v. 10. where he thus writes What is here thus expressed by S. Peter is ordinarily conceived to belong to the end of the World and by others applyed to the end of this World and the beginning of the Millennium or thousand years And so as S. Peter here saith v. 16. many other places in S. Paul's Epistles and in the Gospel especially Matth. 24. are mistaken and wrested That it doth not belong to either of those but to this fatal day of the Jews sufficiently appears by the purport of this whole Epistle which is to arm them with Constancy and Perseverance till that day come and particularly in this Chapter to confute them who object against the Truth of Christ's Predictions and resolve it should not come at all Against whom he here opposes the Certainty the Speediness and the Terribleness of its coming That which hath given occasion to those other common Mistakes is especially the Hideousness of those Judgments which fell upon that People of the Jews beyond all that ever before are reâ—ated to have fallen upon them or indeed any other people which made it necessary â—or the Prophets which were to describe it 〈◊〉 and who use Tropes and Figures and not â—lain Expressions to set down their Predictiâ—ns to express it by these high Phrases of â—he passing away and dissolving of Heaven and Earth and Elements c. which sounding very tragically are mistaken for the great â—nd final Dissolution of the World So far the Doctor Two things there are in this Chapter which seem to contradict this Inâ—erpretation First That the Destruction â—ere spoken of is compared with Noah's â—lood and the Heaven and Earth to be disâ—olved by this made parallel and of equal extent to the World destroyed by that Of this the Doctor was well aware and therefore grants that the 7th Verse But the Heavens and the Earth which are now by the â—â—me word are kept in store reserved unto fire â—gainst the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men is to be understood of the general and final destruction of the World by fire but the following Verses to be an Answer to the first part of the Atheists Objection viz. Where is the promise of his coming To me it seems that all refer to the same matter The second thing which seems to contradict the Doctor 's Interpretation is the Apostles citing for the instruction and confirmation of the Believers and in answer to the Atheists Objection Where is the promise of his coming â— that place of the Psalmist Psal 90.4 Thaâ— one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day For thâ— Apostle seems to suppose that the time oâ— Christ's coming might possibly be a thousand years off and that they were not to thinâ— much or distrust the promise if it were so for though it were predicted as thinâ— shortly to come yet they were to consideâ— that a thousand years in God's sight is but very short time so that it might be fore tolâ— as shortly to come though it were a thousand years off Whereas it might seem improper to mention a thousand years to support them in expectation of an Event thâ— was not twenty years to come Another place where mention is made â—â— Christ's coming to Judgment and the Dissâ—lution of the World is Matth. 24. to whicâ— may be added as parallel Mark 13. anâ— Luke 21. In which places you have conâ—â—derable 1. The Suddenness of Christ's coming v. 27. As the lightning comes out of tâ— East and shineth even unto the West so shâ— the coming of the Son of Man be 2. The Sigâ— of his coming v. 29. Immediately after tâ— tribulation of those days shall the Sun be darkned and the Moon shall not give her light and the Stars shall fall from Heaven and the powers of Heaven shall be shaken 3. The manner of his coming v. 30. And then shall appear the Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven and then shall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn when 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 4. The Uncertainty of the time of his coming and this dissolution as to us But of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the Angels in Heaven and Mark adds neither the Son but the Father only All this Prophecy Dr. Hammond understands of the destruction of the City and Temple of Jerusalem and whole Nation of the Jews as may be seen in his Paraphrase and Annotations upon this place And indeed our Saviour himself seems to limit it to this saying v. 24. Verily I say unto you this generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled For if these Prophecies look further than the destruction of Jerusalem even to Christ's coming to Judgment how could it be true that that generation should not pass away till all those things were fulfilled Whereas we see that that Generation is long since passed away and yet the end is not yet And indeed Expositors that understand them of the end of the World and Christ's second coming to Judgment are hard put to it to answer this Objection S. Chrysostom will have this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be understood not of the Generation of men then living but of the Generation of the faithful which should not fail till the end of the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He denominates a Generation not only from living together in the same time but from having the same form and manner of religious Worship and Polity as in that place This is the generation of them that seek thee that seek thy face O Jacob. Beza understands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the present Age and will have it to be of the same valor with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Hebrew and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to refer not to all particulars mentioned in this Chapter but only to those which are spoken of the destruction of the City and Nation of the Jews But saith he if any one urgeth the universal Particle Vertere licebit Fiant omnia viz. quae ultimam illam diem praecessura dixit Nam ab illo tempore coeperunt fieri adhuc perseverant illa signa suo demum tempore Filio hominis venturo But on the other side 1. Some passages there are in this Chapter which are hardly applicable to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Dissolution of the Jewish Common-wealth as the appearing of the Sign of the Son of man in heaven and the Tribes seeing the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory And his sending his Angels with a great sound of a Trumpet 2. The coming of Christ is in like manner
