THE 
 
 DUTY AND.' ADVANTAGE 
 STUDYING THE PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES. 
 
 The persuasion that the language and symbols of the pro- 
 phetic Scriptures are so peculiar and mysterious as to render 
 it impossible to determine their meaning, is so general and 
 absolute, that with few exceptions, those in the sacred office 
 do not regard themselves as under obligation to study and 
 endeavor to understand them, but deem it injudicious even, 
 and likely to lead them to mistake their own fancies for the 
 mind of the Spirit, and betray them into fanaticism. The 
 interest in them accordingly, which as divine revelations they 
 are suited to excite, has almost expired in the church. They 
 are not made the subject of instruction from the pulpit, nor of 
 private investigation, much more than they would be if 
 they were not regarded as the oracles of God. This con- 
 viction, however, is undoubtedly unauthorized, and were 
 the imputation which it involves, realized, would be abandoned 
 by those who indulge it. For how injurious to God is the 
 assumption on which it proceeds, that he has made a series of 
 communications to us constituting a large portion of his word, 
 which are of such a nature, that it is the part of good sense 
 and discretion to neglect and shun them; as though we under- 
 stood what becomes us better than he, and had risen to such 
 a knowledge of ourselves and him, and such a refinement of 
 taste, as to discern that he has misjudged our faculties and the 
 means that are adapted to subserve our improvement / Such 
 an assumption is as unjustifiable in respect to the prophecies, 
 as it were in regard to any other portion of the Scriptures. 
 For they are addressed to us by God as our moral governor, 
 as much as his laws are. They are a part of the series of 
 
communications from which we are to form our views of his 
 perfections, rights, designs, and will, as much as his com- 
 mands, his threatenings, and his promises. They are a part 
 of the great system of means which he employs to engage 
 our faith, to support us under trials, and to guide us in duty ; 
 and have accordingly as high a title to our study as the law 
 or the gospel, and can no more justifiably be debarred from 
 the influence they are adapted to exert. 
 
 The neglect of the prophecies, under the persuasion that 
 they are unintelligible, and the study of them unwise and dan- 
 gerous, is inconsistent also with the awe, the faith, and the 
 interest in the great designs of God, which his people ordina- 
 rily feel, as well as with his rights. Reverence for his word, 
 confidence in his wisdom, a profound interest in the measures 
 of his government, and a fervent desire to know what his pur- 
 poses are in respect to the f edemption of the world, are natu- 
 ral to his children ; not unbelief and indifference. Notwith- 
 standing they make no effort to interpret the prophecies, they 
 after all, probably with scarce an exception, have a lurking 
 feeling that they must be intelligible, and that when under- 
 stood, they will be found to be as worthy as the other Scrip- 
 tures of the wisdom that inspired them. And were they 
 placed in conditions in which they felt nothing of the preju- 
 dice which they have inherited from their predecessors, and 
 acted out their genuine sentiments, they would display an in- 
 terest in them and make exertions to ascertain their meaning, 
 that would be in harmony with their principles and professions 
 as his people. Let us suppose for example, that the attempts 
 of Diocletian and Galerius in the beginning of the fourth cen- 
 tury to destroy all the copies of the Scriptures, had seemed to 
 ^e successful in respect to the Apocalypse, but that after 
 having been lost to the church for fifteen centuries, it had 
 lately been found, and with such evidences of its genuineness 
 as to x cause it to be universally acknowledged as the revela- 
 tion that was made to John ; with what profound reverence 
 would it, be received by the church! What lofty interest 
 would it excite ! With what eager curiosity would it be read 
 and studied ! What a stir would it occasion in the theological 
 and literary world ! Instead of listlessness and neglect, it 
 would be procured and read, not only by every minister of 
 
