<1r>

Having searched [& by the grace of God obteined \after/ knowleg {sic} in the prophetiqꝫ scriptures, I have thought my self bound to communicate it \for the benefit/ of {sic} others, remembring ye judgment of him who hid his talent in a napkin. For I am perswaded that this will prove of great benefit to those who think it not enough for a sincere Christian to sit down contented with the principles of ye doctrin of Christ such as ye Apostel accounts the doctrin of Baptisms & of laying on of hands & of the resurrection of ye dead & of eternall judgment, but leaving these \& the like/ principles desire to go on unto perfection until they become of full age & by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good & evil. Hebr 5.12

I would not have any discouraged by the difficulty & ill success that men have hitherto met with in these attempts. This is nothing but what ought to have been. ffor it was revealed to Daniel that the prophesies concerning ye last times should be closed up & sealed untill ye time of ye end: but then the wise should understand, & knowledg should be increased. Dan 12.4, 9, 10. And therefore the longer they have continued in obscurity, the more hopes there is that ye time is at hand in which they are to be made manifest. If they are never to be understood, to what end did God reveale them? Certainly he did it for ye edification of ye church; & if so, then it is as certain that ye church shall at length attain to ye understanding thereof {sic}. I mean not all that call themselves Christians, but a remnant, a few scattered persons which God hath chosen, such as without being blinded led by interest, education, or humane authorities, can set themselves sincerely & earnestly to search after truth. For as Daniel hath said that ye wise shall understand, so he hath said also that none of ye wicked shall understand.

Let me therefore beg of thee not to trust to ye opinion of any man concerning these things, for so it is great odds but thou shalt be deceived. Much less oughtest thou to keep to rely upon <2r> the judgment of ye multitude, for so thou shalt certainly be deceived. But search the scriptures thy self & that by frequent reading & constant meditation upon what thou readest, & earnest prayer to God to enlighten thine understanding if thou desirest to find the truth. Which if thou shalt at length attain thou wilt value above all other treasures in ye world by reason of ye assurance and vigour it will add to thy faith, and steddy {sic} satisfaction to thy mind which he onely \can/ know {sic} how to estimate who shall {sic} experience it.

That {sic} the benefit wch may accrew by ye understanding \the/ sacred Prophesies & the danger by neglecting them is very great & that ye obligation to study them is as great may appear by considering ye \like/ case of ye Iews at ye coming of Christ. For the rules whereby they were to know their Messiah were the prophesies of the old Testament. And these our Saviour recommended to their consideration in the very beginning of his preaching Luke 4.21: And {sic} afterward commanded the study of them \for that end/ saying, Search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternall life, and these are they which testify of me {sic}: &  {sic} at another time severely reproved their ignorance herein, saying to them when they required a sign, Ye Hypocrites can ye can discern the face of ye sky but can ye not discern ye signes of ye times And after his resurrection he reproved also this ignorance in his disciples, saying unto them, O fools & slow of heart to beleive all that the Prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, & to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses & all the Prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Thus also ye Apostles & those who in ye first ages propagated ye gospel urged chiefly these Prophesies and exhorted their hearers to search & see whether all things concerning our saviour ought not to have been as they fell out. And in a word it was ye ignorance of ye Iews in these Prophesies wch caused them to reject their Messiah {sic} & by consequence to be not onely captivated by the Romans but to incur eternall damnation. Luke 19.42, 44.

If then the Prophesies wch concerned the Apostoliqꝫ age were given for ye conversion of ye men of that age to the truth & for the establishment of their faith, & if it was their duty to search diligently into those Prophesies: why should we not think that the Prophesies wch concern the latter times into wch we <3r> are fallen were in like manner intended for our use that in the midst of Apostacies we might be able to discern the truth & be established in the faith thereof, & consequently that it is also our duty to search with all diligence into these Prophesies. |And| If God was so angry with ye Iews for not searching more diligently into ye Prophesies wch he had given them to know Christ by: why should we think he will excuse us for not searching into ye Prophesies wch he hath given us to know Antichrist by? For certainly it must be as dangerous \& as easy/ an error for Chistians {sic} to adhere to Antichist {sic} as it was for ye Iews to reject Christ. And therefore it is as much our duty to {illeg} indeavour to know him as be able to know him that we may avoyd him, as it was theirs to know Christ that they might follow him.

Thou seest therefore that this is no idle speculation, no matters of indifferency but a duty of the greatest moment. Wherefore it concerns thee to look about thee narrowly least thou shouldest in so degenerate an age be dangerously seduced & not know it. Antichrist was to seduce ye whole Christian world and therefore he may easily seduce thee if thou beest not well prepared to discern him. But if he should not be yet come into ye world yet amidst so many religions of wch there can be but one true & perhaps none of those that thou art acquainted with it is great odds but thou mayst be deceived & therefore it concerns thee to be very circumspect.

