_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 settled the true Notion, according to Reason and Scripture,
of the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_: But where are the Inhabitants,
you’ll 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 Track to follow in these unbeaten Paths, nor
can advance one Step farther. Farewell 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 travelled together thro’ the dark
Regions of a first and second _Chaos_; seen the World twice shipwreck’d:
Neither Water, nor Fire, could separate us; but now you must give place
to other Guides.
Welcome, _Holy Scriptures_, the Oracles of God, a Light shining in
Darkness, a Treasury of hidden Knowledge; and where _Human Faculties_
cannot reach, a seasonable Help and Supply to their Defects. We are now
come to the utmost Bounds of their Dominion; they have made us a New
World, but, how it shall be inhabited, they cannot tell; know nothing of
the History or Affairs of it. This we must learn from other Masters,
inspir’d with the Knowledge of Things to come: And such Masters we know
none, but the holy Prophets and Apostles. We must therefore now put our
selves wholly under their Conduct and Instruction, and from them only
receive our Information concerning the moral State of the future
habitable Earth.
In the first place therefore, the Prophet _Isaiah_ tells us, as a
Preparation to our farther Enquiries, _The Lord God created the Heavens,
God himself that formed the Earth, he created it not in vain, he formed
it to be inhabited, Isa. xlv. 18._ This is true, both of the present
Earth and the _future_, and of every habitable World whatsoever. For to
what purpose is it made habitable, if not to be inhabited? That would
be, as if a Man should manure, and plough, and every Way prepare his
Ground for Seed, but never sow it. We do not build Houses, that they
should stand empty, but look out for Tenants as fast as we can; as soon
as they are made ready and become tenantable. But if Man could do things
in vain, and without Use or Design, yet God and Nature never do any
thing _in vain_; much less so great a Work as the making of a World;
which if it were in vain, would comprehend ten thousand Vanities or
useless Preparations in it. _We_ may therefore, in the first place,
safely conclude, _that the new Earth will be inhabited_.
But _by whom will it be inhabited_? This makes the second Enquiry. St.
_Peter_ answers this Question for us, and with a particular Application
to this very Subject of the _new Heavens_ and _new Earth_: They shall be
inhabited, he says, by the _Just_ or the _Righteous_. His Words which we
cited before, are these; when he had described the Conflagration of the
World, he adds, But we _expect new Heavens and a new Earth, WHEREIN
DWELLETH RIGHTEOUSNESS_. By _Righteousness_ here, it is generally
agreed, must be understood righteous Persons; for Righteousness cannot
be without righteous Persons. It cannot hang upon Trees, or grow out of
the Ground; ’tis the Endowment of reasonable Creatures. And these
righteous Persons are eminently such, and therefore call’d Righteousness
in the Abstract, or purely righteous without Mixture of Vice.
So we have found Inhabitants for the _new Earth_, Persons of an high and
noble Character; like those describ’d by St. _Peter_, (_1 Eph. ii. 9._)
_A chosen Generation, a royal Priesthood, an holy Nation, a peculiar
People._ As if into that World, as into St. _John’s_ _new Jerusalem,_
nothing impure or unrighteous was to be admitted, _Apoc. xxi. 27._ These
being then the happy and holy Inhabitants; the next Enquiry is, _Whence
do they come?_ From what Off-spring, or from what Original? We noted
before, that there was no Remnant of Mankind left at the Conflagration,
as there was at the Deluge; nor any Hopes of a Restauration that Way.
Shall we then imagine that these new Inhabitants are a Colony wafted
over from some neigbouring World; as from the Moon, or Mercury, or some
of the higher Planets? You may imagine what you please, but that seems
to me not imaginary only, but impracticable: And that the Inhabitants of
those Planets are Persons of so great Accomplishments, is more than I
know; but I am sure they are not the Persons here understood; for these
must be such as inhabited this Earth before. We look for _new Heavens_
and _new Earth_, says the Apostle: Surely to have some Share and
Interest in them, otherwise there would be no Comfort in that
Expectation. And the Prophet _Isaiah_ said before, I create _new
Heavens_ and a _new Earth_, and the former shall come no more in
Remembrance; but be _YOU glad and rejoyce for ever in that which I
create_. The Truth is, none can have so good Pretensions to this Spot of
Ground we call the Earth, as the Sons of Men, seeing they once possessed
it; and if it be restor’d again, ’tis their Propriety and Inheritance.
But ’tis not Mankind in general that must possess this new World, but
the _Israel of God_, according to the Prophet _Isaiah_; or the _Just_,
according to St. _Peter_; and especially those that have suffer’d for
the Sake of their Religion. For this is that _Palingenesia_, as we noted
before, that _Renovation_, or _Regeneration_ of all Things, where our
Saviour says, those that suffer Loss for his Sake, shall be recompensed,
_Matth._ xix. 28, 29.
But they must be then raised from the Dead. For all Mankind was
destroyed at the Conflagration: and there is no Resource for them any
other way, than by a Resurrection. ’Tis true: and St. _John_ (_Apoc._
xx.) gives us a fair Occasion to make this Supposition, _that_ there
will be some raised from the Dead, before the general Day of Judgment.
