In order to the application of which theory of the prophecy in this historical sense to the history of the Church, and of the world as connected with it, there is required of course the use of human learning. And thus Mr. W. K. must be understood as utterly repudiating the axiom so often vaunted, and so much dwelt upon by the earlier Futurists, that human learning is altogether out of place in Apocalyptic interpretation; and that "Scripture is only to be judged of by comparison with Scripture."

But how then, it will be asked, can Mr. W. K. be a Futurist at all? It is by the theory of a most curious double view; such a double view as, I must say, like as in physical cases of double sight, seems to me to imply a somewhat notable imperfection of sobriety in the expositor.

It seems to be a settled point in Mr. W. Kelly's creed, and is continually referred to as such throughout his book, that there is to be some certain considerable interval of time between the rapture of the saints, to meet Christ in the air, and his descent with them, after the closing judgments of the consummation, in the brightness of the New Jerusalem.2 It is this interval of time that he supposes to be most specially referred to in the heavenly vision represented in Apoc. iv. and v. The 24 crowned elders round the throne, being

Christ's true Church in the midst of the Popery of the dark middle ages, see pp. 77, 78 of my 1st Vol. "Mr. T., by means of what is really nothing less than mutilation, explains it to represent the Church's state under the all-dominant Popery of the dark ages, when irreligion prevailed everywhere, and the very witness for Christ was all but extinguished; whereas, the Epistle depicts a high state of piety as prevalent in the general professing body at Thyatira; and with the power in their hands, which it was their grand fault not duly to exercise, of interdicting and stopping the teaching of the woman Jezebel. Mr. T.'s eye has been on the exception Jezebel, not on the Church Thyatira. This is the 4th and central Epistle of the seven. And, if the centre of his Scheme of the Epistles be thus broken, Mr. T. will hardly, I think, be careful to contend for the rest."

How does Mr. W. K. attempt to answer this? By saying that, as the Epistles primarily depicted the actual state of the seven Churches, as existing in St. John's time, and only secondarily the successive states of the Christian Church from that time to the consummation, what I say of the strength of the Christian element in the Thyatiran Church, as depicted in the Epistle, must be viewed as applicable only in the primary sense of the Epistles, not the secondary. So pp. iv., v. of his Introduction. This seems to me an admission of what I contended for as against Mr. T.; viz. the impossibility of fairly making out the applicability of the seven Epistles as pictures of the seven chief successive æras and phases of the Christian Church from St. John's time to the consummation.

1 So Burgh, &c.

So, first, in the Introd. pp. vi.--viii.

Not "intentional "mutilation; as Mr. W. K. very unwarrantably represents me as saying. I had, and have, too much regard to Mr. T. to entertain such an idea.

a complete number, taken from the 24 courses of the Jewish Priesthood, must figure, he considers, the whole company of the redeemed in their state of glorification after the resurrection; at least most properly so. But how then will this suit with what goes before in the seven Epistles to the Churches, and what comes after in the judgments, as successively unfolded of the seven-sealed book? In this way. 1st, the seven Epistles, regarded in their primary sense, as picturing the seven Asiatic Churches in St. John's time, reach of course only to the time of St. John's seeing the visions in Patmos : and consequently imply that as the stand-point of time in the heavenly vision of the Divine throne and the elders in chapters iv. and v. immediately following. For so it is said in the 1st verse of chap. iv.; "Come up, and I will now show thee what must happen after these things." And, as seen from this point of time, the figurations subsequently evolved of the seven-sealed book depicted the subsequent history of the Church, and of the world, according to the more usual Protestant historical view, and very much as in the Hora Apocalypticæ.2 But this only imperfectly: indeed with imperfection such as to show that some more perfect interpretation was further intended by the Divine Author of the Book.3— Which more perfect interpretation, 2ndly, is thus obtainable, in consistency with the other view of the seven Epistles advocated by Mr. K. as depicting the successive æras and phases of the Christian Church from St. John's time to the consummation;-viz. by now regarding the stand-point of time indicated by the opening verse of chap. iv., "Come up, and I will show thee what must happen after these things," as the epoch of the ending of the Christian Church's history and existence on earth: in other words, the epoch of the rapture of the saints constituting it, and their enthronization in all the Church's completeness, as figured in the 24 crowned elders before the throne of God and of the Lamb. For, viewed from this point, all the subsequent visions will depict simply and solely the judgments and other events of the great "day of the Lord," at the close of the present dispensation.

A double view truly marvellous! And of which surely my more

Ibid., and Lect. p. 74.

2 See Mr. W. K.'s Comment throughout for this.

3 So, first, Introd. p. iv., where he intimates his impression that I would myself be ready to make this admission; which certainly I am not.

