A

DISSERTATION

DIDIC.AUD TO TJd .AOTBOl'I 1UUDI

JI( .AIIDICA. .

BY JAMES GRAY,
Of the County of umgford, Ir
Por whatsoever things toer, writtm aforeti:me, were
written for our learning; that we, through patience, amt
comfort of the &cripturu, might have hope. Rom. xv. 4.
Meditate upon tl&ue things; give thysdf wholly to tli,m,.
tll4lt tJ&y pr".filing may appear to all. 1 Tim. iv. 15

NEWBURGH:

l'lUNTBD BT B. F. LEWIS & CO,

FOR JI.OBERT GltA Y

.............
........
, ....
1818.

South.em District of NEW-YORK, SS.

BB IT UIIBIIBH.&D, that on the nine
teenth day of October, in the forty
third year of the Independence of'
the United State of America, Ron
nT Gau, of said District, hath de
posited in this office the title of a Book, the right where
"f he claims as Propriet
1e words and figures
following, to wit:
....
"'l,;
twn. D,dicated
A Dissertation on
lo the Autlwr's fl'ien .
Jame, Gra,, of
IM CounlJI of Longfo
Jiw wl&alsoe'DCf' things were wntten aforeti.nu, ware wri
ten for our lulming, tl\al tN fl&rtlug/a ,atunce arul cos
Jori of tM cripturu mig1tt ha" hope. Rom. xv. 4.
Meditate 191ori theH ; gi_oe t"1}se!,J w'laoll!I to tMttJ,
tl&al thv profilv&g ma, appt.ar 10 all. 1 Tim. iv. l.
In conformity to &he Act of the Congfe,s of the
United States; entitled "An Act for die encourage-.
ment ot Learning, by securing the cafriea of Maps, .
Charts, and Books to the authors and proprietors of
such copies, during the time therein mentioned." And
also to an Act, entitled "an Act, supplementary to an
Act, entitled an Act for the encouragement of Learn
ing, by secul'ing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books
to the authors and proprietors of such copie., during
the times therein mentioned, and extending the bene
fi.. thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and
etchini: historical dnd other prints."
JOHN DILL,
Clerk ojtlu Stl&m\ District of New-Y9rk

DEDICA'.rION.
To my Relatives and Friends i11,
the United States .f .America.
Dearly Beloved,
I take the liberty to offer, for
your inspection, the following re
marks on the Revelation. The
religious establishments in this
country are so powerful, that to
a.void their persecuting princi
ples, I .must live unknown in the
,land of my ntivity. That Ame
rica n1ay "forever enjoy the bles
sings of every spiritual and tem
poral good, is the sincere prayer
of your constant" friend,
in the faith
and fellowship
of the gospel,
. . . JAMES GRAY.
April 20th, .1818.

PREFACE.
1 All descended from poor, but virtuous paren(s,
trho taugbt me to read, and write, and had me in
lltructed in the rules of arithmetic, and a feeble knoW'
lege of geometry and geography. In my youth, I was
inured to bard labour of various kinds, and had little
time for literary improvement; a farm, and family
cares then succeeded, which were also impediments to
it : This being truly my situation, I hope, that if truth
appears in these. pages, it will apologize for the want
11 style, and elegance o language. Being totally
unacquainted with the learned languages, I have ad
hered cl1iefly to that contained in the scriptures, whicl\
was also, through the whole of this little work, my
principal guide. A strong conviction of the truths
oontained in the scriptures, and a blessing promised.
to those who read, and keep the sayings coniained in
'this extraordinary book, has urged me, at my le
sure hours, to attempt an explanation of those divine
mysteries, which God, in his mercy, through Christ
Jesus, has given to mankind.
I know that I shall be charged with maintaining
Arian principles, What the doctrines of the Arians
of tbe fourth and fifth centuries were, I know not, u
their writings were destroyed by the apo1tates, ia the
after ages; but this I know, at under the third sound
of the gospel trumpet, the salutary waters, (or truth,)
were made bitter to mankind, by t'aJae teachers; far

viit

HU!cs.

