and the Consideration of his Churches W. S. The ANSWER to the First Book Intituled THEOPOLIS c. SIR I Have impartially read and seriously considered what you have writ in your Theopolis c. weighing it in the Ballance of the Sanctuary according to the Rules proposed by you and find it greatly wanting insomuch that I cannot but wonder you should take so much pains to so little purpose for all that you have said in my Judgment proves nothing for which you urge it viz. That the Saints shall reign a thousand Years upon Earth before Christ's Second Coming And that you may see your great Mistake herein I shall give a brief and plain Answer to what may seem most material therein for that purpose not in the least denying but plainly acknowledging the glorious Kingdom of Christ on Earth And first you tell us page 97 98. That there is a five-fold Kingdom belongs to Christ spoken of in the Scripture viz. 1st A Providential 2dly A Spiritual 3dly A Mystical 4thly A Monarchial or Davidical Kingdom 5thly A glorious Mysphatical Kingdom viz. The Soveraignty that Christ in Person with all the Saints in their glorified Bodies with him shall upon their general Resurection and Judgment exercise here upon the Earth before all is given up into the Father's hands And for want of a right distinguishing herein proceed as you humbly apprehend all the mistaken Notions and Differences about the Kingdom of Christ treated of in your Book And truly I do acquiesce with you herein for I conclude your wrong Distinction or Misapprehension of a five-fold Kingdom of Christ as thus distinguished by you is the great cause of all those your mistaken Notions about the Kingdom of Christ in your Book for to say nothing of four of your five I cannot yet see by all that you have said that the Holy Scripture speaks of your fourth Kingdom as distinguished by you from the fifth Kingdom which fourth you call a Monarchial or Davidical Kingdom that is to take place here over the Nations before the Second Coming of Christ but rather that the Holy Scripture is wholly a stranger to it And now I shall answer your Arguments urged on that account The first sort you direct your Reader to â—0 31 32. as most fit to be taken notice of in the first place are in number five urged by you to prove at least consequentially or in the second place That Christ will not come in Person at the beginning of the thousand Years Arg. 1 Your first Argument is Because his Personal Coming is not to be till the Judgment-Day And that say you is not to be till after the thousand Years and after the Battel of God and Magog meaning Gog c. Rev. 20.8 Answer The first part of this Argument I grant viz. That his Personal Coming is not to be till the Judgment-Day But the two last Branches I deny viz. That the Judgment-Day is not to be till after the thousand Years after the Battel of God and Magog For 't is evident to all that will not shut their Eyes that the Judgment-Day begins at the beginning of the thousand Years Rev. 20.4 AND I SAW THRONES AND THEY SAT VPON THEM AND JVDGMENT WAS GWEN VNTO THEM c. with the Chapter before compared with Dan. 7. where the same thing is spoken of He beheld the little Horn viz. the Man of Sin or great Antichrist make War with the Saints till the Antient of days comes and one like the Son of Man came to the Antient of days yea near before him and until the Throne were set or PITCHED DOWN so it is in the Original not thrown down And the Antient of days did SIT ver 9. with his Son brought near before him or set by him with the Saints ver 10.22 THE JVDGMENT WAS SET ver 10.26 Arg. 2 Because when he comes in Person 't is not to such a Work as this viz. to fight and subdue Enemies with material Swords nor to put his People as the Lamb's Army and Followers upon any such Service at that time being then all to be in the Resurrection and glorified State made like himself in Glory and as the Angels of God Neither will any of his Enemies be in a Capacity to make Resistance or Opposition who in their own Persons shall be destroyed by Fire and the very Earth they inhabit and all its Works burnt up and consumed at whose Presence the Earth and Heaven flee away Answer If by those words not to such a Work as this you mean not at all then I deny it and tell you 'T is to do such a Work as that Reason 1 You reason First Because Christ's People will be all in the Resurrection and glorified State made like himself in Glory and as the Angels of God Answer Now this Reason of yours I also deny and tell you You are greatly mistaken herein for although all the Saints that died in the Faith and are found alive in it when Christ comes in the Clouds c. shall then be raised changed and glorified and so said to be in the Resurrection c. yet all Christ's People that shall stand with him Rev. 14.1 Zech. 14.4 and follow him in that Army when he shall come down and stand upon Mount Zion and upon the Mount of Olives will not then be in the Resurrection viz. raised and glorified c. For part of those People and Followers or Army will be of the Jews who will not be converted till after the Resurrection of the fore-mentioned Saints and therefore not raised and so changed with them 'T is conspicuous enough that their Conversion will not be fully wrought till the Deliverer viz. Christ comes to Zion Isa 59.20 Rom. 11.25 26. Then shall he turn Vngodliness from Jacob Or more fully thus Our Lord Christ appearing in the Clouds of Heaven and the Saints Resurrection and Ascension up to him together with the wonderful things that shall be wrought then and Christ's coming down with his glorified Saints and Angels to deliver the whole House of Israel then remaining from the hand of their strong and mighty Enemies Isa 59.19 Ezek. 38.9.16 Zec. 14.2 3. that will come in like a Flood a Storm and Cloud to cover the Land yea all Nations gathered against Jerusalem to battel These things I say will produce the Jews Conversion or be the means to bring forth that Nation and therefore not till these things be accomplished shall that Nation be converted Ergo Not raised and changed but still in their mortal State Therefore according to your own Argument may under Christ do such a Service as above specified We are likewise told the Jews the number of whom Rev. 7.4 to the 8 Verse Verse 9. even of all the twelve Tribes of Israel will be one hundred forty four thousand who are distinguished from the innumerable Company of glorified Saints as you may clearly see Chap. 14. 1. These are said
us further This twofold Resurrection will be all in a Day Ergo Not a thousand Years distant This is like your Hour full as fallacious and therefore the Question is How long your Day is whether a Day-Proper or a Day-Metaphorical an ordinary Natural-Day or a Day extraordinary for you cannot be ignorant that the Holy Scripture frequently speaks of both Touching a Day-Metaphorical Heb. 4.7 2 Cor. 6. You have it sometimes for the Time of Grace and Salvation sometimes for a Man's Life sometimes for the time of Christ's being here in the Flesh Luke 19.4 Joh. 9.4 Joh. 8.5 sometimes for the time of Judgment upon the Wicked here and frequently for the time of Christ's and the Saints Reign on Earth called The Day of Christ and the Son of Man's Day the last Day the great Day Job 14 6â— and 18 2â— Jer. 12 3â— Ezek. 30 2â— Phil. 1 1â— Luke 17 2â— Joh. 11 2â— Jude 6. Acts 2.20 Zech. 14.7 Psal 49 1â— 2 Pet. 1 1â— Mal. 4.2 Zec. 14 3 4 5 8 9 20â— 21. that great and notable Day of the Lord That Day it shall be one Day which shall be known or acknowledged and kept to him to the Lord. Described first by its parts Dawning of the Day Sun-Rising Morning c. not Day nor Night But in Summer and in Winter shall it be And it shall be when the Lord my God shall come to Mount Zion And all the Saints with Thee Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those Nations as when he fought in the Day of Battel i. e. with Amaleck and Og when Israel came near to Canaan And his Feet shall stand in that Day upon the Mount of Olives And it shall be when living Waters shall go out from Jerusalem And the Lord shall be King over all the Earth In that Day shall there be one Lord and his Name one and in that Day there shall be upon the Bells of the Horses Holiness to the Lord and the Pots in the Lord's House shall be like the Bowls before the Altar and every Pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be Holiness unto the Lord of Hosts And in that Day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the House of the Lord of Hosts Secondly Described by its Works at large viz. The Lord 's Coming The Saints Resurrection and Change then caught up to meet the Lord in the Air the Jews Conversion the Consternation of the Wicked and the Man of Sin and his Company 's Destruction Calling his Saints to Judgment Subjecting the Nations to the Jews Reigning over the Nations c. and at the end destroy and then raise and judg the rest and so deliver up the Kingdom to the Father that he may be all in all Moreover You may clearly see that 't is agreeable to Scripture notwithstanding you have affirmed it to be contrary viz. a twofold Resurrection I will instance only in two 1 Cor. 15.23 24. 