as high and relating to the Natural World The Windows from on high are open and the foundations of the Earth do shake The Earth is utterly broken down the Earth is clean dissolv'd the Earth is moved exceedingly The Earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard and shall be removed like a Cottage and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it and it shall fall and not rise again To restrain all these things to Iudaea as their adequate and final object is to force both the words and the sence Here are manifest allusions and foot-steps of the destruction of the World and the dissolution of the Earth partly as it was in the Deluge and partly as it will be in its last ruine torn broken aâ—d shatter'd But most Men have fallen into that errour To fancy both the destructions of the World by Water and by Fire quiet noiseless things executed without any ruines or ruptures in Nature That the Deluge was but a great Pool of still Waters made by the rains and inundation of the Sea and the Conflagration will be only a superficial scorching of the Earth with a running fire These are false Idea's and unsuitable to Scripture for as the Deluge is there represented a Disruption of the Abyss and consequently of the then habitable Earth so the future combustion of it according to the representations of Scripture is to be usher'd in and accompanied with all sorts of violent impressions upon Nature and the chief instrument of these violences will be Earth-quakes These will tear the Body of the Earth and shake its foundations rend the Rocks and pull down the tall Mountains sometimes overturn and sometimes swallow up Towns and Cities disturb and disorder the Elements and make a general confusion in Nature Next to Earth-quakes we may consider the roarings of a troubled Sea This is another sign of a dying World S. Luke hath set down a great many of them together Let us hear his words And there shall be signs in the Sun and in the Moon and in the Stars and upon the Earth distress of Nations with perplexity The Sea and the Waves roaring Mens hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the Earth for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory c. As some would allegorize these Signs which we noted before so others would confine them to the destruction of Ierusalem But 't is plain by this coming of the Son of man in the clouds and the redemption of the faithful and at the same time the sound of the last trumpet which all relate to the end of the World that something further is intended than the destruction of Ierusalem And though there were Prodigies at the destruction of that City and State yet not of this force nor with these circumstances 'T is true those partial destructions and calamities as we observ'd before of Babylon Ierusalem and the Roman Empire being types of an universal and final destruction of all Godâ—s Enemies have in the pictures of them some of the same strokes to show they are all from the same hand decreed by the same wisdom foretold by the same Spirit and the same power and Providence that have already wrought the one will also work the other in due time the former being still pledges as well as prefigurations of the latter Let us then proceed in our explication of this sign The roaring of the Sea and the Waves applying it to the end of the World I do not look upon this ominous noise of the Sea as the effect of a tempest for then it would not strike such a terror into the Inhabitants of the Earth nor make them apprehensive of some great evil coming upon the World as this will do what proceeds from visible causes and such as may happen in a common course of Nature does not so much amaze us nor affright us Therefore 't is more likely these disturbances of the Sea proceed from below partly by sympathy and revulsions from the Land by Earth-quakes there and exhausting the subterraneous cavities of Waters which will draw again from the Seas what supplies they can And partly by Earth-quakes in the very Sea it self with exhalations and fiery Eruptions from the bottom of it Things indeed that happen at other times more or less but at this conjuncture all causes conspiring they will break out with more violence and put the whole Body of the Waters into a tumultuary motion I do not see any occasion at this time for high Winds neither can think a superficial agitation of the Waves would answer this Phaenomenon but 't is rather from Contorsions in the bowels of the Ocean which make it roar as it were for pain Some Causes impelling the Waters one way and some another make intestine struglings and contrary motions from whence proceed unusual noises and such a troubled state of the Waters as does not only make the Sea innavigable but also strikes terror into all the Maritime Inhabitants that live within the view or sound of it So much for the Earth and the Sea The face of the Heavens also will be chang'd in divers respects The Sun and the Moon darkned or of a bloudy or pale countenance The Celestial Powers shaken and the Stars unsetled in their Orbs. As to the Sun and Moon their obscuration or change of colour is no more than what happens commonly before the Eruption of a fiery Mountain Dion Cassius you see hath taken notice of it in that Eruption of Aetna which he describes and others upon the like occasions in Vesuvius And 't is a thing of easie explication for according as the Atmosphere is more or less clear or turbid the Luminaries are more or less conspicuous and according to the nature of those fumes or exhalations that swim in the Air the face of the Sun is discolour'd sometimes one way sometimes another You see in an ordinary Experiment when we look upon one another through the fumes of Sulphur we appear pale like so many Ghosts and in some foggy days the Sun hangs in the Firmament as a lump of Bloud And botlâ— the Sun and Moon at their rising when their light comes to us through the thick vapours of the Earth are red and fiery These are not changes wrought in the substance of the Luminaries but in the modifications of their light as it flows to us For colours are but Light in a sort of disguise as it passes through Mediums of diffâ—rent qualities it takes different forms but the matter is still the same and returns to its simplicity when it comes again into a pure air Now the air may be changed and corrupted to a great degree tho' there appear no visible change to our eye This is manifest from infectious airs and the changes of the air before storms and rains which we feel
The Chanel of the Sea fill'd with a mass of fluid fire and the same fire overflowing all the Globe and covering the whole Earth as the Deluge or the first Abyss Then will the Triumphal Songs and Hallelujah's be sung for the Victories of the Lamb over all his Enemies and over Nature it self Great and marvellous are thy works Lord God Almighty Iust and true are thy ways thou King of Saints Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorisie thy name for thou only art holy for all nations shall come and worship before thee for thy judgments are made manifest CHAP. XI An account of those extraordinary Phaenomena and Wonders in Nature that according to Scripture will precede the coming of Christ and the Conflagration of the World IF we reflect upon the History of Burning Mountains we cannot but observe that before their Eruptions there are usually some changes in the Earth or in the Air in the Sea or in the Sun it self as signs and forerunners of the ensuing storm We may then easily conclude that when the last great Storm is a coming and all the Volcano's of the Earth ready to burst and the frame of the World to be dissolv'd there will be prevlous signs in the Heavens and on the Earth to introduce this Tragical fate Nature cannot come to that extremity without some symptomes of her illness nor die silently without pangs or complaint But we are naturally heavy of belief as to Futurities and can scarce fancy any other Scenes or other state of Nature than what is present and continually before our eyes we will therefore to cure our unbelief take Scripture for our guide and keep within the limits of its Predictions The Scripture plainly tells us of Signs or Prodigies that will precede the coming of our Saviour and the end of the World both in the Heavens and on the Earth The Sun Moon and Stars will be disturb'd in their motion or aspect The Earth and the Sea will roar and tremble and the Mountains fall at his Presence These things both the Prophets and Evangelists have told us But what we do not understand we are flow to believe and therefore those that cannot apprehend how such Changes should come to pass in the Natural World chuse rather to allegorize all these expressions of Scripture and to make them signifie no more than political changes of Governments and Empires and the great confusions that will be amongst the People and Princes of the Earth towards the end of the World So that darkning of the Sun shaking of the Earth and such like phrases of Scripture according to these Interpreters are to be understood only in a moral sence And they think they have a warrant for this interpretation from the Prophetick style of the Old Testament where the destruction of Cities and Empires and great Princes is often describ'd by such Figures taken from the Natural World So much is true indeed as to the phrase of the old Prophets in some places but I take the true reason and design of that to be a typical adumbration of what was intended should literally come to pass in the great and universal destruction of the World whereof these partial destructions were only shadows and prefigurations But to determine this case Let us take the known and approved rule for interpreting Scripture Not to recede from the literal sence without necessity or where the nature of the subject will admit of a literal interpretation Now as to those cases in the Old Testament History and matter of fact do show that they did not come to pass literally therefore must not be so understood But as for those that concern the end of the World as they cannot be determin'd in that way seeing they are yet future So neither is there any Natural repugnancy or improbability that they should come literally to pass On the contrary from the intuition of that state of Nature one would rather conclude the probability or necessity of them That there may and must be such disorders in the external World before the general dissolution Besides If we admit Prodigies in any case or Providential indications of God's judgments to come there can be no case suppos'd wherein it will be more reasonable or proper to admit them than when they are to be the Messengers of an universal Vengeance and Destruction Let us therefore consider what signs Scripture hath taken notice of as destin'd to appear at that time to publish as it were and proclaim the approaching end of the World and how far they will admit of a natural explication according to those grounds we have already given in explaining the causes and manner of the Conflagration These Signs are chiefly Earth-quakes and extraordinary commotions of the Seas Then the darkness or bloudy colour of the Sun and Moon The shaking of the Powers of Heaven the fulgurations of the Air and the falling of Stars As to Earth-quakes we have upon several occasions shown that these will necessarily be multiplied towards the end of the World when by an excess of drought and heat exhalations will more abound within the Earth and from the same causes their inflammation also will be more frequent than in the ordinary state of Nature And as all Bodies when dry'd become more porous and full of Vacuities so the Body of the Earth will be at that time And the Mines or Cavities wherein the fumes and exhalations lodge will accordingly be of greater extent open into one another and continued through long tracts and regions By which means when an Earth-quake comes as the shock will be more strong and violent so it may reach to a vast compass of ground and whole Islands or Continents be shaken at once when these trains have taken fire The effects also of such concussions will not only affect Mankind but all the Elements and the Inhabitants of them I do not wonder therefore that frequent and great Earth-quakes should be made a sign of an approaching Conflagration and the highest expressions of the Prophets concerning the Day of the Lord may be understood in a literal sence if they be finally referr'd to the general destruction of the World and not terminated solely upon those particular Countries or People to whom they are at first directed Hear what Ezekiel says upon this subject For in my Iealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken surely in that Day there shall be a great shaking in the Land of Israel So that the Fishes of the Sea and the Fowls of the Heaven and the Beasts of the Field and all creeping things that creep upon the Earth and all the Men that are upon the face of the Earth shall shake at my presence and the Mountains shall be thrown down and the sâ—eep places shall fall and every wall shaâ—l fall to the ground And I will rain an over-flowing rain and great hail-stones fire and brimstone The Prophet Isaias describes these judgments in terms
commonly sooner than we see and some other creatures perceive much sooner than we do 'T is no wonder then if before this mighty storm the dispositions of the Air be quite alter'd especially if we consider what we have so often noted before that there will be a great abundance of fumes and exhalations through the whole Atmosphere of the Earth before the last Fire breaks out whereby the Light of the Sun may be tinctur'd in several ways And lastly it may be so order'd providentially that the Body of the Sun may contract at that time some Spots or Maculae far greater than usual and by that means be really darkened not to us only but to all the neighbouring Planets And this will have a proportionable effect upon the Moon too for the diminution of her light So that upon all suppositions these Phaenomena are very intelligible if not necessary forerunners of the Conflagration The next Sign given us is that the powers of heaven will be shaken By the Heavens in this place is either understood the Planetary Heavens or that of the Fix'd Stars but this latter being vastly distant from the Earth cannot be really affected by the Conflagration Nor the powers of it that is its motions or the Bodies contain'd in it any way shaken or disorder'd But in appearance these celestial Bodies may seem to be shaken and their motions disorder'd as in a tempest by night when the ship is toss'd with contrary and uncertain motions the Heavens seem to fluctuate over our heads and the Stars to reel to and fro when the motion is only in our own Vessel So possibly the uncertain motions of the Atmosphere and sometimes of the Earth it self may so vary the sight and aspect of this starry Canopy that it may seem to shake and tremble But if we understand this of the Planetary Heavens They may really be shaken Providence either ordering some great changes in the other Planets previously to the Conflagration of our Planet as 't is probable there was a great change in Venus at the time of our Deluge Or the great shakings and concussions of our Globe at that time affecting some of the neighbouring Orbs at least that of the Moon may cause Anomalies and irregularities in their motions But the sence that I should pitch upon chiefly for explaining this phrase of shaking the powers of heaven comprehends in a good measure both these Heavens of the Fix'd Stars and of the Planets 'T is that change of situation in the Axis of the Earth which we have formerly mention'd whereby the Stars will seem to change their places and the whole Universe to take another posture This is sufficiently known to those that know the different consequences of a strait or oblique posture of the Earth And as the heavens and the earth were in this sence once shaken before namely at the Deluge when they lost their first situation so now they will be shaken again and thereby return to the posture they had before that first concussion And this I take to be the true literal sence of the Prophet Haggai repeated by S. Paul Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also heaven The last Sign we shall take notice of is that of Falling Stars And the Stars shall fall from Heaven says our Saviour Matt. 24. 29. We are sure from the nature of the thing that this cannot be understood either of fix'd Stars or Planets for if either of these should tumble from the Skies and reach the Earth they would break it all in pieces or swallow it up as the Sea does a sinking ship and at the same time would put all the inferiour universe into confusion It is necessary therefore by these Stars to understand either â—iery Meteors falling from the middle Region of the Air or Comets and Blazing Stars No doubt there will be all sorts of fiery Meteors at that time and amongst others those that are call'd Falling Stars which tho' they are not considerable singly yet if they were multiplied in great numbers falling as the Prophet says as leafs from the Vine or figs from the fig-tree they would make an astonishing fight But I think this expression does chiefly refer to Comets which are dead Stars and may truly be said to fall from heaven when they leave their seats above and those ethereal regions wherein they were fixt and sink into this lower World where they wander about with a blaze in their tail or a flame about their head as if they came on purpose to be the Messengers of some fiery Vengeance If numbers of these blazing Stars should fall into our heaven together they would make a dreadful and formidable appearance And I am apt to think that Providence hath so contriv'd the periods of their motion that there will be an unusual concourse of them at that time within the view of the Earth to be a prelude to this last and most Tragical Scene of the Sublunary World I do not know any more in Scripture relating to the last Fire that upon the grounds laid down in this discourse may not receive a satisfactory explication It reaches beyond the Signs before mention'd to the highest expressions of Scripture As Lakes of fire and brimstone a molten Sea mingled with fire the Liquefaction of Mountains and of the Earth it self We need not now look upon these things as Hyperbolical and Poetical strains but as barefac'd Prophecies and things that will literally come to pass as they are predicted One thing more will be expected in a just hypothesis or Theory of the Conflagration namely that it should answer not only all the conditions and characters belonging to the last Fire but should also make way and lay the foundation of another World to succeed this or of New Heavens and a New Earth For S. Peter hath taught this doctrine of the Renovation of the World as positively and expresly as that of its Conflagration And therefore they that so explain the destruction of the present World as to leave it afterwards in an eternal rubbish without any hopes of restoration do not answer the Christian Doctrine concerning it But as to our Hypothesis we are willing to stand this far ther trial and be accountable for the consequences of the Conflagration as well as the Antecedents and manner of it And we have accordingly in the following Book from the Ashes of this rais'd a New Earth which we leave to the enjoyment of the Readers In the mean time to close our discourse we will bid farewel to the present World in a short review of its last flames CHAP. XII An imperfect description of the Coming of our Saviour and of the World on Fire CErtainly there is nothing in the whole course of Nature or of Humane Affairs so great and so extraordinary as the two last Scenes of them THE COMING OF OUR SAVIOUR and the BURNING OF THE WORLD If we could draw in our minds the Pictures of these
not how 't is usher'd in Whether they suppose a visible resurrection of the Martyrs and a visible Ascension and that to be a Signal to all the World that the Jubilee is beginning or whether 't is gradual and creeps upon us insensibly or the fall of the Beast marks it These things need both explication and proof for to me they seem either arbitrary or unintelligible But to pursue our design and Subject That which gives me the greatest scandal in this doctrine of the vulgar Millennium is their joyning things together that are really inconsistent a natural World of one colour and a moral World of another They will make us happy in spight of Nature as the Stoicks would make a man happy in Phalaris his Bull so must the Saints be in full bliss in the Millennium tho' they be under a fit of the Gout or of the Stone For my part I could never reconcile pain to happiness It seems to me to destroy and drown all pleasure as a loud noise does a still voice It affects the Nerves with violence and over-bears all other motions But if according to this modern supposition they have the same Bodies and breath the same air in the Millennium as we do now there will be both private and Epidemical distempers in the same manner as now Suppose then a Plague comes and sweeps away half an hundred thousand Saints in the Millennium is this no prejudice or dishonour to the State Or a War makes a Nation desolate or in single Persons a lingring disease makes life a burthen or a burning Fever or a violent Colick tortures them to death Where such evils as these reign christen the thing what you will it can be no better than a Mock-Millennium Nor shall I ever be perswaded that such a state as our present life where an akeing Tooth or an akeing Head does so discompose the Soul as to make her unfit for business study devotion or any useful employment And that all the powers of the mind all its vertue and all its wisdom are not able to stop these little motions or to support them with tranquillity I can never perswade my self I say that such a state was designed by God or Nature for a state of happiness Our third argument is this The future Kingdom of Christ will not take place till the Kingdom of Antichrist be wholly destroy'd But that will not be wholly destroy'd till the end of the World and the appearing of our Saviour Therefore the Millennium will not be till then Christ and Antichrist cannot reign upon Earth together their Kingdoms are opposite as Light to darkness Besides the Kingdom of Christ is universal extends to all the Nations and leaves no room for other Kingdoms at that time Thus it is describ'd in Danielâ—s in the place mention'd before Chap. 7. 13 14. I saw in the Night visions and behold one like the Son of man came with the Clouds of Heaven and came to the Ancient of days And there was given him dominion and glory and a Kingdom that all People Nations and Language should serve him And again ver 27. And the Kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most High whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and all dominion shall serve and obey him The same characterâ— of universality is given to the Kingdom of Christ by David Isaih and other Prophets But the most direct proof of this is from the Apocalypse where the Beast and false Prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone Chap. 19. 20 before the Millennium comes on ch 20. This being cast into a Lake of fire burning with brimstone must needs signifie utter destruction Not a diminution of power only but a total perdition and consumption And that this was before the Millennium both the order of the narration shows and its place in the Prophecy And also because notice is taken at the end of the Millennium of the Beast and false Prophet's being in the Lake of fire as of a thing past and formerly transacted For when Satan at length is thrown into the same Lake 't is said He is thrown into the Lake of fire and brimstone where the Beast and false Prophet are Apoc. 20. â—0 They were there before it seems namely at the beginning of the Millennium land now at the conclusion of it the Devil is thrown in to them Besides the Ligation of Satan proves this point effectually For so long as Antichrist reigns Satan cannot be said to be bound but he is bound at the beginning of the Millennium therefore Antichrist's reign was then totally expir'd Lastly the destruction of Babylon and the destruction of Antichrist go together but you see Babylon utterly and finally destroy'd Apoc. 18. and 19. before the Millennium comes on I say utterly and finally destroy'd For she is not only said to be made an utter desolation but to be consum'd by fire and absorpt as a Milstone thrown into the Sea and that he shall be found no more at all Chap. 18. 21. Nothing can express a total and universal destruction more effectually or more emphatically And this is before the Millennium begins as you may see both by the order of the Prophecies and particularly in that upon this destruction the Hallelujah's are sung Chap. 19. and concluded thus ver 6. 7. Hallelujah for the God omnipotent reigneth Let us be glad and rejoyce and give honour to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her self ready This I suppose every one allows to be the Millennial state which now approaches and is making ready upon the destruction of Babylon Thus much for the first part of our argument That the Kingdom of Christ will not take place till the Kingdom of Antichrist be wholly destroy'd We are now to prove the second part That the Kingdom of Antichrist will not be wholly destroy'd till end of the World and the coming of our Saviour This one would think is sufficiently prov'd from St. Paul's words alone 2 Thess. 2. 8. The Lord shall consume the man of sin who is suppos'd the same with Antichrist with the Spirit of his mouth and shall destroy him with the brightness of his coming He will not then be destroy'd before the coming of our Saviour and that will not be till the end of the World For St. Peter says Act. 3. 21. The Heaven must receive him speaking of Christ until the times of restitution of all things that is the renovation of the World And if we consider that our Saviour's coming will be in flames of fire as the same Apostle St. Paul tells us 2 Thess. 1. 7 8. 't is plain that his coming will not be till the Conflagration in which last flames Antichrist will be universally destroy'd This manner of destruction agrees also with the Apocalypse and with Daniel and the Prophets of the
People and Nation When with their Palms in their hands they triumph over Sin and Death and Hell and all the Powers of Darkness can there be any thing on this side Heaven and a Quire of Angels more glorious or more joyful But why did I except Angels Why may not they be thought to be present at these Assemblies In a Society of Saints and purified Spirits Why should we think their converse impossible In the Golden Age the Gods were always represented as having freer intercourse with Men and before the Flood we may reasonably believe it so I cannot think Enoch was translated into Heaven without any converse with its Inhabitants before he went thither And seeing the Angels vouchsaf'd often in former Ages to visit the Patriarchs upon Earth we may with reason judge that they will much more converse with the same Patriarchs and holy Prophets now they are risen from the Dead and cleans'd from their sins and seated in the New Ierusalem I cannot but call to mind upon this occasion That representation which S. Paul makes to us of a glorious state and a glorious Assembly too high for this present Earth 'T is Hebr. 12. 22 c. in these words But you are come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Ierusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to God the Iudge of all and to the Spirits of just men made perfect This I know several apply to the Times and state of the Gospel in opposition to that of the Law and it is introduc'd in that manner But here are several expressions too high for any present state of things They must respect a future state either of Heaven or of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. And to the later of these the expressions agree and have a peculiar fitness and applicability to it And what follows in the context ver 26 27 28. About shaking the Heavens and the Earth once more Removing the former Scenes and bringing on a New Kingdom that cannot be shaken All this I say answers to the Kingdom of Christ which is to be establish'd in the New Heavens and New Earth But to proceed in their Publick Devotions Suppose this August Assembly inflam'd with all Divine Passions met together to celebrate the Name of God with Angels intermixt to bear a part in this Holy Exercise And let this concourse be not in any Temple made with hands but under the great roof of Heaven the True Temple of the most High so as all the Air may be fill'd with the chearful harmony of their Hymns and Hallelujahs Then in the heighth of their Devotion as they sing Praises to the Lamb and to Him that sits upon the Throne suppose the Heavens to open and the Son of God to appear in his glory with Thousands and Ten Thousands of Angels round about him That their eyes may see him who for their sakes was crucified upon Earth now encircled with Light and Majesty This will raise them into as great transports as humane nature can bear They will wish to be dissolv'd they will strive to fly up to him in the clouds or to breath out their Souls in repeated doxologles of Blessing and honour and glory and power to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever But we cannot live always in the flames of Devotion The weakness of our Nature will not suffer us to continue long under such strong Passions and such intenseness of Mind The question is therefore What will be the ordinary employment of that Life How will they entertain their thoughts or spend their time For we suppose they will not have that multiplicity of frivolous business that we have now About our Bodies about our Children in Trades and Mechanicks in Traffick and Navigation or Wars by Sea or Land These things being swept away wholly or in a great measure what will come in their place how will they find work or entertainment for a long life If we consider who they are that will have a part in this first Resurrection and be Inhabitants of that World that is to come we may easily believe that the most constant employment of their life will be CONTEMPLATION Not that I exclude any innocent diversions as I said before The entertainments of friendship or ingenuous conversation but the great business and design of that life is Contemplation as preparatory to Heaven and eternal Glory Ui paulatim assuescant capere Deum as Irenaeus says That they may by degrees enlarge their capacities fit and accustom themselves to receive God Or as he says in another place That they may become capable of the glory of the Father that is capable of bearing the glory and presence of God capable of the highest enjoyment of him which is usually call'd the Beatifical Vision and is the condition of the Blessed in Heaven It cannot be deny'd that in such a Millennial state where we shall be freed from all the incumbrances of this life and provided of better Bodies and greater light of Mind It cannot be doubted I say but that we shall then be in a disposition to make great proficiency in the knowledge of all things Divine and Intellectual and consequently of making happy preparations for our entring upon a further state of glory For there is nothing certainly does more prepare the mind of man for the highest perfections than Contemplation with that Devotion which naturally flows from it as heat follows light And this Contemplation hath always a greater or less effect upon the mind according to the perfection of its object So as the Contemplation of the Divine Nature is of all others the most perfective in it self and to us according to our capacities and degree of abstraction An Immense Being does strangely fill the Soul and Omnipotency Omnisciency and Infinite Goodness do enlarge and dilate the Spirit while it fixtly looks upon them They raise strong passions of Love and Admiration which melt our Nature and transform it into the mould and image of that which we contemplate What the Scripture says of our Transformation into the Divine likeness what S. Iohn and the Platonists say of our Union with God And whatever is not Cant in the Mystical Theology when they tell us of being Deified all this must spring from these sources of Devotion and Contemplation They will change and raise us from perfection to perfection as from glory to glory into a greater similitude and nearer station to the Divine Nature The Contemplation of God and his Works comprehends all things For the one makes the uncreated World and the other the Created And as the Divine Essence and Attributes are the greatest object that the mind of man can set before it self so next to that are the effects and emanations of the Divinity or the Works of the Divine Goodness Wisdom
and so it speaks of the Coming of our Saviour without distinction of first or second yet it does not follow from that that there is but one Coming of our Saviour so neither that there is but one Resurrection And seeing there is one place of Scripture that speaks distinctly of two Resurrections namely the 20th chap. of the Apocalypse that is to us a sufficient warrant for asserting two As there are some things in one Evangelist that are not in another yet we think them Authentick if they be but in one There are also some things in Daniel concerning the Messiah and concerning the Resurrection that are not in the rest of the Prophets yet we look upon his single testimony as good authority S. Iohn writ the last of all the Apostles and as the whole series of his Prophecies is new reaching through the later times to the Consummation of all things so we cannot wonder if he had something more particular reveal'd to him concerning the Resurrection That which was spoken of before in general being distinguish'd now into First and Second or particular and universal in this last Prophet Some think S. Paul means no less when he makes an order in the Resurrection some rising sooner some later 1 Cor. 15. 23 24. 1 Thess. 4. 14 15 c. but whether that be so or no S. Iohn might have a more distinct revelation concerning it than S. Paul had or any one before him After these Objections a great many Queries and difficulties might be propos'd relating to the Millennium But that 's no more than what is found in all other matters remote from our knowledge Who can answer all the Queries that may be made concerning Heaven or Hell or Paradise When we know a thing as to the substance we are not to let go our hold tho' there remain some difficulties unresolv'd otherwise we should be eternally Sceptical in most matters of Knowledge Therefore tho' we cannot for example give a full account of the distinction of habitations and inhabitants in the Future Earth or of the order of the First Resurrection whether it be performed by degrees and successively or all the Inhabitants of the New Jerusalem rise at once and continue throughout the whole Millennium I say tho' we cannot give a distinct account of these or such like particulars we ought not therefore to deny or doubt whether there will be a New Earth or a First Resurrection For the Revelation goes clearly so far and the obscurity is only in the consequences and dependances of it Which Providence thought fit without further light to leave to our search and disquisition Scripture mentions one thing at the end of the Millennium which is a common difficulty to all and every one must contribute their best thoughts and conjectures towards the solution of it 'T is the strange doctrine of Gog and Magog which are to rise up in rebellion against the Saints and besiege the holy City and the holy Camp And this is to be upon the expiration of the thousand years when Satan is loosen'd For no sooner will his Chains be knock'd off but he will put himself in the head of this Army of Gyants or Sons of the Earth and attack Heaven and the Saints of the most High But with ill success for there will come down fire and lightning from Heaven and consume them This methinks hath a great affinity with the History of the Gyants rebelling and assaulting Heaven and struck down by thunder-bolts But that of setting mountains upon mountains or tossing them into the Skie that 's the Poetical part and we must not expect to find it in the Prophecy The Poets told their Fable as of a thing past and so it was a Fable But the Prophets speak of it as of a thing to come and so it will be a reality But how and in what sence it is to be understood and explain'd every one has the liberty to make the best judgment he can Ezekiel mentions Gog and Magog which I take to be only types and shadows of these which we are now speaking of and not yet exemplified no more than his Temple And seeing this People is to be at the end of the Millennium and in the same Earth with it We must according to our Hypothesis plant them in the Future Earth and therefore all former conjectures about the Turks or Scythians or other Barbarians are out of doors with us seeing the Scene of this action does not lie in the present Earth They are also represented by the Prophet as a People distinct and separate from the Saints not in their manners only but also in their seats and habitations For they are said to come up from the four corners of the Earth upon the breadth of the Earth and there to besiege the Camp of the Saints and the beloved City This makes it seem probable to me that there will be a double race of Mankind in that Future Earth very different one from another both as to their temper and disposition and as to their origine The one born from Heaven Sons of God and of the Resurrection who are the true Saints and heirs of the Millennium The others born of the Earth Sons of the Earth generated from the slime of the ground and the heat of the Sun as brute Creatures were at first This second Progeny or Generation of Men in the Future Earth I understand to be signified by the Prophet under these borrowed or feigned names of Gog and Magog And this Earth-born race encreasing and multiplying after the manner of Men by carnal propagation after a thousand years grew numerous as the Sand by the Sea and thereupon made an irruption or inundation upon the face of the Earth and upon the habitations of the Saints As the barbarous Nations did formerly upon Christendom Or as the Gyants are said to have made War against the Gods But they were soon confounded in their impious and sacrilegious design being struck and consum'd by fire from Heaven Some will think it may be that there was such a double race of Mankind in the first VVorld also The Sons of Adam and the Sons of God because it is said Gen. 6. When men began to multiply upon the face of the Earth that the SONS OF GOD SAW THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN that they were fair and they took them Wives of all that they lik'd And it is added presently ver 4. There were Gyants in the Earth in those days and also after that when the Sons of God came in unto the daughters of men and they bare children to them the same became mighty men which were of old men of renown Here seem to be two or three orders or races in this Ante-diluvian VVorld The Sons of God The Sons and Daughters of Adam and a third sort arising from the mixture and copulation of these which are call'd Mighty men of old or Hero's Besides here are Gyants mention'd and to which
said might raise a doubt in their mâ—â—ds whether all things would not be at an end Nothing more oâ— Heavens and Earth or of any habitable World after the Confâ—â—gration and to obviate this he tells them Notwithstanding that wâ—nderful desolation that I have describ'd we do according to God's â—â—mises expect New Heavens and a New Earth to be an Habitatioâ— for the Righteous You see then the New Heavens and New Earth which the â—postle speaks of are substituted in the place of those that were destâ—â—y'd at the Conflagration and would you substitute Allegorical Hâ—avens and Earth in the place of Material A shadow for a subsâ—â—nce What 〈◊〉 Equivocation would it be in the Apostle when the â—oubt was about the material Heavens and Earth to make an answer â—bout Allegorical Lastly The Timeing of the thing determines the 〈◊〉 When shall this New World appear after the Conflagration the Apostle says Therefore it cannot be understood of any Moral Râ—novation to be made at or in the times of the Gospel as these â—â—llegorists pretend We must therefore upon all accounts conâ—â—de that the Apostle intended a literal sence real and material Heavâ—ns 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 suâ—ficient Thus much for the Explication of S. Peter's Doctrine concerniâ—g the New Heavens and New Earth which secures the Second Paâ—t 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 shaken so long as these two continue firm and immoveable We might now put an end to this Review but it may be expected possibly that we should say something concerning the Millennium which we have contrary to the general Sentiment of the Modern Millenaries plac'd in the Future Earth Our Opinion hath this advantage above others that all fanatical pretensions to power and empire in this World are by these means blown away as chaff before the wind Princes need not fear to be dethron'd to make way to the Saints nor Governments unhing'd that They may rule the World with a rod of Iron These are the effects of a wild Enthusiasm seeing the very state which they aim at is not to be upon this Earth But that our sence may not be mistaken or misapprehended in this particular as if we thought the Christian Church would never upon this Earth be in a better and happier posture than it is in at present We must distinguish betwixt a melioration of the World if you will allow that word and a Millennium We do not deny a reformation and improvement of the Church both as to Peace Purity and Piety That knowledge may increase mens minds be enlarg'd and Christian Religion better understood That the power of Antichrist shall be diminish'd Persecution cease Liberty of Conscience allow'd amongst the Reformed and a greater union and harmony establish'd That Princes will mind the publick good more than they do now and be themselves better examples of Vertue and true Piety All this may be and I hope will be e're long But the Apocalyptical Millennium or the New Ierusalem is still another matter It differs not in degree only from the present state but is a new order of things both in the Moral World and in the Natural and that cannot be till we come into the New Heavens and New Earth Suppose what Reformation you can in this World there will still remain many things inconsistent with the true Millennial state Antichrist tho' weakned will not be finally destroy'd till the coming of our Saviour nor Satan bound And there will be always Poverty Wars Diseases Knaves and Hypocrites in this World which are not consistent with the New Ierusalem as S. Iohn describes it Apoc. 21. 2 3 4 c. You see now what our notion is of the Millennium as we deny this Earth to be the Seat of it 'T is the state that succeeds the first Resurrection when Satan is lockt up in the bottomless pit The state when the Martyrs are to return into Life and wherein they are to have the first lot and chief share A state which is to last a thousand years And Blessed and Holy is he that hath a part in it on such the second death hath no power but they shall be Priests of God and Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years If you would see more particular reasons of our judgment in this case why such a Millennium is not to be expected in this World they are set down in the 8th Chapt. of the 4th Book and we do not think it necessary that they should be here repeated As to that dissertation that follows the Millennium and reaches to the Consummation of all things seeing it is but problematical we leave it to stand or fall by the evidence already given And should be very glad to see the conjectures of others more learned in Speculations so abstruse and remote from common knowledge They cannot surely be thought unworthy or unfit for our Meditations seeing they are suggested to us by Scripture it self And to what end were they propos'd to us there if it was not intended that they should be understood sooner or later I have done with this Review and shall only add one or two reflections upon the whole discourse and so conclude You have seen the state of the Theory of the Earth as to the Matter Form and Proofs of it both Natural and Sacred If any one will substitute a better in its place I shall think my self more obliged to him than if he had shew'd me the Quadrature of the Circle But it is not enough to pick quarrels here and there that may be done by any writing especially when it is of so great extent and comprehension They must build up as well as pull down and give us another Theory instead of this fitted to the same Natural History of the Earth according as it is set down in Scripture and then let the World take their choice He that cuts down a Tree is bound in reason to plant two because there is an hazard in their growth and thriving Then as to those that are such rigorous Scripturists as to require plainly demonstrative and irresistible Texts for every thing they entertain or believe They would do well to reflect and consider whether for every article in the three Creeds which have no support from natural reason they can bring such Texts of Scripture as they require of others or a faiâ—er and juster evidence all things consider'd than we have done for the substance of this Theory We have not indeed said all that might be said as to Antiquity that making no part in this Review and being capable still of great additions But
G. Kneller Eques Pinxit R White Sculpsit Eâ—â—ies Authâ—ris The Sacred Theory of the EARTH THE THEORY OF THE EARTH Containing an Account OF THE Original of the Earth AND OF ALL THE GENERAL CHANGES Which it hath already undergone OR IS TO UNDERGO Till the CONSUMMATION of all Things THE TWO FIRST BOOKS Concerning The DELVGE AND Concerning PARADISE The Third Edition review'd by the Author LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. TO THE KING'S MOST Excellent Majesty SIR NEW found Lands and Countreys accrew to the Prince whose Subject makes the first Discovery And having retriev'd a World that had been lost for some thousands of Years out of the Memory of Man and the Records of Time I thought it my Duty to lay it at Your Majesty's Feet 'T will not enlarge Your Dominions 't is past and gone nor dare I say it will enlarge Your Thoughts But I hope it may gratifie Your Princely curiosity to read the Description of it and see the Fate that attended it We have still the broken Materials of that first World and walk upon its Ruines while it stood there was the Seat of Paradise and the Scenes of the Golden Age when it fell it made the Deluge And this â—â—shapen Earth we now inhabit is the Form it was found in when the Waters had retir'd and the dry Land appear'd These things Sir I propose and presume to prove in the following Treatise which I willingly submit to Your Majesty's Iudgment and Censure being very well satisfied that if I had sought a Patron in all the List of Kings Your Contemporaries Or in the Roll of Your Nobles of either Order I could not have found a more competent Iudge in a Speculatitn of this Nature Your Majesty's Sagacity and happy Genius for Natural History for Observations and Remarks upon the Earth the Heavens and the Sea is a better preparation for Inquiries of this kind than all the dead Learning of the Schools Sir This Theory in the full extent of it is to reach to the last Period of the Earth and the End of all things But this first Volume takes in only so much as is already past from the Origin of the Earth to this present time and state of Nature To describe in like manner the Changes and Revolutions of Nature that are to come and see thorough all succeeding Ages will require a steddy and attentive Eye and a retreat from the noise of the World Especially so to connect the parts and present them all under one view that we may see as in a Mirrour the several faces of Nature from First to Last throughout all the Circle of Successions Your Majesty having been pleas'd to give encouragement to this Translation I humbly present it to Your Gracious Acceptance And 't is our Interest as well as Duty in Disquisitions of this Nature to Address our selves to Your Majesty as the Defender of our Philosophick Liberties against those that would usurp upon the Fundamental privilege and Birth-right of Mankind The Free use of Reason Your Majesty hath always appear'd the Royal Patron of Learning and the Sciences and 't is suitable to the Greatness of a Princely Spirit to favour and promote whatsoever tends to the enlargement of Humane Knowledge and the improvement of Humane Nature To be Good and Gracious and a Lover of Knowledge are methinks two of the most amiable things in this World And that Your Majesty may always bear that Character in present and future Ages and after a long and prosperous Reign enjoy a blessed Immortality is the constant Prayer of Your MAJESTY'S Most Humble and most Obedient Subject THOMAS BVRNET PREFACE TO THE READER HAVING given an account of this whole Work in the first Chapter and of the method of either Book whereof this Volume consists in their proper places there remains not much to be said here to the Reader This Theory of the Earth may be call'd Sacred because it is not the common Physiology of the Earth or of the Bodies that compose it but respects only the great Turns of Fate and the Revolutions of our Natural World such as are taken notice of in the Sacred Writings and are truly the Hinges upon which the Providence of this Earth moves or whereby it opens and shuts the several successive Scenes whereof it is made up This English Edition is the same in substance with the Latin though I confess 't is not so properly a Translation as a new Composition upon the same ground there being several additional Chapters in it and several new-moulded As every Science requires a peculiar Genius so likewise there is a Genius peculiarly improper for every one and as to Philosophy which is the Contemplation of the works of Nature and the Providence that governs them there is no temper or Genius in my mind so improper for it as that which we call a mean and narrow Spirit and which the Greeks call Littleness of Soul This is a defect in the first make of some Mens minds which can scarce ever be corrected afterwards either by Learning or Age. And as Souls that are made little and incapacious cannot enlarge their thoughts to take in any great compass of Times or things so what is beyond their compass or above their reach they are apt to look upon as Fantastical or at least would willingly have it pass for such in the World Now as there is nothing so great so large so immense as the works of Nature and the methods of Providence men of this complexion must needs be very unfit for the contemplation of them Who would set a purblind Man at the top of the Mast to discover Land or upon an high Tower to draw a Landskip of the Country round about for the same reason short-sighted minds are unfit to make Philosophers whose proper business it is to discover and describe in comprehensive Theories the Phaenomena of the World and the Causes of them This original disease of the Mind is seldom cur'd by Learning which cures many others Like a fault in the first Stamina of the Body it cannot easily be rectified afterwards 'T is a great mistake to think that every sort of Learning makes a Man a competent Judge of Natural Speculations We see unhappy examples to the contrary amongst the Christian Fathers and particularly in S. Austin who was unquestionably a Man of Parts and Learning but interposing in a controversie where his Talent did not lie show'd his zeal against the Antipodes to very ill purpose though he drew his Reasons partly from Scripture And if within a few Years or in the next Generation it should prove as certain and demonstrable that the Earth is mov'd as it is now that there are Antipodes those that have been zealous against it and ingag'd the Scripture in the Controversie would have the same reason to repent of their forwardness that S. Austin would have now if he was alive 'T
immediate height of the Mountain So for instance the Mountains of the Moon in Africa whence the Nile flows and after a long course falls into the Mediterranean Sea by Egypt are so much higher than the surface of that Sea first as the Ascent of the Land is from the Sea to the foot of the Mountains and then as the height of the Mountains is from the bottom to the top For both these are to be computed when you measure the height of a Mountain or of a mountainous Land in respect of the Sea And the height of Mountains to the Sea being thus computed there would be need of six or eight Oceans to raise the Sea alone as high as the highest In-land Mountains And this is more than enough to compensate the less quantity of Water that would be requisite upon the Land Besides we must consider the Regions of the Air upwards to be more capacious than a Region of the same thickness in or near the Earth so as if an Ocean pour'd upon the surface of the dry Land supposing it were all smooth would rise to the height of half a quarter of a mile every where the like quantity of Water pour'd again at the height of the Mountains would not have altogether the same effect or would not there raise the mass half a quarter of a mile higher for the surfaces of a Globe the farther they are from their Center are the greater and so accordingly the Regions that belong to them And lastly we must consider that there are some Countries or Valleys very low and also many Caverns or Cavities within the Earth all which in this case were to be first fill'd with Water These things being compar'd and estimated we shall find that notwithstanding the room that Hills and Mountains take up on the dry Land there would be at least eight Oceans requir'd or a quantity of Water eight times as great as the Ocean to bring an Universal Deluge upon the Earth as that Deluge is ordinarily understood and explained The proportion of Water for the Deluge being thus stated the next thing to be done is to enquire where this Water is to be found if any part of the Sublunary World will afford us so much Eight Oceans floating in the Air make a great bulk of Water I do not know what possible Sources to draw it from There are the Clouds above and the Deeps below and in the bowels of the Earth and these are all the stores we have for Water and Moses directs us to no other for the Causes of the Deluge The Fountains he saith of the great Abysse were broken up or burst asunder and the Rain descended for forty days the Cataracts or Floodgates of Heaven being open'd And in these two no doubt are contain'd the causes of the great Deluge as according to Moses so also according to reason and necessity for our World affords no other treasures of Water Let us therefore consider how much this Rain of Forty Days might amount to and how much might flow out of the Abysse that so we may judge whether these two in conjunction would make up the Eight Oceans which we want As for the Rains they would not afford us one Ocean nor half an Ocean nor the tenth part of an Ocean if we may trust to the Observations made by others concerning the quantity of Water that falls in Rain Mersennus gives us this account of it It appears by our Observations that a Cubical Vessel of Brass whereof we made use is fill'd an inch and an half in half an hours time but because that sucks up noâ—hing of the moisture as the Earth doth let us take an inch for half an hours Rain whence it follows that in the space of 40 days and nights Rain the Waters in the Deluge would rise 160 feet if the Rains were constant and equal to ours and that it rain'd at once throughout the face of the whole Earth But the Rain of the Deluge saith he should have been 90 times greater than this to cover for instance the Mountains of Armenia or to reach 15 Cubits above them So that according to his computation the 40 days Rain would supply little more than the hundredth part of the Water requisite to make the Deluge 'T is true he makes the heighth of the Mountains higher than we do but however if you temper the Calculation on all sides as much as you please the water that came by this Rain would be a very inconsiderable part of what was necessary for a Deluge If it rain'd 40 days and 40 nights throughout the face of the whole Earth in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere all at once it might be sufficient to lay all the lower grounds under water but it would signifie very little as to the over-flowing of the Mountains Whence another Author upon the same occasion hath this passage If the Deluge had been made by Rains only there would not have needed 40 days but 40 years Rain to have brought it to pass And if we should suppose the whole middle Region condens'd into water it would not at all have been sufficient for this effect according to that proportion some make betwixt Air and Water for they say Air turn'd into Water takes up a hundred times less room than it did before The truth is we may reasonably suppose that all the vapours of the middle Region were turn'd into water in this 40 days and 40 nights Rain if we admit that this Rain was throughout the whole Earth at once in either Hemisphere in every Zone in every Climate in every Country in every Province in every Field and yet we see what a small proportion all this would amount to Having done then with these Superiour Regions we are next to examine the Inferiour and the treasures of water that may be had there Moses tells us that the Fountains of the great Abysse were broke open or clove asunder as the word there us'd doth imply and no doubt in this lay the great mystery of the Deluge as will appear when it comes to be rightly understood and explain'd but we are here to consider what is generally understood by the great Abysse in the common explication of the Deluge and 't is commonly interpreted either to be the Sea or Subterraneous waters hid in the bowels of the Earth These they say broke forth and rais'd the waters caus'd by the Rain to such an height that together they overflowed the highest Mountains But whether or how this could be deserves to be a little examin'd And in the first place the Sea is not higher than the Land as some have formerly imagin'd fansying the Sea stood as it were upon a heap higher than the shore and at the Deluge a relaxation being made it overflow'd the Land But this conceit is so gross and so much against reason and experience that none I think of late have ventur'd to make use of it And yet on the
other hand if the Sea lie in an equal convexity with the Land or lower generally than the shore and much more than the midland as it is certainly known to do what could the Sea contribute to the Deluge It would keep its Chanel as it doth now and take up the same place And so also the Subterraneous waters would lie quiet in their Cells whatsoever Fountains or passages you suppose these would not issue out upon the Earth for water doth not ascend unless by force But le ts imagine then that force us'd and appli'd and the waters both of the Sea and Caverns under ground drawn out upon the surface of the Earth we shall not be any whit the nearer for this for if you take these waters out of their places those places must be fill'd again with other waters in the Deluge so as this turns to no account upon the whole If you have two Vessels to fill and you empty one to fill the other you gain nothing by that there still remains one Vessel empty you cannot have these waters both in the Sea and on the Land both above ground and under nor can you suppose the Chanel of the Sea would stand gaping without water when all the Earth was overflow'd and the tops of the Mountains cover'd And so for Subterraneous Cavities if you suppose the water pumpt out they would suck it in again when the Earth came to be laid under water so that upon the whole if you thus understand the Abysse or great Deep and the breaking open its Fountains in this manner it doth us no service as to the Deluge and where we expected the greatest supply there we find none at all What shall we do then whither shall we go to find more than seven Oceans of water that we still want We have been above and below we have drain'd the whole middle Region and we have examin'd the Deeps of the Earth they must want for themselves they say if they give us any And besides if the Earth should disgorge all the water that it hath in its bowels it would not amount to above half an Ocean which would not at all answer our occasions Must we not then conclude that the common explication of the Deluge makes it impossible there being no such quantity of water in Nature as they make requisite for an universal Deluge Yet to give them all fair play having examin'd the waters above the Earth or in the Air the waters upon the Earth and the waters under the Earth let us also consider if there be not waters above the Heavens and if those might not be drawn down for the Deluge Moses speaks of waters above the firmament which though it be generally understood of the middle Region of the Air yet some have thought those to be waters plac'd above the highest Heavens or Super-celestial waters and have been willing to make use of them for a supply when they could not find materials enough under the Heavens to make up the great mass of the Deluge But the Heavens above where these waters lay are either solid or fluid if solid as Glass or Crystal how could the waters get through 'em to descend upon the Earth If fluid as the Air or Aether how could the waters rest upon them For Water is heavier than Air or Aether So that I am afraid those pure Regions will prove no fit place for that Element upon any account But supposing these waters there how imaginary soever and that they were brought down to drown the World in that vast quantity that would be necessary what became of them when the Deluge ceas'd Seven or eight Oceans of water with the Earth wrapt up in the middle of them how did it ever get quit of them how could they be dispos'd of when the Earth was to be dri'd and the World renew'd It would be a hard task to lift them up again among the Spheres and we have no room for them here below The truth is I mention this opinion of the Heavenly waters because I would omit none that had ever been made use of to make good the common explication of the Deluge but otherwise I think since the System of the World hath been better known and the Nature of the Heavens there are none that would seriously assert these Super-celestial waters or at least make use of them so extravagantly as to bring them down hither for causes of the Deluge We have now employ'd our last and utmost endeavours to find out waters for the vulgar Deluge or for the Deluge as commonly understood and you see with how little success we have left no corner unsought where there was any appearance or report of water to be found and yet we have not been able to collect the eighth part of what was necessary upon a moderate account May we not then with assurance conclude that the World hath taken wrong measures hitherto in their notion and explication of the general Deluge They make it impossible and unintelligible upon a double account both in requiring more water than can be found and more than can be dispos'd of if it was found or could any way be withdrawn from the Earth when the Deluge should cease For if the Earth was encompass'd with eight Oceans of water heapt one upon another how these should retire into any Chanels or be drain'd off or the Earth any way disengag'd from them is not intelligible and that in so short a time as some months For the violence of the Deluge lasted but four or five months and in as many months after the Earth was dry and habitable So as upon the whole enquiry we can neither find source nor issue beginning nor ending for such an excessive mass of Waters as the Vulgar Deluge requir'd neither where to have them nor if we had them how to get quit of them And I think men cannot do a greater injury or injustice to Sacred History than to give such representations of things recorded there as make them unintelligible and incredible And on the other hand we cannot deserve better of Religion and Providence than by giving such fair accounts of all things propos'd by them or belonging to them as may silence the Cavils of Atheists satisfie the inquisitive and recommend them to the belief and acceptance of all reasonable persons CHAP. III. All Evasions answered That there was no new Creation of waters at the Deluge And that it was not particular or National but extended throughout the whole Earth A prelude and preparation to the true Account and Explication of it The method of the first Book THough in the preceding Chapter we may seem to have given a fair trial to the common opinion concerning the state of the Deluge and might now proceed to sentence of condemnation yet having heard of another plea which some have us'd in its behalf and another way found out by recourse to the Supream Power to supply all defects and to make
the whole matter intelligible we will proceed no further till that be consider'd being very willing to examine whatsoever may be offer'd in that or any other way for resolving that great difficulty which we have propos'd concerning the quantity of water requisite for such a Deluge And to this they say in short that God Almighty created waters on purpose to make the Deluge and then annihilated them again when the Deluge was to cease And this in a few words is the whole account of the business This is to out the knot when we cannot loose it They shew us the naked arm of Omnipotency such Arguments as these come like lightning one doth not know what Armour to put on against them for they pierce the more the more they are resisted We will not therefore oppose any thing to them that is hard and stubborn but by a soft answer deaden their force by degrees And I desire to mind those persons in the first place of what S. Austin hath said upon a like occasion speaking concerning those that disprov'd the opinion of waters above the Heavens which we mention'd before by natural Reasons We are not saith he to refute those persons by saying that according to the Omnipotence of God to whom all things are possible we ought to believe there are waters there as heavy as we know and feel them here below for our business is now to enquire according to his Scripture how God hath constituted the Nature of things and not what he could do or work in these things by a miracle of Omnipotency I desire them to apply this to the present argument for the first answer Secondly let them consider that Moses hath assign'd causes of the Deluge Forty days Rain and the disruption of the Abysse and speaks nothing of a new creation of water upon that occasion Those were causes in Nature which Providence had then dispos'd for this extraordinary effect and those the Divine Historian refers us to and not to any productions out of nothing Besides Moses makes the Deluge increase by degrees with the Rain and accordingly makes it cease by degrees and that the waters going and returning as the waves and great commotions of the Sea use to do retir'd leisurely from the face of the Earth and settled at length in their Chanels Now this manner of the beginning or ceasing of the Deluge doth not at all agree with the instantaneous actions of Creation and Annihilation Thirdly let them consider that S. Peter hath also assign'd Causes of the Deluge namely the particular constitution of the Earth and Heavens before the Flood by reason whereof he saith the World that was then perisht in a Deluge of water And not by reason of a new creation of water His words are these The Heavens and the Earth were of old consisting of water and by water whereby or by reason whereof the World that then was being overflowed with water perished Fourthly they are to consider that as we are not rashly to have recourse to the Divine Omnipotence upon any account so especially not for new Creations and least of all for the creation of new matter The matter of the Universe was created many Ages before the Flood and the Universe being full if any more was created then there must be as much annihilated at the same time to make room for it for Bodies cannot penetrate one anothers dimensions nor be two or more within one and the same space Then on the other hand when the Deluge ceas'd and these waters were annihilated so much other matter must be created again to take up their places And methinks they make very bold with the Deity when they make him do and undo go forward and backwards by such countermarches and retractions as we do not willingly impute to the wisdom of God Almighty Lastly I shall not think my labour lost if it be but acknowledg'd that we have so far clear'd the way in this controversie as to have brought it to this issue That either there must be new waters created on purpose to make a Deluge or there could be no Deluge as 't is vulgarly explain'd there not being water sufficient in Nature to make a Deluge of that kind This I say is a great step and I think will satisfie all parties at least all that are considerable for those that have recourse to a New Creation of waters are of two sorts either such as do it out of laziness and ignorance or such as do it out of necessity seeing they cannot be had otherwise as for the first they are not to be valu'd or gratifi'd and as for the second I shall do a thing very acceptable to them if I free them and the argument from that necessity and show a way of making the Deluge fairly intelligible and accountable without the creation of new waters which is the design of this Treatise For we do not tye this knot with an Intention to puzzle and perplex the Argument finally with it but the harder it is ty'd we shall feel the pleasure more sensibly when come to loose it It may be when they are beaten from this new Creation of water they will say the Element of Air was chang'd into water and that was the great store-house for the Deluge Forty days Rain we allow as Moses does but if they suppose any other transelementation it neither agrees with Moses's Philosophy nor S. Peter's for then the opening of the Abysse was needless and the form and constitution of the Antediluvian Heavens and Earth which S. Peter refers the Deluge to bore no part in the work it might have been made in that way indifferently under any Heavens or Earth Besides they offend against S. Austin's rule in this method too for I look upon it as no less a miracle to turn Air into Water than to turn Water into Wine Air I say for Vapours indeed are but water made volatile but pure Air is a body of another Species and cannot by any compression or condensation so far as is yet known be chang'd into water And lastly if the whole Atmosphere was turn'd into water 't is very probable it would make no more than 34 foot or thereabouts for so much Air or Vapours as is of the same weight with any certain quantity of water 't is likely if it was chang'd into water would also be of the same bulk with it or not much more Now according to the doctrine of the Gravitation of the Atmosphere 't is found that 34 foot of water does counterbalance a proportionable Cylinder of Air reaching to the top of the Atmosphere and consequently if the whole Atmosphere was converted into water it would make no more than eleven or twelve yards water about the Earth which the cavities of the Earth would be able in a good measure to suck up at least this is very inconsiderable as to our eight Oceans And if you would change the higher Regions into water too
an equal share and concern in it Moses saith also the Fountains of the grear Abyss were burst asunder to make the Deluge and what means this Abyss and the bursting of it if restrain'd to Iudaea or some adjacent Countries What appearance is there of this Disruption there more than in other Places Furthermore S. Peter plainly implies that the Antediluvian Heavens and Earth perish'd in the Deluge and opposeth the present Earth and Heavens to them as different and of another constitution and saith that these shall perish by Fire as the other perish'd by Water So he compares the Conflagration with the Deluge as two general dissolutions of Nature and one may as well say that the Conflagration shall be only National and but two or three Countries burnt in that last Fire as to say that the Deluge was so I confess that discourse of S. Peter concerning the several States of the World would sufficiently convince me if there was nothing else That the Deluge was not a particular or National Inundation but a mundane change that extended to the whole Earth and both to the lower Heavens and Earth All Antiquity we know hath spoke of these Mundane Revolutions or Periods that the World should be successively destroy'd by Water and Fire and I do not doubt but that this Deluge of Noah's which Moses describes was the first and leading instance of this kind and accordingly we see that after this Period and after the Flood the blessing for multiplication and for replenishing the Earth with Inhabitants was as solemnly pronounc'd by God Almighty as at the first Creation of Man Gen. 9. 1. with Gen. 1. 28. These considerations I think might be sufficient to give us assurance from Divine Writ of the universality of the Deluge and yet Moses affords us another argument as demonstrative as any when in the History of the Deluge he saith Gen. 7. 19. The waters exceedingly prevailed upon the Earth and all the high Hills that were under the whole Heavens were covered All the high Hills he saith under the whole Heavens then quite round the Earth and if the Mountains were coverâ—d quite round the Earth sure the Plains could not scape But to argue with them upon their own grounds Let us suppose only the Asiatick and Armenian Mountains covered with these waters this they cannot deny then unless there was a miracle to keep these waters upon heaps they would flow throughout the Earth for these Mountains are high enough to make them fall every way and make them joyn with our Seas that environ the Continent We cannot imagine Hills and Mountains of water to have hung about Iudaea as if they were congeal'd or mass of water to have stood upon the middle of the Earth like one great drop or a trembling Jelly and all the places about it dry and untouch'd All liquid bodies are dissusive for their parts being in motion have no tye or connexion one with another but glide and fall off any way as gravity and the Air presseth them so the surface of water doth always conform into a Spherical convexity with the rest of the Globe of the Earth aud every part of it falls as near to the Center as it can wherefore when these waters began to rise at first long before they could swell to the heighth of the Mountains they would diffuse themselves every way and thereupon all the Valleys and Plains and lower parts of the Earth would be filled throughout the whole Earth before they could rise to the tops of the Mountains in any part of it And the Sea would be all raised to a considerble heighth before the Mountains could be covered For let 's suppose as they do that this water fell not throughout the whole Earth but in some particular Country and there made first a great Lake this Lake when it begun to swell would every way discharge it self by any descents or declivities of the ground and these issues and derivations being once made and supplied with new waters pushing them forwards would continue their course till they arriv'd at the Sea just as other Rivers do for these would be but so many Rivers rising out of this Lake and would not be considerably deeper and higher at the Fountain than in their progress or at the Sea We may as well then expect that the Leman-Lake for instance out of which the Rhone runs should swell to the tops of the Alpes on the one hand aud the Mountains of Switzerland and Burgundy on the other and then stop without overflowing the plainer Countries that lie beyond them as to suppose that this Diluvian Lake should rise to the Mountains tops in one place and not diffuse it self equally into all Countries about and upon the surface of the Sea in proportion to its heighth and depth in the place where it first fell or stood Thus much for Sacred History The universality of the Deluge is also attested by profane History for the fame of it is gone through the Earth and there are Records or Traditions concerning it in all parts of this and the new-found World The Americans do acknowledge and speak of it in their Continent as Acosta witnesseth and Laet in their Histories of them The Chineses have the Tradition of it which is the farthest part of our Continent and the nearer and Western parts of Asia is acknowledg'd the proper seat of it Not to mention Deucallon's Deluge in the European parts which seems to be the same under a disguise So as you may trace the Deluge quite round the Globe in profane History and which is remarkable every one of these people have a tale to tell some one way some another concerning the restauration of mankind which is an argument that they thought all mankind destroy'd by that Deluge In the old dispute between the Scythians and the Aegyptians for Antiquity which Iustin mentions they refer to a former destruction of the World by Water or Fire and argue whether Nation first rise again and was original to the other So the Babylonians Assyrians Phoenicians and others mention the Deluge in their stories And we cannot without offering violence to all Records and Authority Divine and Humane deny that there hath been an universal Deluge upon the Earth and if there was an universal Deluge no question it was that of Noah's and that which Moses describ'd and that which we treat of at present These considerations I think are abundantly sufficient to silence that opinion concerning the limitation and restriction of the Deluge to a particular Country or Countries It ought rather to be lookt upon as an Evasion indeed than Opinion seeing the Authors do not offer any positive argument for the proof of it but depend only upon that negative argument That an universal Deluge is a thing unintelligible This stumbling-stone we hope to take away for the future and that men shall not be put to that unhappy choice either to deny matter of fact well
