to have got Children One hundred twenty seven years for Ten Generations is very strait and of these you must take off forty six years for one Generation only or for Noah for he liv'd six hundred years before the Flood and if they were Lunar they would come however to forty six of our years so that for the other Nine Generations you would have but eighty one years that is nine years a-piece at which Age they must all be suppos'd to have begun to get Children which you cannot but think a very absurd supposition Thus it would be if you divide the whole time equally amongst the Nine Generations but if you consider some single instances as they are set down by Moses 't is still worse for Mahaleel and his Grandchild Enoch are said to have got Children at sixty five years of Age which if you suppose months they were but five years old at that time now I appeal to any one Whether it is more incredible that men should live to the age of nine hundred years or that they should beget Children at the age of five years You will say it may be 't is true these inconveniences follow if our Hebrew Copies of the Old Testament be Authentick but if the Greek Translation by the Septuagint be of better Authority as some would have it to be that gives a little relief in this case for the Septuagint make the distance from the Creation to the Flood six hundred years more than the Hebrew Text does and so give us a little more room for our Ten Generations And not only so but they have so conveniently dispos'd those additional years as to salve the other inconvenience too of the Patriarchs having Children so young for what Patriarchs are found to have got Children sooner than the rest and so soon that upon a computation by Lunar years they would be but meer Children themselves at that time to these more years are added and plac'd opportunely before the time of their getting Children so as one can scarce forbear to think that it was done on purpose to cure that inconvenience and to favour and protect the computation by Lunar years The thing looks so like an artifice and as done to serve a turn that one cannot but have a less opinion of that Chronology for it But not to enter upon that dispute at present methinks they have not wrought the cure effectually enough for with these six hundred Lunar years added the summ will be only one hundred seventy three common years and odd months and from these deducting as we did before for Noah forty six years and for Adam or the first Generation about eighteen for he was two hundred and thirty years old according to the Septuagint when he begot Seth there will remain but one hundred and nine years for eight Generations which will be thirteen years a-piece and odd months a low age to get children in and to hold for eight Generations together Neither is the other inconvenience we mention'd well cur'd by the Septuagint account namely the small number of people that would be in the World at the Deluge for the Septuagint account if understood of Lunar years adds but forty six common years to the Hebrew account and to the age of the World at the Deluge in which time there could be but a very small accession to the number of Mankind So as both these incongruities continue though not in the same degree and stand good in either account if it be understood of Lunar years Thirdly 'T is manifest from other Texts of Scripture and from other considerations that our first Fathers liv'd very long and considerably longer than men have done since whereas if their years be interpreted Lunar there is not one of them that liv'd to the age that Men do now Methusalah himself did not reach threescore and fifteen years upon that interpretation Which doth depress them not only below those that liv'd next to the Flood but below all following Generations to this day and those first Ages of the World which were always celebrated for strength and vivacity are made as weak and feeble as the last dregs of Nature We may observe that after the Flood for some time till the pristine Crasis of the Body was broken by the new course of Nature they liv'd five four three two hundred years and the Life of Men shortn'd by degrees but before the Flood when they liv'd longer there was no such decrease or gradual declension in their lives For Noah who was the last liv'd longer than Adam and Methusalah who was last but two liv'd the longest of all So that it was not simply their distance from the beginning of the World that made them live a shorter time but some change which happen'd in Nature after such a period of time namely at the Deluge when the declension begun Let 's set down the Table of both states A Table of the Ages of the Ante-diluvian Fathers  Years Adam 930 Seth 912 Enos 905 Cainan 910 Mahaleel 895 Iared 962 Enoch 365 Methusalah 969 Lamech 777 Noah 950 A Table of the Ages of the Post-diluvian Fathers from Shem to Joseph  Years Shem 600 Arphaxad 438 Salah 433 Eber 464 Peleg 239 Reu 239 Serug 230 Nahor 148 Terah 205 Abraham 175 Isaac 180 Iacob 147 Ioseph 110 From these Tables we see that Mens Lives were much longer before the Flood and next after it than they are now which also is confirm'd undeniably by Iacob's complaint of the shortness of his life in comparison of his Fore-fathers when he had liv'd one hundred and thirty years Gen. 47. 9. The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years few and evil have the days of the years of my life been and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my Fathers There was then 't is certain long-liv'd men in the World before Iacob's time when were they before the Flood or after We say both according as the Tables shew it But if you count by Lunar years there never were any either before or after and Iacob's complaint was unjust and false for he was the oldest Man in the World himself or at least there was none of his Fore-fathers that liv'd so long as he The Patrons of this opinion must needs find themselves at a loss how or where to break off the account of Lunar years in Sacred History if they once admit it If they say that way of counting must only be extended to the Flood then they make the Post-diluvian Fathers longer liv'd than the Ante-diluvian did the Flood bring in Longaevity how could that be the cause of such an effect Besides if they allow the Post-diluvians to have liv'd six hundred common years that being clearly beyond the standard of our lives I should never stick at two or three hundred years more for the first Ages of the World If they extend their Lunar account to the
Post-diluvians too they will still be intangled in worse absurdities for they must make their lives miserably short and their Age of getting Children altogether incongruous and impossible Nahor for example when he was but two years and three months old must have begot Abraham's Father And all the rest betwixt him and Shem must have had Children before they were three years old A pretty race of Pigmies Then their lives were proportionably short for this Nahor liv'd but eleven years and six months at this rate and his Grandchild Abraham who is said to have died in a good old age and full of years Gen. 25. 8. was not fourteen years old What a ridiculous account this gives of Scripture-Chronology and Genealogies But you 'll say it may be these Lunar years are not to be carried so far as Abraham neither tell us then where you 'll stop and why you stop in such a place rather than another If you once take in Lunar years what ground is there in the Text or in the History that you should change your way of computing at such a time or in such a place All our Ancient Chronology is founded upon the Books of Moses where the terms and periods of times are exprest by years and often by Genealogies and the Lives of Men now if these years are sometimes to be interpreted Lunar and sometimes Solar without any distinction made in the Text what light or certain rule have we to go by let these Authors name to us the parts and places where and only where the Lunar years are to be understood and I dare undertake to show that their method is not only arbitrary but absurd and incoherent To conclude this Discourse we cannot but repeat what we have partly observ'd before How necessary it is to understand Nature if we would rightly understand those things in holy Writ that relate to the Natural World For without this knowledge as we are apt to think some things consistent and credible that are really impossible in Nature so on the other hand we are apt to look upon other things as incredible and impossible that are really founded in Nature And seeing every one is willing so to expound Scripture as it may be to them good sence and consistent with their Notions in other things they are forc'd many times to go against the easie and natural importance of the words and to invent other interpretations more compliant with their principles and as they think with the nature of things We have I say a great instance of this before us in the Scripture-History of the long lives of the Ante-diluvians where without any ground or shadow of ground in the Narration only to comply with a mistaken Philosophy and their ignorance of the Primitive World many men would beat down the Scripture account of years into months and sink the lives of those first Fathers below the rate of the worst of Ages Whereby that great Monument which Providence hath left us of the first World and of its difference from the Second would not only be defac'd but wholly demolish'd And all this sprung only from the seeming incredibility of the thing for they cannot show in any part of Scripture New or Old that these Lunar years are made use of or that any computation literal or Prophetical proceeds upon them Nor that there is any thing in the Text or Context of that place that argues or intimates any such account We have endeavour'd upon this occasion effectually to prevent this misconstruction of Sacred History for the future both by showing the incongruities that follow upon it and also that there is no necessity from Nature of any such shift or evasion as that is But rather on the contrary that we have just and necessary reasons to conclude That as the Forms of all things would be far more permanent and lasting in that Primitive state of the Heavens and the Earth so particularly the Lives of Men and of other Animals CHAP. V. Concerning the Waters of the Primitive Earth What the state of the Regions of the Air was then and how all Waters proceeded from them how the Rivers arose what was their course and how they ended Some things in Sacred Writ that confirm this Hydrography of the first Earth especially the Origin of the Rainbow HAving thus far clear'd our way to Paradise and given a rational account of its general properties before we proceed to discourse of the place of it there is one affair of moment concerning this Primitive Earth that must first be stated and explain'd and that is How it was water'd from what causes and in what manner How could Fountains rise or Rivers flow in an Earth of that Form and Nature We have shut up the Sea with thick walls on every side and taken away all communication that could be 'twixt it and the External Earth and we have remov'd all the Hills and the Mountains where the Springs use to rise and whence the Rivers descend to water the face of the ground And lastly we have left no issue for these Rivers no Ocean to receive them nor any other place to disburthen themselves into So that our New-found World is like to be a dry and barren Wilderness and so far from being Paradisiacal that it would scarce be habitable I confess there was nothing in this whole Theory that gave such a stop to my thoughts as this part of it concerning the Rivers of the first Earth how they rise how they flow'd and how they ended It seemâ—d at first that we had wip'd away at once the Notion and whole Doctrine of Rivers we had turn'd the Earth so smooth that there was not an Hill or rising for the head of a Spring nor any fall or descent for the course of a River Besides I had suckt in the common opinion of Philosophers That all Rivers rise from the Sea and return to it again and both those passages I see were stopt up in that Earth This gave me occasion to reflect upon the modern and more solid opinion concerning the Origin of Fountains and Rivers That they rise chiefly from Rains and melted Snows and not from the Sea alone and as soon as I had demurr'd in that particular I see it was necessary to consider and examine how the Rains fell in that first Earth to understand what the state of their Waters and Rivers would be And I had no sooner appli'd my self to that Inquiry but I easily discover'd that the Order of Nature in the Regions of the Air would be then very different from what it is now and the Meteorology of that World was of another sort from that of the present The Air was always calm and equal there could be no violent Meteors there nor any that proceeded from extremity of Cold as Ice Snow or Hail nor Thunder neither for the Clouds could not be of a quality and consistency fit for such an effect either by falling one upon another or
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
