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Matthew 16:27-28 / Todd Dennis - Matthew 16:27-28 is NOT a "Preterist Time Indicator" pointing to AD70 (2008) "If AD70 figures into the imagery of Matthew 16:27-28 at all (even though it is not mentioned, or even so much as hinted at in the text), it would be as a visible, external show of these very personal revelations (per Israel’s entire role as visible schoolmaster of invisible things). This is also likely considering both Jesus and Paul's correlation of the fall of the temple with the death of the body (John 2:19 ; 1 Cor. 3:17)"
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A Brief Memoir of a Scholar of a Past Generation - By His Daughter
"he became convinced that the views which he entertained, known as the Preterist, were those held by the early Church."
FIRST SERMON TEXT: "But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city." (Hebrew xi. 16.) "I now say no BIBLICAL STUDENT should be without Mr. Fairbairn's "Typology." "The adherents
to Calvin’s views of these prophecies will find much profit from their
perusal." Letters of Charles Darwin: "On Saturday evening dined at one of the Colleges, played at bowls on the College Green after dinner, and was deafened with nightingales singing. Sunday, dined in Trinity; capital dinner, and was very glad to sit by Professor Lee ; I find him a very pleasant chatting man, and in high spirits like a boy, at having lately returned from a living or a curacy, for seven years in Somersetshire, to civilised society and oriental manuscripts. He had exchanged his living to one within fourteen miles of Cambridge, and seemed perfectly happy." May 16, 1832 (Joseph Wolff's tutor at Cambridge),
"The work is pleasurable for the time being, but then there is a hope that when I am dead it shall speak, and shall give God the glory when my tongue and tongues shall have ceased." "Darwin was himself initiated into Islamic culture in Cambridge under orientalist Samuel Lee"
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"ALL PROPHECY IS FULFILLED" "It is scarcely possible not to perceive the allusion here made to Rom. vi. 3-—6 : and Col. ii. 12, 13, which again brings before us, in terms a little different, the prophetic and apostolic doctrine of a new creation, in the newness of mind and of life, so inculcated. But the Apostle Paul carries the Resurrection, here supposed to be realized in the baptized Believer, onward to its intended issue; namely, the final resurrection of the dead: and, what is most remarkable, he argues from the certainty of the first, as a thing to be taken for granted, to that of the last. His words are, " What shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all. Why, repeats he, " are they then baptized for the dead i.e. in behalf of their own dead bodies, if there be no final resurrection of these ? As if he should say, This symbolical rite, representing to us the cleansing and renewing powers of Christianity, and admitting us to a full participation in them,—to be cultivated moreover continually, and under all the other means— likewise holds out to us, as its intended issue and end, the resurrection to eternal life: i.e. the certainty of the first implies the certainty of the last. Something more than the symbol must here, therefore, have been taught by the Apostle: i. e. the means of a spiritual resurrection now secured to the baptized person. But see this argument followed out in a Tract, entitled, " Why are they then baptized for the dead" by the Rev. J. Blackburne, Cambridge, 1850. (Events and Times, pp. 58-59)
"I think probable, that at no very distant day my views, and those of the early Church, may prevail."
"We cannot humble ourselves too much, we cannot love Christ too much, we
cannot depend too much upon Him, nor cast our cares too implicitly and
fully upon Him, nor indeed can we rejoice too much in His power,
readiness and willingness to "save to the uttermost all those who come"
to Him by faith.' "
"I was fully aware of the difference in our views on Prophecy. You, I know, are a Preterist" G.S. Faber to Lee in 1846 Teaching: "all prophecy had already had its fulfilment; that the Book of Revelation is rather confirmatory of old than a record of new predictions--that the believing remnant of the Jews have become the heirs of the world, and that to them have been already fulfilled all the promises made to their fathers--that there exist no promises in Scripture of the restoration of their brethren on their acceptance of the promised Saviour, to the earthly Canaan and Jerusalem-- that the fulness of the Gentiles has arrived in the Scriptural sense of the term, and that the Gospel has in that sense been preached to every creature under heaven -- and that the Jews, at whatever time converted, will, on their conversion, lose all their distinctive characteristics as a nation, and will become, with the Gentiles, one body in Christ." (Rev. William Paul)
MOST HEAVILY PRETERIST INFLUENCED PUBLICATIONS
"These predictions so limited, therefore, were fulfilled to the very letter : and the facts of the case make it utterly impossible they can be fulfilled again." (vi) "We have in Daniel a Persecutor foretold under the symbol of a Little horn. This, every respectable Commentator has seen, must mean the heathen Roman Empire. But, as it has not been also seen, that all so foretold took place under that Empire, it has been imagined that PAPAL ROME must be meant, i.e., heathen Rome, drawn out as it were and continued in Papal Rome." (i) "We are next told that, then should the People of the Prince who should come, destroy both the city and the sanctuary. I now know therefore, that, some time after the cutting off of the Messiah, Jerusalem should fall. But I know when this took place : and, therefore, that it happened within Daniel's seventieth week, as I also do, that this event cannot take place again" (iii) "My answer is, as these charges are the mere assumptions of a very plausible, pious, but weak man, I have a right also to assume, that they are entitled to no farther notice or reply from me." (vii) "As we know of but one great promise made to the Fathers, which the coming of Christ was intended to fulfil, it should follow that, -- as the Bible is necessarily consistent with itself, -- event ministration of the Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apostles, would in one way or other be subservient to its fulfillment : and this again, would