 |
WRITTEN SHORTLY
BEFORE HIS CONVERSION TO UNIVERSALISM, AND
SUBSEQUENT PASTORATE AT BOSTON'S FIRST UNIVERSALIST
CHURCH |
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"there is not
a shadow of a shade of error in the conclusion at which I
have arrived."
-
"we conceive to be the
scriptural doctrine of the Millennium, as confined to
the period of the Apostolic ministry." (p. 96)
-
We
object to the entire constitution of the various
religious establishments of the day, because we believe
that they all maintain the great foundation principle of
Judaism, viz., an outward and visible church
-
This was
the originating cause of trouble then, from
the man of sin, Antichrist, flesh, (the law, see Romans
viii. 8,) the carnal mind, which was attached to the law,
whose strength was sin, which was the sting of death,
the wages of sin, of which death the devil had the
power.
-
The Lord
God, at the destruction of Jerusalem, made his foes his
footstool ; he completely abolished death, of whom it is
said, in 1 Cor. xv., "Death,
the last enemy, is disabled :"
he took away entirely the first
covenant, which was "the
ministration of death," that he might establish supremely
the second, which was the ministration of life ; he removed
the things which, in Paul's day, "were
shaken, that the things which could not be shaken might
remain." (Heb. xii. 27) "The heavens (of the Jewish church) passed
away with a great noise ; the elements ('beggarly') melted with fervent heat, the earth
also, and the works that were therein, (all that attached to
the Mosaic economy, see Heb. ix. 1-1 1,) were burned up, and
the new heavens and new earth appeared," (2 Peter iii.) Now,
if at the destruction of Jerusalem there was a taking away
of the first covenant; a removing of .the old heaven and
earth, and a burning up of the same ; and if sin, Satan, death, and
hell have their true and scriptural meaning in reference only to the
two covenants of Sinai and Sion, as consequent upon the
Adamic transgression -and proof to the contrary is defied - if
these things be so, then are we warranted in concluding
that the time when the covenant of Sinai was
everlastingly banished from the presence of God, and from the glory of his power," being
the destruction of Jerusalem, and every thing opposed to God being comprehended in that covenant, and having no
Bible meaning out of that covenant-that at the same
destruction of Jerusalem all these the enemies were put
under Christ's feet, the fall of Jerusalem being, if his own
words are authority, most indisputably his second
coming to "reward
every man
according to his works." (Matt. xvi. 27, 28.) (p
17)
-
Now the
resurrection, being part and parcel of that preaching of
the gospel to which this promise was made, "Lo, I am with you alway,
even to the consummation of the age;" therefore the
resurrection must be limited by the same consummation of
the age, and must consequently be past, the Apostolic
age and ministry being now no longer visible, and the
promise of Christ being now of none effect. (p 17)
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PREFACE.
When I commenced writing, it was merely
with a view to publishing my reasons for quitting the
communion of the Church of England. Having enlarged upon my
original intention, I find it necessary to affix to this
work a few prefatory observations.
The substance of the work was delivered
in a course of lectures to the congregation which lately
assembled at St. Matthew's, in this town. This will account
for the matter of the few opening pages, which, had I known
how far I should have been obliged to exceed my prescribed
limits, would have formed of themselves the preface, instead
of having a preface written in explanation.
The volume is sent forth into the world
as a trifling contribution towards establishing what is much
needed—a sound principle of Scripture interpretation. The
truth of every statement propounded is by no means contended
for. I prefer no claim similar to that of Swedenborg,
Irving, and, in fact, all theologians who maintain that the
present is a dispensation of the Holy Ghost. I claim not to
have received any doctrine through an immediate and
miraculous revelation. So far from asserting any thing of
the kind, one position strongly taken up by me is, that
Scripture is its own interpreter, and that what I have
written is only so far valuable as that, in 'comparing
spiritual things with spiritual,' I have brought various
portions of the word of God to harmonize, and have shown
that the Scriptures are not contradictory, wherever I have
had occasion to examine them. It is probable, and more than
probable, that some errors in reasoning, and some defects of
exposition, may be detected. In the minor details, there may
be mistakes; but while making these admissions, I contend
most strenuously that there is not a shadow of a shade of
error in the conclusion at which I have arrived. I assert in
the most positive and distinct manner possible, that the
doctrine of a past second advent is proved to a
demonstration, and is unassailable. The belief of this
doctrine has seriously affected my temporal wellbeing;
though I am quite sensible that this is no evidence of its
truth, and no excuse for its advocacy if it be untrue. The
defence of the doctrine has caused me to feel most acutely
how much better I would have consulted my worldly prospects,
if I could have stifled my convictions, and sailed along
with the stream as others have done. The mere rumour of my
religious belief has exposed me to the imputation of all the
vile names which the vocabulary of a spurious Christianity
can furnish forth. But even if it have been said of me, 'he
hath spoken blasphemy,' it is nothing more than the
repetition of an old charge: and following the example of my
Divine Master, I would desire to make no complaint.
Appealing to the same testimony as that to which Christ
himself and his Apostles appealed, I would ask, Is the
charge substantiated by proof, and by facts ? I am
most anxious to bring an opponent to the book; and having
this leading object, among others, in view, I have prevailed
upon myself to hazard a public, and, under existing
circumstances, perhaps an apparently egotistical statement
of my belief. I know not, nay, I am doubtful, whether I
shall be any gainer by so doing. I do know, from a somewhat
intimate acquaintance with the religion of human nature, and
from the history of religious opinion, that my defence will
be condemned in the mass, by many who will be so much
offended at the conclusion expressed in the title page, that
they will never think of putting themselves in possession of
the premises. I do fear that prejudice—the prejudice of
creeds and catechisms—will in most quarters operate so
powerfully, that there may be few readers who will follow
the example of the noble Bereans, and search the Scriptures
whether these things are so. Most earnestly would I
deprecate a hasty condemnation, or even any judgment of the
work which is not founded upon a careful, and, as far as
possible, an unbiased perusal. After what I have stated, and
with the solemn conviction on my mind that I am in the
right, I feel that I have license to make this appeal,
and that I shall not be considered transgressing if I enter
my protest against the insane verdict of prejudice and
preconception. I feel, moreover, that if I can secure the
calm attention of enlightened minds, they will rise from the
perusal of this work with the conviction, that the head and
front of my offending is not that I have undermined any
truth of Christianity, but that I have endeavoured to set
forth a full and complete statement of its one cardinal and
central doctrine—the atonement of the Son of God.
