_The Sense and Testimony of the Primitive Church concerning the_
Millennium, _or future Kingdom of Christ; from the Times of the
Apostles to the_ Nicene _Council. The second Proposition laid down.
When, by what Means, and for what Reasons, that Doctrine was
afterwards neglected or discountenanc’d._
You have heard the Voice of the _Prophets_ and _Apostles_, declaring the
future Kingdom of Christ: Next to these, the _Primitive Fathers_ are
accounted of good Authority; let us therefore now enquire into their
Sense concerning this Doctrine, that we may give Satisfaction to all
Parties; and both those that are guided by Scripture alone, and those
that have a Veneration for Antiquity, may find Proofs suitable to their
Inclinations and Judgment.
And to make few Words of it, we will lay down this Conclusion; _That the
millennial Kingdom of Christ was the general Doctrine of the Primitive
Church, from the Times of the Apostles to the_ Nicene _Council_,
inclusively. St. _John_ out-liv’d all the rest of the Apostles, and
towards the latter end of his Life, being banish’d into the Isle of
_Pathmos_, he wrote his _Apocalypse_; wherein he hath given us a more
full and distinct Account of the millennial Kingdom of Christ, than any
of the Prophets or Apostles before him. _Papias_, Bishop of
_Hierapolis_, and Martyr, one of St. _John_’s Auditors, as _Ireneus_
testifies, _Iren. Lib 5. c. 33._ taught the same Doctrine after St.
_John_. He was the familiar Friend of _Polycarp_, another of St.
_John_’s Disciples; and either from him, or immediately from St.
_John_’s Mouth, he might receive this Doctrine. That he taught it in the
Church, is agreed on by all Hands; both by those that are his Followers,
as _Irenæus_; and those that are not Well-wishers to this Doctrine, as
_Eusebius_ and _Jerome_.
There is also another Channel wherein this Doctrine is traditionally
deriv’d from St. _John_, namely, by the Clergy of _Asia_; as _Irenæus_
tells us in the same Chapter. For, arguing the Point, he shews that the
Blessing promis’d to _Jacob_ from his Father _Isaac_, was not made good
to him in this Life, and therefore he says, _without doubt those Words
had a farther Aim and Prospect upon the Times of the Kingdom:_ (so they
us’d to call the millennial State) _when the Just rising from the Dead,
shall reign; and when Nature renew’d and set at Liberty, shall yield
Plenty and Abundance of all things; being blest with the Dew of Heaven,
and a great Fertility of the Earth according as has been related by
those Ecclesiaticks or Clergy, who saw S._ John, _the Disciple of
Christ; and heard of him WHAT OUR LORD HAD TAUGHT CONCERNING THOSE
TIMES_. This you see, goes to the Fountain Head: The Christian Clergy
receive it from St. _John_, and St. _John_ relates it from the Mouth of
our Saviour.
So much for the original Authority of this Doctrine, as a Tradition;
that it was from St. _John_, and by him from Christ. And as to the
Propagation and prevailing of it in the Primitive Church, we can bring a
Witness beyond all exception, _Justin Martyr_, cotemporary with
_Irenæus_, and his Senior. He says, _that himself, and all the Orthodox
Christians of his Time, did acknowledge the Resurrection of the Flesh_
(suppose the first Resurrection) _and a thousand Years reign in_
Jerusalem _restor’d_, or in the new Jerusalem, _Dial. with_ Tryphon _the
Jew_. _According as the Prophets_ Ezekiel, _and_ Isaiah, _and others,
attest with common Consent_. As St. _Peter_ had said before, _Acts_ iii.
21. _That all the Prophets had spoken of it._ Then he quotes the lxvth
_Chapter_ of _Isaiah_, which is a Bulwark for this Doctrine, that never
can be broken. And to shew the _Jew_, with whom he had this Discourse,
that it was the Sense of our Prophets, as well as of theirs, he tells
him, that _a certain Man amongst us Christians, by Name_ John, _one of
the Apostles of Christ, in a Revelation made to him did prophesy, that
the faithful Believers in Christ should live a thousand Years in the_
New Jerusalem; _and after that should be the general Resurrection and
Day of Judgment_. Thus you have the Thoughts and Sentiments of _Justin
Martyr_, as to himself; as to all the reputed Orthodox of his Time; as
to the Sense of the Prophets in the Old Testament, and as to the Sense
of St. _John_ in the _Apocalypse_; all conspiring in Confirmation of the
millennary Doctrine.
