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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61453	A plain and easie calculation of the name, mark, and number of the name of the beast ... humbly presented to the studious observers of Scripture-prophecies, God's works, and the times / by Nathaniel Stephens ... ; whereunto is prefixed, a commendatory epistle, written by Mr. Edm. Calamy.	Stephens, Nathaniel, 1606?-1678.; Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.	1656 (1656)	Wing S5450; ESTC R17480	246,007	328

Roman Dominion in the last and Antichristian Edition must continue a long time ●…o the admiration of the world The Caesarean Majesty was to continue some good space of time and that being cut off the Antichristian is to be restored as the wonder of the world And therefore it is said That all they whose Names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world shall admire when they behold the Beast that was and is not and yet is chap. 17. vers 8. Now then if we can make it appear what is the meaning of the Spirit in these things when the Antichristian Kingdom began and how long it must continue if we can shew what is meant by the Name Mark and the Number of the Name and how all these are applicable to the universal headship of the See of Rome and to the worlds living in subjection to that headship if these things can be cleared as by the Lords assistance I shall endeavour to clear them in the process of this Treatise I hope that this will not any longer be accounted a fruitless inquiry which may be the mean under the grace of God to redeem the Souls of men from such a thraldom For put case you have to do with such a one who placeth a great part of his Religion in yielding subjection to the universal headship of the Bishop of Rome You shall do much toward his Conviction when out of the Scriptures in general you shall be able to prove such an Obligation to be contrary to Faith in Christ. And this many worthy Writers have done already Yet you shall do more when out of this particular Scripture you shall be able solidly to prove the Profession of such an Allegiance to be the Mark of the Beast If they that separate from our Church and cite that Scripture Come out of Babylon my People would first define what Babylon is and that the Church of England is the Babylon that St. Iohn speaks of they would carry on their business more demonstratively and Apocalyptically Till this be done they do but beat the Air. The same Law may be given to us when we charge the Roman Catholicks that they are such that receive the Mark of the Beast To justifie the charge we should define in the first place what the Beast his Name Mark Image and the Number of his Name do signifie and when this is done we should shew how these things do agree to the head-ship of the Roman Bishop If there be no performance of this how can we accuse them of a sin and we our selves be altogether ignorant what that sin is Therefore the right determination of these things is no trivial matter as some imagine Seventhly If we consider the Reign of Christ upon the Earth for 1000 years to the better understanding of this it is behoveful for us first of all to know what is the Reign of the Beast over those that have the Mark and worship the Image For it is the Scope of the Spirit to set the Reign of Christ in immediate opposition to the Reign of the Beast If therefore we can well understand the nature and manner of the Beast's Reigning over those that have his Mark and worship his Image we shall be the more able to see the nature of the Reign of Christ. For the knowledge of one contrary doth exceedingly conduce to the knowledge of the other specially in that Point wherein the contrariety doth stand and the contrariety between the Lamb and the Beast doth lie in the Soveraignty Now for the clearing of this Truth we can prove it from the Scope of the Prophecie and from the coherence of the Visions For in the former part of the Prophecie from the beginning of the 13 chapt to the end of the 19 it is the Plot of the Spirit to describe the Kingdom of the Beast in its first Institution in the greatness of its power in its cruelty against the Saints in the time of its continuance and in other Adjuncts of that Dominion At the end of the 19 chap. he sheweth how the Beast is cast into the Lake of Fire and when this is done he beginneth to ●…peak of the Reign of Christ and of the Resurrection of the Martyrs From the whole Scope of the Prophecie it is evident That the Reign of the Beast is opposed to the Reign of Christ for 1000 years where the Beast doth make an end at that instant of time the Reign of Christ doth begin And where the death of the Martyrs is fully complete there the Resurrection and emersion out of the Antichristian Death doth immediately ensue Now for the Consequents that follow the destruction of the Beast's Kingdom Iohn tells us I saw an Angel come down from Heaven having the Key of the bottomless P●…t and a great chain in his hand and he laid hold on the Dragon and bound him 1000 years Further