shew vs in what this answere is either false or ridiculous for is it probable that Illyricus would be so mad as to affirme that Christ was subiect to the preceptes of the law of Moyses conteyned in the Scripture and abrogated by Christ as Bellarmine sheweth and consequently when Illyricus in his Maior or proposition affirmeth that Christ subiected himselfe to the Scriptures must it not needes be vnderstood only of the Prophesies of which notwithstanding it is also false as Bellarmine proueth when in his minor or assumption he saith that the Pope affirmeth that he can dispense against an Apostle or Euangelist make those things which are right to be wicked is it not also euident that he speaketh only of precepts Wherefore to me it seemeth also euident that M. Downam is ridiculous at least if not a false fellow to answere in this sort and that he most impudently called that not worth the answerering which in his owne cōscience M Downam Impudency he knew to be vnanswerable But yet I am cōtent that the Reader shall iudg how far he deserueth this censure that he may mitigate it if it seeme too sharp rigorous THE FIFTENTH CHAPTER Of Antichrists Myracles OF the Myracles of Antichrist sayth Bellarmine there are three things in the Scriptures first that he shall do many Myracles Secondly what manner of Myracles they shall be Thirdly there are three examples set downe That Antichrist shall worke myracles the Apostle teacheth 2. Thess 2. VVhose cōming is according to the operation of Sathan in signes and wonders and our Lord in the Ghospell Matth. 24. They shall giue signes and great wōders so that the very elect shall be led into errour if it be possible They shall giue sayth he not he shall giue because not only Antichrist but also his Mynisters shall worke signes In so much that S. Gregory sayth lib. 32. moral cap. 12. that the very tortures of the holy Martyrs shall then worke wonders and signes Finally Apoc. 13. And he did many signes in the sight of men What manner of signes they shall be S. Paul explicateth 2. Thess 2. saying in one word that they shall be lying In all power and lying signes and wonders Now they shal be lying signes in respect of all causes the finall efficient matter and forme for the end of those myracles shal be to shew that Antichrist is God and the Messias which will be a most pernicious lye S. Chrysostome vpon this place teacheth that those myracles are called lying because they shall induce to a lye And S. Ambrose also vpon this place teacheth that the end of Antichrists myracles shal be to proue himselfe God as our Christ demonstrated his Diuinity with true myracles Secondly they are called lying signes from the efficient for the principall efficient cause shal be the Father of lyes that is the Diuell for so the Apostle saith whose comming is according to the operation of Sathan And all the Fathers affirme that Antichrist shall be a notable Sorcerer yea that the Diuell from his conceptiō or at least from his Infancy shall dwell in Antichrist worke signes by him S. Cyril cateches 15. hauing said that Antichrist shal be a Sorcerer and furnished with Witchcrafts Inchauntments and euill Arts sheweth that his myracles are called lying because they shall proceed from the Father of lyes Many of thē shal be also lying in respect of the matter because they shal be phantasticall and vayne illusions as S. Cyril in the place alleaged and Theodoret vpon this place do teach for he shall seeme to rayse the dead and heale the sicke but they shall be the illusions of the Diuell not true resurrections or recoueryes for which cause Apoc. 13. Antichrist is said to do myracles in the sight of Men that is apparent and deluding the sight of Men not solide and true as Arethas noted vpon that place Finally some of them shal be lying in respect of the forme although true in respect of the matter for sometyme he shall worke true things but which shall not exceed the strength of all nature and therfore they shall not be true myracles formally for they are only called true myracles which can be done by God alone that is which haue not naturall causes neyther hidden nor manifest and therfore are not only wonderfull in the sight of Men but also in the sight of Diuells and Angells But all Antichrists myracles shall haue naturall causes but vnknowne to Men. There are three examples of Antichrists myracles put Apoc. 13. one that he shall make fire come downe from Heauen The second that he shall make the Image of the Beast to speake The third that he shall faigne himselfe to dye and rise againe For which miracle chiefly almost all the world shall haue him in admiration Of which miracles the two former shal be true in respect of the matter not in respect of the forme but the third in no manner But it may be obiected against this that all these Miracles cannot be attributed to Antichrist for S. Iohn in that place bringeth in two beastes one which hath 7. heades and one of whose heads seemed to dye and to rise againe The other