Now as all that comes to pass in the visible world springs from the invisible : thither also it flows back after it is done.  Thus wonderfully are they interwoven : and we must adhere purely to what we find written.  Invisible things are more noble and important ; but we, strangers on the earth, more easily understand visible things, and by these arise up to the others." (Apocalypse, p. 75)

Johann Albrecht Bengel
(1687-1752)

Bengel's New Testament Commentary (1742) | First Textual Critic | Google Books

"The abomination of profanation was followed by the abomination of desolation. Such is the name given to the Roman army"

Dividing Line Between Destruction of Jerusalem and General Judgment - Matthew 24:29

(On Matthew 24:15)
"The abomination of desolation - The abomination of profanation was followed by the abomination of desolation. Such is the name given to the Roman army, gathered from all nations; whose military standards the Jews held in abomination as idols, since the Romans attributed divinity to them." (p. 270).

(On II Thessalonians 2:2)
'The Thessalonians were filled with the expectation of Christ's advent. So praiseworthy was their position, so free and unembarrassed was the rule of Christianity among them, that they were able to look each hour for the coming of the Lord Jesus." (Gnomon, Quote by Russell)

"Extreme proximity is signified by this word; for enistemi is present."

(On Imminency)
‘From such passages as this we see that the apostolic age maintained that which ought to be the attitude of all ages,---constant expectation of the Lord’s return." (Quoted in The Parousia)

 

WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID

Milton Terry (1898)
"When, however, the one school of interpreters attempt to point out the dividing line, there are as many differences of opinion as there are interpreters. In Matt. 24 and 25, for example, the transition from the one subject to the other is placed by Bengel and others at 24:29; by E.J. Meyer at verse 35; by Doddridge at verse 36; by Kuinoel at verse 33; by Eichorn at 25:14, and by Wetstein at 25:31." (Biblical Apocalyptics, p. 217)

Adam Clarke (1837)
"Bengel has said much on these points, but to very little purpose; the word in the above place seems to signify delay simply, and probably refers to the long-suffering of God being ended in reference to Jerusalem; for I all along take for probable that this book was written previously to the destruction of that city." (Revelation 10)

Father Jacobus
"But what Bengel meant was not just a juxtaposition of the fields of knowledge and research, but an interrelationship, an organic denominator. And that is one of the basic ideas of the Glass Bead Game. In fact, I would go further in my claims: if Bengel had possessed a system similar to that offered by our Game, he probably would have been spared all the misguided effort involved in his calculation of the prophetic numbers and his annunciation of the Antichrist and the Millenial Kingdom..." (Apocalypse, Insanity)

CONNECTION WITH MILLERITES

"One hundred years before Miller, the German Lutheran theologian and scholar, Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752), first proposed Heilsgeschichte-the theology of salvation history. From his study of Daniel and Revelation, Bengel felt he could predict the date of the end, which he said would occur about 1836. Bengel's work influenced John Wesley of his own century. The Millerites were also acquainted with Bengel and were conscious heirs of his tradition." (1844 Re-examined)

Date: 23 Jun 2006
Time: 07:57:05

Comments:

I'm sure Bengel has something to offer from a theological point of view but in view of the fact the founding Christians were the Gnostics, before 300AD, when they were all killed by Constantines 'New Church'...all debate about philosophers of Christianity post 300AD should be taken with a grain of salt, as they are not really addressing true Christianity-they are addressing its unwanted offspring.