have the effect of exhibiting in the Scriptures one plain, consistent and invariable system : and, accordingly, that how numerous and various soever the modes of expression adopted might be, all would in the main conspire to put forth, declare, and illustrate, the particulars of this one great events. (xiv.) "According to (I Peter 1:12), the Prophet ministered to nothing beyond Apostolical Christianity. They do not seem -- i.e. as explained to us by the Apostles -- to have had any idea whatever of a future restoration of Jews, Christian Millennium, new Dispensation, personal reign of Christ on earth, or of any think of the kind." (xv) And again, St. Peter (Acts ii. 17, seq.) applies a place, here (Joel ii.28) to this very period generally : i.e. the seventieth week of Daniel. These predictions apply, therefore, to these particular times : and the destroying army, so described, must necessarily be that of heathen Rome ; and the destruction mentioned, that of Jerusalem." (xl) "As the law was a shadow of good things to come, and as the Prophets ministered under it for our edification, let us be careful in duly separating its shadows, types, &c., from the realities, antitypes, &c., which these shadowed out. Christianity being a purely spiritual system, can in no way amalgamate with the carnal one of Judaism." (xlvii)
(On Daniel 8:13 and the "Little Horn") "The wording of the Hebrew is peculiar here and highly deserving of remark. It stands literally thus, — “Until (the) evening (and) morning, or it may be until the evening of the morning, two thousand and three hundred, and the sanctuary (lit. holiness) shall be sanctified.” Evening and morning, I take here to be a mere periphrasis for a day; and so our translators have taken it, Genesis 1:5. The day here had in view must mark the period of Daniel’s seventieth week — the numbers given above must be understood indefinitely, and as intended to designate a considerable length of time. This consummation could not be effected by Antiochus Epiphanes: he only suspended the service of the Temple for about three years and a half. By every consideration, therefore, it is evident that the Little Horn of Daniel’s seventh and eighth chapters, is identically the same, and that this symbolized that system of Roman rule which ruined Jerusalem, and then made war upon the sainted servants and followers of the Son of man; and in this he prospered and practiced, until he in his turn fell, as did his predecessors, to rise no more at all. (An Inquiry into the Nature, Progress, and End of Prophecy, p. 168.) "Of one thing I think I may say I am certain, viz., that I am not wrong in the main, that my system is good, and hence, I have no doubt, it will first or last prevail. Its results are certainly good. I care not, therefore, for the present popularity of the opposite view." (Letter to brother, May 2, 1850) "I know that many -- no matter how right or wrong -- will not take the trouble to investigate a question of so large an amount as that of prophecy, merely for the truth's sake. Others would rather accept a system which seems to promise so much that is glorious than be convinced that it is not true. " (July 27, 1850) If so, I believe I shall be made the honoured instrument in the hands of Him who has, of His mercy, done so much for me, of more effectually arresting the progress of doubt as to the inspiration of the Scriptures than I had ever imagined, or perhaps than anyone hitherto has.' (July 27, 1850) (On the Restoration of the Jews)
(On Romans 8:28-30) WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID Thomas Myers, M.A (Calvin's
Translator) The possession of the kingdom by the saints of the most high, (Daniel 7:22,) was interpreted by the early Fathers, of the general spread of Christianity after the first advent. Professor Lee, in replying to Dr. Todd, has collected their testimony to the reign of Christ and his saints, as spread far and wide in the very earliest period of the Gospel history. His list of authorities will support the system of interpretation adopted by Calvin. See Tertullian adv. Jud., page 105. Ed. 1580. Irenoeus. Edit. Grabe, pages 45, 46, 221, etc. Justin Martyr. Edit. Thirlby, pages 369, 328, 400. Cyprian. adv. Jud, Book 2:passim, and De Unit. Eccl., page 108. Edit. Dodwell. Euseb. Hist. Eccl., Book 8, and elsewhere. De, Vit. Const., Book 1, chapters 7, 8, and his other writings. Fabricii Lux. Sanct. Evan. contains similar extracts from the earliest Fathers to the same purpose. For the Professor’s own view, see his Treatise on the Covenants, page 112 and following." (Dissertation on Calvin's Commentary on Daniel) (On Daniel 12) The “time, times, and a half” of Daniel 12:7, “must, of necessity, signify the time that should elapse from the fall of Jerusalem, to the end of Daniel’s seventieth week; for, according to the prediction enouncing this, the Temple and the City were to fall in the midst of this week,” page 199." (Dissertation on Calvin's Commentary on Daniel) (On the Fourth Kingdom) (On the Seventy Weeks) Wikipedia |
ONE of the first things that is likely to attract the attention of the Readers of this New Translation is its lively, picturesque, dramatic style, by which the inimitable beauty of the Original Text is more vividly brought out than by any previous Translation. It is true that the Revisers appointed by King James have occasionally imitated it, but only in a few familiar phrases and colloquialisms, chiefly in the Gospel Narrative, and without having any settled principles of translation to guide them on the point. The exact force of the Hebrew tenses has long been a vexed question with critics, but the time cannot be far distant when the general principles of the late learned Professor Samuel Lee of Cambridge, with some modification, will be generally adopted in substance, if not in theory. It would be entirely out of place here to enter into details on this important subject, but a very few remarks appear necessary, and may not be unacceptable to the student.
1. It would appear that the Hebrew writers, when narrating or describing events which might be either past or future (such as the case of Moses in reference to the Creation or the Deluge, on the one hand, and to the Coming of the Messiah or the Calamities which were to befall Israel, on the other), uniformly wrote as if they were alive at the time of the occurrence of the events mentioned, and as eye-witnesses of what they are narrating.
