disagrace But as we have reason to blame the partiality of those that opposed this doctrine so on the other hand we cannot excuse the Patrons of it from all indiscretions I believe they might partly themselves make it obnoxious by mixing some things with it from pretended Traditions or the Books of the Sibylls or other private Authorities that had so sufficient warrant from Scripture and things sometimes that Nature would not easily bear Besides in later ages they seem to have dropt one half of the doctrine namely the Renovation of Nature which Irenaeus Iustin Martyr and the Ancients joyn inseparably with the Millennium And by this omission the doctrine hath been made less intelligible and one part of it inconsistent with another And when their pretensions were to reign upon this present Earth and in this present state of Nature it gave a jealousie to Temporal Princes and gave occasion likewise to many of Eanatical Spirits under the notion of Saints to aspire to dominion after a violent and tumultuary manner This I reckon as one great cause that brought the doctrine into discredit But I hope by reducing of it to the true state we shall cure this and other abuses for the future Lastly It never pleas'd the Church of Rome and so far as the influence and authority of that would go you may be sure it would be deprest and discountenanc'd I never yet met with a Popish Doctor that held the Millennium and Baron us would have it pass for an Heresie and Papias for the Inventor of it whereas if Irenaeus may be credited it was receiv'd from S. Iohn and by him from the mouth of our Saviour And neither S. Ierome nor his friend Pope Damasus durst ever condemnoit for an heresie It was always indeed uneasie and gave offence to the Church of Rome because it does not suit to that Scheme of Christianity which they have drawn They suppose Christ reigns already by his Vicar the Pope and treads upon the Necks of Emperors and Kings And if they could but suppress the Northern Heresie as they call it they do not know what a Millennium would signifie or how the Church could be in an happier condition than she is The Apocalypse of St. Iohn does suppose the true Church under hardship and persecution more or less for the greatest part of the Christian Ages namely for 1260 years while the Witnesses are in Sack cloth But the Church of Rome hath been in prosperity and greatness and the commanding Church in Christendom for so long or longer and hath rul'd the Nations with a Rod of Iron so as that mark of the true Church does not favour her at all And the Millennium being properly a reward and triumph for those that come out of Persecution such as have liv'd always in pomp and prosperity can pretend to no share in it or benefit by it This has made the Church of Rome have always an ill eye upon this Doctrine because it seem'd to have an ill eye upon her And as she grew in splendor and greatness she eclips'd and obscur'd it more and more so that it would have been lost out of the World as an obsolete errour if it had not been reviv'd by some of the Reformation CHAP. VII The true state of the Millennium according to Characters taken from Scripture some mistakes concerning it examin'd WE have made sufficient proof of a Millennial state from Scripture and Antiquity and upon that firm Basis have setled our second Proposition We should now determine the Time and Place of this future Kingdom of Christ Not whether it is to be in Heaven or upon Earth for that we suppose determin'd already but whether it is to be in the present Earth and under the present constitution of Nature or in the New Heavens and New Earth which are promis'd after the Conflagration This is to make our Third Proposition and I should have proceeded immediately to the examination of it but that I imagine it will give us some light in this affair if we enquire further into the true state of the Millennium before we determine its Time and Place We have already noted some moral Characters of the Millennial state And the great Natural Character of it is this in general That it will be Paradisiacal Free from all inconveniences either of external Nature or of our own Bodies For my part I do not understand how there can be any considerable degree of happiness without Indolency nor how there can be Indolency while we have such Bodies as we have now and such an external constitution of Nature And as there must be Indolency where there is happiness so there must not be Indigency or want of any due comforts of life For where there is Indigency there is sollicitude and distraction and uneasiness and fear Passions that do as naturally disquiet the Soul as pain does the Body Therefore Indolency and Plenty seem to be two essential Ingredients of every happy state and these two in conjunction make that state we call Paradisiacal Now the Scripture seems plainly to exempt the Sons of the New Ierusalem or of the Millennium from all pain or want in those words Apoc. 21. 4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes And there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away And the Lord of that Kingdom He that sate upon the Throne said Behold I make all things new ver 5. This Renovation is a restauration to some former state and I hope not to that state of indigency and misery and diseasedness which we languish under at present But to that pristine Paradisiacal state which was the blessing of the first Heavens and the first Earth As Health and Plenty are the Blessings of Nature so in Civil affairs Peace is the greatest blessing And this is inseparably annext to the Millennium an indelible character of the Kingdom of Christ. And by Peace we understand not onely freedom from Persecution upon religious accounts but that Nation shall not rise up against Nation upon any account whatsoever That bloody Monster War that hath devour'd so many Millions of the Sons of Adam is now at length to be chain'd up and the Furies that run throughout the Earth with their Snakes and Torches shall be thrown into the Abyss to sting and prey upon one another All evil and mischievous passions shall be extinguish'd and that not in men onely but even in Brute creatures according to the Prophets The Lamb and the Lyon shall lie down together and the sucking Child shall play with the Basilisk Happy days when not onely the Temple of Ianus shall be shut up for a thousand years and the Nations shall beat their swords into plow-shares but all enmities and antipathies shall cease all acts of hostility throughout all nature And this Universal Peace is a demonstration also of the former character Universal Plenty for where
is a dangerous thing to engage the authority of Scripture in disputes about the Natural World in opposition to Reason lest Time which brings all things to light should discover that to be evidently false which we had made Scripture to assert And I remember S. Austin in his Exposition upon Genesis hath laid down a rule to this very purpose though he had the unhappiness it seems not to follow it always himself The reason also which he gives there for his rule is very good and substantial For saith He if the Vnbelievers or Philosophers shall certainly know us to be mistaken and to err in those things that concern the Natural World and see that we alledge our Sacred Books for such vain opinions how shall they believe those same Books when they tell them of the RESVRRECTION of the Dead and the World to come if they find them to be fallaciously writ in such things as lie within their certain Knowledge We are not to suppose that any truth concerning the Natural World can be an Enemy to Religion for Truth cannot be an Enemy to Truth God is not divided against himself and therefore we ought not upon that account to condemn or censure what we have not examin'd or cannot disprove as those that are of this narrow Spirit we are speaking of are very apt to do Let every thing be try'd and examin'd in the first place whether it be True or False and if it be found false 't is then to be consider'd whether it be such a falsity as is prejudicial to Religion or no. But for every new Theory that is propos'd to be alarm'd as if all Religion was falling about our Ears is to make the World suspect that we are very ill assur'd of the foundation it stands upon Besides do not all Men complain even These as well as others of the great ignorance of Mankind how little we know and how much is still unknown and can we ever know more unless something new be Discover'd It cannot be old when it comes first to light when first invented and first propos'd If a Prince should complain of the poorness of his Exchequer and the scarcity of Money in his Kingdom would he be angry with his Merchants if they brought him home a Cargo of good Bullion or a Mass of Gold out of a foreign Countrey and give this reason only for it He would have no new Silver neither should any be Currant in his Dominions but what had his own Stamp and Image upon it How should this Prince or his People grow rich To complain of want and yet refuse all offers of a supply looks very sullen or very fantastical I might mention also upon this occasion another Genius and disposition in Men which often makes them improper for Philosophical Contemplations not so much it may be from the narrowness of their Spirit and Understanding as because they will not take time to extend them I mean Men of Wit and Parts but of short Thoughts and little Meditation and that are apt to distrust every thing for a Fancy or Fiction that is not the dictate of Sense or made out immediately to their Senses Men of this Humour and Character call such Theories as these Philosophick Romances and think themselves witty in the expression They allow them to be pretty amusements of the Mind but without Truth or Reality I am afraid if an Angel should write the Theory of the Earth they would pass the same judgment upon it Where there is variety of Parts in a due Contexture with