faith in Christ. For when all others who professed our doctrine were divided into three parts & many erred about the Son & many more had an unsound faith about the holy Ghost ( where a lighter impiety had a repute of piety, ) & but few were ~ sound in both points: he first of any man & alone or wthwith a very few, doubted not to publish the truth openly & in plain words, confessing in writing that there was one divinity & essence of the three persons: and the grace which had been formerly granted to the many fathers at Nice concerning the Son, he afterwards obteined by divine inspiration concerning the holy Ghost; & offered to the Emperor a gift truly royall & magnificent namely a written confession of his faith against an unwritten innovation; that so one Emperor one doctrine & one profession of faith might antiquate another & succeed another. By the authority of this profession as it seems to me the western Churches & whatever is vital in the eastern being induced do partly cultivate piety in their mind ( if we may beleive their words, ) but do not speak out & partly do a little kindle it as a small fire, that is, so far as to satisfy the time & the more fervent & pious part of the orthodox people & partly do preach the truth with all liberty of speech. This was written by Gregory in an Oration upon the death of Athanasius A.C. 373 & imports that the controversy about the holy Ghost was set on foot by Athanasius in the reign of Iovian wchwhich was about ten years before & from Egypt & Syria spread into the west, & that after the death of Iovian who reigned but seven months, it was restrained in the Greek Empire by the dominion of Valens, being only whispered in Asia & Syria & muttered in Egypt; but in the western Empire under the dominion of Valentinian & Gratian it was preached openly with all freedom of speech. For the Emperor Valentinian left religion to the bishops & gave them leave to meet in Councils about it as they should think of fit, but Valens prohibited the deifying of the holy Ghost as polytheistical.

The Council of Serdica by asserting that there was but one hypostasis of the father son & holy Ghost & that the hypostasis of the Son was that wchwhich alone was acknowledged to be the hypostasis of the father, laid the foundation upon which the Deity & worship of the holy Ghost was afterwards erected. But they did not yet worship him or call him God. The controversy at this time was only about the Son. After two years, viztvidelicet A.C. 349, Athanasius in his return from the west into Egypt, making some stay at Antioch, avoided the communion of Leontius the bishop of that city & communicated with the disciples of Eustathius who had been deposed for Sabellianism. And at that time they began to sing the verses of the Psalms alternately & to add the doxology to the end of them. And some said: Glory be to the father & the Son to denote an equality; & others: Glory be to the father in the Son, or, Glory be to the father by the Son in the holy Ghost to denote a subordination. But the holy Ghost was not yet worshipped.

and they prophesy in the kingdom of the Beast & Woman because they are slain by him & lye dead in the street of the great city: wchwhich city is spiritually called Sodom for its whoredome, Egypt for its oppression of the people of God, & where our Lord was crucified for its being drunken with the blood of the Martyrs of Iesus, treading under foot the holy City & worshipping in the outward court of the second Temple.

[ Now for understanding what is meant by the two Candlesticks you are to remember that the nations in wchwhich the whole Church of Christ was seated, consisted of three parts, the eastern Empire the western Empire & the northern nations of Europe. The first Tep Temple with seven Candlesticks comprehends the true Christians in all the Greek Empire including Dacia. The new Temple with two Candlesticks was built for the Christians in all the Western Empire including the northern nations of Germany & so comprehends two of the three parts & therefore has in it two Candlesticks & two Olive trees to represent the true Churches of those two parts, one Church within the bounds of the old Roman western Empire & the other Church diffused throughe the Empire of Germany. For Candlesticks aresignify Churches ( Apoc. 1.20 ) & so do Olive-trees ( Rom. XI. 17. ) The seven Candlesticks were applied litterally to the Churches of particular cities as types of the Church Catholick, but it is not necessary to apply the two Candlesticks to particular cities for they are called also Olive trees, & Olive trees are types of nations & national Churches ( Ier. XI.16 Rom XI.17. ) They are also called two Witnesses & by that name comprehend all the saints & martyrs who prophesy against the Beast & Whore of Babylon & wthwith whose blood she is drunken & by consequence extend into the northern nations. For the northern nations invaded the Roman Empire & mixed with the Romans in great numbers, founding most of the ten horns, & at length Charles the great king of France by conquering all Germany & by being crowned Emperor of the Romans by the Pope & swearing fealty to the Church of Rome, & by establishing the religion & Liturgy & authority of the Pope in all his conquests propagated into all Germany the dominion of the Whore of Babylon & that of the Beast on wchwhich she sits. And it was the mind of the Prophesy to make the Beast & his Churches true & false of one & the same extent so that the two Witnesses might prophesy against the Woman & her Beast in all their dominions. ]