1 Thess 4.16 Thus much for answer to the Day As for what you infer from the last Trump Sounding I have answered before to your 4th Argument of the first Five therefore need say nothing more to it now Wherefore from what hath been said in answer to your 3d Argument I hope you may see the Invalidity of it and that notwithstanding what you have yet offered this Doctrine stands firm and unshaken viz. That this first Resurrection Rev. 20.4 5 6. is by the Spirit of God meant the Corporal Resurrection of the Saints and not your vain Conception of a Mystical or Civil Resurrection as you have defined it I proceed now to your next Argument Arg. 4 Because this Opinion viz. of a Corporal Resurrection holds out this to be the first Bodily Resurrection contrary to what the Scripture speaks of nine going before it As 1st The Widow of Sarepta's Son 1 Kings 17.22 2dly The Son of the Shunamite 2 Kings 4.35 3dly The Man that was raised by the Touch of the Prophet's Coffin 4thly The Widow of Naim's Son Luke 7.15 6thly Lazarus John 11.44 7thly Those many that came out of their Graves accompanying Christ at his Resurrection 8thly Tabitha Acts 9.41 9thly Eutichus Acts 20. By which several Instances it must appear that either this is not a Corporal Resurrection spoken of or these nine mentioned were not so for this cannot be said in truth to be the first Corporal Resurrection when nine went before it but the tenth Resurrection rather Answer Certainly if this Man was not transported beyond measure with a Conceit of his extraordinary Skill in Distinctions above all other Men we should not have had him sporting himself with such superfluous Distinctions as these and so contradictory to himself and to all other Men yea and to the Truth also as to tell us of nine Resurrections before the Resurrection of the Saints at the last Day Now that this is superfluous consider that if the raising of every Person must be called a distinct Resurrection we make a thousand after that rate yea himself might have made up his nine not only ten but many more for the time of Christ's Rising was distinct from the Rising of those which he saith accompanied Christ at his Resurrection Notwithstanding what this Author affirms see the Text And many Bodies of Saints which slept Matth. 27.52 53. arose and came out of their Graves after his Resurrection 2d Both superfluous and contradictory to himself For in his 5th Reason of his large Sheet he doth not only call the Resurrection of the Just and Unjust at the last Day Resurrections in the Plural but the Rising of the Saints he calls first and so doth his Second p. 10. That it 's contrary to other Men consider besides what I have minded of his Second in his Treatise see the Assemblies Annotations on 1 Cor. 15.20 which he so much respects in other Cases Touching eight of his nine these are their words He was the first that ever rose to a blessed and immortal Life other Dead was raised for a time to Life but afterwards died again None before Christ so rose from the dead that he died no more nor had Death any more Power over him Had this Author first considered that although the Scripture oft-times makes mention of the Resurrection of the Dead in short yet not as separate from that Glory Saints shall then have See 1 Cor. 15. with other places For what will a Resurrection be without that Further If these nine must bear the Appellation of Resurrections in equal Rank or as the other i. e. Christ and the Saints at the last Day then how could that be true that 's said of Christ and them Every Man in his own Order Christ the First-fruits 1 Cor. 15.23 Col. 1.18 afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming He is the First-born from the dead in which thing as well as others he is said to have the Pre-eminence First-begotten of the dead 1 Thess 4.16 And the
Dead in Christ shall rise first Therefore how should Christ be the First-fruits and have the Pre-eminence if these must be said to be before him c. Ergo This may still be said and that in truth to be the first Resurrection notwithstanding what 's said by this Author from his several Instances to the contrary Arg. 5 The Bodily Resurrection cannot be here meant i. e. in this 4th Verse because that is not to be till a thousand Years after this as in this Chapter when all the Elements must give up their Dead Rev. 20.12 13. Answer This may yet be notwithstanding what you urge for these two Verses speak of what shall be after the thousand Years viz. of the rest of the Dead that were not raised at the beginning of the thousand Years expressed in these words The rest of the Dead lived not again until the thousand Years were finished This latter therefore is the second Resurrection The