The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 3

I. President Linn-French Revolution Fulfilling Prophecy

WILLIAM LINN (1752-1808), Presbyterian clergyman, educator, and president pro tempore of Queen’s College (Rutgers), was born near Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1772. Ordained to the Donegal presbytery in 1775, he first served as chaplain in the Continental Army in 1776. Then in 1777 he was called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church at Big Spring, where he served until 1784. He next took charge of an academy in Somerset, Maryland, but soon returned to a pastorate in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. During 1786-1805 he preached in the Dutch Reformed Collegiate Church in New York City. He was a pulpit orator of power, rising to great heights in grandeur of expression. His sermons were written and then committed to memory. (Portrait appears on page 144.) PFF3 227.2

Part of this time (1791-1794) Linn acted as president of Queen’s College, of which he had been a trustee since 1787. For twenty-one years prior to his death he was one of the regents for the University of New York. He was also the first chaplain in the U. S. House of Representatives. In 1789 Princeton conferred upon him the degree of D.D. In the same year he was chosen president of Union College, Schenectady, New York. PFF3 228.1

1. TENTH OF PAPAL CITY Is FALLING

In April, 1793, during the midst of the French Revolution, Linn began a series of Discourses on The Signs of the Times (1794). In the preface he declares prophecy to be in the very process of fulfilling, preparatory to the general spread of the gospel. ¹ Prophecy is averred to be the strong proof of divine revelation. And Linn adds that the nearer the fulfillment, the more its perception is unfolded. Specific reference is made to France as the tenth part of the Babylonian city, and to the Beast as Rome, with citation to many prophetic writers holding the same view ² PFF3 228.2

2. ADVENT DELIVERS FROM ANTICHRIST’S TYRANNY

Reviewing the Bishop of Rome’s climb to power from Constantine’s day onward, resulting in spiritual tyranny, Linn follows with the declaration that the Papacy is the Antichrist, the Beast, the Man of Sin, ³ and the great Whore ⁴ Then he points to the second advent as the time of glorious coming deliverance.” ⁵ PFF3 228.3

3. 1260 YEARS FROM 553 TO 1813

In his discourse on Daniel 7:25, Linn refers to the general agreement of expositors that Daniel’s Little Horn, Paul’s Man of Sin, and John’s Beast are the same, and are all fulfilled in popery. The Latin Vicarius Filii Dei is cited for his name, along with the customary tabulations-the Greek Lateinos, the Hebrew Romiith ⁶ The 1260 years are noted as in both Daniel and the Apocalypse, with several possible beginning and terminal points-one of which is 553-1813 ⁷ The destruction of Antichrist will precede the millennium. Such is the exposition of yet another college president. PFF3 228.4