So then the Dragon the Woman & the first Temple with seven Candlesticks continue from the beginning to the end of the Prophesy, & relate each of them to the whole Roman Empire while the Empire continues entire: but when it becomes divided into the Greek & Latin Empires, that each Empire with its Churches true & false may be distinctly represented, there arise two new Beasts & a new Temple is built wthwith two Candlesticks in it, & the Dragon & two-horned Beast worship in the outward court of the first Temple & represent the Empire & Church of the Greeks, & the Woman & ten-horned Beast worship in the outward court of the new Temple & represent the Church & kingdoms of the Latines including Germany. The Apostates worship in the outward Courts of the two Temples to signify that they have an outward form of the Christian

When those that got the victory over the Beast & his makrk & are sealed wthwith yethe name of God stand on yethe mount Sion wthwith yethe Lamb When yethe 144000 stand on mount Sion wthwith yethe Lamb it is to be con they are represented by yethe mystical body of the Lamb wthwith seven horns. When they stand on the sea of glass th & sing the song of Moses & the Lamb in the Temple of the tabernacle they are fitly typified by the seven golden candlesticks wchwhich Moses placed in the Tabernacle; When & to represent a new state of the Church this Temple or tabernacle is dedicated wthwith smoke from the glory of God. When they worship in in the inner court of the second Temple they are represented by the two candlesticks of olive tree in this temple & called the inner courts of this Temple are measured to signify the rebuilding thereothere . As they are the remainder of the mystical body of the Lamb wthwith seven honrshorns they are still, represented by seven Candlesticks & as they are the remainder of the Churches seated in the third nations of the third & fourth Monarchies & repr of the mystical bodies of the son of Man wthwith two leggs of fire & of the woman with two they are represented by two Candlesticks & for their testimony & sufferings are called the two witnesses. In whatever Temple they worship they are fitly represented by the Candlesticks of that Temple. We are not to conceive that Iohn saw more Temples then one . A at once. All the visions appeared in one & the same Temple, but the scene of the visions varied in that Temple so as to make it represent either the Tabernacle or the first or second Temple as the nature of the visions required: & in whatever Themple the visions appeared, the Church was fitly represented by the Candlesticks of that Temple: & wherever the Lamb or Son of man appeared the Church was fitly represented by his seven horns or two leggs.

In the Babylonian captivity when the first temple was destroyed & the Iews rebuilt only the inner Court of yethe of a new one & left open the outward court to yethe Babylonian Gentiles & in their conquerors & in allusion to this Iohn is commanded to measure the courts of the Temple & to leave out the outward outward corurt wchwhich is without & measure it not for it is given to the nagentiles or nations, those gentiles who tread under foot the holy city that is tso the Babylonians, they that worship the Beast & his Image in the outward court & receive his mark. When the 144000 were numbred & sealed out of yethe 12 Tribes of Israel the rest were left un omitted & not numbred & when the court of those that were numbred was measured the court of the rest was left unmeasured. Those Thisat court was there given to them that were left unnumbred & received the mark of the Beast. In that Court they worshipped the Beast & his Image while the 144000 worshipped God in the inner Court. The Beast acts in the streets of the great city & there kills the Witnesses & therefore is king of Babylon. The Woman flees through the wilderneswilderness of Arabia to the great City Babylon & becomes his Church. This great city is spiritually called Sodom because of the cup of fornication wchwhich of the Whore committed wthwith the ten kings & with the wine of wchwhich she made the nations drunk. It is also called the Egypt with relation to the Dragon the king of Egypt from whom the WomamWoman after she had brought forth a Man child fled into yethe WildernesWilderness . For the two horned Beast who is the Church of the Dragon caused pethe people of the Dragons kingdom to receive the mark of the Beast & worship his Image, so that all men whose names were not written in the Book of life wondred after the Beast. It is also called the City where our Lord was crucified, that is the city wchwhich makes war with the saints & overcomes them & crucifies th is drunk wthwith the blood of the martyrs of Iesus & crucifies the Lord afresh & kills his witnesses the city of yethe twelve Tribes who rebelled against Christ received the mark of the Beast, & crucified the Lord afresh, that is, the great Antichrist, for the ten kings make war wthwith the Lamb. In the streets of this great City the two Witnesses prophesy in sackclosth against the nations who wonder worhipworship after the Beast & Image & receive his mark, & these Witnesses are the holy city wchwhich is troden under foot by the nations, & is the Church of God represented by the two Candlesticks of Olive tree in the second Temple. For Candlesticks are churches Apoc. 1.20. The nations begin to worship the Beast receive the mark of the Beast & worship his Image before the pouring out of the first Vial Apoc. 16.2. And great Babylon at the pouring out of the seventh Vial great Babylon comes in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of yethe fierceness of his wrath Apoc. 16.19. And therefore great Babylon reigns during all the time that the Angels sound the Trumpets & pour out the Vials of wrath. The Whore reigned till the ten kings eatate her flesh & burnt her with fire & the Beast & fals Prophet till the sounding of the seventh Trumpet & pouring out of the seventh Vial & then they were cast into the lake of fire, & all these are B great Babylon treading under foot the holy city & worshipping the Beast & his Image in the outward court, till the sanctuary be cleansed of the Temple from the time that the prophetick book is opened & the man of sin revealed till the sanctuary be cleansed.

