^ ■^h ^ op LIBRARY T UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Received Sqitewbher^ / (^c^ . Accessions No. CLycf 9^ Shelf No. ^v itt m i . APOCALYPSE, REVELATION OF SAINT JOHN, \ Ac. &c. Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2008 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/apocalypseorreveOOwoodricli THK APOCALYPSE, OR, ■,,■;•'•: REVELATION OF SAINt JOHnV WITH NOTES, CRITIC AT, 4KP EXPLANATORY. ON THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE BOOK; IN ANSWER TO THE OBJECTIONS OF THE LATE PROFESSOR J. D. MICHAELIS. JOHN CFAPPEL WOODHOUSE, M. A. ARCHDEACON OF SALOP, IM THE DIOCESE OF LICHFIELD AND COVENTILT. Id Prophetiis explicandis, semper patuit, et patere debet, omnibus Dei honorem amantibus campus liber. Qui minimam vim verbis facit, qui confasa distinguit, qui historias apcrtas vaticiniis quam commodissime aptat, plus semper apud aequos judices refei-et gratiae. Grotius. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. HATCHARD, BOOKSELLER TO HER MAJESTY, 190, PICCADILLY, By J. Bkettell, Marshall Street, Golden Square. 1805. ^s ■2. y ate a worldly conqueror, have been seen to lead that infatuated people inta egregious error: so, in these days of superior light, when by experience, a's well as divine direction, a spiritual interpretation is so clearly recommended and enforced, it seems extraordinary that any sober and well-in- formed Christian can look to any othcF. of XIX bf this rUkj which I am sorry to observe so fre- quently transgressed. They shall be borrowed from Sir Isaac Newton; " God gave these, and " the prophecies of the Old Testament, not to " gratify men's curiosity, by enabling them to " foreknow things ; but that after they were ful- " filled they might be interpreted by the events *' and his own providence, not the interpreter's, " be then manifested thereby to the world*/' Such are the principles, such the scheme of investigation, with which I have ventured to ap- proach this mysterious book. And although I cannot but be feelingly aware of the difficulty of the subject, and of my deficiency in the qua- lifications requisite to do justice to it; yet, the method I have pursued, free from the preposses- sions which have warped the operations of abler minds, has enabled me, I trust, to make some useful discoveries. It might operate more favourably to the cre- dit of my sagacity, if I were to publish only selections from the following work ; of those parts in which I may appear to have been most successful. Such has been sometimes my inten- tion. But I consider myself as acting more justly to the important subjects of investigation, if I lay before the public the result of all my inquiries. In those parts wherein I have had the least success, I may perhaps open a field for the success of others. * Sir L Newton on the Apocalypse, p. 251. B 2 With "With tKe same view I have resolved to publish the result of mj studies, in the form in which the investigations were originally written ; after that analytic method, which I found it necessary to pursue. They might be presented in a more abstracted and concise form, and in a more lu- Dninous point of view ; but in the present form, the reader will accompany every step of the in- quiry, and may thus more easily detect the error, or confirm the safety of the proceeding. Truth, in this important research, is, I hope, as it ought to be, my principal concern ; and I shall rejoice to see these sacred prophecies truly in- terpreted, though the correction of my mistakes should lay the foundation of so desirable a su- perstructure. To the candid correction of the learned reader I consign this attempt, trusting, that whatever may be its reception in the world, I shall not have reason to reproach myself with precipi- tancy unbecoming the sanctity of the subject; with narrow views, or party-prejudices ; with want of moderation and of candour; which liave disgraced too many writings of professed Clnistians. THE new Translation now presented to the reader, was a necessary part and result of the plan pursued. For, as it was proposed to study the. XXI tlie prophecies of the Apocalypse, by the guid-. ance of their own internal marks and charac- ters, without that prepossesion which might arise from an acquaintance with the systems of other interpreters ; so it became necessary to avoid the perusal of translations, as well as of expositions; because a prejudice in favour of a particular mode of interpretation may be sug- gested by the translator. The original Greek was therefore to be studied by itself, and the meaning of the words and phrases of it to be ascertained. But to ascertain these in Ene:- lish idiom, was to produce a new English translation; which, in this case, being designed solely for the use of the annotator, was ren- dered as literally as the forms of the two lan- guages would admit. When the new translation had served this purpose, and when the notes en- grafted upon it were completed in their first form, it was then compared with the common English version, and thence received considerable acces- sion and improvement. For, as I am fully per- suaded that the best form of a new English ver- sion of the Scriptures will be that which shall retain the phraseology of the common translation, where it is not evidently faulty; so in revising my new version, and preparing it for general use, I was careful to adopt into it those expressions of the old version which appeared to represent the Greek original faithfully, and not inelegantly ; retaining those only of my own translation which seemed xxu seemed to convey the meaning of the original with juster effect. The version, therefore, now offered to the pubhc may be considered as corrective of that which iS' inserted in our Enghsh Bibles. Yet, having been first moulded in an original form of its own, a form derived directly from the Greek, it has thereby acquired this advantage ; that the servile uniformity cannot be imputed to it which Dr. Macknight alleges to have characterized all English translations of the New Testament prior to his own. Such uniform similarity, he observes, is almost inevitably produced by the method which the translators have commonly pursued ; by their examining the steps of their predecessors, while they themselves were translating, and not after they had finished *. There is no book of the New Testament which more necessarily requires a revision of its text, and consequently a new translation corrective of - the old one, than this. For it appears, from the accounts of inquiring critics, that the editors of the Greek text from which our received English version is taken, were in possession of very few ancient manuscripts of the Apocalypse. Erasmus possessed but one ; Stephens had only two ; and it is not made apparent that Beza had the means of consulting more f. Hence, the diligence of * Mack night's General Preface to the Epistles. t Michaelis's Introduction to the New Testament, c. x\i. sect. 1, and in other passages, succeeding xxni succeeding scholars, by the collation of the re- maining manuscripts (some of them of the first authority), has restored many original readings, which, by consent of judicious critics, have been received into the Greek text, and ought therefore to pass into translation. A Greek text, receiving these and assigning their authorities (and which, therefore appears to be the most perfect copy of the original yet printed), is that of Dr. Griesbach, which is accordingly followed in this translation. It has been attempted to translate it as closely and literally as the English idiom would allow ; a restriction which must be thought necessary in rendering a symbolical prophecy ; in which a very slight deviation may materially change the sense of the original. It has been the wish of the translator to express the very stamp and figure of the original, truly if not elegantly, and without bias toward any favourite method of explanation. The translation was begun and completed, in its first form, before any knowledge was obtained by the translator of the various modes of interpretation which have been devised by the learned. And in the subse- quent corrections, it has been his endeavour to preserve it pure from all tendency to prejudice and system. That this new version may be compared with the Greek, and also with the common Enghsh translation, of which it is corrective, they are all printed together. Those words are placed be- tween tween brackets, to which Griesbach has prefixed his mark, denoting that they are prohahlij to be expunged; and those are wholly omitted, which he has inserted in his interior margin, accounting them indubitabli/ spurious^. Probable ellipsises, or such as the English idiom seemed to require, are supplied in Italic characters. The relatives who, whom, which, &c, are generally used in pre- ference to the relative that, which is so frequently employed in the old translation ; and thus an ambiguity is avoided, of which foreigners justly complain. But the word which is still retained, in preference to who or whom, when referring to the great God of Heaven, whose personality is far different from that of any of his creatures, and is therefore properly expressed by other terms -f*. The translator has thought himself at liberty to disregard the common punctuation, and the re-*- ceived division by verses ; because tliey evidently appear to be of modern date, and are not seen in the ancient manuscripts; and he has been guided to the sense of a passage by its context, * Tl^e Greek text is printed from the edition of Griesbach, Haloe, 1777 ; but in this copy now printed, no notice is taken of his marks referring to authorities in the margin, which could not be conveniently exhibited in this edition. Only those passages to which he has prefixed his mark =, denoting that they are probably rip part of the original textj, are included in brackets, after the manner adopted in Bower's Greek Testament. t The modern attempts to amend the translation of the Lord's Prayer, by substituting " who art in heaven" for " which art ii^ lieaven/' are, I beljeve, not approved by the judicioiis. rathey XXV rather than by such recent and arbitrary restric- tions *. For the same reasons, and supported by the same authority, he has not confined him- self to the received division by chapters, but has portioned the book into parts and sections, as its internal structure seemed to require. The Apo- calypse was very little understood when the di- vision of it into chapters and verses took place -j-. The authorities taken from books are generally referred to by exact quotation. In some in- stances such particular reference may seem wanting. For any such omission, this cause is to be assigned : — that the work was not originally intended for publication ; and when that view began to suggest itself, some of the books con- taining the passages quoted were gone out of the author's hands, and not easily recalled. Quota- tions, when in the learned or foreign languages, are commonly presented also in an English form, for the accommodation of the English reader, who will find few disquisitions in this work, which he may not understand, * See Clerici Ars Crltic«n, p. ili. sect. ]. c. x. 7, 9> and Mi-. phaelis's Introd. to the New Test. ch. xiii. sect. 2, 3, &c. + The Scriptures were divided into chapters in the xiiith cen* tury; into verses in the xvith. See Michaelis's Introd. to the New Test. ch. xiii. sect, 9, lOj I}, and the nqtes of his learned translator. A DIS* CONTENTS OF THR DISSERTATION. CHAPTER I. PAGE Of the Method pursued m this Enquiry . . . 1 CHAPTER II. Of the Time, xvhen the Jpocalypse appears to have been written and published 6 CHAPTER III. The Testimony of Irenoius and of other Fathers in the Church before him; of Ignatius ; of Poly- carp ; of the JVriter of the Epistle describing Po- lycarp's Martyrdom ; and of Papias . . . . %G CHAPTER IV. The Testimony of Justin Martyr ; of Athena- goras ; of the Churches in Gaul; of Melito ; Theophilus ; Apollonius ; Clemens of A le^vandria; and TertulUan 44 B 6 CHAP- ( xxviii ) CHAPTER Y. PAGE The Evidence against the Apocalypse during its first Century ; the rejection of it by Marcion, and by the Alogi ; their Objections, so far as th(?y relate to external Evidence, e^vamined . . 54 CHAPTER VI. The Testimonies of Hippolytus and of Origen ; the Objections of Caius, and of Dionysius of Alex-^ andria, and of others preceding him. Animad- versions on the Conclusions of Michaelis, respect- ing this Evidence . . , . , 60 CHAPTER VII. The Testimonies of Gregory of Neocxsarea^ of Dionysius of Alexandria ; of his private Opi- nion ; the Testimonies of other fViiters in the same Century; of Eusebius, and of the JVriters in his Time, and after him ; of the Reception of the Apocalypse at the Reformation 70 CHAPTER VIII. The internal Evidence respecting the Apoca- lypse; from the Completion of its Prophecies; from its Correspondence in point of Doctrine and of Imagery with other Books of Divitie Authority : Objections of Michaelis ansxcered. True charac- ter of the Beauty and Sublimity in this Book; Argument thence derived; Comparison oftheApO"- calypse with other JVritings of the same Age, Hermas and the Second Book oj' Esdras. Objec- tion arising from the Obscurity of the Book an^ sicered . , . . ♦ , . • 89 CHAP- ( xxix ) CHAPTER IX. PAGE Of the internal Evidence respecting the Question^ whether the Apocalypse was written by St. John. Dr. Lardners Opinion; Opinions of others. Ar^ guments of Dionysius of Alexandria, under five Heads ; Answers thereto, and to the Objections of Michaelis. Enquiry whether John the Evan- gelist, and John the Divine, were by the Ancients accounted the same Person. Evidence, from a Passage in the Book, that it was writteii by St. John. Recapitulation and Conckision . . , .107 E 7 A DLS- A DISSERTATION, IN WHICH THE EVIDENCE , FOR THE AUTHENTICITY AND DIVINE; INSPIRATION or THE APOCALYPSE JS STATED; AND VINDICATED FROM THE OBJECTIONS OF THIS I.ATE PROFESSOR, J, p. MICHAELIS. DISSEKT^mON, Sec. CHAP. I. OP THE METHOD PURSUED IN THIS INQUIRY. Jln the following pages I propose to review the evidence which has been adduced, for the au- thenticity and divine inspiration of the Apoca- lypse; to add thereto some collections of my own ; and occasionally to remark on those obser- vations of Michaelis*, which tend to invali- date it. This evidence divides itself into external and internal. The external is, that which is derived from credible witnesses, from the early writers and fathers of the church. The internal is, that which results from a perusal of the book. Michaelis appears to me an unfair reporter of the external evidence for the Apocalypse. He * In the last chapter of his Introduction of the New Testament, to the pages of which, as published by Mr. Marshy tne figures at the bottom of these pages will be found to refer, seems 4 seems to have approached it with prejudice j a prejudice occasioned by the opinion which he had previously formed concerning its internal evidence. For, it appears from passages of his chapter on the Apocalypse, that he considered the prophecies of this book, ps still remaining dark and unexplained. He professes that he does not understand them ; he declares himself dissatisfied with the attempts of other writers to shew their meaning and completion ; and he esteems the contradictions of these interpreters to be more unfavourable to the pretensions of the Apocalypse, than even those ancient testi- monies, that external evidence, to which he attributes no preponderance in its favour. Now, as they who appear to themselves to have dis^ covered, in the completion of the Apocalyptic prophecies, certain proof of its divine origin, (for a series of prophecy, punctually fulfilled, must be divine,) will be disposed to examine the external evidence with a prepossession in its favour ; so he, who, by examining the internal evidence, has formed an opinion unfavourable to its pretensions, will enter upon the exami- nation of its external evidence with that kind of prejudice, which is visible in the writings of this karned divine. But, in our examination of the external evi- dence, we ought, so far as human infirmity may permit, to be free from any partiality ; and to lay aside, for a season, our previous conceptions of the the weidit of its internal evidence. The two species of evidence, external and internal, should be kept apart; they should not be suf- fered to incorporate or interfere ; each should be considered at first with reference to itself only. After which separate examination, they may use- fully and properly be brought together, and be allowed their due influence upon each other. Such appears the proper method of proceed- ing in this inquiry, so as to lead to a fair and just conclusion. This method has not been usually pursued. The writers, who have presented us with the two kinds of evidence, have not kept them apart. When they treat, for instance, of the external evidence adduced by Dionysius of Alexandria ; when they state how far it appears, from his writings, that he considered the Apoca- lypse as an inspired book, delivered down to his time as such by the early Fathers of the Church ; they moreover produce, and under the same head, the criticisms of this writer on the style and manner of the book ; which consideration belongs to the subject of internal evidence. In the following pages, it will be my endea- Tour to keep these two species of evidence apart, until they have been separately considered, and may safely be suffered to unite. This method, so far as it can be followed, will tend to pre- vent the operation of prejudice, and to facili- tate the production of truth. I shall proceed, first, to the consideration of the external evidence. CHAP. CHAP. II. OF THE TIME WHEN THE APOCALYPSE AP- PEARS TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN AND PUB- LISHED. jThe external evidence, for the authenticity and divine inspiration of the Apocalypse, is to be collected from the testimonies of those ancient writers, who, living at a period near to its pub- lication, appear, by their quotations or allu- sions, to have received it as a book of sacred Scripture. This was the test by which the primitive church was accustomed to deter- mine the claims of all writings pretending to divine authority. All such writings were re- jected, as appeared not to have been received by the orthodox Christians of the preceding ages*. But to enable us to judge of the force of this evidence, as affecting any particular book, it is necessary to ascertain the titne when the book was written. For if it shall appear to have been written and published in the early period of the apostolic age, we may expect to find tes- timonies concerning it, from apostles, or from * Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. lii. c. 3. apostolical apostolical men *. If, on the contrary, it can be proved to have been published only in the latter times of that age, we shall not be intitlcd to expect this earlier notice of it. Before, therefore, we proceed to examine the testimony of the writers by whom the Apocalypse is mentioned, it will be useful to ascertain the time in which it was published. For if it were not published before the year 96 or 97 (as some critics have pronounced) little or no notice could be taken- of it by the writers of* the first cen- tury ; and, in such case, a writer in the se* cond century, especially in the former part of it, becomes an evidence of great importance ; which importance would be much diminished, by the supposition, that the book had been written in tlie earliest part of the apostoHc age, that is. almost a whole century before the time of that author. This previous inquiry is the more necessary, since, according to Michaelis, no less than six diiferent opinions have been advanced, concern- ing the time when the Apocalypse was written; only one of which can be true. In examining these opinions, I shall endea- * Apostolical men, In the acceptation of the FatherSj were those v/ho had heen personally instructed by apostles ; and the apostolic age is that, which extends from before the middle, of the tirst century, when the apostles began to write, to the (-losj of that century, when St. John, the last surviving apostle, died. — Irenauset Clem. Akxand. apud Euseb. 21. E. lib. ill. c 23. c. vour 8 vonr to be concise. 1 shall freely use the argu- ments of Michaehs, where I can see reason to agree with him; but, where I am obliged to dissent, it will be necessary to take a larger compass. I. The earliest date assigned to the Apocalypse is in the reign of the Emperor Claudius. This opinion rests on the single testimony of Epi- phanius, a credulous and inaccurate writer*, who lived about three hundred years later than St. John the Apostle, to whom he ascribes this prophetical book. This external evidence, weak in itself, is not only unsupported, but contradicted, by every argument which can be derived from internal evidence -j-. For, first, it appears from the evi- dence of the book itself, (chap. 1st. 2d. 3d.) that it was written at a time when the Asiatic Christians had been suffering persecution, even * See his character, as given by Dupln and by Jortin. — Rem. Keel. Hist. iv. 115. -And his gross mistakes on ecclesiastical his- tory are recounted by Spanheim, iu his Introduction to Eccl. Hist. Sa?c. iv. p. 425. t The reader may, perhaps, begin to think, that I am already transgressing the rule, so lately proposed, to prevent the inter- ini.vture of internal with eJtternal evidence. That rule shall be scrupulously observed, when we proceed to examine the evi- dences for the authenticity of the book. But u'c are now en- gaged in a previous question, which must be determined before we can judge of the main object of inquiry. And in determin- ing the several steps of this previous question, it is necessary to adduce both kinds of evidence. Still they shall be kept apart, and each come in its order. unto 9 unto death ; John himself, the writer, was in banishment, " for the word of God, and the tes- *' timon}^ of Jesus, in the Isle of Patmos," when he saw the visions*. But no traces of such per- secution can be discovered in the times of Claudius. Nero, says the unanimous voice of history, was the first Emperor who persecuted the Christians, and enacted laws against themf. Claudius, indeed, commanded the Jews to quit Rome, but this command could not affect the Jews in Asia, much less the Christians there. 2dly. There is no appearance or probability that the seven churches, or communities of Chris- tians, addressed by their Saviour in the Apoca- lypse, had existence so early as in the reign of Claudius ; much less that they were in that established and flourishing state, which is de- scribed or inferred in this his address to them. For Claudius died in the year 54, some years before the Apostle Paul is supposed, by the best critics, to have written his Epistle to the Ephe- sians, and his First to Timothy^ But, from these Epistles we collect, that the Church of Ephe- sus was then in an infantine and unsettled state. Bishops were then first appointed there by St. * Hence St. John is called a Martyr, by Poly crates— ^pwrf Euseb.E. H. lib. iii. c. 31. t Tacitus, Annal. lib. xv. c. 44. Suetonius, Vit. Neronis, cap. xvi. TerluUiani Apolog. Sulp. Sev. Hist. lib. ii. 39. P. Oras. yii. c. 7. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. c. 25. Mosheim, H. E. Cent. 1. parti. c 2 Paul's 10 Paurs order*. Bat, at the time when the Apocalypse was written, Ephesus, and her sister Churches, appear to have been in a settled, and even flourishing state ; which could only be the work of time. There is, in the address of our Lord to them, a reference to tiieir forn»er con- duct. Ephesus is represented as having for- saken her former love, or charity ; Sardis as hav- ing acquired a name, or reputation; which she had also forfeited ; Laodicea as become luke- warm, or indifferent. Now, changes of this kind, in a whole body of Christians, must be gradual, and the production of many yearsf. Colosse and Hierapolis were Churches of note in St. Paul's time."}: ; but they are not mentioned in the Apocalypse, although they were situated in the same region of proconsular Asia, to which it was addressed. They were probably become of less importance. All these changes required a lapse of tin)e ; and we necessarily infer, that such had taken place between the publication of St. Paul's Epistles, and of the Apocalypse. Add to this, that some expres- sians, which we nieet with in the Apocalypse, * See this proved by Michaelis, in liis Observations on the Jst Epistle to Timothy. t See more on this subject, in Vitringa, in Apoc. 1. 2. and L'Enfant and Beausobre's Preface to the Apoc. ; also, Lardner's Supplement to tbe Cred. Gosp. Hist. ch. xxii. where passage* from these books are qu(jted^ % Acts ir. 13. are 11 are such as seem not to have been used early period of the Apostohc times. Sunday 7i called the Lord's Day * ; and we find the same expression used by Ignatius -j-, and other writers of later date. In the early books of Scripture, it is called the first day of the week, or the first after the J Sabbath, Sec, but never the Lord's Day. This opinion, therefore, that the Apocalypse was written in the reign of Claudius, cannot be received. The single testimony of an inaccurate writer of the fourth century, cannot be opposed to such external evidence as we shall produce in examining the remaining opinions ; espe- cially when it aJDpears so strongly refuted by in* ternal evidence §. II. By the second opinion, the Apocalypse is supposed to have been written in the reign of Nero. 1 . Let us examine the external evidence by which it is supported ; namely a subscription to the Syriac version of the Apocalypse, which mentions that Revelation, as given ** by God to *' John the Evangelist, in the Island of Fatmos, ** whither he was banished by the Emperor Nero.'