time and opportunitie of meanes such time and such meanes as cannot be found in this supposed pedling merchandizing Babylon For first if you consider the extent of time according to the common iudgement and generall conceit of these Babylonians themselues you may palpably discouer the vanitie of their surmise Vnderstand therefore and well obserue that in their opinion taken by them out of many Ancients and mistaken by them out of some passages of the Scripture the reigne of Antichrist is confined vnto the space of three yeeres and an halfe Againe consider that in their opinion Antichrist and his adherents shall destroy the Citie of Rome and that vntill the defection of Rome from the Pope vpon this very time the Pope shall retaine this Citie as the place of his Papall Seate as being affixed vnto the same See Bellarm. de Pont. l. 4. c. 4. Now therefore since Rome shall be Babylon againe communicating her Idolatry to all Kings and Nations and shall haue a large Empire in the world and there shall be the exercise of great traffique and commerce by the Merchants of the earth and shee shall attaine vnto an immensitie of riches may we not perceiue that this new and extraordinary condition of Rome doth require a good sufficiencie of time to compasse and effectuate such an admirable euent And yet forsooth Rome shall not fall from the Pope till vpon this very time so that after his departure voluntarily or rather necessarily out of Rome now beginning as they say to become a Babylon againe all these wonderfull effects must ensue in Rome and in the world and yet all this must be done within a very little time as you see against all probabilitie of reason and all possibilitie of things as you may easily discerne by comparing one part of their suggestions with another which are arena sine calce sand without lime as Caligula spake of the writings of Seneca supposed points without any coherence of semblable truth But in our apprehension of this Scripture all points haue a faire substantiall and orderly connexion for as much as Rome being Babylon vnder the Pope who is her Second Beast as the euents concurring cleerely with the prediction doe sufficiently deduce vnto our knowledge hath therefore had not onely a spatious time but a proper meanes also to atchieue and performe such strange designes to communicate IDOLATRY to the world and to obtaine an Empire in the world and to attaine great riches and state and finally to haue commerce with the world by her spirituall wares wherewith she doth intangle and insnare the world by her artificiall delusions couered with the glorious veyle of APOSTOLICALL termes Therefore secondly whereas an opportunitie of meanes is required in such a rare successe of things the Babylonians themselues are puzzeled to inuent some colourable deuice in this behalfe Whence it is as I noted before that Ribera in Apocal. 14. num 51. pondering deepely vpon this point saith I thinke that no mortall man can certainly know by what meanes Rome in the end of the world should come vnto such an incredible power c. Notwithstanding saith hee a man may in some sort coniecture out of the words of the Apostle Apocal. 17. where wee reade that the purpled Whore sitteth vpon a Beast hauing ten hornes in which are vnderstood ten Kings who shall subdue and diuide the whole world betwixt them In their time shall Antichrist reigne whence I doe suspect that Rome hauing cast out the Pope shal in a short time reuert vnto her ancient power so that shee shall haue those tenne Kings vnder her gouernement who a little after shall reigne in the whole earth And yet these forsooth are also the ten Kings that must finally destroy her with fire and sword What probabilitie is in this supposed meanes to produce such prodigious effects and that within so little time let any man endued with reasonable capacity with ingenuity and with conscience consider aduisedly with himselfe he may perceiue that as the Iewes being conuinced out of the Old Testament concerning Christ haue certaine diuerticles and poore euasions to escape the force of truth so here this Iesuite being conuinced out of the New touching Babylon and the condition of Rome masked in that name will not see his owne Antichrist who is truely the Second Beast to whom these ten Kings long agoe surrendered a great part of their Royall power whereby Rome aspired vnto such dignitie in the world and thence it is that Rome hath such a new Imperiall State vnder the Papall Crowne and by spirituall wares belonging to the shop of a spirituall Monarch hath traded so generally with many parts of the Christian world Fourthly wee may discerne the vaine conceit of their pretended Literall sense concerning this Babylonian Merchandize because they now change the coppie and tenour of the very Text which being Mysticall as I noted before and a Mysticall Babylon vnderstood therein they run suddenly from the Mysterie to the Letter from the Tree to the Barke taking all now in an open outward obuious sense against the generall purport of this Booke and particular of this place And yet I deny not but that Rome hath some vse of Merchants and merchandise in a Litterall sense to furnish her Idolatrous Temples her masking Masses and thereby to commend her spectable vanities vnto men of popular iudgement and of carnall hearts And thus much heere by the way to dissolue the knot wherewith the Iesuites would tye our vnderstandings vnto an apprehension of much temporall merchandize which shall abound in Rome for a few yeeres or dayes rather before her finall end accompanied with the very end of the world Now therefore I returne againe vnto a reueiw of the spirituall merchandize in Rome and particularly of INDVLGENCES which are dispensed from this Apostolicall Seate alone as Bellarmine saith in praefat lib. de Pont. Rom. Vnde habemus Indulgentiarum communicationem nisi ab hac sede Whence haue wee the communication of Indulgences but from this Seate alone What are these Indulgences A relaxation of temporall paines inflicted vpon soules in Purgatorie Oh the falshood of this execrable merchandize Did the ancient Church of God so beleeue and teach No not for a thousand yeeres Indulgences were then a relaxation only of Ecclesiasticall censures inflicted vpon penitents by the Church and therefore Peter Lombard the studious collector of the whole summe of Religion who flourished vpon the yeere 1172. made no mention of this great mysterie of Papall Indulgences which began a little after by the sophistications of darke and subtill Schoolemen Roffensis himselfe confessing that the vse and practise of them was lately receiued in the Church And therefore you may obserue that Bellarmine treating last of all concerning Indulgences which gaue occasion of the publike and iust discession of Protestants from the Church of Rome proceedeth not in this disputation as in the rest by that faire and ingenious method viz. by Scriptures by
Histories be false then they make nothing against vs. If they bee true yet they make very much for vs. How can this be Because the wickednesse of the Persons doth prooue the sanctitie and perpetuitie of their Seate so that the issue of my labour in shewing their impieties would be the preiudice of my cause Heare therefore the Cardinall speaking in his owne words Nihil est quòd haeretici c. It is to no purpose saith he for the heretickes to take so much paines in searching out the vices of certaine Popes Why so For we confesse that they were not few A good confession though before we heard him speake in another Language Si vera sunt if those things were true Well now they are true now he confesseth the accusation but why For hee hath inuented a new defence of the Seat by the old offences of the persons Heare him therefore againe in his owne words Tantum abest c. This is so farre saith he from obscuring or diminishing the glorie of this Seate that thereby it is rather exceedingly amplified and increased for that thereby we may perceiue that it consisteth by the speciall prouidence of God So he But I perceiue no such matter howbeit I perceiue that nothing was so absurd which some Philosopher would not maintaine and nothing is so true and forcible which these Babylonians will not either denie or elude And farther I perceiue that recitasse confutasse est to recite their opinions is to refute their follies And lastly I perceiue that as it is Gods singular patience to suffer these Monarchs of Babylon a while so there is a time of wrath to come and it cannot bee farre off when the Whore must perish by fire and her Beast must yeeld