owning the Deluge to be universal supplies it self with Water from the Divine Omnipotency and says new Waters were created then for the nonce and again annihilated when the Deluge was to cease Both these explications you see and I know no more of note that are not obnoxious to the same exceptions differ from Moses in the substance or in one of the two substantial points and consequently more than ours doth The first changeth the Flood into a kind of national innundation and the second assigns other causes of it than Moses had assigned And as they both differ apparently from the Mosaical history so you may see them refuted upon other grounds also in the third Chapter of the First Book of the Theory This may be sufficient as to the History of the Flood by Moses But possibly it may be said the principal objection will arise from Moses his Six-days Creation in the first Chapter of Genesis where another sort of Earth than what we have form'd from the Chaos is represented to us namely a Terraqueous Globe such as our Earth is at present 'T is indeed very apparent that Moses hath accommodated his Six-days Creation to the present form of the Earth or to that which was before the eyes of the people when he writ But it is a great question whether that was ever intended for a true Physical account of the origine of the Earth or whether Moses did either Philosophize or Astronomize in that description The ancient Fathers when they answer the Heathens and the adversaries of Christianity do generally deny it as I am ready to make good upon another occafion And the thing it self bears in it evident marks of an accommodation and condescention to the vulgar notions concerning the form of the World Those that think otherwise and would make it literally and physically true in all the parts of it I desire them without entring upon the strict merits of the cause to determine these Preliminaries First whether the whole universe rise from a Terrestrial Chaos Secondly what Systeme of the World this Six-days Creation proceeds upon whether it supposes the Earth or the Sun for the Center Thirdly Whether the Sun and Fixt Stars are of a later date and a later birth than this Globe of Earth And lastly Where is the Region of the Super-celestial Waters When they have determin'd these Fundamentals we will proceed to other observations upon the Six-days work which will further assure us that 't is a narration suited to the capacity of the people and not to the strict and physical nature of things Besides we are to remember that Moses must be so interpreted in the first Chapter of Genesis as not to interfere with himself in other parts of his History nor to interfere with S. Peter or the Prophet David or any other Sacred Authors when they treat of the same matter Nor lastly so as to be repugnant to clear and uncontested Science For in things that concern the natural World that must always be consulted With these precautions let them try if they can reduce that narrative of the Origine of the World to physical truth so as to be consistent both with Nature and with Divine Revelation every where It is easily reconcileable to both if we suppose it writ in a Vulgar style and to the conceptions of the People And we cannot deny that a Vulgar style is often made use of in the holy Writings How freely and unconcernedly does Scripture speak of God Allmighty according to the opinions of the vulgar of his passions local motions parts and members of his body Which all are things that do not belong or are not compatible with the Divine nature according to truth and Science And if this liberty be taken as to God himself much more may it be taken as to his works And accordingly we see what motion the Scripture gives to the Sun what figure to the Earth what figure to the Heavens All according to the appearance of sence and popular credulity without any remorse for having transgressed the rules of intellectual truth This vulgar style of Scripture in describing the natures of things hath been often mistaken for the real sence and so become a stumbling block in the way of truth Thus the Anthropomorphites of old contended for the humane shape of God from the Letter of Scripture and brought many express Texts for their purpose but sound reason at length got the upper hand of Literal authority Then several of the Christian Fathers contended that there were no Antipodes and made that doctrine irreconcileable to Scripture But this also after a while went off and yielded to reason and experience Then the Motion of the Earth must by no means be allow'd as being contrary to Scripture for so it is indeed according to the Letter and Vulgar style But all intelligent Persons see thorough this argument and depend upon it no more in this case than in the former Lastly The original of the Earth from a Chaos drawn according to the rules of Physiology will not be admitted because it does not agree with the Scheme of the Six-days Creation But why may not this be writ in a Vulgar style as well as the rest Certainly there can be nothing more like a Vulgar style than to set God to work by the