masses Besides the posture of these Rocks which is often leaning or recumbent or prostrate shows to the eye that they have had a fall or some kind of dislocation from their Natural site And the same thing may be observed in the Tracts and Regions of the Earth which very seldom for ten miles together have any regular surface or continuity one with another but lie high and low and are variously inclin'd sometimes one way sometimes another without any rule or order Whereas I see no reason but the surface of the Land should be as regular as that of the water in the first production of it And the Strata or beds within lie as even This I am sure of that this disposition of the Elements and the parts of the Earth outward and inward hath something irregular and unnatural in it and manifestly shews us the marks or footsteps of some kind of ruine and dissolution which we shall shew you in its due place happen'd in such a way that at the same time a general Flood of waters would necessarily over-run the face of the whole Earth And by the same fatal blow the Earth fell out of that regular form wherein it was produc'd at first into all these irregularities which we see in its present form and composition so that we shall give thereby a double satisfaction to the mind both to shew it a fair and intelligible account of the general Deluge how the waters came upon the Earth and how they return'd into their Chanels again and left the Earth habitable and likewise to shew it how the Mountains were brought forth and the Chanel of the Sea discover'd How all those inequalities came in the body or face of the Earth and those empty Vaults and Caverns in its bowels which things are no less matter of admiration than the Flood it self But I must beg leave to draw a Curtain before the Work for a while and to keep your patience a little in suspence till materials are prepar'd and all things ready to represent and explain what we have propos'd Yet I hope in the mean time to entertain the mind with scenes no less pleasing though of quite another face and order for we must now return to the beginning of the World and look upon the first rudiments of Nature and that dark but fruitful womb out of which all things sprang I mean the Chaos For this is the matter which we must next work upon and it will be no unpleasing thing to observe how that rude mass will shoot it self into several forms one after another till it comes at length to make an habitable World The steddy hand of Providence which keeps all things in weight and measure being the invisible guide of all its motions These motions we must examine from first to last to find out what was the form of the Earth and what was the place or situation of the Ocean or the great Abyss in that first state of Nature Which two things being determin'd we shall be able to make a certain judgment what kind of dissolution that Earth was capable of and whether from that dissolution an Universal Deluge would follow with all the consequences of it In the mean time for the ease and satisfaction of the Reader we will here mark the order and distribution of the first Book which we divide into Three Sections whereof the First is these Three Chapters past in the Second Section we will shew that the Earth before the Deluge was of a different frame and form from the present Earth and particularly of such a form as made it subject to a dissolution And to such a dissolution as did necessarily expose it to an Universal Deluge And in this place we shall apply our discourse particularly to the explication of Noah's Flood and that under all its conditions of the height of the waters of their universality of the destruction of the World by them and of their retiring afterwards from the Earth and this Section will consist of the Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh and Eighth Chapters In the Third Section we prove the same dissolution from the effects and consequences of it or from the contemplation of the present face of the Earth And here an account is given of the Origin of Mountains of subterraneous Waters and Caverns of the great Chanel of the Sea and of the first production of Islands and those things are the Contents of the Ninth Tenth and Eleventh Chapters Then in the last Chapter we make a general review of the whole Work and a general review of Nature that by comparing them together their full agreement and correspondency may appear Here several collateral arguments are given for confirmation of the preceeding Theory and some reflections are made upon the state of the other Planets compar'd with the Earth And lastly what accounts soever have been given by others of the present form and irregularities of the Earth are examin'd and shew'd insufficient And this seemeth to be all that is requisite upon this subject CHAP. IV. That the Earth and Mankind had an Original and were not from Eternity Prov'd against Aristotle The first proposition of our Theory laid down viz. That the Antediluvian Earth was of a different form and construction from the present This is prov'd by Divine Authority and from the nature and form of the Chaos out of which the Earth was made WE are now to enquire into the Original of the Earth and in what form it was built at first that we may lay our foundation for the following Theory deep and sure It hath been the general opinion and consent of the Learned of all Nations that the Earth arose from a Chaos This is attested by History both Sacred and Profane only Aristotle whom so great a part of the Christian World have made their Oracle or Idol hath maintain'd the Eternity of the Earth and the Eternity of Mankind that the Earth and the World were from Everlasting and in that very form they are in now with Men and Women and all living Creatures Trees and Fruit Metals and Minerals and whatsoever is of Natural production We say all these things arose and had their first existence or production not six thousand years ago He saith they have subsisted thus for ever through an infinite Series of past Generations and shall continue as long without first or last And if so there was neither Chaos nor any other beginning to the Earth This takes away the subject of our discourse and therefore we must first remove this stone but of the way and prove that the Earth had an Original and that from a Chaos before we shew how it arose from a Chaos and what was the first habitable form that it setled into We are assur'd by Divine Authority that the Earth and Mankind had a beginning Moses saith In the beginning God made the Heavens and the Earth Speaking it as of a certain Period or Term from whence he counts the
description of a Chaos And so it is understood by the general consent of Interpreters both Hebrew and Christian. We need not therefore spend any time here to prove that the Origin of the Earth was from a Chaos seeing that is agreed on by all that give it any Origin But we will proceed immediately to examine into what form it first rise when it came out of that Chaos or what was the primaeval form of the Earth that continued till the Deluge and how the Deluge depended upon it and upon its dissolution And that we may proceed in this enquiry by such easie steps as any one may readily follow we will divide it into Three Propositions whereof the first is this in general That the Form of the Antediluvian Earth or of the Earth that rise first from the Chaos was different from the Form of the present Earth I say different in general without specifying yet what its particular form was which shall be exprest in the following Proposition This First Proposition we have in effect prov'd in the Second Chapter where we have shewn that if the Earth had been always in this form it would not have been capable of a Deluge seeing that could not have been effected without such an infinite mass of water as could neither be brought upon the Earth nor afterwards any way removed from it But we will not content our selves with that proof only but will prove it also from the nature of the Chaos and the manifest consequences of it And because this is a leading Proposition we think it not improper to prove it also from Divine Authority there being a pregnant passage to this purpose in the writings of S. Peter Where treating of this very subject the Deluge He manifestly puts a difference between the Ante-diluvian Earth and the present Earth as to their form and constitution The Discourse is in the Second Epistle of S. Peter the Third Chapter where certain Deists as they seem to have been laught at the Prophecy of the day of Judgment and of the Conflagration of the World using this argument against it That since the Fathers fell asleep all things have continued as they were from the beginning All external Nature hath continued the same without any remarkable change or alteration and why should we believe say they there will be any What appearance or what foundation is there of such a revolution that all Nature will be dissolv'd and the Heavens and the Earth consum'd with Fire as your Prophecies pretend So from the permanency and immutability of Nature hitherto they argu'd its permanency and immutability for the future To this the Apostle answers that they are willing to forget that the Heavens and the Earth of old had a particular form and constitution as to Water by reason whereof the World that then was perisht by a Deluge And the Heavens and the Earth that are now or since the Deluge have a particular constitution in reference to Fire by reason whereof they are expos'd to another sort of destruction or dissolution namely by Fire or by an universal Conflagration The words of the Apostle are these For this they are willingly ignorant of that by the Word of God the Heavens were of old and the Earth consisting of Water and by Water or as we render it standing out of the Water and in the Water whereby the World that then was being overslow'd with Water perisht But the Heavens and the Earth that are now by the same Word are kept in store reseru'd unto Fire against the day of Iudgment We shall have occasion it may be hereafter to give a full illustration of these words but at present we shall only take notice of this in general that the Apostle here doth plainly intimate some difference that was between the old World and the present World in their form and constitution or betwixt the Ante-diluvian and the present Earth by reason of which difference that was subject to perish by a Deluge as this is subject to perish by Conflagration And as this is the general Air and Importance of this discourse of he Apostle's which every one at first sight would discover so we may in several particular ways prove from it our first Proposition which now we must return to viz. That the form and constitution of the Ante-diluvian Earth was different from that of the present Earth This may be infer'd from the Apostle's discourse first because he makes an opposition betwixt these two Earths or these two natural Worlds and that not only in respect of their fate the one perishing by Water as the other will perish by Fire but also in respect of their different disposition and constitution leading to this different fate for otherwise his fifth verse is superfluous and his Inference in the sixth ungrounded you see he premiseth in the fifth verse as the ground of his discourse what the constitution of the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth was and then infers from it in the sixth verse that they therefore perisht in a Deluge of Water Now if they had been the same with ours there had neither been any ground for making an opposition betwixt them nor any ground of making a contrary inference as to their fate Besides in that he implies that the constitution of the Ante-diluvian Earth was such as made it subject to a Deluge he shews that it was different from the constitution of the present Earth for the form of that is such as makes it rather incapable of a Deluge as we have shewn in the second Chapter Then we are to observe further that when he saith verse 6. that the first World perish'd in a Deluge or was destroy'd by it this is not to be understood of the Animate World only Men and living Creatures but of the Natural World and the frame of it for he had describ'd it before by the Heavens and the Earth which make the Natural World And the objection of the Atheists or Deists rather which he was to answer proceeded upon the Natural World And lastly this perishing of the World in a Deluge is set against or compar'd with the perishing of the World in the Conflagration when the frame of Nature will be dissolv'd We must therefore according to the tenor of the Apostle's arguing suppose that the Natural World was destroy'd or perish'd in the Deluge and seeing it did not perish as to matter and substance it must be as to the form frame and composition of it that it perish'd and consequently the present Earth is of another form and frame from what it had before the Deluge which was the thing to be proved Lastly Let us consider what it is the Apostle tells these Scoffers that they were ignorant of Not that there was a Deluge they could not be ignorant of that nor doth he tell them that they were But he tells them that they were ignorant that the Heavens and the Earth of old were so and so
constituted after a different manner than they are now and that the state of Nature was chang'd at the Deluge it they had known or attended to this they had made no such objection nor us'd any such argument as they did against the future Conflagration of the World They pretended that there had been no change in Nature since the beginning and the Apostle in answer tells them that they are willingly ignorant of the first constitution of the Heavens and the Earth and of that change and dissolution that happen'd to them in the Deluge and how the present Heavens and Earth have another constitution whereby in like manner they are expos'd in God's due time to be consum'd or dissolv'd by Fire This is the plain easie and natural import of the Apostle's discourse thus all the parts of it are coherent and the sence genuine and apposite and this is a full confirmation of our first and general assertion That the Ante-diluvian Earth was of another form from the present Earth This hath been observ'd formerly by some of the Ancients from this Text but that it hath not been generally observ'd was partly because they had no Theory to back such an interpretation and make it intelligible and partly because they did not observe that the Apostle's discourse here was an argumentation and not a bare affirmation or simple contradiction to those that rais'd the scruple 't is an answer upon a ground taken he premiseth and then infers in the fifth and sixth Verses concerning the Deluge and in the seventh concerning the Conflagration And when I had discover'd in my thoughts from the consideration of the Deluge and other natural reasons that the Earth was certainly once in another form it was a great assurance and confirmation to me when I reflected on this place of S. Peter's which seems to be so much directed and intended for the same purpose or to teach us the same conclusion that though I design'd chiefly a Philosophical Theory of these things yet I should not have thought we had been just to Providence if we had neglected to take notice of this passage and Sacred evidence which seems to have been left us on purpose to excite our enquiries and strengthen our reasonings concerning the first state of things Thus much from Divine Authority We proceed now to prove the same Proposition from Reason and Philosophy and the contemplation of the Chaos from whence the first Earth arose We need not upon this occasion make a particular description of the Chaos but only consider it as a Fluid Mass or a Mass of all sorts of little parts and particles of matter mixt together and floating in confusion one with another 'T is impossible that the surface of this mass should be of such a form and figure as the surface of our present Earth is Or that any concretion or consistent state which this mass could flow into immediately or first settle in could be of such a form and figure as our present Earth The first of these Assertions is of easie proof for a fluid body we know whether it be water or any other liquor always casts it self into a smooth and spherical surface and if any parts by chance or by some agitation become higher than the rest they do not continue so but glide down again every way into the lower places till they all come to make a surface of the same height and of the same distance every where from the Center of their gravity A mountain of water is a thing impossible in Nature and where there are no Mountains there are no Valleys So also a Den or Cave within the water that hath no walls but the liquid Element is a structure unknown to Art or Nature all things there must be full within and even and level without unless some External force keep them by violence in another posture But is this the form of our Earth which is neither regularly made within nor without The surface and exteriour parts are broken into all sorts of inequalities Hills and Dales Mountains and Valleys and the plainer tracts of it lie generally inclin'd or bending one way or other sometimes upon an easie descent and other times with a more sensible and uneasie steepiness and though the great Mountains of the Earth were taken all away the remaining parts would be more unequal than the roughest Sea whereas the face of the Earth should resemble the face of the calmest Sea if it was still in the form of its first mass But what shall we say then to the huge Mountains of the Earth which lie sometimes in lumps or clusters heapt up by one another sometimes extended in long ridges or chains for many hundred miles in length And 't is remarkable that in every Continent and in every ancient and original Island there is either such a cluster or such a chain of Mountains And can there be any more palpable demonstrations than these are that the surface of the Earth is not in the same form that the surface of the Chaos was or that any fluid mass can stand or hold it self in Then for the form of the Earth within or under its surface 't is no less impossible for the Chaos to imitate that for 't is full of cavities and empty places of dens and broken holes whereof some are open to the Air and others cover'd and enclosed wholly within the ground These are both of them unimitable in any liquid substance whose parts will necessarily flow together into one continued mass and cannot be divided into apartments and separate rooms nor have vaults or caverns made within it the walls would sink and the roof fall in For liquid bodies have nothing to sustain their parts nor any thing to cement them they are all loose and incoherent and in a perpetual flux Even an heap of Sand or fine Powder will suffer no hollowness within them though they be dry substances and though the parts of them being rough will hang together a little and stand a little upon an heap but the parts of liquors being glib and continually in motion they fall off from one another which way soever gravity inclines them and can neither have any hills or eminencies on their surface nor any hollowness within their substance You will acknowledge it may be that this is true and that a liquid mass or Chaos while it was liquid was incapable of either the outward or inward form of the Earth but when it came to a concretion to a state of consistency and firmness then it might go you 'll say into any form No not in its first concretion nor in its first state of consistence for that would be of the same form that the surface of it was when it was liquid as water when it congeals the surface of the Ice is smooth and level as the surface of the water was before so Metals or any other substances melted or Liquors that of themselves grow stiff and harden always
settle into the same form which they had when they were last liquid and are always solid within and smooth without unless they be cast in a mould that hinders the motion and flux of the parts So that the first concrete state or consistent surface of the Chaos must be of the same form or figure with the last liquid state it was in for that is the mould as it were upon which it is cast as the shell of an Egg is of a like form with the surface of the liquor it lies upon And therefore by analogy with all other liquors and concretions the form of the Chaos whether liquid or concrete could not be the same with that of the present Earth or like it And consequently that form of the first or primigenial Earth which rise immediately out of the Chaos was not the same nor like to that of the present Earth Which was the first and preparatory Proposition we laid down to be prov'd And this being prov'd by the authority both of our Reason and our Religion we will now proceed to the Second which is more particular CHAP. V. The Second Proposition is laid down viz. That the face of the Earth before the Deluge was smooth regular and uniform without Mountains and without a Sea The Chaos out of which the World rise is fully examin'd and all its motions observ'd and by what steps it wrought it self into an habitable World Some things in Antiquity relating to the first state of the Earth are interpreted and some things in the Sacred Writings The Divine Art and Geometry in the construction of the first Earth is observ'd and celebrated WE have seen it prov'd in the foregoing Chapter That the form of the first or Ante-diluvian Earth was not the same nor like the form of the present Earth this is our first discovery at a distance but 't is only general and negative tells us what the form of that Earth was not but tells us not expresly what it was that must be our next enquiry and advancing one step further in our Theory we lay down this Second Proposition That the face of the Earth before the Deluge was smooth regular and uniform without Mountains and without a Sea This is a bold step and carries us into another World which we have never seen nor ever yet heard any relation of and a World it seems of very different scenes and prospects from ours or from any thing we have yet known An Earth without a Sea and plain as the Elysian fields if you travel it all over you will not meet with a Mountain or a Rock yet well provided of all reqnisite things for an habitable World and the same indeed with the Earth we still inhabit only under another form And this is the great thing that now comes into debate the great Paradox which we offer to be examin'd and which we affirm That the Earth in its first rise and formation from a Chaos was of the form here describ'd and so continu'd for many hundreds of years To examine and prove this we must return to the beginning of the World and to that Chaos out of which the Earth and all Sublunary things arose 'T is the motions and progress of this which we must now consider and what form it setled into when it first became an habitable World Neither is it perhaps such an intricate thing as we imagine at first sight to trace a Chaos into an habitable World at least there is a particular pleasure to see things in their Origin and by what degrees and successive changes they rise into that order and state we see them in afterwards when compleated I am sure if ever we would view the paths of Divine Wisdom in the works and in the conduct of Nature we must not only consider how things are but how they came to be so 'T is pleasant to look upon a Tree in the Summer cover'd with its green Leaves deckt with Blossoms or laden with Fruit and casting a pleasing shade under its spreading Boughs but to consider how this Tree with all its furniture sprang from a little Seed how Nature shap'd it and fed it in its infancy and growth added new parts and still advanc'd it by little and little till it came to this greatness and perfection this methinks is another sort of pleasure more rational less common and which is properly the contemplation of Divine Wisdom in the works of Nature So to view this Earth and this Sublunary World as it is now compleat distinguisht into the several orders of Bodies of which it consists every one perfect and admirable in its kind this is truly delightful and a very good entertainment of the mind But to see all these in their first Seeds as I may so say to take in pieces this frame of Nature and melt it down into its first principles and then to observe how the Divine Wisdom wrought all these things out of confusion into order and out of simplicity into that beautiful composition we now see them in this methinks is another kind of joy which pierceth the mind more deep and is more satisfactory And to give our selves and others this satisfaction we will first make a short representation of the Chaos and then shew how according to Laws establisht in Nature by the Divine Power and Wisdom it was wrought by degrees from one from into another till it setled at length into an habitable Earth and that of such a frame and structure as we have describ'd in this second Proposition By the Chaos I understand the matter of the Earth and Heavens without from or order reduc'd into a fluid mass wherein are the materials and ingredients of all bodies but mingled in confusion one with another As if you should suppose all sorts of Metals Gold Silver Lead c. melted down together in a common mass and so mingled that the parts of no one Metal could be discern'd as distinct from the rest this would be a little Metallick Chaos Suppose then the Elements thus mingled Air Water and Earth which are the principles of all Terrestrial Bodies mingled I say without any order of higher or lower heavier or lighter solid or volatile in such a kind of confus'd mass as is here represented in this first Scheme pag. 36 fig. 1 Let this then represent to us the Chaos in which the first change that we should imagine to happen would be this that the heaviest and grossest parts would sink down towards the middle of it for there we suppose the center of its gravity and the rest would float above These grosser parts thus sunk down and compress'd more and more would harden by degrees and constitute the interiour parts of the Earth The rest of the mass which swims above would be also divided by the same principle of gravity into two orders of Bodies the one liquid like Water the other Volatile like Air. For the more fine and active parts disentangling
three feet deep made up only of little flakes or pieces of Ice which falling from the middle Region of the Air and meeting with the Earth in their descent are there stopt and heapt up one upon another But if we should suppose little particles of Earth to shower down not only from the middle Region but from the whole capacity and extent of those vast spaces that are betwixt us and the Moon we could not imagine but these would constitute an Orb of Earth some thousands of times deeper than the greatest Snow which being increas'd and swoln by that oily liquor it fell into and incorporated with it would be thick strong and great enough in all respects to render it an habitable Earth We cannot doubt therefore but such a body as this would be form'd and would be sufficient in quantity for an habitable Earth Then for the quality of it it will answer all the purposes of a Rising World What can be a more proper Seminary for Plants and Animals than a soil of this temper and composition A finer and lighter sort of Earth mixt with a benign Juice easie and obedient to the action of the Sun or of what other causes were employ'd by the Author of Nature for the production of things in the new-made Earth What sort or disposition of matter could be more fit and ready to catch life from Heaven and to be drawn into all forms that the rudiments of life or the bodies of living Creatures would require What soil more proper for vegetation than this warm moisture which could have no fault unless it was too fertile and luxuriant And that is no fault neither at the beginning of a World This I am sure of that the learned amongst the Ancients both Greeks Egyptians Phoenicians and others have describ'd the primigenial soil or the temper of the Earth that was the first subject for the Generation and Origin of Plants and Animals after such a manner as is truly express'd and I think with advantage by this draught of the primigenial Earth Thus much concerning the matter of the first Earth Let us reflect a little upon the form of it also whether External or Internal both whereof do manifestly shew themselves from the manner of its production or formation As to the External form you see it is according to the Proposition we were to prove smooth regular and uniform without Mountains and without a Sea And the proof we have given of it is very easie The Globe of the Earth could not possibly rise immediately from a Chaos into the irregular form in which it is at present The Chaos being a fluid mass which we know doth necessarily fall into a Spherical surface whose parts are equi-distant from the Center and consequently in an equal and even convexity one with another And seeing upon the distinction of a Chaos and separation into several Elementary masses the Water would naturally have a superiour place to the Earth 't is manifest that there could be no habitable Earth form'd out of the Chaos unless by some concretion upon the face of the Water Then lastly seeing this concrete Orb of Earth upon the face of the Water would be of the same form with the surface of the Water it was spread upon there being no causes that we know of to make any inequality in it we must conclude it equal and uniform and without Mountains as also without a Sea for the Sea and all the mass of Waters was enclos'd within this exteriour Earth which had no other basis or foundation to rest upon The contemplation of these things and of this posture of the Earth upon the Waters doth so strongly bring to mind certain passages of Scripture which will recur in another place that we cannot without injury to truth pass them by here in silence Passages that have such a manifest resemblance and agreement to this form and situation of the Earth that they seem visibly to point at it such are those expressions of the Psalmist God hath founded the Earth upon the Seas And in another Psalm speaking of the wisdom and power of God in the Creation he saith To him who alone doth great wonders to him that by wisdom made the Heavens to him that extended or stretched out the Earth above the Waters What can be more plain or proper to denote that form of the Earth that we have describ'd and to express particularly the inclosure of the Waters within the Earth as we have represented them He saith in another place By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made he shut up the Waters of the Sea as in Bags for so the word is to be render'd and is render'd by all except the English and laid up the Abysse as in store-houses This you see is very conformable to that System of the Earth and Sea which we have propos'd here Yet there is something more express than all this in that remarkable place in the Proverbs of Solomon where Wisdom declaring her Antiquity and Existence before the foundation of the Earth amongst other things saith When he prepared the Heavens I was there When he drew an Orb over the surface of the Abysse or when he set an Orb upon the face of the Abysse We render it in the English a Compass or Circle but 't is more truly rendred an Orb or Sphere and what Orb or Spherical Body was this which at the formation of the Earth was built and plac'd round about the Abyss but that wonderful Arch whose form and production we have describ'd encompassing the mass of Waters which in Scripture is often call'd the Abysse or Deep Lastly This Scheme of the first Earth gives light to that place we mention'd before of S. Peter's where the first Earth is said to consist of Water and by Water and by reason thereof was obnoxious to a Deluge The first part of this character is plain from the description now given and the second will appear in the following Chapter In the mean time concerning these passages of Scripture which we have cited we may truly and modestly say that though they would not it may be without a Theory premis'd have been taken or interpreted in this sence yet this Theory being premis'd I dare appeal to any unprejudic'd person if they have not a fairer and easier a more full and more emphatical sence when apply'd to that form of the Earth and Sea we are now speaking of than to their present form or to any other we can imagine Thus much concerning the external form of the first Earth Let us now reflect a little upon the Internal form of it which consists of several Regions involving one another like Orbs about the same Center or of the several Elements cast circularly about each other as it appears in the Fourth and Fifth Figure And as we have noted the External form of this primaeâ—al Earth to have been markt and celebrated in the Sacred Writings so
likewise in the Philosophy and Learning of the Ancients there are several remains and indications of this Internal form and composition of it For 't is observable that the Ancients in treating of the Chaos and in raising the World out of it rang'd it into several Regions or Masses as we have done and in that order successively rising one from another as if it was a Pedigree or Genealogy And those Parts and Regions of Nature into which the Chaos was by degrees divided they signified commonly by dark and obscure names as the Night Tartarus Oceanus and such like which we have express'd in their plain and proper terms And whereas the Chaos when it was first set on work ran all into divisions and separations of one Element from another which afterwards were all in some measure united and associated in this primigenial Earth the Ancients accordingly made Contention the principle that reign'd in the Chaos at first and then Love The one to express the divisions and the other the union of all parties in this middle and common bond These and such like notions which we find in the Writings of the Ancients figuratively and darkly deliver'd receive a clearer light when compar'd with this Theory of the Chaos which representing every thing plainly and in its natural colours is a Key to their thoughts and an illustration of their obscurer Philosophy concerning the Original of the World as we have shewn at large in the Latin Treatise Fig 7. pag. 44. Thus much concerning the first Earth its production and form and concerning our Second Proposition relating to it Which being prov'd by Reason the laws of Nature and the motions of the Chaos then attested by Antiquity both as to the matter and form of it and confirm'd by Sacred Writers we may take it now for a well establisht truth and proceed upon this supposition That the Ante-diluvian Earth was smooth and uniform without Mountains or Sea to the explication of the universal Deluge Give me leave only before we proceed any further to annex here a short Advertisement concerning the Causes of this wonderful structure of the first Earth 'T is true we have propos'd the Natural Causes of it and I do not know wherein our Explication is false or defective but in things of this kind we may easily be too credulous And this structure is so marvellous that it ought rather to be consider'd as a particular effect of the Divine Art than as the work of Nature The whole Globe of the Water vaulted over and the exteriour Earth hanging above the Deep sustain'd by nothing but its own measures and manner of construction A Building without foundation or corner-stone This seems to be a piece of Divine Geometry or Architecture and to this I think is to be refer'd that magnificent challenge which God Almighty made to Iob Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth declare if thou hast understanding Who hath laid the measures thereof if thou knowest or who hath stretched the line upon it Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastned or who laid the corner-stone thereof When the morning Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy Moses also when he had describ'd the Chaos saith The Spirit of God mov'd upon or sat brooding upon the face of the waters without all doubt to produce some effects there And S. Peter when he speaks of the form of the Ante-diluvian Earth how it stood in reference to the Waters adds By the Word of God or by the Wisdom of God it was made so And this same Wisdom of God in the Proverbs as we observed before takes notice of this very piece of work in the formation of the Earth When he set an Orb over the face of the Deep I was there And lastly the Ancient Philosophers or at least the best of them to give them their due always brought in Mens or Amor as a Supernatural principle to unite and consociate the parts of the Chaos which was first done in the composition of this wonderful Arch of the Earth Wherefore to the great Architect who made the boundless Universe out of nothing and form'd the Earth out of a Chaos let the praise of the Whole Work and particularly of this Master-piece for ever with all honour be given CHAP. VI. The dissolution of the First Earth The Deluge ensuing thereupon And the form of the present Earth rising from the Ruines of the First WE have now brought to light the Ante-diluvian Earth out of the dark mass of the Chaos and not only described the surface of it but laid open the inward parts to shew in what order its Regions lay Let us now close it up and represent the Earth entire and in large proportions more like an habitable World as in this Figure where you see the smooth convex of the Earth and may imagine the great Abysse spread under it which two are to be the only subject of our further contemplation Booke j st p. 46. In this smooth Earth were the first Scenes of the World and the first Generations of Mankind it had the beauty of Youth and blooming Nature fresh and fruitful and not a wrinkle scar or fracture in all its body no Rocks nor Mountains no hollow Caves nor gaping Chanels but even and uniform all over And the smoothness of the Earth made the face of the Heavens so too the Air was calm and serene none of those tumultuary motions and conflicts of vapours which the Mountains and the Winds cause in ours 'T was suited to a golden Age and to the first innocency of Nature All this you 'll say is well we are got into a pleasant World indeed but what 's this to the purpose what appearance of a Deluge here where there is not so much as a Sea nor half so much Water as we have in this Earth or what appearance of Mountains or Caverns or other irregularities of the Earth where all is level and united So that instead of loosing the Knot this ties it the harder You pretend to shew us how the Deluge was made and you lock up all the Waters within the womb of the Earth and set Bars and Doors and a Wall of impenetrable strength and thickness to keep them there And you pretend to shew us the original of Rocks and Mountains and Caverns of the Earth and bring us to a wide and endless plain smooth as the calm Sea This is all true and yet we are not so far from the sight and discovery of those things as you imagine draw but the curtain and these Scenes will appear or something very like them We must remember that S. Peter told us that the Ante-diluvian Earth perish'd or was demolish'd and Moses saith the great Abysse was broken open at the Deluge Let us then suppose that at a time appointed by Divine Providence and from Causes made ready to do that great execution upon a sinful
we desire it may be prov'd from some collateral arguments taken either from Sacred History or from observation that this hath really been exemplified upon the Earth and that Noah's Flood came to pass this way And seeing we have design'd this first Book chiefly for the Explication of Noah's Deluge I am willing to add here a Chapter or two extraordinary upon this occasion to shew that what we have deliver'd is more than an Idea and that it was in this very way that Noah's Deluge came to pass But they who have not this doubt and have a mind to see the issue of the Theory may skip these two Chapters if they please and proceed to the following where the order is continued To satisfie then the doubtful in this particular let us lay down in the first place that conclusion which they seem to admit viz. That this is a possible and consistent Explication of an Universal Deluge and let 's see how far this would go if well consider'd towards the proof of what they desire or towards the demonstration of Noah's Deluge in particular It is granted on both hands that here hath been an Universal Deluge upon the Earth which was Noah's Deluge and it is also granted that we have given a possible and consistent Idea of an Universal Deluge Now we have prov'd Chap. II. and III. that all other ways hitherto assign'd for the Explication of Noah's Flood are incongrous or impossible therefore it came to pass in that possible and competent way which we have propos'd And if we have truly prov'd in the foremention'd Chapters the impossibility or unintelligibility of it in all other ways this argumentation is undeniable Besides we may argue thus as it is granted that there hath been an Universal Deluge upon the Earth so I suppose it will be granted that there hath been but one Now the dissolution of the Earth whensoever it happen'd would make one Universal Deluge and therefore the only one and the same with Noah's That such a Dissolution as we have describ'd would make an Universal Deluge I think cannot be question'd and that there hath been such a dissolution besides what we have already alledg'd shall be prov'd at large from natural Observations upon the Form and Figure of the present Earth in the Third Section and last Chap. of this Book In the mean time we will proceed to History both Sacred and Profane and by comparing our Explication with those give further assurance of its truth and reality In the first place it agrees which is most considerable with Moses's Narration of the Deluge both as to the matter and manner of it The matter of the Deluge Moses makes to be the Waters from above and the Waters from below or he distinguishes the Causes of the Deluge as we do into Superiour and Inferiour and the Inferiour causes he makes to be the disruption of the Abyss which is the principal part and the great hinge of our Explication Then as to the manner of the Deluge the beginning and the ending the increase and decrease he saith it increas'd gradually and decreas'd gradually by going and coming that is after many repeated fluctuations and reciprocations of the waves the waters of the Abysse began to be more compos'd and to retire into their Chanels whence they shall never return to cover the Earth again This agrees wholly with our Theory we suppose the Abysse to have been under an extream commotion and agitation by the fall of the Earth into it and this at first encreas'd more and more till the whole Earth was faln Then continuing for some time at the height of its rage overwhelming the greatest Mountains it afterwards decreas'd by the like degrees leaving first the tops of the Mountains then the Hills and the Fields till the Waters came to be wholly drawn off the Earth into their Chanels It was no doubt a great oversight in the Ancients to fansie the Deluge like a great standing Pool of water reaching from the bottom of the Valleys to the tops of the Mountains every where alike with a level and uniform surface by reason of which mistaken notion of the Deluge they made more water necessary to it than was possible to be had or being had than it was possible to get quit of again for there are no Chanels in the Earth that could hold so much water either to give it or to receive it And the Psalmist speaking of the Deluge as it seems to me notes this violent commotion of the Abysse The Waters went up by the Mountains came down by the Valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them I know some interpret that passage of the state of the waters in the beginning when they cover'd the face of the whole Earth Gen. 1. 2. but that cannot be because of what follows in the next Verse Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over that they turn not again to cover the Earth Which is not true if the preceding words be understood of the state of the waters at the beginning of the World for they did pass those bounds and did return since that time to cover the Earth namely at the Deluge But if these words be refer'd to the time of the Deluge and the state of the waters then 't is both a just description of the motion of the Abysse and certainly true that the waters since that time are so setled in their Chanels that they shall never overflow the Earth again As we are assured by the promise made to Noah and that illustrious pledge and confirmation of it the Rainbow that the Heavens also shall never pour out so much waters again their state being chang'd as well as that of the Earth or Sea from what they were before the Deluge But before we leave Moses's Narration of the Deluge we must examine further what is or can be understood by his TEHOMRABBA or great Abysse which he saith was broken up at the Deluge for this will help us to discover whether our Explication be the same with his and of the same Flood And first we must consider whether by the Tehom-Rabba or Mosaical Abysse can be understood the Sea or Ocean under that form we see it in at present and 't is plain methinks that the Sea cannot be understood by this great Abysse both because the Sea is not capable upon any disruption to make such an universal Deluge and because the Narration of Moses and his expressions concerning this Abysse do not agree to the Sea Some of the Ancients indeed did imagine that the waters of the Sea were much higher than the Land and stood as it were on an heap so as when these waters were let loose they overflow'd the Earth and made a Deluge But this is known to be a gross mistake the Sea and the Land make one Globe and the Waters couch themselves as close as may be to the Center of this
Moses tells us that it was by the waters of the Abyss that the Earth was overwhelm'd S. Peter's waters must be understood of the same Abyss because he supposeth them the cause of the same Deluge And I think the Apostle's discourse there cannot receive a better illustration than from Moses's History of the Deluge Moses distinguishes the Causes of the Flood into those that belong to the Heavens and those that belong to the Earth the Rains and the Abyss S. Peter also distinguisheth the causes of the Deluge into the constitution of the Heavens in reference to its waters and the constitution of the Earth in reference to its waters and no doubt they both aim at the same causes as they refer to the same effect only Moses mentions the immediate Causes the Rains and the Waters of the Abyss and S. Peter mentions the more remote and fundamental causes that constitution of the Heavens and that constitution of the Earth in reference to their respective Waters which made that world obnoxious to a Deluge And these two speaking of Noah's Deluge and agreeing thus with one another and both with us or with the Theory which we have given of a General Deluge we may safely conclude that it is no imaginary Idea but a true account of that Ancient Flood whereof Moses hath left us the History And seeing the right understanding of the Mosaical Abysse is sufficient alone to prove all we have deliver'd concerning the Deluge as also concerning the frame of the Ante-diluvian Earth give me leave to take notice here of some other places of Scripture which we mention'd before that seem manifestly to describe this fame form of the Abyss with the Earth above it Psal. 24. 2. He founded the Earth upon the Seas and establish'd it upon the Floods and Psal. 136. 6. He stretched out the Earth above the Waters Now this Foundation of the Earth upon the Waters or extension of it above the Waters doth most aptly agree to that structure and situation of the Abyss and the Ante-diluvian Earth which we have assign'd them and which we have before describ'd but very improperly and forc'dly to the present form of the Earth and the Waters In that second place of the Psalmist the word may be render'd either he stretch'd as we read it or he fixt and consolidated the Earth above the Waters as the Vulgate and Septuagint translate it For 't is from the same word with that which is used for the Firmament Gen. 1. So that as the Firmament was extended over and around the Earth so was the Earth extended over and about the Waters in that first constitution of things and I remember some of the Ancients use this very comparison of the Firmament and Earth to express the situation of the Paradisiacal Earth in reference to the Sea or Abysse There is another remarkable place in the Psalms to shew the disposition of the Waters in the first Earth Psal. 33. 7. He gathereth the Waters of the Sea as in a Bag he layeth up the Abysses in store-houses This answers very fitly and naturally to the place and disposition of the Abysse which it had before the Deluge inclos'd within the vault of the Earth as in a Bag or in a Store house I know very well what I render here in a Bag is render'd in the English as an heap but that translation of the word seems to be grounded on the old Error that the Sea is higher than the Land and so doth not make a true sence Neither are the two parts of the Verse so well suited and consequent one to another if the first express an high situation of the Waters and the second a low one And accordingly the Vulgate Septuagint and Oriental Versions and Paraphrase as also Symmachus St. Ierome and Basil render it as we do here in a Bag or by terms equivalent To these passages of the Psalmist concerning the form of the Abysse and the first Earth give me leave to add this general remark that they are commonly ushered in or followed with something of Admiration in the Prophet We observ'd before that the formation of the first Earth after such a wonderful manner being a piece of Divine Architecture when it was spoken of in Scripture it was usually ascrib'd to a particular Providence and accordingly we see in these places now mention'd that it is still made the object of praise and admiration In that 136 Psalm 't is reckon'd among the wonders of God Vers. 4 5 6 Give praise to him who alone doth great wonders To him that by wisdom made the Heavens To him that stretched out the Earth above the Waters And in like manner in that 33 Psalm 't is joyn'd with the forming of the Heavens and made the subject of the Divine Power and Wisdom Vers. 6 7 8 9. By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the Host of them by the breath of his mouth He gathereth the Waters of the Sea together as in a Bag he layeth up the Abysse in Store-houses Let all the Earth fear the Lord Let all the Inhabitants of the World stand in awe of him For he spake and it was he commanded and it stood fast Namely all things stood in that wonderful posture in which the Word of his Power and Wisdom had establisht them David often made the works of Nature and the External World the matter of his Meditations and of his praises and Philosophical Devotions reflecting sometimes upon the present form of the World and sometimes upon the primitive form of it And though Poetical expressions as the Psalms are seldom are so determinate and distinct but that they may be interpreted more than one way yet I think it cannot but be acknowledg'd that those expressions and passages that we have instanc'd in are more fairly and aptly understood of the Ancient form of the Sea or the Abysse as it was enclos'd within the Earth than of the present form of it in an open Chanel There are also in the Book of Iob many noble reflections upon the works of Nature and upon the formation of the Earth and the Abysse whereof that in Chap. 26. 7. He stretcheth out the North over the Empty places and hangeth the Earth upon nothing seems to parallel the expression of David He stretched out the Earth upon the Waters for the word we render the empty place is TOHU which is appli'd to the Chaos and the first Abysse Gen. 1. 2. and the hanging the Earth upon nothing is much more wonderful if it be understood of the first habitable Earth that hung over the Waters sustain'd by nothing but its own peculiar form and the libration of its parts than if it be understood of the present Earth and the whole body of it for if it be in its Center or proper place whither should it sink further or whither should it go But this passage together with the foregoing and following Verses requires a
more critical examination than this Discourse will easily bear There is another remarkable Discourse in Iob that contains many things to our present purpose 't is Chap. 38. where God reproaches Iob with his ignorance of what pass'd at the beginning of the World and the formation of the Earth Vers. 4 5 6. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth Declare if thou hast understanding Who hath laid the measures thereof if thou knowest or who hath stretched the line upon it Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastned or who laid the corner-stone All these questions have far more force and Emphasis more propriety and elegacy if they be understood of the first and Ante-diluvian form of the Earth than if they be understood of the present for in the present form of the Earth there is no Architecture no structure no more than in a ruine or at least none comparatively to what was in the first form of it And that the exterior and superficial part of the Earth is here spoken of appears by the rule and line appli'd to it but what rule or regularity is there in the surface of the present Earth what line was us'd to level its parts But in its original construction when â—it lay smooth and regular in its surface as if it had been drawn by rule and line in every part and when it hung pois'd upon the Deep without pillar or foundation stone then just proportions were taken and every thing plac'd by weight and measure And this I doubt not was that artificial structure here alluded to and when this work was finisht then the morning Stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy Thus far the questions proceed upon the form and construction of the first Earth in the following verses 8 9 10 11. they proceed upon the demolition of that Earth the opening the Abysse and the present state of both Or who shut up the Sea with doors when it brake forth as if it had issu'd out of a womb Who can doubt but this was at the breaking open of the Fountains of the Abysse Gen. 7. 11. when the waters gusht out as out of the great womb of Nature and by reason of that confusion and perturbation of Air and Water that rise upon it a thick mist and darkness was round the Earth and all things as in a second Chaos When I made the cloud the garment thereof and thick darkness a swadling band for it and brake up for it my decreed place and made bars and doors Namely taking the words as thus usually render'd the present Chanel of the Sea was made when the Abysse was broke up and at the same time were made the shory Rocks and Mountains which are the bars and boundaries of the Sea And said hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stay'd Which last sentence shows that this cannot be understood of the first disposition of the waters as they were before the Flood for their proud waves broke those bounds whatsoever they were when they overflow'd the Earth in the Deluge And that the womb which they broke out of was the great Abyss the Chaldee Paraphrase in this place doth expresly mention and what can be understood by the womb of the Farth but that Subterraneous capacity in which the Abyss lay Then that which followeth is a description or representation of the great Deluge that ensu'd and of that disorder in Nature that was then and how the Waters were setled and Bounded afterwards Not unlike the description in the 104 Psalm vers 6 7 8 9. and thus much for these places in the book of Iob. There remains a remarkable discourse in the Proverbs of Solomon relating to the Mosaical Abysse and not only to that but to the Origin of the Earth in general where Wisdom declares her antiquity and pre-existence to all the works of this Earth Chap. 8. ver 23. 24 25 26 27 28. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning ere the Earth was When there were no Deeps or Abysses I was brought forth when no fountains abounding with water Then in the 27. verse When he prepared the Heavens I was there when he set a Compass upon the face of the Deep or Abysse When he established the Clouds above when he strengthned the fountains of the Abysse Here is mention made of the Abysse and of the Fountains of the Abysse and who can question but that the Fountains of the Abyss here are the same with the Fountains of the Abyss which Moses mentions and were broken open as he tells us at the Deluge Let us observe therefore what form Wisdom gives to this Abyss and consequently to the Mosaical And here seem to be two expressions that determine the form of it vers 28. He strengthned the fountains of the Abysse that is the cover of those Fountains for the Fountains could be strengthned no other way than by making a strong cover or Arch over them And that Arch is exprest more fully and distinctly in the foregoing verse When he prepar'd the Heavens I was there when he set a Compass on the face of the Abysse we render it Compass the word signifies a Circle or Circumference or an Orb or Sphere So there was in the beginning of the World a Sphere Orb or Arch set round the Abyss according to the restimony of Wisdom who was then present And this shews us both the form of the Mosaical Abyss which was included within this Vault and the form of the habitable Earth which was the outward surface of this Vault or the cover of the Abyss that was broke up at the Deluge And thus much I think is sufficient to have noted out of Scripture concerning the Mosaical Abyss to discover the form place and situation of it which I have done the more largely because that being determin'd it will draw in easily all the rest of our Theory concerning the Deluge I will now only add one or two general Observations and so conclude this discourse The first Observation is concerning the Abyss namely That the opening and shutting of the Abysse is the great hinge upon which Nature turns in this Earth This brings another face of things other Scenes and a New World upon the stage And accordingly it is a thing often mention'd and alluded to in Scripture sometimes in a Natural sometimes in a Moral or Theological sence and in both sences our Saviour shuts and opens it as he pleaseth Our Saviour who is both Lord of Nature and of Grace whose Dominion is both in Heaven and in Earth hath a double Key that of the Abyss whereby Death and Hell are in his power and all the revolutions of Nature are under his Conduct and Providence And the Key of David whereby he admits or excludes from the City of God and the Kingdom of Heaven whom he pleaseth Of those places that refer to the shutting and
an intention to express the very truth So for instance if there was one place of Scripture that said the Earth was mov'd and several that seem'd to imply that the Sun was mov'd we should have more regard to that one place for the motion of the Earth than to all the other that made against it because those others might be spoken and understood according to common opinion and common belief but that which affirm'd the motion of the Earth could not be spoke upon any other ground but only for truth and instruction sake I leave this to be appli'd to the present subject Thus much for the Sacred Writings As to the History of the ancient Heathens we cannot expect an account or Narration of Noah's Flood under that name and notion but it may be of use to observe two things out of that History First that the Inundations recorded there came generally to pass in the manner we have describ'd the Universal Deluge namely by Earthquakes and an eruption of Subterraneous waters the Earth being broken and falling in and of this we shall else-where give a full account out of their Authors Secondly that Deucalion's Deluge in particular which is suppos'd by most of the Ancient Fathers to represent Noah's Flood is said to have been accompained with a gaping or disruption of the Earth Apollodorus saith that the Mountains of Thessaly were divided asunder or separate one from another at that time And Lucian de deâ Syriâ tells a very remarkable story to this purpose concerning Deucalion's Deluge and a ceremony observ'd in the Temple of Hieropolis in commemoration of it which ceremony seems to have been of that nature as impli'd that there was an opening of the Earth at the time of the Deluge and that the waters subsided into that again when the Deluge ceas'd He saith that this Temple at Hieropolis was built upon a kind of Abysse or had a bottomless pit or gaping of the Earth in one part of it and the people of Arabia and Syria and the Countries the eabouts twice a year repair'd to this Temple and brought with them every one a vessel of water which they pour'd out upon the floor of the Temple and made a kind of an Inundation there in memory of Deucalion's Deluge and this water sunk by degrees into a Chasm or opening of a Rock which the Temple stood upon and so left the floor dry again And this was a rite solemnly and religiously perform'd both by the Priests and by the People If Moses had left such a Religious rite among the Iews I should not have doubted to have interpreted it concerning his Abysse and the retiring of the waters into it but the actual disruption of the Abysse could not well be represented by any ceremony And thus much concerning the present question and the true application of our Theory to Noah's Flood CHAP. VIII The particular History of Noah's Flood is explain'd in all the material parts and circumstances of it according to the preceding Theory Any seeming difficulties removed and the whole Section concluded with a Discourse how far the Deluge may be lookt upon as the effect of an ordinary Providence and how far of an extraordinary WE have now proved our Explication of the Deluge to be more than an Idea or to be a true piece of Natural History and it may be the greatest and most remarkable that hath yet been since the beginning of the World We have shown it to be the real account of Noah's Flood according to Authority both Divine and Humane and I would willingly proceed one step further and declare my thoughts concerning the manner and order wherein Noah's Flood came to pass in what method all those things happen'd and succeeded one another that make up the History of it as causes or effects or other parts or circumstances As how the Ark was born upon the waters what effect the Rains had at what time the Earth broke and the Abysse was open'd and what the condition of the Earth was upon the ending of the Flood and such like But I desire to propose my thoughts concerning these things only as conjectures which I will ground as near as I can upon Scripture and Reason and am very willing they should be rectifi'd where they happen to be amiss I know how subject we are to mistakes in these great and remote things when we descend to particulars but I am willing to expose the Theory to a full trial and to shew the way for any to examine it provided they do it with equity and sincerity I have no other design than to contribute my endeavours to find out the truth in a subject of so great importance and wherein the World hath hitherto had so little satisfaction And he that in an obscure argument proposeth an Hypothesis that reacheth from end to end though it be not exact in every particular 't is not without a good effect for it gives aim to others to take their measures better and opens their invention in a matter which otherwise it may be would have been impenetrable to them As he that makes the first way through a thick Forest though it be not the streightest and shortest deserves better and hath done more than he that makes it streighter and smoother afterwards Providence that ruleth all things and all Ages after the Earth had stood above sixteen hundred Years thought fit to put a period to that World and accordingly it was reveal'd to Noah that for the wickedness and degeneracy of men God would destroy mankind with the Earth Gen. 6. 13. in a Deluge of water whereupon he was commanded in order to the preserving of Himself and Family as a stock for the new World to build a great Vessel or Ark to float upon the waters and had instructions given him for the building of it both as to the matter and as to the form Noah believed the word of God though against his senses and all external appearances and set himself to work to build an Ark according to the directions given which after many years labour was finish'd whilst the incredulous World secure enough as they thought against a Deluge continu'd still in their excesses and insolencies and laught at the admonition of Noah and at the folly of his design of building an extravagant Machine a floating house to save himself from an imaginary Inundation for they thought it no less seeing it was to be in an Earth where there was no Sea nor any Rain neither in those parts according to the ordinary course of Nature as shall be shown in the second Book of this Treatise But when the appointed time was come the Heavens began to melt and the Rains to fall and these were the first surprizing causes and preparatives to the Deluge They fell we suppose tho we do not know how that could proceed from natural causes throughout the face of the whole Earth which could not but have a considerable effect on
that Earth being even and smooth without Hills and eminencies and might lay it all under water to some depth so as the Ark if it could not float upon those Rain-waters at least taking the advantage of a River or a Dock or Cistern made to receive them it might be a float before the Abysse was broken open For I do not suppose the Abysse broken open before any Rain fell And when the opening of the Abysse and of the Flood-gates of Heaven are mention'd together I am apt to think those Flood-gates were distinct from the common Rain and were something more violent and impetuous So that there might be preparatory Rains before the disruption of the Abysse and I do not know but those Rains so covering up and enclosing the Earth on every side might providentially contribute to the disruption of it not only by softning and weakning the Arch of the Earth in the bottom of those cracks and Chasms which were made by the Sun and which the Rain would first run into but especially by stopping on a sudden all the pores of the Earth and all evaporation which would make the vapors within struggle more violently as we get a Fever by a Cold and it may be in that struggle the Doors and the Bars were broke and the great Abysse gusht out as out of a womb However when the Rains were faln we may suppose the face of the Earth cover'd over with water and whether it was these waters that S. Peter refers to or that of the Abysse afterwards I cannot tell when he saith in his first Epistle Chap. 3. 20. Noah and his Family were sav'd by water so as the water which destroy'd the rest of the World was an instrument of their conservation in as much as it bore up the Ark and kept it from that impetuous shock which it would have had if either it had stood upon dry land when the Earth fell or if the Earth had been dissolv'd without any water on it or under it However things being thus prepar'd let us suppose the great frame of the exteriour Earth to have broke at this time or the Fountains of the great Abyss as Moses saith to have been then open'd from thence would issue upon the fall of the Earth with an unspeakable violence such a Flood of waters as would over-run and overwhelm for a time all those fragments which the Earth broke into and bury in one common Grave all Mankind and all the Inhabitants of the Earth Besides if the Flood-gates of Heaven were any thing distinct from the Forty days Rain their effusion 't is likely was at this same time when the Abyss was broken open for the sinking of the Earth would make an extraordinary convulsion of the Regions of the Air and that crack and noise that must be in the falling World and in the collision of the Earth and the Abyss would make a great and universal Concussion above which things together must needs so shake or so squeeze the Atmosphere as to bring down all the remaining Vapours But the force of these motions not being equal throughout the whole Air but drawing or pressing more in some places than in other where the Center of the Convulsion was there would be the chiefest collection and there would fall not showers of Rain or single drops but great spouts or caskades of water and this is that which Moses seems to call not improperly the Gataracts of Heaven or the Windows of Heaven being set open Thus the Flood came to its height and 't is not easie to represent to our selves this strange Scene of things when the Deluge was in its fury and extremity when the Earth was broken and swallow'd up in the Abyss whose raging waters rise higher than the Mountains and fill'd the Air with broken waves with an universal mist and with thick darkness so as Nature seem'd to be in a second Chaos and upon this Chaos rid the distrest Ark that bore the small remains of Mankind No Sea was ever so tumultuous as this nor is there any thing in present Nature to be compar'd with the disorder of these waters All the Poetry and all the Hyperboles that are us'd in the description of Storms and raging Seas were literally true in this if not beneath it The Ark was really carry'd to the tops of the highest Mountains and into the places of the Clouds and thrown down again into the deepest Gulfs and to this very state of the Deluge and of the Ark which was a Type of the Church in this World David seems to have alluded in the name of the Church Psal. 42. 7. Abysse calls upon Abysse at the noise of thy Cataracts or water-spouts all thy waves and billows have gone over me It was no doubt an extraordinary and miraculous Providence that could make a Vessel so ill man'd live upon such a Sea that kept it from being dasht against the Hills or overwhelm'd in the Deeps That Abyss which had devour'd and swallow'd up whole Forests of Woods Cities and Provinces nay the whole Earth when it had conquer'd all and triumph'd over all could not destroy this single Ship I remember in the story of the Argonauticks when Iason set out to fetch the Golden Fleece the Poet saith all the Gods that day look'd down from Heaven to view the Ship and the Nymphs stood upon the Mountain-tops to see the noble Youth of Thessaly pulling at the Oars We may with more reason suppose the good Angels to have look'd down upon this Ship of Noah's and that not out of couriosity as idle spectators but with a passionate concern for its safety and deliverance A Ship whose Cargo was no less than a whole World that carry'd the fortune and hopes of all posterity and if this had perish'd the Earth for any thing we know had been nothing but a Desart a great ruine a dead heap of Rubbish from the Deluge to the Conflagration But Death and Hell the Grave and Destruction have their bounds We may entertain our selves with the consideration of the face of the Deluge and of the broken and drown'd Earth in this Scheme with the floating Ark and the guardian Angels pag. 68. Thus much for the beginning and progress of the Deluge It now remains only that we consider it in its decrease and the state of the Earth after the waters were retir'd into their Chanels which makes the present state of it Moses saith God brought a wind upon the waters and the tops of the Hills became bare and then the lower grounds and Plains by degrees the waters being sunk into the Chanels of the Sea and the hollowness of the Earth and the whole Globe appearing in the form it is now under There needs nothing be added for explication of this 't is the genuine consequence of the Theory we have given of the Deluge and whether this wind was a descending wind to depress and keep down the swellings and inequalities of the Abyss or