vnto the Sword For as in this Sermon you haue heard of a Babylon the sinne of Rome in the subiect of my Text so in the next you shall heare of a cecidit the punishment of Rome in predicate of the same Meane while I conclude by due and true remonstrances in the first and second Inquisitions two distinct parts of my discourse the one shewing by good and pregnant reasons that Rome in her present condition is the Babylon in my Text the other declaring the conformitie betwixt the Literall Babylon and Papall Rome and so expressing the congruitie of this title of Babylon applied here vnto Rome that since Rome doth imitate nay much exceed the sinnes of Babylon therefore shee doth iustly and must necessarily beare her name agreeing vnto it in regard of the Church and the Citie as both are vnder one and their common head the Pope This was the cleere intention of the Angell this is the certaine exposition of this Scripture Wherefore as Simeon and Leui are called fratres in malo Gen. 49.5 brethren in euill so Babylon and Rome are sorores in malo sisters in euill like in condition and in qualitie to their owne confusion as the name of the first doth originally import and doth likewise ominate vnto the second Obseruations pertaining to Faith and Manners framed vpon the passages in the two former Inquisitions NOw I come thirdly and lastly vnto such Obseruations according to my promise and proiect in the beginning of this Sermon as doe kindly and proper ensue vpon the precedent passages of my discourse and they are ten which I will prosecute with such conuenient breuitie as the matter of each will particularly beare FIRST then as the Church of God doth stand specially indebted vnto him for this diuine Booke of the Reuelation wherein wee may plainely discouer the prescience of God in things to come and the care of God in the administration of his Church so it being more darke vnto the ancient Fathers so many syllables so many mysteries therein and breeding more admiration then bringing vtilitie vnto them by the great obscuritie thereof so that the Pen-man of this sacred Booke might truly say Scripsi non scripsi I haue written and not written I haue reuealed and yet concealed the future condition of the Church therefore now wee stand bound vnto God in a new and farther obligation for that wee in the successe of time and euent of things haue attained in sundrie particulars of greatest consequence and namely in this mysterie of Babylon vnto such a perspicuous and infallible vnderstanding of this Booke which is the Beniamin of Iesus Christ the principall Author thereof the Sonne of his right hand the last borne in the whole Issue of the Scripture which hee begate vnto his Church the conclusion of that Oracle whence we deriue our Faith This Booke is therefore vnto vs the apparant Seale of Gods prouidence a strong bulwarke of our Faith an incurable wound of the Babylonian Monarch a certaine expugnation of the Antichristian Church For though the learned Iesuite Ludouicus ab Alcasar in his copious exposition of this Booke doth so peruert the sense and purpose of the Holy Ghost therein by laying the name of Babylon vpon Rome in her Ethnicall estate alone pretending that this fall is only in a spirituall manner by falling from her ancient Idolatrie vnto the Faith of Christ and therefore concludeth his exposition of this Booke in these brauing words Maximâ sum voluptate perfusus c. I am filled with singular contentation and ioy of heart because through the fauour of God I haue now cleerely discerned how glorious this Booke of the Reuelation is vnto the Romane Church yet wee may contemne his folly or rather commiserate his blindnesse in this case But wee will leaue him vnto the censure of Ribera so well discerning that this Babylon is Rome in another estate succeeding after the intertainment of Christian Religion and that this fall is by a great and finall ruine of that Idolatrous Citie that hee pronounceth them to be worse then very fooles that will not see and confesse this point The truth is this good Christian hearers that though Ribera first and Viegas after him doe confidently deny that Rome is Babylon now or that the Church of Rome euer shall so bee or that the Citie it selfe while shee remaineth in subiection to the Pope shall deserue that name yet by making such a plaine and faire confession which the very euidence of the Text with the due coherence of all circumstances therein did necessarily extort from their pens that Rome is Babylon also in another and â—â— second estate and that it shall bee so full of Idolatry at home and communicate it abroad and that shee shall haue great negotiation of Merchants and that shee shall haue another Empire largely patent and greatly potent in the world therefore not onely a strong suspition but a manifest conuiction must fall ineuitably vpon Papall Rome as wee haue deduced by many substantiall proofes against the vaine and poore surmises of Ribera and Viegas to the contrarie the true Babylon of which I haue spoken heretofore that shall come vnto the lamentable fall whereof I shall speake
the Kings of Israel so this excellent Prince destroyed the Baal of Rome and his power within the confines of this Kingdome but in many other things hee still followed the doctrines of Rome but yet so as he conceiued them though vntruly to bee built vpon the Word of God and conformable to the iudgement of the ancient Church I answere therefore FIRST that when these ten Kings shall take vp their Armes against Babylon many Papists of the second and worst degree and acception shall firmely combine with the Pope the second Beast and shall seeke his defence against the incursion of these mightie Kings such Papists I meane as specially the Iesuites are and the Canonists and all such as adore this Beast for his supposed excellencie and glorie so that by the opposition of their owne force and by their excitation of their Adherents they shall make all possible but yet a vaine resistance against this generall enterprise of these potent Kings because they loue reuerence defend with writing propugne with their power and aboue all other Papists maintayne to their vttermost this second Beast in Babylon as their dearest Lord and highest Potentate of the Earth to whom as they say all men must be subiect vpon the necessitie of their saluation SECONDLY therefore I inferre that since the Beast himselfe shall fall with his Babylon as being a fall not only of one particular place but of some great power these Papists also concurring in his defence and opposition of these Kings shall certainely come vnto a finall ruine For as these Kings shall bring the Beast vnto desolation so they will not suffer such to liue as shall by doctrine iustifie and magnifie the power of this Beast which they hate and will destroy or by politike meanes seeke his aduancement or by forcible contradiction procure his supportation and defence against their inuincible armes which by Gods owne warrant they shall take vp against Babylon and against the Antichristian vassals that admire the glorie and follow the poyson of the second Beast therein As for other Papists of inferiour note and not of this marke or stampe I will deliuer my iudgement in the third Branch vnto which therefore I addresse my speech The THIRD Branch concerning POPERY THough this word Popery seemeth to include all erroneous doctrines in the Papal Church which are many in number and not reconciliable with the truth of Gods Word yet we must distinguish heere as wee haue before for that such points as depend vpon the Popes pretended office and beare speciall reference thereunto as namely they are for which some Papists haue their principall denomination as I did obserue in the second branch are truly and really Popish not in regard of the person of this or that Pope as Heresies doe most generally carrie the name of their inuentor and in this case also it were not hard to shew that some Popish doctrines had either their beginning or else their principall corroboration from certaine Popes and might therefore well be stamped with their names but in regard of the Papall See office dignitie and vsurped superioritie of this second Beast and therefore such points of their doctrine and practise issuing from the Pope as he is Pope and not as he is this or that particular person and being a part of the Mysterie of Iniquitie which Saint Paul did foresee are Popish and Poperie and therefore this kind of Poperie connexed to the Papall Seate and Office will haue a certaine end and determination with the fall of the Pope this