* < insertion from f 2v > * Consider how our Saviour taught the Iews in Parables that in hearing they \migh {sic}/ hear {sic} & not understand & in seeing they might see & not perceive. And as these Parables were spoken to try the Iews so ye mysticall scriptures were written to try us. Therefore beware that thou be not found wanting in this tryall. For if thou beest, the obscurity of these scriptures will as little excuse thee as ye obscurity of or Saviours Parables excused the Iews. < text from f 3r resumes > Consider \also/ the instructions of or Saviour concerning these latter times by the Parable of the Fig-tree. Now learn a parable of the Figtree, saith he: When his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that Summer is nigh. So likewise when ye when ye see these things know that it is near even at the doors. — Watch therefore for ye know not what hower your Lord doth come. Wherefore it is <4r> thy duty to learn the signes of the times that thou mayst know how to watch, & be able to discern what times are coming on the earth by the things that are already past. If thou doest watch thou mayst know when it is at the door as a man knows that by the leaves of a figtree that Somer is nigh {sic}. But if through ignorance of the signes thou shalt say in thine heart My Lord delayeth his coming; And shalt begin to smite thy fellow servants & to eat & drink with the drunken: Thy Lord will come in a day when thou lookest not for him & in an hower that thou art not aware of, and cut thee asunder and appoint thy portion wth the Hypocrites, There {sic} shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matt 24. If thou doest not watch, how canst thou escape more then other men, For as a snare shall it come on {sic} all \them/ that dwell upon the face of the whole earth. Luke 21.

** < insertion from f 3v > ** Consider that the {sic} {illeg} same Prophets who foretold or saviours first coming foretold also his second coming; & if it was the main & indispensable duty of ye Church before ye first coming of Christ to have searched into & understood those prophesies aforehand, {illeg} why should it not be as much ye duty of ye Church before his second coming to understand ye same prophesies aforehand so far as they are yet to be fulfilled? Or how knowest thou that the christian church if they continue to neglect, shall not be punished even in this world as severely as ever were the Iews? Yea will not ye Iews rise up in judgment against us? For they had some regard to these prophesies insomuch as to be in generall expectation of or Saviour about that time when he came, onely they were not aware of \the manner of/ his two comings; and were mistake they understood ye description of his second coming, & onely were mistaken in applying that to ye time of his first coming. Consider therefore, if ye description of his second coming was so much more plain & perspicuous then that of ye first, yt ye Iews who could not so much as perceive any thing of ye first could yet understand ye second, how shall we escape who understand nothing of ye second but have turned ye whole description of it into Allegories. And if ye Iews were so severely punished for not understanding ye first more difficult Prophesy, what can we plead who know nothing of ye more perspicuous; & yet \have/ this advantage above them that ye first wch is a key to ye second & was hidden from them is made manifest to us, and yt we have the second also much further explained in the new Testament. < text from f 4r resumes > Consider how also \Again consider how/ the Apostels instructed ye Churches of the first age in the knowledg of these latter times 2 Thes 2.5. And if it was the duty of those Christians to understand them wch were not to live in them, shall we think |yt| ye knowledg thereof is of no concernment to us.

Again Consider {sic} also the designe of the Apocalyps. Was it not given for ye use of the Church to guide & direct her in the right way,? And is not this the end of all prophetick Scripture? If there was no need of it, or if it cannot be understood, then why did God give it? But if was ne Does he trifle? But if it was necessary for the Church then why doest thou neglect it, or how knowest thou that thou art in the right way, and yet doest not understand it? * < insertion from f 3v > * This was ye principal caus of the reformations which have hitherto been made from ye Roman errors first by Waldenses and Albigenses and then by ye Protestants, & therefore we have reason to beleive yt God foreseeing how much ye Church would want a guide in these latter ages designed this Prophesy for this end & by consequence we may expect that he hath some further counsel to be brought about by the fuller manifestation of it.

< text from f 4r resumes >

Lastly consider ye Blessing wch is promised to them that read & study & keep ye things wch are written in <5r> this Prophesy. Blessed is he that readeth & they that hear the words of this Prophesy & keep the things that which are written therein, for ye time is at hand, Rev. 1.3. And again to reinforce ye invitation to take these things into consideration, the same Blessing is repeated in Ch 22.7 And does God ever annex his blessings to trifles or things of indifferency? Wherefore be not overwise in thine own eyes conceipt, but as thou desirest to inherit this blessing consider & search into these Scriptures wch God hath given to be a guide in these latter times, & be not discouraged by the gainsaying {illeg} wch these things will meet with in the world.