the gospel, by the learned and cultivated of ail professions 
 and classes, and by every member of the church, but "by all 
 of every rank who have any acquaintance with letters ; and a 
 knowledge of its signs, the principle on which they are em- 
 ployed, and their meaning, be deemed essential to one's re- 
 spectability. It would be ignorance and indifference that 
 would then be discreditable ; not curiosity and knowledge. 
 The interest, however, the zeal, the faith, the industry, the 
 resolution and perseverance, that would then be displayed, 
 would only be such as are natural to the people of God, and 
 as his word is accustomed to excite. The alienation from the 
 prophecies, accordingly, and indifference to their import^ 
 which are now so common, are not the offspring of their genu- 
 ine and characteristic affections towards him, but are dis- 
 sonant and unnatural, and ought to be discarded, 
 r The response to this, which will naturally rise in most minds, 
 will probably be: You have indeed judged aright of our feelings 
 in respect to the prophetic Scriptures. We are far from being 
 indifferent in regard to them. It would afford us a high satis- 
 faction to know what it is that they reveal. We are in doubt 
 and perplexity in respect to the designs of God, and the issue 
 of the great movements that are occupying the political and 
 religious world ; and need a clearer light to guide us. But how 
 are we to ascertain what the meaning of the prophecies is ? 
 A long line of great and good men who have enjoyed all the 
 advantages of leisure, and all the aids of learning, have de- 
 voted their lives to their interpretation ; but instead of having 
 determined with any degree of certainty their import, their 
 labors have only served to show that they are not under- 
 stood, and to beget the impression that any attempts by us to 
 unfold them must necessarily be wholly unavailing. Show 
 us that the obstacles to their explication are not absolutely in- 
 surmountable : prove that the ill-success of others has not 
 arisen from any intrinsic difficulty of the subject : and we 
 shall be ready to make exertions to learn what it is that they 
 teach, proportional to their claims to our regard as the oracles 
 of God, and to the interest of the great themes of which they 
 treat 
 
 What, however, is deemed requisite to constitute such proof? 
 To demonstrate that the ill-success of commentators hereto- 
 
 35389 
 
4 
 
 fore, has not arisen from an inexplicable intricacy of the pro- 
 phecies, can anything more be necessary than to show, that 
 they have universally proceeded on false hypotheses, and 
 instead of interpreting them; have only employed themselves 
 in guessing at meanings, or inventing unauthorized construc- 
 tions ? In proof of the possibility of an easy and satisfactory 
 interpretation, can anything more be demanded or desired, than 
 that it should be shown that the symbolic prophecies themselves r 
 which present the chief difficulty, contain a revelation of the 
 principle on which their signs are used, and on such a scale as 
 "to render all doubt in respect to the laws by which they are 
 to be interpreted, unreasonable and impossible ? Or can any- 
 thing more be required in respect to the unsymbolic pro- 
 phecies than such an analysis of their figures, which are the 
 principal source of perplexity, and determination of their laws 7 
 as to render their explication as easy and demonstrative as 
 any other part of the Sacred Word ? Nothing more can be 
 asked or required, all will probably respond ; and if such aids 
 can be furnished, we shall feel it to be an imperative duty to 
 avail ourselves of them, and make every effort in our power 
 to learn what the great things are that are contained in the 
 prophetic Scriptures. 
 
 It is to furnish those aids, and excite the church to the study^ 
 that the Theological and Literary Journal is established. 
 We propose to show that those universally, who have hereto- 
 fore written on the prophecies, have proceeded on false views 
 of the nature of symbols and figures, and necessarily erred in 
 proportion as they adhered to their principles. We undertake 
 to demonstrate that the symbolic prophecies contain a revela- 
 tion of the principles on which their signs are employed,, 
 which furnishes the most ample means for their satisfactory 
 interpretation, and sets aside a large part of the constructions 
 that have commonly been put on them. We propose to present 
 an analysis of the several figures that are employed by the pro- 
 phets, and statement and proof of their laws, that will render 
 their explanation equally easy and certain, and rescue them 
 from the misrepresentations to which they are commonly sub- 
 jected. We design also, in a series of articles, to apply the 
 laws of symbols and figures thus ascertained, to the prophecies 
 of the Old and New Testament, and point out the results to 
 
5 
 
 which they lead ; and thus put it in the power of all who will 
 give the subject such a measure of attention as is requisite to 
 master any large question, to make themselves familiar with 
 It, and possess themselves of the disclosures which God has 
 made through the prophets of his great designs. This we 
 have in a degree accomplished in the numbers that are already 
 published, as may be seen from the following statement of their 
 contents. 
 
