to ma ke them sure They be iiij coÌ„iectures for wherfor shuld I not tell them forthe by tale as treasure which nowe orderlye I will reherse THe first coniecture is taken out of Elie the Prophete which the Iewes recite as out of the mouth of God spoken in diuerse places of theyr bokes called Thalmude For they be writen in theyr boke called Abodazara in the i. Cha. in theyr boke called â—aichedrim in y â— laste Cha. and also in other places on thys maner The house or scole of Elie hath affirmed and left it thus writen Elye hath sayd that sixe thousande yeares shal the world stand â—r endure Two thousande voyde of anye lawe written two thousande vnder the lawe writen two thousande vnder the dayes of Messias Hytherto Elias afterward the rabbins added these wordes But for our sin nes which be great and many the fyfte thousande and an halfe be thus past and yet is not Messias comen But yet is this doutles an oracle worthy to be beleued for many causes although it be not expressed in the scriptures For fyrst to begyn therewith this oracle is susteyned with the wordes of Moyses in the Psal. after the Hebrewe rekenynge xc to which Saynt Peter cleaueth in hys ij Epistle iij Cap. saying That a thousand yeares with the Lord be but as one day Also hereof it foloweth That as god cre ated all thynges in vi dayes rested in the. vij Euen so shal he sixe thousand yeares gouerne the world subiect to generacyon and corruptyon and in the seueÌ„th thousand bryng in that euerlasting rest of which Thapostle so plainely speketh Hebre. iiij that he semeth to shewe the selfe same misterye as it were with hys fynger ☞ Besides this it consenteth ryght well with all the other coniectures folowyng and it is constantly celebrated and hyghly estemed of the Iewes as the assewered oracle of the Prophete and yet it fighteth plainly agaynst them selues theyr infidelitie whiche may not be beter confounded then in y t they be coÌ„pelled by theyrowne sainges of Elias to graunt y â— Messias shuld raygne the hole laste two thousande yeares yet contrary to their sayng they still loke for him as thoughe he were not comeÌ„ For by this clause added That for theyr synnes God differreth Messias birthe theyr selues confesse frely and plainly the time of christes birthe not to hauehad beÌ„ yet past in this last age of late but rather then whaÌ„ theyr bo ke of thalmude was publyshed euen about y e yeare of our Lord. CCCC xxxvi Wherof it is manifelt that thei haue wai ted more then these eleuen hondred yeres for a nother messias then our Lord Christ and al in vayne The cause whereof they falsely impute it to their own sinnes For Christ was in so certain a prediffined tyme promised to vs theÌ„ that neyther for theyr sinnes must he haue had ben borne y e later nor yet for theyr good liuig haue comen the soner of y â— which thing more peradueÌ„ture shalbe spokeÌ„ in another pla ce Although some of our religyon wold contend to drawe this litle clause of Chri stes birthe now paste vnto thend of the worlde as thoughe for our synnes there shuld waÌ„te muche of these sixe thousande yeares so that they be not fulfylled But thys sence although it maketh well for our purpose yet the Hebrew wordes receyue it not Wherfor this is the meanig of the oracle That the world froÌ„ the time wherof Moses said The earth was emp tye grosse and void dured two thousand before the lawe of circumcision with her adpertinences was geuen to AbrahaÌ„ of which it is writteÌ„ Gen. 26 27. That al nacyons shalbe blessed in thy sead And from the time of delyueraunce of circum cision to Abraham vnto Christes birthe there dured also other two thousand yea res which thyng syth it is proued manyfestly so to haue come to passe for Christ was born suffred about the four thousand yeares froÌ„ y e creacion nedes muste the rest of y e oracle also be true y â— froÌ„christ to the ende of the worlde there shalbe no more peraduenture much lesse then two thousande eueÌ„ as Elias sayd But in that as certain yeres of the laste two myllenaryes be paste and yet Christ be not come as y e Iewes dreame because of their sinnes as they wold seme to excuse theyr vnbeleue with another synne of vnbelief they be vtterly deceiued For after this oracle Christ is verely comen so y t about fower thousand yeares from the creacyoÌ„ he was crucifyed rose agayn froÌ„ death ascended to heauen and in the ende of the world thence to come to iudge the quicke and deade And where the Iewes fro the creacyon hither to reken CC. yeres lesse then we the cause is that emong manye of theyr errours this is one great ouer-fight For they reken dariuÌ„ Hystaspis or Longimane vnder whom the teÌ„ple was redifyed and Darium that was ouer comen of greate Alexander bothe for one Kynge of the Medys and Persyans to haue reigned but vi yeares wheÌ„ there canne betwixt them after Ptoleme