[They will call thee it may be a \{illeg}/ hot-headed fellow a Bigot, a Fanatiqꝫ, a Heretiqꝫ &c: And tell thee of the uncertainty of these interpretations, & vanity of attending to them: Not considering that the prophesies concerning or Saviour's first coming were of more difficult interpretation, and yet God rejected ye Iews for not attending better to them. And whither they will beleive it or not, there are greater judgments hang over the Christians for their remisness then ever the Iews yet felt. But ye world loves to be deceived, they will not understand, they never consider equally, but are wholly led by prejudice, interest, the prais of men, and authority of ye Church they live in: as is plain becaus all parties keep close to ye Religion they have been brought up in, & \yet/ in all parties there are wise & learned as well as fools & ignorant. There are but few that seek to understand the religion they profess, & those that study for understanding therein, do it rather for worldly ends, or that they may defend it, then for worldl to examin whither it be true wth a resolution to chose & profess that religion wch in their judgment appears the truest. And as is their faith so is their <6r> practise. ffor where are the men that do never yeild to anger nor seek revenge, nor disobey governours, nor censure & speak evil of them, nor cheat, nor lye, nor swear, nor use God's name idly in their common talk, nor are \proud nor ambitious nor/ covetous, nor unchast, nor drink immoderately? Where are they that live like ye primitive Christians, that love God with all their hearts & with all their soules & wth all their might, and their neighbour as their selves; & that in what they do well are not rather led by fashions and principles of Gentility then religion, & where those disagree do not account it rudeness to depart from the former? I feare there are but very few whose righteousness exceeds ye righteousness of the Scribes & Pharisees.

This is the guise of ye world, and therefore trust it not, nor value their censures & contempt. But rather consider yt it is ye wisdom of God that his Church should appear despicable to ye world to try the faithfull. For this end he made it a curs under Law to hang upon a tree that the scandal of ye Cross might be a tryall to the Iews; & for ye like tryall of the Christians he hath suffered ye Apostacy of the latter times, as is declared in calling it the hower of temptation wch should come upon all ye world to try them that dwell upon the earth Rev 3.10. Be not therefore scandalised at the reproaches of ye world but rather looke upon them as a mark of ye true church.

And when thou art convinced be not ashamed to profess the truth. ffor {so} \otherwise/ thou mayst become a stumbling block to others, & inherit the lot of those Rulers of ye Iews who beleived in Christ but yet were afraid to confess him least they should be put out of the Synagogue.[1] Wherefore when thou art convinced be not ashamed of ye truth but profess it openly & indeavour to convince thy Brother also that thou mayst inherit at the resurrection the promis made in Daniel 12.3, that they who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the starrs for ever & ever. And rejoyce if thou art counted worthy to suffer in thy reputation or any other way for ye sake <7r> of ye Gospel, for then great is thy reward.

But yet I would not have thee too forward in becoming a teacher, like those men who catch at a few similitudes & scripture phrases, & for want of \further/ knowledg make use of them to censure & reproach superiours & rail at all things that displeas them. Be not heady like them, but first be throughly instructed thy self \& that/ not onely in the prophetiqꝫ Scriptures but more especially in the plain doctrines delivered therein so as to put them in practise & make them familiar & habituall to thy self. And when thou hast thus pulled out the beam out of thine own eye then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote out of thy Brothers eye. Otherwise how wilt thou say to thy Brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye & behold a beam is in thine own eye.

Some I know will be offended that I propound these things so earnestly to all men as if they were fit onely for ye contemplation of ye learned. But they should consider that God who best knows ye capacities of men does hide his mysteries from ye wise & prudent of this world and reveal them unto babes {sic}. They were not the Scribes & Pharisees but ye inferiour people who beleived on Christ & apprehended ye true meaning of his Parables & of ye Prophesies in ye old Testament concerning him. The wise men of ye world are often too much prepossest with their own imaginations & too much intangled in designes for this life. One has bought a piece of ground, another has bought five yoke of Oxen, a third has Married a wife, & therefore since they are for ye most part otherwise ingaged it was fit that the halt & poor and ye maimed & ye halt & ye blind & those that are in ye high ways & hedges should be also invited. And God who intended this Prophesy chiefly for their sakes is able to fit their understandings to it. |And it is ye gift of God & not of human wisdom so to understand it as to beleive it.|

Tis true that without a guide it would be very difficult not onely for them but even for ye most learned to understand it right But if the interpretation be done to their hands, I know not why by the help of such a guide they may not by attentive & often reading <8r> be capable of judgi understanding & judging of it as well as men of greater education. And such a guide I hope this \Book/ will prove: especially if ye judgment of ye Reader be prepared by considering well ye following Rules for inabling him to know when an interpretation is genuine & of two interpretations wch is ye best.

