The Bampton Lecture.

481

ART. IX.-New Testament Millenarianism: or, The Kingdom and Coming of Christ, as taught by Himself and His Apostles : set forth in Eight Sermons preached before the University of Oxford, in the Year 1854, at the Lecture founded by the late Rev. John Bampton. By the HON. and REV. SAMUEL WALDEGRAVE, M.A., Rector of Barford St. Martin, Wilts, and late Fellow of All Souls' College. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co. 1855.

THE subject discussed in these Lectures is one of large and growing interest and importance: it excites more attention and is argued with greater spirit and energy in the present, than in any former, period. No mean place has it obtained in our current religious literature. Among the Pre-millennialists it is pursued with uncommon diligence, and proclaimed as the most cherished topic of their study. Tracts in support of their opinion are widely circulated; the Quarterly Journal of Prophecy is devoted to its advocacy; and volumes in large and increasing numbers, varying in size as they do in merit, are sent forth into the world, to enlighten or bewilder, as the case may be, those who give themselves to their perusal. Some of these writers are surprisingly adventurous in the expression of their opinions, and in the interpretations they give of prophetic Scripture and of passing events. The "signs of the times" to them are so clear, that they can discern the speedy approach of the Divine universal Monarch; they see them as so many characters of light, by which they can read the exact period of His second advent. They express their views, not with a modest reserve, but with dogmatic confidence, as if they were admitted into the secret counsels of the Supreme, or as if He had, with distinguishing favour, disclosed to them "the times and the seasons which He has reserved in His own power." Respectfully do we express this judgment; and not without a just appreciation of the candour and caution of a few of their wiser brethren.

The zeal of the Pre-millennialists has happily provoked the more vigorous advocacy of views opposite to theirs. The AntiPre-millennialists have of late addressed themselves to this topic with praiseworthy diligence and research. Dr. David Brown, of Glasgow, has wielded his pen with prodigious effect, and shown himself as skilful in Scripture exegesis, as he is ripe in scholarship; as fair in stating the opinions he combats, as he is successful in overturning them. The gifted author of the above Lectures furnishes ample proof that he has thoroughly investigated the controversy; that every book of importance on both sides he has carefully examined; and that his views have been formed. honestly, and with a sincere desire to know the truth. Evangelical in tone, Christian in spirit, and practical in tendency,

these Lectures must commend themselves even to those who are of a contrary opinion. They present a fine specimen of the manner in which religious controversy should always be prosecuted. It is well known that the Pre-millennialists' view is on the increase among the Evangelical Clergy in the Established Church of England; and it is this fact which led Mr. Waldegrave, as he says, not to hesitate to avail himself of the opening given by his appointment to the office of Bampton Lecturer, to indicate the many respects in which he believes the doctrine of a personal reign to be at variance with the plain teaching of Holy Scripture."

The study of prophecy yet unfulfilled, and the intelligent observance of passing events, are by no means to be disregarded. Still we must pursue the study with caution, and in the spirit of profound deference to the word of God; especially in times of great political changes, or of national conflicts and disasters. Who remembers not the strange and fanciful opinions and expectations that were entertained and promulgated, of the second coming of Christ, by some religionists in the days of the Reformation in Germany? Who knows not that a similar state of opinion and feeling existed during the time of our own Commonwealth? Our day, it is true, is not marked with the same extravagancies; but does it not present some likeness, in the earnest belief and dogmatic maintenance of the position that the end of the world is nigh at hand? What do Dr. Cumming's predictions tell us? How does he interpret passing events? No one denies that the present times and seasons are stirring and eventful. They are indeed pregnant with mighty results. But what those results will be, we cannot divine. Prophetic Scripture but obscurely indicates the future; it is a lock whose wards are so intricate, that no key but that of far accomplished fact can open it. There is one truth, however, that shines upon us with more than star-like beauty and clearness, amid the gloom of the present, and the yet deeper gloom in which the future lies buried; namely, that He who is sole Ruler among the nations will fulfil all His pleasure; that in His wise and almighty providence He will make all events subserve the high interests of religion, and the perfect establishment of the kingdom of Him who is "Messiah the Prince."

Before we proceed to the immediate consideration of the Millennium, let it be premised, that we purposely exclude the questions of the restoration of the Jews to their own land, and their formal nationality; and also of the earth being the final heaven of the saints. Too often these questions have been mixed up with the controversy: deeply interesting are they, yet they are perfectly distinct. They are open questions. Shall the Jews, now scattered and peeled, be again gathered, and invested with their former glory? Shall Palestine, the land

Patristic Views of the Millennium.

483

once so richly fruitful, when its valleys waved with corn, and its pastures flowed with milk, and its rocks poured forth honey, and its terraced hills were covered with vines; but now under the curse of Heaven,-shall that land, we ask, be restored to its pristine affluence and splendour? When the grand designs of Mediatorship are fulfilled, will the earth, purified by the last baptism of fire, be made the eternal abode of the righteous, the metropolis of the universe, the seat and throne of JehovahJesus? Inviting as these topics are, they must be excluded from our present notice, they lie beyond the province of Millenarianism, they form no essential part of the question in dispute.

The Millennium! Nearly all Christian writers are agreed that this glorious era is yet future; that the Christian Church is destined, under its Divine Head, to fill the earth with truth, and righteousness, and peace. But as to how it will be accomplished,-whether by the more mighty demonstration of the Holy Spirit with the preached Gospel, or by the personal manifestation and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth,-is the important question that now agitates the Church. In other words, will the second coming of Christ be Pre-millennial or Post-millennial?

As to the Redeemer's second advent in glory and power, there is no dispute. All Christians look for it with lively hope; it is the consummation of their wishes; it is the crown and perfection of their happiness. Sometimes the Pre-millennialists have shown a degree of unfairness in assuming that they are the only persons who look "for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Whereas, it is the common hope of the universal Christian Church.

