this of a reall and visible marke wherewithall men of all sortes should suffer themselues to bee branded as the slaues or cattell of Antichrist Where the holy Ghost speaketh of the image of the beast which Antichrist puttoth life into and causeth to speake they vnderstand it of a materiall image animated and made to speake Where the holy Ghost speaketh of fire to come downe from heauen they vnderstande it of materiall fire brought downe from heauen Which course whosoeuer followeth in expoūding the prophecies in the Reuelation must neuer looke to see them verified in the euent The which I speake not that literally they doe not agree to the Pope but because the mysticall sence being the more like to bee true our aduersarie groundeth his argument wholy vpon the literall interpretation But I will make it plaine that both these miracles agree to the Pope not onely in the mysticall sence but also in the literall And to that purpose let vs consider these miracles seuerally 9. And first as touching that of fire which Antichrist shall cause to descende from heauen if it bee literally vnderstood you shall perceiue that it agreeth to the Pope because in diuerse Popish miracles there hath beene as they say fire brought downe from heauen But seing the place is rather to bee vnderstood mystically and allegorically as well as other prophecies of the Reuelation wee are not therefore by the comming downe of fire to vnderstand literally a reall descending of materiall fire but that which mystically in the Scriptures is meant by the cōming downe of fire from heauen You are therefore to bee infourmed that descending of fire from heauen in the Scriptures signifieth three thinges 1. Gods approuing of the religion and sacrifices of his seruaunts 2. His sending downe of the graces of his spirit vpon his children 3. His vengeaunce executed from heauen vpon his enemies For the first it is cleare that the Lorde informer times vsed to testifie his approbation of the religion and sacrifices of his seruaunts by sending fire from Heauen to consume their sacrifice in which respect hee is said to answere them by fire from heauen Leuit. 9. 24 1. Chron 21. 26. 2. Chron. 7. 1. wherunto some adde Gen. 4 4. Iud. 13. 19. Whē as therfore the people of Israel halted between Iehouah and Baal◅ Elias to proue that Iehouah whom he worshipped was the true God and his worship the true religion by praier miraculously caused fire to come downe frō heauen to cōsume the sacrifice 1. King 18. 38. Whosoeuer therefore doth by such signes and wonders confirm that doctrine and religion which 1. King 18. 38 he professeth as though God aunswered him by fire from heauen he may be said to cause fire to descend from heauen in the sight and opinion of men who thinke such miracles to bee wrought by the finger of God according to this example of Elias that is so to haue confirmed his religion in the opinion of men as if hee had with Elias fetched fire from heauen If therfore the Pope of Rome or his ministers haue by as strange signes and wonders in the opinion of men confirmed their religion as though God from heauen approued thereof as hee was woont to signifie his approbation in answering by fire frō heauen they may be sayd to haue made fire to come down from heauen although they neuer had caused materiall fire to descend But if besides many other strange signes and wonders which they call miracles they haue confirmed their superstitious religion and Antichristian doctrines by bringing fire from heauen then can it not be denyed but that this place doth most fullie and properly agree vnto them But you must remember how Saint Iohn saith in the sight of men not that they haue done so indeede but only that they haue made men beleeue so 10 As for example to proue that their sacrament of the altar after the words of consecration is the very body of Christ and to be worshipped no otherwise then Christ himselfe wee haue a narration in their festiuall which was wont solemnelie to be read in the church on Corpus Christi day the words whereof I will recite vnto you Also we find say they that in Deuonshire beside Exbridge was a woman lay sick and was nigh dead and sent after a holy person about midnight to haue her rights Than this man in all hast that he might arose and went to the church and tooke God◅ body in a box of Iuor◅ and put it into his bosome and went foorth towards this woman And as hee went through a forest i◅ a faire m◅de that was next his way it happened that his box fello◅ of his bosome into the ground and he went forth and wist it not and came to this woman and hearde her confession And then hee asked her if she would be houseled and she said yea sir. Then he put his hand in his bosome sought the box And when he found it not he was full sorie and sadde And saide dame I will goe after Gods bodie and come anon agine to you and so went foorth sore weeping for his simplenesse And so as hee came to a willow tree hee made thereof a rodde and stripped himselfe naked and beat himselfe that the bloud ranne downe by his sides and saide thus to himselfe Ah thou simple man Why hast thou lost thy Lorde God thy maker thy former and creatour And when hee had thus beate himselfe hee did on his clothes and went on foorth And then hee was aware of a pillar of fire that lasted from earth to heauen and hee was all astonied thereof yet hee blessed himselfe and went thereto And there lay the sacrament fallen out of the boxe into the grasse and the pillar shone as bright as any Sunne and it lasted from Gods bodie to heauen And all the beastes of the forrest were com◅n about Gods bodie and stoode in compasse round about it and all kneeled on foure knees saue one black horse that kneeled but on that one knee And that blacke horse was a feend of hell who had turned himselfe into that shape that men might steale him as diuerse had done and were hanged for him c. If any man obiect that all this narration is a foolish fiction I aunswere that this was as verilie beleeued as it was solemnelie read And therefore to countenaunce their abominable idole of the masse they haue in the sight that is in the iudgement opinion and beliefe of men caused fire to come downe from heauen that it might point out the body from it reach to heauen 11 To winne credite to such Saints as they haue canonized and consequently to cause men the more deuoutlie to pray vnto them to adore their images and reliques to goe on pilgrimage to them they haue coyned in the life or legend almost of euerie Saint straunge and incredible miracles And this is the ordinarie conclusion of many legendes Then let vs pray to