something of surprizing aptness in the harmony and correspondency of them this they call a Romance but such Romances must all Theories of Nature and of Providence be and must have every part of that Character with advantage if they be well represented There is in them as I may so say a Plot or Mystery pursued through the whole Work and certain Grand Issues or Events upon which the rest depend or to which they are subordinate but these things we do not make or contrive our selves but find and discover them being made already by the Great Author and Governour of the Universe And when they are clearly discover'd well digested and well reason'd in every part there is methinks more of beauty in such a Theory at least a more masculine beauty than in any Poem or Romance And that solid truth that is at the bottom gives a satisfaction to the Mind that it can never have from any Fiction how artificial soever it be To enter no farther upon this matter 't is enough to observe that when we make Judgments and Censures upon general presumptions and prejudices they are made rather from the temper and model of our own Spirits than from Reason and therefore if we would neither impose upon our selves nor others we must lay aside that lazy and fallacious method of Censuring by the Lump and must bring things close to the test of True or False to explicit proof and evidence And whosoever makes such Objections against an Hypothesis hath a right to be heard let his Temper and Genius be what it will Neither do we intend that any thing we have said here should be understood in another sence To conclude This Theory being writ with a sincere intention to justifie the Doctrines of the Vniversal Deluge and of a Paradisiacal state and protect them from the Cavils of those that are no well-wishers to Sacred History upon that account it may reasonably expect fair usage and acceptance with all that are well-dispos'd And it will also be I think a great satisfaction to them to see those pieces of most ancient History which have been chiefly preserv'd in Scripture confirm'd a-new and by another Light that of Nature and Philosophy and also freed from those misconceptions or misrepresentations which made them sit uneasie upon the Spirits even of the best Men that took time to think Lastly In things purely Speculative as these are and no ingredients of our Faith it is free to differ from one another in our Opinions and Sentiments and so I remember S. Austin hath observ'd upon this very subject of Paradise Wherefore as we desire to give no offence our selves so neither shall we take any at the difference of Judgment in others provided this liberty be mutual and that we all agree to study Peace Truth and a good Life CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTERS THE FIRST BOOK CHAP. I. THE Introduction An account of the whole Work of the extent and general Order of it CHAP. II. A general account of Noah's Flood A computation what quantity of Water would be necessary for the making of it That the common Opinion and Explication of that Flood is not intelligible CHAP. III. All Evasions concerning the Flood answer'd That there was no Creation of Waters at the Deluge and that it was not particular or National but extended throughout the whole Earth A prelude and preparation to the true account and explication
worthy our study and meditation nor any thing that would conduce more to discover the ways of Divine Providence and to shew us the grounds of all true knowledge concerning Nature And therefore to clear up the several parts of this Theory I was wiling to lay aside a great many other Speculations and all those dry subtleties with which the Schools and the Books of Philosophers are usually fill'd But when we speak of a Rising World and the Contemplation of it we do not mean this of the Great Universe for who can describe the Original of that vast Frame But we speak of the Sublundry World This Earth and its dependencies which rose out of a Chaos about six thousand years ago And seeing it hath faln to our lot to act upon this Stage to have our present home and residence here its seems most reasonable and the place design'd by Providence where we should first imploy our thoughts to understand the works of God and Nature We have accordingly therefore design'd in this Work to give an account of the Original of the Earth and of all the great and General Changes that it hath already undergone or is hence forwards to undergo till the Consummation of all Things For if from those Principles we have here taken and that Theory we have begun in these Two First Books we can deduce with success and clearness the Origin of the Earth and those States of it that are already past Following the same Thred and by the conduct of the same Theory we will pursue its Fate and History through future Ages and mark all the great Changes and Conversions that attend it while Day and Night shall last that is so long as it continues an Earth By the States of the Earth that are already past we understand chiefly Paradise and the Deluge Names well known and as little known in their Nature By the Future States we undâ—rstand the Conslagration and what new Order of Nature may follow upon that till the whole Circle of Time and Providence be compleated As to the first and past States of the Earth we shall have little help from the Ancients or from any of the Philosophers for the discovery or description of them We must often tread unbeaten paths and make a way where we do not find one but it shall be always with a Light in our hand that we may see our steps and that those that follow us may not follow us blindly There is no Sect of Philosophers that I know of that ever gave an account of the Universal Deluge or discover'd from the Contemplation of the Earth that there had been such a thing already in Nature 'T is true they often talk of an alternation of Deluges and Conflagrations in this Earth but they speak of them as things to come at least they give no proof or argument of day that hath already destroyed the World As to Paradise it seems to be represented to us by the Golden Age whereof the Ancients tell many stories sometimes very luxuriant and sometimes very defective For they did not so well understand the difference betwixt the New-made Earth and the Present as to see what were the just grounds of the Golden Age or of Paradise Tho' they had many broken Notions concerning those things As to the Conslagration in particular This hath always been reckon'd One amongst the Opinions or Dogmata of the Stoicks That the World was to be destroy'd by Fire and their Books are full of this Notion but yet they do not tell us the Causes of the Conflagration nor what preparations there are in Nature or will be towards that great Change And we may generally observe this of the Ancients that their Learning or Philosophy consisted more in Conclusions than in Demonstrations They had many Truths among them whereof they did not know themselves the Premisses or the Proofs Which is an argument to me that the knowledge they had was not a thing of their own invention or which they came to by fair Reasoning and observations upon Nature but was delivered to them from others by Tradition and Ancient Fame sometimes more publick sometimes more secret These Conclusions they kept in Mind and communicated to those of their School or Sect or Posterity without knowing for the most part the just grounds and reasons of them 'T is the Sacred Writings of Scripture that are the best Monuments of Antiquity and to those we are chiefly beholden for the History of the First Ages whether Natural History or Civil 'T is true the Poets who were the most Ancient Writers amongst the Greeks and serv'd them both for Historians Divines and Philosophers have deliver'd some things concerning the first Ages of the World that have a fair resemblance of Truth and some affinity with those accounts that are given of the same things by Sacred Authors and these may be of use in due time and place but yet lest any thing fabulous should be mixt with them as commonly there is we will never depend wholly upon their credit nor assert any thing upon the authority of the Ancients which is not first prov'd by Natural Reason or warranted by Scripture It seems to me very reasonable to believe that besides the Precepts of Religion which are the principal subject and design of the Books of Holy Scripture there may be providentially conserv'd in them the memory of things and times so remote as could not be retriev'd either by History or by the light of Nature and yet were of great importance to be known both for their own excellency and also to rectifie the knowledge of men in other things consequential to them Such points may be Our great Epocha or the Age of the Earth The Origination of Mankind The First and Paradisiacal State The destruction of the Old World by an Universal Deluge The Longevity of its Inhabitants The manner of their preservation and of their Peopling the Second Earth and lastly The Fate and Changes it is to undergo These I always lookt upon as the Seeds of great knowledge or heads of Theories fixt on purpose to give us aim and direction how to pursue the rest that depend upon them But these heads you see are of a mixt order and we propose to our selves in this Work only such as belong to the Natural World upon which I believe the trains of Providence are generally laid And we must first consider how God hath order'd Nature and then how the Oeconomy of the Intellectual World is adapted to it for of these two parts consist the full System of Providence In the mean time what subject can be more worthy the thoughts of any serious person than to view and consider the Rise and Fall and all the Revolutions not of a Monarchy or an Empire of the Grecian or Roman State but of an intire World The obscurity of these things and their remoteness from common knowledge will be made an argument by some why we should not undertake