Christian religion, & in the inward courts of the same temples are the saints or true Churches of God in the two Empires, one Church represented by the two Witnesses & two Candlesticks in the Temple of the Latines, & the other represented by them that stand on mount Sion with the name of God on their foreheads & th by the two seven candlesticks in the temple of the Greeks. For the seven candlesticks do not cease at the division of the Roman Empire. The Churches of Pergamus Sardis Thyatira & Philadelphia are four of the seven & the Church of Pergamus lasts till Christ comes & fights with against the Nicolaitans with the sword of his mouth, & that of Sardis till Christ comes as a thief & those of Thyatira & Philadelphia are to hold fast what they have till Christ comes.

And it's to be conceived that the saints in the inner courts of both Temples bareeing of the same religion keep the same festivals with the same sacrifices. For the two – witnesses consume their enemies with fire at the sounding of the first Trumpet & turn the waters to blood at the sounding of the second & smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will, that is, with all the seven plagues & therefore we are to conceive that the plagues of the seven Trumpets & Vials of wrath are inflicted by the joynt power of the saints in both Temples. For this is further represented by yethe mighty Angel cloathed with a cloud & standing with his right foot on the sea & his left foot on the earth while the seven thunders utter their voices. For the sea & earth comprehend both Empires.

The Temple being the scene of the visions I conceive that it remains the same from the beginning to the end, & that in allusion to the times of the first Tabernacle or first temple or those of the second for representing the various states of the Church the things wchwhich appear in the Temple are only changed. And in every state all thcases the Church is represented by the cadndlesticks wchwhich appeare in the temple & by the mystical body of Christ in what form soever he appears, & & by the 24 Elders & four Beasts whenever they appear. In the beginning of the prophesy untill the seventh Trumpet is ready to sound, & again in the repetition or interpretation of this prophesy from the time the Ar temple of God was opened in heaven & the Ark of his testament was seen in it until the seventh Vial be poured out , the times of the Tabernacle & first Temple are alluded unto. And t in all these visions the Church of God is represented by the golden Candlestick wthwith seven branches wchwhich was placed in the Tabernacle & first Temple. Solomon placed ten such Candlesticks in the first Temple ; but each of them being sufficient to represent the Church there is but one of them considered in the prophesy . In this Tabernacle or Templea the Church is also represented by the four Beasts & by the seven horns of the Lampb whether he appears before the throne & opens the seals of the Book, or stands on mount Sion with the 144000. And the at the opening of the seventh seal the great apostasy is represented by the distinction of the twelve tribes into the 144000 wchwhich are numbred & sealed wthwith the name of God & the rest wchwhich are left unnumbred & recevive the mark of the Beast, & by the dedication of yethe Taberna Temple of the Tabernacle wthwith smoke from the glory of God & from his power so that & by the In the latter part of the prophesy from yethe time that the mighty Angel comes down from heaven with the book uponopen in his hand untill the sounding of the seventh Trumpet & inagain in the repetition or interpretation of this part of the prophesy when one of yethe seven Angels carries Iohn into yethe wilderness to see the great whore sitting upon her Beast, the times of yethe Babylonian captivity & second Temple are alluded unto & the Church of God is represented by the two Candlesticks wchwhich of olive tree wchwhich the Iews ( out of poverty ) placed in this temple upon their first return from captivity Zech. 4 & by the mystical body of the Son of man in yethe form of an Angel standing wthwith feet feet as pillars of fire standing on the earth & sea. & And the great Apostasy is represented by measuring the Temple & altar & altar & them that worship therein that is their courts, & leaving unmeasured the Court wchwhich is wthoutwithout the Temple because it is given to the Gentiles. or nations this type signifying the same thing with sealing ♁ ♁And the four Beasts For instead of the four four Beasts wchwhich appeared in the outward Court of the firs Tabernacle & first Temple & represented the twelve f tribes of Israel, the Gentiles or Nations are placed in the outward court of the second Temple. And For And those Gentiles are nothing else then the twelve tribes of Israel represented by the four Beasts & left unsealed Except the 144000 who be were sealed wthwith the seale of God & worship in the inward court wchwhich was measured for the masuring the measuring the Court of the Temple & Altar & them that worship therein. & leaving the outward court unmeasured signifies the very same thing wthwith the sealing a few to worship of the 12 Tribes & leaving all the rest of them unsealed Out of the twelve Tribes reprentedrepresented by the four Beasts There are numbred 144000 & these are sealed with the name of God & worship in the measured court of the Temple & Altar in which they worship is measured & the rest of the twelve tribes are left unnumbred & unsealed in the & worship in the unm & their Court is left unmeasured, & because they worship the Beast & his imImage in this court as yethe Gentiles worshipped their fals Gods, they are called Gentiles. While these worship in the outward unmeasured Court that is wthwith an outward form of religion & Church government the 144000 worship in the inward measured court of the Temple & Altar, standing on Mount Sion wthwith the Lamb & on the sea of glass. And these are in several respects the seven golden candlesticks & the two Candlesticks of olive tree. When the tabernaletabernacle or first Temple is alluded unto they are the seven golden candlesticks & seven Churches of Asia that is the remaind & seven horns of yethe Lamb, that is the remainder of them: When the second Temple is alluded unto they are the two candlesticks of olive tree & two Witnesses & thwo burning leggs of yethe Son of man. In respect of the seven churches of Asia wchwhich in the beginning of the prophesy were made ⊡ [ In respect of the seven Churches of Asia wchwhich in the beginning of the Prophesy were made a type of the Church catholick, the Church in all ages is represented by the seven horns of the Lamb & seven golden candlesticks & in respect of the the Churches of the 6 diffused through the nations of the third & fourth MonarchisMonarchies or churches of the Greeks & Lationes & of the division through wchwhich the Church was diffused & of the division of the Roman Empire into two Empires whereby the Woman received two wings of an Eagle, the remainder of the Churches represented by those two Wings are typified by the two Candlesticks of olive tree & two leggs of Christ & for their sufferings & testimony called the two Witnesses. ] ............... & for their sufferings & testimony called the two witnesses.