compare together if we desire to understand any thing of what shall befal the Christian Church or State in time to come This Text which I have made choice of for my Subject is part of a Prophecy concerning the greatest of all Events the Dissolution of the World 2 PETER iii. 11. Seeing then all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness CHAP. I. The Division of the Words and Doctrine contained in them with the Heads of the following Discourse THESE words contain in them two Parts 1. An Antecedent or Doctrine All these things shall be dissolved 2. A Consequent or Inference thereupon What manner of persons ought we to be The Doctrine here only briefly hinted or summarily proposed is laid down more fully in the precedent Verse But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up These words are by the generality of Interpreters Ancient and Modern understood of the final destruction or dissolution of Heaven and Earth in which sense I shall chuse rather to accept them at present than with the Reverend and Learned Dr. Hammond and some few others to stem the Tide of Expositors and apply them to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Polity I say then That this World and all things therein contained shall one day be dissolved and destroyed by Fire By Heaven and Earth in this place the most rational Interpreters of Scripture do understand only the whole Compages of this sublunary World and all the Creatures that are in it all that was destroyed by the Flood in the days of Noah and is now secured from perishing so again that I may borrow Dr. Hammond's words in his Annotations on this place And again the word Heavens saith he being an Equivocal word is used either for the superior Heavens whether Empyreal or Ethereal or for the sublunary Heavens the Air as the word World is either the whole Compages of the superior or inferior or else only of the sublunary lower World we may here resolve that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heaven and Host or Elements thereof are literally the sublunary aereal Heavens and all that is therein Clouds and Meteors c. Fowls and flying Creatures and so fit to join with the Earth and Works that are therein In prosecution of this Proposition and in order to the Proof and Confirmation and likewise the clearing and illustration of it I shall 1. Give you what I find concerning the dissolution of the World 1. In the holy Scripture 2. In Ancient Christian Writers 3. In the Heathen Philosophers and Sages 2. I shall endeavour to give some answer to these seven Questions which are obvious and usually made concerning it 1. Whether there be any thing in Nature which might prove and demonstrate or argue and infer a future Dissolution of the World 2. Whether shall this Dissolution be brought about and effected by Natural or by Extraordinary Means and Instruments and what those Means and Instruments shall be 3. Whether shall the Dissolution be gradual or sudden 4. Whether shall there be any Signs and Fore-runners of it 5. At what Period of Time shall the World be dissolved 6. How far shall this Conflagration extend Whether to the Ethereal Heavens and all the Host of them Sun Moon and Stars or to the Aereal only 7. Whether shall the Heavens and Earth be wholly dissipated and destroyed or only refined and purified CHAP. II. The Testimonies of Scripture concerning the Dissolution of the World 1. THen Let us consider what we find delivered in the holy Scriptures concerning the Dissolution of the World And first of all This place which I have made choice of for my Text is in my opinion the most clear and full as to this particular in the whole Scripture and will give light for the Solution of most of the proposed Questions V. 10. The day of the Lord shall come as a thief c. This answers the third Question Whether the Dissolution shall be gradual or sudden Wherein the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up And again V. 12. Wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat This answers the second Question What the Means and Instruments of this Dissolution shall be V. 13. Nevertheless we according to his promise look for a new Heaven and a new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness This gives some light toward the answering of the last Question Whether shall the Heavens and the Earth be wholly burnt up and destroyed or only renewed and purified These Words as clearly as they seem to refer to the Dissolution of the World yet Dr. Hammond doubts not to be understood of the remarkable destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish State he thus paraphrasing them V. 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat and the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up But this Judgment of Christ so remarkable on the Jews shall now shortly come and that very discernably and the Temple shall suddenly be destroyed the greater part of it burnt and the City and People utterly consumed V. 11. Seeing then all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness Seeing then this destruction shall thus involve all and now approacheth so near what an engagement doth this lay upon us to live the most pure strict lives that ever men lived V. 12. Looking for and hastning unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat Looking for the coming of Christ for our deliverance and by our Christian lives quickning and hastning God to delay it no longer that Coming of his I say which as it signifies great mercy to us so it signifies very sharp destruction to the whole Jewish State V. 13. Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness Instead of which we look for a new Christian State wherein all provision is made by Christ for righteousness to inhabit according to the promise of Christ concerning the purity that he should plant in the Evangelical State How he makes out and confirms this Paraphrase see in his Annotations upon this place So confident is he of the Truth of this his Interpretation that he censures the usual one as a great Mistake in his Annotation on
