of the World or the Golden Age as they call'd it namely Equality of Seasons throughout the Year or a perpetual Equinox We have also taken in all the adjuncts or concomitants of these States as they are mention'd in Scripture The Longevity of the Ante-diluvians and the declension of their age by degrees after the Flood As also that wonderful Phaenomenon the Rainbow which appear'd to Noah for a Sign that the Earth should never undergo a second Deluge And we have shewn wherein the force and propriety of that Sign consisted for confirming Noah's faith in the promise and in the divine veracity Thus far we have explain'd the past Phaenomena of the Natural World The rest are Futurities which still lie hid in their Causes and we cannot properly prove a Theory from effects that are not yet in being But so far as they are foretold in Scripture both as to substance and circumstance in prosecution of the same Principles we have ante-dated their birth and shew'd how they will come to pass We may therefore I think reasonably conclude That this Theory has performed its task and answer'd its title having given an account of all the general changes of the Natural World as far as either Sacred History looks backwards or Sacred Prophecy looks forwards So far as the one tells us what is past in Nature and the other what is to come And if all this be nothing but an appearance of truth 't is a kind of fatality upon us to be deceiv'd SO much for Natural Evidence from the Causes or Effects We now proceed to Scripture which will make the greatest part of this Review The Sacred Basis upon which the whole Theory stands is the doctrine of S. Peter deliver'd in his Second Epistle and Third Chapter concerning the Triple Order and Succession of the Heavens and the Earth That comprehends the whole extent of our Theory which indeed is but a large Commentary upon S. Peter's Text. The Apostle sets out a threefold state of the Heavens and Earth with some general properties of each taken from their different Constitution and different Fate The Theory takes the same threefold state of the Heavens and the Earth and explains more particularly wherein their different Constitution consists and how under the conduct of Providence their different fate depends upon it Let us set down the Apostle's words with the occasion of them and their plain sence according to the most easie and natural explication Ver. 3. Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts 4. And saying Where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation 5. For this they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth consisting of water and by water 6. Whereby the world that then was being over flowed with water perished 7. But the heavens and the earth that are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men 10. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up 13. Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness This is the whole Discourse so far as relates to our Subject S. Peter you see had met with some that scoff'd at the future destruction of the World and the coming of our Saviour and they were men it seems that pretended to Philosophy and Argument and they use this argument for their opinion Seeing there hath been no change in Nature or in the World from the beginning to this time why should we think there will be any change for the future The Apostle answers to this That they willingly forget or are ignorant that there were Heavens of old and an Earth so and so constituted consisting of Water and by Water by reason whereof that World or those Heavens and that Earth perish'd in a Deluge of Water But saith he the Heavens and the Earth that are now are of another constitution fitted and reserved to another fate namely to perish by Fire And after these are perish'd there will be New Heavens and a New Earth according to God's promise This is an easie Paraphrase and the plain and genuine sence of the Apostle's discourse and no body I think would ever look after any other sence if this did not draw them into paths they do not know and to conclusions which they do not fancy This sence you see hits the objection directly or the Cavil which these scoffers made and tells them that they vainly pretend that there hath been no change in the World since the beginning for there was one sort of Heavens and Earth before the Flood and another sort now the first having been destroyed at the Deluge So that the Apostle's argument stands upon this Foundation That there is a diversity betwixt the present Heavens and Earth and the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth take away that and you take away all the force of his Answer Then as to his New Heavens and New Earth after the Conflagration they must be material and natural in the same sence and signification with the former Heavens and Earth unless you will offer open violence to the Text. So that this Triplicity of the Heavens and the Earth is the first obvious plain sence of the Apostle's discourse which every one would readily accept if it did not draw after it a long train of Consequences and lead them into other Worlds than they ever thought of before or are willing to enter upon now But we shall have occasion by and by to examine this Text more fully in all its circumstances Give me leave in the mean time to observe that S. Paul also implyes that triple Creation which S. Peter expresses S. Paul I say in the 8th chap. to the Romver 20 21. tell us of a Creation that will be redeem'd from Vanity which are the new Heavens and new Earth to come A Creation in subjection to Vanity which is the present state of the World And a Creation that was subjected to Vanity in hopes of being restor'd which was the first Paradisiacal Creation And these are the three states of the Natural World which make the subject of our Theory To these two places of St. Peter and St. Paul I might add that third in St. John concerning the new Heavens and new Earth with that distinguishing Character that the Earth was without a Sea As this distinguisheth it from the present Earth so being a Restitution or Restauration as we noted before it must be the same with some former Earth and consequently it implies that there was another precedent
