The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 3

IV. Davenport-Advent Truth Buried Under Papal Darkness

Another important witness is JOHN DAVENPORT (1597-1670), Puritan pastor at Boston, born in Coventry, England, his father being mayor. Educated at Brazen-Nose College, Oxford, he received both the M.A. and the B.D. degrees in 1625. At nineteen he was an assistant preacher in London, visiting each family during the dread plague. In 1631 he came into conflict with Bishop Laud because of his nonconformist views, John Cotton having already fallen under the bishop’s displeasure and fled. In 1633 Davenport withdrew from the Established Church and retired to Holland, where lie was invited to be the colleague of an aged pastor. In 1635 we find him protesting the promiscuous baptizing of children. (Portrait appears on page 34.) PFF3 86.2

In 1637 he responded to Cotton’s invitation to come to New England, where he co-operated with Theophilus Eaton in founding the colony of New Haven. ³⁷ In 1665 Davenport accepted the pastorship of the First Church of Boston. A diligent student and a powerful preacher, he was author of a number of works, chief among which were The Saints Anchor-Hold in all Storms and Tempests (1701), ³⁸ The Knowledge of Christ (1653), and Another Essay for the Investigation of Trut Ji (1663). Prophecy also had a prominent place in his preaching and writing. PFF3 86.3

1. ANTICHRIST IN LAST HALF OF ALLOTTED PERIOD

Davenport stressed the personal, premillennial second advent, and the rising and reigning of the saints with Christ for the 1,000 years. He stood stanchly with Mede, Goodwin, and Gill against a spiritual resurrection. His sermon on Matthew 24 (The Knowledge of Christ) is cited by Hutchinson, Mather, Cheever, and others. He tells how the truth of the Lord’s advent lay buried under papal darkness until the day dawn. Now it is shining gloriously again “since the Antichrist entered into the last half Time of the Period allotted for him.” ³⁹ PFF3 87.1

2. LITERAL RESURRECTION AT BEGINNING OF MILLENNIUM

A supporting introduction to Increase Mather’s The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation, Explained and Applyed” ⁴⁰ was written by John Davenport (1667), as later noted. In the Introduction, Davenport makes the keynote the second advent, as foretold in Daniel 2 and 7, and in Revelation 19. The first resurrection is literal, at the beginning of one thousand years, with the general, or executive, judgment at the end of the thousand years. Davenport utterly rejected the Augustinian theory of the thousand years as in the past. The influence of this stand was far reaching. PFF3 87.2

3. OUTLINE PROPHECY OF Daniel 7

In his Knowledge of Christ (165.8), comprising “demonstrative proofs” from the prophecies that Christ was the true Messiah, Davenport leads up to the feature of Christ as the prophesied Stone. He sets forth the gold, silver, and brass of Daniel 2 as corresponding with the lion, bear, and leopard of Daniel 7, with the parallel symbols referring to Babylon, Persia, and Grecia with its four divisions. ⁴¹ But, like Broughton of England, whom he cites, Davenport at this time (1653) looked upon the fourth phase as another aspect of the Hellenistic power. In this he stood largely apart from the other American expositors, and here turned from the majority view of the Reformation writers on prophecy. PFF3 87.3

4. DIVISIONS OF SEVENTY WEEKS CHAINED LINK TO LINK

On the time feature of the seventy weeks, or “seventy sevens of years,” Davenport stresses the exactness and literality of the fulfillment. Discussing the three divisions of the seventy weeks, he says, “Thus the time is chained link unto link, by the Angel’s speech.” ⁴² In this way the certainty of prophetic time is established, as he adds, “And that this text is meant of the Messiah, Jesus Christ to come, is granted by the best interpreters.” ⁴³ PFF3 87.4