Brightman - BS2823 B85 1644

424 A q0)elatton of the Apocalyfe. C A P.13, terribleneffe and bloody cruelty, but far worfe for the mifchiefe they do, in that iniquity is more armed in men, then in Beafts, becaufe of the ufe of Reafon. He arifeth out of the Sea. Becaufe he hath his Original! out ofcor- rupt doctrine, namely the authority of Peters Chaire, that is fo falfly maintained by thePopifh teachers, which the Pope ofRome vaunts of in every word almoft that he fpeaks, and which the ancient Holy men, Tertu/lian, Cyprian, and the ref} extolled up to heaven with excellive praifes, not knowing to what monftrous impiety they plaid the Harbingers. But then efpecial(y was this lea vifible, and then might this his plunging forth out of it lye open to the eyes of men, when the Nicene Fathers caft the burning Mountain into the Sea, as hath been Paid, Chapter 8.8. That is,when they confirmed with their Decree, that the preheminencie of the Bithop of Tome, whatfoever it was, fhould be above his fellowBifhops. For the Sea notethout the Clergie, together with the I3ellrine, as whole office it is togive themfelves to deliver and defend the do- ¿'rine. Thofeholy men were far from intending to bring in thatTy- ranny, which prevailed afterwards; yet did they at unawares give it mighty increafe by that conftitution oftheirs, Every one lived to himfelfebefore the Nicene Councel, and there Was fmall refpeEl had of the Church of Rome, as Aeneas Sylvius confefheth, Epift. a88. This was principally therfore the arifingofthe Beak, not that he had not begun to put forthhis head before, but becaufe he began now firft of all to be beheld and marked by men. Which had/even heads. Suchwas his Atifing. His integral( parts arehis Heads, which are as many as thole ofthe Dragons, and the ve- ry fame with them. For the feate and dignity of both is the fame. For there heads are the hi/ls, and the Kings, Chapt. 17.9. He hash alto tenHorns, as the Dragon hath, and ten crowns, fet up- on his horns, which Horns, are ten Kings, Chap t. 17. 1 2. Yet with a twofold difference from the Dragons horns. Firff, in the Crowns, wherewith thefe areadorned, as which do note out fuch Kings as have all the rule in themfelves, and are not fubjeet to any other mans command, fuch likewife as are not bound to yeeld account of their doings to any others, but have fuch a government, as is abso- lute, free, and Soveraign. The Hornsofthe Dragon had no fuch orna- ment; but this belonged onely to the beads, as it is Chapter 12. 3. Whence cometh this difference ? Namely, from hence, in that the Heathen Empereurs placed the fixed Seat of their Empire at Rome, Whir%

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