to the chargeableness or perpetuity of the World But Ancient Learning is like Ancient Medals more esteemed for their rarity than their real use unless the Authority of a Prince make them currant So neither will these Testimonies be of any great effect unless they be made good and valuable by the Authority of Scripture We must therefore add the Testimonies of the Prophets and Apostles to these of the Greeks and Barbarians that the evidence may be full and undeniable That the Heavens and the Earth will perish or be chang'd into another form is sometimes plainly exprest sometimes suppos'd and alluded to in Scripture The Prophet David's testimony is express both for the beginning and ending of the World in the 102. Psalm Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the Earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed But thou art the same and thy Years shall have no end The Prophet Esay's testimony is no less express to the same purpose Lift up your Eyes to the heavens and look upon the Earth beneath for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke and the Earth shall was old like a garment and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner These Texts are plain and explicite and in allusion to this day of the Lord and this destruction of the World the same Prophet often useth phrases that relate to it As the Concussion of the Heavens and the Earth The shaking of the foundations of the World The dissolution of the Host of Heaven And our Sacred Writers have expressions of the like force and relating to the same effect As the Hills melting like wax at the presence of the Lord Psal. 97. 5. Shattering once more all the parts of the Creation Hagg. 2. 6. Overturning the mountains and making the pillars of the Earth to tremble Job 9. 5 6. If you reflect upon the explication given of the Deluge in the first part of this Theory and attend to the manner of the Conflagration as it will be explain'd in the sequel of this Discourse you will see the justness and fitness of these expressions That they are not Poetical Hyperboles or random expressions of great and terrible things in general but a true account of what hath been or will be at that great day of the Lord. 'T is true the Prophets sometimes use such-like expressions figuratively for commotions in States and Kingdoms but that is only by way of Metaphor and accommodation the true basis they stand upon is that ruine overthrow and dissolution of the Natural World which was once at the Deluge and will be again after another manner at the general Conflagration As to the New Testament our Saviour says Heaven and Earth shall pass away but his words shall not pass away Matth. 24. 35. S. Paul says the Scheme of this World the fashion form and composition of it passeth away 1 Cor. 7. 31. And when mention is made of New Heavens and a New Earth which both the Prophet Isaiah and the Apostles S. Peter and S. Iohn mention 't is plainly imply'd that the old ones will be dissolv'd The same thing is also imply'd when our Saviour speaks of a Renascency or Regeneration Matt. 19. 28. and S. Peter of a Restitution of all things Act. 3. 21. For what is now must be abolish'd before any former order of things can be restor'd or reduc'd In a word If there was nothing in Scripture concerning this subject but that discourse of S. Peter's in his 2d Epistle and 3d. Chapter concerning the triple order and succession of the Heavens and the Earth past present and to come that alone wou'd be a conviction and demonstration to me that this present World will be dissolv'd You will say it may be in the last place we want still the testimony of Natural Reason and Philosophy to make the evidence compleat I answer 't is enough if They be silent and have nothing to say to the contrary Here are witnesses Humane and Divine and if none appear against them we have no reason to refuse their testimony or to distrust it Philosophy will very readily yield to this Doctrine that All material compositions are dissolvable and she will not wonder to see that die which she had seen born I mean this Terrestrial World She stood upon the Chaos and see it rowâ— it self with difficulty and after many struglings into the form of an habitable Earth And that form she see broken down again at the Deluge and can as little hope or expect now as then that it should be everlasting and immutable There would be nothing great or considerable in this Inferiour World if there were not such revolutions of Nature The Seasons of the Year and the fresh Productions of the Spring are pretty in their way But when the Great Year comes about with a new order of all things in the Heavens and on the Earth and a new dress of Nature throughout all her Regions far more goodly and beautiful than the fairest Spring This gives a new Life to the Creation and shows the greatness of its Author Besides These Fatal Catastrophes are always a punishment to degenerate Mankind that are overwhelm'd in the ruines of these perishing Worlds And to make Nature her self execute the Divine Vengeance against Rebellious Creatures argues both the Power and Wisdom of that Providence that governs all things here below These things Reason and Philosophy approve of but if you further require that they should shew a Necessity of this future destruction of the World from Natural Causes with the time and all other circumstances of this effect your demands are unreasonable seeing these things do not depend solely upon Nature But if you will content your self to know what dispositions there are in Nature towards such a change how it may begin proceed and be consummate under the conduct of Providence be pleased to read the following Discourse for your further satisfaction CHAP. III. That the World will be destroy'd by Fire is the doctrine of the Ancients especially of the Stoicks That the same doctrine is more ancient than the Greeks and deriv'd from the Barbarick Philosophy and That probably from Noah the Father of all Traditionary Learning The same doctrine expresly authoriz'd by Revelation and inroll'd into the Sacred Canon THAT the present World or the present frame of Nature will be destroy'd we have already shewn In what manner this destruction will be by what force or what kind of fate must be our next enquiry The Philosophers have always spoken of Fire and Water those two unruly Elements as the only Causes that can destroy the World and work our ruine and accordingly they say all the great and fatal Revolutions of Nature either past or to come depend upon the violence of these Two when
since the memory of man there have always been subterraneous fires in Italy And the Romans did not preserve their Vestal fire with more constancy than Nature hath done her fiery Mountains in some part or other of that Territory Let us then suppose when the fatal time draws near all these Burning Mountains to be fill'd and replenish'd with fit materials for such a design and when our Saviour appears in the Clouds with an Host of Angels that they all begin to play as Fire-works at the Triumphal Entry of a Prince Let Vesuvius Aetna Strongyle and all the Vulcanian Islands break out into flames and by the Earth-quakes which then will rage let us suppose new Eruptions or new Mountains open'd in the Apennines and near to Rome and to vomit out fire in the same manner as the old Volcano's Then let the sulphureous ground take fire and seeing the Soil of that Country in several places is so full of brimstone that the steams and smoke of it visibly rise out of the Earth we may reasonably suppose that it will burn openly and be inflam'd at that time Lastly the Lightnings of the Air and the flaming streams of the melting Skies will mingle and joyn with these burnings of the Earth And these three Causes meeting together as they cannot but make a dreadful Scene so they will easily destroy and consume whatsoever lies within the compass of their fury Thus you may suppose the beginning of the General Fire And it will be carried on by like causes tho' in lesser degrees in other parts of the Earth But as to Rome there is still in my opinion a more dreadful fate that will attend it namely to be absorpt or swallowed up in a Lake of fire and brimstone after the manner of Sodom and Gomorrha This in my judgment will be the fare and final conclusion of Mystical Babylon to sink as a great Milstone into the Sea and never to appear more Hear what the Prophet says A mighty Angel took up a stone like a great Milstone and cast it into the Sea saying thus with violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all Simply to be burnt does not at all answer to this description of its perishing by sinking like a Milstone into the Sea and never appearing more nor of not having its place ever more found that is leaving no remains or marks of it A City that is only burnt cannot be said to fall like a Milstone into the Sea or that it can never more be found For after the burning of a City the ruines stand and its place is well known Wherefore in both respects besides this exteriour burning there must be an absorption of this Mystical Babylon the Seat of the Beast and thereupon a total disappearance of it This also agrees with the suddenness of the judgment which is a repeated character of it Chap. 18. 8 10 17 19. Now what kind of absorption this will be into what and in what manner we may learn from what St. Iohn says afterwards ch 19. 