THE ACCOUNT AUDITED Or the Date of the Resurrection OF THE WITNESSES Pretended to be demonstrated by M. Cary a Minister Examined by a Friend to the Truth and Ministry LUKE 21.36 Watch ye and pray alwayes that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe and to stand before the Son of man LONDON Printed for T.R. E. M. in the yeere 1649. The Account Audited OR The date of the RESURRECTION of the WITNESSES pretended to be demonstrated by M. Cary a Minister WHen I first saw the Title Page of M. Cary's Book posted up professing a clear demonstration that the Resurrection of the Witnesses spoken of in Revel 11. was accomplisht I was glad to see a Treatise of that nature come forth partly as supposing that the Lord might have brought to publike view some more satisfactory Exposition of that difficult Scripture then had yet seen the light but chiefly as conceiving some hopes that peradventure the sad season might be already past for the slaying of the Witnesses the neer approach whereof is much feared by many of the Saints And as naturally men are apt to believe things to be as they desire to have them so did I finde more willingnesse in my mind to dispose me to close with the Authors judgement then I found reason in that Book to perswade me to it for when that Treatise came to my hands I read it over with much greedinesse and expectation till I came to that place where the commencement with the expiring of the time for the Witnesses prophesying in sack-cloth is stated which if rightly placed would have been the Key to unlock the Controversies of the Text but being misplaced serv'd only to check my expectation for if specious allusions of which the Au hor is not destitute could have cleared the text without the right clue of Chronology the taske had been long since performed by divers others who not only with as good colour for the phrase of the context but also with much morâ— exâ—ctnesse for the Historicall application have published their conjectures upon it This Author professes to go a way different from all others for in the Epistle to the Reader I finde these words That which I chiefly aime at in this discourse is that which is not yet printed by any other and whether any other have yet observed it I know not And yet so confident is this Female-Minister M. Cary in her sole invention as if there might not be so much as roome left to doubt whether she had performed her undertaking for thus I finde in the Post-script that the Witnesses are indeed slaine and risen and do stand upon their feet is altogether unquestionable because as appears by the foregoing discourse this prophesie of the slaying of the Witnesses and of their rising c. is in every particular jota and tittle of it most exactly accomplished the like confidence she discovers in the Epistle Dedicatory and in the Preamble and in divers other passages of the Book And truly it is pity that a woman of her parts should build with so much confidence upon so rotten a foundation the discovery whereof is the drift of these following lines As there are many things in that Book which are good and of which a Christian improvement may be made so are there divers passages both in her exposition and also in her application which are liable to just exception yet that part concerning the time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses is that which I purposely chose to debate 1. Because the Authors maine confidence lies there 2. Because most of the other mistakes in that Treatise will stand or fall with the date of the Resurrection as being either strained to comply with it or drawn by inference from it 3. Because the ordinary Reader may be most apt to passe over those passages of the Book without search 1. through credulity not suspecting what the Author obtrudes for granted or 2. for want of skill in ciphring not being able to cast up the Accompts of years and dayes mentioned by the Author or 3. through want of History not being furnisht with such Books as handle the matters of fact which the Author relates which things as I have diligently searcht into for my own satisfaction concerning the time stated in M. Cary's Book so I judged it my duty having seen the Authors mistakes in that point to publish briefly somewhat to keep others from being carried away in those mistakes That the way of my proceeding may be the more clear I shall desire the Christian Reader to take notice of thus much the time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses which is the matter in difference between us is that of which we read Revel 11. ver 11. in these words And after three dayes and an half the Spirit of life from God intred into them and they stood upon their feet M. Cary in her exposition upon this verse in the 100. page of her Book writes thus The fifth day of April 1645. did the Witnesses the Saints stand upon their feet having a Spirit of life from God put upon them This is