(4©') That evenas Antichrift, who afterward to fucceed in thisvery feat, should exalt himfelf above all that is called God, or is worfhipped, z The! 2.4. by affuming to himfelfa dominionover all Kings of the earth : fo this King here, fhould goe before him in the famefleps, tomake to his heire the more eafiepath,' and paffage to the top of his execrable pride, tobeabhorred of all men : fiuh is his arrogant haughtineffe over men, but hee will not beconreined within thefe bounds ; he will ufe reproachful( words againft the God of gods, faith theText. But fodid the Affyrian King altoof old ; Huh any of the gods of the Nations delivered his Land out of the hands of the King of Afhur, z King. 18. 33. And it is faid of Antiochus alto, that he flue many men, and fpake very proudly, t Mar. r. zs. This therefore feemeth to be a common note ofgreat foveraignty, which ufually breaks out into great blafphemie againft God himfelf: yet there is reafon in this place, wherefore it (bouldbe proper and pe- culiar to the Ronan ;for the Affyrianhath no part at all in this vifion, neither can it be referred to Antiochus, whole horrible mifchiefs are formerly recorded, that he fhould pollute the holy place,or Sanc`tu- arie, and fhould takeaway the daily facrifice, and fet up the abomi- nable defolation, verf. 31. Hee had now already gaffed, and pro- seeded beyond hofe words,why fhould he nowbe reproved for in- confiderate and uncivill language, after Rich heinous mifchiefs ? we do not ufe toaccule a man whom wee have proved to have thrufc his neigbour through with a fword, and after to lay to his charge that hee prickt him with a pin, or a needle alfo. This therefore is not Antiochus his blafphemie, but the Romans, who,; though they came behind him in wicked-deeds, again(( the God ofgods,yet they refrained not themfelves fromwicked words. Although it benot ne- ceffary that thefe words fhouldbe of the mouth, when as the foole hath laid in his heart, There is noGod : and it is certain, although they ufed no words, and brake not out into terms, yet the Romans after they grew into acquaintance with the nation ofthe IeWes, did in their private thoughts,attribute more to their Jupiter of the Capi- toli, then to the great Creator of the world. But yet words are not wanting,which are as wirne{Tes ofnotorious blalphemie. Cicero,with the applaufe and approbation ofhis nation, doth not vouchfafe the . true and fincere Religionof God, any other name, then a barbarous fuperftition; neither focontented, his ungracious tongue goeth for- ward, in determining thofe facredthings of divine inftitution, to be both unworthy of the nobleneffe,and fplendor of theRomanEmpire, Cccccc the
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