day and in Six-days to finish his task as he is there represented We may therefore probably hope that all these disguises of truth will at length fall off and that we shall see God and his Works in a pure and naked Light Thus I have finish'd what I had to say in confirmation of this Theory from Scripture I mean of the former part of it which depends chiefly upon the Deluge and the Antediluvian Earth When you have collated the places of Scripture on either side and laid them in the balance to be weigh'd one against another If you do but find them equal or near to an equal poise you know in whether Scale the Natural Reasons are to be laid and of what weight they ought to be in an argument of this kind There is a great difference betwixt Scripture with Philosophy on its side and Scripture with Philosophy against it when the question is concerning the Natural World And this is our Case which I leave now to the consideration of the unprejudic'd Reader and proceed to the Proof of the Second Part of the Theory THE later Part consists of the Conflagration of the World and the New Heavens and New Earth And seeing there is no dispute concerning the former of these two our task will now lie in a little compass Being onely this To prove that there will be New Heavens and a New Earth after the Conflagration This to my mind is sufficiently done already in the first second and third Chapters of the 4th Book both from Scripture and Antiquity whether Sacred or prophane and therefore at present we will onely make a short and easie review of
S. Austin understood S. Peter's discourse to aim at the natural World and his periit or periisse verse 6. to be of the same force as peribunt in the Psalms when 't is said the Heavens shall perish 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 first 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 in 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 Conflagration and supposeth both the Heavens and Earth to have perish'd Apostolus commemorans factum ante Diluvium videtur admonuisse quodammodò quatenùs in fine hujus secult mundum istum periturum esse credamus Nam illo tempore periisse dixit qui tunc erat mundum nec solum orbem 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 penè totus aer cum terra perierat cujus Terrae utique prior facies nempe ante-diluviana fuerat deleta Diluvio Qui autem nunc sunt coeli terra eodem verbo repositi sunt igni reservandi Proinde qui coeli quae Terra id est qui mundus pro eo mundo qui Diluvio periit ex eâdem aquâ repositus 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 sublunary world shall be chang'd at the Conflagration as it was chang'd at the Deluge Tunc figura hujus 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 followed S. Austin's footsteps in this doctrine for interpreting S. Peter's Original World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 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 sed tamen rectè Originalis Mundus quasi alius dicitur quia sicut in consequentibus hujus Epistolae scriptum continetur Ille tunc mundus aquâ inundatus periit Coelis videlicet qui erant priùs id est cunctis aeris hujus turbulenti spaciis aquarum accrescentium altitudine consumptis ac Terrâ in alteram faciem excedentibus aquis immutatâ Nam etsi montes aliqui atque convalles ab initio facti creduntur non tamen tanti 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. c. 34. Gloss. Ord. in Gen. 7. Al. cuin 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 he 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
Scripture-Testimonies with design chiefly to obviate and disappoint the evasions of such as would beat down solid Texts into thin Metaphors and Allegories The Testimonies of Scripture concerning the Renovation of the World are either express or implicit Those I call express that mention the New Heavens and New Earth And those implicit that signifie the same thing but not in express terms So when our Saviour speaks of a Palingenesia or Regeneration Matt. 19. 28 29. Or St. Peter of an Apocatastasis or Restitution Act. 3. 21. These being words us'd by all Authors prophane or Ecclesiastical for the Renovation of the World ought in reason to be interpreted in the same sence in the holy Writings And in like manner when St. Paul speaks of his Future Earth or an habitable World to come Hebr. 2. 5. or of a Redemption or melioration of the present state of nature Rom. 8. 21 22. These lead us again in other terms to the same Renovation of the World But there are also some places of Scripture that set the New Heavens and New Earth in such a full and open view that we must shut our eyes not to see them St. John says he saw them and observ'd the form of the New Earth Apoc. 21. 1. The Seer Isaish spoke of them in express words many hundred years before And St. Peter marks the time when they are to be introduc'd namely after the Conflagration or after the Dissolution of the present Heavens and Earth 2 Pet. 3. 