the beloued citty but fire came downe from God out of Heauen and deuoured them And the Deuill that deceiued them was cast into a lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false Prophets shal be tormented euen day and night for euermore But this now belongeth to the last iudgment which I thought good to recite least some should suppose that the Diuell being let loose againe for a season should either finde no Church at all or by his violence and seducements should subuert all he findeth Wherefore the Diuells imprisonment during the whole time included in this booke that is from Christs first comming to his last is not any particular restraint from seducing the Church because hee could not iniure the Church were hee neuer so free other-wise if his bondage were a set prohibition from seduction what were his freedome but a full permission to seduce which God forbid should euer be No his binding is an inhibition of his full power of tempration which is the meanes of mans being seduced either by his violence or his fraudulence Which if hee were suffered to practise in that long time of infirmity hee would peruert and destroy the faith of many such soules as Gods goodnesse will not suffer to bee cast downe To auoyd this inconuenience bound hee is And in the last and smallest remainder of time shall hee bee loosed for wee read that hee shall rage in his greatest malice onely three yeares and sixe monethes and hee shall hold warres with such foes as all his emnity shall neuer bee able either to conquere or iniure But if hee were not let loose at all his maleuolence should bee the lesse conspicuous and the faithfulls pacience the lesse glorious briefly it would bee lesse apparant vnto how blessed an end GOD had made vse of his cursednesse in not debarring him absolutely from tempting the Saints though hee bee vtterly cast out from their inward man that they might reape a benefit from his badnesse and in binding him firmely in the harts of such as vow them-selues his â—…ectators least if his wicked enuy had the full scope hee should enter in amongst the weaker members of the Church and by violence and subtilty together deter and diswade them from their faith their onely meane of saluation Now in the end hee shal be loosed that the Citty of GOD may see what a potent aduersary she hath conquered by the grace of her Sauiour and redeemer vnto his eternall glory O what are wee and compare vs vnto the Saints that shall liue to see this when such an enemy shall be let loose vnto them as we can scarcely resist although hee bee bound although no doubt but Christ hath had some soldiors in these our times who if they had liued in the times to come would haue auoyded all the Deuills trapps by their true discrete prudence or haue withstood them with vndanted pacience This binding of the Diuell began when the Church began to spread from Iudea into other regions and lasteth yet and shall do vntill his time bee expired for men euen in these times do refuse the chaine wherein hee held them infidelity and turne vnto GOD and shall do no doubt vnto the worlds end And then is he bound in respect of euery priuate man when the soule that was his vassall cleareth her selfe of him nor ceaseth his shutting vpon when they dye wherein hee was shut for the world shall haue a continuall succession of the haters of Christianity whilest the earth endureth and in their hearts the diuell shall euer bee shut vp But it may bee a doubt whether any one shall turne vnto GOD during the space of his three yeares and an halfes raigne for how can this stand good How can a man enter into a strong mans house spoyle his goods exept he first bind the strongman then spoile his house if he may do it when the strong man is loose This seemeth to proue directly that during that space none shal be conuerted but that the diuel shall haue a continuall fight with those that are in the faith already of whome he may perhaps conquer some certaine number but none of Gods predestinate not one For it is not idle that Iohn the Author of this Reuelation saith in one of his Epistles concerning some Apostatas They went out from vs but they were not of vs for if they had beene of vs they would haue continued with vs. But what then shall become of the children for it is incredible that the Christians should haue no children during this space or that if they had them they would not see them baptized by one meanes or other How then shall these bee taken from the deuill the spoyle of whose house no man can attaine before he binde him So that it is more credible to auouche that the church in that time shall neither want decrease nor augmentation and that the parents in standing stifly for their childrens baptisme together with others that shall but euen then become beleeuers shall beate the diuell back in his greatest liberty that is they shall both wittily obserue and warily auoyde his newest stratagems and most secret vnderminings and by that meanes keepe them-selues cleare of his mercylesse clutches Not-with-standing that place of Scripture How can a man enter into a strong mans house c. is true for all that and according there-vnto the order was that the strong should first bee bound and his goods taken from him out of all nations to multiply the church in such sort that by the true and faithfull vnderstanding of the Prophecies that were to bee fulfilled they might take away his goods from him when hee was in his greatest freedome for as wee must confesse that because iniquity increaseth the loue of many shall bee colde and that many of them that are not written in the booke of life shall fall before the force of the raging newly loosed deuill So must wee consider what faithfull shall as then bee found on the earth and how diuerse shall euen then flie to the bosome of the Churche by Gods grace and the Scriptures plainnesse wherein amongst other things that very end which they see approching is presaged and that they shall be both more firme in beleefe of what they reiected before and also more strong to with-stand the greatest assault and sorest batteries If this be so his former binding left his good to all future spoile bee hee bound or loose vnto which end these words How can a man enter into a strong mans house c. doe principally tend What is meant by Christs reigning a thousand yeares with the Saints and the difference betweene that and his eternall reigne CHAP. 9. NOw doubtlesse whilst the diuel is thus bound Christ reigneth with his Saints the same thousand yeares vnderstood both after one manner that is all the time from his first comming not including that kingdome whereof hee saith Coâ—…e you blessed of my