*. * Rev. i. 10. t Eplsl. ad Magnes. Sec. 9, t /xi» 'La.QQ indeed, every proposition made by them, with a view to supply a new nominative to £xpcc9yi, is full of difficulty and absurdity. Michaelis seems to pass this sentence upon all of them but one, which refers sM^x9n to to oyo/^«, and which, to me, appears as forced and improbable as any of the rest. What ztas seen? answer, the name was seen ! If Irenceus had intended this meaning, he would not have written smqx^yj hut TiKHa-Syi. Michaelis has suo-aested this ; and it is a sufficient answer. Yet this able critic is still inclined to favour this application of the verb, referring to ovoua to Titan. But this is to break all bounds of grammatical connection. And, to suppose, as this forced construction re- (juires, that Irenaeus understood the Emperor Domitian to be Titan and Antichrist, is to make Irenaeus contradict himself; for this father plainly tells us, that he understood not this prophecy ; and that, in his opinion, " it is better to wait the *• completion of it, than to guess at names, which ** may seem to fit the mystical figures." Ire- naeus, naeus *, therefore, considered the prophecy as not having been fulfilled in the times before him; nor is there any colour of proof for supposing, that he considered Domitian as a type of Anti- christ, or that there had been any partial com- pletion of the prophecy. Besides, the context of Irenaeus, if examined, will admit none of these novel and forced interpretations. It evidently re- quires the old and obvious acceptation. The object of Irenacus is to dissuade his readers from a difficult and presumptuous attempt to settle who is Antichrist, by applying, in the manner he had shewn, the Greek figures 66*6. And his ar- gument is to this effect : " The mystery was not " intended to be cleared up in our times : for if ** it had, it would have been told by him who *' saw the vision." This implies that the vision had been seen lately. But, to complete the ar- gument, and to support the last clause of it, which was not perfectly clear, Irenaeus adds — " for it was seen at no great distance from our " own times." In short, all these new^ interpretations are in- consistent and absurd, and have no support but what is derived from the Latin translation of Irenacus, which is allowed to be very imperfect -f; and if it had been of greater authority, could only disclose to us the translator s opinion of the * Lib. V. Euseb. H. E. lib. ill. c. 18. *f- Grabe asserts and proves it to be barbarous and defective. Proleg. in Irenamm. •' :^^i3 ' meaning 23 iiieahing of the passage. But since we possess the original Greek, we must have recourse to the text as it stands there; of which the learned in the present age are at least as good judges as this translator, who, if by using the words " visum " est,'' he intended to refer the verb to any other nominative than " Revclatio," has contradicted all the learned students of Irenaeus, fram the ear- liest ages to the time of the present innovators. Of the observations of Knittel, to which Mi- chaelis refers us for information on this subject, I can say nothing, not having seen them. I have already been too diffuse on the subject. But the authority of Michaelis is deservedly great : and, it is necessary to shew at large, why an opinion, to which he inclines, ought not to be adopted. I collect, moreover, that Michaelis had observed no evidence, either external or internal *, of suf- ficient weight to oblige him to fix the date of the Apocalypse in the days of Neroj or before those of Domitian. Otherwise, he would not, in another passage, have been inclined to pro- nounce it " a spurious production, introduced " probably into the world after the death of Saint " John *" who lived beyond the reign of Domi- tian. * The German critics, who have endeavoured to point out the accomplishment of the Apocalyptical prophecies in the Jewish wars, and times preceding Domitian, have met with insuperable difficulties, as may be sufficiently seen in Michaelis's account, p. 513—518. t P. 487. D The 54 The words of Irenaeus, of this competent and unexceptionable witness, are therefore to be taken in that obvious sense which has been af- fixed to thein by all the writers before our own times : and, thus taken, they determine the time when the Apocalyptic visions were seen, and pubhshed, namely, " toward the end of Do- " mitian's reign." This is confirmed by the evi- dence of all the ancient writers, who are agreed, (except in the few and unimportant instances which have now been produced to the contrary) that St. John's banishment to Patmos, where he saw the Visions, is of this date. Lampe has as- serted, and Lardner confirms the truth of the assertion, " that all antiquity is abundantly ** agreed, that Domitian was the author of John's " banishment*/' Internal evidence likewise supports this con- clusion. For, in the three first chapters of the Apocalypse, the Churches of Asia are described as beino; in that advanced and flourishino- state of society and discipline reasonably to be expected; and to have underoone those chano;es in their faith and morals, which might have taken place, in the time intervening between the publication * See Heglsippus apud Euseb. lib. iii. c. 20, 23. TertulIIan, Apol. c. V. Hieron. torn. x. p. 100, and other authorities ad- duced by Lardner, Supplement, ch. ix. sec. 5, who, with his usual judgment and candour, has most satisfactorily determined this question ; and also that the Apocalypse was not written till the end of Domitian's reign. of 25 of Saiut Paul's Epistles, and the concluding years of Domitian. Domitian's death is related to have happened in September, A. D. 96. The Christian exiles were then set at hbcrty; and Saint John had permission to return to Ephesus. But the Em- peror's death, and the permission to return, could not be known in Asia immediately. Some time must intervene, before Saint John could be at liberty either to write the Apocalypse at Ephe- sus, or to- send it by messengers (now probably for the first time admitted to approach him) from Patmos*. We shall, therefore, place the date of the Apocalypse, as Mill, Lzft'dner, and other able critics have placed it, in the years 9^ or 97 : probably (for reasons now assigned) at the be- ginning of the latter. It could not be circulated through the Seven Churches sooner. V. — VI. I shall pass over the fifth and sixth opinions, mentioned by Michaelis, because they are supported by such slender evidence, that he does but barely notice them himself. And I trust there is less reason to refute them, after this review of the evidence, by which the fourth opinion is established. * There seems internal evidence in chap. i. 9, that the Apo- calypse was written after the writer had left Patmos ; he says, lytKiMiri h rjj tna-u, I was in the island. D 2 CHAP. 26 CHAP. III. THE TESTIMONY OF IRENiEUS, AN"D OE OTJlEfJ FATHERS IN THE CHURCH BEFORE HIM, OF IGNATIUS, OF POLYCARP, OF THE WRITER OF THE EPISTLE DESCRIBING POLYCARP's MARTYRDOM, AND OF PAPIAS. JoLaving ascertained the time in winch the Apocalypse was written, we may proceed to review the external evidence, which affects its authority. For we shall now be enabled to ap- preciate such testimony, by considering its ap- proximation to the time when the book was published. In the examination of this evidence, Michaelis has chosen to begin with that of Euscbius. But Eusebius wrote at an interval of more than two hundred years from the time when the Apocalypse first appeared. In his days, doubts had arisen concerning the authenticity of the book — doubts which had no foundation on any external evi- dence, but which had been suggested by some writers from a consideration of its internal marks and character. The subject appears to have been in debate among the Christian critics in these times. Eusebius hesitated where to place the 27 the Apocalypse ; whether among the undoubtc4, books of the inspired Canon, or among those which were accounted spurious. He promises farther information when the debate should be concluded ; but we do not appear to have re- ceived it from him *. I will begin, then, where we have more decided and authentic information ; from Irenaeus, whoso competency to decide on this question we have considered. There are other testimonies, which, in point of time, are antecedent to this of Ire- naeus, but none so comprehensive, so positive, and direct. We shall review these with more ad- vantage, after the consideration of this important evidence. Irenteus, the auditor of Polycarp, and of other apostolical men, who had conversed with St. John, had the best means of information con- cerning the' authenticity of the Apocalypse ; and from the zeal which he shews, to discover the true reading of a passage in the Apocalypse (by appeal to ancient and authentic copies, and to the testimony of apostolical men), we may justly conclude that he took equal pains, and the same judicious methods, to assure himself concerning the writer of the book-f% But Irenaeus, in many passages, ascribes this book to " John the Evan- " gelist, the disciple of the Lord, — that John who * Euseb. H. E. lib. iii. c. 94, 25. t Irenoeiis, lib. v. c. 30. Euseb. If. E. lib. iii. c. 18. " leaned 28 " leaned on his Lord's breast at the last supper *." There are twenty-two chapters in the book of Revelation, and Irena^us quotes from thirteen of them,, producing more than twenty-four passages, some of considerable length. The candid and judicious Lardner, after an examination of this evidence, says, " His (Irenaeus's) testimony for this " book is so strong and full, that, considering the " age of Irenaeus, he seems to put it beyond all *' question, that it is the work of John the Apostle " and Evangelist -j-." The testimony of Irenaeus may be supposed to extend from about thirty or forty years after the date of the Apocalypse, to about eighty years after the same period, viz. the year of our Lord 178, when he is said to have published the books ■which contain this testimony %. But during this period of eighty years, other writers appear to have quoted, and acknowledged the Apocalypse, We will nov/, therefore, take a retrospect of their quotations and allusions, which will give addi-^ tional weight to the testimony of Irenaeus; while, from a recollection of his evidence,' theirs also will derive support. Ignatius is mentioned by Michaelis as the- most ancient evidence that can be produced, respect- ing the authenticity of the Apocalypse. He lived in the apostolical times, and died by a glorious * Irenaeus, lib; iv. 37, 50^ 27. + Cred. Gosp. Hist. art. lyenseus. X See Cave and Lardner. martyrdQDi 29 martyrdom in the year 107, as some writers state, though others have phiced this event a few years later. He is comnionjy supposed to have made no menticffl of the Apocalypse ; and this his silence amounts, in the opinion of Miv::haelis, to a rejection of the book. ** If Ignatius," says he, " had seen and acknowledged the Apocalypse *' as the work of John the Apostle, he would " probably, when he wrote his Epistles to the " Christian conmiunities at Ephesiis, Philadelphia, " and Smyrna, have reminded them of the praises, " which, according to Rev. ii. 1 — 7- — 11. iii. " 7 — 12. their Bishops had received from Christ, " more particularly when he addressed the " Church of Ephesus ; because, in his Epistle to " that Church, he particularly reminds them of " the praises bestowed on them by St. Paul." The connection of idea and train of thought, expected from Ignatius upon this occasion, is indeed natural, but it is not necessary ; so that the want of it will not amount te any proof that Ignatius had never seeh, or that he rejected, the Apocalypse. Ignatius was not a Bishop of any of the Seven Churches to which it was addressed, nor of any of the Churches in Asia properly so called, but of Antioch in Syria ; and his fami- liarity with so obscure and mystical a book, would depend much upon his own turn of mind, and bent of study. We know that many eminent divines of our own times have been very little conversant with the Apocalypse; and we know- that 30 that many of those, who are conversant with the book, are Httle inclined to quote it in their ser- mons and popular addresses ; for they appeal (o those books of Scripture with which they sup- pose their auditors most acquainted. Besides, we are to take into our account the peculiar circumstances under which this Father of the Church wrote his Epistles, which are the only remains of his works. He was a prisoner, upon travel, guarded by a band of soldiers, whom for their ferocity he compares to leopards *, and by them -hurried forward, in his passage from Antioch to Home, there to be devoured by wild beasts. In such circumstances, he would wTite at uncertain seaspns, with frequent interruption, his train of thoughts necessarily broken ; and his quotations, depending probably on memory alone, would be inaccurate. From these causes it has happened, that the references of Ignatius to sa- cred Scripture, in his hasty Epistles, may be styled allusions, rather than quotations; and to many of the sacred books, he appears not to allude at all. The Epistle to the Ephesians is the only book expressly named by him. Of the Gospels, he only quotes, or even plainly alludes to, those of St. Matthew and St. John. Audit will appear dubious, to those who examine the wrj^tings of this Father, whether the Acts of the Apostles, or any of the Scriptural Epistles, arp either indubitably quoted, or alluded to by him, * Ad Romaao", sect. v. except, 31 except that to the Romans, the First to the Co^ rinthians, to the Galatians, Ephesians, Phihp- pians, and the Second to Timothy. But shall we affirm, that Ignatius rejected two of the Gospels, and fourteen other books of sacred Scripture, because no evident allusion to them can be found in these his hasty Epistles ? No one will make this affirmation. The authenticity and divine inspiration of these books are sup- ported by other and sufficient evidence: and the conclusion which Michaelis invites us to draw, from the silence of Ignatius respecting the Apo^ calypse, must appear rash and unfounded. It is in contradiction to the remarks of this able critic himself, in liis observations on the same subject, in another passage of his work. For he tells us, after having first assigned the reasons on which he grounds his assertion, that " It is therefore *' no objection to the New Testament, if it is so " seldom cited by the Apostolic Fathers ; and " even could any one be produced, who had not " made a single reference to these writings, it " would prove as little against their authenticity, *' as St. PauFs never having quoted the Epistles " of St. Peter, or the Gospels of St. Matthew " and St. Luke." But if this holds good, as ap- plied to the Scriptures in general, it is peculiarly applicable to a book of mysterious prophecy, and of so late publication as the Apocalypse. And we cannot conclude even if it should appear that Ignatius has not mentioned the Apocalypse, nor alluded 32 alluded to it, that " it was unknown to him : *' nor if it was known to him, that he did not *' believe it genuine ; nor yet, that his silence " concerning it amounts to a rejection of it/* This answer to Michaelis may be applied, and I trust effectually, in case it shall be concluded that Ignatius " has passed over the Apocalypse in silence/'' But there are some passages in his Epistles, which may perhaps be admitted to allude to this sacred book. It may be thought, that if Ignatius had not seen the Apocalypse, be would not have used certain expressions, which he has employed in the following pas- sages. I shall present them at lengtl?, because they have never yet been produced. Rev. i. 9. Ignat. ad Rom. ad fin. The text of the Apocalypse is here taken from the approved edition of Griesbach ; and it is a confirmation to be added to his supports of this text, that it was thus read by Ignatius. This expression, though the idea be quite scriptural, is to be found, I believe, in no other passage of the New Testament, but in this of the Apo- palypse only. Rev. xxi. 2, Ignat. ad Ephes, sect, 3. Tif ■nroXiv Tijv ayiat anro m ©sb A/So< van zsotlf^s Here 3S Here the use of tbe word yiSKO(r^YiiJ.svoiy following so immediately after the words yiToii^aa-i^evoi and ©£«, and with such connection of thought and of imagery, affords reason to suppose, that Ig- natius had seen this passage of the Apocalypse. Ignatius appears to me to comment on St. John, referring this passage to the fourth chapter &f the Epistle to the Ephesians, where the same images are used, and by a comparison with which it is best explained. A better illustration cannot be given of pt-^xoo-jtAi^^fvjjy tm av'^pi avTVjg, than in these parallel words of Ignatius, Ti^xoa-^YiiisvYiv svJoXxtg I^(r» XpiTH. The onc is the mystical ex- pression ; the other is its meaning, when dis- robed of the figurative dress. Rev, xxi. 3. Ignat. ad Ephes. sect. 15. Kdw uvloi Xmi atliw tnilac^, not avlo/o 0»os Iv« u;mi avUv vaot (fors, \atoi) ju»<«vIof Both these passages seem to have reference to 2 Cor. V, l6. xsci sa-Qi^ui ocvjojy o Giog, xcci otvjot it5vs of St. Peter, to substitute sv Ku^ucd 'nrvpui^svoi ? why ? but be- cause he was led to it by this passage of the Apocalypse ? besides in Rev. iii. 18. we read also xpvcriov 'oS'S'Trvpcio^svoy sx, 'zs'vpog. The pious and sublime prayer of Polycarp, at the awful moment when the fire was about to be lighted under hiniy begins with these words, Kv^is, ©jof, 'Z!rocv]ox,puloop. They are the identical words in the prayer of the Elders, Rev. xi. 17. Kvpi-, ©iof, 'uTocvjox.puJwp, ♦ H. E. lib. iv. 0,15. From 8& From these instances perhaps some confir- mation is derived, that Polycarp, and his dis-^ ciples of the Church of Smyrna, received the Apocalypse. Papias belongs likewise to the apostolical age^ and is said to have been an Auditor of St. John*. This Father is asserted by Andreas, Bishop of Caesarea, who wrote in the fifth century, to have given his testimony to the Apocalypse t ; and is classed by this writer in the list of those who are well known to have testified in its favour ; with Irena^us, Methodius, and Ilippolitus. What writings of Papias had descended to the time of Andreas, we do not know ; but to us there have come down only a few very short fragments preserved by EusebiusJ. In these we have no mention of the Apocalypse. They treat of other subjects; of the Gospels chiefly. And to two only, of the four Gospels, has Papias given evidence. Yet no one has doubted, for this reason, whether Papias received the other two. Yet, as Papias w^as then treating on the Gospels, it is stronger evidence against St. John's Gospel, that he did not mention that Gospel, than that he omitted to mention his Apocalypse. The same is the case with the quotations of Pa- pias, from the Epistles of the New Testament. It is said by Eusebius, that Papias quoted from * Irenseus, lib. v. 33. Euscb. H. E. lib. iii. c, 30. '}- Proleg. ad Apoc. t H. E. lib. iii. SO. the 39 the First Epistle of Peter and the First of Johin and no other of the epistles are mentioned as quoted by him. Yet no notion has thence been entertained, that he rejected the other Ej)istles of the Sacred Canon. " He confirms these *' which he has mentioned," says Lardner*j " without prejudicing the rest/ Upon the same footing stands his silence con- cerning the Apocalypse. And this silence^ in these short fragments of his works, would be no evidence against it, even if we had no assurance that he received it as holy writ. But such as- surance we havCj from Andreas of Caesarea-|-. Michaelis collects, from some expressions of EusebiusJ, that Papias had no where cleared up » Cred. Gosp. Hist. art. Papias. t Michaelis is willing to suppose {p* 466) that Andreas hatl ho proof of what he asserts, and that he concluded Papias to be an evidence in favour of the Apocalypse, merely because Pajiias was a Milldnarlanr. This is, at most, a conjecture, for the sup* port of which he refers us to what is afterwards said by him of Andreas, when he comes to speak of Gregory of Nazianzum* When we turn to that passage (page 490) which is designed to invalidate the testimony of Andreas by this argument^ '' that he *' who had falsely represented Gregory^ as an evidence for the •' Apocalypse, may be supposed to have done the same concern- ** ing Papias ;" we find that, even by the admission of Michactis, Gregory has quoted the Apocalypse in two passages of his writ- ings. Which quotations will be found (when we come to exa- mine Gregory's evidence) more than sufficient to counterbalance the circumstance of the Apocalypse not being nientibned in his Metrical Catalogue. Michaelis, at last, leaves the question un- decided. And so the testimony of Andreas remains unim- peached by him. Papias appears also bj' the testimony of And. Caes. to have commented on the Apocalypse ; fni >.t|»«Jon the text. Bee cap. xxxiv. Serm. xii. of And* Cass. % P. 464. t. the 40 the important question, " whether John the Pres- " byter, who also lived at Ephesus, was the writer ** of the Apocalypse." But how can we expect such determination from Papias, when it appears that the question was never agitated in his time ? Eusebius himself, in the fourth century, first started it. Dionysins of Alexandria, in the cen- tury preceding, had mentioned some other John as, perhaps, the author of the book; but even he does not mention Joh?i the Presbyter. Nor is there any evidence that it was ascribed to any other than to John the Apostle, by any ortho- dox writer of the Church, during the first cen- tury of its appearance in the world. The Alogi, a sect of heretics, ascribed it to Cerinthus ; but no one of the orthodox, before the third cen- tury, (as far as we know) assigned to it any other than John the Evangelist. That Papias, therefore, never entered into the merits of this question, is of no disservice to the Apocalypse. On the contrary, that little is said by him, and by the ancient Fathers, concerning the writer of the Apocalypse, shews, that no doubts arose, in the early times, concerning the person who Avrote it. All, who have spoken upon the ques- tion, have asserted John the Evangelist to be its author ; and they were not contradicted. But that the Apocalypse was unknown to Papias, our author attempts also to prove from another passage of Eusebius*; who, having * Lib. iii. c, 39. mentioned 41 mentioned that Paplas had reported some doc- trines and parables of our Saviour, not contain- ed in the Gospels, but learnt by oral tradition, and among these some things that are fabulous, classes among the latter his Millenarian doc- trine, " That, after the resurrection of the dead, ** Christ will reign in person a thousand years ** on earth." " I suppose," adds Eusebius, " that " he acquired this notion from his inquiring " into the saying of the Apostles, and his not " understanding what they had delivered figu- " ratively/' From this passage it is inferred, that Papias was ignorant of the Apocalypse; •* for why," it is said, " should he have recourse " to oral tradition for the support of these prin- " ciples, when the 20th chapter of Revelation " would, literally interpreted, have much better " suited his purpose t" But this mode of prov- ing is somewhat like that which we have lately examined, which was found to rest only on a conjecture of Eusebius. For this rests only on a supposition of the same writer, equally unfound- ed. '* I suppose,'* says Eusebius, " that he ae- " quired his millenary notions from oral tradi- ' " tion :*' but there is no other ground for this supposition^ than that Papias had appeared to acquire some other information, and some other fabulous notions, by this method. But, if the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse, verses 4, 5, 6, literally interpreted, would, according to the confession of Michaelis, " have much better K 2 " suited 42 " suited his purpose," why may we not, with equal reason suppose, that he found it did suit his purpose ? Certainly we can shew, in this chapter, a passage, which, literally taken, would be a groundwork for Papias's millenary doc- trines; but neither F/Usebius, nor Michaelis, were able to prove any such oral tradition re- eeived by Papias, upon which he could found his notions of Christ's millenary reion on earth. But Eusebius may be mistaken in this supposlticm, because he is evidently so in another, which is con- tained in the same passage. lie si/pposes Irenaius to have founded his Millenary notions on the tra- dition and authority of Papias : but Irenaeus hap- pens to have told us otherwise. Por, in his fifth book against the heretics, chapters xxxii, xxxiii, xxxiv, XXXV, xxxvi, he rests this doctrine, partly hideed upon the tradition of the Elders, but chiefly on the promises of Scripture, which he quotes abundantly, producing also this passage of the Apocalypse ; " In the Apocalypse, and the Apo- calypse alone," (says Michaelis, speaking of the Millenarian system,) " is this doctrine discoverable, ." if we take all the expressions used in the xxth " chapter in a strictly literal sense ; and this is " the chapter on which all the Millenarians of " modern ages have principally grounded their ** opinions/' And why, then, not Papias ? To me, there appear to arise two powerful arguments in favour of the antiquity and divine origin of the Apocalypse, to be derived from a consideratioQ 43 consideration of the times of Papias. 1. Tlie Millenary doctrines appear then first to have taken that form, agreeably to the xxth chapter of the Apocalypse, which, literally interpreted^ would supply those notions. 2. If the Apoca- lypse had been written after the times of Pa- pias, after the times when he had broached these doctrines, and had not been a work of divine origin, the ingenious author of it, (who will be supposed, from this passage, to have favoured -the Millenarian tenets,) would not have contented himself with that short descrip- tion of the terrestrial reign of Christ, which is contained in three verses of his xxth chapter. He would have enlarged on a topic so flattering to the Christians, in the manner used by Pa- pias, or his followers, and not have left the de- scription restricted to that brevity and obscu- rity, which bespeak a work published before these notions had prevailed. I may have detained the reader too long with what relates to the evidence of Papias : but it seemed to me to require a particular exami- nation ; because Michaelis, when he sums up the evidence for and against the Apocalypse, still takes it for granted, that Papias knew no- thing of this book ; and considers this circum- stance as sufficient to balance against the express testimonies of the learned Origen, a determined Anti-mihcnarian, in its IHvour. CIIAt^, u CHAP. IV. THE TESTIMONY OF JUSTIN MARTYR, OV ATHENAGORAS, OF THE CHURCHES IN GAUL, OF MELITO, THEOPHILUS, APOLLONIUS, CLE- MENS OE ALEXANDRIA, AND TERTULLIAN. I SHALL now produce the testiniony of a writer, who was contemporary with all those whom we have reviewed*. If any thing shall have ap- peared defective in any of their testimonies, such objection cannot be made here. The testimony which Justin Martyr affords is full, positive, and direct. He received the Apoca- lypse as the production of ** John, one of the *^ Apostles of Christ." He expressly names this John as the writer of itt. He appears also, from the testimony of Jeromej, to have inter-* preted some parts of this mystical book: although 150 work of this kind has come down to us. * It Is probable that Justin Martyr was born in the fi:st cen- tury, and before the Apocalypse was written, and that he suffered Martyrdom about the middle of the second century. See Cave, Fabricius, Tillemont^ Lardner. Euseb. describes him as v (j^T « «5roXj> T*;» K'ttoakXiut. lib. ii. c. 13. Michaelis says he wrote in the year 133, ch. ii. sect. 6. p. .S2. *|- Dial, cum Tryphon. lib. vi. c. 20. % Catal. Script. Eccles. c. 9. Some 45 Some writers have supposed, from the of Jerome*, that Justin pubHshed a commen- tary on the Apocalypse ; but there seems not sufficient foundation for this opinion, since such a work is mentioned by no early writer of the Church. But it has, on the contrary, been too hastily concluded, that Justin wrote no other interpretation of the Apocalypse, than that which is to be found in the single passage of his Dialogue with Trypho, already referred to. But Jerome would not be justified, in calling him an interpreter of the Apocalypse, from this passage only, which contains a reference to Rev. xx, but no interpretation. It is probable therefore that, in some other work, now lost, he had at- tempted an interpretation of some parts of it, in the manner of Irenseus f-. If this be admitted as probable ; the testimony of Justin, which is sufficiently clear and direct, becomes also more extensive. Atiienagoras, who was contemporary with Polycarp and Justin Martyr, is admitted by Michaelis, from the allusion produced by Lard- nerj, to have been acquainted with the Apo- calypse. * Scripsit (Johannes) Apocalypsin, quam interpretantar Jus- tlnus Martyr et Irenaeus. f Some account of Justin's works, which are now lost, may be seen in Grabe's Spicileg. vol. il. p. ICJG. ^ Cre4, Gosp. Hist. art. Athenagoras, Michaelis 46 Michaclis has passed over in silence the evi«. dence to be found in that valuable remnant of ecclesiastical antiquity, The Epistle eroim THE Gallic Chuiiciies, which relates the sufferings of their Martyrs about the year 177» eighty years after the publication of the Apo- calypse*. We are obhged to Busebius for preserving a considerable part of this letter -j-, in which Lard- ner has remarked this passage, A%«x»5ajv tm Apvi^ OTTH uv v-Trayyj. They avc the very words of the Apocalypse, ch. xiv. 4. and so peculiar in idea ?ind expression, as evidently to be derived from no other source. I shall state more at large another passage pbserved, but not admitted as evidence by Lardner, because it may be useful to make some remarks iipon it. Rev.xxii. 11. Epistle. *0 aStxuv ce^ty.