lesse who made fier to come downe from Heauen and the Image to speake If therefore Antichrist shal be the former Beast the two myracles of the fire and Image are not attributed to him If he shal be the latter beast the myracle of the Resurrection cannot be attributed to him I answere that the former beast signifieth either the Roman Empire or the multitude of the wicked as we said before and one that is the chiefest of his heads which seemed to die and rise againe is Antichrist for Antichrist shal be the supreme and last head of the wicked and he is the last King who shall hold the Roman Empire yet without name of Roman Emperour And that this faigned myracle of the Resurrection is doubtlesse to be atributed to Antichrist Primasius Beda Haymo Richardus Rupertus and Anselmus vpon this place doe teach and S. Gregory lib. 11. ep 3. which is to be noted against Lyranus who expoundeth this of a certaine Sonne of Cosdroas whom he faigneth to haue bene wounded in a battaile and not killed for no approued history reporteth any such thing of the Sonne of Cosdroas neither can that agree to the Sonne of Cosdroas which followeth in the Apocalyps and the whole earth wondred after the Beast saying who is like the beast Now the latter Beast in the Apocalyps according to Rupertus signifieth the same Antichrist for the same Antichrist is expressed by two beasts by one in respect of his Kingly Power and tyranny by which he shall compel men violently by the other by reason of his art magick with which he shall seduce men crastily But according to Richardus Anselmus and others the latter beast signifieth the preachers of Antichrist who shall endeauour to shew by miracles that Antichrist is the
were grosse indeed to imagine so if these Princes c. were not forced vnto it by danger of incurring otherwise some greater inconuenience because it is not probable that all shal be so far gone that they will glory in Antichrists marke though no doubt many will and others will seem to do so though in their harts they mislike it Neither are we to thinke that Antichrist shall want deuises how to do this without paine or deformity But I would faine know where M. Downam found this imagination of branding for I cannot see why all Catholikes may not be vnderstood to speake only of such a visible marke as the signe of the Crosse which is visible inough and yet we see no man branded with it His second Argument is that if this were Antichrist practize euery man would be able to discerne him But what meaneth M. Downam by discerning No doubt men shall discerne him to be an enemy of Christ and the question in those daies wil be which of them is the true Christ for he will affirme himselfe not only to be the true Christ but also will extoll himselfe aboue all that is called God Thirdly M. Downam obiecteth the ordinary glosse Downam contradicteth him selfe Antoninus and Lira and referreth himselfe to some places of Scripture by all which he only ouerthroweth his owne assertion that all Catholikes agree that Antichrists marke shal be such a visible signe as he impugneth since now he himselfe hath found some who thinke otherwise and besides this is a new confirmation that this Character is yet vnknowne since that Authors are so deuided in their opinions concerning it Finally so farre as these Authors agree See part 2. cap. 8. §. 4. with the heretikes or differ from Bellarmine they are sufficiently confuted by him with the same arguments with which he impugned the heretikes themselues And as for the Scriptures we shall more commodiously discusse them in another place where M. Downam vrgeth them somewhat more in particuler for now he alleadgeth them only in generall and so we answere in generall that though other places cannot without absurdity be vnderstood of visible marks yet that proueth not but that this place is so to be vnderstood since no doubt some markes may be visible and all circumstances argue a visible marke in this place though we cannot in particuler certainely tell what this marke shal be which is a plaine token that Antichrist is not yet come as M. Downam maketh Bellarmine to reason in this place and he himselfe demonstrateth a little before applying it to Antichrist name as we haue seene THE TVVELVTH CHAPTER Of Antichrists Generation AS for the fifth saith Bellarmine of the Generation of Antichrist there are some thinges euidently erroneous affirmed by some some thinges probable and some manifest and certayne First then there were in tymes past many errours of Antichrist The first that Antichrist shal be borne of a Virgin by the worke of the Diuell as Christ was borne of a Virgin by the worke of the holy Ghost This errour is reported by the Author of the Treatise of Antichrist which goeth vnder S. Augustines name in the end of his 9. Tome which seemeth probable to be made by Rabanus certainely it is not S. Augustines This is a manifest errour for it is only the worke of God who can supply all efficient causes to produce a man without the