Father inherite you the kingdome prepared for you for if there were not another reigning of Christ with the Saints in another place whereof him-selfe saith I am with you alway vnto the end of the world the Church now vpon earth should not bee called his kingdome or the kingdome of heauen for the Scribe that was taught vnto the kingdome of God liued in this thousand yeares And the Reapers shall take the tares out of the Church which grew vntill haruest together with the good corne which Parable he expoundeth saying The â—…est is the end of the world and the reapers are the Angels as then the tares are gathered and burned in the fire so shall it be in the end of the world The sonne of man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his kingdome all things that offend What doth hee speake heare of that kingdome where there is no offence No but of the Church that is heere below Hee saith further Who-so-euer shall breake one of these least commandements and teach men so hee shall bee called the least in the kingdome of heauen but who-so-euer shall obserue and teach them the same shall bee called great in the kingdome of heauen Thus both these are done in the kingdome of heauen both the breach of the commandements and the keeping of them â—…hen hee proceedeth Except your righteousnesse exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees that is of such as breake what they teach and as Christ 〈◊〉 else-where of them Say well but doe nothing vnlesse you exceed these that is â—…th teach and obserue you shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen Now the kingdome where the keeper of the commandements and the contemner were 〈◊〉 said to be is one and the kingdome into which he that saith and doth not shal not enter is another So then where both sorts are the church is that now is but where the better sort is only the church is as it shal be here-after vtterly exempt from euill So that the church now on earth is both the kingdom of Christ and the kingdome of heauen The Saints reigne with him now but not as they shall doe here-after yet the tares reigne hot with them though they grow in the Church â—…ngst the good seed They reigne with him who do as the Apostle saith If yee 〈◊〉 be risen with Christ seeke the things which are aboue where Christ sitteth at the 〈◊〉 â—…d of God Set your affections on things which are aboue and not on things 〈◊〉 are on earth of whome also hee saith that their conuersation is in heauen â—…ly they reigne with Christ who are with all his kingdom where he reigneth 〈◊〉 how do they reigne with him at all who continuing below vntill the worlds 〈◊〉 vntill his kingdome be purged of all the tares do neuer-the-lesse seeke their 〈◊〉 pleasures and not their redeemers This booke therefore of Iohnsâ—…th â—…th of this kingdome of malice wherein there are daily conflicts with the â—…my some-times with victory and some-times with foyle vntill the time of that most peaceable kingdome approach where no enemy shall euer shew his 〈◊〉 this and the first resurrection are the subiect of the Apostles Reuelation For hauing sayd that the deuill was bound for a thousand yeares and then was to bee loosed for a while hee recapitulateth the gifts of the Church during the sayd thousand yeares And I saw seates saith he and they sat vpon them and iudgement was giuen vnto them This may not bee vnderstood of the last iudgement but by the seales are 〈◊〉 the rulers places of the Church and the persons them-selues by whom it is gouerned and for the Iudgement giuen them it cannot be better explaned then in these words what-so-euer yee binde on earth shall be bound in heauen and what-so-euer yee loose on earth shall bee loosed in heauen Therefore saith Saint Paul 〈◊〉 haue I to doe to iudge them also that bee without doe not yee iudge them that 〈◊〉 within On. And I saw the soules of them which were slaine for the witnesse of Iesus 〈◊〉 for the word of God vnderstand that which followeth they raigned with Christ a 〈◊〉 yeares These were the martires soules hauing not their bodies as yet for 〈◊〉 soules of the Godly are not excluded from the Church which as it is now is 〈◊〉 kingdome of God Otherwise she shold not mention them nor celebrate their â—…ories at our communions of the body and bloud of Christ nor were it necessary 〈◊〉 â—…in our perills to run vnto his Baptisme or to be afraid to dy without it nor to seeke reconciliation to his church if a man haue incurred any thing that exacteth repentance or burdeneth his conscience Why doe we those things but that euen such as are dead in the faith are members of Gods Church Yet are they not with their bodies and yet neuer-the-lesse their soules reigne with Christ the whole space of this thousand yeares And therefore wee reade else-where in the same booke Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord Euen so saith the spirit for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Thus then the Church raigneth with Christ first in the quick and the dead for Christ as the Apostle saith that hee might thence-forth rule both ouer the quick and the dead But the Apostle heere nameth the soules of the martyrs onely because their kingdome is most