Ch. 17. The nyflical Revela mountains, on which the woman fit- teth. lo. And there are feven kings, five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come ; and when he corned; he muff continue a Mortfpace. 11. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the feven, and goeth. into perdition. 9, to, II. That the feven Mountains are thole ofRome, is very plaint but who were the (even Kings"I confefs I know nor, Here is work for a fearching.Head (the Mind that h;th Wifdom.) But it is Matter of Fact, which when the thing was newly done, the Mind that Oath Wifdom might know ; but how can we know it but by Hiftory, without a newRe- velation ? And Hiftory herein is lame, and much uncertain, and the Work of Man, atad all Men are Liars; and few Chriffiars were Writers till three hundred years after Chriff and the 'firft Chriflians hadmany fabulous Re- porters among them (as their ff ariou, Writings thew.) When yohn wrotethis Book,and whe- ther all at once, or at many years distance of the Parts, is unknown, (whatever confident men may talk.) Eufebius trufteth divers fabu- lous Authors, and reports, forwant of better, tho' he be credible himfelf. I take the ftyle and Words of the Boók tobe the belt Hiftory of the time, which intimateth that part ofIt at leafs was written before the Siege of 7eru-. falem, which maketh me the eublier believe Epiphanies, that john was firlf banilh'd into Parma in the Reign of Claudius, and there wrote parr of the Book at Irait. For though force of it might be written ofthings part, it's hardly credible that molt of it should be (itch. This Verse ha h inlay FCpofitions : Many fay it (Peaked] notof individual Kings, but of feven forts ofGovernment, viz,. Kegs, Consuls, Deeemvirs, Dibfaters, Tribunes military, and Emperors; and the Pope they make to be the feventh and eighth. But fo much is f,idagaiele this, as I cannot anfwer t As, I. That it is not meet' Power, bitt idolatrous and perfecuting Power, that the Text deferibeth, and none of these perfecuted, fave the Emperors ; nor were they fo idolatrous as Athens and other places. 'o. That the meer Imperial Power, as the Pillar of Idolatry, is plainly made the Beaft, there- forenot the five antecedent. 3. That indeed these five were no fupreme Power, för that was only in the Senate, which had the Legifla_ tive Power till Violence ravith'd them of ir, which when it did, the Consuls, Deeemvirs, and Tribunes had but a part 5 no, nor the Emperors long or oft. These were not feveralSovereigns, bat parts of theSupreme, as the Tribuni Plebis were, end fonte of them very fhort. And the Pwmfices Max, might as well becaned as force tion. Babylon. Ch. 17 of them. And who the feventh and eighth Head were, is laid with fo greet Difficulties, Difference and Confusion, as would be tiretern to repeat. The Papiffs Opinions about a future Anti- thrift, and theirs that apply all to Mahoxoet, I will not repeat. They that expound it of particular Cafars ala fo, are oppoled by Many hard Objections Some of them apply ail to the (even Em- perours that theChriftians were haft troubled by, viz.. Claudius, Nero, Galba, Orho, Vitellias, Vefpafian,Titus, and Domitian the eighth ; but three or four of these perfecuted not. Some think that fevers here frgnifieth not a determi- nate number, but many. They feem the fame with the revert' Heads, eh. a;. And if the ten Horns lignifie not precifely jaft ten, whyfhould the (even ? I that underftend it not, may lays it is as probable as fome of these. that this be the feria t it being the time of the fall ofthe Bean and Whore that I am (peaking of] there shall be at that time (even Cafars alive at once, of whomDicclefian,Conflantius, Chloras, Galerias, Maximianu s, s, Seven, andGaleriaa Maximinus, are fallen at the timewhen Confiantine is de. ftroyin§ Idolatry : confiantine is the fixth, Who is then m being : Licinius is after to be used as one ofthem, feeming then a Friend. The bloody Diocletian, who with Max. Herculiva laid down the Rule, ie one of the [even, and together will, by the Devil's initiation, at- -tempt again to be the eighth, but to hìs own Perdition. Whether Maxentius pats only for a partial Ufurper after, or pars for the eighth, rather than Diocletan, I let pals. Both nias and Maxentius continued but a fhort (pace. a 2. And the ten horns, which thou faweft, are ten Kings, which have re- ceived no kingdom as yet : but re. ceive power as kings onehour with the beafts, to. Say Come, they are twelve Heathen -Kings, thatarenot full Kings, but tributary to Romea gay others, they are the Gcthifh and other extraneous Kings, that are not in the Etna pire, but are Confederates. Some fay, it is the Tyrants that have headed the Devil's Kingdom in (even feveral Ages: but this is a vainPopit Evafion. That ten Kings were dependent on -Pagan Rome, is clear ; and that ten or more of the"Barbarians broke the Chriftian Empire: but which is meant is the doubt, 13. Thcfe have one mind, and (hall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14. Thefe (hall malte war with the Lamb, and the Lamb ft:all overcome them : for he is the Lord U u 2 of
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