On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
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.
Untitled Article
the approaching abolition of the old Pagan idolatry throughout the Roman empire . " Such a contest actually took place ; as it follows , " And there
was war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought against the dragon ; and the dragon fought and his angels . " We have seen that the dragon is the Pagan Roman empire , the defender of the old religion of superstition and idolatry ; so Michael , the prince , who fought against him and his angels , his ministers and agents , in support of the new religion , can be no other than Constantine . He it was who abolished the
Paganism of the empire , destroyed the temples of idolatry , threw down its altars , and established his new religion upon the ruins of the old superstition of the empire , and changed the very form in which it before existed . "The
dragon fought and his angels , and prevailed not ; neither was their place found any more in heaven . And the great dragon was cast out , that old serpent called the Devil and Satan , which deceiveth the whole world , he Avas cast out into the earth , and his ansrels were cast out with him . "
Heaven means a state of political power , authority and government ; the sun , moon and stars in this heaven , are the higher orders of the state . This idea ought ever to be kept in view in reading the prophecies . The earth means the lower orders of the
state , the common people . The old serpent ^ the Devil and Satan 9 does not mean a tricked fallen spirit ; but the old Roman empire , with its rulers , which under every form of its government was the great accuser and persecutor of the faithful servants of God . T fc ¦¦ b
— — - — — — ^ ^~ ^^ ^ w * ^™ — - ^ ^"^ ^«» ^» ^*— -. " ™ - v- *^ -v— . * ^ fc- ^ ^** ^ . ^ .- "fc ^* » , f * m » m ^^ *^ . j ^ ^ ^ "v ^ fc . ^ k and engaged in the support of the reigning polytheism and idolatry . Michael means Constantino , that great temporal prince , who was destined
successfully to combat and cast this dragonic power out of the political heaven to the earth , the common people , among whom it continued to prevail till its final extirpation by his successors . This war is said to be in
heaven , in the political heaven of the Roman power , not in the literal heavens , the celestial regions , and between its inhabitants . The prophecy is a prediction of events respecting the church ; but what concern could the church have in such a war , espe-
Untitled Article
cially if it took place ( as is generally supposed ) not only before the church had any existence , but even before the foundation of the world ? The only remaining passage where Michael is mentioned , is Jude 9 , and here he is again represented as having a contest with the Devil .
Before we enter on the particular consideration of this passage , we shall proceed , as was proposed , to inquire what we are to understand by the Devil , the other party said to be engaged in this contest . This inquiry has , in some measure , been entered upon in the preceding observations ; we shall , however , make some further
remarks on this part of the subject . The Greek word , diabolos , here used , literally means the calumniator , accuser , slanderer . It first occurs in the account which we have of our
Lord ' s temptation in the wilderness ; but that was merely a visionary scene , as Farmer has attempted to prove , or , as others , a mental temptation . The Devil here , then , is not a real but an
imaginary being , and we may observe , that that is the only instance in the New Testament in which he is denominated a tempter . Christians are never said to be tempted by him , or to be liable to his temptations , nor are there any warnings or cautions on
that subject . The term is applied to Judas , John vi . / 0 . It is said , that in the last days , " Men shall ( will ) be false accusers , " Greek , devils . 2 Tim . iii . 3 . So of deacons' wives it is said , " that they must be grave , not slcmdcrers , " Greek , devils . So also of aged
women it is required that " they be in behaviour as becometh holiness , not false accusers / 9 Greek devils . Titus ii . 3 . In 1 Peter v . 8 , " Your
adversary , the devil , " means the enemies and persecutors of Christians , by whom they were greatly afflicted . This appears evidently from the following words : " Whom resist stedfast in the faith , knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren which are in the world . " In all those
cases where devils are said to be cast out of persons who were possessed by them , the Greek word made use of is uniformly demons , not devils . It is very questionable whether the term devil is ever applied in the Scriptures to an evil spirit , such as the Devil is
Untitled Article
768 Attempt to illustrate Jude , ver . 9 . Letter III .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1822, page 738, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2519/page/18/
-