And what I go on to Remark, is, That although' the Sacred Oracles, every where Conspire to advise us, of a Day at hand, in which the Creation shall be Delivered from the Vanity which it is now Groaning under, and an Holy and Righteous and Peaceable Kingdom of God, shall take Place in the World, yet they are all but Commentaries upon that Protevangelium; we have in That, the Original Text, as I may call it, and a Sure Foundation for our Hopes, That the World will not always be so bad as now it is. Maresius, having written a Disputation full of Bitter Zeal against the Chiliasts; the incomparable Comenius, when he was about Fourscore years of Age, wrote a Treatise on that occasion, with all the Learning, and Vigour and Style, which could have been Expected from a Literator, in the very Meridian of all his Glory. The Beginning of his Treatise runs upon this Argument. The Birth of Chiliasm was in Paradise. It was born to us in the Protevangelium given there. There we find foretold, a Perpetual War between the Serpent and our Saviour. There is foretold, the final Issue ⟨p. 24⟩of the War, in the Destruction of the Serpent, and an Illustrious and Everlasting Victory of our Saviour. Well; But where is the Field of these Transactions? This is Evidently the EARTH. All the World Knows and Feels, that this our Earth, is the Field of the War. We desire then to Know, Whether after all, the Conqueror must Leave the Field unto his vanquished Enemy? Whether the Conqueror do not always Chase the Enemy out of the Field, and he himself keep the Possession of it. Pelli Solet Hostis in ultima usque antra Sua, Captivusque in Carcerem mitti. So then, there is a Day at hand, when Satan, with all his Power and Party must be Chased off the Face of the Earth; and the Earth be Entirely in the Possession of our Admirable Saviour. Let this be our Conclusion; This our Consolation. — But, How Long, O Lord, Holy and True; How Long, How Long!
And what I go on to Remark, is, That altho' the Sacred Oracles, every where Conspire to advise us, of a Day at hand, in which the Creation shall be Delivered from the Vanity which it is now Groaning under, and an Holy and Righteous and Peaceable Kingdom of God, shall take Place in the World, yet they are all but Commentaries upon that Protevangelium; we have in That, the Original Text, as I may call it, and a Sure Foundation for our Hopes, That the World will not always be so bad as now it is. Maresius, having written a Disputation full of Bitter Zeal against the Chiliasts; the incomparable Comenius, when he was about Fourscore years of Age, wrote a Treatise on that occasion, with all the Learning, and Vigour and Style, which could have been Expected from a Literator, in the very Meridian of all his Glory. The Beginning of his Treatise runs upon this Argument. The Birth of Chiliasm was in Paradise. It was born to us in the Protevangelium given there. There we find foretold, a Perpetual War between the Serpent and our Saviour. There is foretold, the final Issue ⟨p. 24⟩of the War, in the Destruction of the Serpent, and an Illustrious and Everlasting Victory of our Saviour. Well; But where is the Field of these Transactions? This is Evidently the EARTH. All the World Knows and Feels, that this our Earth, is the Field of the War. We desire then to Know, Whether after all, the Conqueror must Leave the Field unto his vanquished Enemy? Whether the Conqueror do not always Chase the Enemy out of the Field, and he himself keep the Possession of it. Pelli Solet Hostis in ultima usque antra Sua, Captivusque in Carcerem mitti. So then, there is a Day at hand, when Satan, with all his Power and Party must be Chased off the Face of the Earth; and the Earth be Entirely in the Possession of our Admirable Saviour. Let this be our Conclusion; This our Consolation. — But, How Long, O Lord, Holy and True; How Long, How Long!