Cxcij yeares which thyng we shal discusse diligently in our cronicle This coniecture is also holpen by Henoch and Elie hymselfe which bothe were translated quick out of thys miserable lyfe to that blessed immortalitie death neuer tasted For as the sixe fyrst generacyons that is to say AdaÌ„ Seth Enos Lainam Mahalaleel Iared dyed and the seuenth generacâ—on euen Henâ—ch hym selfe whom Iudas in hys Epistle meÌ„tioned not without a cau se to be the seuenth is immortal Euen so thorow these vi millenaries of the world shall death raygne and in the seuenthe shal floresh that blessed immortalite And as the fyrste vi ages of men from Adam to Elie were subiect to death and the seuenth which is Elie obieyned immortali tie For Elias was rapt vp alyâ—e in the charet of fyer euen so thorow these vimillenaryes shall the mortall lyfe dure And in the beginnyng of the seuenth shal we be taken vp to mete Christ comynge downe to iudgement AdaÌ„ lyued to Mathusalem Mathusalem to Sem Sem to Iacob Iacob to AmraÌ„ Amram to AhiaÌ„ the Silonite Ahias to Elias which was traÌ„slated These coÌ„iectures also vsed IoaÌ„ picus Meradulane in y e yere of our Lord â—â— ccc lxxxvi did put vp this one amoÌ„g hys disputable 90. conclusions sayng yf there be any humane coniecture of y â— last tyme we may serche and fynde it by the muste secrete way of Cabbalist the end of the world to come hense of 514. yeres Netheles for right gret causes as we haue sayd to fore we coniecture that the sixt millenarie shall not be fulfylled For as in the lawe the sixt daye was not hole graunted to worke therein to the full end as to the midnyght but a good part therof was anticipated and cut of added to the Sabboth daye euen so shall not the sixt
millenarie be all full hole geuen to the laborouse last mortal lyfe but y t most gloryouse beutyfull parte therof aboute the euenyng shâ—lbe anteuorted and preuented of that blessed and euerlastynge reste as it shal appere clearlyer in the coÌ„ iectures followyng and in the mysterye of the supper of oure Lorde preuented celebrated in the euenyng and in the para bles of y t callinges to supper after which refreshyng there followeth no more laboure but reste The secoÌ„d coniecture is takeÌ„ of y â— wordes of christ red Matth. 24 Mar. 13. thus But the daye and hower nomaÌ„ knoweth it no not thaungels in heaueÌ„ nor yet the sone him selfe but onlye my father But as were the dayes of Nohe so shalbe the coming of the sone of man For as in the dayes of Nohe before the floude they were eating drynkyng and marying vnto the daye in which Nohe entred into y â— arke and knewe not therof till the floude came ouer them taking all awaye euen so shalbe the coming of the sone of man For in these wordes Christe semeth not to compare only the qualyte but also the quantite of the tyme. The qualitie of the tyme I call the corrupt maners of that worlde and age the quantitie is the nomber of the yeres And as for the qualitie ther is no doute therof when Christ said playnly Luke xvij That as in the dayes of Nohe and Lot they ate and dronke toke wyues and maried bought and sold planted and builded euen so shall it be when the sone of man shalbe reueled But as touchyng the quantyte or noumber of the yeris albe it the thing be hid obscure yet in some behalfe it shyueth sheweth her selfe wher Math. saith perfectly As were the dayes of Nohe so shalbe the coming of the son of man Namely when Paul Rom. v. affyrmeth AdaÌ„ to haue had ben the forme and image of Chryst to come as in y â— i. Cor. xv of christ he maketh an other Adam euen into the spirit that quickeneth The fyrst Adam was erthey out of the earthe but the seconde man is the Lorde him self out of heuen Nowe if Christ be the other AdaÌ„ of whom the fyrst was the forme and similytude and the comyng of Christe be as the dayes of Nohe aboute the floude who wyll not beleue but that how much tyme passed from the earthey adam vnto the dayes of Nohe euen to the floude so much tyme shall there passouer to the celestiall Adam our Lorde Iesus vnto the â—nde euen to that last fiery floude wherof Peter sayth The daye of the Lord shall come lyke a thefe in the night at whose coming the heuens shal passouer lyke a storme and thelements shall melt awaye with heat y â— erthe al y â— workes theri shal be bruÌ„t vp And the heuens shalbe consumed whith fyer and thelementes molteÌ„ it is so manifest that from Adam to the floude there passed ouer Mcccccclvi yeres wherfor it is very like that in y â— year of our Lorde Mcccccclvi the end of the world shalbe comen before our dores whiche now is not much more theÌ„ an C. yeres heÌ„ce except it be rekoned from y t re surreccion of Christ. And as Nohe knew not the day ne hower of the floude tyl the Lorde bode him go into the arke but the year he knewe it when God told him before that he wold graunt him yet