the Authors assertion whose ground I shall recite and examine Only by the way if any should ask what is meant by the two Witnesses Wilson in his Dictionary for the Revelation resolvs it in these words two Witnesses a competent number of faithful Preachers which testifie against the errors of Antichrist and for the Doctrine of Christ thus he and this so farre as I can learne is the most received interpretation for my own part though I will not now engage to determine what sort of persons the Witnesses are yet I shall acquaint the Reader with this that by Patrick Forbes in his Commentary upon the Revelations page 88. is hinted to us as also it is by others though M. Cary takes no notice of it and indeed it makes not for her purpose viz. that Elias and Moses those two which appeared with Christ at his transfiguration Matth. 17. are held forth as the types of the two Witnesses and thus much is intimated to us in the description of the Witnesses in Revel 11. v. 5 6. which I shall thus make out to you by comparing Scripture with Scripture 1. Elias is hinted in verse 5. in these words If any man will hurt them fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies and if any man will hurt them he must in this manner be kild This description hath reference to Elias who also is called Elijah thus much is clear from 2 Kings 1.10 And Elijah answered and said to the Captaine of fifty if I be a man of God then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty and there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty Luke 9.54 and when his Disciples James and John saw this they said Lord wilt thou that we command fire to come downe from heaven and
consume them even as Elias did Elias also is hinted in ver 6. in these words these have power to shut heaven that is raine not in the dayes of their prophesie that this description hath reference to Elijah will be easily gathered from these texts 1 Kings 17.1 Elijah the Tishbits who was of the inhabitants of Gilead said unto Ahab as the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand there shall not be dew nor raine these years but according to my words James 5.17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not raine and it rained not in the earth for the space of three yeers and six months 2. Moses is hinted in the following part of the 6. verse in these words and have power over waters to turne them to blood that this is spoken with reference to Moses is cleare from Exodus 7.17 Behold I will smite with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river and they shall be turned to blood Exod. 17.5 the Lord said to Moses go on before the people and take with thee of the Elders of Israel and thy rod wherewith thou smotest the river take in thy hand Moses also is hinted in the next expression of the 6. verse in these words and to smite the earth with all plagues that this is spoken with reference to Moses is cleer from Deut. 34.10 11. There arose not a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face in all the signes and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land The variety of Plagues wherwith Moses smote the earth is more at large declared in the History in Exod. to which I refer the Reader And now I shall give you the account which M. Cary laies down to make good her opinion that on the fifth of April 1645. was the day of the Resurrection of the Witnesses which that I may deale fairly both with the Author and the Reader take thus at large in her own words Page 81. and 82. that term of time which the Beast was to continue and the Saints to be trodden under foot and to prophesie in seack-cloth is a thousand two hundred and threescore yeers as appears pag. 62. Now this 1260 yeeres being added to the yeere wherein the beast received his devilish power and seat and great authority in the reigne of Phocas the Emperour which was as say Historians in the year 404. I say adding to this 1260. it makes up 1664. and this yeere 1664. should be the yeere wherein the Witnesses should finish their giving testimony clothed in sackcloth if this 1260. yeers should be computed according to the rule of Astronomers allowing 365. dayes to a yeer and to every fourth yeer adding a day more but we finde that the holy Ghost in this prophesie not observing that rule doth allow but 360. dayes to a yeere and according to that rule 1260. dayes to three yeers and an half and therefore in computing the time of the Witnesses prophesying in sackcloth we are to observe the rule which the holy Ghost here laies down to allow 360. dayes to a yeer and so the time of the Witnesses prophesying in sackcloth is to expire eighteen yeers and almost an half sooner then as by the other account and so the beginning of the yeer 1645. was the time c. And page 98. and 99. on the 23. day of October 1641. did the beast begin the war in Ireland and he continued overcoming the Witnesses the Saints of