It was the judiciously learned & conscientious Mr Mede who first made way into these interpretations, & him I have for ye most part followed. ffor what I found true in him it was not lawful for me to recede from, & I rather wonder that he erred so little then that he erred in some things. His mistakes were chiefly in his Clavis, & had that been perfect, the rest would have fallen in naturally. Whence may be guessed ye great uncertainty of others who wthout any such previous methodising of ye Apocalyps have immediately fallen upon giving interpretations. ffor so by taking ye liberty to twist ye parts of ye Prophesy out of their natural order according to their pleasure wthout observing wth having regard to the internall characters whereby they were first to be connected, it might be no \very/ difficult matter amongst the great variety of things in the world to apply them more ways then one to such as should have some show of an interpretation. And yet all that I have seen besides ye labours of Mr Mede have been so botched & framed wthout any due proportion, that I could heartily wish those Authors |fear some of those Authors did not \so much as/ beleive their own interpretations, which makes me wish that they| had been moved to more caution by considering the curs yt is annexed to ye end of this Prophesy.

I testify unto every man that heareth the words of ye Prophesy of this book; If any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from <9r> the words of ye book of this Prophesy, God shall take away his part out of ye book of life, & out of ye holy city & from the things wch are written in this book.

For to frame fals interpretations is to prejudice men & divert them from the right understanding of this book And this is a corruption equipollent to ye adding or taking from it, since it equally deprives men of ye use & benefit thereof. But yet I hope they did it neither out of ye vanity of appearing somebody in the world, nor out of designe to promote ye externall splendor & felicity of Churches rather then ye internall purity wch is of infinitely more value, nor out of any other temporal ends, but wth an upright heart that God may not lay it to their charge

Yet I could wish that those who make all to be long since past, even in ye Apostels age, had considered that when according to them this Prophesy should have been usefull to ye Church, their interpretations were not so much as thought upon. All sacred Prophesies are given for ye use of ye Church, & therefore they are all to be understood by the Church in those ages for whose use God intended them. But these prophesies were never understood by ye Church in ye former ages: They did not so much as pretend to understand them, nor thought that they concerned their times, but wth one universall consent delivered down to posterity ye famous Tradition of ye Antichrist described therein to come in the latter ages. And therefore since they were never yet understood, & God cannot be disappointed, we must acknowledg that they were written & shall prove for ye benefit of ye pesent & future ages, & so are not yet fulfilled. Wherefore let men be carefull how they indeavour to divert or hinder ye use of these scriptures, least they be found to fight against God.

Considering therefore the great concernment of these scriptures & danger of erring in their interpretation, <10r> it concerns us to proceed wth all circumspection. And for that end I shall propound to myself \make use of/ this Method.

First I shall lay down certain Rules general Rules of Interpretation, ye consideration of wch may prepare the judgment of ye Reader & inable him to know when an interpretation is genuine & of two interpretations which is the best.

Secondly, To prepare the Reader also for understanding the Prophetiqꝫ language I shall lay down a short description thereof, showing how it is borrowed from comparing a kingdom either to ye Vnivers or to a Beast: So that by the resemblance of their parts the signification of ye figurative \words &/ expressions in these Prophesies may be apprehended at one view & limited from ye grownd thereof. By wch means the Language of ye Prophets will appear \become {sic}/ certain & ye liberty of wresting it to private {illeg} imaginations \be/ cut of. The heads to wch I reduce these words I call Definitions.

Thirdly, These things being premised, I compare ye ꝑts of ye Apocalyps one wth another & digest them into order by those internal characters wch ye Holy-ghost hath for this end imprest upon them. And this I do by drawing them up the substance of ye Prophesy into Propositions, & subjoyning the reasons for ye truth of every Proposition.

And here I cannot but \loudly/ proclaim the admirable & more then humane wisdom that shines in the contexture of this Prophesy & its accurate consent wth all other prophesies of ye old & new Testament.

Fourthly,

<12r>

Rules for interpreting ye words & language in Scripture.