But it is time to enquire, To whom do I
thus address myself, in the language of earnest
expostulation ? I answer, To the people, to the laity; to
the hearers, not to the preachers; not to the teachers, but
to the taught. I appeal to the pews: I make no appeal of any
kind to the pulpits, except by way of a challenge to come
forward in defence of their order. I know that all
expostulation with the 'ministry' is lost labour—a sound,
and nothing more. Charges which never can, and never will be
substantiated, will by the priesthood be repeated to those
(and, alas, their name is Legion!) who are weak enough and
deluded enough to believe them. They will be so repeated,
simply because I have endeavoured to carry out the doctrine
of the past second advent in all its important bearings,
keeping in mind the Divine law, "what God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder." This doctrine is
examined in the following pages in its consequences, and not merely as an isolated article of a religious belief,
which can make no change in the relationship of man to God,
whether it be fulfilled or no. The consequences of
the past second advent are fearful to the priesthood
; and when I say priesthood, I include, of course, the
ministers of all sects, from Romanism to Mormonism, presbyter being no other than priest
writ large. The
priesthood will be alive to this; they will see at a glance,
that if the doctrine which I advocate be true, their
occupation as a priesthood is gone, the source from which
they get their gain being cut off. Hence the unmitigated
condemnation of this view of Divine revelation: a
condemnation which could force a priest of the Church of
England to say, " Go to any dissenting chapel, rather than
to St. Matthew's," and which can now draw from a priest of
any dissenting body, " Go to any church —to a Roman
chapel—but don't go near Mr. Townley." If these things were
"done in a corner;" if this was the line of conduct pursued
when I was merely an obscure individual, addressing a
despised handful, who were likeminded with myself, what, it
may be asked, will be done to this obscure individual, who
has been presumptuous enough to commit himself and his
opinions to the press ?
In order, if possible, to save trouble, I
will mention a few things which will not serve the
purpose of the priesthood.
It will be of no avail to follow the
example of Exeter Hall, and to try to put me and my book
down by the use of opprobrious names. Hard words break no
bones. Raillery is not necessarily reason; neither
does it follow that invective is always argument.
Neither, again, will it be of any avail to endeavour to
substantiate a wholesale condemnation by the ipse dixit
of any man, or of any body of men. I take my stand as a
Protestant, on the right of private judgment. I acknowledge
only one rule of faith, the Holy Scriptures, and reject all
Mass-books, Prayer-books, Assembly's Catechisms, and such
like, as expositors of that rule. Neither, I would observe,
will it answer the ends of religious systems, to meet the
arguments of this work by that convenient resource of
ignorance—the contemptuous pleasantry which affects to
despise what it secretly fears. - This volume makes
pretensions of no ordinary kind, and must be met, if it be
opposed at all, in no ordinary way. To say that I am beneath
notice—only worthy of silent contempt—or that I am mad and
deluded, upon religious subjects, may impose upon fools and
fanatics, but upon an independent, thinking individual,
never. On the contrary, this course of procedure will be, to
the reflecting mind, the strongest of all possible evidences
that the work is unanswerable, and the doctrine not to be
overthrown.
But why do I thus trouble myself, by
anticipating a reply which may never be forthcoming, through
sheer inability on the part of those who are called upon to
render a "reason of the hope" that is in them ? If we
confine our observation to the priesthood of the Church of
England, to whom shall we look for a Scriptural refutation
of the proved statements of this work, viz., that the Bible
promises no future coming of Christ, and, consequently, no
resurrection of the body, nor any end of the world, neither
a day of judgment ? These positions may be taken up
by an avowed infidel, and urged by him against the Christianity of the day. Nay, it may be, as it has been
contended, that I am little better than an infidel in
advocating them. Be it so. I repeat, to whom, and to which
of the clergy shall we look for an exposure of their
fallacy, if they be fallacies ? So far as I am acquainted
with the Establishment, with its theology and theologians,
the search will be in vain. It is admitted even by the heads
of the Church themselves, that there is nothing less taught
in the Universities than divinity. The Bishop of St.
David's, not long ago, in his place in Parliament, made this
humiliating confession; and the reason is obvious. Of what
use, it may be asked, is it to attempt an investigation of
the Scriptures, when human creeds, and standards of
centuries gone by, are opposed as a barrier to all
investigation ? These devices of man's contrivance are
the great hindrance to the spread of Biblical knowledge;
and, without a doubt, Christianity would be an immense
gainer if they were one and all swept away into the oblivion
of the dark and superstitious ages from which they emanated.
The knowledge of the volume of nature every one allows to be
progressive. The hidden mysteries of God's beautiful and
natural creation, are one by one, brought out to the
astonished gaze of his intelligent creatures. We hear on
every side propositions such as the following:—What would
our forefathers think, if they were to come among the men of
this generation, and see the wonderful progress which hath
been made by a world around us ? Who can doubt, asks
another, that the most advanced outposts of the territory
conquered by the science of this age, will have dwindled and
become scarcely perceptible to the retroverted eye of the
philosopher of 1945 ? How many great questions in physical
science, and in ethics, will then have been solved; and to
how many of the distresses of the sons of men will remedies
have then been applied ? Alas! reflects a third party, alas!
how sweetly will the wheels of the social machine, as well
as the current of individual life, then move; and why, O
why, have we been condemned to live in the early part of
this darkling century, streaked but with the dawnings of so
much glory ! How glorious the prospect for those who shall
be born to our children's children!—What have we in any
measure corresponding with this, asked of that book, which I
believe to be the perfection of science—the emanation of the
mind of Deity ? What are the facts ? For centuries of
blinded ignorance, the Church of Rome has said, "Hitherto
shalt thou go, and no farther." For nearly 300 years, the
Church of England, in close imitation of her mother, has, by
reason of her creeds, shut the volume of inspiration to her
members. The knowledge of the language in which the
Scriptures were written is ever progressing. Men the most
learned have given us improved versions of one book of the
Bible after another, without, however, venturing to impugn
the veracity of a single orthodox article of a human creed.
Grammarians, lexicographers, and critics, are putting into
our hands the key to unlock the treasures of Oriental
philology ; and it is every day more and more obvious, says
a learned writer, that philology is giving laws to theology.