 No. L The Introductory article of the first number, published 
 in July, is employed in stating the claims of the prophetic Scrip- 
 tures to investigation; and contrasting the imperfect knowledge, 
 neglect, and indifference of those in the sacred office in regard to 
 them, with the curiosity, enterprise, laboriousness, and success of 
 the students of other branches of learning. The second article 
 treats of the false methods of interpreting the Apocalypse which 
 have heretofore been pursued, and shows that a long series of 
 writers who are regarded as of authority, have founded their 
 explications on assumptions that have no ground in the pro- 
 pheey itself, and necessarily lead to a misrepresentation of its 
 meaning. Among those assumptions, one of the principal is 
 that of Vitringa, who held that the expositor should, anterior 
 to interpretation, form an hypothesis in respect to the great 
 theme of the Apocalypse, and make it his guide in the solution 
 of the symbols:; which is not to deduee the things foreshown 
 from the media through which they are revealed, but to ascribe 
 to tbem a signification drawn from some other source. The 
 theory of Mr. Mede, and Mr. Whiston, that the order of the 
 Visions should be taken as " the grand rule of interpretation,'* 
 has been made the basis of many explications also, and is 
 •equally mistaken ; as it makes the meaning of the symbols to 
 depend not on their nature, but on an assumption in respect to 
 the order in whieh that which they foreshow is to take place. 
 Those who have followed that method^ have accordingly em- 
 ployed themselves in a large degree, not in interpreting the 
 symbols, but in ascribing to them, without any regard to their 
 nature and laws, such a meaning as was required by their 
 wiews of the period in whieh they were to be accomplished. 
 Mr. Daubuz advanced a different set of theories. He founded 
 many of his interpretations on the hypothesis that symbols are 
 employed on the same principles as the hieroglyphs of the 
 
6 
 
 Egyptians ; which is not only to misrepresent symbols, but 
 hieroglyphs also, as they, instead of being representatives of 
 persons and things, are, like letters and words, mere signs of 
 the voice. In another class of his explications he proceeded on 
 the assumption that the visions of the prophets are to be in- 
 terpreted by the same rules as were employed by the ancient 
 soothsayers in the exposition of dreams ; which were wholly 
 fanciful and arbitrary, and lead necessarily to a misrepresen- 
 tation of the prophecy. The theories of Grotius r Sir Isaac 
 Newton, Eichhorn, Dean Woodhouse, Mr. Frere, Mr. Cuning- 
 hame, and several others, are in like manner shown to be 
 erroneous, and the fact thus established, which it is the object 
 of the article to demonstrate, that the ill-success of those writers 
 was not owing to any inherent difficulty in the Apocalypse it- 
 self, but to the false methods which they pursued ; and that if its 
 meaning is to be ascertained, it must be by a wholly different 
 method of interpretation. The third article,, on Professor 
 Stuart's commentary on the Apocalypse,, is employed in refut- 
 ing the hypotheses which he advances respecting the nature 
 of the prophecy, the principles on which it is to be explained,, 
 and its meaning. The first of those hypotheses is, that it is. 
 an epic poem. The second, that the symbols were invented 
 by the apostle, in place of being exhibited to him in vision*. 
 The third, that they are mere drapery, instead of being repre* 
 sentative of agents. The fourth, that all the parts of the pro- 
 phecy have a threefold, or some other artificial division- The 
 fifth, that its special design was to encourage and console 
 Christians of the age in which it was written. The sixth, that 
 its symbols are to be interpreted by the mere laws of philology.. 
 The seventh, that an acquaintance with the apocryphal works 
 of the second and third centuries is necessary, in order to a 
 knowledge of its meaning. These assumptions are shown to< 
 have been drawn from late rationalistic German writers, and to 
 be erroneous, and the expositions which he founds on them con- 
 futed. The fourth article, on Dr. Chalmers's Scripture Readings,, 
 presents a view of his genius and character. The fifth is a, 
 review of Dr. Dickinson's Religion Teaching by Example. 
 In the sixth, Literary and Critical Notices are given of several 
 recent publications. 
 