second Beast whose ruine is implied in the fall of Rome it selfe And therefore we may heere not impertinently obserue that in the points of Popery all are not of one and equall degree but such doe specially beare the marke and cognisance of Antichristianitie as do more highly aduance this beast in his pretended authoritie ouer all Kings and ciuill States ouer all Churches and Ecclesiasticall persons in and ouer the consciences of men in which he setteth vp his Dominion to reigne therein and finally whereby hee doth most neerely oblige and tye men vnto him by the glorious ostentation of his great and sacred power Secondly there are other points of Poperie not vniustly so called as being defined by Papall Councels whose infallible Decrees depend vpon the Popes assent as being parts of that corrupt bodie of erroneous doctrine which is taught in his Synagogue sustayned by his authoritie defended by his Writers propugned by secular Princes as seruants of the Pope though stiled by more honourable names finally such as tend to the confirmation of the Pope and that Babylonian Church in which the mysterie of iniquitie beginning long agoe hath now fully declared it selfe in so great an Apostasie and defection from the truth And if you require a speciall catalogue of these Popish errours they are for the greatest part comprised in the twelue Articles of the new Creed framed and proposed by Pope Sixtus quartus in Bulla super forma iuramenti professionis fidei which containe the principall errours of the Papall Beast and of the Papists miserably seduced therein from the integritie of Gods Word and extreamely different from the Catholike sense of the more pure and ancient Church I answere therefore when God shall deliuer his Church from the Aegyptian bondage which it suffereth vnder this Babylonian Beast that in due probabilitie of reason if not all yet many of these more grosse absurd and enormious errours now predominant in the Church of Rome shall be corrected by the more sound and Christian iudgement euen of those who liue in the outward communion of the Romish Church for there neuer wanted some more Religious spirits that did dislike oppose and seeke to redresse the growing and growne errours therein and that Christian Princes shall willingly concurre to the reformation of Popish errours when a more free and indifferent course shall be opened for a generall Councell then can be yet obtained while this Babylonian Beast doth reigne to treate dispute and conclude vpon things which appertaine vnto the peace and puritie of the Church To conclude this passage therefore I shall intreat your prudent and iudicious consideration of three markable points which I now tender and present vnto your religious hearts The FIRST that the Church of Rome as it standeth at this day offending rather in additions vnto Gods truth in regard whereof they foolishly call ours a Negatiue Religion which doth truly deny and iustly impugne their additions then in subtractions from the same though they erre also in this kind taking lawfull authoritie from the ciuill Magistrate taking halfe the Communion from the Laitie taking away the Word of God from the people by concealing it in an vnknowne tongue c. and so in other things against which therefore our doctrine is affirmatiue in opposition of their errours I say that the Church of Rome doth hold and teach the fundamentall points of Christian Religion positiuely in the Articles of the
Creed though it haue some doctrines that by force of consequence may seeme to contradict the same and that this Church of Rome doth well and soundly conceiue of many great and principall points as namely of the two Natures and one Person of Christ as learned Zanchius himselfe doth confesse de Incarnat lib. 2. cap. 9. and elsewhere but it doth erre chiefly and dangerously in the Office of our Sauiour Iesus Christ by destroying the merit of his Passion and by false application thereof not onely by the meanes of Holy water and other Babylonian inuentions but by such meanes as are contrarie and repugnant thereunto as namely by the paines of Purgatorie where our Satisfaction concurreth with his and his is applied by ours as the Booke of Cardinall Peron passing vnder the name of Master Henry Constable doth blasphemously teach Finally then her many truths cannot iustifie her prodigious errours her many errours cannot infringe her certaine truths but the truths therein cannot so securely saue as the errours therein will greatly endanger the soule of any Babylonian captiue inthralled and insnared with the perill of truly Popish errours The SECOND point therefore is this that all particularities which beare the name of Poperie in the censure and iudgement of some men are not so in truth but are so esteemed by reason of their ignorance and precipitation and for want of experience in the Monuments of venerable antiquitie as being carried with the affection of Aëtius who as Socrates doth report l. 2. c. 28. conuersed not in the Bookes of ancient Writers but reiected such as were of greatest reputation in the Church following the sophisticall conclusions of his owne captious braine Hence it is that the intemperate Anabaptists condemne the baptisme of Children as the inuention of a Pope Hence it is that the pestilent Trinitarians profanely teach that the doctrine of the Trinitie is the fable of a Pope and that therfore this popish mysterie is aptly signified in the triple Crowne Hence it is that the certaine and indubious distinction of a Bishop and a Presbyter the first hauing a paternall superioritie ouer the second in the administration of the Church is by some Aërian spirits branded with the note of a Popish Hierarchy as being ignorant in the perpetuall gouernment of the Church or presumptuous against all ages and all succession in the same Hence it is that the few innocent conuenient Ceremonies in this Church issuing from the practise of the reuerend learned and holy Fathers are scandalized with the contemptuous name of Popery But by whom By men commonly of vnlearned hearts strong passions and weake iudgements so that as I obserued before whatsoeuer thing they dislike it is Popery and whatsoeuer person they distast hee is Popish in their poore conceits Much like though not in hereticall opinion yet in simple carriage vnto the followers of Artemon who taught that Christ was a pure Man without any diuine Nature and pretended that this true and ancient doctrine was first corrupted by Zepherine a Bishop of Rome as Eusebius doth relate l. 5. c. 25. So ancient is this course To end this point therfore I wish all men of ingenious mindes to conceiue wisely of Popery what is so to bee esteemed and all men of religious hearts to detest it with a good conscience grounded vpon a sufficient knowledge The THIRD and last point is this that wee cannot probably conceiue by any deduction of reason in humane discourse that all and singular Articles of Popery which are indeed erroneous and may therefore iustly deserue that name shall euer be totally and fully purged out of the Church of God after the ruine of Babylon but that there will be variable contrarie iudgements of learned men in some matters truly deseruing reformation vntill the finall dissolution of this present world so that in this case wee must beare what we cannot amend and rather enioy our solid vnitie in things of greater importance then vpon euery difference in things of lesser moment make a peruerse distraction in the Church of God and an vnhappy rent in the seamelesse coate of Iesus Christ our Lord remembring to tolerate that for vnitie which yet wee hate in equitie as Saint Augustine doth diuinely speake And thus much concerning the Praedicate in my Text the FALL of Babylon discouered in this my second Sermon I should now entertaine you with some obseruations in the conclusion of this as I did in the end of the first had I not in the perpetual course of this Sermon vpon incident passages taken some occasion by the way to make application of the seuerall points vnto your hearts to shew you the prouidence of God in his ordination of this fall his loue of his Church in his prediction of this fall his vengeance against sinne in his operation of this fall our comfort in knowing this fall our patience in attending this fall our instruction to preuent our owne fall by his Iustice which will ensue vpon our fall from his Truth and Grace an aduertisement to Papists to leaue their Locall communion with Babylon if they dwell within her walls or Spirituall communion if they be deuoted vnto her Beast since both