had the new Moon [ ( & a symbol of the ceremonies of the Iews ] ) under her feet & upon her head a crown of twelve stars wchwhich are the twelve Apostles, & her seed keep the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus, & therefore she is the ~ Church. In the first ages of Christianity she is the true sincere Church of Christ diffused through the whole Roman Empire represented by the Dragon: but upon the division of the Empire into two Empires represented by the Dragon & ten-horned Beast, the visible Church also degenerates & becomes divided into two Churches represented by the Woman & two-horned Beast. For upon theis division of the Empire the Woman & Dragon part from one another. She flies from the Dragon into the western Empire from called a wilderness for its spiritual barrenness & desolation & leaves behind her a remnant of her seed wchwhich keep the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus, & the Dragon goes from the Woman to make war upon thate remnant of her seed . And the Woman is nourished in her place in the Wilderness for a time times & half a time from the face of the serpent. And as the ten-horned Beast rises out of the sea to succeed the Dragon in the western Empire, so the two-horned Beast rises out of the earth to succeed the Woman in the eastern Empire. While the Empire continues undivided, the Dragon signifies the whole Empire & the Woman the whole Church, but upon the division of yethe Empire the Wo Dragon is restrained to signify the eastern part thereof & the Woman to signify the western part Church of the western part; & or ten-horned beast rises this separation is signified by the womans flying from the Dragon: & the ten-horned Beast rises out of the sea to succeed the Dragon in the western part of the Empire, & a two-horned beast rises out of the Earth to succeed the Woman in the eastern part thereof.

Every kingdom hath its Church, & the Churches of the Dragon & ten-horned Beast are the synagogue of Satan ortwo-horned Beast & yethe Woman in the Wilderness. For when she fled into the Wilderness she fled from the Dragon & therefore ceased to be that Church. in his kingdoinm. his kingdom She was afterwards found in the Wilderness sitting upon the ten-horned Beast, that is, reigning over him, & therefore became his Church. She is the great City which reigns over the kings of the earth represented by the ten horns of the Beast. She is Babylon the great, the western Babylon wchwhich captivated the Iewish nation , the great City seated upon seven hills & by consequence the Church of Rome, & this Church is the Church catholic of the western kingdoms & nations into wchwhich the Latin Empire is now divided.

And the two horned Beast rose out of the earth or nations of the eastern Empire, & therefore is seated in that Empire. It hath two horns like the Lamb &that there is two Churches like the seven Churches of Asia signified by the seven horns of the Lamb, & therefore isThe main text continues on f.6r.