-no'xlM lir kxi 5 pima,poi fO etno(Ms atoixno'xiu tit' k»\ q ^ikxjo^ fVTTXpxQr^iJ ill XXI ^IKXtOS OUCXKir ' o;x*v zjoiTjorxiui tit' (aliter leg. ^Dcxajdrtlu.^ Pan. xii. 10, K.XI ayo/x.r,iTiy(T<» «»o/xo4. ♦ It must be remarked, that although this Epjstle was writter^ eighty years after the Apocalypse was publishedj, the writer, whq quotes from it, is an evidence of an earlier date. For the person chosen by the Church to write for them, would probably be no young man, but one of their venerable Fathers. Irenzeus has \)een supposed to be the writer, but there is no proof of this, -f Hist, Eccl. lib. y- c. 1. From 47 From this view of comparison we may per- ceive, that although in the first clause the writer referred to the Book of Daniel, in tlie second he adverted to the Apocalypse. The whole form and colouring of the passage are indeed taken from the latter, which sufficiently appear from the peculiar use of the word m : and ^iKUiudriJuj, though expunged by Greisbach, is a reading of considerable authority, and, from this quotation, appears to have stood in the an- cient MSS. used by the Gallic Church. I shall add to these quotations one which to my knowledge has not been observed before. Jn Rev. i, 5. ii). 14. In the Epistle, Our Lord Jesus Christ is c^lecj The Martyrs give place to Jesus Christ, as mpoioloxos ix ran nxftn. vSsKy vuv nxfon» After the perusal of these quotations, we can entertain no doubt, but that the writer of these Epistles, and the Churches of Gaul who em- ployed him to write in their name, received the Apocalypse as divine Scripture. And their testimony is of the more importance in this in- quiry, because these Churches appear to have received their instructions in religion, and con- sequently their canon of sacred Scripture, from the Churches in Asia. Their connection with these Churches, at the time when this Epistle was written, is sufficiently apparent, from its 48 being addressed " to the Churches of Asia and *' Phrygia*." And there appears to have been another Epistle from the Martyrs themselves of these Churches, with the same address, but upon another ecclesiastical subject, written at the same time. These were not letters from individuals to individuals, but from societies to other eccle- siastical communities. The Gallic Churches give account to the Asiatic Churches, as colonies to their mother country. We may collect also from names, casually mentioned in this Epistle, that the Gallic Churches had among them Asia- tic Greeks, men of the first rank and character, then teaching in Gaul, Attains of Pergamus, (one of the Seven Churches,) and Alexander, a P hry- gian. Pothinus appears to a be Greek name-f; this venerable Bishop of Lyons was more than 90 years of age, when he suffered martyrdom, and therefore born ten years before the Apo- calypse was published. But it ai>pears, from the evidences now produced, that the Gallic churches believed it to be a book of divine au- tliorit3\ We may add too, that they believed the Asiatic Churches to have received this book into their canon, otherwise they would not have quoted fi'om it in a letter addressed to them. Ire- * Laodicea, one of tlie seven Churches addressed \n the Apo* palypse, was situated in Phrygia. t The accurate historian Mosheim re'ates it as a fact that Po- thinus came from Asia ; and produces his authorUies. Eccl. Hist. Cent. ji. part i. ch. h naeus. 49 naeus likewise the auditor of Polycarp, was a Presbyter of the Church at^ Lyons at this time, and succeeded Polhinus in the bishoprick ; and we have aheady niade ourselves acquainted with his creed, respecting this book. Thus there is strong reason for concluding, that these Gallic Churches held the saiue canon of Scripture with the Asiatic; and consequently, that the Asiatic Churches, to whom the Apoca- lypse appears to have been addressed, received it as divine Scripture, and with Irenaeus, as the work of John the Apostle. This will be confirmed by the article which follows. Melito, after some doubt and hesitation, is at last admitted by Michaelis, as a witness in favour of the Apocalypse; he is stated to have flourished about the year 170*, and probably might be living at the time the Gallic Epistle was received by the Asiatic Churches; of one of which (of Sardis) he was Bishop -f-. He was a Bishop of the highest reputation in the Christian world, ac- cording to the testimonies of Polycrates ."[;, of Ter- tullian§, of Eusebius [|. He wrote upon the Apocalypse^, and was esteemed, says Tertullian, * Cave, Hist, Lit. t See what is said by Mr. Marsh on the subject of an Epistle being received at a place to which it was addressed, vol. i. p. 368. t Euseb. v. 24. § Cave, Script. Illust. II Euseb. H. E. lib. iv. 26. ^ Euseb. H. E. lib. iv, 26. Hierom. Proleg. S27. ^ Prophet 50 a Prophet by many Christians; probably, be- cause he had interpreted and applied the divine prophecies of this book, with some apparent suc^ cess. His works are unfortunately lost. TheopiiiluSjwIio was Bishop of Antioch about 90 years after the publication of the Apocalypse, appears to have written upon, and to have quoted from it, as of divine authority, in his treatise against Hermogenes*. This treatise is not ex- tant ; but Lardncr has produced one passage, from another work of his, in which lie calls the Devil, " Satan, the Serpent, and the Dragon \' ivhich seems taken from Rev. xii. 9t« Michaelis admits Theophilus among those who undouhtedhj received the Apocalypse %. Apollonius is not mentioned by our author. But Eusebius, who speaks of him as a learned man, represents him also as supporting the Apo- calypse, by testimonies taken from it §. He suffered martyrdom about the year 186 1|, and is a valuable addition to our evidence. Clemens of Alexandria is admitted by jVIichaelis as an undoubted evidence for the Apo- calypse fl. He has frequently quoted from it, and referred to it, as the work of an Apostle. He was arj inquisitive, and well-informed writer, and * Euseb, II. E, lib. iv. 24. t Lardner, Cred. art. X^ieophilus, % P. 467. g Euseb. H. E. lib. v. c. 18. 2^. jl Lardner, art, i\poIlonius, f P. 467, having 51 having flourished within the first century after the publication of the Apocalypse, is an import- ant evidence in its favour. Tertullian wrote about the same time with Clement ; but his long life extended farther into the next century. Michaelis allows his evidence for the Apocalypse as undoubted; and it is certainly valu- able. He is the most ancient of the Latin Fathers, whose works have descended to our times. He quotes, or refers to, the Apocalypse, in above seventy passages of his writings; and he appeals tu it expressly as the work of the Apostle John. He defends the authenticity of the book against the heretic Marcion and his followers, by assert- ing its external evidence. He appeals to the Asiatic Churches, and assures us, that " though " Marcion rejects it, yet the succession of Bishops, ** traced to its origin, will establish John to be its author *. In particular, it may be observed, that Tertullian has quoted Rev. i. 6, " Quia sa- " cer dolts nos et Deo et pati'i fecit," as a passage common in the mouths of the Laitij of his time t. This frequent and popular appeal to the Apoca- lypse, shews it to be a book much read, and generally received, in the African Churches of the second century. * Habemus et Johannis alumnas ecclesias: nam etei Apoca,- lypsin ejus Marcion respuit, ordo tainen episcoporum, ad Orlgi- nern recensus, in Johannem stabit auctorem. Adv. Marcion. lib. iv. c. 5. t Tertull. de Monog, cap. 12. We 52 We are now returned as;ain to the times of IrC" naeus, whose single testimony appeared to have such deserved influence in settling the question before us*. But the retrospect, which we have been able to take of the writers wlio preceded him, has added great weight to the evidence* For testimonies have been drawn abundantly from every generation of writers, through the first century after the Apocalypse was published. They have been produced from ahnost all parts of the Christian world: from Asia, wh( re it made its first appearance ; from Syria ; from Italy ; from Gaul ; and from the Churches of Africa, where it seems to have had an universal reception, and a more than ordinary circulation. I now present the reader with a sketch, drawa after the manner of Priestley's Biographical Chart, and those of Playfair's Chronology ; by which he may see, in one view, the writers whose testi- monies we have hitherto collected. He will hereby be enabled to estimate the force of that numerous, unbroken, concurring chain of evi- dence, which we have laid before him. Besides those writers already reviewed, he will see also, in the chart, the names of Hippolitus and Origen, * In a passage ofMlchaelis, cli. xxvl. sect. 8. on the Epistle of Saint James, we collect the names of the ancient authors, whose testimony he esteems most decisive to the books of the New Testament. These afe Irenssus, Terttiliian, Clement of Alex- andria, and Origen ; hy all of whom we shall find the Apoca- lypse fully received as the writing of St. John* who 55 who belong more strictly to the next century ; because in that century they chiefly wrote and flourished. But they lived also in this century. They are important evidences in favour of the Apocalypse. They carry on the testimony bj a strong and regular concatenation to the middle of the third century after Christ; after which time, we can expect Httle or no accession of ex- ternal evidence, concerning any inspired book. The testimonies of Hippolitus, and of Origan, will be exhibited in a succeeding chapter. CHAP. 54t CHAP. V. THE EVIDENCE AGAINST THE APOCALY^S^ DURING ITS FIRST CENTURY; THE RE- JECTION OF IT BY MARCION AND BY THE ALOGi; THEIR OBJECTIONS, SO FAR AS THEY RELATE TO EXTERNAL EVIDENCE, EXA- MINED. JljIaving reviewed the external evidence iil favour of tlie Apocalypse, during the first cen* tury after its publication^ it will be useful to pause, before we produce subsequent witnesses, and to afford opportunity of examining any testi- monies of the same period, by which its authen- ticity and divine inspiration have been denied* The examination of tliis evidence will soon be dispatched. For, wonderful as it may appear, there is not one writer of the pure Primitive Church, no Father, no Ecclesiastical Author, who, during this period, seems to have ques- tioned its authenticity. Yet there was ground then for the same objections, which afterwards induced some persons to reject it in the third and folirth centuries. The Fathers, before the times of Caius and of Dionysius, could discover that the Apocalypse was obscure ; that it Was to them no revelation ; that the Greek of it appeared different from 55 from that of Saint Johns Gospel; but, notwith- standing these circumstances, which they were well quahfied to appreciate, they received it with pious acquiescence as divine Scripture, communi- cated by the beloved Apostle ; and they delivered it as such to the succeeding century. Now, to what can we attribute this conduct, but to the powerful operation of that external evidence by which it was then supported ? Tlie writers of the first part of this century had the opportunity of hearing from apostolical men, from " those who had seen the face of John," as Irenaius expresses it, to what author they ascribed the Apocalypse. In the latter part of the century, the tradition was still warm, depend- ing upon the living testimony of those who had seen apostolical men; and an inquisitive author could satisfy himself, from the narration of others, upon what grounds of external evidence the book had been so universally received. It had been produced puUichj into the world. It was to be found, not in the archives of one insignificant Church, but of the seven flourishing Churches of Asia ; " This thing was not done in :i corner/' From the mode of its publication, it challenged observation, and defied detection. And we may suppose, that as none of the early Fathers ob- jected to the evidence, all were satisfied. They received and transmitted to others those prophe- cies, which they themselves could not understand. Under, these circumstances, we may be more F surprised 56 surprised that so many of the ancient Fathers have quoted from the Apocalypse, than that some (and they are but few) have passed it over in silence. But although none of the ortlwdox writers of the Church seem to have questioned the authen- ticity of the Apocalypse, during the first century of its appearance, we have evidence that certain heretics rejected it. Of this number was Mar- cion *. But we know also that this daring Gnostic rejected or mutilated other books of sacred Scripture, which he could not otherwise render subservient to his wicked purposes t- The rejection of the Apocalypse by Marcion is favourable to its pretensions. It is a proof that the book was in existence, and received by the Church, in those early times in which he flourished J; and that the doctrines contained in it, were such as opposed his impious tenets. The Apocalypse was rejected also by a sect, who obtained the name of Alogi ; but they re- jected also the Gospel of Saint John ; and for the same reasons ; which, with these rash people, were not founded on any exceptions to the ex^ ternal evidence of these divine books, but princi- pally on their dislike to the word Logos, which, * Tertulllan. adv. Marcion. lib, iv. cap. 5. > t Irenajus adv. Hoer. Tertulllan. adv. Marcion. Epiphanius Haer. 42. Origen cont. Celsum, lib. ii. c 27. ;}: Marcion came to Rome in the year 127, only SO years after the Publication of the Apocalypse. Cave, Hist. Lit, as 67 as used in this Gospel and Revelation, they re- fused to consider as of divine authority*; but this objection, and also their ascription of the Apocalypse, together with the Gospel of St. John, to Cerinthus, how weak soever the grounds on which they stand, are not to be considered here ; because they rest, not on external, but internal evidence -f. Among these their objections to the Apocalj^pse, there is one indeed which our author has remarked to be of an historical kind; which must therefore be examined under the head of external evidence. It is this : The fourth epistle in the Apocalypse is ad- dressed to the Angel of the Church of Thyatira ; but the Alogi, with a view to convict the Apo- calypse of falsehood, declared that there existed no Church at Thyatira. The words, as delivered by Epiphanius, are observed to be ambiguous, and may denote, either that there was no Chris- tian community at Thyatira in the time of St. John, or none at the time when these Alogi made their objections :{:. If we ascribe to them the latter sense, the argument, as Michaelis justly observes, is of no importance. For if there was no Church at Thyatira in the middle, or toward the close of the second century, still there might have been at the close of the first. * Epiphan. Haer. 51, 54. f Michaelis has fully exposed and refuted this strange notion of the Alogi, p. 464. X K»i UK ifi fx{< £xxA^a<« Xfialfoitutw , F 2 But 58 But let us meet the objection in its stfoilgcst force. Let us suppose it to be unequivocally declared, by the testimony of these Alogi, that there was no Church at Thyatira at the time of Saint John ; at the time when he is affirmed to have addressed this Epistle to that place. Now these Alogi, who, when we come to examine their internal evidence against the Apocalypse, will be found to support their cause by the most "weak and absurd arguments ; who rejected the Gospel of St. John, and attributed it to the he- retic Cerinthus, merely because they disliked the word Logos, as applied by St. John to Christ ; are not very credible witnesses. Eye-witnesses they could not be, because they did not live in those times; and we can entertain but an un- favourable opinion of their fair and candid ap- preciation of the evidence of others, when they rejected the powerful external evidence, by which St. John's Gospel was supported, so soon after its publication, only because some passages of that Gospel seemed to oppose their favourite tenets. But admit, for the sake of argument, the fact which they wished to establish. Admit, for a moment, that not -St. John, but Cerinthus w^as the writer of the Apocalypse. But Cerinthus was contemporary with St. John; and Cerinthus lived in Ephesus,and amidst the seven Churches"*; and can wx suppose it possible, that Cerinthus, * Euseb. H. E. lib. iii. c. 28. SO 59 so circumstanced, should address an epistle to a society of Christians in that very region where he lived, when in fact no such society existed? Nothing can be more absurd than the supposi- tion. To carry the argument a little further, the Apocalypse (if it could be proved a forgery) must have been written, says IVIichaelis, before the times of Justin Martyr, before the year 120*; that is, very near to the time when the ancients believed the Apocalypse, if genuine, to have been written. A fabricator so circumstanced cannot be supposed capable of so gross a mistake ; and if such a mistake had been made, we should have heard of it from other, and earlier, ob- jectors than these Alogi ; and any fabricator of the Apocalypse must be supposed to have known, better than they, what Churches existed in Asia Proper, in the reign of Domitian. Persons who make use of such absurd arguments, and no other, deserve little attention. I may have be- stowed upon them too much ; but it seemed ne- cessary to examine, in all its appearances, the onli/ external evidence which seems to have been alleged against the Apocalypse, during the first century after its publication. CHAP. 60 CHAP. VI. the testimonies of iiippolitus and of origen; the objections of caius and of ^ dionysius of alexandria, and of others preceding him. animadversions on the conclusions of michaelis, respecting this evidence. Jl NOW proceed to consider the external testi- mony which is obtained from Hippolitus and Origen, two great names in the ancient Chris- tian world, and both highly favourable to the divine authority of the Apocalypse. They have already had their place in the Biographical Chart, for reasons which have been already assigned. But I have kept apart the examination of their evidence, because I wished my readers to consider separately " the cloud of witnesses,'' who sup- ported the authenticity of the Apocalypse during its first century, in the times before any objectiou was made to it by any of those members of the Church, who observed the pure faith, and the pure canon of Scripture. In the times of Hippolitus and of Origen, a notion seems to have been adopted by some persons in the true Church, that the Apocalypse 61 was not, what it pretended to be, the production of an Apostle. Dionysius of Alexandria, who wrote about the middle of the third centurj^ says, " Some, before " our times *, have utterly rejected this book ;" and he has been thought to intend Caius, an eccle- siastical man at Rome-j-, who certainly ascribed some Apocalypse, and not improbably our Apo- calypse (though this matter has been much doubted) to the heretic CerinthusJ. But what- ever may be determined concerning the opinions of Caius, it seems clear, that before Dionysius wrote, that is, in the former part of the third century, some persons in the Christian Church had begun to doubt concerning the authenticity of the Apocalypse; to question whether it were the production of St. John, or of any apostohcal, or even pious man ; and to ascribe it, as the Alogi had done before them, to Cerinthus §. But it does not appear that they alleged any external evidence in support of these extraordi- nary opinions. They rested them on the basis of internal evidence only. " The Apocalypse," said they, ** is obscure, unintelligible, and inconsistent, " and improperly entitled a revelation. It au^ • Tms «Tfo yi(ji.uv. Euseb. lib. vii. c. 9.5, \ *f* So Eusebius calls him, H. E. lib. ii. c. 25. J Michaells has chosen to place these objectors in the second century, but on no solid ground of evidence ; for the first ob- jector, of whom we have any account, is Caius, and the earliest me assigned to him is A. D. 210. Cave, Hist. Lit. art, Caius. § Euseb. H, E. lib, vii. c. S4. *' thorises 62 " thorises notions of an impure, terrestrial mil- " lennium, unworthy of an Apostle of Christ. " But Cerinthus adopted such notions, and to ** propagate them the more successfully, he wrote " the Apocalypse, and prefixed to it the honour- " able name of John/' All the arguments here used, excepting the affirmation that Cerinthus is the author, (which has no proof whatever to support it*,) will be observed to rest on internal evidence, and there- fore belong not to this present inquiry. In a future chapter they will be examined. But I mention them in this place, because they pre- vailed in the times of Hippolitus and Origen, Avhose testimony is now to be adduced. These two learned men had the opportunity of knowing and of considering ajl the arguments, which these novel objectors had alleged against the authenti- city of the Apocalypse. We shall see what in- fluence they had on the minds of these able di- vines. Hippolitus flourished early in the third cen- tury f, and probably lived and taught during a considerable part of the second : for he Avas an instructor of Origen, who was set over the Cate- chetical school in Alexandria, in the year 202. He had been the disciple of Irenajus ; and, pro- bably, was a Greek by birth, for he wrote in * See this affirmation perfectly refuted by our author, p 469. t One work of his Is shewn to have 222 for its date. See JLardnefj art. Hippqlitus. Greekj^ 63 Greek, and not improbably in tlie eastern parts of the Christian world, where his writings were lonir held in the hidicst esteem *. He is in all respects as credible a witness, as the times in which he lived could produce. Pie received the Apocalypse as the work of St. John, the Apostle and disciple of the Lord f. Michaelis admits his evidence, and attributes to his influence and exertions, much support of the Apocalypse J. He could produce no new external evidence in its favour,. but he probably appealed to, and ar- ranged that evidence which had gone before, and endeavoured to take away, in some measure, a popular objection to the book, by explaining parts of it; thus rendering it less obscure §. His studies qualified him for this office ; for, as Mi- chaelis observes, he commented on other prophe- cies. His genuine works, except a few fragments, appear not to have come down to us, but they were read both in Greek and in Syriac for many ages. And it appears, by the evidence of Jerome and Ebed-jesu, that one, if not two of his books were written in defence of the Apocalypse. Mi- chaelis is inclined to believe that he left two * P. 479. ■|- See tlie testimonies as collected by Lardner, who says, that *' tlic testimony of Hippolitus is so clear in this respect, that no ** question can be made ^bout it." Cred. G. H. art. Hippolitus. t P. 478. § What remains of Hippolitus in this kind, is to be seen in the Commentary of Andreas Cjesarier^sis on the Apocalypse, who professes ^p have folbwed liiui. works 64! works on this subject, one in answer to Caius, the other against the Alogi*. He says nothing which tends to invalidate the evidence of Hip- politus in favour of the Apocalypse, but much to confirm it. Origen was born in the year 184 or 185, and lived to his 70th year. Of all the ancient fathers, he is generally acknowledged to have been the most acute, the most diligent, the most learned. And he applied these superior qualifi- cations to the study of the holy Scriptures. He studied them critically, with all that investi- gation of their evidences, and of the authen- ticity of the books and of the text, which is now become a voluminous part of theological studies. He was in a great degree the Father of Biblical learning. Such a man could not be ignorant of the objections urged by Caius and others, against the authenticity of the Apo- calypse. He was inclined to allow all the weight of their popular argument against it, which was, that it encouraged the Millenarians : for Origen ^vas a decided Anti-millenarian. He appears likewise to have felt the full force of another of their objections. Pie acknowledged and was distressed by the dark veil, which ap- peared to him to " envelope the unspeakable *' mysteries of the Apocalypsef." But these * P. 479. f See a fragment of Origen, preserved in his works, and Quoted by Lardncr, art, Orlgeq, objections, 6o objections, whatever other influence they have in the mind of Origen, did not indii him to reject the book. He received it readily and imphcitly. He quotes it frequently as " the " work of the Apostle John, of the author of " the Gospel of John, of the Son of Zebedee, of " him who leaned on the bosom of Jesus*." But to what shall we ascribe this decided conclusion of Origen, so hostile to his own prepossessions ? To what, but to the irresistible weight of ex- ternal evidence, which obliged him to acknow- ledge the Apocalypse as the undoubted produc- tion of John the Apostle ? No one, who has taken into consideration the weight of this evi- dence (even as it now appears to us), and the superior qualifications of this learned and in- quisitive Father to judge of it, can ascribe the testimony, which we derive from Origen, to any other cause. And every candid person must be surprised and sorry at the cavilling questions ad-» vanced by Michaelisf, by which he endeavours to represent the well-considered and respectable evidence of Origen, as depending solely on the. authority of his master Hippolitus, or (which is 3till more extraordinary) to be the result of that duplicity, which our author attributes (unjustly, * Euseb. H. E. lib. vi. c. 25. Orlg. Horn, in lib. Jer. ; Com, |n Job. p. 14 ; Com. in Mat. p. 417 ; Qont. Celsum, lib. vi, t P- 4§0, 66 "* as we shall endeavour to prove) to ' Diony- sius *. But from other passages it appears, that Mi- chaelis felt the force of Origen's testimony re- specting the Apocalypse. In these he acknow- ledges it to be " greatly in its favour-j- ;"' and so it will remain; for, the counterpoise to it, which he has proposed, arising from the silence of Papias, has been shewn to have very little weight J. I shall now request my readers to review the Biographical Chart presented to them at page 52. They will there observe, that by the addition, which is made to the writers of the se- cond century, by the testimonies of Hippolitus and Origen, the evidence is carried down 150 years from the first publication of the Apoca- lypse. This evidence is abundant, (surprisingly so, considering the mysterious nature of the t Nothing can be more express and positive than the testimony of Origen ; even in his last work, his book against Celsus, when he had probably seen the objections of Dlonysius. For Dionysius wrote probably before the rage of persecution came on in 250, which pursued him almost to his death, in 264 ; but Origen wrote his last work in 252, the year before he died : but whether or not Origen lived to see this book of Dionysius, he was doubtless acquainted with the arguments which it contains, respecting the authenticity of the Apocalypse^ for ^hey ha4 t^en been many years current in the world, t P. 480. ;^ In Chap, iii, book)] 67- book); it is constant and uninterrupted*. At no time does it depend upon any single testi- mony ; many writers testify at the same period ; and these witnesses are nearl}^ all the great names of ecclesiastical antiquity f. To their evidence, which is for the most part positive and express, no contradictory testimony of an external kind has been opposed. No one has alleged against the Apocalypse such arguments as these : — " It "is not preserved in the archives of the Seven " Asiatic Churches. The oldest persons in those " cities have no knowledge of its having been " sent thither : no one ever saw it during the " life of John. It was introduced in such and * It may be