They deserve this censure I am sure if they do not only disbelieve but also scoff at this Prophetick and Apostolick doctrine concerning the Vicissitudes of Nature and a triple World The Apostle in this discourse does formally distinguish three Worlds for 't is well known that the Hebrews have no word to signifie the natural World but use that Periphrasis The Heavens and the Earth and upon each of them engraves a name and title that bears a note of distinction in it He calls them the Old Heavens and Earth the Present Heavens and Earth and the New Heavens and Earth 'T is true these three are one as to matter and substance but they must differ as to form and properties otherwise what is the ground of this distinction and of these three different appellations Suppose the Jews had expected Ezekiel's Temple for the Third and last and most perfect and that in the time of the second Temple they had spoke of them with this distinction or under these different names The Old Temple the Present Temple and the New Temple we expect Would any have understood those three of one and the same Temple never demolish'd never chang'd never rebuilt always the same both as to materials and form no doubtless but of three several Temples succeeding one another And have we not the same reason to understand this Temple of the World whereof S. Peter speaks to be threefold in succession seeing he does as plainly distinguish it into the Old heavens and earth the Present heavens and earth and the New heavens and earth And I do the more willingly use this comparison of the Temple because it hath been thought an Emblem of the outward World I know we are naturally averse to entertain any thing that is inconsistent with the general frame and texture of our own thoughts That 's to begin the World again and we often reject such things without examination Neither do I wonder that the generality of Interpreters beat down the Apostle's words and sence to their own notions They had no other grounds to go upon and Men are not willing especially in natural and comprehensible things to put such a meaning upon Scripture as is unintelligible to themselves They rather venture to offer a little violence to the words that they may pitch the sence at such a convenient height as their Principles will reach to And therefore though some of our modern Interpreters whom I mention'd before have been sensible of the natural tendency of this discourse of St. Peter's and have much ado to bear off the force of the words so as not to acknowledge that they import a real diversity betwixt the two worlds spoken of yet having no Principles to guide or support them in following that Tract they are forc'd to stop or divert another way 'T is like entering into the mouth of a Cave we are not willing to venture further than the light goes Nor are they much to blame for this the fault is onely in those Persons that continue wilfully in their darkness and when they cannot otherwise resist the light shut their eyes against it or turn their head another way but I am afraid I have staid too long upon this argument not for my own sake but to satisfie others You may please to remember that all that I have said hitherto belongs onely to the first Head To prove a Diversity in general betwixt the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth and the present not expressing what their particular form was And this general diversity may be argued also by observations taken from Moses his history of the World before and after the Flood From the Longevity of the Antediluvians The Rain-bow appearing after the Deluge and the breaking open an Abyss capable to overflow the Earth The Heavens that had no Rainbow and under whose benign and steddy influence Men liv'd seven eight nine hundred years and upwards must have been of a different aspect and constitution from the present Heavens And that Earth that had such an Abyss that the disruption of it made an universal Deluge must have been of another form than the present Earth And those that will not admit a diversity in the two worlds are bound to give us an intelligible account of these Phaenomena How they could possibly be in Heavens and Earth like the present Or if they were there once why they do not continue so still if Nature be the same We need say no more as to the Ante-diluvian Heavens but as to the Earth we must now according to the second Part of the first Head enquire If that Particular Form which we have assign'd it before the Flood be agreeable to Scripture You know how we have describ'd the Form and situation of that Earth namely that it was built over the Abyss as a regular Orb covering and incompassing the waters round about and founded as it were upon them There are many passages of Scripture that favour this description Some more expresly others upon a due explication To this purpose there are two express Texts in the Psalms as Psal. 24. 