Miscellaneous Discourses, Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
The Teſtimonies of the Ancient Fathers and Doctors of the Church, concerning the Diſſolution of the World.
2. I Proceed now to what the Ancient Fathers of the Church and Chriſtian Writers have delivered concerning the Diſſolution of the World.
That there ſhall be a Diſſolution of this World, and that it ſhall be by Fire, is ſo certain and clear among them, that it would be ſuperfluous to cite Particulars to prove …t: nay, ſo general and unanimous is the conſent of all Chriſtians in this Point, that, as Origen obſerves in his third foreign, and the learned Doctor Hakewill after him, whereas there can hardly be named any Article of our Faith, which ſome Hereticks have not preſumed to I…pugne or call in Queſtion, yet not any to be met with who queſtions this; but herein all agree, being compelled (ſaith Origen) by the Authority of the Scriptures. As for the time of this Diſſolution the Ancient Chriſtians held it to be at hand, as might eaſily be proved by many Teſtimonies, were it not granted on all …ands. And here it may be worth the obſerving, that the longer the World ſtood, the further off generally have Chriſtians ſet the day of Judgment, and end of it. Many of the Ancients did conceive, that the Diſſolution ſhould be at the end of ſix thouſand years. As for Example, Juſtin Martyr in Quoeſt. & Reſp. ad Orthodoxos, if he be the Author of that Piece, where this Queſtion (When the end of the World ſhould be?) being put, the Anſwer is, foreign, &c. We may rationally conjecture and conclude from many Scripture Expreſſions, that they are in the right who ſay, that the World will laſt ſix thouſan… years. For in one place it ſaith, in theſe laſ… days, and in another, Upon whom the ends of the World are come, and in a third, Whe… the fulneſs of time was come. Now it i… evident that theſe things were ſpoken in th… ſixth Millenary.
Irenoeus adv. haereſ. lib. 5. cap. ult. Wh… gathers ſo much from t… Similitude of th… ſix days Creation, after which ſix days wa… the Sabbath, that is, the day of Reſt; H… autem (ſaith he) eſt & praeteritorum narr… tio, & futurorum prophetia. Dies enim … nus mille annos ſignificabat, ſicut Scriptura, teſtantur; *2 Pet. 3.Mille anni ante Dominum ſic… Dies unus: ergo ſicut conſummatus fuit mundus in ſui creatione intra ſex dierum ſpatium, & poſtea quies; ſic in ſui fine conſummabitur intra ſpatium ſex millium annorum, deinde vera & perpetua quies ſubſequetur… This is both a Narration or Hiſtory of what is paſt, and a Propheſie of things to come For one day ſignified a thouſand years, as the Scriptures teſtifie, A thouſand years in the ſight of God are but as one day. Therefore as the World at the firſt Creation was conſummated in the ſpace of ſix days, and afterwards followed the Sabbath or Reſt; ſo in the end its duration ſhall be con…ummated within the ſpace of ſix thouſand …ears; and then ſhall follow the true and …erpetual Reſt.
To theſe I might add Lactantius, in his Se…enth Book of Inſtitut. Cap. 14. who uſeth he ſame Argumentation with Irenoeus, Ergo uoniam ſex diebus cuncta Dei opera perfecta …unt: per ſecula ſex, id eſt, ſex annorum mil…ia manere in hoc ſtatu mundum neceſſe eſt. Dies enim magnus Dei mille annorum circulo erminatur, ſicut indicat Propheta, qui dicit, Ante oculos tuos, Domine, mille anni tanuam dies unus, &c. S. Auguſtine, l. 20. De Civitate Dei. S. Hieronymus Comment. in Mich. cap. 4. Moſt clear and full to this pur…oſe is Euſtath. in his Comment. in Hexaë…eron foreign, &c. We reckon (ſaith he) that the Creation ſhall …ontinue till the end of the ſixth Chiliad, be…auſe God alſo conſummated the Ʋniverſe in ſix days; and I ſuppoſe that the Deity …oth account days of a thouſand years long; For that it is ſaid, A thouſand years are in …he ſight of the Lord as one day. Howbeit …he moſt of them did not propoſe this Opinion as an undoubted Truth, but only as a Modeſt Conjecture. And S. Auſtine is very angry with them, who would peremptorily conclude from ſo ſlight an Argumentation.
This Conceit is already confuted, an… the World hath long outlaſted this ter… according to their Computation who followed the Septuagint or Greek account, and rec… ned that Phaleg lived about the three tho… ſandth year of the World, and had his Na… from his living in the diviſion of Time, the… being to come after him three thouſa… years, that is, juſt ſo many as were paſt b… fore him.
As concerning the future Condition of t… World after the Conflagration, I find it t… general and received Opinion of the Ancie… Chriſtians, that this World ſhall not be a… nihilated or deſtroyed, but only renewe… and purified. So Euſebius, foreign. The World ſhall not be wholly … ſtroyed, but renewed. Divers paſſages I mig… produce out of him to the ſame purpoſe Cyril of Jeruſalem Catech. 15. foreign. He folds up the Heaven not that he might deſtroy them, but th… he might rear them up again more beaut… ful. Again, Cyril upon this place, foreign, &c. So that this Renovation i… reſpect of the Creation ſhall be ſuch a kin… of thing as the Reſurrection in reference t… Mans Body. Oecumenius upon this place, He ſaith, new Heavens and a new Earth, foreign, yet not different in matter; And again, foreign. They ſhall not be deſtroyed or annihilated, but only renewed and purified. And upon Revel. 21.2. foreign. This he ſaith, not denoting the Non-exiſtence of the Creation, but the Renewing. In this manner he expounds Pſalm 102.5, 6. and proceeding, ſaith, We may here take notice, that the Apoſtle doth not uſe the word foreign, as if the Heaven and Earth were annihilated and brought to nothing, but foreign, they paſſed away or removed, or changed State. Saint Hierome upon the Pſalms, Pſalm 102. ſaith, Ex quo oſtenditur perditionem coelorum non interitum ſonare, ſed mutationem in melius. From which words [as a Veſture ſhalt thou change them] may be ſhewn and made out, that the Diſſolution of the Heavens doth not ſignifie their utter deſtruction or annihilation, but only their change into a better State. I might add abundance more Teſtimonies, but theſe I think may ſuffice.