Jesus Christ in Ireland and in England untill the fifth day of April 1645. and from the 23. of October 1641. unto the fifth of April 1645. there is just a thousand two hundred and sixty dayes which according to the Scripture account though not according to the heathen account is three yeers and a half compleat and when this three yeers and a half were expired which was I say on the fifth of April 1645. then was the Resurrection of the Witnesses for they having lain dead for three yeers and a half before then the Spirit of life from God entred into them and the yeer 1645. as it is the yeer wherein the Witnesses were raised from the dead so it is the yeer wherein the terme of time in which they were to prophesie in sackcloth and to be trodden under foot was to expire and the yeer also wherein the prevailing power of the Beast over the Saints was to expire as is made evident in the opening of the 2 verse page 60. c. Now that on the fifth day of April 1645. the Saints Witnesses and Servants of Jesus Christ were raised up and that then a Spirit of life from God entred into them appears thus on the fifth day of April 1645 the Parliaments Army who had stood for the defence of the Saints against the Beast and had been before that time exceedingly overcome and were brought into a very low condition at that time being new modelled and having a great many precious Saints in it both eminent Commanders and inferior Officers and common Souldiers and being then put under the conduct of Sir Thomas Fairfax they then began to march against the enemy and then had a Spirit of life from God that entred into them c. Upon this account the Author is confident that her new tenet is sufficiently demonstrated to which I enter my dissent and now come to show you upon what grounds I am unsatisfied with what I have transcribed out of that Book and shall desire the ingenuous Reader to weigh the following exceptions which I shall lay down according to the order wherein the things I except against are laid downe 1. Exception The Author tels us page 81 and 82. That Historians say the yeere 40â— was the yeere wherein the Beast received his devilish power and seat in the reigne of Phocas the Emperour This being the first root of the Account deserves throughly to be examined as being of greatest influence into the present controversie I shall therefore debate it fully wherein we might have made a more short cut if the Author had told us who are those Historians and where they say so I have upon this occasion perused variety of Historians but all that I have met with do make the History of Phocas at least 200. y. later In the fourth Book of ancient History which out of several Authors treats of the Roman Emperours for above 700. yeeres after Christ I finde but one Emperour Phocas mentioned and no other of that or the like name concerning him I there read thus That Mauricius the Emperour being by dreame forewarned of a conspiracie against him by Phocas a Commander of some forces in the borders of Sarmatia this Mauricius sent for his son in Law Philip and acquainted him therewith Philip wondring at it told the
Emperour that he knew the man namely Phocas to be one that durst not attempt such a designe as being too fearfull though wicked enough to do it to which Mauricius replyed that he had the more reason to take heed of him because those which are fearfull when once they assay wicked enterprises know not how to give over but act with the more cruelty so it proved in the event for this Phocas murdered the Emperour Mauricius and his three sons and then being chosen Emperour by that wicked Army whose leader he was did at the instance of Pope Boniface the third appoint the seat of Rome to be the head of all Churches Szegedin in his Looking-Glasse of the Popes writes thus Boniface the third was by Phocas the Emperour who was an adulterer parricide and Tyrant confirmed chief and supreme over all Bishops Doctor Favour in his book of antiquity p. 436. writes thus This Mystery of iniquity in the dayes of Phocas the Emperour that had murthered his Master Mauricius and usurped his crown began to work more strongly For Boniface Bishop of Rome obtained of Phocas that the Church of Rome should be the head of all Churches This is the substance of what Historians speak concerning the preeminence of the Roman Bishops obtained in the reigne of Phocas and in this we agree but the difference lies concerning the time which M. Cary affirms to be in the yeere 404. and I finde to be in the yeere 604. or rather a little after for though Phocas might have begun his reign in 604. yet the donation of the supremacy to Boniface might well be after that yeere which I the rather assent to because our industrious Countrey man Barns the Martyr tels us in his Treatise of the lives of the Popes that Sabinian predecessour to Boniface lived under Phocas the Emperour and for this he cites Platina and Volaterranus