former ver 45. is the first Resurrection both which are here evidently distinguished also in 1 Cor. 15.23 24 25 26. that he that runs may read Arg. 6 This cannot be the Corporal Resurrection of the Saints for that cannot be till Christ's Personal Coming and Appearing and Day of Judgment 1 Thess 4.14 1 Cor. 15.23 2 Tim. 4.1 And as before Christ's Personal Coming is proved by many Arguments not to be till after the thousand Years and 't is as clear that the judgment-Judgment-Day is not till after the thousand Years and Destruction of the Gog-Magog Army Answer This Argument depends upon the former they being disproved this falls with them Yet take this further Answer Your Reason to prove it cannot be the Corporal Resurrection of the Saints is Because the Corporal Resurrection of the Saints cannot be till Christ's Personal Coming and Appearing and Day of Judgment Pray where find you these three Distinctions according to your Notion viz. Coming Appearing and Day of Judgment in all these three Texts by you cited True it is here are three words but not your three viz. Coming Appearing and Kingdom But what ground have you to distinguish between his Coming and Appearing This by the way Further Pray who ever affirmed that the Saints should be raised before Christ's Personal Coming And what you further add That 't is as clear that the judgment-Judgment-Day is not till after the thousand Years I answer If by the word not you mean not at all then I deny it and tell you That the Judgment-Day shall begin at the beginning of the thousand Years See for this in the Answer to the 3d Argument Further Pray mind the Text you have now cited viz. 2 Tim. 4.1 Who shall judg the Quick and Dead at his Appearing and Kingdom And 't is in this place said Judgment was given to the Saints that sat upon these Thrones Rev. 20.4 which was at the beginning of the thousand Years And in 1 Cor. 15. as the Resurrection of the Just and Unjust so consequently the Judgment For 't is evident he must reign till he hath put all his Enemies under his Feet which cannot be till they are raised which will not be till the end of his Kingdom as ver 24 25 26 27 28. Arg. 7 This cannot be the Corporal Resurrection of the Saints because it inverts Christ's Order which is to be at the Sounding of the last Trumpet the time of the living Saints change the time that is expressed to be the last Day which is the Judgment-Day but this a thousand Years before all Answer This Argument differs little or nothing from the last except only a Change of words and so serves only to make up the number as any one may see that minds them But now I deny such an Opinion inverts Christ's Order though I grant all your Particulars urged to demonstrate it for all these are to be at the beginning of the thousand Years viz. the Sounding of the last Trumpet living Saints changed last Day Christ's Coming and Judgment-Day as is clear Rev. 11.15 to the end Arg. 8 Because if Corporal and to be understood of Martyrs only then all the Dead at the last Day shall be raised to the second Death contrary to Job 5.24 6.39 40 44 45. Dan. 12.2 and they only Martyrs Priests to God contrary to 1 Pet. 2.5 9. Rev. 1.6 Answer This is Idem per Idem with your second Argument and so only serves still to make up the number and therefore I refer you and the Reader to the Answer made to that Argument Arg. 9 Because if this be understood to be the Resurrection of all the Saints who in that mortal and glorified State are to live and reign the thousand Years in and over the World It necessarily infers these strange Absurdities Absurd 1 First That glorified and unglorified mortal and immortal Bodies must converse together contrary to express Scripture 1 Tim. 6.16 c. Answer To all which take this brief Answer And first I deny it to be any Absurdity for glorified and unglorified mortal and immortal Bodies to converse together For hath it not been known that often Angels and Men have conversed together yea the very Instances you give i. e. of Moses and the Disciples of Christ at his Transfiguration and Paul in the Vision and I may â—â—d Israel Deut. 5.24 and Moses Aaron and the 70 Elders Exod. 24.10 11. and the Disciples of Christ with him after his Resurrection 40 Days All which do abundantly shew that mortal and immortal ones have conversed without any Consumption upon Mortals and if so why shall it be thought absurd for Men when immortalized or changed to converse with Men not changed What you say further from 1 Tim. 6.16 and Exod. 33.20 touching the Impossibility of any Mortal approaching into the Light which Christ dwells in and to see God c. Take notice