worthy our study and meditation nor any thing that would conduce more to discover the ways of Divine Providence and to shew us the grounds of all true knowledge concerning Nature And therefore to clear up the several parts of this Theory I was wiling to lay aside a great many other Speculations and all those dry subtleties with which the Schools and the Books of Philosophers are usually fill'd But when we speak of a Rising World and the Contemplation of it we do not mean this of the Great Universe for who can describe the Original of that vast Frame But we speak of the Sublundry World This Earth and its dependencies which rose out of a Chaos about six thousand years ago And seeing it hath faln to our lot to act upon this Stage to have our present home and residence here its seems most reasonable and the place design'd by Providence where we should first imploy our thoughts to understand the works of God and Nature We have accordingly therefore design'd in this Work to give an account of the Original of the Earth and of all the great and General Changes that it hath already undergone or is hence forwards to undergo till the Consummation of all Things For if from those Principles we have here taken and that Theory we have begun in these Two First Books we can deduce with success and clearness the Origin of the Earth and those States of it that are already past Following the same Thred and by the conduct of the same Theory we will pursue its Fate and History through future Ages and mark all the great Changes and Conversions that attend it while Day and Night shall last that is so long as it continues an Earth By the States of the Earth that are already past we understand chiefly Paradise and the Deluge Names well known and as little known in their Nature By the Future States we undâ—rstand the Conslagration and what new Order of Nature may follow upon that till the whole Circle of Time and Providence be compleated As to the first and past States of the Earth we shall have little help from the Ancients or from any of the Philosophers for the discovery or description of them We must often tread unbeaten paths and make a way where we do not find one but it shall be always with a Light in our hand that we may see our steps and that those that follow us may not follow us blindly There is no Sect of Philosophers that I know of that ever gave an account of the Universal Deluge or discover'd from the Contemplation of the Earth that there had been such a thing already in Nature 'T is true they often talk of an alternation of Deluges and Conflagrations in this Earth but they speak of them as things to come at least they give no proof or argument of day that hath already destroyed the World As to Paradise it seems to be represented to us by the Golden Age whereof the Ancients tell many stories sometimes very luxuriant and sometimes very defective For they did not so well understand the difference betwixt the New-made Earth and the Present as to see what were the just grounds of the Golden Age or of Paradise Tho' they had many broken Notions concerning those things As to the Conslagration in particular This hath always been reckon'd One amongst the Opinions or Dogmata of the Stoicks That the World was to be destroy'd by Fire and their Books are full of this Notion but yet they do not tell us the Causes of the Conflagration nor what preparations there are in Nature or will be towards that great Change And we may generally observe this of the Ancients that their Learning or Philosophy consisted more in Conclusions than in Demonstrations They had many Truths among them whereof they did not know themselves the Premisses or the Proofs Which is an argument to me that the knowledge they had was not a thing of their own invention or which they came to by fair Reasoning and observations upon Nature but was delivered to them from others by Tradition and Ancient Fame sometimes more publick sometimes more secret These Conclusions they kept in Mind and communicated to those of their School or Sect or Posterity without knowing for the most part the just grounds and reasons of them 'T is the Sacred Writings of Scripture that are the best Monuments of Antiquity and to those we are chiefly beholden for the History of the First Ages whether Natural History or Civil 'T is true the Poets who were the most Ancient Writers amongst the Greeks and serv'd them both for Historians Divines and Philosophers have deliver'd some things concerning the first Ages of the World that have a fair resemblance of Truth and some affinity with those accounts that are given of the same things by Sacred Authors and these may be of use in due time and place but yet lest any thing fabulous should be mixt with them as commonly there is we will never depend wholly upon their credit nor assert any thing upon the authority of the Ancients which is not first prov'd by Natural Reason or warranted by Scripture It seems to me very reasonable to believe that besides the Precepts of Religion which are the principal subject and design of the Books of Holy Scripture there may be providentially conserv'd in them the memory of things and times so remote as could not be retriev'd either by History or by the light of Nature and yet were of great importance to be known both for their own excellency and also to rectifie the knowledge of men in other things consequential to them Such points may be Our great Epocha or the Age of the Earth The Origination of Mankind The First and Paradisiacal State The destruction of the Old World by an Universal Deluge The Longevity of its Inhabitants The manner of their preservation and of their Peopling the Second Earth and lastly The Fate and Changes it is to undergo These I always lookt upon as the Seeds of great knowledge or heads of Theories fixt on purpose to give us aim and direction how to pursue the rest that depend upon them But these heads you see are of a mixt order and we propose to our selves in this Work only such as belong to the Natural World upon which I believe the trains of Providence are generally laid And we must first consider how God hath order'd Nature and then how the Oeconomy of the Intellectual World is adapted to it for of these two parts consist the full System of Providence In the mean time what subject can be more worthy the thoughts of any serious person than to view and consider the Rise and Fall and all the Revolutions not of a Monarchy or an Empire of the Grecian or Roman State but of an intire World The obscurity of these things and their remoteness from common knowledge will be made an argument by some why we should not undertake
what must supply the place of that Air which you transform into water and bring down upon the Earth There would be little left but Fire and Aether betwixt us and the Moon and I am afraid it would endanger to suck down the Moon too after it In a word such an explication as this is both purely imaginary and also very operose and would affect a great part of the Universe and after all they would be as hard put to 't to get rid of this water when the Deluge was to cease as they were at first to procure it Having now examin'd and answered all the pleas from first to last for the vulgar Deluge or the old way of explaining it we should proceed immediately to propose another method and another ground for an universal Deluge were it not that an opinion hath been started by some of late that would in effect supplant both these methods old and new and take away in a great measure the subject of the question Some modern Authors observing what straits they have been put to in all Ages to find out water enough for Noah's Flood have ventur'd upon an expedient more brisk and bold than any of the Ancients durst venture upon They say Noah's Flood was not Universal but a National Inundation confin'd to Iudaea and those Countries thereabouts and consequently there would not be so much water necessary for the cause of it as we have prov'd to be necessary for an Universal Deluge of that kind Their inference is very true they have avoided that rock but they run upon another no less dangerous to avoid an objection from reason they deny matter of fact and such matter of fact as is well attested by History both Sacred and prophane I believe the Authors that set up this opinion were not themselves satisfied with it but seeing insuperable difficulties in the old way they are the more excusable in chusing as they thought of two evils the less But the choice methinks is as bad on this hand if all things be considered Moses represents the Flood of Noah as an overthrow and destruction of the whole Earth and who can imagine that in sixteen or seventeen hundred years time taking the lower Chronology that the Earth had then stood mankind should be propagated no further than Iudae or some neighbouring Countries thereabouts After the Floo when the World was renew'd again by eight persons they had made a far greater progress in Asia Europe and Africa within the same space of years and yet 't is likely they were more fruitful in the first Ages of the World than after the Flood and they liv'd six seven eight nine hundred years a piece getting Sons and Daughters Which longevity of the first Inhabitants of the Earth seems to have been providentially design'd for the quicker multiplication and propagation of mankind and mankind thereby would become so numerous within sixteen hundred years that there seems to me to be a greater difficulty from the multitude of the people that would be bâ—fore the Flood than from the want of people For if we aâ—low the first couple at the end of one hundred years or of the first Century to have left ten pair of Breeders which is no hard supposition there would arise from these in fifteen hundred years a greater number than the Earth was capable of allowing every pair to multiply in the same decuple proportion the first pair did But because this would rise far beyond the capacities of this Earth let us suppose them to increase in the following Centuries in a quintuple proportion only or if you will only in a quadruple and then the Table of the multiplication of mankind from the Creation to the Flood would stand thus Century 1 10 2 40 3 160 4 640 5 2560 6 10240 7 40960 8 163840 9 655360 10 2621440 11 10485760 12 41943040 13 167772160 14 671088640 15 2684354560 16 10737418240 This product is too excessive high if compar'd with the present number of men upon the face of the Earth which I think is commonly estimated to be betwixt three and four hundred millions and yet this proportion of their increase seems to be low enough if we take one proportion for all the Centuries for in reality the same measure cannot run equally through all the Ages but we have taken this as moderate and reasonable betwixt the highest and the lowest but if we had taken only a triple proportion it would have been sufficient all things consider'd for purpose There are several other ways of computing this number and some more particular and exact than this is but which way soever you try you shall find the product great enough for the extent of this Earth and if you follow the Septuagint Chronology it will still be far higher I have met with three or four different Calculations in several Authors of the number of mankind before the Hood and never met with any yet but what exceeded the number of the people that are at present upon the face of the Earth So as it seems to me a very groundless and forc'd conceit to imagine that Iudaea only and some parts about it in Asia were stor'd with people when the Deluge was brought upon the old World Besides if the Deluge was confin'd to those Countries I do not see but the Borderers might have escap'd shifting a little into the adjoyning places where the Deluge did not reach But especially what needed so much a-do to build an Ark to save Noah and his Family if he might have sav'd himself and them only by retiring into some neighbouring Countrey as Lot and his family sav'd themselves by withdrawing from Sodom when the City was to be destroyed Had not this been a far easier thing and more compendious than the great Preparations he made of a large Vessel with Rooms for the Reception and Accommodation of Beasts and Birds And now I mention Birds why could not they at least have flown into the next dry Country they might have pearch'd upon the Trees and the tops of the Mountains by the way to have rested themselves if they were weary for the Waters did not all of a sudden rise to the Mountains tops I cannot but look upon the Deluge as a much more considerable thing than these Authors would represent it and as a kind of dissolution of Nature Moses calls it a destroying of the Earth as well as of Mankind Gen. 6. 13. And the Bow was set in the Cloud to seal the Covenant that he would destroy the Earth no more Gen. 9. 11. or that there should be no more a Flood to destroy the Earth And 't is said verse 13. that the Covenant was made between God and the Earth or this frame of Nature that it should perish no more by Water And the Rain-bow which was a Token and pledge of this Covenant appears not only in Iudaea or some other Asiatick Provinces but to all the Regions of the Earth who had
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