Did the limits of this paper allow, it would be interesting to trace the history of the millenarian controversy, and the various modifications which it has undergone, down to the present time.

It has of late been the custom with the Pre-millennialists to appeal, in support of their views, to the writings of the ancient Christian Fathers. No disposition have we to underrate the judgment of others, nor to condemn all reference to them. It may be a pleasant, and perhaps a profitable, employment, to search into the past, and find how our forefathers harmonize with ourselves in their views of Christian doctrine. What then? Are early opinions to have any authority over our belief? Can they, on the ground of their antiquity, demand from us an implicit acceptance? To treat them with respect is our duty, to examine their arguments is candid, but to submit to their opinions on the mere ground of antiquity would display a slavish and a feeble mind. We are not thus to be blinded to the great Protestant dogma, that the Bible only is the

rule of our faith, as it is of our practice. Indeed, we agree with the sentiment of Dr. Chalmers, that the people of this age are really the ancients, and have better opportunities and means of arriving at the correct interpretation of Scripture, than the men who lived in the first centuries of the Christian Church. Nearness to apostolic times is apt to breed in us too much confidence in the means and qualifications possessed by the men of those times for clearly understanding the truth of Scripture. We forget their prejudices; prejudices, with many of them, formed from earliest life, and interwoven with all their religious thoughts and hopes. Even the Apostles themselves were not, in the absence of the plenary inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in the most favourable circumstances for ascertaining Christian truth. Their Jewish prejudices and notions rendered them slow of heart to understand the spiritual nature of the Redeemer's kingdom; and it was only by the strong, clear, and infallible teaching of the Holy Ghost, that they could perceive and hold fast the truth as it is in Jesus. If the Apostles, therefore, were under the power of the traditions which they received from their Jewish forefathers, how much more their uninspired brethren, who had been brought from Judaism to accept Christianity! Can it be supposed that they would at once throw off all their previous notions; that their minds came so largely under the light and power of Christian truth, that they could and did master all antecedent prepossessions and clearly comprehend and embrace the doctrines of the new form of religion which they had espoused? No one who understands the constitution of the human mind will contend for this. Who does not know, that, almost in spite of ourselves, opinions early formed give a colour and complexion to our later ones, and that it is one of the highest achievements of the mind, steadily to withstand their influence? The Epistles of Paul to the various Churches that flourished in his day, show the power of prejudices, of previous notions, both amongst Jewish and Gentile converts. need not to enumerate the errors into which they fell, nor yet to exhibit the manner in which Paul met and confuted them. One of those errors related to the second coming of Christ.

We

Our only appeal must be to the word of God. What say the Scriptures touching the second advent of the Redeemer? Christ's second coming: will it be Pre-millennial? Mr. Waldegrave contends that it will not. We do not pretend to follow him in each Lecture, nor to give an outline of the arguments by which he seeks to establish his position. He wisely commences, in his first Lecture, by affirming in the most explicit manner, that the Scriptures are our only authority in doctrine, and lays down two important principles or rules by which we are to be guided in our interpretation of those Scriptures.

Principles of Investigation.

485

"The controversy before us," says he, "is, of all others, one which Scripture alone can determine. We may not appeal for its decision to tradition, whether Rabbinical or Patristic. We may not rely upon a progressive development of truth, nor may we look forward to a new revelation. The only question is this, What saith the

Scripture ?

"Before we begin our Scriptural researches, it is most important that the principles according to which they are to be conducted should be clearly defined. For there is no controversy in which fixed laws of biblical interpretation are more needed,-none in which they have been less observed. We shall, therefore, confine ourselves, in the present discourse, to the task of enunciating and illustrating the very simple, but most valuable, rules, by which, in our judgment, all our investigations should be ordered. Those rules are embodied in the two following axiomatic propositions.

"First, In the settling of controversy, those passages of God's word which are literal, dogmatic, and clear, take precedence of those which are figurative, mysterious, and obscure.

"Secondly, In all points upon which the New Testament gives us instruction, it is, as containing the full, clear, and final manifestation of the Divine will, our rightful guide in the interpretation of the Old. "Simple though these principles are, they will exercise a very material influence upon our present discussion. For they will direct our investigations into a course the very reverse of that which is usually followed by Pre-millenarians. It is a fact most obvious in all their works, that they lay the foundation of their argument, and erect their superstructure, with materials taken almost exclusively from the Apocalyptic and prophetic domains of figure and imagery. The unfigurative portions of the Divine word are not indeed left unnoticed; but we are guilty of no injustice, when we say, that reference is generally made to them with the view rather of accommodating their statements to the conclusion thus supposed to be established, than of testing those conclusions by their unambiguous teaching."*

Mr. Waldegrave, with great force of argument, successfully establishes the two "axiomatic propositions" which he lays down as essential to the correct interpretation of the word of God. His statement, that the Pre-millennialists invert these "axiomatic propositions," may seem somewhat severe; but the truth of it he fairly shows in the Appendix, by quotations from their own writings. To interpret the clear by the obscure, and the plain by the figurative, and the dogmatic by the prophetic, is, we confess, rather a singular method of discovering truth,and, to speak seriously, is dangerous in the extreme.

"It appears to me a fair and reasonable principle of interpretation,—one, indeed, which might be laid down as a genuine canon, not admitting of dispute, -that, when we find passages of Scripture, historical or epistolary, which are literal in their terms and explicit in their statements, we may conclude with certainty, that we must be under some mistake in our explanation of the prophetic and symbolical, when such explanation is at variance with the unconstrained and obvious meaning of these passages."-Wardlaw, Sermon xvii., On the Millennium, p. 512. Edinburgh, 1829.