observed, that although many writers give their testimony, yet a very few witnesses may be selected, who cant be supposed to have delivered down the evidence in succession, during the first one hundred and fifty years of the Apocalypse. For instance, these three, Polycarp^ 'IreuKus, Origen ; or, Justin Martyr, TertuUian, Origen. A long tradition has more cre-"^ dibility attached to it, when it has passed but through few hands. t Every writer quoted by Lardner In the first volume, part ii. of his Credibility of the Gospel History, except two or three, of whom short fragments only remain, is to be found in our list, and this vx)lume contains all the writers who gave testimony to an}/ of the sacred Scriptures, during almost the whole of the first century after the Apocalypse was published. Sir Isaac New- ton asserts truly, that " no other book of the New Testament *' is so strongly attested, or commented upon, as this." Sir Isaac Newton on Daniel and the Apocalypse, part ii. c. 1. p. 219. such 66 " such a year, but it was contradicted as sooi|l ** as it appeared*/' Upon * These arguments are candidly and judiciously suggested by Michaelis, and he allows considerable weight to them. (p. 4S4.) But, in a note subjoined, he endeavours to invalidate them by observing, 1. That *' only a few extracts from the writings of the an- cient adversaries of the Apocalypse are now extant, the writings themselves being lost." 2. That " the ancient advocates for the Apocalypse have like- wise not alleged any historical arguments in its defence." To these objections we will answer shortly : 1. If the learned professor had allowed any weight to this kind of argument, when he reviewed the evidence of Igna- tius and Papias, he could not have pronounced their silence *' as a decisive argument,** against the Apocalypse. But there is a difference in the two cases, a difference, which is in favour of the Apocalypse. The short writings, or extracts now ex- tant, may easily be supposed not to contain all, or perhaps any, of the testimonies which they bore to this book, which, from its mysterious contents, they cannot be expected often to have quoted. And if such testimonies were lost, they would not be renewed by subsequent authors, from whom all that we should have to expect would be such a general testimony as An- dreas Caesariensis gives of Papias, namely, that Papias bore evi- dence to the Apocalypse. But if in any of the writings of the ancient adversaries of the book, any such arguments as these suggested by Michaelis had been inserted, they could not have sunk into oblivion. A book asserted to be divine, yet having at the same time such internal evidence against it, as Dionysius has produced, would be ever regarded with a jealous eye; and if the Alogi, or Caius, or Dionysius, (and these are all the adversaries of whom we hear,) had recorded any such allegation against the Apocalypse, it would have been repeated and re- echoed by its adversaries through all the ages of the Church. But 69 Upon the whole, the candid examiner cannot but perceive, that the external evidence for the authenticity and divine inspiration of the Apo- calypse is of preponderating weight; and that Michaelis is by no means justifiable in repre- senting it, when placed in the scale against the contrary evidence, as suspended in equipoise. It is a complete answer to the assertions of his third section*, to affirm, (and we now see that we can truly affirm it,) that the authenticitj^ of the book was never doubted by the Church, during the first century after it was published : and that it was received with especial reverence, as divine Scripture, by the Asiatic Churches, to which it was addressed, and by their colo- nies. But if there were any foundation for such allegations, Polycarp and Melito, bishops of the Seven Churches, would not have suffered the Apocalypse to pass in their days to Irenajus, as a work received by those Churches from Saint John. 2. On the second objection we may observe, that where there was no contradiction, there most certainly needed no proof. The silent admission of the Apocalypse, by the early fathers, makes greatly in its favour. No controversy, shews no doubt. And how stands the evidence in the case of other acknowledg-ed books of the sacred canon? Are we expected to prove that all the epis- tles of Saint Paul were deposited in the archives of the respective- Churches to which they were written ? Far otherwise : no such proof is made ; none such is reasonably expected. We shew that the epistles were undoubtedly received by the early writers of the Church ; this is proof sufficient ; and we have this proof abundantly for the authenticity of the Apocalvpse. * P. 486. CHAP. 70 CHAP. Vlt. THE TESTIMONIES OF GREGORY OF NEOCiESA- REA ; AND OF DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA; OF HIS PRIA'ATE OPINION ; THE TESTIMO- NIES OF OTHER WRITERS IN THE SAME CENTURY, OF EUSEBIUS, AND THE WRITERS IN HIS TIME, AND AFTER HIM ; OF THE RE- CEPTION OF THE APOCALYPSE AT THE RE- FORMATION. W^ITH the last chapter I might have faiilj closed all that need be said, to defend the au- thenticity of the Apocalypse, by external evi- dence. For what addition of historical testi- mony can we require? what original documents are we likely to procure? or what weight of contradictory external evidence can we expect to encounter, in the times beyond those we have examined ? Who, in these after-ages, can give us information, which will bear comparison with that which we have already received? or whom of the succeeding Fathers can we esteem equal judges with Hippolitus and Origen, whether it be of the evidence already pro- duced, or of the questions agitated in their times, 71 limeSf concerning the authenticity of the Apo" calypse* ? Yet I shall pursue the subject, because it has been pursued further by Michaelis. It is, at least, curious, to know the sentiments of later writers on the external evidence ; though the same accuracy in examining them may not be required. Gregory of Neocaesarea, surnamed Thauma- turgus, not mentioned by Michaelis, is supposed to have referred, in his Panegyrical Oration, to Rev. iii. 7- if not to Isa. xxii. 22. The ob- servation is Lardner'sf, who remarks also that Gregory, having been the pupil of Origen, and much attached to that great man, probably re»« ceived the same Canon of Scripture. DioNYsius, of Alexandria, was another pu* pil of Origen, and, like Gregory, a man of emi- nence. He received the Apocalypse as a divine prophecy, which he represents to be dark in- deed and aenigmatical, and above his compre- hension, yet certainly divine; and he says he could not dare to think otherwise of it, since many of the brethren held it in the highest esteemj. He appeals to it, likewise, as contain- ing a divine prophecy, which lie believes to have * Dr. Less, In his History of Religion, closes his evidence with Origen, and Mr. Marsh observes, that farther testimony is unnecessary. See Introd. vol. I. p. 301. t Cred. Gosp. Hist. art. Greg, of N. C. $ Euseb. H. E. lib. vii. c. 25. o been 72 been fulfilled during his own times, in the cha- racter and conduct of the persecuting Em- peror Valerian *. At the same time, it was the .opinion of Dionysius, that the Apocalypse, though of divine origin, was not written by the Apostle John, but by some other John, an holy and inspired man. But where are the grounds of this opinion ? Are they historical ? Does he allege in tlieir support any external evidence ? any tradition of the Church ? No. He gives his opinion as a conjecture formed upon the in- ternal evidence of the book, on certain peculia- rities of style and manner, which appeared to him discordant from those of Saint John in his Gospel and Epistles. These arguments of Dionysius will be con- sidered, when we examine the internal evidence, by which the authority of the book is supported or invalidated. It is our present business to report only the eiternal evidence of Dionysius. And the amount of this is, that the Apocalypse was generally received, in his time, as a sacred pro- phecy, and by such men as he revered, and wished not to oppose ; that some persons had rejected it, and ascribed it to Cerinthus ; that he himself believed it to be a book of sacred au- thority, doubting, at the same time, whether it were properly referred to the Apostle John. It is the opinion of Michaelis, (and Lardner has afforded some occasion for it,) that, al- * Euseb. H. E. lib. vii. c. 10. though though Dionysius professed in such strong terms his reception of the Apocalypse, as a divine book of Prophecy, yet he did not believe it such in his heart. Dionysius has certainly affirmed such to be his belief in plain and positive terms ; and his practice was agreeable to his professions. For we have seen that he proceeded so far, as to explain a prediction of the Apocalypse as actually fulfilled. Now, if proofs were wanting of the sincerity and plain Christian honesty of Dionysius's character, this particular /ac^ that he appealed to the Apocalypse, as containing a prophecy which he believed to be fulfilled, would place beyond all doubt, that he believed that book to be inspired. But Dionysius was confessedly a man of an open, artless probity ; and Lardner celebrates him as such, adding, in his account of him, that he had at the same time (which is a usual accompaniment of such a character) an honest and excessive warmth. But the conduct which Michaelis attributes to him on this occasion, is that of a sly, captious hypocrite. Certainly, neither the general cha- racter, tior conduct of Dionysius, nor the facts which have now appeared before us, can in any degree warrant such a conclusion*. This * Michaelis has defended his opinion, by arguments which appear to me unequal td the defence of it. He says, that Dio- nysius hafe assigned reasons for his not venturing to reject the Apocalypse, which are wholly devoid of importance. Tt'hey did not appear such td Dionysius, nor will they, 1 think, to the 6 2 gene- ^ 74 This Father of the Church ajDpears to me to have thought, that he was doing no injury to the generality of Chi'Istiati readers. 1. ** He did not reject it, be- " cause many of the brethren held it in the highest esteem." Now, surely, this is a reason which must be allowed to have considerable weight on the mind of a modest and sensible man. The pupils of Irenseus, of Tertullian, of Hippolytus, and of Origen, were still living. They had been taught by their mas- ters, and by lh.e general tradition of the Church, to consider the Apocalypse as a book of divine authority : and they resisted the new-fashioned notions, derived from the Alogi or Caius, who ascribed it to Ceriuthus, ^'« c-7r«Jijj, zealously. Dionysius ^fas modest, and had a due deference to the opinions of such men, and he censures obliquely those who, in his thne as In ours, delighted to run counter to the received opinions of the Church. 2. The other reason, which Dionysius assigns for not reject- ing the Apocalypse, and which our author deems also weak and milmportant, is rn answer to those who rejected it, because it was difficult to be understood. But Dionysius answers, that, ** He, for his part, does not reject what he does not understand : " that, not being able to understand the Apocalypse, he sup- '•' poses it to contain a subllmer sense than his faculties can " reach ; and to become, therefore, the object of his faith, " rather than of his understanding ; and that his wonder and " admiration are in proportion to his ignorance." Now, this argument, which may be accounted weak, and- (from such a man as Dionysius) insulting, supposing him not to believe the divine inspiration of the book, will be found to carry with it a considerable force and efficacy, if we suppose him to believe it. Try it, by an application of it to other difficult parts of Scrip- ture, to the unfulfilled Prophecies of Isaiah, Erekiel^ or Daniel. Shall we reject these, and deny their divine inspiration, because we do not understand them ? Far otherwise. They have been delivered to us by our Christian ancestors, as of sacred authority : they are strongly supported by external evidence. We must wait 75 the Apocalypse, by assigning to it another au- thor, instead of St. John, to " some holy and " heavenly inspired man." So far, at least, he might fairly think, that he was defending the book, by taking away the foundation of those objections to it, which arose from the dissimi- larity of its style from that of St. John's. And perhaps he might reason, that as the Apocalypse 3s not evangelical history, it may not necessarily require the evidence of an eye-witness of our Lord's life; that as it is not a book revealing doctrines and rules of conduct, it may not be necessarily confined to the pen of an Apostle ; but that some other holy martyr, some aposto- lical man (for the time of its date implied so much) might, like Daniel, or other Prophets of the Old Testament, be selected by the Spirit, to convey these visions to the Church. 1 do not wait the time of their completion with pious awe and pa- tience. We may not be able to unf^erstand them ; we may wonder, but we cannot reject. Would the Jews, who lived before our Saviour's time, have been justified in rejecting the dark and eenigmaticul, and, to appearance, contradictory- prophecies, which represented him as a triumphal. king and con- queror, despised and rejected of men, &c. merely because they did not understand them ? This argument of Dionysius is not, therefore, " wholly devoid of importance." ft was that which influenced all the Fathers of the Church ; who, although they understood not the Apocalypse, received it on its external evi- dence with pious veneration, and delivered it to succeeding times. And it is our duty to follow their example, modestly and diligently to interpret what we can, and to deliver the re- mainder to be fulfilled and interpreted in future ages. give 76 give this as a sound and authorized conclusion, but as such an one as may perhaps have satis- fied the mind of Dionysius, who certainly found a great stumbling-block in the style and manner of the Apocalypse, and yet appears by his pro- fession, and by his practice, to have received it as an inspired book. I have extended my observations, I fear, to an unwarranted length, in this attempt to re- concile the opinions of Dionysius. But I was moved to it by a desire to do justice to a cha- racter which stands deservedly high in Ecclesias- tical History ; to exculpate an eminent Chris- tian Father, from the charge of setting an ex- ample, under which the late Mr. Gibbon might have sheltered his artful, disingenuous, and in- sulting attack upon the Christian religion. I shall return to my subject; first remarking on the external evidence collected from Dionysius, that whatever notion may obtain concerning his private opinions, it is at least clear, from his testimony, that the Apocalypse was generally received in his time, and in high estimation with those Christians whom Dionysius himself revered. " After the age of Dionysius,'' says our au- thor*, " the number of ecclesiastical writers, " who quote the Apocalypse as a divine work, " especially of the members of the Latin Church, " begins to increase. But as they are of less • P. 484. " importance 77 " importance than the more ancient writers, and " I have little or nothing to remark on their *' quotations, I shall content myself with barely " mentioning their names, and referring to Lard- " ner, by whom their quotations are collected */' Little more, indeed, can be done; to the weight of evidence already produced, not much can now be added ; nor can it be deemed to di- minish from it, if jome writers of account in later times, influenced perhaps by the arguments advanced by Dionysius and by others, concern- ing the internal, have been backward to admit the external evidence for the Apocalypse. This book was received, as of sacred autho- rity, in the times of Dionysius, by Cyprian, and by the African Churches ; by the Presbyters and others of the Church of Rome, who cor- responded with Cyprian ; by divers Latin au- thors whose history is abstracted by Lardner; by the anonymous author of a work against the Novatians ; by the Novatians themselves ; by Commodian ; by Victorinus, who wrote a com- mentary upon it; by the author of the poem against the Marcionites ; by Methodius, who also commented upon it; by the Manichaians ; by the later Arnobius ; by the Donatists ; and by Lactantius. All these evidences in favour of the Apoca- lypse are admitted by Michaelis, who expresses no doubt concerning any of them, excepting * See Lardner's Cred. Gosp. Hist, part ii. vol. ii. p. 777, &02, 50.1, 511. § gPct. i. 19. I Pet. i. 10, 11, 12. even 103 even in the case of prophecies fulfilled ; because the language in which they are delivered is symbolical, which, though governed by certain rules*, and therefore attainable by the judicious among tlie learned, is nevertheless very liable lo misconstruction, in rash and unskilful hands. But prophecies, yet unfulfilled, are necessarily involved in deeper darkness, because the event is wanting to compare with the prediction, which of itself is designedly obscure : " For God gave " such predictions not to gratify men's curiosity ** by enabling them to foreknow things ; but " that after they were fulfilled, they might be '* interpreted by the events and his own provi- " dence, not that of the interpreter, be then " manifested thereby to the worldf/* This same objection of obscurity will operate as forcibly against many of the prophecies of the Old and of the New Testaments as aejainst those of the Apocalypse ; particularly the pre- dictions which appertain to the latter days%. The * See tills explained in Bishop Lowth's Prelections, p. 69, 70, and in Bishop Kurd's Sermons on Prophecy. t Sir Isaac Newton on Daniel, &c. p. 251. + The Jewish Sanhedrim doubted at one tutie whethei* tlvey should not reject the book of Ezekiel from their Canon of Scrip- ture ; and one principal argument of this debate was ilie extreme ohscurity of the book. Cahnet*s Dissert, vol. ii. p, 369. Sir Isaac Newton argues otherwise concerning the Apocalvpse ; h« argues from internal evidence, that ** it is a part of this pro- •* phccy, that it should not be understood before the last age of 1 « the 104 The book of Daniel, which has our Saviour's seal to it*, must be rejected with the Apoca- lypse, if it be a sufficient objection to it, that it is yet in many places obscure. But with respect to the Apocalypse, Michaelis has helped us to some specious arguments, whereby to shew that the difficulties of the book have not yet been fairly encountered ; that the men, who have attempted to explain it, have not been possessed of the necessary requi- sites f. To those who entertain this opinion, that " the prophecies of the Apocalypse have " not been satisfactorily interpreted," this might be a sufficient answer ; for by such persons a hope may be yet entertained that, as the failure in expounding the Apocalypse is to be ac- counted for, by the want of proper qualifica- tions in the expounders, this defect may in time be obviated. But the greater part of learned Christians who have applied themselves to the study of the Apocalypse, are not of this opi- nion. They are persuaded that a part of these prophecies have received their completion. But if that were not the case, if no such conviction were obtained; surely they would not be jus- tified in rejecting a book so authenticated as " the world ; and therefore it makes for the credit of the pro- " phecy that it is not yet understood." Sir I. Newton on Pro- phecy, oh. i. p. 251. * Matt. xxiv. 15. t P. 505—511. ■ divine. 105 divine, merely because they do not yet under- stand it. If such had been the rash proceed- ings of the Primitive Fathers of the Church, we should not at this time have possessed the book. But it has pleased divine Providence to preserve it to us, and, if we cannot yet understand it, it is our duty to deliver it to the studies of pos- terity. We cannot know what ages of Christianity are yet to come ; in what manner the predictions of the book. may yet be fulfilled; nor what portion of the Divine Spirit, or of human. knowledge, may be yet granted to explain it. The prophe- cies, now dark, may, to future generations, be- come " a shining light,'* and the apocalyptical predictions, rendered clear by their completion, serve as an impregnable bulwark of Christian faith, during the later ages of the militant Church. Difficulties are found in the abstruser parts of every kind of speculative knowledge. Every study has its dark recesses, not hitherto penetrable by human wit or industry. These apocalyptical prophecies are among the deeper speculations in the study of divinity. And are we to be surprised, that man meets with diffi- culties here ; man whose bold, prying insolence is checked in the paths of every science, by the incomprehensible greatness of the works of God ! We may, therefore, conclude, that no just cause has been assigned to induce us to reject 1 2 the 106 the ApocalN^pse ; but that many good reasonf?, arising from internal evidence, and concurring with the forcible arguments drawn from the testimonies of the ancients, require us to re- ceive it as a book of divine inspiration i-^But whether as the work of John the Apostle and Evangelist, will be the subject of inquiry in the next chapter. CHAP. 107 CTIAP. IX. t)f the internal evidence respecting the question, whether the apocalypse was written by st. john. dr. lard- ner's opinion ; opinions of others. AR« guments of dionysius of alexandria under five heads; answers thereto, and to the objections of michaelis. inquiry whether john the evangelist, and john the divine, were by the an- cients accounted the same person. evi- dence from a passage in the book that it was written by st. john. recapitu- lation and conclusion. The next, and, I believe, the only subject remaining to be considered is, whether, if we admit the Apocalypse to be an inspired book, we are also to receive it as the writing o^ Jo/ui, the Apostle and Evangelist. We have already seen it expressly declared to be such, by unexceptionable witnesses, Avho lived in or near to the times when it was first received by the Seven Churches ; who had ample means of information ; and were interested to know from whom the Churches had received it. Such 108 Such were Justin Martyr, Irena?us the disciple of Polycarp, Tertullian, Origen, and others who preceded them. This external evidence appear- ed of such preponderating weight to the candid and judicious Lardner, (who entertained no pre- judice in favour of the Apocalypse, which he appears to have little studied or understood*) as to have drawn from him this conclusion, twice repeated ; " It may be questioned, whether the " exceptions founded on the difference of style, " and such like things, or any other criticisms " whatever, can be sufficient to create a doubt " concerning the author of this book, which was " owned for a writing of John, the Apostle and " Evangelist, before the times of Dionysius and " Caius, and, so far as we know, before the most " early of those who disputed its genuineness -f-." But it is a part of our proposed plan to con- sider these exceptions and criticisms. They arose in the third century, and are detailed in the writings of Dionysius of Alexandria ; and the objections are by him placed in so strong a light, that little has been added to them by subsequent critics. The answers to them that I have seen are those by Mill, in his Prolegomena to the New Testament ; by Bishop Gibson, in his Pastoral Letters ; by Blackwall, in his Sa- cred Classics ; which, with those of other writers, * Supplement, vol. iii. p. 372. t Cred. Gosp. Hist. vol. iv. p. 733. Supplement, vol. iii. p. 364. have 109 have been abridged and presented to the pubhc, with useful additions, by Lardner, in his Cre- dibihty of the Gospel History*. I shall state the objections of Dionysius, as reduced by Lardner to five heads -f . I shall subjoin to them, in a short compass, such answers as appear to me to have been satisfactorily produced, or I shall sub- stitute others ; and I shall note occasionally those objections of Michaelis, which have not yet been answered. I. " The 'Evangelist John has not named himself, *' in his Gospel, nor his catholic Epistle ; but the " zi)riter of the Revelation nameth himself more *' than once" This argument appears to me to stand on very weak and untenable foundations : yet Michaelis has thought proper to repeat it J. Is it possi- ble for us to know, at this distance of time, with no historical information on the subject, what special or private reasons, then existing, occasioned an apostolic writer, either to disclose or conceal his name ? Thus far the answer is general : but let us enter more particularly into the charge. 1. " The Apostle who put his name *' to the Apocalypse, has omitted to do so to ** the Gospel." But was it usual for the Evan- gelists to put their names to their Gospels ? Is any other Gospel published with the name of its * Art. Dionysius of Alexandria, t Part I. vol. iv. p 730, X P. 534. author-* 110 author ? Not one. It was not the apostolie practice: yet John, of all the Evangehsts, ap- proaches nearest to a disclosure of his name ; he discloses by various circumlocutions, that he, the Apostle John, wrote that Gospel ; and this we know, from what he has delivered to us by such circumlocution, as clearly, as if he had expressly written his name*. 2, " But though ** this answer may be satisfactory respecting St. ** John's Gospel, can we defend by it the same *' omission in his Epistles ?" An epistle, in- deed, general}}" requires the name of its author to be inserted ; and for that reason, among others, the name of John is inserted in the Apocalypse, which is written in the form of an epistle. Yet there may be exceptions to this general rule ; and we see such evidently in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is written with- out a name. But the omission, if such, in the three Epistles of St. John, need not be sheltered under this precedent. We may otherwise ac- count satisfactorily for their being published without his name, The two last Epistles are short letters, fami- liarly addressed to mdhkhials'\ \ and the writer calls himself, not by tlio name of John, but by the appellation of the Elder, by which he was probably as well known, in the familiar confe-f * John x\i. 20, &:c. xix. ^G. xiii. 23, &C. t 6:e Micliaclis, Introd. ch. xxxii. sect, iii, rence Ill rence which he held with these his correspondents) as if he had written his name John. He was, in- deed, at the time he wrote these Epistles, the Elder of the Christian Church, not only far ad- vanced in years, but the sole survivor of all his apostolic brethren. Such an appellation, in a private letter to an individual, amounts to the same as the writer's name. But what shall we say to the omission of his name in the First Epistle ? Michaelis shall assist usw to clear up this difficulty. He pro- nounces this writing of St. John to be " a trea- ^' tise rather than an Epistle," and, therefore, says he, it has neither the name of the writer in the beginning, nor the usual salutations at the end*. Therefore, in all these writings of our Apostle, the insertion of his name appears to have been unnecessary ; in the Gospel, because such had not been the practice of the other Evangelists ; in the treatise, because in that like- wise it would have been informal; in the two familiar Epistles, because another well-known appellation supplied its place. But in the Apo- calypse, which is written in the epistolary form, not to any individual, but to seven Christian com^ munities, and is commanded, by Him who gave the Revelation, to be written and addressed to them-\, the Apostle could not do otherwise than prefix ^ See his arguments at largo, vol. iv. ch. xxx. sect. ii. p. 400, 401. t Ch. i. V. \\, his 112 his name. And when he had prefixed it, we can- not deem it surprising, that he should repeat it, in passages where he relates to them the wonder- ful sights which he had seen. For such a repeti- tion conveys this assurance; " Be not incredu- " lous, I John, whom you can trust, whom you " can safely believe, I John saw these things." This same Apostle had before given them warn- ing not to believe every pretence to inspiration, but " to try the spirits whether they are of God*.'"' It was necessary, therefore, when he sent them this Revelation, to assure them that in receiving it they would not be deceived. He assures them, therefore, that he himself, the only surviving Apostle, the president of the Churches, whom they well knew by the name of John, had seen these visions. There Avas, therefore, no vain egotism in this repetition, as hath been vainly imagined ; it was necessary^ and to us of these later times it is a proof, that some person, of considerable weight and influence with the Churches, was the author of the Apocalypse ; but his name was John ; and who could this be, but John .the Apostle and Evangelist? who, we are assured was banished to Patmos, where the visions of it were seen ^•. II. The second objection is, that " though the * 1 John iv. 1. t Hegesippus, apud Euseb. lib. Hi. c. 20. 