must goe into perdition and therefore finally here is an admonition vnto such as decline from the comfortable truth of Gods Word vnto the darke superstition of Babylonian errours to consider well and seriously in their hearts I goe to BABYLON which shall bee burnt I submit my selfe to that BEAST which shall be destroyed What feare what suspition what terrours will then possesse thy soule what securitie hast thou in such dangers what comfort in such frights what happinesse hast thou when thy Mother Church of Rome and thy Father-Pope therein shall come to so great a ruine Canst thou be innocent when they are guiltie Hast thou no sinne when they are punished Canst thou stand when they fall O consider this yee that forget God lest he take you away and there be none to deliuer you But since these particulars are touched more exactly before therefore I will conclude this Sermon and so my whole Text by stirring vp all degrees and conditions of men vnto the performance of Gods designe that what we yet heare in Verbo prophecied in Gods Word It is fallen it is fallen Babylon c. wee may once see in Opere fulfilled also in Worke. FIRST then I begin with them who are the peculiar instruments of Gods Iustice in this behalfe the ten Kings as the Scripture it selfe doth speake O Noble and Heroicall Princes Gods Vice-gerents armed with his power and sacred with his owne name you haue the speciall place in this warfare God hath prest you vnto this seruice and not onely warranted but required you vnto it You are sent against Rome as Saul against Amalek to destroy it with fire and sword It is no voyage vnto the holy Land where Christ did suffer for our sinnes but to impure Babylon in which as it may
MYSTICAL BABYLON OR Papall Rome A Treatise vpon those words APOCAL 18.2 It is fallen it is fallen BABYLON c. In which the wicked and miserable condition of Rome as shee now is in her present Babylonian estate and as she shall be in her future ineuitable ruine is fully discouered And sundry Controuersiall points of Religion betwixt the Protestants and the Papists are briefly discussed By Theophilus Higgons Rector of the Parochiall Church of Hunton neere Maidstone in KENT PSAL. 119.126 It is time for thee LORD to lay to thine hand for they haue destroyed thy Law LONDON Printed by William Stansby for Matthew Lownes and William Barret 1624. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR HENRY MOVNTAGV Knight Baron of KIMBOLTON Viscount MAVNDEVILLE Lord President of his MAIESTIES most Honorable Priuie Counsaile Right noble and truly Christian LORD SInce I haue presumed to appeare thus in publique and to treate peculiarly of this subiect Mysticall Babylon rather then of any other and finally to recommend this Treatise vnto your fauourable patronage I stand therefore obliged to expresse my Motiues and Reasons in the two former points for the generall satisfaction of others and in the last for the particular of your Honorable Selfe As for the FIRST I am not mooued vpon any oblique respect to take vp the Sword of my Pen in this spirituall warfare I am not vexed with the ambition of preferment nor affectation of applause for I desire earnestly of God that the diuine sentence of Saint Paul may bee deeply grauen in my heart The World is crucified vnto me and I vnto the World Neither am I prouoked vnto this designe out of any spleene or vindictiue humour against the Church of Rome or any person therein and indeed I haue beene so farre from giuing them any speciall distaste that I haue obserued the tearmes of ciuill and morall respect towards some of them to my greater preiudice then I will either bragge or complaine of vnto the World But the true and proper causes are these First I am bound as a dutifull Sonne of my Mother-Church from whose sacred breasts I drew the first nutriment of my faith to succour and comfort her in her distressed estate while the little Foxes of Rome eate vp her Grapes and the wild Boare thereof seeketh to enter into the Vineyard of God And therefore since euery man indued with any facultie of writing should performe his seruice vnto the Church of God especially when and where the contagion of Heresie doth dilate it selfe as Saint Augustine doth grauely aduise I could not bee silent in so necessarie a time for as wee shall answere vnto God for our idle words so wee shall answere vnto him for our dangerous silence Secondly to make some satisfaction thereby vnto the Church of God which being vniustly wronged by my meanes doth iustly challenge this remedie of my paines that the hand which hath hurt her may somewhat helpe her and that as I haue made a wound so I may make a cure againe Thirdly to procure the sweete peace of my conscience towards God that I may heale the wound which I haue formerly made vnto my owne soule Christian Wisdome teaching me to powre some Oile into that to supple it which hath found so much Vineger to fret it and therefore I am resolued to neglect all troubles without that I may find this comfort within Fourthly to exempt hereby all scruple out of their hearts who desire to vnderstand the state and disposition of my conscience in the matter of Religion For as Saint Hierome being vehemently suspected of the infection of Origens errours did therefore diuert that suspition by cleere publication of his mind in writing That they who would not beleeue his tongue in his deniall might yet beleeue his Pen in his refutation thereof as hee doth ingeniously write in this behalfe so I find my selfe very deeply charged in the point of conscience and discretion to giue sufficient notice vnto all the sonnes of my Mother touching my Faith and Religion by some Treatise now to bee published vnto the World and to remayne I hope after my decease as a Record what I doe certainly beleeue concerning the doctrine of faith professed in this Church of England and oppugned by the Church of Rome SECONDLY therefore I haue made speciall election of this subiect concerning Rome and her ruine as being of greatest importance in it self and specially in these dayes For whereas the most vsuall subiects of disputation betwixt vs and the Papists are particular and therefore haue a particular issue of veritie or falshood therein this is of an higher nature of a larger extent and of a more generall effect for that it doth concerne not onely a part of her doctrine but the whole being of the Church of Rome it toucheth not a branch or two but the very root it selfe it reacheth not onely vnto a piece of her building but vnto the very foundation thereof And therefore this disputation viz. Whether and How the name of Babylon in the visions of Saint Iohn doth agree vnto Rome is of singular consequence thereby to confront the audacious insultations of her politike Agents to giue an Antidote against the poyson which they seeke to instill into many vnsetled hearts that so they who are fallen from the truth may bee happily reduced vnto it and they who are falling may be strongly confirmed in the same Now THIRDLY and lastly it remaineth most worthy Lord that I make true remonstrance of the causes which haue bred this confidence in mee to offer vp this little Treatise vpon the Altar of your Honourable fauour I speake not of your descent and extraction out of a Noble Family nor of your high degree of Honour nor of your speciall aduancement in the State for which respects many men apply themselues vnto the seruice and attendance of great persons but aboue all things I am comforted in your sincere and constant profession of the Truth which grace seemeth to be hereditarie in your House as being spectable in all the branches thereof Since therefore Greatnesse and Goodnesse haue mutuall coniunction in your Lordships person I cannot suppose that a Worke of this nature can want your acceptation nor the Author thereof your protection Whereof also I conceiue the greater hope because I haue knowne heretofore by the double testimonie of mine eyes and eares the gracious inclination of your Honour towards mee and that onely for the Truths sake and the Words sake as indeed I haue euer found them to be my most assured and certaine friends that haue affected mee in this regard But if I should need or seeke any externall or farther motiue to induce your Honour to vouchsafe your patronage vnto mee and vnto this Treatise I would not goe out of your owne Family though it must bee from the liuing to the dead but I would intreate it by the deare and precious memory of that religious learned most accomplished Prelate your famous Brother