It would be needless to refer to special passages in elucidation or vindication of this principle essential to the proper understanding of the Sacred Text, as every page of this Translation affords abundant examples. It is only what common country people do in this land at the present day, and what not a few of the most popular writers in England aim at and accomplish—placing themselves and their readers in the times and places of the circumstances related.
This principle of translation has long been admitted by the best Biblical Expositors in reference to the Prophetic Delineation of Gospel times, but it is equally applicable and necessary to the historical narratives of Genesis, Ruth, etc.
2. The Hebrew writers often express the certainty of a thing taking place by putting it in the past tense, though the actual fulfilment may not take place for ages. This is easily understood and appreciated when the language is used by God, as when He says, in Gen. xv. 18, "Unto thy seed I have given this land;" and in xvii. 4, "I, lo, My covenant is with thee, and thou hast become a father of a multitude of nations."
The same thing is found in Gen. xxiii. 11, where Ephron answers Abraham: "Nay, my lord, hear me; the field I have given to thee, and the cave that is in it; to thee I have given it; before the eyes of the sons of my people I have given it to thee; bury thy dead." And again in Abraham's answer to Ephron: "Only—if thou wouldst hear me—I have given the money of the field; accept from me, and I bury my dead there." Again in 2 Kings v. 6, the King of Syria, writing to the King of Israel, says: "Lo, I have sent unto thee Naaman, my servant, and thou hast recovered him from his leprosy,"—considering the King of Israel as his servant, a mere expression of the master's purpose is sufficient. In Judges viii. 19, Gideon says to Zebah and Zalmunnah, "If ye had kept them alive, I had not slain you." So in Deut. xxxi. 18, "For all the evils that they have done"—shall have done.
It would be easy to multiply examples, but the above may suffice for the present. Some of these forms of expression are preceded by the conjunction "and" (waw, in Hebrew), and a very common opinion has been that the conjunction in these cases has a conversive power, and that the verb is not to be translated past (though so in grammatical form), but future. This is, of course, only an evasion of the supposed difficulty, not a solution, and requires to be supported by the equally untenable hypothesis that a (so-called) future tense, when preceded by the same conjunction waw ("and,") often becomes a past. Notwithstanding these two converting hypotheses, there are numerous passages which have no conjunction before them, which can only be explained by the principle stated above.
3. The Hebrew writers are accustomed to express laws, commands, etc., in four ways:
1. By the regular imperative form, e.g., "Speak unto the people."
2. By the infinitive, "Every male of you is to be circumcised."
3. By the (so-called) future, "Let there be light;" "Thou
shalt do no murder; " "Six days is work done."
4. By the past tense, "Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast
said unto them."
There can be no good reason why these several peculiarities should not be exhibited in the translation of the Bible, or that they should be confounded, as they often are, in the Common Version. In common life among ourselves, these forms of expression are frequently used for imperatives, e.g., "Go and do this,"—"This is to be done first,"—"You shall go,"—"You go and finish it." There are few languages which afford such opportunities of a literal and idiomatic rendering of the Sacred Scriptures as the English tongue, and the present attempt will be found, it is believed, to exhibit this more than any other Translation.
The three preceding particulars embrace all that appears necessary for the Reader to bear in mind in reference to the Style of the New Translation. In the Supplementary "Concise Critical Commentary," which is now in the course of being issued, abundant proofs and illustrations will be found adduced at length." (Young's Literal Translation Introduction)
CHAPTER XIII WORK ON PROPHECY
EVER since his translation of Eusebius's 'Theophania,' my father's mind had been more or less occupied on the subject of Prophecy, and he became convinced that the views which he entertained, known as the Preterist, were those held by the early Church. The subject was one of absorbing interest to him during the few last years of his life, and as a child I can remember the animated conversations between him and my mother on Prophecy in their walks about our beautiful garden, or in the leisure of meal times, she holding the more general and popular opinions of the restoration of the Jews to their own land, etc.
In the year 1849 he published his 'Inquiry into the Nature, Progress and End of Prophecy.'
A Scotch minister, the Reverend W. Paul, himself a Hebrew scholar, with whom my father corresponded, has so clearly and forcibly set forth his views in one of his letters, as he gathered them from the book, that I give an extract from it:--
'MANSE OF BANCHORY,
'BY ABERDEEN, 30 March, 1850.
'REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--Since I last wrote to you I have perused with great care and interest your work on Prophecy, and I felt every inclination to write to you sooner with a view to the expression of my opinion of its contents. I, however, delayed doing so until I had fully and maturely considered the principles you set out with, and the result you have arrived at. I had given very little attention previously to this important subject, chiefly from the very unsatisfactory manner in which I had seen it pursued. I could discover no solid ground to rest upon, and I was called upon to hold, almost as a matter of faith, results which had no foundation but that of ingenious conjecture, which left ample scope for anyone becoming a prophet who was not deficient in vanity and presumption. . . .
'Notwithstanding these views, which in a somewhat confused form occasionally floated through my mind previously to the perusal of your work, I do confess that I was completely staggered by enunciations that all prophecy had already had its fulfilment; that the Book of Revelation is rather confirmatory of old than a record of new predictions--that the believing remnant of the Jews have become the heirs of the world, and that to them have been already fulfilled all the promises made to their fathers--that there exist no promises in Scripture of the restoration of their brethren on their acceptance of the promised Saviour, to the earthly Canaan and Jerusalem-- that the fulness of the Gentiles has arrived in the Scriptural sense of the term, and that the Gospel has in that sense been preached to every creature under heaven -- and that the Jews, at whatever time converted, will, on their conversion, lose all their distinctive characteristics as a nation, and will become, with the Gentiles, one body in Christ.