Age of the World And the same Moses tells us that Adam was the first Man and Eve the first Woman from whom sprung the race of Mankind and this within the compass of six thousand years We are also assured from the Prophets and our Christian Records that the world shall have an end and that by a general Conflagration when all Mankind shall be destroy'd with the form and all the furniture of the Earth And as this proves the second part of Aristotle's Doctrine to be false immediately so doth it the first by a true consequence for what hath an end had a beginning what is not immortal was not Eternal That which exists by the strength of its own Nature at first the same Nature will enable to exist for ever and indeed what exists of it self exists necessarily and what exists necessarily exists eternally Having this infallible assurance of the Origin of the Earth and of Mankind from Scripture we proceed to refute the same Doctrine of Aristotle's by Natural Reason And we will first consider the form of the Earth and then Mankind and shew from plain evidence and observation neither of them to have been Eternal 'T is natural to the mind of Man to consider that which is compound as having been once more simple whether that composition be a mixture of many ingredients as most Terrestrial Bodies are or whether it be Organical but especially if it be Organical For a thing that consists of a multitude of pieces aptly joyn'd we cannot but conceive to have had those pieces at one time or another put together 'T were hard to conceive an eternal Watch whose pieces were never separate one from another nor ever in any other form than that of a Watch. Or an eternal House whose materials were never asunder but always in the form of an House And 't is as hard to conceive an Eternal Earth or an Eternal World These are made up of more various substances more ingredients and into a far greater composition and the living part of the World Plants and Animals have much more variety of parts and multifarious construction than any House or any other artificial thing So that we are led as much by Nature and necessity to conceive this great Machine of the World or of the Earth to have been once in a state of greater simplicity than now it is as to conceive a Watch an House or any other structure to have been once in its first and simple materials This I speak without reference to immediate Creation for Aristotle did not own any such thing and therefore the argument stands good against him upon those grounds and notions that he goes yet I guess what answer would be made by him or his followers to this argumentation They would say there is not the same reason for Natural things as for Artificial though equally compounded Artificial things could not be from Eternity because they suppose Man by whose Art they were made pre existent to them the work-man must be before the work and whatsoever hath any thing before it is not Eternal But may not the same thing be said of Natural things do not most of them require the action of the Sun and the influence of the Heavens for their production and longer preparations than any Artificial things do Some Years or Ages would be necessary for the concoction and maturation of Metals and Minerals Stones themselves at least some sorts of them were once liquors or fluid masses and all Vegetable productions require the heat of the Sun to predispose and excite the Earth and the Seeds Nay according to Aristotle 't is not Man by himself that begets a Man but the Sun is his Coadjutor You see then 't was as necessary that the Sun that great Workman of Nature should pre-exist to Natural things producâ—d in or upon the Earth as that Man should pre-exist to Artificial So that the Earth under that form and constitution it now hath could no more be Eternal than a Statue or Temple or any work of Art Besides that form which the Earth is under at present is in some sort preter-natural like a Statue made and broken again and so hath still the less appearance or pretence of being Eternal If the Elements had lain in that order to one another as Aristotle hath dispos'd them and as seems to be their first disposition the Earth altogether in a mass in the middle or towards the Centre then the Water in a Spherical mass about that the Air above the Water and then a Sphere of Fire as he fansied in the highest Circle of the Air If they had lain I say in this posture there might have been some pretence that they had been Eternally so because that might seem to be their Original posture in which Nature had first plac'd them But the form and posture we find them in at present is very different and according to his Doctrine must be look'd upon as unnatural and violent and no violent state by his own Maxim can be perpetual or can have been so But there is still a more pressing consideration against this Opinion If this present state and form of the Earth had been from Eternity it would have long ere this destroy'd it self and chang'd it self the Mountains sinking by degrees into the Vallies and into the Sea and the Waters rising above the Earth which form it would certainly have come into sooner or later and in it continu'd drown'd and uninhabitable for all succeeding Generations For 't is certain that the Mountains and higher parts of the Earth grow lesser and lesser from Age to Age and that from many causes sometimes the roots of them are weaken'd and eaten by Subterraneous Fires and sometimes they are torn and tumbled down by Earthquakes and fall into those Caverns that are under them and though those violent causes are not constant or universal yet if the Earth had stood from Eternity there is not a Mountain would have escap'd this fate in one Age or other The course of these exhalations or Fires would have reach'd them all sooner or later if through infinite Ages they had stood expos'd to them But there are also other causes that consume them insensibly and make them sink by degrees and those are chiefly the Winds Rains and Storms and heat of the Sun without and within the soaking of Water and Springs with streams and currents in their veins and crannies These two sorts of causes would certainly reduce all the Mountains of the Earth in tract of time to equality or rather lay them all under Water For whatsoever moulders or is washt away from them is carried down into the lower grounds and into the Sea and nothing is ever brought back again by any circulation Their losses are not repair'd nor any proportionable recruits made from any other parts of Nature So as the higher parts of the Earth being continually spending and the lower continually gaining they must of necessity at
by Promethâ—us and the imploying of Wind or Water to turn the Mills and grind their Corn was scarce known before the Romans and that we may think nothing Eternal here they tell us the Ages and Genealogies of their very Gods The measures of Time for the common uses of life the dividing it into Hours with the Instruments for those purposes are not of an unknown date Even the Arts for preparing Food and Clothing Medicines and medicaments Building Civil and Military Letters and Writing which are the foundations of the World Civil These with all their retinue of lesser Arts and Trades that belong to them History and Tradition tell us when they had their beginning or were very imperfect and how many of their Inventors and Inventresses were deifi'd The World hath not stood so long but we can still run it up to those Artless Ages when mortals liv'd by plain Nature when there was but one Trade in the World one Calling to look to their Flocks and afterwards to Till the Ground when Nature grew less liberal And may we not reasonably think this the beginning of Mankind or very near it If Man be a creature both naturally sagacious to find out its own conveniencies and naturally sociable and inclin'd to live in a Community a little time would make them find out and furnish themselves with what was necessary in these two kinds for the conveniencies of single life and the conveniencies of Societies they would not have liv'd infinite Ages unprovided of them If you say Necessity is the mother of Arts and Inventions and there was no necessity before and therefore these things were so slowly invented This is a good answer upon our suppoâ—tion that the World began but some Ages before these were found out and was abundant with all things at first and Men not very numerous and therefore were not put so much to the use of their wits to find out ways for living commodiously But this is no answer upon their supposition for if the World was Eternal and Men too there were no first Ages no new and fresh Earth Men were never less numerous nor the Earth more fruitful and consequently there was never less necessity at any time than is now This also brings to mind another argument against this opinion viz. from the gradual increase of Mankind 'T is certain the World was not so populous one or two thousand years since as it is now seeing 't is observ'd in particular Nations that within the space of two or three hundred years notwithstanding all casualties the number of Men doubles If then the Earth had stood from Everlasting it had been over-stockt long ere this and would not have been capable to contain its Inhabitants many Ages and Millions of Ages ago Whereas we find the Earth is not yet sufficiently Inhabited and there is still room for some Millions And we must not flie to universal Deluges and Conflagrations to destroy Mankind for besides that the Earth was not capable of a Deluge in this present form nor would have been in this form after a Conflagration Aristotle doth not admit of these universal changes nor any that hold the form of the Earth to be Eternal But to return to our Arts and Inventions We have spoken of practical Arts and Inventions useful in humane life then for Theoretical Learning and Sciences there is nothing yet finish'd or compleat in these and what is known hath been chiefly the production of latter Ages How little hath been discover'd till of late either of our own Bodies or of the body of the Earth and of the functions or motions of nature in either What more obvious one would think than the Circulation of the Bloud What can more excite our curiosity than the flowing and ebbing of the Sea Than the nature of Metals and Minerals These are either yet unknown or were so at least till this last Age which seems to me to have made a greater progress than all Ages before put together since the beginning of the World How unlikely is it then that these Ages were Eternal That the Eternal Studies of our Forefathers could not effect so much as a few years have done of late And the whole mass of knowledge in this Earth doth not seem to be so great but that a few Ages more with two or three happy Genius's in them may bring to light all that we are capable to understand in this state of mortality To these arguments concerning the novelty of the Earth and the Origin of Mankind I know there are some shuffling excuses made but they can have little effect upon those instances we have chosen And I would ask those Eternalists one fair question What mark is there that they could expect or desire of the novelty of a World that is not found in this Or what mark is there of Eternity that is found in this If then their opinion be without any positive argument and against all appearances in Nature it may be justly rejected as unreasonable upon all accounts 'T is not the bold asserting of a thing that makes it true or that makes it credible against evidence If one should assert that such an one had liv'd from all Eternity and I could bring witnesses that knew him a sucking Child and others that remembred him a School-boy I think it would be a fair proof that the Man was not Eternal So if there be evidence either in Reason or History that it is not very many Ages since Nature was in her minority as appears by all those instances we have given above some whereof trace her down to her very infancy This I think may be taken for a good proof that she is not Eternal And I do not doubt but if the History of the World was writ Philosophically giving an account of the several states of Mankind in several Ages and by what steps or degrees they came from their first rudeness or simplicity to that order of things both intellectual and Civil which the World is advanc'd to at present That alone would be a full conviction that the Earth and Mankind had a beginning As the story of Rome how it rise from a mean Original by what degrees it increas'd and how it chang'd its form and government till it came to its greatness doth satisfie us very well that the Roman Empire was not Eternal Thus much concerning the Temporal Original of the Earth We are now to consider the manner of it and to shew how it rise from a Chaos I do not remember that any of the Ancients that acknowledge the Earth to have had an Original did deny that Original to have been from a Chaos We are assur'd of both from the authority of Moses who saith that in the beginning the Earth was Tohu Bohu without form and void a fluid dark confus'd mass without distinction of Elements made up of all variety of parts but without Order or any determinate Form which is the true
make Mountains or Plains upon the Land and the Earth would generally be full of Caverns and hollownesse especially in the Mountainous parts of it And we see the resemblance and imitation of this in lesser ruines when a Mountain sinks and falls into Subterraneous water or which is more obvious when the Arch of a Bridge is broken and falls into the water if the water under it be not so deep as to overflow and cover all its parts you may see there the image of all these things in little Continents and Islands and Rocks under water And in the parts that stand above the water you see Mountains and Precipices and Plains and most of the varieties that we see and admire in the parts of the Earth What need we then seek any further for the Explication of these things Let us suppose this Arch of the Bridge as the great Arch of the Earth which once it had and the water under it as the Abyss and the parts of this ruine to represent the parts of the Earth There will be scarce any difference but of lesser and greater the same things appearing in both But we have naturally that weakness or prejudice that we think great things are not to be explain'd from easie and familiar instances We think there must be something difficult and operose in the explication of them or else we are not satisfied whether it is that we are asham'd to see our ignorance and admiration to have been so groundless or whether we fancy there must be a proportion between the difficulty of the explication and the greatness of the thing explain'd but that is a very false Judgment for let things be never so great if they be simple their explication must be simple and easie And on the contrary some things that are mean common and ordinary may depend upon causes very difficult to find out for the difficulty of explaining an effect doth not depend upon its greatness or littleness but upon the simplicity or composition of its causes And the effects and Phaenomena we are here to explain though great yet depending upon causes very simple you must not wonder if the Explication when found out be familiar and very intelligible And this is so intelligible and so easily deducible from the forementioned causes that a Man born blind or brought up all his life in a Cave that had never seen the face of the Earth nor ever heard any description of it more than that it was a great Globe having this Theory propos'd to him or being instructed what the form of the first Earth was how it stood over the waters and then how it was broke and fell into