nse then, according to these
learned men, is, In truth I tell you that this race of men, of which you
are the commencement, shall not pass away till this shall take place;
that is to say, the succession of Christians shall not cease till his
coming. See Commentary of M. Paulus on the New Test., edit. 1802, tom.
iii. p. 445,--446.--G. ----Others, as Rosenmuller and Kuinoel, in loc.,
confine this passage to a highly figurative description of the ruins of
the Jewish city and polity.--M.]

Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part IV.

The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was intimately
connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of the creation
had been finished in six days, their duration in their present state,
according to a tradition which was attributed to the prophet Elijah, was
fixed to six thousand years. [61] By the same analogy it was inferred,
that this long period of labor and contention, which was now almost
elapsed, [62] would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years;
and that Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect
who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, would
reign upon earth till the time appointed for the last and general
resurrection. So pleasing was this hope to the mind of believers,
that the New Jerusalem, the seat of this blissful kingdom, was quickly
adorned with all the gayest colors of the imagination. A felicity
consisting only of pure and spiritual pleasure would have appeared too
refined for its inhabitants, who were still supposed to possess their
human nature and senses. A garden of Eden, with the amusements of the
pastoral life, was no longer suited to the advanced state of society
which prevailed under the Roman empire. A city was therefore erected of
gold and precious stones, and a supernatural plenty of corn and wine
was bestowed on the adjacent territory; in the free enjoyment of whose
spontaneous productions, the happy and benevolent people was never to be
restrained by any jealous laws of exclusive property. [63] The assurance
of such a Millennium was carefully inculcated by a succession of fathers
from Justin Martyr, [64] and Irenaeus, who conversed with the immediate
disciples of the apostles, down to Lactantius, who was preceptor to the
son of Constantine. [65] Though it might not be universally received, it
appears to have been the reigning sentiment of the orthodox believers;
and it