1. To observe diligently the consent of Scriptures & analogy of the prophetiqꝫ stile, and to reject those interpretations where this is not duely observed. Thus if any man interpret a Beast to signify some great vice, this is to be rejected as his private imagination becaus according to the stile and tenour of ye Apocalyps & of all other Prophetiqꝫ scriptures a Beast signifies a kingdom \body politiqꝫ & sometimes a single person wch heads that body/, & there is no ground in scripture for any other interpretation, excepting that it is sometimes spoken of a single ꝑson < insertion from the right margin > 2. To assigne but one meaning to one place of scripture; un {sic} |unles it be by way of conjecture| Symbol (3 horizontal lines crossed by 7 vertical lines) in text < insertion from f 12v > Symbol (3 vertical lines crossed by 5 vertical lines) in text \or where/ unless it be perhaps by way of conjecture, or where the literal sense is designed to hide ye more noble mystical sense as a shell ye kernel untill such time from being tasted either by unworthy persons, or untill such time as God shall think fit. In this case there may be for a blind, a true literal sense, even such as in its way may be beneficial to ye church. But when we have the principal meaning: If it be mystical we can insist on a true literal sense no farther then by history or arguments drawn from circumstances it appeas {sic} to be true: if literal, \though/ there may be a \also a by/ mystical sense yet we \cannot/ scarce can \scarce/ be \can scarce be/ sure there is one without divine authority for it, & some further arguments for it then a bare analogy. Much more are we to be cautious in giving a double \{illeg}/ mystical sense. There may be a double one, as where ye heads of ye Beast signify both mountains & Kings Apoc 17.9, 10. Or the number But without divine authority or at least some further argument then the analogy and resemblance & similitude of things, we can be sure of cannot be sure that ye Prophesy looks more ways then one. Too much liberty in this kind savours of a luxuriant ungovernable fansy and borders on enthusiasm. < text from the right margin resumes > For a man cannot be obliged to beleive more meanings of a place then one. If ye place be intended litterally he is not obliged to beleive any mysticall sense, but if mystically, he is not obliged to beleive any \the/ litterall sense. And if two meanings seem equally probable he is obliged to beleive no more then in general yt one of them is genuine untill he meet wth some motive to prefer one side.

Yet this rule is not so to be understood but that the same thing may have divers meaning but then {sic} each meaning is to be collected from a different place |passage or circumstance| of scripture. As when of any thing done under ye Law we collect ye literall truth from \out of/ ye old Testament & a mysticall meaning from \out of/ the new: Or understand ye heads of ye Beast both of Mountains & Kings {illeg} /out of\ Rev 17.9, 10.

Or consider ye nūber of ye Beast as it is ye number of his name Rev 13.17, as it is opposite to ye number of ye churches Rev 7.4 & 21.17 and as it is ye type of some iniquity Rev 15.2.

< text from f 12r resumes >

{sic}. To keep \as/ close \as may be/ to the same sense of words, especially in the same vision, \(2)/ unless where ye |propriety of ye language or \other/ circumstances plainly require a different signification in divers places| scripture it self declares that there is a double meaning & \(1)/ < insertion from f 12v > {sic}. To keep \as/ close \as may be/ to ye same sense of words especially in ye same Vision and to neglect \prefer/ those interpretations where this is not {sic} \most/ duely observed unles ye propriety of ye language any circumstance plainly require a different signification. < text from f 12r resumes > to reject \prefer/ those interpretations where this is not \best/ observed. Thus if a man interpret ye \{same}/ Beast to signify a kingdom in one sentence & a vice in another \when there is nothing in ye text that does argue any change of signification, sense/, this is to be rejected as a patch & no genuine interpretation. So if a man in ye same or contemporary visions \where ye earth & sea or ye earth & waters stand related to one another/ shall interpret the earth to signify sometimes ye dition of a Kingdom as in ye first Trumpet \{illeg} in chap 12 where ye Dragon came down to ye inhabitants of ye earth & sea, {illeg}/, sometimes Councils as where ye Earth helped ye woman, & sometimes onely a low estate as where ye Dragon was cast into ye Earth, or ye two horned Beast rose up out of ye Earth |ye Dragon was cast into ye earth or the two hornd Beast rose out of the earth| this wavering is not \readily/ to be acquiesced in but such an interpretation to be sought \indeavoured after/ as retains the same signification of Earth in all cases. \✝ vers. pag./ < insertion from f 12v > |pag| ✝ So in ye vision of ye whore chap 17 & 18, to take ye Kings of ye earth chap 17 18 over wch ye woman or great city reigned chap 17.18 for any other then the kings of ye earth wch she committed fornication wth \her/ ch 17.2 & 18.3, 9 and lamented her fall ch 18.9, 10 that is for any other then ye 10 \Kings or/ horns {sic} who gave their Kingdom to the Beast of ye Beast she reigned over, is not congruous. < text from f 12r resumes > |So in ye {illeg} vision of ye whore chap. 17 & 18 to take Kings of ye Earth in chap one sence chap 17.{illeg}2 and ch 18.3, 9 & in another ch 17.18 is is {sic} not harmonius {sic}.|