be giuen which they alledge to wit to conuert the Iewes But the assumption also is false For it is vntrue that they liue in mortall bodies or that they shall euer dye For where I beseech you doe they liue in mortall bodies in the earthly Paradice or in the heauenly In the earthly say the Papists but that was defaced either at or before the floud so that although the place remaine yet no Paradice remaineth as Bellarmine else where confesseth And if they were Lib. 1. de Sanctor beatitud C. 3 liuing in the earthly Paradise how is it said they were taken vp as it is plainely said of Elias that he was taken vp into heauen Or what priuiledge or reward haue they aboue others if all this 2. Kin. 2. 12 while they haue wanted Gods glorious presence which others enioy and hereafter are to be slaine of Antichrist Or how was Enoch translated that he should not see death if notwithstanding his translation he must dye the death If in the celestiall Paradise that is the third heauen as Paul speaketh it may first be 2. Cor. 12. doubted whether they be there in body because it may be thought that Christ was the first that in body ascended into heauen or if their bodies â—…o there we must hold that in the translation they were changed into immortall and incorruptible bodies as theirs shall who shall be found liuing vpon the earth as the second comming of Christ and shal be rapt vp into the aire 1. Cor. 15. 51. For this I say with Paule that flesh and bloud cannot inherit the kingdome of heauen neither doth corruption inherit incorruption 1. Thes. 4. 17. 9. But will you see vnder one view how farre this slender 1. Cor. 15. 50. coniecture taken from the comming of Enoch and Elias is from being a demonstratiue proofe First he cannot prooue necessarily that they are yet in their bodies Secondly if they be in their bodies he cannot proue that their bodies are mortall Thirdly if their bodies be mortal it is not necessary that they should returne into the world and die because at the end of the world they might be changed with the rest that then shal be liuing as some also haue thought Fourthly if they should returne into the Iustin. q. 85 ad orthodoxos world and dye there is no necessity that they should come in the time of Antichrist Fiftly if it should be granted that they are to come against Antichrist yet it would not follow that therefore Antichrist is not yet come but this only would follow that Antichrist is not yet destroyed which we doe not deny And this was his third demonstration whereby he proueth that Antichrist is not yet come and consequently that the Pope is not Antichrist To conclude therefore must not this needs be a good cause that by so learned a man is so stoutly proued The 7. Chapter answering his fourth demonstration concerning the most greeuous persecution vnder Antichrist 1. THe second signe accompanying Antichrist from whence Bellarmine draweth his fourth demonstration is the most greeuous notorious persecutioÌ„ of the Church in so much that the publicke seruice of God shall wholy cease His demonstration is thus to be framed When Antichrist is come there shal be the most greeuous and manifest persecution that euer was insomuch that the publicke seruice of God shal wholy cease But as yet there hath bin no such persecution neither hath the publicke seruice of God wholy ceased therefore Antichrist is not yet come Of his third argument and consequently of the proposition and assumprion there are three partes which seuerally are to be considered that the persecution vnder Antichrist is 1. Most greeuous 2. Most manifest 3. Such as shall cause all Gods worship to cease As touching the first he reasoueth thus Vnder Antichrist shal be the most greeuous persecution as yet this most greeuous persecution hath not bin especially vnder the Pope therefore Antichrist is not yet come neither is the Pope Antichrist The proposition namely that the most grieuous persecution is vnder Antichrist he proueth by two testimonies The first Mat. 24. 21. And then shal be great tribulation such as hath not bin since the beginning of the world neither shal be The other Apoc. 20. 7. Then shall Satan be let loose namely after the thousand yeeres are expired Answer We doubt not but that the persecution vnder Antichrist was to be very greeuous because the holy Ghost testifieth so much Apoc. 17. 6. Where the whore of Babylon is said to be drunke with the bloud of the Saints and with the bloud of the Martyrs of Iesus But his proofes are not to the purpose For the place in Mathew as heretofore hath beene shewed and as appeareth by the text it selfe is to be vnderstood of the calamities which at the destruction of Ierusalem by the Romanes the Iewes sustained For when you see saith our Saulour Christ the abomination Mat. 24. 15 of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet standing in the holy place that is as Luke expoundeth when you see Ierusaelem Luk. 21. 