many had rejected the book as a forgery of Cerinthus, and consequently not entitled to a place in the sacred canon, he adds: "For this (they say) was one of his particular notions, that the kingdom of Christ should be earthly; consisting of those things which he himself, a carnal and sensual man, most admired, the pleasures of the belly, and of concupiscence; that is, eating, and drinking, and marriage; and for the more decent procurement of these, feastings, and sacrifices, and slaughters of victims. But, for my part, I dare not reject the book, since many of the brethren have it in high esteem: but allowing it to be above my understanding, I suppose it to contain throughout some latent and wonderful meaning; for though I do not understand it, I suspect there must be some profound sense in the words; not measuring and judging these things by my own reason, but ascribing more to faith. esteem them too sublime to be comprehended by me. Nor do I condemn what I have not been able to understand: but I admire the more, because they are above my reach."*

I

This is probably a very correct account of the light in which the great mass of the Christian world at the present day view the disclosures (to them, mysteries) of this amazing book, notwithstanding that the Holy Ghost, from a foresight of the disesteem into which it would be likely, in after ages, to fall, has, as a prophylactic guaranty against neglect, emblazoned in characters of light upon the very portals of this temple of prophecy the inscription, 'BLESSED IS HE THAT READETH,'-a declaration equivalent to an asterisk of heaven pointing to the vast importance and inestimable value of this portion of the sacred oracles. This importance, as pertaining to the Apocalypse in itself considered, good men, who venerate the word of God, are generally willing to concede, but this concession is in ef

* Ibid. vol. ii. p. 693.

fect vacated by the secret prevailing belief that its contents are unintelligible. Alas!

"Our doubts are traitors,

And make us lose the good we oft might win,

By fearing to attempt."

From the copious citations adduced above from the records of ecclesiastical antiquity, it is clear that the Millennarian hypothesis, in its literal and less refined features, did obtain an early prevalence in the church. As little, we think, is to be doubted, that the opinion owes its origin to a Jewish source. To what extent it actually prevailed among the primitive Christians, it is not possible, perhaps, from the conflicting testimonies of opposite schools, to determine with any degree of accuracy. The probability is, that during the first three centuries it was very extensively embraced. We recollect that Chillingworth prefers it as a very serious charge against the church of Rome, which lays such lofty claims to the perpetuation within her own bosom of the pure unadulterated doctrines of the apostolic and primitive ages, that in this matter, if in no other, she has grossly falsified the creed of antiquity, inasmuch as there is ample evidence that the doctrine of the chiliasts was actually the catholic faith of more than one century; and certainly there are few judges more competent to pronounce upon the fact. At the same time we do not regard the extent of its prevalence, or the period of its duration, as any measure of the abstract truth of the tenet. For ourselves we can easily conceive that, although the doctrine were really unsupported by Scripture, there were circumstances in the case of the primitive believers which may have contributed powerfully to the spread and influence of Millennarianism among them. The early days of the church, it is well known, were the days of persecution. The first converts to Christianity were 'compassed about

by a great fight of afflictions.' The espousal of the religion of the cross, which waged an exterminating war against the standing superstitions of the empire, exposed them, as a matter of course, to all the terrors of popular frenzy and of imperial indignation. Being for the most part men of uncultivated minds, but of ardent zeal, unequal to the task of a sublimated conception of the spiritual mysteries of revelation, but laying firm hold of its literal and palpable representations, and deeply imbued with its divine spirit, the grosser forms of prophetic truth were precisely such as they would naturally be most prone to imbibe, and such too as were best suited to their exigencies. Even though we suppose their views erroneous, yet the error was in itself an innocent one, and with the fires of martyrdom kindling around them, and every species of torture devised to aggravate their sufferings, what could buoy up the spirits of such a class of men in the hour of mortal agony, but the promises and prospects of a glorious reward, such as their rude and simple but honest minds saw disclosed in the letter of their Scriptures? And is it any disparagement to the wisdom of the Most High that he should so have framed the word of truth that certain portions of it might be susceptible of an interpretation which, though natural, was not necessary, though fallacious, was yet feasible, and adapted to minister at particular seasons and under peculiar circumstances, the most solid support and consolation to its disciples ? For ourselves we have no difficulty in supposing that the Millennarian error was in a peculiar manner winked at in the early ages of Christianity, and that the belief of it was calculated to produce and did produce results of a most auspicious character, which under the circumstances a different and even a more correct construction of the sacred oracles would have failed to effect.

On the same principle, in all probability, we may ac

count for the general prevalence at that early period of the sentiment respecting the speedy dissolution of the world and the consummation of all things. "In the primitive church," says Gibbon, "the influence of truth was very powerfully strengthened by an opinion, which, however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, has not been found agreeable to experience. It was universally believed that the end of the world, and the kingdom of heaven, were at hand. The near approach of this wonderful event had been predicted by the apostles; the tradition of it was preserved by their earliest disciples, and those who understood in their literal sense the discourses of Christ himself, were obliged to expect the second and glorious coming of the Son of man in the clouds, before that generation was totally extinguished, which had beheld his humble condition, and which might still be witness of the calamities of the Jews under Vespasian or Hadrian. The revolution of seventeen centuries has instructed us not to press too closely the mysterious language of prophecy and revelation; but as long as, for wise purposes, this error was permitted to subsist in the church it was productive of the most salutary effects on the faith and practice of Christians, who lived in the awful expectation of that moment when the globe itself, and all the various race of mankind, should tremble at the appearance of their divine Judge.' Can it be doubted that the language of the sacred writers is so constructed, as that it should, before the event proved the contrary, tend to countenance and cherish the belief here stated? When we hear the apostles saying, 'The end of all things is at hand '—' we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air-lo, I come quickly'—' the time is at hand ?— 'things which must shortly come to pass '—it is obvious

* Decl. and Fall, p. 185. Ed. in one vol.

that such expressions, to say nothing of our Lord's prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem, which might be thought to include the destruction of the world, are capable of being construed in a sense to warrant the most sanguine expectations that were built upon them. And who shall say that this end might not have been expressly designed under God to be answered by the peculiar phraseology in which the announcements were couched ? For aught we know, in fact, the apostles themselves might have been of the prevailing belief, as we have met with no reasoning which convinces us that they always understood the full reach and import of their own writings.

It may, however, be objected, that it is not altogether consistent to attribute to the primitive Christians the belief in the speedy catastrophe of the world, when at the same time their Millennarian notions required them to hold that six thousand years must first elapse before that blissful period would dawn upon the earth. But the truth is, that, owing to a radical error in their chronological calculus, they conceived themselves as actually having arrived at the eve of the world's seventh Millennary, or, in other words, as having their lot cast on the Saturday of the great antypical Week of the creation. "The primitive church of Antioch," says the historian above cited, computed almost 6000 years from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ. Africanus, Lactantius and the Greek church, have reduced that number to 5,500, and Eusebius has contented himself with 5,200 years. These calculations were formed on the Septuagint, which was universally received during the first six centuries."*

66

Before leaving the subject of ancient testimonies, the reader will tolerate another extract from the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, couched in the

*Decl. and Fall, p. 185.