This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1829 Excerpt: ... ascertain what period is signified by "a time." Now, I think the natural sense of men (and symbolical language especially appealeth to natural sense) would say, that a time must mean, either a day or a year; a revolution of the sun from his rising to his rising again, or a revolution of the seasons from one point of ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1829 Excerpt: ... ascertain what period is signified by "a time." Now, I think the natural sense of men (and symbolical language especially appealeth to natural sense) would say, that a time must mean, either a day or a year; a revolution of the sun from his rising to his rising again, or a revolution of the seasons from one point of the year to the same point again. And I think that natural good sense would say, moreover, that of these two, the latter is the more likely to be the meaning of a time: for days are too numerous and rapid in their passage to be designated by the generic name of a time. The generic name is applied to that which includes the rest. Life, takes in childhood and youth and middle age and old age, which are but seasons of the former. So time, we should expect, ought to include days and weeks and months, and years too, if years also went to compose some complete portion of time which men are wont to observe and reckon by. But, seeing the various cycles of time which contain a number of years are rarely known to any but the learned, and to them only in an advanced state of science, it were beside the office of a popular writer, and still more beside the purpose of a writer by emblems which address the commonest faculty of sense and sight, to use such learned divisions of time, whereof the common people are altogether ignorant and inobservant. Therefore I say, that, the generic term time being used, any man of sound understanding would say, it must mean a year. Then, if time be a year, times, as being the simplest plural, he would say, is two years; and the dividing of time, as being the simplest division, he would say, is half a year. This, also, is the way in which simple nations' reckon unto this day, and which is found at the root of the wo...
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