'I have marked with great attention and interest the way in which you have cleared your ground, and laid down, followed out and established your principles. I have carefully considered these principles, weighed the arguments by which they were supported, and reflected upon the results to which they have led, and I am happy to say that they have carried full conviction to my mind. The fact is, I cannot resist your conclusions. I find nothing in them to clash with the great leading principles of divine truth which are most surely believed in by all the true Church of Christ, while they throw a flood of light upon otherwise unintelligible parts of the Old Testament history, doctrine and prophecy which is most satisfactory. One regrets to see the talents and learning of such men as Mr Elliott and Dr Todd wasted in confirming and perpetuating the errors of Mr Mede. The year-day theory you have very properly rejected, and have rightly tested the application of prophecy by the whole of the circumstances taken in cumulo. No one has succeeded, who has attempted, to fix down the accomplishment of a prophecy to periods calculated from time specified in the prophecy itself.
'One great difficulty has been removed in regard to the application of prophecy to the Jews, by the dissertation on the Covenants introduced into your work. You have there clearly pointed out the different condition, under these covenants, of those that serve the Lord, and of those that serve Him not--that the promises made to Abraham are the portion only of the former ; that these promises do not include any peculiar blessings of a temporal character in Canaan or Jerusalem; and that Jews as well as Gentiles were only to be blessed in Christ by their being turned from their iniquities, and obtaining salvation through Him. In that dissertation, likewise, the confusion between doctrine, i.e., contingent prediction, or intimation of the consequences of certain conduct as good or evil, on the fate of nations or individuals, and prediction, properly so called, has been removed, by which means many otherwise very difficult passages of Scripture have been made extremely plain.
'I have often thought that "Glassen's Rhetorica Sacra" might, in the hands of one mighty in the Scriptures, be of essential service to the elucidation of prophecy. I have often thought that the rhetorical figures of Scripture might, through the instrumentality of that work, in good hands, be reduced to a precision, which would make the study of prophecy, conducted on proper principles, comparatively easy. Nothing can be more satisfactory than the manner in which you have arranged this part of your subject. Indeed, you have accomplished in this way more than I ever thought to be practicable. You have, indeed, brought unusually great talents and theological attainments of every variety to bear upon this very difficult question, and a mind, unless I am much mistaken, sincerely anxious for the Spirit's light and guidance in the investigation of divine truth, together with an earnest desire for the advancement of the spiritual interests of others.
'It is not wonderful that prophecy is expressed under highly figurative language, but it is remarkable to trace the extent to which what is figurative is involved in the whole of the Jewish history. In their journeyings from place to place; in their captivities and deliverances ; in occurrences that happened to individuals ; in Egypt, in the Wilderness and in Canaan; in the language and ceremonies of their ritual; in their offices of prophet, priest and king, are perceptible types and shadows of good things to come, and events applicable to the circumstances of the Church under the last dispensation of the Covenant of Grace. All this fully justifies the spiritual interpretation which you have given to many of the prophecies, where temporal events in the first instance are evidently pointed at.
'I have only now to conclude with the expression of my hearty concurrence in the views you have adopted, of my thanks for your having put the work into my view, and of my sincere desire that it may be extensively read and pondered, and impart to others the same gratification and instruction which it has afforded me. . . . Were mine the prayers of the righteous man which could "avail you much," be assured they would be offered up for you with all sincerity.--Believe me to be, rev. and dear sir, with great respect and esteem, very faithfully yours,
' WILLIAM PAUL.
The following letter is from the Reverend W. Carus, acknowledging a copy of his work on Prophecy, which Dr Lee had sent him :--
'TRIN. COLL.,
'March 31, 1849.
'MY DEAR DR LEE,--How much have I been longing for the appearance of your work on Prophecy ! But I little expected the favour of a copy from the author, especially valuable from the kind inscription, and also from the but too kind note which accompanied it. Allow me to express to you my grateful and affectionate acknowledgments for this very gratifying remembrance of me. I can truly say no one in Cambridge will feel your separation from us more deeply than myself. Your presence and friendship has been one of the bright and happy gifts which made my labour here pleasant, and self-sacrifice light and easy. But we are not separated though we cannot meet just so frequently within the walls of our good College. I shall feel more than ever bound to visit Barley, and so fulfil my long-made promise. Indeed, I have here a volume brought from Armenia for you, by Mr Birch, about which I wrote to you last autumn. Shall I send it? or bring it ? I go on Monday to the Pyms. . . . I shall take your book as my company. Whether you will make me a convert or not, I don't think you will have a more friendly reader. Wednesday I go to the F.'s of S., the week following, the Scholarship Examinations will detain me here. But, about June, if you are at Barley I will gladly come over.--With kindest regards, ever believe me, your affect, and obliged,
W. CARUS.'
Letter from Dr LEE to his BROTHER-IN-LAW.
'BARLEY, Jan. 1st, 30, 1849.
'MY DEAR BROTHER HOPPER,-- . . . I think I said in my last that I should show what the principles of Mr Mede were, and what sort of reliance can be placed on them. I have finished my preface, and in a day or two shall send it to press. You will not be sorry to hear that I find my principles and the main of my results to accord exactly with those of the early Christian Church. So far as it judaized, Mr Mede and his school are with it.'
'BARLEY, May 2, 1850.
