23 ART. II.-1. The Apostles' By CHARLES MAITLAND. 1849. School of Prophetic Interpretation. 2. Prophetic Outlines of the Christian Church and the Antichristian Power, as traced in the Visions of Daniel and S. John; in Twelve Lectures preached in the Chapel of Lincoln's Inn, on the Foundation of Bishop Warburton. By BENJAMIN HARRISON, M.A. London: Rivingtons. 1849. 3 Lectures on the Apocalypse. By CHRISTOPHER WORDSWORTH, D.D. London: Rivingtons. 1849. It is no uncommon error in the choice of studies, to fix on those in which we imagine that we can become knowing at a small expenditure of time and attention. Indeed it is not long since that really abstruse and difficult branch of biblical interpretation which relates to unfulfilled or partially fulfilled prophecy was pursued by many with this vain hope. Innumerable schemes, exposed by failures as innumerable, have somewhat damped the ardour of the religious public for the lighter prophetical literature, and it has now come to be pretty generally acknowledged that the study is one of the severest labour and most untiring patience; one in which even the adept, if any can be so called, must submit to uncertainty, and in which the novice must either be silent, or speak with the utmost caution and modesty. This is, however, no bad sign for the future, as we shall see if we well consider the ordinary laws of the progress of knowledge among mankind, which have their operation, though under limits, even in the case of sacred and revealed learning. The individual man is incomplete in himself, and cannot work out his own ideas without the assistance of the age. Plutarch could suggest that the moon was retained in its orbit by the force of gravity, but he did not live in an age of weighing and measuring. He was incapable of calculating the force he was able to imagine, and his true conjecture remained a solitary and barren thought for centuries. The same thought in the mind of Newton, who added to his singular genius the acquirements of a mathematically mechanical age, has opened to us the whole architecture of the universe. Only those who have studied the progress of science are aware how near mankind had approached to the Newtonian theory before it flashed upon their consciousness through the effort of a master mind. Many steps had been taken similar to those achieved by our great countryman, though less gigantic, and much ground made sure before he could take his stand firmly on the data of Copernicus and the laws of Kepler. And if sacred studies admit less of conjecture and discovery, they are even therefore the more open to the operation of this general law. We stand in them upon what our fathers have done for us, and if we would advance beyond them we must not despise them. In the case of prophecy, indeed, though we do not look for fresh revelations, we may well expect that the course of events will be not a little instructive. And we may even rather look for the chief advancing steps in knowledge from the development of the scheme of Providence, than from the felicity of human conjecture. It is true that in this way he that increaseth knowledge is likely to increase sorrow, for the events that bring great things to light are apt to be themselves terrible, and the cheering light of prophecy is cast upon the darkest stages of the Church's history. Cheering, we may say, it is, even when it foretells trouble; for trouble foretold is trouble measured and limited, and those to whom it is foretold are the objects of a special Providence. But let every man think well before he wishes that his own lot may fall on the days of the fulfilment of prophecy, and count the cost, and learn to live above the world. For on those that eat and drink, buy and sell, marry and are given in marriage, those days will come full of astonishment and dread. There is, however, a stage in the general apprehension of prophetic truth short of that full understanding which results from a striking and recent fulfilment, and which comes more within the range of the ordinary laws of human thought, although doubtless in great measure brought about by the silent suggestions of the Spirit and the illuminations of grace. There is a certain state of expectation and preparedness, that comes before the cardinal changes of the Divine dispensations, and contemplates them dimly as they approach, so as to receive them the more devoutly when they come, and to work with them in will and in moral attitude before they are distinctly imaged in the intellect. This state is most fully and clearly depicted in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles; and what we there read is most valuable to us in this way amongst others -that it shows us the true state and temper of the children of God when they have to wait His time for promised mercies, and to live upon hopes which they are not able to comprehend. And this imperfect yet not fallacious apprehension is most especially the inheritance of the Church, and is to be nourished by communion with her universal thought and feeling, as well as with those supernatural sources from which all that is truly and generically hers must descend. We know not how long may be the period of these last days,' but we are distinctly taught to cultivate that spirit of expectation which looks beyond the present, not in vain hope of amelioration of outward circumstances, but in the sure prospect of final deliverance,-combined with preparation for severe trial, and thankfulness if we are spared any that is too much for our strength, or aided to endure that which is allotted us. In thus realizing our own responsibility, in connexion with a deep conviction that we are in the hands of our heavenly Father, and are at once fulfilling His purposes and provided for in them, we are raised above the temptations of vain curiosity, and cautioned against the presumption of making hasty affirmations. And it is in casting ourselves unreservedly upon a personal faith in Him who is the only Revealer of secrets, that we are most sure to attain those true, though perhaps indistinct, impressions of the nature and meaning of His predictions which will enable us to discern the signs of the times, and to prepare for the future, and meet each coming crisis as He has willed. Human theories of systematic perfection may be as tempting and as deceptive to us now as were notions of temporal monarchy and worldly prosperity to the carnal Jews. Nor are special antipathies less likely to prove fertile sources of error, if we are weak enough to allow ourselves too readily to apply the denunciations of prophecy to what we happen ourselves to disapprove; or to see in its emblems of warning those parties or systems to which we happen to be opposed. Indeed, we might be inclined to wonder