whether it was only to dry the Land as fast as it appear'd or might have both effects I do not know But as nothing can be perpetual this is violent so this commotion of the Abyss abated after a certain time and the great force that impell'd the waters decreasing their natural gravity began to take effect and to reduce them into the lowest places at an equal height and in an even surface and level one part with another That is in short the Abyss became our Sea fixt within its Chanel and bounded by Rocks and Mountains Then was the decreed place establisht for it and Bars and Doors were set then was it said hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stopt And the Deluge being thus ended and the waters setled in their Chanels the Earth took such a broken Figure as is represented in those larger Schemes p. 100. And this will be the form and state of it till its great change comes in the Conflagration when we expect a New Heaven and a New Earth But to pursue this prospect of things a little further we may easily imagine that for many years after the Deluge ceast the face of the Earth was very different from what it is now and the Sea had other bounds than it hath at present I do not doubt but the Sea reacht much further in-land and climb'd higher upon the sides of the Mountains And I have observ'd in many places a ridge of Mountains some distance from the Sea and a Plain from their roots to the shore which Plain no doubt was formerly cover'd by the Sea bounded against those Hills as its first and natural Ramparts or as the ledges or lips of its Vessel And it seems probable that the Sea doth still grow narrower from Age to Age and sinks more within its Chanel and the bowels of the Earth according as it can make its way into all those Subterraneous Cavities and crowd the Air out of them We see whole Countries of Land gain'd from it and by several indications as ancient Sea-ports left dry and useless old Sea-marks far within the Land pieces of Ships Anchors c. left at a great distance from the present shores from these signs and such like we may conclude that the Sea reach'd many places formerly that now are dry Land and at first I believe was generally bound in on either side with a chain of Mountains So I should easily imagine the Mediterranean Sea for instance to have been bounded by the continuation of the Alps through Dauphiné and Languedock to the Pyreneans and at the other end by the Darmatick Mountains almost to the Black Sea Then Atlas major which runs along with the Mediterranean from Aegypt to the Atlantick Ocean and now parts Barbary and Numidia may possibly have been the Ancient Barriere on the Africk side And in our own Island I could easily figure to my self in many parts of it other Sea-bounds than what it hath at present and the like may be observ'd in other Countries And as the Sea had much larger bounds for some time after the Deluge so the Land had a different face in many respects to what it hath now for we suppose the Valleys and lower grounds where the descent and derivation of the water was not so easie to have been full of Lakes and Pools for a long time and those were often converted into Fens and Bogs where the ground being spongy suckt up the water and the loosen'd Earth swell'd into a soft and pappy substance which would still continue so if there was any course of water sensible or insensible above or within the ground that fed this moist place But if the water stood in a more firm Basin or on a soil which for its heaviness or any other reason would not mix with it it made a Lake or clear Pool And we may easily imagine there were innumerable such Lakes and Bogs and fastnesses for many years after the Deluge till the World begun to be pretty well stockt with people and humane industry cleans'd and drain'd those unfruitful and unhabitable places And those Countries that have been later cultivated or by a lazier people retain still in proportion to their situation and soil a greater number of them Neither is it at all incongruous or inconvenient to suppose that the face of the Earth stood in this manner for many years after the Deluge for while Mankind was small and few they needed but a little ground for their seats or sustenance and as they grew more numerous the Earth proportionably grew more dry and more parts of it fit for habitation I easily believe that Plato's observation or tradition is true that Men at first after the Flood liv'd in the Up-lands and sides of the mountains and by degrees sunk into the Plains and lower Countries when Nature had prepar'd them for their use and their numbers requir'd more room The History of Moses tells us that sometime after the Deluge Noah and his posterity his Sons and his Grand-children chang'd their quarters and fell down into the Plains of Shiner from the sides of the Hills where the Ark had rested and in this Plain was the last general rendezvous of Mankind so long they seem to have kept in a body and from thence they were divided and broken into companies and disperst first into the neighbouring Countries and then by degrees throughout the whole Earth the several successive Generations like the waves of the Sea when it flows over-reaching one another and striking out further and further upon the face of the Land Not that the whole Earth was peopled by an uniform propagation of Mankind every way from one place as a common center like the swelling of a Lake upon a Plain for sometimes they shot out in length like Rivers and sometimes they shew into remote Countreys in Colonies like swarms from the Hive and setled there leaving many places uninhabited betwixt them and their first home Sea-shores and Islands were generally the last places inhabited for while the memory or story of the Deluge was fresh amongst them they did not care for coming so near their late Enemy or at least to be enclos'd and surrounded by his forces And this may be sufficient to have discours'd concerning all the parts of the Deluge and the restitution of the Earth to an habitable form for the further union of our Theory with the History of Moses There rests only one thing in that History to be taken notice of which may be thought possibly not to agree so well with our account of the Deluge namely that Moses seems to shut up the Abysse again at the end of the Deluge which our Explication supposeth to continue open But besides that half the Abysse is still really cover'd Moses saith the same thing of the windows of Heaven that they were shut up too and he seemeth in both to express only the cessation of the Effect
impossible for the Ark to have liv'd upon the raging Abyss or for Noah and his Family to have been preserv'd if there had not been a miraculous hand of Providence to take care of them But 't is hard to separate and distinguish an ordinary and extraordinary Providence in all cases and to mark just how far one goes and where the other begins And writing a Theory of the Deluge here as we do we were to exhibit a Series of causes whereby it might be made intelligible or to shew the proximate Natural Causes of it wherein we follow the example both of Moses and S. Peter and with the same veneration of the Divine Power and Wisdom in the government of Nature by a constant ordinary Providence and an occasional extraordinary So much for the Theory of the Deluge and the second Section of this Discourse CHAP. IX The Second Part of this Discourse proving the same Theory from the Effects and present form of the Earth First by a general Scheme of what is most remarkable in this Globe and then by a more particular Induction beginning with an Account of Subterraneous Cavities and Subterraneous Waters WE have now finisht our explication of the Universal Deluge and given an account not only of the possibility of it but so far as our knowledge can reach of its Causes and of that form and structure of the Earth whereby the Old World was subject to that sort of Fate We have not beg'd any Principles or Suppositions for the proof of this but taking that common ground which both Moses and all Antiquity presents to us viz. That this Earth rose from a Chaos We have from that deduc'd by an easie train of consequences what the first Form of it would be and from that Form as from a nearer ground we have by a second train of consequences made it appear that at some time or other that first Earth would be subject to a dissolution and by that dissolution to a Deluge And thus far we have proceeded only by the intuition of Causes as is most proper to a Theory but for the satisfaction of those that require more sensible arguments and to compleat our proofs on either hand we will now argue from the Effects and from the present state of Nature and the present form of the Earth prove that it hath been broken and undergone such a dissolution as we have already describ'd and made the immediate occasion of the Deluge And that we may do this more perspicuously and distinctly we will lay down this Proposition to be prov'd viz. That the present form and structure of the Earth both as to the surface and as to the Interiour parts of it so far as they are known and accessible to us doth exactly answer to our Theory concerning the form and dissolution of the first Earth and cannot be explain'd upon any other Hypothesis yet known Oratours and Philosophers treat Nature after a very different manner Those represent her with all her graces and ornaments and if there be any thing that is not capable of that they dissemble it or pass it over slightly But Philosophers view Nature with a more impartial eye and without favour or prejudice give a just and free account how they find all the parts of the Universe some more some less perfect And as to this Earth in particular if I was to describe it as an Oratour I would suppose it a beautiful and regular Globe and not only so but that the whole Universe was made for its sake that it was the darling and favourite of Heaven that the Sun shin'd only to give it light to ripen its Fruit and make fresh its Flowers and that the great Concave of the Firmament and all the Stars in their several Orbs were design'd only for a spangled Cabinet to keep this Jewel in This Idea I would give of it as an Oratour But a Philosopher that overheard me would either think me in jest or very injudicious if I took the Earth for a body so regular in it self or so considerable if compar'd with the rest of the Universe This he would say is to make the great World like one of the Heathen Temples a beautiful and magnificent structure and of the richest materials yet built only for a little brute Idol a Dog or a Crocodile or some deformed Creature plac'd in a corner of it We must therefore be impartial where the Truth requires it and describe the Earth as it is really in it self and though it be handsome and regular enough to the eye in certain parts of it single tracts and single Regions yet if we consider the whole surface of it or the whole Exteriour Region 't is as a broken and confus'd heap of bodies plac'd in no order to one another nor with any correspondency or regularity of parts And such a body as the Moon appears to us when 't is look'd upon with a good Glass rude and ragged as it is also represented in the modern Maps of the Moon such a thing would the Earth appear if it was seen from the Moon They are both in my judgment the image or picture of a great Ruine and have the true aspect of a World lying in its rubbish Our Earth is first divided into Sea and Land without any regularity in the portions either of the one or the other In the Sea lie the Islands scatter'd like limbs torn from the rest of the body great Rocks stand rear'd up in the waters The Promontories and Capes shoot into the Sea and the Sinus's and Creeks on the other hand run as much into the Land and these without any order or uniformity Upon the other part of our Globe stand great heaps of Earth or stone which we call Mountains and if these were all plac'd together they would take up a very considerable part of the dry Land In the rest of it are lesser Hills Valleys Plains Lakes and Marishes Sands and Desarts c. and these also without any regular disposition Then the inside of the Earth or inward parts of it are generally broken or hollow especially about the Mountains and high Lands as also towards the shores of the Sea and among the Rocks How many Holes and Caverns and strange Subterraneous passages do we see in many Countries and how many more may we easily imagine that are unknown and unaccessible to us This is the pourtraicture of our Earth drawn without flattery and as oddly as it looks it will not be at all surprising to one that hath consider'd the foregoing Theory For 't is manifest enough that upon the dissolution of the first Earth and its fall into the Abyss this very face and posture of things which we have now describ'd or something extremely like it would immediately result The Sea would be open'd and the face of the Globe would be divided into Land and Water And according as the fragments fell some would make Islands or Rocks in the Sea others would
That the Earth rise at first from a Chaos for besides Reason and Antiquity Scripture it self doth assure us of that and that one point being granted we have deduc'd from it all the rest by a direct chain of consequences which I think cannot be broken easily in any part or link of it Besides the great hinge of this Theory upon which all the rest turns is the distinction we make of the Ante diluvian Earth and Heavens from the Post-diluvian as to their form and constitution And it will never be beaten out of my head but that S. Peter hath made the same distinction sixteen hundred years since and to the very same purpose so that we have sure footing here again and the Theory riseth above the character of a bare Hypothesis And whereas an Hypothesis that is clear and proportion'd to Nature in every respect is accounted morally certain we must in equity give more than a moral certitude to this Theory But I mean this only as to the general parts of it for as to particularities I look upon them only as problematical and accordingly I affirm nothing therein but with a power of revocation and a liberty to change my opinion when I shall be better inform'd Neither do I know any Author that hath treated a matter new remote and consisting of a multitude of particulars who would not have had occasion if he had liv'd to have seen his Hypothesis fully examin'd to have chang'd his mind and manner of explaining things in many material instances To conclude both this Chapter and this Section we have here added a Map or Draught of the Earth according to the Natural face of it as it would appear from the Moon if we were a little nearer to her or as it was at first after the Deluge before Cities were built distinctions of Countries made or any alteâ—ations by humane industry 'T is chiefly to expose more to view the Mountains of the Earth and the proportions of Sea and Land to shew it as it lies in it self and as a Naturalist ought to conceive and consider it 'T is true there are far more Mountains upon the Earth than what are here represented for more could not conveniently be plac'd in this narrow Scheme But the best and most effectual way of representing the body of the Earth as it is by Nature would be not in plain Tables but by a rough Globe expressing all the considerable inequalities that are upon the Earth The smooth Globes that we use do but nourish in us the conceit of the Earth's regularity and though they may be convenient enough for Geographical purposes they are not so proper for Natural Science nothing would be more useful in this respect than a rough Globe of the largest dimensions wherein the Chanel of the Sea should be really hollow as it is in Nature with all its unequal depths according to the best soundings and the shores exprest both according to matter and form little Rocks standing where there are Rocks and Sands and Beaches in the places where they are found and all the Islands planted in the Sea-chanel in a due form and in their solid dimensions Then upon the Land should stand all the ranges of Mountains in the same order or disorder that Nature hath set them there And the in-land Seas and great Lakes or rather the beds they lie in should be duly represented as also the vast desarts of Sand as they lie upon the Earth And this being done with care and due Art would be a true Epitome or true model of our Earth Where we should see besides other instructions what a rude Lump our World is which we are so apt to dote upon CHAP. XII A short review of what hath been already treated of and in what manner The several Faces and Schemes under which the Earth would appear to a Stranger that should view it first at a distance and then more closely and the Application of them to our subject All methods whether Philosophical or Theological that have been offer'd by others for the Explication of the Form of the Earth are examin'd and disprov'd A conjecture concerning the other Planets their Natural Form and State compared with ours WE have finish'd the Three Sections of this Book and in this last Chapter we will make a short review and reflection upon what hath been hitherto treated of and add some further confirmations of it The Explication of the Universal Deluge was the first proposal and design of this Discourse to make that a thing credible and intelligible to the mind of Man And the full Explication of this drew in the whole Theory of the Earth Whose original we have deduc'd from its first Source and shew'd both what was its primaeval Form and how it came into its present Form The summ of our Hypothesis concerning the Universal Deluge was this That it came not to pass as was vulgarly believ'd by any excess of Rains or any Inundation of the Sea nor could ever be effected by a meer abundance of Waters unless we suppose some dissolution of the Earth at the same time namely when the Great Abyss was broken open And accordingly we shewed that without such a dissolution or if the Earth had been always in the same form it is in now no mass of water any where to be found in the World could have equall'd the height of the Mountains or made such an Universal Deluge Secondly We shewed that the form of the Earth at first and till the Deluge was such as made it capable and subject to a Dissolution And thirdly That such a dissolution being suppos'd the Doctrine of the Universal Deluge is very reasonable and intelligible And not only the Doctrine of the Deluge but the same supposition is a Key to all Nature besides shewing us how our Globe became Terraqueous what was the original of Mountains of the Sea-chanel of Islands of subterraneous Cavities Things which without this supposition are as unintelligible as the universal Flood it self And these things reciprocally confirming one another our Hypothesis of the Deluge is arm'd both breast and back by the causes and by the effects It remains now that as to confirm our Explication of the Deluge we shew'd all other accounts that had been given of it to be ineffectual or impossible so to confirm our doctrine concerning the dissolution of the Earth and concerning the Original of Mountains Seas and all inequalities upon it or within it we must examine what causes have been assign'd by others or what accounts given of these things That seeing their defectiveness we may have the more assurance and satisfaction in our own method And in order to this let us observe first the general forms under which the Earth may be consider'd or under which it doth appear accordingly as we view it more nearly or remotely And the first of these and the most general is that of a Terraqueous Globe If a Philosopher should come out of
Theological and we will try them both for our satisfaction Of Philosophers none was more concern'd to give an account of such things than Epicurus both because he acknowledged the Origin of the Earth to have been from a Chaos and also admitted no causes to act in Nature but Matter and Motion Yet all the account we have from the Epicureans of the form of the Earth and the great inequalities that are in it is so slight and trivial that methinks it doth not deserve the name of a Philosophical Explication They say that the Earth and Water were mix'd at first or rather the Earth was above the Water and as the Earth was condens'd by the heat of the Sun and the Winds the Water was squeez'd out in certain places which either it found hollow or made so and so was the Chanel of the Sea made Then as for Mountains while some parts of the Earth shrunk and sunk in this manner others would not sink and these standing still while the others fell lower made the Mountains How the subterraneous Cavities were made according to them I do not find This is all the Account that Monsieur Gassendi who seems to have made it his business as well as his pleasure to embellish that Philosophy can help us to out of the Epicurean Authors how the Earth came into this form and he that can content himself with this is in my mind of an humour very easie to be pleas'd Do the Sun and the Wind use to squeaze pools of Water out of the Earth and that in such a quantity as to make an Ocean They dry the Earth and the Waters too and rarifie them into vapours but I never knew them to be the causes of pressing Water out of the Earth by condensation Could they compress the Earth any otherwise than by drying it and making it hard and in proportion as it was more dry would it not the more imbibe and suck up the Water and how were the great Mountains of the Earth made in the North and in the South where the influence of the Sun is not great What sunk the Earth there and made the flesh start from the bones But 't is no wonder that Epicurus should give such a mean account of the Origin of the Earth and the form of its parts who did not so much as understand the general Figure of the Body of it that it was in some manner Spherical or that the Heavens encompast it round One must have a blind love for that Philosophy and for the conclusions it drives at not to see its lameness and defects in those first and fundamental parts Aristotle though he was not concern'd to give an account how the Earth came into this present form as he suppos'd it Eternal yet upon another consideration he seems oblig'd to give some reason how the Elements came into this disorder seeing he supposeth that according to the order of Nature the Water should lie above the Earth in a Sphere as the Air doth above the Water and his Fire above the Air. This he toucheth upon in his Meteors but so gently and fearfully as if he was handling hot coals He saith the Sea is to be consider'd as the Element or body of Waters that belongs to this Earth and that these Waters change places and the Sea is some Ages in one part of the Globe and some Ages in another but that this is at such great distances of time that there can be no memory or record of it And he seems willing to suppose that the Water was once all over the Earth but that it drid up in certain places and continuing in others it there made the Sea What a miserable account is this As to his change or removal of the Sea-chanel in several Ages as it is without all proof or probability if he mean it of the Chanel of the great Ocean so 't is nothing to the purpose here for the question is not why the Chanel of the Sea is in such a part of the Earth rather than in another but why there is any such prodigious Cavity in or upon the Earth any where And if we take his supposition that the Element of Water was once higher than the Earth and lay in a Sphere about it then let him tell us in plain terms how the Earth got above or how the Cavity of the Ocean was made and how the the Mountains rise for this Elementary Earth which lay under the Water was I suppose equal and smooth when it lay there and what reason was there that the Waters should be dri'd in one part of it more than another if they were every where of an equal depth and the ground equal under them It was not the Climates made any distinction for there is Sea towards the Poles as well as under the Aequator but suppose they were dri'd up in certain places that would make no Mountains no more than there are Mountains in our dri'd Marches And the places where they were not dri'd would not therefore become as deep and hollow as the Sea chanel and tear the Earth and Rocks in pieces If you should say that this very Elementary Earth as it lay under the Waters was unequal and was so originally form'd into Mountains and Valleys and great Cavities besides that the supposition is altogether irrational in it self you must suppose a prodigious mass of Water to cover such an Earth as much as we found requisite for the vulgar Deluge namely eight Oceans and what then is become of the other seven Upon the whole I do not see that either in Epicurus's way who seems to suppose that the Waters were at first within the Earth nor in Aristotle's way who seems to suppose them upon the Earth any rational or tolerable account can be given of the present form of the Earth Wherefore some modern Authors dissatisfied as very well they might be with these Explications given us by the Ancients concerning the form of the Earth have pitch'd upon other causes more true indeed in their kind and in their degree but that â—all as much short of those effects to which they would apply them They say that all the irregularities of the body of the Earth have risen from Earthquakes in particular places and from Torrents and Inundations and from eruptions of Fire or such like causes whereof we see some instances more or less every Age And these have made that havock upon the face of the Earth and turn'd things up-side down raising the Earth in some places and making great Cavities or Chasms in others so as to have brought it at length into that torn broken and disorderly form in which we now see it These Authors do so far agree with us as to acknowledge that the present irregular form of the Earth must have proceeded from ruines and dissolutions of one sort or other but these ruines they make to have been partial only in this or in that Country by piece-meal and
it lay under the Water was a solid uniform mass compact and close united in its parts as we have shewn before upon several occasions no Mines or hollow Vaults for the Vapours to be lodg'd in no Store-houses of Fire nothing that could make Earthquakes nor any sort of ruines or eruptions These are Engines that cannot play but in an Earth already broken hollow and cavernous Therefore the Authors of this opinion do in effect beg the question they assign such causes of the present form of the Earth as could not take place nor have any activity until the Earth was in this form These causes may contribute something to increase the rudeness and inequalities of the Earth in certain places but they could not be the original causes of it And that not only because of their disproportion to such effects but also because of their incapacity or non-existence at that time when these effects were to be wrought Thus much concerning the Philosophical opinions or the natural Causes that have been assign'd for the irregular form of this present Earth Let us now consider the Theological opinions how Mountains were made at first and the wonderful Chanel of the Sea And these Authors say God Almighty made them immediately when he made the World and so dispatcht the business in a few words This is a short account indeed but we must take heed that we do not derogate from the perfection of God by ascribing all things promiscuously to his immediate action I have often suggested that the first order of things is regular and simple according as the Divine Nature is and continues so till there is some degeneracy in the moral World I have also noted upon several occasions especially in the Lat. Treat Cap. II. the deformity and incommodiousness of the present Earth and from these two considerations we may reasonably infer that the present state of the Earth was not Original but is a state of subjection to Vanity wherein it must continue till the redemption and restitution of all things But besides this general consideration there are many others both Natural and Theological against this opinion which the Authors of it I believe will find unanswerable As first S. Peter's distinction betwixt the present Earth and the Ante-diluvian and that in opposition to certain profane persons who seem to have been of the same opinion with these Authors namely That the Heavens and the Earth were the same now that they had been from the beginning and that there had been no change in Nature either of late or in former Ages These S. Peter confutes and upbraids them with ignorance or forgetfulness of the change that was brought upon Nature at the Deluge or that the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth were of a different form and constitution from the present whereby that World was obnoxious to a Deluge of Water as the present is to a Deluge of Fire Let these Authors put themselves in the place of those Objectors and see what answer they can make to the Apostle whom I leave to dispute the case with them I hope they will not treat this Epistle of S. Peter's so rudely as Didymus Alexandrinus did an ancient Christian and one of S. Ierom's Masters he was of the same opinion with these Theological Authors and so fierce in it that seeing S. Peter's doctrine here to be contrary he said this Epistle of S. Peter's was corrupted and was not to be receiv'd into the Canon And all this because it taught that the Heavens and the Earth had chang'd their form and would do so again at the Conflagration so as the same World would be Tâ—iform in success of time We acknowledge his Exposition of S. Peter's words to be very true but what he makes an argument of the corruption of this Epistle is rather in my mind a peculiar argument of its Divine Inspiration In the second place these Writers dash upon the old rock the impossibility of explaining the Deluge if there were Mountains from the beginning and the Earth then in the same form as it is in now Thirdly They make the state of Paradise as unintelligible as that of the Deluge For those properties that are assign'd to Paradise by the Ancients are inconsistent with the present form of the Earth As will appear in the Second Book Lastly They must answer and give an account of all those marks which we have observ'd in Nature both in this Chapter and the Ninth Tenth and Eleventh of fractions ruines and dissolutions that have been on the Earth and which we have shown to be inexplicable unless we admit that the Earth was once in another form These arguments being premis'd let us now bring their opinion close to the Test and see in what manner these Mountains must have been made according to them and how the Chanel of the Sea and all other Cavities of the Earth Let us to this purpose consider the Earth again in that transient incompleat form which it had when the Abyss encompast the whole body of it we both agree that the Earth was once in this state and they say that it came immediately out of this state into its present form there being made by a supernatural Power a great Chanel or Ditch in one part of it which drew off the Waters from the rest and the Earth which was squeez'd and forc'd out of this Ditch made the Mountains So there is the Chanel of the Sea made and the Mountains of the Earth how the subterraneous Cavities were made according to these Authors I do not well know This I confess seems to me a very gross thought and a way of working very un-God-like but however let 's have patience to examine it And in the first place if the Mountains were taken out of the Chanel of the Sea then they are equal to it and would fill it up if they were thrown in again But these proportions upon examination will not agree for though the Mountains of the Earth be very great yet they do not equal by much the great Ocean The Ocean extends to half the surface of the Earth and if you suppose the greatest depth of the Ocean to answer the height of the greatest Mountains and the middle depth to the middle sort of Mountains the Mountains ought to cover all the dry Land to make them answer to all the capacity of the Ocean whereas we suppos'd them upon a reasonable computation to cover but the tenth part of the dry Land and consequently neither they nor the Sea-chanel could have been produc'd in this manner because of their great disproportion to one another And the same thing appears if we compare the Mountains with the Abyss which cover'd the Earth before this Chanel was made for this Chanel being made great enough to contain all the Abyss the Mountains taken out of it must also be equal to all the Abyss but the aggregate of the Mountains will not answer this by many degrees
for suppose the Abyss was but half as deep as the deep Ocean to make this Calculus answer all the dry Land ought to be cover'd with Mountains and with Mountains as high as the Ocean is deep or doubly high to the depth of the Abyss because they are but upon one half of the Globe And this is the first argument against the reciprocal production of Mountains and the Sea their incongruency or disproportion Secondly We are to consider that a great many Mountains of the Earth are far distant from any Seas as the great in-land Mountains of Asia and of Africk and the Sarmatick Mountains and others in Europe how were these great bodies slung thorow the Air from their respective Seas whence they were taken to those places where they stand What appearance is there in common reason or credibility that these huge masses of Earth and Stone that stand in the middle of Continents were dug out of any Seas We think it strange and very deservedly that a little Chapel should be transported from Palestine to Italy over Land and Sea much more the transportation of Mount Atlas or Taurus thorow the Air or of a range of Mountains two or three thousand miles long would surely upon all accounts appear incongruous and incredible Besides neither the hollow form of Mountains nor the stony matter whereof they commonly consist agrees with that supposition that they were prest or taken out of the Chanel of the Sea Lastly We are to consider that the Mountains are not barely laid upon the Earth as a Tomb-stone upon a Grave nor stand as Statues do upon a Pedestal as this opinion seems to suppose but they are one continued substance with the body of the Earth and their roots reach into the Abyss as the Rocks by the Sea-side go as deep as the bottom of the Sea in one continu'd mass And 't is a ridiculous thing to imagine the Earth first a plain surface then all the Mountains set upon it as Hay-cocks in a Field standing upon their flat bottoms There is no such common surface in Nature nor consequently any such super-additions 'T is all one frame or mass only broken and disjoynted in the parts of it To conclude 'T is not only the Mountains that make the inequalities of the Earth or the irregularity of its surface every Country every Province every Field hath an unequal and different situation higher or lower inclin'd more or less and sometimes one way sometimes another you can scarce take a miles compass in any place where the surface of the ground continues uniform and can you imagine that there were Moulds or Stones brought from the Sea-chanel to make all those inequalities Or that Earthquakes have been in every County and in every Field The inner Veins and Lares the beds or Strata of the Earth are also broken as well as the surface These must proceed from universal causes and all those that have been alledg'd whether from Philosophy or Theology are but particular or Topical I am fully satisfied in contemplation of these things and so I think every unprejudic'd person may be that to such an irregular variety of situation and construction as we see every where in the parts of the Earth nothing could answer but some universal concussion or dislocation in the nature of a general ruine We have now finisht this first part of our Theory and all that concerns the Deluge or dissolution of the Earth and we have not only establisht our own Hypothesis by positive arguments but also produc'd and examin'd all suppositions that have been offer'd by others whether Philosophical or Theological for the Explication of the same things so as nothing seems now to remain further upon this subject For a conclusion of all we will consider if you please the rest of the Earths or of the Planets within our Heavens that appertain to the same common Sun to see so far as we can go by rational conjectures if they be not of the same Fabrick and have undergone the like fate and forms with our Earth It is now acknowledg'd by the generality of Learned Men that the Planets are Opake bodies and particularly our next neighbour the Moon is known to be a Terraqueous Globe consisting of Mountains and Valleys as our Earth does and we have no reason to believe but that she came into that form by a dissolution or from like causes as our Earth did Mercury is so near the Sun that we cannot well discern his face whether spotted or no nor make a judgment of it But as for Venus and Mars if the spots that be observed in them be their Waters or their Sea as they are in the Moon 't is likely They are also Terraqueous Globes and in much what a like form with the Moon and the Earth and for ought we know from like causes Particularly as to Venus 't is a remarkable passage that S. Austin hath preserv'd out of Varro he saith That about the time of the great Deluge there was a wonderful alteration or Catastrophe happen'd to the Planet Venus and that she chang'd her Colour form figure and magnitude This is a great presumption that she suffer'd her dissolution about the same time that our Earth did I do not know that any such thing is recorded concerning any of the other Planets but the body of Mars looks very rugged broken and much disorder'd Saturn and Iupiter deserve a distinct consideration as having something particular and different from the rest of the Planets Saturn is remarkable for his Hoop or Ring which seems to stand off or higher than his body and would strongly induce one to believe that the exteriour Earth of that Planet at its dissolution did not all fall in but the Polar parts sinking into the Abyss the middle or Aequinoctial parts still subsisted and bore themselves up in the nature of an Arch about the Planet or of a Bridge as it were built over the Sea of Saturn And as some have observ'd concerning the figure of Iupiter that it is not wholly Sphaerical but a Sphaeroid protuberant in the Aequator and deprest towards the Poles So I should suspect Saturn to have been much more so before his disruption Namely That the Body of that Planet in its first state was more flat and low towards the Poles and also weaker and thinner and about the Aequator higher fuller and stronger Built By reason of which figure and construction the Polar parts did more easily fall in or were suckt in as Cupping-glasses draw in the Flesh when the Abyss below grew more empty Whereas the middle parts about the Aequator being a more just Arch and strongly built would not yield or sink but stood firm and unbroken and continues still in its first posture Planets break in different ways according to the quality of their matter the manner of their construction and the Nature of the Causes that act upon them Their dissolutions are sometimes total as in
our Earth sometimes partial and both of these may be under great variety In partial dissolutions the middle parts sometimes stand and the Polar are broke or the Polar stand and the middle are broke Or one Hemisphere or part of an Hemisphere may be sunk the rest standing There may be Causes and occasions for all these varieties and many more in diversifying the Phaenomena of an immense Universe But to return to Saturn That this present uncouth form of Saturn was not its Original form I am very well satisfied if that Planet rise from a Chaos as ours did And if this be an adventitious form I know no account can be given of it with more probability than by supposing it the effect of some fraction or disruption in the Polar parts Neither do I know any Phaenomenon hitherto observ'd concerning Saturn that does disprove this Hypothesis or conjecture As to Iupiter that Planet without doubt is also turned about its Axis otherwise how shou'd its four Moons be carried round him And this is also collected from the motion of that permanent Spot if it be found to be so that is upon its Body Which Spot I take to be either a Lake or a Chasm and Hiatus into the Abyss of the Planet That is part of the Abyss open or uncover'd like the Aperture we made in the Seventh Figure And this might either have been left so by Providence at first for some reasons and causes fitting that Earth or it may have fallen in afterwards as Plato's Atlantis or as Soâ—â—m and Gomorrha for some judgment upon part of that World To conclude Seeing all the Planets that are plac'd in this Heaven and are the foster-children of this Sun seem to have some affinity one with another and have much-what the same countenance and the same general Phaenomena It seems probable that they rise much-what the same way and after the like manner as our Earth each one from its respective Chaos And that they had the same Elementary Regions at first and an exteriour Orb â—orm'd over their Abyss And lastly That every one of them hath suffer'd or is to suffer its Deluge as our Earth hath done These I say are probable conjectures according to the Analogy of Reason and Nature so far as we can judge concerning things very remote and inaccessible And these things being thus and our Theory of the Deluge and the Dissolution which brought it having such a general agreement both with our Heavens and our Earth I think there is nothing but the uncouthness of the thing to some mens understandings the custom of thinking otherwise and the uneasiness of entring into a new set of thoughts that can be a bar or hindrance to its reception But it may be improv'd I doubt not in many respects and in some particularities rectified The first attempts in great Things are seldom or never perfect Such is the weakness of our Understandings and the want of a full Natural History And in assigning Causes of such great effects fair conjectures are to be allow'd till they be displac'd by others more evident and more certain Accordingly I readily submit to these terms and leave this and all other parts of the Theory to further examination and enquiries FINIS THE THEORY OF THE EARTH Containing an Account OF THE Original of the Earth AND OF ALL THE GENERAL CHANGES Which it hath already undergone OR IS TO UNDERGO Throughout the whole Course of its Duration THE SECOND BOOK Concerning the PRIMAEVAL EARTH AND Concerning PARADISE LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. THE THEORY OF THE EARTH BOOK II. Concerning the Primaeval Earth and concerning Paradise CHAP. I. The Introduction and Contents of the Second Book The general state of the Primaeval Earth and of Paradise WE have already seen a World begin and perish An Earth rais'd from the rudiments of a Chaos and dissolv'd and destroy'd in an Universal Deluge We have given also an imperfect description of that primaeval Earth so far as was necessary to shew the Causes and manner of its dissolution But we must not content our selves with this Seeing that Earth was the first Theater upon which Mortals appear'd and acted and continued so for above Sixteen Hundred Years and that with Scenes as both Reason and History tell us very extraordinary and very different from these of our present Earth 't is reasonable we should endeavour to make a more full discovery and description of it Especially seeing Paradise was there that seat of pleasure which our first Parents lost and which all their posterity have much ado to find again In the First Book we so far describ'd This New-found World as to shew it very different in form and fabrick from the present Earth there was no Sea there no Mountains nor Rocks nor broken Caves 't was all one continued and regular mass smooth simple and compleat as the first works of Nature use to be But to know thus much only doth rather excite our curiosity than satisfie it what were the other properties of this World how were the Heavens how the Elements what accommodation for humane life why was it more proper to be the seat of Paradise than the present Earth Unless we know these things you will say it will seem but an aëry Idea to us and 't is certain that the more properties and particularâ—ties that we know concerning any thing the more real it appears to be As it was our chief design therefore in the precedent Book to give an account of the Universal Deluge by way of a Theory so we propose to our selves chiefly in this Book from the same Theory to give an account of Paradise and in performing of this we shall be led into a more full examination and display of that first Earth and of its qualities And if we be so happy as by the conduct of the same principles and the same method to give as fair an account and as intelligible of the state of Paradise in that Original Earth as we have done of the Deluge by the dissolution of it and of the form of this Earth which succeeded one must be very morose or melancholy to imagine that the grounds we go upon all this while are wholly false or â—ictitious A foundation which will bear the weight of two Worlds without sinking must surely stand upon a firm Rock And I am apt to promise my self that this Theory of the Earth will find acceptance and credit more or less with all but those that think it a sufficient answer to all arguments to say it is a Novelty But to proceed in our disquisition concerning Paradise we may note in the first place two opinions to be avoided being both extreams one that placeth Paradise in the extra-mundane Regions or in the Air or in the Moon and the other that makes it so inconsiderable as to be confin'd to a little spot of ground in Mesopotamia or
some other Country of Asia the Earth being now as it was then This offends as much in the defect as the other in the excess For it is not any single Region of the Earth that can be Paradisiacal unless all Nature conspire and a certain Order of things proper and peculiar for that state Nor is it of less importance to find out this peculiar Order of things than to find out the particular seat of Paradise but rather pre-requisite to it We will endeavour therefore to discover and determine both so far as a Theory can go beginning with that which is more general 'T is certain there were some qualities and conditions of Paradise that were not meerly Topical but common to all the rest of the Earth at that time and these we must consider in the first place examine what they were and upon what they depended History both Sacred and Profane must tell us what they were and our Theory must shew us upon what causes they depended I had once I confess propos'd to my self another method independent upon History or Effects I thought to have continued the description of the Primitive or Ante-diluvian Earth from the contemplation of its causes only and then left it to the judgment of others to determine whether that was not the Earth where the Golden Age was past and where Paradise stood For I had observ'd three conditions or characters of it which I thought were sufficient to answer all that we knew concerning that first state of things viz. The regularity of its surface The situation or posture of its Body to the Sun and the Figure of it From these three general causes I thought might be deducâ—d all the chief differences of that Earth from the present and particularly those that made it more capable of being Paradisiacal But upon second thoughts I judg'd it more useful and expedient to lay aside the Causes at present and begin with the Effects that we might have some sensible matter to work upon Bare Idea's of things are lookt upon as Romantick till Effects be propos'd whereof they are to give an account 'T is that makes us value the Causes when necessity puts us upon enquiry after them and the reasons of things are very acceptable when they ease the mind anxious and at a loss how to understand Nature without their help We will therefore without more ado premise those things that have been taken notice of as extraordinary and peculiar to the first Ages of the World and to Paradise and which neither do nor can obtain in the present Earth whereof the first is a perpetual Spring or Equinox The second the Long aevity of Animals and the third Their production out of the Earth and the great fertility of the soil in all other things These difficulties guard the way to Paradise like the flaming Sword and must be remov'd before we can enter these are general Preliminaries which we must explain before we proceed to enquire after the particular place of this Garden of Pleasure The Ancients have taken notice of all these in the first Ages of the World or in their Golden Age as they call it and I do not doubt but what they ascrib'd to the Golden Age was more remarkably true of Paradise yet was not so peculiar to it but that it did in a good measure extend to other parts of the Earth at that time And 't is manifest that their Golden Age was contemporary with our Paradise for they make it begin immediately after the production and inhabitation of the Earth which They as well as Moses raise from the Chaos and to degenerate by degrees till the Deluge when the World ended and begun again That this parallel may the better appear we may observe that as we say that the whole Earth was in some sence Paradisiacal in the first Ages of the World and that there was besides one Region or Portion of it that was peculiarly so and bore the denomination of Paradise So the Ancients besides their Golden Age which was common to all the Earth noted some parts of it that were more Golden if I may so say than the rest and which did more particularly answer to Paradise as their Elysian Fields Fortunate Islands Gardens of Hesperides Alcinous c. these had a double portion of pleasantness and besides the advantages which they had common with the rest of the Earth at that time had something proper and singular which gave them a distinct consideration and character from the rest Having made this observation let us proceed and see what Antiquity saith concerning that first and Paradisiacal state of things upon those three Heads forementioned First That there was a perpetual Spring and constant serenity of the Air This is often repeated by the Ancient Poets in their description of the Golden Age Non alios primâ crescentis origine mundi Illuxisse dies aliumve habuisse tenorem Crediderim Ver illud erat Ver magnus agebat Orbis hybernis parcebant flatibus Euri. Such days the new-born Earth enjoy'd of old And the calm Heavens in this same tenour rowl'd All the great World had then one constant Spring No cold East-winds such as our Winters bring For I interpret this in the same sence with Ovid's Verses of the Golden Age Ver erat Aeternum placidÃque tepentibus auris Mulcebant Zephyri natos sine semine flores The Spring was constant and soft Winds that blew Rais'd without Seed Flow'rs always sweet and new And then upon the expiration of the Golden Age He says Iupiter antiqui contraxit tempora Veris c. When Jove begun to reign he chang'd the Year And for one Spring four Seasons made appear The Ancients suppos'd that in the reign of Saturn who was an Ante-diluvian God as I may so call him Time flow'd with a more even motion and there was no diversity of Seasons in the Year but Iupiter they say first introduc'd that when he came to manage affairs This is exprest after their way who seldom give any severe and Philosophical accounts of the changes of Nature And as they suppos'd this perpetual Spring in the Golden Age so they did also in their particular Elysiums as I could shew largely from their Authors if it would not multiply Citations too much 'T is true their Elysiums respected the New Heavens and New Earth to come rather than the past but they are both fram'd upon the same model and have common properties The Christian Authors have no less celebrated the perpetual Spring and Serenity of the Heavens in Paradise such expressions or descriptions you will find in Iustin Martyr S. Basil Damascen Isidore Hispalensis and others insomuch that Bellarmine I remember reflecting upon those Characters of Paradise which many of the Fathers have given in these respects saith Such things could not be unless the Sun had then another course from what he hath now or which is more easie the Earth another situation
Which conjecture will hereafter appear to have been well-grounded In the mean time let us see the Christian Poetry upon this subject as we have seen the Roman upon the other Alcimus Avitus hath thus describ'd Paradise in his Notes upon Genesis Non hîc alterni succedit temporis unquam Bruma nec aestivi redeunt post frigora Soles Hîc Ver assiduum Coeli clementia servat Turbidus Auster abest sempérque sub aere sudo Nubila diffugiunt jugi cessura sereno Nec poscit Natura loci quos non habet imbres Sed contenta suo dotantur germina rore Perpetuò viret omne solum terraeque benignae Blanda nitet facies Stant semper collibus herbae Arboribúsque comae c. No change of Seasons or excess was there No Winter chill'd nor Summer scorch'd the Air But with a constant Spring Nature was fresh and fair Rough Winds or Rains that Region never knew Water'd with Rivers and the morning Dew The Heav'ns still clear the Fields still green and gay No Clouds above nor on the Earth decay Trees kept their leaves and verdure all the Year And Fruits were never out of Season there And as the Christian Authors so likewise the Iewish have spoken of Paradise in the same manner they tell us also that the days there were always of the same length throughout the whole Year and that made them fancy Paradise to lie under the Aequinoctial as we shall see in its due place 'T is true we do not find these things mention'd expresly in the Sacred Writings but the Effects that flow'd from them are recorded there and we may reasonably suppose providence to have foreseen that when those Effects came to be scan'd and narrowly lookt into they would lead us to a diâ—covery of the Causes and particularly of this great and general Cause that perpetual Aequinox and unity of seasons in the Year till the Deluge The Longaevity of the Ante-diluvians cannot be explain'd upon any other supposition as we shall have occasion to show hereafter and that you know is recorded carefully in Scripture As also that there was no Rainbow before the Flood which goes upon the same ground that there was no variety of Seasons nor any Rain And this by many is thought to be understood by Moses his words Gen. 2. 5 6. which he speaks of the first and Paradisiacal Earth Lastly Seeing the Earth then brought forth the principles of life and all living Creatures Man excepted according to Moses Gen. 1. 24. we must suppose that the state of the Heavens was such as favour'd these Conceptions and Births which could not possibly be brought to perfection as the Seasons of the Year are at present The first time that we have mention made in Scripture of Summer and Winter and the differences of Seasons is at the ending of the Deluge Gen. 8. 22. Hence forward all the days of the Earth Seed-time and Harvest Heat and Cold Summer and Winter Day and Night shall not cease 'T is true these words are so lax that they may be understood either of a new course of Nature then instituted or of an old one restor'd but seeing it doth appear from other arguments and considerations that there was at that time a new course of Nature constituted it is more reasonable to interpret the words in that sence which as it is agreeable to truth according to Reason and Antiquity so it renders that remark of Moses of far greater importance if it be understood as an indication of a new order then setled in Nature which should continue thenceforwards so long as the Earth endur'd Nor do I at all wonder that such things should not be expresly and positively declar'd in Scripture for Natural Mysteries in the Holy Writings as well as Prophetical are many times on set purpose incompleatly deliver'd so as to awaken and excite our thoughts rather than fully resolve them This being often more suitable to the designs of Providence in the government of the World But thus much for this first common or general Character of the Golden Age and of Paradise a perpetual Serenity and perpetual Aequinox The second Character is the Longaevity of Men and as is probable of all other Animals in proportion This methinks is as strange and surprising as the other and I know no difference betwixt the Ante-diluvian World and the present so apt to affect us if we reflect upon it as this wonderful disproportion in the Ages of Men Our fore-fathers and their Posterity They liv'd seven eight nine hundred Years and upwards and 't is a wonder now if a Man live to one hundred Our Oakes do not last so long as their Bodies did Stone and Iron would scarce out-wear them And this property of the first Ages or their Inhabitants how strange soever is well attested and beyond all exception having the joynt consent of Sacred and Profane History The Scripture sets down the precise Age of a sâ—ries of Ante diluvian Patriarchs and by that measures the time from the beginning of the World to the Deluge so as all Sacred Chronology stand upon that bottom Yet I know some have thought this so improbable and incongruous a thing that to save the credit of Moses and the Sacred History they interpret these years of Lunar years or months and so the Ages of these Patriarchs are reduc'd to much what the same measure with the common life of man at this time It may be observ'd in this as in many other instances that for want of a Theory to make things credible and intelligibile men of wit and parts have often deprest the sence of Scripture and that not out of any ill will to Scripture or Religion but because they could not otherwise upon the stock of their notions give themselves a rational account of things recorded there But I hope when we come to explain the Causes of this Longaevity we shall shew that it is altogethâ—r us strange a thing that Men should have such short lives as they have now as that they had such long lives in the first Ages of the World In the mean time there are a great many collateral reasons to assure us that Lunar years cannot be here understood by Moses for all Antiquity gives the same account of those first Ages of the World and of the first Men that they were extremely long-liv'd We meet with it generally in the description of the Golden Age and not only so but in their Topical Paradises also they always suppos'd a great vivacity or longaevity in those that enjoy'd them And Iosephus speaking upon this subject saith the Authors of all the learned Nations Greeks or Barbarians bear witness to Moses's doctrine in this particular And in the Mosaical History it self there are several circumstances and marks that discover plainly that the years of the Patriarchs cannot be understood of Lunar years as we shall have occasion to show in another place We proceed in the mean time
same World that our first fore-fathers did nor scarce to be the same race of Men. Our life now is so short and vain as if we came into the World only to see it and leave it by that time we begin to understand our selves a little and to know where we are and how to act our part we must leave the stage and give place to others as meer Novices as we were our selves at our first entrance And this short life is imploy'd in a great measure to preserve our selves from necessity or diseases or injuries of the Air or other inconveniencies to make one Man easie ten must work and do drudgery The Body takes up so much time we have little leisure for Contemplation or to cultivate the mind The Earth doth not yield us food but with much labour and industry and what was her free-will offering before or an easie liberality can scarce now be extorted from her Neither are the Heavens more favourable sometimes in one extreme sometimes in another The Air often impure or infectious and for a great part of the year Nature her self seems to be sick or dead To this vanity the external Creation is made subject as well as Mankind and so must continue till the restitution of all things Can we imagine in those happy Times and Places we are treating of that things stood in this same posture are these the fruits of the Golden Age and of Paradise or consistent with their happiness And the remedies of these evils must be so universal you cannot give them to one place or Region of the Earth but all must participate For these are things that flow from the course of the Heavens or such general Causes as extend at once to all Nature If there was a perpetual Spring and perpetual Aequinox in Paradise there was at the same time a perpetual Aequinox all the Earth over unless you place Paradise in the middle of the Torrid Zone So also the long-lives of the Ante-diluvians was an universal Effect and must have had an universal Cause 'T is true in some single parts or Regions of the present Earth the Inhabitants live generally longer than in others but do not approach in any measure the Age of their Ante-diluvian fore-fathers and that degree of longaevity which they have above the rest they owe to the calmness and tranquility of their Heavens and Air which is but an imperfect participation of that cause which was once Universal and had its effect throughout the whole Earth And as to the fertility of this Earth though in some spots it be eminently more fruitful than in others and more delicious yet that of the first Earth was a fertility of another kind being spontaneous and extending to the production of Animals which cannot be without a favourable concourse from the Heavens also Thus much in general We will now go over those three forementioned Characters more distinctly to show by their unsuitableness to the present state of Nature that neither the whole Earth as it is now nor any part of it could be Paradisiacal The perpetual Spring which belong'd to the Golden Age and to Paradise is an happiness this present Earth cannot pretend to nor is capable of unless we could transfer the Sun from the Ecliptick to the Aequator or which is as easie perswade the Earth to change its posture to the Sun If Archimedes had found a place to plant his Machines in for removing of the Earth all that I should have desir'd of him would have been only to have given it an heave at one end and set it a little to rights again with the Sun that we might have enjoy'd the comfort of a perpetual Spring which we have lost by its dislocation ever since the Deluge And there being nothing more indispensably necessary to a Paradisiacal state than this unity and equality of Seasons where that cannot be 't is in vain to seek for the rest of Paradise The spontaneous fruitfulness of the ground was a thing peculiar to the primigenial soil which was so temper'd as made it more luxuriant at that time than it could ever be afterwards and as that rich temperament was spent so by degrees it grew less fertile The Origin or production of Animals out of the Earth depended not only upon this vital constitution of the soil at first but also upon such a posture and aspect of the Heavens as favour'd or at least permitted Nature to make her best works out of this prepar'd matter and better than could be made in that manner after the Flood Noah we see had orders given him to preserve the Races of living Creatures in his Ark when the Old World was destroy'd which is an argument to me that Providence foresaw that the Earth would not be capable to produce them under its new form and that not only for want of fitness in the soil but because of the diversity of Seasons which were then to take place whereby Nature would be disturb'd in her work and the subject to be wrought upon would not continue long enough in the same due temper But this part of the second Character concerning the Original of Animals deserves to be further examin'd and explain'd The first principles of Life must be tender and ductile that they may yield to all the motions and gentle touches of Nature otherwise it is not possible that they should be wrought with that curiosity and drawn into all those little fine threds and textures that we see and admire in some parts of the Bodies of Animals And as the matter must be so constituted at first so it must be kept in a due temper till the work be finisht without any excess of heat or cold and accordingly we see that Nature hath made provision in all sorts of Creatures whether Oviparous or Viviparous that the first rudiments of Life should be preserv'd from all injuries of the Air and kept in a moderate warmth Eggs are enclos'd in a Shell or Film and must be cherish'd with an equal gentle heat to begin formation and continue it otherwise the work miscarries And in Viviparous Creatures the materials of life are safely lodg'd in the Females womb and conserv'd in a fit temperature 'twixt heat and cold while the Causes that Providence hath imploy'd are busie at work fashioning and placing and joyning the parts in that due order which so wonderful a Fabrick requires Let us now compare these things with the birth of Animals in the new-made World when they first rose out of the Earth to see what provision could be made there for their safety and nourishment while they were a making and when newly made And though we take all advantages we can and suppose both the Heavens and the Earth favourable a fit soil and a warm and constant temper of the Air all will be little enough to make this way of production feasible or probable But if we suppose there was then the same inconstancy of the Heavens
that is now the same vicissitude of seasons and the same inequality of heat and cold I do not think it at all possible that they could be so form'd or being new-form'd preserv'd and nourish'd 'T is true some little Creatures that are of short dispatch in their formation and find nourishment enough wheresoever they are brâ—d might be produc'd and brought to perfection in this way notwithstanding any inequality of Seasons because they are made all at a heat as I may so say begun and ended within the compass of one Season But the great question is concerning the more perfect kinds of Animals that require a long stay in the womb to make them capable to sustain and nourish themselves when they first come into the World Such Animals being big and strong must have a pretty hardness in their bones and force and firmness in their Muscles and Joynts before they can bear their own weight and exercise the common motions of their body And accordingly we see Nature hath ordain'd for these a longer time of gestation that their limbs and members might have time to acquire strength and solidity Besides the young ones of these Animals have commonly the milk of the Dam to nourish them after they are brought forth which is a very proper nourishment and like to that which they had before in the womb and by this means their stomachs are prepar'd by degrees for courser food Whereas our Terrigenous Animals must have been wean'd as soon as they were born or as soon as they were separated from their Mother the Earth and therefore must be allow'd a longer time of continuing there These things being consider'd we cannot in reason but suppose that these Terrigenous Animals were as long or longer a perfecting than our Viviparous and were not separated from the body of the Earth for ten twelve eighteen or more months according as their Nature was and seeing in this space of time they must have sufferâ—d upon the common Hypothesis all vicissitudes and variety of seasons and great excesses of heat and cold which are things incompatible with the tender principles of life and the formation of living Creatures as we have shown before we may reasonably and safely conclude that Nature had not when the World began the same course she hath now or that the Earth was not then in its present posture and constitution Seeing I say these first spontaneous Births which both the Holy Writ Reason and Antiquity seem to allow could not be finish'd and brought to maturity nor afterwards preserv'd and nourisht upon any other supposition Longaeviâ—y is the last Character to be consider'd and as inconsistent with the present state of the Earth as any other There are many things in the story of the first Ages that seem strange but nothing so prodigy-like as the long lives of those Men that their houses of Clay should stand eight or nine hundred years and upwards and those we build of the hardest Stone or Marble will not now last so long This hath excited the curiosity of ingenious and learned men in all Ages to enquire after the possible Causes of that longaveity and if it had been always in conjunction with innocency of life and manners and expir'd when that expir'd we might have thought it some peculiar blessing or reward attending that but 't was common to good and bad and lasted till the Deluge whereas mankind was degenerate long before Amongst Natural Causes some have imputed it to the sobriety and simplicity of their diet and manner of living in those days that they eat no flesh and had not all those provocations to gluttony which Wit and Vice have since invented This might have some effect but not possibly to that degree and measure that we speak of There are many Monastical persons now that live abstemiously all their lives and yet they think an hundred years a very great age amongst them Others have imputed it to the excellency of their Fruits and some unknown vertue in their Herbs and Plants in those days But they may as well say nothing as say that which can neither be prov'd nor understood It could not be either the quantity or quality of their food that was the cause of their long lives for the Earth was said to be curst long before the Deluge and probably by that time was more barren and juiceless for the generality than ours is now yet we do not see that their longaevity decreast at all from the beginning of the World to the Flood Methusalah was Noah's Grandfather but one intire remove from the Deluge and he liv'd longer than any of his Fore-fathers That food that will nourish the parts and keep us in health is also capable to keep us in long life if there be no impediments otherwise for to continue health is to continue life as that fewel that is fit to raise and nourish a flame will preserve it as long as you please if you add fresh fewel and no external causes hinder Neither do we observe that in those parts of the present Earth where people live longer than in others that there is any thing extraordinary in their food but that the difference is chiefly from the Air and the temperateness of the Heavens And if the Ante-diluvians had not enjoy'd that advantage in a peculiar manner and differently from what any parts of the Earth do now they would never have seen seven eight or nine hundred years go over their heads though they had been nourish'd with Nectar and Ambrosia Others have thought that the long lives of those Men of the old World proceeded from the strength of their Stamina or first principles of their bodies which if they were now as strong in us they think we should still live as long as they did This could not be the sole and adaequate cause of their longaevity as will appear both from History and Reason Shem who was born before the Flood and had in his body all the vertue of the Ante-diluvian Stamina and constitution fell three hundred years short of the age of his fore-fathers because the greatest part of his life was past after the Flood That their Stamina were stronger than ours are I am very ready to believe and that their bodies were greater and any race of strong Men living long in health would have children of a proportionably strong constitution with themselves but then the question is How was this interrupted We that are their posterity why do not we inherit their long lives how was this constitution broken at the Deluge and how did the Stamina fail so fast when that came why was there so great a Crisis then and turn of life or why was that the period of their strength We see this longaevity sunk half in half immediately after the Flood and after that it sunk by gentler degrees but was still in motion and declension till it was â—ixt at length before David's time in that which hath
been the common standard of Man's Age ever since As when some excellent fruit is transplanted into a worse Climate and Soil it degenerates continually till it comes to such a degree of meanness as suits that Air and Soil and then it stands That the Age of Man did not fall all on a sudden from the Antediluvian measure to the present I impute it to the remaining Stamina of those first Ages and the strength of that pristine constitution which could not wear off but by degrees We see the Blacks do not quit their complexion immediately by removing into another Climate but their posterity changeth by little and little and after some generations they become altogether like the people of the Country where they are Thus by the change of Nature that happened at the Flood the unhappy influence of the Air and unequal Seasons weaken'd by degrees the innate strength of their bodies and the vigour of their parts which would have been capable to have lasted several more hundreds of years if the Heavens had continued their course as formerly or the Earth its position To conclude this particular If any think that the Ante-diluvian longaevity proceeded only from the Stamina or the meer strength of their bodies and would have been so under any constitution of the Heavens let them resolve themselves these Questions first Why these Stamina or this strength of constitution fail'd Secondly Why did it fail so much and so remarkably at the Deluge Thirdly Why in such proportions as it hath done since the Deluge And lastly Why it hath stood so long immovable and without any further diminution Within the compass of five hundred years they sunk from nine hundred to ninety and in the compass of more than three thousand years since they have not sunk ten years or scarce any thing at all Who considers the reasons of these things and the true resolution of these questions will be satisfi'd that to understand the causes of that longaevity something more must be consider'd than the make and strength of their bodies which though they had been made as strong as the Behemoth or Leviathan could not have lasted so many Ages if there had not been a particular concurrence of external causes such as the present state of Nature doth not admit of By this short review of the three general Characters of Paradise and the Golden Age we may conclude how little consistent they are with the present from and order of the Earth Who can pretend to assign any place or Region in this Terraqueous Globe Island or Continent that is capable of these conditions or that agrees either with the descriptions given by the ancient Heathens of their Paradise or by the Christian Fathers of Scripture Paradise But where then will you say must we look for it if not upon this Earth This puts us more into despair of finding it than ever 't is not above nor below in the Air or in the subterraneous Regions no doubtless 't was upon the surface of the Earth but of the Primitive Earth whose form and properties as they were different from this so they were such as made it capable of being truly Paradisiacal both according to the forementioned Characters and all other qualities and privileges reasonably ascrib'd to Paradise CHAP. III. The Original differences of the Primitive Earth from the present or Post-diluvian The three Characters of Paradise and the Golden Age found in the Primitive Earth A particular Explication of each Character WE have hitherto only perplext the Argument and our selves by showing how inexplicable the state of Paradise is according to the present order of things and the present condition of the Earth We must now therefore bring into view that Original and Ante-diluvian Earth where we pretend its seat was and show it capable of all those privileges which we have deny'd to the present in vertue of which privileges and of the order of Nature establisht there that primitive Earth might be truly Paradisiacal as in the Golden Age and some Region of it might be peculiarly so according to the receiv'd Idea of Paradise And this I think is all the knowledge and satisfaction that we can expect or that Providence hath allow'd us in this Argument The Primigenial Earth which in the first Book Chap. 5. we rais'd from a Chaos and set up in an habitable form we must now survey again with more care to observe its principal differences from the present Earth and what influence they will have upon the question in hand These differences as we have said before were chiefly three The form of it which was smooth even and regular The posture and situation of it to the Sun which was direct and not as it is at present inclin'd and oblique And the Figure of it which was more apparently and regularly Oval than it is now From these three differences flow'd a great many more inferiour and subordinate and which had a considerable influence upon the moral World at that time as well as the natural But we will only observe here their more immediate effects and that in reference to those general Characters or properties of the Golden Age and of Paradise which we have instanc'd in and whereof we are bound to give an account by our Hypothesis And in this respect the most fundamental of those three differences we mention'd was that of the right posture and situation of the Earth to the Sun for from this immediately follow'd a perpetual Aequinox all the Earth over or if you will a perpetual Spring and that was the great thing we found a wanting in the present Earth to make it Paradisiacal or capable of being so Wherefore this being now found and establisht in the Primitive Earth the other two properties of Longaevity and of Spontaneous and Vital fertility will be of more easie explication In the mean time let us view a little the reasons and causes of that regular situation in the first Earth The truth is one cannot so well require a reason of the regular situation the Earth had then for that was most simple and natural as of the irregular situation it hath now standing oblique and inclin'd to the Sun or the Ecliptick Whereby the course of the year is become unequal and we are cast into a great diversity of Seasons But however stating the first aright with its circumstances we shall have a better prospect upon the second and see from what causes and in what manner it came to pass Let us therefore suppose the Earth with the rest of its fellow Planets to be carried about the Sun in the Ecliptick by the motion of the liquid Heavens and being at that time perfectly uniform and regular having the same Center of its magnitude and gravity it would by the equality of its libration necessarily have its Axis parallel to the Axis of the same Ecliptick both its Poles being equally inclin'd to the Sun And this posture I call a right