if this be not Idolatry Yea Gregorie himselfe disapprouing the fact of Serenus doth yet reprehend the popular adoration of Images in that time which certainly did not exceed if it did equall the Papisticall in our dayes And though Doctor Carrier who seemed not therein to vnderstand the Papists or not himselfe pretendeth gloriously in his Letter to the Kings most excellent Maiesty that the point of Images and the worship thereof is a small matter of none offence c. yet my eyes my heart do teach me otherwise and therefore notwithstanding all their sophisticall distinctions I must resolue with Erasmus It is more easie to take Images out of the Church then to define by what reasons they may stand therein Finally their doctrine in this point is so false contrary to Gods Word to the iudgement of the ancient Fathers to the opinion of many former Papists also and their practise so wicked that in this odious and execrable Idolatry you may see the old Babylon reuiued in the new which varying from the Scripture from the Church yea from her selfe commeth more neerely vnto the patterne of Babylon whose name she beareth and as you may easily see shee beareth it not in vaine but the daughter daily going forward in the courses of her Idolatry wil at the last excell her Mother notwithstanding all her distinctions to which she may adde this viz. There is a double Idolatry Ethnicall and Christian or rather Antichristian as wee shall yet more euidently discerne The THIRD instance concerneth their exorbitant and irregular adoration of the Pope For howsoeuer they delay the heate of the matter with the coole water of a moyst and emptie distinction as the oppressed Emperour Barbarossa spake vnder the feet of the insulting Pope non tibi sed Petro not to thee but vnto Peter I submit my selfe euen to this base conculcation to whom the Pope answered againe Et mihi Petro it is vnto Peter and also vnto me or else by some other euasion of ciuill religious and diuine worship or the like yet if wee consider with what opinion of his excellency which they attribute vnto this Babylonian Idoll they adore the Pope what Diuinitie in regard of his pretensed office they ascribe vnto his insolent person and lastly with what power and authoritie they inuest him we may well perceiue that this is Idolatry and not of the meanest degree Hence it is that immediately vpon his election so soone as euer he is now Sanctissimus the most holy Lord howsoeuer wicked before the Cardinalls come to their seruice of adoration for so is the very terme imposed vpon this solemne action and with most kisses of his sacred feet for he is greater then Kings who vouchsafe vs the kisses of their hands euery Cardinall doth performe his homage in signe of subiection vnto the new aspiring Potentate of the earth And because this action should better expresse their Idolatry in this point his new Holyship is aduanced vpon an Altar the place of the God of their Masse the Idoll of bread and as I haue vnderstood by the relation of others he is there or thence adored as the God of the Church the God of the World of which presumptuous Titles I shal speak more in a more conuenient place of my discourse And the truth is though this adoration may seeme too much yet it is the lesse to be admired in them if we consider that in the opinion of his Babylonian vassals he is a pardoner of sin and a deliuerer from paine that can by his Pontificial authority draw soules out of Purgatorie that can depose Kings that can dispose Kingdomes that can absolue subiects from the strong obligations of Oath and Nature that can absolue Princes from the bond of a iust and necessary Oath made vnto their Subiects as in the case of our King Henry the Third whence ensued the publike calamitie of this Kingdome that can dispense against the Scriptures that can define matters of faith as infallibly as the Scriptures yea saith Gregory de Valentia a Iesuite for who but a Iesuite were a fit Author for so strange a speech that cannot erre that must bee beleeued in his Pontificiall definitions Whether he vse diligence or not in vnderstanding and determining the point for wee beleeue that if hee will pastorally define any thing with purpose to bind the Church vnto his definition he shall not hee cannot erre therein So writeth the Iesuite in his Analysis fidei O sure anchor of their Religion the rocke their petra vpon which Christ buildeth his Church and they their faith Doe you maruell then at the outragious title ascribed vnto him by a Canonist the same being printed and re-printed and neuer corrected that this second Beast in Babylon should beare the the stile of Dominus noster Deus Papa Our Lord God the Pope And doe you maruell that whom they so extoll in dignitie more then all Kings they should so adore with worship no lesse then a God If this be not Idolatry what is Idolatry and what doth deserue that name The child humbleth himselfe vnto his Father the subiect vnto his Prince and this honour is due If you will call it adoration though the word be not receiued publiquely into such vse I will admit it because it is a ciuill action founded vpon the Word of God and warranted by the examples of his Saints in regard of a certaine diuine authoritie which by Gods holy ordinance doth shine in their persons But since the Pope assumeth this honour of an higher and different nature also without the warrant of Gods Word and against the rule of Gods Word with immoderate exaltation as Gerson spake of Popes in his time volunt adorari vt Dij they will be adored as Gods yea by Kings also who are the Gods of this earth by Gods owne approbation for so hee speaketh also of inferiour Magistrates Psal 82.1 vnto which as he hath no proper right by any warrant from God so no mortall man the greatest Souereigne that is or euer was were he the onely Lord of all the World as the Pope doth gladly beleeue of himselfe and there are sundry Babylonian Parasites that applaud his insolencie in this kind can haue right by Gods Word vnto the like I conclude therefore that this adoration of the Pope the God of Babylon is Idolatry and such as is not to bee found any where but in Rome where the Pope sitteth in the Temple of God lifting vp himselfe aboue all that is called God Saint Paul saith not that which Is God to wit in nature for so the Pope pretendeth a subiection vnto Christ but that which is called God to wit in title and office as Kings are most properly for aboue all such Gods this man of sinne doth exalt himselfe as you haue heard a little now but shall heare more anon howbeit also it is true that he exalteth himselfe aboue the God of Heauen and earth while he maketh the
from God and from his truth standing vpon his Word and as she is departed from her selfe as she was in the more pure and ancient times in which no Catalogue of names can bee produced to iustifie any succession in those doctrines wherein wee iustly dissent from them and they vniustly from the Primitiue Church O how gladly would we returne vnto Rome if shee would returne vnto her selfe Shee will not doe the one therefore wee cannot doe the other To conclude this point since the iniudicious auoydance of one errour draweth vs into the danger of another Arrius was in opposition vnto Sabellius and Eutyches vnto Nestorius but all in errour let men be well and soundly aduised in their departure from this Babylon lest they erect a new Babylon compounded of their owne fancies by Anabaptisticall furie and Anarchicall paritie through a misprision of things vpon false vnlearned and dangerous principles namely that the way to come neerest to the truth is to goe farthest from the Pope that the Church of Christ must stand in an vniuersall contrarietie vnto Rome that the meanes to bring things vnto a medietie and proper state is to runne into an opposite and contrarie course as to bring a crooked sticke vnto streightnesse you must wreathe and force it the other and the contrary way Which instance being made to this purpose by a learned man standing in the tearmes of inconformitie to the Church of England Master Hooker that Oracle of Theologie made answere vnto him very well that the Church of England was alreadie come to her medietie and setled estate but by this instance it seemeth that the said learned man with some others running a way of extreame opposition were yet to come vnto some other medietie and condition after they had thus bowed things vnto a contrarie course And to say the truth vpon certaine experience to auoyde the Scylla of one shipwracke some men runne indiscreetly vpon the Charybdis of another being so transported with intemperate Zeale that