20. The Beast and the false Prophets were cast alive into a Lake of fire and brimstone You must not imagine that they were bound hand and foot and so thrown headlong into this Lake but they were swallowed up alive they and theirs as Corah and his company Or to use a plainer example after the manner of Sodom and Gomorrha which perisht by fire and at the same time sunk into a Dead Sea or a Lake of brimstone This was a lively type of the fate of Rome or Mystical Babylon and 't is fit it should resemble Sodom as well in its punishment as in its crimes Neither is it a hard thing to conceive how such an absorption may come to pass That being a thing so usual in Earth-quakes and Earth-quakes being so frequent in that Region And lastly that this should be after the manner of Sodom turn'd into a Lake of fire will not be at all strange if we consider that there will be many subterraneous Lakes of fire at that time when the bowels of the Earth begin to melt and the Mountains spew out streams of liquid fire The ground therefore being hollow and rotten in those parts when it comes to be shaken with a mighty Earth-quake the foundations will sink and the whole frame fall into an Abyss of fire below as a Milstone into the Sea And this will give occasion to that Cry Babylon the Great is fallen is fallen and shall never more be found This seems to be a probable account according to Scripture and reason of the beginning of the general fire and of the particular fate of Rome But it may be propos'd here as an objection against this Hypothesis that the Mediterranean Sea lying all along the Coast of Italy must needs be a sufficient guard to that Country against the invasion of fire or at least must needs extinguish it before it can do much mischief there or propagate it self into other Countreys I thought we had in a good measure prevented this objection before by showing how the Ocean would be diminish'd before the Conflagration and especially the Arms and Sinus's of the Ocean and of these none would be more subject to this diminution than the Mediterranean For receiving its supplies from the Ocean and the Black Sea if these came to sink in their chanels they would not rise so high as to be capable to flow into the Mediterranean at either end And these supplies being cut off it would soon empty it self so far partly by evaporation and partly by subterraneous passages as to shrink from all its shores and become only a standing Pool of water in the middle of the Chanel Nay 't is possible by flouds of fire descending from the many Volcano's upon its shores it might it self be converted into a Lake of fire and rather help than obstruct the progress of the Conflagration It may indeed be made a question whether this fiery Vengeance upon the seat of Antichrist will not precede the general Conflagration at some distance of time as a fore-runner and forewarner to the World that the rest of the People may have space to repent And particularly the Iews being Spectators of this Tragedy and of the miraculous appearance of our Saviour may see the hand of God in it and be convinc'd of the truth and divine authority of the Christian Religion I say this supposition would leave room for these and some other prophetick Scenes which we know not well where to place But seeing The Day of the Lord is represented in Scripture as one entire thing without interruption or discontinuation and that it is to begin with the destruction of Antichrist we have warrant enough to pursue the rest of the Conflagration from this beginning and introduction Let us then suppose the same preparations made in the other parts of the Earth to continue the Fire for the Conflagration of the World
Heaven and of Divine Authority They ought in the first place to examine matter of Fact and the History of our Saviour That there was such a Person in the Reigns of Augustus and Tiherius that wrought such and such Miracles in Iudaea taught such a Doctrine was Crucified at Ierusalem rise from the dead the Third Day and visibly ascended into Heaven If these matters of Fact be denied then the controversie turns only to an Historical question Whether the Evangelical History be a fabulous or true History which it would not be proper to examine in this place But if matter of Fact recorded there and in the Acts of the Apostles and the first Ages of Christianity be acknowledged as I suppose it is then the Question that remains is this Whether such matter of Fact does not sufficiently prove the divine authority of Jesus Christ and of his Doctrine We suppose it possible for a person to have such Testimonials of divine authority as may be sufficient to convince Mankind or the more reasonable part of Mankind And if that be possible what pray is a wanting in the Testimonies of Jesus Christ The Prophecies of the Old Testament bear witness to him His Birth was a miracle and his Life a train of Miracles not wrought out of levity and vain ostentation but for useful and charitable purposes His Doctrine and Morality not only blameless but Noble designed to remove out of the World the imperfect Religion of the Iews and the false Religion of the Gentiles All Idolatry and Superstition and thereby to improve Mankind under a better and more perfect dispensation He gave an example of a spotless innocency in all his Conversation free from Vice or any evil and liv'd in a neglect of all the Pomp or Pleasures of this Life referring his happiness wholly to another World He Prophesied concerning his own Death and his Resurrection and concerning the destruction of Ierusalem which all came to pass in a signal manner He also Prophesied of the Success of his Gospel which after his Death immediately took root and spread it self every way throughout the World maugre all opposition or persecution from Iews or Heathens It was not supported by any temporal power for above three hundred Years nor were any arts us'd or measures taken according to humane prudence for the conservation of it But to omit other things That grand article of his Rising from the Dead Ascending visibly into Heaven and pouring down the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost according as he had promis'd upon his Apostles and their followers This alone is to me a Demonstration of his Divine Authority To conquer Death To mount like an Eagle into the Skies and to inspire his followers with inimitable gifts and faculties are things without controversie beyond all humane power and may and ought be esteemed sure Credentials of a person sent from Heaven From these matters of Fact we have all possible assurance that Jesus Christ was no Impostor or deluded person one of which two Characters all unbelievers must fix upon him but Commission'd by Heaven to introduce a New Religion to reform the World to remove Judaism and Idolatry The beloved Son of God the great Prophet of the later Ages the True Messiah that was to come It may be you will confess that these are great arguments that the Author of our Religion was a Divine Person and had supernatural powers but withal that there are so many difficulties in Christian Religion and so many things unintelligible that a rational man knows not how to believe it tho' he be inclin'd to admire the person of Jesus Christ. I answer If they be such difficulties as are made only by the Schools and disputacious Doctors you are not to trouble your self about them for they are of no Authority But if they be in the very words of Scripture then t is either in things practical or in things meerly speculative As to the Rules of Practice in Christian Religion I do not know any thing in Scripture obscure or unintelligible And as to Speculations great discretion and moderation is to be us'd in the conduct of them If these matters of Fact which we have alledg'd prove the Divinity of the Revelation keep close to the Words of that Revelation asserting no more than it asserts and you cannot err But if you will expatiate and determine modes and forms and consequences you may easily be puzled by your own forwardness For besides some things that are in their own nature Infinite and Incomprehensible there are many other things in Christian Religion that are incompleatly reveal'd the full knowledge whereof it has pleased God to reserve to another life and to give us only a summary account of them at present We have so much deference for any Government as not to expect that all their Councels and secrets should be made known to us nor to censure every action whose reasons we do not fully comprehend much more in the Providential administration of a World we must be content to know so much of the Councels of Heaven and of supernatural Truths as God has thought fit to reveal to us And if these Truths be no otherwise than in a general manner summarlly and incompleatly revealed in this life as commonly they are we must not therefore throw off the Government or reject the whole Dispensation of whose Divine Authority we have otherways full proof and satisfactory evidence For this would be To lose the Substance in catching at a Shadow But Men that live continually in the noise of the World amidst business and pleasures their time is commonly shar'd betwixt those two So that little or nothing is left for Meditation at least not enough for such Meditations as require length justness and order They should retire from the crowd for one Month or two to study the truth of Christian Religion if they have any doubt of it They retire sometimes to cure a Gout or other Diseases and diet themselves according to rule but they will not be at that pains to cure a disease of the Mind which is of far greater and more fatal consequence If they perish by their own negligence or obstinacy the Physician is not to blame Burning is the last remedy in some distempers and they would do well to remember that the World will flame about their heads one of these days and whether they be amongst the Living or amongst the Dead at that time the Apostle makes them a part of the Fewel which that fiery vengeance will prey upon Our Saviour hath been true to his Word hitherto whether in his Promises or in his Threatnings He promis'd the Apostles to send down the Holy Ghost upon them after his Ascension and that was fully accomplish'd He foretold and threaten'd the destruction of Ierusalem and that came to pass accordingly soon after he had left the World And he hath told us also that he will come again in the Clouds of