power of the Omnipotent God and instrumentality of an inexplicable multitude of Clouds amassed together wherewith it was filled changed into Water so that the upper and lower Air might seem to be transmuted into an Ocean not by the strength of Nature but of him to whose Will and Power all things are subject And he is so confident that this Deluge in which the Water was raised fifteen Cubits above the highest Mountains was not nor could be effected by natural Causes but by the right hand of the Most High God only that he saith No man can deny it but he who doth not penetrate how far the power of Nature can extend and where it is limited To conclude this Hypothesis hath the Suffrages of most Learned Men. But because the Scripture assigning the Causes or Means of the Inundation makes no mention of any conversion of Air into Water but only of the breaking up the Fountains of the Great Deep and the opening of the Windows of Heaven I suppose those Causes may be sufficient to work the Effect and that we need not have recourse to such an Assistance As for those that make the Deluge Topical and restrain it to a narrow compass of Land their Opinion is I think sufficiently confuted by the fore-mentioned ingenious Author to whom therefore I refer the Reader I shall not undertake the Defence or Confutation of any other Hypothesis only tell you which at present seems to me most probable and that is theirs who for a partial cause of the Deluge assign either a change of the Center of the Earth or a violent depression of the Surface of the Ocean and a forcing the Waters up from the subterraneous Abysse through the Channels of the Fountains that were then broken up and opened First then let us consider what Causes the Scripture assigns of the Flood and they are two 1. The breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep 2. The opening of the Windows of Heaven I shall first treat of this last By the opening of the Windows of Heaven is I suppose to be understood the causing of all the Water that was suspended in the Air to descend down in Rain upon the Earth the effect hereof here mentioned being a long continuing Rain of Forty nay perchance One Hundred and Fifty Days And that these Treasuries of the Air will afford no small quantity of Water may be made appear both by Scripture and Reason 1. By Scripture which opposes the Waters that are above the Heavens or Firmament to those that are under them which if they were not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in some measure equal it would never do Gen. 1.6 God is said to make a Firmament in the midst of the Waters and to divide the Waters which were under the Firmament from the Waters which were above the Firmament And this was the work of a whole day and consequently no inconsiderable thing By the Heavens or Firmament in this place is to be understood the inferiour Region of the Air wherein the Fowls fly who Gen. 1.20 are said to fly above the Earth in the open Firmament of Heaven though elsewhere it be taken for the Celestial Regions wherein the Sun and Moon and Stars are placed 2. The same may be made appear by Reason grounded upon Experience I my self have observed a Thunder-Cloud in passage to have in less than two hours space powred down so much Water upon the Earth as besides what sunk into the parched and thirsty ground and filled all Ditches and Ponds caused a considerable Flood in the Rivers setting all the Meadows on flote And Dr. Wittie in his Scarborough Spaâ— tells us of great Spouts of Rain that ordinarily fall every year some time or other in Summer that set the whole Countrey in a Flood Now had this Cloud which might for ought I know have moved Forty Miles forward stood still and emptied all its Water upon the same spot of ground it first hung over what a sudden and incredible Deluge would it have made there and yet what depth or thickness of Vapours might remain uncondensed in the Air above this Cloud who knows Now it is to be considered that not only the Air above the Dry Land but also all that covers the whole Ocean is charged with Vapours which are nothing else but diffused Water all which was brought together by Winds or what other Means seem'd good to God and caused to distil down in Rain upon the Earth And you may easily guess that it was no small quantity of Water that was supplyed this way in that it sufficed for a Rain that lasted more than Forty Days as I shall afterwards shew if I understand the Text a right And that no ordinary Rain neither but Catarracts or Spouts of Water for so the Septuagint interprets the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Catarracts or Spouts of Heaven were opened I return now to the first Cause or Means of the Deluge assigned by the Scripture and that is the breaking up of all the fountains of the great Deep By the great Deep in this place I suppose is to be understood the Subterraneous Waters which do and must necessarily communicate with the Sea For we see that the Caspian and Mediterranean Seas to mention no others receive into themselves many and great Rivers and yet have no visible Out-lets nay this latter receives also abundance of Waters from the great Ocean running in at the Streights of Gibraltar and therefore by Subterraneous Passages must needs discharge their Waters into the Abyss of Waters under the Earth and by its intervention into the Ocean again By the breaking up of the Fountains of the Great Deep is I conceive meant the making great Issues and Apertures for these Subterraneous Waters to rush out You will say how could that be sith the Water keeps its level and cannot ascend to a greater height above the common Center than the Superficies of the Sea is much less force its way remove Obstacles and break open Passages I answer According to them that hold that all Rivers come from the Sea by Subterraneous Passages it is no more than daily happens For they must needs grant thaâ— the Water in the Subterraneous Channels is raised as far above the level of the Ocean as are the Heads and Fountains of great Rivers Which considering the height of their first Springs up the Mountains the length of their Courses and swiftness of their Streams for a great part of the way is very considerable a constant declivity being necessary to their descent And therefore 〈◊〉 can by no means assent to the Learned Doctor Plot if I understand him alright That the Valleys are as much below the Surface of the Sea as Mountains are above it For how then could Rivers descend down to the Sea through those Valleys the Sea would rather run into them and make Siâ—uses or else if they were enclosed the Water would stagnate there and make Pools