without Learning Wisdome or Conscience they impute the name of Poperie vnto any thing that they ignorantly distast and cast the aspersion of a Papist vpon any person that they maliciously disaffect Such ciuill warres in the Church haue their end without triumph of which point I shall speake more anon FOVRTHLY great is the happinesse of our Church and State being deliuered from the yoake and tyrannie of Babylon which held them both in seruitude and captiuitie for many yeeres For if any Land may iustly complaine that cruell Lords haue had the dominion ouer them ENGLAND might complaine of this indignitie and did often complaine of it with many and bitter teares and particularly in the Reigne of King Henrie the Third whom as Matthew Paris doth relate the Babylonian Monarch stiled his Vassall and England his Iade for shee did beare his burthens of oppression in sundry expilations and deepe exhaustions of her Treasure Afterward in the reigne of his Sonne King Edward the first hee sent forth peremptory interdictions vnto all the Cleargie of this Land requiring them vpon vertue of their obedience vnto the Apostolicall Seat not to contribute their Subsidies and iust reliefe vnto their Souereigne Lord the King directly and cleerly against the prescription of Saint Paul vnto all Christian subiects though vnder vnbeleeuing Princes instructing them to giue tribute vnto whom they owe tribute Rom. 13. O the rare Diuinitie of Babylon The Cleargie of England must giue monies vnto the Pope if hee require them but not vnto the King if he forbid them Vpon this occasion ensued a rebellious opposition in the Archbishop of Canterburie Peckham by name against his lawfull Souereigne that victorious and puissant King as indeed the Pope seldome wanted a Prelate in that See to concurre with him against the King to the iust prouocation of his Royall displeasure and no small inconuenience of the whole Cleargie in this Land But leauing temporall things wherein this Iland suffered great calamitie and vexation by the Babylonian Monarchs drawing monies out of mens purses and withdrawing their obedience from their naturall Lords and Kings I come vnto spirituall things wherein your deliuerance from Babylon pertaineth vnto the soule and ministreth vnto you matter of higher contemplation as namely that you are freed from dangerous errous of false doctrines from the oppression of conscience wherein the Pope did reigne and tyrannize from the vncomfortable and ridiculous seruice of God in an vnknowne tongue from prostitution of the bodie and soule vnto stocks and stones from Idolatrous adoration of a breaden God from the vexing feare of fained Purgatorie from the vaine hope of Babylonian Pardons and finally in a word from the vanitie of vncertaine traditions with a number of superstitions and fopperies whose obseruation was with great difficultie and little profit yea rather with singular detriment vnto the glorie of God and perfection of his Church Which things being iustly cast out of this Church as Christ expelled abuses out of the Temple Iohn 2.15 you haue a peaceable state of conscience toward God in the sweet libertie of his truth vnder a gracious and learned Souereigne a sincere Professour and a constant Protectour of the same FIFTLY they beare a speciall obligation to God for his singular mercie whom hee hath drawne out of the societie of Babylon and from the contagion of her cup which with Circaean intantations metamorphizeth men into beasts intoxicating them with her venimous dregges till God of his meere grace seeking them who had lost themselues take away the veile of errour from their eyes and make them vnderstand from whence Apoc. 2.5 and to what they are fallen Though they wanted his preuenient grace and therefore fell yet they had his excitant grace and therefore rose againe and if they haue assistant grace none are more humble in their minds none are more carefull of their wayes none are more gratefull vnto God none are more seruiceable vnto the Church Let not the elder brother repine at the reuersion and entertainment of the younger why should man shew his enuie where God doth shew his pittie Acknowledge thy owne infirmitie in thy brothers fall commend Gods grace in his restitution to his estate the neerer he was to Hell the neerer he may be to Heauen SIXTLY whereas many out of the insufficiencie of knowledge or weaknesse of iudgement or neutralitie of Religion setting vp the saile of their conscience vnto the wind of time incline strongly vnto Rome or prostitute themselues wholy vnto her communion let them consider that it is BABYLON hated of God and ordained to destruction which they embrace and though they liue corporally in England France c. that yet they liue spiritually in her that they are members of this Citie and that therefore they must weare the liuerie of her name they are BABYLONIANS in their true and proper title Let them then reiect the name of a PAPIST the inuention they say of LVTHER but well accommodated for many
this vnlearned foolish and erroneous proiect as Vlphila a Bishop of the Goths did sometimes insnare the credulous and ignorant people assuring them that the differences betwixt the Catholikes and the Arrians did consist rather in the forme of words then in the substance of matter as Theodorit doth report lib. 4. cap. 37. Now as the Reconcilers of the two Religions doe iustly deserue your censure so the secret Babylonians that hold outward conformitie with England and inward correspondencie with Rome are to bee lamented as well as detested being no lesse dangerously affected in the state of their owne soules then against the state of this Church These are men that stand like a needle in a dyall North and South personally in England affectionately in Rome heterogeneous members of both and neither Church amphibia creatures liuing in the two Elements of Sion and Babylon they speake both languages of the Iewes and Philistines they comport themselues so wisely that the present times may beare them and the future receiue them men more subtile for themselues then sincere to any It were to bee wished that as men belieue if such men doe belieue any thing so they would confesse For with the heart wee belieue to righteousnesse and with the mouth wee confesse to saluation EIGHTHLY since Papall or Ecclesiasticall Rome is that Babylon which Saint Iohn doth here propose and exhibite in liuely colours vnto our view I cannot without indignation or rather compassion obserue that this truth being of such cleere euidence and of so great consequence for the consolation of Gods Church afflicted by her and confusion of Babylon triumphing in her pride malice and crueltie vpon vs as also prouoking the diuine Maiestie by her monstrous Idolatries by her false doctrines by her base superstitions by her taking from the people the key of knowledge in the holy Scriptures with many more absurd and impious courses should bee so little regarded by some vngratefull therefore vnto God for this sacred Reuelation made vnto his Church or so much questioned by others who either out of negligence search not into this truth or out of a puzzeled vnderstanding cannot comprehend it or out of a preiudice will not discerne it but like men in a secure and pernicious Lethargie with heauie and drowsie spirits raise not vp their thoughts vnto a more acute penetration of so excellent and so necessarie a point for the prediction whereof so long before wee owe much vnto the prouidence of God and for the discouery of it now so long after in these our dayes wee owe much vnto his goodnesse And I doe more earnestly presse all Diuines in this Church vnto a serious and diligent contemplation of this mysterie now so reuealed vnto vs which was concealed from our fathers because they shall thereby inable themselues with more sufficiencie of meanes to confirme many in the truth and to recall many from their errours when they shall by good discourse of reason founded vpon the circumstances of this Scripture comparing it with other Scriptures and with the euents of time the successe of things in later Ages concurring with the prediction in former cleerely and fairely perceiue that Rome as now shee is and long hath beene vnder the gouernment of the Pope is the Mysticall Babylon the Mother of Whoredomes the Seate of the Second Beast the verie Synagogue wherein Antichrist doth reigne For defect of which certaine knowledge in the vnderstanding and secret perswasion of the mind therein a greater gap is left open for the entrance of Babylon into many hearts whereof I could say something by the