20 compassed about with armies which Daniel calleth the abominable Dan. 9. 27. wings of desolation then let those which are in Iewry flye vnto the mountaines c. And his reason is because then there Mat. 24. 2â—… shal be great affliction such as hath not beene from the beginning of the world vntill now neither shal be Which Luke expresseth thus for there shall be great distresse in the Land and wrath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Luk. 21. 23. 24. this people and they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be carryed captiue into all nations and Ierusalem shall be troden vnder fâ—…ote of the Gentiles vntill the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled 2. As touching the thousand yeers mentioned Apoc. 20. After which Satan was to be loosed although the expiration of them fal in Antichrists raigne yet we are not to begin his raigne thereat as appeareth plainely Apoc. 20. v. 4. Neither is that letting loose of Sathan to be vnderstood of the persecution onely vnder Antichrist for it is manifest by the text that within those thousand yeares many martyrs were put to death by Antichrist for refusing to receiue his marke and that the greatest part la dead in Antichristian errours and superstition verse 4. 5. and by the 8. verse that Satan was let loose not onely to stirre vp persecution against the faithfull but also and that principally to stir vp vniuersall wars betwixt the nations of the world betwixt Gog and Magog that is as some expound the Papists and Mahometans Now I would gladly know of Bellarmine when these thousand yeeres began and when they expired for hereof there be diuers opinioÌ„s but I wil touch the principall 1. That these thousand yeeres begin with the incarnation of Christ and determine accordingly when as Siluester the second had obtained the
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 essentially absolutely namely as he together with the father and the holy ghost is one and the same eternall Iehouah and onely true God In which respect if the Papists deny Christ to be God of himselfe as they do when they accuse this our doctrine of heresie and deny him so to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God of himself as we affirm they do also deny him to be God SecoÌ„dly when as not onely in heauen they set aboue him his mother whom they cal the Queene of heauen desiring her to coÌ„maund him to shew her selfe to be a mother as though Christ were as they paint him a baby vnder his mothers gouernmeÌ„t for so they say Iube natuÌ„ iure matris impera againe monstra te esse matreÌ„ c. but also on earth when euery shaueling priest caÌ„ by breathing out a few words out of his vnclean mouth create his maker for so they teach Sacerdos est creator creatoris sui that is the priest is maker of his maker And againe Qui creauit Stella clericor serm discip serm 111. apud Iuellum vos dedit vobis creare se Hee which made you gaue you power to make him when he hath so done offer him vp to his father Wherein euery priest amoÌ„g theÌ„ being the sacrificer is after a sort preferred aboue Christ who is the sacrifice Thirdly when as they appoint vnto Christ a vicar to supply his absence vnto whom they assigne all power which is in heaueÌ„ and earth yea Vid. Cap. 5. infinit power which they say is translated froÌ„ Christ vnto him what do they else but make Christ a titular king and with the Epicures an idle God who hath as it were resigned al his right authority to the Pope What a man they make our Sauiour Christ who knoweth not when they hold with fire fagot persecute those that will not hold the same that his body is multipresent that is present in many or rather infinit places at once and that discoÌ„tinued for they say that it being in heauen is also present really and corporally vpon the earth wheresoeuer their Masse is celebrated or their hoste reserued howsoeuer it is not in the space betwixt heauen and earth nor in those places where the host is not which is to assigne many or rather innumerable bodies to our Sauiour Christ. And further that his very body which they say is really preseÌ„t in the Masse is void of quantitie qualitie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not circuÌ„scribed not visible nor any way sensible coÌ„sequently no body The which in effect is as much as to denie that Christ is come in the flesh which is the doctrine of that Antichrist whereof John speaketh And here by the way note the absurditie of Papists 1. Iohn 4. 3. 2. Iohn 7. who circumscribe the deity of the father whiles they resemble the same by pictures or images and denie the humanitie of the sonne to be circumscribed consequently against all reason make the deitie finit and the humanitie infinit The office of Christ is his mediation Now what a mediatour they make him you may easily iudge wheÌ„ they ioyne infinit others with him For the Apostle saith that there is but one mediatour 1. Tim. 2. 