Excerpt from A Dissertation on the Prophecies, That Have Been Fulfilled, Are Now Fulfilling, or Will Hereafter Be Fulfilled, Relative to the Great Period of 1260 Years, Vol. 1 of 2: The Papal and Mohammedan Apostacies; The Tyrannical Reign of Antichrist, or the Infidel Power; And the Restoration of the Jews Valuable however as Mr. Whitaker's Commentary is in many respects, he is guilty Of one inconsistency which must not be passed over unnoticed. While he asserts, that he gives no interpretation ofa symbol but what may be justified by some text Of Scripture, he very nu warrantably explains the prophecies of the Apocalypse sometimes figuratively and sometimes literally. Thus, for instance, the effusion Of the first, thefourth, and the fifth, vials he interprets figuratively and yet to the ef fusion Of the second and the third he afiixes an absolutely literal meaning, supposing those two vials to describe a series of wars carried on both by sea and by land. Now it is Obvious, that, if we interpret these predictions some times figuratively and sometimes literally, we involve them in the same indecision and uncertainty, as if we apply a symbol sometimes to one thing and sometimes to another for, if the mode Of interpretation is in every particular instance to be left to the Option Of the com mentator, who shall draw the line between the literal and the figurative prophecies Of the Apocalypse? The whole book, excepting those very few passages which are avowedly descriptive, must be understood either lite rally throughout or figuratively throughout: Otherwise it will be utterly impossible to ascertain the meaning de signed to be conveyed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.