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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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N&& Stfieme 6 f 4 ^* lfi * &Mng ; the ReveUtton . v £ | 3
. . £ f e& 9 ^ 9 MIG&e * £ > hw ^^ i ^ y i £ ? fcQipi > tefe . ;* - TJ * £ piset ^ i ^ j ^ d church of tfce * nU& , , jtavJJjt * ? t * wev «> teiit , % y iour ; 0 f mankind , tiinW « sUingly exhibits * itself a per ^ ecuth | g world ^ r-i ^ iaded ^
merrcenary , fircrud * ,. cimel * superstitious , war-waging monster- ; Nothing can h $ added Jtq tfr § horrible picture . If we proceed * -the whole scenery must necessarily / be changed in the next . act * Y ^ rs ^ . 9—11 : " And when he
had opened the fifth seal , I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for tjbte word of God , and for the testimony which they held : and they cried with a loud voice , saying . How long , O . Lord ,--holy-and true , dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And
white robes were given unto everyone of them ; and it was said unto them , that they should rest yet for a little season , until their fellow-servants also and their brethren , that should be killed as they were , should be
fulfilled . " Can any one read the pagQ of history , from the middle of the 14 th century , without recognizing in these verses a characteristic sketch of those attempts at reformation which ; immedi $ tely succeeded , and were occasioned
by the enormities of the Crusades , -and by the revolting spectacle of an antichristian churchy trafficking in indulgences and pardon of sins tor the purppse of urging on to those diabolical wars ? , ,
Ana ! what is the inevitable consequence of the progress of this reforming spirl \? Precisely that which we see daily maturing- around us—the downfall of all hierarchies ^ w ith the complete overthrow of all those
wretched s yet ems of tyranny which have stood so long , solel y because buttressed up by ecclesiastical establishments . Yera . 12—47 : " And I beheld when ha had opened the sixth seal , and , lo , there waa ^ a great earthquake ; and the sua became dark as sackcloth of hair , and tue moon
became as l ^ lood ; and jtfee » tvs 9 % hMr ven fell \ into tW earth , eveaae a figtree casteth h $ r untimely . A # fy whea she is shaken of a mighty wiiui ^ Vnd the heaven departed as a scrowl \ ynen
« * s foiled together $ find every mounrtain and wlaud , w ^ re moved out pC ^ [¦ ¦ 9 l *^* utJi&ttm ^ iof # th ^ ^ ith , wd the great meu ^^ d ^ the ricU * aen , &i ^ d thejcl ^ ief c ^|> taiii $ ^ and the
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unghty inei ^ every bdnd riite ** tfKi every freeman , hid themselves i » tlie dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; and said to the mountains and rocks , Fall on us , and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on ttte throne , and from the wrath of the Lamb . For the great day of his
wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ?" I submit , whether this is not at least as rational and satisfactory as ihe usual explanation . See Mr- Lovvman , Bishop Newton , Drs . Doddridge * Priestley , &c , by whom you are totd ^ that the seals relate to Pagan Rome .
The 1 st seal , comprising the period from Vespasian to Nerva , about 28 years of triumph . The 2 nd seal , Trajan and his successors , about 95 years of horrible war . The 3 rd seal , thp Septimian family , about 42 years of scarcity and strict justice . The 4 th seal , from Maximin to Diocletian , about 50 years of war , famine and
pestilence , and 20 emperors , most of whom came to violent deaths . The 5 th seal , the persecution begun by Diocletian , about 10 years . The 6 th seal , great revolutions , the downfal of Heathenism and establishment of
Christianity in the Roman Empire . They also go on to explain the 7 th seal , the opening of which is described with unrivalled sublimity . Chap * viii . 1 : " And when he opened the 7 tU seal , there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour . " And what , follows ? The irruptions of Huns , Goths and Vandals .. All
heaven in suspense to behold the march of a set of barbarians ; nor do they altogether agree which of the three trumpets designates which set of barbarians . And in truth , their having mustered a little to the east or west does not seem to be a fact of sufficient
importance to entitle them to separate prophecies ; but commentator having brought matters to this poin f > were obliged to take what they could find to fill up the gap , and nothing bet * - ter offered . . The 4 th trumpet & sttp * - posed to denote the downfal of ^ he Roman Empire under : Augusttflus ^ The 5 th trumpet , Mahomet and the the
Saracens * The 6 th truinpe ^ empire of the Turljus . > '* A itMl then /' says Dr * Prieal , lex , * ' wg have a re markable iat ^ rrupstioj ^ V the Course of these vision */ ' r It is , however ,
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vol . xvii . 3 p
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1822, page 473, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2515/page/17/
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