glorious after death as hauing fought for the truth vntill death But this is but a taking of the part for the whole for wee take this place to include all the dead that belong to Chrsts kingdome which is the Church But the sequell And which did not worship the beast neither his Image neither had taken his marke vpon their fore-heads or on their hands this is meant both of the quick and dead Now although wee must make a more exact inquiry what this beast was yet is it not against Christianity to interpret it the society of the wicked opposed against the com pany of Gods seruants and against his holy Citty Now his image that is his dissimulation in such as professe religion and practise infidelity They faigne to bee what they are not and their shew not their truth procureth them the name of Christians For this Beast consisteth not onely of the professed enemies of Christ and his glorious Hierarchy but of the tares also that in the worlds end are to be gathered out of the very fields of his owne Church And who are they that adore not the beast but those of whome Saint Pauls aduise taketh effect Bee not vnequally yoaked with the Infidells These giue him no adoration no consent no obedience nor take his marke that is the brand of their owne sinne vpon their fore-heads by professing it or on their hands by working according to it They that are cleare of this be they liuing or be they dead they reigne with Christ
all this whole time from the vnion vnto him to the end of the time implyed in the thousand yeares The rest saith Saint Iohn shall not liue for now is the houre when the dead shall heare the voyce of the sonne of God and they that he are it shall liue the rest shall not liue but the addition vntill the thousand yeares be finished implieth that they shall want life all the time that they should haue it in attayning it by passing through faith from death to life And therefore on the day of the generall resurrection they shall rise also not vnto life but vnto iudgement that is vnto condemnation which is truly called the second death for hee that liueth not before the thousand yeares be expired that is he that heareth not the Sauiours voyce and passeth not from death to life during the time of the first resurrection assuredly shall be throwne both body and soule into the second death at the day of the second resurrection For Saint Iohn proceedeth plainly This saith hee is the first resurrection Blessed and holy is hee that hath part in the first resurrection and part of it is his who doth not onely arise from death in sinne but continueth firme in his resurrection On such saith he the second death hath no power But it hath power ouer the rest of whome hee sayd before The rest shall not liue vntill the thousand yeares bee finished because that in all that whole time meant by the thousand yeares although that each of them had a bodily life at one time or other yet they spent it and ended it with-out arising out of the death of iniquitie wherein the deuill held them which resurrection should haue beene their onely meane to haue purchased them a part in the first resurrection ouer which the second death hath no power An answer to the obiection of some affirming that resurrection is proper to the body onely and not to the soule CHAP. 10. SOme obiect this that resurrection pertaineth onely to the body and therefore the first resurrection is a bodily one for that which falleth say they that may rise againe but the body falleth by death for so is the word Cadauer a carcasse deriued of Cado to fall Ergo rising againe belongeth soly to the body and not vnto the soule Well but what will you answer the Apostle that in as plaine terms as may be he calleth the soules bettring a resurrection they were not reuiued in the outward man but in the inward vnto whom he said If yee then be risen with Christ seeke the things which are aboue which he explaineth else-where saying Like as Christ was raised vp from the dead by the glory of the father so wee also should walke in newnesse of life Hence also is that place Awake thou that sleepest and stand vp from the dead and Christ shall giue thee light Now whereas they say none can rise but those that fall ergo the body onely can arise why can they not heare that shrill sound of the spirit Depart not from him least you fall and againe Hâ—… standeth or falleth to his owne maister and further Let him that thinketh hee sâ—…eth take heed least hee fall I thinke these places meane not of bodily falls but 〈◊〉 the soules If then resurrection concerne them that fall and that the soule â—…y also fall it must needs follow that the soule may rise againe Now Saint 〈◊〉 hauing said On such the second death shall haue no power proceedeth thus But 〈◊〉 shall bee the Priests of God and of Christ and shall reigne with him a thousand â—…es Now this is not meant onely of those whome the Church peculiarly calleth Bishops and Priests but as wee are all called Christians because of our mysticall Chrisme our vnction so are wee all Priests in being the members of â—…e Priest Where-vpon Saint Peter calleth vs A royall Priest-hood an holy nation And marke how briefly Saint Iohn insinuateth the deity a of Christ in these words of God and of Christ that is of the Father and of the Sonne yet as hee was made the sonne of man because of his seruants shape so in the same respect was he made a Priest for euer according to the order of Melchisedech whereof wee haue spoken diuerse times in this worke L. VIVES DEity a of Christ For it were a damnable and blasphemous iniury to God to suffer any one to haue Priests but him alone the very Gentiles would by no meanes allowe it 〈◊〉 Philippic 2. Of Gog and Magog whom the Deuill at the worlds end shall stirre vp against the Church of God CHAP. 11. ANd when the thousand yeares saith hee are expired Sathan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall goe out to deceiue the people which