to the men cxx yeres space to repent euen so we albeit the daye and howr we knowe not yet the year maye we knowe or coniecture very nighe it ☞ The thirde couiecture is taken froÌ„ the tyme of Christes birthe vnto his passion and resurreccion whych is xxxiij ye res and some dayes more whose noumber we yet knowe not For when he was baptized he was full xxx yeres olde or very nyghe so that he was full thyrtye ere he toke the offyce of a leuite as to preache and to teache openlye Thus the sone of GOD whyche of euerlasting was in the bosome of the father manisshappe taken vp to him is becocome conuersant wyth vs lyke as one of xxx yeris olde For as touching his godheit he tolde the Iewes sayng Before Abraham was borne I had my being essenciall name called Sum. And yet to cer tyfye vs the more in this thinge behold the Astronomer Ptolemeus which in cal king the yere expressed plainly in y e course of y e. xxxiiij yeres of Christ to be euen such an easter day or passouer day as we finde nowe described of theuaÌ„gelistes at y t passyon of Christ which daye fyll then iustely vpoÌ„ the fryday as did then Christ vpon the same daye kepe it with hys Discyples Albeit the Iewes then differred trauslated it into the next sabboth which was saterdaye and then ate they theyr Passe lombe at euening in y â— which forenone was offred the very trwe passe lombe Christe the ende of all the fygures therof the Iewes not yet seing y e verite but abiding still in their dead blinde shadows The iewes differred y e feste as they do yet when it so falleth vpoÌ„ the friday lest two gret festes in which they may not do so much as make their owne fyer or cut their brede shulde be contynued togither whiche thing that Christe shuld eate his Passe lombe on the fryday and suffer also on the same day makyng saterday the hole restyng daye vpon son day erly to ryse many hitherto haue not â—speyd But this mater Paule Bisshop of SeÌ„pronie serched for wyth gret study and could not fynde it out only because he perceiued not the Iewes not to tell y e fyrst day of the moneth from the coniunâ— cion of the sone and mone next before but from the eauening euen at v. of the cloke before the chaÌ„g in which the lerned astro mers did euidently shewe it or els lawful witnes proued it to the elders or senators of Ierusalem that the newe mone was sene or might haue had ben sene But returne we to our purpose Wherfore when our Lorde Christ born of the virgeÌ„ concerning his fleshe was in this our miserable lif coÌ„uersant with vs. xxxiij yeres and some dayes more it is very like him self also to be borne spirytually of the in corrupt vyrgyne the holy churche by the free confession and pure doctryne of the gospell euen so many yeares but yei great yeres and so to remayne and abyde with vs styll in his spirytuall birth these xxx great yeres in this worlde But here must ye knowe that there be two maner of grete yeres in holy seryptur One is the Angels year and the tother is Moses year One Angels year coÌ„ teineth somany of our comon yeares as we haue daies in our yeare that is 354. of our yeares for so many daies be there in our lunare yere For w t vs which be coÌ„ cluded vnder y e heuens y t course of y t sone froÌ„ east to west
the name of blasphemie Osi. That is blasphemouse names titles For when they had herd anon out of the prophetis and Sibils of the kingdom y t shuld be eternall to spring vp out of the erth which was Christ with his KingdoÌ„ and gospel then applied they the same saluacion to their Romish churche and Bisshop of Rome and to his antichristen Kingdom Wherof Iupiter in virgill sayth I haue geuen the an empire without ende and ayen vnto it will I nether limites ne tyme put therto A great blasphemye veryly is it arrogantly to vsurpe the honor prayse and maiestie of the euerlasting imperie and Kingdom of Christ dewe only to the sone of God to applie and adioine them to the vngod ly wiked tyranye of the Romishe citie prophane courte of Rome I might here speke other thigs of this blasphemy but because it is certain non of these vij headis to be sene in the later dominacion but onely the aight head whiche is the pope as we shall hereaftir se the blasphemies of the later beast ought not to be applied to the former Ioan. And the beast whom I sawe was lyke a leoparde and his fete like the fete of a bear and his mouthe like a lyons mouth and the dragon gaue him his own strengthe his owne seat and also great power Osi. For as the dragoÌ„ is called of Christ the prince of this worlde and reigneth all spiritually and inuisibly vnder heueÌ„ with his other wyked sprites the rulers of those derkenesses euen so geueth he his streÌ„gth seate and powr to this beast the pope that she by the moeions and instigacions of this dragon aftir hys maner and will might reigne also bodely and visibly Io. And I sawe