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A

KEY

TO THE

S.H. 1829.

Revelation of St. John, the Divine;

BEING

AN ANALYSIS

OF

THOSE PARTS OF THAT WONDERFUL BOOK,

WHICH RELATE TO THE

GENERAL STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH,

THROUGH ALL THE TIMES SINCE IT WAS WRITTEN,

AND TO

THE PECULIAR SIGNS OF THOSE TIMES.

BY THE

REV. PHILIP ALLWOOD, B.D.

FELLOW OF MAGDALENE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear, the words of this Prophecy, and keep those
things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.-Rev. i. 3.

IN TWO VOLUMES,

VOL. I.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR C. J. G. & F. RIVINGTON,

ST PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD, AND WATERLOO-PLACE, PALL-MALL.

MDCCCXXIX.

773.

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PRINTED BY R. GILBERT, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.

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ΤΟ

HIS COUNTRY,

THROUGH THE GOODNESS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE,

LONG UNRIVALLED IN POWER, PROSPERITY, AND RENOWN;

AND STILL RESERVED,

ACCORDING TO THE APPARENT COUNSELS

OF

THE MOST HIGH,

FOR YET MORE SURPRISING AND DECISIVE PROOFS OF HIS MOST

GRACIOUS FAVOUR AND PROTECTION, IF SHE CONTINUE

FIRM IN THE PURE PROFESSION OF HIS HOLY

AND ETERNAL TRUTH;

THE FOLLOWING ELUCIDATION

OF

The Revelation of St. John,

A BOOK OF HIGHEST IMPORT,

MORE ESPECIALLY

IN TIMES SO AWFULLY CRITICAL AS THE PRESENT,

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

BY HER MOST FAITHFUL AND DEVOTED SERVANT,

THE AUTHOR.

therefore, beg leave to add, on this head, that if, in the prosecution of my subject, I have found it necessary to differ from any of my distinguished predecessors, upon this latter, or any other, point, of minor importance, I have done so, with undiminished respect for their characters, and admiration of their talents, as Commentators on this portion of Divine Revelation, generally; and with gratitude for the many valuable hints which I have received, more or less, from them all.

This Sacred Book, indeed, will be found to contain, what may be called, a proleptical History of the Church of Christ, and a faithful anticipation of "the signs of the times," in exact chronological order, from the very time when it was written, to the present. So far we are positively able, by the help of an accurate analysis, to judge of its contents, and to refer them to their Divine Original; for, by the application of this, we can trace, in every instance, the complete fulfilment of them. But it proceeds much further than this; for it carries on the scheme of prophecy, as it relates to the future dispensations of the Almighty, to the very end of time; and And affords us even a glimpse of eternity. though, with respect to the events of futurity,

any farther than as predicted periods and dates are given, it is impossible to enter into particulars, yet, from the uniformity of Plan in the Divine Administration, and from the sacred Emblems in which these events are clothed, so much may be easily elicited, as to afford a general and correct idea of their nature and tendency.

The style of the book is highly emblematical; and more especially so, after the three first chapters. But the meaning of the Emblems it contains may, without difficulty, be comprehended, in every instance, by a reference to the analogy of Scripture, and to the nature of things; and by their entire consistency with themselves, in all the passages, in which they respectively occur, throughout the Book. Each of them conveys to the mind an idea, or image, peculiar to itself; so that it cannot properly be confounded with any other. What is the sense of any one of these typical representations, in any one passage, such it must be, in any other passage in which it may be introduced; varying only in its aspect, according to the circumstances in which it may be placed, or the other figures by which it may be attended so that the true signification of any one passage, in which a number of these images

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