12 13. These later Texts of Scripture being so express there is but one way left to elude the force of them and that is by turning the Renovation of the World into an Allegory and making the New Heavens and New Earth to be Allegorical Heavens and Earth not real and material as ours are This is a bold attempt of some modern Authors who chuse rather to strain the Word of God than their own notions There are Allegories no doubt in Scripture but we are not to allegorize Scripture without some warrant either from an Apostolical interpretation or from the necessity of the matter and I do not know how they can pretend to either of these in this case However that they may have all fair play we will lay aside at present all the other Texts of Scripture and confine our selves wholly to St. Peter's words to see and examine whether they are or can be turn'd into an Allegory according to the best rules of interpretation St. Peter's words are these Seeing then all these things shall be dissolv'd what manner of persons ought ye to be in holy conversation and godliness Looking for and hasting the coming of the Day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolv'd and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat NEVERTHELESS we according to his promise look for New Heavens and a New Earth wherein Righteousness shall dwell The Question is concerning this last Verse Whether the New Heavens and Earth here promis'd are to be real and material Heavens and Earth or onely figurative and allegorical The words you see are clear And the general rule of interpretation is this That we are not to recede from the letter or the literal sence unless there be a necessity from the subject matter such a necessity as makes a literal interpretation absurd But where is that necessity in this Case Cannot God make new Heavens and a new Earth as easily as he made the Old ones Is his strength decay'd since that time or is Matter grown more disobedient Nay does not Nature offer her self voluntarily to raise a new World from the second Chaos as well as from the first and under the conduct of Providence to make it as convenient an habitation as the Primaeval Earth Therefore no necessity can be pretended of leaving the literal sence upon an incapacity of the subject matter The second rule to determine an Interpretation to be Literal or Allegorical is the use of the same words or phrase in the Context and the signification of them there Let 's then examine our cafe according to this rule St. Peter had us'd the same phrase of Heavens and Earth twice before in the same Chapter The old Heavens and Earth ver 5. The Present Heavens and Earth ver 7. and now he uses it again ver 13. The new Heavens and Earth Have we not then reason to suppose that he takes it here in the same sence that he had done twice before for real and material Heavens and Earth There is no mark set of a new signification nor why we should alter the sence of the words That he us'd them always before for the material Heavens and Earth I think none will question and therefore unless they can give us a sufficient reason why we should change the signification of the words we are bound by this second rule also to understand them in a literal sence Lastly The very form of the words and the manner of their dependence upon the Context leads us to a literal sence and to material Heavens and Earth NEVERTHELESS says the Apostle we expect new Heavens c. Why Nevertheless that is notwithstanding the dissolution of the present Heavens and Earth The Apostle foresaw what he had said might raise a doubt in their minds whether all things would not be at an end Nothing more of Heavens and Earth or of any habitable World after the Conflagration and to obviate this he tells them Notwithstanding that wonderful desolation that I have describ'd we do according to God's promises expect new Heavens and a new Earth to be an Habitation for the Righteous You see then the New Heavens and New Earth which the Apostle speaks of are substituted in the place of those that were destroy'd at the Conflagration and would you substitute Allegorical Heavens and Earth in the place of Material A shadow for a substance What an Equivocation would it be in the Apostle when the doubt was about the material Heavens and Earth to make an answer about Allegorical Lastly the timeing of the thing determines the sence When shall this new World appear after the Conflagration the Apostle says Therefore it cannot be understood of any moral renovation to be made at or in the times of the Gospel as these Allegorists pretend We must therefore upon all accounts conclude that the Apostle intended a literal sence real and material Heavens to succeed these after the Conflagration which was the thing to be prov'd And I know not what Bars the Spirit of God can set to keep us within the Compass of a Literal sence if these be not sufficient Thus much for the Explication of St. Peter's Doctrine concerning the new Heavens and new Earth which secures the second Part of our Theory For the Theory stands upon two Pillars or two pedestals The Ante-diluvian Earth and the Future Earth or in S. Peter's phrase The Old Heavens and Earth and the New Heavens and Earth And it cannot be