And after his dearthth & resurrection the two horned Beast consecrated Him & caused an Image to be erected to him as a God & that he & his Image should be worshipped & & that all men should be initiated in the society of his worshippers. For to to be receive his mark or name or the number of his names is to be initiated in the worship of him & his Image as the heathens were initiated in the worship of their Gods by being marked in the arm or neck with the mark or name or membernumber of the name of thirat Gods . And because those that are these initiated in the to whose worship they were dedicated. And because thesey that were initiated in the religion & society of thoese that worshippedrs of the Beast. & his iImage were of the twelve tribes of Israel, & interdicted buying & selling to those that would not receive their makmark of yethe B. Beast the multitude by this initiation they fall away from yethe worship of God & depart from the communion of hisGods worshippers to the communion of those that worship the Beast & become members of the departed from yethe communion of those that separated depart were sealed with the seale of God & listed themselves in the communion of those who the synagoge of Satan, who say they are Iews & are not, And by doing so made a very great alteration in the frame & constitution of the Church in respect of her numbers & constitution. The external form of Church government in the West went along wthwith the Woman into the Wildersness, & in the east East both Empires was taken from yethe remnant of her seed by the war wchwhich the Dragon made upon thimthem & by his killing the mystical bodiyes of those that would the mystical bodies of those who would those being mystically killed the cast who would not worship the Image of the Beast & all being excommunitedexcommunicated in both the whole Empires who would not receive his makmark . By wchwhich means the Church Cath ChuchChurch catholick was reduced to the Small member of 144000 sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel. And these remained in a state of persecution & affliction in the days of I under the persecuting Dragon & Beast like the 7000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal in the days of Ahab Iezabel. And wthwith this great change is further represented by the measuring the Temple

Continued from f5r. is an ecclesiastical body. The It speaks as the Dragon & therefore is of the Dragon's religion. And a Church in the eastern Empire of the Dragon's language & religion is the Greek Church. This Beast by fals miracles deceiveth them that dwell on the earth & for doing so is called the fals Prophet, & therefore is of an ecclesiastical kind, & this fals Prophet survives the Whore of Babylon being cast alive into the lake of fire after the ten kings have eaten the flesh of the Whore & burnt her with fire and therefore this Prophet differs from the Whore & signifies another idolatrous Church & by consequence the Greek Church or Church of the Greek Empire. This Church is also called the Synagogue of Satan. For the Dragon is that old serpent called the Devil & Satan, & therefore the Synagogue of Satan is the Church of yethe Dragon.

was dissolved & separated & the multitude spread in form as to its external form & constitution & separated into parties. The external form of government went with in yethe west went along with the wWoman into the wilderness, & in the east was taken from the remantremnant of the Womans her seed by the war wchwhich the Dragon made upon them & in both Empires it was taken from all that would not receive the mark or name of the Beast or number of his name by forbidding them to buy or sell that is by excommunitingexcommunicating them. . And by the sealing of yethe 144000 with the name of God & Christ in their foreheads, a new church sep of God or Church in a new form the saints who had the testimony of Iesus being purged & separated from the multitude were initiated apart & consecrated apart & became the Church of God in a new form, like yethe 7000 wchwhich in the days of Ahab Iesabel had not bowed the knee to Baal. And all this is represented by measuring yethe second temple ...... & being succeeded in the Temple by the two wittnesses, & by the rise of the B two Beasts & deifying of the first Beast by yethe 2d & in StSaint Pauls Epistles by the falling away & revelation of the Man of Sin. For the Man of Sin who sits in the Temple of God & opposeth & exalteth himself above every thing that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is a God, is the Beast & his image wthwith their his worshippers in the outward court of the Temple wchwhich is given to yethe Gentiles. And T He For this Beast made war wthwith yethe saints & all men wondred none were able to make war with him & all men wondred after him whose names were not wittenwritten in the book of life, & thereby he opposed & exalted himself above evryevery thing that is called God. And when he separated from the saints & quitted their communion then was this man of sin revealed. They went out from us, saith the Apostle ; but they were not of us: for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not of us all of us. There were many Antichrists in the Apostles days. For every heresy that separated from yethe commioncommunion of the Church was an Antichrist. And when they went out from the Church then they were made manifest that they were not of the Church but against her. For he that is not for Christ is against him & to be against him is to be antichristian. And in like manner when the Man of Sin the great Antichrist went out from yethe Church he was revealed or made manifest that he was not of her, & this manifestation is what the Apostle calls the revelation of the Man of Sin. And in relation to this manifestation the ApocalysApocalyps has its name. Christ opens the seals of the Book successively & upon opening the seventh last seal the Man of Sin is revealed. For at that time the twelve tribes receive the makrk of yethe Beast except the 144000 wchwhich are sealed wthwith yethe seal of God.

