me, after having been engaged some years in the work of the ministry, to enter on the study of the Apocalypse. Not the mere wish to find a delightful occupation for my leisure hours, such as the study of Prophetic Scripture has in repeated instances afforded, but a desire that this study should become subservient to usefulness—was, (I hope I may say with truth) my stimulating motive to the production of the work now submitted to public notice. That I might prosecute my task with an unbiassed mind, I, in the first instance, avoided Commentaries. In speaking thus, I would not be thought to despise, or undervalue these. I hold them to be, when rightly used, most useful accessaries to ministerial improvement. But-giving them due honor-I would have them kept in their proper place-a secondary one, to the Inspired Word itself-which should be allowed to have its free course into the mind, and to make its impressions there, without a previous possession of the judgment on the part of a merely human instructor. Commentaries may be consulted with advantage afterwards; and followed, or set aside, as found to agree with, or to differ from, "the Law and the Testimony." But the authority of man should always be held subordinate to that of God; whether it be of man in his individual, or in his collective character- the commentator, speaking alone, or the church with united voice. For-even "General Councils . when they be gathered together, (forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Word and Spirit of God) may err, and sometimes have erred, in things pertaining to God. Wherefore things ordained by them, as necessary to salvation, have neither strength nor authority unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture." Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be required proved thereby, is not to be received of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." "Although the church be a witness and keeper of Holy Writ. . it is not lawful for the church to .. so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another." "As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch, 66 have erred, so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith." (Articles of the Church of Englund, passim.) As one who could say of himself, Nullius addictus jurare in verb magistri, I commenced the study of the Apocalypse. And the course of independent inquiry thus pursued having led me to conclusions greatly at variance with the opinions generally entertained in regard to the visions of St. John, I felt desirous of submitting them to the notice of the Christian world; that so their soundness might be fully and fairly tested. Their contrariety to popular ideas would indeed sometimes cause me to question the expediency of their publication-would sometimes make me hesitate to set myself against the stream of public opinion. But the full persuasion which, on the other hand, I entertained, of the substantial correctness of the views, to which repeated and careful investigation had conducted me, would as often dissipate those doubts and dispel those apprehensions. And it would then become a question with me, whether it were not my duty to communicate to the religious public, still in uncertainty, as to the meaning of these remarkable prophecies, the discoveries which, to my own mind, had brought unhesitating conviction, and assured satisfaction. I have called them "discoveries;" because it will be found, that in my "Analysis," the reader is presented with an entirely new combination of prophetical facts—an entirely new computation of prophetical numbers-and an entirely new view of many of the visions of St. John, singly and separately contemplated. And I am greatly mistaken if the "Lines of Apocalyptic Prophecy," and the accompanying Analysis, will not, by themselves, be found to furnish a more simple, clear, and convincing view, of the scope and design of the Apocalyptic visions, than any commentary that has yet been published - those even of the Rev. E. B. Elliott and Dr. Cumming not excepted. To those eminent and excellent men I render all honor, while yet constrained to express my entire dissent from their expositions of Inspired Prophecy-expositions, to which, as characterised in a very high degree, by learning, ingenuity, piety, and Christian courtesy and candour, I gladly offer the tribute of my unfeigned and respectful admiration. I look upon them as possessed of every desirable qualification, save_the_ all-important one, of accordance with Holy Scripture. For I cannot think, that, as schemes of prophetic interpretation, they have the sanction of the revealed Truth of God. I may be wrong in coming to such a conclusion with respect to them; and mistaken, also, in the views which I have myself put forth. And if so, as an inquirer after truth, I shall be thankful for correction. But, until proved to be in error, I must confess myself unable to agree in opinion with Mr. Elliott and Dr. Cumming; though not unable to love them, as good men-to honor them as good ministers of Jesus Christ to admire those qualifications, which have won for them a deserved popularity-to rejoice in their usefulness-and to feel persuaded that they and I, although widely differing in our views of Scriptural prophecy, may, without danger, agree to differ; being in holy concord with each other, in regard to "the things that accompany salvation." And so, while an added Commentary on the Apocalypse, with so many already in the hands of the Christian world, may to some appear superfluous to others presumptuous, regard being had to the acknowledged excellence of some previous expositions; and to others, unwarrantable, in the face of that popularity which Mr. Elliott's scheme has obtained, and that certainty, by which it has been said to be characterised-I trust that, in offering a new view of the visions of St. John to the religious public, I shall not be held to be doing an unreasonable thing; nor an unjustifiable one, if a true view should hereafter be found to have been, at the same time, presented. It has been the too common practice of Commentators on this portion of Inspired Scripture, to confine themselves to the work of explanation. And an idea has hence gone abroad, and has obtained extensive currency, too, in the Church of God, that the Apocalypse is not a useful Book-not capable of being turned to a practical account, as other parts of the Divine Word are. In the observed absence of endeavor on the part of Expositors, to draw practical instruction from these mysterious disclosures, it is not to be wondered at, that such should be the general impression of the Christian community. That might naturally be deemed a hard-almost an impossible task-on which, scarcely any one was seen to enter—from which, almost every one appeared to shrink. But it is not so. The Revelation of St. John has its uses, and its lessons; and these, neither few in number, nor unimportant in character. A mine of practical truth is there, which, if unseen and unknown, is so, only because it has not been explored. Of this Book, as of the entire Scriptures, it may be truly affirmed in respect to the diligent and pious student, that the deeper he digs, the more he will find. But Commentators have been intent rather on the discovery of its meaning, than of its usefulness. Its import being “hard to be understood," its application was also not easy to be discovered. And, in their anxiety to obtain an insight into the former, comparatively little regard was had to the latter. They were for the most part content to rest from their labors, when the first business was thought to have been accomplished. The remaining portion of the task was left to other hands. Hence, in the minds of not a few among the pious, the mention of a forthcoming Commentary on the Apocalypse gives birth to suspicion and incredulity, rather than to expectation and confidence. And, as Nathanael asked-Can a good thing come out of Nazareth? even so, the practical student of Divine Truth finds it hard to believe, that from a soil so barren, hitherto, of what is profitable, products of a really good and useful character are, by any effort, to be educed. He is ready to meet both the Commentator and his work with a smile of derision, rather than with one of welcome. And his expectation in regard to both is first, that they will fail-then, that they will be forgotten. Of the Expositions hitherto offered, it might, however, be observed, that not one, perhaps, has been without its use, in contributing an additional somewhat, to the stock_of_previous information; so, verifying the angel's promise to Daniel-many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Dan. xii, 4. A little added light has been thrown on the mysterious communications of the Seer of Patmos, as each successive Commentary has appeared; and, in some instances, more than a little. Such works as those of Mr. Elliott and Dr. Cumming, whether in the main correctly interpreting the Apocalypse or not, can never be regarded as other than truly valuable accessions to the store of Biblical Literature. And now that another contribution is offered, it is so, in the hope, that it will be found to have corrected some errors to have solved some doubts,-to have removed some difficulties—and to present some additional information to the earnest and devout student of Inspired Prophecy; above all, that its practical matter may be of service to those, by whom the expository portion may be deemed incorrect. Yet the writer trusts, that there, he will not be found to have been, either himself' deceived, or a deceiver of others: but that what is put forth has the sure support of the previous affirmations of Holy Scripture itself. St. Germain's, Lynn, Norfolk. |