For he plainly distinguisheth of a _first_ and _second_ Resurrection,
and makes the first to be a thousand Years before the second, and before
the general Day of Judgment. Now, if there be truly and really a
two-fold Resurrection, as St. _John_ tells us; and that a Thousand Years
Distance from one another: It may be very rationally be presum’d, that
those that are raised in the first Resurrection, are those _Just_ that
will inhabit the _New Heavens_ and _New Earth_; or whom our Saviour
promis’d to reward in the Renovation of the World.
For otherwise, who are those _Just_ that shall inhabit the _New Earth_,
and whence do they come? Or when is that Restauration which our Saviour
speaks of, wherein those that suffer’d for the Sake of the Gospel shall
be rewarded? St. _John_ says, the _Martyrs_, at this first Resurrection,
shall live again, and reign with Christ: Which seems to be the Reward
promis’d by our Saviour, to those that suffer’d for his sake, and the
same Persons in both Places. _And I saw the Souls of them_ (says St.
_John_) _that were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus, and for the Word
of God; and which had not worshipped the Beast, &c. and they lived and
reigned with Christ a Thousand Years_, Apoc. xx. 4. These, I say, seem
to be the same Persons, to whom Christ had before promis’d and
appropriated a particular Reward. And this Reward of theirs, or this
Reign of theirs, is upon _Earth_; upon some Earth, new or old, not in
Heaven. For, besides that we read nothing of their Ascension into Heaven
after their Resurrection; there are several Marks that shew, it must
necessarily be understood of a State upon Earth. For _Gog_ and _Magog_
came from the _four Quarters of the Earth_, and besieged the _Camp of
the Saints, and the beloved City_, ver. 9. 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.
Farthermore, those Persons that are raised from the _Dead_, are said to
be _Priests of God and of Christ, and to reign with him a thousand
Years_, ver. 6. Now these must be the same Persons with the _Priests_
and _Kings_, mention’d in the fifth Chapter, ver. 10. which are there
said expressly _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 Privilege would that be,
to be called back into a mortal Life, under the Necessities and
Inconveniencies 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, _Paradisaical_;
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 Persons, 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 antient Philosophers, to that purpose. ’Tis plain to
me, that there were among the Antients several Traditions, or
traditionary Conclusions, which they did not raise themselves, by Reason
and Observation, but received them from an unknown Antiquity. An
Instance of this is the _Conflagration of the World_; a Doctrine as
antient, for any Thing I know, as the World it self; at least as antient
as we have any Records, and yet none of those Antients 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 antient 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 implicit Faith, from their Masters and Ancestors:
And these traditionary Doctrines were all Fore-runners of that Light
which 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 _Jews_, ’tis well known, held the _Renovation_ of the World, and a
_Sabbath_ after Six Thousand Years; according to the Prophecy that was
current among them; whereof we have given a larger Account in the
precedent Book, _Chap._ v. And that future State they called עולם הבא,
_Olam Hava_, or the _World to come_, which is the very same with Saint
_Paul’s habitable Earth to come_, ἡ οἰκουμένη ἥ μέλλουσα, _Heb. ii. 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. xxv._ All these lesser Revolutions seem to me to
point at the grand Revolution, the great _Sabbath_ or _Jubilee_, 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 _Jews_.
The Heathen Philosophers, both _Greeks_ and _Barbarians_, had the same
Doctrine of the _Renovation_ of the _World_ current 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 renewed: 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 destroyed. And they use the same
Words and Phrases upon this Occasion that Scripture useth. _Chrysippis_
calls it _Apocatastasis_ (_Lact._ l. 7. c. 23.) as St. _Peter_ does,
_Acts_ iii. 21. _Marcus Antonius_ in his _Meditations_, several times
calls it _Palingenesia_, as our Saviour does, _Matt._ xix. 28. And
_Numenius_ hath two Scripture words, _Resurrection_ and _Restitution_,
(_Euseb. præp. Ev._ l. 7. c. 23.) 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 _Ægyptian_
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 old, as we see it
copy’d 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 antient; namely, the _Ægyptians_,
_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 transcribed, 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 renew’d
after the last Fire. You may see the Citations, if you please, for all
these _Notions_, in the _Latin_ Treatise, _Ch._ v. 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_, antient and modern. I will only give you a
bare List of them, and refer you to the _Latin_ Treatise (_Chap._ ix.)
for the Words or the Places. Amongst the _Greek_ Fathers, _Justin
Martyr_, _Irenæus_, _Origen_: The Fathers of the _Council of Nice_,
_Eusebius_; _Basil_; the two _Cyrils_, of _Jerusalem_ and _Alexandria_:
The two _Gregories_, _Nazianzen_ and _Nyssen_; St. _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_, St.
_Hillary_, St. _Ambrose_, St. _Austin_, St. _Jerome_; and many later
Ecclesiastical Authors. These, with the Philosophers before-mention’d, I
count good Authority, sacred and prophane; which I place here as an
Out-guard upon Scripture, where our principal Force lies. These three
united, and acting in Conjunction, will be sufficient to prove 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._ (Propos. I.)