{sic}. To prefer \chose/ those interpretations wch are most according to ye litterall meaning of ye scriptures unles where the tenour & circumstances of ye place plainly require an Allegory. Thus if the {sic} wound by a sword should be interpreted of a spirituall wound, or if {sic} the battel at the seventh Trumpet exprest {sic} vial exprest by ye concours of Armies, & \by/ a hail-storm with other meteors should be in interpreted {sic} of a spiritual Battel; since there is nothing in the text to countenance such an interpretation, it ought to be rejected as a phantasy, |Where note yt the usuall signification of a prophetic {sic} prophetic figure is in the application of this Rule to be accounted equipollent to ye literall meaning of| < insertion from f 12v > a word when ever it appears yt ye Prophets speak in their figurative language. As if they describe the overthrow of nations by a tempest of Hail, thunder, lightning and shaking of ye world, the usuall signification of this figure is to be esteemed ye proper & direct sense of ye place as much as if it had been ye litterall meaning, this being a language as common amongst them as any national language is amongst ye people of that nation.

< text from f 12r resumes >

{sic}. To acquiesce in that sense of any portion of Scripture <13r> \as the true one/ wch results most freely & naturally from ye use & propriety of ye Language & tenor of the context in that & all other places of Scripture to that sense. For if this be not the true sense, then is the true sense uncertain, & no man can attain to any certainty in ye knowledg of it. Which is to make ye scriptures no certain rule of faith, & so to reflect upon the spirit of God who dictated it.

He that without better grounds then his private opinion or the opinion of any human authority whatsoever shall turn scripture from the plain meaning to an Allegory or to any other less naturall sense declares thereby that he reposes more trust in his own imaginations or in that human authority then in the Scripture & by consequence that he is no true beleever. And therefore |ye| opinion of such men how numerous soever they be, is not to be regarded. Hence it is & not from any reall uncertainty in ye Scripture {sic} that Commentators have so distorted it; And this hath been the ye {sic} door through wch all Heresies have crept in & turned out ye ancient faith.

Rules for methodising |  construing the Apocalyps.

< insertion from f 12v >

Rule 5B. To prefer those interpretations wch, cæteris paribus, are of the most considerable things. ffor it was Gods designe in these prophesies to typify & describe not trifles but ye most considerable things in the world during the time time {sic} of the Prophesies. Thus were the question put whether the three froggs, the \head or/ horn of any Beast, the <13v> whore of Babylon, the woman Iezabel, the ffals Prophet, the Prophet Balaam, the King Balac, the martyr Antipas, the two witnesses, the woman cloathed with the Sun \the Manchild {sic} her Son, the Eagle proclaiming Wo/ & the like were to be interpreted of single persons {illeg} or of kingdoms Churches & other great bodies of men: I should by this Rule alone prefer the latter, unless perhaps in any case the single person propounded might be of more note & moment then the whole body of men he stands in competition with, or some other material circumstance might make more for a single person then a multitude.

< text from f 13r resumes >

{sic}. To make ye visions & parts of ye same \a/ vision succeed one another according to |ye| order of ye narration without any breach or interfering unless when there are manifest indications of such a breach or interfering. For if the order of visions & of their \its/ parts might be interr varied or interrupted at pleasure, they \it/ would be \of/ no certain interpretation, which is to elude them \it/ and make them \it/ no prophesie {sic} but \an/ ambiguitie {sic} like those of ye heathen Oracles.

{sic}. In collaterall visions to adjust ye most notable parts & periods to one another: And if they be not throughout equ collaterall, to make the beginning or end of one vision fall in wth some notable period of the other. For the visions are duely proportioned to ye actions & changes of ye times wch they respect by ye following {sic} Symbol (dotted lines forming a capital B) in text Rule and therefore they are duely proportioned to one another. \(2)/ But yet this Rule is not over strictly to be adhered to when \ye visions respect divers kingdoms or/ one vision respects ye Church & another ye state \because there may be remarkable revolutions in/. \(1)/ An instance of this you have in suiting ye Dragon to all ye seals ye Beast to all ye Trumpets and ye Whore to ye Wo Trumpets.

{sic}. To prefer /choose\ those interpretations /constructions\ wch without straining reduce contemporary visions to ye greatest harmony of their parts. I mean not onely in their proportions as in the precedent rule, but also in their other qualities, \& principally/ so as to make them respect the same actions \For the design of collaterall visions is to be a key to one another & therefore ye way to unlock them without straining must be fitting one to ye other wth all diligence & curiosity. {This} is true {opening} scripture by scripture./ An instance of this you have in ye comparison of ye Dragon's history with ye seales & Trumpets in Prop    , & of the Trumpets wth ye seales Vials, {illeg} in Prop     &c

<14r>

{sic}. To prefer \choose/ those interpretations \constructions/ wch without straining reduce things to the greatest simplicity. The reason of this is manifest by the precedent Rule. Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, & not in ye multiplicity & confusion of things. As ye world, wch to ye naked eye exhibits the greatest variety {sic} of objects, appears very simple in its internall constitution when surveyed by a philosophic understanding, & so much ye simpler by how much the better it is understood, so it is in these visions. It is ye perfection of all God's works that they are all done wth ye greatest simplicity. He is ye God of order & not of confusion. And therefore as they that would understand ye frame of ye world must indeavour to reduce their knowledg to all possible simplicity, so it must be in seeking to understand these visions. And they that shall do otherwise do not onely make sure never to understand them, but derogate from ye perfection of ye prophesy; & declare \make it suspicious/ also that their designe is not to understand it but to shuffle it of & confound ye understandings of men by making it intricate & confused.