 No. IL In the first article of the second number, issued m 
 
October, on the Laws of Symbolic Representation, the great 
 fact is stated and demonstrated, which is th.e ground of our 
 endeavors at a new and satisfactory interpretation, that the 
 principles on which the symbols are employed are revealed in 
 the prophecies themselves, in the interpretations that are given 
 of them by Christ, the angels, and the prophets. 2. Their 
 several laws are stated and shown to be involved m those 
 interpretations. 3. The principle is explained of the excep- 
 tions that occur to them, and shown in like manner to be 
 revealed 4. A catalogue, arranged in alphabetic order, is 
 given of the whole series of the symbols of the Old and New 
 Testament, 415 in number. 5. A catalogue is given of the 
 inspired interpretations, 148 in number, in the order in which 
 they occur. 6. It is shown that these laws are applicable m 
 like manner to the whole of the uninterpreted symbols. First, 
 because there are no explications given that involve a different 
 set of laws. Secondly, because there are no uninterpreted 
 symbols that can be shown to be employed on any other 
 principles. Thirdly, because they are the only laws by which 
 a large share of the uninterpreted symbols can be explained, 
 consistently with the truth of the prophecies. Fourthly, 
 because all exceptions that occur, take place on the same 
 ground as the exception, the principle of which is revealed. 
 Each of these considerations is verified by a large array of 
 
 ^n^another article on Mr. Fleming's Rise and Fall of 
 Papacy, his chief views are shown to be erroneous, and the 
 esteem in which he is held as an expositor unmerited :— 1. He 
 was not aware that the laws of interpretation are revealed in 
 the prophecies themselves. 2. He had no settled view of the 
 principles on which symbols are used. 3. Most of his con- 
 structions are precisely what they should be, if the laws of 
 symbols were the converse of what they are. 4. His prognos- 
 tications in respect to France and the Papacy are not only 
 founded on false principles, but do not correspond to the 
 events that are alleged as their fulfilment. 
 
 The other articles of the number are devoted to other sub- 
 jects The chief is a review of the works of Strauss and 
 Neander on the life of Christ, in which, 1st. Dr. Strauss's theory 
 that the gospels are myths is stated, and the grounds he alleges 
 
8 
 
 in its support shown to be inconsistent with the principles by 
 which all other histories are judged, arbitrary, and false. 2d 
 
 The views are exhibited on which Neander proceeds : First 
 
 that the gospels are not inspired. Next, that their authors fell 
 into mistakes in many of their narratives. And thirdly, that 
 many of the events which they represent as miraculous, were 
 not of that nature. The principles, accordingly, it is shown, 
 on which he proceeds, are essentially the same as those of 
 Strauss and other naturalists ; that the constructions he places 
 on several of the evangelical narratives are unauthorized and 
 absurd ; that his attempts to set aside the miraculousness of the 
 events which they relate, in place of relieving them from dif- 
 ficulty, involve them in inextricable embarrassment ; and that 
 the assumptions on which he proceeds in those instances lead 
 necessarily, if admitted, to the rejection of all the other mira- 
 cles recorded in the sacred volume ; and are, when divested 
 of the fair terms in which they are disguised, nothing less 
 than the principles of infidelity. The third article, on Mor- 
 rell's History of the Speculative Philosophy of Europe in the 
 Nineteenth Century, presents, first, a statement of Kant's view 
 of the understanding and reason, and proofs that it is a mere 
 theory, unsupported by any evidence ; that it is inconsistent 
 with our consciousness, and demonstratively false ; and that it 
 denies the possibility of our having any knowledge of the 
 being of God, or any other existence besides ourselves, and 
 was devised for the purpose of overturning the foundation of 
 revealed and natural religion, and giving atheism the pretence 
 of a logical demonstration. Next, the pantheistic systems of 
 Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel, are stated, and the ground 
 pointed out on which they and other modern rationalists 
 reject the inspiration of the Scriptures. And thirdly, Cole- 
 ridge's theory of the understanding and reason is shown to 
 have been adopted from Kant without alteration, and to be 
 obnoxious to the same philosophical and theological objections. 
 In the closing article critical notices are given of several works 
 lately published. 
 
