Christs personall reigne on earth, one thousand yeares with his saints the manner, beginning, and continuation of his reigne clearly proved by many plain texts of Scripture, and the chiefe objections against it fully answered, explaining the 20 Revelations and all other Scripture-prophecies that treat of it : containing a full reply to Mr. Alexander Petrie ... who wrote against ... Israels redemption / by Robert Maton.

Reply.

1. This is the second time that you cavill at my using of the word literall, for proper, although I herein speake but as Divines commonly speake, out of whom it were easie to fill up many pages with instances for the confirmation of this sense of the word. For what is the meaning of it in this Question, An dogmata fidei ex so∣lo Scripturae sensu literali, non autem mystico, figurato & parabolico sta∣bilienda sint? thus it is propos'd by Stagmannus: and by Broch∣mond thus, An dogmata fidei e solo sensu literali, non autem mystico sta∣biliri commode at{que} tu••ò possint? and in the abridgement of the sub∣stance of Religion set forth by Amandus Polanus, page 127. con∣cerning typica••l Oracles, are these words. Of the first sort are they which are understood of both of them, that is, the type and the substance together, and are to be taken properly, or as they use to speake, literally, as Ex. 12.45. Ye shall not breake a bone of it. And now who hath shewed himselfe the novice? have I, in following Divines in the use of this word? or you in carping at me for it? And whereas you boast [that you give no other interpretation of the Prophecies, then be chiefly intended,] it were well if you did not: but surely you cannot prove your mysticall sense to be the sense chiefly intended: neither doe I say that it is, in telling you, that Inter∣preters doe chiefly expound the preceding Prophecies of the joy∣ning together of the Jewes and Gentiles into one Church: for as I grant that they doe rightly conceive of the subject of these Pro∣phecies, in affirming that they concerne the uniting of the two peo∣ple; so I allow not of the application of this union to the time of the substituted Gentiles calling, by their mysticall interpretations of them.

2. That the Evangelist alledgeth this Prophecie of Zech. as then fulfill'd, onely touching the piercing of our Saviours side, I wil∣lingly

grant; and as the rest of the Prophecie was not at that time fulfill'd, so that it hath not been since fulfill'd, I doe also affirme. And yet if you looke into Cornelius à Lapide you shall finde, that some have said it was then wholly fulfill'd in the Disciples: of whom there were more present then St. John, as St. John him∣selfe records; I say more of the Disciples, if no other of the twelve, and therefore it is false, that our Saviour was not beheld by the Disciples. But as I say, that this exposition is quite contrary to the evidence of the Prophecie, which speakes of the piercing of Christ by his enemies, and not by his friends; so I say too, that your expounding of it as fulfill'd by the Iewes that were pricked in their hearts at Peters preaching, Acts 2. ver. 23.37. is not so con∣sonant to the words of the Prophet, as you imagine. For albeit that many, if not most, of these Iewes were consenting to his death, and upon their conversion were sorrie for their sinne; yet the oc∣casion of all this sorrow was St. Peters preaching, was the hearing I say, of what they had done, and not the beholding of their pier∣ced Saviour, which the Prophet mentions as the onely occasion of their sorrow by whose mourning this Prophecie is to be fulfill'd. And our Saviour himselfe also hath foretold, Matth. 24. at the 30. ver. that this mourning is to be fulfill'd at his next appearing, his words are, Then shall appeare the signe of the Sonne of man in Hea∣ven, and then shall all the Tribes of the earth mourne, and they shall see the Sonne of man comming in the n 1.1 clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. Whom then shall wee believe, our Saviour and the Pro∣phet? or you? For what though the Iewes which shall mourne for him so long after his suffering did not in their owne persons, ei∣ther pierce, or see him pierced? yet as Levi is said to pay tithes in the loynes of his Father Abraham, so these are said to have done what their Fathers did? and Mr. Brightman in his exposition of the 7. ver. of the first chap. of the Rev. understands that too of the accomplishment of these words of Zech. which he expounds al∣most in the same termes as I have done, pag. 16. 17. of his Rev. of the Apocalyps.

Notes

• n 1.1

  Act. 1. v. 11.