10 {sic}. In construing ye Apocalyps to \have little or no/ regard to arguments drawn from events of things; For there \becaus there/ can \scarce/ be any certainty in historicall interpretations untill unless the construction be first determined.

11 {sic}. To acquiesce in that construction of ye Apocalyps as ye true one wch results most naturally & freely from ye characters imprinted by the holy ghost on the severall parts thereof for insinuating their connexion, & from the observation of ye precedent rules. The reason of this is ye same wth that of the fift {sic} rule.

Hence if any man shall contend that my Construction of ye Apocalyps is uncertain, upon pretence that it may be possible to find out other ways, he is not to be regarded unless he shall show wherein what I have done may be mended. If ye ways <15r> wch he contends for be less natural or grounded upon weaker reasons, that very thing is demonstration enough that they are fals, & that he seeks not after truth but labours for ye interest of a party. And if ye way wch I have followed be according to ye nature & genius of ye Prophesy there needs no other demonstration to convince it. For as of an Engin made by an excellent Artificer every \a/ man readily beleives yt ye parts are right set together when he sees them joyn truly with one another notwithstanding that they may be strained into another posture; & as every {sic} man readily acquiesces in ye meaning of an Author how intricate so ever when he sees ye words construed or set in due order according to ye laws of Grammar, notwithstanding yt the words may possibly be forcing {sic} \there may be a possibility of force/ing ye words to some other harsher construction: so a man ought wth equal construction reason to acquiesce in the {sic} construction of these Prophesies when he sees their parts set in order according to their suitableness & the characters imprinted in them for that purpose

Tis true that an Artificer may make an Engin capable of being wth equal congruity set together more ways then one, & \that/ a sentence may be ambiguous: but this Objection can have no place in the Apocalyps, becaus God who knew how to frame it without ambiguity intended it for a rule of faith.

But it is needless to urge wth this general reasoning the Construction wch I have composed, since the reasons wherewith I have \there/ proved every particular are of that evidence that they cannot but move ye assent of any humble and indifferent person that shall wth sufficient attention peruse them them & cordially beleives the scriptures. Yet I would not have this so understood as to hinder the further search of other persons. I suspect there are still more mysteries to be discovered. And as Mr Mede layed ye foundation & I have built upon it: so I hope others will proceed higher untill the work be finished.

Rules for interpreting the Apocalyps.

12 {sic}. The Construction of ye Apocalyps after it is once deter <16r> mined must be made the rule of interpretations; And all interpretations rejected wch agree not with it. That must not be strained to fit history but such things chosen out of history as are most suitable to that.

13 {sic}. To interpret sacred Prophecies of ye most considerable \things &/ actions of those times to wch they are applied. For if it would be weakness in an Historian whilst he writes of obscurer actions to let slip the greater, much less ought this to be supposed in the holy Prophesies which are no other then prophesies \histories/ of things to come.

14 {sic}. To proportion the most notable parts of Prophesy to the most notable parts of history, & ye breaches made in a continued series of Prophesy to ye changes made in history And to reject those interpretations where the parts of and breaches of Prophesy do not thus bear a due proportion to ye parts & changes in History. For if Historians divide their histories into Sections {sic} Chapters & Books at such periods of time where the less, greater & greatest revolutions begin or end; & to do otherwise would be improper: much more ought we to suppose yt ye holy Ghost observes this rule accurately in his prophetick {sic} dictates, since they are no other then histories of things to come. Thus by the great breaches made between the sixt & seventh seal by interposing the vision of ye sealed saints, & between ye sixt & seventh Trumpet by interposing ye vision of the little book, that prophesy is divided into three cardinal parts, & ye middle part subdivided by ye little breach between ye fourth & fift Trumpet made by interposition of ye Angel crying Wo, & all ye other seals & trumpets are as it were less sections. And therefore to these breaches & sections, according to ye rule, must be adapted periods of time wch intercede & disterminate proportional revolutions of history. Again if a Historian should use no proportion in his descriptions but magnify a less thing above a greater or attribute the more courage to ye softer of two persons &c.: we <17r> should count it an argument of his unskilfulness. And therefore since the dictates of the Holy-Ghost are histories of things to come, such disproportions {sic} are not to be allowed in them. Thus in Daniel's vision of ye four Beasts, it would be grosly absurd to interpret, as some have \Polititians/ of late have done, the fourth Beast of Antiochus Epiphanes & his successors; since that is described to be ye most terrible, dreadfull, strong, & warlike Beast of all ye four, & the Prophet dwels far longer upon the description of that \then of all the others put together:/ whereas the kingdom of Antiochus Epiphanes & his successors was both less & weaker & less warlike then any of the three before him.

