CONFLAGRATION
470
CONFUCIUS
confimiatioii in Yolbeding's /ncfes Dmertatiommf p. 144,146.
Conflagratloii, Geitebal. The opinion that the end of the world is to be effected by the agency of fire is very ancient, and was common among heathen phi- losophers (Ovid, MeUunorph, i, 256). Other testimo- nies are quoted by Grotins (De VeritaU Bd, Chr. lib. i, § 22). It is not easy to discover the origin of this opinion ; it can scarcely be traced to tradition derived firom revelation, since there is no distinct reference to such a catastrophe in the Old Testament. It Lb, more- over, reniarkable, considering how universal and def- inite is the ordinary belief on the subject, that there is only one passage in the New Testament, viz., 2 Pet. ill, 7-10, which can be adduced as speaking distinctly of this event. This passage is, indeed, very explicit, but some learned and able expositors have refexred it altogether to the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish polity. Among these are Dr. Lightfoot (ffora ffebr. in Joh. 21, 22) and Dr. John Owen (QtoXoyoiH fuvoj edit Bremen, 1684^ p. 147, quoted by Dr. Pye Smith, Scripture and Geology^ sect. 6, p. 283, Ist ed.). If, however, with the majority of interpreters, we re- fer the prediction to the end of the world, to which it seems most naturally to apply, we could not have a more distinct statement of the fact that the present order of things is to be terminated by the world we inhabit and tdl the works of man it contains 'being "burnt up.** There is no reason for assuming that the whole material nniverse is to be involved in this catastrophe; the mention of the heavens leads our thoughts no fiurther than the atmosphere and vapors surrounding this planet. Nor should we regard this conflagration as involving the absolute destruction or annihilation of the world ; it is more consistent with the narrative itself, as weU as with physical science, to consider it as introductory to a new and better state of things — '*new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness*' (ver. 11). By what means the conflagration is to be effected we are not informed, and all attempts to explain how this is to be accom- plished must be mere speculation. We have only at present to remark that such an event is not inconsist- ent with physical facts. We know that the tempersr ture of the earth increases gradually and with consid- erable regularity as we descend below the* surface (Phillips, Geology^ ii, 232), and we have every reason to believe that the central mass is intensely hot. We know, moreover, that there are subterranean fires of great extent, if not formihg part of this heated central mass. The means, therefore, of combustion are near at hand. But even if there were no such central heat, chemistry points out very easy means by which the conflagration may be -effected through the agency of various elementary substances (Phillips, Geology^ ii, 211). We find evidence also in the pyrogenous rocks which form so large a part of the crust of the earth, that the world has already been subjected, if not to conflagration, yet to a more intense and general action of heat than any which is now observed on the surface of the earth ; and it Lb clearly not impossible that the action may be yet more intense and more general. The example of the conflagration of a star in the con- stellation of the Northern Crown in May, 1866, by the sudden evolution of hydrogen gas, shows one way in which such a catastrophe might be produced (BibU- otheca Sacra, July, 1867, p. 478). In speculating on this subject, however, (he caution of Calvin should not be disregarded, that the apostle is not speaking to grat- ify the speculations of the curious, but to add impres- siveness to his pious exhortations (Cofom. in 2 Pet, iii, 10).— Kttto, 8. V.
Conformity strictly means, (1) the being reduced to the same thc^ with anything else ; hence it has ac- quired the figurative sense of (2) agreement with any xisting set of prindplei, or any institution ; and has,
in a more limited and technical sense, been used fit (8) comptkmce with ike disdpiine of the Ckmrch <^Ea^ land. " Conformists" are therefore generally contrait- ed with "Nonconformists," a name which now ia- dndes generally all those who, either in doctrine ct government, or both, dissent from the Church of Eng- land. A declaration is required of all perwrns vk are to be licensed or instituted to an eodosiastkil diarge in the Church of England in tiie foDoKiB^ words : ** I, A. B., do declare that I will oooliann ts the liturgy of the Church of England as it is now K law established.'* This declaration is to be made sad subscribed before the bishop or his commisaary, sad the making and subscription thereof is to be testified imder the episcopal seal of the bishop, and under the hand of the bishop or his commissary. — ^Eden, Ckurd- man's TheoLDict.,- Uockf Church DicL
Ck>nfbnniBt8. See CoicFOBicmr.
Confaoiiui (Latinized by the Jesuit ndaskmaxia tram Cong-fu-tse or Koong-fbo-tae), n Chinese re- former and moralist, was bom about 551 B.C. at tbe village of Tseu-se, in the small kingdom of La (oov a part of the province of Shantung), and died B.C. 479. He b said to have been a descendant of tb? emperor Hoang-ti, who reigned B.C. 2600. When be was three years old his father died, bat his nH^ber trained him with great care, and was rewarded by the rapid progress and filial tenderness of her son. At seventeen he was called to public life as mspctUa cf the grain-markets. He was married at nineteen, bat, aoiording to some accounts, subsequently divorced Im wife (after she had borne him a son) in o^ider to devc^ himself to the study of the. ancient writings, and pre- pare for the work of restoring the usages and doctrines fit the old sages. He was soon after promoted to tk office of inspector general of agriculture. At twestj- ibur, having lost his mother, he resigned his pobhe emplojrments that he might pay the respect to her memory prescribed by the ancient traditions. Doriof the thi«e years passed in mourning ha was a diligeai student. China at that period was divided into a num- ber of feudal kingdoms but slightly tinder the ccmtrcl of the central authority, whose constant quaxrds fillel the land with disorder, while the social and moral con- dition of the people had fkllen so low that the ancestnl religious rites were no longer observed. To restore tbe proper observance of these, rather than to introdoee any new religious system, was the task to whidi Coo- fhdus determined to devote himsell About the age of thirty he began his public teachings, nwkmg jooraer* through the various states of China, instroctiag aJl ranks of the people, and gaining fame and discQile, fhon^ meeting oft^ with opposition, and even peree- cution, in his efforts to reform the manners and better the condition of his countrymen. When fifty^fire years old he re-entered public life as prime miniver of his native kingdom, Lu, with opportunify and au- thority to test the efficacy of his proposed means erf amelioration. In three years, it b said, he broiD^t about a complete change in its social and moral coodi- tlon. His success, however, excited the jealonsr of neighboring princes, and through their intrigues be was obliged to flee to the north of China. After ser- eral unsnccessftil efforts to obtain office and oppoitu- nities to teach the people, he retired to the kingdom of China, where he lived hi great poverty. His doc- : trines, however, had taken root, but his rigid prxno- i pies and practice made him many enemies. When | taH at years, in company with some chosen disdi^ he retired from the worid, that he might complete aad axrange the works which, under the name of the Sag (or Books), constitute the sacred books of the Chiaeee, and, standing at the head of their literature, have for more than 2000 years been the recognised authority ia moral and political conduct for neariy one third of tbe human race. Soon after the completion of these woiks