To these three Witnesses, _Papias_, _Irenæus_ and _Justin Martyr_, we
may add two more within the second Age of the Church; _Melito_, Bishop
of _Sardis_, and St. _Barnabas_, or whosoever was the Author of the
Epistle under his Name. This _Melito_, by some, is thought to be the
Angel of the Church of _Sardis_, to whom St. _John_ directs the Epistle
to that Church, _Apoc._ iii. 1. but I do not take him to be so ancient;
however, he was Bishop of that Place, at least in the second Century,
and a Person of great Sanctity and Learning: He wrote many Books, as you
may see in St. _Jerome_; and, as he notes out of _Tertullian_, _was by
most Christians reputed a Prophet_ (_De Script. Eccles. Dogm. Eccl._ c.
lv.) He was also a declar’d _Millennary_, and is recorded as such, both
by _Jerome_ and _Gennadius_. As to the Epistle of _Barnabas_, which we
mention’d, it must be very ancient, whosoever is the Author of it, and
before the third Century; seeing it is often cited by _Clemens
Alexandrinus_, who was himself within the second Century: The Genius of
it is very much _Millennarian_, in the Interpretation of the _Sabbath_,
the _promis’d Land_, a _Day_ for a _thousand Years_, and concerning the
_Renovation of the World_. In all which, he follows the Footsteps of the
Orthodox of those Times; that is, of the _Millennarians_.
So much for the first and second Centuries of the Church. By which short
Account it appears, that the millennary Doctrine was _Orthodox_ and
_Catholick_ in those early Days; for these Authors do not set it down as
a private Opinion of their own, but as a _Christian Doctrine_, or an
_Apostolical Tradition_. ’Tis remarkable what _Papias_ says of himself,
and his way of Learning, in his Book call’d, _The Explanation of the
Words of the Lord_, as St. _Jerome_ gives an Account of it: (_De Script.
Eccles._) He says in his Preface, _He did not follow various Opinions,
but had the Apostles for his Authors: And that he consider’d what_
Andrew, _and what_ Peter _said; what_ Philip, _what_ Thomas, _and other
Disciples of the Lord; as also what_ Aristion, _and_ John _the Senior,
Disciples of the Lord, what they spoke. And that he did not profit so
much by reading Books, as by the living Voice of these Persons, which
resounded from them to that Day._ This hath very much the Air of Truth
and Sincerity, and of a Man that, in good earnest, sought after the
Christian Doctrine, from those that were the most authentick Teachers of
it. I know _Eusebius_, in his _Ecclesiastical History_, gives a double
Character of this _Papias_; in one Place he calls him, _A very eloquent
Man in all Things, and skilful in Scripture_; and in another, he makes
him a Man of a _small Understanding_, (_Vid._ Hieron. _Epist._ 28. _ad_
Lucinium.) But what Reason there is to suspect _Eusebius_ of Partiality
in this Point of the _Millennium_, we shall make appear hereafter.
However, we do not depend upon the Learning of _Papias_, or the Depth of
his Understanding; allow him but to be an honest Man and a fair Witness,
and ’tis all we desire. And we have little reason to question his
Testimony in this Point, seeing it is back’d by others of good Credit;
and all because there is no Counter-Evidence, nor any Witness that
appears against him: For there is not extant, either the Writing, Name,
or Memory, of any Person that contested this Doctrine in the first or
second Century: I say, that call’d in question this millennary Doctrine,
propos’d after a Christian Manner, unless such Hereticks as denied the
Resurrection wholly, or such Christians as deny’d the Divine Authority
of the _Apocalypse_.