in the sun and in the moon and in the stars the sea and the waves roaring he adds as a Consequent thereof Vers 26. Mens hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth And indeed how could any Man possibly be buried in so profound a Lethargy of Senselessness and Security as by such stupendious Prodigies not to be rowsed and awakened to an expectation of some dismal and tremendous Event How could he sing a Requiem to his Soul and say Peace and Safety when the World so manifestly threatens Ruin about his Ears For the reconciling of these Expressions to this sudden coming of our Saviour to Judgment it were most convenient to accept them in the Figurative and Metaphorical Sense For if we understand them of the Ruins and Devastations of Cities and Countries the Changes of Governments the Subversions of Kingdoms and Commonwealths the Falls and Deposings of Princes Nobles and Great Men these happening more or less in every Age tho the serious and inquisitive Christian who searches and understands the Scriptures may discern them to be the Signs of the World's Catastrophe yet the careless and inconsiderate the vicious and voluptuous are not like to be at all startled or moved at them but may notwithstanding looking upon them as ordinary and insignificant Accidents Dormire in utramque aurem sleep securely till the last Trump awaken them Or it may be answered that these Prophecies do belong to the Destruction of Jerusalem only and so we are not concerned to answer this Objection CHAP. IX The fifth Question answered At what Period of Time shall the World be dissolved 5. THE Fifth Question is At what Period of Time shall the World be dissolved I answer This is absolutely uncertain and indeterminable For since this Dissolution shall be effected by the extraordinary Interposition of Providence it cannot be to any man known unless extraordinarily revealed And our Saviour tells us that of that Day and Hour knows no man no not the Angels of Heaven c. Matth. 24.36 And again Acts 1.17 It is not for us to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath placed in his own power And this Dr. Hakewyll brings as an Argument that the World decays not neither tends to corruption because if it did the time of its actual Dissolution might be collected and foretold which saith he the Scripure denies We may invert this Argumentation and infer Because the World doth not decay therefore the time of its Dissolution cannot be known But yet notwithstanding this many have ventured to fore-tell the time of the end of the World of whom some are already confuted the term prefixt being past and the World still standing Lactantius in his time said Institut lib. 7. c. 15. Omnis expectatio non amplius quà m ducentorum videtur annorum The longest expectation extends not further than two hundred years The continuance of the World more than a thousand years since convinces him of a gross Mistake Paulus Grebnerus a high Pretender to a Spirit of Prophesie sets it in the year 1613. induced thereto by a fond conceit of the Numeral Letters in the Latin Word Judicium Other Enthusiastical persons of our own Countrey have placed it in the years 1646. and 1656. The event shews how ungroundedly and erroneously Others there are whose term is not yet expired and so they remain still to be confuted As those who conceit that the end of the World shall be when the Pole-Star shall come to touch the Pole of the Equator which say they ever since the time of Hipparchus hath approached nearer and nearer to it That it doth so I am not satisfied but if it doth it is merely accidental and hath no connexion with the end of the World But the most famous Opinion and which hath found most Patrons and Followers even amongst the Learned and Pious is that of the Worlds duration for six thousand years For the strengthening of which Conceit they tell us that as the World was created in six days and then followed the Sabbath so shall it remain six thousand years and then shall succeed the Eternal Sabbath Heb. 4.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. There remains therefore a rest or Sabbath to the people of God Here we see that the Apostle institutes a comparison between the heavenly rest and the Sabbath Therefore as God rested upon the seventh day so shall all the World of the Godly rest after the six thousandth year For he that hath entred into his rest ceaseth from all his works as God did from his Of this Opinion were many of the Ancient Fathers as I shewed before grounding themselves upon this Analogy between the six days of the Creation and the Sabbath and the six thousand years of the Worlds duration and the eternal rest For saith Irenaeus lib. 5. cap. ult Hoc autem that is the History of the six days Creation and succeeding Sabbath est praeteritorum narratio futurorum prophetia Dies enim unus mille annos significat sicut Scriptura testatur 2 Pet. 3.8 Psal 90.4 the Scriptures reckoning days of one thousand years long as in verse 8. of this Chapter and in Psal 90.4 This is likewise a received Tradition of the Jewish Rabbins registred in the Talmud in the Treatise Sanhedrim delivered as they pretend by the Prophet Elias the Tishbite to the Son of the Woman of Sarepta whom he raised from the dead and by him handed down to Posterity I rather think with Reuterus that the Author of it was some Rabbi of that name The Tradition is Sex millia annorum erit mundus uno millenaria vastatio i. e. Sabbathum Dei Duo millia inane Duo millia Lex Duo millia dies Messiae Two thousand years vacuity Two thousand years of the Law Two thousand years the days of the Messiah But they shoot far wide For according to the least account there passed a far greater number of years before the Law was given 2513. saith Reuterus and on the contrary less time from the Law to the Exhibition of the Messiah All these Proofs laid together do scarce suffice to make up a probability Neither do those Rabbinical Collections from the six Letters in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first word of Genesis or from the six Alephs in the first Verse of that Book each signifying a thousand years or from the six first Patriarchs in the order of the Genealogy to Enoch who was caught up to Heaven and found no more add much weight to this Opinion S. Austin very modestly concludes after a discussion of this Point concerning the time of the Worlds duration Ego tempora dinumerare non audeo nec aliquem prophetam de hac re numerum annorum existimo praefinivisse Nos ergo quod scire nos Dominus noluit libentèr nesciamus But though none but presumptuous persons have undertaken peremptorily to determine that time yet was it