5. betwixt God and man and this one alone our Sauiour Christ is or else he is none at all 8. Again Christ may be denied directly expresly that may be done either secretly in priuate or else opeÌ„ly in publick profession After the latter sort Antichrist was not to denie our Sauiour Christ because he was to be an hypocrite a disguised enemy as hath bene proued Neither was it necessary that he should deny Christ expresly directly yet this also may bee proued of diuerse Popes Who howsoeuer they professed publickly that Iesus is Christ which is all that our aduersaries alledge in this case and yet that all is nothing for the Diuels theÌ„selues haue publickly professed Iesus to be Christ yet priuately and among their fauourets they haue denied Christ not that onely but haue shewed theÌ„selues also to haue bene meere Atheists diuels incarnat For to omit Iohn the 22. who denied the immortality of the soule of some is called the 23. of others 24. were not Alexander the 6. Sixtus the fourth Iulius 2. and Paulus 3. besides diuers others very Atheists were not more then twenty of them knowne Necromancers and sorcerers not to speake of them which were not knowne which renouÌ„cing Christ our Sauiour betooke theÌ„selues to the Diuel As namely Siluester 2. Benedict 9. Gregory 5. Gregory the 7. who also in a rage cast the Eucharist that is according to their opinion the very body of Christ into the fire because it did not answere to his questions when as he consulted therewith And what may we thinke of Clement the seueÌ„th who when he was at deaths doore said he should now be certified of three things wherof he had doubted al his life viz. whether there be a God whether the soule be immortall and whether there be a life after this life Or of Iulius the 3. who being forbidden by the Physitians the vse of Porke commaunded his porke to be set before him Al dispette di Dio In despite of God As for Pope Leo the 10. hee did plainely enough denie Christ when as more then once he called the Gospell the fable of Christ For wheÌ„ he had receiued an incredible summe of money for indulgences he said to Bembus O quantum nobis Ex. Sibrand â—…ull de pap Rom. l. 10. c. 18 profuit illa de Christo fabula O how much that fable of Christ hath profited vs And another time when Bembus alledged for his comfort a testimonie out of the Gospell he answered Quid mihi narras fabulamillaÌ„ de Christo What doest thou tell me of that fable of Christ If therefore this bee a property of Antichrist to denie Christ then it cannot be auoided but that according to our aduersaries owne groundes the Pope who so many waies denieth Christ is Antichrist And so much of his opposition to the Prophecie of Christ. For of the other three doctrines which the Papistes assigne to Antichrist See booke 〈◊〉 chap. 14. we are to intreat when wee come to answere the obiections of the Papists 9. To the Priesthood of Christ our only priest and mediatour who according to the Scriptures with the oblatioÌ„ of himselfe once made hath perfectly redeemed vs are opposed 1. Heb. 10. 12. 14 Their priesthood whereby Christ is daily offred and his sacrifice repeated in their abominable sacrifice of the Masse propitiatory as they say both for the quicke and the dead 2. Their owne satisfactions as prices of sinne opposed to the satisfactioÌ„ of Christ 3. Their adioyning vnto Christ other intercessours and mediatours by whose not onely intercession they hope to be heard but also merites hope to be saued
decretalis istius nö sic potuisse statucre prout statuit haereticum censeatur to beleeue that our Lord God the Pope the authour of this and the aforesaid decretal could not decree as he hath decreed it ought to be indged hereticall And as they willinglie heare themselues called God and not onelie themselues heare or reade it but by their authoritie appoint the same to be published vnto the world so they are content to bee worshipped and adored as God Neither was the complaint of Frederic the second vntrue Pontifices Romanos affectare dominationem diuinitatem atque In Epist ad Othon Bauar duc apud Aâ—…entin lib. 7 vt ab hominibus haud aliter imó magis quà m Deus timeantur That the Popes of Rome affect Lordshippe and diuinity and that they may bee feared of men no otherwise yea more then God Franciscus Zabarella a Cardinall of Rome saith The Popes haue beene made to beleeue such is their pride that Apud Iuellum they can doe all things what they list euen vnlawfull things and that they are plusquam Deus more then God These are more then sufficieÌ„t to prooue that the Pope taketh vpoÌ„ him as if he were a God although he should not in word affirme any such thing of himself But so shamelesse is this Antichrist Gregor 9. de translat episc c. quanto canter corporalia that he affirmeth the like things of himselfe As namely that those things which he doth be done by a diuine power and the reason is giuen by his Lawyers because the Pope canonicallie elected is a God vpon earth Whereupon Innocentiue 3. vseth vt eccles benesic c. vâ—… nosâ—…uÌ„ Capistran fol. 23. these words vt nostrum prodeat de Dei vultu iudicium that our iudgement may proceed from the face of god That Peter con sequently his successor the Pope for to that purpose it is alleaged is assumd into the felowship of the vndiuided vnity And in Bonifac. in 8. de elect one place he not only affirmeth but by testimony also confirmeth C. Fundamenta in sexto that he is God Satis euidenter saith he osteÌ„ditur a seeulari potestâ—…te nâ—… ligart prorsus nee solâ—…i posse pontificeÌ„ queÌ„ constat Distinct. 96. c. satis cuidenter a pio principe Constantino DeuÌ„ appellatuÌ„ nec posse DeuÌ„ ab hominibus iudicari manifestuÌ„ est Wher the Pope proueth he caÌ„not be iudged by any secular power by this reasoÌ„ God caÌ„not be iudged of meÌ„ The Pope is god therfore the pope may not be iudged of meÌ„ assumption he approueth by the forged testimonie of Constantine And therefore not vnworthily by a worthy Bishoppe in Auentinus the Pope is said to be Antichrist in whose forehead this name of blasphemy is written Deus sum errare non possum Lib. 7. Eberharduâ—… Ep. silâ—…sourgensis I am God I cannot erre 7 But as I said the name Antichrist signifieth such a one as seeketh to match Christ. Let vs therefore farther consider how this agreeth to the Pope For if the Pope doe seeke to match himselfe with Christ then by this argument alone if there were no more hee may be certainely conuinced to bee Antichrist In Christ wee consider his natures and his offices As touching his nature the Pope if you will beleeue their blasphemies a Extrau