chapter he begins his discourse by saying: "The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready;" that is, she who was formally put away, because she was not prepared for the bridegroom's coming, was now to be married to God again. And in the twenty-first chapter, he reassumes this subject, and shows the bride the Lamb's wife, in such a discription, as will not permit us to doubt that she is the Jewish nation converted to God; for he calls her the holy, and the New Jerusalem, and tells us in the very words of the prophet Isaiah, that the "nations which shall be saved, shall walk in the light of this city;" lxi., 10. St. John also calls her the bride to be married to the Lamb; which is the same description the prophets have given of this converted nations they represent her as "a bride adorned with her jewels, and as one that is to be married to the Lord;" Isa. lxi., 10; lxii., 4, 5. St. John goes on in a continued description of this New Jerusalem, in the very words of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, speaking of the conversion of the Jewish nation to the Christian faith. This city coming down from heaven, is the new church of converted Jews, said to come down from heaven, agreeable to an idiom of the Hebrew language, because she is adorned with that divine wisdom, and those spiritual gifts and graces which she has received from heaven. Agreeable to this Hebrew idiom, the pouring down of these gifts and graces is represented as the opening of heaven, and letting them down upon the earth. Thus, when St. John received his prophecy, he "sees a door opened in heaven, and hears a voice, saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee what shall be hereafter;" iv., 1. He then heard a voice, like "the voice of a trumpet," and probably, the same voice which he heard when he was "in the Spirit" Rev. i., 10. The two witnesses, when they lived again, were also "called up into heaven," because they are represented as being filled with heavenly wisdom; xi., 11, 12. And since the spiritual gifts, imparted to the church, are said to come "from above, from the Father of lights," James i., 17, and they who were made partakers of them to have "tasted of the heavenly gift," seeing the church of Christ is "the Jerusalem which is from above;" Gal. iv., 25; "the heavenly Jerusalem;" Heb. xii., 22; it is no wonder she is represented here as, coming down from heaven, when she was, as it were, to have new birth," which is "from above;" John iii., 3: and to be adorned with spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ Jesus;" Eph. i., 3: and to be reinvested with her primitive luster and purity; for then shall the purity of the church return, and shine with all the luster and brightness she possessed in the times of the first martyrs, for the faith of the gospel; and Christianity shall be professed without any anti-christian mixture, as those who oppose the beast endeavor to preserve it; and thus shall these martyrs, and opposers of the beast, live again. I understand, then, that the passage under consideration will have its accomplishment in the conversion of the Jews

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to the Christian faith, and the prosperous events of Christianity at that time, and in the succeeding ages of the gospel.

II. Having shown that the language here employed by St. John may be interpreted to mean, according to Scripture analogy, a metaphorical, and not a literal resurrection, I shall now proceed to show that it is not the bodies, but the souls of them that were beheaded, who are said to live again. The word psuche, here rendered soul, occurs six times in this book, this place excepted; and in all these places it signifies the soul in separation, or destinction from the body, or the living soul. "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar tas psuchas, the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held ;" vi., 9. These souls not only cry with a loud voice, but they are clothed with white robes, expressions which cannot well be applied to dead bodies; 10, 11. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had psuchas, souls, died;" viii, 9. Here the ktismata echonta psuchas, evidently means the creatures having animal souls by which they lived. "And they overcame him, by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not ten psuchen, their lives, unto the death;" xii., 11. Here it clarly signifies their lives; that is, the souls by which men live. "And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man, and every psuche zoso, living soul died in the sea ;" xvi., 3. Here it is expressly called the living soul; that is, the soul by which these creatures lived. "And the psuchas anthropon, souls of men;" xviii., 13. Here it signifies the lives of men. "And the fruits that epithumias tes psuches, thy soul lusted after are departed from thee;" 14. It here signifies the desire, not of the body, but of the soul. I would then ask on what grounds do our second advent friends affirm that the word psuche here does not signify the soul, but that dead body opposite it, which alone can properly be said to rise from the dead, and live again? It is a bold assumption without any shadow of authority; for a proper and literal resurrection is never in the whole Bible expressed, or represented by the living of the soul, but always by the living, raising, or the resurrection of the dead, the raising "of the bodies of the saints, of them that slept in the dust," or "in their graves and sepulchres," or who were buried in the sea," or "in the earth." If the Holy Spirit, then, here meant a literal and proper resurrection, why does he vary so widely from the terms he so uniformly uses in other places, whenever he speaks of such a resurrection, and use the terms so often applied in the Scriptures to a moral and metaphorical resurrection? When St. Matthew spoke of" the arising of some that slept," and their " going into the holy city, and appearing unto many," he did not say, as does St. John, that "many souls lived," but that polla somata, "many bodies of those that slept, arose out of their sepulchres;" his words, therefore, must be understood of a literal and proper

resurrection of the dead bodies of the saints; but it cannot from hence be inferred, that the words of St. John are to be understood in the same sense.