are in the foure quarters of the earth euen God and Magog to gather them together into Battell whose number is as the sand of the sea So then the ayme of his decept shal be this warre for he vsed diuers waies to seduce before and all tended to euill He shall leaue the dennes of his hate and burst out into open persecution This shal be the last persecution hard before the last iudgement and the Church shall suffer it all the earth ouer the whole citty of the Diuell shall afflict the Citty of God at these times in all places This Gog and this Magog are not to bee taken for a any particular Barbarous nations nor for the Getes and Messagetes because of their litterall affinity nor for any other Countryes beyond the Romaines iurisdiction hee meaneth all the earth when hee saith The people which are in the foure quarters of the Earth and then addeth that they are Gog and Magog b Gog is an house and Magog of an house as if hee had sayd the house and hee that commeth of the house So that they are the nations wherein the Deuill was bound before and now that he is loosed cometh from thence they being as the house and hee as comming out of the house But wee referre both these names vnto the nations and neither vnto him they are both the house because the old enemy is hid and housed in them and they are of the house when out of secret hate they burst into open violence Now where as hee sayth They went vp into the plaine of the Earth and compassed the tents of the Saints about and the beloued City wee must not thinke they came to any one set place as if the Saints tents were in any one certaine nation or the beloued Citty either no this Citty is nothing but Gods Church dispersed throughout the whole earth and being resident in all places and amongst all nations as them words the plaine of the Earth do insinuate there shall the tents of the Saints stand there shall the beloued Ctty stand There shall the fury of the presecuting enemy guirt them in with multitudes of all nations vnited in one rage of
not onely those of the weaker sort that liue in marriage hauing or seeking to haue children and keeping houses and families whome the Apostle in the Church doth instruct how to liue the wiues with their husbands and the husbands with their wiues children with their parents and the parents with their children the seruants with their maisters and the maisters with their seruants it is not these alone that get together these worldly goods with industry and loose them with sorrow and because of which they dare not offend such men as in their filthy and contaminate liues do extreamely displease them but it is also those of the highter sort such as are no way chayned in mariage such as are content with poore fare and meane attire Many of these through too much loue of their good name and safety through their feare of the deceits and violence of the wicked through frailtie and weaknesse forbeare to reprooue the wicked when they haue offended And although they doe not feare them so farre as to be drawne to actuall imitation of these their vicious demeanours yet this which they will not act with them they will not reprehend in them though herein they might reforme some of them by this reprehension by reason that in case they did not reforme them their owne fame and their safetie might come in danger of destruction Now herein they doe at no hand consider how they are bound to see that their fame and safety bee necessarily employed in the instruction of others but they do nothing but poyse it in their owne infirmitie which loues to be stroaked with a smooth tongue and delighteth in the e day of man fearing the censure of the vulgar and the torture and destruction of body that is they forbeare this dutie not through any effect of charitie but meerely through the power of auarice and greedy affection Wherefore I hold this a great cause why the good liuers do pertake with the bad in their afflictions when it is Gods pleasure to correct the corruption of manners with the punishment of temporall calamities For they both endure one scourge not because they are both guiltie of one disordered life but because they both doe too much affect this transitorie life not in like measure but yet both together which the good man should contemne that the other by them being corrected and amended might attaine the life eternall who if they would not ioyne with them in this endeauour of attaining beatitude they should be f borne with all and loued as our enemies are to be loued in Christianitie we being vncertaine whilest they liue here whether euer their heart shall bee turned vnto better or no which to doe the good men haue not the like but farre greater reason because vnto them g the Prophet saith Hee is taken away for his iniquity but his bloud will I require at the watch-mans hand h for vnto this end were watch-men that is rulers ouer the people placed in the churches that they should i not spare to reprehend enormities Nor yet is any other man altogether free from this guilt whatsoeuer he bee ruler or not ruler who in that dayly commerce and conuersation wherein humane necessity confines him obserueth any thing blame worthy and to reprehend it seeking to auoyde the others displeasure being drawne here-vnto by these vanities which he doth not vse as he should but affecteth much more then hee should Againe there 's another reason why the righteous should endure these temporall inflictions and was cause of holy k Iobs sufferance namely that hereby the soule may bee prooued and fully knowne whether it hath so much godlie vertue as to loue God freely and for himselfe alone These reasons being well considered tell me whether any thing be casuall vnto the good that tendeth not to their good vnlesse we shall hold that the Apostle talked idely when he said l Wee know all things worke together for the best vnto them that loue God L. VIVES IN something a yeelds The lust of the