seed of man because he only is of infinite power and contayneth virtually all the perfection of creaâ—ures The Diuell who is a creature can indeed doe meruaylous workes by speedy application of actiue thinges to passiue but he cannot supply the actiuity of causes Wherfore S. Augustine ep 3. ad Volusian saith that to be borne of a Virgin was such a miracle in Christ that there could not be a greater expected from God Yet it were no errour to say that Antichrist shall be borne of the Diuell and a woman in that sort that some are said to be borne of the Diuells which we call Incubi for though the Diuell cannot by himselfe without the seed of man produce a man yet he can in a body assumed in the forme of a woman receaue the seed of man and after in the forme of a man cast that seed into a womans wombe so beget a child This S. Augustine testifieth lib. 15. de ciuitate Dei cap. 23. and addeth that this hath ben proued by so great experience that it may seeme madnes to go about to deny it still The second errour was of the blessed Martyr Hippolytus who in orat de consummatione mundi teacheth that Antichrist shal be the Diuell himselfe who shall assume false flesh of a false Virgin for as the word of God who is truth it selfe tooke true flesh of a true Virgin so S. Hippolytus thought it probable that the Diuell who is the Father of lyes would faigne himselfe to haue taken mans flesh of a Virgin This opinion is refuted both because 2. Thessal 2. Antichrist is called a man as also because the rest of the Fathers with common consent do write that Antichrist shal be truly a man The third errour is that Antichrist shal be a true man indeed but withall a Diuell by the incarnatioÌ„ of the Diuell as Christ by his incarnation is God and man This error is reported and confuted by S. Hierome in cap. 7. Dan. Beda in c. 13. Apoc. and S. Damaseen l. 4. c. 28. Origen thought this opinion possible for Tom. 2. in Ioan. he affirmed that some Angells were truly incarnate whom S. Hierome confuteth in praefat in Malach. in cap. 1. Aggaei And doubtlesse it is erroneous for no created and consequently finite person can sustayne two perfect natures as the Word of God who is infinite can Neither is there any controuersy of this now among Deuines for though some say that it doth altogeather imply a contradiction others teach it doth not vet all agree in this that it cannot be done by the force of only a creature as the Diuell is The fourth errour is that Nero shall rise againe and that he shal be Antichrist or els that he liueth still and is secretly preserued in his youthly vigour and shall appeare in his tyme. Sulpitius lib. 2. sacrae hist insinuateth this errour yet lib. 2. dial de virt S. Martini he writeth plainely that Nero shall not be Antichrist himselfe but that he shall come with Antichrist and at length be slayne by Antichrist But because all these thinges are said without any reason S. Aug. lib. 20. de ciu Dei cap. 19. deseruedly calleth this opinion a meruaylous presumption Besides these errours there are two probable opinions of the holy Fathers of the generation of Antichrist The first is that Antichrist shal be borne of an Harlot and not of any lawfull matrimony So teach S. Damascen lib. 4. c. 28. and some others But since it cannot be proued by Scripture it is probable but not certayne The second
true Messias wherefore all these miracles shall either be Antichrists or his Ministers Hence it followeth that the Pope is not Antichrist for neuer any Pope faigned himselfe to die and rise againe nor he himself or any of his preachers made fyre come downe from Heauen or the Image to speake But the Magdeburgenses object cent 1. lib. 2. cap. 4. col 436. that there haue ben many lying myracles wrought by them which hould with the Pope as say they visions of soules babling of Purgatory and crauing Masses to be said for them and recouery from sicknesses which haue hapned to the worshippers of Statua's and vowers to Saintes I answere first These are not the miracles which S. Iohn writeth that Antichrist shall doe but to die and rise againe to send fier from Heauen and giue the Image power to speake wherefore let them shew that these haue ben don by the Pope or his followers Secondly those 3. kindes of miracles were vsed in the Church before that tyme in which our aduersaries say that Antichrist appeared for S. Gregory writeth lib. 4. dial cap. 40. that the soule of Paschasius a Deacon who liued in the tyme of Pope Symachus about the yeare of our Lord 500. appeared to S. German Bishop of Capua and desired him to praie for him that he might be deliuered from the torments of purgatory Certainely this miracle happened an hundred yeares before Antichrist appeared by the opinion of all the heretikes of this tyme. For none of them doth put the comming of Antichrist but after the yeare 600. and S. Gregories death The same S. Gregorie telleth of other apparitions of soules asking Masses in the same booke cap. 55. Of the miracles of healing diseases