We proceed now to the third Century; where you find _Tertullian_,
_Origen_, _Victorinus_, Bishop and Martyr; _Nepos Ægyptius_, _Cyprian_,
and, at the End of it, _Lactantius_; all openly professing, or
implicitly favouring, the millennary Doctrine. We do not mention
_Clemens Alexandrinus_, contemporary with _Tertullian_, because he hath
not any thing, that I know of, expresly either for, or against the
_Millennium_: But he takes notice that the _Seventh Day_ hath been
accounted _Sacred_, both by the _Hebrews_ and _Greeks_, because of the
_Revolution_ of the _World_, and the _Renovation of all Things_. And
giving this as a Reason why they kept that Day _holy_, seeing there is
not a Revolution of the World, every seven Days, it can be in no other
Sense than as the _Seventh Day_ represents the _seventh Millennary_, in
which the Renovation of the World and the Kingdom of Christ, is to be.
As to _Tertullian_, St. _Jerome_ reckons him, in the first place,
amongst the _Latin Millennaries_. And tho’ his Book, about the _Hope_ of
the _Faithful_, as also that about _Paradise_, which should have given
us the greatest Light in this Affair, be both lost or suppress’d; yet
there are sufficient Indications of his millennary Opinion in his Tracts
against _Marcion_, and against _Hermogenes_. St. _Cyprian_ was
_Tertullian_’s Admirer, and inclines to the same Opinion, so far as one
can judge, in this particular; for his Period of _six thousand Years_,
and making the _seventh Millennary_ the consummation of all, is wholly
according to the Analogy of the millennary Doctrine. As to the two
Bishops, _Victorinus_ and _Nepos_, St. _Jerome_ vouches for them: The
Writings of the one are lost, and of the other so chang’d, that the
Sense of the Author does not appear there now. But _Lactantius_, whom we
nam’d in the last Place, does openly and profusely teach this Doctrine,
in his _Divine Institutions_, (Book vii.) and with the same Assurance
that he does other Parts of the Christian Doctrine; for he concludes
thus, speaking of the _Millennium_, _This is the Doctrine of the holy
Prophets, which we Christians follow; this is our Wisdom_, &c. Yet he
acknowledges there, that it was kept as a Mystery or Secret amongst the
Christians, lest the Heathens should make any perverse or odious
Interpretation of it. And for the same or like Reason, I believe, the
Book of the _Apocalypse_ was kept out of the Hands of the Vulgar for
some time, and not read publickly, lest it should be found to have
spoken too openly of the Fate of the _Roman_ Empire, or of this
millennial State.
So much for the first, second, and third Centuries of the Church: But by
our Conclusion, we engag’d to make out this Proof as far as the _Nicene
Council_, inclusively. The _Nicene Council_ was about the Year of Christ
325. and we may reasonably suppose _Lactantius_ was then living; at
least he came within the Time of _Constantine_’s Empire. But however,
the Fathers of that Council are themselves our Witnesses in this Point;
for in their _Ecclesiastical Forms_ or _Constitutions_, in the Chapter
_about the Providence of God_, and _about the World_, they speak thus:
_The World was made meaner, or less perfect, providentially; for God
foresaw that Man would Sin: Wherefore we expect new Heavens and a new
Earth, according to the holy Scriptures, at the Appearance and Kingdom
of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ._ And then, as _Daniel_
says (chap. vii. 18.) _The Saints of the most High shall take the
Kingdom, and the Earth shall be pure, holy, the Land of the Living, not
of the Dead._ _Which_ David _foreseeing by the Eye of Faith_, cries out,
(_Psal._ xxvii. 13.) _I believe to see the good Things of the Lord, in
the Land of the Living. Our Saviour says, happy are the Meek, for they
shall inherit the Earth_, Mat. v. 5. _And the Prophet_ Isaiah _says_,
(Chap. xxvi. 6.) _the Feet of the meek and lowly shall tread upon it_.
So you see, according to the Judgment of these Fathers, there will be a
Kingdom of Christ upon Earth; and moreover, that it will be in the _new
Heavens_ and the _new Earth_: And, in both these Points, they cite the
Prophets, and our Saviour in Confirmation of them.