you now dispute beyond the due bounds of the Question for the Question is not whether Mortals may converse with God and that now but whether mortal and immortal Men can converse together More might be said to this but I pass it What you seem to hint at i. e. of the glorified Saints conversing with the Wicked I neither well know what you mean nor of any that affirm such a thing therefore shall pass it by and proceed to your second Absurdity Absurd 2 It holds out That some glorified and unglorified Saints shall at this time converse together viz. those that are raised from the dead with those that are then upon the Earth when the Scripture tells us 1 Cor. 15.51 52. that at the same instant that the dead Saints are raised the living Saints are changed c. Because when Christ comes he must have all the Saints come with him who are raised changed and glorified taken up into the Air to meet him and in that State are ever with him not one Saint being to be left behind Answer What doth this make for you Could you ever imagine that any
to stand with the Lamb upon Mount Zion 〈◊〉 19 20. when the Sickle shall be thrust into the Harvest yea when the Wine-press shall be trodden without the City Jerusalem in the Valley of Jehoshaphat 〈◊〉 3.2 12 〈◊〉 14. when the Lord shall plead and decide the Controversy of his People and thresh the Nations by his Thresher 〈◊〉 4.13 i. e. the Daughter of Zion viz. the Inhabitants of Jerusalem or Jews yea at that Day when the Lord shall set his Feet upon the Mount of Olives which you acknowledg to be at the Personal Coming of Christ â—â—ech 14.4 4. and Day of Judgment p. 101. Then Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem Reason 2 Your next Reason is Because there will not be any of Christ's Enemies in a Capacity to make Resistance or Opposition at his Personal Coming Ergo. Answer The Answer to this shall be short by denying what you have said and I tell you That Enemies may be in a Capacity to oppose though not to overcome yea 't is well known a Child may oppose a Man a Dwarf a Giant But you tell us They will be destroyed by Fire then I confess they will be then incapable indeed when they are burned to Ashes But pray what is this to the purpose Will they not be in a Capacity before Or 2dly Will all Christ's Enemies be burned up before his Coming that none shall be left to make Resistance or Opposition at his Coming You have brought no Text to prove it and I know not of any Text that will do it therefore I conclude none are bound to believe you Reason 3 Lastly You tell us The very Earth they inhabit and all the Works thereof shall be burnt up and consumed at whose Presence the Earth and Heaven flee away Ergo No room for such a Work Answer But pray where doth Holy Scripture tell us so i. e. That the Heavens and Earth shall be consumed Doth not your Second in his Treatise p. 5. tell us That the Scripture doth not express an Annihilation thereof c. Again what though the Scripture speaks of such great things to be done in that great Day of the Lord yet doth it not follow from hence that all these shall be done in the first Hour of that Day and that before the Enemies make opposition Thus much in answer to the Reasons brought to prove your second Argument Arg. 3 Because such an Apprehension would make three Personal Comings of Christ whereas we read but of two Heb. 9.28 Who will appear the second time c. because it is expresly said He sits at the Right-hand of God till his Enemies be made his Foot stool Answer What such an Apprehension make three Personal Comings Yes it may be so if such a skilful Artist as your self had it in hand who have got the knack of Distinction who can divide and subdivide till you have made ten Corporal Resurrections of one as may be seen in your 53d page For without making three of two or two of one I am sure it cannot be done Again if but two Personal Comings then you infer this at the beginning of the thousand Years cannot be the second Personal Coming because say you 't is expresly said He sits at the Right-hand of God till his Enemies be made his Footstool Here you think you have your Antagonist fast and are invincible I confess you are safe enough yet whilst you have not here told us where 't is thus expressed and since I must also acknowledg if my Memory fail not 't is expresly said so in all the Books that ever I read about this Subject and they are more than a good many I mean those Books written for a thousand Years Reign before the Coming of Christ to the everlasting Shame and Consusion of your Faces who have time after time affirmed That this is expresly written in the Holy Scripture