JOHN RAY F.R.S. Printed for J. Hinton at the King's Arms in Paternoster Row Miscellaneous Discourses Concerning the DISSOLUTION AND CHANGES OF THE WORLD WHEREIN The Primitive Chaos and Creation the General Deluge Fountains Formed Stones Sea-Shells found in the Earth Subterraneous Trees Mountains Earthquakes Vulcanoes the Universal Conflagration and Future State are largely Discussed and Examined By JOHN RAY Fellow of the ROYAL SOCIETY LONDON Printed for Samuel Smith at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Church Yard 1692. TO THE Most Reverend FATHER in GOD JOHN Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan My Lord IT was no Interest or Expectation of mine that induced me to dedicate this Discourse to your Grace I am not so well conceited of my own performances as to think it merits to be inscribed to so great a Name much less that I should oblige your Lordship or indeed a far meaner person by such inscription My principal motive was that it would give me opportunity of congratulating with the sober part of this Nation your advancement to the Archiepiscopal Dignity and of acknowledging His Majesty's Wisdom in making choice of so fit a Person to fill that Chair endued with all Qualifications requisite for so high a Calling so able and skilful a Pilot to govern the Church and so prudent and faithful a Counsellor to serve himself But I will not enlarge in your just praises lest I should incur the unjust Censure or Suspicion of Flattery Give me leave only to add what I may without injury of Truth and I think also without violation of Modesty that your Grace's Election hath the concurrent Approbation and Applause of all good men that know you or have had a true Character of you which may serve to strengthen your Hands in the Management and Administration of so difficult a Province though you need no such Support as being sufficiently involved and armed by your Vertues and protected by the Almighty Power and Providence Those that are Good and Wise are pleased and satisfied when great Men are preferred to great Places and think it pity that Persons of large and publick Spirits should be confined to narrow Spheres of Action and want field to exercise and employ those rich Talents and Abilities wherewith they are endowed in doing all the Good they are thereby qualified and inclined to do My Lord I am sensible that the Present I make you is neither for Bulk nor Worth suitable to your Person and Greatness yet I hope you will favourably accept it being the best I have to offer and my boldness may pretend some excuse from ancient acquaintance and from my forwardness to embrace this opportunity of professing my name among those that honour you and of publishing my self My Lord Your Graces most devoted Servant and humble Orator John Ray. THE PREFACE VVERE it not customary and expected by the Reader this Discourse would need no Preface All that I shall premise shall be something by way of Apology or Excuse First For the two long Digressions I have made the one concerning the general Deluge in the days of Noah the other concerning the Primitive Chaos and Creation of the World My first Plea is their Affinity and near Relation to my Subject The future Dissolution of the World by fire inviting me to say something of the former Destruction of it by Water And the destruction being opposite to the formation I had as good a Pretence to discourse likewise concerning that My second excuse is their agreement with my Subject in being alike matters of Ancient Tradition Five matters of Ancient Tradition I have taken notice of and four of them by reason of their now-mentioned Relation one to another I have had a fair and inviting occasion to treat of in this Work They are 1. That the World was formed out of a Chaos by the Divine Wisdom and Power 2. That there was once an universal Flood of Waters in which all Mankind perished excepting some few that were saved in an Ark or Ship 3. That the World shall one day be dissolved by Fire 4. That there is a Heaven and an Hell a Tartarus and an Elysium and both eternal the one to reward good men and the other to punish wicked 5. Of which I have no occasion to treat That Bloody Sacrifices are to be offered for the Expiation of Sin It may be doubted whether these Traditions among the Heathen had their Original from some passages in Scripture as that of the Chaos from the second Verse of the first Chapter of Genesis And the Earth was Tohu vabohu which we render without form and void and that of the Deluge from the History of it in the seventh Chapter of the same and the future conflagration from several passages in the Prophets c. or were antecedent to the Scripture I rather think the latter because we find them among some Nations which it's likely never had understanding of the Scriptures nor indeed ever heard of them Secondly For Writing so much for which perchance some may censure me I am not ignorant that men as they are mutable so they love change and affect variety of Authors as well as Books Satiety even of the best things is apt to creep upon us He that writes much let him write never so well shall experience that his last Books though nothing inferiour to his first will not find equal acceptance But for mine own part though in general I may be thought to have written too much yet is it but little that I have written relating to Divinity Thirdly For being too hasty in huddling up and tumbling out Books Herein I confess I cannot acquit my self wholly from blame I know well that the longer a Book lies by me the perfecter it becomes Something occurs every day in reading or thinking either to add or to correct and alter for the better but should I defer the Edition till the Work were absolutely perfect I might wait all my life-time and leave it to be published by my Executors But I see that Posthumous Pieces generally prove inferiour to those put out by the Authors in their lives And perchance did the Reader know my Reasons for this speed which I think it not fit now to lay open he would judge them sufficient to excuse me However hasty and precipitate I am in writing my Books are but small so that if they be worthless the Purchase is not great nor the Expence of Time wasted in the perusal of them very considerable Yet is not the worth of a Book always answerable to its Bulk But on the contrary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is usually esteemed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One â—hing still remains to advertise the Reader of that is that upon second thoughts I do revoke what I have delivered as my Opinion or Suspicion concerning the Continuance of the Rain at the Time of the Deluge for one hundred and fifty dayes because it is