Thus we have discharg’d our Promise, and given you an account of the
Doctrine of the _Millennium_, or future Kingdom of Christ, throughout
the three first Ages of the Church, before any considerable Corruptions
were crept into the Christian Religion. And those Authorities of single
and successive Fathers, we have seal’d up all together, with the
Declaration of the _Nicene_ Fathers, in a Body. Those that think
Tradition a Rule of Faith, or a considerable Motive to it, will find it
hard to turn off the Force of these Testimonies: And those that do not
go so far, but yet have a Reverence for Antiquity and the Primitive
Church, will not easily produce better Authorities, more early, more
numerous, or more uncontradicted, for any Article that is not
fundamental: Yet these are but Seconds to the Prophets and Apostles, who
are truly the Principals in this Cause. I will leave them all together,
to be examin’d and weigh’d by the impartial Reader. And because they
seem to me to make a full and undeniable Proof, I will now, at the Foot
of the Account, set down our second Proposition, which is this, _That
there is a millennial State, or a future Kingdom of Christ and his
Saints, prophesied of and promised, in the Old and New Testament; and
receiv’d by the Primitive Church as a Christian and Catholick Doctrin._
(Propos. I.)
Having dispatch’d this main Point; to conclude the Chapter and this Head
of our Discourse, it will be some Satisfaction possibly to see, _How_ a
Doctrine so generally receiv’d and approv’d came to decay, and almost
wear out of the Church, in following Ages. The Christian millennary
Doctrine was not call’d into Question, so far as appears from History,
before the middle of the third Century; when _Dionysius Alexandrinus_
wrote against _Nepos_, an _Ægyptian_ Bishop, who had declar’d himself
upon that Subject. But we do not find that this Book had any great
Effect; for the Declaration or Constitution of the _Nicene Fathers_ was
after; and in St. _Jerome_’s Time, who wrote towards the End of the
fourth Century, this Doctrine had so much Credit, that he, who was its
greatest Adversary, yet durst not condemn it, as he says himself; _Quæ
licet non sequamur, tamen damnare non possumus; quia multi
Ecclesiasticorum virorum & martyres ista dixerunt: Which Things or
Doctrines_, speaking of the Millennium, _tho’ we do not follow, yet we
cannot condemn; because many of our Churchmen, and Martyrs have affirmed
these things_. And when _Apollinarius_ reply’d to that Book of
_Dionysius_, St. _Jerome_ says, that, _not only those of his own Sect,
but a great Multitude of other Christians did agree with_ Apollinarius
_in that particular: Ut presagâ mente jam cernam, quantorum in me rabies
concitanda sit; That now I foresee, how many will be enrag’d against me,
for what I have spoken against the millennary Doctrine_.
We may therefore conclude that in St. _Jerome_’s Time the Millennaries
made the greater Party in the Church; for a little Matter would not have
frighted him from censuring their Opinions. St. _Jerome_ was a rough and
rugged Saint, and an unfair Adversary, that usually run down with Heat
and Violence, what stood in his Way. As to his Unfairness, he shews it
sufficiently in this very Cause, for he generally represents the
millennary Doctrine after a _Judaical_, rather than a _Christian_
Manner. And in reckoning up the chief Patrons of it, he always skips
_Justin Martyr_; who was not a Man so obscure as to be over-look’d: And
he was a Man that had declar’d himself sufficiently upon this Point; for
he says, _Both himself and all the Orthodox of his time, were of that
Judgment_, and applies both the _Apocalypse_ of St. _John_, and the
lxvth Chapter of _Isaiah_, for the Proof of it; as we noted before.