he did cast him into the bottomless pit and set a Seal upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more chap. 20. vers 1 2. Now if the question be put How and wherein were the Nations deceived I Answer It was in the worship of the Beast and in receiving his Mark for it is mentioned in the two last verses of the former Chapter That the false Prophet deceived them that received the Mark of the Beast and worshipped his Image When the Beast was destroyed then the Dragon was bound up and so an end was put to the deceiving of the Nations By all that hath been spoken it is evident That the Reign of the Beast in all his times is immediately opposed to the thousand years of the Reign of Christ. Therefore if we would know the nature of the Reign of Christ in what manner he shall Reign upon the Earth and how his Martyrs shall Reign with him it is needful that we should understand what is the Reign of the Beast over those that receive his Mark and worship his Image It is needful also that we should understand the whole Antichrisian time to be the season of the Death Sufferings and Beheading of the Mar●…yrs for the testimonies sake When this time is ended then there shall be a rising or a standing up from this Death The right stating of these things will prepare the way for the discovery of the 1000 years And for ought as I can discern one chief reason wherefore we are so dark in the Apprehension and confused in the Notion of the Reign of Christ is this Because we do not first Expound and make cleer the Reign of the Beast what it is what his Name Mark or Image are nor what is the Number of his Name These and many other Reasons might be brought to prove the Use and Profit of the Discovery But to gather up all into one Sum If any think these things to be a Nicety ●…et them consider First That these are the distinctive Badges of the Beast's Kingdom Secondly That

1290 dayes the time of the dispersion doth run from that begi●… 〈◊〉 We ha●…e good reason to take this for an authentick 〈◊〉 because Dan●…el in the 12 Chapter doth more largely repe●… 〈◊〉 Desolation by the Romans which he had more briefly 〈◊〉 chap. 9. We cannot be perswaded but that the Prop●… 〈◊〉 last Vision went farther into the times than he did i●… 〈◊〉 going before at least he went as far For 〈◊〉 is expresly said concerning this last Vision that the time was long and for many dayes The word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as Mr Broughton doth well render it the Army-like-ordered time was great Piscator upon the place also doth well observe the same propriety of the phrase Vide ●…r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ess●… Metaphora quod in tempore determina●…o partes convenienti ordine à Deo sunt dispositae sicut Milites in exercitis T●…e s●…emeth here to be a 〈◊〉 the parts in this determin●…te time are so disposed of G●… Souldiers in an Army We may then safely conclude 〈◊〉 in this last Vision Daniel doth go many 〈◊〉 deep into the times and much deeper than he did in the former Visions And therefore we may necessarily affirm That he doth lead us far beyond the times of Christ. On the contrary If these times end with the Persecution●… under Antiochus Epiphanes for so Mr Broughton and others will have it how is the time long and how doth the Lord speak of such notable events that should befal Da●…iel's People in the last and utmost Rere-ward of time The destruction of Ierusalem by the Romans was 230 years after the death of Antiochus Epiphanes And therefore the Vision of the 70 weeks if Mr Broughtons interpretation be good must go farther than this last Vision by such a Proportion and Number of years Now who can possibly believe this to be true that readeth the three last Chapters of the Prophecie Must the whole Narration of all the things there declared end at Antiochus his death Now then to gather all into one sum we may safely collect That Daniel in this Vision doth not only lead us to the destruction of Ierusalem by the Romans but he doth speak also how long the Jewes shall remain under that fatal Dispersion These things our Saviour the Apostle St. Paul Isaiah and Daniel all of them do speak First of the scattering of the Nation after the destruction of Ierusalem and of the time of their Dispersion till their Calling again If any shall then require me to make good the Chronologie of 1290 dayes and of 1335 dayes I must confess that I am here at a loss and it may be that they who shall come in the Rere-ward of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Army-like-ordered time shall see more Then perhaps many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be encreased If I may to use the words of Mr Fox vent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Conjectures I should be willing to proceed in this manner First To speak of the time in a Latitude Secondly To speak of it more particularly If we speak of it in some Latitude and begin the 1290 daies at the destruction of Ierusalem this period of time will bring us precisely to the year of the Lord 1359 And here as