual evolutions of 
 his plan, in the fulfilment of predictions, which mark 
 out prospectively, the great events to occur in the 
 world before his second coming — all disprove the skep- 
 tic's objection, and furnish growing pledges of his return 
 again to this world, according to his promise, to execute 
 fury on his adversaries, vengeance on his enemies. 
 
 We wrest your objection from you, oh ye that are 
 slow of heart to believe all the great things which God 
 has promised. It is not true, that " all things continue 
 as they were from the beginning of the creation." God 
 has never been long absent from the world by the di- 
 rect interpositions of his miraculous power. The last 
 1,800 years have been the longest period in which the 
 world has not seen the visible tokens of his presence. 
 He has but retired till the times of the Gentiles be ful- 
 filled. He is gathering his elect, taking out of the world 
 a people for his glory. The work will soon be done. 
 The day of " the restitution of all things," spoken of by 
 the holy prophets, draws near. More suddenly shall it 
 come than the rush of the tempest in the heavens. 
 The lightning's flash shall not be more rapid or vivid 
 than the coming of the Son of Man. Where, then, ye 
 scoffers, will ye find a place to hide your guilty 
 heads ? — how then shall you be able to meet the indig- 
 * Acts, 1. 11. 
 
4S4 
 
 nant flashes of his eye 1 In vain will ye call on the 
 rocks and hills to shelter you, and hide you from the 
 wrath of God and of the Lamb. A power you cannot 
 resist shall seize your guilty spirits, and drag them to 
 his bar. Terrible, beyond conception, will be the 
 agony of your soul, there, in the full sight of his glory, 
 to see him whom you have so cruelly rejected, and 
 malignantly insulted, and awake to the full horror of 
 your doom. 
 
 But happy, unspeakably happy will be the soul pre- 
 pared for that glorious revelation of the Lord from 
 Heaven : 
 
 Behold ! Heaven opens ! glory bursts at once 
 
 Upon the sight ! Messiah; King of kings 
 
 And Lord of lords ! Hosanna ! sing aloud, 
 
 Hosanna, hallelujah ! See the Lamb 
 
 Comes in his wedding garments ! Hark, the Church, 
 
 The new Jerusalem, his favored bride, 
 
 Arrayed in white, attending him through Heaven, 
 
 Tunes her unnumbered voices to the song, 
 
 Hosanna, halleluj ah ! Angels join 
 
 The glorious anthem in melodious tones, 
 
 And through the skies re-echo far and wide, 
 
 Hosanna, hallelujah ! — Sairits on earth 
 
 Catch the glad sound of joy; and, as they rise 
 
 To meet their Lord in airy regions, shout 
 
 Hosanna, hallelujah ! Earth, redeemed 
 
 From thine oppressors, highly favored world. 
 
 Thou birth-place and thou dwelling-place of God, 
 
 Join every voice to swell the mighty choir, 
 
 Hosanna, hallelujah ! Ocean, tune 
 
 Thy never ceasing music to the theme, 
 
 Hosanna, hallelujah ! Moimtains, hills. 
 
 Groves, forests, valleys, lakes and flowing streams. 
 
 Speak your delight in one united strain, 
 
 Hosanna, hallelujah ! And let all 
 
 The full creation, the glad chorus join, 
 
 TiU the vast echo fills the realms of space — 
 
 Hosanna, hallelujah ! Praise the Lord. 
 
 [Ragg's Poem on the Deity. 
 
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