and Pareus also in his Marrow of Ecclesiasticall History makes Phocas's grant of the supremacy to Boniface the third to be after the first yeer of his Empire I shall now for the satisfaction of the Reader set down what I have met with in other Authors word for word with directions to the places where they may turn to them which take as followes In the state of the Church translated out of French into English page 183. In the yeer 604. Phocas after he had wickedly slain his Master was chosen by the unlucky Army whereof he had charge a very slave of covetousnesse who handled secret matters with Courtiers after the manner of the Persians and sold the offices of Magistrates and judgements dearly loved such as tormented the people by rapine and extortion this is he who first ordain'd that Rome should be the chief of all Churches In the Treatise of the lives of the Popes written in Spanish by Cyprian Valera and translated into English pag. 34. In the 605. year died Sabinianus whose successor Boniface the third being Patriach of Rome was made Pope by means of Phocas the Emperour who was an adulterer murtherer and tyrant a murtherer I call him for that to make himselfe Emperor as he did he murthered Mauricius his Lord and Christian Emperor In Morneys Mystery of Iniquity pag. 117. Boniface the third in the yeer 605. to effect that which his predecessors had projected took his advantage seeing the Emperour Phocas on the one side displeased with Cyriacus Patriarch of Constantinople because he would not approve of his murders and on the other jealous the hatred of his dealings might happily cause Italy to revolt from under him and thereupon he asked and by the proffers which he made of his good service obtained of him that the Church of Rome should thence forward be the head of all other Churches and the Bishop of Rome should be called the Soveraigne and Universall Bishop In Heylins Microcosmus the fifth Edition pag 179. Phocas having killed the Emperour Mauricius his wife and children An. 604. to assure himself of Italy ready to revolt from so barbarous a tyrant made Boniface the third Universall Bishop and head of the Church before this time the Bishops of Constantinople and Ravenna did often dispute with the Bishops of Rome for superiority the seat of Religion commonly following the seat of the Empire and the Bishop of Constantinople prevailed so far that with the permission of Mauricius the Emperour he took upon him the title of Universall Patriarch As for the yeer 404. which M. Cary builds upon for the History of Phocas the Emperour and his donation of the supremacy to the Church of Rome I shall say this farther that it may appear to any that have opportunity to search into Histories that there was no such Emperour as Phocas in or neere that time but the Emperours at that time were according to Historians Arcadius and Honorias To cleere this yet more fully I shall give you a Catalogue of the Emperours as I finde it in Heylins Microcosmus Edition the first pag. 88. Italy continued a m mber of the Empire till the yeer 399. in which Theodosius the great divided the Empire to Arcadius his elder son he gave the Eastern to Honorius the younger the Westerne part of this Monarchy The Westerne Emperors in the yeer 399 Honorius 458 Severianus 4â—5 Valentinianus 462 Anthemius 454 Maximianus 467 Orestes 473 Augustulus the last that ever kept his daily residence in Italy a thing ominous that Augustus should establish and Augustulus ruinate that spacious Monarchy And pag. 219. the Constantinopolitan Emperours in the yeere 399 Arcadius 412 Theodosius the 2d 454 Martianus 461 Leo 478 Zeno 494 Anastasius 521 Justinus 528 Justinianus 566 Justinus the 2d 577 Tiberius 584 Mauritius 604 Phocas who made the Bishops of Rome Popes and heads of the Church As I have thus by a List of the Roman Emperours proved that Phocas his donation to Boniface the third could not be neer the y. 404. So I might in the next place shew the like by the List of the Roman Bishops for Boniface the first of that name Bishop of R me is placed by Historians after the yeer 404. and there were above twenty Bishops of Rome successively between Boniface the first and Boniface the third as may appear by this Catalogue Boniface the first 1 Caelestinus 2 Sixtus 3. 3 Leo 4 Hilarius 5 Simplicius 6 Foelix 3. 7 Gâ—lasius 8 Anastasius 2 9 Symmichus 10 Hormisda 11 John 1 12 Foelix 4 13 Boniface the second 14 John 2 15 Agapetus 16 Sylverius 17 Vigilius 18 Pelagius 1 19 John 3 20 Benedict 21 Pelagius 2 22 Gregory the great 23 Sabinianus Boniface the third in whose time Phocas gave the cheifdome to the Roman Seat Having thus abundantly discovered the grosse Error which is the foundation of M. Cary's reckoning who pretends to calculate the Resurrection of the Witnesses to a very day I shall leave it to the head of prudence with the heart of charity to consider whence so grosse a mistake of 200 yeers could arise