was burnt in the market place at Chester by the appointment of my father then Bishoppe there which was made with such a deuise that if one standing behind did pull a certaine string which was in the back part thereof it would moue the hand as if it blessed the people But that it may appeare that in the Church of Rome were lying miracles and that the Popish people were giuen ouer to beleeue lyes I will for a taste recite a fewe examples out of their owne records Their Golden Legend so called because as gold excelleth all other mettals so that Booke * Viz. in lying excelleth all other bookes in the inuentiō of the body of S. Fremin the martyr reporteth that after the Sunne had miraculously sent his beames through a stone wall vpon the graue and thereupon they had digged there to find the body there issued thence such a sweet smel as they weened they had beene in Paradise Which odour spread it selfe not onely through the citie of Amiens where the body lay but also vnto diuerse other cities The sweetnesse whereof as it moued the people of diuerse cities to bring their oblations to this glorious Saint so it cured some a farre off as the Lord of Baugency from their diseases But when this body was taken vp and caried in the citie of Amiens straunge wonders were wrought For then that I may vse the wordes of the English Legend the elemēts them moued by the miracle of this Saint The snow that was that time great on the earth was turned into powder and dust by the heat that was then and the yse that hung on the trees became flowers and leaues and the medowes about Amiens flowred became greene And the Sunne which by his nature should goe lowe that day ascended as high as shee is on S. Iohns day at noone in the s◅mmer And as men bare the body of this Saint the trees enclined and worshipped the body all maner sicke men of what malady they had they receiued health in the inuention of the blessed body of S. Fremin c. In the Legend of S. Patricke the Irish Saint by whose praier forsooth all venemous beastes were banished out of Ireland for you may not thinke it was so before wee read and reading smile that on a time a sheepe being stollen hee admonished all the people that whosoeuer had stollen it should within seuen daies restore it to the owner The 7. daies being expired the sheepe was not restored Then saith the Legend S. Patricke commaunded by the vertue of God that the sheepe should bleate and crie in the belly of him that had eaten it And so it happened that in the presence of all the people the sheepe cried and bleated in the belly of him that had stollen it 7. In the Legend of the Annunciation of our Lady wee are told of a noble Knight who betooke himselfe vnto an Abbey and because hee was vnlearned there was a Master assigned vnto him But either hee was so dull or the inuenter of the tale so doltish that in a long time hee could learne no more but these two words Aue Maria. Which words as he alwaies had in his mouth whiles he was aliue so they grew out of his mouth when hee was dead For these wordes saith the Legend he had so sore imprinted in his heart that alwaies hee had them in his mouth wheresoeuer hee was At the laste hee died and was buried in the Church-yarde of the brethren It happened after that vpon his graue their grew a right faire Flowre de lyce and in euery flower was written in letters of gold Aue Maria. Of which miracle all the brethren were marueyled and they did open the sepulchre and found that the roote of this Flowredelyce came out of the mouth of the said Knight and anou they vnderstood that our Lord would haue him honoured for the great deuotion he had to say these wordes Aue Maria. Likewise in the booke of the conformities of S. Francis which Booke I could wishe were more common that Popery might appeare vnto all in her colours there is a miracle recorded for the proofe of transubstantiation that on a time frier Frauncis saying Masse did finde a spider in the Chalice which hee would not cast out but drunke it vp with the blood Afterward rubbing his thigh scratching where it itched the spider came whole out of his thigh without any harme to either But if the bread and wine after consecration bee turned into the very body and bloud of Christ then more maruellous and I am sure more true is the story of victor the Pope and * An. 1154. William Archbishop of Yorke and Henry of Lucemburgh the Emperour all which were poisoned the two first with that which was in the Chalice and the Emperour with the hoste which a Monke had poisoned And to these many more worthy miracles of the Church of Rome may be added But you-will say that howsoeuer their are many miracles wherein the Church of Rome glorieth yet notwithstanding those speciall miracles which are assigned to Antichrist in the Scriptures haue not beene wrought by the Pope or any of his followers 8. This is indeed the third thing which Bellarmine obserueth that whereas there are three examples of Antichrist his miracles specified in the Scriptures yet none of them haue bene wrought either by the Pope or any other in the church of Rome But I answere that of these three miracles one agreeth not to Antichrist as shal be shewed hereafter and the Lib. 2. cap. 15. other two agree to the Pope For howsoeuer Bellarmine and other Papists from these groundes doe argue that the Pope The authour of the Wardword is not Antichrist yet from thence may the contrary be gathered The former of these miracles is that Antichrist or at least his ministers shall make fire come downe from heauen The second that hee shall cause the image of the beast to Apoc. 13. 