in Ioan. 22. aequè ac Christus Deus est ens secundae intentionis compositum ex Deo homine As well as Christ he is god a being Vid Erasm. annotat in 1. Tim. 1. Papa stupor mundi Clemen in pro aem in gloss of the second intention compounded of god and man And as Christ in respect of the one nature is greater then man and in regard of the other lesse then God so they say of the Pope b Ioan. a Capistr de Papae ecclesiae authoritate Est quasi deus in terris maior homine minor Deo plenitudinem obtinens potestatis He is as it were a god vpon earth greater then a man and lesse then god hauing the fulnesse of power That he is a man I shall not neede to proue howbeit some of his followers cannot well tell what to make of him They say hee is the wonderment of the world c Nec deus es nec homo quasi neuter es inter vâ—…rumque neither God nor man but a neuter betwixt both That hee would bee supposed and acknowledged as a God besides all the allegations in the former section it appeareth also by the diuine properties which are attributed to the Pope His holinesse that is to say the Pope for his holinesse is himselfe is d Ps. 94. 1. Rod. Cupers de ecclesia pag. 61. num 52. Deus vindictae the god of reuenge true without errour yea without possibilitie of erring for hee cannot erre whose e Sub finem tit de censib exact procur in Clement ad verbum volumus Abb. Panorm de constitut de translat it episc c quanto in gloss will must stande for reason as if it were the rule of iustice For euen as some of his f Gerâ—…chus apud Auentin lib. 5. friends say he often beateth vpon that of the Satyre Sic volo sic iubeo sit proratione volunt as So I will so I command my will must stand for reason And therefore it were no better then g Dist. 40. non nos in gloss sacriledge to call in question any of his doings For power whether you vnderstand potestatem or potentiam that is authority or might hee would seeme to be infinit in respect of both for h Lib. caerem. 1. sect 7. infinit power is giuen vnto him And if vnto Christ i Cupers de eccl pag 50. num 45. 46. De maior obed c. vnam sanctam in gloss was giuen all power in heauen and in earth then the Pope who is his vicar hath the same power He forsoth is the k Bald. c. ecclesia vt lite pendente cause of causes of whose power none must enquire seeing of the first cause there is no cause yea to l In L. sacrilegij c. de crim sacril doubt of his power is no better then sacriledge m Panormit ex Hostiensi extr de translat praelat c. quanto de electi c. licet Excepto peccato potest quasi omnia facere quae potest Deus Sinne excepted the Pope may doe all things as it were which God may doe He can chaunge the nature of things yea n De translat episc c. quaÌ„to in gloss of nothing he can make something and of vniustice righteousnesse for hee hath the fulnesse of power 8. If you respect his office he hath the same o Bellarm. de pont Rom. l. 5. c. 4. which Christ had whiles he was on the earth howbeit there is great oddes in their outward estates p R. Cupers de eccl pag. 50. num
this worthie Saint or glorious martyr that he will pray to God for vs ◅hat by his merites we may haue pardon and forgiuenesse of o◅r sinnes or something to the like effecte Wee reade of diuerse of their Saints who when they haue beene beheaded haue caried their Saint Iustinian the monke Saint Osi◅a Saint Fulcien and Saint Victorice heads in their hands some one mile some two miles And it is a wonder that hasting from so sharpe a banquet they did not leaue their heades behind them for haste Among manie other miracles they tell vs of fire also which they haue caused to come downe from heauen in the sight that is iudgement and opinion of men besotted and giuen ouer to beleeue their monstruous vntruthes In the life of Prothe and Iacinct they make fire to come downe from heauen to kill Melancy the false accuser of Eugenne They haue brought downe a pillar of fire reaching from heauen vnto the earth where the bodie of Saint Edward the Martyr lay Vpon the head of Saint Martin as hee was saying masse they haue fetched downe a tongue of fire from heauen to make him equall as they say to the Apostles In the fable of Saint George they make fire to come downe from heauen to burne the idoles with their temple and priestes In the life of Barbara wee reade that when her owne father beeing her persecutour had drawne his sworde to slay her shee was miraculouslie taken vp in a stone and caried into a mountaine where two shepheades were feeding their sheepe And when one of them had bewraied her to her father and shee in her charitie had cursed him anone his sheepe became locustes and hee consumed into a stone Then her father hauing apprehended her deliuered her to the iudge who put her to death Whereupon they bring downe fire from heauen to consume her father Their doctrine of purgatorie and prayer for the dead is confirmed by manie wonders and strange apparitions of soules departed begging masses for their deliuerance out of purgatorie And in like manner it is reported that when Birstan the Bishoppe of Winchester staying all night in the churchyard as his manner was said ouer his psalmes for the soules departed comming to these words requ◅scant in pace let them rest in peace he heard the voice of an infinit number out of the graues crying Amen But to this purpose also in their legend they haue made fire to descend from heauen When as they tell vs of a certaine Bishoppe who appearing in the clouds of heauen to another here vpon earth did let some fire drop vpon him to giue him a tast of the torments in purgatorie Besides these examples many other might bee found if they were woorth the seeking in their fabulous writings as also in some other of their storyes which testifie that diuerse times in the church