Future Renovation And to this day the posterity of the Brackmans in the East Indies retain the same notion That the World will be renewed after the last Fire You may see the citations if you please for all these Nations in the Latin Treatise Ch. 5. Which I thought would be too dry and tedious to be render'd into English To these Testimonies of the Philosophers of all Ages for the Future Renovation of the World we might add the Testimonies of the Christian Fathers Greek and Latin ancient and modern I will only give you a bare List of them and refer you to the Latin Treatise for the words or the places Amongst the Greek Fathers Iustin Martyr Irenaeus Origen The Fathers of the Council of Nice Eusebius Basil The two Cyrils of Ierusalem and Alexandria The two Gregorys Nazianzen and Nyssen S. Chrysostom Zacharias Mitylenensis and of later date Damascen Oecumenius Euthymius and others These have all set their hands and Seals to this Doctrine Of the Latin Fathers Tertullian Lactantius S. Hilary S. Ambrose S. Austin S. Ierome and many later Ecclesiastical Authors These with the Philosophers before mentioned I count good authority Sacred and Prophane which I place here as an out-guard upon Scripture where our principal force lies And these three united and acting in conjunction will be sufficient to secure this first post and to prove our first Proposition which is this That after the Conflagration of this World there will be New Heavens and a New Earth and that Earth will be inhabited CHAP. IV. The proof of a Millennium or of a blessed Age to come from Scripture A view of the Apocalypse and of the Prophecies of Daniel in reference to this Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints WE have given fair presumptions if not proofs in the precedent Chapter That the Sons of the first Resurrection will be the persons that shall inhabit the New Earth or the World to come But to make that proof compleat and unexceptionable I told you it would be necessary to take a larger compass in our discourse and to examine what is meant by That Reign with Christ a thousand years which is promis'd to the Sons of the First Resurrection by St. Iohn in the Apocalypse and in other places of Scripture is usually call'd the Kingdom of Christ and the reign of the Saints And by Ecclesiastical Authors in imitation of S. Iohn it is commonly styled the Millennium We shall indifferently use any of these words or phrases and examine First the truth of the Notion and Opinion whether in Scripture there be such an happy state promised to the Saints under the conduct of Christ. And then we will proceed to examine the nature characters place and time of it And I am in hopes when these things are duly discuss'd and stated you will be satisfied that we have found out the true Inhabitants of the New Heavens and New Earth and the true mystery of that state which is call'd the Millennium or the Reign of Christ and of his Saints We begin with S. Iohn whose words in the twentieth Chapter of the Apocalypse are express both as to the first Resurrection and as to the reign of those Saints that rise with Christ for a thousand years Satan in the mean time being bound or disabled from doing mischief and seducing mankind The words of the Prophet are these And I saw an Angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand And he laid hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years And I saw Thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them and I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Iesus and for the word of God and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their fore-heads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished This is the first Resurrection Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death hath no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years These words do fully express a Resurrection and a reign with Christ a thousand years As for that particular space of time of a thousand years it is not much material to our present purpose but the Resurrection here spoken of and the reign with Christ make the substance of the controversie and in effect prove all that we enquire after at present This Resurrection you see is call'd the First Resurrection by way of distinction from the Second and general Resurrection which is to be plac'd a thousand years after the First And both this First Resurrection and the Reign of Christ seem to be appropriated to the Martyrs in this place For the Prophet says The Souls of those that were beheaded for the witness of Iesus c. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years From which words if you please we will raise this Doctrine That Those that have suffered for the sake of Christ and a good Conscience shall be raised from the dead a thousand years before the general Resurrection and reign with Christ in an happy state This Proposition seems to be plainly included in the words of S. Iohn and to be the intended sence of this Vision but you must have patience a little as to your enquiry into particulars till in the progress of our discourse we have brought all the parts of this conclusion into a fuller light In the mean time there is but one way that I know of to evade the force of these words and of the conclusion drawn from them and that is by supposing that the First Resurrection here mentioned is not to be understood in a literal sense but is Allegorical and mystical signifying only a Resurrection from sin to a Spiritual Life As we are said to be dead in sin and to be risen with Christ by Faith and Regeneration This is a manner of Speech which S. Paul does sometimes use as Ephes. 2. 6. and 5. 14. and Col. 3. 1. But how can this be applyed to the present case Were the Martyrs dead in sin 'T is they that are here rais'd from the dead Or after they were beheaded for the witness of Jesus naturally dead and laid in their graves were they then regenerate by Faith There is no congruitiy in allegories so applyed Besides Why should they be said to be regenerate a thousand years before the day of Judgment Or to reign with Christ after this Spiritual Resurrection such a limited time a Thousand Years Why not to Eternity For in this allegorical sence of rising and reigning they will reign with him for everlasting Then after a Thousand Years must all the wicked be
least give plain marks of a Terrestrial state Wherefore the only question that remains is this Whether these happy Days are past already or to come Whether this blessed state of the Church is behind us or before us whether our Predecessors have enjoy'd it or our posterity is to expect it For we are very sure that it is not present The World is full of Wars and rumours of Wars of Vice and Knavery of Oppression and Persecution and these are things directly contrary to the genius and characters of the state which we look after And if we look for it in times past we can go no further back than the beginning of Christianity For S. Iohn the last of the Apostles Prophesied of these times as to come and plac'd them at the end of his systeme of Prophecies whereby one might conclude that they are not only within the compass of the Christian ages but far advanc'd into them But however not to insist upon that at present where will you find a thousand years from the birth of Christianity to this present age that deserves the name or answers to the characters of this Pure and Pacifick state of the Church The first ages of Christianity as they were the most pure so likewise were they the least peaceable Continually more or less under the Persecution of the Heathen Emperours and so far from being the Reign and Empire of Christ and his Saints over the Nations that Christians were then every where in subjection or slavery A poor feeble helpless people thrust into Prisons or thrown to the Lyons at the pleasure of their Princes or Rulers 'T is true when the Empire became Christian under Constantine in the fourth Century there was for a time peace and prosperity in the Church and a good degree of Purity and Piety But that peace was soon disturb'd and that piety soon corrupted The growing pride and ambition of the Ecclesiasticks and their easiness to admit or introduce Superstitious Practices destroy'd the purity of the Church And as to the peace of it Their contests about Opinions and Doctrines tore the Christians themselves into pieces and soon after an inundation of Barbarous People fell into Christendom and put it all into flames and confusion After this Eruption of the Northern Nations Mahometanism rose in the East and swarms of Saracens like armies of Locusts invaded conquer'd and planted their Religion in several parts of the Roman Empire and of the Christianiz'd World And can we call such times the Reign of Christ or the imprisonment of Satan In the following ages the Turks over-run the Eastern Empire and the Greek Church and still hold that miserable people in slavery Providence seems to have so order'd affairs that the Christian World should never be without a WOE upon it lest it should fansie it self already in those happy days of Peace and Prosperity which are reserv'd for future times Lastly whosoever is sensible of the corruptions and persecutions of the Church of Rome since she came to her greatness whosoever allows her to be mystical Babylon which must fall before the Kingdom of Christ comes on will think that Kingdom duly plac'd by S. Iohn at the end of his Prophecies concerning the Christian Church and that there still remains according to the words of St. Paul Hebr. 4. 