as we well know you intend in this place and as you else-where in your Book affirm for this is three times at least affirmed by this Author in his Book by which you have miserably deceived your selves and others as some in my hearing have confest Be not offended for herein I must be plain with you take it as you please Is it not to be wondred at that ever any Men of Learning and Conscience should bear the Face to affirm such a thing when I dare be bold to say there is not one place in all the Bible that saith so To mistake at some times in the business of Interpreting of Scripture is an Infirmity we cannot help though Caution had need be had therein especially in Cases of this nature but to transgress in this kind looks too much like Presumption This may serve for an Answer at present till I meet with it again Arg. 4 This conquering fighting Work is not by Christ in Person at this time of his glorious and terrible Appearing Answer This I deny but I will now hear your Reason Reason Because the Execution then upon the Enemies will be say you sudden and speedy like Travail upon a Woman with a Child as a Thief in the Night like Lightning as it was in the days of Lot and Noah with sudden Destruction and as a Snare will he come upon all the Inhabitants of the Earth This Work at Christ's Personal Coming will be done at an instant suddenly at the Sounding of a Trumpet in the Twinkling of an Eye whereas this Work asks time gradually to be performed And you comprehend in the first the Preparation for and Judgment of the great Whore c. Answer First I must tell you You have comprehended more into the thousand Years than will be for this Judgment of the great Whore will be before the thousand Years and not executed by Christ's Followers 〈◊〉 17.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 14. but by them that afterward will give their Kingdom to the Beast and afterward make War with the Lamb. Secondly You say the Work of the beginning of the thousand Years asks some Time c. Ay And so will that also which will be done when Christ comes in Person for although 't is told us Christ shall come as a Thief c. viz. very suddenly and unexpectedly yet 't is not any where told us That Work that he shall then do shall be done as suddenly as a Thief cometh nay that very Similitude if you will follow it so far le ts us know the contrary for though a Thief in the Night comes suddenly yet he oft-times is long enough a doing his Work viz. Rifling and Robbing as some have sadly experienc'd So also tho Travail upon a Woman with Child cometh suddenly yet her Delivery asks some time and is not done in the Twinkling of an Eye â—en 7.12 7 24 â—hap 8 3. â—ompare â—hap 7 11. â—h Chap. â— 13 14. and so I may say of the days of Noah c. for though it was sudden yet you cannot but know the Waters were forty
I ask who gave them two this great Gift viz. Judgment Again If you shall say it 's meant of Christ's Sitting upon the Throne to whom the Father shall give the Government of this World So used Psaâ— 9.7 expressed in this word Judgment then I ask further Is Christ a Plurality of Persons for mark it 's said Thrones or Seats on this Throne And they sat upon them And further They with the Martyrs are distinguished from Christ in this very place ver 4. And they also lived and reigned with Christ Again ver 6. Blessed is he viz. every he or all such that hath part in the first Resurrection they shall be Priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Christ And I presume also you will not say it 's meant of Angels 〈◊〉 2.5 〈◊〉 6.3 for the Lord will not put the World to come into the Government of Angels We read the Saints shall then judg Angels never read that the Angels shall then be made Judges 〈◊〉 1.6 â— 5.10 â— 3.21 â— 7.22 â— Furthermore Is it not expresly written That all the Saints here I intend by this word Saints all that died before and are found alive in the Faith at Christ's second Coming i.e. those that were not beheaded as well as those that were shall be made Judges and Kings and shall sit upon Thrones with the King of Kings 〈◊〉 6.2 3. 