Before the sealing of the twelve tribes

hostage at Rome. Vpon the death of Cleopatra the Queen dowager of Ptolomæus Epiphanes, the governours of their young kinking Ptolomæus Philometor their son, prepared an army to take Phœnicia & Cælosyria from Antiochus pretending it to be her joynture. Whereupon Antiochus met & routed the army of the Egyptians between mount Casius & Pelusium & pretending friendship to the young king, went on to ~ Memphys to order the affairs of Egypt, anno Philip. 153. And the next year coming again into Egypt with a great army he put the Egyptians to flight & seized many of their cities & returned into Syria with much spoile, & in his return entered Ierusalem slew many of yethe Iews & spoiled the Temple of its treasures ornaments & vessels of gold & silver, being offended at the nation because Iason upon a report that he was dead, one Iason had made a great commotion in Ieruslame to recover the High-priesthood from wchwhich Antiochus had removed him. They year following Antiochus entered Egypt a third time & bea persecution of the saints by the flatterers wchwhich lasts till the time of end. The flatterers therefore now get uppermost & begin to persecute the saints. For Daniel adds in the next words Then shall a king do according to his will. We are therefore to begin this persecution with the rise reign of a new king

Helidorus having taken away Philopator affected the kingdom of Syria For A Demetrius the son of Philopator was newly Philopator being dead & his son Demetrius being a little before his death being sent hostage to Rome & An in the room of his brother Vnkle Antiochus Epiphanes who was then arrived at Athens in his way home from Rome. But Antiochus Epiphanes & Antiochus being at Athens Heliodorus the treasurer affected the kingdom in his way from Rome: Heliodorus the Treasurer affected the kingdom. But Antiochus so managed his affairs with the Romans & their friends that that they kept Demetrius at Rome & that yethe Romans kept Demetrius continued at Rome & their ally the king of Pergamus expelled Heliodorus & brought placed Antiochus Epiphanes in the throne of Syria & & obliged also the Egyptians & friends of the king of Egypt in Syria who opposed Antiochus to give way so that Antiochus became lord also of Cæloysyria & Iudea wchwhich the Dowry of Cleopatra the mother of the king of Egypt, & by while Demetrius the right heir remained a hostage at Rome Antiochus by the yethe friendship of yethe king of Pergamus reigned powerfully over Syria & the neighbouring nations while Demetrius the right heir remained a hostage at Rome Now Antiochus being made king carried himself wthwith – – – – –> for a mad man & call him Antiochus Epimenes ἐπιμένης . In the first year of his reign he deposed Ant Onias the High Priest & gave sold yethe High Priesthood to Iason the younger brother of Onias. For Iason had promised the king to give him 3000 4040 talents of Silver for yethe High Priesthodod & 150 more for a license to erect a scholo place of exercise for the training up of youth in the fashions of the heathen: wchwhich licence was granted by the king & put in execution by Iason. Then the king sentding one Apollonius into Egypt for ( by way of friendship ) to the coronation of Ptolomeus Philometor the young son of Euergetes & Cleopatra, & knowing Philometor not to be well affected to his affair went in Phenicia Phenicia provided for his one safety in those parts & for that end came remaining with his host went to came to Ioppa & Ierusalem & went as went thence wthwith his host into Phœnice where he was honourably received & from thence he went with his army to other cities parts in like manner wthwith his little army to the cities of of Phenicia to establish himself against Egypt by courting the people & distributing fa unusual extraordinary favours amongst them. All wchwhich is thus represented by Daniel And in his [ Philometer's ] seat shall stand up a vile person, to whom they [ the Syrians who set up Heliodorus ] shall not give the honour of the kingdom. Yet he shall come in peaceably & obtain the kingdom by courtship & flatteries [ made principally to the king of Pergamus ] & the arms [ wchwhich in favour of Heliodorus oppose him ] shall be overflowed with a flood from before him & be broken: yea also the Prince of yethe covenant [ Onias yethe High Priest. ] And after friendship made with him [ that is with the king of Egypt by sending Apollonius to his coronation ] he An [ Antiochus ] shall work deceiptfully [ against the king of Egypt ] for he shall come up & become strong [ in Phœnicia ] with a small people. And he shall enter into the quiet & even & plentiful [ cities ] peaceably upon the fattest places of the Province [ of Phenicia ] & [ to ingratiate himself wthwith the Iews of Phœnica & Egypt & with their friends ] he shall do that [ among them ] to ingratiate himself wchwhich his fathers have not done nor his fathers fathers. He shall scatter among them the prey & the spoile & the riches [ of exacted from other places ] & shall forecast his devices against the strong holds [ of Egypt ] even for a time.