1 2. The Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof The habitable World and they that dwell therein FOR he has founded it upon the Seas and establish'd it upon the Floods An Earth founded upon the Seas and establish'd upon the Waters is not this the Earth we have describ'd the first Earth as it came from the hands of its Maker Where can we now find in Nature such an Earth as has the Seas and the Water for its foundation Neither is this Text without a second as a fellow-witness to confirm the same truth For in the 136. Psalm ver 4 5 6. we read to the same effect in these words To him who alone does great wonders To him that by wisdom made the Heavens To him that stretched out the Earth above the Waters We can hardly express that form of the Ante-diluvian Earth in words more determinate than these are Let us then in the same simplicity of heart follow the words of Scripture seeing this literal sence is not repugnant to Nature but on the contrary agreeable to it upon the strictest examination And we cannot without some violence turn the words to any other sence What tolerable interpretation can these admit of if we do not allow the Earth once to have encompass'd and overspread the face of the Waters To be founded upon the waters to be establish'd upon the waters to be extended upon the waters what rational or satisfactory account can be given of these phrases and expressions from any thing we find in the present situation of the Earth or how can they be verified concerning it Consult Interpreters ancient or modern upon these two places see if they answer your expectation or answer the natural importance of the words unless they acknowledge another form of the Earth than the present Because a Rock hangs its nose over the Sea must the body of the
Scripture-Testimonies with design chiefly to obviate and disappoint the evasions of such as would beat down solid Texts into thin Metaphors and Allegories The Testimonies of Scripture concerning the Renovation of the World are either express or implicit Those I call express that mention the New Heavens and New Earth And those implicit that signifie the same thing but not in express terms So when our Saviour speaks of a Palingenesia or Regeneration Matt. 19. 28 29. Or St. Peter of an Apocatastasis or Restitution Act. 3. 21. These being words us'd by all Authors prophane or Ecclesiastical for the Renovation of the World ought in reason to be interpreted in the same sence in the holy Writings And in like manner when St. Paul speaks of his Future Earth or an habitable World to come Hebr. 2. 5. or of a Redemption or melioration of the present state of nature Rom. 8. 21 22. These lead us again in other terms to the same Renovation of the World But there are also some places of Scripture that set the New Heavens and New Earth in such a full and open view that we must shut our eyes not to see them St. John says he saw them and observ'd the form of the New Earth Apoc. 21. 1. The Seer Isaish spoke of them in express words many hundred years before And St. Peter marks the time when they are to be introduc'd namely after the Conflagration or after the Dissolution of the present Heavens and Earth 2 Pet. 3. 12 13. These later Texts of Scripture being so express there is but one way left to elude the force of them and that is by turning the Renovation of the World into an Allegory and making the New Heavens and New Earth to be Allegorical Heavens and Earth not real and material as ours are This is a bold attempt of some modern Authors who chuse rather to strain the Word of God than their own notions There are Allegories no doubt in Scripture but we are not to allegorize Scripture without some warrant either from an Apostolical interpretation or from the necessity of the matter and I do not know how they can pretend to either of these in this case However that they may have all fair play we will lay aside at present all the other Texts of Scripture and confine our selves wholly to St. Peter's words to see and examine whether they are or can be turn'd into an Allegory according to the best rules of interpretation St. Peter's words are these Seeing then all these things shall be dissolv'd what manner of persons ought ye to be in holy conversation and godliness Looking for and hasting the coming of the Day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolv'd and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat NEVERTHELESS we according to his promise look for New Heavens and a New Earth wherein Righteousness shall dwell The Question is concerning this last Verse Whether the New Heavens and Earth here promis'd are to be real and material Heavens and Earth or onely figurative and allegorical The words you see are clear And the general rule of interpretation is this That we are not to recede from the letter or the literal sence unless there be a necessity from the subject matter such a necessity as makes a literal interpretation absurd But where is that necessity in this Case Cannot God make new Heavens and a new Earth as easily as he made the Old ones Is his strength decay'd since that time or is Matter grown more disobedient Nay does not Nature offer her self voluntarily to raise a new World from the second Chaos as well as from the first and under the conduct of Providence to make it as convenient an habitation as the Primaeval Earth Therefore no necessity can be pretended of leaving the literal sence upon an incapacity of the subject matter The second rule to determine an Interpretation to be Literal or Allegorical is the use of the same words or phrase in the Context and the signification of them there Let 's then examine our cafe according to this rule St. Peter had us'd the same phrase of Heavens and Earth twice before in the same Chapter The old Heavens and Earth ver 5. The Present Heavens and Earth ver 7. and now he uses it again ver 13. The new Heavens and Earth Have we not then reason to suppose that he takes it here in the same sence that he had done twice before for real and