 The number issued in January contains an analysis of the 
 different species of figures employed by the prophets, and 
 statement of their laws, in which it is shown : — First, that each 
 kind has its own peculiar nature, and is to be interpreted by 
 
9 
 
 its own laws. Next, that their explication is as easy and certain 
 as the determination of problems in any other branch of 
 knowledge. Thirdly, that one of the most significant and 
 beautiful figures of the prophets has been universally mis- 
 understood, and confounded with others of a different nature. 
 Fourthly, exemplifications are given of the relation of their 
 laws to the old methods of interpretation, and the mode in 
 which they set aside a great number of constructions that 
 have been falsely put on passages of the Old Testament. 
 And finally, it is indicated, and will in subsequent articles be 
 shown, that they settle the meaning beyond doubt of a num- 
 ber of the most important predictions that have heretofore 
 been in debate ; such as whether the Israelites are to return 
 to their own land, and be reorganized as a nation ; whether the 
 holy dead are to be raised anterior to the millennium ; and 
 whether the nations are to survive Christ's advent, be converted, 
 and live under his reign. 
 
 The second article contains an analysis of the principles on 
 which Mr. Faber conducts his interpretations, in which it is 
 shown that his views of the nature both of figures and symbols 
 are essentially erroneous ; that a large part of his construc- 
 tions are at the utmost distance from truth, and that he has 
 contributed much by his mistaken methods to generate the 
 aversion and disgust with which the subject has of late years 
 been regarded. 
 
 In a subsequent article on the relation of the present dispen- 
 sation to the future reign of Christ, the common theories 
 respecting the reason that the redemption of the race is at 
 present restricted within such narrow limits are confuted ; the 
 assumption shown to be unauthorized on which the Protestant 
 churches are proceeding, that the nations are to be Christian- 
 ized and sanctified by the means that are now employed for 
 that purpose without any extraordinary divine interposition ; 
 and proofs given that the design of the present dispensation 
 is, to prepare the way for the personal interposition and reign 
 of Christ, when all nations and families are for a long series 
 of ages to be sanctified. 
 
 In a notice in another article of the Rev. E. Bickersteth's 
 Warning to the Churches in respect to the judgments that are 
 at hand, the assumption on which he founds a portion of his 
 
10 
 
 interpretations is shown to be unauthorized and erroneous. 
 The views are noticed also which he presents of the moral 
 and religious condition of Great Britain. The other articles 
 of the January number are aTeview of Dr. Spring's work on 
 the Power of the Pulpit, which treats of the chief causes that 
 impair the influence of the ministry ; a notice of the Memoir 
 of Mrs. "Van Lennep ; an account of ancient cities lately dis- 
 covered in Lycia ; a description of a portion of Australia that 
 has recently been explored ; and critical notices of several 
 late publications. 
 
 The April number is to contain a continuation of the analy- 
 sis of Mr. Faber's system of interpretation ; an application of 
 the laws of figures and symbols to some commentary on one 
 of the Old Testament prophets, and exemplification of the 
 results to which they lead in the refutation of mistaken hypo- 
 theses and constructions, and determination of the true mean- 
 ing ; and an enumeration and classification of the figures of a 
 part of Isaiah. 
 