These things were done in the first year of Antiochus anno Philip 149. & three years after, that is in yethe 4th year of his reign, Menelaus the bought yethe High Priesthood from Iason, but not paying the price was sent for by the king, & the the mean time the king king before he could hear the cause went into Cilicia to appease a sedition there & left Andronicus his deputy at Antioch & then the & his brother of Menelaus to make up the money conveyed severel vessels of gold out of the Temple & selling some at Tyre & giving sending therstheirs to Andronicus & Menelaus being reproved for this it by Onias caused Onias to be slain by Andronicus: for wchwhich fact the king at his return from Cilicia caused Andronicus to be put to death , . And then prepared his second voiage against Egypt wchwhich he performed in the sixt year of his reign An. Philip. 154 For upon the death of Cleopatra the governours of the young king of Egypt claimed Phenicia & Cæsyria from Antiochus as ther doury & raised an army to recover those countries. to recover those countries raised a great army And Antiochus considering that his father had not parted wthwith quitted the possession of those countries [ 2 Macab. 3.5, 8, & 4.4 ] denied that they were her dowry & raisin wthwith another great army met & fought the Egyptians in the border of Egypt between Pelusium & the mountain Casius an. Philip 154 & when he might have destroyed the army of the Egyptians rode up & down forbiding commanding his soldiers not to kill them but only to taken them alive. By wchwhich humanity he gained Pelusium & soon after all Egypt, For Ptolomy fled entring it and with8r Antiochus — marched to Memphis pretending friendship to the young king & that he would take care of his affairs entered Egypt – he marched to Memphys pretending frien laying the whole blame of yethe war upon the king . s governour Eulœus, & pretending friendship to the young king & that he would order & set right his affairs with a great multitude of foot & chariots & Elephants & horsemen & a& a great navy & seizinged the cities of Egypt & he marched to Memphys pretending freindship to yethe young king & that he would order his affairs & making peace wthwith him & laying the whole blame of the affair upon the kings governors Eulœus & Lenæus. . In the mean time a report being spread in Phenicia that Antiochus was dead Iason to recover the High Priesthood assaulted & took IerusalenIerusalem with above 1000 men & took yethe city. Whereupon Antiochus thinking that Iudea had revolted came out of Egypt in af a furious manner, & took the City & slew 40000 of yethe people took as many priosoners & sold them to raise money & spoiled went into the Temple & spoiled it of its treasures ornaments utensils & vessels of gold & silver amounting to 1800 talents & carried all away to Antioch anno Philippi 154. All wchwhich All This was done in the year of Philip 154 ✝an. Abr. 1831. & is thus described by Daniel

Then the Egyptians seing Philometor educated in luxury & deposed by in effect now in the hands of Antiochus, made his younger brother Euergetes king & Antiochus returned into Egypt [ This was in the 12t year of Philometor so that & seventh of Antiochus & then ] And Antiochus in spring returning into Egypt p treated Philometer as a friend & pretendeding that he would restore him to yethe throne & beseiged Euergetes & his sis in Alexandria but not being able to take the city before winter returned into Syria with his army leaving Philometor at Memphys to govern Egypt in his absence. & the next

Then Philometor considering the danger that Egypt was in went to wrote to his brother & made a league with him that they should reign joyntly & for that purpose went to him at Alexandria. At wchwhich Antiochus being angry returned into Egypt in spring with his army to make war upon both the kings, but in his way to Alexandria was met by Popillius Lænas, C. Decimius & C. Hostilius sent embassadors sent from the Roman senate to compose the eras between the kings. Antiochus – – – – & set up the worship of the heathen Gods in Iudæa, & to to yethe end of his reign persecuted & made war upon the Iews who opposed him designers .