situation as oppos'd to oblique or inclin'd or a parallel situation if you please Now this is a thing that needs no proof besides its own evidence for 't is the immediate result and common effect of gravity or libration that a Body freely left to it self in a fluid medium should settle in such a posture as best answers to its gravitation and this first Earth whereof we speak being uniform and every way equally balanc'd there was no reason why it should incline at one end more than at the other towards the Sun As if you should suppose a Ship to stand North and South under the Aequator if it was equally built and equally ballasted it would not incline to one Pole or other but keep its Axis parallel to the Axis of the Earth but if the ballast lay more at one end it would dip towards that Pole and rise proportionably higher towards the other So those great Ships that fail about the Sun once a year or once in so many years whilst they are uniformly built and equally pois'd they keep steddy and even with the Axis of their Orbit but if they lose that equality and the Center of their gravity change the heavier end will incline more towards the common Center of their motion and the other end will recede from it So particularly the Earth which makes one in that aëry Fleet when it scap'd so narrowly from being shipwrackt in the great Deluge was however so broken and disorder'd that it lost its equal poise and thereupon the Center of its gravity changing one Pole became more inclin'd towards the Sun and the other more remov'd from it and so its right and parallel situation which it had before to the Axis of the Ecliptick was chang'd into an oblique in which skew posture it hath stood ever since and is likely so to do for some Ages to come I instance in this as the most obvious cause of the change of the situation of the Earth tho' it may be upon this followed a change in its Magnetism and that might also contribute to the same effect However This change and obliquity of the Earth's posture had a long train of consequences depending upon it whereof that was the most immediate that it alter'd the form of the year and brought in that inequality of Seasons which hath since obtain'd As on the contrary while the Earth was in its first and natural posture in a more easie and regular disposition to the Sun That had also another respective train of consequences whereof one of the first and that which we are most concern'd in at present was that it made a perpetual Aequinox or Spring to all the World all the parts of the year had one and the same tenour face and temper there was no Winter or Summer Seed-time or Harvest but a continual temperature of the Air and Verdure of the Earth And this fully answers the first and fundamental character of the Golden Age and of Paradise And what Antiquity whether Heathen or Christian hath spoken concerning that perpetual serenity and constant Spring that reign'd there which in the one was accounted fabulous and in the other hyperbolical we see to have been really and Philosophically true Nor is there any wonder in the thing the wonder is rather on our side that the Earth should stand and continue in that forc'd posture wherein it is now spinning yearly about an Axis I mean that of the Aequator that doth not belong to the Orbit of its motion This I say is more strange than that it once stood in a posture that was streight and regular As we more justly admire the Tower at Pisa that stands crook'd than twenty other streight Towers that are much higher Having got this foundation to stand upon the rest of our work will go on more easily and the two other Characters which we mention'd will not be of very difficult explication The spontaneous fertility of the Earth and its production of Animals at that time we have in some measure explain'd before supposing it to proceed partly from the richness of the Primigenial soil and partly from this constant Spring and benignity of the Heavens which we have now establisht These were always ready to excite Nature and put her upon action and never to interrupt her in any of her motions or attempts We have show'd in the Fifth Chapter of the First Book how this primigenial soil was made and of what ingredients which were such as compose the richest and fattest soil being a light Earth mixt with unctuous juices and then afterwards refresh'd and diluted with the dews of Heaven all the year long and cherisht with a continual warmth from the Sun What more hopeful beginning of a World than this You will grant I believe that whatsoever degree or whatsoever kind of fruitfulness could be expected from a Soil and a Sun might be reasonably expected there We see great Woods and Forests of Trees rise spontaneously and that since the Flood for who can imagine that the ancient Forests whereof some were so vastly great were planted by the hand of Man why should we not then believe that Fruit-trees and Corn rose as spontaneously in that first Earth That which makes Husbandry and Humane Arts so necessary now for the Fruits and productions of the Earth is partly indeed the decay of the Soil but chiefly the diversity of Seasons whereby they perish if care be not taken of them but when there was neither Heat nor cold Winter nor Summer every Season was a Seed-time to Nature and every Season an◠Harvest This it may be you will allow as to the Fruits of the Earth but that the same Earth should produce Animals also will not be thought so intelligible Since it hath been discover'd that the first materials of all Animals are Eggs as Seeds are of Plants it doth not seem so hard to conceive that these Eggs might be in the first Earth as well as those Seeds for there is a great analogy and similitude betwixt them Especially if you compare these Seeds first with the Eggs of Insects or Fishes and then with the Eggs of Viviparous Animals And as for those juices which the Eggs of Viviparous Animals imbibe thorough their coats from the womb they might as well imbibe them or something analogous to them from a conveniently temper'd Earth as Plant-Eggs do And these things being admitted the progress is much-what the same in Seeds as Eggs and in one sort of Eggs as in another 'T is true Animal-Eggs do not seem to be fruitful of themselves without the influence of the Male and this is not necessary in Plant-Eggs or Vegetable Seeds But neither doth it seem necessary in all Animal Eggs if there be any Animals sponte orta as they call them or bred without copulation And as we observ'd before according to the best knowledge that we have of this Male influence it is reasonable to believe that it may be supplied by
the Heavens or Aether The Ancients both the Stoicks and Aristotle have suppos'd that there was something of an Aethereal Element in the Male-geniture from whence the vertue of it chiefly proceeded and if so why may we not suppose at that time some general impression or irradiation of that purer Element to fructifie the new-made Earth Moses saith there was an incubation of the Spirit of God upon the mass and without all doubt that was either to form or fructifie it and by the mediation of this active principle but the Ancients speak more plainly with express mention of this Aether and of the impregnation of the Earth by it as betwixt Male and Female As in the place before-cited Tum Pater omnipotens faecundis imbribus Aether Conjugis in gremium laetae descendit omnes Magnus alit magno commixtus corpore foetus Which notion I remember S. Austin saith Virgil did not take from the fictions of the Poets but out of the Books of the Philosophers Some of the gravest Authors amongst the Romans have reported that this vertue hath been convey'd into the Wombs of some Animals by the Winds or the Zephyri and as I easily believe that the first fresh Air was more impregnated with this Aethereal principle than ours is so I see no reason but those balmy dews that fell every night in the Primitive Earth might be the Vehicle of it as well as the Male-geniture is now and from them the teeming Earth and those vital Seeds which it contain'd were actuated and receiv'd their first fruitfulness Now this Principle howsoever convey'd to those rudiments of life which we call Eggs is that which gives the first stroke towards Animation and this seems to be by exciting a ferment in those little masses whereby the parts are loosen'd and dispos'd for that formation which is to follow afterwards And I see nothing that hinders but that we may reasonably suppose that these Animal productions might proceed thus far in the Primigenial Earth And as to their progress and the formation of the Body by what Agents or Principles soever that great work is carried on in the womb of the Female it might by the same be carried on there Neither would there be any danger of miscarrying by excess of Heat or Cold for the Air was always of an equal temper and moderate warmth And all other impediments were remov'd and all principles ready whether active or passive so as we may justly conclude that as Eve was the Mother of all living as to Mankind so was the Earth the Great Mother of all living Creatures besides The Third Character to be explain'd and the most extraordinary in appearance is that of LONGAEVITY This sprung from the same root in my opinion with the other though the connexion it may be is not so visible We show'd in the foregoing Chapter that no advantage of Diet or of strong Constitutions could have carried their lives before the Flood to that wonderful length if they had been expos'd to the same changes of Air and of Seasons that our Bodies are But taking a perpetual Aequinox and fixing the Heavens you fix the life of Man too which was not then in such a rapid flux as it is now but seem'd to stand still as the Sun did once without declension There is no question but every thing upon Earth and especially the Animate World would be much more permanent if the general course of Nature was more steddy and uniform A stabiâ—ity in the Heavens makes a stability in all things below and that change and contrariety of qualities that we have in these Regions is the fountain of corruption and suffers nothing to be long in quiet Either by intestine motions and fermentations excited within or by outward impressions Bodies are no sooner well constituted but they are tending again to dissolution The Aether in their little pores and chinks is unequally agitated and differently mov'd at different times and so is the Air in their greater and the Vapours and Atmosphere round about them All these shake and unsettle both the texture and continuity of Bodies Whereas in a fixt state of Nature where these principles have always the same constant and uniform motion when they are once suited to the forms and compositions of Bodies they give them no further disturbance they enjoy a long and lasting peace without any commotions or violence within or without We find our selves sensible changes in our Bodies upon the turn of the Year and the change of Seasons new fermentations in the Bloud and resolutions of the Humours which if they do not amount to diseases at least they disturb Nature and have a bad effect not only upon the fluid parts but also upon the more solid upon the Springs and Fibres in the Organs of the Body to weaken them and unfit them by degrees for their respective functions For though the change is not sensible immediately in these parts yet after many repeated impressions every year by unequal heat and cold driness and moisture contracting and relaxing the Fibres their tone at length is in a great measure destroy'd and brought to a manifest debility and the great Springs failing the lesser that depend upon them fall in proportion and all the symptoms of decay and old age follow We see by daily experience that Bodies are kept better in the same medium as we call it than if they often change their medium as sometimes in Air sometimes in Water moisten'd and dry'd heated and cool'd these different states weaken the contexture of the parts But our Bodies in the present state of Nature are put into an hundred different mediums in the course of a Year sometimes we are steept in Water or in a misty foggy Air for several days together sometimes we are almost frozen with cold then fainting with heat at another time of the Year and the Winds are of a different nature and the Air of a different weight and pressure according to the Weather and the Seasons These things would wear our Bodies though they were built of Oak and that in a very short time in comparison of what they would last if they were always incompast with one and the same medium under one and the same temper as it was in the Primitive Earth The Ancients seem to have been sensible of this and of the true causes of those long periods of life for wheresoever they assign'd a great longaevity as they did not only to their Golden Age but also to their particular and topical Paradises they also assign'd there a constant serenity and equality of the Heavens and sometimes expresly a constant Aequinox as might be made appear from their Authors And some of our Christian Authors have gone farther and connected these two together as Cause and Effect for they say that the Longaevity of the Ante-diluvian Patriarchs proceeded from a favourable Aspect and influence of the Heavens at that time which Aspect of the Heavens being rightly
by their disruption And as for Winds they could not be either impetuous or irregular in that Earth seeing there were neither Mountains nor any other inequalities to obstruct the course of the Vapours nor any unequal Seasons or unequal action of the Sun nor any contrary and strugling motions of the Air Nature was then a stranger to all those disorders But as for watery Meteors or those that rise from watery Vapours more immediately as Dews and Rains there could not but be plenty of these in some part or other of that Earth for the action of the Sun in raising Vapours was very strong and very constant and the Earth was at first moist and soft and according as it grew more dry the Rays of the Sun would pierce more deep into it and reach at length the great Abyss which lay underneath and was an unexhausted storehouse of new Vapours But 't is true the same heat which extracted these Vapours so copiously would also hinder them from condensing into Clouds or Rain in the warmer parts of the Earth and there being no Mountains at that time nor contrary Winds nor any such causes to stop them or compress them we must consider which way they would tend and what their course would be and whether they would any where meet with causes capable to change or condense them for upon this 't is manifest would depend the Meteors of that Air and the Waters of that Earth And as the heat of the Sun was chiefly towards the middle parts of the Earth so the copious Vapours rais'd there were most rarified and agitated and being once in the open Air their course would be that way where they found least resistance to their motion and that would certainly be towards the Poles and the colder Regions of the Earth For East and West they would meet with as warm an Air and Vapours as much agitated as themselves which therefore would not yield to their progress that way but towards the North and the South they would find a more easie passage the Cold of those parts attracting them as we call it that is making way to their motion and dilatation without much resistance as Mountains and Cold places usually draw Vapours from the warmer So as the regular and constant course of the Vapours of that Earth which were rais'd chiefly about the Aequinoctial and middle parts of it would be towards the extream parts of it or towards the Poles And in consequence of this when these Vapours were arriv'd in those cooler Climats and cooler parts of the Air they would be condens'd into Rain for wanting there the cause of their agitation namely the heat of the Sun their motion would soon begin to languish and they would fall closer to one another in the form of Water For the difference betwixt Vapours and Water is only gradual and consists in this that Vapours are in a flying motion separate and distant each from another but the parts of Water are in a creeping motion close to one another like a swarm of Bees when they are setled as Vapours resemble the same Bees in the Air before they settle together Now there is nothing puts these Vapours upon the wing or keeps them so but a strong agitation by Heat and when that fails as it must do in all colder places and Regions they necessarily return to Water again Accordingly therefore we must suppose they would soon after they reacht these cold Regions be condens'd and fall down in a continual Rain or Dew upon those parts of the Earth I say a continual Rain for seeing the action of the Sun which rais'd the Vapours was at that time always the same and the state of the Air always alike nor any cross Winds nor any thing else that could hinder the course of the Vapours towards the Poles nor their condensation when arriv'd there 't is manifest there would be a constant Source or store-house of Waters in those parts of the Air and in those parts of the Earth And this I think was the establisht order of Nature in that World this was the state of the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth all their Waters came from above and that with a constant supply and circulation for when the croud of Vapours rais'd about the middle parts of the Earth found vent and issue this way towards the Poles the passage being once open'd and the Chanel made the Current would be still continued without intermission and as they were dissolv'd and spent there they would suck in more and more of those which followed and came in fresh streams from the hotter Climates Aristotle I remember in his Meteors speaking of the course of the Vapours saith there is a River in the Air constantly slowing betwixt the Heavens and the Earth made by the ascending and descending Vapours This was more remarkably true in the Primitive Earth where the state of Nature was more constant and regular there was indeed an uninterrupted flood of Vapours rising in one Region of the Earth and flowing to another and there continually distilling in Dews and Rain which made this Aereal River As may be easily apprehended from this Scheme of the Earth and Air. Book 2d. fig. 1st p. 155. Thus we have found a Source for Waters in the first Earth which had no communication with the Sea and a Source that would never fail neither diminish or overflow but feed the Earth with an equal supply throughout all the parts of the year But there is a second difficulty that appears at the end of this How these Waters would flow upon the even surface of the Earth or form themselves into Rivers there being no descent or declivity for their course There were no Hills nor Mountains not high Lands in the first Earth and if these Rains fell in the frigid Zones or towards the Poles there they would stand in Lakes and Pools having no descent one way more than another and so the rest of the Earth would be no better for them This I confess appear'd as great a difficulty as the former and would be unanswerable for ought I know if that first Earth was not water'd by Dews only as I believe some Worlds are or had been exactly Spherical but we noted before that it was Oval or Oblong and in such a Figure 't is manifest the Polar parts are higher than the Aequinoctial that is more remote from the Center as appears to the eye in this Scheme This affords us a present remedy and sets us free of the second difficulty for by this means the Waters which fell about the extreme parts of the Earth would have a continual descent towards the middle parts of it this Figure gives them motion and distribution and many Rivers and Rivulets would flow from those Mother-Lakes to refresh the face of the Earth bending their course still towards the middle parts of it Booke 2d. fig. 2d. p. 156. 'T is true These derivations of the Waters at first would
Chanels of the other Hemisphere This indeed would in some measure answer the Notion which several of the Ancient Fathers make use of that the Rivers of Paradise were trajected out of the other Hemisphere into this by Subterraneous passages But I confess I could never see it possible how such a trajection could be made nor how they could have any motion being arriv'd in another Hemisphere and therefore I am apt to believe that doctrine amongst the Ancients arose from an intanglement in their principles They suppos'd generally that Paradise was in the other Hemisphere as we shall have occasion to show hereafter and yet they believ'd that Tigris Euphrates Nile and Gunges were the Rivers of Paradise or came out of it and these two opinions they could not reconcile or make out but by supposing that these four Rivers had their Fountain-heads in the other Hemisphere and by some wonderful trajection broke out again here This was the expedient they found out to make their opinions consistent one with another but this is a method to me altogether unconceivable and for my part I do not love to be led our of my depth leaning only upon Antiquity How there could be any such communication either above ground or under-ground betwixt the two Hemispheres does not appear and therefore we must still suppose the Torrid Zone to have been the Barrier betwixt them which nothing could pass either way We have now examin'd and determin'd the state of the Air and of the Waters in the Primitive Earth by the light and consequences of reason and we must not wonder to find them different from the present order of Nature what things are said of them or relating to them in Holy Writ do testifie or imply as much and it will be worth our time to make some reflection upon those passages for our further confirmation Moses tells us that the Rainbow was set in the Clouds after the Deluge those Heavens then that never had a Rain-bow before were certainly of a constitution very different from ours And S. Peter doth formally and expresly tell us that the Old Heavens or the Ante-diluvian Heavens had a different constitution from ours and particularly that they were compos'd or constituted of Water which Philosophy of the Apostle's may be easily understood if we attend to two things first that the Heavens he speaks of were not the Starry Heavens but the Aereal Heavens or the Regions of our Air where the Meteors are Secondly That there were no Meteors in those Regions or in those Heavens till the Deluge but watery Meteors and therefore he says they consisted of Water And this shows the foundation upon which that description is made how coherently the Apostle argues and answers the objection there propos'd how justly also he distinguisheth the first Heavens from the present Heavens or rather opposeth them one to another because as those were constituted of Water and watery Meteors only so the present Heavens he saith have treasures of Fire fiery Exhalations and Meteors and a disposition to become the Executioners of the Divine wrath and decrees in the final Conflagration of the Earth This minds me also of the Celestial Waters or the Waters above the Firmaments which Scripture sometimes mentions and which methinks cannot be explain'd so fitly and emphatically upon any supposition as this of ours Those who place them above the Starry Heavens seem neither to understand Astronomy nor Philosophy and on the other hand if nothing be understood by them but the Clouds and the middle Region of the Air as it is at present methinks that was no such eminent and remarkable thing as to deserve a particular commemoration by Moses in his six days work but if we understand them not as they are now but as they were then the only Source of Waters or the only Source of Waters upon that Earth for they had not one drop of Water but what was Celestial this gives it a new force and Emphasis Besides the whole middle Region having no other sort of Meteors but them That made it still the greater singularity and more worthy commemoration As for the Rivers of Paradise there is nothing said concerning their Source or their issue that is either contrary to this or that is not agreeable to the general account we have given of the Waters and Rivers of the first Earth They are not said to rise from any Mountain but from a great River or a kind of Lake in Eden according to the custom of the Rivers of that Earth And as for their end and issue Moses doth not say that they disburthen'd themselves into this or that Sea as they usually do in the description of great Rivers but rather implies that they spent themselves in compassing and watering certain Countries which falls in again very easily with our Hypothesis But I say this rather to comply with the opinions of others than of my own judgment For I think that suggestion about the Supercoelestial Waters made by Moses was not so much according to the strict nature and speciality of Causes as for the ease and profit of the People in their belief and acknowledgment of Providence for so great a benefit by what Causes soever it was brought to pass But to return to the Rainbow which we mention'd before and is not to be past over so slightly This we say is a Creature of the modern World and was not seen nor known before the Flood Moses Gen. 9. 12 13. plainly intimates as much or rather directly affirms it for he says The Bow was set in the Clouds after the Deluge as a confirmation of the promise or Covenant which God made with Noah that he would drown the World no more with Water And how could it be a sign of this or given as a pledge and confirmation of such a promise if it was in the Clouds before and with no regard to this promise and stood there it may be when the World was going to be drown'd This would have been but cold comfort to Noah to have had such a pledge of the Divine Veracity You 'll say it may be that it was not a sign or pledge that signified naturally but voluntarily only and by Divine Institution I am of opinion I confess that it signifi'd naturally and by connexion with the effect importing thus much that the state of Nature was chang'd from what it was before and so chang'd that the Earth was no more in a condition to perish by Water But however let us grant that it signified only by institution to make it significant in this sence it must be something new otherwise it could not signifie any new thing or be the confirmation of a new promise If God Almighty had said to Noah I make a promise to you and to all living Creatures that the World shall never be destroy'd by Water again and for confirmation of this Behold I set the Sun in the firmament Would this have been any
down to their own Philosophy and Notions As we have a great instance in that discourse of S. Peter's concerning the Deluge and the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth which for want of a Theory they have been scarce able to make sence of for they have forc'dly appli'd to the present Earth or the present form of the Earth what plainly respected another A like instance we have in the Mosaical Abyss or Tehom-Rabba by whose disruption the Deluge was made this they knew not well what to make of and so have generally interpreted it of the Sea or of our Subterraneous Waters without any propriety either as to the word or as to the sence A third instance is this of the Rainbow where their Philosophy hath misguided them again for to give them their due they do not alledge nor pretend to alledge any thing from the Text that should make them interpret thus or think the Rainbow was before the Flood but they pretend to go by certain reasons as that the Clouds were before the Flood therefore the Rainbow and if the Rainbow was not before the Flood then all things were not made within the six days Creation To whom these reasons are convictive they must be led into the same belief with them but not by any thing in the Text nor in the true Theory at least if ours be so for by that you see that the Vapours were never condens'd into drops nor into Rain in the temperate and inhabited Climates of that Earth and consequently there could never be the production or appearance of this Bow in the Clouds Thus much concerning the Rainbow To recollect our selves and conclude this Chapter and the whole disquisition concerning the Waters of the Primitive Earth we seem to have so well satisfied the difficulties propos'd in the beginning of the Chapter that they have rather given us an advantage a better discovery and such a new prospect of that Earth as makes it not only habitable but more fit to be Paradisical The pleasantness of the site of Paradise is made to consist chiefly in two things its Waters and its Trees Gen. 2. and Chap. 13. 10. Ezek. 31. 8. and considering the richness of that first soil in the Primitive Earth it could not but abound in Trees as it did in Rivers and Rivulets and be wooded like a Grove uss it was water'd like a Garden in the temperate Climates of it so as it would not be methinks so difficult to find one Paradise there as not to find more than one CHAP. VI. A Recollection and Review of what hath been said concerning the Primitive Earth with a more full Survey of the State of the first World Natural and Civil and the comparison of it with the present World WE have now in a good measure finish'd our description of the first and Ante-diluvian Earth And as Travellers when they see strange Countries make it part of their pleasure and improvement to compare them with their own to observe the differences and wherein they excel or come short of one another So it will not be unpleasant nor unuseful it may be having made a discovery not of a new Countrey but of a new World and travell'd it over in our thoughts and fancy now to sit down and compare it with our own and 't will be no hard task from the general differences which we have taken notice of already to observe what lesser would arise and what the whole face of Nature would be 'T is also one fruit of travelling that by seeing variety of places and people of humours fashions and forms of living it frees us by degrees from that pedantry and littleness of Spirit whereby we are apt to censure every thing for absurd and ridiculous that is not according to our own way and the mode of our own Country But if instead of crossing the Seas we could waft our selves over to our neighbouring Planets we should meet with such varieties there both in Nature and Mankind as would very much enlarge our thoughts and Souls and help to cure those diseases of little minds that make them troublesome to others as well as uneasie to themselves But seeing our heavy Bodies are not made for such Voyages the best and greatest thing we can do in this kind is to make a Survey and reflection upon the Ante-diluvian Earth which in some sence was another World from this and it may be as different as some two Planets are from one another We have declar'd already the general grounds upon which we must proceed and must now trace the consequences of them and drive them down into particulars which will shew us in most things wherein that Earth or that World differ'd from the present The form of that Earth and its situation to the Sun were two of its most fundamental differences from ours As to the form of it 't was all one smooth Continent one continued surface of Earth without any Sea any Mountains or Rocks any Holes Dens or Caverns And the situation of it to the Sun was such as made a perpetual Aequinox These two joyn'd together lay the foundation of a new Astronomy Meteorology Hydrography and Geography such as were proper and peculiar to that World The Earth by this means having its Axis parallel to the Axis of the Ecliptick the Heavens would appear in another posture and their diurnal motion which is imputed to the Primum Mobile and suppos'd to be upon the Poles of the Aequator would then be upon the same Poles with the second and Periodical motions of the Orbs and Planets namely upon the Poles of the Ecliptick by which means the Phaenomena of the Heavens would be more simple and regular and much of that intangledness and perplexity which we find now in Astronomy would be taken away Whether the Sun and Moon would suffer any Eclipses then cannot well be determin'd unless one knew what the course of the Moon was at that time or whether she was then come into our neighbourhood Her presence seems to have been less needful when there were no long Winter-nights nor the great Pool of the Sea to move or govern As for the Regions of the Air and the Meteors we have in the preceding Chapter set down what the state of them would be and in how much a better order and more peaceable that Kingdom was till the Earth was broken and displac'd and the course of Nature chang'd Nothing violent nothing frightful nothing troublesome or incommodious to Mankind came from above but the countenance of the Heavens was always smooth and serene I have often thought it a very desirable piece of power if a Man could but command a fair day when he had occasion for it for himself or for his friends 't is more than the greatest Prince or Potentate upon Earth can do yet they never wanted one in that World nor ever see a foul one Besides they had constant breezes from the motion of the Earth and the
share of it and were in their proportion longer-liv'd than they are now Nay not only Animals but also Vegetables and the forms of all living things were far more permanent The Trees of the Field and of the Forest in all probability out-lasted the lives of Men and I do not know but the first Groves of Pines and Cedars that grew out of the Earth or that were planted in the Garden of God might be standing when the Deluge came and see from first to last the entire course and period of a World We might add here with S. Austin another observation both concerning Men and other living Creatures in the first World that They were greater as well as longer-liv'd than they are at present This seems to be a very reasonable conjecture for the state of every thing that hath life is divided into the time of its growth its consistency and its decay and when the whole duration is longer every one of these parts though not always in like proportions will be longer We must suppose then that the growth both in Men and other Animals lasted longer in that World than it doth now and consequently carried their Bodies both to a greater height and bulk And in like manner their Trees would be both taller and every way bigger than ours neither were they in any danger there to be blown down by Winds and Storms or struck with Thunder though they had been as high as the Aeâ—yptian Pyramids and whatsoever their height was if they had Roots and Trunks proportionable and were streight and well pois'd they would stand firm and with a greater majesty The Fowls of Heaven making their Nests in their Boughs and under their shadow the Beasts of the Field bringing forth their Young When things are fairly possible in their causes and possible in several degrees higher or lower 't is weakness of Spirit in us to think there is nothing in Nature but in that one way or in that one degree that we are us'd to And whosoever believes those accounts given us both by the Ancients and Moderns of the Indian Trees will not think it strange that those of the first Earth should much exceed any that we now see in this World â—That Allegorical description of the glory of Assyria in Ezekiel Chap. 31. by allusion to Trees and particularly to the Trees of Paradise was chiefly for the greatness and stateliness of them and there is all fairness of reason to believe that in that first Earth both the Birds of the Air and the Beasts of the Field and the Trees and their Fruit were all in their several kinds more large and goodly than Nature produces any now So much in short concerning the Natural World Inanimate or Animate We should now take a prospect of the Moral World of that time or of the Civil and Artificial World what the Order and Oeconomy of these was what the manner of living and how the Scenes of humane life were different from ours at present The Ancients especially the Poets in their description of the Golden Age exhibit to us an Order of things and a Form of Life very remote from any thing we see in our days but they are not to be trusted in all particulars many times they exaggerate matters on purpose that they may seem more strange or more great and by that means move and please us more A Moral or Philosophick History of the World well writ would certainly be a very useful work to observe and relate how the Scenes of Humane Life have chang'd in several Ages the modes and Forms of living in what simplicity Men begun at first and by what degrees they came out of that way by luxury ambition improvement or changes in Nature then what new forms and modifications were superadded by the invention of Arts what by Religion what by Superstition This would be a view of things more instructive and more satisfactory factory than to know what Kings Reign'd in such an Age and what Battles were fought which common History teacheth and teacheth little more Such affairs are but the little under plots in the Tragi comedy of the World the main design is of another nature and of far greater extent and consequence But to return to the subject As the Animate World depends upon the Inanimate so the Civil World depends upon them both and takes its measures from them Nature is the foundation still and the affairs of Mankind are a superstructure that will be always proportion'd to it Therefore we must look back upon the model or picture of their Natural World which we have drawn before to make our conjectures or judgment of the Civil and Artificial that were to accompany it We observ'd from their perpetual Aequinox and the smoothness of the Earth that the Air would be always calm and the Heavens fair no cold or violent Winds Rains or Storms no extremity of weather in any kind and therefore they would need little protection from the iniuries of the Air in that state whereas now one great part of the affairs of life is to preserve our selves from those inconveniences by building and cloathing How many Hands and how many Trades are imploy'd about these two things which then were in a manner needless or at least in such plainness and simplicity that every man might be his own workman Tents and Bowers would keep them from all incommodities of the Air and weather better than Stone-walls and strong Roofs defend â—s now and Men are apt to take the easiest ways of living till necessity or vice put them upon others that are more laborious and more artificial We also observ'd and prov'd that they had no Sea in the Primitive and Ante-diluvian World which makes a vast difference 'twixt us and them This takes up half of our Globe and a good part of Mankind is busied with Sea-affairs and Navigation They had little need of Merchandizing then Nature suppli'd them at home with all necessaries which were few and they were not so greedy of superfluities as we are We may add to these what concern'd their Food and Diet Antiquity doth generally suppose that Men were not Carnivoâ—us in those Ages of the World or did not feed upon Flesh but only upon Fruit and Herbs And this seems to be plainly confirm'd by Scripture for after the Deluge God Almighty gives Noah and his Posterity a Licence to eat Flesh Gen. 9. 2 3. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you Whereas before in the new-made Earth God had prescrib'd them Herbs and Fruit for their Diet Gen. 1. 29. Behold I have given you every Herb bearing Seed which is upon the face of all the Earth and every Tree in the which is the Fruit of a Tree yielding Seed to you it shall be for meat and of this Natural Diet they would be provided to their hands without further preparation as the Birds and the Beasts are Upon these general grounds we may
first occasion'd a fame and belief of their continuance long after they had really ceast This gives an easie account and I think the true cause of that opinion amongst the Ancients generally receiv'd That the Torrid Zone was uninhabitable I say generally receiv'd for not only the Poets both Greek and Latin but their Philosophers Astsonomers and Geographers had the same notion and deliver'd the same doctrine as Aristotle Cleomedes Achilles Tatius Ptolomy Cicero Strabo Mela Pliny Macrobius c. And to speak truth the whole doctrine of the Zones is calculated more properly for the first Earth than for the present for the divisions and bounds of them now are but arbitrary being habitable all over and having no visible distinction whereas they were then determin'd by Nature and the Globe of the Earth was really divided into so many Regions of a very different aspect and quality which would have appear'd at a distance if they had been lookt upon from the Clouds or from the Moon as Iupiter's Belts or as so many Girdles or Swathing-bands about the body of the Earth And so the word imports and so the Ancients use to call them Cinguli and Fasciae But in the present form of the Earth if it was seen at a distance no such distinction would appear in the parts of it nor scarce any other but that of Land and Water and of Mountains and Valleys which are nothing to the purpose of Zones And to add this note further When the Earth lay in this regular form divided into Regions or Walks if I may so call them as this gave occasion of its distinction by Zones so if we might consider all that Earth as a Paradise and Paradise as a Garden for it is always call'd so in Scripture and in Iewish Authors And as this Torrid Zone bare of Grass and Trees made a kind of Gravel-walk in the middle so there was a green Walk on either hand of it made by the temperate Zones and beyond those lay a Canal which water'd the Garden from either side But to return to Antiquity We may add under this Head another observation or doctrine amongst the Ancients strange enough in appearance which yet receives an easie explication from the preceding Theory They say The Poles of the World did once change their situation and were at first in another posture from what they are in now till that inclination happen'd This the ancient Philosophers often make mention of as Anaxagoras Empedocles Diogenes Leucippus Democritus as may be seen in Laertius and in Plutarch and the Stars they say at first were carried about the Earth in a more uniform manner This is no more than what we have observ'd and told you in other words namely That the Earth chang'd its posture at the Deluge and thereby made these seeming changes in the Heavens its Poles before pointed to the Poles of the Ecliptick which now point to the Poles of the Aequator and its Axis is become parallel with that Axis and this is the mystery and interpretation of what they say in other terms this makes the different aspect of the Heavens and of its Poles And I am apt to think that those changes in the course of the Stars which the Ancients sometimes speak of and especially the Aegyptians if they did not proceed from defects in their Calendar had no other Physical account than this And as they say the Poles of the World were in another situation at first so at first they say there was no variety of seasons in the Year as in their Golden Age. Which is very coherent with all the rest and still runs along with the Theory And you may observe that all these things we have instanc'd in hitherto are but links of the same chain in connexion and dependance upon one another When the Primaeval Earth was made out of the Chaos its form and posture was such as of course brought on all those Scenes which Antiquity hath kept the remembrance of though now in another state of Nature they seem very strange especially being disguis'd as some of them are by their odd manner of representing them That the Poles of the World stood once in another posture That the Year had no diversity of Seasons That the Torrid Zone was uninhabitable That the two Hemispheres had no possibility of intercourse and such like These all hang upon the same string or lean one upon another as Stones in the same Building whereof we have by this Theory laid the very foundation bare that you may see what they all stand upon and in what order There is still one remarkable Notion or Doctrine amongst the Ancients which we have not spoken to 't is partly Symbolical and the propriety of the Symbol or of the Application of it hath been little understood 'T is their doctrine of the Mundane Egg or their comparing the World to an Egg and especially in the Original composition of it This seems to be a mean comparison the World and an Egg what proportion or what resemblance betwixt these two things And yet I do not know any Symbolical doctrine or conclusion that hath been so universally entertain'd by the Mystae or Wise and Learned of all Nations as hath been noted before in the fifth Chapter of the First Book and at large in the Latin Treatise 'T is certain that by the World in this similitude they do not mean the Great Universe for that hath neither Figure nor any determinate form of composition and it would be a great vanity and rashness in any one to compare this to an Egg The works of God are immense as his rature is infinite and we cannot make any image or resemblance of either of them but this comparison is to be understood of the Sublunary World or of the Earth And for a general key to Antiquity upon this Argument we may lay this down as a Maxim or Canon That what the Ancients have said concerning the form and figure of the World or concerning the Original of it from a Chaos or about its periods and dissolution are never to be understood of the Great Universe but of our Earth or of this Sublunary and Terrâ—strial World And this observation being made do but reflect upon our Theory of the Earth the manner of its composition at first and the figure of it being compleated and you will need no other interpreter to understand this mystery We have show'd there that the figure of it when finisht was Oval and the inward form of it was a frame of four Regions encompassing one another where that of Fire lay in the middle like the Yolk and a shell of Earth inclos'd them all This gives a solution so easie and natural and shows such an aptness and elegancy in the representation that one cannot doubt upon a view and compare of circumstances but that we have truly found out the Riddle of the Mundane Egg. Amongst other difficulties arising from the Form
of this present Earth That is one How America could be peopled or any other Continent or Island remote from all Continents the Sea interposing This difficulty does not hold in our Theory of the First Earth where there was no Sea And after the Flood when the Earth was broken and the Sâ—a laid open the same race of Men might continue there if setled there before For I do not see any necessity of deducing all Mankind from Noah after the Flood If America was peopled before it might continue so not but that the Flood was universal But when the great frame of the Earth broke at the Deluge Providence fore-saw into how many Continents it would be divided after the ceasing of the Flood and accordingly as we may reasonably suppose made provision to save a remnant in every Continent that the race of Mankind might not be quite extinct in any of them What provision he made in our Continent we know from Sacred History but as that takes notice of no other Continent but ours so neither could it take notice of any method that was us'd there for saving of a remnant of Men but 't were great presumption methinks to imagine that Providence had a care of none but us or could not find out ways of preservation in other places as well as in that where our habitations were to be Asia Africk and Europe were repeopled by the Sons of Noah Shem Ham and Iaphet but we read nothing of their going over into America or sending any Colonies thither and that World which is near as big as ours must have stood long without people or any thing of Humane race in it after the Flood if it stood so till this was full or till men Navigated the Ocean and by chance discover'd it it seems more reasonable to suppose that there was a stock providentially reserv'd there as well as here out of which they sprung again but we do not pretend in an Argument of this nature to define or determine any thing positively To conclude As this is but a secondary difficulty and of no great force so neither is it any thing peculiar to us or to our Hypothesis but alike common to both and if they can propose any reasonable way whereby the Sons of Noah might be transplanted into America with all my heart but all the ways that I have met with hitherto have seem'd to me meer fictions or meer presumptions Besides finding Birds and Beasts there which are no where upon our Continent nor would live in our Countries if brought hither 't is a fair conjecture that they were not carried from us but originally bred and preserv'd there Thus much for the illustration of Antiquity in some points of Humane literature by our Theory of the Primaeval Earth There is also in Christian Antiquity a Tradition or Doctrine that appears as obscure and as much a Paradox as any of these and better deserves an illustration because it relates more closely and expresly to our present subject 'T is that Notion or Opinion amongst the Ancients concerning Paradise that it was seated as high as the Sphere of the Moon or within the Lunar Circle This looks very strange and indeed extravagantly at first sight but the wonder will cease if we understand this not of Paradise taken apart from the rest of the Earth but of the whole Primaeval Earth wherein the Seat of Paradise was That was really seated much higher than the present Earth and may be reasonably suppos'd to have been as much elevated as the tops of ouâ— Mountains are now And that phrase of reaching to the Sphere of the Moon signifies no more than those other expressions of reaching to Heaven or reaching above the Clouds which are phrases commonly us'd to express the height of Buildings or of Mountains and such like things So the Builders of Babel said they would make a Tower should reach to Heaven Olympus and Parnassus are said by the Poets to reach to Heaven or to rise above the Clouds And Pliny and Solinus use this very expression of the Lunar Circle when they describe the height of Mount Atlas Eductus in viciniam Lunaris Circuli The Ancients I believe aim'd particularly by this phrase to express an height above the middle Region or above our Atmosphere that Paradise might be serene and where our Atmosphere ended they reckon'd the Sphere of the Moon begun and therefore said it reacht to the Sphere of the Moon Many of the Christian Fathers exprest their opinion concerning the high situation of Paradise in plain and formal terms as S. Basil Damascen Moses Bar Cepha c. but this phrase of reaching to the Lunar Circle is repeated by several of them and said to be of great Antiquity Aquinas Albertus and others ascribe it to Bede but many to S. Austin and therefore Ambrosius Catharinus is angry with their great Schoolman that he should derive it from Bede seeing S. Austin writing to Orosius deliver'd this doctrine which surely says he S. Austin neither feign'd nor dream'd only but had receiv'd it from Antiquity And from so great Antiquity that it was no less than Apostolical if we credit Albertus Magnus and the ancient Books he appeals to for He says this Tradition was deriv'd as high as from S. Thomas the Apostle His words are these after he had deliver'd his own opinion Hoc tamen diâ—o c. But this I say without prejudice to the better opinion for I have found it in some most ancient Books that Thomas the Apostle was the Author of that opinion which is usually attributed to Bede and Strabus namely That Paradise was so high as to reach to the Lunar Circle But this much concerning this Opinion and concerning Antiquity To conclude all we see this Theory which was drawn only by a thred of Reason and the Laws of Nature abstractly from all Antiquity notwithstanding casts a light upon many passages there which were otherwise accounted fictions or unintelligible truths and though we do not alledge these as proofs of the Theory for it carries its own light and proof with it yet whether we will or no they do mutually confirm as well as illustrate one another And 't is a pleasure also when one hath wrought out truth by meer dint of thinking and examination of causes and propos'd it plainly and openly to meet with it again amongst the Ancients disguis'd and in an old fashion'd dress scarce to be known or discover'd but by those that before-hand knew it very well And it would be a further pleasure and satisfaction to have render'd those Doctrines and Notions for the future intelligible and useful to others as well as delightful to our selves CHAP. IX A general objection against this Theory viz. That if there had been such a Primitive Earth as we pretend the fame of it would have sounded throughout all Antiquity The Eastern and Western Learning consider'd The most considerable Records of both are lost What
He truly supposes the Celestial Bodies and the Inhabitants of them much more considerable than we are and reckons up only Terrestrial things as put in subjection to Man Can we then be so fond as to imagine all the Corporeal Universe made for our use 'T is not the Millioneth part of it that is known to us much less useful We can neither reach with our Eye nor our imagination those Armies of Stars that lie far and deep in the boundless Heavens If we take a good Glass we discover innumerably more Stars in the Firmament than we can with our single Eye and yet if you take a second Glass better than the first that carries the sight to a greater distance you see more still lying beyond the other and a third Glass that pierceth further still makes new discoveries of Stars and so forwards indefinitely and inexhaustedly for any thing we know according to the immensity of the Divine Nature and Power Who can reckon up the Stars of the Galaxy or direct us in the use of them And can we believe that those and all the rest were made for us Of those few Stars that we enjoy or that are visible to the Eye there is not a tenth part that is really useful to Man and no doubt if the principal end of them had been our pleasure or conveniency they would have been put in some better order in respect of the Earth They lie carelesly scatter'd as if they had been sown in the Heaven like Seed by handfuls and not by a skilful hand neither What a beautiful Hemisphere they would have made if they had been plac'd in rank and order if they had been all dispos'd into regular figures and the little ones set with due regard to the greater then all finisht and made up into one fair piece or great Composition according to the rules of Art and Symmetry What a surprizing beauty this would have been to the Inhabitants of the Earth What a lovely Roof to our little World This indeed might have given one some Temptation to have thought that they had been all made for us but lest any such vain imagination should now enter into our thoughts Providence besides more important Reasons seems on purpose to have left them under that negligence or disorder which they appear in to us The second part of this opinion supposeth this Planet where we live to be the only habitable part of the Universe and this is a natural consequence of the former If all things were made to serve us why should any more be made than what is useful to us But 't is only our ignorance of the System of the World and of the grandeur of the Works of God that betrays us to such narrow thoughts If we do but consider what this Earth is both for littleness and deformity and what its Inhabitants are we shall not be apt to think that this miserable Atome hath ingross'd and exhausted all the Divine Favours and all the riches of his goodness and of his Providence But we will not inlarge upon this part of the opinion lest it should carry us too far from the subject and it will fall of its own accord with the former Upon the whole we may conclude that it was only the Sublunary World that was made for the sake of Man and not the Great Creation either Material or Intellectual and we cannot admit or affirm any more without manifest injury depression and misrepresentation of Providence as we may be easily convinc'd from these four Heads The Meanness of Man and of this Earth The Excellency of other Beings The Immensity of the Universe and The infinite perfection of the first Cause Which I leave to your further Meditation and pass on to the second rule concerning Natural Providence In the second place then if we would have a fair view and right apprehensions of Natural Providence we must not cut the chains of it too short by having recourse without necessity either to the First Cause in explaining the Origins of things or to Miracles in explaining particular effects This I say breaks the chains of Natural Providence when it is done without necessity that is when things are otherwise ntelligible from Second Causes Neither is any thing gain'd by it to God Almighty for 't is but as the Proverb says to rob Peter to pay Paul to take so much from his ordinary Providence and place it to his extraordinary When a new Religion is brought into the World 't is very reasonable and decorous that it should be usher'd in with Miracles as both the Iewish and Christian were but afterwards things return into their Chanel and do not change or overflow again but upon extraordinary occasions or revolutions The power Extraordinary of God is to be accounted very Sacred not to be touch'd or expos'd for our pleasure or conveniency but I am afraid we often make use of it only to conceal our own ignorance or to save us the trouble of inquiring into Natural Causes Men are generally unwilling to appear ignorant especially those that make profession of knowledge and when they have not skill enough to explain some particular effect in a way of Reason they throw it upon the First Cause as able to bear all and so placing it to that account they excuse themselves and save their credit for all Men are equally wise if you take away Second Causes as we are all of the same colour if you take away the Light But to state this matter and see the ground of this rule more distinctly we must observe and consider that The Course of Nature is truly the Will of God and as I may so say his first Will from which we are not to recede but upon clear evidence and necessity And as in matter of Religion we are to follow the known reveal'd Will of God and not to trust to every impulse or motion of Enthusiasm as coming from the Divine Spirit unless there be evident marks that it is Supernatural and cannot come from our own So neither are we without necessity to quit the known and ordinary Will and Power of God establisht in the course of Nature and fly to Supernatural Causes or his extraordinary Will for this is a kind of Enthusiasm or Fanaticism as well as the other And no doubt that great prodigality and waste of Miracles which some make is no way to the honour of God or Religion 'T is true the other extream is worse than this for to deny all Miracles is in effect to deny all reveal'd Religion therefore due measures are to be taken betwixt these two so as neither to make the Divine Power too mean and cheap nor the Power of Nature illimited and all-sufficient In the Third place To make the Scenes of Natural Providence considerable and the knowledge of them satisfactory to the Mind we must take a true Philosophy or the true principles that govern Nature which are Geometrical and
that Vault did break as we have shown at large and by the dissolution and fall of it the Great Deep was thrown out of its bed forc'd upwards into the Air and overflow'd in that impetuous Commotion the highest tops of the Fragments of the ruin'd Earth which now we call its Mountains And as this was the first great and fatal Period of Nature so upon the issue of this and the return of the Waters into their Chanels the second face of Nature appear'd or the present broken form of the Earth as it is Terraqueous Mountainous and Cavernous These things we have explain'd fully in the First Book and have thereby setled two great Points given a rational account of the Universal Deluge and shown the Causes of the irregular form of the present or Post-diluvian Earth This being done we have apply'd our selves in the Second Book to the description of the Primaeval Earth and the examination of its properties and this hath led us by an easie tract to the discovery of Paradise and of the true Notion and Mystery of it which is not so much a spot of ground where a fine Garden stood as a course of Nature or a peculiar state of the Earth Paradisiacal in many parts but especially in one Region of it which place or Region we have also endeavour'd to determine though not so much from the Theory as from the suffrages of Antiquity if you will take their judgment THUS much is finisht and this contains the Natural Theory of the Earth till this present time for since the Deluge all things have continued in the same state or without any remarkable change We are next to enter upon new Matter and new Thoughts and not only so but upon a Series of Things and Times to come which is to make the Second Part of this Theory Dividing the duration of the World into two parts Past and Future we have dispatch'd the first and far greater part and come better half of our way And if we make a stand here and look both ways backwards to the Chaos and the beginning of the World and forwards to the End and Consummation of all Things though the first be a longer prospect yet there are as many general Changes and Revolutions of Nature in the remaining part as have already happen'd and in the Evening of this long Day the Scenes will change faster and be more bright and illustrious From the Creation to this Age the Earth hath undergone but one Catastrophe and Nature hath had two different faces The next Catastrophe is the CONFLAGRATION to which a new face of Nature will accordingly succeed New Heavens and a New Earth Paradise renew'd and so it is call'd the Restitution of things or Regeneration of the World And that Period of Nature and Providence being expir'd then follows the Consummation of all things or the General Apotheosts when Death and Hell shall be swallowed up in victory When the great Circle of Time and Fate is run or according to the language of Scripture When the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away and Time shall be no more MAY we in the mean time by a true Love of God above all things and a contempt of this Vain World which passeth away By a careful use of the Gifts of God and Nature the Light of Reason and Revelation prepare our selves and the state of things for the great Coming of our Saviour To whom be Praise and Honour for evermore FINIS THE THEORY OF THE EARTH Containing an Account OF THE Original of the Earth AND OF ALL THE GENERAL CHANGES Which it hath already undergone OR IS TO UNDERGO Till the CONSUMMATION of all Things THE TWO LAST BOOKS Concerning the BURNING of the WORLD AND Concerning the NEW HEAVENS and NEW EARTH LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. TO THE QUEEN'S MOST Excellent Majesty MADAM HAVING had the honour to present the first part of this Theory to Your ROYAL UNCLE I presume to offer the Second to Your Majesty This part of the Subject I hope will be no less acceptable for certainly 't is of no less importance They both indeed agree in this That there is a WORLD made and destroy'd in either Treatise But we are more concern'd in what is to come than what is past And as the former Books represented to us the Rise and Fall of the First World so These give an account of the present Frame of Nature labouring under the last Flames and of the Resurrection of it in the New Heavens and New Earth which according to the Divine Promises we are to expect Cities that are burnt are commonly rebuilt more beautiful and regular than they were before And when this World is demolish'd by the last Fire He that undertakes to rear it up again will supply the defects if there were any of the former Fabrick This Theory supposes the present Earth to be little better than an Heap of Ruines where yet there is room enough for Sea and Land for Islands and Continents for several Countries and Dominions But when these are all melted down and refin'd in the general Fire they will be cast into a better mould and the Form and Qualities of the Earth will become Paradisiâ—cal But I fear it may be thought no very proper address to shew Your Majesty a World laid in ashes where You have so great an interest Your Self and Such fair Dominions and then to recompence the loss by giving a Reversion in a Future Earth But if that future Earth be a second Paradise to be enjoyed for a Thousand Years with Peace Innocency and constant health An Inheritance there will be an happy exchange for the best Crown in this World I confess I could never perswade my self that the Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints which the Scripture speaks of so frequently was design'd to be upon this present Earth But however upon all suppositions They that have done some eminent Good in this Life will be sharers in the happiness of that State To humble the Oppressors and rescue the Oppressed is a work of Generosity and Charity that cannot want its reward Yet MADAM They are the greatest Benefactors to Mankind that dispose the World to become Vertuous and by their example Influence and Authority retrieve that TRUTH and JUSTICE that have been lost amongst men for many Ages The School-Divines tell us Those that act or suffer great things for the Publick Good are distinguish'd in Heaven by a Circle of Gold about their Heads One would not willingly vouch for that but one may safely for what the Prophet says which is far greater namely that They shall shine like Stars in the Firmament that turn many to Righteousness Which is not to be understood so much of the Conversion of single Souls as of the turning of Nations and People the turning of the World to Righteousness They that lead on that great and happy Work
shall be distinguish'd in Glory from the rest of Mankind We are sensible MADAM from Your Great Example that Piety and Vertue seated upon a Throne draw many to imitation whom ill Principles or the course of the World might have led another way These are the best as well as easiest Victories that are gain'd without Contest And as Princes are the Vicegerents of God upon Earth so when their Majesty is in Conjunction with Goodness it hath a double Character of Divinity upon it and we owe them a double Tribute of Fear and Love Which with constant Prayers for Your MAJESTIES present and future Happiness shall be always Dutifully paid by Your MAJESTY'S Most Humble and most Obedient Subject T. BVRNET PREFACE TO THE READER I HAVE not much to say to the Reader in this Preface to the Third Part of the Theory seeing it treats upon a Subject own'd by all and out of dispute The Conflagration of the World The question will be only about the bounds and limits of the Conflagration the Causes and the Manner of it These I have fix'd according to the truest measures I could take from Scripture and from Nature I differ I believe from the common Sentiment in this that in following S. Peter's Philosophy I suppose that the burning of the Earth will be a true Liquefaction or dissolution of it as to the exteriour Region And that this lays a foundation for New Heavens and a New Earth which seems to me as plain a doctrine in Christian Religion as the Conflagration it self I have endeavour'd to propose an intelligible way whereby the Earth may be consum'd by Fire But if any one can propose another more probable and more consistent I will be the First Man that shall give him thanks for his discovery He that loves Truth for its own sake is willing to receive it from any hand as he that truly loves his Country is glad of a Victory over the Enemy whether himself or any other has the glory of it I need not repeat here what I have already said upon several occasions That 't is the substance of this Theory whether in this part or in other parts that I mainly regard and depend upon Being willing to suppose that many single explications and particularities may be rectified upon further thoughts and clearer light I know our best writings in this life are but Essays which we leave to Posterity to review and correct As to the Style I always endeavour to express my self in a plain and perspicuous manner that the Reader may not lose time nor wait too long to know my meaning To give an Attendant quick dispatch is a civility whether you do his business or no. I would not willingly give any one the trouble of reading a period twice over to know the sence of it lest when he comes to know it he should not think it a recompence for his pains Whereas on the contrary if you are easie to your Reader he will certainly make you an allowance for it in his censure You must not think it strange however that the Author sometimes in meditating upon this subject is warm in his thoughts and expressions For to see a World perishing in Flames Rocks melting the Earth trembling and an Host of Angels in the clouds one must be very much a Stoick to be a cold and unconcerned Spectator of all this And when we are mov'd our selves our words will have a tincture of those passions which we feel Besides in moral reflections which are design'd for use there must be some heat as well as dry reason to inspire this cold clod of clay this dull body of Earth which we carry about with us and you must soften and pierce that crust before you can come at the Soul But especially when things future are to be represented you cannot use too strong Colours if you would give them life and make them appear present to the mind Farewel CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTERS THE THIRD BOOK CHAP. I. THE Introduction with the Contents and Order of this Treatise CHAP. II. The true state of the Question is propos'd 'T is the general doctrine of the Ancients That the present World or the present Frame of Nature is mutable and perishable To which the Sacred Books agree And natural Reason can alledge nothing against it CHAP. III. That the World will be destroy'd by Fire is the doctrine of the Ancients especially if the Stoicks That the same doctrine is more ancient than the Greeks and deriv'd from the Barbarick Philosophy and That probably from Noah the Father of all Traditionary Learning The same doctrine expresly authoriz'd by Revelation and inroll'd into the Sacred Canon CHAP. IV. Concerning the Time of the Conflagration and the End of the World What the Astronomers say upon this Subject and upon what they ground their Calculations The true notion of the Great Year or of the Platonick Year stated and explain'd CHAP. V. Concerning Prophecies that determine the End of the World Of what order soever Prophane or Sacred Iewish or Christian. That no certain judgment can be made from any of them at what distance we are from the Conflagration CHAP. VI. Concerning the Causes of the Conflagration The difficulty of conceiving how this Earth can be set on fire With a general answer to that difficulty Two suppos'd Causes of the Conflagration by the Sun 's drawing nearer to the Earth or the Earth's throwing out the Central Fire examin'd and rejected CHAP. VII The true bounds of the last Fire and how far it is Fatal The natural Causes and Materials of it cast into three ranks First such as are Exteriour and visible upon Earth Where the Volcano's of this Earth and their Effects are consider'd Secondly such Materials as are within the Earth Thirdly such as are in the Air. CHAP. VIII Some new dispositions towards the Conflagration as to the Matter Form and Situation of the Earth Concerning miraculous Causes and how far the ministry of Angels may be engag'd in this work CHAP. IX How the Sea will be diminish'd and consum'd How the Rocks and Mountains will be thrown down and melted and the whole exteriour Frame of the Earth dissolv'd into a Deluge of Fire CHAP. X. Concerning the beginning and progress of the Conflagration what part of the Earth will first be burnt The manner of the future destruction of Rome according to the Prophetical indications The last state and consummation of the general Fire CHAP. XI An Account of these Extraordinary Phaenomena and Wonders in Nature that according to Scripture will precede the coming of Christ and the Conflagration of the World CHAP. XII An imperfect description of the coming of our Saviâ—ur and of the World on fire The Conclusion THE FOURTH BOOK CHAP. I. THE Introduction That the World will not be annihilated in the last fire That we are to expect according to Scripture and the Christian Doctrine New Heavens and a New Earth when these are dissolv'd or burnt up CHAP.