of Rome fire hath beene brought downe from heauen But these which I Ioan. Linturius in appead ad fascic tempor haue recited may suffice in seeking and setting downe wherof I should haue thought my time and paines not wel bestowed such are the ridiculous fooleries of popery wherewith the churches in the time of darknesse haue beene pestered sauing that I considered that the more incredible the report is of Popish miracles the more euidently it is proued both that the Pope is Antichrist and the Papists the followers of Antichrist vpon whome God hath sent strong illusions that they might beleeue lyes In the first sence therefore the prophecy Reuel 13. doth fitte the Pope and church of Rome who by greate signes and wonders do so confirme their Antichristian errours and superstitions in the sight that is in the iudgement opinion and beliefe of men besotted and made drunke with the whore of Babylons cuppe of fornications as though God did seeme to approoue thereof in aunswering by fire from heauen And this interpretation seemeth to be confirmed by the words for it is not directly said that Antichrist should cause fire to come downe from heauen but onely thus that he doth great signes insomuch that fire descendeth from heauē in the sight of men That is insomuch that in the iudgement of men God seemeth to answere him by fire from heauen and to beare witnesse to his doctrines by miracles wrought by the finger of God 12 But descending of fire signifieth also the bestowing of the grace of Gods spirit which is called fire Mat. 3. 11. Act. 2. 3. In which sence the Pope may bee saide to make fire come downe from heauen but wee must adde before men that is in their opinion and conceipt For he forsooth as the church of Rome beleeueth giueth not onely the graces of the spirite to men but also the power of sanctification both to men and also to some creatures of his owne as to his Ag◅ Del and his holy water sprinckle c. And in this sence doth Primasius expound this place Thirdly the comming downe of fire signifieth the wrathfull vengeaunce of God executed vpon his enemies which often in the Scriptures is called fire to wit the Apoc. 20. 9. fire of Gods wrath As Elias therefore brought fire from heauen to consume the two Captaines and their fifties so Antichrist according to this interpretation shall with a diuine reuenge as it were with fire from heauen take vengeance vpon his aduersaries but here also we must adde before men who shall thinke that those against whom Antichrist shal send the thunderbolt of his wrath are punished with a Diuine reuenge and as it were with fire from heauen This also is verified of the Pope of Rome who with a diuine reuenge as he forsooth is Deus vindictae The God of reuenge pursueth his R. Cupers de eccl pag. 61. num 52. enemies but especially with the thunderbolt of excommunication as themselues doe call it Which as it is terribly sent from this Iupiter of Rome so is it fearefully executed with Gregor 7. in ep◅st ad German apud Auentin lib. 5. putting out and casting downe of lights from aboue as if the fire of Gods wrath were at their commaunde or as if with Gregory the seuenth they could shake it out of their sleeues And well may this be reckened among the wonders of Antichrist For it were more then a wonder that Kings and Emperours should by excommunications from the Pope bee either so daunted in themselues or abandoned of their subiectes as some haue beene but that the Popes haue professed and their followers haue beleeued that God himselfe doth whatsoeuer is done by the Pope who being Canonically elected is a God vpon earth and hath the same consistory and iudgement seate with God himselfe whose vicar he would seeme to be consequently that those Kings and Emperours were deposed of God who were excommunicated by the Pope whereas other Princes and people that are not made drunke with the cuppe of their fornications haue esteemed their bulles of excōmunication as Bullas that is
Now whereas he saith that Iohn did not restore all things which as Christ saith Elias should doe I answer that Christ speaketh according to their vnderstanding and therefore that Iohn Baptist did restore all things in that sense that Elias was according to their conceit to restore al things But by restitution in this place we are to vnderstand the reformation of the people and Church of the Iewes to whom the messenger and forerunner is promised not to heretickes and seduced catholickes wherein Iohn Baptist was another Elias Neither is this restitution ascribed to the Baptist as though it had beene perfected by him but because he began that which Christ was to bring to perfection So that Iohn Baptist may truely be said to haue made this restitution Inchoatiuè 6. The fourth place is Apoc. 11. 3. I will giue to my two witnessesâ—… and they shall prophecie 1260. dayes Which words he affirmeth but without all reason are to be vnderstood of Enoch and Elias who are not once meÌ„tioned in al that chapter Neither can those two witnesses signifie Enoch Elias because they are to be killed by the beast and their bodies shall lie dead in the streets of the great Citie three dayes and an halfe For Enoch and Elias they were taken vp into heauen where in soule at the least they enioy the glorious presence of God For otherwise their estate were worse then of the rest of the faithfull departed and so their translation should rather haue biâ—… a punishment then a blessing or prerogatiue vnto them without question therefore their soules at the least are in heauen But whether they be there in soule alone or in soule body there may be some question but if they be there in body it cannot be that their body is mortall as the Papists would haue it subiect to death For how can corruption inherit incorruption or how can it be truly said that Enoch was translated that he should not see death if notwithstanding his translation 1. Cor. 15. 