described in places which undoubtedly speak of his coming to Judgment at the end of the World As in 1 Cor. 15.52 mention is made of the Trumpets sounding at the time of Christ's coming and 1 Thess 4.16 it is said The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with the voice of the Archangel and with the trump of God and v. 17. We that are alive shall be caught up together with them that are risen in the clouds to meet the Lord in the Air. All which places are perfectly parallel and seem manifestly to allude to the fore-mentioned words Matth. 24.30 31. I am apt to think that these Prophecies may have a double respect one to the City Temple and Nation of the Jews another to the whole World at the great day of Doom and that the former is indeed Typical of the latter and so they have a double completion the first in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Polity In reference to which it is truly said This generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled The second in the final Dissolution of the World which is yet to come But to proceed Another place which is usually understood of the Dissolution of the World by fire is 2 Thess 1.7 8. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heave◠with his mighty Angels in flaming fire c Other parallel places may be seen Rev. 6 12 13 14. Rev. 10.6 Rev. 21.1 And ◠saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passe◠away and there was no more Sea Heb. 12 26 27. These places speak more directly of the Dissolution of the World and th◠coming of Christ to Judgment Others ther◠are that speak only concerning the time o◠it 1 Pet. 4.7 But the end of all things is a◠hand James 5.9 Behold the Judge standet◠before the door 1 John 2.18 Little children it is the last time or as some translat◠it the last hour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 10.37 Yet a little while and he that shall come wil◠come and will not tarry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 18.17 I tell you he will avenge them speedily All these places the fore-mentioned Dr. Hammond still applies to that famous Period of the destruction of the City Temple and Polity of the Jews and in conclusion hath left us but one place in the New Testament to prove the general Conflagration of the World viz. 2 Pet. 7.7 Now because some have been offended at these Interpretations of his others have spoken very flightingly of them I shall briefly sum up what hath been alleged in defence of them by this great man 1. That the Prophets use to set down their Predictions in Tropes and Figures and not in plain expressions their Style being Poetical And therefore in describing those hideous Judgments which fell upon that people of the Jews beyond all that ever before fell upon them or indeed any other people they found it necessary to employ those High and Tragical Phrases of the passing away and dissolving Heaven and Earth and Elements And that this was the manner of the Prophets may be proved because we find the destruction of other places described in as High Strains as Lofty and Tragical Expressions as this of Jerusalem For example that of Idumaea Esay 34.9 The streams thereof shall be turned into pitch and the dust thereof into brimstone and the land thereof shall become burning pitch It shall not be quenched night nor day the smoke thereof shall go up for ever And in the 4th Verse he seems but to Preface to this Destruction in these words And all the host of Heaven shall be dissolved and the Heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll and all their hosts shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the Vine and as a falling Fig from the Fig tree For my Sword shall be bathed in Heaven Behold it shall come down upon Idumaea And in the Burden of Babylon Chap. 13.8 9. we have these words Behold the day of the Lord Cometh cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the Land desolate For the Stars of Heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light The Sun shall be darkened in his going forth and the Moon shall not cause her light to shine 2. All the Predictions in that famous place Matth. 24. to which all other places in the New Testament relating to this matter are parallel are by our Saviour himself restrained to the destruction of Jerusalem and the full completion of them limited to the duration of that Age Verse 34. Verily I say unto you This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled What reason then can we have to extend them further 3. In most of the places where this coming of Christ is mentioned it is spoken of as near and at hand as in the places last cited Now saith the Learned Doctor in his Note upon Luke 18.7 I tell you he will avenge them speedily All which if when it is said to approach and to be at the door it belonged to the Day of Judgment now after so many hundred years not yet come what a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were this what a delaying of his coming and consequently what an Objection against the truth of the Christian Religion As Mahomet having promised after his death he would presently return to life and having not performed his Promise in a thousand years is by us justly condemned as an Impostor 3. That this place of S. Peter out of which I have taken my Text doth not belong to the end of the World sufficiently appears saith he by the purport of this whole Epistle which is to arm them with constancy and perseverance till that Day come and particularly in this Chapter to confute them who object against the truth of Christs Predictions and resolve it should not come at all against whom he here opposes the certainty the speediness and the teribleness of its Coming And for that other famous Place 2 Thessal 1.8 9. that it belongs to the same Period see how he makes out in his Annotations I shall now superadd some places out of the Old Testament which seem to speak of the Dissolution of the World Job 14.12 Man lieth down and riseth not till the Heavens be no more Psalm 102.5 6. quoted Heb. 1.10 11. Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the Earth and the Heavens are the works of thy hands They shall perish but thou remainest and they all shall wax old as doth a garment and as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed Esay 34.4 And all the host of Heaven shall be dissolved and the Heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll and all their host shall fall down as a leaf falleth from the Vine c. Esay 51.6 The Heavens shall vanish away like smoke and the Earth shall wax old like a garment Joel 2.31