Obscure places of Scripture are becoming plain, rough places
smooth, and crooked things straight. The Inquisition
absurdity, which condemned Galileo, is now the subject of
ridicule, the Romanist himself being judge. A better
acquaintance with the original Hebrew has shown that it was
the sunshine, and not the sun, which Joshua
commanded to stand still, and that therefore the Bible and
the philosopher are both agreed that the sun is fixed in the
centre of our system, while the earth and the other planets
move round it: the motion of the earth being arrested by the
word of Joshua, and consequently the apparent motion
of the sun. But of what avail is all this ? Our
Churches put a veto upon all search which would venture to
arraign the infallibility of their creeds and
confessions. The Church of England cannot be prevailed upon
even to amend her Prayer-book. She declares that if a man do
not believe every tittle of her Athanasian Creed, without
doubt he shall perish everlastingly ! The attempt to
alter this has been made, time after time, by her own
clergy, and all to no purpose. Much less is it to be
expected that she will ever issue another and a better
version of the Scriptures, or that the state will take upon
itself to do this necessary work, so long as connected with
the Church. The revision might be left with her own
University Professors : nay, with one of them, the present
Regius Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge. We would
humbly beg and pray for two slight alterations only: for the erasure of the traditionary date fixed to the
Revelation of John, and for a scholarlike rendering of the
promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the
world." The entreaty would be in vain; for the Hierarchy,
from the Archbishop to the working Curate, would easily
divine that even an alteration so trifling might prove the
ultimate downfall of the Establishment. The most learned of
all her learned men, who have commented upon the Bible, dare
not carry out their researches to their full extent—an
extent which themselves must secretly have been convinced is
just and true, viz., a declaration that the foundation of
their Church is visionary—that its fundamental position, the
doctrine of Apostolic succession, is a fallacy. But it is to
be hoped something effective may, even in existing
circumstances, be accomplished. I trust to see the day when
one of the Gospels shall be printed and circulated, as
faithfully rendered from the original, without the glosses
of priestcraft, and the false coloring of preconceived
notions, and natural religion, which now to a great extent
make void the word of God in the apprehension of the
unsuspecting English reader. I know no dearer desire than to
see the Gospel by Matthew published, with a commentary
advocating the views propounded in this work; and should be
most willing to give every assistance in my power to any who
had means and ability to undertake a labour of such
momentous importance. The commentary would live and be
valued when hundreds of the books which are now so popular
would be known and remembered no more. All that has been
hitherto written and spoken upon the doctrine of the past
second advent, would sink into absolute insignificance
before an undertaking like this. In the meanwhile, sanguine
in a cause which I believe has Omnipotence for its patron,
and believing that the past second advent will be recognised
in the land, and by the people, as universally as is now the
past first advent, I rest assured that sooner or later such
a work will appear; and, as before hinted, when it does
appear, it will be "a heavy blow and great discouragement"
to a religious system which already shows evident symptoms
of an approaching doom. The signs of the times seem to the
watchful observer to point ultimately towards an enquiry,
deep and searching, into that Book from whence all our
Churches profess to derive their existence and authority.
The Churches themselves are helping on to this conclusion,
as they are now confessedly the great disturbers of the
national peace, and the chief obstacle in the way of the
Government of the country: yea, so much so, that, by their
incessant agitation, they have forced the Ministry
(doubtless much against its will) to propose an educational
scheme for Ireland, wherein there is no religious provision
whatever. If the nation is to be thus everlastingly
embroiled—if the people are to be thus kept in a continual
turmoil—they will begin surely to enquire more narrowly into a matter which concerns them so nearly
as a revelation of God. As the beautiful harmony and order
of the material universe is more and more laid bare before
them, they will surely at length arouse themselves (for the
matter rests with them, not with their rulers, whether
political or religious,) to ask, Are we for ever to be
harassed with two exhibitions of the Deity, the one in
direct antagonism to the other, and can these discordant and
quarrelsome sects be truly derived from the Bible ? When
this enquiry is really entertained, not one of the existing
caricatures of Christianity will escape it. Religious
systems of every description may be as the Garden of Eden
before it, but behind they will be a desolate wilderness:
and here we echo the aspiration of the philosopher—"How
enviable will be the position of that man, who shall witness
what may with truth be called, the regeneration of a world."
The question is, What is truth ? There is no fear but
the answer is recorded in the Bible to the full, and that it
is, like its author, "holy, and just, and good." "Let no
man," writes the father of philosophy, "taking the credit
of a sobriety and moderation ill applied, think or maintain
that men can search too far in the book of God's word; but
rather let them excite themselves to the search, and boldly
advance in the pursuit of an endless progress in it; only
taking heed lest they apply their knowledge to arrogance,
and not to charity —to ostentation, and not to use."—Bacon.
R. T.
- Liverpool, June, 1845
THE SECOND ADVENT.
IN submitting
to you our reasons for seceding from the Church of England,
I will at once
introduce these reasons by stating, that they differ
entirely from anything which has ever been offered by any
secession previous to our own.
I do not intend to offer, in apology for
our present position, that such position is in consequence
of conscientious objections to certain matters connected
with the Church of England.
Such a course of objection may very well
suit the purpose, and be adapted to the consciences, of a
numerous class of persons (sincere, I
do not doubt,) who quit the communion
of one religious system for another, or who, finding fault
with existing systems, devise one of their own, which
contains, in principle, all the evils of the one they may
have left.
To object to certain portions of a system
to flagrant
outrages on common sense-to doctrines which would disgrace
the Heathenism to reform which such system sends out
missions-to object to services, to catechisms, and
confirmations, to absolution, baptismal regeneration,
burial services, and such like, appears to me to be labour
in vain ; inasmuch as such objection might well consist with
an application to the objector of the reproach of Christ,
"Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a
camel."
I think
I may venture to say, for you as well as
myself, that we object; neither to this nor that particular
of this or that party, but to the whole - believing that, in
their existing constitution, they are contrary to the Word
of God ; that even the very name of party, sect, or society
is unscriptural.
We object to the entire constitution of
the various religious establishments of the day, because
we believe that they are nothing more nor other than
Judaism, in divers forms and fashions, some, doubtless, more
disguised than others, but all maintaining the great
foundation principle of Judaism, viz., an outward and
visible church; indeed, a church, and, by consequence, a
ministry of divine authority, and therefore, by
consequence again, maintaining Apostolic succession; or if
not, in so many
words, maintaining these things, then inconsistent with
themselves, and attempting the impossible service of
worshipping God and Mammon, pretending to hold out one hand
to the truth, and refusing the other.
Having thus briefly stated the nature,
I will now
proceed to explain the grounds, of our objections; and in so
doing, prove that it was no rash declaration with which
I opened this
address. For this end I would call to your remembrance the closing
words of the last discourse which I
delivered as a minister of the Church
of England.
It will be in the recollection of many of
my late congregation, that the discourse I alluded to was a
statement and accompanying refutation of sundry objections
which had been urged against our view of divine revelation.
The conclusion of that discourse was in the form of a question -"Is the
second coming of Christ a past or still future event
? Until, it was
observed - until that question be settled, and unless the
second coming is past, all attempt at expounding the Scriptures is, so
far as I am concerned, lost labour, and
must go for nothing. I search the Scriptures (it was
further observed,) exercising the Protestant right of private
judgment, upon which principle the Reformation professed to
be founded, I
search the Scriptures, 'comparing spiritual things with
spiritual,' and not, as is the almost universal fashion
of the day, comparing spiritual things with natural. And
with what result ? it was further asked. Even this. I behold in every part
of the book of revealed truth, a testimony
to this effect -'That
which is perfect is come, so then that which was in part is done
away.' I behold evidence upon evidence of the fulfilment of
the whole of God's mind, as he has revealed it to man, in
his dispensations in connexion with a chosen people. I see the religion of
Heaven stripped of the unhallowed garments which priestcraft
has wrapt around it, and appearing in its own native
simplicity, beauty, and majesty. I believe the Bible to be
one continuous, harmonious display of love, not
contradictory, but one part beautifully agreeing with
another ; when properly understood, and explained by itself;
one star or dispensation (if we may be allowed to apply a
Scripture figure,) differing from another in glory, and each
moving in its own proper orbit."