II. The Birth of the New Heavens and the New Earth from the second Chaos or the remains of the Old World The form order and qualities of the New Earth according to Reason and Scripture CHAP. III. Concerning the Inhabitants of the New Earth That natural reason cannot determine this point That according to Scripture The Sons of the first Resurrection or the heirs of the Millennium are to be the Inhabitants of the New Earth The Testimony of the Philosophers and of the Christian Fathers for the Renovation of the World The first Proposition laid down CHAP. IV. The Proof of a Millennium or of a blessed Age to come from Scripture A view of the Apocalypse and of the Prophecies of Daniel in reference to this Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints CHAP. V. A view of other places of Scripture concerning the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ. In what sence all the Prophets have born Testimony concerning it CHAP. VI. The sence and testimony of the Primitive Church concerning the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ from the times of the Apostles to the Nicene Council The second Proposition laid down When by what means and for what reasons that doctrine was afterwards neglected or discountenanc'd CHAP. VII The true state of the Millennium according to Characters taken from Scripture Some mistakes concerning it rectified CHAP. VIII The Third Proposition laid down concerning the Time and Place of the Millennium Several arguments us'd to prove that it cannot be till after the Conflagration and that the New Heavens and New Earth are the true Seat of the Blessed Millennium CHAP. IX The chief employment of the Millennium DEVOTION and CONTEMPLATION CHAP. X. Objections against the Millenniâ—m answer'd With some conjectures concerning the state of things after the Millennium and what will be the final Consummation of this World The Review of the whole Theory THE THEORY OF THE EARTH BOOK III. Concerning the Conflagration CHAP. I. The Introduction With the Contents and Order of this Work SEEING Providence hath planted in all Men a natural desire and curiosity of knowing things to come and such things especially as concern our particular Happiness or the general Fate of Mankind This Treatise may in both respects hope for a favourable reception amongst inquisitive persons seeing the design of it is to give an account of the greatest revolutions of Nature that are expected in future Ages and in the first place of the Conflagration of the World In which Universal Calamity when all Nature suffers every Man 's particular concern must needs be involv'd We see with what eagerness Men pry into the Stars to see if they can read there the Death of a King or the fall of an Empire 'T is not the fate of any single Prince or Potentate that we Calculate but of all Mankind Nor of this or that particular Kingdom or Empire but of the whole Earth Our enquiries must reach to that great period of Nature when all things are to be dissolv'd both humane affairs and the Stage whereon they are acted When the Heavens and the Earth will pass away and the Elements melt with fervent heat We desire if possible to know what will be the face of that Day that great and terrible Day when the Regions of the Air will be nothing but mingled Flame and Smoak and the habitable Earth turn'd into a Sea of molten Fire But we must not leave the World in this disorder and confusion without examining what will be the Issue and consequences of it Whether this will be the End of all Things and Nature by a sad fate lie eternally dissolv'd and desolate in this manner or whether we may hope for a Restauration New Heavens and a New Earth which the Holy Writings make mention of more pure and perfect than the former As if this was but as a Refiner's fire to purge out the dross and courser parts and then cast the Mass again into a new and better Mould These things with God's assistance shall be mattâ—r of our preâ—ent enquiry These make the genâ—ral â—â—bject of thiâ— Treatise and of the remaining parts of this Theory of â—he Earth Which now you see begins to be a kind of Prophecy or Prognostication of things to come as it hath been hitherto an History of things pass'd of such states and changes as Nature hath already undergone And if that account which we have given of the Origin of the Earth its first and Paradisiacal form and the dissolution of it at the Universal Deluge appear fair and reasonable The second dissolution by Fire and the renovation of it out of a Second Chaos I hope will be deduc'd from as clear grounds and suppositions And Scripture it self will be a more visible Guide to us in these following parts of the Theory than it was in the former In the mean time I take occasion to declare here again as I have done heretofore that neither this nor any other great revolutions of Nature are brought to pass by Causes purely Natural without the conduct of a particular Providence And 't is the Sacred Books of Scripture that are the records of this Providence both as to times past and times to come as to all the signal Changes either of the Natural World or of Mankind and the different Oeconomies of Religion In which respects these Books tho' they did not contain a Moral Law would notwithstanding be as the most mystical so also the most valuable Books in the World This Treatise you see will consist of Two Parts The former whereof is to give an account of the Conflagration and the latter of the New Heavens and New Earth following upon it together with the state of Mankind in those New Habitations As to the Conflagration we first enquire what the Antients thought concerning the present frame of this World whether it was to perish or no whether to be destroyed or to stand eternally in this posture Then in what manner they thought it would be destroy'd by what force or violence whether by Fire or other ways And with these opinions of the Antients we will compare the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles to discover and confirm the truth of them In the second place We will examine what Calculations or Conjectures have been made concerning the time of this great Catastrophe or of the end of this World Whether that period be defineable or no and whether by Natural Arguments or by Prophecies Thirdly We will consider the Signs of the approaching Conflagration Whether such as will be in Nature or in the state of Humane Affairs but especially such as are taken notice of and recorded in Scripture Fourthly Which is the principal point and yet that wherein the Ancients have been most silent What Causes there are in Nature what preparations for this Conflagration Where are the Seeds of this Universal Fire or fewel sufficient for the nourishing of it Lastly In what order and by what degrees the Conflagration will
World will have no Dissolution for being a work so beautiful and noble the goodness of God he says will always preserve it It is most reasonable to understand this of the Great Universe for in our Earth Plato himself admits such dissolutions as are made by general Delugâ—s and Conflagrations and we contend for no other So likewise in other Authors if they speak of the immortality of the World you must observe what World they apply it to and whether to the Matter or the Form of it and if you remember that our Discourse proceeds only upon the Sublunary World and the Dissolution of its form you will find little in antiquity contrary to this doctrine I always except Aristotle who allow'd of no Providence in this inferiour World and some Pythagoreans falsly so call'd being either fictitious Authors or Apostates from the doctrine of their Master These being excepted upon a view of the rest you will find very few dissenters from this general doctrine Plato's argument against the dissolution of the World from the goodness and wisdom of God wou'd not be altogether unreasonable tho' apply'd to this Earth if it was so to be dissolv'd as never to be restor'd again But we expect New Heavens and a New Earth upon the dissolution of these Better in all respects more commodious and more beautiful And the several perfections of the Divine Nature Wisdom Power Goodness Justice Sanctity cannot be so well display'd and exemplifi'd in any one single state of Nature as in a succession of States fitted to receive one another according to the dispositions of the Moral World and the order of Divine Providence Wherefore Plato's argument from the Divine Attributes all things consider'd doth rather prove a succession of Worlds than that one single World should remain the same throughout all ages without change or variation Next to the Platonists the Stoicks were most considerable in matters relating to Morality and Providence And their opinion in this case is well known they being lookt upon by the Moderns as the principal authors of the doctrine of the Conflagration Nor is it less known that the School of Democraâ—us and Epicurus made all their Worlds subject to dissolution and by a new concourse of Atomes restor'd them again Lastly The Ionick Philosophers who had Thales for their Master and were the first Naturalists amongst the Greeks taught the same doctrine We have indeed but an imperfect account left us of this Sect and 't is great pity for as it was one of the most ancient so it seems to have been one of the most considerable amongst the Greeks for Natural Philosophy In those remains which Diogenes Laertius hath preserv'd of Anaxagoras Anaximenes Archelaus c. All great men in their time we find that they treated much of the Origin of the World and had many extraordinary Notions about it which come lame and defective to us The doctrine of their Founder Thales which made all things to consist of Water seems to have a great resemblance to the doctrine of Moses and S. Peter about the constitution of the First Heavens and Earth But there is little in Laertius what their opinion was about the Dissolution of the World Other Authors inform us more of that Stobaeus joyns them with Leucippus and the Epicureans Simplicius with Heraclitus and the Stoicks in this doctrine about the corruptibility of the World So that all the Schools of the Greek Philosophers as we noted before were unanimous in this point excepting the Peripaâ—eticks whose Master Aristotle had neither modesty enough to follow the doctrine of his Predecessors nor wit enough to invent any thing better Besides these Sects of Philosophers there were Theologers amongst the Greeks more ancient than these Sects and more mystical Aristotle often distinguisheth the Naturalists and the Theologues Such were Orpheus and his followers who had more of the Ancient Oriental Learning than the succeeding Philosophers But they writ their Philosophy or Theology rather Mythologically and Poetitically in Parables and Allegories that needed an interpretation All these Theologers supposed the Earth to rise from a Chaos and as they said that Love was the principle at first that united the loose and severed Elements and formed them into an Habitable World So they supposed that if Strife or Contention prevail'd that would again dissolve and disunite them and reduce things into a Chaos Such as the Earth will be in upon the Conflagration And it further appears that both these Orders of the Learned in Greece suppos'd this present frame of Nature might perish by their doctrine of Periodical Revolutions or of the Renovation of the World after certain periods of time which was a doctrine common amongst the learned Greeks and received by them from the ancient Barbarick Nations As will appear more at large in the following Book Ch. 3. In the mean time we may observe that Origen in answering Celsus about the point of the Resurrection tells him That Doctrine ought not to appear so strange or ridiculous to him seeing their own Authors did believe and teach the Renovation of the World after certain Ages or Periods And the truth is this Renovation of the World rightly stated is the same thing with the First Resurrection of the Christians And as to the Second and general Resurrection when the Righteous shall have Celestial Bodies 't is well known that the Platonists and Pythagoreans cloath'd the Soul with a Celestial Body or in their Language an Ethereal Vehicle as her last Beatitude or Glorification So that Origen might very justly tell his adversary he had no reason to ridicule the Christian Doctrine of the Resurrection seeing their own Authors had the main strokes of it in their Traditionary Learning I will only add one remark more before we leave this Subject to prevent a mistake in the word Immortal or Immortality when applyed to the World As I told you before the equivocation that was in that term World it being us'd sometimes for the whole Universe sometimes for this inferiour part of it where we live so likewise we must observe that when this Inferiour World is said to be Immortal by the Philosophers as sometimes it is that commonly is not meant of any single state of Nature or any single World but of a succession of Worlds consequent one upon another As a family may be said immortal not in any single person but in a succession of Heirs So as many times when the Ancients mention the immortality of the World they do not thereby exclude the Dissolution or Renovation of it but suppose a vicissitude or series of World succeeding one another This observation is not mine but was long since made by Simplicius Stobaeus and others who tell us in what sense some of those Philosophers who allowed the World to be perishable did yet affirm it to be immortal namely by successive renovations Thus much is sufficient to shew the sence and judgment of Antiquity as
to the chargeableness or perpetuity of the World But Ancient Learning is like Ancient Medals more esteemed for their rarity than their real use unless the Authority of a Prince make them currant So neither will these Testimonies be of any great effect unless they be made good and valuable by the Authority of Scripture We must therefore add the Testimonies of the Prophets and Apostles to these of the Greeks and Barbarians that the evidence may be full and undeniable That the Heavens and the Earth will perish or be chang'd into another form is sometimes plainly exprest sometimes suppos'd and alluded to in Scripture The Prophet David's testimony is express both for the beginning and ending of the World in the 102. Psalm Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the Earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed But thou art the same and thy Years shall have no end The Prophet Esay's testimony is no less express to the same purpose Lift up your Eyes to the heavens and look upon the Earth beneath for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke and the Earth shall was old like a garment and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner These Texts are plain and explicite and in allusion to this day of the Lord and this destruction of the World the same Prophet often useth phrases that relate to it As the Concussion of the Heavens and the Earth The shaking of the foundations of the World The dissolution of the Host of Heaven And our Sacred Writers have expressions of the like force and relating to the same effect As the Hills melting like wax at the presence of the Lord Psal. 97. 5. Shattering once more all the parts of the Creation Hagg. 2. 6. Overturning the mountains and making the pillars of the Earth to tremble Job 9. 5 6. If you reflect upon the explication given of the Deluge in the first part of this Theory and attend to the manner of the Conflagration as it will be explain'd in the sequel of this Discourse you will see the justness and fitness of these expressions That they are not Poetical Hyperboles or random expressions of great and terrible things in general but a true account of what hath been or will be at that great day of the Lord. 'T is true the Prophets sometimes use such-like expressions figuratively for commotions in States and Kingdoms but that is only by way of Metaphor and accommodation the true basis they stand upon is that ruine overthrow and dissolution of the Natural World which was once at the Deluge and will be again after another manner at the general Conflagration As to the New Testament our Saviour says Heaven and Earth shall pass away but his words shall not pass away Matth. 24. 35. S. Paul says the Scheme of this World the fashion form and composition of it passeth away 1 Cor. 7. 31. And when mention is made of New Heavens and a New Earth which both the Prophet Isaiah and the Apostles S. Peter and S. Iohn mention 't is plainly imply'd that the old ones will be dissolv'd The same thing is also imply'd when our Saviour speaks of a Renascency or Regeneration Matt. 19. 28. and S. Peter of a Restitution of all things Act. 3. 21. For what is now must be abolish'd before any former order of things can be restor'd or reduc'd In a word If there was nothing in Scripture concerning this subject but that discourse of S. Peter's in his 2d Epistle and 3d. Chapter concerning the triple order and succession of the Heavens and the Earth past present and to come that alone wou'd be a conviction and demonstration to me that this present World will be dissolv'd You will say it may be in the last place we want still the testimony of Natural Reason and Philosophy to make the evidence compleat I answer 't is enough if They be silent and have nothing to say to the contrary Here are witnesses Humane and Divine and if none appear against them we have no reason to refuse their testimony or to distrust it Philosophy will very readily yield to this Doctrine that All material compositions are dissolvable and she will not wonder to see that die which she had seen born I mean this Terrestrial World She stood upon the Chaos and see it rowâ— it self with difficulty and after many struglings into the form of an habitable Earth And that form she see broken down again at the Deluge and can as little hope or expect now as then that it should be everlasting and immutable There would be nothing great or considerable in this Inferiour World if there were not such revolutions of Nature The Seasons of the Year and the fresh Productions of the Spring are pretty in their way But when the Great Year comes about with a new order of all things in the Heavens and on the Earth and a new dress of Nature throughout all her Regions far more goodly and beautiful than the fairest Spring This gives a new Life to the Creation and shows the greatness of its Author Besides These Fatal Catastrophes are always a punishment to degenerate Mankind that are overwhelm'd in the ruines of these perishing Worlds And to make Nature her self execute the Divine Vengeance against Rebellious Creatures argues both the Power and Wisdom of that Providence that governs all things here below These things Reason and Philosophy approve of but if you further require that they should shew a Necessity of this future destruction of the World from Natural Causes with the time and all other circumstances of this effect your demands are unreasonable seeing these things do not depend solely upon Nature But if you will content your self to know what dispositions there are in Nature towards such a change how it may begin proceed and be consummate under the conduct of Providence be pleased to read the following Discourse for your further satisfaction CHAP. III. That the World will be destroy'd by Fire is the doctrine of the Ancients especially of the Stoicks That the same doctrine is more ancient than the Greeks and deriv'd from the Barbarick Philosophy and That probably from Noah the Father of all Traditionary Learning The same doctrine expresly authoriz'd by Revelation and inroll'd into the Sacred Canon THAT the present World or the present frame of Nature will be destroy'd we have already shewn In what manner this destruction will be by what force or what kind of fate must be our next enquiry The Philosophers have always spoken of Fire and Water those two unruly Elements as the only Causes that can destroy the World and work our ruine and accordingly they say all the great and fatal Revolutions of Nature either past or to come depend upon the violence of these Two when
nothing that I know of in Antiquity Sacred or prophane that gives a joynt testimony with it And those that set up these Pillars do not seem to me to have understood the Nature of the Deluge or Conflagration if they thought a Pillar either of Brick or Stone would be secure in those great dissolutions of the Earth But we have pursued this doctrine high enough without the help of these ante-diluvian Antiquities Namely to the earliest people and the first appearances of Wisdom after the Flood So that I think we may justly look upon it as the doctrine of Noah and of his immediate posterity And as that is the highest source of learning to the present World so we should endeavour to carry our Philosophical Traditions to that Original for I cannot perswade my self but that they had amongst them even in those early days the main strokes or conclusions of the best Philosophy or if I may so say a form of sound doctrine concerning Nature and Providence Of which matter if you will allow me a short digression I will speak my thoughts in a few words In those First Ages of the World after the Flood when Noah and his Children peopled the Earth again as he gave them Precepts of Morality and Piety for the conduct of their Manners which are usually call'd Praecepta Noachidarum the Precepts of Noah frequently mention'd both by the Jews and Christians So also he deliver'd to them at least if we judge aright certain Maxims or Conclusions about Providence the state of Nature and the fate of the World And these in proportion may be call'd Dogmata Noachidarum the Doctrines of Noah and his Children Which made a System of Philosophy or secret knowledge amongst them deliver'd by Tradition from Father to Son but especially preserv'd amongst their Priests and Sacred Persons or such others as were addicted to Contemplation This I take to be more ancient than Moses himself or the Iewish Nation But it would lead me too far out of my way to set down in this place the reasons of my judgment Let it be sufficient to have pointed only at this Fountain head of knowledge and so return to our Argument We have heard as it were a Cry of Fire throughout all Antiquity and throughout all the People of the Earth But those alarums are sometimes false or make a greater noise than the thing deserves For my part I never trust Antiquity barely upon its own account but always require a second witness either from Nature or from Scripture What the voice of Nature is we shall hear all along in the following Treatise Let us then examine at present what testimony the Prophets and Apostles give to this ancient doctrine of the Conflagration of the World The Prophets see the World a-fire at a distance and more imperfectly as a brightness in the Heavens rather than a burning flame but S. Peter describes it as if he had been standing by and seen the Heavens and Earth in a red fire heard the cracking flames and the tumbling Mountains 2 Pet. 3. 10. In the day of the Lord 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 Then after a pious Ejaculation he adds Ver. 12. Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat This is as lively as a Man could express it if he had the dreadful spectacle before his Eyes S. Peter had before taught the same doctrine ver 5 6 7. but in a more Philosophick way describing the double fate of the World by Water and Fire with relation to the Nature and Constitution of either World past or present The Heavens and the Earth were of old consisting of water and by water whereby the World that then was being overflow'd with water perish'd But the Heavens and the Earth which are now by the same Word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of Iudgment and perdition of ungodly or Atheistical men This testimony of S. Peter being full direct and explicit will give light and strength to several other passages of Scripture where the same thing is exprest obscurely or by allusion As when S. Paul says The fire shall try every man's work in that day And our Saviour says The tares shall be burnt in the fire at the end of the World Accordingly it is said both by the Apostles and Prophets that God will come to judgment in Fire S. Paul to the Thessalonians promiseth the persecuted Righteous rest and ease When the Lord shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God c. And so to the Hebrews S. Paul says that for wilful Apostates there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries or enemies of God And in the 12th Chapter he alludes to the same thing when after he had spoken of shaking the Heavens and the Earth once more he exhorteth as S. Peter does upon the same occasion to reverence and godly fear For our God is a consuming Fire In like manner the Prophets when they speak of destroying the wicked and the Enemies of God and Christ at the end of the World represent it as a destruction by Fire Psalm the 11th 6. Upon the wicked the Lord shall rain coals fire and brimstone and a burning tempest This shall be the portion of their Cup. And Psal. 50. 3. Our God shall come and will not be slow A fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him And in the beginning of those two triumphal Psalms the sixty-eighth and ninety-seventh we see plain allusions to this coming of the Lord in fire The other Prophets speak in the same style of a fiery indignation against the wicked in the day of the Lord As in Isaiah 66. 15. For behold the Lord will come with fire and with his Chariots like a whirl-wind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire And in Daniel c. 7. 9 10. The Ancient of days is plac'd upon his Seat of Judgment cover'd in flames I beheld till the Thrones were set and the Ancient of days did sit whose garment was white as snow and the hair of his head like the pure wool His Throne was like the fiery flame his wheels as burning fire A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him Thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him The judgment was set and the Books were opened The Prophet Malachy c. 4. 1. describes the Day of the Lord to the same effect and in like colours Behold the Day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all
the proud yea and all that do wickedly shall be as stubble and the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of Hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor branch And that nature her self and the Earth shall suffer in that fire the Prophet Zephany tells us c. 3. 8. All the Earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousie Lastly This consumption of the Earth by fire even to the foundations of it is exprest livelily by Moses in his Song Deut. 32. 22. A fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn unto the lowest Hell and shall consume the Earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the Mountains If we reflect upon these Witnesses and especially the first and last Moses and S. Peter at what a great distance of time they writ their Prophecies and yet how well they agree we must needs conclude that they were acted by the same Spirit and a Spirit that see thorough all the Ages of the World from the beginning to the end These Sacred Writers were so remote in time from one another that they could not confer together nor conspire either in a false testimony or to make the same prediction But being under one common influence and inspiration which is always consistent with it self they have dictated the same things tho' at two thousand years distance sometimes from one another This besides many other considerations makes their authority incontestable And upon the whole account you see that the doctrine of the future Conflagration of the World having run through all Ages and Nations is by the joynt consent of the Prophets and Apostles adopted into the Christian Faith CHAP. IV. Concerning the time of the Conflagration and the end of the World What the Astronomers say upon this Subject and upon what they ground their Calculations The true notion of the Great Year or of the Platonick Year stated and explained HAVING in this First Section laid a sure foundation as to the Subject of our Discourse the truth and certainty of the Conflagration whereof we are to treat we will now proceed to enquire after the Time Causes and Manner of it We are naturally more inquisitive after the End of the World and the Time of that Fatal Revolution than after the Causes of it For these we know are irresistible whensoever they come and therefore we are only sollicitous that they should not overtake us or our near posterity The Romans thought they had the fates of their Empire in the Books of the Sibyls which were kept by the Magistrates as a Sacred Treasure We have also our Prophetical Books more sacred and more infallible than theirs which contain the fate of all the Kingdoms of the Earth and of that glorious Kingdom that is to succeed And of all futurities there is none can be of such importance to be enquired after as this last scene and close of all humane affairs If I thought it possible to determine the time of the Conflagration from the bare intuition of Natural Causes I would not treat of it in this place but reserve it to the last after we had brought into view all those Causes weigh'd their force and examin'd how and when they would concur to produce this great effect But I am satisfied that the excitation and concourse of those Causes does not depend upon Nature only and tho' the Causes may be sufficient when all united yet the union of them at such a time and in such a manner I look upon as the effect of a particular Providence and therefore no foresight of ours or inspection into Nature can discover to us the time of this conjuncture This method therefore of Prediction from Natural Causes being laid aside as impracticable all other methods may be treated of in this place as being independent upon any thing that is to follow in the Treatise and it will be an ease to the Argument to discharge it of this part and clear the way by degrees to the principal point which is the Causes and Manner of the Conflagration Some have thought it a kind of impiety in a Christian to enquire after the End of the World because of that check which our Saviour gave his Disciples when after his Resurrection enquiring of him about the time of his Kingdom He answer'd It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power And before his death when he was discoursing of the Consummation of all things He told them expresly that tho' there should be such and such previous Signs as he had mention'd yet Of that day and hour knoweth no man No not the Angels that are in Heaven but my Father only Be it so that the Disciples deserv'd a reprimand for desiring to know by a particular revelation from our Saviour the state of future times when many other things were more necessary for their instruction and for their ministery Be it also admitted that the Angels at that distance of time could not see thorow all events to the End of the World it does not at all follow from thence that they do not know it now when in the course of Sixteen Hundred Years many things are come to pass that may be marks and directions to them to make a judgment of what remains and of the last period of all things However there will be no danger in our enquiries about this matter seeing they are not so much to discover the certainty as the uncertainty of that period as to humane knowledge Let us therefore consider what methods have been used by those that have been curious and busie to measure the duration of the World The Stoicks tell us When the Sun and the Stars have drunk up the Sea then the Earth shall be burnt A very fair Prophecy but how long will they be a drinking For unless we can determine that we cannot determine when this combustion will begin Many of the Ancients thought that the Stars were nourish'd by the vapours of the Ocean and of the moist Earth and when that nourishment was spent being of a fiery nature they would prey upon the Body of the Earth it self and consume that after they had consum'd the Water This is old-fashion'd Philosophy and now that the nature of those Bodies is better known will scarce pass for currant 'T is true we must expect some dispositions towards the combustion of the World from a great drought and desiccation of the Earth But this helps us nothing on our way for the question still returns When will this immoderate drought or dryness happen and that 's us ill to resolve as the former Therefore as I said before I have no hopes of deciding the question by Physiology or Natural Causes let us then look up from the Earth to the Heavens To the Astronomers and the Prophets These think they can define the age and duration of the World The one
by their Art and the other by Inspiration We begin with the Astronomers whose Calculations are founded either upon the Aspects and Configurations of the Planets or upon the Revolutions of the Fixt Stars Or lastly upon that which they call Annus Magnus or the Great Year whatsoever that Notion proves to be when it is rightly interpreted As to the Planets Beâ—sus tells us The Chaldeans suppose Deluges to proceed from a great conjunction of the Planets in Capricorn and from a like coniunction in the opposite Sign of Cancer the Conflagration will ensue So that if we compute by the Astronomical Tables how long it will be to such a Conjunction we find at the same time how long it will be to the Conflagration This doctrine of the Chaldeans some Christian Authors have owned and followed the same principles and method If these Authors would deal fairly with Mankind they should shew us some connexion betwixt these Causes and the Effects which they make consequent upon them For 't is an unreasonable thing to require a man's assent to a Proposition where he sees no dependence or connexion of Terms unless it come by Revelation or from an infallible Authority If you say The Conflagration will be at the first great Conjunction of the Planets in Cancer and I say it will be at the next Eclipse of the Moon if you shew no more reason for your assertion than I for mine and neither of us pretend to revelation or infallibility we may justly expect to be equally credited Pray what reason can you give why the Planets when they meet should plot together to set on Fire their Fellow-Planet the Earth who never did them any harm But now there is a plausible reason for my opinion for the Moon when Eclips'd may think herself affronted by the Earth interposing rudely betwixt her and the Sun and leaving her to grope her way in the dark She therefore may justly take her revenge as she can But you 'll say 't is not in the power of the Moon to set the Earth on Fire if she had malice enough to do it No nor say I is it in the power of the other Planets that are far more distant from the Earth than the Moon and as stark dull lumps of Earth as she is The plain truth is The Planets are so many Earths and our Earth is as much a Planet as the brightest of them 'T is carried about the Sun with the same common stream and shines with as much lustre to them as they do to us neither can they do any more harm to it than it can do to them 'T is now well known that the Planets are dark opake Bodies generally made up of Earth and Water as our Globe is and have no force or action but that of reverberating the light which the Sun casts upon them This blind superstitious fear or reverence for the Stars had its original from the ancient Idolaters They thought them Gods and that they had domination over humane affairs We do not indeed worship them as they did but some men retain still the same opinion of their vertues of their rule and influence upon us and our affairs which was the ground of their worship 'T is full time now to sweep away these cobwebs of superstition these reliques of Paganism I do not see how we are any more concern'd in the postures of the Planets than in the postures of the Clouds and you may as well build an art of prediction or divination upon the one as the other They must not know much of the Philosophy of the Heavens or little consider it that think the fate either of single persons or of the whole Earth can depend upon the aspects or figur'd dances of those Bodies But you 'll say it may be tho' no reason can be given for such effects yet experience does attest the truth of them In the first place I answer no experience can be produc'd for this effect we are speaking of the Conflagration of the World Secondly Experience fallaciously recorded or wholly in favour of one side is no proof If a publick Register was kept of all Astrological Predictions and of all the Events that followed upon them right or wrong agreeing or disagreeing I could willingly refer the cause to the determination of such a Register and such experience But that which they call experience is so stated that if One Prediction of Ten hits right or near right it shall make more noise and be more taken notice of than all the Nine that are false Just as in a Lottery where many Blanks are drawn for one Prize yet these make all the noise and those are forgotten If any one be so lucky as to draw a good Lot then the Trumpet sounds and his Name is register'd and he tells his good fortune to every body he meets whereas those that lose go silently away with empty Pockets and are asham'd to tell their losses Such a thing is the Register of Astrological experiences they record what makes for their credit but drop all blank instances that would discover the vanity or cheat of their Art So much for the Planets They have also a pretended calculation of the End of the World from the fixt Stars and the Firmament Which in short is this They suppose these Bodies besides the hurry of their Diurnal Motion from East to West quite round the Earth in four and twenty hours to have another retrograde Motion from West to East which is more slow and leisurely And when they have finish'd the Circle of this retrogradation and come up again to the same place from whence they started at the beginning of the World then this course of Nature will be at an end and either the Heavens will cease from all motion or a new set of motions will be put a foot and the World begin again This is a bundle of fictions tied up in a pretty knot in the first place there is no such thing as a solid Firmament in which the Stars are fixt as nails in a board The Heavens are as fluid as our Air and the higher we go the more thin and subtle is the ethereal matter Then the fixt Stars are not all in one Surface as they seem to us nor at an equal distance from the Earth but are plac'd in several Orbs higher and higher there being infinite room in the great Deep of the Heavens every way for innumerable Stars and Spheres behind one another to fill and beautify the immense spaces of the Universe Lastly The fixt Stars have no motion common to them all nor any motion singly unless upon their own Centres and therefore never leaving their stations they can never return to any common station which they would suppose them to have had at the beginning of the World So as this Period they speak of whereby they would measure the duration of the World is meerly imaginary and hath no foundation in the true Nature or
answer to that difficulty Two suppos'd causes of the Conflagration by the Sun 's drawing nearer to the Earth or the Earth's throwing out the central fire examin'd and rejected WE have now made our way clear to the principal point The Causes of the Conflagration How the Heavens and the Earth will be set on fire what materials are prepar'd or what train of Causes for that purpose The Ancients who have kept us company pretty well thus far here quite desert us They deal more in Conclusions than Causes as is usual in all Traditional Learning And the Stoicks themselves who inculcate so much the doctrine of the Conflagration and make the strength of it such as to dissolve the Earth into a fiery Chaos are yet very short and superficial in their explications how this shall come to pass The latent seeds of fire they say shall every where be let loose and the Element will prevail over all the rest and transform every thing into its own nature But these are general things that give little satisfaction to inquisitive Persons Neither do the modern Authors that treat of the same subject relieve us in this particular They are willing to suppose the Conflagration a superficial effect that so they may excuse themselves the trouble of enquiring after causes 'T is no doubt in a sort supernatural and so the Deluge was yet Moses sets down the Causes of the Deluge the rains from above and the disruption of the Abyss So there must be treasures of fire provided against that day by whose eruption this second Deluge will be brought upon the Earth To state the case fairly we must first represent the difficulty of setting the Earth on Fire Tie the knot before we loose it that so we may the better judge whether the Causes that shall be brought into view may be sufficient to overcome so great opposition The difficulty no doubt will be chiefly from the great quantity of Water that is about our Globe whereby Nature seems to have made provision against any invasion by Fire and secur'd us from that enemy more than any other We see half of the Surface of the Earth cover'd with the Seas whose Chanel is of a vast depth and capacity Besides innumerable Rivers great and small that water the face of the dry Land and drench it with perpetual moisture Then within the bowels of the Earth there are Store-houses of subterraneous Waters which are as a reserve in case the Ocean and the Rivers should be overcome Neither is Water our only security for the hard Rocks and stony Mountains which no Fire can bite upon are set in long ranges upon the Continents and Islands and must needs give a stop to the progress of that furious Enemy in case he should attack us Lastly The Earth it self is not combustible in all its parts 'T is not every Soyl that is fit fewel for the Fire Clay and Mire and such like Soyls will rather choak and stifle it than help it on its way By these means one would think the Body of the Earth secur'd and tho' there may be partial fires or inuâ—â—lations of fire here and there in particular regions yet there cannot be an Universal Fire throughout the Earth At least one would hope for a safe retreat towards the Poles where there is nothing but Snow and Ice and bitter cold These regions sure are in no danger to be burnt whatsoever becomes of the other climates of the Earth This being the state and condition of the present Earth one would not imagine by these preparations 't was ever intended that it should perish by an Universal Fire But such is often the method of Providence that the exteriour face of things looks one way and the design lies another till at length touching a Spring as it were at a certain time all those affairs change posture and aspect and shew us which way Providence inclines We must therefore suppose before the Conflagration begins there will be dispositions and preparatives suitable to so great a work and all antiquity sacred and prophane does so far concur with us as to admit and suppose that a great drought will precede and an extraordinary heat and driness of the Air to usher in this fiery doom And these being things which often happen in a course of Nature we cannot disallow such easie preparations when Providence intends so great a consequence The Heavens will be shut up and the Clouds yield no rain and by this with an immoderate heat in the Air the Springs of Water will become dry the Earth chap'd and parch'd and the Woods and Trees made ready fewel for the Fire We have instances in History that there have been droughts and heats of this Nature to that degree that the Woods and Forests have taken fire and the outward Turf and Surface of the Earth without any other cause than the driness of the Season and the vehemency of the Sun And which is more considerable the Springs and Fountains being dry'd up the greater Rivers have been sensibly lessen'd and the lesser quite emptied and exhal'd These things which happen frequently in particular Countreys and Climates may at an appointed time by the disposition of Providence be more universal throughout the Earth and have the same effects every where that we see by experience they have had in certain places And by this means we may conceive it as feisible to set the whole Earth on fire in some little space of time as to burn up this or that Countrey after a great drought But I mean this with exception still to the main Body of the Sea which will indeed receive a greater diminution from these Causes than we easily imagine but the final consumption of it will depend upon other reasons whereof we must give an account in the following Chapters As to the Mountains and Rocks their lofty heads will sink when the Earthquakes begin to roar at the beginning of the Conflagration as we shall see hereafter And as to the Earth it self 't is true there are several sorts of Earth that are not proper fewel for fire but those Soils that are not so immediately as clayey Soils and such like may by the strength of Fire be converted into Brick or Stone or Earthen Metal and so melted down and vitrified For in conclusion there is no Terrestrial Body that does not finally yield to the force of Fire and may either be converted into flame incorporated fire or into a liquor more ardent than either of them Lastly As to the Polar Regions which you think will be a safe retreat and inaccessible to the fire 'T is true unless Providence hath laid subterraneous treasures of fire there unknown to us those parts of the Earth will be the last consum'd But it is to be observ'd that the cold of those regions proceeds from the length of their Winter and their distance from the Sun when he is beyond the Aequator and both these causes will be
remov'd at the Conflagration For we suppose the Earth will then return to its primitive situation which we have explain'd in the 2d Book of this Theory and will have the Sun always in its Aequator whereby the several Climates of the Earth will have a perpetual Equinox and those under the Poles a perpetual day And therefore all the excess of cold and all the consequences of it will soon be abated However the Earth will not be burnt in one day and those parts of the Earth being uninhabited there is no inconvenience that they should be more slowly consum'd than the rest This is a general answer to the difficulty propos'd about the possibility of the Conflagration and being general only the parts of it must be more fully explain'd and confirm'd in the sequel of this discourse We should now proceed directly to the causes of the Conflagration and show in what manner they do this great execution upon Nature But to be just and impartial in this enquiry we ought first to separate the spurious and pretended Causes from those that are real and genuine to make no false musters nor any show of being stronger than we are and if we can do our work with less force it will be more to our credit as a Victory is more honourable that is gain'd with fewer Men. There are two grand capital Causes which some Authors make use of as the chief Agents in this work the Sun and the Central Fire These two great Incendiaries they say will be let loose upon us at the Conflagration The one drawing nearer to the Earth and the other breaking out of its bowels into these upper regions These are potent Causes indeed more than enough to destroy this Earth if it was a thousand times bigger than it is But for that very reason I suspect they are not the true Causes for God and Nature do not use to employ unnecessary means to bring about their designs Disproportion and over-sufficiency is one sort of false measures and 't is a sign we do not thoroughly understand our work when we put more strength to it than the thing requires Men are forward to call in extraordinary powers to rid their hands of a troublesome argument and so make a short dispatch to save themselves the pains of further enquiries but such methods as they commonly have no proof so they give little satisfaction to an inquisitive mind This supposition of burning the Earth by the Sun drawing nearer and nearer to it seems to be made in imitation of the story of Phaeton who driving the Chariot of the Sun with an unsteddy hand came so near the Earth that he set it on fire But however we will not reject any pretensions without a fair trial Let us examine therefore what grounds they can have for either of these suppositions of the Approximation of the Sun to the Earth or the Eruption of the Central Fire As to the Sun I desire first to be satisfied in present matter of Fact whether by any instrument or observation it hath or can be discover'd that the Sun is nearer to the Earth now than he was in former ages or if by any reasoning or comparing calculations such a conclusion can be made If not this is but an imaginary cause and as easily deny'd as propos'd Astronomers do very little agree in their opinions about the distance of the Sun Ptolomy Albategnius Copernious Ticho Kepler and others more modern differ all in their calculations but not in such a manner or proportion as should make us believe that the Sun comes nearer to the Earth but rather goes further from it For the more modern of them make the distance greater than the more ancient do Kepler says the distance of the Sun from the Earth lies betwixt 700 and 2000 semidiameters of the Earth but Ricciolus makes it betwixt 700 and 7000. And Gottefrid Wendeline hath taken 14656. semidiameters for a middle proportion of the Sun's distance to which Kepler himself came very near in his later years So that you see how groundless our fears are from the approaches of an enemy that rather flies from us if he change posture at all And we have more reason to believe the report of the modern Astronomers than of the ancient in this matter both because the nature of the Heavens and of the celestial Bodies is now better known and also because they have found out better instruments and better methods to make their observations If the Sun and Earth were come nearer to one another either the circle of the Suns diurnal arch would be less and so the day shorter or the Orbit of the Earths annual course would be less and so the Year shorâ—er Neither of which we have any experience of And those that suppose us in the centre of the World need not be afraid till they see Mercury and Venus in a combustion for they lie betwixt us and danger and the Sun cannot come so readily at us with his fiery darts as at them who stand in his way Lastly this languishing death by the gradual approaches of the Sun and that irreparable ruine of the Earth which at last must follow from it do neither of them agree with that Idea of the Conflagration which the Scripture hath given us for it is to come suddenly and unexpectedly and take us off like a violent Feaver not as a lingring Consumption And the Earth is also so to be destroyed by Fire as not to take away all hopes of a Resurrection or Renovation For we are assur'd by Scripture that there will be new Heavens and a new Earth after these are burnt up But if the Sun should come so near us as to make the heavens pass away with a noise and melt the Elements with fervent heat and destroy the form and all the works of the Earth what hopes or possibility would there be of a Renovation while the Sun continued in this posture He would more and more consume and prey upon the Carcass of the Earth and convert it at length either into an heap of Ashes or a lump of vitrified metal So much for the Sun As to the Central Fire I am very well satisfied it is no imaginary thing All Antiquity hath preserv'd some sacred Monument of it The Vestal fire of the Romans which was so religiously attended The Prytoneia of the Greeks were to the same purpose and dedicated to Vesta and the Pyretheia of the Persians where fire was kept continually by the Magi. These all in my opinion had the same origine and the same signification And tho' I do not know any particular observation that does directly prove or demonstrate that there is such a mass of fire in the middle of the Earth yet the best accounts we have of the generation of a Planet do suppose it and 't is agreeable to the whole Oeconomy of Nature as a fire in the heart which gives life to her motions and productions But however the
question is not at present about the existence of this fire but the eruption of it and the effect of that Eruption which cannot be in my judgment such a Conflagration as is describ'd in Scripture This Central Fire must be enclos'd in a shell of great strength and firmness for being of it self the lightest and most active of all Bodies it would not be detained in that lowest prison without a strong guard upon it 'T is true we can make no certain judgment of what thickness this shell is but if we suppose this fire to have a twentieth part of the semidiameter of the Earth on either side the centre for its sphere which seems to be a fair allowance there would still remain nineteen parts for our safeguard and security And these nineteen parts of the semidiameter of the Earth will make 3268 miles for a partition-wall betwixt us and this Central Fire Who wou'd be afraid of an Enemy lock'd up in so strong a prison But you 'l say it may be tho' the Central Fire at the beginning of the World might have no more room or space than what is mentioned yet being of that activity that it is and corrosive nature it may in the space of some thousands of years have eaten deep into the sides of its prison and so come nearer to the surface of the Earth by some hundreds or thousands of miles than it was at first This would be a material exception if it could be made out But what Phaenomenon is there in Nature that proves this How does it appear by any observation that the Central Fire gains ground upon us Or is increased in quantity or come nearer to the surface of the Earth I know nothing that can be offered in proof of this and if there be no appearance of a change nor any sensible effect of it 't is an argument there is none or none considerable If the quantity of that fire was considerably increas'd it must needs besides other effects have made the Body of the Earth considerably lighter The Earth having by this conversion of its own substance into fire lost so much of its heaviest matter and got so much of the lightest and most active Element in stead of it and in both these respects its gravity would be manifestly lessen'd Which if it really was in any considerable degree it would discover it self by some change either as to the motion of the Earth or as to its place or station in the Heavens But there being no external change observable in this or any other respect 't is reasonable to presume that there is no considerable inward change or no great consumption of its inward parts and substance and consequently no great increase of the Central Fire But if we should admit both an encrease and eruption of this fire it would not have that effect which is pretended It might cause some confusion and disorder in those parts of the Earth where it broke out but it would not make an universal Conflagration such as is represented to us in Scripture Let us suppose the Earth to be open or burst in any place under the Pole for instance or under the Aequator and let it gape as low as the Central Fire At this chasm or rupture we suppose the fire would gush out and what then would be the consequence of this when it came to the surface of the Earth It would either be dissipated and lost in the air or fly still higher towards the Heavens in a mass of flame But what execution in the mean time would it do upon the Body of the Earth 'T is but like a flash of lightning or a flame issuing out of a pit that dies presently Besides this Central Fire is of that subtilty and tenuity that it is not able to inflame gross Bodies no morethan those Meteors we call Lambent Fires inflame the bodies to which they stick Lastly in explaining the manner of the Conflagration we must have regard principally to Scripture for the explications given there are more to the purpose than all that the Philosophers have said upon that subject Now as we noted before 't is manifest in Scripture that after the Conflagration there will be a Restauration New Heavens and a New Earth 'T is the express doctrine of S. Peter besides other Prophets We must therefore suppose the Earth reduc'd to such a Chaos by this last fire as will lay the foundation of a new World Which can never be if the inward frame of it be broke the Central Fire exhausted and the exterior region suck'd into those central vacuities This must needs make it lose its former poise and libration and it will thereupon be thrown into some other part of the Universe as the useless shell of a broken Granado or as a dead carkass and unprofitable matter These reasons may be sufficient why we should not depend upon those pretended causes of the Conflagration The Suns advance towards the Earth or such a rupture of the Earth as will let out the Central Fire These Causes I hope will appear superfluous when we shall have given an account of the Conflagration without them But young Philosophers like young Soldiers think they are never sufficiently armed and often take more weapons than they can make use of when they come to fight Not that we altogether reject the influence of the Sun or of the Central Fire especially the latter For in that great estuation of Nature the Body of the Earth will be much open'd and relaxated and when the pores are enlarg'd the steams of that fire will sweat out more plentifully into all its parts but still without any rupture in the vessels or in the skin And whereas these Authors suppose the very Veins burst and the vital blood to gush out as at openflood gates we only allow a more copious perspiration and think that sufficient for all purposes in this case CHAP. VII The true bounds of the Last Fire and how far it is fatal The natural Causes and Materials of it cast into three ranks First such as are exterior and visible upon the Earth where the Volcano's of the Earth and their effects are consider'd Secondly such materials as are within the Earth Thirdly such as are in the Air. AS we have in the preceding Chapter laid aside those Causes of the Conflagration which we thought too great and cumbersome so now we must in like manner examine the Effect and reduce that to its just measures and proportions that there may be nothing lest superfluous on either side Then by comparing the real powers with the work they are to do boâ—h being stated within their due bounds we may the better judge how they are proportion'd to one another We noted before that the Conflagration had nothing to do with the Stars and superiour Heavens but was wholly confin'd to this Sublunary World And this Deluge of Fire will have much what the same bounds that the Deluge of
Water had formerly This is according to St. Peter's doctrine for he makes the same parts of the Universe to be the subject of both namely the inferiour Heavens and the Earth The Heavens and the Earth which were then perish'd in a Deluge of Water But the Heavens and the Earth that are now are reserv'd to fire The present Heavens and Earth are substituted in the place of those that perish'd at the Deluge and these are to be over-run and destroy'd by fire as those were by water So that the Apostle takes the same Regions and the same space and compass for the one as for the other and makes their fate different according to their different constitution and the different order of Providence This is the sence St. Austin gives us of the Apostle's words and these are the bounds he sets to the last Fire whereof a modern Commentator is so well assur'd that he says They neither understand Divinity nor Philosophy that would make the Conflagration reach above the Elementary Heavens Let these be then its limits upwards the Clouds Air and Atmosphere of the Earth But the question seems more doubtful How far it will extend downwards into the bowels of the Earth I answer still to the same depth that the Waters of the Deluge reach'd To the lowest Abysses and the deepest Caverns within the ground And seeing no Caverns are deeper or lower at least according to our Theory than the bottom of the great Ocean to that depth I suppose the rage of this fire will peneâ—rate and devour all before it And therefore we must not imagine that only the outward turf and habitable surface of the Earth will be put into a flame and laid wast the whole exteriour region of the Earth to the depth of the deepest part of the Sea will suffer in this Fire and suffer to that degree as to be melted down and the frame of it dissolv'd For we are not to conceive that the Earth will be only scorcht or charkt in the last Fire there will be a sort of liquefaction and dissolution it will become a molten Sea mingled with fire according to the expression of Scripture And this dissolution may reasonably be suppos'd to reach as low as the Earth hath any hollownesses or can give 〈◊〉 to smoke and flame Wherefore taking these for the bounds and limits of the last great Fire the next thing to be enquir'd into are the Natural Causes of it How this strange fate will seize upon the Sublunary World and with an irresistible fury subdue all things to it self But when I say Natural Causes I would not be so understood as if I thought the Conflagration was a pure Natural Fatality as the Stoicks seem to do No 't is a mixt Fatality The Causes indeed are Natural but the administration of them is from an higher hand Fire is the Instrument or the executive power and hath no more force given it than what it hath naturally but the concurrence of these Causes or of these fiery powers at such a time and in such a manner and the conduct of them to carry on and compleat the whole work without cessation or interruption that I look upon as more than what material Nature could effect of it self or than could be brought to pass by such a government of matter as is the bare result of its own laws and determinations When a Ship fails gently before the Wind the Mariners may stand idle but to guide her in a storm all hands must be at work There are rules and measures to be observ'd even in these tumults and desolations of Nature in destroying a World as well as in making one and therefore in both it is reasonable to suppose a more than ordinary Providence to superintend the work Let us not therefore be too positive or presumptuous in our conjectures about these things for if there be an invisible hand Divine or Angelical that touches the Springs and Wheels it will not be easie for us to determine with certainty the order of their motions However 't is our duty to search into the ways and works of God as far as we can And we may without offence look into the Magazines of Nature see what provisions are made and what preparations for this great Day and in what method 't is most likely the design will be executed But before we proceed to mark out Materials for this Fire give me leave to observe one condition or property in the Form of this present Earth that makes it capable of Inflammation 'T is the manner of its construction in an hollow eavernous form By reason whereof containing much Air in its cavities and having many inlets and outlets 't is in most places capable of ventilation pervious and passable to the Winds and consequently to the Fire Those that have read the former part of this Theory know how the Earth came into this hollow and broken form from what causes and at what time namely at the Universal Deluge when there was a disruption of the exteriour Earth that fell into the Abyss and so for a time was overflow'd with Water These Ruines recover'd from the Water we inhabit and these Ruines only will be burnt up For being not only unequal in their Surface but also hollow loose and incompact within as ruines use to be they are made thereâ— by capable of a second fate by inflammation Thereby I say they are made combustible for if the exteriour Regions of this Earth were as close and compact in all their parts as we have reason to believe the interiour Regions of it to be the Fire could have little power over it nor ever reduce it to such a state as is requir'd in a compleat Conflagration such as ours is to be This being admitted that the Exteriour Region of the Earth stands hollow as a well set Fire to receive Air freely into its parts and hath issues for smoke and flame It remains to enquire what fewel or Materials Nature hath fitted to kindle this Pile and to continue it on Fire till it be consum'd or in plain words What are the Natural Causes and preparatives for a Conflagration The first and most obvious preparations that we see in Nature for this effect are the Burning Mountains or Volcano's of the Earth These are lesser Essays or preludes to the general Fire set on purpose by Providence to keep us awake and to mind us continually and forewarn us of what we are to expect at last The Earth you see is already kindled blow but the Coal and propagate the Fire and the work will go on Tophet is prepar'd of old and when the Day of Doom is come and the Date of the World expir'd the breath of the Lord shall make it burn But besides these Burning Mountains there are Lakes of pitch and brimstone and oily Liquors disperst in several parts of the Earth These are in enrage the Fire as it goes and to fortifie
should throw out so much fiery matter besides all the ashes that were disperst through the Air far and near and could be brought to no account 'T is true all this matter was not actually inflam'd or liquid fire But the rest that was sand stone and gravel might have run into glass or some melted liquor like to it is it had not been thrown out before the heat fully reacht it However sixty million paces of this matter as the same Author computes were liquid fire or came out of the mouth of the pit in that form This made a River of fire sometimes two miles broad according to his computation but according to the observation of others who also viewed it the Torrent of fire was six or seven miles broad and sometimes ten or fifteen fathoms deep and forc'd its way into the Sea near a mile preserving it self alive in the midst of the waters This is beyond all the infernal Lakes and Rivers Acheron Phlegeton Cocytus all that the Poets have talkt of Their greatest fictions about He I have not come up to the reality of one of our burning Mountains upon Earth Imagin then all our Volcano's raging at once in this manner But I will not pursue that supposition yet Give me leave only to add here what I mentioned in the second place The vast Burning Stones which this Mountain in the time of its rage and estuation threw inâ—o the Air with an incredible force This same Author tells us of a stone fifteen foot long that was slung out of the mouth of the pit to a miles distance And when it fell it came from such an height and with such a violence that it buried it self in the ground eight foot deep What trifles are our Mortar-pieces and Bombes when compar'd with these Engines of Nature When she flings out of the wide throat of a Volcano a broken Rock and twirles it in the air like a little bullet then lets it fall to do execution here below as Providence shall point and direct it It would be hard to give an account how so great an impulse can be given to a Body so ponderous But there 's no disputing against matter of fact and as the thoughts of God are not like our thoughts so neither are his works like our works Thus much for Aetna Let us now give an instance in Vesuvius another Burning Mountain upon the coast of the Mediterranean which hath as frequent Eruptions and some as terrible as those of Aetna Dion Cassius one of the best writers of the Roman History hath given us an account of one that happened in the time of Titus Vespatian and tho' he hath not set down particulars as the former Author did of the quantity of fiery matter thrown out at that time yet supposing that proportionable to its fierceness in other respects this seems to me as dreadful an Eruption as any we read of and was accompanied with such Prodigies and commotions in the Heavens and the Earth as made it look like the beginning of the last Conflagration As a prelude to this Tragedy He says there were strange sights in the air and after that followed an extraordinary drought Then the Earth begun to tremble and quake and the Concussions were so great that the ground seem'd to rise and boyl up in some places and in others the tops of the mountains sunk in or tumbled down At the same time were great noises and sounds heard some were subterraneous like thunder within the Earth others above ground like groans or bellowings The Sea roar'd The heavens ratled with a fearful noise and then came a sudden and mighty crack as if the frame of Nature had broke or all the mountains of the Earth had faln down at once At length Vesuvius burst and threw out of its womb first huge stones then a vast quantity of fire and smoke so as the air was â—all darkned and the Sun was hid as if he had been under a great Eclipse The day was turn'd into night and light into darkness and the frighted people thought the Gyants were making war against heaven and fansied they see the shapes and images of Gyants in the smoak and heard the sound of their trumpets Others thought the World was returning to its first Chaos or going to be all consum'd with fire In this general confusion and consternation they knew not where to be safe some run out of the fields into the houses others out of the house into the fields Those that were at Sea hasten'd to Land and those that were at Land endeavour'd to get to Sea still thinking every place safer than that where they were Besides grosser lumps of matter there was thrown out of the Mountain such a prodigious quantity of ashes as cover'd the Land and Sea and fill'd the Air so as besides other damages the Birds Beasts and Fishes with Men Women and Children were destroy'd within such a compass and two entire Cities Herculanium and Pompeios were overwhelm'd with a showre of ashes as the People were sitting in the Theater Nay these ashes were carried by the winds over the Mediterranean into Africk and into Aegypt and Syria And at Rome they choak'd the Air on a sudden so as to hid the face of the Sun Whereupon the People not knowing the cause as not having yet got the News from Campania of the Eruption of Vesuius could not imagine what the reason should be but thought the Heavens and the Earth were coming together The Sun coming down and the Earth going to take its place above Thus far the Historian You see what disorders in Nature and what an alarum the Eruption of one fiery Mountain is capable to make These things no doubt would have made strong impressions upon us if we had been eye-witnesses of them But I know representations made from dead history and at a distance though the testimony be never so credible have a much less effect upon us than what we see our selves and what our senses immediately inform us of I have only given you an account of two Volcano's and of a single Eruption in either of them These Mountains are not very far distant from one another Let us suppose two such Eruptions as I have mention'd to happen at the same time and both these Moutains to be raging at once in this manner By that violence you have seen in each of them singly you will easily imagine what a terrour and desolation they would carry round about by a conjunction of their fury and all their effects in the Air and on the Earth Then if to these two you should joyn two more the Sphere of their activity would still be enlarg'd and the Scenes become more dreadful But to compleat the supposition Let us imagine all the Volcano's of the whole Earth to be prepar'd and set to a certain time which time being come and a signal given by Providence all these Mines begin to play at once I mean All these
Fiery Mountains burst out and discharge themselves in flames of fire tear up the roots of the Earth throw hot burning stones send out streams of flowing Metals and Minerals and all other sorts of ardent matter which Nature hath lodg'd in those Treasuries If all these Engines I say were to play at once the Heavens and the Earth would seem to be in a flame and the World in an universal combustion But we may reasonably presume that against that great Day of vengeance and execution not only all these will be employ'd but also new Volcano's will be open'd and new Mountains in every Region will break out into smoke and flame just as at the Deluge the Abyss broke out from the Womb of the Earth and from those hidden stores sent an immense quantity of water which it may be the Inhabitants of that World never thought of before So we must expect new Eruptions and also new sulphureous Lakes and Fountains of Oyl to boyl out of the ground And these all united with that Fewel that naturally grows upon the Surface of the Earth will be sufficient to give the first onset and to lay wast all the habitable World and the Furniture of it But we suppose the Conflagration will go lower pierce under-ground and dissolve the substance of the Earth to some considerable depth therefore besides these outward and visible preparations we must consider all the hidden invisible Materials within the Veins of the Earth Such are all Minerals or Mineral juices and concretions that are igniferous or capable of inflammation And these cannot easily be reckon'd up or estimated Some of the most common are Sulphur and all sulphureous bodies and Earths impregnated with Sulphur Bitumen and bituminous concretions inflammable Salts Coal and other fossiles that are ardent with innumerable mixtures and compositions of these kinds which being open'd by heat are unctuous and inflammable or by attrition discover the latent seeds of fire But besides consistent Bodies there is also much volatile fire within the Earth in fumes steams and exudations which will all contribute to this effect From these stores under-ground all Plants and Vegetables are fed and supply'd as to their oily and sulphureous parts And all hot Waters in Baths or Fountains must have their original from some of these some mixture or participation of them And as to the British Soyl there is so much Coal incorporated with it that when the Earth shall burn we have reason to apprehend no small danger from that subterraneous Enemy These dispositions and this Fewel we find in and upon the Earth towards the last Fire The third sort of Provision is in the Air All fiery Meteors and Exhalations engender'd and form'd in those Regions above and discharg'd upon the Earth in several ways I believe there were no fiery Meteors in the ante-diluvian Heavens which therefore St. Peter says were constituted of water had nothing in them but what was watery But he says the Heavens that are now have treasures of fire or are reserv'd for fire as things laid up in a store house for that purpose We have thunder and lightning and fiery tempests and there is nothing more vehement impetuous and irresistible where their force is directed It seems to me very remarkable that the Holy Writers describe the coming of the Lord and the destruction of the wicked in the nature of a tempest or a storm of fire Upon the wicked the Lord shall rain coals fire and brimstone and a burning tempest this shall be the portion of their cup. And in the lofty Song of David Psal. 18. which in my judgment respects both the past Deluge and the future Conflagration 't is said The Lord also thundred in the heavens and the Highest gave his voice hailstones and coals of fire Yea he sent forth his arrows and scattered them and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them Then the Chanels of waters were seen and the foundations of the World were discover'd at thy rebuke O Lord at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils And a like fiery coming is describ'd in the ninety seventh Psalm as also by Isaiah Daniel and S. Paul And lastly in the Apocalypse when the World draws to a conclusion as in the seventh Trumpet ch 11. 19. and the seventh Vial ch 16. 18. we have still mention made of this Fiery Tempest of Lightnings and Thunderings We may therefore reasonably suppose that before the Conflagration the Air will be surcharg'd every where by a precedent drought with hot and fiery exhalations And as against the Deluge those regions were burthened with water and moist vapours which were pour'd upon the Earth not in gentle showres but like rivers and cataracts from Heaven so they will now be fill'd with hot fumes and sulphureous clouds which will sometimes flow in streams and fiery impressions throgh the Air sometimes make Thunder and Lightnings and sometimes fall down upon the Earth in flouds of Fire In general there is a great analogy to be observed betwixt the two Deluges of Water and of Fire not only as to the bounds of them which were noted before but as to the general causes and sources upon which they depend from above and from below At the Floud the Windows of Heaven were opened above and the Abyss was opened below and the Waters of these two joyn'd together to overflow the World In like manner at the Conflagration God will rain down Fire from Heaven as he did once upon Sodom and at the same time the subterraneous store-houses of Fire will be broken open which answers to the disruption of the Abyss And these two meeting and mingling together will involve all the Heaven and Earth in flames This is a short account of the ordinary stores of Nature and the ordinary preparations for a general Fire And in contemplation of these Pliny the Naturalist said boldly It was one of the greatest wonders of the World that the World was not every day set on fire We will conclude this Chapter with his words in the second Book of his Natural History having given an account of some fiery Mountains and other parts of the Earth that are the seats and sources of Fire He makes this reflection Seeing this Element is so fruitful that it brings forth it self and multiplies and encreases from the least sparks what are we to expect from so many fires already kindled on the Earth How does nature feed and satisfie so devouring an Element and such a great voracity throughout all the World without loss or diminution of her self Add to these fires we have mentioned the Stars and the Great Sun then all the fires made for humane uses fire in stones in wood in the clouds and in thunder IT EXCEEDS ALL MIRACLES IN MY OPINION THAT ONE DAY SHOULD PASS WITHOUT SETTING THE WORLD ALL ON FIRE CHAP. VIII Some new dispositions towards the Conflagration as to the matter form and situation of the Earth