the common and received Opinion and Perswasion of the Ancient Christians that that day was not far off and had they been to limit it they would hardly have been induced to set the term so forward and remote from their own Age as by experience we find it proves to to be in their own times or shortly after and many places of Scripture seem to favour that Opinion so that some have presumed to say that the Apostles themselves were at first mistaken in this particular till after further illumination they were better informed But though this be too bold a Conceit yet that the Churches at least some of them did at first mistake the Apostles meaning in their Sermons and Epistles concerning this Point and so understand them as to think that the end of the World and final Judgment was at hand appears from 2 Thess 2.2 I beseech you Brethren that ye be not sooâ— shaken in mind or be troubled neither by Spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand Wee see the Apostle labours to rectifie and for the future to prevent this Mistake so likewise the Apostle Peter in the 8th and 9th Verses of this Chapter And yet this Opinion had taken such deep root in them that it waâ— not easie to be extirpated but continued for some Ages in the Church Indeed there are so many places in the New Testament which speak of the coming of Christ as very near that if we should have lived in their time and understood them all as they did of hiâ— coming to judge the World we could hardly have avoided being of the same Opinion But if we apply them as Dr. Hammoâ— doth to his coming to take vengeance on hiâ— enemies then they do not hinder but thaâ— the Day of Judgment I mean the generaâ— Judgment may be far enough off So â— leave this Question unresolved concluding that when that day will come God only knows CHAP. X. How far this Conflagration shâ—ll extend 6. A Sixth Question is How far shall this Conflagration extend Whether to the Ethereal Heavens and all the Host of them Sun Moon and Stars or to the Aereal only I answer If we follow Ancient Tradition not only the Earth but also the Heavens and heavenly Bodies will be involved in one common fate as appears by those Verses quoted out of Lucretius Ovid Lucan c. Of Christians some exempt the Ethereal Region from this Destruction for the two following Reasons which I shall set down in Reuterus's words 1. Because in this Chapter the Conflagration is compared to the Deluge in the time of Noah But the Deluge extended not to the upper Regions of the Air much less to the Heavens the Waters arising only fifteen Cubits above the tops of the Mountains if so much Therefore neither shall the Conflagration transcend that term So Beza upon 2 Pet. 3.6 Tantum ascendet ille ignis quantum aqua altior supra omnes montes That fire shall ascend as high as the Waters stood above the Mountains This passage I do not find in the last Edition of his Notes The ordinary Gloss also upon these words 2 Thess 1.2 In flaming fire rendring vengeance saith Christum venturum praecedet ignis in mundo qui tantum ascendet quantum aqua in diluvio There shall a fire go before Christ when he comes which shall reach as high as did the Water in the Deluge And S. Augustine De Civit. Dei lib. 20. cap. 18. Petrus etiam commemorans factum ante diluvium videtur admonuisse quodammodo quatenus in fine hujus seculi istum mundum periturum esse credamus Peter also mentioning the Ancient Deluge seems in a manner to have advised us how far at the consummation of time we are to believe this World shall perish But this Argument is of no force because it is not the Apostles design in that place to describe the limits of the Conflagration but only against Scoffers to shew that the World should one day perish by Fire as it had of old been destroyed by Water 2. The second reason is because the Heavenly Bodies are not subject to passion alteration or corruption They can contract no filth and so need no expurgation by Fire To this we answer not in the words of Reuter but our own That it is an idle and ill grounded conceit of the Peripateticks That the Heavens are of their own nature incorruptible and unalterable for on the contrary it is demonstrable that many of them are of the same nature with the Earth we live upon and the most pure as the Sun and probably too the Fixt Stars suffer Alterations maculae or opaque Concretions being commonly generated and dissolved in them And Comets frequently and sometimes New Stars appear in the Etherial Regions So that these Arguments are insufficient to exempt the Heavens from Dissolution and on the other side many places there are in Scripture which seem to subject them thereto As Psal 102.25 26. recited Heb. 1.10 which hath already often been quoted The heavens are the works of thy hands They shall perish Mat. 24.35 Heaven and Earth shall pass away Isa 65.17 51.6 The Heavens shall vanish away like smoke Yet am I not of opinion that the last Fire shall reach the Heavens They are too far distant from us to suffer by it nor indeed doth the Scripture affirm it but where it mentions the Dissolution of the Heavens it expresses it by such Phrases as seem rather to intimate that it shall come to pass by a consenescency and decay than be effected by any sudden and violent means Psal 102.25 26. They all shall wax old as doth a garment c. Though I confess nothing of Certainty can be gathered from such expressions for we find the same used concerning the Earth Isa 51.6 The Heavens shall vanish away like smoke and the Earth shall wax old as doth a garment The heavenly Bodies are none of them uncorruptible and eternal but may in like manner as the Earth be consumed and destroyed at what times and by what means whether Fire or some other Element the Amighty hath decreed and ordered CHAP. XI Whether shall the Whole World be consumed and annihilated or only refined and purified THere remains now only the Seventh Question to be resolved Whether shall the World be wholly consumed burnt up and destroyed or annihilated or only refined purified or renewed To this I answer That the latter part seems to me more probable viz. That it shall not be destroyed and annihilated but only refined and purified I know what potent Adversaries I have in this case I need name no more than Gerard in his Common Places and Dr. Hakewil in his Apology and the Defence of it who contend earnestly for the Abolition or Annihilation But yet upon the whole matter the Renovation or Restitution seems to me most probable as being most consonant to Scripture Reason and Antiquity The