for the veneration of Images there is an example extant in Eusebius lib. 7. hist cap. 14. where he reporteth that there was a brasen Statua erected to our Sauiour by that woman which our Sauiour healed from the issue of bloud and that there was wont to grow an herbe vnder that Statua which being growne to the hemmes or skirts of the Image and touching it healed all kindes of diseases by which myracle it is euident that God would approue the worship of holy Images Of the Recoueryes graunted to them who had vowed any thing to the Saints there are innumerable Testimonies in the ancient Wryters but that which Theodoretus recyteth lib. 8. ad Graces qui est de Martyribus is notable that in his tyme the Temples of Martyrs were full of little Tablets or Portraicts of hands feete eyes heads and other parts of men by which were signifyed the diuers gifts of healings which men that had vowed had receaued of the holy Martyrs M. Dovvnams Ansvvere confuted 1. MAISTER Downam will not contend with Bellarmine but that Antichrist and his Adherents shall worke many signes and wonders and that they shall be lying signes and wonders both in respect of the end which is to seduce and confirme lyes and in respect of the substance which is counterfayt In which latter clause M. Downam is a little confused or at least not so cleere as Bellarmine who distinguisheth the substance into matter forme Antichrist shall work many signes and sheweth how Antichrists signes shal be lying in both But it is very likely that M. Downam past this ouer so sleightly because he agreed with Bellarmine fully in that point wherfore he commeth to the efficient and author of these myracles in respect of which Bellarmine also affirmeth that they are lying signes wonders because this efficient cause shal be the Father of lyes according to whose power Antichrist was to come who as some of the Fathers affirme was to be a Magiciā or notable Sorcerer And heere M. Downam is somwhat doubtful saying that it seemeth to be somwhat far fetched vnlesse we will take the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be masculine as none doth But what meaneth M. Downam by this phrase of far fetched Is it not an ordinary matter that the effect should be denominated How Antichrists signes are said to be lying signes of the efficient cause Why was Manna called the Bread of Angells but because it was giuen by the Ministry of Angells Wherfore we shall not need M. Downams masculine for Bellarmine goeth not about to proue that the word lying signifieth that they shal be such by reason of the efficient cause But that since they are to be wrought by the Diuell as the Apostle affirmeth and M. Downam acknowledgeth and likewise all the Fathers agree and not some only as M. Downam alleageth Bellarmines words corruptly that Antichrist shal be a Sorcerer it is also manifest that they shal be wrought by the Father of lyes and consequently of him as well as for other respects be called lying But we shall not need to stand any longer vpon this since M. Downam is content to yield because he doth not doubt but that he can apply this note also to the Pope Church See part ◠c. 6. of Rome which how well he can do it is not now tyme to examine but in another place 2. The 2. Arguments which M. Downam frameth out of these two positions that Antichrist shall worke signes and that they shall be lying were too ridiculous for Bellarmine to haue made who only noteth those two points for explication of the whole matter and that the third point from which he draweth his argument may be the better vnderstood for who seeth not that those things which are cōmon Myracles in general belong both to good and bad both to good and bad as myracles in generall are can be no note only to know the bad by For that which M. Downam addeth that myracles in these latter tymes belong only to Antichrist is spoken without all ground eyther of Scripture or reason and only affirmed by Protestants because they can neyther worke true myracles being the Diuells Ministers nor false because their Maister is not let loose Why Heretiks can worke no myracles at all yet as he shal be in Antichrists tyme which is the reason why no Heretikes can worke any myracles at all but only the true Church true myracles so long as the Diuel is boūd because God is alway powerfull and Antichrists false myracles in that short space that the Diuell shal be loosed and permitted to vse this manner of seducing aswell as all the rest Now to proue or disproue that any is Antichrist because his signes are true or false is a harder matter then M. Downam taketh it to be as we shall see when we examine his See part 2. c. 7. obiections against the myracles which haue bene wrought in the Catholike Church and the Diuell will carry his matters so craftily in Antichrists tyme that it will not be easy to descry that his myracles are any way false as that of Caluin and some other Ministers was who were taken tardy by the punishment and confession of those whom they