 Each of the subsequent numbers will contain a discussion 
 of one or more questions that respect the prophecies. The 
 themes that require to be treated are numerous and of great 
 interest. Among them are, 1st, the theories of writers on 
 the Apocalypse who have not yet been noticed. It is designed 
 to continue an analysis of them, till a full conviction is wrought 
 that the views on which they proceed are mistaken. 2. A 
 similar trial by the laws of figures and symbols of the popular 
 explications of the prophecies of the Old Testament. This is 
 a large and most important field. A just interpretation of 
 the ancient prophets will set aside many crude and mistaken 
 views that prevail in respect to the present dispensation, and 
 that which is hereafter to be exercised. 3. A fuller exempli- 
 fication of the laws of figures and symbols. 4. An enumera- 
 tion and classification of the figures of the ancient prophets. 
 This wide and attractive ground, which is most favorable to 
 the cultivation of the understanding and refinement of the 
 taste, and of the utmost importance to the interpreter, is 
 almost wholly unexplored. *' 6. A fuller exemplification of the 
 analogies on which symbols are founded. This subject, 
 which is one of the most interesting and most important to the 
 expositor, is almost totally neglected. The question has 
 
11 
 
 scarcely been asked, and never satisfactorily answered, by 
 those who have treated of the symbolic prophecies, why it is 
 that a star is employed by Christ as a representative of 
 a teacher of the gospel, and a candlestick of a church ; why 
 lamps in the temple are used as symbols of the Holy Spirit ; 
 waters, of nations and multitudes ; or a rain and hail storm of 
 a slaughtering and devastating army. An understanding of 
 the principle, however, on which they are employed, and a 
 facility in applying it, are indispensable in order to determine 
 from the symbols what the agents are which they are used to 
 represent. 7. A definition and exemplification of the office of 
 figures and types, in distinction from symbols. 8. Explications 
 of the prophecies of the Old and New Testament. 9. Especially 
 of those which respect the powers denoted by the wild beast. 
 10. Of those which show who the witnesses are ; what their 
 office is ; what their slaughter and resurrection denote, and 
 whether they are yet future. 11. Of those which show who 
 they are who are symbolized by great Babylon. 12. A deter- 
 mination of the question, Who the agents are who are the 
 subjects of the fifth vial ? 13. Who are to be the subjects of 
 the sixth vial ? 14. What the fall of great Babylon de- 
 notes ? 15. What predictions of Daniel and John have met 
 their fulfilment? 16. What the great events are that are to 
 precede the millennium? 17. Whether the nations are to be 
 converted by the mere instruments which are now employed 
 by the church, or by extraordinary and miraculous means ? 
 18. Whether the Israelites are to be restored to their ancient 
 land, re-established as a separate nation, and subsist there for 
 ever? 19. Whether Christ's second advent is to take place 
 anterior to the millennium ? 20. Whether the sanctified who 
 shall have died are to be raised before the millennium ? 21. 
 Whether Christ is to reign on earth during that period, and 
 what the offices are which the risen and glorified saints are 
 to fill in his kingdom ? 22. The nature of the millennial dis- 
 pensation. 23. The nature of the sway that is to be exercised 
 over the earth after that period. 24. Whether mankind are for 
 ever to subsist here and multiply, as they would had they not 
 fallen ? 25. The views with which missions and other endeavors 
 to Christianize the nations should be conducted. 26. The duty 
 of those in the sacred office to study the prophetic Scrip- 
 tures, and make them the subject of instruction to their people* 
 
12 
 
 27. Their adaptation to exalt the views of God, enlarge the 
 knowledge of his government, and nourish the faith, awe, love, 
 and zeal of his people. 28. Their relation to the duties of 
 the church at the present period. 29. The grandeur of God's 
 designs. 30. The sublime prospects of his people. 
 
 It will perhaps be imagined that even on the supposition 
 that the principles of interpretation are revealed in the pro- 
 phecies themselves, and are what we allege, that still they are 
 extremely intricate ; that a long course of cultivation is re- 
 quisite to a full understanding and application of them ; and 
 that they must be left therefore to persons who are either 
 expressly devoted to their investigation, or at least have 
 leisure and large libraries. 
 