them he would easily of his own accord foretel what changes would arise upon this dissolution and what the new form of the Earth would be As in the first place he would tell you that this second Earth would be distinguish'd and checker'd into Land and Water for the Orb which fell being greater than the circumference it fell upon all the fragments could not fall flat and lie drown'd under water and those that stood above would make the dry Land or habitable part of the Earth Then in the second place he would plainly discern that these fragments that made the dry Land could not lie all plain and smooth and equal but some would be higher and some lower some in one posture and some in another and consequently would make Mountains Hills Valleys and Plains and all other varieties we have in the situation of the parts of the Earth And lastly a blind man would easily divine that such a great ruine could not happen but there would be a great many holes and cavities amongst the parts of it a great many intervals and empty places in the rubbish as I may so say for this we see happens in all ruines more or less and where the fragments are great and hard 't is not possible they should be so adjusted in their fall but that they would lie hollow in many places and many unfill'd spaces would be intercepted amongst them some gaping in the surface of the Earth and others hid within so as this would give occasion to all sorts of fractures and cavities either in the skin of the Earth or within its body And these Cavities that I may add that in the last place would be often fill'd with Subterraneous waters at least at such a depth for the foundations of the Earth standing now within the waters so high as those waters reach'd they would more or less propagate themselves every way Thus far our Blind man could tell us what the New World would be or the form of the Earth upon the great dissolution and we find his reasonings and inferences very true these are the chief lineaments and features of our Earth which appear indeed very irregular and very inaccountable when they are lookt upon naked in themselves but if we look upon them through this Theory we see as in a glass all the reasons and causes of them There are different Genius's of Men and different conceptions and every one is to be allow'd their liberty as to things of this nature I confess for my own part when I observe how easily and naturally this Hypothesis doth apply it self to the general face of this Earth hits and falls in so luckily and surprizingly with all the odd postures of iâ—s parts I cannot without violence bear off my mind from fully assenting to it And the more odd and extravagant as I may so say and the more diversify'd the effects and appearances are to which an Hypothesis is to be apply'd if it answers them all and with exactness it comes the nearer to a moral certitude and infallibility As a Lock that consists of a great deal of workmanship many Wards and many odd pieces and contrivances if you find a Key that answers to them all and opens it readily 't is a thousand to one that 't is the true Key and was made for that purpose An eminent Philosopher of this Age Monsteur des Cartes hath made use of the like Hypothesis to explain the irregular form of the present Earth though he never dream'd of the Deluge nor thought that first Orb built over the Abyss to have been any more than a transient crust and not a real habitable World that lasted for more than sixteen hundred years as we suppose it to have been And though he hath in my opinion in the formation of that first Orb and upon the dissolution of it committed some great oversights whereof we have given an account in the Latin Treatise however he saw a necessity of such a thing and of the disruption of it to bring the Earth into that form and posture wherein we now find it Thus far we have spoken in general concerning the agreement and congruity of our supposition with the present face of the Earth and the easie account it gives of the causes of it And
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
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
interpreted is the same thing that we call the Position of the Heavens or the right situation of the Sun and the Earth from whence came a perpetual Aequinox And if we consider the present Earth I know no place where they live longer than in that little Island of the Bermudas where according to the proportion of time they hold out there after they are arriv'd from other parts one may reasonably suppose that the Natives would live two hundred Years And there 's nothing appears in that Island that should give long life above other places but the extraordinary steddiness of the Weather and of the temper of the Air throughout the whole Year so as there is scarce any considerable difference of Seasons But because it would take up too much time to show in this place the full and just reasons why and how these long periods of life depend upon the stability of the Heavens and how on the contrary from their inconstancy and mutability these periods are shorten'd as in the present order of Nature we will set apart the next Chapter to treat upon that subject yet by way of digression only so as those that have a mind may pass to the following where the thred of this discourse is continued In the mean time you see we have prepar'd an Earth for Paradise and given a fair and intelligible account of those three general Characters which according to the rules of method must be determin'd before any further progress can be made in this Argument For in the doctrine of Paradise there are two things to be consider'd the state of it and the place of it And as it is first in order of Nature so it is much more material to find out the state of it than the Region where it stood We need not follow the Windings of Rivers and the interpretation of hard names to discover this we take more faithful Guides The unanimous reports of Antiquity Sacred and Profane supported by a regular Theory Upon these grounds we go and have thus far proceeded on our way which we hope will grow more easie and pleasant the nearer we come to our journeys end CHAP. IV. A digression concerning the Natural Causes of Longaevity That the Machine of an Animal consists of Springs and which are the two principal The Age of the Ante-diluvians to be computed by Solar not Lunar Years TO confirm our opinion concerning the reasons of Longaevity in the first Inhabitants of the World it will not be amiss to deduce more at large the Natural Causes of long or short periods of life And when we speak of long or short periods of life we do not mean those little differences of ten twenty or forty Years which we see amongst Men now adays according as they are of stronger or weaker constitutions and govern themselves better or worse but those grand and famous differences of several hundreds of Years which we have examples of in the different Ages of the World and particularly in those that liv'd before and since the Flood Neither do we think it peculiar to this Earth to have such an inequality in the lives of Men but the other Planets if they be inhabited have the same property and the same difference in their different periods All Planets that are in their Ante-diluvian state and in their first and regular situation to the Sun have long-liv'd Inhabitants and those that are in an oblique situation have short-liv'd unless there be some counter-causes that hinder this general rule of Nature from taking place We are now so us'd to a short life and to drop away after threescore or fourscore years that when we compare our lives with those of the Ante-diluvians we think the wonder lies wholly on their side why they liv'd so long and so it doth popularly speaking but if we speak Philosophically the wonder lies rather on our side why we live so little or so short a time For seeing our Bodies are such Machines as have a faculty of nourishing themselves that is of repairing their lost or decay'd parts so long as they have good nourishment to make use of why should they not continue in good plight and always the same as a flame does so long as it is supplied with fewel And that we may the better see on whether side the wonder lies and from what causes it proceeds we will propose this Problem to be examin'd Why the frame or Machine of an humane Body or of another Animal having that construction of parts and those faculties which it hath lasts so short a time And though it fall into no disease nor have any unnatural accident within the space of eighty years more or less fatally and inevitably decays dies and perisheth That the state and difficulty of this question may the better appear let us consider a Man in the prime and vigour of his life at the age of twenty or twenty four years of an healthful constitution and all his Vitals sound let him be nourish'd with good food use due exercise and govern himself with moderation in all other things The Question is Why this Body should not continue in the same plight and in the same strength for some Ages or at least why it should decay so soon and so fast as we see it does We do not wonder at things that happen daily though the causes of them be never so hard to find out We contract a certain familâ—arity with common events and fancy we know as much of them as can be known though in reality we know nothing of them but matter of fact which the vulgar knows as well as the Wise or the Learned We see daily instances of the shortness of man's life how soon his race is run and we do not wonder at it because 't is common yet if we examine the composition of the Body it will be very hard to find any good reasons why the frame of it should decay so soon I know 't is easie to give general and superficial answers and accounts of these things but they are such as being strictly examin'd give no satisfaction to an inquisitive mind You would say it may be that the Interiour parts and Organs of the Body wear and decay by degrees so as not performing so well their several offices and functions for the digestion and distribution of the food and its juices all the other parts suffer by it and draws on insensibly a decay upon the whole frame of the Body This is all true but why and how comes this to pass from what causes where is the first failure and what are the consequences of it The inward parts do not destroy themselves and we suppose that there is no want of good food nor any disease and we take the Body in its full strength and vigour why doth it not continue thus as a Lamp does if you supply it with Oil The causes being the same why doth not the same effect still follow why
Radical moisture and heat at the Deluge that it should decay so fast afterwards and last so long before There is a certain temper no doubt of the juices and humours of the Body which is more fit than any other to conserve the parts from driness and decay but the cause of that driness and decay or other inhability in the solid parts whence is that if not from external Nature 'T is thither we must come at length in our search of the reasons of the Natural decay of our Bodies we follow the fate and Laws of that and I think by those Causes and in that order that we have already describ'd and explain'd To conclude this Discourse we may collect from it what judgment is to be made of those Projectors of Immortality or undertakers to make Men live to the Age of Methusalah if they will use their methods and medicines There is but one method for this To put the Sun into his old course or the Earth into its first posture there is no other secret to prolong life Our Bodies will sympathize with the general course of Nature nothing can guard us from it no Elixir no Specifick no Philosopher's-stone But there are Enthusiasts in Philosophy as well as in Religion Men that go by no principles but their own conceit and fancy and by a Light within which shines very uncertainly and for the most part leads them out of the way of truth And so much for this disquisition concerning the Causes of Longaevity or of the long and short periods of Life in the different periods of the World That the Age of the Ante-diluvian Patriarchs is to be computed by Solar or common Years not by Lunar or Months Having made this discourse of the unequal periods of life only in reference to the Ante diluvians and their fam'd Longaevity lest we should seem to have proceeded upon an ill-grounded and mistaken supposition we are bound to take notice of and confute That Opinion which makes the Years of the Ante-diluvian Patriarchs to have been Lunar not Solar and so would bear us in hand that they liv'd only so many Months as Scripture saith they liv'd Years Seeing there is nothing could drive Men to this bold interpretation but the incredibility of the thing as they fansied They having no Notions or Hypothesis whereby it could appear intelligible or possible to them and seeing we have taken away that stumbling-stone and shew'd it not only possible but necessary according to the constitution of that World that the periods of Life should be far longer than in this by removing the ground or occasion of their misinterpretation we hope we have undeceiv'd them and let them see that there is no need of that subterfuge either to prevent an incongruity or save the credit of the Sacred Historian But as this opinion is inconsistent with Nature truly understood so is it also with common History for besides what I have already mention'd in the first Chapter of this Book Iosephus tells us that the Historians of all Nations both Greeks and Barbarians give the same account of the first Inhabitants of the Earth Manetho who writ the story of the Aegyptians Berosus who writ the Chaldaean History and those Authors that have given us an account of the Phoenician Antiquities besides Molus and Hestiaeus and Hieronymus the Aegyptian and amongst the Greeks Hesiodus Hecateus Hellanicus Acusilaus Ephorus and Nicolaus We have the Suffrages of all these and their common consent that in the first Ages of the World Men liv'd a thousand Years Now we cannot well suppose that all these Historians meant Lunar Years or that they all conspir'd together to make and propagate a Fable Lastly as Nature and Profane History do disown and confute this opinion so much more doth Sacred History not indeed in profess'd terms for Moses doth not say that he useth Solar Years but by several marks and observations or collateral Arguments it may be clearly collected that he doth not use Lunar As first because He distinguisheth Months and Years in the History of the Deluge and of the life of Noah for Gen. 7. 