Church-members but understood the Apocalypse, could distinguish the signs of the times, what an imm for the Church's spiritual life and the cause of Christ ral would be the result! How many might be saved satanic spirit of secularization (e. g. in the form of ma pessimism, and unbelief in general), which, in our da than ever before, is struggling for the ascendency, and ens to move forward with ever-increasing gigantic stri

The Revelation is not only, as to its contents, a repi tion of the whole Gospel, inasmuch as resting upon C the chief corner-stone, it affords the Church a comp harmonious series of the most joyous and glorious m but, more than this, it is the key-stone of the Bible, a tells in advance the history of Christ's work on earth, forms us how this movement begins and has its end Kingdom of glory. The Revelation pre-supposes all t Gospels set forth. In all its predictions and sublime re tations, it starts and moves forward on this ground. As torical narrative, it holds in the closest connection wi spirit-world by means of its exalted visions and pictur guage; but as regards the events which it represents as place hereafter, many of its statements still remain vei obscurity. Still it sheds light-bright light-upon the h of the world. On a large scale it presents a complete p of that which is to come to pass; which as such is adequ distinct, but it allows minute particulars to remain unexpl until the proper time. If the Revelation, together with th maining prophetical books of the Bible, were verbal and li predictions, there would be involved such a violent in-wor upon the formation of history as to prejudice the freedo human development. The crown of revelation is boun with human liberty as a factor in history. Accordin prophecy in the Bible throughout is more or less obscure, wi in the apocalypse, especially, the language of the seven thun remains unsealed. Still, Revelation is light. Keys to images are found in the symbolism of the Bible. The pat

Introduction to a Commentary on the Apocalypse.

319

the history of the Christian Church is here indicated in general in terms that are adequately accurate and clear.

The book is a revelation and God is the revealer of it. First of all it was given to St. John. The Apostle wrote as directed by Christ. The contents, with all its imagery, predictions, threats, were shown and announced to him. This is a fact which in these modern days should be carefully considered, so that false views and conceptions may be avoided. An article recently appeared in one of our leading magazines from the pen of a writer laying claim to great learning, in which he subjected the form, style and imagery of the book to a critical investigation. According to this author, who institutes an extended comparison between the Apocalypse and the books of the Old Testament, the Apostle must have drawn not only upon the Prophets but upon heathen mythologies for his images, visions, allegories and expressions. Such a theory, so far from explaining the facts, does the utmost violence to them. It goes upon the supposition that St. John did nothing more than compile the Revelation. If in the latter we find representations. similar to those in the prophets, or even identically the same words, it must not by any means be necessarily inferred that they were borrowed thence. This is a proof rather that it is the same covenant God of revelation who speaks as well by the Apostles as by the Prophets. The writers of the Old Testament and St. John the Divine drew from the same source. Were there a real discrepancy between them, there would be just reason for doubting the truth of Revelation. God, who is infinite in His perfections, is an unchangeable being. Accordingly, His words, truths and ways remain ever the same. Upon the divine unchangeability, as its basis, must rest every safe method of the interpretation of revelation. For just as He is the same in His being or nature, so must He be the same in His ways notwithstanding the variety and manifoldness of His works. His revelation-pictures and representations are all taken from the life of nature and spirit; and back of them all lie truths which could find expression in no other form. Sun,

moon and stars, earth, sea and islands, fountains, st ocean, lightning, thunder and earthquake, fire, smoke wind, storm and voices, light and darkness; so a much else, angels, spirits and souls; all these objec occur in the Sacred Scriptures, have a fixed meaning either to the mind-life or the Spirit world. On this f of its picture-language the symbolism of the Bible is in connection with it is a symbolical method of inter As this opens itself, the images subject themselves to tion, and thus is found a basis for satisfactory expositi

*The early prophecies were not so framed that a literal interpr sufficed to understand them in their full sense. They were rather timations of the Spirit for the spirit. Likewise the entire history tion of Israel was so stated in the books of Moses that a sign-langu recognized, by which were indicated divine, mysterious and eterna for the development of God's covenant with His people. But in ord the sense of the Spirit the Israelite had to sink himself with love an into the history and law of his nation, and in a priestly spirit to gi over to the inspiration of God and His Spirit. Such hearts, prepar way, were chosen by Jehovah to be His prophets."-Dr. Schmied Seminary of Wittenberg, in Von Gerlach's Bibel- Werk. See his in to Isaiah.