Such was the conclusion of my last
discourse, and here we find the sum and substance of our
objections to the Church of England ; here we find the
circumstance of our present position explained. It is the
firm, well-grounded, scriptural belief of the past second
coming of Christ, which has placed us in our present
situation ; not, be it observed, the belief of this as an
isolated event, but one which comprehended the fulfilment of
all prophecy, the unsealing of every mystery, and the
revelation of all knowledge, according to the scripture
testimony, "These be the days of vengeance, that all things
which are written may be fulfilled;" or again, "Verily I say
unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste
of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his
kingdom;" and coming, as the verse immediately preceding
declares, "to reward every man according to his works;" and
therefore, we conceive, coming at "the end of the world," to
''the judgment
of the great day," and "the resurrection of the dead;" or, to
take another view, coming "to
the revelation of the perfect state," and the "establishment of the
eternal kingdom ;" in short, and in full, to the fulness of the
blessing of all the counsels of God, which he purposed in
Christ Jesus before the foundation of the ages.
We were persuaded that the New Testament
teaches the above as past events, and being so persuaded,
there was no alternative but that of acting as we have
acted, in
seceding from the Establishment, or laying ourselves open to
the charge of "dishonesty and duplicity."
The second coming of Christ being
satisfactorily proved to be past, we were aware of the
conseqence long before that consequence was developed, as we witness this day. This
doctrine was powerful to effect what none other was able;
and if it be asked why we continued so long within the
Establishment, contradicting in the pulpit, what we affirmed
in the desk, I might, if the question needed an answer,
reply, that we have an excuse for such a course of conduct
in that when I was ordained, I solemnly promised that I
would be ready to banish and drive away all erroneous and
strange doctrine contrary to God's Word." If
I thought that
this was laid upon me in the discharge of my office, I must
then, as an honest man, begin at home; and, as a minister of
the Church of England, I must banish and drive away the erroneous and
strange doctrine which I had formerly preached. That
doctrine is commonly known by the name of Calvinism. You and I have tried Calvinism, and
believe that it is no better than any other "ism" now in
fashion ; we know
that it clashes with every chapter of the Bible; we know
that it reduces the Bible to a very small revelation, to be
at all consistent; "the
bed is shorter than a man can stretch himself on it, and the coveling narrower than a man may wrap himself in it;"
moreover, we are persuaded that as Calvinism is opposed to Arminianism, there are two Bibles, and therefore no Bible.
When I entered
upon the discharge of my office in Liverpool, I would have been
called a Calvinist; and now it is my firm conviction,
however humiliating, however self-renouncing the confession
may be, that at that time, and for months after, I was not able to give
one scriptural view of my one scripture doctrine ;that I was
totally unable for such a work, until I could read the Bible as a new book,
in the light of the past second coming of Christ. The
interpretation of scripture which we now hold being correct,
such preaching as mine, when I entered on the charge of St. Matthew's,
and till within the last few months, would leave, and did
leave, you and me as ignorant of the Scriptures as the
Arminian Methodist, from whom we professed so much to
differ, and whose ignorance we professed so much to pity. As
to any opening
up of the Word of God, that which goes under the name of
Calvinism is now, to you and me, no better than the "old
wives' fables" which our view of divine revelation is
charged to be. We know that Calvinism talks about a finished
salvation, and the unconditionality of eternal life ; and we
know also, that a finished salvation is a mighty expression,
to which Calvinism can attach no meaning ; and "unconditionality
"is a glorious
something, which none who are ignorant of a past second
coming can in any measure comprehend.
But it is not my purpose to speak of
ourselves. This is irksome, to one who has such glorious
things to unfold, as we are persuaded the Bible contains. To
the short explanation of the nature and ground of our
objections, which I have just offered, I
may be allowed perhaps to add a few
words upon the origin of these objections. If it be any
advantage, either to myself or to our objectors, I beg to
say, that I did not arrive on the threshold of the views of
scripture which I now entertain, from reading any author
holding similar sentiments. No publication advocating the
second coming of Christ fell into my hands until some time
after I had
seen, and reached upon, the important position which the
destruction of Jerusalem
occupied in the Scriptures. Neither, I
beg to say, was it from conversation
with others that I was led into a glimmering of that grand
event, which is passed by in total silence by the systems of the day. It was
by searching the Scriptures, it was purely from the only
sure and solid process of comparing spiritual things with
spiritual, comparing the Old Testament with the New, and
especially the Book of Psalms, with the history of Christ as
given by the Evangelists, and that of the Apostles, as
recorded in the Acts and in their Epistles, - it was from this
source that I
derived the views which I am now so diligently and earnestly
advocating, because I believe them to be truth. I was, from this
comparison of the Old Testament and the New, convinced
somewhat of the meaning of that great and comprehensive
scripture, '' The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy." It was in and through the Psalms that I learned somewhat of
the importance of the apostolic ministry. The Psalms
appeared to me to be full of prophecy concerning that
miraculous dispensation, long before I had anything like a clear
comprehension of those prophecies. It was through the same
medium that I was led to investigate the meaning of an
expression which has changed the Bible, and made it a new
book. I allude to the words, "the end of the world." I
discovered that the end of the world was the end of the
Jewish economy. I found that the passage which is taken as a
basis for the pretended apostolic succession of religious
systems, was the scripture which
of all others most flatly contradicted that pretended
succession. The passage to which I allude is Christ's
promise to his apostles, when he entrusted to them their
commission, "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the consummation
of the age;" and not, as it is (it may be designedly)
rendered, "to the end of the world." The discovery of the
true meaning of this phrase was to me a treasure indeed
; it was a key
wherewith to unlock the glorious Book which priestcraft of
every age has exhibited as "confusion worse confounded." I
brought the true interpretation of "the end of the world" to bear
upon many a verse and many a doctrine; and now it is my firm
conviction, that if these words had been literally rendered from
the original Greek, in the one single sentence I have
quoted, this alone would have sufficed to put an end to the
religious establishments of the day.
With this short explanation of matters
immediately connected with ourselves, I will leave all that
is merely of a personal nature, and address myself to the
investigation of the vast subject before us.
I am fully alive to
the suspicion, if not more than suspicion, which what I have now stated to
you will excite in the minds of many who may read this
address when it is published, as I
intend it shall be. I am not insensible to
the fact, that the grand doctrine of the past second coming
of Christ, is a complete revolution in religion -that it scatters to
the four winds of heaven, doctrines which have been imbibed
from earliest infancy, which have "grown with our growth,
and strengthened with our strength;" that it brings proud
man into the depths of humility, unlearning all that he has
previously learned, and crying, as
it were, "Abba,
Father, what I
know not, teach thou me." I am not insensible to all this,
because it is the record of my own experience, and I know
that you will bear a like testimony.
If there should be one individual present
to whom these things, being entirely strange, sound like a
most fearful heresy, let me entreat that person, as I would
entreat every objector, to hear what I have to say in defence of my
opinions, before he condemns them. I
will promise him that my defence shall be
drawn from the Bible, and the Bible alone.