13. speake These two miracles Bellarmine vnderstandeth literally and from thence argueth thus Antichrist or his ministers shall make fire come downe from heauen and shall cause the image of the beast to speake But neither the Pope of Rome at any time nor any of his followers haue caused fire to come downe from heauen nor yet made the image of the beast to speake therefore the Pope is not Antichrist The argument is grounded on Apoc. 13. 13. literally vnderstood For such is the absurde peruersenesse of the Papistes that in other partes of Scripture which are simple and playne they doe hunt after mysticall and allegoricall sences but in this Booke of the Reuelation which is moste mysticall and allegoricall without all reason they insiste in the literall sence As for example in that thirtenth chapter where the holy Ghost speaketh of the marke of the beast which the followers of Antichrist should receiue on their foreheads on their right hāds they grossely vnderstande
Of Gregory they say thus in their praiers Hic nos saluet à peccatis vt in coelo cum beatis possimus quiescere That is Let him saue vs from our sinnes that in heauen wee may rest with the blessed Of Thomas Becket th'archbishop of Canterbury because he died in the Popes quarrell which like a rebell he maintained against his soueraigne king Henry the second they say full deuoutly Tu per Thomae sanguinem quem pro te impendit Fac nos Christe scandere quò Thomas ascendit That is By the blood of Thomas which he for thee did spend Make vs Christ to come whither Thomas did ascend Of Peter and Paule Concede vt amboâ—…uÌ„ meritis aeternitatis gloriam consequamur Graunt that by the meries of them Ex. Rom. Breuiar both we may obtaine eternall glory To Mary the blessed virgin whom they idolatrously cal our Ladie and the Queene of heauen they pray thus O vnica spes miserorum libera nos Ex compassionib Mariae ab omni malo O thou that art the onely hope of them that are in miserie deliuer vs from all euill And elsewhere they call her Desperatorum spem vnicam peccatorum salvatricem Innoc. in orat de 300. dier indulgent In orat de 5. vnbâ—…rib The onely hope of them which are in despaire and the Sauiour of sinners Againe Mediatrix Dei hominum salus spes in the sperantium O thou the mediatrix betwixt God and men the saluation and hope of them that hope in thee And somewhere it is said O regina poli mater gratissima proli Speâ—…ere me noli me commendo tibi soli O Queene of heauen mother most deare to thy sonne do not thou despise me vnto thee alone I coÌ„mend me And againe Cum nulla spes sit altera nisi tu virgo puerpera In missali Paristensi patris parens filia cui me reconcilia Seeing there is no other hope besides thee O virgin mother the mother and daughter of-thy father to whom I pray thee reconcile me And to conclude for innumerable such speeches might be produced they say O foelix puerpera nostra pians scelera Ibid. iure matris impera redemptori O happy mother which doest purge away our sins by thy motherly authority commaunde our redeemer So that sometimes they doe ioyne vnto our Sauiour Christ other mediatours not onely of intercession but also of redemption which indeede is presupposed in the former sometimes also they exclude our Sauiour Innocent in orat in laudem virginis Christ when as they say that Mary purgeth away the sins of all the faithfull and that she and no other is the onely hope of them that are in misery and despaire And not to speake of their blasphemous psalter wherein they turne that which is spoken in the Psalmes either of God or Christ to the virgin Mary some of them say that whereas the kingdome of Christ consisteth in two things iustice and mercie Christ reserueth iustice vnto himself mercie he hath giuen vp to his mother And therefore one saith A foro iustitiae Dei appellundum est ad Bernardinus in Marâ—…al forum misericordiae matris eius From the court of Gods iustice we must appeale to the court of his mothers mercy 10 As touching the kingdome of Christ what doth not the Pope oppugne in it The realme and kingdome of Christ is his church which he ruleth by his spirit inwardly and outwardly by his