 But the obligation to study them, we answer, does not 
 depend on the question whether they can be comprehended 
 at a glance. We are not freed from the duty, because it 
 requires time, vigorous efforts, and much cultivation. Do 
 Christ's ministers make it a condition of their undertaking any 
 other work which he requires of them, that it shall not inter- 
 rupt their ease, or withdraw them from secular occupations ; 
 that it shall not put them under a necessity of unfolding, 
 refining, and exalting the powers with which he has endowed 
 them ; that it shall not compel them to learn anything more 
 of him, his government, themselves, or their fellow men, than 
 they already know ? There is no proviso of that nature 
 inserted in his commandments. So far from consulting his 
 people's ease, or relieving them from difficult duties, he 
 requires them to love him with all the heart, and mind, and 
 strength ; assigns them labors in which they are to display 
 that love, that involve the highest exertion of all their 
 energies ; and conducts his providence in such a manner as 
 to constrain them to show whether they will fulfil such duties. 
 It is not in conditions of ease and exemption from temptation, 
 but in periods of great difficulty, in circumstances that demand 
 the highest degrees of faith, love, and devotedness, that the great 
 question is decided whether they are truly his children, and 
 proofs given by them of their allegiance, that are made the 
 ground of his treating them as his friends. It was when 
 Abraham was required to sacrifice his son, that the question 
 respecting his fidelity was settled. It was when Job was 
 deprived of his property, bereft of his children, tortured with 
 
13 
 
 disease, and overwhelmed with reproaches and dishonor, that 
 the genuineness of his love and submission was demonstrated, 
 and God was shown to be justified in pronouncing him up- 
 right. And he calls his children generally to very similar 
 trials; and one to which he now subjects them is this, in 
 respect to the revelation he has made of the issue of the pre- 
 sent dispensation and the reign that is to follow. They are 
 put to the question, whether they have such a regard for his 
 authority ; such an interest in his purposes respecting our 
 world ; such a desire to fulfil the duties which he requires of 
 them, that they will make the exertions that are necessary to 
 learn what it is that he has foreshown in his word ; and their 
 conduct in respect to it is as expressive of their hearts, as 
 their course under any other trial. The acquisition of that 
 knowledge is attended by no difficulty but such as his wisdom 
 appoints. It involves no greater surrender of ease, or severer 
 exertion of the intellect, than are requisite to exhibit the love 
 which he demands. And those who neglect it can no more 
 expect his approval, than though they, for a similar reason, 
 refused any other duty which he enjoins. 
 
 The subject, in fact, however, is not of any peculiar diffi- 
 culty. It is not to be compared in intricacy with the higher 
 branches of mathematics, metaphysics, or theology. It is far 
 more within the grasp of educated persons generally than 
 many questions which they are accustomed to master. Were 
 the whole body of those in the ministry, for example, to study 
 this and some other subject that requires attention and disci- 
 pline, such as the laws of perception, volition, or conscience, 
 nine hundred and fifty would rise to an easy comprehension 
 of this, and find it a source of exhilaration and delight, where 
 fifty would gain a tolerable knowledge of Locke on the Under- 
 standing, Edwards on the W ill, or Butler on Human Nature. It 
 does not require, by any means, as large a share of attention, as 
 multitudes appropriate to the study of the ancient languages. 
 There are thousands of the young, who might obtain a good 
 acquaintance with it in a small part of the time which they 
 devote to the cultivation of music. Surely the disciples of 
 Jesus, who expect from his hands soon a crown of eternal life, 
 will not think a knowledge of the great disclosures he has 
 made respecting the kingdom in which they are for ever to 
 serve him, unworthy of such an effort. Those in the sacred 
 