Alstedius well observeth in his Chronologie cap. 6. the Saints did begin more vigorously to testifie against the Antichristian Idolatries And in very deed if we diligently observe the times with some subtilty of consideration we shall find That from the taking of Constantinople and the destruction of the Greek Empire in the East the Languages have been revived and the Witnesses of Truth have been more effectually raised up in the West and the light of the Gospel doth more and more encrease And it is very probable that these things will go on and never cease till the Kingdom of Christ be set up in its full glory and Monarchical power over Jews and Gentiles This I take to be the meaning of the Prophecie in the general accommodation thereof But for the more distinct and particular Application of the times this as I have said before I must leave to them that come after Now let us proceed to the words of Piscator in his Preface upon the Prophecie of Daniel Piscator The third Kingdom is not here rightly extended to the Successors of Alexander the Great so far at least as he is stated the first King of that Kingdom For though this is done chap. 8. vers 21. yet nevertheless that Prophecie differeth much from this For the Kingdom of the Greeks figured by the He-goat is there expresly Named and is divided into the Kingdom of Alexander who is resembled by the notable Horn which the He-goat had between his eyes and the Kingdom of his Successors So that this of Alexander is clearly to be distinguished as different from that of the Successors For it is said When that Horn was br●…ken four stood up for it or in the place of it and afterward those four are expresly called one Kingdom vers 23. Likewise it is spoken concerning the Kingdom of Alexander That it should be plucked up and that it should come to others and not to his Posterity Dan. 11. 4. Answer I do not deny but in some sense the Kingdom of Alexander may be distinct from that of his Successors But 〈◊〉 Whether in the present case it ou●…ht to be 〈◊〉 distinguished The Kingdoms of Media and Persia are two distinct Realms Dan. 8. yet both these make but one silver-Metal So the Kingdoms of Alexander and his Successors though they be distinguished yet in the Notion Relation and Distribution of the Kingdoms in the Image they make but one Brass-metal or one Empire typed by the third Beast with four Heads In this case every Metal signifieth a distinct Kingdom in the fulness thereof And therefore as the Golden-Head doth signifie the Babylonian-Kin●…dom and the Silver-Breast the Mede-Persian So the Brazen-Belly and Thighs do signifie the whole Graecian Empire And as in this Acception the distinct Kingdoms of Media and Persia do not make two but one Silver-metal So the Distinct Kingdoms of Alexander and his Successors do not make divers but one third Kingdom of Brass But yet further If we should ask how every Metal-Kingdom comes to be divided it must be in relation as each People cometh to have the sovereign Dominion over the Earth and therefore it is expresly said concerning the Kingdom of Christ That it shall not be left to other People chap. 2. 44. And in the end of the seventh Chapter v. 27. these words are recited The Kingdom and Dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom shall be given to the People of the Saints of the most High From whence we collect That the Monarchies are to be distinguished as the Dominion doth devolve and descend from one People to another till at last it cometh to the turn of the Saints of the most High

the Second Chapter of Daniel we gather these Four Observations First Concerning the time of the Beginning of the Kingdom of Christ it must be in the latter times For though it is only said That in the dayes of these Kingdoms speaking indefinitely shall the God of Heaven raise up a Kingdom that never shall be destroyed yet in the scope of the Vision it is implyed to be in the times of the last Metal-Kingdom For according to the Order of the Vision Nebuchadnezzar first saw the Head of Gold then the Breast of Silver the Belly and Thighs of Brass the Legs of Iron the Feet and Toes part of Iron and part of Clay And then after some consideration he saw a Stone cut out of the Mountain that smote the Image upon his Feet Therefore the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Christ were in the latter times when the Image was in its last and lowest Region At leastwise the eminent operation of Christ's Kingdom was upon the Feet and Toes of the Image Secondly We are to observe That the Kingdom of Christ was small in the beginning it was a little Stone cut out of the Mountain For look what difference there is betwixt a little Stone and a great Mountain so the same difference is betwixt the Kingdom of Christ when it began and that Kingdom when it self became a Mountain and filled the Earth Calvin upon the place speaketh very well Propheta admonet exordia Regni Christi fore contempta The Prophet doth well admonish us the beginnings of the Kingdom of Christ to be weak and contemptible Thirdly We are to Note