'My DEAR BROTHER HOPPER,--Many thanks for your kind note, and for all the kind things said in it. I have no doubt Mr N.'s letter would please you, not only as entering very fully and particularly into the character of my book, but as exhibiting a very rare specimen of an ingenuous mind. In this last respect, I must confess it surprised me. I have had some letters much to the same point, but none that so particularly and carefully investigated the matter before he pronounced his conclusions. Only a few days ago I had a letter, much to the same effect, from London, and a little earlier another from Brighton. What I prize principally in Mr N. is the care he has taken to understand the subject. I am not one of those who labour under a very high opinion either of myself or my productions. I am therefore greatly obliged when anyone takes the trouble to follow me, and to state his reasons either for approving or disapproving of anything that I have written. Of one thing I think I may say I am certain, viz., that I am not wrong in the main, that my system is good, and hence, I have no doubt, it will first or last prevail. Its results are certainly good. I care not, therefore, for the present popularity of the opposite view. It must have its day, and this, God knoweth, I do not envy it. I have, indeed, much to be thankful for, and I praise my God for the great honour He has been pleased to put upon me. I must confess I do not expect much from a review by Mr Nangles, for, in the first place, I have doubts whether he has either ability or candour sufficient to enter fairly into the question. He cannot in a day or two see where the great point of the question rests, and he cannot spare more time, as the editor of a newspaper, to bestow upon it. Then, again, he writes for a party who will not take his paper if he desert the Millennarian, etc., doatings of his supporters. The manner, too, in which he has been accustomed to view Scripture will not quadrate well with that adopted by me. He is, and will continue, like many others similarly circumstanced, satisfied with his present notions. If this is not the case, you may fairly conclude that, whatever I may be as an interpreter of the prophets, I am no prophet myself; you will soon be able to judge in this matter if, indeed, Mr Nangles is at work on the book. Poor Lamb! *[ * Dean of Bristol.] I saw him about nine days before he died. He seemed then to have no idea of his danger. I invited him to Barley, for I thought a change of air might do much for him. But it could have done him no good. . . . You, and those about you, are very kind in wishing to see me at the Deanery. I am pretty sure, however, this will not be the case. I am told that Lord Wriothsley Russell has long been wishing for it; if so, he will have it, of course. Lord Melbourne wished Lamb to take Ely, and to vacate Bristol, in order, as it is said, to make way for Lord W. R. If he comes to you, you will have a most excellent man, and one who will fill that post much better than I can. . . . We are all, thanks to our God, doing very well. I do not think I shall see you now before Midsummer, unless, indeed, our new Dean should deem it right to summon us earlier.'
'BARLEY, July 27, 1850.
'My DEAR BROTHER HOPPER,-- . . . This day week I must be in Bristol to commence my two months' residence there. . . . I am interested in hearing of any progress made in the knowledge of prophecy. The case you mention seems to promise well. Still, I know that many -- no matter how right or wrong -- will not take the trouble to investigate a question of so large an amount as that of prophecy, merely for the truth's sake. Others would rather accept a system which seems to promise so much that is glorious than be convinced that it is not true. And here I think the stumbling-block and rock of offence to my scheme is likely long to continue, perhaps to the end of time. But I must be content to succeed in just as much as the great Head of the Church will allow me, and for this, little as it may be, I shall be thankful. You will be glad to hear, I think, that I shall shortly publish an outline of my work, D. V. In this it will be my object to fix the dates and events of prophecy in such a manner as to be incapable of misunderstanding, and I think of avoiding their adoption. My own convictions certainly grow stronger daily on this great and interesting subject. Every day adds something to my stock which I had not before, and this, I have no doubt, will be the case to the end of my career. If so, I believe I shall be made the honoured instrument in the hands of Him who has, of His mercy, done so much for me, of more effectually arresting the progress of doubt as to the inspiration of the Scriptures than I had ever imagined, or perhaps than anyone hitherto has.'
Anna Mary Lee
"SHORTLY after the death of Professor S. Lee, over forty years
ago, a suggestion was made that some record of his remarkable talents and
career, in a more extensive and lasting form than mere newspaper articles
could supply, should be given to the public. He had, however, left no
diaries or memoranda, nor yet copies of his large literary correspondence,
and the idea was abandoned. A year or two ago I was passing through
Shrewsbury, and, visiting the museum, saw there, amongst other portraits, a
large oil-painting of my father. Attached to the picture was a
card, with the statement that he had been Professor of Hebrew at Oxford!
Finding such inadequate knowledge of him within eight miles of his
native place, it occurred to me that he could scarcely be known even by name
to many of the present generation, to whom the story of his life might be a
stimulus, and an encouragement to make the most of their far greater
opportunities for the acquirement of knowledge. "
Canon Norgate
'DEAR Miss LEE,--I heartily wish I could be of more service to you in your
contemplated enterprise than your letter seems to intimate, as I had a great
respect for your worthy father, though by no means intimately acquainted
with him, and 'tis sixty years since! I, had two Cambridge acquaintances who
passed under your father's hands who could have borne far higher estimony to
his capability and value as at teacher than myself--Arthur Dawson of
Christ's College, and Edward Harold Browne of Emmanuel (afterwards Bishop of
Winchester), both of whom became Hebrew Scholars of the University of
Cambridge. But though a mere sciolist in that language myself, I had learned
to appreciate and honour what was perhaps not so generally known by the
public at large as by his contemporaries at College--the remarkable manner
in which, from his earliest days, he had persisted, in spite of most adverse
circumstances, in the acquisition of knowledge of the most valuable
description--that of the original language of the Old Testament Scriptures,
and of other cognate tongues bearing upon its elucidation --and in imparting that knowledge to others. But this is
not all of which I have a vivid recollection ; for added to it was the
faithfulness with which he adhered to "the truth as it is in Jesus," never,
by the grace of God, having been led away by those "will-o'-the-wisps" by
which many allowed themselves to be distracted, some even in those early
days of heresy, and (alas!) many more later. " (FOXLEY PARSONAGE, 'NORFOLK,
Jan. 14, 1895.)