50. he shall suffer death If therfore their bodies be in heauen vndoubtedly they were in the translation changed and by that change became immortal as the bodies of them shall who shal be aliue vpon the earth at the second comming of Christ. If their 1. Cor. 15. 51. 53. 1. Thes. 4. soules alone be in heauen their bodies being dissolued and returned into dust then either they must come in their owne bodies or in others If in others then must we hold the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or flitting of soules into diuers bodies if in their owne then shall they not onely rise before the resurrection but also after their resurrection die againe All which absurdities plainely shew that the Popish opinion concerning the comming of Enoch and Elias is a meere fable whereby men are kept in security that they should not with vigilancie waite for the coÌ„ming of Christ because as yet forsooth Enoch and Elias are not returned The two witnesses therefore cannot signifie Elias and Enoch But if I should adde that Bellarmine caÌ„not proue that this place intreateth of Antichrist but rather of the beast with 7. heads arising out of the sea that is the Roman state either generally or especially vnder the Emperours as may be gathered by comparing verse 2. and 7. of the 11. chap. with the 1. and 5. of the 13. I would then know to what purpose he alledgeth this text to prooue that Enoch and Elias shall come against Antichrist if neither the one nor the other be here meant 7. Vnto these testimonies of Scripture he addeth the consent of the fathers who hold that Enoch Elias shal in their own persons come in the time of antichrist And to this purpose he nameth many but yet among al the ancieÌ„t which he citeth only Gregory is alledged to the purpose who in his morals expouÌ„ding the words of Lib. 14. c. 12. Bildad the Suhite as spokeÌ„ of Antichrist testifieth that in his time Enoch and Elias shal come which is as true as that Bildad spake of Antichrist Of the rest some speake of the returne of Elias only and that to conuert the Iewes without mention of his resisting Antichrist being deceiued by the corrupt translatioÌ„ of the 72. who in Malachy 4. v. 5. read Elias the Theibite and therby gaue occasion to the readers to expouÌ„d those words of Elias literally whereas in the Hebrew also in other translations we read Elias the Prophet which may truly be applied to Iohn who was a Prophet by the testimony of our sauiour Christ more then a Prophet Mat. 11. 9. Others who besides Elias mention the coÌ„ming of another agree not among themselues Victorinus refuting the opinion of in Apoc. 11 some who thought the two witnesses to be Elias Elizâ—…us or Elias Moses saith all our Ancestours by tradition haue deliuered that it is Elias and Ieremie Hilary refelling those which thought the two witnesses to be Elias Enoch or Elias and Ieremy contendeth that they must be Moses and Elias Hippolytus to Enoch in Mat. con 20. Elias addeth Iohn the Diuine who as he saith shal come with theÌ„ before the comming of Christ. All which opinions of the fathers giue vs a sufficient proofe into what vncertainties men are carried wheÌ„ they wil be wise aboue that which is written For seeing the holy Ghost hath not named these two witnesses it is hard especially for them who liued as themselues thought before the fulfilling of this prophecie to define whether by these two witnesses is not meant a sufficient though a smal number of Gods witnesses whom â—…he shall raise to testifie his trueth euen in the hottest persecution of the beast or if they be two and no more to determine particularly and by name who they are 8. Vnto these restimonies in the last place he addeth a reason to make vp this demonstration which may thus be concluded If Enoch Elias were taken vp before their death yet â—…iue in mortall bodies wherein once they shall die then shall they come in the time of Antichrist to set themselues against him But Enoch and Elias being taken vp before death doe yet liue in mortalâ—… bodies wherein they are once to die therefore they shall come in the time of Antichrist to set themselues against him The proposition is vnnecessary and the assumptioÌ„ vntrue For though we should grant that they yet liue in mortall bodies and that their death is yet deferred yet how doth this follow that they liue to resist Antichrist and to be slaine of him Yea but saith Bell armine there can nâ—…ne other reason be giueÌ„ Of their translation there is this reason that there might be euident examples of reward and happinesse laid vp both for the vpright in Enoch and for the zealous in Elias Of their yet liuing in mortall bodies if they did so according to the opinion of some of the fathers that reason might
being set in the way toward the celestiall Canaan and land of promise seemed with the vnthankfull Israelites to be wearie of the celestiall Manna the foode of their soules and desired to be againe among the flesh-pots of Egypt For seeing they had not receiued the loue of the trueth that they might be saued therefore God hath sent vpon them the efficacie of errour 2. Thess. 2. 10. 11. 12. that they should belieue lies meaning the lies of Antichrist that all they might be condemned which belieued not the truth but delighted in vnrighteousnes meaning the mysterie of iniquitie wherof he had spoken verse 7. that is to say Antichristianisme or 2. Thess. 2. 