and forerunners of the last day as they usually are of all great changes and calamities The destruction of Ierusalem was a type of the destruction of the World and the Evangelists always mention Earth-quakes amongst the ominous Prodigies that were to attend it But these Earth-quakes we are speaking of at present are but the beginnings of sorrow and not to be compar'd with those that will follow afterwards when Nature is convulst in her last agony just as the flames are seizing on her Of which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter These changes will happen as to the matter and form of the Earth before it is attack'd by the last fire There will be also another change as to the situation of it for that will be rectified and the Earth restor'd to the posture it had at first namely of a right aspect and conversion to the Sun But because I cannot determine at what time this restitution will be whether at the beginning middle or end of the Conflagration I will not presume to lay any stress upon it Plato seems to have imputed the Conflagration to this only which is so far true that the Revolution call'd The Great Year is this very Revolution or the return of the Earth and the Heavens to their first posture But tho' this may be contemporary with the last fire or some way concomitant yet it does not follow that it is the cause of it much less the only cause It may be an occasion of making the fire reach more easily towards the Poles when by this change of situation their long Nights and long Winters shall be taken away These new dispositions in our Earth which we expect before that great day may be look'd upon as extraordinary but not as Miraculous because they may proceed from Natural Causes But now in the last place we are to consider miraculous causes What influence they may have or what part they may bear in this great revolution of Nature By miraculous causes we understand either God's immediate Omnipotency or the Ministry of Angels and what may be perform'd by the latter is very improperly and undecently thrown upon the former 'T is a great step to Omnipotency and 't is hard to define what Miracles on this side Creation require an infinite power We are sure that the Angels are Ministring Spirits and ten thousand times ten thousand stand about the Throne of the Almighty to receive his commands and execute his judgments That perfect knowledge they have of the powers of nature and of conducting those powers to the best advantage by adjusting causes in a fit subordination one to another makes them capable of performing not only things far above our force but even above our imagination Besides they have a radical inherent power belonging to the excellency of their nature of determining the motions of matter within a far greater sphere than humane Souls can pretend to We can only command our spirits and determine their motions within the compass of our own Bodies but their activity and empire is of far greater extent and the outward World is much more subject to their dominion than to ours From these considerations it is reasonable to conclude that the generality of miracles may be and are perform'd by Angels It being less decorous to employ a Sovereign power where a subaltern is sufficient and when we hastily cast things upon God for quick dispatch we consult our own ease more than the honouor of our Maker I take it for granted here that what is done by an Angelical hand is truly providential and of divine administration and also justly bears the character of a miracle Whatsoever may be done by pure material causes or humane strength we account Natural and whatsoever is above these we call supernatural and miraculous Now what is supernatural and miraculous is either the effect of an Angelical power or of a Sovereign and Infinite power And we ought not to confound these two no more than Natural and Supernatural for there is a greater difference betwixt the highest Angelical power and Omnipotency than betwixt an Humane power and Angelical Therefore as the first Rule concerning miracles is this That we must not flie to miracles where Man and Nature are sufficient so the second Rule is this that we must not flie to a sovereign infinite power where an Angelical is sufficient And the reason in both Rules is the same namely because it argues a defect of Wisdom in all Oeconomiles to employ more and greater means than are sufficient Now to make application of this to our present purpose I think it reasonable and also sufficient to admit the ministery of Angels in the future Conflagration of the World If Nature will not lay violent hands upon her self or is not sufficient to work her own destruction Let us allow Destroying Angels to interest themselves in the work as the Executioners of the Divine Justice and Vengeance upon a degenerate World We have examples of this so frequently in Sacred History how the Angels have executed God's Judgments upon a Nation or a People that it cannot seem new or strange that in this last judgment which by all the Prophets is represented as the Great Day of the Lord the day of his Wrath and of his Fury the same Angels should bear their parts and conclude the last scene of that Tragedy which they had acted in all along We read of the Destroying Angel in Aegypt of Angels that presided at the destruction of Sodom which was a Type of the future destrution of the World Iude 7. and of Angels that will accompany our Saviour when he comes in flames of Fire Not we suppose to be Spectators only but Actors and Superintendants in this great Catastrophe This ministery of Angels may be either in ordering and conducting such Natural Causes as we have already given an account of or in adding new ones if occasion be I mean encreasing the quantity of Fire or of fiery materials in and about the Earth So as that Element shall be more abundant and more predominant and overbear all opposition that either Water or any other Body can make against it It is not material whether of these two Suppositions we follow provided we allow that the Conflagration is a work of Providence and not a pure Natural Fatality If it be necessary that there should be an augmentation made of Fiery Matter 't is not hard to conceive how that may be done either from the Heavens or from the Earth The Prophets sometimes speak of multiplying or strengthning the Light of the Sun and it may as easily be conceiv'd of his heat as of his light as if the Vial that was to be pour'd upon it and gave it a power to scorch men with fire had something of a Natural sence as well as Moral But there is another stream of Ethereal matter that flows from the Heavens and recruits the Central Fire with continual supplies
in true and lively colours we should scarce be able to attend to any thing else or ever divert our imagination from these two objects For what can more affect us than the greatest Glory that ever was visible upon Earth and at the same time the greatest Terror A God descending in the Head of an Army of Angels and a Burning World under his feet These are things truly above expression and not only so but so different and remote from our ordinary thoughts and conceptions that he that comes nearest to a true description of them shall be look'd upon as the most extravagant 'T is our unhappiness to be so much used to little trifling things in this life that when any thing great is represented to us it appears phantastical An Idea made by some contemplative or melancholy person I will not venture therefore without premising some grounds out of Scripture to say any thing concerning This Glorious Appearance As to the Burning of the World I think we have already laid a foundation sufficient to support the highest description that can be made of it But the coming of our Saviour being wholly out of the way of Natural Causes it is reasonable we should take all directions we can from Scripture that we may give a more fitting and just account of that Sacred Pomp. I need not mention those places of Scripture that prove the second coming of our Saviour in general or his return to the Earth again at the end of the World no Christian can doubt of this 't is so often repeated in those Sacred Writings But the manner and circumstances of this Coming or of this Appearance are the things we now enquire into And in the first place we may observe that Scripture tells us our Saviour will come in Flaming Fire and with an Host of mighty Angels so says S. Paul to the Thessalonians The Lord Iesus shall be revealed from Heaven with mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ. In the second place our Saviour says himself The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his Angels From which two places we may learn first that the appearance of our Saviour will be with flames of Fire Secondly With an Host of Angels Thirdly In the glory of his Father By which Glory of the Father I think is understood that Throne of Glory represented by Daniel for the Ancient of Days For our Saviour speaks here to the Iews and probably in a way intelligible to them And the Glory of the Father which they were most likely to understand would be either the Glory wherein God appeared at Mount Sinai upon the◠giving of the Law whereof the Apostle speaks largely to the Hebrews or that which Daniel represents Him in at the day of Judgment And this latter being more proper to the subject of our Saviour's discourse 't is more likely this expression refers to it Give me leave therefore to set down that description of the Glory of the Father upon his Throne from the Prophet Daniel ch 7. 9. And I beheld 〈◊〉 the Thrones were set and the Ancient of days did sit whose garment was white as snow and the hair of his head like the pure wool His Throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as burning fire A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him With this Throne of the Glory of the Father let us if you please compare the Throne of the Son of God as it was seen by S. Iohn in the Apocalypse ch 4. 2 c. And immediately I was in the Spirit and behold a throne was set in heaven and one sat on the Throne And he that fat was to look upon like a Iasper and a Sardine Stone and there was a Rain-bow round about the Throne in appearance like unto an Emerald And out of the Throne proceeded Lightnings and Thunderings and Voices c. and before the Throne was a Sea of glass like unto Crystal In those representations you have some beams of the Glory of the Father and of the Son which may be partly a direction to us in conceiving the 〈◊〉 of our Saviour's appearance Let us further observe if you please how external Nature will be affected at the sight of God or of this approaching Glory The Scripture often takes notice of this and in terms very high and eloquent The Psalmist seems to have lov'd that subject above others to set out the greatness of the day of the Lord and the consternation of all Nature at that time He throws about his thunder and lightning makes the Hills to melt like wax at the presence of the Lord and the very foundations of the Earth to tremble as you may see in the 18th Psalm and the 97. and the 104. and several others which are too long to be here inserted So the Prophet Habakkuk in his Prophetick Prayer Chap. 3d. hath many Ejaculations to the like purpose And the Prophet Nahum says The mountains quake at him and the hills melt and the Earth is burnt at his presence yea the world and all that dwell therein But more particularly as to the face of Nature just before the coming of our Saviour that may be best collected from the signs of his coming mention'd in the precedent Chapter Those all meeting together help to prepare and make ready a Theater fit for an angry God to come down upon The countenance of the Heavens will be dark and gloomy and a Veil drawn over the face of the Sun The Earth in a disposition every where to break into open flames The tops of the Mountains smoaking the Rivers dry Earthquakes in several places the Sea sunk and retir'd into its deepest Chanel and roaring as against some mighty storm These things will make the day dead and melancholy but the Night-Scenes will have more of horrour in them When the Blazing Stars appear like so many Furies with their lighted Torches threatning to set all on fire For I do not doubt but the Comets will bear a part in this Tragedy and have something extraordinary in them at that time either as to number or bigness or nearness to the Earth Besides the Air will be full of flaming Meteors of unusual forms and magnitudes Balls of fire rowling in the Skie and pointed lightnings darted against the Earth mixt with claps of thunder and unusual noises from the Clouds The Moon and the Stars will be confus'd and irregular both in their light and motions as if the whole frame of the Heavens was out of order and all the laws of Nature were broken or expir'd When all things are in this languishing or dying posture and the Inhabitants of the Earth under the fears of their last end The Heavens will open on a sudden and the Glory of
God will appear A Glory surpassing the Sun in its greatest radiancy which tho' we cannot describe we may suppose it will bear some resemblance or proportion with those representations that are made in Scripture of God upon his Throne This wonder in the Heavens whatsoever its form may be will presently attract the eyes of all the Christian World Nothing can more affect them than an object so unusual and so illustrious and that probably brings along with it their last destiny and will put a period to all humane affairs Some of the Ancients have thought that this coming of our Saviour would be in the dead of the night and his first glorious appearance in the midst of darkness God is often describ'd in Scripture as Light or Fire with darkness round about him He bowed the Heavens and came down and darkness was under his feet He made darkness his secret place His pavilion round about him were dark Waters and thick Clouds of the Skies At the brightness that was before him the thick Clouds passed And when God appear'd upon Mount Sinai the Mountain burnt with fire unto the midst of Heaven with darkness clouds and thick darkness Or as the Apostle expresses it with blackness and darkness and tempest Light is never more glorious than when surrounded with darkness and it may be the Sun at that time will be so obscure as to make little distinction of Day and Night But however this Divine Light over-bears and distinguishes it self from common Light tho' it be at Mid-day 'T was about Noon that the Light shin'd from Heaven and surrounded St. Panl And 't was on the Day-time that St. Stephen saw the Heavens opened saw the glory of God and Iesus standing at the right hand of God This light which flows from a more vital source be it Day or Night will always be predominant That appearance of God upon Mount Sinai which we mention'd if we reflect upon it will help us a little to form an Idea of this last appearance When God had declar'd that he would come down in the sight of the People The Text says There were thunders and lightnings and a thick Cloud upon the Mount and the voice of the Trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the Camp trembled And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire And the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace and the whole Mount quaked greatly If we look upon this Mount as an Epitome of the Earth this appearance gives us an imperfect resemblance of that which is to come Here are the several parts or main strokes of it first the Heavens and the Earth in smoke and fire then the appearance of a Divine Glory and the sound of a Trumpet in the presence of Angels But as the second coming of our Saviour is a Triumph over his Enemies and an entrance into his Kingdom and is acted upon the Theater of the whole Earth so we are to suppose in proportion all the parts and circumstances of it more great and magnificent When therefore this mighty God returns again to that Earth where he had once been ill treated not Mount Sinai only but all the Mountains of the Earth and all the Inhabitants of the World will tremble at his presence At the first opening of the Heavens the brightness of his Person will scatter the dark Clouds and shoot streams of light throughout all the Air. But that first appearance being far from the Earth will seem to be only a great mass of light without any distinct form till by nearer approaches this bright Body shows it self to be an Army of Angels with this King of kings for their Leader Then you may imagine how guilty Mankind will tremble and be astonish'd and while they are gazing at this heavenly Host the Voice of the Archangel is heard the shrill sound of the Trumpet reaches their ears And this gives the general Alarum to all the World For he cometh for he cometh they cry to judge the Earth The crucified God is return'd in Glory to take Vengeance upon his Enemies Not only upon those that pierc'd his Sacred Body with Nails and with a Spear as Ierusalem but those also that pierce him every day by their prophaneness and hard speeches concerning his Person and his Religion Now they see that God whom they have mock'd or blasphem'd laugh't at his meanness or at his vain threats They see Him and are confounded with shame and fear and in the bitterness of their anguish and despair call for the Mountains to fall upon them Fly into the clefts of the Rocks and into the Caves of the Earth for fear of the Lord and the glory of his Majesâ—y when he ariseth to shake terribly the Earth As it is not possible for us to express or conceive the dread and majesty of this appearance so neither can we on the other hand express the passions and consternation of the People that behold it These things exceed the measures of humane affairs and of humane thoughts we have neither words nor comparisons to make them known by The greatest pomp and magnificence of the Emperors of the East in their Armies in their Triumphs in their Inaugurations is but like the sport and entertainment of Children if compar'd with this Solemnity When God condescends to an external glory with a visible Train and Equipage When from all the Provinces of his vast and boundless Empire he summons his Nobles as I may so say The several orders of Angels and Arch-Angels to attend his Person tho' we cannot tell the form or manner of this Appearance we know there is nothing in our experience or in the whole History of this World that can be a just representation of the least part of it No Armies so numerous as the Host of Heaven and in the midst of those bright Legions in a flaming Chariot will sit the Son of Man when he comes to be glorified in his Saints and triumph over his Enemies And instead of the wild noises of the rabble which makes a great part of our worldly state This blessed company will breath their Halleluiahs into the open Air and repeated acclamations of Salvation to God which sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb. Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. But I leave the rest to our silent devotion and admiration Only give me leave whilst this object is before our eyes to make a short reflection upon the wonderful history of our Saviour and the different states which that Sacred Person within the compass of our knowledge hath undergone We now see him coming in the Clouds in glory and triumph surrounded with innumerable Angels This is the same Person who so many hundred years ago enter'd Ierusalem with another sort of Equipage mounted upon an Ass's Colt while the
This is a small part of the disorders of that day But 't is not possible from any station to have a full prospect of this last Scene of the Earth for 't is a mixture of fire and darkness This New Temple is fill'd with smoak while it is consecrating and none can enter into it But I am apt to think if we could look down upon this burning World from above the Clouds and have a full view of it in all its parts we should think it a lively representation of Hell it self For Fire and darkness are the two chief things by which that state or that place uses to be describ'd and they are both here mingled together with all other ingredients that make that Tophet that is prepar'd of old Here are Lakes of fire and brimstone Rivers of melted glowing matter Ten thousand Volcano's vomiting flames all at once Thick darkness and Pillars of smoak twisted about with wreaths of flame like fiery Snakes Mountains of Earth thrown up into the Air and the Heavens dropping down in lumps of fire These things will all be literally true concerning that day and that state of the Earth And if we suppose Beelzebub and his Apostate crew in the midst of this fiery furnace and I know not where they can be else It will be hard to find any part of the Universe or any state of things that answers to so many of the properties and characters of Hell as this which is now before us But if we suppose the storm over and that the fire hath got an entire victory over all other bodies and subdued every thing to it self the Conflagration will end in a Deluge of fire Or in a Sea of fire covering the whole Globe of the Earth For when the exterior region of the Earth is melted into a fluor like molten glass or running metal it will according to the nature of other Fluids fill all vacuities and depressions and fall into a regular surface at an equal distance every where from its center This Sea of fire like the first Abyss will cover the face of the whole Earth make a kind of second Chaos and leave a capacity for another World to rise from it But that is not our present business Let us only if you please to take leave of this subject reflect upon this occasion on the transient and 〈◊〉 glory of all this habitable World How by the force of one Element breaking loose upon the rest all the Varieties of Nature all the works of Art all the labours of Men are reduc'd to nothing All that we admir'd and ador'd before as great and magnificent is obliterated or vanish'd And another form and face of things plain simple and every where the same overspreads the whole Earth Where are now the great Empires of the World and their great Imperial Cities Their Pillars Tropheâ—s and Monuments of glory Show me where they stood read the Inscription tell me the Victorâ—s name What remains what impressions what difference or distinction do you see in this mass of fire Rome it self Eternal Rome the Great City the Empress of the World whose domination and superstition ancient and modern make a great part of the History of this Earth What is become of her now She laid her foundations deep and her Palaces were strong and sumptuous She glorified her self and liv'd deliciously and said in her heart I sit a Queen and shall see no sorrow But her hour is come she is wip'd away from the face of the Earth and buried in perpetual oblivion But 't is not Cities only and works of Men's hands but the everlasting Hills the Mountains and Rocks of the Earth are melted as Wax before the Sun and their place is no where found Here stood the Alpes a prodigious range of Stone the Load of the Earth that cover'd many Countries and reach'd their arms from the Ocean to the Black Sea This huge mass of Stone is soften'd and dissolv'd as a tender Cloud into rain Here stood the African Mountains and Atlas with his top above the Clouds There was frozen Caucasus and Taurus and Imaus and the Mountains of Asia And yonder towards the North stood the Riphaean Hills cloath'd in Ice and Snow All these are vanish'd dropt away as the Snow upon their heads and swallowed up in a red Sea of fire Great and marvellous are thy Works Lord God Almighty Iust and true are thy ways Thou King of Saints Hallelujah The CONCLVSION IF the Conflagration of the World be a reality as both by Scripture and Antiquity we are assur'd it is If we be fully perswaded and convinc'd of this 'T is a thing of that nature that we cannot keep it long in our thoughts without making some moral reflections upon it 'T is both great in it self and of universal concern to all Mankind Who can look upon such an Object A World in Flames without thinking with himself Whether shall I be in the midst of these â—lames or no What is my security that I shall not fall under this fiery vengeance which is the wrath of an angry God St. Peter when he had deliver'd the doctrine of the Conflagration makes this pious reflection upon it Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolv'd what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness The strength of his argument depends chiefly upon what he had said before in the 7th Verse where he told us that the present Heavens and Earth were reserv'd unto fire against the Day of Iudgment and the perdition of irreligious men We must avoid the crime then if we would escape the punishment But this expression of irreligious or ungodly men is still very general St. Paul when he speaks of this fiery indignation and the Persons it is to fall upon is more distinct in their characters He seems to mark out for this destruction three sorts of men chiefly The Atheists Infidels and the Tribe of Antichrist These are his words When the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ. Then as for Antichrist and his adherents he says in the 2d Chapt. and 8th Verse The Lord shall consume that Wicked one with the Spirit of his mouth and shall destroy him with the brightness of his coming or of his Presence These you see all refer to the same time with St. Peter namely to the coming of our Saviour at the Conflagration and three sorts of Persons are characteriz'd as his Enemies and set out for destruction at that time First those that know not God that is that acknowledge not God that will not own the Deity Secondly those that hearken not to the Gospel that is that reject the Gospel and Christian Religion when they are preach'd and made known to them For you must not think that it is the poor barbarous and
Heaven with power and great glory and that will be to judge the World When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the Throne of his glory And before him shall be gather'd all Nations and he will separate the good from the bad and to the wicked and unbelievers he will say Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels This is the same Coming and the same Fire with that which we mention'd before out of S. Paul As you will plainly see if you compare S. Matthew's words with S. Paul's which are these When the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that hearken not to the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from or by the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power This me thinks should be an awakening thought that there is such a threatning upon record by one who never yet fail'd in his word against those that do not believe his Testimony Those that reject him now as a Dupe or an Impostor run a hazard of seeing him hereafter coming in the Clouds to be their Judge And it will be too late then to correct their errour when the bright Armies of Angels fill the Air and the Earth begins to melt at the Presence of the Lord. Thus much concerning those three ranks of Men whom the Apostle S. Paul seems to point at principally and condemn to the flames But as I said before the rest of sinners and vitious Persons amongst the Professors of Christianity tho' they are not so directly the Enemies of God as these are yet being transgressors of his Law they must expect to be brought to Justice In every well-govern'd State not only Traitors and Rebels that offend more immediately against the Person of the Prince but all others that notoriously violate the Laws are brought to condign punishment according to the nature and degree of their crime So in this case The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is 'T is therefore the concern of every man to reflect often upon that Day and to consider what his fate and sentence is likely to be at that last Trial. The Iews have a Tradition that Elias sits in Heaven and keeps a Register of all Mens actions good or bad He hath his Under Secretaries for the several Nations of the World that take minutes of all that passes and so hath the History of every Man's life before him ready to be produc'd at the Day of Judgment I will not vouch for the literal truth of this but it is true in effect Every Man's fate shall be determin'd that Day according to the history of his Life according to the works done in the flesh whether good or bad And therefore it ought to have as much influence upon us as if every single action was formally register'd in Heaven If Men would learn to contemn this World it would cure a great many Vices at once And methinks S. Peter's argument from the approaching dissolution of all things should put us out of conceit with such perishing vanities Lust and Ambition are the two reigning Vices of great Men and those little fires might be soon extinguish'd if they would frequently and seriously meditate on this last and Universal Fire which will put an end to all Passions and all Contentions As to Ambition the Heathens themselves made use of this argument to abate and repress the vain affectation of glory and greatness in this World I told you before the lesson that was given to Scipio Africanus by his Uncle's Ghost upon this Subject And upon a like occasion and consideration Caesar hath a lesson given him by Lucan after the Battle of Pharsalia where Pompey lost the day and Rome its liberty The Poet says Caesar took pleasure in looking upon the dead Bodies and would not suffer them to be buried or which was their manner of burying to be burnt Whereupon he speaks to him in these words Hos Caesar populos si nunc non usserit Ignis Uret cum Terris uret cum gurgite Ponti Communis mundo superest Rogus Ossibus astra Misturus Quocunque Tuam Fortuna vocabit Hae quoque eunt Animae non altiùs ibis in auras Non meliore loco Stygiâ sub nocte jacebis Libera fortuna Mors est Capit omnia Tellus Quae genuit Coelo tegitur Qui non habet urnam Caesar If now these Bodies want their pile and urn At last with the whole Globe they 're sure to burn The World expects one general Fire and Thou Must go where these poor Sculs are wand'ring now Thou'l reach no higher in th' Ethereal Plain Nor 'mongst the Shades a better place obtain Death levels all And He that has not room To make a Grave Heaven's Vault shall be his Tomb. These are mortifying thoughts to ambitious Spirits And surely our own Mortality and the Mortality of the World it self may be enough to convince all considering Men That Vanity of Vanities all is vanity under the Sun any otherwise than as they relate to a better Life FINIS THE THEORY OF THE EARTH Containing an Account OF THE Original of the Earth AND OF ALL THE GENERAL CHANGES Which it hath already undergone OR IS TO UNDERGO Till the CONSUMMATION of all Things THE FOURTH BOOK Concerning the NEW HEAVENS and NEW EARTH AND Concerning the CONSUMMATION of all Things LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. PREFACE TO THE READER YOU see it is still my lot to travel into New Worlds having never found any great satisfaction in this As an active people leaves their habitations in a barren soil to try if they can make their fortune better elsewhere I first lookt backwards and waded through the Deluge into the Primaeval World to see how they liv'd there and how Nature stood in that original constitution Now I am going forwards to view the New Heavens and New Earth that will be after the Conflagration But Gentle Reader let me not take you any further if you be weary I do not love a querulous Companion Unless your Genius therefore press you forwards chuse rather to rest here and be content with that part of the Theory which you have seen already Is it not fair to have followed Nature so far as to have seen her twice in her ruins Why should we still pursue her even after death and dissolution into dark and remote Futurities To whom therefore such disquisitions seem needless or over-curious let them rest here and leave the remainder of this Work which is a kind of PROPHECY concerning the STATE of things after the Conflagration to those that are of a disposition suited to such studies and enquiries Not that any part of this Theory
requires much Learning Art or Science to be Master of it But a love and thirst after Truth freedom of Iudgment and a resignation of our Understanding to clear Evidence let it carry us which way it will An honest English Reader that looks only at the Sence as it lies before him and neither considers nor cares whether it be New or Old so it be true may be a more competent Iudge than a great Scholar fall of his own Notions and puff'd up with the opinion of his mighty knowledge For such men think they cannot in honour own any thing to be true which they did not know before To be taught any new knowledge is to confess their former ignorance and that lessens them in their own opinion and as they think in the opinion of the World which are both uneasie reflections to them Neither must we depend upon age only for soundness of Iudgment Men in discovering and owning truth seldom change their Opinions after threescore especially if they be leading Opinions It is then too late we think to begin the World again and as we grow old the Heart contracts and cannot open wide enough to take in a great thought The Spheres of mens Understandings are as different as Prospects upon the Earth Some stand upon a Rock or a Mountain and see far round about Others are in an hollow or in a Cave and have no prospect at all Some men consider nothing but what is present to their Senses Others extend their thoughts both to what is past and what is future And yet the fairest prospect in this Life is not to be compar'd to the least we shall have in another 〈◊〉 clearest day here is â—â—irty and hazy We see not far and what we do see is in a had light But when we have got better Bodies in the first Resurrection whereof we are going to Treat better Senses and a better Understanding a clearer light and an higher station our Horizon will be enlarg'd every way both as to the Natural World and as to the Intellecual Two of the greatest Speculations that we are capable of in this Life are in my Opinion The REVOLUTION OF WORLDS and the REVOLUTION OF SOULS one for the Material World and the other for the Intellectual Toward the former of these Our Theory is an Essay and in this our Planet which I hope to conduct into a Fix'd Star before I have done with it we give an instance of what may be in other Planets 'T is true we took our rise no higher than the Chaos because that was a known principle and we were not willing to amuse the Reader with too many strange Stories as that I am sure would have been thought one TO HAVE brought this Earth from a Fix'd Star and then carried it up again into the same Sphere Which yet I believe is the true circle of Natural Providence As to the Revolution of Souls the footsteps of that Speculation are more obscure than of the former For tho' we are assur'd by Scripture that all good Souls will at length have Celestial Bodies yet that this is a returning to a Primitive State or to what they had at their first Creation that Scripture has not acquainted us with It tells us indeed that Angels fell from their Primitive Celestial Glory and consequently we might be capable of a lapse as well as they if we had been in that high condition with them But that we ever were there is not declared to us by any revelation Reason and Morality would indeed suggest to us that an innocent Soul fresh and pure from the hands of its Maker could not be immediately cast into Prison before it had by any act of its own Will or any use of its own Understanding committed either error or sin I call this Body a Prison both because it is a confinement and restraint upon our best Faculties and Capacities and is also the seat of diseases and loathsomness and as prisons use to do commonly tends more to debauch mens Natures than to improve them But tho' we cannot certainly tell under what circumstances humane Souls were plac'd at first yet all Antiquity agrees Oriental and Occidental concerning their pre existence in general in respect of these mortal Bodies And our Saviour never reproaches or corrects the Jews when they speak upon that supposition Luk. 9. 18 19. Joh. 9. 2. Besides it seems to me beyond all controversie that the Soul of the Messiah did exist before the Incarnation and voluntarily descended from Heaven to take upon it a Mortal Body And tho' it does not appear that all humane Souls were at first plac'd in Glory yet from the example of our Saviour we see something greater in them Namely a capacity to be united to the Godhead And what is possible to one is possible to more But these thoughts are too high for us while we find our selves united to nothing but diseased bodies and houses of clay The greatest fault we can commit in such Speculations is to be over-positive and Dogmatical To be inquisitive into the ways of Providence and the works of God is so far from being a fault that it is our greatest perfection We cultivate the highest principles and best inclinations of our Nature while we are thus employ'd and 't is littleness or secularity of Spirit that is the greatest Enemy to Contemplation Those that would have a true contempt of this World must suffer the Soul to be sometimes upon the Wing and to raise her self above the sight of this little dark Point which we now inhabit Give her a large and free prospect of the immensity of God's works and of his inexhausted wisdom and goodness if you would make her Great and Good As the warm Philosopher says Give me a Soul so great so high Let her dimensions stretch the Skie That comprehends within a thought The whole extent 'twixt God and Nought And from the World's first birth and date Its Life and Death can calculate With all th' adventures that shall pass To ev'ry Atome of the Mass. But let her be as GOOD as GREAT Her highest Throne a Mercy-Seat Soft and dissolving like a Cloud Losing her self in doing good A Cloud that leaves its place above Rather than dry and useless move Falls in a showre upon the Earth And gives ten thousand Seeds a birth Hangs on the Flow'rs and infant Plants Sucks not their Sweets but feeds their Wants So let this mighty Mind diffuse All that 's her own to others use And free from private ends retain Nothing of SELF but a bare Name THE THEORY OF THE EARTH BOOK IV. Concerning the new Heavens and new Earth AND Concerning the Consummation of all things CHAP. I. THE INTRODVCTION That the World will not be annihilated in the last Fire That we are to expect according to Scripture and the Christian Doctrine New Heavens and a New Earth when these are dissolv'd or burnt up WE are now so far advanc'd
in the Theory of the Earth as to have seen the End of Two Worlds One destroy'd by Water and another by Fire It remains only to consider whether we be yet come to the final period of Nature The last Scene of all things and consequently the utmost bound of our enquiries Or whether Providence which is inexhausted in Wisdom and Goodness will raise up from this dead Mass New Heavens and a New Earth Another habitable World better and more perfect than that which was destroyed That as the first World began with a Paradise and a state of Innocency so the last may be a kind of Renovation of that happy state whose Inhabitants shall not die but be translated to a blessed Immortality I know 't is the opinion of some that this World will be annihilated or reduc'd to nothing at the Conflagration and that would put an end to all further enquiries But whence do they learn this from Scripture or Reason or their own imagination What instance or example can they give us of this they call Annihilation Or what place of Scripture can they produce that says the World in the last Fire shall be reduc'd to nothing If they have neither instance nor proof of what they affirm 't is an empty Imagination of their own neither agreeable to Philosophy nor Divinity Fire does not consume any substance It changes the form and qualities of it but the matter remains And if the design had been Annihilation the employing of fire would have been of no use or effect For smoak and ashes are at as great a distance from Nothing as the bodies themselves out of which they are made But these Authors seem to have but a small tincture of Philosophy and therefore it will be more proper to confute their opinion from the words of Scripture which hath left us sufficient evidence that another World will succeed after the Conflagration of that we now inhabit The Prophets both of the Old and New Testament have left us their predictions concerning New Heavens and a New Earth So says the Prophet Isaiah ch 65. 17. Behold I create New Heavens and a New Earth and the former shall not be remembred or come into mind As not worthy our thoughts in comparison of those that will arise when these pass away So the Prophet S. Iohn in his Apocalypse when he was come to the End of this World says And I saw a new heaven and a new earth For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more Sea Where he does not only give us an account of a New Heaven and a New Earth in general but also gives a distinctive character of the New Earth that it shall have no Sea And in the 5th ver He that sat upon the Throne says Behold I make all things New which consider'd with the antecedents and consequents cannot be otherwise understood than of a New World But some Men make evasions here as to the words of the Prophets and say they are to be understood in a figurate and allegorical sence and to be applyed to the times of the Gospel either at first or towards the latter end of the World So as this New Heaven and New Earth signifie only a great change in the moral World But how can that be seeing S. Iohn places them after the end of the World And the Prophet Isaiah connects such things with his New Heavens and New Earth as are not competible to the present state of Nature However to avoid all shuffling and tergiversation in this point let us appeal to S. Peter who uses a plain literal style and discourses down-right concerning the Natural World In his 2d Epist. and 3d. Chap when he had foretold and explain'd the Future Conflagration he adds But we expect New Heavens and a New Earth according to his promises These Promises were made by the Prophets and this gives us full authority to interpret their New Heavens and New Earth to be after the Conflagration S. Peter when he had describ'd the Dissolution of the World in the last Fire in full and emphatical terms as the passing away of the Heavens with a noise the melting of the Elements and burning up all the works of the Earth he subjoyns Nevertheless notwithstanding this total dissolution of the present World We according to his promises look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness As if the Apostle should have said Notwithstanding this strange and violent dissolution of the present Heavens and Earth which I have describ'd to you we do not at all distrust God's Promises concerning New Heavens and a New Earth that are to succeed these and to be the seat of the Righteous Here 's no room for Allegories or allegorical expositions unless you will make the Conflagration of the World an Allegory For as Heavens and Earth were destroy'd so Heavens and Earth are restored and if in the first place you understand the natural material World you must also understand it in the second place They are both Allegories or neither But to make the Conflagration an Allegory is not only to contradict S. Peter but all Antiquity Sacred or Prophane And I desire no more assurance that we shall have New Heavens and a New Earth in a literal Sence than we have that the present Heavens and Earth shall be destroyed in a literal Sence and by material Fire Let it therefore rest upon that issue as to this first evidence and argument from Scripture Some will fancy it may be that we shall have New Heavens and Earth and yet that these shall be annihilated They would have These first reduc'd to nothing and then others created spick and span New out of nothing But why so pray what 's the humour of that Lest Omnipotency should want employment you would have it do and undo and do again As if new-made Matter like new Clothes or new Furniture had a better Gloss and was more creditable Matter never wears as fine Gold melt it down never so often it loses nothing of its quantity The substance of the World is the same burnt or unburnt and is of the same Value and Virtue New or Old and we must not multiply the actions of Omnipotency without necessity God does not make or unmake things to try experiments He knows before hand the utmost capacities of every thing and does no vain or superfluous work Such imaginations as these proceed only from want of true Philosophy or the true knowledge of the Nature of God and of his Works which should always be carefully attended to in such Speculations as concern the Natural World But to proceed in our Subject If they suppose part of the World to be annihilated and to continue so they Philosophize still worse and worse How high shall this Annihilation reach Shall the Sun Moon and Stars be reduc'd to nothing but what have They done that they should undergo so hard a fate must
they be turn'd out of Being for our faults The whole material Universe will not be Annihilated at this bout for we are to have Bodies after the Resurrection and to live in Heaven How much of the Universe then will you leave standing or how shall it subsist with this great Vacuum in the heart of it This shell of a World is but the fiction of an empty Brain For God and Nature in their works never admit of such gaping vacuities and emptinesses If we consult Scripture again we shall find that that makes mention of a Restitution and Reviviscency of all things At the End of the World or at the Coming of our Saviour S. Peter whose doctrine we have hitherto followed in his Sermon to the Iews after our Saviour's Ascension tells them that He will come again and that there will be then a Restitution of all things such as was promised by the Prophets The Heavens says he must receive him until the time of Restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy Prophets since the world began If we compare this passage of S. Peter's with that which we alledged before out of his second Epistle it can scarce be doubted but that he refers to the same Promises in both places and what he there calls a New Heaven and a New Earth he calls here a Restitution of all things For the Heavens and the Earth comprehend all and both these are but different phrases for the Renovation of the World This gives us also light how to understand what our Saviour calls the Regeneration or Reviviscency when he shall sit upon his Throne of Glory and will reward his followers an hundred fold for all their Losses in this World Besides Everlasting Life as the Crown of all I know in our English Translation we separate the Regeneration from sitting upon his Throne but without any warrant from the Original And seeing our Saviour speaks here of Bodily goods and seems to distinguish them from everlasting life which is to be the final reward of his Followers This Regeneration seems to belong to his Second Coming when the World shall be renew'd or regenerated and the Righteous shall possess the Earth Other places of Scripture that foretel the fate of this Material World represent it always as a Change not as an Annihilation S. Paul says The Figure of this World passes away 1 Cor. 7. 31. The form fashion and disposition of its parts But the substance still remains As a Body that is melted down and dissolv'd the Form perishes but the Matter is not destroy'd And the Psalmist says The Heavens and the Earth shall be chang'd which answers to this Transformation we speak of The same Apostle in the Eighth Chapter to the Romans shows also that this change shall be and shall be for the better and calls it a Deliverance of the Creation from vanity and corruption and a participation of the glorious liberty of the Children of God Being a sort of Redemption as they have a Redemption of their Bodies But seeing the Renovation of the World is a Doctrine generally receiv'd both by ancient and modern Authors as we shall have occasion to show hereafter We need add no more in this place for confirmation of it Some Men are willing to throw all things into a state of Nothing at the Conflagration and bury them there that they may not be oblig'd to give an account of that state of things that is to succeed it Those who think themselves bound in honour to know every thing in Theology that is knowable and find it uneasie to answer such questions and speculations as would arise upon their admitting a New World think it more adviseable to stifle it in the birth and so to bound all knowledge at the Conflagration But surely so far as Reason or Scripture lead us we may and ought to follow otherwise we should be ungrateful to Providence that sent us those Guides Provided we be always duly sensible of our own weakness and according to the difficulty of the subject and the measure of light that falls upon it proceed with that modesty and ingenuity that becomes such fallible enquirers after Truth as we are And this rule I desire to prescribe to my self as in all other Writings so especially in this where tho' I look upon the principal Conclusions as fully prov'd there are several particulars that are rather propos'd to examination than positively asserted CHAP. II. The Birth of the new Heavens and the new Earth from the second Chaos or the remains of the old World The form order and qualities of the new Earth according to Reason and Scripture HAving prov'd from Scripture that we are to expect New Heavens and a New Earth after the Conflagration it would be some pleasure and satisfaction to see how this new Frame will arise and what foundation there is in Nature for the accomplishment of these promises For tho' the Divine Power be not bound to all the Laws of Nature but may dispence with them when there is a necessity yet it is an ease to us in our belief when we see them both conspire in the same effect And in order to this we must consider in what posture we left the demolish'd World what hopes there is of a Restauration And we are not to be discourag'd because we see things at present wrapt up in a confus'd Mass for according to the methods of Nature and Providence in that dark Womb usually are the seeds and rudiments of an Embryo World Now as to the lower of these two regions the region of melted matter A. A. we shall have little occasion to take notice of it seeing it will contribute nothing to the formation of the new World But the upper region or all above that Orb of fire is the true draught of a Chaos or a mixture and confusion of all the Elements without order or distinction Here are particles of Earth and of Air and of Water all promiscuously jumbled together by the force and agitation of the fire But when that force ceases and every one is left to its own inclination they will according to their different degrees of gravity separate and sort themselves after this manner First the heaviest and grossest parts of the Earth will subside then the watery parts will follow then a lighter sort of Earth which will stop and rest upon the Surface of the Water and compose there a thin film or membrane this membrane or tender Orb is the first rudiment or foundation of a new habitable Earth For according as terrestrial parts fall upon it from all the regions and heighths of the Atmosphere or of the Chaos this Orb will grow more firm strong and immoveable able to support it self and Inhabitants too And having in it all the Principles of a fruitful Soil whether for the production of Plants or of Animals it will want no property or character of an
habitable Earth And particularly will become such an Earth and of such a form as the first Paradisiacal Earth was Which hath been fully describ'd in the first and second Books of this Theory There is no occasion of examining more accurately the formation of this Second Earth seeing it is so much the same with that of the First which is set down fully and distinctly in the Fifth Chapter of the first Book of this Theory Nature here repeats the same work and in the same method only the materials are now a little more refin'd and purg'd by the fire They both rise out of a Chaos and That in effect the same in both cases For though in forming the first Earth I suppos'd the Chaos or confus'd Mass to reach down to the Center I did that only for the ease of our imagination that so the whole Mass might appear more simple and uniform But in reality that Chaos had a solid kernel of Earth within as this hath and that matter which fluctuated above in the regions of the Air was the true Chaos whose parts when they came to a separation made the several Elements and the form of an habitable Earth betwixt the Air and Water This Chaos upon separation will fall into the same form and Elements and so in like manner create or constitute a second Paradisiacal World I say a Paradisiacal World for it appears plainly that this new-form'd Earth must agree with that Primigenial Earth in the two principal and fundamental properties First It is of an even entire uniform and regular Surface without Mountains or Sea Secondly That it hath a straight and regular situation to the Sun and the Axis of the Ecliptick From the manner of its formation it appears manifestly that it must be of an even and regular Surface For the Orb of liquid fire upon which the first descent was made being smooth and uniform every where the matter that fell upon it would take the same form and mould And so the second or third Region that were superinduc'd would still imitate the fashion of the first there being no cause or occasion of any inequality Then as to the situation of its Axis this uniformity of figure would determine the center of its gravity to be exactly in the middle and consequently there would be no inclination of one Pole more than another to the general center of its motion But upon a free libration in the liquid Air its Axis would lie parallel with the Axis of the Ecliptick where it moves But these things having been deduc'd more fully in the second Book about Paradise and the Primigenial Earth they need no further explication in this place If Scripture had left us several distinct Characters of the New Heavens and the New Earth we might by compare with those have made a full proof of our Hypothesis One indeed St. Iohn hath left us in very express terms There was no Sea there He says His words are these And I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away AND THERE WAS NO MORE SEA This character is very particular and you see it exactly answers to our Hypothesis for in the new-form'd Earth the Sea is cover'd and inconspicuous being an Abyss not a Sea and wholly lodg'd in the Womb of the Earth And this one Character being inexplicable upon any other supposition and very different from the present Earth makes it a strong presumption that we have hit upon the true model of the New Heavens and New Earth which S. Iohn saw To this sight of the New Heavens and New Earth S. Iohn immediately subjoyns the sight of the New Ierusalem ver 2. as being contemporary and in some respects the same thing 'T is true the Characters of the New Ierusalem in these two last Chapters of the Apoâ—alypse are very hard to be understood some of them being incompetible to a Terrestrial state and some of them to a Celestial so as it seems to me very reasonable to suppose that the New Ierusalem spoken of by S. Iohn is twofold That which he saw himself ver 2. and that which the Angel shewed him afterwards ver 9. For I do not see what need there was of an Angel and of taking him up into a great and high mountain only to shew him that which he had seen before at the foot of the Mountain But however that be we are to consider in this place the Terrestrial New Ierusalem only or that which is in the New Heavens and New Earth And as St. Iohn hath joyned these two together so the Prophet Isaiah had done the same thing before when he had promised New Heavens and a New Earth he calls them under another name Ierusalem and they both use the same character in effect in the description of their Ierusalem Isaiah says And I will rejoyce in Ierusalem and joy in my people and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying S. Iohn says also in his Jerusalem God shall dwell with them and they shall be his people And he shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain Now in both these Prophets when they treat upon this subject we find they make frequent allusions to Paradise and a Paradisiacal state so as that may be justly taken as a Scripture-Character of the New Heavens and the New Earth The Prophet Isaiah seems plainly to point at a Paradisiacal state throughout that Chapter by an universal innocency and harmlesness of animals and peace plenty health longaevity or immortality of the inhabitants S. Iohn also hath several allusions to Paradise in those two Chapters where he describes the New Jerusalem And in his discourse to the seven Churches in one place ch 2. 7. To him that overcometh is promised to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God And in another place ch 3. 12. to him that overcometh is promised to have the name of the New Ierusalem writ upon him These I take to be the same thing and the same reward of Christian Victors The New Ierusalem or the New Heavens and New Earth and the Paradise of God Now this being the general Character of the New Earth That it is Paradifiacals and the particular Character That it hath no Sea and both these agreeing with our Hypothesis as apparently deducible from those principles and that manner of its formation which we have set down We cannot but allow that the Holy Scriptures and the Natural Theory agree in their Testimony as to the conditions and properties of the New Heavens and New Earth From what hath been said in this and the precedent Chapter it will not be hard to interpret what S. Paul meant by his Habitable Earth to come which is to be subjected to our Saviour
and not to the Angels In the second chapter to the Hebrews ver 5. he says For unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the WORLD TO COME So we read it but according to the strictest and plainest Translation it should be The habitable Earth to come Now what Earth is this where our Saviour is absolute Soveraign and where the Government is neither Humane nor Angelical but peculiarly Theocratical In the first place this cannot be the present World or the present Earth because the Apostle calls it Future or the Earth to come Nor can it be understood of the days of the Gospel seeing the Apostle acknowledges ver 8. That this subjection whereof he speaks is not yet made And seeing Antichrist will not finally be destroy'd till the appearance of our Saviour 2 Thess. 2. 8. nor Satan bound while Antichrist is in power during the reign of these two who are the Rulers of the darkness of the World our Saviour cannot properly be said to begin his reign here 'T is true He exercises his Providence over his Church and secures it from being destroy'd He can by a power paramount stop the rage either of Satan or Antichrist Hitherto shall you go and no further As sometimes when he was upon Earth he exerted a Divine Power which yet did not destroy his state of Humiliation so he interposes now when he thinks fit but he does not finally take the power out of the hands of his Enemies nor out of the hands of the Kings of the Earth The Kingdom is not deliver'd up to him and all dominion and power That all Tongues and Nations should serve him For S. Paul can mean no less in this place than that Kingdom in Daniel Seeing he calls it putting all things in subjection under his feet and says that it is not yet done Upon this account also as well as others our Saviour might truly say to Pilate Ioh. 18 36. my kingdom is not of this World And to his Disciples The Son of man came not to be ministred unto but to minister Matt. 20. 28. When he comes to receive his Kingdom he comes in the clouds of Heaven Dan. 7. 13 14. not in the womb of a Virgin He comes with the equipage of a King and Conquer or with thousands and ten thousands of Angels not in the form of a Servant or of a weak Infant as he did at his first coming I allow the phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The World to come is sometimes us'd in a large sence as comprehending all the days of the Messiah whether at his First or Second Coming for these two Comings are often undistinguish'd in Scripture and respect the Moral World as well as the Natural But the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orbis habitabilis which S. Paul here uses does primarily signifie the Natural World or the Habitable Earth in the proper use of the word amongst the Greeks and frequently in Scripture Luke 4. 5. and 21. 26. Rom. 10. 18. Heb. 1. 6. Apoc. 3. 10. Neither do we here exclude the Moral World or the Inhabitants of the Earth but rather necessarily include them Both the Natural and Moral World to come will be the seat and subject of our Saviour's Kingdom and Empire in a peculiar manner But when you understand nothing by this phrase but the present moral World it neither answers the proper signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the first or second part of the expression And tho such like phrases may be us'd for the Dispensation of the Messiah in opposition to that of the Law yet the height of that distinction or opposition and the fulfilling of the expression depends upon the second coming of our Saviour and upon the Future Earth or habitable World where he shall Reign and which does peculiarly belong to Him and His Saints Neither can this World to come or this Earth to come be understood of the Kingdom of Heaven For the Greek word will not bear that sence nor is it ever us'd in Scripture for Heaven Besides the Kingdom of Heaven when spoken of as future is not properly till the last resurrection and final judgment Whereas This World to come which our Saviour is to govern must be before that time and will then expire For all his Government as to this World expires at the day of Judgment and he will then deliver up the kingdom into the hands of his father that he may be all in all Having reigned first himselfe and put down all rule and all authority and power So that S. Paul in these two places of his Epistles refers plainly to the same time and the same reign of Christ which must be in a future World and before the last day of Iudgment and therefore according to our deductions in the New Heavens and the New Earth CHAP. III. Concerning the Inhabitants of the New Earth That Natural Reason cannot determine this point That according to Scripture The Sons of the first Resurrection or the Heirs of the Millennium are to be the Inhabitants of the New Earth The Testimony of the Philosophers and of the Christian Fathers for the Renovation of the World The first Proposition laid down THUS we have setled the True Notion according to Reason and Scripture of the New Heavens and New Earth But where are the Inhabitants you 'l say You have taken the pains to make us a New World and now that it is made it must stand empty When the first World was destroyed there were Eight Persons preserv'd with a Set of Living Creatures of every Kind as a Seminary or foundation of another World But the Fire it seems is more merciless than the Water for in this destruction of the World it does not appear that there is one living Soul left of any sort upon the face of the Earth No hopes of posterity nor of any continuation of Mankind in the usual way of propagation And Fire is a barren Element that breeds no living Creatures in it nor hath any nourishment proper for their food or sustenance We are perfectly at a loss therefore so far as I see for a new race of Mankind or how to People this new-form'd World The Inhabitants if ever there be any must either come from Heaven or spring from the Earth There are but these two ways But Natural Reason can determine neither of these sees no tract to follow in these unbeaten paths nor can advance one step further Farewel then dear Friend I must take another Guide and leave you here as Moses upon Mount Pisgah only to look into that Land which you cannot enter I acknowledge the good service you have done and what a faithful Companion you have been in a long journey from the beginning of the World to this hour in a tract of time of six thousand years We have travel'd together through the dark
regions of a First and Second Chaos seen the World twice shipwrackt Neither Water nor Fire could separate us But now you must give place to other Guides Welcom Holy Scriptures The Oracles of God a Light shining in darkness a Treasury of hidden Knowledge and where humane faculties cannot reach a seasonable help and supply to their defects We are now come to the utmost bounds of their dominion They have made us a New World but how it shall be inhabited they cannot tell know nothing of the History or affairs of it This we must learn from other Masters inspir'd with the knowledge of things to come And such Masters we know none but the holy Prophets and Apostles We must therefore now put our selves wholly under their conduct and instruction and from them only receive our information concerning the moral state of the future habitable Earth In the first place therefore The Prophet Isaiah tells us as a preparation to our further enquiries The Lord God created the Heavens God himselfe that formed the Earth He created it not in vain he formed it to be inhabited This is true both of the present Earth and the Future and of every habitable World whatsoever For to what purpose is it made habitable if not to be inhabited That would be as if a man should manure and plough and every way prepare his ground for seed but never sow it We do not build houses that they should stand empty but look out for Tenants as fast as we can as soon as they are made ready and become Tenantable But if man could do things in vain and without use or design yet God and Nature never do any thing in vain much less so great a work as the making of a World Which if it were in vain would comprehend ten thousand vanities or useless preparations in it We may therefore in the first place safely conclude That the New Earth will be inhabited But by whom will it be inhabited This makes the second enquiry S. Peter answers this question for us and with a particular application to this very subject of the New Heavens and New Earth They shall be inhabited he says by the Iust or the Righteous His words which we cited before are these When he had describ'd the Conflagration of the World he adds But we expect New Heavens and a New Earth WHEREIN DWELLETH RIGHTEOUSNESS By Righteousness here it is generally agreed must be understood Righteous Persons For Righteousness cannot be without Righteous Persons It cannot hang upon Trees or grow out of the ground 'T is the endowment of reasonable Creatures And these Righteous Persons are eminently such and therefore call'd Righteousness in the abstract or purely Righteous without mixture of Vice So we have found Inhabitants for the New Earth Persons of an high and noble Character Like those describ'd by S. Peter 1 Ep. 2. 9. A chosen generation a Royal Priesthood an Holy Nation a peculiar People As if into that World as into S. Iohn's New Ierusalem nothing impure or unrighteous was to be admitted These being then the happy and holy Inhabitants The next enquiry is Whence do they come From what off-spring or from what Original We noted before that there was no remnant of Mankind left at the Conflgration as there was at the Deluge nor any hopes of a Restauration that way Shall we then imagine that these New Inhabitants are a Colony wafted over from some neighbouring World as from the Moon or Mercury or some of the higher Planets You may imagine what you please but that seems to me not imaginary only but impracticable And that the Inhabitants of those Planets are Persons of so great accomplishments is more than I know but I am sure they are not the Persons here understood For these must be such as inhabited this Earth before WE look for New Heavens and New Earth says the Apostle Surely to have some share and interest in them otherwise there would be no comfort in that expectation And the Prophet Isaiah said before I create New Heavens and a New Earth and the former shall come no more into remembrance But be YOU glad and rejoyce for ever in that which I create The truth is none can have so good pretensions to this spot of ground we call the Earth as the Sons of Men seeing they once possest it And if it be restor'd again 't is their propriety and inheritance But 't is not Mankind in general that must possess this New World but the Israel of God according to the Prophet Isaiah or the Iust according to S. Peter And especially those that have suffer'd for the sake of their Religion For this is that Palingenesia as we noted before that Renovation or Regeneration of all things where our Saviour says Those that suffer loss for his sake shall be recompenced Matt. 19. 28 29. But they must then be raised from the Dead For all Mankind was destroy'd at the Conflagration and there is no resource for them any other way than by a Resurrection 'T is true and S. Iohn gives us a fair occasion to make this supposition That there will be some raised from the Dead before the General Day of Judgment For he plainly distinguisheth of a First and Second Resurrection and makes the First to be a Thousand Years before the Second and before the general Day of Judgment Now If there be truly and really a two-fold Resurrection as St. Iohn tells us and at a thousand Years distance from one another It may be very rationally presum'd that Those that are raised in the first Resurrection are those Iust that will inhabit the New Heavens and new Earth Or whom our Saviour promis'd to reward in the Renovation of the World For otherwise who are those Iust that shall inhabit the New Earth and whence do they come Or when is that Restauration which our Saviour speaks of wherein those that suffer'd for the sake of the Gospel shall be rewarded St. Iohn says the Martyrs at this first Resurrection shall live again and reign with Christ. Which seems to be the reward promis'd by our Saviour to those that suffer'd for his sake and the same Persons in both places And I saw the Souls of them says St. Iohn that were beheaded for the witness of Iesus and for the Word of God and which had not worshipped the Beast c. and They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years These I say seem to be the same Persons to whom Christ had before promis'd and appropriated a particular reward And this rewaâ—d of theirs or this Reign of theirs is upon Earth upon some Earth new or old not in Heaven For besides that we read nothing of their Ascension into Heaven after their Resurrection There are several marks that shew it must necessarily be understood of a state upon Earth For Gog and Magog came from the four quarters of the Earth and besieged the Camp of the Saints and the
beloved City That Camp and that City therefore were upon the Earth And fire came down from Heaven and devoured them If it came down from Heaven it came upon the Earth Furthermore those Persons that are rais'd from the Dead are said to be Priests of God and of Christ and to reign with him a thousand years Now these must be the same Persons with the Priests and Kings mention'd in the Fifth Chapter which are there said expresly to reign upon Earth or that they should reign upon Earth It remains therefore only to determine What Earth this is where the Sons of the first Resurrection will live and reign It cannot be the present Earth in the same state and under the same circumstances it is now For what happiness or priviledge would that be to be call'd back into a mortal life under the necessities and inconveniences of sickly Bodies and an incommodious World such as the present state of mortality is and must continue to be till some change be made in Nature We may be sure therefore that a change will be made in Nature before that time and that the state they are rais'd into and the Earth they are to inhabit will be at least Paradisiacal And consequently can be no other than the New Heavens and New Earth which we are to expect after the Conflagration From these Considerations there is a great fairness to conclude both as to the Characters of the Perons and of the place or state that the Sons of the first Resurrection will be Inhabitants of the New Earth and reign there with Christ a thousand years But seeing this is one of the principal and peculiar Conclusions of this Discourse and bears a great part in this last Book of the Theory of the Earth it will deserve a more full explication and a more ample proof to make it out We must therefore take a greater compass in our discourse and give a full account of that State which is usually call'd the Millennium The Reign of the Saints a thousand years or the Kingdom of Christ upon Earth But before we enter upon this new Subject give me leave to close our present Argument about the Renovation of the World with some Testimonies of the Ancient Philosophers to that purpose 'T is plain to me that there were amongst the Ancients several Traditions or traditionary conclusions which they did not raise themselves by reason and observation but receiv'd them from an unknown Antiquity An instance of this is the Conflagration of the World A Doctrine as ancient for any thing I know as the World it self At least as ancient as we have any Records And yet none of those Ancients that tell us of it give any argument to prove it Neither is it any wonder for they did not invent it themselves but receiv'd it from others without proof by the sole authority of Tradition In like manner the Renovation of the World which we are now speaking of is an ancient Doctrine both amongst the Greeks and Eastern Philosophers But they shew us no method how the World may be renew'd nor make any proof of its future Renovation For it was not a discovery which they first made but receiv'd it with an implicite faith from their Masters and Ancestors And these Traditionary Doctrines were all fore-runners of that Light that was to shine more clearly at the opening of the Christian dispensation to give a more full account of the fate and revolutions of the Natural World as well as of the Moral The Iews 't is well known held the Renovation of the World and a Sabbath after six thousand years according to the Prophecy that was currant amongst them whereof we have given a larger account in the precedent Book ch 5. And that future state they call'd Olam Hava or the World to come which is the very same with St. Paul's Habitable Earth to come Heb. 2. 6. Neither can I easily believe that those constitutions of Moses that proceed so much upon a Septenary or the number Seven and have no ground or reason in the nature of the thing for that particular number I cannot easily believe I say that they are either accidental or humoursome without design or signification But that they are typical or representative of some Septenary state that does eminently deserve and bear that Character Moses in the History of the Creation makes six days work and then a Sabbath Then after six years he makes a Sabbath-year and after a Sabbath of years a year of Jubilee Levit. 25. All these lesser revolutions seem to me to point at the grand Revolution the great Sabbath or Iubilee after six Millenaries which as it answers the type in point of time so likewise in the nature and contents of it Being a state of Rest from all labour and trouble and servitude a state of joy and triumph and a state of Renovation when things are to return to their first condition and pristine order So much for the Iews The Heathen Philosophers both Greeks and Barbarians had the same doctrine of the Renovation of the World currant amongst them And that under several names and phrases as of the Great Year the Restauration the Mundane periods and such like They suppos'd stated and fix'd periods of time upon expiration whereof there would always follow some great revolution of the World and the face of Nature would be renew'd Particularly after the Conflagration the Stoicks always suppos'd a new World to succeed or another frame of Nature to be erected in the room of that which was destroy'd And they use the same words and phrases upon this occasion that Scripture useth Chrysippus calls it Apocatastalis as St. Peter does Act. 3. 21. Marcus Antoninus in his Meditations several times calls it Palingenesia as our Saviour does Mat. 19. 28. And Numenius hath two Scripture-words Resurrection and Restitution to express this renovation of the World Then as to the Platonicks that Revolution of all things hath commonly been call'd the Platonick year as if Plato had been the first author of that opinion But that 's a great mistake he receiv'd it from the Barbarick Philosophers and particularly from the Aegyptian Priests amongst whom he liv'd several years to be instructed in their learning But I do not take Plato neither to be the first that brought this doctrine into Greece for besides that the Sibylls whose antiquity we do not well know sung this Song of oâ—d as we see it copyed from them by Virgil in his fourth Eclogue Pythagoras taught it before Plato and Orpheus before them both And that 's as high as the Greek Philosophy reaches The Barbarick Philosophers were more ancient namely the Aegyptians Persians Chaldeans Indian Brackmans and other Eastern Nations Their Monuments indeed are in a great measure lost yet from the remains of them which the Greeks have transcrib'd and so preserv'd in their writings we see plainly they all had this doctrine of the