15 {sic}. To chose those interpretations wch without straining do most respect the church & argue the greatest wisdom & providence of God for preserving her in the truth. As he that would interpret the actions or letters or actions of a very wise states man, so as thence to know ye council wherewith they are guided & the designes he is driving on, must consider the main end to wch they are directed & suppose they are such as most conduce to yt end & argue the greatest wisdom \& providence/ of the States-man in ordering them: so it is in these Prophesies. They are the counsels of God & so ye most wise, & fittest for ye end to wch they are designed: And that end is the benefit of ye Church to guide her {sic} & preserve her in ye truth. For to this end are all ye sacred prophesies in both the old and new Testament directed, as they that will consider them may easily perceive. |Hence may appear ye oversight of some interpreters whose interpretations if they were true would make ye Apocalyps of little or no benefit \concernment/ to ye Church.| |Perhaps what follows may be better inserted in ye preface.|

| Yet| I meane not that these \Prophesies/ were to con intended to convert the whole world to ye truth. For God is just as well as {sic} merciful, & punishes wickednes by hardening ye wicked & <18r> visiting ye sins of ye fathers upon the children. But the designe of them is to try men & convert the best, so yt the church may be purer & less mixed wth Hypocrites & luke-warm persons. And for this end it is that they are wrapt up in obscurity, & so framed by the wisdom of God that ye inconsiderate, ye proud, ye self-conceited, \ye presumptuous/, ye scholist, ye sceptic, they whose judgments are ruled by their lusts, their interest, ye fashions of ye world, their opini esteem of men, \the outward shew of thing/ or other prejudices, & all they who, of how pregnant {sic} natural parts soever they be, yet cannot discern ye wisdom of God in ye contrivance of ye creation: that these \men/ whose hearts are thus hardned in seeing should see & not perceive & in hearing should heare & not understand. For God has declared his intention in these prophesies to be as well that none of ye wicked should understand as yt ye wise should understand, Dan: 12.

And hence I cannot but on this occasion reprove the blindness of a sort of people men who although they have neither better nor other grounds for their faith then ye Scribes & Pharisees had for their religion Traditions, yet are so pervers as to call upon other men for such a demonstration of ye certainty of faith in ye scriptures that a meer naturall man, how wicked soever, who will but read it, may judg of it & perceive ye strength of it wth as much perspicuity & certainty as he can a demonstration in Euclide. Are not these men like ye Scribes & Pharisees who would not attend to ye law & ye Prophets but required a signe of Christ? Wherefore if Christ thought it just to deny a signe to that wicked & adulterate generation notwithstanding that they were God's own people, even \&/ the {sic} Catholiqꝫ Church; much more may God think it just that this generation <19r> should be permitted to dy in their sins, who do not onely like ye Scribes neglect but trample upon the law and ye Prophets, & endeavour by all possible means to destroy ye faith wch men have in them, & \to/ make them disregarded. {It is} I could wish they would consider how contrary it is to God's purpose yt ye truth of his religion should be as obvious & perspicuous to all men as a mathematical demonstration. Tis enough that it is able to move ye assent of those wch he hath chosen; & for ye rest who are so incredulous, it is just that they should be permitted to dy in their sins. Here then is ye wisdom of God, that he hath so framed ye Scriptures as to discern between ye good and ye bad, that they should be demonstration to ye one & foolishness to ye other.

And from this consideration may also appear the vanity of those men who regard ye splendor of churches & measure them by the external form & constitution. Whereas God it is more agreable to God's designe that his church appear contemptible & scandalous to ye world to try men. For this end doubtles he suffered ye many revoltings of ye Iewish Church under ye Law, & for ye same end was ye grand Apostacy to happen under ye gospel. Rev     . If thou relyest upon ye externall form of churches, ye Learning of Scholars, {illeg} ye wisdom of statemen or of other men of Education; consider wth thy self whither thou wouldest not have adhered to ye scribes & Pharisees hadst thou lived in their days, & if this be thy case, then is it no better then theirs, & God may judg thee accordingly, unless thou chance to be on ye right side, wch as tis great odds may prove otherwise so if it should happen yet it would not scarce excuse thy folly although it might something mitigate it.

[1] see Ezek. 3.18

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