23. Tertullian. ApoT. c. 5. Hierom. torn. x. p. 100. Laiduer's Supp. cb. ix. s. 5. " writer . " writer of the Revelatioti calls himself Jor' ^ " has not shewn us, that he is the Apostle of " name/' Michaelis expects that he should at least have made himself known by some such circumlocution as he had used m the Gospel, " the disciple whom Jesus loved." In answer to this, it will be sufficient to shew, that such addition to the name of John was totally needless. He wrote to the Seven Churches, and from Patmos, in which island he expresses that " he is suffering tribulation for the ** word of God, and the testimony of Jesus " Christ." All the Churches knew that he was then suffering banishment in that island, and they knew the cause of it, " for the word of God." An Epistle, containing the history of a heavenly vision, seen by John in the island of Patmos, required no other addition. What John would write John alone, without other addition or ex- planation, excepting the great John, John the Apostle and president of all the Churches ? A private person would have described himself by the addition of his father's name, according to the custom of the ancients. A Bishop or Pres- byter would have added the name of his church; but John, the Apostle, needed no such distin- guishing mark or appellation. A fabricator of an Epistle, containing a revelation in St. John's name, would perhaps have added his titles of " Apostle of Jesus Christ," &c. or would have introduced some circumlocution in imitation of those 114 those in his Gospel ; but, from the expression, as it now stands, we derive a much stronger evi- dence that it is the genuine work of St. John*. III. The third objection is, " That the Reve- *' lation does not mention the catholic Epistle^ nor " the catholic Epistle the Revelation" This objection Lardner has pronounced to be *' of little moment." Michaelis seems to have been of the same opinion, for he has not noted it ; if the reader think it deserving of an answer, he is referred to Lardner f. IV. Fourthly, it is objected, " That there is a " great agreement in sentiment, expression, and *' manner between Saint Johns Gospel and Epistle ; " but the Revelation is quite different in all these ** respects, without any resemblance or Jimili' « tude" Michaelis repeats this objection J, and then * St. Paul, In the opening of his Epistles, has used generally, not always, the term " Apostle ;" but with him it was more ne- cessary than with St. John, who was confessedly such, having been numbered with the Twelve. St. Paul's right to the apostle- ship, having been established more privately, had been doubted by some, which leads him to say, " Aui not I an Apostle ?" &c. (1 Cor. ix. 1.) and, therefore, he generally asserts himself, in his Epistles, to be an Apostle. Saint John had no need to use the term; his authority as an Apostle was undoubted : he, there- fore, calls himself by an humbler title, " A brother and compa- ** nion in tribulation :" so St. James, although an Apostle, mentions himself only as, " A servant of Qod, and of the Lord " Jesus Christ." Jam. i. I. t Vol.iv. p. 707. I P. 533, 554. asks 115 nsks tlie question, whethcM- it is possible that the anllior of the one and of the other could be the same person? Two methods have been taken to avoid the force of this objection, which has been derived from comparing the imagery, sentiments, and style in these separate works, all attributed to Saint John. 1st, It has been asserted that a prophetical work of St. John, cannot be expected to have resemblance to his Gospels and Epistles. 2dly. The fact has been denied ; it has been asserted that this dissimilarity does not exist; that there is in the Apocalypse a strong resem- blance of sentiment and character, to the other written productions of St. John. I do not find that either of these points have been so clearly proved as to afford satisfaction to the learned. I will suggest another method of answer. In perusing the Apocalypse, I remark that the sentiments, the notions, the images presented in tlie book, are, in very few passages, those of the writer, (such I mean as had been digested in, and arose out of his own mind,) but of that Holy Spirit, or of those heavenly inhabitants, who expressed them to him by symbols, or declared them by speech. The pen of John merely nar- rates, and frequently in the very words of a heavenly minister. " That which he sees arid •• hears," he writes, as he is commanded ; (ch. i. 19.) 116 19.) but they are not his own ideas from which he writes ; he relates simply, and with little or no comment of his own, the heavenly visions which he had seen. Even in those parts of the book, where we should most reasonably expect to meet with the sentiments of the writer, we per- ceive his mind teeming (as, indeed, was natural) with the newly-acquired images. He uses such at the very outset of his work, even in the Epis- tolary Address, which is full of those images which had been exhibited to him in the visions. The same are again seen at the close of the book. And, indeed, it is difficult to find many pas- sages wherein the writer has recourse to his own sentiments, and previous store of imagery. The whole of the second and of the third chapter, and a great part of the first, is de- livered in our Lord's own words, and therefore contains his sentiments, his doctrines, not those of the writer, who is commanded to write down the very words of the great Visitor of the Church. We have, indeed, other words of our Lord, re- lated by St. John in the Gospel, with which it may be thought that these words in the Apoca- lypse may be propei'ly compared. Yet they do not seem to admit this comparison : because the character and office which our Lord is seen to assume in the Apocalypse, is different from that which he bore in the Gospel. He is now no longer the Son of Man, upon earth, the con- descending companion and instructor of his disciples ; 117 disciples; but the glorified King of Heaven, the Omniscient Visitor of the Churches, the Omnipotent Judge of mankind. And, in the remaining parts of the book, what does the writer present to us ? Not his own ideas and conceptions ; but " the things which shall be " hereafter," the symbols and figurative resem^ blances of future events shewn to him in heaven ; and when he uses explanatory speech, it is in the words of his heavenly conductors. One of the few passages in which the author of the Apocalypse seems to have written from his own previous conceptions is, perhaps, ch. i. verse 7. The sentiments and images which he employs, before he arrives at this passage, may all be traced to the apocalyptical source: they are derived from the sublime visions which he had so lately seen. With them his mind was filled ; with them even his salutation to the brethren abounds. But here he seems to speak from his for- mer store of Christian imagery. And, so speaking, it is remarkable that he is led to quote from Zech. xii. 10. and in the very manner which has been observed, by Michaelis and other critics, to be peculiar to Saint John. Michaelis has noted the peculiar circumstances which attend this quotation, and he has allowed to them con- siderable weight* : but he was not aware that this is one of veiJf few passages which can * See his note, p. 535. fairly 118 fairly and properly be compared with \\\e former writings of Saint John, so as to deduce evidence whether that Apostle were the author. In al- most every other part of the book, it will be apparent to an accurate observer, that the writer draws not his sentiments and imagery from his own stores, but from the new and surprising scenes which he had been permitted to behold in heaven. But although, from the causes now assigned, we may think it improper to look for any nice resemblance in sentiments and ideas, between the Apocal^^pse and other writings of Saint John ; yet some similarity, in the mode and character of narration, may, perhaps, be reasonably expected. And this kind of similarity will be seen and ac- knowledged in the plain, unadorned simplicit}^ with which the Apocalypse, and all other pro- ductions of St. John, appear to be written. There is, at the same time, a difference, which seems to consist chiefly in that circumstance which Jortin has pointed out* ; that " the Apo- " calypse, like the Septuagint, follows the He- ** brew phraseology, using copulatives continu- " ally t, whereas the Gospel, instead of xa/, uses " $5, or sv, or is written ua-vvl^oog" Such is, in- deed, the principal difference of style to be ob- served in comparing the Gospel with the Apoca- lypse: but the attentive reader may perceive * Disc, on Christian Rel. •)■ Kvritings of the New Testament; and the Gos-' pels and Epistles of Saint John are now so far from being accounted that perfect Greek, which * f. 629, 53Q. t See page 530. Dionysius Dionysias represents them to be ; that Black* wall (who in his Sacred Classics has attempted to^ vindicate the Scriptures from the charge of be- ing written in an impure and barbarous style) has found himself obliged to defend the Gospel and Epistles of this Apostle in more than forty passages, in some of which only he has suc- ceeded. But such vindication of the Holy Scriptures is unnecessary ; they must be allowed to speak a language of their own, '* not with the enticing *' words of man's wisdom*/' They use, for the most part, an Asiatic Greek, plentifully mixed with Hebraisms. A pure Attic language would by no means give them greater credibility ; for in these days we should nJot admit the appeal of Mahomet, and conclude them divine, because elegantly composed. Many of the expressions, which, upon this ground, have been objected to in the Apoca- lypse, have been shewn to convey the sublime meaning of the sacred inditer more forcibly and effectually, than a more exact and grammatical Greek -f. Of this character is cKTro o.m, jcxt o riv, kui 9 spxcj/^iyos'l, which cannot be so corrected into ♦ J Cor. ii. 4. t This is observed by Michaelis, (Introtl. vol, i. part 1. chap. iv. sect. 3.) who says, •* The very faults of grammar in the Apo- '• calypse are so happily placed as to produce an agreeable ♦' effect." $ Chap. i. 4. grammar X26 grammar as to express, with equal force, that sublime attribute of God, by Nvhich he fills eternity. The instances of irregularity, in point of gram- mar, produced from the Apocalypse by Bengel, and repeated by our author *, are all of one kind, and of a kind which is found in the Sep- tuagint, and in Greek translated from the He? brew. In these instances, the original (or no- minative) case, is used immediately after a word, which, having been expressed in one of the ob- lique cases, seems to require, in purer Greek, the continuation of the same oblique case •^'•. This might happen, either if the text were translated from St. John's Hebrew, or if St. John had translated into Greek the Hebrew words of Jesus and of the angels J. • The instances produced by Michaelis are taken chiefly from ancient MSS. of the Apocalypse, and are not to be geen in the common an^ \C. f F, 529. . t Instance ch. I. 5. tim 'lu^s — o (jixplvs, whicb paay be rendered strictly grammatical by supplying o in, and this ellipsis is so common in our English language, (and, I believe, in most mo- dern ones,) that the places objected to, pass in literal translation without any apparent offence to grammar. The offence then is not against universal grammar, but against the particular idioiQ of the Greeks, and yet not against the idiom of the Orieptal Greeks. See the observations of our author on the language of the New Testament, with the judicious remarks of his translator ; Introduct. vol. i. ch. iv. , :t As suggested in p. 135. Jater later editions. And he expresses his suspicions that these violations of grammar were probably yet more abundant in former times, having unr ^ergone the correction of transcribers. But if this supposition can be allowed, it may alsp be surmised, that other books of the New Tesr tament have probably undergone this kind of correction. And why not the Gospel and Epis- tles of Saint John, even before the Apocalypse jvas written ? But taking it for granted, that the Apocalypse abounds with Hebraisms, and even >vith solecisms, more than any other book of the New Testament, — what can we hence infer, but that \ye probably have the original text of the sacred writer, as preserved ii> the early ages with scrupulous care ? A forger, an impostor, would have written another kind of Greek, more closely resembling that of Saint Jqhn's Gospel and Epistles. And although we cannot shew the Apocalypse ^o be written in precisely the same Greek, as the Gospel and Epistles of St. John ; yet, I trust, we must be convinced that this circum- stance is very far from being entitled to any decisive influence in favour of the opinion that it was not written by th^t Apostle, to whom the united voice of antiquity has ascribed it. Of all the arguments which have been advanced to support this opinion, there is none, which it will not be presumptuous to oppose to such au- thority. 128 Having n6w advanced what I deem necces' gary to say in answer to these objections of Dio- nysius, repeated by Michaelis, I shall add a few words concerning an objection of later date, to "which this learned critic seems inclined to give his sanction, though he has not formally avowed it. He distinguishes between John the Evan-* gelist and John the Divine, as if he believed them to be two separate persons ; and the latter to be the author, or the reputed author of the Apocalypse. But the title, prefixed to the Apo- calypse, in which it is called, " the Revelation *' of John the Divine," does not properly belong to the book. It is not to be found in the most ancient and authentic MSS. and is therefore re-, jected by Griesbach in his edition. The true title of the book is seen in the first verses of it ; it is *' the Revelation of Jesus Christ," not of John. But as it -was communicated to the Church by St. John, and as other Revelations were afterwards written in imitation of this, and ascribed to other Apostles, so by degrees this Revelation was distinguished in the Church by the name of John, The Apocalypse of John was the title by which it was known in the times of Pionysius*. In the following century, when many contests had arisen concerning the doc- trine of the Trinity, and the Orthodox had found their firm support in the writings of this Apostle, (who alone of the sacred writers had described * Euseb. E. H. Ub.vii. C.24. the 129 the Son of God as Bsa Xoyo?*), they began to apply to this Apostle the title of Theologus, a title expressive both of John's doctrine t> and of his eminent knowledge in divine subjects. Ath^- nasius calls St. John o QtoXoyog avrip. In the decrees of the Council held at Ephesus, in 431, that city is mentioned as the burial place of John the Theologus, which agrees with the ac- count of the ancients, that John the Evangelist was buried there J. Andreas Cesariensis, com- menting on Rev. xvij. quotes the Evangelist John by the title of Theologus % ; and, although the same title was applied by Andreas and others, to Gregory Nazianzen, and to other able defenders of the Theologic doctrine, yet John the Evan- gelist was QioKoyog y^oij e^oxn^f the Divine, and no other John appears to have had this title. So we may be assured, that, at whatever time this title was prefixed to the Apocalypse, be who prefixed it, intended by it John the Evangelist ; who was * The Word of God. f S?e the word Qsokoyix, as used in Euseb. H. E. lib. iii. c. 24, gnd applied to the beginning qf St. John's Gospel. The Chris- tians are described as worshipping Christ, with reference to this name to» ;(^«ro» V»«o" ©soAoysyltr. Cuseb. H. E. lib. v. c. 28. And the Alogi, as we have seen, received that appellation, from deny-r ing the Doctrine of St. John, tov tv af^v "*'* ®**"' (®"*) ^°Y>*- Epiph, Hser. 54. Eusebius quoting the beginning of St. John's Gospel gays, w5i Tsn StoXoyn. Praep. Jlvang. lib. xi. c. 19. t Euseb. H. E. lib. iii. c. 1. 20. § Commenting on chap. iii. 21, he calls John Qn^vypt wxt ^qoilnf W. iVi^d gn \ Job. v. 8, he say^, x«t« ▼«» ©wXeyoy. well 130 well known, and celebrated in the fourth and succeeding centuries, by this appellation. Having thus afforded some answer to the obr jeetions urged from internal evidence against the authenticity of the Apocalypse, I shall conclude •with adding a positive evidence in favour of the notion generally received, that it was written by St. John. In chap. i. 13, he who is ordered to write the book, beholds in the vision " one like unto the Son of Man." Now, who but an eye-witness of our Lord's person upon parth, could pronounce, from the like- ness, that it was he ? St. John had lived familiarly with Jesus during his abode upon earth; and had seen him likewise in his glorified appearances, at his transfiguration, and after his resurrection. ^o other John had epjoyed this privilege. No other eye-witness of our Lord's person ap- pears to have been living in this late period of the Apostolical age, when the visions of the Apor calypse were seen. We may, therefore, I trust, fairly conclude, that to the impregnable force of external evidence, which has been seen to protect the divine claims of the Apocalypse, a considerable acquisition of internal evidence may be added ; or, at least, that this avenue, by which its overthrow has been so often attempted, is not so unguarded as its ad- versaries imagine. And the future labours of judicious commentators will probably add a con- tinual accession to this weight of evidence; for, ever^ 131 every prediction of this prophetical book, which shall be shewn to be clearly accomplished, will prove it to be divine; and, this being proved, there will then remain little or no doubt but that it proceeded from the pen of the beloved Apostle, to whom the early Fathers of the Church uniformly ascribe it, I shall conclude with examining the pretensions of the Apocalypse by the rules laid down even by Michaelis himself, whereby to determine whether a scriptural book be authentic or spurious *. I. AVere doubts entertained, from the first apr pearance of the Apocalypse in the world, whether it proceeded from the pen of Saint John ? To this we are now enabled to answer, (see chap. iii. iv. v. of this Dissertation,) that no such doubts appear upon record in the true Church, during the important period of one hundred years after its publication ; but that all the ecclesiasti- cal writers of that time who speak of its author, attribute it uniformly to Saint John. If any persons held a contrary opinion, they were heretics, who appear to have assigned no plausible ground for their notions. II. Did the friends or disciples of the supposed author deny it to be his ? Answer. There is no such denial from Polycarp, Papias, Ignatius, &c. who appear all to have re-» ceived it as divine Scripture. (See chap. iii. of this Dissertation.) * Introduction to N. Test, chap, ii. s6ct. 3, p. «7, &c. III. Did 132 III. Did a long series of years elapse after the death of Saint John, in which the book was un- known, and in which it must unavoidably have been mentioned and quoted, had it really existed? Answer. No such period did elapse. Michaelis himself has allowed, that this book, even if forged and spurious, existed before the year 120, that is, within twenty- three years of the time Avhich we have shewn to be that of its publication ; but even in this period we have seen it quoted and acknowledged, as appears probable, by the Apostolical Fathers. (See chap. iii. and v.) IV. Is the style of the Apocalypse difterent from that of Saint John in his other writings ? Answer. It cannot be denied that there is some difference, but it is a difference which admits of a reasonable explanation, as may be seen in the former part of this chapter. V. Are events recorded, which happened later than the time of Saint John ? Answer. No such events are recorded. Nor, we may add, are any events predicted, which oc- curred before the time when the book appears to have been written ; which is a case happening to pretended prophecies. (See chapter viii.) VI. Are opinions advanced in the Apocalypse^ vrhich contradict those which Saint John is known to have maintained in his other writings ? Answer, The theology which it contains is found to be precisely that of St. John in his other writings; and the wild opinions of the Chiliasts, : vi .ill though 133 though they had probably their origin from a passage of this book, are to be attributed only to the rash interpretation of it by these visionaries. (See chap, viii.) Thus, bringing this prophetical book to the test proposed by Michaelis, — by the most success- ful opponent of its claims to a divine origin, we shall be obliged to confess its indubitable right to that place in the canon of sacred Scripture, which the ancient Fathers of the Church assigned to it, and which the reformers in the Protestant Churches have with mature deliberation con* firmed. lEND OF THE DISSERTATION, '"wlWw*' POSTSCRIPT. Since the preceding sheets were comnutte4 to the press, I have seen a work on the autlien- ticity of the New Testament, translated by Mr. Kingdon, from the German of Dr. Less. In this pubU cation, fifty pages arc employed in an attempt to discredit the authenticity of the Apocalypse. And since the otherwise ex- cellent Treatise, of which this attempt is a part, is likely to pass into the hands of many young students in Divinity, it may be useful to offer some observations upon it. These may be presented in a small compass ; because there are few objections of moment ad- vanced by Dr. Less, against the Apocalypse, which have not been repeated by Michaelis, and already considered in the foregoing Dissertation*. * The latest «dition of Loss's work was published in 178(^; that of Michaelis, in 17S8 ; (see the Prefaces of their Trans- lators ;) consequently Michaelis had the opportunity of adopt- ing or rejecting the arguments of Less. * K I have 136 I have now, therefore, only to note and answef those observations and arguments of Less, which his learned follower did not produce. In page 145, Dr. Less objects to the Evi- dence of Theophilus of Antioch in favour of the Apocalypse, because the work of this Father against Hermogenes, in which he is said to have quoted from this Book of Scripture, is no longer extant. Answer. — But what scholar will hesitate a moment to admit, that Theophilus received the Apocalypse as of Divine authority, when he reads in Eusebius*, that in his time that work of Theo- philus was extant, in which he had used proofs , or testimonies of Scripture^ taken from the Apocalypse? Dr. Less himself has very properly supported the authenticity of the other Scriptures by the evidences of writings, now lost, but reported by Eusebius : (ch. i. sect, 3:) and Michaelis sa3^s, that the Apocalypse was undoubtedly received by Theophilus, as the work of Saint Johnf. In pages 186, 202, objection is made to the Apocalypse, because the relator represents him- self as in a trance during the exhibition of it. Answer. — ^llie expression, syzyoi^y^v c-y 'zcryivi/LUTi, cannot properly be translated, " I was in a trance." Was Jesus in a trance, when viysro sv rx 'vffvsvii.oiTii *' he was led in the Spirit into the vvilder- * Hist. Eccl. lib. iv. c. 24. t Introd. to N. T. ch. xxxiii. sect. 2. p. 4()7. ness ?" 1S7 nfess ?'* or David when, fv too Trvsu/xax/, " he called Christ Lord*?" In page 197, the Author says; " How the Apocalypse was understood, alter Christianity had ascended the imperial throne in the person of Constantine, is unknown/' ^ Answer. — Were not the commentaries on the Apocalypse by Andreas Ca^sariensis, by Arelhas, by Victorinus, by Primasius, written during the period which the author here describes, after the exaltation of Christianity, and before that of the papal tyranny ? From the Fathers also of the fourth and fifth centuries, many quotations may be produced, shewing in what sense they understood passages of this prophecy. In page 201, he asserts " this book to be " entirely different from all the other writings, *' not only of the New Testament, but of the " Old." Answer. — Thus he contradicts what he had asserted in page 187, " That many forcible ex- *' hortations in this book are composed almost " entirely from passages of the Old Tessament ** and the Gospels/' But neither of these asser- tions will be found strictly true. In page 205, he objects to *• the mysterious '* numbers, a time, tirnes, and half, and the " frightful beasts and monsters," as being un- scriptural. • Matt. xxii. 43. Mark viii. 12. Luke i. 80 ; ii. 27, 40. §ee also John iv. 23. * K 2 Answer, 13S Answer. — Do we not read of the self~sam6 luimbers, and nearly the same beasts, in the Book of Daniel ? Iq page 2G6, he represents the joy and triumph of the saints, upon the horrid punish- i»ent of their enemies, as irreconcileable with the charitable spirit of the Gospel. Answer. — It is the triumph of pure Religion over idolatrous superstition and tyranny, repre- sented allcgorically ; at which every true Christian, must rejoice. In page 207, he objects to the passages where the writer of the Apocelypse describes himself as prostrating himself before the Angel. — A spe- cies of idolatry, of which, he says, no Jew, no Christian, much less Saint John, would have been guilty. Answer. — The objector seems here to contra- dict his former assertion, that the whole of the Apocalyptic vision was exhibited in a trance: but, setting aside this consideration, it will be seen, in the ensuing notes, that the conduct, which the writer of the vision attributes to him- self on this occasion, was natural, and agreeing with his situation, and that this description, with its attendant caution and reproof, so far from en- couraging angel-worship, has operated, as pro- bably it was intended to do, most powerfully a(>ainst it. In page 208, he asserts that we are destitute of credible manuscripts of the Apocalypse, and 5 of 139 of versions of high antiquity, and consequently* possess but a very uncertain text. Answer. — It is true that the Apocalypse, on account of its mysterious nature, having been less studied than other books of Scripture, has also been less copied. Yet the manuscripts of it aU ready collected, appear to be no less than forty- five. Of these, four are of high antiquity. The Codex Alexandrinus is one of these; seven more seem by their description to be of distinguished value. In the early fathers, are many and long quotations from this book. Michaelis, though he judged that the text of the Apocalypse was not so well ascertained as that of other Scriptural books, is far from repeating these extravagant assertions of Dr. Less. See Michaelis and Marsh, Introduction to New Testament, ch. viii. In page 236, Dr. L. ably defends the authen- ticity of the Scriptures in general, by the proof of their being quoted by the early fathers; and es- pecially by Justin Martyr, Irenoeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen. — But all these fathers have quoted the Apocalypse. In pages 343, 344, he derives the safe trans- mission of the Gospel truths from St. John the Apostle, through Tolycarp, Ircnseus, and Origen, by a cotemporary succession. — But have we not the very same safe transmission of the Apoca- lypse? Page 140 Page 214—227, Dr, tess's. chief confidence in opposing the pretensions of the Apocalypse is derived from the authority of Dionysius of Alex- andria. Answer,— The argwnenis of this excellent fa- ther must be allowed all the weight to which they can possibly be entitled; and have already, I trust, been candidly considered. But the author n7?