state And seeing in those places they plainly signified the Millennial state or the Kingdom of Christ and of his Saints they must here signifie the same in this promise of our Saviour to his suffering Followers And as to the word Palingenesia which is here translated Regeneration 't is very well known that both the Greek Philosophers and Greek Fathers use that very word for the Renovation of the World Which is to be as we shall hereafter make appear at or before the Millennial state Our Saviour also in his Divine Sermon upon the Mount makes this one of his Beatitudes Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth But how I pray or where or when do the Meek inherit the Earth neither at present I am sure nor in any past Ages 'T is the Great Ones of the World ambitious Princes and Tyrants that slice the Barth amongst them and those that can flatter them best or serve them in their interests or pleasures have the next best shares But a meek modest and humble Spirit is the most unqualified Person that can be for a Court or a Camp to scramble for Preferment or Plundâ—r Both He and his self-denying notions are ridicul'd as things of no use and proceeding from meanness and poorness of Spirit David who was a Person of an admirable devotion but of an unequal Spirit subject to great dejections as well as elevations of mind was so much affected with the prosperity of the wicked in this World that he could scarce forbear charging Providence with injustice You may see several touches of a repining Spirit in his Psalms and in the Seventy-third Psalm compos'd upon that Subject you have both the wound and the cure Now this Beaâ—itâ—de pronounc'd here by our Saviour was spoken before by David psal 37. 11. The same David that was always so sensible of the hard usage of the Just in this life Our Saviour also and his Apostles preach the Doctrine of the Cross every where and foretell the sufferings that shall attend the Righteous in this World Therefore neither David nor our Saviour could understand this inheritance of the Earth otherwise than of some future state or of a state yet to come But as it must be a future state so it must be a Terrestrial state for it could not be call'd the inheritance of the Earth if it was not so And 't is to be a state of peace as well as plenty according to the words of the Psalmist But the meek shall inherit the Earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace It follows therefore from these premisses that both our Saviour and David must understand some future state of the Earth wherein the Meek will enjoy both peace and plenty And this will appear to be the future Kingdom of Christ when upon a fuller description we shall have given you the marks and characters of it In the mean time why should we not suppose this Earth which the Meek are to inherit to be that habitable Earth to come which St. Paul mentions Hebr. 2. 6. and represents as subject to our Saviour in a pecuilar manner at his disposal and under his Government as his Kingdom Why should not that Earth be the subject of this Beatitude The promis'd Land the Lot of the Righâ—eous This I am sure of that both this Text and the former deserve our serious thoughts and tho' they do not expresly and in terms prove the future Kingdom of our Saviour yet upon the fairest interpretations they imply such a state And it will be very uneasie to give a satisfactory account either of the Regeneration or Renovation when our Saviour and his Disciples shall sit upon Thrones Or of that Earth which the Meek shall inherit Or lastly of that Habitable World which is peculiarly subject to the dominion of Jesus Christ without supposing on this side Heaven some other reign of Christ and his Saints than what we see or what they enjoy at present But to proceed in this argument It will be necessary as I told you to set down some notes and characters of this Reign of Christ and of his Saints whereby it may be distinguish'd from the present state and present Kingdoms of the World And these characters are chiefly three Iustice Peace and Divine Presence or Conduct which uses to be called Theocrasie By these characters it is sufficiently distinguish'd from the Kingdoms of this World which are generally unjust in their titles or exercise stain'd with bloud and so far from being under a particular Divine Conduct that humane passions and humane vices are the Springs that commonly give motion to their greatest designs But more particularly and restrainedly the Government of Christ is opposed to the Kingdom and Government of Antichrist whose characters are diametrically opposite to these being Injustice cruelty and humane or diabolical artifices Upon this short view of the Kingdom of Christ let us make enquiry after it amongst the Prophets of the Old Testament And we shall find upon examination that there is scarce any of them greater or lesser but take notice of this mystical kingdom either expresly or under the types of Israel Sion Ierusalem and such like And therefore I am apt to think that when S. Peter in his Sermon to the Iews Act. 3. says All the holy Prophets spoke of The Restitution of all things he does not mean the Renovation of the World separately from the Kingdome of Christ but complexly as it may imply both For there are not many of the old Prophets that have spoken of the Renovation of the Natural World but a great many have spoken of the Renovation of the Moral in the Kingdom of Christ. These are S. Peter's words Act. 3. 19 20 21. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Iesus Christ which before was preached unto ye whom the heavens must receive until the times of RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS The Apostle here mentions three things The Times of refreshing The Second Coming of our Saviour And the Times of Restitution of all things And to the last of these he immediately subjoyns which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began This Restitution of all things I say must not be understood abstractly from the reign of Christ but as in conjunction with it and in that sence and no other it is the general subject of the Prophets To enter therefore into the Schools of the Prophets and enquire their sence concerning this Mystery let us first address our selves to the Prophet Isaiah and the Royal Prophet David who seem to have had many noble thoughts or inspirations upon this subject Isaiah in the 65th chap. from the 17th ver to the end treats upon this argument and joyns together the Renovation of the Natural and Moral World as S. Peter in the
time of Constantine's Empire But however the Fathers of that Council are themselves our witnesses in this point For in their Ecclesiastical Forms or Constitutions in the chapter about the Providence of God and about the World They speak thus The World was made meaner or less perfect providentially for God foresee that man would sin Wherefore we expect New Heavens and a New Earth according to the Holy Scriptures at the appearance and Kingdom of the great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ. And then as Daniel says ch 7. 18. The Saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom And the Earth shall be Pure Holy the Land of the Living not of the dead Which David foreseeing by the eye of Faith cryes out Ps. 27. 13. I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the Land of the Living Our Saviour says Happy are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth Matt. 5. 5. and the Prophet Isaiuh says chap. 26. 6. the feet of the meek and lowly shall tread upon it So you see according to the judgment of these Fathers there will be a Kingdom of Christ upon Earth and moreover that it will be in the New Heavens and the New Earth And in both these points they cite the Prophets and our Saviour in confirmation of them Thus we have discharg'd our promise and given you an account of the doctrine of the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ throughout the Three First Ages of the Church before any considerable corruptions were crept into the Christian Religion And those Authorities of single and successive Fathers we have seal'd up all together with the declaration of the Nicene Fathers in a Body Those that think Tradition a Rule of Faith or a considerable motive to it will find it hard to turn off the force of these Testimonies And those that do not go so far but yet have a reverence for Antiquity and the Primitive Church will not easily produce better Authorities more early more numerous or more uncontradicted for any Article that is not Fundamental Yet these are but Seconds to the Prophets and Apostles who are truly the Principals in this Cause I will leave them altogether to be examin'd and weigh'd by the Impartial Reader And because they seem to me to make a full and undeniable proof I will now at the foot of the account set down our second Proposition which is this That there is a Millennial State or a Future Kingdom of Christ and his Saints Prophesied of and Promised in the Old and New Testament and receiv'd by the Primitive Church as a Christian and Catholick Doctrine HAVING dispatch'd this main point To conclude the Chapter and this Head of our Discourse it will be some satisfaction possibly to see How a Doctrine so generally receiv'd and approv'd came to decay and almost wear out of the Church in following Ages The Christian Millenary Doctrine was not call'd into question so far as appears from History before the middle of the third Century when Dionysius Alexandrinus writ against Nepos an Aegyptian Bishop who had declar'd himself upon that subject But we do not find that this Book had any great effect for the declaration or constitution of the Nicene Fathers was after and in S. Ierome's time who writ towards the end of the fourth Century this Doctrine had so much Credit that He who was its greatest adversary yet durst not condemn it as he says himself Quae licet non sequamur tamen damnare non possumus quià multi Ecclesiasticorum virorum Martyres ista dixerunt Which things or doctrines speaking of the Millennium tho' we do not follow yet we cannot condemn Because many of our Church-men and Martyrs have affirmed these things And when Apollinarius replyed to that Book of Dionysius S. Ierome says that not only those of his own Sect but a great multitude of other Christians did agree with Apollinarius in that particular Ut praesagâ mente jam cernam quantorum in me rabies concitanda sit That I now foresee how many will be enrag'd against me for what I have spoken against the Millenary Doctrine We may therefore conclude that in S. Ierome's time the Millenaries made the greater party in the Church for a little matter would not have frighted him from censuring their opinion S. Ierome was a rough and rugged Saint and an unfair adversary that usually run down with heat and violence what stood in his way As to his unfairness he shews it sufficiently in this very cause for he generally represents the Millenary Doctrine after a Judaical rather than a Christian manner And in reckoning up the chief Patrons of it he always skips Iustin Martyr Who was not a Man so obscure as to be overâ—look'd and he was a Man that had declar'd himself sufficiently upon this point for he says both himself and all the Orthodox of his time were of that judgment and applyes both the Apocalypse of S. Iohn and the 65th chap. of Isaiah for the proof of it As we noted before As S. Ierome was an open enemy to this Doctrine so Eusebius was a back friend to it and represented every thing to its disadvantage so far as was tolerably consistent with the fairness of an Historian He gives a slight character of Papias without any authority for it and brings in one Gaius that makes Cerinthus to be the Author of the Apocalypse and of the Millennium and calls the Visions there monstrous stories He himself is willing to shuffle off that Book from Iohn the Evangelist to another Iohn a Presbyter and to shew his skill in the interpretation of it he makes the New Ierusalem in the 21th chap. to be Constantine's Ierusalem when he turn'd the Heathen Temples there into Christian. A wonderful invention As S. Ierome by his flouts so Eusebius by sinister insinuations endeavour'd to lessen the reputation of this Doctrine and the Art they both us'd was to misrepresentâ—â—â— as Iudaical But we must not cast off every doctrine which the Jews believ'd only for that reason for we have the same Oracles which they had and the same Prophets and they have collected from them same general doctrine that we have namely that There will be an happy and pacifick state of the Church in future times But as to the circumstances of this state we differ very much They suppose the Mosaical Law will be restor'd with all its pomp rites and ceremonies whereas we suppose the Christian Worship or something more perfect will then take place Yet S. Ierome has the confidence even there where he speaks of the many Christian Clergy and Martyrs that held this doctrine has the confidence I say to represent it as if they held that Circumcision Sacrifices and all the Judaical rites should then be restor'd Which seems to me to be a great slander and a great instance how far mens passions will carry them in misrepresenting an opinion which they have a mind to
disagrace But as we have reason to blame the partiality of those that opposed this doctrine so on the other hand we cannot excuse the Patrons of it from all indiscretions I believe they might partly themselves make it obnoxious by mixing some things with it from pretended Traditions or the Books of the Sibylls or other private Authorities that had so sufficient warrant from Scripture and things sometimes that Nature would not easily bear Besides in later ages they seem to have dropt one half of the doctrine namely the Renovation of Nature which Irenaeus Iustin Martyr and the Ancients joyn inseparably with the Millennium And by this omission the doctrine hath been made less intelligible and one part of it inconsistent with another And when their pretensions were to reign upon this present Earth and in this present state of Nature it gave a jealousie to Temporal Princes and gave occasion likewise to many of Eanatical Spirits under the notion of Saints to aspire to dominion after a violent and tumultuary manner This I reckon as one great cause that brought the doctrine into discredit But I hope by reducing of it to the true state we shall cure this and other abuses for the future Lastly It never pleas'd the Church of Rome and so far as the influence and authority of that would go you may be sure it would be deprest and discountenanc'd I never yet met with a Popish Doctor that held the Millennium and Baron us would have it pass for an Heresie and Papias for the Inventor of it whereas if Irenaeus may be credited it was receiv'd from S. Iohn and by him from the mouth of our Saviour And neither S. Ierome nor his friend Pope Damasus durst ever condemnoit for an heresie It was always indeed uneasie and gave offence to the Church of Rome because it does not suit to that Scheme of Christianity which they have drawn They suppose Christ reigns already by his Vicar the Pope and treads upon the Necks of Emperors and Kings And if they could but suppress the Northern Heresie as they call it they do not know what a Millennium would signifie or how the Church could be in an happier condition than she is The Apocalypse of St. Iohn does suppose the true Church under hardship and persecution more or less for the greatest part of the Christian Ages namely for 1260 years while the Witnesses are in Sack cloth But the Church of Rome hath been in prosperity and greatness and the commanding Church in Christendom for so long or longer and hath rul'd the Nations with a Rod of Iron so as that mark of the true Church does not favour her at all And the Millennium being properly a reward and triumph for those that come out of Persecution such as have liv'd always in pomp and prosperity can pretend to no share in it or benefit by it This has made the Church of Rome have always an ill eye upon this Doctrine because it seem'd to have an ill eye upon her And as she grew in splendor and greatness she eclips'd and obscur'd it more and more so that it would have been lost out of the World as an obsolete errour if it had not been reviv'd by some of the Reformation CHAP. VII The true state of the Millennium according to Characters taken from Scripture some mistakes concerning it examin'd WE have made sufficient proof of a Millennial state from Scripture and Antiquity and upon that firm Basis have setled our second Proposition We should now determine the Time and Place of this future Kingdom of Christ Not whether it is to be in Heaven or upon Earth for that we suppose determin'd already but whether it is to be in the present Earth and under the present constitution of Nature or in the New Heavens and New Earth which are promis'd after the Conflagration This is to make our Third Proposition and I should have proceeded immediately to the examination of it but that I imagine it will give us some light in this affair if we enquire further into the true state of the Millennium before we determine its Time and Place We have already noted some moral Characters of the Millennial state And the great Natural Character of it is this in general That it will be Paradisiacal Free from all inconveniences either of external Nature or of our own Bodies For my part I do not understand how there can be any considerable degree of happiness without Indolency nor how there can be Indolency while we have such Bodies as we have now and such an external constitution of Nature And as there must be Indolency where there is happiness so there must not be Indigency or want of any due comforts of life For where there is Indigency there is sollicitude and distraction and uneasiness and fear Passions that do as naturally disquiet the Soul as pain does the Body Therefore Indolency and Plenty seem to be two essential Ingredients of every happy state and these two in conjunction make that state we call Paradisiacal Now the Scripture seems plainly to exempt the Sons of the New Ierusalem or of the Millennium from all pain or want in those words Apoc. 21. 4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes And there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away And the Lord of that Kingdom He that sate upon the Throne said Behold I make all things new ver 5. This Renovation is a restauration to some former state and I hope not to that state of indigency and misery and diseasedness which we languish under at present But to that pristine Paradisiacal state which was the blessing of the first Heavens and the first Earth As Health and Plenty are the Blessings of Nature so in Civil affairs Peace is the greatest blessing And this is inseparably annext to the Millennium an indelible character of the Kingdom of Christ. And by Peace we understand not onely freedom from Persecution upon religious accounts but that Nation shall not rise up against Nation upon any account whatsoever That bloody Monster War that hath devour'd so many Millions of the Sons of Adam is now at length to be chain'd up and the Furies that run throughout the Earth with their Snakes and Torches shall be thrown into the Abyss to sting and prey upon one another All evil and mischievous passions shall be extinguish'd and that not in men onely but even in Brute creatures according to the Prophets The Lamb and the Lyon shall lie down together and the sucking Child shall play with the Basilisk Happy days when not onely the Temple of Ianus shall be shut up for a thousand years and the Nations shall beat their swords into plow-shares but all enmities and antipathies shall cease all acts of hostility throughout all nature And this Universal Peace is a demonstration also of the former character Universal Plenty for where
there is want and necessitousness there will be quarrelling Fourthly 'T is a Kingdom of Righteousness as well as of Peace These also must go together for unrighteous Persons will not live long in peace no more than indigent Persons The Psalmist therefore joyns them together and Plenty also as their necessary preservative in his description of the Kingdom of Christ Psal. 85. 10 11 12. Mercy and truth are met together Righteousness and peace have kissed each other Truth shall spring out of the Earth and righteousness shall look down from Heaven Yea the Lord shall give good and our Land shall yield her increase This will not be a medley-state as the present World is good and bad mingled together but a chosen generation a royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people Those that have a part in the first Resurrection the Scripture pronounceth them Holy and Blessed and says the second death shall have no power over them Satan also is bound and shut up in the bottomless Pit and has no liberty of tempting or seducing this People for a thousand years but at the end of that time he will meet with a degenerate crew separate and aliens to the Holy City that will make war against it and perish in the attempt In a word those that are to enjoy this state are always distinguish'd from the multitude as People redeem'd from the Earth That have wash'd their Robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb and are represented as Victors over the World with such other Characters as are incompetible to any but the righteous Fifthly This will be a state under a peculiar divine presence and conduct It is not easie indeed to determine the manner of this presence but the Scripture plainly implies some extraordinary divine presence to enlighâ—en and enliven that state When the New Ierusalem was come down St. Iohn says And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God And the like is promis'd to the Palm-bearing Company Chap. 7. 15. where they are admitted to the priviledges of the New Ierusalem When our Saviour was incarnate and vouchsafed to dwell amongst the Children of Men the same phrase is us'd by this same Author Ioh. 1. 14. The Word was made flesh and Tabernacled amongst us and we beheld his glory c. We read it He dwelt amongst us but render'd more closely it is He set his Tabernacle amongst us And that which the Hebrews call the Shekinah oâ— divine presence comes from a word of the like signification and sound with the Greek word here us'd Therefore there will be a Shekinah in that Kingdom of Christ but as to the mode of it I am very willing to confess my ignorance The last Character that belongs to this state or rather to those that enjoy it is that they are Kings and Priests unto God This is a character often repeated in Scripture and therefore the more to be regarded It occurs thrice in the Apocalypse in formal terms Ch. 1. 6. Ch. 5. 10. Ch. 20. 6. And as to the Regal dignity apart that is further exprest either by the Donation of a Kingdom as in Daniel's phrase Chap. 7. 18 22 27. Or by placing upon Thrones with a judicial power which is the New Testament style Mat. 19. 28. Luk. 22. 29 30. Revel 20. 4. These two Titles no doubt are intended to comprehend the highest honours that we are capable of these being the highest dignities in every Kingdom and such as were by the Ancients both in the East and in the West commonly united in one and the same Person Their Kings being Priests like Melchisedeck or as the Roman Emperour was Pontifex Maximus But as to the Sacerdotal character that seems chiefly to respect the temper of the mind to signife a People dedicated to God and his Service Separate from the World and from secular affairs Spending their time in devotion and contemplation which will be the great employments of that happy state For where there is ease peace and plenty of all things refin'd Bodies and purified Minds there will be more inclination to intellectual exercises and entertainments which they may attend upon without any distraction having neither want pain nor worldly business The Title of King implies a confluence of all things that constitute temporal happiness 'T is the highest thing we can wish any in this World to be a King So as the Regal dignity seems to comprehend all the Goods of Fortune or external felicity And the Sacerdotal the Goods of the Mind or internal Both which concur in the constitution of true happiness There is also a further force and emphasis in this notion of the Saints being made Kings if we consider it comparatively with respect to what they were before in this World where they were not only mean and despicable in subjection and servility but often under persecution abus'd and trampled upon by the secular and Ecclesiastical Powers But now the Scene is chang'd and you see the reverse of Providence according as Abraham said to the Rich man Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things But now he is comforted and thou art tormented Now they are set upon Thrones and Tribunals who were before arraigned as Criminals and brought before tyrannical Judicatures They are now Laws and Law-givers to themselves in a true state of Royal Liberty neither under the domination of evil men nor of their own evil passions Some possibly may think that this high character of being made Priests and Kings to God is not general to all that enjoy the Mâ—llennium but a prerogative belonging to the Apostles and some of the chief Martyrs who are eminently rewarded for their eminent services But Scripture as far as I perceive applyes it to all that inherit that Kingdom The redeemed out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation are made Kings and Priests to God and shall reign on the earth Apoc. 5. 9 10. And in the 20th chap. ver 6. all the Sons of the first Resurrection are made Priests of God and shall reign with him a thousand years Here is no distinction or discrimination thus far Not that we suppose an universal equality of conditions in the Millennial state but as to all these characters which we have given of it I do not perceive that they are restrain'd or confin'd by Scripture to single persons but make the general happiness of that state and are the portion of every one that is admitted into the New Jerusalem Others possibly may think that this priviledge of the first Resurrection is not common to all that enjoy the Millennial State For tho' S. Iohn who is the only person that hath made express mention of the first Resurrection
and of the thousand years reign of Christ does joyn these two as the same thing and common to the same persons yet I know there are some that would distinguish them as things of a different extent and also of a different nature They suppose the Martyrs only will rise from the dead and will be immediately translated into Heaven and there pass their Millennium in celestial glory While the Church is still here below in her Millennium such as it is a state indeed betâ—er than ordinary and free from persecution but obnoxious to all the inconveniences of our present mortal life and a medly of good and bad people without separation This is such an Idea of the Millennium as to my eye hath neither beauty in it nor foundation in Scripture That the Citizens of the New Ierusalem are not a miscellaneous company but a Community of righteous persons we have noted before and that the state of nature will be better than it is at present But besides this what warrant have they for this Ascension of the Martyrs into Heaven at that time Where do we read of that in Scripture And in those things that are not matters of Natural Order but of Divine Oeconomy we ought to be very careful how we add to Scripture The Scripture speaks only of the Resurrection of the Martyrs Apoc. 20. 45. But not a word concerning their Ascension into Heaven Will that be visible We read of our Saviour's Resurrection and Ascension and therefore we have reason to affirm them both We read also of the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses Apoc. 11. in a figurate sence and in that sence we may assert them upon good grounds But as to the Martyrs we read of their Resurrection only without any thing exprest of imply'd about their Ascension By what Authority then shall we add this New Notion to the History or Scheme of the Millennium The Scripture on the contrary makes mention of the descent of the New Ierusalem Apoc. 21. 2. making the Earth the Theatre of all that affair And the Camp of the Saints is upon the Earth ver 9. and these Saints are the same persons so far as can be collected from the text that rise from the dead and reign'd with Christ and were Priests to God ver 4 5 6. Neither is there any distinction made that I find by S. Iohn of two sorts of Saints in the Millennium the one in Heaven and the other upon Earth Lastly The four and twenty Elders ch 5. 10. tho' they were Kings and Priests unto God were content to reign upon Earth Now who can you suppose of a superiour order to these four and twenty Elders Whether they represent the twelve Patriarchs and twelve Apostles or whomsoever they represent they are plac'd next to him that sits upon the Throne and they have Crowns of Gold upon their heads ch 4. 4. There can be no marks of honour and dignity greater than these are and therefore seeing these highest Dignitaries in the Millennium or future Kingdom of Christ are to reign upon Earth there is no ground to suppose the assumption of any other into Heaven upon that account or upon that occasion This is a short and general draught of the Millennial state or future Reign of the Saints according to Scripture Wherein I have endeavour'd to rectifie some mistakes or misconceptions about it That viewing it in its true Nature we may be the better able to judge when and where it will obtain Which is the next thing to be consider'd CHAP. VIII The Third Proposition laid down concerning the Time and Place of the Millennium Several Arguments us'd to prove that it cannot be till after the Conflagration and that the New Heavens and the New Earth are the true Seat of the blessed Millennium WE come now to the Third and last head of our Discourse To determine the Time and Place of the Millennium And seeing it is indifferent whether the proofs lead or follow the Conclusion we will lay down the Conclusion in the first place that our business may be more in view and back it with proofs in the following part of the Chapter Our Third and last Proposition therefore is this That the Blessed Millennium properly so called according as it is describ'd in Scripture cannot obtain in the present Earth nor under the present constitution of Nature and Providence but is to be celebrated in the New Heavens and New Earth after the Conflagration This Proposition it may be will seem a Paradox or singularity to many even of those that believe a Millennium We will therefore make it the business of this Chapter to state it and prove it by such Arguments as are manifestly founded in Scripture and in Reason And to prevent mistakes we must premise this in the first place That tho the Blessed Millennium will not be in this Earth yet we allow that the state of the Church here will grow much better than it is at present There will be a better Idea of Christianity and according to the Prophecies a full Resurrection of the Witnesses and an Ascension into power and the tenth part of the City will fall which things imply ease from Persecution The Conversion of some part of the Christian World to the reformed Faith and a considerable diminution of the power of Antichrist But this still comes short of the happiness and glory wherein the future Kingdom of Christ is represented Which cannot come to pass till the Man of Sin be destroy'd with a total destruction After the Resurrection of the Witnesses there is a Third WOE yet to come and how long that will last does not appear If it bear proportion with the preceding WOES it may last some hundreds of years And we cannot imagine the Millennium to begin till that WOE be finish'd As neither till the Vials be poured out in the 15th chap. which cannot be all pour'd out till after the Resurrection of the Witnesses those Vials being the last plagues that compleat the destruction of Antichrist Wherefore allowing that the Church upon the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses will be advanc'd into a better condition yet that condition cannot be the Millennial state where the Beast is utterly destroy'd and Satan bound and cast into the bottomless pit This being premis'd let us now examine what grounds there are for the Translation of that blessed state into the New Heavens and New Earth seeing that Thought it may be to many persons will appear new and extraordinary In the first place We suppose it out of dispute that there will be New Heavens and a New Earth after the Conflagration This was our first Proposition and we depend upon it as sufficiently prov'd both from Scripture and Antiquity This being admitted How will you stock this New Earth What use will you put it to 'T will be a much nobler Earth and better built than the present and 't is pity it should only float
about empty and useless in the wild Air. If you will not make it the seat and habitation of the Just in the blessed Millennium what will you make it How will it turn to account What hath Providence design'd it for We must not suppose New Worlds made without counsel or design And as on the one hand you cannot tell what to do with this New Creation if it be not thus employ'd so on the other hand it is every way fitted and suited to be an happy and Paradisiacal habitation and answers all the natural Characters of the Millennial state which is a great presumption that it is design'd for it But to argue this more closely upon Scripture-grounds S. Peter says the Righteous shall inhabit the New Heavens and the New Earth 2. Pet. 3. 13. Nevertheless according to his promise we look for New Heavens and New Earth WHEREIN DWELLETH RIGHTEOUSNESS that is a Righteous People as we have shewn before But who are these Righteous People That 's the great question If you compare S. Peter's New Heavens and New Earth with S. Iohn's Apoc. 21. 1 2. it will go far towards the resolution of this question For S. Iohn seems plainly to make the Inhabitants of the New Ierusalem to be in this New Earth I saw says he New Heavens and a New Earth and the New Ierusalem descending from God out of Heaven therefore descending into this New Earth which he had mention'd immediately before And there the Tabernacle of God was with men ver 3. and there He that sat upon the Throne said Behold I make all things New Referring still to this New Heavens and New Earth as the Theatre where all these things are acted or all these Scenes exhibited from the first Verse to the eighth Now the New Jerusalem state being the same with the Millennial if the one be in the New Heavens and New Earth the other is there also And this interpretation of S. Iohn's word is confirm'd and fully assur'd to us by the Prophet Isaiah who also placeth the joy and rejoycing of the New Ierusalem in the New Heavens and New Earth Chap. 65. 17 18. For behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former shall not be remembred but be you glad and rejoyce for ever in that which I create for behold I create Ierusalem a rejoycing and her people a joy Namely in that New Heavens and New Earth Which answers to S. Iohn's Vision of the New Ierusalem being let down upon the New Earth To these Reasons and deductions from Scripture we might add the testimony of several of the Fathers I mean of those that were Millenaries For we are speaking now to such as believe the Millennium but place it in the present Earth before the Renovation whereas the ancient Millenaries suppos'd the regeneration and renovation of the World before the Kingdom of Christ came As you may see in Irenaeus Iustin Martyr Tertullian Lactantius and the Author ad Orthodoxos And the neglect of this I look upon as one reason as we noted before that brought that doctrine into discredit and decay For when they plac'd the Kingdom of the Saints upon this Earth it becâ—me more capable of being abus'd by fanatical spirits to the disturbance of the World and the invasion of the rights of the Magistrate Civil or Ecclesiastical under that notion of Saints And made them also dream of sensual pleasures such as they see in this life Or at least gave an occasion and opportunity to those that had a mind to make the doctrine odious of charging it with these consequences All these abuses are cut off and these scandals prevented by placing the Millennium aright Namely not in this present Life or on this present Earth but in the New Creation where Peace and Righteousness will dwell And this is our first Argument why we place the Millennium in the New Heavens and New Earth and 't is taken partly you see from the reason of the thing it self the difficulty of assigning any other use of the New Earth and its fitness for this and partly from Scripture-evidence and partly from Antiquity The second argument for our opinion is this The present constitution of Nature will not bear that happiness that is promis'd in the Millennium or is not consistent with it The diseases of our Bodies the disorders of our Passions the incommodiousness of external Nature Indigency servility and the unpeaceableness of the World These are things inconsistent with the happiness that is promis'd in the Kingdom of Christ. But these are constant attendants upon this Life and inseparable from the present state of Nature Suppose the Millennium was to begin Nine or Ten Years hence as some pretend it will How shall this World all on a sudden be metamorphos'd into that happy state No more sorrow nor crying nor pain nor death says S. Iohn All former things are past away But how past away Shall we not have the same Bodies and the same external Nature and the same corruptions of the Air and the same excesses and intemperature of Seasons Will there not be the same baâ—â—enness of the ground the same number of People to be fed and must they not get their living by the sweat of their brows with servile labour and drudgery How then are all former evils past away And as to publick affairs while there are the same necessities of humane Life and a distinction of Nations those Nations sometimes will have contrary interests will clash and interfere one with another whence differences and contests and Wars will arise and the Thousand Years Truce I am afraid will be often broken We might add also that if our Bodies be not chang'd we shall be subject to the same appetites and the same passions and upon those vices will grow as bad fruit upon a bad Tree To conclude so long as our Bodies are the same external Nature the same The necessities of humane Life the same which things are the roots of evil you may call it a Millennium or what you please but there will be still diseases vices wars tears and cries pain and sorrow in this Millenuium and if so 't is a Millennium of your own making for that which the Prophets describe is quite another thing Furthermore if you suppose the Millennium will be upon this Earth and begin it may be ten or twenty years hence How will it be introduc'd how shall we know when we are in it or when we enter upon it If we continue the same and all Nature continue the same we shall not discern when we slip into the Millennium And as to the Moral state of it shall we all on a sudden become Kings and Priests to God wherein will that change consist and how will it be wrought St. Iohn makes the First Resurrection introduce the Millennium and that 's a conspicuous mark and boundary But as to the modern or vulgar Millennium I know
Old Testament As to the Apocalypse Babylon the seat of Antichrist is represented there as destroy'd by Fire Chap. 18. 8 18. Chap. 14. 11. Chap. 19. 3 20. And in Daniel when the Beast is destroy'd Chap. 7. 11. His body was given to the burning flame Then as to the other Prophets they do not you know speak of Antichrist or the Beast in terms but under the Types of Babylon Tyre and such like and these places or Princes are represented by them as to be destroy'd by fire Isa. 13. 19. Ier. 51. 25. Ezek. 28. 18. So much for this third Argument The fourth Argument is this The Future Kingdom of Christ will not be till the day of Judgment and the Resurrection But that will not be till the end of the World Therefore neither the Kingdom of Christ. By the day of Judgment here I do not mean the final and universal Judgment Nor by the Resurrection the final and universal Resurrection for these will not be till after the Millennium But we understand here the first day of Judgment and the first Resurrection which will be at the end of this present World according as S. Iohn does distinguish them in the 20th Chap. of the Apocalypse Now that the Millennium will not be till the day of Judgment in this sence we have both the Testimonies of Daniel and of S. Iohn Daniel in the 7th Chap. supposes the Beast to rule till judgment shall sit and then they shall take away his dominion and it shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most High S. Iohn makes an explicite declaration of both these in his 20th Chap. of the Apocalypse which is the great Directory in this point of the Millennium He says there were Thrones set as for a Judicature Then there was a Resurrection from the Dead and those that rise reigned with Christ a Thousand years Here 's a Judicial Session a Resurrection and the reign of Christ joyned together There is also another passage in S. Iohn that joyns the judgment of the Dead with the Kingdom of Christ. 'T is in the 11th Chap. under the seventh Trumpet The words are these ver 15. And the seventh Angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever And the four and twenty Elders c. And the nations were angry and thy wrath is come and the time of the Dead that they should be judged and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy name Here are two things plainly express'd and link'd together The judging of the Dead and the Kingdom of Christ wherein the Prophets and Saints are rewarded Now as the judging of the Dead is not in this life so neither is the reward of the Prophets and Saints in this life as we are taught sufficiently in the Gospel and by the Apostles Mat. 19. 28. 1 Thess. 1. 7. 2 Tim. 4. 8. 1 Pet. 1. 7. and Ch. 5. 4. Therefore the Reign and Kingdom of Christ which is joyned with these two cannot be in this life or before the end of the world And as a further testimony and confirmation of this we may observe that S. Paul to Timothy hath joyn'd together these three things The appearance of Christ the Reign of Christ and the judging of the Dead I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Iesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom 2 Tim. 4. 1. This might also be prov'd from the order extent and progress of the Prophecies of the Apocalypse whereof some are such as reach to the end of the World and yet must be accomplish'd before the Millennium begin as the Vials Others are so far already advanc'd towards the end of the World as to leave no room for a thousand years reign as the Trumpets But because every one hath his own interpretation of these Prophecies and it would be tedious here to prove any single Hypothesis in contradistinction to all the rest we will therefore leave this remark to have more or less effect according to the minds it falls upon And proceed to our fifth Argument Fifthly The Ierusalem-state is the same with the Millennial state But the New Ierusalem state will not be till the end of the World or till after the Conflagration Therefore neither the Millennium That the Ierusalem-state is the same with the Millennium is agreed upon I think by all Millenaries Ancient and Modern Iustin Martyr Irenaeus and Tertullian speak of it in that sence and so do the later Authors so far as I have observ'd And St. Iohn seems to give them good authority for it In the 20th Chap. of the Apocalypse he says the Camp of the Saints and the Beloved City were besieg'd by Satan and his Gigantick crew at the end of the Millennium That Beloved City is the New Ierusalem and you see it is the same with the Camp of the Saints or at least contemporary with it Besides the Marriage of the Lamb was in or at the appearance of the New Jerusalem for that was the Spouse of the Lamb Apoc. 21. 2. Now this Spouse was ready and this Marriage was said to be come at the destruction of Babylon which was the beginning of the Millennium Chap. 18. 7. Therefore the New Jerusalem run all along with the Millennium and was indeed the same thing under another name Lastly What is this New Jerusalem if it be not the same with the Millennial state It is promis'd as a reward to the sufferers for Christ Apoc. 3. 12. and you see its wonderful priviledges Ch. 21. 3 4. and yet it is not Heaven and eternal Life for it is said to come down from God out of Heaven Ch. 21. 2. and Ch. 3. 12. It can therefore be nothing but the glorious Kingdom of Christ upon Earth where the Saints shall reign with him a Thousand Years Now as to the second part of our Argument that the New Jerusalem will not come down from Heaven till the end of the World of this S. Iohn seems to give us a plain proof or demonstration for he places the New Jerusalem in the New Heavens and New Earth which cannot be till after the Conflagration Let us hear his words Apoc. 21. 1 2. And I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea And I Iohn saw the Holy City New Ierusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband When the New Earth was made he sees the New Jerusalem coming down upon it and this Renovation of the Earth not being till the Conflagration The New Jerusalem could not be till then neither The Prophet Isaiah had long before said the same thing though not in
terms so express He first says Behold I create new heavens and a new earth wherein you shall rejoyce Then subjoyns immediately Behold I create Ierusalem a rejoycing This rejoycing is still in the same place in the New Heavens and New Earth or in the New Jerusalem And S. Iohn in a like method first sets down the New Earth then the New Jerusalem and expresses the mind of the Prophet Isaiah more distinctly This leads me to a Sixth Argument to confirm our Conclusion The time of the Restitution or Restauration of all things spoken of by S. Peter and the Prophets is the same with the Millennium But that Restauration will not be till the coming of Christ and the end of the World Therefore neither the Millennium That this Restitution of all things will not be till the coming of our Saviour S. Peter declares in his Sermon Act. 3. 21. and that the coming of our Saviour will not be till the end of the World or till the Conflagration both S. Paul and S. Peter signifie to us 1 Thess. 1. 7 8. 2 Pet. 3. 10. Therefore it remains only to prove that this Restitution of all things spoken of here by the Apostle is the same with the Millennium I know that which it does directly and immediately signifie is the Renovation of the World but it must include the Moral World as well as the Natural otherwise it cannot be truly said as S. Peter does there that all the Prophets have spoken of it And what is the Renovation of the Natural and Moral World but the New Jerusalem or the Millennium These Arguments taken together have to me an irresistible evidence for the proof of our Conclusion That the Blessed Millennium cannot obtain in the present Earth or before the Conflagration But when Nature is renew'd and the Saints and Martyrs rais'd from the Dead then they shall reign together with Christ in the New Heavens and New Earth or in the New Jerusalem Satan being bound for a Thousand Years CHAP. IX The chief employment of the Millennium DEVOTION and CONTEMPLATION WE have now done with the substance of our Discourse which is comprehended in these Three Propositions I. After the Conflagration of this World there will be New Heavens and a New Earth and That Earth will be inhabited II. That there is an happy Millennial state Or a future Kingdom of Christ and his Saints prophesied of and promis'd in the Old and New Testament and receiv'd by the Primitive Church as a Christian and Catholick Doctrine III. That this blessed Millennial state according as it is describ'd in Scripture cannot take place in the present Earth nor under the present constitution of Nature and Providence But is to be celebrated in the New Heavens and New Earth after the Conflagration These Three Propositions support this Work and if any of them be broken I confess my design is broken and this Treatise is of no effect But what remains to be spoken to in these last Chapters is more circumstantial or modal and an error or mistake in such things does not wound any vital part of the Argument You must now therefore lay aside your severity and rigorous censures we are very happy if in this Life we can attain to the substance of truth and make rational conjectures concerning modes and circumstances where every one hath right to offer his sence with modesty and submission Revelations made to us from Heaven in this present state are often incompleat and do not tell us all as if it was on purpose to set our thoughts a-work to supply the rest which we may lawfully do provided it be according to the analogy of Scripture and Reason To proceed therefore We suppose as you see the new Heavens and the new Earth to be the seat of the Millennium and that new Creation to be Paradisiacal Its Inhabitants also to be Righteous Persons the Saints of the most High And seeing the ordinary employments of our present Life will then be needless and superseded as Military affairs Sea-affairs most Trades and Manufactures Law Physick and the laborious part of Agriculture it may be wonder'd how this Happy People will bestow their time What entertainment they will find in a state of so much ease and so little action To this one might answer in short by another question How would they have entertain'd themselves in Paradise if Man had continued in Innocency This is a revolution of the same state and therefore they may pass their time as well now as they could have done then But to answer more particularly besides all innocent diversions ingenuous conversations and entertainments of friendship the greatest part of their time will be spent in Devotion and Contemplation O happy employment and next to that of Heaven it self What do the Saints above but sing Praises unto God and contemplate his Perfections And how mean and despicable for the most part are the employments of this present Life if compar'd with those Intellectual Actions If Mankind was divided into ten parts nine of those ten employ their time to get bread to their belly and cloaths to their back And what impertinences are these to a reasonable Soul if she was free from the clog of a Mortal Body or if that could be provided for without trouble or loss of time Corporeal Labour is from need and necessity but intellectual exercises are matter of choice that please and perfect at the same time Devotion warms and opens the Soul and disposes it to receive Divine Influences It sometimes raises the mind into an heavenly ecstasie and fills it with a joy that is not to be exprest When it is pure it leaves a strong impression upon the heart of Love to God and inspires us with a contempt of this World having tasted the pleasures of the World to come In the state which we speak of seeing the Tabernacle of God will be with men we may reasonably suppose that there will be greater effusions and irradiations of the Holy Spirit than we have or can expect in this region of darkness and consequently all the strength and comfort that can arise from private devotion And as to their publick Devotions all beauties of Holiness all perfection of Divine Worship will shine in their Assemblies Whatsoever David says of Sion and Ierusalem are but shadows of this New Ierusalem and of the glory that will be in those Solemnities Imagine what a Congregation will be there of Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Christian Martyrs and Saints of the first rank throughout all Ages And these all known to one another by their Names and History This very meeting together of such Persons must needs create a joy unspeakable But when they unite in their praises to God and to the Lamb with pure hearts full of divine Love when they sing their Hallelujahs to him that sits upon the Throne that hath wash'd them in his blood and redeem'd them out of every Kingdom and Tongue and
and Power in the Created World This hath a vast extent and variety and would be sufficient to entertain their time in that happy state much longer than a thousand years As you will easily grant if you allow me but to point at the several heads of those Speculations The Contemplation of the Created World divides it self into three parts that of the Intellectual World that of the Corporal And the Government and Administration of both which is usually call'd Providence These three drawn into one thought with the reasons and proportions that result from them compose that GRAND IDEA which is the treasury and comprehension of all Knowledge Whereof we have spoken more largely in the last Chapter of the Second Book of this Theory under the name of the Mundane Idea But at present we shall only mention such particulars as may be thought proper subjects for the meditations and enquiries of those who shall enjoy that happy state which we now treat of As to the Intellectual World excepting our own Souls we know little in this region of darkness where we are at present more than bare names We hear of Angels and Archangels of Cherubins and Seraphins of Principalities and Powers and Thrones and Dominions We hear the sound of these words with admiration but we know little of their natures wherein their general notion and wherein their distinction consists what peculiar excellencies they have what offices and employments of all this we are ignorant Only in general we cannot but suppose that there are more orders and degrees of Intellectual Beings betwixt us and the Almighty than there are kinds or species of living Creatures upon the face of the Earth betwixt Man their Lord and Master and the least worm that creeps upon the ground Nay than there are Stars in Heaven or Sands upon the Sea-shore For there is an infinite distance and interval betwixt us and God Almighty and all that is fill'd with created Beings of different degrees of perfection still approaching nearer and nearer to their Maker And when this invisible World shall be open'd to us when the Curtain is drawn and the Celestial Hierarchy set in order before our eyes we shall despise our selves and all the petty glories of a mortal life as the dirt under our feet As to the Corporeal Universe we have some share already in the Contemplation and knowledge of that tho' little in comparison of what will be then discover'd The doctrine of the Heavens fix'd Stars Planets and Comets both as to their matter motion and form will be then clearly demonstrated and what are mysteries to us now will become matter of ordinary conversation We shall be better acquainted with our neighbouring Worlds and make new discoveries as to the state of their affairs The Sun especially the Great Monarch of the Planetary Worlds whose Dominion reaches from Pole to Pole and the greatness of his Kingdom is under the whole Heaven Who sends his bright Messengers every day through all the regions of his vast Empire throwing his beams of light round about him swifter and further than a thought can follow This noble Creature I say will make a good part of their study in the succeeding World Eudoxus the Philosopher wish'd he might die like Phaeton in approaching too near to the Sun provided he could fly so near it and endure it so long till he had discover'd its beauty and perfection VVho can blame his curiosity who would not venture far to see the Court of so great a Prince who hath more VVorlds under his command than the Emperors of the Earth have Provinces or Principalities Neither does he make his Subjects slaves to his pleasure or tributaries to serve and supply his wants on the contrary They live upon him he nourishes and preserves them gives them fruits every year corn and wine and all the comforts of life This glorious Body which now we can only gaze upon and admire will be then better understood A mass of Light and Flame and Ethereal matter ten thousand times bigger than this Earth Enlightning and enlivening an Orb that exceeds the bulk of our Globe as much as that does the least sand upon the Sea-shore may reasonably be presum'd to have some great Being at the Centre of it But what that is we must leave to the enquiries of another life The Theory of the Earth will be a common lession there carried through all its vicissitudes and periods from first to last till its entire revolution be accomplish'd I told you in the Preface The Revolution of World was one of the greatest Speculations that we are capable of in this life and this little World where we are will be the first and easiest instance of it seeing we have Records Historical or Prophetical that reach from the Chaos to the end of the new Heavens and new Earth which course of time makes up the greatest part of the Circle or Revolution And as what was before the Chaos was but in my opinion the first remove from a Fixt Star so what is after the thousand years Renovation is but the last step to it again The Theory of humane Nature is also an useful and necessary speculation and will be carried on to perfection in that state Having fixt the true distinction betwixt Matter and Spirit betwixt the Soul and the Body and the true nature and laws of their union The original contract and the terms ratified by Providence at their first conjunction It will not be hard to discover the springs of action and passion how the thoughts of our mind and the motions of our body act in dependance one upon another What are the primary differences of Genius's and complexions and how our Intellectuals or Morals depend upon them What is the Root of Fatality and how far it extends By these lights they will see into their own and every Man's breast and trace the foot-steps of the Divine wisdom in that strange composition of Soul and Body This indeed is a mixt speculation as most others are and takes in something of both Worlds Intellectual and Corporeal and may also belong in part to the Third Head we mention'd Providence But there is no need of distinguishing these Heads so nicely provided we take in under some or other of them what may be thought best to deserve our knowledge now or in another World As to Providence what we intend chiefly by it here is the general oeconomy of our Religion and what is reveal'd to us in Scripture concerning God Angels and Mankind These Revelations as most in Sacred Writ are short and incompleat as being design'd for practice more than for speculation or to awaken and excite our thoughts rather than to satisfie them Accordingly we read in Scripture of a Triune Deity of God made flesh in the Womb of a Virgin Barbarously crucified by the Iews Descending into Hell rising again from the Dead visibly ascending into Heaven And sitting at the right hand of God the
Father above Angels and Arch-Angels These great things are imperfectly reveal'd to us in this life which we are to believe so far as they are reveal'd In hopes these mysteries will be made more intelligible in that happy state to come where Prophets Apostles and Angels will meet in conversation together In like manner how little is it we understand concerning the Holy Ghost That he descended like a Dove upon our Saviour Like cloven Tongues of fire upon the Apostles The Place being fill'd with a rushing mighty Wind That he over-shadowed the Blessed Virgin and begot the Holy Infant That He made the Apostles speak all sort of Tongues and Languages ex tempore and pour'd out strange Vertues and Miraculous Gifts upon the Primitive Christians These things we know as bare matter of fact but the method of these operations we do not at all understand Who can tell us now what that is which we call INSPIRATION VVhat change is wrought in the Brain and what in the Soul and how the effect follows VVho will give us the just definition of a Miracle VVhat the proximate Agent is above Man and whether they are all from the same power How the manner and process of those miraculous changes in matter may be conceiv'd These things we see darkly and hope they will be set in a clearer light and the Doctrines of our Religion more fully expounded to us in that Future VVorld For as several things obscurely exprest in the Old Testament are more clearly reveal'd in the New So the same mysteries in a succeeding state may still receive a further explication The History of the Angels Good or bad makes another part of this Providential Systeme Christian Religion gives us some notices of both kinds but very imperfect VVhat interest the Good Angels have in the Government of the VVorld and in ordering the affairs of this Earth and Mankind What subjection they have to our Saviour and what part in his Ministry Whether they are Guardians to particular Persons to Kingdoms to Empires All that we know at present concerning these things is but conectural And as to the bad Angels who will give us an account of their Fall and of their former condition I had rather know the History of Lucifer than of all the Babylonian and Persian Kings Nay than of all the Kings of the Earth What the Birth-right was of that mighty Prince what his Dominions where his Imperial Court and Residence How he was depos'd for what Crime and by what Power How he still wages War against Heaven in his exile What Confederates he hath What is his Power over Mankind and how limited What change or damage he suffer'd by the coming of Christ and how it alter'd the posture of his affairs Where he will be imprison'd in the Millennium and what will be his last fate and final doom whether he may ever hope for a Revolution or Restauration These things lie hid in the secret Records of Providence which then I hope will be open'd to us With the Revolution of Worlds we mention'd before the Revolution of Souls which is another great Circle of Providence to be studied hereafter We know little here either of the pre-existence or post-existence of our Souls VVe know not what they will be till the loud Trump awakes us and calls us again into the Corporeal VVorld VVho knows how many turns he shall take upon this stage of the Earth and how many trials he shall have before his doom will be finally concluded Who knows where or what is the state of Hell where the Souls of the wicked are said to be for ever What is the true state of Heaven What our Celestial Bodies and What that Sovereign Happiness that is call'd the Beatifical Vision Our knowledge and conceptions of these things are at present very general and superficial but in the future Kingdom of Christ which is introductory to Heaven it self these imperfections in a great measure will be done away and such preparations wrought both in the Will and Understanding as may fit us for the Life of Angels and the enjoyment of God in Eternal Glory Thus you see in general what will be the employment of the Saints in the blessed Millennium And tho' they have few of the trifling businesses of this life they will not want the best and noblest of diversions 'T is an happy thing when a Man's pleasure is also his perfection for most Men's pleasures are such as debase their nature We commonly gratifie our lower faculties our Passions and our Appetites and these do not improve but depress the Mind And besides they are so gross that the finest tempers are surfeited in a little time There is no lasting pleasure but Contemplation All others grow flat and insipid upon frequent use and when a Man hath run thorow a Sett of Vanities in the declension of his Age he knows not what to do with himself if he cannot Think He saunters about from one dull business to another to wear out time And hath no reason to value Life but because he 's afraid of Death But Contemplation is a continual spring of fresh pleasures Truth is inexhausted and when you are once in the right way the further you go the greater discoveries you make and with the greater joy We are sometimes highly pleas'd and even transported with little inventions in Mathematicks or Mechanicks or Natural Philosophy All these things will make part of their diversion and entertainment in that state All the doctrine of Sounds and Harmony Of Light Colours and Perspective will be known in perfection But these I call Diversions in comparison of their higher and more serious Speculations which will be the business and happiness of that Life Do but imagine that they will have the Scheme of all humane affairs lying before them from the Chaos to the last period The universal history and order of Times The whole oeconomy of the Christian Religion and of all Religions in the World The Plan of the undertaking of the Messiah with all other parts and ingredients of the Providence of this Earth Do but imagine this I say and you will easily allow that when they contemplate the Beauty Wisdom and Goodness of the whole design it must needs raise great and noble Passions and a far richer joy than either the pleasures or speculations of this Life can excite in us And this being the last Act and close of all humane affairs it ought to be the more exquisite and elaborate that it may crown the work satisfie the Spectators and end in a general applause The whole Theatre resounding with the praises of the great Dramatist and the wonderful Art and Order of the composition CHAP. X. Objections against the Millennium answer'd With some Conjectures concerning the state of things after the Millennium and what will be the final Consummation of this World YOU see how Nature and Providence have conspir'd to make the Millennium as happy
a state as any Terrestrial state can be For besides Health and Plenty Peace Truth and Righteousness will flourish there and all the evils of this Life stand excluded There will be no Ambitious Princes studying mischief one against another or contriving methods to bring their own Subjects into slavery No mercenary Statesmen to assist and intrigue with them No oppression from the Powerful no snares or traps laid for the Innocent No treacherous Friends no malicious Enemies No Knaves Cheats Hypocrites the Vermin of this Earth that swarm every where There will be nothing but Truth Candor Sincerity and Ingenuity as in a Society or Commonwealth of Saints and Philosophers In a word 't will be Paradise restor'd both as to Innocency of Temper and the Beauties of Nature I believe you will be apt to say If this be not True 't is pity but that it should be True For 't is a very desirable state where all good People would find themselves mightily at ease What is it that hinders it then It must be some ill Genius For Nature tends to such a Renovation as we suppose and Scripture speaks loudly of an happy state to be some time or other on this side Heaven And what is there pray in this present World Natural or Moral if I may ask with reverence that could make it worth the while for God to create it if it never was better nor ever will be better Is there not more Misery than Happiness Is there not more Vice than Virtue in this World as if it had been made by a Manichean God The Earth barren the Heavens inconstant Men wicked and God offended This is the posture of our Affairs such hath our World been hitherto with Wâ—rs and Bloudshed Sickness and Diseases Poverty servitude and perpetual Drudgery for the necessaries of a Mortal Life We may therefore reasonably hope from a God infinitely good and powerful for better Times and a better State before the last period and consummation of all things But it will be objected it may be that according to Scripture the vices and wickedness of Men will continue to the end of the World and so there will be no room for such an happy state as we hope for Our Saviour says When the son of man cometh shall he find faith upon the Earth They shall eat and drink and play as before the destruction of the old World or of Sodom Luk. 17. 26 c. and the wickedness of those Men you know continued to the last This objection may pinch those that suppose the Millennium to be in the present Earth and a thousand years before the coming of our Saviour for his words seem to imply that the World will be in a state of wickedness even till his coming Accordingty Antichrist or the Man of Sin is not said to be destroy'd till the coming of our Saviour 2 Thess. 2. 8. and till he be destroy'd we cannot hope for a Millennium Lastly The coming of our Saviour is always represented in Scripture as sudden surprising and unexpected As Lightning breaking suddenly out of the clouds Luk. 17. 24. and ch 21. 34 35 or as a thief in the night 1 Thess. 5. 2 3 4. 2 Pet. 3. 10. Apoc. 16. 15. But if there be such a forerunner of it as the Millennial state whose bounds we know according as that expires and draws to an end Men will be certainly advertis'd of the approaching of our Saviour But this objection as I told you does not affect our Hypothesis for we suppose the Millennium will not be till after the coming of our Saviour and the Conflagration And also that his coming will be sudden and surprising and that Antichrist will continue in being tho' not in the same degree of power till that time So that they that place the Millennium in the present Earth are chiefly concern'd to answer this first objection But you will object it may be in the second place That this Millennium wheresoever it is would degenerate at length into sensuality and a Mahometan Paradise For where there are earthly pleasures and earthly appetites they will not be kept always in order without any excess or luxuriancy especially as to the senses of Touch and Taste I am apt to think this is true if the Soul have no more power over the Body than she hath at present and our Senses Passions and Appetites be as strong as they are now But according to our explication of the Millennium we have great reason to hope that the Soul will have a greater dominion over the Resurrection-body than she hath over this And you know we suppose that none will truly inherit the Millennium but those that rise from the Dead Nor do we admit any propagation there nor the trouble or weakness of Infants But that all rise in a perfect age and never die being translated at the final judgment to meet our Saviour in the clouds and to be with him for ever Thus we easily avoid the force of this objection But those that place the Millennium in this Life and to be enjoy'd in these Bodies must find out some new preservatives against vice otherwise they will be continually subject to degeneracy Another objection may be taken from the personal Reign of Christ upon Earth which is a thing incongruous and yet asserted by many modern Millenaries That Christ should leave that right hand of his Father to come and pass a thousand years here below living upon Earth in an heavenly Body This I confess is a thing I never could digest and therefore I am not concern'd in this objection not thinking it necessary that Christ should be personally present and resident upon Earth in the Millennium I am apt to believe that there will be then a Celestial Presence or Christ or a Shekinah as we noted before As the Sun is present to the Earth yet never leaves its place in the Firmament so Christ may be visibly conspicuous in his Heavenly Throne as he was to S. Stephen and yet never leave the right hand of his Father And this would be a more glorious and illustrious presence than if he should descend and converse amongst Men in a personal shape But these things not being distinctly reveal'd to us we ought not to determine any thing concerning them but with modesty and submission We have thus far pretty well escap'd and kept our selves out of the reach of the ordinary objections against the Millennium But there remains one concerning a double Resurrection which must fall upon every Hypothesis and 't is this The Scripture they say speaks but of one Resurrection whereas the doctrine of the Millennium supposes two one at the beginning of the Millennium for the Martyrs and those that enjoy that happy state and the other at the end of it which is universal and final in the last day of judgment 'T is true Scripture generally speaks of the Resurrection in gross without distinguishing first and second