material Heavens and Earth There is no mark set of a new signification nor why we should alter the sence of the words That he us'd them always before for the material Heavens and Earth I think none will question and therefore unless they can give us a sufficient reason why we should change the signification of the words we are bound by this second rule also to understand them in a literal sence Lastly The very form of the words and the manner of their dependence upon the Context leads us to a literal sence and to material Heavens and Earth NEVERTHELESS says the Apostle we expect new Heavens c. Why Nevertheless that is notwithstanding the dissolution of the present Heavens and Earth The Apostle foresaw what he had said might raise a doubt in their minds whether all things would not be at an end Nothing more of Heavens and Earth or of any habitable World after the Conflagration and to obviate this he tells them Notwithstanding that wonderful desolation that I have describ'd we do according to God's promises expect new Heavens and a new Earth to be an Habitation for the Righteous You see then the New Heavens and New Earth which the Apostle speaks of are substituted in the place of those that were destroy'd at the Conflagration and would you substitute Allegorical Heavens and Earth in the place of Material A shadow for a substance What an Equivocation would it be in the Apostle when the doubt was about the material Heavens and Earth to make an answer about Allegorical Lastly the timeing of the thing determines the sence When shall this new World appear after the Conflagration the Apostle says Therefore it cannot be understood of any moral renovation to be made at or in the times of the Gospel as these Allegorists pretend We must therefore upon all accounts conclude that the Apostle intended a literal sence real and material Heavens to succeed these after the Conflagration which was the thing to be prov'd And I know not what Bars the Spirit of God can set to keep us within the Compass of a Literal sence if these be not sufficient Thus much for the Explication of St. Peter's Doctrine concerning the new Heavens and new Earth which secures the second Part of our Theory For the Theory stands upon two Pillars or two pedestals The Ante-diluvian Earth and the Future Earth or in S. Peter's phrase The Old Heavens and Earth and the New Heavens and Earth And it cannot be
A REVIEW OF THE THEORY OF THE EARTH And of its PROOFS ESPECIALLY IN REFERENCE TO SCRIPTURE LONDON Printed by R. Norton for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1690. A REVIEW OF THE THEORY OF THE EARTH To take a review of this Theory of the Earth which we have now finish'd We must consider first the extent of it and then the principal parts whereof it consists It reaches as you see from one end of the World to the other From the first Chaos to the last day and the Consummation of all things This probably will run the length of Seven Thousand Years which is a good competent space of time to exercise our thoughts upon and to observe the several Scenes which Nature and Providence bring into View within the compass of so many Ages The matter and principal parts of this Theory are such things as are recorded in Scripture We do not feign a Subject and then descant upon it for diversion but endeavour to give an intelligible and rational account of such matters of Fact past or future as are there specified and declar'd What it hath seem'd good to the Holy Ghost to communicate to us by History or Prophecy concerning the several States and general Changes of this Earth makes the Argument of our Discourse Therefore the Things themselves must be taken for granted in one sence or other seeing besides all other proofs they have the authority of a Revelation and our business is only to give such an explication of them as shall approve it self to the faculties of man and be conformable to Scripture We will therefore first set down the things themselves that make the subject matter of this Theory and remind you of our explication of them Then recollect the general proofs of that explication from reason and nature but more fully and particularly shew how it is grounded upon Scripture The primary Phaenomena whereof we are to give an account are these Five or Six I. The original of the Earth from a Chaos II. The state of Paradise and the Ante-diluvian World III. The Universal Deluge IV. The Universal Conflagration V. The Renovation of the World or the New Heavens and New Earth VI. The Consummation of all things These are unquestionably in Scripture and these all relate as you see to the several forms states and revolutions of this Earth We are therefore oblig'd to give a clear and coherent account of these Phaenomena in that order and consecution wherein they stand to one another There are also in Scripture some other things relating to the same Subjects that may be call'd the secondary ingredients of this Theory and are to be referr'd to their respective primary heads Such are for instance I. The Longevity of the Ante-diluvians II. The Rupture of the Great Abyss at the Deluge III. The appearing of the Rainbow after the Deluge as a sign that there never should be a second Flood These things Scripture hath also left upon record as directions and indications how to understand the Ante-diluvian state and the Deluge it self Whosoever therefore shall undertake to write the Theory of the Earth must think himself bound to give us a just explication of these secondary Phaenomena as well as of the primary and that in such a dependance and connexion as to make them give and receive light from one another This part of the Task is concerning the World behind us Times and Things pass'd that are