9. a Sabbatism to the people of God CHAP. VI. The sence and testimony of the Primitive Church concerning the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ from the times of the Apostles to the Nicene Council The second Proposition laid down When by what means and for what reasons that doctrine was afterwards neglected or discountenanc'd YOU have heard the voice of the Prophets and Apostles declaring the future Kingdom of Christ. Next to these the Primitive Fathers are accounted of good authority Let us therefore now enquire into their Sence concerning this Doctrine that we may give satisfaction to all parties And both those that are guided by Scripture alone and those that have a Veneration for Antiquity may find proofs suitable â—o their inclinations and judgment And to make few words of it we will lay down this Conclusion That the Millennial Kingdom of Christ was the general Doctrine of the Primitive Church from the times of the Apostles to the Nicene Council inclusively S. Iohn out-liv'd all the rest of the Apostles and towards the latter end of his life being banish'd into the Isle of Pathmos he writ his Apocalypse wherein he hath given us a more full and distinct account of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ than any of the Prophets or Apostles before him Papias Bishop of Hierapolis and Martyr one of S. Iâ—hn's Auditoâ—s as Irenaeus testifies taught the same Doctrine after S. Iohn He was the familiar friend of Polycarp another of S. Iohn's Disciples and either from him or immediately from S. Iohn's mouth he might receive this Doctrine That he taught it in the Church is agreed on by all hands both by those that are his followers as Irenaeus and those that are not well-wishers to this Doctrine as Eâ—sebius and Ierome There is also another chanel wherein this Doctrine is Traditionally deriv'd from S. Iohn namely by the Clergy of Asia as Irenaeus tells us in the same Chapter For arguing the point he shows that the Blessing promis'd to Iacob from his Father Isaac was not made good to him in this life and therefore he says without doubt those words had a further aim and prospect upon the times of the Kingdom so they us'd to call the Millennial state when the Iust rising from the dead shall reign and when Nature renew'd and set at liberty shall yield plenty and abundance of all things being blest with the dew of Heaven and a great fertility of the Earth According as has been related by those Ecclesiasticks or Clergy who sce. St. John the Disciple of Christ and heard of him WHAT OUR LORD HAD TAUGHT CONCERNING THOSE TIMES This you see goes to the Fountain-head The Christian Clergy receive it from St. Iohn and St. Iohn relates it from the mouth of our Saviour So much for the Original authority of this Doctrine as a Tradition that it was from St. Iohn and by him from Christ. And as to the propagation and prevailing of it in the Primitive Church we can bring a witness beyond all exception Iustin Martyr Contemporary with Irenaeus and his Senior He says that himself and all the Orthodox Christians of his time did acknowledge the Resurrection of the flesh suppose the first Resurrection and a thousand years reign in Ierusalem restor'd or in the New Jerusalem According as the Prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and Others attest with common consent As St. Peter had said before Act. 3. 21. That all the Prophets had spoken of it Then he quotes the 65th Chapter of Isaiah which is a bulwark for this Doctrine that never can be broken And to shew the Iew with whom he had this discourse that it was the sence
time of Constantine's Empire But however the Fathers of that Council are themselves our witnesses in this point For in their Ecclesiastical Forms or Constitutions in the chapter about the Providence of God and about the World They speak thus The World was made meaner or less perfect providentially for God foresee that man would sin Wherefore we expect New Heavens and a New Earth according to the Holy Scriptures at the appearance and Kingdom of the great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ. And then as Daniel says ch 7. 18. The Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom And the Earth shall be Pure Holy the Land of the Living not of the dead Which David foreseeing by the eye of Faith cryes out Ps. 27. 13. I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the Land of the Living Our Saviour says Happy are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth Matt. 5. 5. and the Prophet Isaiuh says chap. 26. 6. the feet of the meek and lowly shall tread upon it So you see according to the judgment of these Fathers there will be a Kingdom of Christ upon Earth and moreover that it will be in the New Heavens and the New Earth And in both these points they cite the Prophets and our Saviour in confirmation of them Thus we have discharg'd our promise and given you an account of the doctrine of the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ throughout the Three First Ages of the Church before any considerable corruptions were crept into the Christian Religion And those Authorities of single and successive Fathers we have seal'd up all together with the declaration of the Nicene Fathers in a Body Those that think Tradition a Rule of Faith or a considerable motive to it will find it hard to turn off the force of these Testimonies And those that do not go so far but yet have a reverence for Antiquity and the Primitive Church will not easily produce better Authorities more early more numerous or more uncontradicted for any Article that is not Fundamental Yet these are but Seconds to the Prophets and Apostles who are truly the Principals in this Cause I will leave them altogether to be examin'd and weigh'd by the Impartial Reader And because they seem to me to make a full and undeniable proof I will now at the foot of the account set down our second Proposition which is this That there is a Millennial State or a Future Kingdom of Christ and his Saints Prophesied of and Promised in the Old and New Testament and receiv'd by the Primitive Church as a Christian and Catholick Doctrine HAVING dispatch'd this main point To conclude the Chapter and this Head of our Discourse it will be some satisfaction possibly to see How a Doctrine so generally receiv'd and approv'd came to decay and almost wear out of the Church in following Ages The Christian Millenary Doctrine was not call'd into question so far as appears from History before the middle of the third Century when Dionysius Alexandrinus writ against Nepos an Aegyptian Bishop who had declar'd himself upon that subject But we do not find that this Book had any great effect for the declaration or constitution of the Nicene Fathers was after and in S. Ierome's time who writ towards the end of the fourth Century this Doctrine had so much Credit that He who was its greatest adversary yet durst not condemn it as he says himself Quae licet non sequamur tamen damnare non possumus quià multi Ecclesiasticorum virorum Martyres ista dixerunt Which things or doctrines speaking of the Millennium tho' we do not follow yet we cannot condemn Because many of our Church-men and Martyrs have affirmed these things And when Apollinarius replyed to that Book of Dionysius S. Ierome says that not only those of his own Sect but a great multitude of other Christians did agree with Apollinarius in that particular Ut praesagâ mente jam cernam quantorum in me rabies concitanda sit That I now foresee how many will be enrag'd against me for what I have spoken against the Millenary Doctrine We may therefore conclude that in S. Ierome's time the Millenaries made the greater party in the Church for a little matter would not have frighted him from censuring their opinion S. Ierome was a rough and rugged Saint and an unfair adversary that usually run down with heat and violence what stood in his way As to his unfairness he shews it sufficiently in this very cause for he generally represents the Millenary Doctrine after a Judaical rather than a Christian manner And in reckoning up the chief Patrons of it he always skips Iustin Martyr Who was not a Man so obscure as to be overâ—look'd and he was a Man that had declar'd himself sufficiently upon this point for he says both himself and all the Orthodox of his time were of that judgment and applyes both the Apocalypse of S. Iohn and the 65th chap. of Isaiah for the proof of it As we noted before As S. Ierome was an open enemy to this Doctrine so Eusebius was a back friend to it and represented every thing to its disadvantage so far as was tolerably consistent with the fairness of an Historian He gives a slight character of Papias without any authority for it and brings in one Gaius that makes Cerinthus to be the Author of the Apocalypse and of the Millennium and calls the Visions there monstrous stories He himself is willing to shuffle off that Book from Iohn the Evangelist to another Iohn a Presbyter and to shew his skill in the interpretation of it he makes the New Ierusalem in the 21th chap. to be Constantine's Ierusalem when he turn'd the Heathen Temples there into Christian. A wonderful invention As S. Ierome by his flouts so Eusebius by sinister insinuations endeavour'd to lessen the reputation of this Doctrine and the Art they both us'd was to misrepresentâ—â—â— as Iudaical But we must not cast off every doctrine which the Jews believ'd only for that reason for we have the same Oracles which they had and the same Prophets and they have collected from them same general doctrine that we have namely that There will be an happy and pacifick state of the Church in future times But as to the circumstances of this state we differ very much They suppose the Mosaical Law will be restor'd with all its pomp rites and ceremonies whereas we suppose the Christian Worship or something more perfect will then take place Yet S. Ierome has the confidence even there where he speaks of the many Christian Clergy and Martyrs that held this doctrine has the confidence I say to represent it as if they held that Circumcision Sacrifices and all the Judaical rites should then be restor'd Which seems to me to be a great slander and a great instance how far mens passions will carry them in misrepresenting an opinion which they have a mind to
