may mean no more than affliction and distress; for it was a Jewish maxim, that when God was about to pour down some general judgment, he began with afflicting his own people, in order to correct and amend them; that they might be prepared for the overflowing

Scourge.

"And if it first begin at us] Jews, who have repented and believed on the Son of God. What shall the end be of them, the Jews who continue impenitent, and obey not the gospel of God? Here is the plainest reference to the above Jewish maxim; and this, it appears, was founded upon the text which St. Peter immediately quotes.

"And if the righteous scarcely be saved] If it shall be with extreme difficulty that the Christians shall escape from Jerusalem, when the Roman armies shall come against it, with the full commission to destroy it, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Where shall the proud Pharisaic boaster in his own outside holiness, and the profligate transgressor of the laws of God, show themselves, as having escaped the divine vengeance? The Christians, though with difficulty, did escape, every man ; but not one of the Jews escaped, whether found in Jerusalem or elsewhere.

'Be

"It is rather strange, but it is a fact, that this verse is the Septuagint translation of Prov. xi. 31. hold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more the wicked and the sinner.' For this, the Septuagint and St. Peter have; If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?' Such a latitude of construction can scarcely be accounted for. The original signifies this; 'Behold, to the righteous it shall be returned on the earth; and to the wicked and the transgressor.'

"The Chaldee Paraphrast has given this a different turn; Behold, the righteous shall be strengthened in the earth; but the ungodly and the sinner shall be consumed from the earth.'

"The Syriac thus; "If the righteous scarcely live, the ungodly, and the sinner, where shall he stand?'

"The Arabic is nearly the same as the Septuagint; and the apostle and the Vulgate follow the Hebrew.

"I have, on several occasions, shown, that 'when Cestius Gallus came against Jerusalem, many Christians were shut up in it; when he strangely raised the siege, the Christians immediately departed to Pella, in Cœlosyria, into the dominions of king Agrippa, who was an ally of the Romans; and there they were in safety; and it appears from the ecclesiastical historians, that they had but barely time to leave the city before the Romans returned under the command of Titus, and never left the place till they had destroyed the temple, razed the city to the ground, slain upwards of a million of those wretched people, and put an end to their polity and ecclesiastical state."

SeeUniversalist Expositor," Vol. III. p. 375; Balou's "Select Sermons," No. VI. LXXXIV. 2 Peter ii. 4, 9..

For an explanation of this passage, see my remarks on Jude, ver. 6, Section LXXXVIII. of this chapter.

LXXXV. 2 Peter ii. 17.

For an explanation of this passage, see remarks on Rev. xiv. 9-11, Sect. XCII. of this chapter. LXXXVI. 2 Peter iii. 7 - 13.

This passage has been frequently used to prove the destruction of the material earth, and a day of judgment in the future state. We have shown repeatedly in these pages, that God's judgments are IN THE EARTH. But as this text is not generally adduced in support of strictly endless misery, we pass it here, by merely observing, that those who wish to see an explanation of the whole subject, are referred to the "Universalist Expositor," Vol. III. 34-52. Balfour's "Essays," p. 260. See also the learned notes of Hammond and. Witsius on this subject, in Paige's "Selections."

LXXXVII. "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death; I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not unto death." 1 John v. 16, 17.

We apprehend, that the true sense of this passage is made manifest by the following paragraph from Horne's "Introduction," Littell's ed. Vol. III. p. 143.

"The Talmudical writers have distinguished the CAPITAL PUNISHMENTS of the Jews, into lesser deaths, and such as were more grievous; but there is no warrant in the Scriptures for these distinctions, neither are these writers agreed among themselves what particular punishments are to be referred to these two heads. A capital crime was generally termed a sin of death (Deut. xvii. 6); or a sin worthy of death (Deut. xxi. 22); which mode of expression is adopted, or rather imitated by the apostle John, who distinguishes between a sin unto death, and a sin not unto death. (1 John v. 16.) Criminals, or those who were deemed worthy of capital punishment, were called sons, or men of death; (1 Sam. xx. 32; xxxi..16.; 2 Sam. xix. 28, marg. reading) just as he who had incurred the punishment of scourging was designated a son of stripes (Deut. xxv. 16; 1 Kings xiv. 6). A similar phraseology was adopted by Jesus Christ, when he said to the Jews, ye shall die in your sins (John viii. 21, 24). Eleven different sorts of capital punishments are mentioned in the sacred writings."