one of hir headis as it were smiteÌ„ to death but that deadly wound was healed Osi. This head was first y e Monarchie of y â— Cesars which spraÌ„g vp in C. Iulio Cesare which wheÌ„ he was smyten w t. xxiii woundis and slayne of the coniured agenst him the monarchie semed vtterly to be subuerted and perished which yet was not so but it waxed strong ayen was stablisshed more mightely in Octa uio Augusto Io. And all the erth with admiracion beheld the beast and worshiped the dragon which gaue hir that power And they fil downe before the beast sayinge Who is lyke this beast and who may fight with hir Osi. As I sayd tofore the fame was spred ouer al the world euen the same whiche had hir originall out of the prophetis and â—ibillis that there shuld arise in y e erth about that tyme an euerlasting kingdoÌ„ whiche semed to the vngodly to be fulfilled in this Romane monarchie of Octauian Auguste namely sith it was vnder him so happely stablysshed and all the hole world so prosperously set in peace wher fore they thought it to be so done by the singulare couÌ„sel of the most highe God But the very God wold reserue this glo rye and maieltie of theternal imperie for his own sone and not to geue it to the traÌ„ sitorie imperie of Rom. Wherfor it was so that when the vngodly in their hertis and thoughtis worshiped y t God which now stablesshed the Romane monarchie as they iuged they worshipped not the very God as they semed to theÌ„ selues For the very God in nowise had stablis shed the Romane imperie which a lytle aftir he thought to destroie as y t prophe tis foresaid it and the finall fall therof proued it But they worshiped satan and their own vain imaginacion which strewed and spred this monstrose opinion of the eternal empire of rome into y t world which satan therfore had promoued the monarchie of the same and geuen hir his powr that by one Kyngdom he mought the soner and cruellier tame his tirannouse wodnes vpon the christians For if the hyghest empyre had standen vpon the. xii counsellers Senators they had neuer haue had ben caried and concited of the deuill with so great wodnes and furye ayenst the christianes as eft sone were Nero Domiciane and such lyke en censed agenst them They also fil downe before the beast For they had wendt y t the empyre had ben nowe constituted of God by oracles and they made goddis of the Cesars ether by the most fowle flatering of them or by extreme blindnes For when they sayde Oh who is lyke the beast It is asmich to say as this beast is God For this can not be said but of God only Who is like y t oh lord And when they saye who may fight w t hir they make hir inuict and constituted of God And because he maketh men cioÌ„ of batail he she wed him self to haue had painted hitherto the citie of Rome by the markis of the former dominacion For the later flouresshed not by armour in batail but by colourable collusions and fayned pretences of holines So that Ioan hitherto said nothing els then that this citie builded vpon vn hillis hauing vii kyndes of the most highe magistrates euen the impery ouer the x. prouinces as it were destributed into Kingdoms which also by a blasphemou se presumpcion thought hir self perpetually and euermore to raigne In whiche most mightye monarchie of Cesars ayenst the wyll of S. P. Q. K. it sprang vp with great admiracion of all men And when she was deadly wounded in Iulio Cesare yet was she so restored and stablisshed in Octauio Augusto that the thyng apered to the vnwyse and ongodly to be done of God For that same citie I say aftir she was vtterly set of from all her former dominacion and vtterly extynct yet aftyr that deadly wounde and head destruccyon she did putvp hir head ayen And whilis Satan made hir mighty and armied hir into the persecucion and destruccion of bodys soulis but cheifly into the persecucion of the christians aftir a new maner came she agene to hir most highe dominacion Which thing he might haue said in fewer and clearer wordis if he wold haue openly and plainly named y â— Rome citie But that was not then expedient for the churche as we tolde you before Nowe therfore there remayneth y â— we hear what maner one this beast is howe she did put vp hir head agen which thing y e aungel y e interpretor of y e vision clerely teacheth vs saing The beast whoÌ„ thou sawest was is not shal ascende out of the depe derke pitte and shall go in to his own destruccion that is into euerlasting dampnacion whose cause we shall hear afterward and the inhabitors of the erth shall meruell therat whose names be not writen in the boke of life from the creation of the world seing the beast that was and is not that is when she did put vp hir head ayen For as the gentyles some tym merueled at the monarchie of the Cesars so now meruell the supersticiouse and y e vngodly at this last dominacioÌ„ of Rome