already come to light The remainder is concerning the World before us Times and Things to come that lie yet in the bosome of Providence and in the seeds of Nature And these are chiefly the Conflagration of the World and the Renovation of it When these are over and expir'd then comes the end as S. Paul says Then the Heavens and the Earth fly away as S. John says Then is the Consummation of all things and the last period of this sublunary World whatsoever it is Thus far the Theorist must go and pursue the motions of Nature till all things are brought to rest and silence And in this latter part of the Theory there is also a collateral Phaenomenon the Millennium or Thousand years Reign of Christ and his Saints upon Earth to be consider'd For this according as it is represented in Scripture does imply a change in the Natural World as well as in the Moral and therefore must be accounted for in the Theory of the Earth At least it must be there determin'd whether that state of the World which is singular and extraordinary will be before or after the Conflagration These are the Principals and Incidents of this Theory of the Earth as to the matter and subject of it which you see is both important and wholly taken out of Scripture As to our explication of these points that is sufficiently known being set down at large in four Books of this Theory Therefore it remains only having seen the matter of the Theory to examine the Form of it and the proofs of it for from these two things it must receive its censure As to the form the characters of a regular Theory seem to be these three Few and easie Postulatums Union of Parts and a Fitness to answer fully and clearly all the Phaenomena to which it is to be apply'd We think our Hypothesis does not want any of these Characters As to the First we take but one single Postulatum for the whole Theory and that an easie one warranted both by Scripture and Antiquity Namely That this Earth rise at first from a Chaos As to the second Union of parts The whole Theory is but one Series of Causes and Effects from that first Chaos Besides you can scarce admit any one part of it first last or intermediate but you must in consequence of that admit all the rest Grant me but that the Deluge is truly explain'd and I 'le desire no more for proof of all the Theory Or if you begin at the other end and grant the New Heavens and New Earth after the Conflagration you will be led back again to the first Heavens and first Earth that were before the Flood For St. John says that New Earth was without a Sea Apoc. 21. 1. And it was a Renovation or Restitution to some former state of things there was therefore some former Earth without a Sea which not being the present Earth it must be the Ante-diluvian Besides both St. John and the Prophet Isaias have represented the New Heavens and New Earth as Paradisiacal According as is prov'd Book the 4th ch 2. And having told us the form of the New-futureEarth that it will have no Sea it is a reasonable inference that there was no Sea in the Paradisiacal Earth However from the form of this Future Earth which St. John represents to us we may at least conclude That an Earth without a Sea is no Chimaera or impossibility but rather a fit seat and habitation for the Just and
the Innocent Thus you see the parts of the Theory link and hold fast one another according to the second character And as to the third of being suited to the Phaenomena we must refer that to the next head of Proofs It may be truly said that bare coherence and union of parts is not a sufficient proof The parts of a Fable or Romance may hang aptly together and yet have no truth in them This is enough indeed to give the title of a just Composition to any work but not of a true one till it appear that the conclusions and explications are grounded upon good natural evidence or upon good Divine authority We must therefore proceed now to the third thing to be consider'd in a Theory What its Proofs are or the grounds upon which it stands whether Sacred or Natural According to Natural evidence things are proved from their Causes or their Effects And we think we have this double order of proofs for the truth of our Hypothesis As to the method of Causes we proceed from what is more simple to what is more compound and build all upon one foundation Go but to the Head of the Theory and you will see the Causes lying in a train before you from first to last And tho' you did not know the Natural history of the World past or future you might by intuition foretell it as to the grand revolutions and successive faces of Nature through a long series of Ages If we have given a true account of the motions of the Chaos we have also truly form'd the first habitable Earth And if that be truly form'd we have thereby given a true account of the state of Paradise and of all that depends upon it And not of that onely but also of the universal Deluge Both these we have shewn in their causes The one from the Form of that Earth and the other from the Fall of it into the Abyss And tho' we had not been made acquainted with these things by Antiquity we might in contemplation of the Causes have truly conceiv'd them as properties or incidents to the First Earth But as to the Deluge I do not say that we might have calculated the Time manner and other circumstances of it These things were regulated by Providence in subordination to the Moral World But that there would be at one time or other a disruption of that Earth or of the Great Abyss and in consequence of it an universal Deluge So far I think the light of a Theory might carry us Furthermore In consequence of this disruption of the Primeval Earth at the Deluge the present Earth was made hollow and cavernous