flesh is so inwardly inherent in our bodies and that affect is so inborne in vs by nature that great workeman of all thinges liuing who hath so subtilly infused it into our breasts that euen when our minde is quiet vppon another obiect we do propagate our ofspring in the like affection so that we can by no meanes haue a thought of the performing of this desire without beeing stung within with a certaine secret delight which many do make a sinne but too too veniall b by his Prophets and that very often as is plaine in Esay and Ieremy c But this is the fault Cicero in his offices saith There be some that although that which they thinke bee very good yet for feare of enuy dare not speak it d The hope As the guide of their pilgrimage e the day of man 1. Cor. 4. I passe little to bee iudged of you or of the day of man that is the iudgement of man wherein each man is condemned or approued of men whose contrary is the daie of the Lord which searcheth and censureth the secrets of all heartes f borne with and loued The wicked are not onely to bee indured but euen to bee loued also God commaunding vs to loue euen our enemies Mat. 5. g The Prophet Ezechiel Chap. 33. But if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet and the people bee not warned and the sword come take away any person from among them he is taken away for his iniquitie but his bloud will I require at the watch-mans hands h For vnto this end were watch-men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke is Speculator in latin a watchman a discryer an obseruer and a Gouernor Cicero in his seauenth booke of his Epistles to Atticus saith thus Pompey would haue me to be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sentinell of Campania and all the sea-coastes and one to whome the whole summe of the busines should haue speciall relation Andromache in Homer cals Hector Troiae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the watchman or guardian of Troy The Athenians called their Intelligencers and such as they sent out to obserue the practises of their tributary citties Episcopos Ouerseers and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 watchmen the Lacedemonians called them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moderatores Gouernors Archadius the Lawyer cals them Episcopos that had charge of the prouision for vittailes Some thinke the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bee heere a Pleonasme whereof Eustathius one of Homers interpreters is one and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is all one 1. Not spare to reprehend So saith saint Paul vnto Titus And so doe our Bishops euen in these times whome with teares we behold haled vnto martyrdome because they tell the truth in too bitter tearmes and persecute vice through all not respecting a whit their reuenues nor dignities Christ Iesus glorifie them k Iobs The history all men
making them as infamous as they knew them dishonest this pacification I say so beastlie and so directlie opposite vnto all truth of Religion and modestie these fabulous inuentions of their gods filthinesse these ignominious facts of the gods themselues either fouly fained or fowlier effected the whole citty learned both by seeing and hearing obseruing plainly that their gods were well pleased with such presentations and therefore they did both exhibite them vnto their Idols and did imitate them themselues But as for that I know not indeed well what honest instruction and good counsell which was taught in such secret and vnto so few that I am sure was not followed if it be true that it were taught belike it was rather feared that too many would know it then suspected that any few would follow it L. VIVES TErtullius a a graue man it should surely be Tullius for this that Saint Augustine quoteth is out of his orations Wherefore it must either be Tullius that graue man and that smatterer in Philosophie Saint Augustine so deriding his speculation that could not free him from such grosse errors or Tullius that graue man and thrise worthy Philosopher to shew that the greatest Princes were infected with this superstition and not the vulgar onely nor the Princes onely but the grauest princes and those that were Philosophers not meane ones but of chiefe note adding this to amplifie the equitie of his Philosophie as Ter maximus the thrise mighty Now saith Tully in verrem Actio 6. that I am made Aedile let mee reckon vp the charge that the citie hath imposed vpon mee I must first present the most sacred Playes and ceremoniall solemnities vnto Ceres Liber and Proserpina then I must reconcile mother Flora vnto the Citie and people of Rome with the celebration of her enterludes c. b Which playes They were such that the actors would not play them as long as Cato the elder was present Seneca Valerius Plutarch and Martiall doe all report this c In another place In Catilinam Actio 3 d Men for whose he meaneth Cateline and his conspiratours e Freedome of Citie some copies read Tributa amouit but the ancient ones do read it Tribu mouit with more reason Of the saluation attained by the Christian religion CHAP. 28. WHy then doe these men complaine thinke you because that by the name of Christ they see so many discharged of these hellish bands that such vncleane spirits held them in and of the participation of the same punishment with them Their ingratefull iniquitie hath bound them so strongly in these deuilish enormities that they murmure and eate their galls when they see the people flock vnto the Church to these pure solemnities of Christ where both sexes are so honestly distinguished by their seuerall places where they may learne how well to lead their temporall liues here to become worthy of the eternall here-after where the holy doctrine of Gods word is read from an eminent place that all may heare it assure a reward to those that follow it and a iudgment to those that neglect it Into