11. he saith in the six hundredth year of Noah's life in the second month c. It cannot be imagin'd that in the same verse and sentence these two terms of Year and Month should be so confounded as to signifie the same thing and therefore Noah's Years were not the same with Months nor consequently those of the other Patriarchs for we have no reason to make any difference Besides what ground was there or how was it proper or pertinent to reckon as Moses does there first second third Month as so many going to a Year if every one of them was a Year And seeing the Deluge begun in the six hundredth year of Noah's life and in the second Month and ended in the six hundredth and first Year Chap. 8. 13. the first or second Month all that was betwixt these two terms or all the duration of the Deluge made but one year in Noah's life or it may be not so much and we know Moses reckons a great many Months in the duration of the Deluge so as this is a demonstration that Noah's years are not to be understood of Lunar And to imagine that his Years are to be understood one way and those of his fellow-Patriarchs another would be an inaccountable fiction This Argument therefore extends to all the Ante-diluvians And Noah's life will take in the Post-diluvians too for you see part of it runs amongst them and ties together the two Worlds so that if we exclude Lunar years from his life we exclude them from all those of his Fathers and those of his Children Secondly If Lunar years were understood in the Ages of the Ante-diluvian Patriarchs the interval betwixt the Creation and the Deluge would be too short and in many respects incongruous There would be but 1656 months from the beginning of the World to the Flood which converted into common years make but 127 years and five months for that interval This perverts all Chronology and besides makes the number of people so small and inconsiderable at the time of the Deluge that destroying of the World then was not so much as destroying of a Country Town would be now For from one couple you cannot well imagine there could arise above five hundred persons in so short a time but if there was a thousaâ—d 't is not so many as we have sometimes in a good Country Village And were the Flood-gates of Heaven open'd and the great Abyss broken up to destroy such an handful of people and the Waters rais'd fifteen Cubits above the highest Mountains throughout the face of the Earth to drown a Parish or two is not this more incredible than our Age of the Patriarchs Besides This short interval doth not leave room for Ten Generations which we find from Adam to the Flood nor allows the Patriarchs age enough at the time when they are said
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
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
Mechanical By these you discover the footsteps of the Divine Art and Wisdom and trace the progress of Nature step by step as distinctly as in Artificial things where we see how the Motions depend upon one another in what order and by what necessity God made all things in Number Weiâ—ht and Measure which are Geometrical and Mechanical Principles He is not said to have made things by Forms and Qualities or any combination of Qualities but by these three principles which may be conceiv'd to express the subject of three Mathematical Sciences Number of Arithmetick Weight of Staticks and Measure and Proportion of Geometry If then all things were made according to these principles to understand the manner of their construction and composition we must proceed in the search of them by the same principles and resolve them into these again Besides The nature of the subject does direct us sufficiently for when we contemplate or treat of Bodies and the Material World we must proceed by the modes of Bodies and their real properties such as can be represented either to Sense or Imagination for these faculties are made for Corporeal Things but Logical Notions when appli'd to particular Bodies are meer shadows of them without light or substance No Man can raise a Theory upon such grounds nor calculate any revolutions of Nature nor render any service or invent any thing useful in Humane Life And accordingly we see that for these many Ages that this dry Philosophy hath govern'd Christendom it hath brought forth no fruit produc'd nothing good to God or Man to Religion or Humane Society To these True Principles of Philosophy we must joyn also the True System of the World That gives scope to our thoughts and rational grounds to work upon but the Vulgar System or that which Aristotle and others have propos'd affords no matter of contemplation All above the Moon according to him is firm as Adamant and as immutable no change or variation in the Universe but in those little removes that happen here below one quality or form shifting into another there would therefore be no great exercise of Reason or Meditation in such a World no long Series's of Providence The Regions above being made of a kind of immutable Matter they would always remain in the same form structure and qualities So as we might lock up that part of the Universe as to any further Inquiries and we should find it ten thousand years hence in the same form and state wherein we left it Then in this Sublunary World there would be but very small doings neither things would lie in a narrow compass no great revolution of Nature no new Form of the Earth but a few anniversary Corruptions and Generations and that would be the short and the long of Nature and of Providence according to Aristotle But if we consider the Earth as one of those many Planets that move about the Sun and the Sun as one of those innumerable fixt Stars that adorn the Universe and are the Centers of its greatest Motions and all this subject to fate and change to corruptions and renovations This opens a large Field for our Thoughts and gives a large subject for the exercise and expansion of the Divine Wisdom and Power and for the glory of his Providence In the last place Having thus prepar'd your Mind and the subject for the Contemplation of Natural Providence do not content your self to consider only the present face of Nature but look back into the first Sources of things into their more simple and original states and observe the progress of Nature from one form to another through various modes and compositions For there is no single Effect nor any single state of Nature how perfect soever that can be such an argument and demonstration of Providence as a Period of Nature or a revolution of several states consequential to one another and in such an order and dependance that as they flow and succeed they shall still be adjusted to the periods of the Moral World so as to be ready always to be Ministers of the Divine Justice or beneficence to Mankind This shows the manifold riches of the Wisdom and Power of God in Nature And this may give us just occasion to reflect again upon Aristotle's System and method which destroys Natural Providence in this respect also for he takes the World as it is now both for Matter and Form and supposeth it to have been in this posture from all Eternity and that it will continue to Eternity in the same so as all the great turns of Nature and the principal scenes of Providence in the Natural World are quite struck out and we have but this one Scene for all and a pitiful one too if compar'd with the Infinite Wisdom of God and the depths of Providence We must take things in their full extent and from their Origins to comprehend them well and to discover the Mysteries of Providence both in the Causes and in the Conduct of them That method which David followed in the Contemplation of the Little World or in the Body of Man we should also follow in the Great take it in its first mass in its tender principles and rudiments and observe the progress of it to a compleat form In these first stroaks of Nature are the secrets of her Art The Eye must be plac'd in this point to have a right prospect and see her works in a true light David admires the Wisdom of God in the Origin and formation of his Body My Body says He was not hid from thee when I was made in secret curiously wrought in the lower parts of the Earth Thine eyes did see my substance being yet unperfect and in thy Book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them or being at first in no form How precious are thy Thoughts to me O God c. This was the subject of David's Meditations how his Body was wrought from a shapeless mass into that marvellous composition which it had when fully fram'd and this he says was under the Eye of God all along and the model of it as it were was design'd and delineated in the Book of Providence according to which it was by degrees fashion'd and wrought to perfection Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect in thy Book all my members were drawn c. Iob also hath aptly exprest those first rudiments of the Body or that little Chaos out of which it riseth Hast thou not poured me out as Milk and crudled me like Cheese Thou hast cloathed me with Skin and Flesh and fenced me with Bones and Sinews Where he notes the first Matter and the last Form of his Body its compleat and most incompleat state According to those examples we must likewise consider the Greater Bodies of Nature The Earth and the Sublunary World we must go to the Origin of them the Seminal Mass
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.
proceed In what manner the frame of the Earth will be dissolv'd and what will be the dreadful countenance of a Burning World These heads are set down more fully in the Argument of each Chapter and seem to be sufficient for the explication of this whole matter Taking in some additional discourses which in pursuing these heads enter of their own accord and make the work more even and entire In the Second Part we restore the World that we had destroy'd Build New Heavens and a New Earth wherein Righteousness shall dwell Establish that new order of things which is so often celebrated by the Prophets A Kingdom of Peace and of Justice where the Enemy of Mankind shall be bound and the Prince of Peace shall rule A Paradise without a Serpent and a Tree of Knowledge not to wound but to heal the Nations Where will be neither curse nor pain nor death nor disease Where all things are new all things are more perfect both the World it self and its Inhabitants Where the First-born from the Dead have the First-fruits of glory We dote upon this present World and the enjoyments of it and 't is not without pain and fear and reluctancy that we are torn from them as if our hopes lay all within the compass of this life Yet I know not by what good fate my thoughts have been always fixt upon things to come more than upon things present These I know by certain experience to be but trifles and if there be nothing more considerable to come the whole being of Man is no better than a trifle But there is room enough before us in that we call Eternity for great and Noble Scenes and the Mind of Man feels it self lessen'd and straiten'd in this low and narrow state wishes and waits to see something greater And if it could discern another World a coming on this side Eternal Life a beginning Glory the best that Earth can bear It would be a kind of Immortality to enâ—oy that prospect before-hand To see when this Theater is dissolv'd where we shall act next and what parts What Saints and Hero's if I may so say will appear upon that Stage and with what luster and excellency How easie would it be under a view of these futurities to despise the little pomps and honours and the momentany pleasures of a Mortal Life But I proceed to our Subâ—ect 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 WHen we speak of the End or destruction of the World whether by Fire or otherwise â—Tis not to be imagin'd that we understand this of the Great Universe Sun Moon and Stars and the Highest Heavens as if these were to perish or be destroy'd some few years hence whether by Fire or any other way This Question is only to be understood of the Sublunary World of this Earth and its Furniture which had its original about six thousand years ago according to the History of Moses and hath once already been destroy'd when the Exteriour Region of it broke and the Abyss issuing forth as out of a womb overflow'd all the habitable Earth The next Deluge is that of Fire which will have the same bounds and overflow the Surface of the Earth muchâ—what in the same manner But the celestial Regions where the Stars and Angels inhabit are not concern'd in this fate Those are not made of combustible matter nor if they were cou'd our flames reach them Possibly those Bodies may have changes and revolutions peculiar to themselves but in ways unknown to us and after long and unknown periods of time Therefore when we speak of â—he Conflagration of the World These have no concern in the question nor any other part of the Universe than the Earth and its dependances As will evidently appear when we come to explain the Manner and Causes of the Conflagration And as this Conflagration can extend no further than to the Earth and its Elements so neither can it destroy the matter of the Earth but only the form and fashion of it as it is an habitable World Neither Fire nor any other Natural Agent can destroy Matter that is reduce it to nothing It may alter the modes and qualities of it but the substance will always remain And accordingly the Apostle when he speaks of the mutability of this World says only