From the above, it appears that a sin unto death was a sin deserving of death, according to the Jewish code, and which could not be pardoned; whereas, a sin not unto death was either a sin not deserving of death, or a sin which might be pardoned, after death had been de

nounced. We cannot see that the passage has any ref-.

erence whatever to the future state.

Whoever will consult Adam Clarke the Methodist, on this subject, will find his views not to disagree with the foregoing. He closes by saying; "I do not think

the passage has any thing to do with what is termed the sin against the Holy Ghost, which I have proved no

man can now commit."

The design of the apostle seems to have been, to cultivate in his brethren a merciful disposition, which would lead them, in every case where it was practicable, to intercede for the life of those who had sinned under the Jewish law.

LXXXVIII. "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." Jude ver. 6.

Is there any thing here which renders it necessary to apply this passage to any order of beings above men? Men are frequently called angels in the Scriptures. Let the reader take any Greek Lexicon, we care not what one, and he will find that the word "yyelos, is defined as signifying a human messenger, a legate, an agent, the bishop or president of a particular church, &c. &c. Certainly, then, the mere use of the word angel, does not show that this passage must have application to beings besides men. We read of the angel of the church of Ephesus (Rev. ii. 1); of the angel of the church of Smyrna (8); of the angel of the church of Pergamos (12); of the angel of the church of Thyatira (18), &c. These were, without doubt, human beings, men, the ministers, elders, or messengers of those churches. The word angel is not a name of nature, but of office," says Austin, in Leigh's Crit. Sacr. The angels, or messengers, who are spoken of in the passage before us, kept not their first estate, or office, but left their habitation, or proper place, or station, by usurping the place of others, (as Macknight renders the words.) All this has taken place among men on the earth.

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Now let us take the rest of the verse. "He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." What is there here that compels us to interpret this passage of any other state

of existence besides the present, or of any order of beings besides men? A man confined in a dark place, may be said to be in "chains of darkness "; and a man bound in mental blindness, may be said to be in "chains of darkness." But these are said to be everlasting chains. * True, and so are other things said to be everlasting, that belong strictly to this world. We read, in the Bible, of "everlasting mountains," Hab. iii. 6; the everlasting possession of Canaan, Gen. xvii. 8; xlviii. 4; the everlasting hills, Gen. xlix. 26; the everlasting priesthood of Aaron, Exod. xl. 15; Numb. xxv. 13; everlasting statutes, Lev. xvi. 34; and everlasting doors, Psalms xxiv. 7. Everybody must see, that the word everlasting furnishes no proof whatsoever, in itself, that the matter to which it is applied must needs be looked for in some other state of being.

But at last I shall be told, that these angels must certainly belong to some other world, because they are said to be reserved "unto the judgment of the great day." But is there no judgment in this world? We read, "Verily there is a God that judgeth [where ?] in the earth." Jesus said, "For judgment I am come into this world." He said again, "Now is the judgment of this world." And Peter said, "For the TIME IS COME, that judgment must begin at the house of God." There must be judgment in this world, if these passages of Scripture are true; and we most sincerely and undoubtingly believe them to be true. But one question more. That "great day," when shall it be? Is it yet future? It is sufficient to say, in reply to this. question, that any day was called the day of God, the great day, the great and terrible day of the Lord, when God visited men with any signal display of his power. So when he visited his rebellious people, the Jews, the time was said to be the great and terrible day of the Lord. See Joel ii. 1. "For the day of the Lord cometh; it is nigh at hand." After describing the approach of the destroying armies, and the consternation they would excite in every breast, the prophet adds,