So, first, Introd. p. vii.

intelligent readers will think that the simple statement is a sufficient refutation. To make the matter clearer I have endeavoured to represent this double view in a Tabular Apocalyptic scheme. It is very obvious, even à priori, and sufficiently illustrated in Mr. W. K.'s Commentary, that the sacred figurations must, from the very nature of things, mean something each one quite different in the one view from what they mean in the other. And is this credible in Scripture prophecy? in Scripture prophecy, let me add, so full of particularity and detail, and stamped too with such marks of order as that of the Apocalypse? In fine, we may, I think, safely conclude to receive Mr. W. Kelly's judgment, so far as it goes, in favour of the Protestant historical view of the Apocalyptic prophecy, as that forced upon a person originally altogether prejudiced against it; and, in regard of his very original modification of Apocalyptic Futurism, as an additional and very notable illustration of the impossibility of any such modification.

I should add that Mr. W. Kelly, like his friend Mr. Trotter, and like Mr. Molyneux and most other Futurists, explains the last of Daniel's seventy hebdomads as the time of these judgments of consummation; and thereby complicates yet further his modified Futuristic system. So it will appear in the Schedule on the opposite page.

ADDENDUM.

In the course of his Work Mr. W. K. has from time to time made sundry strong animadversions on certain points in my Apocalyptic Exposition, by no means altogether in that spirit of fairness and candour which might have been anticipated from the courteous notice of myself and my Commentary in his Introduction. The chief of these it seems to me a duty not to pass over in silence; as he speaks very positively and dogmatically on them, and has moreover made my whole Book evidently a subject of careful study. I may fitly arrange them under the two heads ;--1st, of my asserted errors in the adoption of certain wrong readings of the Apocalyptic Greek Text, or readings of quite insufficient authority; 2ndly, of asserted errors in certain of my renderings of the Greek, and of my historical applications of the prophecy.

I. Asserted erroneous readings of the Greek text preferred in the Hora. Of these there are four that seem chiefly to call for specifica

APOCALYPTIC SCHEME.

These 7 Epistles, taken prophetically, end at the rapture of the saints shortly before the judgments of the consummation; representing a period of about 1800 years; and, as in the next vision of Apoc. iv., v., have, as their immediate sequel,μeта тavтa, (qu. about A. D. 1900) these saints in heaven, under symbol of

24 Elders crowned.

I.
Do.

The 7 Epistles, taken historically, represent the state of the 7 Asiatic Churches in the year A.D. 96, after which epoch (eта TaνTα) begin the subjects of the Apocalyptic figurations shown, A.D. 96, to

II.
Do.

II.

Mutual Slaughter.

III.

Do.

IV.

Do.

V.

Jewish Martyrs.

VI.

Fall of Roman Pagan Emp.

Parenthetical Sealing
Vision. God's provision
for Jewish saints now in
Judæa during coming
Trumpet Judgments.

IV.

Four Sore Plagues.

V.
Martyrs.

SEALS on scale of about one year.

tion, as animadverted upon by Mr. Kelly; each having an important bearing on the interpretation, the two last specified most especially.

1. "In Apoc. xi. 8, Mr. E. repeatedly, but incorrectly, of course through oversight, represents the reading in the critical editions as επι της πλατειας της πολεως της μεγαλης” (contradistinctively, I presume, to #λ. #oλ. îns μɛy., without the rns). So Mr. K., p. 198; referring specially to the H. A. Vol. ii. p. 396, and Vol. iv. p. 543. He seems (if I rightly understand him) to regard this as unduly adding weight to the idea of Rome being pointed at as the fated city of the Witnesses' death, not Jerusalem.

In reply, I have simply to state that the text is as I give it in four out of the six critical Editions which I possess: viz. in Heinrichs, Tregelles (Ed. 1844), Wordsworth, and Alford. In Griesbach (Ed. 1818) and Scholz, the rns is wanting before Toλews. Bishop Middleton, as I have observed Vol. ii. p. 433, speaks of the Greek as grammatically requiring the 7ns prefix.

2. At page 203 Mr. K. animadverts on my preferring the reading, ηνοιγη ὁ ναος το Θεό εν τῳ ερανῳ, in Apoc. xi. 19, to ηνοιγη ὁ ναος το Θ. EV T p., which he regards as that of best MS. authority. In reply to which charge I have to say that what I prefer is the reading of Griesbach, Scholz, Heinrichs, Tregelles, Alford; Wordsworth alone of the critical editors by me preferring the other reading.

The importance of this reading, which arises primarily from the fact that the absence of the article precludes the idea of a second and heavenly temple being here indicated, different from that spoken of xi. 1, 2, and elsewhere previously, is doubled by its parallelism (as so given) with the clause in Apoc. xv. 5; kai voiyn o vaos NS σκηνης το μαρτυριε εν τῷ ερανῳ: where the text, as I have just written it, is given in all the critical editions; alike by Griesbach, Heinrichs, Tregelles, Scholz, Wordsworth, Alford. Mr. Kelly, indeed, would here too read ỏ v T spavy; for he gives, as the English, "the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened; " not "was opened in heaven." But altogether, so far as I know, without authority. And why? It seems to be only because of its suiting his peculiar interpretation of the passage,

H. A. 4th Ed.-In my present Edition the references will be to Vol. ii. p. 433, and Vol. iv. p. 580. In my citations from Mr. K. I here and there a little abbreviate.