While thus deprecating a senseless
condemnation of our views of divine truth, I am not, neither
I trust are you,
unprepared for that which we deprecate. I well know that there
are those who were determined to abide by the opinions which
we oppose, independent of all reason, whether those opinions
be error or truth; and if we, who have forsaken the
religious systems of the day, in seceding from the
Establishment, were to expect that these parties should
hereafter look favourably and hopefully on our proceedings,
we should conclude contrary to the nature of thing, and
the issue could be nothing but disappointment. It is
therefore well to be prepared to hear anything, however
false or ridiculous, advanced against us, for I doubt not we shall
have frequent opportunities of practically illustrating the
Christianity in which we are believers. I do not doubt but we
shall be, as we have ben already, called upon to prove, that
if our interpretation of the Bible be, as asserted, "
the vilest of heresies," it is a heresy which
is attended with at least one peculiar characteristic - it
settles and sobers a mind naturally impetuous; and in
proportion as it
is seen and embraced, it corrects any tendency to travel out
of the way for the mere purpose of self-gratification; and
it effects this, because it is accompanied with the
possession of perfect scriptural peace, in the face of all
opposition, and under every opprobrium leading the mind, as
nought beside can, indeed, up to God, crying, "Whom have I
in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee."
In short, ours is an interpretation of truth, which exhibits
a religion of all-glorious love - that "charity" which hopeth all things, and endureth all things, while yet it
rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.
I have urged a word
of entreaty to objectors, and a word of caution to
ourselves. I
would linger a moment for the sake of proving that neither
entreaty nor warning is made for nothing. Suppose to yourselves - no uncommon case - one who thinks, and speaks, and acts as though he
were so wise in the knowledge of the Scriptures that he can
be taught nothing more, and has no more to learn - one who
condemns you in a moment, and without hesitation, if you
venture to believe aught contrary to what he has
received - one who imagines himself, to all appearance, to be
gifted with the apostolic, miraculous power of trying the
spirits whether they be of God;" such an one objects, it may be, to matters which are
advanced; suppose, for instance, the doctrine of the
resurrection, in connexion with a past second coming, -and
interposes with his " It cannot be; it is impossible ; it
contradicts the evidence of my senses;" "it is preposterous ;" you might as well
tell me that black is white, and white is black; or that two
and two make five, and not four." Now, on the threshold of
our investigation of the objected doctrine, I must be allowed to
observe, with all earnestness of conviction, that an
objector of this class is almost a hopeless case. I am reminded thereby
of the flippant yet confident saying, "Are ye blind also ?" and also of the
solemn but quiet answer, If ye were blind, ye should have no
sin ; but ye say ye see, therefore your sin remaineth." On
the threshold of our great undertaking, may I not, with all
reasonableness, expostulate, and ask, if it would not be well for an objector
to reflect awhile before exhibiting an opposition which
seems determined to listen neither to reason nor revelation
? Would it not be well to ponder over the scripture of the
prophet, "My
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways, saith the Lord" - and would it not startle the same
determined opponent to be told, that in the chapter where
the prophet is thus beautifully expressing the opposition
between God and man, it is in reference to the covenant of
grace, to a spiritual and superhuman law ? nay, moreover,
that we have the testimony of the Apostle James, in Acts
xiii., that the truth, - "My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways," respects the very doctrine
of the resurrection in question; "And as concerning that he
raised him up from the dead, no more to return to
corruption, he said on this wise, I
will give you the sure mercies of
David." (Compare Isaiah 1s. 3, with Acts xiii. 34.)
And to examine more closely the value of
such assertions as "It cannot be," "it is impossible,"
let us ask for one moment of any of the contenders for the
present authority of the exhortation, "
Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every
creature;" how do you reconcile your opinion of the
non-fulfilment of that scripture, with Paul's express
writing to the Colossians, The gospel which ye have heard,
and which was preached to every creature under heaven."
(Col. i. 23) ; or again, to the Romans, " But I say, Have they not heard
? yea,
verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words
unto the end of the world." (Rom. x. 18.) And, moreover, how
can you deny that in these two passages of the Epistles
there was a fulfilment of what Christ said should come to
pass in that generation ;" The gospel
of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world (empire),
for a witness to all the nations; and then shall the end
come;" (Matt. xxiv. 14.) According to your view, the end is
not yet come; according to the apostle's view, it must:
according to your view, what the apostle says, cannot be
true; it contradicts the evidence of your senses; it is
preposterous to affirm that the gospel was preached to every
creature," and so forth ; therefore, that you cannot
believe so and so, is no evidence that what is objected to is
false. You make an assertion, set up yourself as a ruler and
judge of God's meaning, and set yourself in array against
those to whom it was promised, that they should see eye to
eye, and be led into all truth." This maintenance of your
own individual judgment, would, by an apostle, be condemned
as the thought of "the natural man," to whom the covenant of
grace is " foolishness;" to whom it appears as absurd
to declare that in Paul's day the gospel had been fully
preached, just as it
appears equally absurd for Peter to proclaim as he did, on
the day of Pentecost, "This is that which was spoken of by
the prophet Joel, .And it shall come to pass in the last days (these last
days, Heb. i. 2,) saith God, I will pour out, my spirit on
all flesh." No, this cannot be ; Peter is wrong, you say;
"all flesh," is contrary to fact,
contradicts the evidence of our senses; we say, "
Let God he true, though every man be found a
liar;" let his Word speak its own language, ''
My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your wags my ways, saith the Lord,"
Again, It may be that an objector brings
before you a scripture which you interpret in accordance
with a past second coming, but which, through ignorance or
prejudice, or perhaps both, he cannot receive, and
immediately, because he cannot receive it, he condemns you
as being in
error, and repeats his objection, as though not a word had
ever been offered in answer. Passing by the folly of such a
proceeding, suppose there were scriptures (and I am not saying whether
there are or not,) but suppose there were scriptures which
we could not reconcile with the doctrine of the past second
coming, is the doctrine to be denied and condemned for that?
No sensible person would say so;
no sensible opponent would venture to
take such ground, and why ? Because he would prove too much
;he would damage his own cause, more than he would ours; for
where the upholder of any religious system could bring one
scriptural objection against our doctrine of the past second
coming, I would
undertake to bring fifty, or five hundred, against his opinion of a future
coming. And then, moreover, with respect to the supposed
non-ability of interpreting every scripture in favour,
which appears to make against us, may we not be allowed
to ask, if it is not quite as possible that the
revelation of the infinite God should not yet be
exhausted in a way of discovery of its glories; just
as it is possible that the same should be the case in
natural things ;in
every department of natural science; especially if, as
we believe, priest-craft has so prevailed in the world
as to shroud in Egyptian darkness what must be
considered to be the commanding truth of the Word of
God, I mean,
this same second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, which
is the question in debate between us and the various
religious establishments of the day.