and by that means due preparations being used capable of Combustion or of perishing by an universal Fire Yet to speak ingenuously This is as hard a step to be made in vertue of Natural causes as any in the whole Theory But in recompence of that defect the Conflagration is so plainly and literally taught us in Scripture and avow'd by Antiquity that it can fall under no dispute as to the thing it self And as to a capacity or disposition to it in the present Earth that I think is sufficiently made out Then the Conflagration admitted in that way it is explain'd in the 3d. Book The Earth you see is by that fire reduc'd to a second Chaos A Chaos truly so call'd And from that as from the First arises another Creation or New Heavens and a New Earth By the same causes and in the same form with the Paradisiacal This is the Renovation of the World The Restitution of all things mentioned both by Scripture and Antiquity and by the Prophet Isaiah St. Peter and St. John call'd the New Heavens and New Earth With this as the last period and most glorious Scene of all humane affairs our Theory concludes as to this method of Causes whereof we are now speaking I say here it ends as to the method of Causes For tho' we pursue the Earth still further even to its last Dissolution which is call'd the Consummation of all things yet all that we have superadded upon that occasion is but Problematical and may without prejudice to the Theory be argued and disputed on either hand I do not know but that our conjectures there may be well grounded but however not springing so directly from the same root or at least not by ways so clear and visible I leave that part undecided Especially seeing we pretend to write no more than the Theory of the Earth and therefore as we begin no higher than the Chaos so we are not obliged to go any further than to the last state of a Terrestrial consistency which is that of the New Heavens and the New Earth This is the first natural proof From the order of Causes The second is from the consideration of Effects Namely of such effects as are already in being And therefore this proof can extend onely to that part of the Theory that explains the present and past form and Phaenomena of the Earth What is Future must be left to a further trial when the things come to pass and present themselves to be examin'd and compar'd with the Hypothesis As to the present Form of the Earth we call all Nature to witness for us The Rocks and the Mountains the Hills and the Valleys the deep and wide Sea and the Caverns of the Ground Let these speak and tell their origine How the Body of the Earth came to be thus torn and mangled If this strange and irregular structure was not the effect of a ruine and of such a ruine as was universal over the face of the whole Globe But we have given such a full explication of this in the first part of the Theory from Chapt. the 9th to the end of that Treatise that we dare stand to the judgment of any that reads those four Chapters to determine if the Hypothesis does not answer all those Phaenomena easily and adequately The next Phaenomenon to be consider'd is the Deluge with its adjuncts This also is fully explain'd by our Hypothesis in the 2d 3d. and 6th Chapters of the first Book Where it is shewn that the Mosaical Deluge that is an universal Inundation of the whole Earth above the tops of the highest Mountains made by a breaking open of the Great Abyss for thus far Moses leads us is fully explain'd by this Hypothesis and cannot be conceiv'd in any other method There are no sources or stores of Water sufficient for such an effect that may be drawn upon the Earth and drawn off again but by supposing such an Abyss and such a Disruption of it as the Theory represents Lastly As to the Phaenomena of Paradise and the Ante-diluvian World we have set them down in order in the 2d Book and apply'd to each of them its proper explication from the same Hypothesis We have also given an account of that Character which Antiquity always assign'd to the first age
built upon it and at first was sustain'd by it And when such a Key as this is put into our hands that does so easily unlock this hard passage and makes it intelligible according to the just force of the words why should we pertinaciously adhere to an interpretation that neither agrees with the words nor makes any sence that is considerable Thirdly If the Apostle had made the ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth the same with the present his apodosis in the 7th Verse should not have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. I say it should not have been by way of antithesis but of identity or continuation And the same Heavens and Earth are kept in store reserv'd unto fire c. Accordingly we see the Apostle speaks thus as to the Logos or the Word of God Verse 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the same Word of God where the thing is the same he expresseth it as the same And if it had been the same Heavens and Earth as well as the same Word of God Why should he use a mark of opposition for the one and of identity for the other to this I do not see what can be fairly answer'd Fourthly the ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth were different from the present because as the Apostle intimates they were such and so constituted as made them obnoxious to a Deluge whereas ours are of such a form as makes them incapable of a Deluge and obnoxious to a Conflagration the just contrary fate If you say there was nothing of natural tendency or disposition in either World to their respective fate but the first might as well have perish'd by fire as water and this by water as by fire you unhinge all Nature and natural providence