As St. _Jerome_ was an open Enemy to this Doctrine, so _Eusebius_ was a
back Friend to it; and represented every thing to its Disadvantage, so
far as was tolerably consistent with the Fairness of an Historian. He
gives a slight Character of _Papias_, without any Authority for it; and
brings in one _Gaius_, that makes _Cerinthus_ to be the Author of the
_Apocalypse_ and of the _Millennium_ (_Eccles. Hist._ _l._ iii. _c._
32.) and calls the Visions there, Τερετολογίας, _monstrous Stories_. He
himself is willing to shuffle off that Book from _John_ the _Evangelist_
to another _John_ a _Presbyter_; and to shew his Skill in the
Interpretation of it, (_l._ 3. _c._ 32. _de vit. Constan._) he makes the
_new Jerusalem_ in the xxith Chapter to be _Constantine’s Jerusalem_,
when he turn’d the Heathen Temples there into Christian: A wonderful
Invention. As St. _Jerome_ by his Flouts, so _Eusebius_, by sinister
Insinuations, endeavour’d to lessen the Reputation of this Doctrine; and
the Art they both us’d was, to misrepresent it as _Judaical_. But we
must not cast off every Doctrine which the _Jews_ believ’d, only for
that Reason; for we have the same Oracles which they had, and the same
Prophets; and they have collected from them the same general Doctrine
that we have, namely, that _there will be an happy and pacifick State of
the Church, in future Times_. But as to the Circumstances of this State
we differ very much: They suppose the _Mosaical_ Law will be restor’d,
with all its Pomp, Rites, and Ceremonies: whereas we suppose the
Christian Worship, or something more perfect, will then take Place. Yet
St. _Jerome_ has the Confidence, even there where he speaks of the many
Christian Clergy and Martyrs that held this Doctrine; has the
Confidence, I say, to represent it, as if they held that _Circumcision_,
_Sacrifices_, and all the _Judaical_ Rites, should then be restor’d.
Which seems to me to be a great Slander, and a great Instance how far
Mens Passions will carry them, in misrepresenting an Opinion, which they
have a Mind to disgrace.
But as we have Reason to blame the Partiality of those that opposed this
Doctrine; so, on the other Hand, we cannot excuse the Patrons of it from
all Indiscretions. I believe they might partly themselves make it
obnoxious; by mixing some things with it, from pretended Traditions, or
the Books of the _Sybills_, or other private Authorities, that had so
sufficient warrant from Scripture; and things, sometimes, that Nature
would not easily bear. Besides, in latter Ages, they seem to have dropt
one half of the Doctrine, namely, the _Renovation of Nature_, which
_Irenæus_, _Justin Martyr_, and the Antients, join inseparably with the
_Millennium_: And by this Omission, the Doctrine hath been made less
intelligible, and one Part of it inconsistent with another. And when
their Pretensions were to reign upon this present Earth, and in this
present State of Nature, it gave a Jealousy to temporal Princes, and
gave occasion likewise to many of Fanatical Spirits, under the Notion of
Saints, to aspire to Dominion, after a violent and tumultuary Manner.
This I reckon as one great Cause that brought the Doctrine into
Discredit. But I hope by reducing of it to the true State, we shall cure
this and other Abuses for the future.
Lastly, It never pleas’d the Church of _Rome_; and so far as the
Influence and Authority of that would go, you may be sure it would be
depress’d and discountenanced. I never yet met with a Popish Doctor that
held the _Millennium_; and _Baronius_ would have it to pass for an
Heresy, and _Papias_ for the Inventor of it; whereas, if _Irenæus_ may
be credited, it was receiv’d from St. _John_, and by him from the Mouth
of our Saviour. And neither St. _Jerome_, nor his friend Pope _Damasus_,
durst ever condemn it for an _Heresy_. It was always indeed uneasy, and
gave Offence to the Church of _Rome_; because it does not suit to that
Scheme of Christianity, which they have drawn. They suppose Christ
reigns already, by his Vicar, the Pope; and treads upon the Necks of
Emperors and Kings: And if they could but suppress the _Northern
Heresy_, as they call it, they do not know what a _Millennium_ would
signify, or how the Church could be in an happier Condition than she is.
The _Apocalyse_ of St. _John_ does suppose the true Church under
hardship and Persecution, more or less, for the greatest Part of the
Christian Ages; namely, for 1260 Years, while the Witnesses are in
sack-cloth. But the Church of _Rome_ hath been in prosperity and
Greatness, and the commanding Church in Christendom, for so long, or
longer, and hath rul’d the Nations with a Rod of Iron; so as that Mark
of the true Church does not favour her at all. And the _Millennium_
being properly a Reward and Triumph for those that come out of
Persecution, such as have liv’d always in Pomp and Prosperity, can
pretend to no Share in it, or Benefit by it. This has made the Church of
_Rome_ have always an ill Eye upon this Doctrine, because it seem’d to
have an ill Eye upon her; And as she grew in Splendor and Greatness, she
eclips’d and obscur’d it more and more; so that it would have been lost
out of the World as an obsolete Error, it it had not been revived by
some of the Reformation.