also That the progress of this Kingdom was from small beginnings First it was a Stone cut out of the Mountain and then by degrees in time though the space of time is not expressed in the text it became a Mountain and filled the Earth Fourthly Concerning the means of the encrease how it came to that plentitude or fulness of Power It smote upon the Feet and Toes of the Image and so the Iron the Clay ●…he Brass the Silver the Gold were broken all together and the Stone became a Mountain and filled the Earth vers 34 35. These are the Four Observations drawn from the Second Chapter Now let us apply our selves to Polanus and other Interpreters of that way And here we agree That the Kingdom of Christ did in some sense begin at his Incarnation And this is one chief Argument to prove the Roman to be the Fourth Kingdom because the Lord Christ came in the Flesh and his Gospel was Preached and many Churches were gathered when the Romans did bear rule But our Question is Whether did the Kingdom of Christ begin as the Fifth Monarchy as a Mountain that did fill the Earth In this sense he cannot be said to begin in that fulness and amplitude of power at the Incarnation For from the scope of the text it is plain That the Kingdom of Christ was small in the beginning Secondly That it grew by degrees Thirdly That the means of the encrease was by wearing out the Fourth Kingdom The Stone smote the Image upon the Feet and Toes and so became a Mountain and filled the Earth If we apply this to the event The Kingdom of Christ began when the Romans did bear rule His Kingdom was small in the beginning but by degrees first by wearing out Rome Imperial and after that by wearing out Rome Papal this Kingdom of Christ shall come to the fulness of all Monarchical power over the whole Earth Now on the contrary Let us suppose That the Seleucidae and the Lagidae joyntly or the Seleucidae alone do make the Fourth Metal-Kingdom For so Iunius Broughton Piscator Polanus Hayne Willet and others will have it Upon their Grounds I Demand First How did the Kingdom of Christ begin in the times of the Four Metal-Kingdoms if the Seleucidae and the Lagidae do make the Fourth Metal-Kingdom Secondly Seeing the Kingdom of Christ did begin as a little Stone cut out of the Mountain How do they prove that this Kingdom did come to that small beginning in the times of the Seleucidae and the Lagidae Thirdly Seeing the Kingdom of Christ did encrease by decrees in the duration of the Metal-Kingdoms How did it encrease in the duration of the times of the Seleucidae and the Lagidae Fourthly Seeing the means of the encrease was by the wearing out of the Fourth Metal-Kingdom the Stone smote the Image upon the Feet How did the Kingdom of Christ wear out the Dominions of the Seleucidae and Lagidae Were they not totally destroyed some years before the Coming of Christ in the Flesh by the means of the Romans All these things put together do weaken that Principle of the Dissolution of all the Four Metal-Kingdoms at the Coming of Christ in the Flesh and that the Kingdom of Christ did begin at the Incarnation in the fulness of Monarchical Power Now because Mr Hayne hath laboured very much in this Point we will take his Arguments into Consideration Mr Hayne When Herod Pilate and the Iewish Rulers rose up against Iesus Christ God set him to be his King on Mount Sion and gave him so Eminent a Kingdom that to it all Kings Iudges and People must submit or else be crushed with an Iron-Scepter But Herod Pilate and the Rulers of the Iews rose up against Iesus Christ 1500 years ago and more Therefore God set up Christ his Ki●…g on Mount Sion and gave him a Kingdom so Eminent 1500 years ago and more Answer For the beginning of the Kingdom of Christ 1500 years ago I yield that this is true according to the right meaning of the Scriptures But the great Question is Whether the Monarchical Kingdom of Christ when the Saints of the most High shall become the Monarchical People whether did that Kingdom begin 1500 years ago yea or no I do call that the Monarchical Kingdom of Christ to speak cleerly in the Point not when he hath a power in himself greater than any Earthly Dominion not when by the merit of his death and donation of his Father he beginneth to have right to all Earthly Kingdoms for this was given to him at his Ascension But by the Monarchical Kingdom I understand when the Lord Christ after the several and respective times of the Tyrannical Kingdoms of this world according to the free Dispensation of his Father doth actually take into his Possession the Sovereignty over the Earth and that his Gospel cometh to be the regent Law over the Nations Now this Monarchical Kingdom I deny that it began 1500 years ago It is not fully begun as yet though we have some beginnings thereof by the Preaching of the eternal Gospel by Luther and those that follow The scope of the Spirit in the Revelation is to shew that this Kingdom must begin at the end of the Dominion of the Beast or the Roman Kingdom of the latest Edition But to come to particulars It is mentioned Rev.