in that method and contradict one main scope of the Apostle in this discourse His first scope is to assert and mind them of that diversity there was betwixt the ancient Heavens and Earth and the present and from that to prove against those Scoffers that there had been a change and revolution in Nature And his second scope seems to be this to show that diversity to be such as under the Divine conduct leads to a different fate and expos'd that World to a Deluge for when he had describ'd the constitution of the first Heavens and Earth he subjoyns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quià talis erat saith Grotius qualem diximus constitutio Terrae Coeli W H E R E B Y the then World perish'd in a Flood of Water This whereby notes some kind of causal dependance and must relate to some means or conditions precedent It cannot relate to Logos or the Word of God Grammar will not permit that therefore it must relate to the state of the ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth immediately premis'd And to what purpose indeed should he premise the description of those Heavens and Earth if it was not to lay a ground for this inference Having given these Reasons for the necessity of this Interpretation in the last place let 's consider St. Austin's judgment and his sence upon this place as to the point in question As also the reflections that some other of the Ancients have made upon this doctrine of St. Peter's Didymus Alexandrinus who was for some time St. Jerome's Master made such a severe reflection upon it that he said this Epistle was corrupted and should not be admitted into the Canon because it taught the doctrine of a Triple or Triform World in this third Chapter As you may see in his Enarr in Epist. Canonicas Now this threefold World is first that in the 6th Verse The World that then was In the 7th Verse The Heavens and the Earth that are now And in the 13th Verse We expect new Heavens and a new Earth according to his promise This seems to be a fair account that St. Peter taught the doctrine of a triple World And I quote this testimony to show what St. Peter's words do naturally import even in the judgment of one that was not of his mind And a Man is not prone to make an exposition against his own Opinion unless he think the words very pregnant and express But St. Austin owns the authority of this Epistle and of this doctrine as deriv'd from it taking notice of this Text of St. Peter's in several Parts of his Works We have noted three or four places already to this purpose and we may further take notice of several passages in his Treatise de Civ Dei which confirm our exposition In his 20th Book ch 24. he disputes against Porphyry who had the same Principles with these Aeternalists in the Text or if I may so call them Incorruptarians and thought the World never had nor ever would undergo any change especially as to the Heavens St. Austin could not urge Porphyry with the authority of St. Peter for he had no veneration for the Christian Oracles but it seems he had some for the Jewish and arguing against him upon that Text in the Psalms Coeli peribunt he shows upon occasion how he understands St. Peter's destruction of the Old World Legitur Coelum Terra transibunt Mundus transit sed puto quod proeterit transit transibunt aliquantò mitiùs dicta sunt quà m peribunt In Epistolà quoque Petri Apostoli ubi aquâ inundatus qui tum erat periisse dictus est Mundus satis clarum est quae pars mundi à toto significata est quatenùs periisse dicta sit qui coeli repositi igni reservandi This he explains more fully afterwards by subjoyning a caution which we cited before that we must not understand this passage of St. Peter's concerning the destruction of the ante diluvian World to take in the whole Universe and the highest Heavens but onely the aerial Heavens and the sublunary World In Apostolicâ illâ Epistolâ à toto pars accipitur quod Diluvio periisse dictus est mundus quamvis sola ejus cum suis coelis pars ima perierit In that Apostolical Epistle a part is signified by the whole when the World is said to have perish'd in the Deluge although the lower part of it onely with the Heavens belonging to it perished that is the Earth with the regions of the Air that belong to it And consonant to this in his exposition of that hundred and first Psalm upon those words The Heavens are the work of thy hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure This perishing of the Heavens he says S. Peter tells us hath been once done already namely at the Deluge Apertè dixit hoc Apostolus Petrus Coeli erant olim Terra de aquâ per aquam constituti Dei verbo per quod qui factus est mundus aquâ inundatus deperiit Terra autem coeli qui nunc sunt igni reservantur Jam ergo dixit periisse coelos per Diluvium These places shew us that
owning the Deluge to be universal supplies it self with Water from the Divine Omnipotency and says new Waters were created then for the nonce and again annihilated when the Deluge was to cease Both these explications you see and I know no more of note that are not obnoxious to the same exceptions differ from Moses in the substance or in one of the two substantial points and consequently more than ours doth The first changeth the Flood into a kind of national innundation and the second assigns other causes of it than Moses had assigned And as they both differ apparently from the Mosaical history so you may see them refuted upon other grounds also in the third Chapter of the First Book of the Theory This may be sufficient as to the History of the Flood by Moses But possibly it may be said the principal objection will arise from Moses his Six-days Creation in the first Chapter of Genesis where another sort of Earth