14 
 
 office, to whom he has expressly assigned the task of inter- 
 preting his word, and proclaiming his coming reign, will not 
 deem such a measure of study too great to learn what that 
 reign is to be ; what world is to be its scene ; and who are to 
 share in its dignities and bliss. Instead, their love, their 
 interest in his great designs, their desire of a fuller knowledge 
 of that immortal existence to which he is to exalt them, and 
 their wish to fulfil to his acceptance the work with which he 
 has intrusted them, and lead their flocks to his kingdom, will 
 prompt them to make the experiment ; and when they have once 
 entered on the subject, become acquainted with its elements, 
 and caught a glimpse of its vastness and significance, they 
 will no longer need an impulse from others to excite them to 
 its study, but will be led on by its novelty, its beauty, and its 
 grandeur, and regard it as one of the most important in the 
 whole circle of theology, shedding light on every other, exalt- 
 ing their apprehensions of the divine government, furnishing 
 them with authentic and delightful views of the life on which 
 they are soon to enter, supplying them with new means of 
 interesting and instructing their people, and inspiring them 
 with higher thoughts of the ends of their office, and greater 
 zeal and resolution to discharge its duties. Nor will they be 
 content that the knowledge of it should be confined to them- 
 selves, but will desire that it should be shared by their people, 
 and especially the young. 
 
 Within a brief period indeed, we doubt not, that instead of 
 being regarded with prejudice and distaste, it will attract the 
 attention, and engage the interest of the religious and culti- 
 vated generally. An acquaintance with it will be found to be 
 of easy acquisition. The knowledge it involves of the prin- 
 ciples of analogy and the laws of figures, will cause it to be 
 introduced into the higher schools and seminaries ; while to 
 parents who wish to give their children a refined and religious 
 education, it will become a favorite subject of instruction, 
 from its eminent adaptation to excite curiosity, unfold the un- 
 derstanding, give truth and elegance to the taste, exalt the 
 fancy, and above all, enlarge the thoughts of God, and invest 
 the coming life with interest and beauty. A family of sons 
 and daughters who should gain a knowledge of the different 
 species of figures and symbols, and the criteria by which they 
 are distinguished from one another, familiarize themselves 
 
15 
 
 with the application of their laws, and learn how to test in- 
 terpretations by them, and confute such as are false, would 
 obtain in the process a higher and more beneficial evolution 
 of their faculties than from any other study. It involves as 
 useful a discipline of the intellect as geometry or algebra ; as 
 direct a culture of the taste and fancy, as rhetoric or poetry ; 
 unfolds a boundless field for historical investigation, and pre- 
 sents a motive for the study of safe, interesting, and useful 
 books, in place of such as are pernicious ; and, which is of far 
 higher consideration, exhibits the designs of God in a clear- 
 ness and greatness that are not seen anywhere else ; unveils 
 the work of Christ in a grandeur of which without it we 
 should have had no conception ; and discloses events of which 
 the world is soon to become the scene, that are adapted in the 
 utmost degree to impress the imagination, to fill the heart with 
 awe, to beget a sense of God's dominion, and to inspire a de- 
 sire for that immortal life of youth, beauty, innocence, and 
 bliss, to which the race is soon to be exalted. Such parts of 
 the subject will be treated in a few numbers, and such exem- 
 plifications given, as will enable persons of ordinary talents, 
 and especially such as have a quick perception of analogies, 
 without any greater attention than is required to gain a know- 
 ledge of any important branch of education, to familiarize 
 themselves with its principles and interpret by them with the 
 ease and exactness with which they apply the rules of arith- 
 metic, the axioms and definitions of geometry, or the laws of 
 grammar. 
 
The Theological and Literary Journal is issued quar- 
 terly, in July, October, January, and ApriL 
 It is edited by David N. Lord. 
 
 It is published by Franklin Knight, to whom orders and 
 remittances may be addressed at 140 Nassau street. 
 
 The price is Three Dollars a year, payable in advance. 
 
 The numbers of a year will make a volume of about 700 pages. 
 
 The first No. was issued in July, 1848. The No. for April, 
 1849, will complete the first volume. 
 
 New York, January, 1849. 
 
 Persons who have received the first number, and do not design to become 
 subscribers, are desired to return it to the Publisher, and indicate on the enve- 
 lope by whom it is sent.