word which is both his scepter and his lawe and also by such officers and ministers as hee hath ordained both in the church and common wealth The church and people of God this sonne of perdition seeketh to destroy First by killing the bodies of the true seruants of Christ that refuse his marke in respect whereof hee may most worthilie bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or abaddon that is a destroyer his church the whore Apoc. 9. of Babylon which is drunke with the bloud of Saints and of the Martyrs of Iesus as shall be shewen in the second booke and seauenth chapter And as hee killeth the bodies of those that will not receiue his marke so hee murdereth the soules of them that submit theÌ„selues vnto him poysoning them with his damnable errours and making them drunke with the wine of his fornications after which they shall drinke of the cuppe of Apoc. 14. 9. Gods wrath Now in making hauocke of mens soules he taketh such liberty vnto him as that if he should draw with him innumerable soules into hell yet no man may say vnto him Domine cur ita facis Syr why do you so And in the Canon Si papa dist 40. it is sayd If the Pope do cary with him innumerable Glossâ—…iur caâ—… peoples by troupes into hell no man in this world may presume to reproue his fault because he is to iudge all and to be iudged of none vnlesse he be found to erre from the faith which the Pope as he is Pope cannot doe Hereunto Bellarmine aunswereth that the words of this Canon bee not the words of any Pope Cupers pag. 18. num 12. but of Boniface the Archbishop of Mentz Yea but say I the Lib. 3. de pont Rom. cap. 21. Pope hath so approued this speeche being deliuered by another as that hee hath canonized it and appointed it for one of the canons of his law Which is more then if it had bin spoken by himselfe But Bellarmine replyeth If this sentence of Boniface be not true why do you obiect it if it be true why do you not receiue it I aunswere because it being not onely false but blasphemous also and Antichristian is notwithstanding by the Pope authorized for a Canon in his lawe Moreouer one of the chiefe works of Gods spirit the spirit of adoption which is speciall faith apprehending the righteousnesse of Christ to our iustification hee laboureth to extinguish in the hearts of men calling it presumption acknowledging no other faith Iam. 2. but such as is common to the diuells which consisteth onely of knowledge and assent and yet not requiring that in the lay people whome vnder the name of implicite faith hee nuzleth in palpable ignorance and leadeth them beeing blind as Elizeus did the Aramites euen whether it pleaseth 2. King 6. him The pure wheat of Gods word hee suppresseth and keepeth from the people in an vnknowne tongue and see deth them with the mast of their Legends and festiualls and lyes I should haue sayd liues of Saints The lawes of Christ he partly dispenseth with and partly abrogateth making them of none effect by his owne constitutions and traditions In the church in steede of the offices and functions ordayned by Christ hee hath created a new priesthoode erected an hierarchy consecrated orders and religions of his owne In the common wealth hee absolueth the people from their obedience to their princes if they shal displease him And it is a
45. 46. Bellarm. de concil l. 2. c. 17. de pot Rom. lib. 2. c. 31. Ioan. de turrecre sum de eccl lib. 2. c. 27. cap. 80. R. Cupers pag. 34. num 1. Bonifac. 8. c. quoniaÌ„ de immunit in 6. Panormit For it is not sit that the Pope should reseÌ„ble Christ who now is glorified in heauen as he was conteÌ„ned but as the Pastor of the whole world supernal heaueÌ„ly as he shall come to be our iudge to whom it is certain that all men of necessity must obey For it is euident that the worke of redeÌ„ption being accoÌ„plished the power of Christ was extended as well in heauen as in earth Mat. 28. All power is giueÌ„ vnto me in heaueÌ„ in earth Which power is translated vnto his Vicar c. In respect of his office therfore he is the foundation the head the husband the Lord of the vniuersal church in vnction Christ is therfore to be called a R. Cupers de eccl Christus Domini the Lords Christ. Now if it be obiected that Christ alone is the head b Eph. t. 21. 22. 4. 15. 5. 23. Col. 1. 28. of the Catholike Church and so of the c Eph. 5. 24. Ioan. 3. 29. 2. Cor. 11. 2. 1. Cor. 3. 11. 