The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 3

CHAPTER NINE: Theologians, Schoolmasters, and Poets Join

I. Characteristic Features of Eighteenth Century

The intellectual leadership of the clergy remained un-diminished in the eighteenth century, and that among a laity that was both strong and literate. This was due not alone to the high authority of the clerical office but to the personal greatness of the men who filled that office. In the field of literature their tireless activity, learning, and sheer force of character kept them in the forefront through their theological exposition, and this included prophetic exposition. Thus the sons maintained the strong traits of their pioneering forefathers. PFF3 145.1

With Cotton Mather we enter a period marked by the disruptive rise and spread of the Whitbyan postmillennial theory, with its figurative view of the first resurrection, as already noted in Volume II. Starting in England, it not only penetrated Continental Europe but began to take root in America. With its acceptance came the breakdown in the solidarity of the preceding century. JOSEPH BELLAMY, in his sermon on “The Millennium” (1758), JONATHAN EDWARDS, in his History of ... Redemption (1774), SAMUEL HOPKINS, in his Treatise on the Millennium (1793), and others, now begin to teach this new view, repudiating the premillennial advent hope cherished in the preceding century. PFF3 145.2

However, in fairness it should be stated that, in contrast to Old World postmillennialists, even some of these men believed that the millennial kingdom would be introduced by a crisis-a terrific outpouring of God’s judgments on evil world powers and Antichrist-and not by quiet transition. On the other hand, such stalwarts as Cotton Mather, Thomas Prince, Benjamin Dale, and perhaps the majority of the other prophetic expositors, were still decided pre-millennialists. There is no material change in emphasis upon the fundamentals of interpretation-only gradual clarifications and advances. Thus, as in the Old World, two groups now stand opposed on the millennial issue. PFF3 145.3

In this century we also pass from the colonial into the early national era, from 1776 onward. The American Declaration of Independence, followed by the Constitution with its Bill of Rights, marks one of the great advances in the progress of liberty, crowning the new era inaugurated by the Reformation. It was in this country that for the first time the separation of church and state was realized in the interest of true religion, as protected in the Bill of Rights found in the first ten amendments to the Constitution. PFF3 146.1

Moreover, many premillennial works from the pens of European expositors were republished in America in the latter part of the eighteenth century. JOHN GILL’S Three Sermons on the Present and Future State of the Church, at Boston (1756) and Northampton (1797); DAVID IMRIE’S Letter, in Boston (1756); JAMES PURVES’ Dissertation on the seals, the trumpets, and the Vials, in New York (1788), and on the Apocalypse (1787); THOMAS NEWTON’S volume on prophecy, in New York (1787) and Northampton (1796); JOSEPH PRIESTLY, in Philadelphia (1794); and JAMES BICHENO, at Providence, Rhode Island (1795), and in West Springfield, Massachusetts (1796). These, and others, were scattered everywhere and did much to mold American opinion. PFF3 146.2

The writers on prophecy in this century were even more varied in personal background, profession, and achievement. Earlier inaccuracies were corrected and distinct advances were made. Despite the serious division that had now arisen over the exposition of the millennium, the idioms and general understandings of prophecy were common, and the Historical School of exposition was still prevalent. Not only were the great epochs and time periods clearly held on the year-day principle, but particular events, such as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and the great dark day of 1780, were recognized as prophesied har bingers of the approaching climax of the ages. We proceed now with the examination of the witnesses of the eighteenth century. PFF3 146.3