means undervalue a knowledge of the original languages in which the Bible was written; but we are persuaded that it is not absolutely essential to the knowledge of divine truth. If men will but use the common version to the highest advantage to which it may be put, we have no fear that they will fail to get a proper perception of the meaning of the sacred writers.

With these reflections we submit the work to the public. It has been prepared for publication in this form at the urgent request of many friends. If it shall be the means of doing any good, however small, let the praise be given to Him by whom our life has been spared, and our strength measurably continued. January 1 1848.

INTRODUCTION.

We shall consider, in this place, the following questions: First, Is the Apocalypse a Divine Book? and, By whom was it written?

Second, At what time was it written?

FIRST ESSAY.

IS THE APOCALYPSE A DIVINE BOOK? AND BY WHOM WAS IT WRITTEN?

I. The book claims to be of divine origin. It is said to be The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he [i. e., Jesus Christ] sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John."- Rev. i. 1, 4. This is the pretension of

the book itself. John, the author, styles himself the "brother" of the churches, their "companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus."-See verse 9. This description certainly will apply, with much propriety, to John the apostle. The author of the book further states, that he was banished to "the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."- Verse 9. Was it not true that the apostle John was banished to that island on account of his devotion to the Christian religion? We shall see, as we proceed. There are but two other instances in the book in which the author mentions his name, viz., xxi. 2, and xxii. 8.

In the former he was treating of the descent of the New Jerusalem, or the coming of the kingdom of God with power; and it is a well-known fact, that John the apostle lived until that time, although he had become a very old man. Jesus, when on earth, had pointed him out as the apostle who should live until his coming in his kingdom should take place. -John xxi. 23. It was appropriate, then, for the apostle, if he were the author of the book, to name himself in this connection.

II. We will, in the first place, give an abstract of the testimony of antiquity to the fact that the Apocalypse was written by the apostle John. It is supposed, by some, that it was referred to by writers in the apostolic age. The shepherd of Hermas (A. D. 100) is thought to have imitated in some instances the style and sentiments of the Apocalypse; from which the conclusion may be drawn, not only that the book was then in existence, but also that it was in good credit. For what other reason could have tempted to an imitation? Polycarp, who was in part contemporary with the apostle John, and was constituted bishop of Smyrna (as it is supposed) by him, is thought to have received the Apocalypse as the work of the apostle. Irenæus, a devoted disciple of Polycarp, is well known to have been a fervent believer in the Apocalypse as the work of the apostle; and from the devotion with which he leaned to the opinions of Polycarp, it is believed that the latter venerable father also received it as a divine book/ Prof. Stuart says: "As Polycarp was the personal friend and attendant of John, so was Irenæus of Polycarp. Now Irenæus everywhere, and on all occasions, testifies his full belief in the apostolic origin of the Apocalypse. Could he have done so, if Polycarp had not believed the same? And must not Polycarp have certainly known what was the fact, in regard to the authorship of the Apocalypse?"

1 Lardner's Works, 8vo., ii., pp. 62-65; 4to., i., pp. 311-313. 2 Stuart on the Apocalypse, vol. i., 301.

"Is it

probable," says Prof. Stuart again, "that Irenæus would venture on such a point to differ from Polycarp? Is it probable he did not know the opinion of Polycarp in respect to the authorship of the Apocalypse?" 1 But it is also said that "Polycarp has cited the Apocalypse once in the only epistle of his that has come down to our times; and that the pious and sublime prayer which this holy man uttered at the awful moment when the flames were about to be kindled around him begins with the identical words of the elders in Rev. xi. 17."2

But we pass to testimony of a more undoubted character. And here, as we find an abstract well made to our hand, we avail ourself of the following extract from an article in the "Universalist Expositor," for May, 1833. It was from the pen of the learned editor of that work.

From the language of Justin Martyr, about A. D. 160, it appears that the Revelation was then received as St. John's. He says, A man from among us, by the name of John, one of the apostles of Christ, has prophesied, in the Revelation made to him, that the believers in Christ shall live a thousand years in Jerusalem; and after that, shall be the general or eternal resurrection and universal judgment.' /Melito, bishop of Sardis, one

of the seven churches addressed in the Revelation, flourished about A. D. 174. All his works are now lost; but the historian Eusebius informs us, that among those extant in his time, there was one entitled,, ' Of the Revelation of St. John:' a fact which sufficiently discovers the estimation in which the book was then held. In the Epistle of the Churches of Lyons and Vienna, written about A. D. 177, it is plainly referred to as authentic Scripture: Both the magistrates,' say they, and the people were vexed at the very heart, that the Scripture might be fulfilled which saith, He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he

1 Stuart on the Apocalypse, p. 302.

See Horne's Intro., Littell's edition, 1825, vol. iv., p. 475.