particular experience of my vnhappy selfe Since therefore I doe so well apprehend the force and efficacie of this truth for which I giue most humble thankes vnto my benigne and gracious Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ I doe more willingly excite and stirre vp my learned Brethren to settle their iudgements vpon a perfect and exact knowledge thereof being able and readie by speciall demonstration and strength of discourse to explicate the same in particular manner and forme omni poscenti to euerie one that shall aske a reason of their assertion and beliefe in this point wherein now the Iesuites themselues Ribera and Viegas haue carryed vs securely and firmely beyond the speculation of Augustine and some others conceiuing this Babylon to bee the generall societie of the wicked and no particular place and beyond the decision of Hierome supposing it to bee Ethnicall Rome and so to bee alreadie past at which wee doe not meruaile since Hierome by experience saw that State past but could not by diuination foresee this to come namely that the Pope should bee the Second Beast and that Rome should bee Babylon vnder him a matter not imaginable in those more happie times Therefore though the said Iesuites going beyond Augustine confesse this Babylon to bee Rome and going beyond Hierome yea beyond the most generall conceit of other Babylonians confesse it to bee Rome in a new second and latter estate after the entertainment of Christian Religion therein but deny it to bee so in regard of the Church at all or of the Citie as it now is and while shee shall so remaine vnder the Pope yet wee see them so wrapped vp in sundrie inextricable difficulties to maintaine this their determination of the point that till wee come vnto the perspicuous and solid resolution thereof by laying so great a power of Babylon which they saw in it vpon the Papall Souereignety and so large a Dominion which they saw in it vpon the extension of his authoritie in the world and so much Idolatry which they saw in it vpon the superstitious foolish practises of the Romane Church and such a correspondency with the world which they saw in it vpon the communication of her Wares and negotiation of her Merchants with it together with the dependencie of of States and Churches vpon it there is no meanes in congruitie of reason and in ordinarie sense to vntwine and loose the doubts which arise thereupon and bind vp these men so fast viz. How Rome within the space of three yeeres or therevpon with which limits of time they circumscribe the reigne of Antichrist out of a false and erroneous opinion of the Ancients should attaine vnto such a vast power and so ample a Dominion in the world with such grosse Idolatrie diffused so copiously from thence into the world with such a subiection of Kingdomes and Prouinces vnto it which things though they saw truely and affirme constantly by the certaine and infallible euidence of the Text it selfe yet they would not or they could not by reason of their forestalled conceit which they haue of the holy Father and of his Apostolicall State behold and discerne them there where onely they are to bee found where onely the Scripture doth assigne them where onely the palpable euents and cleere ocurrences of the time discouer them where onely reason and her discourse doth bring them
by these Kings so it shall fall by these Kings This is vnderstood in the words of the Scripture Apoc. 18. No man buyeth her ware any more of her that is to say The traffique of the Whore and spirituall negotiations of her Beast by Pardons Dispensations and other fornications as they are called shall cease vpon her ruine made by these Princes of the earth Whereas then Bellarmine saith the Pope shall still continue Bishop of Rome I answere not by any Souereignety and Dominion which Bellarmine perhaps may pretend that Antichrist shall not permit him actually to exercise in that time but wee affirme by demonstration of the Scripture that the ten Kings shall depriue him of that power in the world which he formerly enioyed by their concession which shall then expire Notwithstanding if Sibylla doe truely prophesie of Rome that it being once 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strength and power as S. Hierome descanted vpon her name shall afterwards become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a street as Lactantius doth record Inst l. 7. c. 25. the Bishop of Rome may perhaps remaine then in the qualitie and place of an ordinarie Bishop but shall not bee receiued any more as vniuersall Pastour of the Church not as the Beast was before not with such latitude of power not insulting againe ouer States and Churches And if the prophecie of Hildegardis a sacred Virgin of great reputation vpon the yeere 1150. be of any force the Bishop of Rome shall bee reduced vnto the condition of other Bishops c. as I haue seene and read in a very faire and ancient Manuscript of parchment concerning the predictions of that religious person If therefore I may expresse a graue matter by a light example namely of Sir Thomas Moore who hauing resigned his office of the Lord Chancellour came himselfe vpon the next Sunday vnto the Pew of his Ladie in the Parish Church of Chelsey speaking vnto her in his facetious and wittie manner Madame will you goe My Lord is gone which were formerly the vsuall words of her gentleman Vsher when the Lord Chancellour departed out of the Church so may I say in this case when Babylon shall be wasted with fire and the Beast shal be despoyled of his power Our Lord the Pope is gone but yet the Bishop may still remaine And then Christians may reckon ab vrbe euersâ as Pagans did ab vrbe conditâ when the power honour and glory of Babylon and her Beast shall perish and bee extinguished by the concordable operation of these great and puissant Kings who therefore will continually suppresse it that it may neuer increase and gather strength againe The SECOND Branch concerning PAPISTS I Speake not now of ordinary Papists but chiefe Babylonian Papists that is to say such as haue a speciall vnion and coniunction with the Pope in those things which appertayne vnto the Mysticall impietie of this second Beast Wherefore the name of a Papist is taken either from Poperie which hee doth defend or from the Pope to whom he doth adhere In the first acception I esteeme him a Papist that leauing the Pope in the principall and essentiall points of the Papacie doth yet beleeue sundry errors defined resolued and maintayned in the Romish Church vnder the gouernment and administration of the Pope of which kinde of Poperie and sort of Papists I shall treate more particularly in the third Branch which doth immediately ensue But now in the second acception he is really and formally a Papist who is vnited vnto the Pope not in regard of the Popes person but in regard of his seat place and dignitie which he vsurpeth in Babylon and therefore doth especially beleeue and follow the Pope in such particular points as depend vpon his Papall Office as namely The Popes temporall Superioritie ouer all Princes as being the chiefe and in truth the onely Souereigne of the World which is the peculiar and intimate character of the Antichristian Beast or at the least if he haue not this temporall power ouer all Princes directly as their Lord yet indirectly as Pastour of the Church to depose and dethrone them which indirect authoritie doth yet inuest him with a pretended iurisdiction ouer all the World and is a more subtile insinuation of the Babylonian Beast and that he hath an infallible iudgement as Pope in the controuersies of Religion to bind the whole World vnto his definition vpon paine of Ecclesiasticall censure which opinion being greatly imbraced in their Church and daily increasing suffered much opposition by the Sorbonists and generally by the Church of France and that from this Papall seate all Christians haue the practice and benefit of Indulgences the peculiar Ware of Babylon that this Apostolicall and Supreame Seat hath power to dispense with Oathes and with Mariages in certaine degrees of consanguinitie and affinitie and that all Christians must haue recourse vnto her for Dispensations Absolutions c. that vnto this seat belong Appellations from all parts of the Christian World as vnto the highest Authoritie vpon Earth by which courses they exhaust much treasure of all Kingdomes and vexe the subiects with tedious and expensiue trauels that this Beast hath power to call generall Councels and to ratifie or nullifie their Decrees and other Babylonian doctrines belonging