that the trumpet of Divine prediction should not give a more certain sound, and that we should so often be unable to discern the real bearing and direction of its utterances. But surely this is in great measure the consequence of our own sins and worldly dispositions, which set us wrongly and unreasonably against one another. And a partial remedy, at least, may be found in carrying on our investigations in a Catholic and humble spirit, and expecting such notices of coming events as may concern and edify the whole Church of God, while we leave the exact nature of what is to come in the same kind of obscurity in which it appears to have been involved in those ancient times, in which men waited for the consolation of Israel much as we have now to wait. Their doubts were solved by events, and remained doubts up to the very instant of their becoming aware of signal fulfilments of prophecy. It is true, they had no occasion to write books on the subject as we do; though indeed some of the Jewish commentaries before the Christian era are not to be despised in respect of their prophetic interpretation. In general, it was a matter of private devotional thought, or familiar converse with wife and friends, not so much of preaching or publication. But we must have something to say, some account to be given to others, who are anxious and expectant like ourselves, but who have less means of knowledge, or who wish to compare their thoughts with ours. It is not an unreasonable feeling, nor is it unreasonable to expect that there will be some right and suitable means provided for its indulgence within due limits, since it probably has not been given us in vain. And some scope, at least, is given to it through the multifarious character of modern thought and composition, and the variety of aspects under which it views all beings and events. Again, the very multitude of erroneous views in circulation at once afford exercise of thought and speech in discovering and applying their correction, and indirectly conduce to the strengthening and clearing of right impressions. When you have learned that such and such a prophecy does not mean this, which such an one has said it means, you have made no inconsiderable advance towards understanding what it does mean, although the true explanation may yet be withheld from you. Again, the practical lessons of prophecy may be clear, where the interpretation remains under inextricable doubt, since it is not always material toward the practical conclusions of faith whether the objects presented to its vision are near or distant, provided that they are foreseen as certainly future. Thus, however small may be the 'vindemiatio' of our students of prophecy, it is not right to stigmatise their labours as unprofitable and futile. If they were wise, they scarcely ever began with the expectation of being enabled to prophesy for themselves; and if they ever entertained so bold a thought, and then found it disappointed, it was not therefore time to desist. If prophecy were never to be studied till we could give an accurate system of its application, its volumes might remain closed till antichrist had grasped the sceptre of the world; and the faithful would have at once to learn the prediction and to meet the event in days that might perchance make both study and communication difficult, and might call for determination more suddenly than to allow time for informing the judgment. It is the more seasonable to take a view thus tending to encourage at least some attention to this great field of thought and inquiry, when we have writers coming forward, whose calmness, whose critical power, whose zeal for truth, whose range of thought, or whose sound principles of investigation cannot but command our respect. And the three who are named at the head of this article have each their claims for a careful perusal, and those claims by no means contemptible. The diligent comparison and patient thought that appear everywhere in Archdeacon Harrison's Lectures, are at least likely to have fixed some points in fulfilled prophecy to their true application, and this he seems to have done in fact successfully in some cases, in correction of the bold and able, but sometimes rather too destructive criticism of Dr. Todd. The very title of Dr. Maitland's book seems to announce a fact almost startling to ears that have been used to a succession of novelties. Has there been all along an 'Apostolic school of prophetic interpretation?' Where have we been, then, these thousand years and more, searching far and wide for what was to be found near home? There may, however, be some difference of opinion, after reading the evidence, how far the Apostolic certainty descends, and where some suspicions of fallible tradition must be allowed to creep in. Still, the work is not altogether unworthy of its title,—no mean praise, when the title connects it with the highest authority, and seems to promise satisfaction, where the very greatest intellects have been in doubt or error. Dr. Wordsworth has the claims of a diligent and critical student of the Apocalypse, an edition of which enters into the plan of his work, and of an orthodox and practical divine. His controversial tendencies are so strong as to form something of a drawback; but his views are at least well thought out, and carefully compared with their groundwork, and strikingly carried on to their practical results. The Apostles undoubtedly claim our first hearing, and on their account Dr. Maitland must be admitted to speak for himself, even on a prima facie claim to be their representative. And he is at least worth hearing, although it may be possible, in some cases, to set up a counter-claim. Dr. Wordsworth has attempted this, on a point which appears to be, in Dr. Maitland's view, by no means indifferent; but, after all the deductions we have to make, it must be owned that Dr. Maitland's array of evidence is somewhat the stronger of the two. Dr. Maitland is a (moderate and reasonable) Millenarian, and has a strong bias in favour of the literal interpretation of those portions of prophecy which appear to indicate a millennium. In reckoning up his witnesses on that side, he fearlessly cites among the first S. John himself, and may thus, of course, be accused of begging the question. And an impartial reader will undoubtedly, in judging between him and an opponent, leave out of the evidence, so far as weighing names is concerned, the very persons whose words are to be interpreted. Such a reader will also see, if he keeps his eyes equally open in another quarter, that Dr. Wordsworth, who is as decidedly anti-millenarian, has more than once blinked the distinction between a millennium, and a carnal millennium, and has unfairly cited the English Church as con |