It should be remembered that the prophetical parts of this book are highly figurative, and cannot, therefore, be interpreted literally. This very chapter is full of figurative and emblematical representations, which, if interpreted literally, would introduce the greatest confusion. The key, the chain, the binding of satan for a thousand years, and the thrones are emblematical representations; and why not understand the resurrection of the souls which are said to live again emblemetically? Such an interpretation corresponds with the analogy of Scripture, and especially with the prophetical parts of this book. Thus, "the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, "may be considered as meaning, not the identical persons who suffered martyrdom for his sake, but their successors in the same spirit of faith, patience, zeal, and fidelity; and professing the same doctrine, and, consequently, were one body with him; and, thus, in the prophetic style are spoken of as though they were the same persons; in like manner, as John the Baptist is called Elias, because he came in the spirit and power of Elias; Matt. xi., 14; xvii., 12; compared with Luke i., 17; and as anti-christian Rome, in several places in this very prophecy, is called Soddom, Egypt, and Babylon, on account of its being like them in idolatary, pride, luxury, and cruelty. And these are said to live again, as "the beast which had received ten pleigen thanaton, the wound of death, and one of whose heads was wounded to death, ezesen, lived again;" Rev. xiii., 3, 12; that is, in the succession of the anti-christian beast, to him who exercised the power of the heathen emperors over the earth, and revived the idolatry of the heathen empire. And, also, as the two witnesses when slain are said to live again: "The spirit of life from God, entering into them;" xi., 7, 11; because a succession of men, of the same faith, and of the same opposition to the beast, revived, and flourished again, after they were slain. And, as the restoration of Israel from their captivity, is called their "living and standing upon their feet," and God's "opening their graves, and causing them to come out of their graves;" Ezekiel xxxvii., 9, 10, 12. Now, this is not spoken of the identical persons who were carried captive into Babylon; but of their successors, who were brought back from that captivity, to the land of Caanan. And St. Paul uses the same figure, when he calls the conversion of the Jews to the Christian faith, "life from the dead;" Rom. xi., 15. In the same sense, the ashes of the martys were said in the ages of persecution to be the seed of the church. These souls are not only said to live, but also, "to reign with Christ;" which relates to their abundance of spirituality, purity, and glory; light, love, and joy; tranquility and safety; and to the power of civil magistry, which being in their hands, and exercised with great authority and success, is used in

the suppression of all iniquity and profanity, and in the promotion of true religion and holiness in those happy days.

But what are we to understand by the thrones which St. John here mentions? Our Lord promised his apostles that they should sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. His words are these: "And Jesus said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel;" Matt. xix., 27. The palingenesia, which is here translated regeneration, was applied by the Greek fathers to the renovation of the world, at the commencement of the millennial state, when they supposed this reign would commence. This renovation may refer to the new state of things which will occur at the commencement of this millinneal reign, and particularly, to the glorious conversion of the Jews to the Christian faith, which I understand to be the next great event spoken of in this book, following the destruction of anti-christ, at which time the twelve apostles are to sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, not by a resurrection of their persons, but by a revivification of that spirit which they possessed, and of that purity and knowledge which they delivered to the world; and chiefly, by admission of their gospel to be the standard of their faith, and the rectitude of their lives. Justin Martyr says: this palingenesia," is the mystery of the regeneration of all that expect Jesus Christ to appear at Jerusalem, spoken of by Isaiah;" lxvi. And that "All Christians entirely orthodox expect to spend a thousand years in Jerusalem, as the prophet Isaiah has foretold:" saying, "There shall be a new heaven, and a new earth;" for, as these things are spoken by one who was sent as a prophet to the Jews, they must chiefly and immediately concern that nation, and her new birth of a numerous offspring, after a long barrenness; lxvi, 7, 8, 9; and her exaltation to a high state of excellency and glory, which should be so visible to the Gentiles, that all nations and tongues shall see her glory.

These thrones, however, are not peculiar to the twelve apostles, but are represented as belonging to all who have a share in the first resurrection, not by a restoration of their dead bodies to life, but by a revivification of that spirit which dwelt in them, as already explained; all of which imports the high state of honor and dignity to which Christians will be advanced in those happy days. Hence, it is said of these persons: "They shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." There are two sorts of dead persons spoken of in this prophecy; those who were slain for the witness of Jesus, and were the martyrs, whose souls are said to live again, which we have already considered; but there are another class who are said to be dead; those that were slain by the sword of him that sat

on the horse. "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together, to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone; and the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh;" xix., 19-21. These are the persons who slew the martyrs, but are now slain by Christ himself, and are denominated by St. John, the remnant, "the rest of the dead." It was by the Pagan emperors first, and by the beast afterwards, that satan, 66 The great dragon, made war with the seed of the woman which kept the commandments of God, and had the testimony of Jesus;" xii., 17; these instruments of satan being now slain, and overcome by Christ, satan is bound a thousand years, and for this period of time, is disabled from persecuting and molesting the church of God, and during this space she is raised up to her primitive purity, and prospers, and flourishes gloriously, and so is represented as having a ressurrection from the dead. This thousand years being ended, satan is let loose again, and again gathers his instruments, "The nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog to battle, and they compass the camp of the saints;" xx., 8, 9. And this is the living of the rest of the dead again, after the thousand years are finished. For it is only oi loipoi, the rest that were slain that lived again; it is only those who had no share in the first resurrection, and so were neither blessed nor holy, nor had their names written in the Lamb's book of Life; and, consequently, those who suffered a second death, which death took place when fire came down from heaven and devoured them, and they were cast into the lake of fire with the devil.

According to this interpretation, the metaphor used by St. John is applied to both classes of the dead in the same sense, and they are said in the same sense to live again; thus, the dead church raised to life, and living and reigning for a thousand years, and the enemies of the church remaining dead, and not living again till the thousand years were finished, will exactly agree in the same figurative meaning.

III. If we maintain that the resurrection here spoken of is to be understood literally, and means a resurrection of all the saints with whom Christ is to reign personally on the the earth in a state of immortality, then we must admit that this principle of interpretation is to be applied to all this class of prophecies, in both the Old and New Testaments. Our second advent friends have said but little on this part of their theory; they occasionally make a passing remark by the way of objecting to the views of their opponents, by which we are enabled to ascertain that they intend to carry out their principles of interpretation. I am informed that