than what we have form'd from the Chaos is represented to us namely a Terraqueous Globe such as our Earth is at present 'T is indeed very apparent that Moses hath accommodated his Six-days Creation to the present form of the Earth or to that which was before the eyes of the people when he writ But it is a great question whether that was ever intended for a true Physical account of the origine of the Earth or whether Moses did either Philosophize or Astronomize in that description The ancient Fathers when they answer the Heathens and the adversaries of Christianity do generally deny it as I am ready to make good upon another occafion And the thing it self bears in it evident marks of an accommodation and condescention to the vulgar notions concerning the form of the World Those that think otherwise and would make it literally and physically true in all the parts of it I desire them without entring upon the strict merits of the cause to determine these Preliminaries First whether the whole universe rise from a Terrestrial Chaos Secondly what Systeme of the World this Six-days Creation proceeds upon whether it supposes the Earth or the Sun for the Center Thirdly Whether the Sun and Fixt Stars are of a later date and a later birth than this Globe of Earth And lastly Where is the Region of the Super-celestial Waters When they have determin'd these Fundamentals we will proceed to other observations upon the Six-days work which will further assure us that 't is a narration suited to the capacity of the people and not to the strict and physical nature of things Besides we are to remember that Moses must be so interpreted in the first Chapter of Genesis as not to interfere with himself in other parts of his History nor to interfere with S. Peter or the Prophet David or any other Sacred Authors when they treat of the same matter Nor lastly so as to be repugnant to clear and uncontested Science For in things that concern the natural World that must always be consulted With these precautions let them try if they can reduce that narrative of the Origine of the World to physical truth so as to be consistent both with Nature and with Divine Revelation every where It is easily reconcileable to both if we suppose it writ in a Vulgar style and to the conceptions of the People And we cannot deny that a Vulgar style is often made use of in the holy Writings How freely and unconcernedly does Scripture speak of God Allmighty according to the opinions of the vulgar of his passions local motions parts and members of his body Which all are things that do not belong or are not compatible with the Divine nature according to truth and Science And if this liberty be taken as to God himself much more may it be taken as to his works And accordingly we see what motion the Scripture gives to the Sun what figure to the Earth what figure to the Heavens All according to the appearance of sence and popular credulity without any remorse for having transgressed the rules of intellectual truth This vulgar style of Scripture in describing the natures of things hath been often mistaken for the real sence and so become a stumbling block in the way of truth Thus the Anthropomorphites of old contended for the humane shape of God from the Letter of Scripture and brought many express Texts for their purpose but sound reason at length got the upper hand of Literal authority Then several of the Christian Fathers contended that there were no Antipodes and made that doctrine irreconcileable to Scripture But this also after a while went off and yielded to reason and experience Then the Motion of the Earth must by no means be allow'd as being contrary to Scripture for so it is indeed according to the Letter and Vulgar style But all intelligent Persons see thorough this argument and depend upon it no more in this case than in the former Lastly The original of the Earth from a Chaos drawn according to the rules of Physiology will not be admitted because it does not agree with the Scheme of the Six-days Creation But why may not this be writ in a Vulgar style as well as the rest Certainly there can be nothing more like a Vulgar style than to set God to work by the day and in Six-days to finish his task as he is there represented We may therefore probably hope that all these disguises of truth will at length fall off and that we shall see God and his Works in a pure and naked Light Thus I have finish'd what I had to say in confirmation of this Theory from Scripture I mean of the former part of it which depends chiefly upon the Deluge and the Antediluvian Earth When you have collated the places of Scripture on either side and laid them in the balance to be weigh'd one against another If you do but find them equal or near to an equal poise you know in whether Scale the Natural Reasons are to be laid and of what weight they ought to be in an argument of this kind There is a great difference betwixt Scripture with Philosophy on its side and Scripture with Philosophy against it when the question is concerning the Natural World And this is our Case which I leave now to the consideration of the unprejudic'd Reader and proceed to the Proof of the Second Part of the Theory THE later Part consists of the Conflagration of the World and the New Heavens and New Earth And seeing there is no dispute concerning the former of these two our task will now lie in a little compass Being onely this To prove that there will be New Heavens and a New Earth after the Conflagration This to my mind is sufficiently done already in the first second and third Chapters of the 4th Book both from Scripture and Antiquity whether Sacred or prophane and therefore at present we will onely make a short and easie review of