The Number 5 is the Number of so many parts of their Jurisdiction and thereupon they observed this Number in their Trespass-offering But we cannot say that it was their sin to do it Neither can I see if there should be the like National cause that it is simply a sin in any State to be frequent in the use of the Number 25. For in it self what good or what evil is in that Number You will then say What is meant by the Name and the Number thereof I answer Take the Number 666 severally by it self it is nothing but if you take it joyntly as the Character of the Name and the Mark of the Name we may say That in these things hath consisted the grand Apostacy of the latter Times And for Mr. Potters Interpretation I cannot be satisfied in it for these three Reasons First he undertaketh to expound the Number and to apply it to so many Cardinals so many Churches so many Altars c. Whereas the Number is not the Number of these but it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Number of the Name of the Beast Secondly he undertaketh to shew how the Beast is frequent in the use of such a particular Number whereas the Number is rather the specifi●…al Note and Character of the Kingdome it self Thirdly he sheweth how the Beast is frequent in the use of the Number 25 the square-root of 666. But what sin is there in the frequent use of such a Number To speak properly in these things there is neither good nor evil These are some of the Reasons that move me to depart from the Interpretation of the forementioned Author whom I do otherwise acknowledge to be a man of solid and excellent Learning and much to be approved for his industry and diligence which he hath bestowed toward the discovery of these Mysteries Princ. 5. For the Mark of the Beast and for the worship of the Image and for such-like things the world is made liable to the most grievous Iudgements of God This I have largely proved from Rev. 14. 9 10 11. Now if you apply this to singulars How can men rationally be tormented day and night How can the smoke of their burning ascend for ever and ever for the superstitious use of the Number 25 the square-root of 666 Surely all these things ought so to be stated that the Justice of God may be cleared in the execution of Judgement I cannot then think that so grievous a Judgement is denounced against the superstitious use of the Number 25 but rather as I have largely proved for the yielding subjection to the Name or Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome as it began publickly to be established in the 666th year from the beginning of the Roman as the fourth Metal-Kingdome Princ. 6. In over coming the Name of the Beast and the Number of the Name standeth the special object of the Martyrs Victory This I have largely proved from Chap. 15. ver 2. The persons that stood on the glassie Sea that overcame the Beast were the company and society of Martyrs which suffered for Christ in all Antichristian times and their Victory is no other but a Victory of Martyrdome Now if you apply this to the ordinary Interpretation If the Name of the Beast be no other but the word Lateinos and the Number no other but the Numeral Letters of that Name what a kinde of Victory shall the Martyrs obtain over Words and Syllables and Numeral Letters We may be well assured That there is another kinde of meaning in these words that is the Martyrs did overcome that Power Authority and Universal Headship it self which began solemnly and publickly to be established in the 666th year from the beginning of the Roman as the fourth Metal-Kingdome Princ. 7. The glorious Resurrection of the Martyrs to reign with Christ 1000 years is grounded in special upon this Reason Because they did refuse to worship the Image and to receive the Mark. And therefore Iohn in the Vision saith I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the Word of God and the Testimony of Iesus that these lived to wit out of their Antichristian death and reigned with Christ 1000 years Chap. 20. v. 3. It is evident from hence then That the Name Lateinos or any such-like Grammatical word cannot be the Name of the Beast For the Martyrs were never put to death neither shall they ever have their glorious Resurrection for Names consisting of Letters and Syllables The slaughter hath been mainly for the refusal of the Authority and the Laws made by the Authority or Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome Therefore their glorious Resurrection to reign with Christ shall be for their suffering in the behalfe of Christ. Princ. 8. The Image of the Beast ought so to be expounded that it may express to the life the repair of Roman Majesty after the deadly wound This is proved from the scope of the Text. When the second Beast came out of the earth he did cure the deadly wound that the first Beast had in one of his Heads He had power also to give life to the Image of the Beast that the Image should both speak and live Chap. 13. ver 14 15. Now for the curing of the wound of the first Beast and the giving life to the Image of the Beast these typical expressions do denote the onely repair of Roman Majesty after the fall of the old Empire This is clear from the scope of the Scripture and it is abundantly shewed in many Commentaries The Angel also in Rev. 17. hath this expression The Beast thou sawest that was is not and yet is Here he speaketh of the marvelous recovery of the Roman Majesty after a former loss and destruction which is nothing else in sense and substance but the making of an Image to the Beast that was wounded in one of his Heads and the causing of the Image both to speak and live For in a sense it is true that there was a total eradication of the Roman Soveraignty for a while and when it was set up in the Popes there was a kinde of reviving and a rising of that Soveraignty from the dead The laying down of this one Position did drive me from an Interpretation which seemed to be very plausible in my first meditations upon this Argument Now that particular Interpretation did concern the times of Victor his Excommunicating the Churches of Asia not long after the writing of the Revelation Now because the Roman Jurisdiction over all Churches did begin to make its first visible appearance in these times I did therefore apply the Number of the Beast to the forementioned Excommunication And for the particular time Calvisius the Chronologer saith That those Churches were Excommunicated in the year of the World 4145 and in the year of the Lord 196. Now if you subduct 666 years out of 4145 there will remain the 3479th year of the World which was the first year