John himself, in his epistles, complaiDS or it, and Pe

ter and Paul foretold the same. Under the fourta'
110und, the third part or the sun, (or gospel light,) was
smitten; the third part ofthe moon, (or brotherly love,)
suft'ered tbe same fate, and the third part of the stars,
(those once faithful luminaries of the church,) became
dim, and lost their former lustre; on which eccouut,
there were three woes, or calamities, to afflict the cliris
tian world, under the three succeeding sounds, by rea
son or its apostacy from the truth; for under the fifth
sound the bottomless pit was opened by Constantine;
smoke, or gross ignorance and error, arose out of it,
. and-the first woe commenced, under the locusts, or
numerous false teachers of those days; they also form
ed an uncharitable creed, at their 11n, geoentl coun
cil at Nice, A. D. 325.
Under the sixth seal, the man of sin grew to full sta
ture, wearing his triple crown, attended by u hun
dred and sixty six bishops, and two hunired millions
of.th, .igferior orders; these are all considered by the
prop(as murderers, gross idolaters; and persecuto",
and they would not repent; these )nought on the
a
second woe, and the Athanasian creed is also the b
sis of. their faith.
The seventh sound produced Protestantism, with its
brilliant rainbow of seven colours, or its seven princi
pal.sects; and rainbow like, great part of it was invi
sible, as it remained under the horizon of primitive
purity and perfection; for which reason John was not
permitted to write, or take notice of its little book,
which it held up for the instruction of mankind; it was
sweet in John's mouth, to see any departore from the
errors produced by the sixth sond; but his belly was

made bitter, or he was tilled with bitter reflections, at

finding Protestants not supporting genuine christiaoity,
therefore, he was informed, that he must prophecy
again, before many peoples, nations, tongues and kings;
or in other words, we must go back, and seek instruc
tion from him. Theie also support .the Atbana1ian
doctrines, and began the thi,:d woe.
Lit Arianism be whatit may, by a careful examin
ation of this wonderful book, we shall nod holy John
always charging the western, or Athanasian church
with guilt and error; for it was the eighth head of
the Romi1h beast, and was (or arose) from the seventh,
or chria&ian imperial. head, and ii doomed to perdl
tion. See also, how he condemns the scarlet whore,
who tilled the earth with her, abominations, and see
also, previous to the millennium, bow the beast and,
fabe prephet are to be thrust down into hell; and see
also, how the Omnipotent Jehovah is to be prailed fQJ
thus.;.dging her. May the Sovereign Ruler of uni
v$'181. nature, hasten the time, when all things shall
beeome new, and the .uew. Jerusalem be built oo tlte
sure toundation of the law; the gospel!

INTRODUCTION.
Tsrs. extraordinary book leads us to the knowlege
of God, of Christ, and of ourselves: By it we may
perceive-what true and revealed religion is, and where
in it consists : By it the counsel, and foreknewl ege of
God is in part revealed to man, by the mec1iation of
the Lord Jesus Christ; and by it the saint, of God
are enabled to view the things which h.ave, and must
come to pass.
By the providential care of God, this book has been
on record above seventeen hundred years, and will
continue so for the generations to come, ,tis written
in such characters, thfi.f fs heathen, or llllta.
christian enemies could' understand them, whereby it
escaped their destructive bands. Many eminent men
of the later ages have mistook its true meaning, by
endeavoring to bend it, as their various inc1inationa
or opinions led them. It is given by the Eternal Au
thor of truth, and therefore, an ardent and zealous
enq,uirer after truth can acquire a knowlege of iL
The writer of the book of Revelation is the prophet
John; he was the disciple whom Jesus, in a peculijar
IJl&Dner, loved, and by whom he received his heavenly
education. According to the Mediator's promise, he

xii

INTRODUCTION,

came under the inspiration, or guidance of GM on

the day of Pentecost;
consequence of which, many
mighty works were done by him ; the same accompa
nied him in the isle of Patmos, upwards of sixty years
after, and enabled him there to write this amazinc
book. All 1H:count1 agree, that he lived w a very ad
. vanced age, that he outlived atl the other disciples,
and thus, from his. great age, and heavenly endow
ments, be was best qualified to write the things which
h saw, and the things which are,or then existed, and
the things which should be hereafter.
Io imitation of his igbly exalted Master, he says
little about the temporal aff'airs of this'evil world; he
seem to rest satisfied with the predictions of the old
prophets, conceruing the fate of empires, states, and
kingdoms; he scarcely mentions the afflictions whicli
he endured, d1oqgh .it: may be presumed, that;ithey
were many, except in one place. See chap. i: 9. "I
J, who also am your brother, and companion in
tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus
ChrisL" His gospel, and epistolary writings, are of a
pure, and spiritual natu.re, his prophetic pieces
inter. wiih the grandest appearances in nature,
la &hort, i1 hath a language peculiar to iuelf, without
the knMrlege of whicli, it is impossible to understand
it; it may be called a learned christian science, and
di.tre.w.Uzo,n all the other led sciences, and when
time, numbers, and deriptions l'e ven, it is done
with .such accu.racy, as to convince mankwd, that the
we'd& et' lbis poopbecy are true.
In the first chapter, be calls this book, "The Rev
latien of Jesus Christ,..-whicJi God gave unto him."
Tbe iDon..ef it was, "to shew unto his servants

in