The figure or fashion of this World passes away This structure of the Earth and disposition of the Elements And all the works of the Earth as S. Peter says All its natural productions and all the works of art or humane industry these will perish melted or torn in pieces by the Fire but without an annihilation of the Matter any more than in the former Deluge And this will be further prov'd and illustrated in the beginning of the following Book The question being thus stated we are next to consider the sense of Antiquity upon these two Points First Whether this Sublunary World is mutable and perishable Secondly By the force and action of what causes and in what manner it will perish whether by Fire or otherwise Aristotle is very irregular in his Sentiments about the state of the World He allows it neither beginning not ending rise nor fall but wou'd have it eternal and immuâ—able And this he understand not only of the Great Universe but of this Sublunary World this Earth which we inhabit wherein he will not admit there ever have been or over will be either general Deluges or Conflagrations And as if he was ambitious to be thought singular in his opinion about the Eternity of the World He says All the Ancients before him gave some beginning or origin to the World But were not indeed so unanimous as â—o its 〈◊〉 fate Some believing it immutable or as the Philosophers call it incorruptible Others That it had its fatal times and Periods as lesser Bodies have and a term of age prefixt to it by Providence But before we examine this Point any further it will be necessary to reflect upon that which we noted before an ambiguity in the use of the word World which gives frequent occasion of mistakes in reading the Ancients when that which they speak of the great Universe we apply to the Sublunary World or on the contrary what they speak of this Earth we extend to the whole Universe And if some of them besides Aristotle made the World incorruptible they might mean that of the Great Universe which they thought would never be dissolv'd or perish as to its Mass and bulk But single parts and points of it and our Earth is no more may be variously transform'd and made habitable and unhabitable according to certain periods of time without any prâ—â—udiâ—d to their Philosophy So Plato for instance thinks this
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
renew'd like the Eagles which the Chaldee Paraphrast renders In mundo venturo renovabis sicut Aquilae juventutem tuam These things to me seem plainly to be Symbolical representing that World to come which the Paraphrast mentions and the firing of this And this is after the manner of the Eastern Wisdom which always lov'd to go fine cleath'd in figures and fancies And not only the Eastern Barbarians but the Northern and Western also had this doctrine of the Conflagration amongst them The Scythians in their dispute with the Aegyptians about Antiquity argue upon both suppositions of Fire or Water destroying the Last World or beginning This. And in the West the Celts the most Ancient People there had the same Tradition for the Druids who were their Priests and Philosophers deriv'd not from the Greeks but of the old race of Wise Men that had their Learning traditionally and as it were hereditary from the First Ages These as Strabo tells us gave the World a kind of Immortality by repeated renovations and the principle that destroy'd it according to them was always Fire or Water I had forgot to mention in this List the Chaldeans whose opinion we have from Berosus in Seneca They did not only teach the Conflagration but also fixt it to a certain period of time when there should happen a great Conjunction of the Planets in Cancer Lastly We may add to close the account the Modern Indian Philosophers the reliques of the old Bragmans These as Maffeus tells us declare that the World will be renew'd after an Universal Conflagration You see of what extent and universality throughout all Nations this doctrine of the Conflagration hath been Let us now consider what defects or excesses there are in these ancient opinions concerning this fate of the World and how they may be rectified That we may admit them no further into our belief than they are warranted by reason or by the authority of Christian Religion The first fault they seem to have committed about this point is this That they made these revolutions and renovations of Nature indefinite or endless as if there would be such a succession of Deluges and Conflagrations to all eternity This the Stoicks seem plainly to have asserted as appears from Numenius Philo Simplicius and others S. Ierome imputes this Opinion also to Origen but he does not always hit the ture sence of that Father or is not fair and just in the representation of it Whosoever held this Opinion 't is a manifest errour and may be easily rectified by the Christian Revelation which teaches us plainly that there is a final period and consummation of all things that belong to this Sublunary or Terrestrial World When the Kingdom shall be deliver'd up to the Father and Time shall be no more Another Errour they committed in this doctrine is the Identity or sameness if I may so say of the Worlds succeeding one another They are made indeed of the same Lump of Matter but they suppos'd them to return also in the same Form And which is worse that there would be the same face of humane affairs The same Persons and the same actions over again So as the Second World would be but a bare repetition of the former without any variety or diversity Such a revolution is commonly call'd the Platonick Year A period when all things return to the same posture they had some thousands of years before As a Play acted over again upon the same Stage and to the Same Auditory This is a groundless and injudicious supposition For whether we consider the Nature of things The Earth after a dissolution by Fire or by Water could not return into the same form and fashion it had before Or whether we consider Providence it would no ways suit with the Divine Wisdom and Justice to bring upon the stage again those very Scenes and that very course of humane affairs which it had so lately condemn'd and destroy'd We may be assured therefore that upon the dissolution of a World a new order of things both as to Nature and Providence always appears And what that new order will be in both respects after the Conflagration I hope we shall in the following Book give a satisfactory account These are the Opinions true or false of the Ancients and chiefly of the Stoicks concerning the mystery of the Conflagration It will not be improper to enquire in the last place how the Stoicks came by this doctrine whether it was their discovery and invention or from whom they learned it That it was not their own invention we have given sufficient ground to believe by shewing the antiquity of it beyond the times of the Stoicks Besides what a man invents himself he can give the reasons and causes of it as things upon which he founded his invention But the Stoicks do not this but according to the ancient traditional way deliver the conclusion without proof or premisses We nam'd Heraclitus and Empedocles amongst the Greeks to have taught this doctrine before the Stoicks And according to Plutarch Hesiod and Hesiod and Orpheus authors of the highest antiquity sung of this last Fire in their Philosophick Poetry But I suspect the Stoicks had this doctrine from the Phoenicians for if we enquire into the original of that Sect we shall find that their Founder Zeno was a Barbarian or Semi-barbarian deriv'd from the Phoenicians as Laertius and Cicero give an account of him And the Phoenicians had a great share in the Oriental knowledge as we see by Sanchoniathon's remains in Eusebius And by their mystical Books which Suidas mentions from whence Pherecydes Pythagoras his Master had his learning We may therefore reasonably presume that it might be from his Country-men the Phoenicians that Zeno had the doctrine of the Conflagration Not that he brought it first into Greece but strongly reviv'd it and made it almost peculiar to his Sect. So much for the Stoicks in particular and the Greeks in general We have also you see trac'd these Opinions higher to the first Barbarick Philosophers who were the first race of Philosophers after the Flood But Iosephus tells a formal story of Pillars set up by Seth before the Flood implying the foreknowledge of this Fiery destruction of the World even from the beginning of it His words are to this effect give what credit to them you think fit Seth and his fellow students having found out the knowledge of the caelestial Bodies and the order and disposition of the Universe and having also receiv'd from Adam a Prophecy that the World should have a double destruction one by Water another by Fire To preserve and transmit their knowledge in either case to posterity They raised two Pillars one of Brick another of Stone and ingrav'd upon them their Philosophy and inventions And one of these pillars the Author says was standing in Syria even to his time I do not press the belief of this story there being
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
Motion of the Celestial Bodies But in the third place They speak of an ANNUS MAGNUS a Great Year A revolution so call'd whatsoever it is that is of the same extent with the length of the World This Notion I confess is more Ancient and Universal and therefore I am the more apt to believe that it is not altogether groundless But the difficulty is to find out the true notion of this Great Year what is to be understood by it and then of what length it is They all agree that it is a time of some grand insâ—auration of all things or a Restitution of the Heavens and the Earth to their former state that is to the state and posture they had at the beginning of the World such therefore as will reduce the Golden Age and that happy state of Nature wherein things were at first If so if these be the marks and properties of this Revolution which is call'd the Great Year we need not go so far to find the true notion and interpretation of it Those that have read the First Part of this Theory may remember that in the Second Book we gave an account what the posture of the Earth was at the beginning of the World and what were the consequences of that posture A perpetual Spring and Equinox throughout all the Earth And if the Earth was restor'd again to that posture and situation all that is imputed to the Great Year would immediately follow upon it without ever disturbing or moving the fix'd Stars Firmament or Planets and yet at the same time all these three would return or be restor'd to the same posture they had at the beginning of the World so as the whole character of the Great Year would be truly fulfill'd tho' not in that way which they imagin'd but in another more compendious and of easier conception My meaning is this If the Axis of the Earth was rectified and set parallel with the Axis of the Ecliptick upon which the Planets Firmament and fix'd Stars are suppos'd to move all things would be as they were at first a general harmony and conformity of all the motions of the Universe would presently appear such as they say was in the Golden Age before any disorder came into the Natural or Moral World As this is an easie so I do not doubt but it is a true account of that which was originally call'd the Great Year or the Great Instauration which Nature will bring to pass in this simple method by rectifying the Axis of the Earth without those operose revolutions which some Astronomers have fansied But however this account being admitted how will it help us to define what the Age and duration of the World will be 'T is true many have undertaken to tell us the length of this Great Year and consequently of the World but besides that their accounts are very different and generally of an extravagant length if we had the true account it would not assure us when the World would end because we do not know when it did begin or what progress we have already made in the line of Time For I am satisfied the Chronology of the World whether Sacred or Prophane is lost till Providence shall please to retrieve it by some new discovery As to Prophane Chronology or that of the Heathens the Greeks and the Romans knew nothing above the Olympiads which fell short many Ages of the Deluge much more of the beginning of the World And the Eastern Barbarous Nations as they disagreed amongst themselves so generally they run the Origin of the World to such a prodigious height as is neither agreeable to Faith nor Reason As to Sacred Chronology 't is well known that the difference there is betwixt the Greek Hebrew and Samaritan Copies of the Bible makes the Age of the World altogether undetermin'd And there is no way yet found out how we may certainly discover which of the three Copies is most Authentick and consequently what the Age of the World is upon a true computation Seeing therefore we have no assurance how long the World hath stood already neither could we be assur'd how long it hath to stand though by this Annus Magnus or any other way the total sum or whole term of its duration was truly known I am sorry to see the little success we have had in our first search after the End of the World from Astronomical Calculations But 't is an useful piece of Knowledge to know the bounds of our Knowledge that so we may not spend our time and thoughts about things that lie out of our reach I have little or no hopes of resolving this point by the Light of Nature and therefore it only remains now to enquire whether Providence hath made it known by any sort of Prophecy or Revelation Which shall be the Subject of the following Chapter 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 now from the Conflagration THE bounds of humane knowledge are so narrow and the desire of knowing so vast and illimited that it often puts Mankind upon irregular methods of inlarging their knowledge This hath made them find out arts of commerce with evil Spirits to be instructed by them in such Events as they could not of themselves discover We meddle not with those mysteries of iniquity but what hath appear'd under the notion of Divine Prophecy relating to the Chronology of the World giving either the whole extent of it or certain marks of its expiration These we purpose to examine in this place How far any thing may or may not be concluded from them as to the resolution of our Problem How long the World will last Amongst the Heathens I do not remember any Prophecies of this nature except the Sibylline Oracles as they are usually call'd The Ancient Eastern Philosophers have left us no account that I can call to mind about the time of this fatality They say when the Phoenix returns we must expect the Conflagration to follow but the age of the Phoenix they make as various and uncertain as they do the computation of their Great Year which two things are indeed one and the same in effect Some of them I confess mention Six Thousand Years for the whole Age of the World which being the famous Prophecy of the Iews we shall speak to it largely hereafter and reduce to that head what broken Traditions remain amongst the Heathens of the same thing As to the Sibyline Oracles which were so much in reputation amongst the Greeks and Romans they have been tamper'd with so much and chang'd so often that they are become now of little authority They seem to have divided the duration of the World into Ten Ages and the last of these they make a Golden Age a state of Peace Righteousness and