to the mysterie of the second Beast In this sense and acception of a Papist King Henry the Eighth in his iust necessary and conscionable discession from the Church of Rome vpon the point of his vnlawfull Mariage with the Ladie Katherine his Brothers Wife which by Papall Dispensation was contracted against the Word of God and Law of Nature especially as her case did stand was now no longer a Papist because he reiected the Pope in these Mysteries of the Papacie and in all points that had dependencie vpon his Seat Office and pretensed Authoritie in the Church Whence it is that this magnanimous Prince iustly prouoked but vniustly handled by the holy Father writeth vnto Charles the Fift and to all Christian States in these very words Orbis intelligat varias PAPISTARVM fraudes c. and againe ne Papa Regum authoritate ad extir pandas crescentis Euangelij radices c. abuti possit So that though this King remayned still a Papist in the first acception howbeit he made an happy entrance also to the purgation of sundry abuses in the Church as by taking away some superstitious Feasts some highly respected Images some much adored Relikes the Word of God was translated into the vulgar tongue and many other things were done in his time for the reformation of blind and ignorant stupiditie in the Church yet notwithstanding in the mayne and essentiall things which specially giue the true denomination of a Papist he is to be exempted cleerely from the crime and contagion of this Title And yet as Iehu did performe the Worke of God imposed vpon him for the ruine of Baal and that Idolatry but departed not from other sinnes of Ieroboam and
Councells by Fathers by Reasons framed out of the grounds of Scripture and Religion but in a new obscure intricate course of Positions Suppositions Conclusions vaine Opinions of darke and obscure Schoolemen c. which made the learned Doctor Raynolds say that till hee saw this Treatise of Indulgences hee tooke Bellarmine to be a man of some conscience and that hee wrote out of his perswasion but now hee conceiued of him otherwise But I proceed and hasten vnto a conclusion of this point This Babylonian ware of Indulgences is that traffique of the Church of Rome whereby shee keepeth her intimate correspondencie and participation with all her members tying thereby their consciences by a secret and strong obligation vnto the Pontificiall Seate it being also of singular vse in the manner of her proceedings For as this Merchandize is the daughter of many false doctrines Supererogations Merits euen the hatefull and dangerous merit of Condignitie of an Ecclesiasticall treasure arising out of the merits of Christ and also of the Saints the same being more then they were bound vnto and therefore being not rewarded vnto them in heauen may bee communicated to the poore soules in Purgatorie and the dispensation of this mysticall treasure is committed vnto the Pope by vertue of his keyes c. so it is the mother of many wicked practises for the aduantage of their Church as being the very bellowes which blow the fire of treason against the Persons and States of Princes This is the ware wherby Babylon bewitcheth not onely priuate men but great Kings for her Merchants are the great men of the earth Apocal. 18.3 Therefore infinite store of this Babylonian trumperie was transported vnto the poore Indians for the pretended benefit of their soules but for the intended benefit of a Princes worldly estate This is the ware which Leo the tenth so freely and bountifully dispensed for the redemption of soules out of the Purgatorian fire which keepeth warme the kitchin of his Holy-ship in the compassion of his charitable heart and fulnesse of his Papall power Said I freely Forgiue mee this wrong it was for the commoditie and reliefe of his sister Magdalen as Guicciardine a Popish Historian doth relate lib. 13. who had her Factors to distract and vent this Babylonish ware whence Magdalen the sister had the gaine but Leo the brother had the losse for vpon this occasion no lesse iust before God then acceptable to the Christian world Martin Luther began that course which hath succeeded so happily to the further discouery of Babylon and scandall of her wares for since that time her brocage hath suffered a great decay Finally this is that ware whereby this merchandizing Babylon doth principally subsist in honour authoritie riches and applause of the world inebriated with such incantations of her whorish cup and deluded with the vaine hope of these miserable helpes What should I speake of the Pedlery of Meddalls Beades Graines Holy Water Images certayne peculiar Churches Chappels and other places of blind deuotion vnto which sundry Pardons are appendant as being the meanes and instuments of Papall benignitie thereby to dispense and communicate Indulgences vnto poore seduced soules euen as certaine Fryers receiuing temporall reliefe from their deuoted followers pretend to communicate the merits of all the Saints of their owne order vnto them for their helpe and some Lay-men by wearing a Franciscans Girdle and vsing certaine Ceremonies according to the Rites of the Papall Church are made partakers of the merits of Saint Francis and of all the brethren of that religious Order All which and many more Wares come originally out of the Store-house of Rome To conclude then vnto these Indulgences some of them being for an hundred thousand yeeres so liberall is the holy Father I may adde other spirituall ware of Babylon as of Agnus Dei which is a ware of speciall vertue and force but chiefly of Dispensations which are sometimes the dissipations of diuine and humane right of naturall and morall bands as full of great presumption against the Lawes of God and Nature to tye some Princes in vnlawfull Mariages and to vntye many subiects from lawfull obedience as of singular art thereby to intangle Souereignes and subiects in the obedience of that predominant See and to keepe them vnder the captiuitie of the Triple Crowne Therefore the Pope doth greatly applaud his owne felicitie when Princes insnared with the loue or terrified with the greatnesse or oppressed by the power of this Apostaticall Seat will humbly sue vnto him for Dispensations or accept such gracious fauours kindly at his hands whereby hee gaineth ground vpon them still to keepe them more securely within the obedience of the Church which they shall not dare to offend without the perill of their liues and states And now since this Romish ware is Spirituall and of the Church and for soules not temporall not of the Citie and for this life I conclude the second proofe of my assertion namely that this Babylon in my Text is the Church of Rome or Papall Rome or Ecclesiasticall Rome wherein the greatest Monarch doth reigne next vnder the King of Heauen aboue all the Kings of the Earth as we know by their owne pretenses challenges doctrines and vsurpations in this behalfe And so I proceed vnto a new and the third proofe of my said assertion THIRDLY therefore I proue my assertion to be true because the whole World as the Iesuites say perhaps they meane the Romane World according to the phrase of Scripture Luc. 2.1 and the sense of the ancient Fathers or some great part thereof and specially in Europe shall bee vnder the gouernment of Rome and so she shall make a generall communication of her Idolatry vnto the same Now in this great dependencie of the World vpon Babylon and in this vniuersall reference of Nations vnto her how can this be verified of the Citie How should the Citie arriue vnto such a large Dominion in the World and specially in so little a time as the Babylonians doe prescribe You haue heard the difficultie proposed lately by Ribera himselfe and how hee resolueth it by a poore coniecture But the truth is cleere and easily seene where God doth open the eye namely that Rome had this generall Dominion once in and by her Imperiall State not onely vnder the Emperours succeeding Iulius Caesar but while the dignitie of Rome remayned in the Senate and the authoritie in the people During this Imperiall State Rome receiued Idolatry from all Nations as Leo sometimes Bishop of Rome doth speake Serm. 1. in Natal Petri Pauli and the ciuill Stories of Liuie Plutarch and others doe sufficiently declare how ambitious rather then zealous or how senselesse rather then religious the old Ethnicall Rome was in bringing forreine Gods and extraneous Idolatrie into her bosome for the publike honour and safetie of that blinded Citie Therefore Rome had once her Pantheon a Temple of all the Gods conuerted since into a Church of