Mention of the second advent reminds me,
that I must leave, at all hazard, this preparatory matter,
and come to the consideration of that our fundamental
position. The consideration will involve a view of
opposition between us and the common Christianity of the day
; and this view will, I expect, embrace short outline of
divers important events connected with a past second coming;
and this outline will convey much by way of answer to the
many objections that are urged against the interpretation of Scripture
which we maintain.
I purpose, then, to
prove, from the Bible, the second coming of Christ at the
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. This must be done in
a manner concise enough to be consistent with clearness; and
so many are the different methods of proof which the
Scriptures allow, that the difficulty is to select that
which is best adapted to my present address, and which will at the same time
place the subject in the most incontrovertible position. I
do not wish, and we have no need that it should be said of
us, as we affirm of our opponents, that we deal only in
assertions, as might be said, if I were to take it for
granted, that because the second coming was proved over and
over again, in times past, in another place; there is
therefore no occasion to go over the same ground again,
though we now stand in a different position, and are bound
to give the
reason of the faith that is in us. And moreover, as I know well that these views of divine truth
are a complete revolution in religious matters; therefore,
I do not forget that there is a necessity for line upon
line, and precept upon precept, in order that the generality of minds may
arrive at anything like an apprehension of what I conceive to be their
vast and all-important bearings.
In proving the doctrine of the past
second advent, on this occasion, I
am disposed to adopt the plan which
has been ably followed out by my friend Mr. Stark, of
Torquay. The plan to which I allude is, the explanation of the Bible by
means of diagrams, shewing the various states,
dispensations, or constitutions of God, in which he was
pleased to deal with and manifest himself to his people (his
church) under each covenant, the law and the gospel. (See
Biblical Inquirer, No. 2.) I would observe, in passing, that I might
confine myself, for proof of the doctrine, to the testimony
of Christ to his disciples, as given in the 24th and 25th
chapters of Matthew. I might rest the doctrine of the past
second coming on the answer which Christ returned to the
disciples' question about the temple. ''When shall these
things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of
the consummation of the age ?" I
might now maintain and prove, as you
know I have often proved, that all which is related in
answer, down to the end of the 25th chapter, refers to one
and the same period of time; and as all commentators will
allow that some matter relate to the destruction of
Jerusalem, and some to a final judgment yet to come, I might ask a question,
which has never yet been answered, "Where does one topic end, and the
other begin ?"
Or if, to extricate themselves from this difficulty, the
commentators say that they are interwoven, I ask again for
the proof, and that proof not from carnal reason, not from
human imagination, but from the word and testimony alone.
And if the proof should be attempted, I might ask innumerable questions like
the following :-''How do you reconcile your view of this
scripture, This gospel of the kingdom must first be preached
in all the world, for a witness to all the nations, and then shall
the end come ;'
how do you reconcile this with Christ's promise to his
apostles, 'Lo, I am with you always, even to the consummation
of the age,' seeing that the promise, in effect, is now no
longer visible, let the end have transpired or not - now no
longer visible, if (as must be allowed on all hands,) the effect
of that promise was, that which is declared in the last
verse of Mark's Gospel, 'They went forth, and preached
everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the
word with signs following;' which signs, the Apostle to
the Hebrews declares expressly, 'God also bearing them
witness with sips, and wonders, and with divers miracles,
and gifts (distributions) of the Holy Ghost, according to
his own will.' (Heb. ii. 4.) "
Or again, in choosing to rest my belief
of the past second coming on these two chapters of Matthew,
if it were argued that there is a double fulfilment of these
chapters-and let me here observe, that every popular
commentary which I have seen upon them, does not argue the
double fulfilment, but takes the same for granted; or if
there is a shadow of reason offered for the double
interpretation, it is the a tale human objection, "because it
is impossible that such and such things could be spoken in
reference to Jerusalem alone." Well, if it were objected
that the circumstances related in Matthew xxiv. and xxv.
were fulfilled, in a primary sense, at the fall of the
temple worship, and the end of the Jewish economy, but that
there is a secondary sense in which they are yet to be
fulfilled, I
might ask again
for the proof. I deny the doctrine of double fulfilment, as
having no authority from Scripture; as
a doctrine which has been exploded by
one of the first Biblical scholars of the day, in a work to
which no answer has ever been vouchsafed. (Dissertations on Prophecy, by
Dr. Lee, Regius Professor of Hebrew in the University of
Cambridge.) [See Note A.] I
can here speak with the greatest confidence, and am disposed
likewise to speak strongly, because I
believe that it is the same absurd
double interpretation which is at the bottom of the
thousand-and-one different doctrines of the day, all of
which doctrines, we are told to believe, are equally and
alike the truth of God. I would, to prove this, call to
your remembrance how often you have heard preachers.
especially what are called "Calvinistic
experimental preachers," give a double interpretation, a primary and
a secondary sense, of Christ's promise to his about-to-be inspired apostles, "Take
no thought how or what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate; for it is not you that speak, but the Holy Ghost."
How often have you heard the ministers of the day apply this
to themselves ; and yet one of these ministers (diminian) is
"able to gainsay
and resist" the other (Calvinist), not on a matter of mere
ceremony, but the very vital doctrines of Christianity
itself.
Again, to show the absurdity of double
interpretation, I may mention, that I
remember reading a review of a sermon
which I
published in the times of my ignorance, in which review
there was a passage to the following effect :-"It will rejoice us to find the author 'led into all truth.' "Now, according to the
religious belief of the reviewer, so far from being led into
all truth, I am, doubtless, in his estimation, the upholder
of the "vilest
heresy that has ever appeared in Christendom." Behold, then,
in this scripture, the application of what belonged to an
inspired ministry; and in the reviewer's expressed wish,
behold the assumption of the miraculous gift "of trying the spirits,
whether they be of God," and in the failure of that
assumption, behold the absurdity of double interpretation;
and, as the originating cause of the above absurdities,
behold the assumption of apostolic succession by those who
would be horror-struck if you told them that they believed
in that doctrine as firmly, but not by any means as
honestly, nor as wisely, as the poor despised Roman
Catholic. Our view, which we believe to be scriptural, is
this: - The Old Testament is typical of the New, and, as
typical, contains all that is in the New: but the New Testament is
neither typical of another New Testament, nor yet of itself.
The commonly received view is the reverse of this, and the
inevitable consequence of such view is that which the Mormonites have arrived at. We must have a further
revelation, to explain that which is already in our
possession: we must, if any prophecy of scripture is yet; to
be fulfilled, have a ministry to give us the infallible
interpretation of such prophecy :
therefore, by consequence equally
inevitable, there being none of these requisites visible,
God is charged with imperfection, with beginning a work, and
not being able to finish it; or, if this be preferred, God
is thought to be even such a one as ourselves.