Perfection but seeing they have not determin'd in any definite numbers what the length of every Age will be nor given us the summ of all we cannot draw any conclusion from this account as to the point in question before us But must proceed to the Jewish and Christian Oracles The Iews have a remarkable Prophecy which expresseth both the whole and the parts of the World's duration The World they say will stand Six Thousand Years Two Thousand before the Law Two Thousand under the Law and Two Thousand under the Messiah This Prophecy they derive from Elias but there were two of the Name Elias the Thesbite and Elias the Rabbin or Cabbalist and 't is suppos'd to belong immediately to the latter of these Yet this does not hinder in my opinion but that it might come originally from the former Elias and was preserv'd in the School of this Elias the Rabbin and first made publick by him Or he added it may be that division of the time into three parts and so got a Title to the whole I cannot easily imagine that a Doctor that liv'd two hundred years or thereabouts before Christ when Prophecy had ceas'd for some Ages amongst the Iews should take upon him to dictate a Prophecy about the duration of the World unless he had been supported by some antecedent Cabbalistical Tradition which being kept more secret before he took the liberty to make publick and so was reputed the Author of the Prophecy As many Philosophers amongst the Greeks were the reputed Authors of such doctrines as were much more ancient than themselves But they were the publishers of them in their Country or the revivers of them after a long silence and so by forgetful posterity got the honour of the first invention You will think it may be the time is too long and the distance too great betwixt Elias the Thesbite and this Elias the Rabbin for a Tradition to subsist all the while or be preserv'd with any competent integrity But it appears from S. Iude's Epistle that the Prophecies of Enoch who liv'd before the Floud relating to the day of judgment and the end of the World were extant in his time either in Writing or by Tradition And the distance betwixt Enoch and S. Iude was vastly greater than betwixt the two Elias's Nor was any fitter to be inspir'd with that knowledge or to tell the first news of that fatal period than the old Prophet Elias who is to come again and bring the alarum of the approaching Conflagration But however this conjecture may prove as to the original Author of this Prophecy the Prophecy it self concerning the Sexmillennial duration of the World is very much insisted upon by the Christian Fathers Which yet I believe is not so much for the bare Authority of the Tradition as because they thought it was founded in the History of the Six days Creation and the Sabbath succeeding as also in some other Typical precepts and usages in the Law of Moses But before we speak of that give me leave to name some of those Fathers to you that were of this judgment and supposed the great Sabbatism would succeed after the World had stood Six Thousand Years Of this opinion was S. Barnabas in his Catholick Epistle ch 15. Where he argues that the Creation will be ended in Six Thousand Years as it was finish'd in Six Days Every day according to the Sacred and mystical account being a Thousand Years Of the same judgment is S. Irenaeus both as to the conclusion and the reason of it He saith the History of the Creation in six days is a narration as to what is past and a Prophecy of what is to come As the Work was said to be consummated in six days and the Sabbath to be the seventh So the consummation of all things will be in Six Thousand Years and then the great Sabbatism to come on in the blessed reign of Christ. Hippolitus Martyr disciple of Irenaeus is of the same judgment as you may see in Photius ch 202. Lactantius in his Divine Institutions l. 7. c. 14. gives the very same account of the state and continuance of the World and the same proofs for it And so does S. Cyprian in his Exhortation to Martyrdom ch 11. S Ierome more than once declares himself of the same opinion and S. Austin tho' he wavers and was doubtful as to the Millennium or Reign of Christ upon Earth yet he receives this computation without hesitancy and upon the foremention'd grounds So Iohannes Damascenus de fide Orthodoxâ takes seven Millennaries for the entire space of the World from the Creation to the general Resurrection the Sabbatism being included And that this was a received and approv'd opinion in early times we may collect from the Author of the Questions and answers ad Orthodoxos in Iustin Martyr Who giving an answer to that enquiry about the six thousand-years term of the World says We may conjecture from many places of Scripture that those are in the right that say six thousand years is the time prefixt for the duration of this present frame of the World These Authors I have examin'd my self but there are many others brought in confirmation of this opinion as S. Hilary Anastasius Sinaita Sanctus Gaudentius Q. Iulius Hilarion Iunilius Africanus Isidorus Hispalensis Cassiodorus Gregorius Magnus and others which I leave to be examin'd by those that have curiosity and leisure to do it In the mean time it must be confest that many of these Fathers were under a mistake in one respect in that they generally thought the World was near an end in their time An errour which we need not take pains to confute now seeing we who live twelve hundred or fourteen hundred years after them find the World still in being and likely to continue so for some considerable time But it is easie to discern whence their mistake proceeded not from this Prophecy alone but because they reckon'd this Prophecy according to the Chronology of the Septuagint which setting back the beginning of the World many Ages beyond the Hebrew these six thousand years were very near expir'd in the time of those Fathers and that made them conclude that the World was very near an end We will make no reflections in this place upon that Chronology of the Septuagint lest it should too much interrupt the thred of our discourse But it is necessary to shew how the Fathers grounded this computation of Six Thousand Years upon Scripture 'T was chiefly as we suggested before upon the Hexameron or the Creation finish'd in Six Days and the Sabbath ensuing The Sabbath they said was a type of the Sabbatism that was to follow at the end of the World according to S. Paul to the Hebrews and then by analogy and consequence the six days preceding the Sabbath must note the space and duration of the World If therefore 〈◊〉 could discover how much a Day is reckon'd for in this mystical
computation the sum of the six days would be easily found out And they think that according to the Psalmist Psal. 90. 4. and S. Peter 2 Epist. 3. 8. a Day may be estimated a thousand years and consequently six days must be counted six thousand years for the duration of the World This is their interpretation and their inference but it must be acknowledged that there is an essential weakness in all typical and allegorical argumentations in comparison of literal And thâ—s being allow'd in diminution of the proof we may be bold to say that nothing yet appears either in Nature or Scripture or Humane Affairs repugnant to this supposition of Six Thousand Years which hath Antiquity and the Authority of the Fathers on its side We proceed now to the Christian Prophecies concerning the end of the World I do not mention those in Daniel because I am not satisfied that any there excepting that of the Fifth Kingdom it self extend so far But in the Apocalypse of S. Iohn which is the last Revelation we are to expect there are several Prophecies that reach to the Consummation of this World and the First Resurrection The Seven Seals the Seven Trumpets the Seven Vials do all terminate upon that great Period But they are rather Historical Prophecies than Chronological they tell us in their Language the Events but do not measure or express the time wherein they come to pass Others there are that may be call'd Chronological as the treading under foot the holy City forty and two months Apoc. 11. 2. The Witnesses opposing Antichrist one thousand two hundred and sixty days Apoc. 11. 3. The flight of the Woman into the Wilderness for the same number of days or for a Time Times and half a Time Apoc. 12. 6. 14. And lastly The War of the Beast against the Saints forty two months Apoc. 13. 5. These all you see express a time for their completion and all the same time if I be not mistaken But they do not reach to the End of the World Or if some of them did reach so far yet because we do not certainly know where to fix their beginning we must still be at a loss when or in what year they will expire As for instance If the Reign of the Beast or the Preaching of the Witnesses be 1260 years as is reasonably suppos'd yet if we do not know certainly when this Reign or this Preaching begun neither can we tell when it will end And the Epocha's or beginnings of these Prophecies are so differently calculated and are things of so long debate as makes the discussion of them altogether improper for this place Yet it must be confest that the best conjectures that can be made concerning the approaching End of the World must be taken from a judicious examination of these points and according as we gather up the Prophecies of the Apocalypse in a successive completion we see how by degrees we draw nearer and nearer to the conclusion of all But till some of these enlightning Prophecies be accomplish'd we are as a Man that awakes in the Night all is dark about him and he knows not how far the Night is spent but if he watch till the light appears the first glimpses of that will resolve his doubts We must have a little patience and I think but a little still eyeing those Prophecies of the Resurrection of the Witnesses and the depression of Antichrist till by their accomplishment the day dawn and the Clouds begin to change their colour Then we shall be able to make a near guess when the Sun of righteousness will arise So much for Prophecies There are also Signs which are look'd upon us forerunners of the coming of our Saviour and therefore may give us some direction how to judge of the distance or approach of that great Day Thus many of the Fathers thought the coming of Antichrist would be a sign to give the World notice of its approaching end But we may easily see by what hath been noted before what it was that led the Fathers into that mistake They thought their six thousand years were near an end as they truly were according to that Chronology they followed and therefore they concluded the Reign of Antichrist must be very short whensoever he came and that he could not come long before the end of the World But we are very well assur'd from the Revelation of Saint Iohn that the reign of Antichrist is not to be so short and transient and from the prospect and history of Christendom that he hath been already upon his Throne many hundreds of Years Therefore this Sign wholly falls to the ground unless you will take it from the fall of Antichrist rather than from his first entrance Others expect the coming of Elias to give warning of that day and prepare the way of the Lord. I am very willing to admit that Elias will come according to the sence of the Prophet Malachi but he will not come with observation no more than he did in the Person of Iohn the Baptist He will not bear the name of Elias nor tell us he is the Man that went to Heaven in a fiery Chariot and is now come down again to give us warning of the last Fire But some divine person may appear before the second coming of our Saviour as there did before his first coming and by giving a new light and life to the Christian Doctrine may dissipate the mists of error and abolish all those little controversies amongst good men and the divisions and animosities that spring from them enlarging their Spirits by greater discoveries and uniting them all in the bonds of love and charity and in the common study of truth and perfection Such an Elias the Prophet seems to point at And may be come and be the great Peace-maker and preparer of the ways of the Lord. But at present we cannot from this Sign make any judgment when the World will end Another Sign preceeding the end of the World is The Conversion of the Iews and this is a wonderful sign indeed S. Paul seems expresly to affirm it Rom. 11. 25 26. But it is differently understood either of their Conversion only or of their Restoration to their own Countrey Liberties and Dominion The Prophets bear hard upon this sence sometimes as you may see in Isaiah Ezekiel Hosea Amos. And to the same purpose the ancient promise of Moses is interpreted Deut. 30. Yet this seems to be a thing very unconceivable unless we suppose the Ten Tribes to be still in some hidden corner of the World from whence they may be conducted again into their own Countrey as once out of Egypt by a miraculous Providence and establish'd there Which being known will give the alarum to all the other Iews in the World and make an universal confluence to their old home Then our Saviour by an extraordinary appearance to them as once to S. Paul and by Prophets