and of the thousand years reign of Christ does joyn these two as the same thing and common to the same persons yet I know there are some that would distinguish them as things of a different extent and also of a different nature They suppose the Martyrs only will rise from the dead and will be immediately translated into Heaven and there pass their Millennium in celestial glory While the Church is still here below in her Millennium such as it is a state indeed betâ—er than ordinary and free from persecution but obnoxious to all the inconveniences of our present mortal life and a medly of good and bad people without separation This is such an Idea of the Millennium as to my eye hath neither beauty in it nor foundation in Scripture That the Citizens of the New Ierusalem are not a miscellaneous company but a Community of righteous persons we have noted before and that the state of nature will be better than it is at present But besides this what warrant have they for this Ascension of the Martyrs into Heaven at that time Where do we read of that in Scripture And in those things that are not matters of Natural Order but of Divine Oeconomy we ought to be very careful how we add to Scripture The Scripture speaks only of the Resurrection of the Martyrs Apoc. 20. 45. But not a word concerning their Ascension into Heaven Will that be visible We read of our Saviour's Resurrection and Ascension and therefore we have reason to affirm them both We read also of the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses Apoc. 11. in a figurate sence and in that sence we may assert them upon good grounds But as to the Martyrs we read of their Resurrection only without any thing exprest of imply'd about their Ascension By what Authority then shall we add this New Notion to the History or Scheme of the Millennium The Scripture on the contrary makes mention of the descent of the New Ierusalem Apoc. 21. 2. making the Earth the Theatre of all that affair And the Camp of the Saints is upon the Earth ver 9. and these Saints are the same persons so far as can be collected from the text that rise from the dead and reign'd with Christ and were Priests to God ver 4 5 6. Neither is there any distinction made that I find by S. Iohn of two sorts of Saints in the Millennium the one in Heaven and the other upon Earth Lastly The four and twenty Elders ch 5. 10. tho' they were Kings and Priests unto God were content to reign upon Earth Now who can you suppose of a superiour order to these four and twenty Elders Whether they represent the twelve Patriarchs and twelve Apostles or whomsoever they represent they are plac'd next to him that sits upon the Throne and they have Crowns of Gold upon their heads ch 4. 4. There can be no marks of honour and dignity greater than these are and therefore seeing these highest Dignitaries in the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ are to reign upon Earth there is no ground to suppose the assumption of any other into Heaven upon that account or upon that occasion This is a short and general draught of the Millennial state or future Reign of the Saints according to Scripture Wherein I have endeavour'd to rectifie some mistakes or misconceptions about it That viewing it in its true Nature we may be the better able to judge when and where it will obtain Which is the next thing to be consider'd CHAP. VIII The Third Proposition laid down concerning the Time and Place of the Millennium Several Arguments us'd to prove that it cannot be till after the Conflagration and that the New Heavens and the New Earth are the true Seat of the blessed Millennium WE come now to the Third and last head of our Discourse To determine the Time and Place of the Millennium And seeing it is indifferent whether the proofs lead or follow the Conclusion we will lay down the Conclusion in the first place that our business may be more in view and back it with proofs in the following part of the Chapter Our Third and last Proposition therefore is this That the Blessed Millennium properly so called according as it is describ'd in Scripture cannot obtain in the present Earth nor under the present constitution of Nature and Providence but is to be celebrated in the New Heavens and New Earth after the Conflagration This Proposition it may be will seem a Paradox or singularity to many even of those that believe a Millennium We will therefore make it the business of this Chapter to state it and prove it by such Arguments as are manifestly founded in Scripture and in Reason And to prevent mistakes we must premise this in the first place That tho the Blessed Millennium will not be in this Earth yet we allow that the state of the Church here will grow much better than it is at present There will be a better Idea of Christianity and according to the Prophecies a full Resurrection of the Witnesses and an Ascension into power and the tenth part of the City will fall which things imply ease from Persecution The Conversion of some part of the Christian World to the reformed Faith and a considerable diminution of the power of Antichrist But this still comes short of the happiness and glory wherein the future Kingdom of Christ is represented Which cannot come to pass till the Man of Sin be destroy'd with a total destruction After the Resurrection of the Witnesses there is a Third WOE yet to come and how long that will last does not appear If it bear proportion with the preceding WOES it may last some hundreds of years And we cannot imagine the Millennium to begin till that WOE be finish'd As neither till the Vials be poured out in the 15th chap. which cannot be all pour'd out till after the Resurrection of the Witnesses those Vials being the last plagues that compleat the destruction of Antichrist Wherefore allowing that the Church upon the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses will be advanc'd into a better condition yet that condition cannot be the Millennial state where the Beast is utterly destroy'd and Satan bound and cast into the bottomless pit This being premis'd let us now examine what grounds there are for the Translation of that blessed state into the New Heavens and New Earth seeing that Thought it may be to many persons will appear new and extraordinary In the first place We suppose it out of dispute that there will be New Heavens and a New Earth after the Conflagration This was our first Proposition and we depend upon it as sufficiently prov'd both from Scripture and Antiquity This being admitted How will you stock this New Earth What use will you put it to 'T will be a much nobler Earth and better built than the present and 't is pity it should only float
Cor. 15. 54. But in the Eighth Chapter to the Romans He extends it to all Nature The Creation it self also shall be deliver'd from the bondage of Corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God And accordingly S. Iohn speaking of the same time with St. Paul in that place to the Corinthians namely of the general Resurrection and day of Judgment says Death and Hades which we render Hell were cast into the lake of fire This is their being swallowed up in victory which S. Paul speaks of when Death and Hades that is all the Region of mortality The Earth and all its dependances are absorpt into a mass of Fire and converted by a glorious Victory over the powers of darkness into a Luminous Body and a region of Light This great Issue and Period of the Earth and of all humane affairs tho' it seem to be founded in nature and supported by several expressions of Scripture yet we cannot for want of full instruction propose it otherwise than as a fair Conjecture The Heavens and the Earth shall flie away at the day of Judgment says the Text Apoc. 20. 11. And their place shall not be found This must be understood of our Heavens and our Earth And their flying away must be their removing to some other part of the Universe so as their place or residence shall not be found any more here below This is the easie and natural sence of the Words and this translation of the Earth will not be without some change preceding that makes it leave its place and with a lofty flight take its seat amongst the Stars There we leave it Having conducted it for the space of Seven Thousand Years through various changes from a dark Chaos to a bright Star FINIS A REVIEW OF THE THEORY OF THE EARTH And of its PROOFS ESPECIALLY IN REFERENCE TO SCRIPTURE LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. A REVIEW OF THE THEORY OF THE EARTH TO take a review of this Theory of the Earth which we have now finish'd We must consider first the extent of it and then the principal parts whereof it consists It reaches as you see from one end of the World to the other From the first Chaos to the last day and the Consummation of all things This probably will run the length of Seven Thousand Years which is a good competent space of time to exercise our Thoughts upon and to observe the several Scenes which Nature and Providence bring into View within the compass of so many Ages The matter and principal parts of this Theory are such things as are recorded in Scripture We do not feign a Subject and then descant upon it for diversion but endeavour to give an intelligible and rational account of such matters of Fact past or future as are there specifi'd and declar'd What it hath seem'd good to the Holy Ghost to communicate to us by History or Prophecy concerning the several States and general Changes of this Earth makes the Argument of our Discourse Therefore the things themselves must be taken for granted in one sence or other seeing besides all other proofs they have the Authority of a Revelation and our business is only to give such an explication of them as shall approve it self to the faculties of Man and be conformable to Scripture We will therefore first set down the things themselves that make the subject matter of this Theory and remind you of our explication of them Then recollect the general proofs