We might thus proceed to our proof of the
past second coming, from the 24th and 25th Matthew; and in
the proof we might bring in the other three Gospels, and the
Apostolic Epistles, by way of confirmation ; but this would
extend the address further than our limits allow. I
choose, for the present, to adopt the diagram method of
dealing with the Scriptures - for many reasons, chiefly
because of its simplicity. A plan of this kind deals
with particular passages of scripture according as they fall
under different states or dispensations : a plan of this
kind preserves that right division of the Word of Truth
which Paul, in sketching the character of an inspired
bishop, enforced upon Timothy, and exhibits that beautiful
scripture in a glorious fulfilment, "The testimony of Jesus
is the spirit of prophecy." This method of dealing
with the Scriptures, moreover, as has been justly observed,
addresses both the eye and the ear, and thus appeals to an
objector, requesting him, as might well be done in a public
lecture, to point out what he may consider to be erroneous.
Diagrams, showing
the order of divine revelation, about in Scripture, and are
to me a convincing proof that "the hand which wrote it is
divine;" that the same Almighty Being who spread the starry
heavens, who "appointed the moon for certain seasons, and
the sun to his going down," is He who has declared, "Out of
Zion, the whole perfection of beauty, God shineth clearly."
(Compare Ps. 1. 2, with Heb. xii 16,24.) Diagrams, attended with this glorious
consequence, abound; take, for instance, the the diagram
presented to out notice in the first chapter of Genesis, as an
illustration of the above remarks. We find there the scriptural
account of the creation of the world, solely intended. I am inclined
to believe, for
the purpose of exhibiting a shadow of the different dispensations in the
church. I allude
to the division into day. How read we ? "The
earth was emptiness and void, and darkness was upon the face
of the deep;" but there ensued, as we are told, the distinct operations of
God in his creation work ;which
work is
described by the division of successive days, each day's
work being distinct, and each day's work complete. The chaos is
reduced to
order - at the end of the sixth day there ensued the Sabbath,
or rest; and "God
saw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very
good." These
days, we observe, were shadows of the dispensations, and the
rest was a typical rest, the antitype being a rest in the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, which was to remain for the
people of God. In the light of these days we are satisfied
to behold the creation of "a
new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness;"
which believers of the apostolic day were looking for (2
Peter ii.13),
and for which they were exhorted "so
to run that they might obtain," but
which, if modem doctrines are true, they have not yet
obtained, and are looking for still. We are persuaded that
the last day in which it was lawful for a man to work out
even his own salvation, with fear and trembling." was that
of the apostles; that this preceded a seventh day, a "Sabbatismos" (Heb. iv. 9) of a finished work, of rest-"
rest," as Paul observes, "with
us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with
his mighty angels" (2 Thess. i. 7) ;and that this revelation
was at the cessation of their ministry and apostleship, that
is, when the Lord came to the destruction of Jerusalem, and was "glorified in his
saint., and admired by all them that believed;" while the adherents
to the Jewish house were " punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of
his power," as it is to this very day. We are persuaded that
then was the eternal Sabbath-keeping ushered in, into which
we have entered, most, if not all of us, after a weary
pilgrimage through the dispensation work, as though that
were to be enacted over again in our own individual person.
This is our belief. On the other hand, according to
religious systems, there is no such beautiful arrangement as the above at
all; being ignorant of God's distinct dealings, being
ignorant of God's righteousness, which is the righteousness
of a new heaven and new earth, and not of Moses- being
unable rightly to divide the word of truth, they look upon,
and virtually make, the Bible to be a book without form and
void - a chaos of
unutterable disorder, and have reduced it, in the estimation
of thinking minds, to the degraded position of the most
inconsistent, absurd, and contradictory system of religion
that was ever devised.
Again, I take another diagram - The
descendants of Abraham went down into Egypt, and Moses (a
prophet like unto Christ,) was sent to deliver them from the bondage to
which they had been subjected, the seed of Abraham having
been promised an inheritance in the land of Canaan. Here
again we have a diagram, which is presented to us in the
following order :-
-
1st. - The redemption from Egypt.
-
2nd. - The journey through the
wilderness.
-
3rd. - The possession of the promised land.
This was typical, and the same order is
anti-typically observed in the New Testament L
-
1st. - The redemption
from spiritual Egypt, or the bondage of Moses' law.
-
2nd. - The
journey through the trials and tribulations of the Apostolic
state.
-
3rd. - The land, rest, inheritance, or new heaven and
earth manifested and obtained at the second advent of
Christ.
No one, I think, can object to this arrangement; it is
a comparison of type and antitype, which recommends itself
to every unprejudiced mind at a single glance. No one will
quarrel with the arrangement, but very few will be disposed
to agree with me as to the time of type receiving fulfilment
in antitype. Into this, then, I will most patiently enquire.
I presume that it
will be admitted on all hands, that the first of these three
typical representations was accomplished on Calvary, when
Jesus said, "It is finished !" that spiritual Israel was then redeemed from
the bondage of Moses' law, as literal Israel had been from
Egyptian slavery; that the mild invitation of Immanuel then
indeed began to take effect, "Come unto me, all that are weary and heavy
laden, and I will give you rest;" that "grace and truth "were then introduced,
with a "yea and amen" witness, to
supersede the law that came by Moses. I suppose none who call themselves
Christians will deny this; so far from that, I believe there are few
but would in
words carry that redemption further than I should myself; for
I do not view it
complete in salvation until the appearing again the second
time. I pass by
this as granted
by all parties, and come to the second typical
representation,
"The journey through the trials and
tribulations of the apostolic state," answering to the
journey of the Children of Israel through the wilderness. That there were trials and tribulations in the
Apostolic state, needs no Apostle of this day to prove; nay,
so far from want of proof, if men would but be honest
with themselves, and had "such an heart in them" as
seriously to resolve upon examining the pretensions of
their several ministers and pastors, they might weigh them
in the balance of Apostolic suffering alone, and find them,
one and all, to be utterly wanting. If Christians of every
denomination would but contrast the temporal reward of the
"ministers of Christ," with that of those who have assumed
their office, with the hireling labourers of the day; if
they would but examine the testimony of an Apostle, and hear
him show forth this his apostleship; We both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted,
and have no certain dwelling-place, and labour, working
with our own hands (though the labourer was worthy of his
hire) ; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer
it; being defamed, we entreat; we are made as the filth of
the world, and the offscouring of all things to this day"-
unto this day ;"if Christians would but seriously resolve
whether that "unto this day" is visible now; if they would bring these
matters, in their true and scriptural meaning, to bear upon
their self-styled ministers, the whole fabric of the
priesthood must soon be tumbled to the ground.
That there were trials and tribulations
in Apostolic times is granted. The testimony above quoted is
decisive. But we need not leave the matter here. It is
written, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution;" and religious systems say that it
is exactly the same now. It may be; but in order to know
whether it be the Scripture persecution, I must know what it is
to "live godly
in Christ .Jesus;" and to know this, it must be resolved to
me what the words " in Christ Jesus "
mean. I go round to one body calling
itself Christian, and they give me their definition of what
it is to be "in Christ Jesus." 1 go to another, and another,
and another, and I receive their several interpretations.