12. rest answere is made that d R. Cupers de eccl pag. 128. num 36. Christ and the Pope in the Church are vnuÌ„ idem caput one and the same head and doe make one and the same consistorie e Idem pag. 30. num 8. for it were a monstrous thing that the Church should haue two heads And to the same purpose saith a f 1. de turrecreâ—…at summ de eccle lib. 2. c. 26. Cardinall of Rome The iudgement of the Pope is reputed the iudgement of God and his sentence and his consistory the consistory of God and therefore Christ and the Pope are not properly two heads but one as Boniface the eight declareth In extrav c. vnam sanctam But to speake more particularly of his offices For prophecie hee is the vniuersall or oecumenicall Bishop and Pastor of Pastors Orat. Cornelij episcopâ—… 〈◊〉 in concil â—…rident sub Pau. lo 3. the Ordinary or Bishop of the whole world Who is oom a light into the world but men haue loued darkenesse more then light who hath the supreme authority of interpreting the scriptures who is the supreame iudge in controuersies of religion hauing De translat epise c. quanto in gloss an heauenly arbitrement and as it were a diuine and infallible iudgement who is aboue 1 Decret Greg. l. 1. de elect 〈◊〉 oâ—… c. significaâ—… Concil Florent Tâ—…dent generall councels for 2 R. Cupers de â—…ccl pag. 31. num 23. Pigâ—… lib. 6. c. 13. although in a generall councell the vniuersall Church is represented in Cupers pag. 125 nâ—… 9. so much that nothing is greater then the Councell Tamen Papa eidem omnimoda supereminet authoritate Notwithstanding Capâ—… sol 23. C. de sumâ—… trinit l. 1. in f. the Pope surpasseth the same in all maner authority whose iudgement is to bee preferred before the iudgement of the whole worlde insomuch that if the whole worlde should determine against the Pope wee must stande to his sentence for so they say 4 R. Cupers pag. 11 〈◊〉 18. Papae sententia totius orbis plâ—…to prefertuâ—… And againe 5 1. de turrecrem lib. 3. c. 64. Si totus mundus sentiret or as the 6 In c. nemo 9. q 3. glosse readeth sentenâ—…iaret contra Papam videtur quòd sentenâ—…ae Papae standum esset vt 24. q. 1. haec est fides haec gloss 7 Baldus who is of greater authority then all the Saints and in respect thereof is of 8 1. de turrecrem summ lib. 2 cap. 26. great perfection then the whole body of the Church besides But it is not sufficient for this Antichrist to preferre himselfe aboue the whole Church which is the body of Christ vnlesse also hee sought in respect of the propheticall office to match himselfe with Christ the head of the church yea and in some respects to ouermatch him 9. He seeketh to match himselfe with Christ 1. in taking vpon him to make newe articles of Eaith and to propound doctrines not contayned in the Scriptures as necessarie vnto saluation 2. In making fiue Sacraments more then Christ appointed some whereof hee preferreth aboue baptisme and those two which Christ hath ordained he hath so altered and chaunged as that the one is scarcely the other not at all the same And whereas Christ ordained the Sacrament of his body and blood in two kindes they not withstanding his institution will haue it administred to the people but in one kind For so it is professed in the Councell of Constance that although Christ administred this venerable sacrament â—…ss 13. vnto his Disciples vnder both kinds of bread and wine and although in the primitiue church this sacrament was receiued of the faithfull in both kinds notwithstanding this custome of receiuing the bread only was vpoÌ„ good reason brought in for the auoiding of some dangers and scandales 3. In making their owne deuises decretals traditioÌ„s of equal authority with the word of God Innocentius 3. comanded that the words of the canon Ioan. Bal in eius vita of the Masse should be held equal to the words of the gospell Agatho the Pope decreed that all the constitutions of the See apostolick are to be receiued as authorized by the diuine voice D stinct 19. c. sic omnes Ioan. de turrecrem lib. 2. c. 108. of Peter himselfe And in the same distinction this is the title or argument of one chapter Inter canonic as Scripturas decretales epistolae connumerantur that is Among the Canonicall scriptures the decretall epistles are numbred Which in Dâ—…st 19. c. in canonicâ—… the chapter it selfe is absurdly proued out of Augustine misalledged And as touching traditions whereby are meant De doctr Christi l. 2. c. 8. all points of popery which as themselues confesse are not contained in the written worde the holy Councell of Trent hath ordained that they are to bee receiued and honoured Pari piâ—…tatis affectu ac reuerentia With as great affection of Sess. 4. pietie and reuerence as the written worde of God Which decree when as a certaine Bishop misliked Ceruinus the Popes Iacobus Nachiantes Clodiae follae episcopus Bal. in vita Marcellâ—… secundi legate who afterwardes was Pope called Marcellus 2. caused him to bee expelled out of the Councell And lastly least he should seeme in any thing to be inferiour to Christ our Prophet hee confirmeth his doctrines by miracles as they call them 10. And thus the Pope matcheth himselfe with Christ our Prophet let vs now consider how he aduaunceth himselfe aboue him Which he manifestly doth in preferring his owne and the churches authority aboue
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