〈◊〉 2.26 〈◊〉 to whom Judgment shall be given and shall judg Angels and Men and reign with Christ on Earth Therefore although the Martyrs are here particularly mentioned for the Eminency of their Services and Sufferings and because so immediately done for the great Honour of all such and the present Encouragement of all the Lord's Servants in their Tribulations yet you may clearly see by what hath been said that all the rest shall be blessed with them and so no need for you or any body else to ask what shall become of all the Saints from Abel to this time that were not Martyrs under Antichrist And so I pass to your 3d Argument Because this will hold out an Absurdity of a twofold Resurrection a thousand Years distant each from other of Bodies â—â—g 3. and 〈◊〉 of the â—â—â—e Sheet contrary to John 5.28 the State of the Resurrection being there held forth by Christ to be general and universal relating to Good and Bad and to be at one time the Hour the Day viz. The Latter-day So John 6. four times ver 39 40 44 54. chap. 11.24 Job 19.25 In the Twinkling of an Eye and Sound of the Trumpet 1 Cor. 15.51 52. Answer First To the first Branch of your Argument viz. An Absurdity Pray what Absurdity or why is it absurd Methinks you that are so full of Reasons might have given some here I deny that a twofold Resurrection is an absurd thing Must your bare Word without Proof pass for an Oracle when the Holy Scripture so oft affirms the contrary yea and your self in the large Sheet confesseth a twofold Resurrection and so doth your Second in his 10th Page And pray tell me what Absurdity is it for the Saints to be raised a thousand Years before the Wicked any more than for Christ who was not only of the same Lump with all Mankind in respect of one of his Natures but also Head of his Church to rise a thousand Years before the rest Your Second Branch is That it is contrary to what is held forth by Christ in the Scripture by you mentioned viz. a twofold Resurrection a thousand Years distant each from other For say you the Scriptures say That all the Dead shall be raised in a Day yea in an Hour nay less in the Twinkling of an Eye Answer How true this is we will now make trial And First How is this like to be since as you confess That they shall not be raised both together but the Saints first See in 〈◊〉 5th Arg. 〈◊〉 the large Sheet and the Wicked after them And your Second in his Treatise p. 10. the like acknowledging also That many things shall be done between the Resurrection of the Saints and that of the Wicked As 1st Christ's sending his Angels to gather together the Saints after they are raised 2dly The Taking them up into the Air. 3dly The Burning up of the World and its Works 4thly Christ's Sitting upon the Throne to judg his People at which time they must give an Account and receive accordingly all the Unjust continuing in their Graves until this Judgment be over Now I appeal to every judicious and impartial Judgment and to your self in particular whether since all this must be done in this order one after another in this Interim between these two Resurrections I say whether these two can be both in the Twinkling of an Eye Nay take it short as your self have delivered it and then resolve me Secondly Before I pass take a view of the Scriptures by you quoted and see whether you have not heedlesly affirmed this thing viz. That the Resurrection both of Just and Unjust shall be both in the Twinkling of an Eye when in truth there 's nothing in the Text testified to be done in the Twinkling of an Eye but only the Change of Saints as any one may see that reads it Whether then this be not absurd in you to affirm That this twofold Resurrection viz. of Just and Unjust shall be both in the Twinkling of an Eye when the Scripture speaks of no such thing Thirdly You tell us This twofold Resurrection shall be all in one Hour and therefore cannot be a thousand Years distance each from other Now if by Hour you mean a natural Hour consisting of sixty Minutes then I deny this also and tell you this twofold Resurrection shall not be accomplished in so little a time for beside what 's already offer'd against your Eâ—e-twinkling which might seem for an Answer in this also I will add because I design not only your Confutation but Illumination That your Argument is fallacious because 't is argued from that which is Metaphorical to that which is Proper For you cannot be ignorant that the word Hour in Scripture is sometimes put for a certain Time wherein such a Work is done shorter or longer as it is For instance The time of great and universal Tribulation that shall come upon all the World foretold by our Lord is called an Hour of Temptation â—ev 3.10 â—sal 30.5 Cor. 4.17 yea all the time of our Troubles here not only called a Day or a Night and an Hour but also that which is far less even a Moment and all the time of the New Testament's Ministration an Hour and since you had such an Hour spoke of at that very time â—oh 4.21 23 even in the same breath but two Verses off â—oh 5.25 viz. 25th 't is wonderful you could no better discern what kind of Hour this was Read that 25th Verse and consider Fourthly You tell