I expect that
they will all "speak the same thing," be of the same mind
and judgment." I open them, I compare, and to my distress and
perplexity I
find that their sentiments on the subject are so various and discordant that it would be a hopeless task to
attempt to make anything of them. I
therefore reject their preaching, and
believe that for any of them to say, " All that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution," is a mere assertion, unsupported
by a shadow of proof. It was not so in the Apostles'
day. These inspired teachers had no disagreement as to what
it was to he "in Christ Jesus;" and, being of one mind in
the doctrine, we receive their persecution as persecution
for truth's sake.
Again, it is written, "we must,
through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God"
(Acts xiv. 22),
but then religious systems deny that the kingdom is yet
come. And again, it is written of the 144 thousand, the
remnant according to the election of grace," the "all Israel," saved in that day with an
everlasting salvation, it is written of these, and "the
number which no man could number," These are they which came
out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb." But religious systems say that this is true
of every Christian now living, alter
departing this life ; and truly if it
be affirmed of any coming out of tribulation now, we need
not travel far for an example, in one whose name has been
cast out as evil, by those who not long ago could address
him as a dear brother in Christ Jesus." But no matter.
Religious systems say that there is this tribulation still,
as preparatory to an entrance into the kingdom of God. How
do they prove it ? Oh, the answer is in a moment, from such
systems as pretend to this part of Apostolic succession - Oh,
it is said, look what a sinner passes through before he
finds peace ; remember a law-work upon the conscience - a
horrible dread of eternal misery - doubts and fears as to the
soul's everlasting welfare -and so forth.
Is this the
tribulation of which Apostles speak? Nothing of the kind;
the Apostles knew better; they preached the gospel with
demonstration of the Spirit and power; they preached the
glorious doctrine of the assurance of faith ; "Whosoever loveth is born of God, and knoweth God ; and if we should say
we know him not, we should be liars, like unto the world."
Is this the tribulation of the kingdom journey, then I grant
there is plenty such like at the present hour. But then, we
ask, "Who is the author of it, and whence its origin ?" - The very systems themselves
: they have
"darkened counsel with words without
knowledge;" they have buried Christianity under a heap of
"wood, hay, stubble, gold, silver, and
precious stones;" they have set up, each for himself, a
"standard;" they have made poor enquiring souls their hewers
of wood, and drawers of water;" and, having done all this,
they call it Apostolic tribulation. Apostolic tribulation
was of heaven, and not of men. It was because of the
existence of that Jewish economy which was in their day
called "Satan transformed into an angel of light;" which was
a Satan going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour;" (compare 1 Peter v. 8, with Psalm xiv. 4,) which was Satan raging because
the time was short; all which is proved on a reference to
the Acts of the Apostles, where we find Satan going about
seeking whom he might devour, in the person of the Jews
persecuting the Christians from city to city, because, as
was averred, they ''spake
blasphemous things against Moses, the law, and the holy
place." This was the originating cause of trouble then, from
the man of sin, Antichrist, flesh, (the law, see Romans
viii. 8,) the carnal mind, which was
attached to the law, whose strength
was sin, which was the sting of death, the wages of sin, of
which death the devil had the power. The religious systems
of the day have taken up "the body of
this death ; "they have dressed and decked out the loathsome
corpse; they have called the same Christianity. There is no
beauty in it that men should desire it, and in trying to
fancy it, to love it, to fall down before it, and worship
it, there is trouble superadded to all the ills which "flesh
is heir to;" and what could you expect but trouble ? The
truth is, systems attach their own meaning to the scripture tribulation, and
that is a meaning which has no reference to the times and
seasons, and is quite independent of God's meaning.
Having offered these remarks upon the
word tribulation, I might go on at great length to prove,
from the Apostolic Epistles, these wilderness trials of
theirs, in connexion with the typical trials of Israel of
old. Take one instance out of many. Paul
addresses the Corinthians, in chap. x. 1st Epistle, in a way
of warning, by contrasting their position with that of
Israel in the wilderness. "These things were our
ensamples," or types, is the literal rendering. Here
is the very thing which we are contending for : and again,
in the 11th verse, "Now all these things happened unto them
for types, and they are written for our admonition upon
whom the ends of the ages (not as it is in our
translation rendered, "the ends of the world,") are come."
And what are these? "Neither let us tempt
Christ, as some of them also tempted ; neither murmur ye,
&c. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them."
This comparison of Old Testament with New, is sufficient
alone to prove the exact correspondence, even in point of
time, between type and antitype, which we seek to establish.
But this is not all. If Scripture is any
authority, we can fix the time.
The type in this diagram occupies a space
of forty years. "Forty years was I grieved with this
people." Now, let us bear in mind the testimony which
has been brought forward from Corinthians, and compare that
with the 3rd and 4th of Hebrews. Instituting a
comparison, we find the Apostle applying the same warning to
the Hebrew believers as to the Corinthians ; and in the
Hebrews it is glorious truth to notice how, in declaring the
antitype, he fixed the time to the same period of forty
years. Having discoursed of God's anger with Israel of
old, his long-suffering for the space of forty years, the
"to-day," "the Lord's day," as it is styled by John in the
Revelations, [See Note B.] he then enforces this type, and
applies it to those whom he was addressing, "Exhort one
another daily, while it is called 'to-day,' and so much the
more as ye see the day approaching." (Compare Heb. iii. 13,
with Heb. x. 25, and Rom. xiii. 12.)
This comparison appears to me conclusive
as to the time of the second advent, and beautifully
so when I recollect that the Apostolic ministry, "the Lord's
day," in which God was grieved with the Jews, as he had been
with their forefathers, was the like period of forty years.
I cannot avoid believing, from this comparison, that as Old
Testament Israel entered into the temporal Canaan at the
expiration of forty years, so also spiritual Israel entered,
not by faith, but by sight and enjoyment, into the eternal
and spiritual Canaan, after the forty years' wilderness
troubles of the Apostolic ministry.
On the other hand, the common opinion of
the day is well expressed in a verse |
Warning: "Full
Preterist" material is being archived for balanced representation of all
Christian Preterist views, but its premise is deemed by the opinion of
the curator (a
former full preterist) to be "toxic theology." Due to its
brash and "letter-based" appeal to the flesh and "things seen," it very
subtly draws people away from the truth of the Spirit and His "unseen things"
(core components of the system being extra-biblical history and logic -- because there is
not one full preterist verse which looks back to
fulfillment in ad70,
it is based entirely upon deductive reasoning). If you have already
adopted this viewpoint, please seriously consider that according to full
preterism, AD70 was not only the end of Old Testament Judaism, but it was also
the end of the revelation of Christianity as seen in the New Testament.
This is done by teaching that AD70 was a "dispensational line"
regarding resurrection and the like which makes the Christianity of the New Testament
fundamentally different from that of today. Please also note that the earliest
known adherents of full preterism later abandoned it, as have many contemporary
former full preterists, including the curator of this archive (after a
decade of promotion). The article
which follows is deemed "hyper preterist" in nature
-- so please proceed with extreme caution. If this article is not "full
preterist," please notify me and I will have it reclassified.
