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Biblical Criticism ?—-On the Contents of...
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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.
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On The Contents Of The Booh Of Revelatio...
beast , takes the place of the Rom an dragon . We have now seen how the sounding of the four trumpets overturns the Western Roman empire . The church during this eventful period of desolation , from A . D . 313 to A . D . 531 ,
is written to , Revelation ii . 12—17 , under the name of Pergamos , " The exalted Assembly / ' Christianity , triumphant was raised up to the throne of the Csesars ; the ecclesiastical purple
became blended with the imperial dignity . The state of the church is described as 1 , laborious in works ; and let any one refer to Mosheim or any ecclesiastical writer for the
history of these centuries , and they will find that the praise Jesus here gives was merited by the extraordinary exertions of the Christians at that
period to Christianize mankind ; % the seat of Christianity was to be at the seat of imperial power , which we also see was verified ; 3 , they were to glory in the Christian name , and to boast in his doctrines whilst their
actions tended to destroy them . And there needs no other argument than the history of the Romish church to prove that all these things were so ; 4 , they were to permit those to remain iu the church who taught idolatry , and who held the doctrine of
subduing the people . And this , ecclesiastical writers , without having their eye on this prophecy , acknowledge was the case , for they introduced idolatry into Christianity , that they might more easily subdue the idolatrous nations to the banners of the cross .
Chap . ix . 1—\ % relates the sounding of the fifth trumpet , called the first woe trumpet . This relates to the Mahomedan Arabians , who were in the way of Providence appointed to prepare the way for the destruction of the Easteru Roman empire ,
and appears to have been accomplished in the person of Mahomed and his followers . Ver . 1 , a star fa lls from heaven to earth , i . e- \ p having ruling power , becomes a common man ! By the death of hid father , the power of Mahomed was taken away by the avarice of his uncle , and became the
inducing cause of his being the messenger to the nations , and receiving the key of authority over the nations , by which he became to the Eastern church the messenger of destruction ;
On The Contents Of The Booh Of Revelatio...
% he opens the abyss , and the nations come forth to execute the wrath of God , ( Ps . xviii . 8 , Isa . xiv . 31 , Deut , xxix . 2 O , ) and the imperial throne and kingdom is darkened by it , Ver . 3 f
the Arabian horsemen are represented as locusts . The remaining verses of this trumpet go on to describe the Arabian cavalry and mode of warfare , & . C . in figures so plain , that they are the resemblance to the nation and
manners of the people . This trumpet appears to begin about A . D . 606 to 610 . Chap . ix . IS—& O , brings in the sixth trumpet , or Turkish power , who were to complete the destruction of the Eastern empire . They began
their predatory warfare in A . D . 1381 * took Constantinople A . D . 1453 , and the last of their conquests from the Christians , was Cameniec , in 1672 , being for three hundred and ninety * one years the instruments of punishment to the Christians , as foretold .
Chap . x . The preceding chapter had brought down prophecy , as it regards the Eastern church , till the period of the final destruction of the Eastern Roman empire : a new order of things is now introduced , the
importance of which appears in thegreatness of the messenger who proclaims them . Passing over therefore the whole of this chapter , as only introductory , we come to the eleventh chapter .
Chap . xi . After this sublime introduction to this chapter , we are told , ver . 1 , that John was to take the reed that was given to htm , and measure the temple of God , that is , he was in this chapter to shew the true state id which the church was to be for fortytwo months , or twelve hundred and
sixty prophetic years $ for , it is evident that the only measure John takes is of duration , and not of extent . Ver . 3 . During this twelve hundred and sixty years , the old and new witnesses of the truth , that God has revealed himself
in all ages unto man , shall prophesy , i . e . teach in a state of mourning and tribulation and without temporal power , yet they are the olive trees and the lamps to mankind . Ver . 4 . From
the mouth of the true Christian proceedeth the knowledge of the divine judgments , penetrating to the consciences of the adversaries ; ver . 6 , and that all the afflictions that shall befal
Biblical Criticism ?—-On The Contents Of...
Biblical Criticism ?— -On the Contents of the Rook of Revelation . . No . II . 1 IS
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 22, 1819, page 115, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_22021819/page/47/
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