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
Heaven and of Divine Authority They ought in the first place to examine matter of Fact and the History of our Saviour That there was such a Person in the Reigns of Augustus and Tiherius that wrought such and such Miracles in Iudaea taught such a Doctrine was Crucified at Ierusalem rise from the dead the Third Day and visibly ascended into Heaven If these matters of Fact be denied then the controversie turns only to an Historical question Whether the Evangelical History be a fabulous or true History which it would not be proper to examine in this place But if matter of Fact recorded there and in the Acts of the Apostles and the first Ages of Christianity be acknowledged as I suppose it is then the Question that remains is this Whether such matter of Fact does not sufficiently prove the divine authority of Jesus Christ and of his Doctrine We suppose it possible for a person to have such Testimonials of divine authority as may be sufficient to convince Mankind or the more reasonable part of Mankind And if that be possible what pray is a wanting in the Testimonies of Jesus Christ The Prophecies of the Old Testament bear witness to him His Birth was a miracle and his Life a train of Miracles not wrought out of levity and vain ostentation but for useful and charitable purposes His Doctrine and Morality not only blameless but Noble designed to remove out of the World the imperfect Religion of the Iews and the false Religion of the Gentiles All Idolatry and Superstition and thereby to improve Mankind under a better and more perfect dispensation He gave an example of a spotless innocency in all his Conversation free from Vice or any evil and liv'd in a neglect of all the Pomp or Pleasures of this Life referring his happiness wholly to another World He Prophesied concerning his own Death and his Resurrection and concerning the destruction of Ierusalem which all came to pass in a signal manner He also Prophesied of the Success of his Gospel which after his Death immediately took root and spread it self every way throughout the World maugre all opposition or persecution from Iews or Heathens It was not supported by any temporal power for above three hundred Years nor were any arts us'd or measures taken according to humane prudence for the conservation of it But to omit other things That grand article of his Rising from the Dead Ascending visibly into Heaven and pouring down the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost according as he had promis'd upon his Apostles and their followers This alone is to me a Demonstration of his Divine Authority To conquer Death To mount like an Eagle into the Skies and to inspire his followers with inimitable gifts and faculties are things without controversie beyond all humane power and may and ought be esteemed sure Credentials of a person sent from Heaven From these matters of Fact we have all possible assurance that Jesus Christ was no Impostor or deluded person one of which two Characters all unbelievers must fix upon him but Commission'd by Heaven to introduce a New Religion to reform the World to remove Judaism and Idolatry The beloved Son of God the great Prophet of the later Ages the True Messiah that was to come It may be you will confess that these are great arguments that the Author of our Religion was a Divine Person and had supernatural powers but withal that there are so many difficulties in Christian Religion and so many things unintelligible that a rational man knows not how to believe it tho' he be inclin'd to admire the person of Jesus Christ. I answer If they be such difficulties as are made only by the Schools and disputacious Doctors you are not to trouble your self about them for they are of no Authority But if they be in the very words of Scripture then t is either in things practical or in things meerly speculative As to the Rules of Practice in Christian Religion I do not know any thing in Scripture obscure or unintelligible And as to Speculations great discretion and moderation is to be us'd in the conduct of them If these matters of Fact which we have alledg'd prove the Divinity of the Revelation keep close to the Words of that Revelation asserting no more than it asserts and you cannot err But if you will expatiate and determine modes and forms and consequences you may easily be puzled by your own forwardness For besides some things that are in their own nature Infinite and Incomprehensible there are many other things in Christian Religion that are incompleatly reveal'd the full knowledge whereof it has pleased God to reserve to another life and to give us only a summary account of them at present We have so much deference for any Government as not to expect that all their Councels and secrets should be made known to us nor to censure every action whose reasons we do not fully comprehend much more in the Providential administration of a World we must be content to know so much of the Councels of Heaven and of supernatural Truths as God has thought fit to reveal to us And if these Truths be no otherwise than in a general manner summarlly and incompleatly revealed in this life as commonly they are we must not therefore throw off the Government or reject the whole Dispensation of whose Divine Authority we have otherways full proof and satisfactory evidence For this would be To lose the Substance in catching at a Shadow But Men that live continually in the noise of the World amidst business and pleasures their time is commonly shar'd betwixt those two So that little or nothing is left for Meditation at least not enough for such Meditations as require length justness and order They should retire from the crowd for one Month or two to study the truth of Christian Religion if they have any doubt of it They retire sometimes to cure a Gout or other Diseases and diet themselves according to rule but they will not be at that pains to cure a disease of the Mind which is of far greater and more fatal consequence If they perish by their own negligence or obstinacy the Physician is not to blame Burning is the last remedy in some distempers and they would do well to remember that the World will flame about their heads one of these days and whether they be amongst the Living or amongst the Dead at that time the Apostle makes them a part of the Fewel which that fiery vengeance will prey upon Our Saviour hath been true to his Word hitherto whether in his Promises or in his Threatnings He promis'd the Apostles to send down the Holy Ghost upon them after his Ascension and that was fully accomplish'd He foretold and threaten'd the destruction of Ierusalem and that came to pass accordingly soon after he had left the World And he hath told us also that he will come again in the Clouds of
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
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
Future Renovation And to this day the posterity of the Brackmans in the East Indies retain the same notion That the World will be renewed after the last Fire You may see the citations if you please for all these Nations in the Latin Treatise Ch. 5. Which I thought would be too dry and tedious to be render'd into English To these Testimonies of the Philosophers of all Ages for the Future Renovation of the World we might add the Testimonies of the Christian Fathers Greek and Latin ancient and modern I will only give you a bare List of them and refer you to the Latin Treatise for the words or the places Amongst the Greek Fathers Iustin Martyr Irenaeus Origen The Fathers of the Council of Nice Eusebius Basil The two Cyrils of Ierusalem and Alexandria The two Gregorys Nazianzen and Nyssen S. Chrysostom Zacharias Mitylenensis and of later date Damascen Oecumenius Euthymius and others These have all set their hands and Seals to this Doctrine Of the Latin Fathers Tertullian Lactantius S. Hilary S. Ambrose S. Austin S. Ierome and many later Ecclesiastical Authors These with the Philosophers before mentioned I count good authority Sacred and Prophane which I place here as an out-guard upon Scripture where our principal force lies And these three united and acting in conjunction will be sufficient to secure this first post and to prove our first Proposition which is this That after the Conflagration of this World there will be New Heavens and a New Earth and that Earth will be inhabited 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 WE have given fair presumptions if not proofs in the precedent Chapter That the Sons of the first Resurrection will be the persons that shall inhabit the New Earth or the World to come But to make that proof compleat and unexceptionable I told you it would be necessary to take a larger compass in our discourse and to examine what is meant by That Reign with Christ a thousand years which is promis'd to the Sons of the First Resurrection by St. Iohn in the Apocalypse and in other places of Scripture is usually call'd the Kingdom of Christ and the reign of the Saints And by Ecclesiastical Authors in imitation of S. Iohn it is commonly styled the Millennium We shall indifferently use any of these words or phrases and examine First the truth of the Notion and Opinion whether in Scripture there be such an happy state promised to the Saints under the conduct of Christ. And then we will proceed to examine the nature characters place and time of it And I am in hopes when these things are duly discuss'd and stated you will be satisfied that we have found out the true Inhabitants of the New Heavens and New Earth and the true mystery of that state which is call'd the Millennium or the Reign of Christ and of his Saints We begin with S. Iohn whose words in the twentieth Chapter of the Apocalypse are express both as to the first Resurrection and as to the reign of those Saints that rise with Christ for a thousand years Satan in the mean time being bound or disabled from doing mischief and seducing mankind The words of the Prophet are these And I saw an Angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand And he laid hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years And I saw Thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them and I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Iesus and for the word of God and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their fore-heads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished This is the first Resurrection Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death hath no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years These words do fully express a Resurrection and a reign with Christ a thousand years As for that particular space of time of a thousand years it is not much material to our present purpose but the Resurrection here spoken of and the reign with Christ make the substance of the controversie and in effect prove all that we enquire after at present This Resurrection you see is call'd the First Resurrection by way of distinction from the Second and general Resurrection which is to be plac'd a thousand years after the First And both this First Resurrection and the Reign of Christ seem to be appropriated to the Martyrs in this place For the Prophet says The Souls of those that were beheaded for the witness of Iesus c. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years From which words if you please we will raise this Doctrine That Those that have suffered for the sake of Christ and a good Conscience shall be raised from the dead a thousand years before the general Resurrection and reign with Christ in an happy state This Proposition seems to be plainly included in the words of S. Iohn and to be the intended sence of this Vision but you must have patience a little as to your enquiry into particulars till in the progress of our discourse we have brought all the parts of this conclusion into a fuller light In the mean time there is but one way that I know of to evade the force of these words and of the conclusion drawn from them and that is by supposing that the First Resurrection here mentioned is not to be understood in a literal sense but is Allegorical and mystical signifying only a Resurrection from sin to a Spiritual Life As we are said to be dead in sin and to be risen with Christ by Faith and Regeneration This is a manner of Speech which S. Paul does sometimes use as Ephes. 2. 6. and 5. 14. and Col. 3. 1. But how can this be applyed to the present case Were the Martyrs dead in sin 'T is they that are here rais'd from the dead Or after they were beheaded for the witness of Jesus naturally dead and laid in their graves were they then regenerate by Faith There is no congruitiy in allegories so applyed Besides Why should they be said to be regenerate a thousand years before the day of Judgment Or to reign with Christ after this Spiritual Resurrection such a limited time a Thousand Years Why not to Eternity For in this allegorical sence of rising and reigning they will reign with him for everlasting Then after a Thousand Years must all the wicked be
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
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
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
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
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
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