Rev. Fr. Dale A. Johnson
I purchased my first Syriac book when I was 23 years of age at Powell’s
bookstore in Portland, Oregon. It was the Syriac New Trestament of Samuel
Lee. Having studied Latin for a few years previously, I read with delight
the Latin introduction of Samuel Lee. It was a masterpiece of scientific and
philological scholarship. He cited from Hebrew, Arabic, Latin, Syriac,
Persian, and other sources to support his theories about the Syriac Language
and the text we had before us. It not only overwhelmed me but inspired me as
a westerner to learn the “Language of our Lord.”
Little did I know at the time that Samuel Lee came from humble beginnings. Handicapped by poverty, a sixth grade education, and his obligations as a young husband and father, he overcame these obstacles and rose to conduct a brilliant and successful life as a scholar/priest.
Early Life
SAMUEL LEE was born May 14th, 1783, He was the youngest of a family of six brothers and five sisters living at Longnor, about eight miles from Shrewsbury, England. Of these, he and a brother and sister were the children of a second marriage, and much younger than the rest
Samuel Lee attended school until the age of 12 when he was made a carpenter’s apprentice shortly after his father died. His mother needed his small income to help provide for her. After five years he was employed as a handyman and carpenter in the Roman Catholic chapel of Sir Edward Smith. There he was exposed to books with Latin quotes. It inspired him to learn Latin. The priests who came to the chapel were not helpful knowing this boy to be a Protestant.
For seven years he labored during the day and studied alone by night. After mastering Latin he conquered Greek and then Hebrew. He reports the following:
I read the Latin Bible, "Florus," some of "Cicero's Orations," "Caesar's Commentaries," "Justin," "Sallust," "Virgil," "Horace's Odes" and "Ovid's Epistles." It may be asked how I obtained these books? I never had all at once, but generally read one and sold it, the price of which, with a little added to it, enabled me to buy another, and this being read, was sold to procure the next. I was now out of my apprenticeship, and determined to learn the Greek. I bought, therefore, a "Westminster Greek Grammar," and soon afterwards procured a Testament, which I found not very difficult with the assistance of "Schrevelius's Lexicon." I bought next "Hunford's Greek Exercises," which I wrote throughout, and then, in pursuance of the advice laid down in the Exercises, read "Xenophon's Cyropoedia," and soon after "Plato's Dialogues," some part of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" of Homer, "Pythagoras's Golden Verse," with the "Commentary of Hierocles," "Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead," and some of the "Poetae Minores," with the "Antigone of Sophocles." I now thought I might attempt the Hebrew, and accordingly procured "Bythner's Grammar," with his "Lyra Prophetica," and soon after obtained a Psalter, which I read by the help of the "Lyra." I next purchased "Buxtorf's Grammar and Lexicon," with a Hebrew Bible, and now I seemed drawing fast to the summit of my wishes, but was far from being uninterrupted in those pursuits. A frequent inflammation in my eyes, with every possible discouragement from those about me, were certainly powerful opponents; but habit and a fixed determination to proceed had now made study my greatest happiness,
Transformation
Finally at age 25 he went to work as a carpenter for his brother. He married and for a short time gave up his secret life of study. Then one day a fire broke out in the house he was repairing and all his tools were burned up. He fell into the ashes of despair and began to think about what to do with his life. He began to investigate using his mind instead of his hands. He sought out a former school master who helped him improve his math and English skills. Finally, the Reverend Archdeacon Corbett hearing of his circumstances became his benefactor and over the next year Samuel Lee learned Persian, Arabic, and Urdu.
'I thought that of a country schoolmaster would be the most likely to answer my purpose. I therefore applied myself to the study of "Murray's English Exercises" and improved myself in arithmetic. There was, however, one grand objection to this--I had no money to begin, and did not know any friend who would be inclined to lend. In the meantime, the Revd. Archdeacon Corbett had heard of my attachment to study, and having been informed of my being in Longnor, sent for me in order to inform himself of particulars. To him I communicated my circumstances, and it is to his goodness I am indebted for the situation I now hold, and several other very valuable benefits, which he thought proper, generously, to confer. My circumstances since that time are too well known to you to need any further elucidation. It is through your kind assistance I made myself thus far acquainted with the Arabic, Persian and Hindoostanee languages, of my progress in which you, sir, are undoubtedly the best judge.’
Syriac was the seventh language for Samuel Lee. He learned it through a project he did for the British and Foreign Bible Society . He was commissioned to produce a Syriac New Testament for the Malabar Syriac Archbishop and his diocese. It was published in 1816 when Lee was 33 years of age. It was the beginning a great scholarly career. He produced twenty three major publications. Three of these works were specific contributions to Syriac studies: the Syriac New Testament, the Syriac Old Testament, and Eusebius’ Theophania.
In the October term of 1817 Samuel Lee took the degree of B.A., and was soon afterwards admitted to Holy Orders as curate of Chesterton, near Cambridge. He remained a priest in the church of England for the rest of his life. During all this time he combined scholarship with the pedestrian duties of a faithful priest, visiting the sick, preaching on Sundays, and attending to the cares and worries of his congregations.
The publication of the 'Syriac New Testament' raised the reputation of Samuel Lee abroad as well as at home. The University of Halle, in Saxony, accordingly presented him with the degree of D.D., through the hands of Dr Gesenius, the Hebrew professor of that University. The Syriac Old Testament was not completed till the year 1823, when four thousand copies in quarto were issued.
Samuel Lee went on to learn Ethiopic, Abbyssinian, and Malay. The latter he learned in two months during Christmas break. Lee was asked why it was so easy for him to learn languages.
