| Table of Contents | Words: Alphabetical - Frequency - Inverse - Length - Statistics | Help | IntraText Library |
| Eusebius Pamphilii of Caesarea On the Theophania IntraText CT - Text |
|
|
|
36. "Ye shall hear indeed of wars, and rumours of wars: see that ye be not moved, for it is necessary they should be; but the End is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be famines and pestilences, and commotions6 in divers places. And all these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they give you up to affliction, and shall kill you in divers places. And all these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they give you up to affliction, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake." And after this He added, and said, "146 Then shall many stumble, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. And, because of the abundance of iniquity, the love of many shall wax cold. But he, who shall bear until the End, shall live. And the Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for the testimony of all nations; and then cometh the End." He clearly foretold also by these things, that His Gospel should, of necessity, first be preached in the whole creation, for the testimony of all nations, "and then should the END come." For the END of the world should not come, before (the Gospel) had been preached; but, when His word should have so taken effect among all nations, that the people should be few, among whom His Gospel had not been preached; so also should the time of the END 147 be short (in its coming). He further teaches and says, "Ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars: see that ye be not moved, for it is necessary they should be; but the End is not yet." He also shews when this shall be, for He says, "The Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole creation, for the testimony of all nations: and then cometh the end." When also, "famines and pestilences, and commotions (shall be) in divers places, and nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" and there shall be overwhelming persecutions, and great afflictions. After these things too, He says, "And ye shall be hated of all nations" not on account of any other hateful acts, but "for my name's sake148."
|
146. 7 Cited by Origen (contra Cels. Lib. ii. p. 68.), with this remark: [Greek] "Quis item non mirabitur, ascendens contemplatione ad illud vaticinium.....cum vidcat juxta illam pradictionem jam praedicatum in omnibus, quae sub coelo sunt, terris Graecorum barbarorumque tum sapientibus, tum insipientibus ? Omnem enim humanam naturam vicit sermo praedicatus cum potentia, nec est videre ullum genus hominum, a quo haec doctrina recepta non sit." 147. 1 This argument is urged by Origen (contra Cels. Lib. ii. p. 68. Edit. Spencer). From this reasoning of Eusebius, it is evident that he believed that the End had come. And in this there can be no doubt, I think, he was right; but as this involves a question very ill understood at this day, it may be right to offer a few words here, as to what is meant by the End. This, I think, Daniel (ix. 27.) terms the "consummation:" (comp. ver. 26 and vii. 26, 28,) that is, the End of his seventy weeks, (ib. ver. 24. seq.) when "vision and prophecy" should be sealed: i.e. completed. In chap. viii. 19, it is said, "at the time appointed the End shall be." Again, ib. chap. 27, 28. The End of the matter is said to be, when the kingdom under the whole heaven shall have been given to the Saints (i.e.) the Christians: in other words, when the Kings of the earth shall have become its nursing fathers, and Queens its nursing mothers, (Is. xlix. 23.) Again, Dan. xii. 7. When the power of the holy people shall have been scattered, "all these things shall be finished:" i.e. when the power of the new Church shall be spread abroad far and wide, then shall the End of all these thimgs be. (Comp. Is. lxii. 12, &c. Dan. viii. 24.) In Rev. x. 6, 7, which is an exact parallel of Dan. xii. 7, it is sworn by the angel, that time shall be no longer, and that the mystery of God, as declared by the Prophets, shall be finished. Now, our Lord has identified his predictions (Matt. xxiv. and Luke xxi.) with these of Daniel. In the former (ver. 14.) He says: " then shall the END come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination... spoken of by Daniel the prophet" (ix. 27; xii. 11.)..." then shall be great tribulation" (ver. 21. comp. Dan. ix. 26; xii. 1.) ', ver. 34, " This generation shall not pass till all these things be," i. e. commenced (comp. ver. 8.). In the latter (Luke xxi. ver. 22.) " These be the days of vengeance, that ALL THINGS which are written MAY BE FULFILLED" (i. e. in them). That the terms, latter days, last days, end of the world, ends of the world, the fulness of time, refer to the times of the Apostles, and those immediately subsequent to these, the Concordance, with the parallels marked in our common Bibles, will be sufficient to shew. -- But the kingdom of the saints is never to end (i. e. as far as pre-diction is concerned); it can therefore, have no last days, latter days, or the like. When any such terms are referred to the last judgment, the language is doctrinal, not prophetical. I conclude, therefore, that this End did come, when the persecution of Diocletian ceased: for then all the conditions of prophecy had been fulfilled. Eusebius is therefore right. See also my Sermons and Dissertations, London, 1831, and the Introduction to this work. 148. 2 He proved in sect. 28, above, that this had taken place, as he affirms in other places, that the Gospel had been received throughout the whole world. And so says the Apostle, "Yes, verily their sound went out into ALL THE EARTH, and their words unto the END OP THE WORLD." Rom. x. 18; and ib. xvi. 26. -- " made known to ALL NATIONS FOR THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH." And again, Col. i. 23...."The Gospel, which was preached to EVERY CREATURE WHICH is UNDER HEAVEN." To the same effect is the testimony of the Fathers generally. See the "Salutaris Lux Evangelica" of Fabricius: and the Introduction to this work. |
Table of Contents | Words: Alphabetical - Frequency - Inverse - Length - Statistics | Help | IntraText Library |
Best viewed with any browser at 800x600 or 768x1024 on Tablet PC IntraText® (V89) - Some rights reserved by EuloTech SRL - 1996-2007. Content in this page is licensed under a Creative Commons License |