/ of Dionysius, on a s\ih]eci oi historical anti^ quity, cannot be placed in competition with that of his master Origen ; much less with that of Irenaeus, the disciple of Polycarp, or of Justin Martyr, who was probably cotemporary with St. John, And Dr. Less himself was clearly of that opinion. For, in enumerating the fathers whose authority is essential to the testimony of Scrip- tural authenticity, he descends no lower than to Origen ; the boasted Dionysius is excluded. Be- sides, if the authority of Dionysius were allowed, his Ttvig -zxr^o >?/^a;v Cannot be understood to compre^ hend testimony of high antiquity. On the whole, it is to be lamented, that these two able and learned Germans have so rashly in- corporated into their valuable works of universal circulation, their prejudices against the authority of this well-authenticated book of the Sacred Canon. And it is to be wished, that the trans- lators frou) the German language would favour us with the most distinguished answers of the German writers to these objections ; with those of Ghancellov 141 Chancellor Eeuss and Dr. Storr; which would probably enable us to settle this innportant ques- tion, of the authenticity of the Apocalypse, with increased satisfaction^ f.^D op THE POSTSqilJPT, CONTENTS OF THE NOTES. J^AKT I., divided into ten Sections, contains a siffr i. e. the then present State of the Christian Churches in Asia, as known by their Omnipresent Lord. — Chapters i. ii. & iii. PAG^ Sect. I. Ch. i. 1—4. The Title of the Book - - 3 Sect. II. Ch. i. 4 — Q. -The Address or Salutation, and the Doxology prefixed to the Epistle - - - - 8 Sect. III. Ch. i. 9 — to the end. The Appearance of the Lord Jesus with the Symbols of his Power ; and the Commission given by him to Saint John, to write what he beholds --__.------ 21 Sect. IV. Ch. ii. 1—8. The Address to the Church in Ephcsus -----------.- 38 Sect. V. Ch. ii. 8 — 12. The Address to the Church in Smyrna ------------- 54 Sect. VI. Cii.ii. 12—18. The Address to the Church in Pergamos _---------,_ gg Sect. VII. Ch. ii. 18— to the end. The Address to the Church in Thyallra ----_---. Qg Sect. VIII. Ch. iii. 1—7. The Address to the Church in Sardis -i------------ 73 Sect. IX. Ch. iii. 7 — 14. The Address to the Church in Philadelphia -----____ 95 Sect. X. Ch. iii. 14 — to the end. The Address to the Church in Laodicea ------,..- go PA^T ( ii ) PART II., divided into nine Sections, contaitis a ge- neral prophetical Sketch of a fxeXXei yevea^cu, fu- ture Events^ under the six first Seals. . PAGE Sect. I. Chap. iv. The Representation of the divine Glory in Heaven -^-.<-.----- 95 Sect. II. Ch. V. Th« sealed Book, ttie Laiflb who opens it, and the Praises sung by the heavenly Choir 115 Sect. III. Ch. vi. 1—3. The opening of the first Seal --------------_ 127 Sect. IV. Ch. vi. 3 — 5.-^ The opening of the second Seal --- -.-.125 Sect. V. Ch. vi. 6— 7. The opening of the third Seal --------__----- H£ Sect. VI. Ch. vi. 7—9. The opening of the fourth Seal - 151 Sect. VII. Ch. vi. 0—12. The opening of the iifth Seal ------------.-- 164 Sect. VUI. Ch. vi. 14— to the end. -The opening of the sixth Seal ---------.-. IQ^ Sect. IX. Chap. vii. ^The Sealing of the 144,000, and the Presentation of the palm-bearing multitude be- fore the Throne ------_.__. 175 PART III., divided into seven Sections, contains the opening of the seventh Seal, and the six first Trumpets, and the Prophetic Commission to Saint John. PAGS-. Sect. I. Ch. viii. 1 — 6. The opening of the seventh Seal, and the Commission to the Angels with the seven Trumpets -------.__«« jgj Sect. 11. Ch. viii. 6—13. The four first Trumpets - 205 Sect. III. Ch. viii. 13. The Denunciation of the three Woes -----,---._._ £03 Sect. IV. Ch. ix. 1—13. The fifth Trumpet and first Woe -----------.-.. 226 Sect. (' iii ) pXge Sect. V. Ch. ix. 13— to the end. The sixth Trum- pet and the second Woe ---------252 Sect. Vr. Chap, x The little Book 274 Sect. VII. Ch. xi. 1—16. The Measuring of the Temple> and the Witnesses ------*- 283 PART IV., divided into four Sections, contains the sounding of the seventh Trumpet, the Dragon, and two Wild-Beasts. PAG9 Sect. I. Ch. xi. 15 — to the end. The sounding of the seventh Trumpet ---------- 304 Sect. ll.Ch.xii. 1 — 17 TheWoman and the Dragon, 309 Sect. III. Ch. xii. 18. xiii. 1 — II. ^The wild-beast from the Sea _-,---_- ^27 Sect. IV. Ch. xiii, 1 1— to the end. ^The Wild-Beast from the Land, or false Prophet ------- 347 PART v., divided into six Sections, contains the Lamb on Mount Sion, and the Proclamations or Warnings. PAGE Sect. I. Ch. xiv. 1— G. The Lamb on Mount Sion, 375 Sect. II. Ch. xiv. G — 8. The first Angel proclaims, 379 Sect. III. Ch. xiv. 8. ^The second Angel proclaims, 380 Sect. IV. Ch. xiv. 9 — 13. The third Angel pro- claims ---.--^-------_ 3g^i Sect. V. Ch. xiv. 13. The Blessedness of those who die in the Lord proclaimed -------- 334 Sect. VI. Ch. xiv. 14 — to the end. The Vision of the Harvest anU Vintage -------- 335 PART VI., divided into five Sections, contains the seven Vials, and the Episode of the Harlot of Babylon, and her Fall tAGE Sect. I. Chap. xv. xVi. 1. The Vision preparatory to the seven Vials --------,-- 389 Sect. ( iv ) I'AGE Sect. ir. Ch. xvi. 2 — to the end. The seven Vials, 394 Sect. in. Chap. xvii. ^The great Harlot, or Babylon, 414 Sect. IV. Chap, xviii. The Judgment of Babylon, continued -------------- 440 Sect. V. Ch. xix. 1—11. Exultation in Hearen over the fallen Babylon, and upon the Approach of the New Jerusalem ------.---- 453 PART VII., divided into seven Sections, contains the grand Conflict, the Millennium, the Conflict renewed, the Judgment, and the new Crea- tion. PAGE ISect. I. Ch. xix. 11 — 19. The Lord appears with his Followers for Battle and Victory ------ 459 Sect. II. Ch. xix. I9— to the end. The Conflict, and Victory over the Beast and false Prophet - 462 Sect. III. Ch. XX. 1 — 4. The Dragon taken and confined -------------- 465 Sect. IV. Ch. XX. 4—7. The Millennium - - - 4()7 Sect. V. Ch. XX. 7 — U. Satan loosed, deceiveth the Nations, and is cast into the burning Lake - - - 47I Sect. VI. Ch. XX. 1 1 — to the end. The Judgment, 473 Sect. VII. Ch. xxi. 1—9. ^ The new Creation - - 475 PART VIII., in two Sections, contains the Bride, or New Jerusalem, and the Conclusion. PAGE Sect. I. Ch. xxi.9 — to the end; xxii. 1 — 6. — —The Bride, or New Jerusalem --------- 48^ Sect. IL Ch, xxii. 6 — to the end. The Conclusion, 492 APOCALYPSE, llEVELATION OF SAINT JOHN, WITH NOTES, CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY. #;^* THE GREEK OF THE APOCALYPSE IS PRINTED FROM THE TEXT OF GRIESBACH'S EDITION; REASONS FOR WHICH HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED IN THE INTRODUCTION. IN THE SECOND COLUMN IS THE NEW TRANSLATION. THE THIRD CON- TAINS THE AUTHORIZED VERSION, PRINTED FROM OUR ENGLISH BIBLE. THE APOCALYPSE, &c. PART I. SECTION r. AnOKAAY^'iS %- Tais OHMis avTu a, vii ytno'Qxi sv ra- j^ti" xa» IniJixyii, oiXuxlrS ^Imeinn. 2 "Oj {(^a^ivcyxn Toy A.oyoK Ta" 0€a, jc Tfly fjkxpl'j^t'xn ^IntrS Xf/fB, oca j(0». 3 -• Matxa/);©' o ayatH- ywfft/y, }^ o< a- ■Kuoilit T*f Aoyar t5j tj^o^rttxs, Kf •ncailti rot. h xlrri ytyqx(A.(/Ayx* yjt^ TAe T/V/e o/ the B CHAP. i. VER. 1 — 3 1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his ser- vants things which must cortie to pass in a short time ; and he signifi- ed thero, sending by his angel unto his ser- 2 vant John ; Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testi- mony of Jesus Christ, according to >4hatsp- ever things he saw. 3 Blessed is he who readeth, and they who hear the words of the prophecy, and who keep the things which are written therein; for the time is near. 00 k. 1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unlo his servants things which must shortly come to pass ; and he sent and signi- fied it by his angel un- to his servant John: 2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and cf all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophesy, and keep those words which are written therein : for the time is at hand. SOME of the commentators have entirely disregard- ed, and some have but slightly noticed, the three first chapters of the Apocalypse. Upon these I have been induced to bestow a more than ordinary atten- L 2 tion. 4 ATOCAtYYSE. [Pt. I. § 1. tlon. They are replete with the same figurative lan- guage and symbols which pervade the whole book. And therefore it appeared to me a desirable object to ascertain the meaning of them, and to make the notes to these three chapters the basis of the inter- pretation, wliich is to be applied to the rest. And as these notes are constantly referred to in the pro- gress of the work, the reader, it is hoped, will pro- ceed patiently through this part, as being useful, and indeed essential, to the explication of the more in- teresting visions which follow. This part of the annotations extends to a greater length than otherwise might be necessary ; because the author, for his own satisfaction, was desirous to ascertain, how far the doctrines, images, sentiments, and language of the Apocalypse, are concordant with those of other Sacred Scriptures : and since Michaelis has founded his objections to the Apocalypse partly on this subject of inquiry, it seems proper to produce collections of this kind before the public. THE three first verses, which compose this section, contain the title of the book. It is no necessary part of it. For the book is written in an epistolaiy form, and at the fourth verse begins with that fotm, as com- monly used by the sacred writers; *' John to the *' seven Churches, &c.'' And sucli a title, announcing the contents of the book, may have been added after the times of Saint John, and by transcription may have passed into the text *. But there is no reason ^ • As certain additions, or subscriptions, at the end of many of the sacred epistles, are known to have done. See Michaelis's Intro- duct, to the N. T. cb. vii. sect. 10. xi. sect. 1. Also Palcy's Hor» Paullnae, cb. xv. suppose Ch. i. 1 — 3.] APOCALYPSE. 5 suppose that in the instance before us, such has been tlie case. For nearly the whole of this title is found quoted by the ancient Fathers, by Dionysius of Alex- andria, and by Origen*. Add to this, that the greater part of it is to be found, expressed in the same words, in the body of the workf. It is there- fore of similar authority. And the subsequent notes will shew, that the expressions contained in it are concordant in their meaning and doctrine with other passages of sacred Scripture. Ver. 1. The Revelation.'] We have many revela*- tions from our Lord Jesus Christ. This delivered to his servant John, is one of them. Not only on this ac- count, but because the prepositive article is omitted in the Greek, it may seem most proper to express tl\e word tt'Ko'A.ct.Xv^ti by "a revelation," and not " the *' revelation,'' but it is not necessary to make this alteration. For, by long usage and acceptance in the Christian Church, it is now accounted tH Keve* lation. lb. Which God gave unto him.'] The scheme of the Christian revelation is mediatorial throughout. God giveth to the Son J, dispensing knowledge and favour through him. lb. IVhich must come to pass in a short time.] The same expression is seeji to recur at the close of the book ^ ; and we may collect from it, that the events foretold in this prophecy begin to be fulfilled even from the time of its delivery, and arp to follow in a rapid succession until the fiqal consummation. In * Euseb, Hist. Eccl. lib. vii. c. 25. t See ch. xxii. 6, 7. J John iii. 35. v. 19, 27. viii. 28, 38. xij. 15. xiv. $, 10. Phil, H.9. ^ Ch. xxii, 6, Daniel, 6 APOCALYPSE. * [Pt. I. § 1. Daniel, ch. ii. 28, 29, 45, we have the same words, a, Jfx yevea&xi : there tliey are coupled with fx' eo-%circov Twv vjjXE^jov : the events were to take place in the latter clays ; but these latter days are said by Saint John, to have commenced in his time, that is, at the close of the apostolic age, and to be the ajitichristian days*. Thus we learn that the antichristian times, revealed to the prophet Daniel, are the same which are now to be disclosed in the Apocalypse. lb. SigJii/ied them.'] Ec-viju.avfv, expressed them by ffv^yLsicc signs significative, for ay,jx£iov has precisely this meaning inch. xii. l.'f lb. Unto his servant John.] John the Evangelist, one of the twelve Apostles, as will appear from the Dissertation preceding these notes. Ver. 2. fVho bare record of the zvord of God, &c.] This may be understood to allude to the former testi- mony of St. John, which he had delivered in his Gospel, or to the testimony which he had just now recorded of the visions seen by him in Patmos ; or to both. Ver. 3. Blessed is he who readeth, &c.] The same kind of blessing is pronounced in Matt. xiii. \6, Luke xi. 28, 2 Pet. i, 19, on those who cultivate spiritual knowledge, who attend with faith to the light of *' Prophecy, shining in a dark place, until the day "dawn," &c. But to knowledge must be added practice; '* If ye know these things, happy are ye " if ye do them J." The w^ord Tvi^^a is used in this sense more frequently by Saint John, than by any * 1 .Toh. ii. 18. + See, says Daubuz, Jamblic. de Myst. iEg. sect. iii. c. 15. where ■cnifxxivu is used in the very same signification. X Joh. xiii. 17. other Ch. i. 1 — 3.] APOCALYPSE. 7 other sacred wiiter. And it is with great propriety aj)plied to this book of prophecy, in which much practical exhortation is interspersed ; more especially in the three first chapters. lb. Fo7^ the time is near.] The time which is here announced as fast approaching, seems to be that, wherein the Son of God, having obtained the victory over those powers M^ho oppose the progress of his power, shall pass final sentence upon all; when *' he ** Cometh in the clouds of heaven," as represented in the seventh verse of this chapter. By comparing Dent, xxxii. 3, 5. Is. xiii. 6. Joel ii. 1, 15. Phil. iv. 5. 1 Pet. iv. 7, we shall perceive that it is usual with the Divine Spirit to announce this great day as near, when yet at considerable dis- tance, measured by 3'ears, and applied to successive ages. The reason of Mhich may be, that this great day is always near to every individual ; who, at the time of his departure from this world, will have made up his account. And the warning is here applied to individuals, for such are addressed in the beginning of the verse. It has been observed also, that, in the Scriptures, we are never exhorted to prepare for death, but always for the Qoming of the L,ord* PART s APOCALYPSE, [Pt. I. § !i. PART I. SECTION n. The Address, or Salutation, and the Doxology. 4 ^liiiyvfii rxUs lirioc. iKxXijy^a'^ rxis h TUV, cL [ifv] £VW- 5 KaiioiTro^lyiaZXfta-- o crf4/loTo;£©^ [txj T«i)y vta^uv, y^ o a^- y^jiv run ^xaiXiut Tvf yhi' Tf aya- P Ka/ t7roiioiTC¥ vixois iJeai Kj zjul^i avT»' ttVTU V So|a6 KXI TO xfiros Hs Tw alutxt 7 loa, t^ytixt [/.iTu ru» npiXu¥, xxt ii^/slxi xvTov zjois o^8a?^(jios, )^ o'lTivti «eyToy t|«x£y7»jo-ay* ^ Xo4/OyT«/ ITt' XV- Toy zsxaxt xi jxt T?y yv* »««; a/vere five of the seven ; for Sardis also and Laodicea entered the lists on this occasion *. They were certainly therefore cities of great account. The order in Avhich they are liere named is that pro- bably in which they were visited by the Apostle Saint John, who, both before and after his banishment to Patmos, superintended them all, residing principally at Ephesus f . It is the order also in which epistles written by Saint John from Patmos would be most * Tacit. Annal. iv. 55. Gibbon's Mist. i. 6o. Inscriptions upon medals still extant, and relating to this contest, may be ^een in a not« of Michaelis to sect. i. of the 20th chapter of his Introduction to the N.T. f Euseb. Eccl. Hist. lib. iii. c. 20. conveniently )0 APOCALYPSE. [Pt. I. § 2. conveniently distributed through the Churches, by a messenger making a circuit of about three or four hundred miles, as may be seen in the most correct maps. These Churches of Asia continued their bond of Christian connection, long after the time when they ■were thus addressed by Saint John. For it appears, that when toward the close of the second century the contest about the time of keeping Easter grew warm between the eastern and western parts of Christendom, Polycrates, who engaged in that controversy, "j5re- ■^ sided over the Bishops of Asia*.'" And the famous Epistle from the Gallic Churches, written somevvhat earlier, is addressed to the Churehes of' Asia and Fhry- gia. Now Piirygia lay contiguous to the province of Asia, of which it was sometimes accounted a part; and Laodicea, one of tlie seven Churches, was the capital of Phrygiaf. The number of Churches to which the Epistle is addressed, is seven: the same number which we shall find frequently employed in this sacred book. For wc read in it of seven spirits of God, seven angels, seven thunders, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, sesven heads of the Dragon, of the Beast, &c. In Avhich passages, as in others of holy Scripture, the number seven appears to represent a large and complete, yet uncertain and undefined number. Hannah, in her song, says, " The barren hath borne seven," (that is, a great and indefinite number of) children J. God threatens the Israelites that he will punish them *' seven times;" that is, very completely and severely, ' * Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. lib. v. c. 24. t Ibid. lib. V. c. 1. i 1 Sam., ii, 5. Nume^ Ch. i. 4—8.] APOCALYPSE. U Numerous are the instances ih Scripture of such use of this number*. In its Hebrew etymology it signifies fuhiess and perfection f. Philo styles it rsKta^pc^og, the completing number ; and it is mentioned as such by Cyprian, who cites passages from the Apocalypse and other Scriptures, to shew the comummatio perfecta et legitima of this number;}:. By what means this number became so important to the Israelites, so representative of completion and universality, may be collected from their history. God had revealed to them, that his own great work of creation had been completetl in seven days; and in memory thereof he commanded them to reckon time by sevens, seven days to the sabbath day, seven months to the sabbatical month, seven years to the sabbatical year, seven times seven years to the great sabbatical or jubilee year. And when, upon their en- trance into Canaan, it pleased God miraculously to deliver the city of Jericho into their hands, he ordered them to march round it seven days, seven priests, with seven trumpets, preceding them : and on the seventh day, on which the M-alls fell, they were instructed to encompass it seven times '§. As therefore the number ten came to be reckoned among all nations a perfect ^nd complete number, by counting on the ten fingers * See Gen. ii. 3, iv. 15. xxxiii. 3. Lev. iv. 6. Prov. xxiv. l6, xxvi. 25. Is. XXX. 26". Ezek. xxx. 9. 1 Kings xviii. 43. 2 Kings v. 10. Job v.. 19, xlii. 8. Mic. V. 5. Estli. i, 11. Eccl. xi. 2. Dan. iii. 19. 2 Esd. ii. 18, 19. Tob. xii. 15. Mat. xviii. 22. Luke xi. 2(5, xvii. 4. t Daubuz, Etymol. Diet. X See also Cyprian. De Exhort. Martyr. De Spiritu Sancto. Test, adv. Judaeos; and Augustin. de Civitate Dei, lib. xi, cap. 30. § Gregory Nazianzene, alluding to this transaction, calls seven the powerful number, 'h^ios t^x^tyos, ksh atXrm xMn^oixivni, koii lo^oavni ayasjjsTrro- typiri. Orat. iii. p. 57, edit. Paris. of 12 APOCALYPSE. [Pt. I. § 2. of man ; so did the number seven, with those nations who preserved the memorials of divine revelation ; and these two numbers, seven and ten, multiplied together, are accordingly used to express the utmost indefinite number. *' Not only until seven times," says our Lord, "but until seventy times seven *." But with the Jews, seven became the most important number, being seen to enter into almost all their institutions f. In the eastern nations, less given to change, this use of the number seven has continued more prevalent than with us. The Arabians and Indians, between which nations was a great conformity of religious customs, had seven celebrated temples, and believed in seven heavens, and seven compartments of hell J. And in modern India we still find this maxim in common use : ** A man's own mind will tell him more than seven ." sages that sit on an high tower §." It was through the nations of the east that the reverence for this pumber passed to the Greeks and Romans ||. According * Matt, xviii. 22. t They had seven lessons, seven readers ; seventy (that is, ten times seven) composed their supreme council ; which Josephus afterwards imitating, appointed seventy elders in Galilee, and seven judges in every city. (Bell. Jud. xx. 5.) And, for the same reason, in the Roman Church, the number of Cardinal Bishops (the word Cardinal implying completion) t was originally fixed at seven ; so continuing until the reign of Pope Alexander III. And the ecclesiastics of the Church of Rome were aware of this use and pre-eminence of the number seven, even sq late as in the l6'th century; for, in ] 54-7, at the Council of Trent, they defended the doctrine of seven sacraments, amongst other argu- fnents, by that of the universality aid superior dignity of the number seven. (Padre Paolo, lib. ii.) J Sale's Koran, Prelim. Disc. ^ Tracts on Hastings's Trial, If Spencer, de Leg. Heb. lib. i. Varro on Weeks, in. A. Gellius, lib, iii, c. 10. Clem. Alex. Strom.lv. ' tp Ch. I. 4— "iB.] APOCALYPSE. IS to Pythagoras, who had studied in Egypt, in Phoenicia, and at Babylon, it is a number venerable, perfect, and accommodated to things sacred *. And here it may be observed, that it is not from any casual or arbitrary notion, that the number seven has been thus dignified. It is entitled to this distinction, from the natural order of things, which God was pleased to establish at the crea- tion. A d^y is a natural measure of time, and, multiplied by seven, forms that period of a week which most con- veniently multiplies again, so as to form months and years. J. Scaliger has observed f, '* that the number ** seven is. of all others the most fit to measure the ** courses of the sun and moon." Add to this, that a week, or seven days, appears to be a complete period, by other laws and provisions of Providence; since it will be found to measure, by its repetitions, more • Brucker, Hist. Phil. Crit. i. 1055. Jamblichus de Vit. Pythag,— Grotius has produced proofs from Josephus, Philo, Tibullus, Homer, Hesiod, Callimachus, and Lucian, of an observance of a seventli day among the Greeks and Romans, or of a reverence of the number seven ; and from Philostratus, Dion Cassius, and Herodotus, of llie account of time being numbered by weeks among the Egyptians, Indians, and the northern nations of Europe. M. Varro (as reported in Aulus Gellius, lib. iii. c. 10.) has produced some coincidences of the complete nature of this numl>er, which shew at least that this notion of the number seven had passed to the Romans. 'HiTto^os /Aty klv f7f^i avi*ii Xtytt, ECiofAxir) S' TjfntiTx xaT»)\i'9t» It^ov r^f • N«/ /*»?» xut l/LaWn^xyos o taotvTris yea^tt, 'E^Sofxai^r) It t>j», xxi oi mtstvkto eitrxrr«. Euseb. Priep. Evang. lib. xiii. c. 13. Additional citations, fully confirming this, may be seen in 3riant'» Analog}', vol. i. p. 382; and in Faber's Horae Mosaicae, vol. i. p. 344. t " Septenarium numerutn accommodfitissimunn «sse solte et lun« " rationibus." Canon. I sag. 95. exactly 14 Af>oCAti tuv avattrat^ti iKi^knviui c-njAoiivuy, Comment, in loc. *' ?idmo- Ch. i. 4—15.1 A#ocALYPS]fe. t5 ** admonition *." The Jewish Church being lemovcct^ the Christian Church stands in its place, and is td apply to herself the same admonitions. And thus, in the present instance, the seven Churches of Asia being sunk in Mahometan superstition, tlieir " lamp-bearer removed," all the Christian Churches inherit the advice given, the threatenings denounced, the blessings pro- mised by their divine Lord. Ver, 4. Grace be unto you, and peace, &c.] The Saluta- tion in this epistle resembles those in other epistles of the New Testament; in almost all of which the inspired writer intreiits " grace and peace from God the Father, " and our Lord Jesus Christ." But the Godhead is here described with some additional expressions, not unscriptural, but presented in a new form, being such as naturally arose in the mind of the Apostle from the impression of the vision which he had then seen, and was proceeding to relate. Full of the images lately presented before him, he recurs to them even in this his intro- duction, and instead of saying, in the calm expression which otherwise he might have used, " Grace from *' God the Father," &c. he says, *' Grace from him " that was," &c. using the very forms of speech in which he had heard tlie Divine attributes described in the vision. The description of God the Father, occurs under the same expression, ch. iv. 8, from which place it is evidently taken ; and is consonant to the great I AM of Exod. iii. 14. The description of God the Son is in like manner taken from the vision. He calls him- self f " the faithful and true witness." He is so styled prophetically by Isaiah |:; such he was eminently in the last scene of his earthly life, when *' before Pilate • 1 Cor. X. 6—11. t Ch. iii. 14. % Ch. Iv. 4. "he 16 AI^OCALYPSE. [Pt L ^ S. " he witnessed a good confession*." Our Lord calls himself also in the same passage, *' the heginning of " the creation of God." He is styled by Saint Paulf, ** the first-born of every creature," and J " the first " fruits from the dead." But here he is also intitled ** The Ruler of the kings of the earth." But such is the prophetic character of the Messiah in Scripture, and such he is eminently shewn to be in the sequel of this prophecy §. But in this salutation, grace and peace descend, by the prayers of the pious writer, not only from God the Father and the Son, but also from a third Power ; *' from the seven spirits which are before the " throne." To underftand this expression, we must refer to chap. iv. 5. where, in the glorious representa- tion of the Deity, are exhibited '* seven lamps of *' fire burning before him, which are the seven spirits *'of God.'* But in chapter iii. 1. God the Son de- scribes himself as ^^ having the seven spirits of God;'' and when || he appears uj^der the emblem of the Lamb, he is described as having " seven eyes, which are the " seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth." But what can we account this universal, holy Spirit of God, proceeding from the Father and the Son, to be, but that which, in the plainer language of divine Scrip- ture is called the Holy Ghost ? The comment of Vene- ^ iTim.vi. 13. rw xaXijy e/xoX97/ay, the noble, honourable, excel, lent confession. The primitive Christians, who suffered martyrdom in the Gallic churches, considered the title of Martyr as appropriate to their Lord, and w«re unwilling to take it to themselves. Euseib. Hist. Eccl. lib. v. c. 2. i Col.i. 15. X 1 Cor. XV. 23. \ Ch.x\iii. U. xix. 1^. || Ch. v. 6. rable Cll. i. 4—8.] APOCALYPSE. 