Sketches of the Christian life and public labors of William Miller : $b Gathered from his memoir by the late Sylvester Bliss, and from other sources — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Sketches of the Christian life and public labors of William Miller : $b Gathered from his memoir by the late Sylvester Bliss, and from other sources
John Stuart Mill · en
“4. To understand doctrine, bring all the Scriptures together
on the subject you wish to know; then let every word have its
proper influence; and, if you can form your theory without a
contradiction, you cannot be in error. _Proof_, Isa. 28:7-29;
35:8; Prov. 19:27; Luke 24:27, 44, 45; Rom. 16:26; James 5:19;
2 Pet. 1:19, 20.
“5. Scripture must be its own expositor, since it is a rule
of itself. If I depend on a teacher to expound to me, and
he should guess at its meaning, or desire to have it so on
account of his sectarian creed, or to be thought wise, then his
guessing, desire, creed, or wisdom, is my rule, and not the
Bible. _Proof_, Ps. 19:7-11; 119:97-105; Matt. 23:8-10; 1 Cor.
2:12-16; Eze. 34:18, 19; Luke 11:52; Matt. 2:7, 8.
“6. God has revealed things to come, by visions, in figures
and parables; and in this way the same things are oftentimes
revealed again and again, by different visions, or in different
figures and parables. If you wish to understand them, you must
combine them all in one. _Proof_, Ps. 89:19; Hos. 12:10; Hab.
2:2; Acts 2:17; 1 Cor. 10:6; Heb. 9:9, 24; Ps. 78:2; Matt.
13:13, 34; Gen. 41:1-32; Dan. 2d, 7th & 8th; Acts 10:9-16.
“7. Visions are always mentioned as such. 2 Cor. 12:1.
“8. Figures always have a figurative meaning, and are used much
in prophecy to represent future things, times and events—such
as mountains, meaning governments; Dan. 2:35, 44; beasts,
meaning kingdoms; Dan. 7:8, 17; waters, meaning people; Rev.
17:1, 15; day, meaning year, &c. Eze. 4:6.
“9. Parables are used as comparisons to illustrate subjects,
and must be explained in the same way as figures, by the
subject and Bible. Mark 4:13.
“10. Figures sometimes have two or more different
significations, as day is used in a figurative sense to
represent three different periods of time, namely, first,
indefinite; Eccl. 7:14; second, definite, a day for a year;
Eze. 4:6; and third, a day for a thousand years. 2 Pet. 3:8.
The right construction will harmonize with the Bible, and make
good sense; other constructions will not.
“11. If a word makes good sense as it stands, and does no
violence to the simple laws of nature, it is to be understood
literally; if not, figuratively. Rev. 12:1, 2; 17:3-7.
“12. To learn the meaning of a figure, trace the word through
your Bible, and when you find it explained, substitute the
explanation for the word used; and, if it make good sense, you
need not look further; if not, look again.