of that explication from Reason and Nature but more fully and particularly shew how it is grounded upon Scripture The primary Phaenomena whereof we are to give an account are these Five or Six I. The Original of the Earth from a Chaos II. The state of Paradise and the Ante-diluvian World III. The Universal Deluge IV. The Universal Conflagration V. The Renovation of the World or the New Heavens and New Earth VI. The Consummation of all things These are unquestionably in Scripture and these all relate as you see to the several forms sâ—â—tes and revolutions of this Earth We are therefore oblig'd to give a clear and coherent account of these Phaeâ—oâ—ena in that orâ—er and consecution wherein tâ—ey stand to 〈◊〉 another There are also in Scripture some other things relating to the same Subjects that may be call'd the Secondary Ingredients of this Theory and are to be referr'd to their respective primary heads Such are for instance I. The Longevity of the Ante-diluvians II. The Rupture of the Great Abyss at the Deluge III. The appearing of the Rainbow after the Deluge as a sign that there neveâ—â—hould be a second Flood â—hese â—hings Scripâ—ure hath alâ—â— left upon â—â—cord as directions and indications how to understand the Ante-diluvian state and the Deluge it self Whosoever therefore shall undertake to write the Theory of the Earth must think himself bound to give us a just explication of these secondary Phaenomena as well as of the primary and that in such a dependance and connexion as to make them give and receive light from one another The former part of the Task is concerning the World behind us Times and Things past that are already come to light The later is concerning the World before us Times and Things to come That lie yet in the bosom of Providence and in the â—eeds of Nature And these are chiefly the Conflagration of the World and the Renovation of it When these are over and expir'd then comes the end as S. Paul says Then the Heavens and the Earth fly away as S. Iohn says Then is the Consummation of all things and the last period of this sublunary World whatsoever it is Thus â—ar the Theorist must go and pursue the motions of Nature till all things are brought to rest and silence And in this latter part of the Theory there is also a collateral Phaenomenon the Millennium or Thousand Years Reign of Christ and his Saints upon Earth to be consider'd For this according as it is represented in Scripture does imply a change in the Natural World as well as in the Moral and therefore must be accounted for in the Theory of the Earth At least it must be there determin'd whether that state of the World which is singular and extraordinary will be before or after the Confâ—agration These are the Principals and Incidents of this Theory of the Earth as to the Matter and Subject of it which you see is both impâ—rtant and wholly taken out of Scripture As to our explication of these points that is sufficiently known being set down at large in four Books of this Theory Therefore it remains only having seen the Matter of the Theory to examine the Form of it and the proofs of it for from these two things it must receive its censure As to the form the characters of a Regular Theory seem to be these three Few and easie Postulatums Union
am bound to make good I said at first that our Hypothesis concerning the Deluge was more agreeable not only to Scripture in general but also to the particular History of the Flood left us by Moses I say more agreeable to it than any other Hypothesis that hath yet been propos'd This may be made good in a few words For in Moses's History of the Deluge there are two principal points The extent of the Deluge and the Causes of it and in both these we do fully agree with that sacred Author As to the extent of it He makes the Deluge universal All the high hills under the whole heaven were cover'd fifteen cubits upwards We also make it universal over the face of the whole Earth and in such a manner as must needs raise the waters above the top of the highest Hills every where As to the canses of it Moses makes them to be the disruption of the Abyss and the Rains and no more and in this also we exactly agree with him we know no other causes nor pretend to any other but those two Distinguishing therefore Moses his narration as to the substance and circumstances of it it must be allowed that these two points make the substance of it and that an Hypothesis that differs from it in either of these two differs from it more than Ours which at the worst can but differ in matter of circumstance Now seeing the great difficulty about the Deluge is the quantity of Water required for it there have been two explications proposed besides ours to remove or satisfie this difficulty One whereof makes the Deluge not to have been universal or to have reacht only Iudea and some neighbouring Countries and therefore less water would suffice The other owning the Deluge to be universal supplies it self with Water from the Divine Omnipotenty and says new Waters were created then for the nonce and again annihilated when the Deluge was to cease Both these explications you see and I know no more of note that are not obnoxious to the same exceptions differ from Moses in the substance or in one of the two substantial points and consequently more than ours doth The first changeth the Flood into a kind of national inundation and the second assigns other causes of it than Moses had assigned And as they both differ apparently from the Mosaical History so you may see them refuted upon other grounds also in the third Chapter of the First Book of the Theory This may be sufficient as to the History of the Flood by Moses But possibly it may be said the principal objection will arise from Moses his Six-days Creation in the first Chapter of Genesis where another sort of Earth than what we have form'd from the Chaos is represented to us namely a Terraqueous Globe such as our Earth is at present 'T is indeed very apparent that Moses hath accommodated his Six days Creation to the present form of the Earth or to that which was before the eyes of the people when he writ But it is a great question whether that was ever intended for a true Physical account of the origine of the Earth or whether Moses did either Philosophize or Astronomize in that description The ancient Fathers when they answer the Heathens and the adversaries of Christianity do generally deny it as I am ready to make good upon another occasion And the thing it self bears in it evident marks of an accommodation and condescention to the vulgar notions concerning the form of the World Those that think otherwise and would make it literally and physically true in all the parts of it I desire them without entring upon the strict merits of the cause to determine these Preliminaries First whether the whole universe rise from a Terrestrial Chaos Secondly what Systeme of the World this Six-days Creation proceeds upon whether it supposes the Earth or the Sun for the Center Thirdly Whether the Sun and Fixt Stars are of a later date and a later birth than this Globe of Earth And lastly Where is the Region of the Super-celestial Waters When they have determin'd these Fundamentals we will proceed to other observations upon the Six-days work which will further assure us that 't is a narration suited to the capacity of the people and not to the strict and physical nature of things Besides we are to remember that Moses must be so interpreted in the first Chapter of Genesis as not to interfere with himself in other parts of his History nor to interfere with S. Peter or the Prophet David or any other Sacred Authors when they treat of the same matter Nor lastly so as to be repugnant to clear and uncontested Science For in things that concern the natural World that must always be consulted With these precautions let them try if they can reduce that narrative of the Origine of the World to physical truth so as to be consistent both with Nature and with Divine Revelation every where It is easily reconcileable to both if we suppose it writ in a Vulgar style and to the conceptions of the People And we cannot deny that a Vulgar style is often made use of in the holy Writings How freely and unconcernedly does Scripture speak of God Almighty according to the opinions of the vulgar of his passions local motions parts and members of his body Which all are things that do not belong or are not compatible with the Divine Nature according to truth and Science And if this liberty be taken as to God himself much more may it be taken as to his works And accordingly we see what motion the Scripture gives to the Sun what figure to the Earth what figure to the Heavens All according to the appearance of sence and popular credulity without any remorse for having transgressed the rules of intellectual truth This vulgar style of Scripture in describing the natures of things hath been often mistaken for the real sence and so become a stumbling-block in the way of truth Thus the Anthropomorphites of old contended for the humane shape of God from the Letter of Scripture and brought many express Texts for their purpose but sound reason at length got the upper hand of Literal authority Then several of the Christian Fathers contended that there were no Antipodes and made that doctrine irreconcileable to Scripture But this also after a while went off and yielded to reason and experience Then the Motion of the Earth must by no means be allow'd as being contrary to Scripture for so it is indeed according to the Letter and Vulgar style But all intelligent Persons see thorough this Argument and depend upon it no more in this case than in the former Lastly The original of the Earth from a Chaos drawn according to the rules of Physiology will not be admitted because it does not agree with the Scheme of the Six-days Creation But why may not this be writ in a Vulgar style as well as the rest Certainly