17 rable Bede on this passage appears forcible and just, *' Ununi spiritum dicit septiformem, quae est perfcc- " tio et plenitudo*. So that this saUitation, divested of its prophetical form, and of that imagery which had been derived to it from the scenery of the vision, will be found equivalent to the epistolary and plainer language of Saint Paul, " The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, "and the love of Godj and the fellowship of the " Holy Ghost be with youf." But why, in this passage, is the general order of Scripture inverted ? Why is the Holy Spirit mentioned before the Son? This may in part be accounted for, from the impression remaining upon the imagination of the writer, after he had seen the vision. For in chap. iv. 5, where th« symbol of the seven spirits was seen, it had appeared before the throne, closely con- nected with the glory of the Father, and previously to the entrance of the Souj under the emblem of the Lamb. Anotlier reason may be, that the character and description of the Son is reserved separately for the last, there to be longer dwelt upon; because he appears throughout the vision to be the prime agent, and the grand object of the whole prophecy ; he who, alone of the persons in the Godhead, has taken our human nature upon him, and visibly fought our battles against the common enemy. He is de- * " The one Holy Spirit is here described as sevenfold, by which is *' intimated in prophetic language fulness and perfection." The most ancient commentators, as reported or followed by Andreas Cassariensis, by Arethas, Primasius, and Victorinus, understood by the seven spirits and seven lamps of fire (ch. iv. 5,) the Holy Spirit, or the seven Charismata thereof, mentioned in Isaiah xi. 2. t 2 Cor. xiii. 13. M scribed 18 Al»OCALYPSE. [Pt. I. § 2. scribed to us here, 1ft, As in his suffering state ; Avhen, having taken the lowly form of a servant, by his sufferings he bare witnass to the truth. 2dly, A^ the first fruits from the grave*; when, triumphing over sin and death, he obtained the victory for his faithful followers. 3dly, As King of kingsf ; when, fulfilling all the prophecies which predict the Messiah, he shall reduce ajl nations under his easy yoke, utterly subduing all worldly tyranny and usurped do- minion. The two first of these offices and characters he hath already fulfilled ; the first during his earthly life, the second at his resurrection ; the last remains to be completed ; and is peculiarly the subject of the prophecies in this book J. Ver. 6. The Doxology, or Glorification^ which in other of the sacred epistles is no unusual sequel to the Salutation, comes next in order ; but is more especial- ly addressed to the Son, as the grand agent in the vision. The love of Christ towards mankind, and the ablution of their sins by his precious blood, are topics celebrated universally in the New Testament; but no- • i Cor. XV. 20. f 1 Tim. vi.l5. X For the change of case, which the Greek reader will remark Jn this passage, •* avo 'itjo-a o /xa^lfj'," let him consult Grotius on Mark ■vi. 40. who points out such construction, not only' in the scriptural, but also in the classical writers ; but this grammatical inaccuracy 'is more appropriate to the Hebrew-Greeks. And the occurrence of such in the Apocalypse, is so far from militating, as hath been re- presented, against the authenticity of the work, that it tends to establish its authority, by placing it upon the same footing in this respect with other books of the sacred canon. For, ungrammatical Greek, or at least Greek of impure idiom, will be found in most of them, though' perhaps not so abundant as in the Apocalypse, where Gh. i. 4—8.] APOCALYPSfci- 19 where more copiously than in the writings of Saint John. That he hath prepared for his faithful servants a kingdom, and appointed them priests unto God, though more immediately connected with the subject of this prophecy, are not novel ideas, but purely scriptural. A kingdom is proposed for the servants of Christ*, they are to reign with himf. And in Exod. xix. 5, God promises to Israel that by obe- dience, they shall become ** a kingdom of priests, a ** peculiar treasure unto God above all nations, a holy ** nation J." In Isaiah, ch. Ixi. 6, this promise is ex- tended to the Christian times and to the converted Gen- tiles, whom Saint Peter also calls an holy priesthood, a roj/a/ priesthood^; in which latter expression, as in the words of Moses, the two ideas of kings and of priests are brought together. In the Septuagint the words of Moses are rendered by Bct ascribing to him, as our Lord had done to himself in the vision J, those sublime attributes of the Father by which he fills all eternity, and exercises all power^. This application of the attributes of the Father to the Son, pervades all the sacred writings of the New Tes- tament, and is represented to be by communication, or inheritance. *' As the Father has life in himself, ** so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. ** I and my Father are one. I am in the Father and " the Father in me. All things, that the Father hath " arc mine. Whatsoever things the Father doeth, " these also doeth the Son likewise. The Father judg- '• cth tio man, but hath committed all judgment to *' the Son." These are our Lord's words, as recorded by Saint Jolui, according to whom he was * ' i?i the * See Dan. \ii. 13. Mat. xxiv. SO.' Mar. xiii, 26. xtv. 62. but more particularly Zech. xii. 10* where these images occur. f Hob. vi. 6. In confirmation of the received opinion, that St. John the Evangelist was the author of the Apocalypse, we naay observe, that s^iKtikroif is the very word used by that Apostle iii his Gospel, (xix. 37>) and is a word used by no other writer of the New Testament. I Ch. i. ii. 13. § See Is. xliv. 6. Ivi. 15. Mic. v. 2.- ** beginnings" Ch. I. 4-r-8.] APOCALYPSE. 21 *' beginning,'^ and "from the beginning with God*." The apostle to the Hebrews enforces the same notion of our Lord's eternity, when he calls him " Jesus *' Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for everf." He is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the original Creator, and the final Judge, of the world; to whose illustrious advent, and final triumph over his enemies (as being the grand catastrophe of the Apo- calypse) the prophet, who had already seen it exhi- bited in vision, exultingly adverts, even before he begins his narration. This was natural, in one who had seen such a vision, but it would not easily have occurred in a work of mere imagination and art. * John i. 1. 13. V. l6. l§, 22. xiv. 11. xvi> 15, also Col.i, j6. 17. Heb. i. 2, 3, 8. 1 John v. 20, t Heb, xiii. 8, PART I, SECTION III. The Appearance of the Lord Jesus with the Symbols of his Power; and the Commission given by him to Saint John to write xohat he beholds. CHAP. i. vEa. 9 — to the end. ^X/4/!( tCj 0xa-iXiiac XXI iirofA.ODr) Iv)v /xatpif- 10 'Eyi>OjM.*)» t» wwu- fAo/j h "HJ xvfjcutji riAifO,' xaii viKHcrx litiaru ^» ^wvr,v lA*yxXvtv us crccX- 1 1 TTify®', yxyicms' *0 ^XiTTCtSf ypd- 4'Oy t»j /3/fcX/o», twla luKhyto'la.is, its "Bpiaovy Tcoit lis &v»rtifKi KOii tls Ta^^tis, XXI »'is <- AaStX^E(ay, xa< £K 1 2 Aao$/xt.x3X/C(»- APOCALYPSE. God, and for the testimony of Jesus 10 [Christ]. I was iu the Spirit on the Lord's day; and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trum- 11 pet, Saying, '^ That " which thou seest " write in a book, ^* and send unto the " seven churches; to *' Ephesus ; and to " Smyrna; and to " Pergamos; and to '< Thyatira ; and to " Sardis; and toPhi- *' ladelphia; and to 12 " Laodicea." And I turned to see what the voice was which sp^ke with me ; and being tuped, \ saw seven golden lamp- 13 bearers; And in the midst of the seven lamp-bearers one like the Son of man, clothed with a long garment down to the feet, and girt about the breasts with a 1 4 golden girdle; His head and his hair white, as white wool, as snow ; and his eyes as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like smelting brass, as if burned brightly in a furnace ; and bis [Pt. I. S 3. word of God, and for the testimony of }%•<■ 10 sus Christ. I was iq the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trum- 11 pet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last : and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven Churches which are in Asia; unto Ephe- sus, and unto Smyr- na, and unto Perga- mos, and unto Tliya- tira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadel- phia, and unto Laor 12 dicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candle- 13 sticks; A^nd in the midst of the seve^ candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, cloathed with a gar- ment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden l^ girdle. His head and his hairs loere white like wool, as white as snow ; and his eyes xcere as a flame of 15 fire; And his feet lil^e unto fi,ne bra^s, Ch. i. 9—20.] APOCALYPSr. ^^ »w, ut |y Ksefxtitu vnry^uifjiiiioi' x«< q ^U*V CIVTH i)S puvii v*ar4iy "BJoX- JO ^w»' K«( f^J"* ty T^ 5«|'^ avT« p^t'f < tt^cpxt 'tTtlx' Kx\ Ix fO(^ipStiQ^ Ol's'OfJkOt o|njt tKirofivofjiiyrt' (v TTi 6wxi*.tt xuru. jiVKTX 'CTfOJ • TMf yixf'r' x«J iTri'S-ixt Tny Sj^iay atrS Iv t/xt, Xf'yaiy [/xoi]* Mi ^o?3" xau o iryjxioif J 8 K«i • ^a/y* x*( iy»>0(ix.*iy yixfofj x«i *}«' ^aJy iJ/>n tn Tits eiiSn*s T^iy ct(uy:i;y' x*l tyu rxs KXiit T« ^«yaT« x*« t5 Jf)ao«. r^Mi yina- ^xi (jJix rxZrxt iO To /xypjf {oA/€avov, where it will appear that the most learned interpreters assign this meaning to it, which corresponds exactly with the resplendent brightness of the thing seen in this vision. This is expressed by Ezek. xl. 5, and Dan. x. 6. w? o^xcig %flrXj(8 ariXtovTOQ. And wfTupwjXfvo/, though in the perfect tense, does not seem to express burned, that is, the fire being extinct, but having been in the act of burning so long as to have obtained a great degree of briglitncss. So the context (pAoE -zju^o?, and the parallel passages re- ferred to in the foregoing note, seem to point out ; also, ch. x. 1, where the angel's feet are w? vruKoi 'av^o;. Ver. 16*. Seven stars.} The seven stars in the hand of the great High Priest, are explained below, ver. 20, to signify the angels of the seven Churches. To nn-' derstand which expression, we may observe, that AfyeXcg, angel, in the Old and New Testament, as well as in profane authors, is, generally used to signify a messenger, ambassador, or representative; one who bears a deputed office or commission ; and that it rarely occurs in the sense in which we understand the English word, angel, * Is. xvii. 12. See also Psalm xciii. 4. Ezek. 1. 24e. xliii. 2. Rev. xiv. 2. xix. 6. Wisd. xvii. 4. (i.e. (i. e. fl messenger f torn God), without the addition of the words God or Lord *, either e3<:pressed, or evidently from the Context understood. Examples are numerous, and may be seen in all the Concordances. The aPyfAo;, angels, or messengers of John Baptist (Luke vii. 24.) of Christ (Luke ix. 52.) of Peter (Acts xii. 15.) were human beings, ambassadors, delegates. Such were the tXvelve Apostles, as the very name implies, messengers, delegates; to which Saint Paul adds that of herald (K»ifu^ v.cti uTovroXog, 1 Tim. ii. 7.) M'hich has nearly the same signification. They executed the ofifice of am- bassadors under Christ t ; and the Bishops, afterwards delegated by them, held the same kind of commission. For. Saint Paul, mentioning under M'hat name or title such heads of the Church, Titus and others, were to be received, says, " They are the messengers of the Churches, (in the original it is tnroffloKot,) and the glory of Christ J.** They held an intermediate and delegated office, between Christ, the Head of all the Churches, and that particular Church to which they •were deputed by him or his Apostles. They M'cre the under-shepherds, to whom particular flocks were in- trusted, and from whom the Great Shepherd will ex- pect account. To such persons, in so intermediate and responsible an office, the injunctions of their Lord, the supreme Head, are addressed. As he walks in the midst of the seven lamp-bearers, or seven Churches, so he possesses, and directs, the seven lights which are to he pkiced upon them. The lights which the Churches Ireceive, are derived from him, and pass through his jiand. These lights or teachers, and lieads of the * AfviXsj r» 0sa or Ktf/a. t 2 Cor. V. 20. Eph. vi. 20. 1 Cor. ir. 1. X 2 Cor. iv. 1. Church, Ch. i. 9—20.] AP0CALTP3E. 31 Church, arc here represented under the emblems of stars; by which, in the symbohcal language of Scrip- ture, are signified eminent leaders in God's service. Under this symbol, Joshua, David, and others, and Christ himself, are denoted *. And it well accords to the distinguished presidents and conductors of the Christian Church, uhose appropriate reward is an- nounced t, that '* they shall shine as the stars for ever ** and ever." And the removal of such teachers is re- presented in prophetical language, as the stars being removed, covered, darkened, and not giving their light p Ver. 16. And from his mouth a two-edged sharp sword coming forth.] This is the weapon by which our Lord and his followers are to conquer at the last ; and therefore is again described in ch. xix. 15, 21. In an eminent passage of the evangelical Prophet, con- fessedly prophetical of our Lord, it is said, " He shali ** smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with ** the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked §." Agreeably to which, the " sword of the Spirit" is called by St. Paul, '* the word of God 1| ;" and is the weapon with which, according to the same Apostle, even ** with the spirit of his mouth," the Lord shall destroy the man of sin^f. And the powers of this weapon are again described : " The word of God is quick**, and ** powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword tf." * Num. xxiv. 17. Rev. x.xii. 16. Dan. viii. 10. 2 Mace. ix. 10. t Dan. xii. 3, I Ezek. xxxii. 8. Joel ii. 10. iii. 15. and in othef passages. § Is. xi. 4. See also Is. xxx. 28, 33. xlix. 2. Job xU. I9, 21. Ps. cxlix. 6'. II Eph. vi. 17. ^ 2 Thess. ii. 8. ** i. e. alive, Zir. tt Heb. iv. 12. These 32 APOCALYPSE: [Pt. I. § 3; These quotations from Holy Writ cast considerable light upon the passage before us, and shew the nature of the arms, by which our Lord and his Church are to gain their victories ; not by the usual instruments of human warfare, but by the preaching of the word iu evangelical purity and power. The metaphor of the sword, employed here to represent powerful speech, may appear bold ; '' but," says Bishop Lowth, " it hjust*. ** It has been employed by the most ingenious heathen ** writers, if Avith equal elegance, not with equal force. " It is said of Pericles, by Aristophanes f, To xfyJfOK t^KMOtKeiTts cm^oufjuvoif. Apud Diod. lib. xii. his powerful speech Pierced the hearer's soul, and left behind Deep in his bosom its keen point infix'd. *' Pindar is particularly fond of this metaphor, and " frequently applies it to his own poetry. Olymp. ii. " 160, 149. ix. 17." The Sun.'l Our Lord has the stars, the lesser lights, the ministers of his word, ifi his hand, under his direc* tion ; but he himself alone shineth like the greater lio-ht, '* The Sun of righteousness, with sevenfold " lio'ht:]:." But as he is, in glory, so shall be likewise his faithful servants after their resurrection. *' They shall *' shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their " Father §." Here ends the Apostle's description of this appear- ance of our Lord Jesus Christ; for such he undoubtedly is, from his account of himself, which follows in verse * On Is. xlix. 2. + See Cicero, Epist. ad. Atticum, xii. 6, 1 Mai. iv. 2. Is. XXX. 26'. i Mat. xiii. 43. ^ - the Ch. i. 9^20.] APOCALYPSE. ^f 33 '' v)^ the 18th, and which can belong to none of the^gelic natures, but solely to the only-begotten Son of Go"(fr It is also to be observed, that our Lord repeats, and applies to himself, all this description, in his addresses to the seven Churches, contained in the two subsequent chapters ; and in one of these passage's he calls himself d xfiOQ Tov Qeov, the Son of God. Now an angel, or even a good man, in the language of Scripture is called sometimes vio; Qss, a son of God ; but none except the only begotten^ our Lord Jesus, is ever styled o' vm rs 0f3, the Son of God. Ch. ii. 1 8. Add to this, that in the next verse. Saint John is described as prostrating himself before this Son of Man, and no reproof follows, as in ch. xix. 10, and xxii. 9» when he prostrates him- self to the angel. This shews the difference between an angel and the only begotten Son of God ; and unites, with other passages of Scripture in authorising the worship which the orthodox Christians pay to their Redeemer. Such was the opinion of the most ancient commentators, To rvjc GeoTvjToc ts Yi^^iq^ £iJj(paiveTut fxeye^o^, ttVTS yx^ $s\ei ret ocALttsEi 55 lb. Hell.] By this vv^ord, in popular language, is com- monly expr(?ssed the Gehenna, or place of punishment, only : but tliis is not the true arid proper sense of the word, the sense in which it is to be taken in this passage ; for the word Hell will be found in our old. writers to answer exactly to the Scheol of the Hebrews, and to the Hades of the Greeks. It is the general receptacle of the dead, the place of departed souls, whatever it may be, whether happy or miserable *. And therefore, though I had at first used the word Hades in my translation, after the examples of Bishop Lowth and of Daubuz, 1 afterwards restored this word from the old translation ; because, rightly under- stood, it is. fully adequate to represent the idea of the original : and why should we adopt foreign phrases, when our own language is competent to express what we intend ? Besides, we seem obliged to preserve, in our versions of the Scriptures, this English expression, in conformity with our principal creed, and with the third article of our national religion ; in both of which the word Hell is used ; and so used, is continually ex- plained by our catechists to mean the invisible mansion of departed souls* In the earlier forms of our language it was written Hele, being derived from the Saxon Helanj to cover* Death is a formidable foe, who kills the body ; but there is yet a more dreadful enemy, which attacks the soul, in those regions beyond the grave, where ** the ** worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Both are mentioned by our Lord, in Matt x. 28, and he points out which is the most formidable. Both are * See the learned notes of Grotius on Matt. xvi. 18. Luke yvi. 2.Z, xxiii. 43, and Schleusn^r or Parkhurat on the word *Ahs* N 2 frequently S6 APOCALYPSE. [Pt. I. § 5. frequently personified in Scripture*; and both are addressed in that animated apostrophe, " O Death, '* where is thy sting ! O Grave {4^), where is thy victory f !'* The gates of death, which are opened by these keys, are frequently mentioned in Scripture J; and the gates of Hell (wuX^f* ocJa) by our Saviour^. And the same metaphorical ex}>res3ion is used by heathen authors !|. The keys of these gates are in the possession of the Captain of our Salvation, who, by suffering death, triumphed over Death ^f ; nnder his banner, "Death is swallowed up in victory." This conquest is represented as complete in ^Cor. xv. and in the sequel of this book**. By this, Christ has obtained for his faithful followers a safe passage through the gates of Death, and through the terrors of Hell, to that kingdom of glory which he has prepared for them. Under no consideration can our Redeemer be felt of greater importance to us, than as possessing the keys of Death, and of our future state of everlasting existence. Ver. 19. JVritey &c.] The Apostle is commanded io write ^ox the information of the Church; and the subject matter which he is to write is here divided (as indeed it naturally divides) into two parts ; 1st, the scene then before him, with the address to the seven Churches, revealing to them their then internal and real state ; 2dly, the events which were to happen to the Church in future. This same division occurs again inch. iv. 1, where, the first part being dispatched, the Prophet is invited to behold *' the things which are " about to happen after these.'' Both are revealed by the spirit of prophecy, which was equally necessary to * Is. V. 14. Ilab. ii. 5. f 1 Cor. xv. 55. \ Job xxxviii. 17- Ps. ix. 13* § Matt. xvi. IS, .11 Horn. Iliad, ix. 312. If Heb. ii. 14. ** Ch. xxi. 4. discover Ch. i. 9—20.] APOCALYPSE. 37 discover the real internal state of the Chiircli then existing, as the events which were to happen to it in future. We may instance in the Church of Sar- dis *, which enjoyed the reputation of a living Church, a Church flourishing in faith, doctrine, and practice ; but she is discovered, by the spirit of pro- phecy, to be " dead-\.'* Ver. 20. The mysteri/.'] Muc^i^'ov, in the scriptural language, generally signifies hidden and recondite "knowledge; such as is accessible only by the peculiar favour and revelation of God J. In prophetic language, as in this passage, and in ch. xvii. 7, it is used to sig- nify the meaning concealed under figurative resem- blances. So the stars are angels, and the lamp-bearers churches: for the explanation of which, as relating to the lamp-bearers, see the note, ver. 12, and as relating to the stars, ver. 16 ; in which latter note will be seen some of the reasons why the bishops or presidents of ♦ Ch. iii. I. + Some commentators have supposed three divisions, as arising from these words of Jesus Christ ; namely, « fJ» "ETf «- 5 T»» a^xaif. M»u- VStflfluKXS, 'j(ro»" i« St ^>), t^y(p(Mii (TQi \yxyv\^ 5C xtrnw T»j» TMy^ixi aa tx t5 T09r« aamist Ixv /xi fjiJlxwhims, 'aX- Xa t5to t;^«f j ot< fttaiis rx t^I« TftJy N/KoXasiraJy, a xa- isf XKWxru t/ to tKKXvVIXiS' Tu II- Kuirt ouru xvTu ^xyiif fx T« |vX« T«J not^xoila^ t5 tried them who say they are Apostles, and are not ; and thou hast 3 found them false. And thou hast patience, and hast endured on account of my name, and hast not been 4 wearied out. But I have against thee that thou hast left thy for- 5 mer love. Be mindful, then, whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the former works ; or else I am coming to thee [soon], and I will remove thy lamp- bearer out of its place, unless thou repent. 6 But this thou hast, that thou hates t the works of the Nico- laitans, which I also 7 hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches, To him that overcometh, to him will I grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Para- dise of my God. evil : and tKou hast tried them which say they are Apostles, and are not; and hast found 3 them liars: And hast borne, and hast pa- tience, and for my name's sake hast la- boured, and hast not 4 fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat a- gainst thee, because thou hast left thy 5 first love. Remen:\ber, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quick- ly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou re- 6 pent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nico- laitanes, which I also 7 hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches, To him that over- cometh, will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. Ver. 1. Unto the angel of the Church.] The ad- dress of our Lord is not unto the angels, or presidents of the churches, on their oxvn behalj] but on account of 40 APOCALYPSE. [Pt I. ^ 4- of the churches over \vhich they preside. This will appear in many instances, but particularly in that of the Church of Thyatira*, where v^liv ?f Ksyu, (I say to 3/0W, not to thee) plainly shews it. Some of the commentators, overlooking this, have understood the words of Christ as addressed to the Presidents on their own individual account. They are addressed to the seven Churches in particular, and through them to the universal church in all times and in all places ; such is the figurative import of the number seven f. Some commentators have proceeded farther. They have imagined that under the description of the seven churches, seven successive periods of the church are prophetically delineated. But this does not agree with the division made by the Divine Giver of this Revelation J, whereby he points out the second and third chapters as containing a eiai, " the things which *' now are," and the remaining chapters as unfolding & fX£7.A£i yevsa^ai /Xf7fl: ravlec, " the things which are about *' to be after these. "^ And without entering into far- ther particulars, it must appear, that no description of any of the seven Churches is sufficiently dark, to express the corrupt state of religion in the middle ages as described in history ; or as prophetically delineated in the subsequent parts of this revelation : Nor can we here find any representation of that triumphant state of the church, which, from the concluding chapters of this book, and from other prophecies, we have reason to respect. Another yet more fanciful exposition has been added to this ; under the Greek name of each of the seven churches, the successive ♦ Ch. ii. 24. t See note, chap. i. 4. I Ch. i. 19. which compare with ch. iv. 1. and see the note on the former passage ^ cha- Ch. ii. 1 — 7.] APOCALYPSE. 41* character of the universal Church has been sup- posed to be mysteriously expressed. Bede, in the eighth century, is the first author in whom I recollect to have seen this mode of interpretation. He finds myrrh in the word Smyrna, and then applies the qualities of myrrh to the city of that name ; others following the example (exemplum *vitiis imitabile), have extended this method of interpretation to all the seven churches. lb. Ephesus.] This is the city, in which the apostle Saint John commonly resided*, and from which he would visit the six remaining Churches, in the order in which they are here named. It is also the first sea- port to one proceeding from the Island of Patmos, from which the distribution of our Lord's injunction^ to the seven Churches would begin. Strabo, who wrote about 50 years before the date of this vision, and who had been educated in the province of Asia, and was personally acquainted with every part of it, has described Ephesus as the most considerable city in that regionf. So likewise PlinyJ. Possessing the famous temple of Diana, which had been endowed with peculiar privileges by the conquerors Xerxes and Alexander, it became a distinguished seat of heathen idolatr3\ Hence the preaching of the Gospel was opposed in this city from political prejudices and mercenary motives §. But the cause of true rehgion prevailed, by the diligent preaching of Saint Paul assisted by the Holy Spirit. That Apostle made Ephesus his abode '* for the space of two years ;'* and, as this city was the grand mart of Asia, so it • Iren. adv. Haer. lib. iii. c. 1. Euseb. Eccl. Hist. lib. iii, c. 23. ■t Strabo, ii. p. 865, 941. % Nat. Hist. lib. v. c. 29, § Acts xix. ?6\ became 42 AF0CALYP8E. [Pt T. § 4. became a central point, whence the Christian Reli- gion was successfully propagated ; "so that all they " who dwelt in Asia, heard the M^ord of the Lord *' Jesus, both Jews and Greeks*." Therefore, when Saint John, some years later, came to dwell in Asia, Ephesus became the proper place of his residence. We may learn somewhat of the state of this Church, about 30 or 40 years before the date of this vision, from the Epistles of Saint Paul to Timothy, whom he had left at Ephesus, and who was Angel or Apostle, of this Church at the time when the letters of Saint Paul were addressed to himf. It was then assailed by zealots, probably Jews, who taught their *' fables and endless genealogies," and made little account of that charity which is " the *' end of the commandment." We might obtain ad- ditional information on this subject, from the Epistle of Saint Paul which is inscribed to the Ephesians, if it should appear to be written peculiarly to the inhabitants, of that city. But doubts have been advanced upon this subject : and some have supposed that this Epistle is that which Saint Paul had sent to the Laodiccans, and which, at the conclusion of his Epistle to the Colossians, he orders to be read, interchangeably with that Epistle, by the two Churches.]:. But how- ever * Act? xix, 10. t 1 Tim. 1. 