Mr Lee made the remark that the acquisition of languages was to him as easy and certain a process as the study of Newton's "Principia" appeared to be to his fellow-student; that in all languages there were certain links and dependencies which, when once understood, fixed the language in the mind ; and that afterwards the copia verborum might be acquired at your leisure.
Professorship
The commencement of the next year, 1818, introduces a new era of his life. The Arabic professorship at Cambridge became vacant by the resignation of Mr Palmer. His friends proposed that he should become a candidate; but as it was necessary that he should have an M.A. degree, the first step was to procure a royal mandate for conferring that degree upon him before the mandatory time had been completed. For this purpose, the consent of a majority of heads of houses, and a vote of the Senate, were required. Samuel Lee's modesty and retired habits had made him little known in the University. He was opposed also by a gentleman already of the degree of M. A., who had been many years in India, and was an accomplished Oriental scholar. Under these circumstances, a paper was printed and circulated among the members of the Senate, simply giving a list of the various Oriental works which he had edited, and a few testimonials from well-known Oriental scholars. Amongst them was the testimony of four native Persian gentlemen at that time residing in London, who testified to his thorough knowledge with the idiom and pronunciation, as well as with the grammar of that language, in the following emphatic terms :-- 'Upon the whole, this being the entire persuasion of your servant, and in like manner the belief of all his companions, who have spoken with the above-mentioned Mr Lee, both in Persic and Arabic, that, whether as regards pronunciation, or reading, or writing, he is learned and perfect.' The claims of Mr Lee upon the vacant chair, and his pre-eminent learning, were recognized by all parties and he was voted to the chair by a count of 9 to 4.
Later in his academic life Lee became Regius Professor of Hebrew.
The following is a list of his major publications.
1816. -- The Syriac New Testament.
1817-18. -- Edited the Malay Scriptures, Arabic and Coptic Psalter and
Gospels, translated Genesis into Persian, superintended the Hindustani
Prayer-Book, and Morning and Evening Prayers in Persic.
1820. -- A New Zealand Grammar.
1821. -- A Letter to Mr J. Bellamy on his new Translation of the Bible, with
some Strictures on a Tract, entitled 'Remarks,' etc., Oxford, 1820.
1821 -22-- A Vindication of Certain Strictures on a Pamphlet entitled
'Remarks,' etc., Oxford, 1820, in answer to 'A Reply,' etc., Oxford, 1821.
1823. -- The Syriac Old Testament.
1824. -- Controversial Tracts on Christianity and Mahommedanism, by Henry
Martyn, and some of the most Eminent Writers of Persia, translated and
explained, to which is appended an additional Tract on the same question ;
and in a Preface, Some Account of a Former Controversy on this Subject, with
Extracts from it.
1827;--A Grammar of the Hebrew Language.
1828.--A Grammar of the Persian Language, by Sir W. Jones, Revised, with
considerable additions.
1829.--Prolegomena in Biblia Polyglotta Bagsteriana. 1829.--The Travels of
Ibn Batuta, translated from the abridged Arabic MS. copies, with Notes.
1830.--Six Sermons on the Study of the Holy Scriptures, preached before the
University of Cambridge, 1827-8, to which are annexed Two Dissertations, the
first on the Reasonableness of the Orthodox View of Christianity, as opposed
to the Rationalism of Germany ; the second, on the Interpretation of
Prophecy generally, with an Original Exposition of the Book of Revelation.
1832.--Grammar of the Hebrew Language, second edition.
1837.--A Translation of the Book of Job, with an Introduction and
Commentary.
1840.--A Lexicon, Hebrew, Chaldee and English.
1841.--Grammar of the Hebrew Language, third edition.
1842.--Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, on the
Theophania, or Divine Manifestation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. A
Syriac Version. Edited from an ancient manuscript recently discovered by S.
Lee. Syriac. London: Society for the Publication of Oriental Texts
(1842). 8o. Printed in the Peshito Character. [These notes from the British
Library OPAC]
1842-3.--The Prayer-Book, translated into Arabic. 1843.--A Translation of
the 'Theophania,' by Eusebius.
1843.--Tracts on Tithes.
1849.--An Inquiry into the Nature, Progress and End of Prophecy.
1849.--A Letter to G. S. Faber, B.D., containing an Interpretation of 2
Peter iii.
1849.--A Letter to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Glo'ster and
Bristol.
1849-51.--The New Testament translated into Arabic, and the Old as far as
Numbers.
1851.--The Events and Times of the Visions of Daniel and St John
investigated.
He died on the 16th December 1852, and was buried in a vault in Barley Church.
Notes: Primary source for this article is from the daughter of Samuel Lee, Anna Mary Lee, in her book, A Scholar of a Past Generation, 1896, Seely and Co. It is a compilation of letters and journal entries. Its major contribution is a list of all of Dr. Lee published works. An online version is found at .
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE OTHER PRETERIST SAMUEL LEE FROM BOSTON.. OF THE SAME GENERATION
New Englander and Yale review (1859)
LEES Eschatology - Messrs. J. E. Tilton & Co. have recently
issued a volume on eschatology, of more than ordinary interest and
importance. It is the result of much research and independent thinking, and
deserves the consideration of all students of the Scriptures. The author has
been embarrassed by the difficulties that attend the received
interpretations of the New Testament in respect to the coming of Christ, the
last judgment, and the Resurrection; and has sought for years to find those
that are better. The conclusions at which he arrives are presented in the
following summary:
If the preceding exegesis be correct, then it is true that The Coming of
the Son of Man is not to be confounded with The Coming of the Lord. The
former refers to his coming as a man to introduce and take upon himself the
administration of the kingdom of God the Christian Dispensation. When that
work was entirely accomplished, he was no longer the Son of Man. Henceforth
he was the Son of God in power.