they are to be reduc'd it does not certainly appear This mixture of these two Races whatsoever they were gave it seems so great offence to God that he destroy'd that World upon it in a Deluge of Water It hath been matter of great difficulty to determine who these Sons of God were that fell in love with and married the daughters of men There are two conjectures that prevail most One that they were Angels and another that they were of the Posterity of Seth and distinguish'd from the rest by their Piety and the worship of the true God so that it was a great crime for them to mingle with the rest of mankind who are suppos'd to have been Idolaters Neither of these opinions is to me satisfactory For as to Angels Good Angels neither marry nor are given in marriage Matt. 22. 30. and bad Angels are not call'd the Sons of God Besides if Angels were capable of those mean pleasures we ought in reason to suppose that there are female Angels as well as male for surely those capacities are not in vain through a whole Species of Beings And if there be female Angels we cannot imagine but that they must be of a far more charming beauty than the dowdy daughters of men Then as to the line of Seth It does not appear that there was any such distinction of Idolaters and true Worshippers before the Flood or that there was any such thing as Idolatry at that time nor for some Ages after Besides it is not said that the Sons of God fell in love with the Daughters of Cain or of any degenerate race but with the Daughters of Adam which may be the Daughters of Seth as well as of any other These conjectures therefore seem to be shallow and ill-grounded But what the distinction was of those two orders remains yet very uncertain St. Paul to the Galatians Chap. 4. 21 22 c. makes a distinction also of a double Progeny that of Sarah and that of Hagar One was born according to the flesh after a natural manner and the other by the divine power or in vertue of the divine promise This distinction of a natural and supernatural origine and of a double progeny the one born to servitude the other to liberty represents very well either the manner of our present birth and of our future at the Resurrection Or that double progeny and double manner of birth which we suppose in the Future Earth 'T is true St. Paul applies this to the Law and the Gospel but Typical things you know have different aspects and completions which are not exclusive of one another and so it may be here But however this double race of Mankind in the Future Earth to explain the Doctrine of Gog and Magog is but a conjecture and does not pretend to be otherwise consider'd The last thing that remains to be consider'd and accounted for is the upshot and conclusion of all namely what will become of the Earth after the thousand years expir'd Or after the Day of Judgment past and the Saints translated into Heaven what will be the face of things here below There being nothing expresly reveal'd concerning this we must not expect a positive resolution of it And the difficulty is not peculiar to our hypothesis for though the Millennium and the final Judgment were concluded in the present Earth the Quaere would still remain What would become of this Earth after the Last Day So that all parties are equally concern'd and equally free to give their opinion What will be the last state and Consummation of this Earth Scripture I told you hath not defin'd this point and the Philosophers say very little concerning it The Stoicks indeed speak of the final resolution of all things into Fire or into Aether which is the purest and subtlest sort of fire So that the whole Globe or Mass of the Earth and all particular bodies will according to them be at last dissolv'd into a liquid flame Neither was this Doctrine first invented by the Stoicks Heraclitus taught it long before them and I take it to be as ancient as Orpheus himself who was the first Philosopher amongst the Greeks And he deriving his notions from the Barbarick Philosophers or the Sages of the East that School of Wisdom may be look'd upon as the true seminary of this Doctrine as it was of most other natural knowledge But this dissolution of the Earth into Fire may be understood two ways either that it will be dissolv'd into a loose name and so dissipated and lost as Lightning in the Air and vanish into nothing or that it will be dissolv'd into a fixt flame such as the Sun is or a fixt Star And I am of opinion that the Earth after the last Day of Judgment will be chang'd into the nature of a Sun or of a fixt Star and shine like them in the Firmament Being all melted down into a mass of Aethereal matter and enlightning a Sphere or Orb round about it I have no direct and demonstrative proof of this I confess But if Planets were once fixt Stars as I believe they were their revolution to the same state again in a great Circle of Time seems to be according to the methods of Providence which loves to recover what was lost or decay'd after certain periods and what was originally good and happy to make it so again All Nature at last being transform'd into a like glory with the Sons of God I will not tell you what foundation there is in Nature for this change or transformation from the interiour constitution of the Earth and the instances we have seen of new Stars appearing in the Heavens I should lead the English Reader too far out of his way to discourse of these things But if there be any passages or expressions in Scripture that countenance such a state of things after the day of Judgment it will not be improper to take notice of them That radiant and illustrious Ierusalem describ'd by St. Iohn Apoc. 21. ver 10 11 12 c. compos'd all of Gemms and bright materials clear and sparkling as a Star in the Firmament Who can give an account what that is Its foundations walls gates streets all the Body of it resplendent as light or fire What is there in Nature or in this Universe that bears any resemblance with such a Phaenomenon as this unless it be a Sun or a fixt Star Especially if we add and consider what follows That the City had no need of the Sun non of the Moon to shine in it And that there was no night there This can be no Terrestrial Body it must be a substance luminous in it self and a fountain of light as a fixt Star And upon such a change of the Earth or transformation as this would be brought to pass the saying that is written DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY Which indeed S. Paul seems to apply to our Bodies in particular 1
Cor. 15. 54. But in the Eighth Chapter to the Romans He extends it to all Nature The Creation it self also shall be deliver'd from the bondage of Corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God And accordingly S. Iohn speaking of the same time with St. Paul in that place to the Corinthians namely of the general Resurrection and day of Judgment says Death and Hades which we render Hell were cast into the lake of fire This is their being swallowed up in victory which S. Paul speaks of when Death and Hades that is all the Region of mortality The Earth and all its dependances are absorpt into a mass of Fire and converted by a glorious Victory over the powers of darkness into a Luminous Body and a region of Light This great Issue and Period of the Earth and of all humane affairs tho' it seem to be founded in nature and supported by several expressions of Scripture yet we cannot for want of full instruction propose it otherwise than as a fair Conjecture The Heavens and the Earth shall flie away at the day of Judgment says the Text Apoc. 20. 11. And their place shall not be found This must be understood of our Heavens and our Earth And their flying away must be their removing to some other part of the Universe so as their place or residence shall not be found any more here below This is the easie and natural sence of the Words and this translation of the Earth will not be without some change preceding that makes it leave its place and with a lofty flight take its seat amongst the Stars There we leave it Having conducted it for the space of Seven Thousand Years through various changes from a dark Chaos to a bright Star FINIS A REVIEW OF THE THEORY OF THE EARTH And of its PROOFS ESPECIALLY IN REFERENCE TO SCRIPTURE LONDON Printed by R. N. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. 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 specifi'd 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 sâ—â—tes and revolutions of this Earth We are therefore oblig'd to give a clear and coherent account of these Phaeâ—oâ—ena in that orâ—er and consecution wherein tâ—ey stand to 〈◊〉 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 neveâ—â—hould be a second Flood â—hese â—hings Scripâ—ure hath alâ—â— left upon â—â—cord 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 The former part of the Task is concerning the World behind us Times and Things past that are already come to light The later is concerning the World before us Times and Things to come That lie yet in the bosom of Providence and in the â—eeds 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. Iohn says Then is the Consummation of all things and the last period of this sublunary World whatsoever it is Thus â—ar 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 Confâ—agration 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 impâ—rtant 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 Phaenomend 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 thaâ— 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. Iohn 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. Iohn and the Prophet Isaias have represented the New Heavens and New Earth as Paradisiâ—cal According as is prov'd Book the 4th chap. 2. And having told us the form of the New future Earth that it will have no Sea it is a reasonable inference that there was no Sea in the Paradisiâ—cal Earth However from the form of this Future Earth which St. Iohn 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 〈◊〉 to the Phaenomena we must refer that to the next head of Proofs It may be tâ—â—ly said that bare coherence and union of parts is not a sufficient proof The parts of a â—able 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 expâ—tations 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 only 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 oâ—her 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 Third 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. Iohn call'd the New Heaven 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 fâ—om the consideration of Effects Namely of such effects as are already in being And therefore this proof can extend only 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 hitherto propos'd 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 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 partâ—cularly 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 overflowed with water perished 7. But the heavens and the earth that are now by the sâ—me 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 carry them out of their usual road and point to conclusions which they did not fancy This sence you see hits the objections 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 destroy'd 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 Rom. ver 20 21. tells 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 S. Peter and S. Paul I might add that third in S. Iohn 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 state of the Natural World to which this is a Restitution These three places I alledge as comprehending and confirming the Theory in its full extent But we do not suppose them all of the same force and clearness S. Peter leads the way and gives light and strength to the other two When a Point is prov'd by one clear Text we allow others as auxiliaries that are not of the same clearness But being open'd receive light from the primary Text and reflect it upon the Argument So much for the Theory in general We will now take one or two principal heads of it which vertually contain all the rest and examine them more strictly and particularly in reference to their agreement with Scripture The two Heads we pitch upon shall be our Explication of the Deluge and our Explication of the New Heavens and New Earth We told you before these Two were as â—he Hinges upon which all the Theory moves and which hokâ— the parts of it in firm union one with another As to the Deluge if I have explain'd that aright by the Disruption of the Great Abyss and the Dissolution of the Earth that cover'd it all the rest follows in such a chain of Consequences as cannot be broken Wherefore in order to the proof of that Explication and of all that depends upon it I will make bold to lay down this Proposition That our Hypothesis concerning the Universal Deluge is not only more agreeable to Reason and Philosophy thaâ— any other yet propos'd to the World but is also more agreeable to Scripture Namely to such places of Scripture as reflect upon the Deluge the Abyss and the form of the first Earth And particularly to the History of Noah's Flood as recorded by Moses If I can make this good it will doubtless give satisfaction to all that are free and intelligent And I desire their patience if I proceed slowly and by several steps We will divide our task into parts and examine them separately First by Scripture in general and then by Moses his History and description of the Flood Our Hypothesis of the Deluge consists of Three Principal Heads or differs remarkably in Three things from the common Explication First In that we suppose the Ante diluvian Earth to have been of another Form and Constitution from the present Earth with the Abyss placed under it Secondly In that we suppose the Deluge to have been made not by any inunâ—ation of the Sea or overflowing of Fountains and Rivers nor principally by any excess of Rains but by a real dissolution of the Exteriour Earth and disruption of the Abyss which it cover'd These are the two principal points to which may be added as a Corollary Thirdly That the Deluge was not in the nature of a standing Pool The Waters lying every where level of an equal depth and with an uniform Surface But was made by a fluctuation and commotion of the Abyss upon the disruption Which commotion being over the Waters retired into their Chanels and let the dry Land appear These are the most material and fundamental parts of our Hypothesis and these being prov'd consonant to Scripture there can be no doubt of the rest We begin with the first That the Ante-diluvian Earth was of another form and constitution from the present Earth with the Abyss placed under it This is confirm'd in Scripture both by such places as assert a diversity in general and by other places that intimate to us wherein that diversity consisted and what was the form of the first Earth That discourse of S. Peter's which we have set before you concerning the past present and future Heavens and Earth is so full a proof of this diversity in general that you must either allow it or make the Apostle's argumentation of no effect He speaks plainly of the Natural World The Heavens and the Earth And he makes a plain distinction or rather opposition betwixt those before and after the Flood so that the least we can conclude from his words is a diversity betwixt them in answer to that Identity or Immutability of Nature which the Scoffers pretended to have been ever since the beginning But tho' the Apostle to me speaks plainly of the Natural World and distinguishes that which was before the Flood from the present Yet there are some that will allow neither of these to be contain'd in S. Peter's words and by that means would make this whole Discourse of little or no effect as to our purpose And seeing we on the contrary have made it the chief Scripture-basis of the whole Theory of the Earth we are oblig'd to free it from those false glosses or mis-interpretations that lessen the force of its testimony or make it wholly ineffectual These Interpreters say That S. Peter meant no more than to mind these Scoffers that the World was once destroy'd by a Deluge of Water meaning the Animate World Mankind and living Creatures And that it shall be destroy'd again by another Element namely by Fire So as there is no opposition or diversity betwixt the two Natural Worlds taught or intended by the Apostle but only in reference to their different
fate or manner of perishing and not of their different nature or constitution Here are two main points you see wherein our interpretations of this discourse of the Apostles differ First In that they make the Apostle in that sixth verse to understand only the World Animate or Men and brute Creatures That these were indeed destroy'd but not the Natural World or the form and constitution of the then Earth and Heavens Secondly That there is no diversity or opposition made by S. Peter betwixt the ancient Heavens and Earth and the present as to their form and constitution We pretend that these are mis-apprehensions or mis-representations of the sence of the Apostle in both respects and offer these reasons to prove them to be so For the first point That the Apostle speaks here of the Natural World particularly in the 6th Verse and that it perish'd as well as the animate These Considerations seem to prove First Because the Argument or ground these Scoffers went upon was taken from the Natural World its constancy and permanency in the same state from the beginning Therefore if the Apostle answers ad idem and takes away their Argument he must understand the same Natural World and show that it hath been chang'd or hath perish'd You will say it may be the Apostle doth not deny nor take away the ground they went upon but denies the consequence they made from it That Therefore there would be no change because there had been none No neither doth he do this if by the World in the 6th ver he understands Mankind only for their ground was this there hath been no change in the Natural World Their consequence this Therefore there will be none nor any Conflagration Now the Apostle's answer according to you is this You forget that Mankind hath been destroyed in a Deluge And what then what 's this to the Natural World whereof they were speaking This takes away neither antecedent nor consequent neither ground nor inference nor any way toucheth their Argument which proceeded from the Natural World to the Natural World Therefore you must either suppose that the Apostle takes away their ground or he takes away nothing Secondly What is it that the Apostle tells these Scoffers they were ignorant of That there was a Deluge that destroyed Mankind They could not be ignorant of that nor pretend to be so It was therefore the constitution of those Old Heavens and Earth and the change or destruction of them at the Deluge that they were ignorant of or did not attend to and of this the Apostle minds them These Scoffers appear to have been Iews by the phrase they use since the Fathers fell asleep which in both parts of it is a Judaical expression and does S. Peter tell the Iews that had Moses read to them every Sabbath That they were ignorant that Mankind was once destroyed with a Deluge in the Days of Noah or could they pretend to be ignorant of that without making themselves ridiculous both to Iews and Christians Besides these do not seem to have been of the vulgar amongst them for they bring a Philosophical Argument for their opinion and also in their very argument they refer to the History of the Old Testament in saying Since the Fathers fell asleep amongst which Fathers Noah was one of the most remarkable Thirdly The design of the Apostle is to prove to them or to dispose them to the belief of the Conflagration or future destruction of the World which I suppose you will not deny to be a destruction of the Natural World therefore to prove or perswade this he must use an argument taken from a precedent destruction of the Natural World for to give an instance of the perishing of Mankind only would not reach home to his purpose And you are to observe here that the Apostle does not proceed against them barely by Authority for what would that have booted If these Scoffers would have submitted to Authority they had already the Authority of the Prophets and Apostles in this point but he deals with them at their own weapon and opposes reasons to reasons What hath been done may be done and if the Natural World hath been once destroyed 't is not hard nor unreasonable to suppose those Prophecies to be true that say it shall be destroyed again Fourthly Unless we understand here the Natural World we make the Apostle both redundant in his discourse and also very obscure in an easie Argument If his design was only to tell them that Mankind was once destroy'd in a Deluge what 's that to the Heavens and the Earth The 5th Verse would be superfluous which yet he seems to make the foundation of his discourse He might have told them how Mankind had perish'd before with a Deluge and aggravated that destruction as much as he pleas'd without telling them how the Heavens and the Earth were constituted then what was that to the purpose if it had no dependance or connection with the other In the precedent Chapter ver 5. when he speaks only of the Floods destroying Mankind he mentions nothing of the Heavens or the Earth and if you make him to intend no more here what he says more is superfluous I also add that you make the Apostle very obscure and operose in a very easie argument How easie had it been for him without this Apparatus to have told them as he did before that God brought a Flood upon the World of the ungodly and not given us so much difficulty to understand his sence or such a suspicion and appearance that he intended something more for that there is at least a great appearance and tendency to a further sence I think none can deny And St. Austin Didymus Alex. Bede as we shall see hereafter understood it plainly of the natural World Also modern Expositors and Criticks as Cajetan Estius Drusius Heinfius have extended it to the natural World more or less tho' they had no Theory to mislead them nor so much as an hypothesis to support them but attended only to the tenor of the Apostle's discourse which constrain'd them to that sence in whole or in part Fifthly the opposition carries it upon the natural World The opposition lies betwixt the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Heavens that were of old and the Earth and the present Heavens and Earth or the two natural Worlds And if they will not allow them to be oppos'd in their natures which yet we shall prove by and by at least they must be oppos'd in their fate and as This is to perish by fire so That perish'd by water And if it perish'd by water it perish'd which is all we contend for at present Lastly if we would be as easily govern'd in the exposition of this place as we are of other places of Scripture it would be enough to suggest that in reason and fairness of interpretation the same World is destroy'd in the 6th verse that was describ'd in
the foregoing verse but it is the Natural World that is describ'd there the Heavens and the Earth so and so constituted and therefore in fairness of interpretation they ought to be understood here that World being the subject that went immediately before and there being nothing in the words that restrains them to the animate World or to Mankind In the 2d ch ver 5. the Apostle does restrain the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by adding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the World of the ungodly but here 't is not only illimited but according to the context both preceding and following to be extended to the Natural World I say by the following context too for so it answers to the World that is to perish by Fire which will reach the frame of Nature as well as Mankind For a conclusion of this first point I will set down S. Austin ' s judgment in this case who in several parts of his works hath interpreted this place of S. Peter of the natural world As to the heavens he hath these words in his Exposition upon Genesis Hos etiam aerios coelos quondam periisse Diluvio in quâdam earum quae Canonica appellantur Epistolâ legimus We read in one of the Epistles called Canonical meaning this of S. Peter ' s that the aerila heavens perish'd in the Deluge And he concerns himself there to let you know that it was not the starry heavens that were destroy'd the waters could not reach so high but the regions of our air Then afterwards he hath these words Faciliùs eos coelos secundum illius Epistolae authoritatem credimus periisse alios sicut ibi scribitur repositos We do more easily believe according to the authority of that Epistle those heavens to have perish'd and others as it is there written substituted in their plaâ—e In like manner and to the same sence he hath these words upon Psal. 101. Aerii utique coeli perierunt ut propinqus Terris secundum quod dicuntur volucres coeli sunt autem coeli coelorum superiores in Firmamento sed utrùm ipsi perituri sint igni an hi soli qui etiam diluvio perierunt disceptatio est aliquanto scrupulosior inter doctos And in his Book de Civ Dei he hath several passages to the same purpose Quemadmodum in Apostolicâ illâ Epistolâ à toto pars aâ—cipitur quod diluvio periisse dictus est mundus quamvis sola ejus cum suis coelis pars ima perierit These being to the same effect with the first câ—tation I need not make them English and this last place refers to the Earth as well as the Heavens as several other places in S. Austin do whereof we shall give you an account when we come to shew his judgment concerning the second point the diversity of the ante-diluvian and post-diluvian World This being but a foretaste of his good will and inclinations towards this Doctrine These considerations alledg'd so far as I can judge are full and unanswerable proofs that this discourse of the Apostle's comprehends and refers to the Natural World and consequently they warrant our interpretation in this particular and destroy the contrary We have but one step more to make good That there was a change made in this natural world at the Deluge according to the Apostle and this is to confute the second part of their interpretation which supposeth that S. Peter makes no distinction or opposition betwixt the antediluvian Heavens and Earth and the present Heavens and Earth in that respect This second difference betwixt us methinks is still harsher than the first and contrary to the very form as well as to the matter of the Apostle's discourse For there is a plain antithesis or opposition made betwixt the Heavens and the Earth of old ver the 5th and the Heavens and the Earth that are now ver the 7th 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the adversative particle but you see marks the opposition so that it is full and plain according to Grammar and Logick And that the parts or members of this opposition differ in nature from one another is certain from this because otherwise the Apostle's argument or discourse is of no effect concludes nothing to the purpose he makes no answer to the objection nor proves any thing against the Scoffers unless you admit that diversity For they said All things had been the same from the beginning in the Natural World and unless he say as he manifestly does that there hath been a change in Nature and that the Heavens and Earth that are now are different from the ancient Heavens and Earth which perish'd at the Flood he says nothing to destroy their argument nor to confirm the Prophetical doctrine of the future destruction of the Natural World This I think would be enough to satisfie any clear and free mind concerning the meaning of the Apostle but because I desire to give as full a light to this place as I can and to put the sence of it out of controversie if possible for the future I will make some further remarks to confirm this exposition And we may observe that several of those reasons which we have given to prove That the Natural World is understood by S. Peter are double reasons and do also prove the other point in question a diversity betwixt the two Natural Worlds the Ante diluvian and the present As for instance unless you admit this diversity betwixt the two natural Worlds you make the 5th verse in this Chapter superfluous and useless and you must suppose the Apostle to make an inference here without premises In the 6th verse he makes an inference Whereby the World that then was perish'd in a Deluge what does this whereby relate to by reason of what sure of the particular constitution oâ— the Heavens and the Earth immediately be fore describ'd Neither would it have signified any thing to the Scoffers for the Apostle to have told them how the Ante diluvian Heavens and Earth were constituted if they were constituted just in the same manner as the present Besides what is it as I ask'd before that the Apostle tells these Scoffers they were ignorant of does he not say formally and expresly ver 5. that they were ignornat that the Heavens and the Earth were constituted so and so before the Flood but if they were constituted as these present Heavens and Earth are they were not ignorant of their constitution nor did pretend to be ignorant for their own mistaken argument supposeth it But before we proceed any further give me leave to note the impropriety of our Translation in the 5th Verse or latter part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This we translate standing in the water and out of the water which is done manifestly in compliance with the present form of the Earth and the notions of the Translators and not according to the natural force and
sence of the Greek words If one met with this sentence in a Greek Author who would ever render it standing in the water and out of the water nor do I know any Latin Translator that hath ventur'd to render them in that sence nor any Latin Father St. Austin and St. Ierome I 'm sure do not but Consistens ex aquâ or de aquâ per aquam for that later phrase also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does not with so good propriety signifie to stand in the water as to consist or subsist by water or by the help of water Tanquam per causam sustinentem as St. Austin and Ierome render it Neither does that instance they give from 1 Pet. 3. 20. prove any thing to the contrary for the Ark was sustain'd by the waters and the English does render it accordingly The Translation being thus rectified you see the ante diluvian Heavens and Earth consisted of Water and by water which makes way for a second observation to prove our sence of the Text for if you admit no diversity betwixt those Heavens and Earth and the present shew us pray how the present Heavens and Earth consist of water and by water What watery constitution have they The Apostle implies rather that The now Heavens and Earth have a fiery constitution We have now Meteors of all sorts in the air winds hail snow lightning thunder and all things engender'd of fiery exhalations â—as well as we have rain but according to our Theory the antediluvian Heavens of all these Meteors had none but dews and vapors or watery Meteors only and therefore might very aptly be said by the Apostle to be constituted of water or to have a watery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Then the Earth was said to consist by water because it was 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 WHERE BY 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 S. 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 S. Peter's Didymus Alexandrinus who was for some time S. Ierome's Master made such a seveâ—e 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 ver The World that then was In the 7th ver The Heavens and the Earth that are now And in the 13th ver We expect new Heavens and a new Earth according to his promise This seems to be a fair account that S. Peter taught the doctrine of a Triple World And I quote this testimony to show what S. 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 S. Austin owns the authority of this Epistle and of this doctrine as deriv'd from it taking notice of this Text of S. 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 Eternalists 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 S. Austin could not urge Porphyry with the authority of S. Peter for he had no veneration for the Christian Oracles but it seems he had some for the Iewish and arguing against him upon that Text in the Psalms Coeli peribunt he shows upon occasion how he understands S. Peter's destruction of the Old World Legitur Coelum Terra
transibunt Mundus transit sed puto quod praeterit transit transibunt aliquantò mitiùs dicta sunt quà m peribunt In Epistolâ 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 passion of S. Peter's concerning the destruction of the Ante diluvian World to take in the whole Universe and the highest Heavens but only the aerial Heavens and the sublunary World In Apostolicâ illâ Epistolâ à toto parâ— accipitur quod Diluvie periisse dictus est 〈◊〉 quamvis solâ— ejus cum suâ—s coelis pars ima peâ—ierit 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 only with the Heavens belonging to at 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 Apeâ—â—e dixit hoc Apostolus Petrus Coeli erant olim Terra de aquâ per â—quam constituti Dei verbo per quod qui factus est mundus aquâ 〈…〉 Terra autem coeli qui nunc sunt 〈…〉 ergo dixit perisse coelos per Dilavium These places shew us that S. Austin understood S. Peter's discourse to aim at the Natural World and his periit or periisse ver 6. to be of the same force as 〈◊〉 in the Psalms when 't is said the Heavens shalt perishâ— and consequently that the Heavens and the Earth in this Father's opinion were as really chang'd and transform'd at the time of the Flood as they will be at the Conflagration But we must not expect from S. Austin or any of the Ancients a distinct account of this Apostolical Doctrine as if they knew and acknowledg'd the Theory of the Firsâ— World that does not at all appear but what they said was either from broken Tradition or extorted from them by the force of the Apostle's words and their own sincerity There are yet other places in S. Austin worthy our consideration upon this subject especially his exposition of this 3d. chap. of S. Peter as we find it â—n that same Treatise de Civ Dei There he compares again the destruction of the World at the Deluge with that which shall be at the Confâ—agration and supposeth both the Heavens and Earth to have perish'd Apostelus â—ominemorans factum ante Diluvium videtur admonâ—â—sse quodaminodo quatenus in fiâ—e hujus secuâ—â— mundum istum periturium esse credamus Nam illo tempore periisse dixit qui tunc erat mundum nec solum otbem terrae verùm etiam coelos Then giving his usual caution That the Stars and Starry Heavens should not be comprehended in that mundane destruction He goes on Atque hoc modo pene totus aer cum terra periorat cujus Terrae utÃque prior facies nempe ante-diluviana fuerat deleta Diluvio Qui autem nunc sunt coeli terra eodem verbo repâ—siti sunt igni reservandi Proinde qui coeli quae Terra id est qui mundus pro â—o mundo qui Diluvio periit ex eâdem aquâ reposâ—tus est ipse igni novissimo reservatur Here you see S. Austin's sence upon the whole matter which is this That the Natural World the Earth with the Heavens about it was destroyed and chang'd at the Deluge into the present Heavens and Earth which shall again in like manner be destroyed and chang'd by the last Fire Accordingly in another place to add no more he saith the figure of the subâ—â—nary World shall be chang'd at the Conflagration as it was chang'd at the Deluge Tunc figura huius mundi c. cap. 16. Thus you see we have S. Austin on our side in both parts of our interpretation that S. Peter's discourse is to be referr'd to the natural inanimate World and that the present Natural World is distinct and different from that which was before the Deluge And S. Austin having applyed this expresly to S. Peter's doctrine by way of Commentary it will free us from any crime or affectation of singularity in the exposition we have given of that place Venerable Bede hath â—ollowed S. Austin ' s footsteps in this doctrine for interpreting S. Peter ' s Original World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Peti 2. 5. he refers both that and this chap. 3. 6. to the natural inanimate World which he supposeth to have undergone a change at the Deluge His words are these Idem ipse mundus est nempe quoad materiam in quo nunc humanum genus habitat quem inhabitaverunt hi qui ante diluvium fuerunt fed tamen rectè Originalis Mundus quasi alius dicitur quia sicut in consequentibus bujus Epistolae â—â—riptum continetur Ille tunc mundus aquâ inundatus periâ—â— Coelis videlicet qui eranâ— prius id est cunctis aeris hujus turbulentâ— spaciis aquanum accrescentium altitudine consumptis ac Terrâ in alteram faciem excedentibus aquis immutatâ Nam etsi montes aliqui atque convalles ab initio facti creduntur non tament anti quanti nunc in orbe cernuntur universo T is the same World namely as to the matter and substance of it which mankind lives in now and did live in before the Flood but yet that is truly call'd the ORIGINAL WORLD being as it were another from the present For 't is said in the sequel of this Epistle that the World that was then perish'd in the Deluge namely The regions of the air were consumed by the height and excess of the waters and by the same waters the Earth was chang'd into another form or face For although some Mountains and Valleys are thought to have been made from the beginning yet not such great ones as now we see throughout the whole Earth You see this Author does not only own a change made at the Deluge but offers at a further explication wherein that change consisted viz. That the Mountains and inequalities of the Earth were made greater than they were before the Flood and so he makes the change or the difference betwixt the two Worlds gradual rather than specifical if I may so term it But we cannot wonder at that if he had no principles to carry it further or to make any other sort of change intelligible to him Bede also pursues the same sence and notion in his interpretation of that fountain Gen. 2. 5. that watered the
face of the Earth before the Flood And many other transcribers of Antiquity have recorded this Tradition concerning a difference gradual or specifical both in the Ante-diluvian heavens Gloss. Ordin Gen. 9. de Iride Lyran. ibid. Hist. Scholast c. 35. Rab. Maurus Gloss. Inter. Gen. 2. 5 6. Alcuin Quaest. in Gen. inter 135. and in the Ante-diluvian Earth as the same Authors witness in other places As Hist. Schol. o. 34. Gloss. Ord. in Gen. 7. Alâ—uin Inter. 118 c. Not to instance in those that tell us the properties of the Ante-diluvian World under the name and notion of Paradise Thus much concerning this remarkable place in S. Peter and the true exposition of it which I have the more largely insisted upon because I look upon this place as the chief repository of that great Natural Mystery which in Scripture is communicated to us concerning the Triple State or Revolution of the World And of those Men that are so scrupulous to admit the Theory we have propos'd I would willingly know whether they believe the Apostle in what he says concerning the New Heavens and the New Earth to come ver 13. and if they do why they should not believe him as much concerning the Old Heavens and the Old Earth past ver 5 6. which hâ— mentions as formally and describes more distinctly than the other But if they believe neither past nor to come in a natural sence but an unchangeable state of Nature from the Creation to its annihilation I leave them then to their Fellow Eternalists in the Text and to the character or censure the Apostle gives them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men that go by their own private humour and passions and prefer that to all other evidence 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 Hebrows have no word to signifie the Natural World but use that Periphrass 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 Preseut Heavenâ— and Earth and the New Heavens and Earth 'T is true these Three are one as â—o 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 appeâ—lations Suppose the Iews 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 S. Peter's and have much ado to bear of 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 only 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 only 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-bowu appearing after the Deluge and the breaking open an Abyss capable to overflow the Earth The Heavens that had no Rain-bow 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 Sea 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. Psal. 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's To him that stretchèd 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 ones 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 â—ose over the Sea must the body of the Earth be said to be stretched over the wà ters Or because there are waters in some subterraneous cavities is the Earth therefore founded upon the Seas Yet such lame explications as these you will meet with and while we have no better light we must content our selves with them but when an explication is offer'd that answers the propriety force and extent of the words to reject it onely because it is not fitted to our former opinions or because we did not first think of it is to take an ill method in expounding Scripture This Foundation or Establishment of the Earth upon the Seas this Extension of it above the waters relates plainly to the body or whole circuit of the Earth not to parcels and particles of it as appears from the occasion and its being joyn'd with the Heavens the other part of the World Besides David is speaking of the Origin of the World and of the Divine power and wisdom in the construction and situation of our Earth and these attributes do not appear from the holes of the Earth and broken Rocks which have rather the face of a ruin than of wisdom but in that wonderful libration and expansion of the first Earth over the face of the waters sustained by its own proportions and the hand of his Providence These two places in the Psalms being duly consider'd we shall more easily understand a third place to the same effect in the Proverbs delivered by WISDOM concerning the Origin of the World and the form of the first Earth in these words Chap. 8. 27. When he prepared the Heavens I was there when HE SET an Orb or Sphere upon the face of the Abyss We render it when we set a Compass upon the face of the Abyss but if we have rightly interpreted the Prophet David 't is plain enough what compass is here to be understood not an imaginary circle for why should that be thought one of the wonderful works of God but that exterior Orb of the Earth that was set upon the waters That was the Master-piece of the Divine art in framing of the first Earth and therefore very fit to be taken notice of by Wisdom And upon this occasion I desire you to reflect upon St. Peter's expression concerning the first Earth and to compare it with Solomon's to see if they do not answer one another St. Peter calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An Earth consisting standing or sustained by the waters And Solomon calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An Orb drawn upon the face of the Abyss And St. Peter says that was done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the wisdom of God which is the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or wisdom that here declares her self to have been present at this work Add now to these two places the two foremention'd out of the Psalmist An Earth founded upon the Seas Psal. 24. 2. and an Earth stretched out above the waters Psal. 136. 6. Can any body doubt or question but all these four Texts refer to the same thing And seeing St. Peter's description refers â—â—rtainly to the Ante-diluvian Earth they must all refer to it and do all as certainly and evidently agree with our Theory concerning the form and situation of it The pendulous form and posture of that first Earth being prov'd from these four places 't is more easie and emphatical to interpret in this sence that passage in Iob ch 26. 7. He stretcheth â—ut the North over the Tohu for so it is in the original and hangeth the Earth upon nothing And this strange foundation or no foundation of the exteriour Earth seems to be the ground of those noble questions propos'd to Iob by God Almighty Ch. 38. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth Declare if thou hast understanding Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastned and who laid the corner-stone There was neither foundation nor corner-stone in that piece of Architecture and that was it which made the art and wonder of it But I have spoken more largely to these places in the Theory it self And if the four Texts before-mentioned be consider'd without prejudice I think there are few matters of natural Speculation that can be so well prov'd out of Scripture as the Form which we have given to the Ante-diluvian Earth But yet it may be thought a just if not a necessary appendix to this discourse concerning the form of the Ante-diluvian Earth to give an account also of the Ante-diluvian Abyss and the situation of it according to Scripture for the relation which these two have to one another will be a further means to discover if we have rightly determin'd the form of that Earth The Abyss or Tehom-Rabbah is a Scripture notion and the word is not us'd that I know of in that distinct and peculiar sence in Heathen Authors 'T is plain that in Scripture it is not always taken for the Sea as Gen. 1. 2. 7. 11. 49. 25. Deut. 33. 13. Iob 28. 14. 38. 16. Psal. 33. 7. 71. 20 78. 15. 135. 6. Apoc. 20. 1. 3. but for some other mass of waters or subterraneous store-house And this being observ'd we may easily discover the nature and set down the History
of the Scripture-Abyss The Mother-Abyss is no doubt that in the beginning of Genesis v. 2. which had nothing but darkness upon the face of it or a thick caliginous air The next news we hear of this Abyss is at the Deluge Gen. 7. 11. where 't is said to be broke open and the waters of it to have drowned the World It seems then this Abyss was clos'd up some time betwixt the Creation and the Deluge and had got another cover than that of darkness And if we will believe Wisdom Prov. 8. 27. who was there present at the formation of the Earth an Orb was set upon the face of the Abyss at the beginning of the World That these three places refer to the same Abyss I think cannot be questioned by any that will compare them and consider them That of the Deluge Moses calls there Tehom-Rabbah the Great Abyss and can there be any greater than the forementioned Mother-Abyss And WISDOME in that place in the Proverbs useth the same phrase and words with Moses Gen. 1. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the face of the Deep or of the Abyss changâ—ng darkness for that Orb of the exteriour Earth which was made afterwards to inclose it And in thâ—s vault it lay and under this cover when the Psalmist speaks of it in these words Psal. 33. 7. He gathereth the waters of the Sea as in a bag he layeth up the Abyss in store-houses Lastly we may observe that 't was this Mother-Abyss whose womb was burst at the Deluge when the Sea was born and broke forth as if it had issued out of a womb as God expresseth it to Iob ch 38. 8. in which place the Chaldee Paraphrase reads it when it broke forth coming out of the Abyss Which disruption at the Deluge seems also to be alluded to Iob 12. 14 15. and more plainly Prov. 3. 20. by his knowledge the Abysses are broken up Thus you have already a threefold state of the Abyss which makes a short History of it first Open at the beginning then covered till the Deluge Then broke open again as it is at present And we pursue the History of it no further but we are told Apoc. 20. 3. That it shall be shut up again and the great Dragon in it for a Thousand years In the mean time we may observe from this form and posture of the Ante diluvian Abyss how suitable it is and coherent with that form of the Ante-diluvian Earth which St. Peter and the Psalmist had describ'd sustain'd by the waters founded upon the waters stretcht above the waters for if it was the cover of this Abyss and it had some cover that was broke at the Deluge it was spread as a Crust or Ice upon the face of those waters and so made an Orbis Terrarum an habitable sphere of Earth about the Abyss SO much for the form of the Ante-diluvian Earth and Abyss which as they aptly correspond to one another so you see our Theory answers and is adjusted to both and I think so fitly that we have no reason hitherto to be displeas'd with the success we have had in the examination of it according to Scripture We have dispatch'd the two main points in question first to prove a diversity in general betwixt the two natural Worlds or betwixt the Heavens and the Earth before and after the Flood Secondly to prove wherein this diversity consisted or that the particular form of the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth was such according to Scripture as we have describ'd it in the Theory You 'l say then the work is done what needs more all the rest follows of course for if the Antediluvian Earth had such a â—orm as we have propos'd and prov'd it to have had there could be no Deluge in it but by a dissolution of its parts and exteriour frame And a Deluge so made would not be in the nature of a standing Pool but of a violent agitation and commotion of the Waters This is true These parts of the Theory are so cemented that you must grant all if you grant any However we will try if even these two particulars also may be prov'd out of Scripture That is if there be any marks or memorandums left there by the Spirit of God of such a fraction or dissolution of the Earth at the Deluge And also such characters of the Deluge it self as show it to have been by a fluctuation and impetuous commotion of the Waters To proceed then That there was a Fraction or Dissolution of the Earth at the Deluge the history of it by Moses gives us the first account seeing he tells us as the principol cause of the Flood That the Fountains of the Great Abyss were cloven or burst asunder and upon this disruption the waters gush'd out from the bowels of the Earth as from the widen'd mouths of so many Fountains I do not take Fountains there to signifie any more than Sources or Stores of Water noting also this manner of their eruption from below or out of the ground as Fountains do Accordingly in the Proverbs chap. 3. 20. 't is only said the Abysses were broken open I do not doubt but this refers to the Deluge as Bede and others understand it the very word being us'd here both in the Hebrew and Septuagint that express'd the disruption of the Abyss at the Deluge And this breaking up of the Earth at that time is elegantly exprest in Iob by the bursting of the Womb of Nature when the Sea was first brought to light when after many pangs and throes and dilacerations of her body Nature was delivered of a burthen which she had born in her Womb Sixteen Hundred Years These three places I take to be memorials and proofs of the disruption of the Earth or of the Abyss at the universal Deluge And to these we may add more out of the Prophets Iob and the Psalms by way of allusion commonly to the state of Nature at that time The Prophet Isaiah in describing the future destruction of the World chap. 24. 18 19. seems plainly to allude and have respect to the past destruction of it at the Deluge as appears by that leading expression the windows from an high are open 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taken manifestly from Gen. 7. 11. Then see how the description goes on the windows from an high are open and the foundations of the Earth do shake The Earth is utterly broken down the Earth is quite dissolv'd the Earth is exceedingly moved Here are Concussions and Fractions and dissolutions as there were in the Mundane Earth-quake and Deluge which we had exprest before only by breaking open the Abyss By the Foundations of the Earth here and elsewhere I perceive many understand the Centre so by moving or shaking the foundations or putting them out of course must be understood a displacing of the Centre which was really done at the Deluge as we have shewn in its proper place
If we therefore remember that there was both a dislocation as I may so say and a fraction in the body of the Earth by that great fall a dislocation as to the Centre and a fraction as to the Surface and Exterior Region it will truly answer to all those expressions in the Prophet that seem so strange and extraordinary T is true this place of the Prophet respects also and foretels the future destruction of the World but that being by Fire when the Elements shall melt with fervent heat and the Earth with the works therein shall be burnt up these expressions of fractions and concussions seem to be taken originally from the manner of the World's first destruction and to be transferr'd by way of application to represent and signifie the second destruction of it though it may be not with the same exactness and propriety There are several other places that refer to the dissolution and subversion of the Earth at the Deluge Amos 9. 5 6. The Lord of Hosts is he that toucheth the Earth and it shall melt or be dissolv'd and it shall rise up wholly like a Flood and shall be drowned as by the Flood of Egypt By this and by the next verse the Prophet seems to allude to the Deluge and to the dissolution of the Earth that was then This in Iob seems to be call'd breaking down the Earth and overturning the Earth Chap. 12. 14 15. Behold he breaketh down and it cannot be built again He shâ—â—teth upon man and there can be no opening Behold he witholdeth the waters and they dry up also he â—endeth them out and they overturn the Earth Which place you may see paraphras'd Theor. Book 1. p. 91 92. We have already cited and shall hereafter cite other places out of Iob And as that Ancient Author who is thought to have liv'd before the Judaical Oeconoray and nearer to Noah than Moses seems to have had the Praecept a Noachidarum so also he seems to have had the Dogmata Noachidarum which were deliver'd by Noah to his Children and Posterity concerning the mysteries of Natural Providence the origine and fate of the World the Deluge and Ante-diluvian state c. and accordingly we find many strictures of these doctrines in the Book of Iob. Lastly In the Psalms there are Texts that mention the shaking of the Earth and the foundations of the World in reference to the Flood if we judge aright whereof we will speak under the next Head concerning the raging of the Waters in the Deluge These places of Scripture may be noted as left us to be remembrancers of that general ruine and disruption of the Earth at the time of the Deluge But I know it will be said of them That they are not strict proofs but allusions only Be it so yet what is the ground of those allusions something must be alluded to and something that hath past in Nature and that is recorded in Sacred History and what is that unless it be the Universal Deluge and that change and disturbance that was then in all Nature If others say that these and such like places are to be understood morally and allegorically I do not envy them their interpretations but when Nature and Reason will bear a literal sence the rule is that we should not recede from the Letter But I leave these things to every one's thoughts which the more calm they are and the more impartial the more easily they will feel the impressions of Truth In the mean time I proceed to the last particular mention'd The form of the Deluge it self This we suppose to have been not in the way of a standing Pool the Waters making an equal Surface and an equal heighth every where but that the extreme heighth of the Waters was made by the extreme agitation of them caus'd by the weight and force of great Masses or Regions of Earth falling at once into the Abyss by which means as the Waters in some places were prest out and thrown at an excessive height into the Air so they would also in certain places gape and lay bare even the bottom of the Abyss which would look as an open Grave ready to swallow up the Earth and all it bore Whilst the Ark in the mean time falling and rising by these gulphs and precipices sometimes above water and sometimes under was a true Type of the state of the Church in this World And to this time and state David alludes in the name of the Church Psal. 42. 7. Abyss calls unto Abyss at the noise of thy Cataracts or Water-spouts All thy waves and billows have gone over me And again Psal. 46. 2 3. In the name of the Church Therefore will not we fear tho' the Earth be removed and tho' the mountains be carried into the midst of the Seas The waters thereof roar and are troubled the mountains shake with the swelling thereof But there is no description more remarkable or more eloquent than of that Scene of things represented Psal. 18. 7 8 9 c. which still alludes in my opinion to the Deluge-scene and in the name of the Church We will set down the words at large Ver. 6. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cryed unto my God He heard my voice out of his Temple and my cry came before him into his ears 7. Then the Earth shook and trembled the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken because he was wroth 8. There went up a smoke from his nostrils and fire out of his mouth devoured Coals were kindled by it 9. He bowed the Heavens also and came down and darkness was under his feet 10. And he rode upon a Cherub and did flie he did flie upon the wings of the wind 11. He made darkness his secret place his pavilion round about him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skie 12. At the brightness before him the thick clouds passed hail and coals of fire 13. The Lord also thunder'd in the Heavens and the Highest gave his voice hail and coals of fire 14. Yea he sent out his arrows and scatter'd them and he shot out lightnings and discoinfited them 15. Then the Chanels of waters were seen and the foundations of the World were discovered at thy rebuke O Lord at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils He sent from above he took me he drew me out of great waters This I think is a rough* draught of the face of the Heavens and the Earth at the Deluge as the last Verses do intimate and 't is apply'd to express the dangers and deliverances of the Church The Expressions are far too high to be applyed to David in his Person and to his deliverance from Saul no such agonies or disorders of Nature as are here instanc'd in were made in David s time or upon his account but 't is a Scheme of the Church and of her fate particularly as represented by the Ark in that dismal distress
when all nature was in confusion And though there may be some things here intermixt to make up the Scene that are not so close to the subject as the rest or that may be referr'd to the future destruction of the World yet that is not unusual nor amiss in such descriptions if the great strokes be fit and rightly plac'd That there was Smoke and Fire and Water and Thunder and Darkness and Winds and Earth-quakes at the Deluge we cannot doubt if we consider the circumstances of it Waters dash'd and broken make a smoke and darkness and no Hurricano could be so violent as the motions of the Air at that time Then the Earth was torn in pieces and its Foundations shaken And as to Thunder and Lightning the encounters and collisions of the mighty Waves and the cracks of a falling World would make flashes and noises far greater and more terrible than any that can come from vapours and clouds There was an Universal Tempest a conflict and clashing of all the Elements and David seems to have represented it so with God Almighty in the midst of it ruling them all But I am apt to think some will say all this is Poetical in the Prophet and these are Hyperbolical and figurate expressions from which we cannot make any inference as to the Deluge and the Natural World 'T is true those that have no Idea of the Deluge that will answer to such a Scene of things as is here represented must give such a slight account of this Psalm But on the other hand if we have already an Idea of the Deluge that is rational and also consonant to Scripture upon other proofs and the description here made by the Prophet answer to that Idea whether then is it not more reasonable to think that it stands upon that ground than to think it a meer fancy and Poetical Scene of things This is the true state of the case and that which we must judge of Methinks 't is very harsh to suppose all this a bare fiction grounded upon no matter of fact upon no Sacred Story upon no appearance of God in Nature If you say it hath a moral signification so let it have we do not destroy that it hath reference no doubt to the dangers and deliverances of the Church but the question is whether the words and natural sence be a fancy only a bundle of randome hyperboles or whether they relate to the history of the Deluge and the state of the Ark there representing the Church This makes the Sence doubly rich Historically and Morally and grounds it upon Scripture and Reason as well as upon Fancy That violent eruption of the Sea out of the Womb of the Earth which Iob speaks of is in my judgment another description of the Deluge 'T is Chap. 38. 8 9 10 11. Who shut up the Sea with doors when it broke forth as if it had issued out of a Womb When I made the eloud the garment thereof and thick darkness a swadling band for it And broke up for it my decreed place hitherto shalt thou come c. Here you see the birth and nativity of the Sea or of Oceanus describ'd how he broke out of the Womb and what his first garment and swadling cloaths were namely clouds and thick darkness This cannot refer to any thing that I know of but to the face of Nature at the Deluge when the Sea was born and wrapt up in clouds and broken waves and a dark impenetrable mist round the body of the Earth And this seems to be the very same that David had exprest in his description of the Deluge Psal. 18. 11. He made darkness his secret place his pavilion round about him were dâ—rk waters and thick clouds of the skies For this was truly the face of the World in the time of the Flood tho' we little reflect upon it And this dark confusion every where above and below arose from the violent and confus'd motion of the Abyss which was dasht in pieces by the falling Earth and flew into the air in misty drops as dust flies up in a great ruin But I am afraid we have stayed too long upon this particular the form of the Deluge seeing 'tis but a Corollary from the precedent article about the dissolution of the Earth However time is not ill spent about any thing that relates to natural Providence whereof the two most signal instances in our Sacred Writings are the Deluge and the Conflagration And seeing Iob and David do often reflect upon the works of God in the external creation and upon the administrations of Providence it cannot be imagin'd that they should never reflect upon the Deluge the most remarkable change of Nature that ever hath been and the most remarkable judgment upon mankind And if they have reflected upon it any where 't is I think in those places and those instances which I have noted and if those places do relate to the Deluge they are not capable in my judgment of any fairer or more natural interpretation than that which we have given them which you see how much it favours and confirms our Theory I have now finisht the heads I undertook to prove that I might shew our Theory to agree with Scripture in these three principal points first in that it supposeth a diversity and difference betwixt the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth and the present Heavens and Earth Secondly in assigning the particular form of the Ante-diluvian Earth and Abyss Thirdly in explaining the Deluge by a dissolution of that Earth and an eruption of the Abyss How far I have succeeded in this attempt as to others I cannot tell but I am sure I have convinc'd my self and am satisfied that my thoughts in that Theory have run in the same tract with the holy Writings with the true intent and spirit of them There are some persons that are wilfully ignorant in certain things and others that are willing to be ignorant as the Apostle phraseth it speaking of those Eternalists that denied the doctrine of the change and revolutions of the Natural World And 't is not to be expected but there are many still of the same humour and therefore may be called willingly ignorant that is they will not use that pains and attention that is necessary for the examination of such a doctrine nor impartiality in judging after examination they greedily lay hold on all evidence on one side and willingly forget or slightly pass over all evidence for the other this I think is the character of those that are willingly ignorant for I do not take it to be so deep as a down-right wilful ignorance where they are plainly conscious to themselves of that wilfulness but where an insensible mixture of humane passions inclines them one way and makes them averse to the other and in that method draws on all the consequences of a willing ignorance There remains still as I remember one Proposition that I
am bound to make good I said at first that our Hypothesis concerning the Deluge was more agreeable not only to Scripture in general but also to the particular History of the Flood left us by Moses I say more agreeable to it than any other Hypothesis that hath yet been propos'd This may be made good in a few words For in Moses's History of the Deluge there are two principal points The extent of the Deluge and the Causes of it and in both these we do fully agree with that sacred Author As to the extent of it He makes the Deluge universal All the high hills under the whole heaven were cover'd fifteen cubits upwards We also make it universal over the face of the whole Earth and in such a manner as must needs raise the waters above the top of the highest Hills every where As to the canses of it Moses makes them to be the disruption of the Abyss and the Rains and no more and in this also we exactly agree with him we know no other causes nor pretend to any other but those two Distinguishing therefore Moses his narration as to the substance and circumstances of it it must be allowed that these two points make the substance of it and that an Hypothesis that differs from it in either of these two differs from it more than Ours which at the worst can but differ in matter of circumstance Now seeing the great difficulty about the Deluge is the quantity of Water required for it there have been two explications proposed besides ours to remove or satisfie this difficulty One whereof makes the Deluge not to have been universal or to have reacht only Iudea and some neighbouring Countries and therefore less water would suffice The other owning the Deluge to be universal supplies it self with Water from the Divine Omnipotenty 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 inundation 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 occasion 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 Almighty 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 Ante-diluvian 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 only 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 only make a short and easie review of 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 Scripture concerning the Renovation of the World are either express â—implicit Those I call express that mention the New Heavens and â—ew Earth And those implicit that signifie the same thing but râ—â— express terms So when our Saviour speaks of a Palingenesia 〈◊〉 Regeneration Matt. 19. 28 29. Or S. Peter of an Apocatastasâ— or Restitution Act. 3. 21. These being words us'd by all Authâ—rs Prophane or Ecclesiastical for the Renovation of the World â—â—ght in reason to be interpreted in the same sence in the Holy Wâ—â—tings And in like manner when S. Paul speaks of his Future Eaâ—â—h or an habitable World to come Hebr. 2. 5. or of a Redemption or â—â—lioration of the present state of Nature Rom. 8. 21 22. These lead 〈◊〉 again in other terms to the same Renovation of the World â—â—t there are also some places of Scripture that set the Heavensâ—â—d â—â—d New Earth in such a full and open view that we must shut ourâ—â—yes not to see them S. Iohn says he saw them and observ'd the fâ—â—m of the New Earth Apoc. 21. 1. The Seer Isaiah spoke of thenâ— in express words many hundred years before And S. Peter marâ—â— the time when they are to be introduc'd namely after the Coâ—â—lagration or after the Dissolution of the present Heavens and Eaâ—â—h 2 Pet. 3. 12 13. These latâ—â—r Texts of Scripture being so express there is but one way left to â—â—lude the force of them and that is by turning the Renovation 〈◊〉 the World into an Allegory and making the New Heavens and â—ew Earth to be Allegorical Heavens and Earth not real and mateâ—â—al as ours are This is a bold attempt of some modern Authors â—ho chuse rather to strain the Word of God than their own Noâ—â—ons There are Allegories no doubt in Scripture but we are not 〈◊〉 allegorize Scripture without some warrant either from an Apoâ—olical Interpretation or from the necessity of the matter and I dâ— not know how they can pretend to either of these in this case â—owever That they may have all fair play we will lay aside at presâ—nt all the other Texts of Scripture and confine our selves wholly to S. Peter's words to see and examine whether they are or can â—e turn'd into an Allegory according to the best rules of Interpreâ—ation S. â—eter'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 godliâ—â—ss Looking for and hasting the coming of the Day of God wherâ—in the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolv'd and the Elements shall melt with servent heat NEVERTHELESS we according 〈◊〉 his promise look for New Heavens and a New Earth wherein Rigâ—â—eousness shall dwell The Question is concerning this last Verse Wheâ—her the New Heavens and Earth here promis'd are to be real and maâ—â—rial Heavens and Earth or only figurative and allegorical The woâ—ds you see are clear and the general rule of Interpretation is thiâ— That we are not to recede from the letter or the literal sence unâ—ess 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 â—easily as he made the Old ones Is his strength decay'd since that Time or is Matter grown more disobedient 〈◊〉 does not Nature offer her self voluntarily to raise a New Worâ—â— from the Second Chaos as well as from the First and under thâ— conduct of Providence to make it as convenient an habitation as 〈◊〉 Primaeval Earth Therefore no necessity can be pretended of leavinâ— the literal sence upon an incapacity of the subject matter The Second Rule to determine an Interpretatioâ— to be Literal or Allegorical is The use of the same words or phraâ—â— in the Context and the signification of them there Let 's then exaâ—ine our case according to this rule S. Peter had us'd the same pâ—ase of Heavens and Earth twice before in the same Chapter The 〈◊〉 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 sâ—me sence that he had done twice before for real and material Heaâ—â—ns and Earth There is no mark set of a new signification nor whâ— we should alter the sence of the words That he us'd them alwâ—ys before for the material Heavens and Earth I think none will â—uestion and therefore unless they can give us a sufficient reason wâ—y we should change the signification of the words we are bound 〈◊〉 this second rule also to understand them in a literal sence Lastly The very form of the Words and the manneâ— of their dependance upon the Context leads us to a literal sence â—nd to material Heavens and Earth NEVERTHELESS says â—he Apostle we expect New Heavens c. Why Nevertheless that is noâ—â—ithstanding the dissolution of the present Heavens and Earth Tâ—e Apostle foresaw what he had
course of the Vapours which cool'd the open Plains and made the weather temperate as well as fair But we have spoken enough in other places upon this subject of the Air and the Heavens Let us now descend to the Earth The Earth was divided into two Hemispheres separated by the Torrid Zone which at that time was uninhabitable and utterly unpassable so as the two Hemispheres made two distinct Worlds which so far as we can judge had no manner of commerce or communication one with another The Southern Hemisphere the Ancients call'd Antichthon the Opposite Earth or the Other World And this name and notion remain'd long after the reason of it had câ—ast Just as the Torrid Zone was generally accounted uninhabitable by the Ancients even in their time because it really had been so once and the Tradition remain'd uncorrected when the causes were taken away namely when the Earth had chang'd its posture to the Sun after the Deluge This may be lookt upon as the first division of that Primaval Earth into two Hemispheres naturally sever'd and disunited But it was also divided into five Zones two Frigid two Temperate and the Torrid betwixt them And this distinction of the Globe into â—â—ve Zones I think did properly belong to that Original Earth and Primitive Geography and improperly and by translation only to the present For all the Zones of our Earth are habitable and their distinctions are in a manner but imaginary not fixt by Nature whereas in that Earth where the Rivers fail'd and the Regions became uninhabitable by reason of driness and heat there begun the Torrid Zone and where the Regions became uninhabitable by reason of cold and moisture there begun the Frigid Zone and these being determin'd they became bounds on either side to the Temperate But all this was alter'd when the posture of the Earth was chang'd and chang'd for that very purpose as some of the Ancients have said That the uninhabitable parts of the Earth might become habitable Yet though there was so much of the first Earth uninhabitable there remain'd as much to be inhabited as we have now for the Sea since the breaking up of the Abyss hath taken away half of the Earth from us a great part whereof was to them good Land Besides We are not to suppose that the Torrid Zone was of that extent we make it now twenty three degrees and more on either side of the Aequator these bounds are set only by the Tropicks and the Tropicks by the obliquity of the course of the Sun or of the posture of the Earth which was not in that World Where the Rivers stopt there the Torrid Zone would begin but the Sun was directly perpendicular to no part of it but the middle How the Rivers flow'd in the first Earth we have before explain'd sufficiently and what parts the Rivers did not reach were turn'd into Sands and Desarts by the heat of the Sun for I cannot easily imagine that the Sandy Desarts of the Earth were made so at first immediately and from the beginning of the World from what causes should that be and to what purpose in that age But in those Tracts of the Earth that were not refresht with Rivers and moisture which cement the parts the ground would moulder and crumble into little pieces and then those pieces by the heat of the Sun were bak'd into Stone And this would come to pass chiefly in the hot and scorch'd Regions of the Earth though it might happen sometimes where there was not that extremity of heat if by any chance a place wanted Rivers and Water to keep the Earth in due temper but those Sands would not be so early or ancient as the other As for greater loose Stones and rough Pebbles there were none in that Earth Deucalion and Pyrrha when the Deluge was over found new made Stones to cast behind their backs the bones of their mother Earth which then were broken in pieces in that great ruine As for Plants and Trees we cannot imagine but that they must needs abound in the Primitive Earth seeing it was so well water'd and had a soil so fruitful A new unlabour'd soil replenistht with the Seeds of all Vegetables and a warm Sun that would call upon Nature early for her First-Fruits to be offer'd up at the beginning of her course Nature 〈◊〉 a wild luxuriancy at first which humane industry by degrees gave form and order to The Waters flow'd with a constant and gentle Current and were easily led which way the Inhabitants had a mind for their use or for their pleasure and shady Trees which grow best in most and warm Countries grac'd the Banks of their Rivers or Canals But that which was the beauty and crown of all was their perpetual Spring the Fields always green the Flowers always fresh and the Trees always cover'd with Leaves and Fruit But we have occasionally spoken of these things in several places and may do again hereafter and therefore need not inlarge upon them here As for Subterraneous things Metals and Minerals I believe they had none in the first Earth and the happier they no Gold nor Silver nor courser Metals The use of these is either imaginary or in such works as by the constitution of their World they had little occasion for And Minerals are either for Medicine which they had no need of further than Herbs or for Materials to certain Arts which were not then in use or were suppli'd by other ways These Subterraneous things Metals and metallick Minerals are Factitious not Original bodies coaeval with the Earth but are made in process of time after long preparations and concoctions by the action of the Sun within the bowels of the Earth And if the Stamina or principles of them risâ—e from the lower Regions that lie under the Abyss as I am apt to think they do 〈◊〉 doth not seem probable that they could be drawn through such a mass of Waters or that the heat of the Sun could on a sudden penetrate so deep and be able to loosen them and raise them into the exteriour Earth And as the first Age of the World was call'd Golden though it knew not what Gold was so the following Ages had their names from several Metals which lay then asleep in the dark and deep womb of Nature and see not the Sun till many Years and Ages afterwards Having run through the several Regions of Nature from top to bottom from the Heavens to the lower parts of the Earth and made some observations upon their order in the Ante-diluvian World Let us now look upon Man and other living Creatures that make the Superiour and Animate part of Nature We have observ'd and sufficiently spoken to that difference betwixt the Men of the old World and those of the present in point of Longaevity and given the reasons of it but we must not imagine that this long life was peculiar to Man all other Animals had their