which place if there chance to come any such as scoffe at such precepts they are presently either conuerted by a sudden power or cured by a sacred feare for there is no filthy sights set forth there nor any obscaenities to be seene or to be followed but there either the commandements of the true God are propounded his miracles related his guifts commended or his graces implored An exhortation to the Romaines to renounce their Paganisme CHAP. 29. LEt these rather bee the obiects of thy desires thou couragious nation of the Romaines thou progenie of the Reguli Scaeuolae Scipioes and a Fabricii long after these discerne but the difference betweene these and that luxurious filthy shamelesse maleuolence of the diuills b If nature haue giuen thee any lawdable eminence it must be true piety that must purge and perfect it impiety contaminates and consumes it Now then choose which of these to follow that thy praises may arise not from thy selfe that may bee misled but from the true God who is without all error Long agoe wast thou great in popular glory but as then as it pleased the prouidence of the high God was the true Religion wanting for thee to choose and embrace But now awake and rowse thy selfe c it is now day thou art already awake in some of thy children of whose full vertue and constant sufferings for the truth we doe iustly glory they euen these who fighting at all hands against the powers of iniquity and conquering them all by dying vndaunted haue purchased this possession for vs with the price of their bloud To pertake of which possession wee do now inuite and exhorte thee that thou wouldest become a Citizen with the rest in that citty wherein true remission of sinnes standeth as a glorious sanctuary Giue no eare vnto that degenerate brood of thine which barketh at the goodnesse of Christ and Christianity accusing these times of badnesse and yet desiring such as should bee worse by denying tranquillity to vertue giuing security vnto al iniquity these times didst thou neuer approue nor euer desiredst to secure they temporall estate by them Now then reatch vp at the heauenly ones for which take but a little paines and thou shalt reape the possession of them vnto all eternity There shalt thou finde no vestall fire nor e stone of the capitoll but one true God f who will neither limmit thee blessednesse in quality nor time but giue thee an Empire both vniuersal perfect eternall Be no longer led in blindnesse by these thy illuding and erroneous gods reiect them from the and taking vp thy true liberty shake of their damnable subiection They are no gods but wicked fiends and all the Empire they can giue them is but possession of euerlasting paine g Iuno did neuer greeue so much that the Troyans of whom thou descendest should arise againe to the state of Rome as these damned deuills whom as yet thou holdest for gods doe enuie and repine that mortall men should euer enioy the glories of eternity And thou thy selfe hast censured them with no obscure note in affording them such plaies whose actors thou hast branded with expresse infamy Suffer vs then to plead thy freedome against all those Impure deuills that imposed the dedication and celebration of their owne shame filthinesse vpon thy neck and honor Thou couldst remoue and dis-inable the plaiers of those vncleanesses from all honors pray likewise vnto the true God to quit thee from those vile spirits that delight in beholding their owne spots whither they bee true which is most ignominious or faigned which is most malicious Thou didst well in clearing the state of thy Citty from all such scurrilous off-scummes as stage-plaiers looke a little further into it Gods Maiesty can neuer delight in that which polluteth mans dignity How then canst thou hold these powers that loued such
creatures there then was in the command that the rest might feede vpon them or m rather which is more likely that there were some other meates besides flesh that contented them For n wee see many creatures that eate flesh eate fruites also and Apples chieflye Figges and Chest-nuts what wonder then if God had taught this iust man to prepare a meate for euery creatures eating and yet not flesh what will not hunger make one eate And what cannot God make wholesome and delightsome to the taste who might make them if he pleased to liue without any meate at al but that it was befitting to the perfection of this mistery that they should bee fedde And thus all men bâ—…t those that are obstinate are bound to beleeue that each of these many fold circumstances had a figuration concerning the Church for the Gentiles haue now so filled the Church with cleane and vncleane and shall do so vntill the end and now are al so inclosed in those ribbes that it is vnlawful to make stop at those inferior although obscurer ceremonies which being so if no man may either thinke these things as written to no end nor as bare and insignificant relations nor as sole vnacted allegories nor as discourses impertinent to the Church but each ought rather to beleeue that they are written in wisdome and are both true histories and misticall allegories all concerning the prefiguration of the Church then this booke is brought vnto an end and from hence wee are to proceed with the progresse of both our citties the one celestiall and that is Gods and the tother terrestriall and that is mans touching both which wee must now obserue what fell out after the deluge L. VIVES THe toppe a of The Geographers haue diuers Olympi but this here is in Thessaly ten furlongs high as Plutarch saith in the life of Aemilius Paulus The toppe is aboue the 〈◊〉 region of the aire as some hold and proue it because the ashes of the Sacrifice would ly â—…ystned and vnmoued al the yeare long Solin This is a fable saith Francis Philelphus who 〈◊〉 â—…p the hill him-selfe to see the triall And it is strange that the toppe of Olimpus or Athâ—…s 〈◊〉 â—…edon or of any other mountaine should be so high aboue the circle of the earths globe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should exceed the halfe part of the ayre and lying aboue all moysture haue such conâ—…ll fountaines and riuers flowing from it for they are the mothers of windes and rayne b Aâ—… Heauen Intimating the vse of the Poets who call Heauen Olympus because of this 〈◊〉 Hom. Iliad â—…1 c They say also Origen Homil. 