The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 3

II. Colonial Consciousness of the Prophetic Scheme

The Puritans were the chief theologians of seventeenth-century colonial days. The dominant questions for discussion centered, for the most part, on ecclesiastical order, the sovereignty of God, the supremacy of the Scriptures, baptism, the Lord’s supper, salvation through Christ. And along with these went the prophecies. Such were the great religious themes brought over by the Pilgrims and Puritans as they crossed the Atlantic from Holland and England to the shores of Massachusetts. Their early concepts on the prophecies were drawn, of course, from the earlier English Reformation writings and from the intimate contacts with the more recent Continental Reformers during their periods of exile from Britain. There were literally hundreds of volumes on prophecy printed in Germany, Switzerland, Holland, England, and France, with which they were acquainted. From these their initial views were obtained. PFF3 22.2

These New World men “were the peers in learning and ability of any in the Puritan wing of the Church of England.” ⁶ In Virginia, where the Episcopal Church of England held sway, there was little interest in theological discussion. But not so in New England. Both Puritans and Separatists were keenly interested in prophecy and were fruitful in the production of thoughtful exposition. PFF3 23.1

The painstaking examination of hundreds of these writings of colonial America’s religious and civil leaders brings out this impressive fact, which stands forth with indelible force and conclusiveness: Prophecy, with prophetic study and interpretation, was inextricably woven into the very warp and woof of colonial thinking and expression. It molded the motives and objectives of these men, and controlled their conduct. It runs back and forth like a golden thread through their sermons and their secular literature, and gives warmth, richness, and color to the writings of the great preachers and teachers of the time. Indeed, it highlights the whole colonial background, as we shall see. PFF3 23.2

Moreover, despite creedal differences on other matters among Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist, Seventh Day Baptist, Episcopalian, and later the Methodist writers, there was remarkable unity in basic prophetic interpretation—the four world empires of prophecy the divisions of Rome, the Antichrist, the year-day principle, and the approaching judgment and second advent. PFF3 23.3

The emphasis sometimes centered upon the premillennial second advent as the grand consummation of all prophecy, rather than upon detailed exposition of the outline prophecies and the prophetic periods of Daniel and the Apocalypse. There were many others, however, who ventured into this fuller field. And these New World expositors, forming a perfect parallel to the Old World writers, were less affected by the spreading Jesuit Preterist and Futurist counterinterpretations that were permeating Europe. ⁷ Many of the most distinguished colonial fathers were decided and outspoken premillennialists. The Augustinian theory of the 1,000 years of the medieval reign of the church had been rejected by virtually all, and the blight of Whitby’s postmillennial concept had not yet touched the church in either the Old World or the New. PFF3 23.4

These men were consciously dealing with the prophesied “Beast.” They knew its historical identity, and were conscious of its perverting and coercive power. They also believed that its power would be broken, and that the allotted 1260__years would end erelong. They believed that it would be destroyed at the second advent. For this transcendent event they prayed. They were intelligently discussing the revealed plan of the ages, and their own part, place, and time therein. Some were seeking to separate Protestantism from the coercive spirit of the Beast, which was still manifested by many of the stern Puritans. For this they likewise pleaded. Thus their lives were lived, their books were written, and their sermons were preached under the vivid consciousness of the prophetic scheme. PFF3 24.1

But along with this historic characteristic must be placed an astonishing modern corollary that should never be forgotten: Not only has such a concept largely passed from the thinking and expression of popular churchmen and educational and civic leaders of today, but the entire field of prophecy has lost interest for the church or secular historian to the extent that he is now virtually silent as regards the almost universal historical emphasis on prophecy, the judgment, and the advent by men whose names are otherwise familiar to every student of American history. PFF3 24.2

Little attention has been paid by writers on New England theology—such as Walker, Parrington, Chitwood, Miller, Sweet, Foster, Murdock, and Rutgers—to this wealth of prophetic interpretation, and the related second advent, as held and taught by the American theologians of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. ⁸ This notable silence is one of the serious omissions of the chroniclers of the period. Whether thoughtless or designed, it stands as a serious indictment and constitutes a significant trend of the times, for, whatever the reason, the picture has been seriously blurred and is incomplete, with one of the primary colors omitted. This we shall seek to correct. PFF3 24.3