liberty with that word, whereas I question if his readers will approve, when they come to perceive the mental reserve with which Mr. Pym professes to receive it in its strict literal meaning. The ancient prophecies which he adduces as descriptive of this glorious time and state, apply literally to the present world; but he it is who applies them to the next, and that in a most pressing manner, in a passage which I have already transcribed out of this same chapter, from p. 21, where is a very evasive answer to the objection I have made before-that certainly the advent of Christ will be attended with the conflagration of the world; and how then can the things which, according to this scheme, remain to be transacted in the earth, be accomplished in it? True, he says, St. Peter tells us, that at the coming of the Lord the earth shall be burned up; but the same apostle, he reminds us, adds immediately," Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth;" and as if this were sufficient, he continues," Is the 13th verse of this chapter less the word of God than the 7th and the 10th verses?" &c. and concludes, " from this it is clear, that after the fire from the Lord has purified this earth and the surrounding elements, there will still be an earth left, so blessed of him, and so glorious, as to be a fit residence for holy creatures." Very true indeed, but particularize a little further; do then those prophecies respecting the church which he brings out of the Old Testament, apply to this world or the next? Do they speak to men or to angels? To a generation of men in the flesh, or to the newly apparelled creatures of a future world? To earth or to heaven? : For here is the net, as I think, in which Mr. Pym has entangled himself. By the earth do we not all mean, and did we not suppose Mr. Pym to mean, this earth, when we read that profession of his taking the Lord at his word? But when he comes to associate these scenes which belong to earth with those other visions of the Revelations, which are the real foundation of the millenary doctrine, he is then obliged to confess that by the earth, which he here so insists upon, he means that new earth, which St. Peter speaks of as to succeed the destruction of this, and which furnishes the concluding vision of the Revelations, as subsequent to the judgment, and every other thing of which we have received any knowledge; whereas the Millennium, of which there is in fact but this one express prophecy in the whole Scriptures, is placed before the judgment, before the raising of the bodies of the dead, before the coming of the Lord. Of this more hereafter; but meanwhile, what do my readers now think of Mr. Pym's profession, that when the Lord says he will do a thing upon the earth, he takes him to mean the earth, not heaven; and actually means in his mind all the time that place which is revealed to us as the last destination of the blessed, where they shall be placed at last with glorified bodies to enjoy their eternal happiness? Do we not ordinarily think of this, and speak of this as heaven? And rightly too; for many other passages of Scripture lead us to do so. And although in the passage cited from St. Peter, and in the last vision of the Revelations, both a new heaven and a new earth are spoken of, yet this is only a way of naming the material world; and the heaven here, as distinguished from the earth, does not bear the same sense in which we use it when speaking of the abode of spirits, the place of God's more peculiar presence. Mr. Pym then, it appears, after all, is the person who takes the Lord to mean heaven, and not earth; for he takes those ancient scriptures which prophesy of the kingdom of Christ, to allude not to this world, but the next. Let us then look to them and see. II. This chapter of Mr. Pym's book may be divided into two parts; first, an introduction, in which he presents us with a description of what the Millennium is to be, according to the views he entertains of it; and, secondly, a series of proofs that the second coming of the Lord must take place before this glorious Millennium. 1. The first of these proofs sets forth that assemblage of events which are stated as to take place after the Lord's coming, but before the commencement of the Millennium; viz. the first resurrection, the conversion of the seed of Abraham, and the second calling of the Gentiles. With this part I have already meddled, as far as to show that they are incompatible, and that what he professes to produce as express proof of the second article is no proof at all. The question of the first resurrection I put off to a later place; and of the second call of the Gentiles, I really think it unnecessary to say a word. It is only a supplementary action to the advent for the conversion of the Jews, and the proposition serves but to expose the more on what grounds the other doctrine also is raised. Mr. Pym says, "The expectation of this rests very much upon Rom. xi. 12, 15. From which passage this follows the conversion and restoration of the seed of Abraham." But I venture to say, that whoever looks fairly at Rom. xi. will find no prophecy of a second calling of the Gentiles, nor positively of any thing which is to follow the conversion of the Jews. He will find there the strongest ground of hope, if not an actual prophecy, that in time the Jews shall come into the faith: (ver. 23,) "And they (the Jews) also, if they abide not in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again." (Ver. 25,)" For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." So far, therefore, from any second call of the Gentiles following the conversion of the Jews, it is said that the Jews will remain in unbelief until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. The conclusion is indeed as joyful as mysterious: (ver. 26,) " And so all Israel shall be saved;" and, what is equally wonderful and encouraging, (ver. 32,)" For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all." Well may the apostle add, "O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out." But the most obvious commentary upon this chapter is, that although the apostle is occupied throughout with the question, whether the Jews shall remain in un belief, or shall come in time into the faith, he never once speaks of the Lord's coming again to convert them; for he never speaks of the Lord's coming again except at the last day. No! but he says, that if the Jews remain not in unbelief they shall be graffed into the church, the stock of Abraham, again: and that that event shall be attended with the shedding of some new blessing upon the Gentiles. I return to the point whence I struck off. 2. The second in the series of proofs of the premillennial advent, "is drawn from the scriptural fact, that a part of the saints' reward in eternity will be the reigning with Christ for a given time in the renewed earth." This I put off to the same place where I intend to discuss the doctrine respecting the first resurrection, with which this is properly associated. In this place, I only remark the confirmation of what I have stated above, that the things of this earth and the future are throughout this whole scheme confounded together. The third is an argument from the words of ourSaviour "that the condition in which he will find the earth, when he cometh, will be such as it was in the days of Noah," which could not be the case, Mr. Pym would argue, if that coming were deferred till after the Millennium. The fourth is another, from the words of Scripture, that God would give unto him (Christ) the throne of his father David. "For one and all of which reasons (says Mr. Pym) the second advent of the Lord must be premillennial.” When I have reviewed the third argument, I will take the fourth and the introductory statement together. The latter I deferred to this place, |