3. t See Whitby on Coloss. iv. 6. Paley's Ilorae Paulinas. Lardner*s Cred. vol. vi. Bp. Pretyman's Christian Theology, vol. i.— ^Certainly this Epistle contains nothing personal to the Ephesians, which might be expected in the letter of an Apostle who had resided above two years among them. And to me it appears probable, that containing only a general exposition of the Christian dispensation so far as it relates to the Gentiles, and a general view of the Christian doctrines as a,ppl4cable to ^11, and qoufi^led tQ no community in particular, it was intended Ch. ii. 1 — 7.] APOCALYPSE. 45 ever this matter may be determined, It is certain that the Church of Ephesus had enjoyed very considerable advantages, beyond most other churches, at the time when our Lord now addresses it. Saint Paul had re- sided at Ephesus upwards of two years, and afterwards Timothy, under his immediate direction ; lastly, the Apostle Saint John had fixed his abode there. All this accords with the address of our Lord to this Church, in which it is (1st) represented, as free from heretical doctrines ; (2dly) is reprimanded severely for a defect in charity ; for to whom much is given, of the same much will be required. The History of Ephesus, from the apostolical times to the present, is in abridgment as follows. This city stood very high in the commonwealth of Chris- tians for some centuries. She sent her bishops to the general councils, and councils were holden at Ephesus. About ten or twenty years after this address of her Lord to her, at the time of Ignatius's martyrdom^ ioteDded to be circulated not only at Ephesus, but in all the adjacent region ; and accordingly might be addressed also to the Laodiceans. Arguments for this hypothesis may be seen in Mjchaelis's Introduc- tion to the New Testament, ch. xx. Add to these, that Tychicus wa? the bearer of this Epistle ; and Tychicus appears to have been often employed in bearing the communications of this Apostle to the Churches; (Col. iv. 7, 2 Tim. iv. 12. Tit. iii. 12.) From Rome, where Saint Paul wrote this Epistle, Tychicus had to travel over many regions befpre he would arrive at Ephesus. This Epistle, as a Catholic universal address, was of a fit character to be distributed as he passed through the Churches, The copy left at Ephesus had the words i* E^iay inserted, and this copy principally was preserved, and acknowledged by the Fathers of the Cburch. But in some of the MSS. now extant, the words iv E^trji are not to be found, and in some the word 'aaci is added after iyiots (such is the case in the famous Alexandrine MS.) which gives some colour to thig supposition, of its being a Cs^tholic Epistle, designed for m^ny of the Gentile Churches. she 4^ APOCALYPSE. [Pt. I. § 4. she appears to be in a flourishing state, having in her bosom great numbers of Christians professing a pure faith, and directed by Onesimus an excellent bishop ; The heresies, which then began to prevail tliroughout the Churches, had nx)t yet corrupted her * In the third naval expedition of the barbarians from the Euxine, during the reign of Valerian, Ephesus suffer- ed great calamities. But the grand desolation of this city, under which she now lies prostrate, was that which she underwent in common with the maritime coast of Lesser Asia, in the year 1312, from the de- vastating armies of the Turksf. Ephesus is described by modern travellers as little better than a heap of ruins ; so completely is her " lamp-bearer removed J." lb. Thus saith Ae, &c.] The supreme head of the Christian church is now in the act of visitinar and superintending. To the church of Ephesus, with which he begins, he represents himself in that cha- racter and office, as walking amidst his churches, and directing and supporting their teachers §. Ver. 2. Canst not endure. ) The word endure (lieKrlai^u') Ver. 3. Hast endured, yis twice applied to the Ephesian Church, which in the same passage is com- mended, 1st, for cndurhig ; and 2dly, for not endur^ ing ; for enduring the yoke of Christianity -without fainting under the afflictions and persecutions which attended it ; for not enduring another yoke, namely, * Ignatii Epist. ad Ephes. sect. 9. t Gibbon's Hist. i.ch. 10. vi. p. 314. I For accounts of the present state of Ephesus, and of the other six Churches, as briefly reported in the ensuing notes, see at large. Smith's Septem Asiae Eccles. Notit. ; Rycaut's Present State of the Greek Church ; and the relations of Wheeler, Spon, Heyman, ftuc^ Van Egrnont, in their voyages and travels. I See note i. 12. the Ch. ii. 1— -7.] APOCALYPSE* * 45 the yoke of doctrines and ordinances of pretended Apostles, who under the name of Christianity had attempted to deceive them. This Church had pro* ceeded, according to the injunction of our apostlgitj "to try the Spirits," to bring the doctrines of these pretended apostles to the test of Apostolic Religionf; and upon this trial had rejected them. If the Chris- tian C'hurch, mindful of this commendation, (which is again studiously repeated in verse 6,) had been careful in succeeding times to model its conduct by the example proposed, it would not have been betrayed into antichristian apostacics, or have sub- mitted to antichristian domination, such as will be seen described in the sequel of this prophecy. Ver. 4. Thy former love.'\ It seems justly remarked by Grotius on this passage, thatTgwlvjv, as in John i. 15, has the force of v^oIb^viv. TertuUian thus understood it, desertam dilectionem Ephesiis imputatj. The Church is accused of having forsaken that warm and extensive communication of charity which charac- terised Christianity in its infancy, and which in the days of Justin Martyr, and of TertuUian, is de- scribed to be its distinguishing ornament §. To fail in this, is to fall from primitive purity ; and the fall is great; xoflcv eHTtTrlunxg ; and the punishment threatened, naturally follows : for the Church, which is defective in Christian Charity, cannot long remain ** a shining light;" her lamp-bearer is removed ||, Ver. 6. Nicolaitans.] It is observed by Mosheim, that our knowledge of the sects and heresies of the first * 1 John iv. 1. t 2 John vi. Mat. vii. l5. I De Poenitentia, sect. 8. § Just. Dial, cum Tryphon. p. 254. TertuUian. Apol. c. 31. p. 3l« It 3 E«d. X. 22. century '4^ APOCALt^Sfi. [Pt. I. § 4. century is very incomplete. And doubts have arisen, whether in the accounts given of the Nicolaitans, by Irenaeus, TertulHan, Clemens, and others, they did not confound the Nicolaitans, mentioned in this passage, with another sect afterwards founded by one Nicolaus*. It appears from the testimony of these ancient fathers, and of Eusebiust, that the Nico- laitans, whom they describe, adopted principles which were afterwards held b}'' the Gnostics, deny- ing the humanity of our Lord, and his real suffer- ings in the flesh. But these were no novel doctrines, the Nicolaitans of Saint John's time might have taught them ; for we find them mentioned or alluded to in Saint John's writings J. The same doctrines arc opposed b}' Ignatius in his Epistle to the Trallians, and Ignatius wrote at no great distance of time from the date of the Apocalypse. Poly carp, the next in succession, is seen to oppose in his Epistle the same errors. And the end of the age of Polycarp brings us down to the times of Irenteus, and of Tertullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, &c. And as these fathers agree in calling the heretics, who professed these tenets, by the name of Nicolaitans, there seems good reason for concluding that the Nicolaitans of Saint John's time were such. Their history, though but slightly touched, appears one and the same through the whole period of time,, from the latter part of the first to the middle of the second century. But what- ever we may judge by the evidence of their doctrines, the matter will appear clearer from considering what is delivered by the ancients, concerning the morals • Mosheim, Eccl. Hist. cent. 1. ch. v. f Hist. Eccl. ch. iii. 29. I 1 Johnii.18, 19. iv. 2, 3; 2Jobn7. and Ch. ii. 1—7.] APOCALYPSE. 47" and practices of the Nicolaitans whom they describe, and by comparing them with those mentioned in the Apocalypse. They describe the Nicolaitans as im- pure and profligate in their lives, and in comment- ing on those passages of Saint Jude, and of the se- cond Epistle of Saint Peter, which represent heretical leaders, ** like the Sodomites, turning the grace of "God into lasciviousness *," they assert that these were Nicolaitansf. The tradition of the Church call- ed them by that name ; and they were probably he- retics of the same kind as these mentioned by our Saviour, at. a time intermediate between the date of these Apostolical Epistles, and of the writings of these ancient Fathers. It is of their practices that our Lord speaks with detestation, ** Thou hatest the works of ** the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." From this testimony it appears, that these Nico- laitans were impious in their doctrines, and impure in their lives J. The Christian Gnostics aftervvards adopted many of their doctrines and practices, and are therefore said by the ancients to be sprung from them. The progressive history seems to be this* When the Apostles Peter, and Jude, and John, wrote their respective Epistles, there were some heretical teachers of this character, '* creeping unawares," that is, slyly and covertly, into the Church. When the Apocalypse came forth, they had increased, were em- bodied, and had acquired a name. Yet in that form, (and probably in consequence of our Lord's dis- avowal of them in this passage and in ver. 15.) they made little progress : but afterwards; uniting to their • Jude 4, 7, 8. 2 Pet. ii. 2. t See these evidences in Whitby, in loc. } Utp (Ati ioyiMtios tinQurlctioiy moi Si fw» agrtXytalxloi, QBcumenius* principles 48 APOCALYPSE. [Pt. I. §4. principles of doctrine, and some of them to their practices (for all the Gnostics were not impure in their lives*) the pompous title of Gnosis, and its philoso- phical jargon, they swarmed over and corrupted a great part of the Christian world. It appears however from the testimony of Ignatius given previously to his martyrdom, at a period of ten or twenty years after these injunctions of our Lord were delivered, that this Church of Ephesus had profited much hy his warnings; for, when the other churches began to be corrupted by the Gnos- tics, Ephesus was seen to flourish with a pure faith f. Ver. 7. He that hath an ear, &c.] It was usual with our Lord, when he was about to address himself to his auditors n\ figurative language, to bespeak their spiritual attention by a warning of this kind, '' He ** that hath ears to hear, let him hear." In the pas- sage before us the language changes from plain to figurative ; and the same notice is given. The ad- dress is now from the Spirit, or seven Spirits^, whose ofhce it is to reveal mysteries, and " to shew things to *'come§;" and it applies not only to the Church of Ephesus, but to all the seven Churches ; and through them to the universal Church, in all ages and places |j. lb. To him that over comet hJ] Being summoned in the words immediately preceding, to apply our spiritual ear to the symbolical language, in whicli the Holy Spirit addresses the Church, let us in the first place inquire into, and settle, the figurative meaning of the words coriguer, victoiy, &c. as used in Scripture. 7'he Christian is represented to be engaged in a dan- * Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. iii. v. f Ignat. Epist. ad Epbes. sect. 9. Euseb. Eccl. Hist. lib. iii. 26. iv. 7. X See note, ch. i. 4. § John xvi. 13. || Note i. 4. ^erous Ch. ii. 1-^7.] APOCALYPSE. gerous warfare, against a very powerful enem^ Lord, in St. Matthew, ch. xiii. 39, and Saint Peter, in his first Epistle, chap. v. 8, inform us plainly, that this adversary is the Devil, that ancient foe of man- kind, who attacks us sometimes by deceits and entice- ments, as he did successfully our first parents ; some- times by force and terror, as he did those of the first Christians, who were exposed to the fiery trial of martyrdom. The arms, which he employs against us, are the temptations, or terrors, of the world and of the flesh ; but these would not be so formidable, if they were not aided by the influence which he, as a Spirit, possesses over our Spirit; ** for we wrestle not," says Saint Paul*, " against flesh and blood, but ** against principalities, against powers, against the " rulers of the darkness of this world, against spi- *' ritual wickedness in high places." Wherefore he exhorts us to take in our defence " the whole armour " of God," which he also de&cnhes Jigurativeli/f con- cluding that, ** above all, we should take the shield oj ** faith, wherewith we shall be able to quench all ** the fiery darts of the wicked one (ra Tovvifa)." This combat, and these means of victory, are also set forth in various parts of Scripture, of which the following may be produced as instances; 1 Tim. vi. 12. 1 Thess. V. 8. Rom. xii. 12. 2 Cor. vi. 7. x. 3, 4, 5. xii. 10. 1 Cor. xvi. 13. 1 John ii. 13, 14. iv. 4. 5. v. 4, 5. 1 Pet. v. 8, 9. ii. 11. James iv, 7- Our Lord is de- scribed as having successfully fought this battle, at the periods of his temptation and of his final suffering, and we hi» servants can only expect success by follow- ing him, " the Captain of our salvation," who has promised spiritual assistance to those who strive * Eph. vi. 12. C against €0 AyOCALYPSE. [Pt. I. § 4. against the common enemy, — such assistance as shall enable them to oveyxome*. But with what arms did our Lord himself overcome? for with none other can his followers expect to conquer ; — not with the wea- pons of human warfare. When such were offered to him, previously to the grand conflict, " put up thy ** sword," said he to the zealous apostle, who drew it in his defence, " all they that take the sword," that rely on such arms in such a cause, " shall perish with ** the sword," shall lose that victory, which is to be gained by other means. The means then used by the great " Captain of our salvation," was meek per- severance in the cause of truth and righteousness, founded upon faith in his God ; he conquered, he ** was made perfect, by sufferings f." Which words are explained in the 14th verse of the same chapter; *' through {leatk he destroyed him that had the " power of death, even the devil, openly triumphing " over him," in this very act J. It is for this reason, |hat our Lord, when preparing for this combat, in which he knew that by stiff ering he should overcome, calls his death his giorijication §. In that last and de- cisive conflict in the flesh, with " the prince of this ** world j|," as our Lord then calls him, he overcame him hy suffering ; and passing through the grave to heaven, he opened a passage for his faithful followers, leading them triumphantly into that kingdom, which he had prepared for them, and where " he must ** reign," till all his enemies shall be finally subdued; until ^' Death shall be swallowed up in victory^." Thus, as I have seen it expressed, with brighter truth , * Luke X. 18. &c. t Heb. ii. 10. J Col. ii. 15. § John xii. 23, 28. xiii. 31. xvii. 1. also vii. ?3. xii. l6. II John xii. 13. xiv, 20. IT 1 Cor. xv. 24. 54—57. ^'^^"';. ' than Ch. ii. 1 — /.] APOCALYPSE. 51 than Latinity, " Victus qui sseviebat, vicit qui suf- ** ferebat." "The conqueror was subdued, the suf- *' ferer conquered;" or, as, in more stately lan- guage, God the Father is represented speaking of the Son incarnate; '* I send him forth " To conquer sin and death, the two grand foes, " By humiliation and strong suff'rance*." It is the duty of every Christian to be ready at all times to fight this spiritual battle, under the convic- tion, that he is certain to triumph, if he be lawfully called to the conflict f, and have faith to follow his great Leader. For, to suffer in that cause is to triumph ; " nay, in all these things," says Saint Paul speaking of such sufferings, " we are more than con- *' qiierors, through Him who loved us J." And this no- tion of coiiflict, battle, victory, &c. will be found also to pervade the writings of the early Christians. In the martyrdom of Ignatius, published by Arch- bishop Usher, that martyr is called MhviTviQ yai ysv- vuiog i/.ufvg X^ktIh, •/.u\ct%ulvi<7a,g tov AiutoXov ^ and in that precious morsel of Ecclesiastical History in the second century, the epistle from the Gallic Churches, the persecuting power is styled e «v7/K£/]afvo?, the adversary, who 'x^oyvfji.vut^et, skirmishes before the battle; but tivlifflulei VI xui^ig t8 0f8, the grace of God conducts the Christian force against him, and supports the martyrs, who are called yevmioi u^K\^1ai, noble combatants \\. Agreeably to these images, that ancient hymn of the ♦ Par. Reg. i. 159. t 2 Tim. ii. 5. J Rom. viii. 37. § Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. v. Pref. & c. j. II Euseb. H. E. lib. v. Pref. & cap. i. See also the same lan- ^age in Minuc. Feliit Octav. c. S/. o 2 Christian 52 APOCALYPSE. [Pt. I. ^ 4. / Christian Churcli, beginning witlr Te Deum, recounts tlic " noble army of jMartyrs." But besides this battle which every Christian has to fight individually, and on his own private account, against the great adver- sary, there is a more general and extended warfare^ in whi. ■ he followers of Christ are engaged in a body, as he body of Christ's Church. It is against the same arch-enemy, the devil, and under the same leader, Christ. For our Lord is represented as con- tinually presiding over the fortunes of his church : " Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the *' world *." It is this warfare extended through all the ages of the world, which seems principally, if not solely, to be prefigured in the Apocalypse. The Devil and his worldly agents attack by seduction and corrupt doctrine, by terror and persecution ; the church re- sists, covering herself with the arms of her great Leader, " the cincture of truth, Hie breast-plate of " rio-hteousness, the helmet of salvation, the sword of *' the Spirit, and, above all, the shield of faith t- *' Though she walk in the flesh, yet does she not war *' after the flesh, for the weapons of her warfare are " not carnal, but mighty, through God, to the puU- *' ing down of strong holds, bringing into captivity " every thought to the obedience of Christ." Agree- ably to which words of Scripture in the language of the Apocalypse: " He that conquereth," is " he " who keeps the works of his Lord even unto the *'endt;" he who, by the prevalence of faith, per- severes in the profession and practice of Christianity, •when assailed by temptation or terror, is the faithful and victorious soldier of Christ. And to a church ♦ Matt, xxviii. 20. + Eph* vi. 14, &c. 1 See cb. ii. 26. where the expression may be thus paraphrased* of Part of Centurv' thf fiilt. Jt>yj Sah/A ./t>/uf /rfftnfa/s Century the lecoiid, of Cenliirv' he thinl. .'\" A'\A'> A" .A" A-vk A'\^'^' / (. Vf///I-//A- .. ^i/ir. /ttit/t'/yfs WnWr/}ytf/, ///, (;,////,■ ( '////rc/u.t Wr//fr^vf// (^//-(Jif/rc/t o/'Sz/nr/ur Pn/r ,;>,■/> 17V. .Me/it^' ,mgq. J ^-U /its/i/t A/f/r^vr 7'f/-fK////t // 7ytfoy>/f//us Aj^o/A. 4/,u: A '/•/t/i// <> J O ■) 7rit/fin.\A)h-i/in.\ AntP. \ Xf.Aiit.\Cot/n\\ I y/u y r/frt/ ///If ////fi/-.) //t< y/ftt ^(jy . //■///// //// . •//>/' rny /nr ty^ca/e^ /'-e/c-tcK £i^4^/^^u^ ot eanAt^^^^ ^u^^c/Ai , Vt^c^lc erly a^Ct'T ^r ^/ r. Ch. ii. 1 — 7.] APOCALYPSE. S3 of tliis character, and to none other, is promised *' power over the nations," a spiritual, increasing do- minion. As to the passage immediately before us, it con- cerns the times & eiffi *, the situation of the church at the time when our Lord addressed these warnings to it; when the Faith was assailed both by delusive teachers from within, and by heathen persecutors from without. Of the former of these, we have spoken f . The hostility of the latter had commenced some years before, in the reign of Nero, whose un- just edicts against the Christians had been renewed by Domitian a Httle time before the date of this prophecy. For, under this persecution, Saint John was banished to the Isle of Patmos, where he saw the. vision J. That the seven Churches were actually under persecution at this time, and were not to be relieved immediately, may be collected from various passages of these addresses to them \. Ver. 7- To eat of the tree of Life, &c.] The Lord God is described to have planted a garden, or para- disc, in Eden, and to have placed in the midst of the garden the tree of life; of which the first created pair might cat, and by eating live for ever. Lender this description is represented that immor- tality, to which, by obedience, the race of men might have attained in their primitive state, and which they foifeited by disobedience jj. For they listened to the seductions of their wily foe, and were overcome. But the '' Second Adam, the Lord from "Heaven^," having condescended to undergo, in * See note, ch. i. 19, -f Note, ch. ii. 6. X Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. cap. xix. § Ch. ii. 3, 10, 13. iii. 10. I! Gen. ii. 8, 9. Hi Cor. xv. 22, 45. John vi. 51. xi. '25. the 64} APOCALYPSE. [Pt. I. § 5. the behalf of fallen man, the penalty, which was death*, man is hereby restored to his lost privileges. The tree of life is again placed within his reach, he may " put forth his hand and live for ever." This advantage, which the Saviour of the work] has re- gained by his own prowess, he bestows as a free gift or reward upon those servants of his who follow him faithfully in his victorious career f. A description of the tree of life will recur in ch. xxii. ^, 14. * Gen.ii. n. t See a copious explanation of the tree oflife, as signifying imnDortality, in Bp- Home's Sermons, vol, i. It was so understood by the author of the 2d Book of Esdras, ch. viii, 52. which was probably written soon after this book of Revelation. See Gray's Key to the Old Tes- tament. PART I. SECTION V. The Address to the Church hV Smyrna, 8 K«< Tw oaye^io T'^s £v 'ZfAvpv'n luKy^-tnaiois yet tJ^uiTos >o ta^ctToSf OS Bfyivih Trtv -njiw YE/«V} {a-XKa, tjXuvios £.j) y^ T»v pXtxertpvi^ixv Ix. ruv lau txvTtis, yc^ »x tiff/j'j «?.Xa cnvx- CIIAP. ii. VEU. 8 — 11 8 And to the Angel of the Church in Smyrna, write ; Thus saith the First and the Last, who was dead and is alive ; 9 I know thy [works and thy] tribulatioH and thy poverty, (but thou art rich,) and the blas- phemy of those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are a syna- 10 gogue of Satan. Fear nqne of those things 8 And unto the Angel of the Church in Smyr- na, write, These things saith the First and ihp -Last, which was dead, 9 and is alive j I know thy works, and tribu-? lation, and poverty, (bv^t thou art rich,) and / k7ioxjo the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue 10 of Satan. Fear npn^ Ch. ii. 8—11.] ya/y« tS ' t5 ^^aT« tS Jijmff ». AJP0CALYP8E. which thou art about to sutler ; behold, the Devil is about to cast some of you into pri- •son, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days ; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of 1} life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saitU unto the Churches : He who overcometh, shall uot be iojured by the se- cond death. s$ of those things which thou shalt suffer: be- hold, the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days : be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 1 1 life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches, He that overcometh, shall not be hurt of the second death. Ver. 8. Smyrna.'] The city of Smyrna is represented by Strabo, as situated about forty miles to the north of Ephesus, of which it was originally a colony *. Pliny describes it as the city of greatest account in Asia, after Ephesus |. There is no mention of it, as a Church, in the books of Scripture, The renowned martyr. Poly- carp, was its Bishop : but as he sufftred in the reign of Verus, aged 86 years J, he must have been too young to have exercised this important office at the time of this Revelation; even if we should suppose, with Bishop Pearson, the date of his martyrdom to be more early §. Yet he is represented by the ancients as receiving his doctrine immediately from tlie Apostles ; and Irenseus, when a youth, had heard him discoursing of his ac- quaintance with Saint John ||. The Bishops of Smyrna ♦ Strabo, ii. p, 940, f Nat. Hist. v. c. 29. X Euseb. Hist. Eccl, lib. iv. c. 15. § Cave, Hist, Lit. art. Polycarp. 11 Euseb. Hist. Eccl, lib. y, c. ^Q. attended ^^ APOCALYPSE. [Pt. I. §5. attended the councils of the Church for many centu- ries. At length this Church sank under the common desolation in the 13th century. Yet Smyrna, hemg at this time a principal mart of European commerce, is in a better state than others of the seven Churches. It is * still a populous city, and contains some Christian in- habitants. lb. Thus sa'ith the First and the Last, &c.] The title, under which the Supreme Head addresses this Church, is the same which he had assumed on his first appearance to Saint John, and is explained in the note, ch. i. \7i 18. The character of it agrees with the purport of this address, which is to encourage the Smyrnaeans confidently to meet the fiery trial of mar- tyrdom ; in the sure expectation of triumphing over the power of the enemy, as their Lord had done before them. Ver. 9. Thy poverty (but thou art rich).'] The Smyrnaean Christians, poor as to the goods of this transitory life, were rich in good works, through faith ; *' rich towards God ;" had laid up a treasure in heaven, which no worldly calamity can destroy *. They were opposed and harassed by a powerful party, who, calling themselves Jews^ >\^ere not, like the honest Nathanael, " Israelites indeed f;" nor like him described by Saint Paul, *' a Jew inwardly, in spirit, not in the letter, *' whose praise is not of men, but of God J." These professed Jews were men of violent character, who blasphemed the name of Israelite by calling themselves such ; who were in fapt the epiiss^ries of Satan, em- * Luke xii. 21. xvi. 2. 2 Cor. vi. 10. 1 Tim. vi. IS. James ii. 5. V. 2. t John i. 48. X Rom. ii. 28, 29. See the true Israelite in the Christian Church described more particularly in note, ph. iii. 4, ployed Ch. ii. 8 — 11.] APOCALYPSE. 57 ployed to corrupt ; or to excite that persecution, which is foretold in the succeeding verse. They continued the same practices in later times ; for the Jews, as was their custom, says the Smyrnsean account of the mar- tyrdom of Polycarp, assisted most zealously to accom- plish the destruction of the martyr, and to prevent his interment by the Christians*. Ver. 10. Fear no7ie, &c.] To this virtuous Church, against which no particular fault is alleged by their all-seeing Lord, persecution is announced ; a persecution occasioned by that great adversary of the Church, who appears, in the sequel of this book, to be the ultimate cause of all the evil which it suffers in the course of ages. Some of them were to be imprisoned ; and, as we may judge from the words, '' Be thou faithful unto *' death,'' were to suffer martyrdom. Yet these suf- ferings are not denounced as a punishment, for they are not so accounted in the New Testament. Such persecuted saints our Lord encourages to '* rejoice, for "great is their reward in heaven f." So also Saint James, ch. i. 2, and St. Peter, i. \, 6, 7, the latter of whom assigns a reason, which will be the best comment on these words, iv« weois xa- T»i» oiSa^riY Btc- Ttj B«A«ex /Sj(Xiry crKdcy^^xXoy fve^rr/oy T«!y Mo/y lo'fxriXf (p»ytfi tiou\lQvrx, \5i^ xso^nZerxi. Ov- TUt t^fiSlt <7V xf »- rwras tvv hSx^i>* Tan VtwaXditin o- \0 (AAius, ULtrxywi' COD B»* t] Se /xi, «f- j^o/Jt-xi