7. Popery 2 And that we may proceed in order we are first to set down the state of this controuersie which in deed is the cheese of all controuersies betwixt vs and the Papists and of the greatest consequence For if this were once throughly cleared all others would easily be decided Our assertion therefore in few words is this That the Pope of Rome who is as it were the God of the Papistes is that grand Antichrist who according to the prophecies of the holy Ghost in the Scriptures was to be reuealed in these latter times The Papists hold the contrary And whereas we say and proue that their Lord God the Popes holinesse in Antichrist they affirme that our assertion is blasphemie and our arguments dotages Rhemist in 2. Thess. 2. Bellarmin lib. 3. de Pont. Rom. siue de Antichriste cap. 18. But if it were no harder a matter to demonstrate the truth of our assertion then to proue their conceipt concerning Antichrist and the proofes therof to be meere dotages I should very easily put this Question out of controuersie that the Pope is Antichrist 3 But first our assertion is to be expounded and afterwards proued As touching the name wee agree saith Bellarmine in Lib. 3. de pont Rom. c. 2. this that as the name Christ is taken two waies to wit commonly and properly so also the name Antichrist The name Christ commonly belongeth to all that are annointed of God and that either to the speciall calling of a King Prophet or Priest or to the general calling of a Christian. And in this sence it is taken either Psal. 105. 15. more largely for the whole body of those that professe the name of Christ whereof some are members of Christ in title and profession 1. Cor. 12. 12. onely or more strictly for the society of the elect the citizens of heauen who haue the marke of God and are not only Apoc. 9. 4. in shewe and profession but also indeed and in truth members of the mysticall body of Christ. Peculiarly and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the name Christ belongeth to Iesus the sonne of God who was annointed with the oyle of gladnesse aboue all his fellowes and is the Psalm 45. 7. head after a general maner of all Christians but more specially of the elect In like sort the cōtrary name Antichrist belongeth commonly to all that be enemies to Christ and those either open professed enemies as the Iewes Turkes Infidels in which sence the worde is not vsed in the Scripture or else couert professing themselues Christians and vnder the name and profession of Christ oppugning Christ and his truth And so it is taken 1. John 2. 18. 22. either more largely to signifie the whole bodie of Heretickes as in the Epistles of Iohn or more strictly the societie of them who hauing made an apostasie from Christ haue receiued the marke of the beast Properly or rather peculiarly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it belongeth to the man of sinne the sonne of perdition who after 2. Thess. 2. 3. a more generall maner is the head of all Heretickes and more specially of that societie which hath the marke the number and Apoc. 13. 17. name of the beast The societie or body of those who hauing made an apostasie frō Christ to Antichrist the Antichristian state which in the Scriptures is called the whore of Babilon wee hold to be the apostatical church of Rome The head of this Antichristian Apoc. 17. body catholicke apostasie we hold to be the Pope of Rome and consequently that the Pope is that graund Antichrist whom the holy Ghost in the Scriptures hath described vnto vs And that he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is called the Antichrist not onely because he is the head of the Antichristian body but also because he being in profession the vicar of Christ is in deed Aemulus Christi that is an enemy opposed vnto Christ in emulation of like honour as if we should say a counter-Christ as the worde Antichrist doth also signifie 4 But when we say that the Pope is Antichrist wee meane not this or that Pope howsoeuer some of them haue beene more notorious Antichrists then others as for example Siluester the 2. Gregory the 7. aliâs Hildebrand Boniface 8. Iohn 22. aliâs 24. Alexander 6. c. but the whole rowe or rabble of them from Boniface the 3. downeward For although the Antichrist be but one person yet he is not one as Christ the head of the Christian body is one Christ because he liueth for euer hath no successours and therefore is one in nature and number as being one singular definit person The head of the Antichristian body which is to continue to the end of the worlde is continued not in one singular and definit person but in a succession of many who are mortall and momentary which successiuely haue bene are or shal be the heads of the catholicke apostasie of any wherof indefinitely or of all commonly the worde Antichrist is vnderstood For euen as the Pope or vicar of Christ according to the Popish conceipt is one person not in number and nature but by lawe and institution one at once ordinarily but many successiuely so Antichrist is not one singular person but a succession of Antichristian Popes which we begin at Boniface the thirde Because he with much adoe about the yeare of our Lord 607. obteined from the Emperour Phocas and al his successours since haue challenged vnto them the Antichristian title of the head of the catholicke or vniuersall Church or oecumenicall vniuersall Bishop Which title of blasphemy as Gregory calleth it befitting Lib. 4. epist 32. 34. 38. him that resembleth Lucifer in pride when as Iohn the Bishop of Constantinople had challenged not long before to wit about the yeare 600. in the time of Mauritius whom Phocas cruelly murdered Gregory the great then Pope of Rome affirmed confidently for so he saith Fidenter dico that therein he was the forerunner of Antichrist who was now euen at hand Omnia enim Lib. 4. epist. 38. quae praedicta sunt fiunt Rex superbiae propè est quod dici nefas est sacerdotum ei praeparatur exercitus For all things saith he which were