2 in Genes hath these words As far 〈◊〉 gather by descriptions the Arke was built vp in foure Angles arising all from an equall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 finished on the toppe in the bredth of one cubit for it is said that it was built thirty cubites 〈◊〉 â—…ty broad and thirty high but yet was it so gradually contracted that the bredth and 〈◊〉 met all in one cubit and afterwards But the fittest forme for to keepe of the rayne 〈◊〉 weather was to bee ridged downe a proportioned descent from the toppe downeward so to shoot off the wet and to haue a broad and spatious base in a square proportion least the â—…ion of the creatures within should either make it leane at'one side or sinke it downe right 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ll this cunning fabrike some questions there are made and those chiefly by Apelles 〈◊〉 of Marcions but an inuentor of another heresie how is it possible sayth hee to put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Elephants in the roome that the Scripture allowes for the Arke Which to answer our 〈◊〉 said that Moyses who according to the Scriptures was skilled in all the arts of Egipt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Geometricall cubytes in this place and Geometry is the Egyptians chiefe study 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Geometry both in the measuring of solides and squares one cubit is generally taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of our common cubits or for three hundred minutary cubits Which if it bee so heare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had roome at large to containe al the creatures that were requisit for the restauration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 world Thus far Origen d So many miles As Babilons Romes and Memphis But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a citty in Thrace the Greekes called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The long wall for there was an 〈◊〉 long wall began there which reached vnto the Melican Bay excluding Cheroneâ—… 〈◊〉 the rest of Thrace Miltiades the Athenian captaine built it There was such anâ—… 〈◊〉 the lake Lemanus vnto mount Iura diuiding Burgogne from Switzerland built 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ninteene miles long and sixteene foote high Seuerus did the like in England to keepe the Scots and Picts from inuading the Brittaines e Mortayses Let your posts â—…aith Vâ—…truuius be as thick as the maine body of your piller vnder the wreath whence the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and let them be mortaised together so that the hole of euery ioynt bee two fingers wide f Epiri Either it is falsely written or else wee may goe seeke what it is g Stellions A kinde of Lizard that benummeth where he biteth A kinde of Spider also Plin. 8. 9. Aristo h Diuerse birds Ducks Swans Cormorants Sea-guls Water-swallowes Puffins c. i Afterwards engender Flyes are not generate and yet doe engender For the male and female commixe and produce a worme which in time becommeth a flie Aristot. Hist. animal lib. 5. k And some also How Bees are produced saith Aristotle Hist. animal lib. 5. It is vncertaine some thinke they doe not ingender but fetch their issue else-where but whence none knoweth some say from the Palme-flowre others from the reedes others from the Oliues Uirgil in his Georgikes held that they did not engender his words are these Illum adeò placuisse apibus mirabere morem Quòd nec concubitu indulgent nec corpora segnes In venerem soluunt aut foetus nixibus aedunt Verum ipsae é foliis natos suauibus herbis Ore legunt c. Would you not wonder at the golden Bees They vse no venery nor mixe no thighes Nor grone in bringing forth but taking wing Flie to the flowres and thence their yong they bring Within their pretty mouths bred there c. Some there bee that say the Bees bee all females and the Drones males and so doe â—…gender and that one may haue them produced of the flesh of a Calfe l Gotten betweene diuerse as creatures begotten betweene Wolues and Dogges or Beares and Bitches c. Pliny saith that such beasts are neuer like either parent but of a third kinde and that they neuer engender either with any kinde or with their owne and therefore Mules neuer haue yong ones But by Plinies leaue it is recorded that Mules haue brought forth young and haue beene often-times bigge bellyed and this is common in Cappadocia saith Theophrastus and in Syria saith Aristotle Indeed these are of another kinde then ours bee n Or rather Origen
God knoweth those that bee his and the deuill cannot draw a soule of them vnto damnation For this God knoweth as knowing all things to come not as one man seeth another in presence and cannot tell what shall be-come either of him hee seeth or of him-selfe here-after The diuell was therefore bound and locked vp that hee should no more seduce the nations the Churches members whom he had held in errour and impiety before they were vnited vnto the Church It is not said that hee should deceiue no man any more but that he should deceiue the people no more whereby questionlesse hee meaneth the Church Proceed vntill the thousand yeares bee fulfilled that is either the remainder of the sixth day the last thousand or the whole time that the world was to continue Nor may wee vnderstand the deuill so to bee barred from seducing that at this time expired hee should seduce those nations againe whereof the Church consisteth