suppose the Reader sufficiently instructed in that My business shall be to shew the strength of the Apostles Inference It may be said How doth this Dissolution concern us who may perchance be dead and rotten a thousand years before iâ— comes What have we to do with it I answer It concerns us 1. Because it possible it may happen in our times it maâ— surprise us before we are aware The precise time thereof is uncertain And it shaâ— be sudden and unexpected coming as Thief in the night as we have befoâ—â— shewn therefore we ought always to 〈◊〉 upon our guard to have our loins girt abâ— and our lights burning This use the Scâ—pture in many places makes of the uncâ—â—tainty of the time of Christs coming Luke 12.40 Be ye therefore ready for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not Luke 21.34 35. And take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life and so that day come upon you unawares For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the whole Earth Parallel whereto are Matth. 24.42 and Mark 13.33 35. That it shall come is certain when it shall come is uncertain and it every day draws nearer and nearer therefore it is not wisdom to remove the evil day far from us and as in reference to the day of death it is an usual and prudent advice so to live every day as if it were our last day or at least as we would not be afraid to do should it be so because we are sure that one day will be our last and for ought we know the present may be it so likewise is it rational counsel in respect of the End of the World so to prepare our selves for it by a holy conversation that we may get above the terror and dread which will otherwise attend the apprehension of the approach of â—t and that we may be provided against the worst that may follow and be secure come what can come Secondly It concerns us should it be a thousand years to come Because then is the general Resurrection both of the just and unjust Acts 24.15 and the general Judgment When we must all appear before the dreadful tribunal of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 which Rom. 2.5 is called the revelation of the righteous judgment of God Who will render to every man according to his deeds c. Upon this account I say it concerns us much how we have our conversation here First As we hope to be acquitted at that day and to enter into those new Heavens in which dwells righteousness Holiness is a necessary condition and antecedent to happiness Necessary I say 1. By Gods appointment Heb. 12.14 Follow peace with all men and holiness with out which no man shall see the Lord. Rom. 6.22 Have your fruit unto holiness and the end eternal life Psal 50. ult To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God Eternal life is the gifâ— of God He is not obliged to bestow iâ— upon any man He may make what conditions he pleases for the obtaining of it Nâ— man hath any right to it No man can lay any claim to it but from this donation and from the performance of these conditions Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the City For without are dogs and whoremongers and sorcerers c. All the right they have depends upon Gods promise which is conditionate and accrues to them by the performance of the condition which is the doing of his Commandments 2. Necessary not only by Gods appointment but in the very nature of the thing Holiness is the very quality and complexion of Heaven No man without it is qualified to be a subject of that Kingdom For thereinto nothing that is impure or unclean can enter Revel 21.27 And there shall in no wise enter into it the new Jerusalem any thing that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination In this new Heaven dwelleth righteousness 2 Pet. 3.15 Therefore 1 John 3.3 Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself as he is pure Heaven would naturally spue out and eject a wicked person as one heterogeneous to it Heaven and Hell are not more distant in place than they are in nature There is not more antipathy between fire and water between light and darkness between streight and crooked neither are they more incompatible or do more naturally resist and expel one another than holiness which is the quality of Heaven and wickedness which is the disposition and temper of Hell Some do think Heaven to be rather a state than a place and that he that is partaker of the Divine Nature hath Heaven within him This is true but this is not all The whole notion of Heaven comprehends both a state and a place A man must be in a heavenly state before the local Heaven can receive him or he brook it Heaven without him would be no Heaven to the man who hath not Heaven within him A wicked person could find no business or employment in Heaven nothing to satisfie his corrupt and depraved affections inclinations and appetites He would there meet with no suitable company no persons whose conversation he could take any delight and complacency in but rather hate and abhor For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness or what communion hath light with darkness 2 Cor. 6.14 Like naturally loves like and unites with it and doth refuse resist and hate that which is unlike it For every thing is made to love it self and consequently every thing that resembles and comes near it and is as it were a replication of it and to hate the contrary As therefore we would be glad to be Partakers of the blessedness of the local Heaven so let us endeavour to get into our Minds and Spirits the qualities and conditions of Heaven that so we may be fit Subjects for that Kingdom fit companions for that Society This is the time allotted us to purifie our selves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of God There is no invention in the grave whither we are going Eccles 9.10 Vpon this moment depends eternity As the tree falls so it lies and as Death leaves so will Judgment find us Quando isthinc excessum fuerit nullus jam locus poenitentiae est Hîc vita aut amittitur aut tenetur Hîc saluti aeternae cultu Dei fructu fidei providetur Cyprian Serm. de Immortal After we shall depart hence there remains no more place for repentance Eternal life is here either lost or won Here provision is made for everlasting salvation by the worship of God