Current:

Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), February 1819, Edition 1 of 1, Supplement, Page 113, Biblical Criticism.—On the Contents of t...

Page 113
Page 45
45 of 68

On this page

  • Text (2)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Biblical Criticism.—On The Contents Of T...

      Biblical Criticism . —On the Contents of the Book of Revelation . Na . II . I IS

      On The Contents Of The Booh Of Revelatio...

      On the Contents of the Booh of Revelation . No . II .

      MY last essay [ pp . 42—45 ] ended with the end of the sixth chapter , including in it a sketch of the political and ecclesiastical state of Christianity , to A . D . SIS . We have seen the Pagan empire overturned at Rome , and the Christian name seizing on the throne of the Pontifex

      Maximus , and ruling the Eastern and Western empire , taking possession of the revenues of their temples , and assuming the servile titles of the officers of * idol deities , and with them their dress , and their paraphernalia .

      The seventh chapter is a continuation of the sixth seal . 1—S . The judgments of < Jod about to be poured out on the Roman emperor , are restrained , till the servants of God are sealed , i . e . till the appointed extent

      of the peace and prosperity of the church h * d been established ; 6—8 , describes their numbers ; 9—17 > declares the happiness of the countless multitudes , who , by their fortitude under sufferings and death had obtained the triumphs of Christianity .

      Chap . viti . 1 . We are now come to the opening of the seventh seal , and must here observe , that we shall often find the word heaven used , and that it invariably signifies temporal power .

      The conclusion of the Smyrna state was the victory over Maxentius , and the decree of Consiantine and Licinus , which ended the persecution of the Christians . This state of war is

      followed by half an hour ' silence , or the forty-eighth part of three hundred and sixty days , a space of about seven and a half days ; denoting the smallness of the period of peace before the trumpet of war would be again

      sounded ; and so it was , even in the midst of their rejdicing for their victory , Constautine was called to repel an inroad of the Franks , and Licinus to fight with Maximiu for his throne .

      It has been noticed that the Roman empire had now become Christian . In conformity to this language , the scene is here laid in lhe temple , or church of God , before ( he morning service . % 3 . During this silence God ' s messengers are preparing , and have given to them ' seven trumpets - , 4 , prayer ascends from the saints of God ;

      On The Contents Of The Booh Of Revelatio...

      5 , whilst another messenger takes fire fronji the altar and casts it to the earth ; denoting that the divine judgments about to take place are from divine appointment . ( Exod . x . 2 . ) 6 . The messengers prepare to sound the

      trumpet of war . ( Jer . iv . IQ . ) This preparation may be considerecLas the interval between the reign of Constantineand that of Theodosius the Great . 7 . The first trumpet sounded , is followed by hail , attended with lightning and blood , which destroys the third part of the earth , of the trees ,

      and of the green herb . References to the Psalms and Prophets shew that these are divine judgments : the earth is the Roman empire , peculiarly the land of Christians ; the trees are the middling and superior classes ; and the green herb is the lower class , or common people .

      The Huns and Goths were ready to enter the Roman empire , but were restrained by the powerful arm of the great Theodosius ; his death released them from this terror , as also from

      the hopes of his liberality . His sons succeeded him , Honorius in the Western , and Arcadius in the Eastern empire . Theodosius died January 395 . Before the end of the winter , the Goths

      were in arms . Alaric , at the head of the barbarous nations of Scythia , entered Greece and compelled HoHorius to honour him with the title of Master-General of the Eastern Illyricuni-, whilst the barbarians elevated him on

      their shields , and , proud of his victories , proclaimed him king of the Visigoths . After having desolated the Eastern empire , A . D . 400 to 403 , Alaric returned to the bank of the Danube , and there , recruited by fre $ h barbarians , he went through

      Pannonia and over the Julian Alps into Italy , " where /* says the poet , " fame , encircled with terror , on gloomy wings , proclaimed the march of the barbarians , and filled Italy with terror . ' * The remainder of the sounding

      of this first trumpet is but the history of increasing troubles , when it closed A . D . 450 , being through the whole Western empire oiie scene of continued invasion , revolution and slaughter , in which it was scarcely possible for less than one third of the

      inhabitants of every rank to have perished . Chap . viii . 8 , 9 > the second trumpet sounds . A burning mountain , Attila

  • Citation
    • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 22, 1819, page 113, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_22021819/page/45/