The phrase The Coming of the Lord, as used by the Apostles, refers to a
period in the history of Christians, and of each Christian in particular,
when A CLUSTER OF MOMENTOUS FACTS shall simultaneously occur. The faith and
earthly estimates of the Christians of our day fix upon death, considered as
the termination of the animal life, and of the present social and earthly
relations, as the great fact. The clear-visioned faith and spirituality of
the Apostles and inspired writers saw chiefly, and almost only, in this
cluster, the Parousia the fact that then there would come over them such a
change in the mode of their being, as to render them like the glorified
Jesus, like saints, like angels: so that henceforth Jesus and saints and
angels would be to them present in the same sense that men in this life are,
when together, present to each other. To them, the death of the body was
only as the throwing down of the scaffolding, that the building might
appear, and he in fact ready for occupancy. We have further come to the
conclusion, that the Judgment is contemporaneous with the Coming of the Lord
that the word Judgment, as used in the Scriptures, is nearly equivalent to
the modern word government in all its functions: and that judgment was given
to the Messiah when the government was placed
upon his shoulders. So that he has judged men given them not only law but
award, ever since he was constituted the Son of God in power, or, in his own
words (Mat. xvi, 2l) rewarded every man according to his works. *
Eselectology; or, the Scripture Doctrine of the Coming of the Lord; The Judnment, and the Resurrection. By SAMUEL LEE. Boston: J. E. Tilton & Co.
1859. l2mo. pp. 267.
And we have found that the Resurrection the development and commencing
exercise of the spiritual body, is one of these facts. The change by which
the mortal gives place to immortality, is in a moment. And finally, the
Anastasis, by which is meant a Future Life, dates in all its completeness
from this epoch. We have found in the Bible no Intermediate State that
state which is neither probationary, punitive, nor remunerative, and has
therefore no place in the moral administration of God. We have not found
the Bible teaching an End of the World. An end of the present aion
(dispensation) it does indeed teach; but no end of the cosmos (world.) pp.
250, 251, 252.
The argument in support of these positions is presented under the following
heads: The Coming of the Son of Man; The Coming of the Lord; The Judgment;
The Resurrection; Prophecy Restored. In treating of these topics, the texts
appropriate to each are distinctly considered and thoroughly discussed. We
cannot enter into an extended criticism of the interpretations given by the
author. This would involve a critical review, instead of notice, of the
volume. The distinction made between the coming of the Son of Man, and the
coming of the Lord, is new to us; and if it can be sustained, involves
important inferences. We are struck with the ingenuity and force of the
exposition given of the passages which relate to the destruction of
Jerusalem and the winding up of the Jewish dispensation. We are not,
however, convinced that the declarations of the writers of the New Testament
can in any way be reconciled with the rejection of the received opinions
concerning the day of judgment and the resurrection of the body. We trust
the volume will receive the attention which it deserves, and that it will
open the way for the more thorough discussion of the subjects of which it
treats. The earnest student will find the volume very instructive and full
of the seeds of thought. [Volume 17, Issue 67, August
1859]
New Ipswitch
Not less beloved than Parson Farrar as a faithful pastor and loyal
friend was the Rev. Samuel Lee, who was a Yale graduate and a writer of
theological books. Mr. Lee, who was a native of Connecticut, was left
fatherless in infancy. As his mother was in poor circumstances she decided
to apprentice the boy, when he should be old enough, to learn the
shoemaker's trade; but a very different fate was awaiting him. When quite a
young boy he was stricken with some hip disease and his life was despaired
of for some time. One day an aged clergyman came to see the boy. During this
visit the old many knelt down by the bedside and prayed fervently that the
sick child might recover and become a minister of the gospel. These words
were the first inspiration to that calling which Samuel Lee followed in
after years. Though lamed for life, he recovered, and the minister's prayer
was granted. Samuel Lee became a pupil of "Peter Parley" and was in his
youth a school teacher, receiving seven dollars a month for salary, and
going about on crutches from one farmhouse to another to "board out" the
rest of his
stipend. He left two well-know theological works, his "Eschatology," which
is a text-book in the New Haven Divinity School, and "The Bible Regained,"
dedicated to his "beloved and only daughter, Sarah Fiske Lee," herself a
genealogist of considerable note. Miss Lee has inherited much of her
father's taste for antiquarian research and curio collecting. At the old
parsonage or Lee house, the writer was shown a volume which would have set
the heart of a bibliomaniac thumping with desire. This precious tome is a
huge Bible, the ancient and yellowed title-page of which bears this legend:
Sixth was ordered to be chained to the reading desks in the churches in
England. Unfortunately, a previous owner had had new covers made for the
antique volume, so the traces of the chain by which it had been bound were
not visible. (here)
"If we refer to the Mosaic institute we shall find that its motives are drawn, not from the future, but from the present world. The rewards of fidelity and the penalties for disobedience were of time and earth...In the Pentateuch we find no motives drawn from the future world. The Old Testament makes no allusion to the mode of existence that succeeds the present." Again he says, "It must be remembered that the rewards and punishments of the Mosaic institutes were exclusively temporal. No allusion is found, in the case of individuals or communities, in which reference is made to the good or evil of a future state as a motive to obedience." (Eschatology; or, the Scriptural Doctrine of the Coming of the Lord, the Judgment, and the Resurrection. By Samuel Lee, Boston, 1859, pp. 6, 144-150.)