and from which hee was forbidden before But this place is like vnto that of the Psalme Our eyes waite vpon the Lord vntill hee haue mercy vpon vs for the seruants of God take not their eyes from beholding as soone as he hath mercy vpon them or else the order of the words is this Hee â—…t him vp and sealed the doore vpon him vntill a thousand yeares were fulfilled all that commeth betweene namely that he should not deceiue the people hauing no necessary connexion here-vnto but beeing to bee seuerally vnderstood as if it were added afterwards and so the sence runne thus And he shut him vp and sealed the dore vpon him vntill a thousand yeares were fulfilled that hee should not seduce the people that is therefore hee shutte him vp so long that he should seduce them no more L. VIVES FRom the a thousand Iohns mention of a thousand yeares in this place and Christs words I will not drinke hence-forth of the fruite of the vine vntill that day that I drinke it new with you in my Fathers kingdome together with many Prophecies touching Christs kingdome in Hierusalem made some imagine that Christ would returne into the world raise the Saints in their bodyes and liue a thousand yeares heere on earth in all ioy peace and prosperitie farre exceeding the golden age of the Poets or that of Sybilla and Esayas The first Author of this opinion was Papias Bishop of Hierusalem who liued in the Apostles times Hee was seconded by Irenaeus Apollinarius Tertullian lib. de fidelium Victorinus 〈◊〉 Lactantius Diuin Instit. lib. 7. And although Hierome deride and scoffe at this opinion in many places yet in his fourth booke of his Commentaries vpon Hieremy hee saith that hee dare not condemne it because many holy martyrs and religious Christians held it so great an authority the person some-times giueth to the position that we must vse great modesty in our dissention with them and giue great reuerence to their godlynesse and grauity I cannot beleeue that the Saints held this opinion in that manner that Cerinthus the heretique did of whome wee read this in Eusebius Cerinthus held that Christ would haue an earthly kingdome in Hierusalem after the resurrection where the Saints should liue in all societie of humaine lusts and concupiscences Besides against all truth of scripture hee held that for a thousand yeares space this should hold with reuells and mariage and other works of corruption onely to deâ—…iue the carnall minded person Dionisius disputing of S. Iohns reuelation and reciting some ancient traditions of the Church hath thus much concerning this man Cerinthus quoth he the author of the Cerinthian heresie delighted much in getting his sect authority by wresting of scripture His heresie was that Christs Kingdome should bee terrestriall and being giuen vp vnto lust and gluttony himselfe he affirmed nothing but such things as those two affects taught him That all should abound with banquets and belly-chere and for the more grace to his assertions that the feasts of the law should be renewed and the offring of carnall sacrifices restored Irenaeus publisheth the secresie of this heresie in his first booke they that would know it may finde it there Thus farre Eusebius Hist. Eccl. lib. 3. wherefore this was not Papias his opinion whose originall Hierome would otherwise haue ascribed vnto Cerinthus who was more ancient then Papias a little though both liued in one age nor would Iraeneus haue written against Cerinthus for he allowed of Papias his opinion neither did all the sects agree in one as touching this thousand yeares but each one taught that which seemed likeliest vnto him-selfe and no wonder in so vaine a fiction Dionisius of Alexandria as Hierome affirmeth In Esai lib. 18. wroâ—… an elegant worke in derision of these Chiliasts and there Golden Hierusalem their reparation of the temple their bloud of sacrifices there Sabbath there circumsitions there birth there mariages there banquets there soueraignties their warres and tryumphs c. b The cheare shall exceed So saith Lactantius The earth shall yeeld her greatest faecundity and yeeld her plenty vntilled The rockie mountaines shall sweate hony the riuers shall runne wine and the fountaines milke To omit Cerinthus his relations which are farre more odious c Chiliast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a thousand d On the sixt day There is a report that in the bookes of Elias the Prophet it was recorded that the world should last 6000. yeares 2000. vnder vanity vnto Abraham 2000. vnder the law vnto Christ. and 2000. vnder Christ vnto the iudgement This by the Hebrewes account for the LXX haue aboue 3000. yeares from Adam to Abraham And in Augustines time the world lackt not 400 yeares of the full 6000. So that now our Vulgar accoumpt is aboue 6700. yeares Namely from Our Sauiour 1522. Whom Eusebius and such as follow the LXX affirme to haue beene borne in the yeare of the world 5100. and somewhat more Therefore Augustine saith that the later end of the 6000. yeares passed along in his time And Lactantius who liued before Augustine vnder Constantine saith that in his time there was but 200. of the 6000. yeares to runne Of the binding and loosing of the Diuell CHAP. 8. AFter that saith S. Iohn he must be loosed for a season Well although the Diuell be bound and lockt vp that he should not seduce the Church shall hee therefore be looosed to seduce it God forbid That Church which God predestinated and setled before the worlds foundation whereof it is written God knoweth those that be his that the Deuill shall neuer seduce and yet it shal be on earth euen at the time of his loosing as it hath continued in successiue estate euer since it was first erected for by and by after hee saith that the Diuill shall bring his seduced nations in armes against it whose number shal be as the sea sands And they went vp saith hee vnto the plaine of the earth and compassed the tents of the Saints about and