"For it is an excellent observation which hath been made upon th of our Saviour Christ to many of the questions which were propounde how that they are impertinent to the state of the question deman reason whereof is, because not being like man, which knows man's by his words, but knowing man's thoughts immediately, He never their words, but their thoughts. Much in like manner is it with th tares, which . . . are not to be interpreted only according to the la the proper sense of the place, and respectively towards that present whereupon the words were uttered, or in precise congruity or co with the words before or after, or in contemplation of the principal the place; but have in themselves, not only totally or collectively, tributively, in clauses and words, infinite springs and streams of doctrine the Church in every part. And therefore, as the literal sense is, as it w main stream or river, so the moral sense chiefly, and sometimes the all or typical, are they whereof the Church hath most use; not that I w to be bold in allegories, or indulgent or light in allusions, but that I condemn that interpretation of the Scripture which is only after the ma Ave N N Berat a projana dock.”—Bacon's Advancement of Lea

Introduction to a Commentary on the Apocalypse.

321 John, in no sense of the word, imitated or copied from the Old Testament prophets, but he wrote down what was shown to him-what he saw and heard. All this, of course, had in reality to agree and correspond with the disclosures and statements of preceding prophets. Hence the resemblance of the Revelation of St. John with its prophecies, its picture-language and visions, to the Old Testament writings. The same Spirit which spoke and worked in Isaiah and Daniel, used St. John as His organ, for all revelations in the Kingdom of God issue from. one and the same source.*

*"Just as God appeared to St. John (Rev. iv.), so did He appear to Isaiah (iv.) and to Ezekiel (i.). We, however, have not to explain our vision as if it grew out of the former ones. St. John did not imitate them. God really appeared to St. John in the manner here described. The vision of Apoc. iv. explains itself in an entirely independent way."-Ebrard, p. 224.

On i. 10: "I was in the Spirit," the author comments as follows: "The apostle was elevated into an ecstatic state (entzückt), one into which prophets, apostles and other men of God were transported by the Holy Ghost, in which the ordinary natural consciousness was withdrawn, and the spiritual world was surveyed by the inner eye or the faculty of spiritual intuition. This phenomenon comes under the category of the miraculous, and accordingly is insusceptible of explanation. How it comes to pass is not explained by the statement that a divine spiritual life conveys itself into our natural life, and, by illuminating the human spirit, enables it to behold and disclose things hidden and future. This is, however, the statement of a truth which is plainly taught in the Bible from beginning to end. The angel (many like Düesterdieck take the word in a generic sense, whilst Lange concedes that this angel represents Christ, and the sealing angel in Ch. vii., the Holy Spirit.-Tr.) of revelation elevated the apostle into this ecstatic condition in order that he might see and hear what Christ purposed to reveal to him concerning the future of His Kingdom here upon the earth."

"Man in this way exists really in two worlds. In his physical organism he belongs at all points to the world of nature, the system of things seen and temporal, with which he stands in continual communication through his bodily senses. In his spiritual organism he is just as intimately comprehended in the world of spirit, the system of things unseen and eternal, which lies wholly beyond the range of his senses, although it is all the time touching him in fact and making itself felt upon his life in a different way. The difference between these two orders of existence with man, however, is not just that between body and spirit generally considered; for the distinguishing life of man, that by which he differs from the mere animal, is primarily and essentially all in his

In order now that the Book may find its proper ex so far as this accords with the divine purpose and necessary that its sense be gradually unfolded by with the power of seeing into the deep things of God. could be accomplished by mere conjecture, a definite interpretation had to be found which on good grou claim to be the right one. Many attempts were made Lange was led to a view of the Apocalypse, according more light has been thrown both upon the form and co the Book than by any other expounder of this part word.

Already in the earliest period of the history of the Church there appeared commentaries on the Revelati these adhered to the idea of a literal reign on the part of a thousand years; and all took for granted that th was immediately at hand. Under the influence of t doctrine that pervaded the early church, this doctri thousand years' reign was degraded into a wild Chilia just, namely, as the Jews conceived the coming of Ch carnal way, so that His Kingdom for them was to be temporal one, so the worldly-minded false teachers in centuries of Christianity formed carnal conceptions second advent of our Lord. The result of this was to b ing more nor less than a world-kingdom. This is the that was designated as Chiliasm. After the Roman C Church established itself, the doctrine was proclaimed th thousand year reign had already been entered upor mind, and only by derivation from thence in his body. But his mind so constituted as to have in it, so to speak, two different regions, one directly into the natural world through the body, and the other openi cipally into the spiritual world. Hence, properly speaking, the differ tween the external man and the internal man, some sense of which i entering into the deeper thought of the world through all ages. It is ply with the regenerate and righteous that such dualism has place; it to our life here universally. Man is by his creation at once both spirit natural, the denizen of two worlds. That is his distinction from the which is natural only and not spiritual.-Dr. J. Williamson Nevin. Ar Christianity and Humanity. MER. REV., Octo., 1878, pp. 470, 471.