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
“‘Thus all those passages that speak of the will of God being
done on earth as in Heaven, of the earth being full of the
knowledge of the glory of God, &c., could not be applicable to
a time when the man of sin was prevailing against the saints,
or when the righteous and wicked were dwelling together, which
is to be the case until the end of the world. Those who speak
of the gospel being preached in all the world, teach that, as
soon as it should be thus preached, the end was to come; so
that it could not be delayed a thousand years from that time,
nor long enough for the world’s conversion after the preaching
of the gospel as a witness.
“‘The question of the resurrection and judgment was, for a
time, an obstacle in the way. Being instructed that all the
dead would be raised at the same time, I supposed it must
be so taught in the Bible; but I soon saw it was one of the
traditions of the elders.
“‘So, also, with the return of the Jews. That question I saw
could only be sustained by denying the positive declarations
of the New Testament, which assert: “There is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek;” that the promise that he
shall be the heir of the world was not to Abraham and his
seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith;
that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor
female;” but that “if ye are Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s
seed, and heirs according to the promise.” I was, therefore,
obliged to discard an objection which asserts there is a
difference between the Jew and Greek; that the children of the
flesh _are_ accounted for the seed, &c.
“‘In this way I was occupied for five years—from 1818 to
1823—in weighing the various objections which were being
presented to my mind. During that time, more objections arose
in my mind than have been advanced by my opponents since;
and I know of no objection that has been since advanced which
did not then occur to me. But, however strong they at first
appeared, after examining them in the light of the divine
word, I could only compare them to straws, laid down singly as
obstacles on a well-beaten road; the car of truth rolled over
them, unimpeded in its progress.