And this came to pass in the reign of Constantine the great & his successors & can be applied to no other period of time. Constantine & his sons a Christian overcame the heathen emperor Licinius & ha applied the donaria of the heathen Temples to the building of Constantinople caused great numbers of the Idols to be thrown down & land aside or& great numbers of them to be & brought to Constantinople & there exposed to the derision of the people; & he & his sons interdicted the worship pulled down the Altars shut up the temples & pulled down th threw down the Altars & the porches & roofs of some of the Temples & let the rest go out of raepair. And by this means Hea the heathen religion decayed so fast that in before the short reign of their successor Iulian yethe Apostate one half of the people of the Empire were became Christians. But Iulian opened yethe Temples & restored yethe heathen worship & Valentinian & Valens continued tolerated it all their reign. And therefore yethe prophesy of yethe sixt seal was not fully accomplished before yethe reign of Gratian their successors Gratian & Theodosius. It was the custome of the heathen Priests in the beginning of the reign of any sovereign Emperor to offer him the title dignity & habit of Pontifex maximus. This dignity all Emperors had hitherto accepted of, Bbut Gratian rejected it & in the west threw down the Idols, interdicted the sacrifices & took away the revenues of the sacrifices & yethe salaries & authority of the Priests. And Theodosius followed his example in the third year of his reign beg A.C. 3980 began to do the like in the east , & . And after this Heathenism recovered itself no more. but decreased so fast that Prudentius about 24 years after called the heathens vix pauca ingenia & pars hominum rarissima. Prud. l. 1. ado. Symmach. Thus was there a great earthquake in the heathen world & the sun of the Heathens became black & the Moon as blood & the stars fell to unto yethe earth & heaven departed as a scrollwl & every mountain of the earth & Island of the sea were moved out of their places & all men hid themselves & said to yethe rocks of the sea & mountains of yethe Land earth , Fall on us & hide us from the wrath of him ytthat sitteth on yethe throne & from yethe wrath of yethe Lamb: for yethe day of his wrath ( the day of oeour judgement ) is come & hide us: for yethe great days of Gods wrath is come. And thus ended the whole frame of the old heathen world.

Whethile the heathens Empire stood, it was im Empire stood it was impossible for yethe Man of Sin to get upermost so as to exalt himself above all that is called God, or worshipped he being of another religion then yethe old heathen or that is worshkipped but that wchwhich letted being now taken out of the way we may expect to see the Man of Sin revealed who was is to continue till the Lord shall consume destroy him wthwith the breath of his mouth ( or two edged sword ) & with the brightness of his coming: even him whose coming its after the working of Satan with all power & signes & lying wonders & with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. & These lying miracles began to in Egypt in the life reign of Constantine & I perceive by in Syria in the reign of Iulian the Apostate. For Antony in Egypt had the reputation of working great miracles & working miracles, predicting things & seeing the devil souls of dead men. And The mystery of iniquity began to worked in the days of the Apostles & so the Apostle Paul tells us that it should continue to work till the Man of Sin should be revealed. For While the heathen Empire stood the Church was not only kept under as to power but also preserved from corruption by persecutions & afflictions wchwhich purged her from hypocrites & bad men so that the sincere part of Christians were always the most numerous, but & prevailed over the mystery of iniquity: But after the Empire became Christian the heathens flowed into the Church in great numbers making an outward profession of Christianity for temporal ends without receiving the love of the truth & in these the mystery of iniquity worked till by their numbers it prevailed against the truth. For these new converts being used before their conversion to worship dead men & ascribe great power to their souls & images & were easily induced to change the names of their Gods & set up yethe worships of the Christian Divi instead of the heathen. Dy And the superstitious part of the Christians, for to promoting facilitating the conversion of the heathens were

The

were exer forward to comply with the heathen opinions & practises under a christian name so that Chris the Christian religion hence forward became a mixture of th Heathenism & Christianity together. under a Chris For as the worship of the heathen Gods decreased, in its room the invocation of Saints & other heathen superstitions came in among the Christians being introduced by ascribing supernatural powers to their souls of their saints & to their reliques & Shrines & to certain ceremonies of the same kind wthwith yethe heathen superstitions such as were signing with a cross, in nomine ✝ Patris & ✝ filij et ✝ spiritus sancti sprinkling wthwith Holy water & annoynting wthwith consecrated oyle & these superstitions were much propagated by writing Legends of mirthe miracles pretended to be done by them & ordering the Legends to be read in churches concerning for the instruction of the people.

In the reign of Constantine & his sons the Christians by an unwary zeal began to use the signe of the cross with too much superstition & in honour to the Martyrs to to translate the bodies pray at the tombs of the martyrs in honour to the martyrs & to translate the bodies of the Martyrs into their churches turning the Christian Churches into sepulchres of the saints as the heathens had done before temples were the sepulchres before & in Egypt they began to keep the bodies of Martyrs & good men unburied upon beds in their houses of their Gods.

In the reign of Constantius some began to tell stories of the souls of dead men appearing to them & of miracles done by the signe of the cross & in Egypt they began to keep the bodies of the Martyrs & good men unburied upon beds in their houses . In the reign of Iulian the Apostate there began to be a rumour of miracles done by the mart reliques of the Martyrs & in the reign of Valentinian & Valens those miracles were every where preached up & reliques were sent into all the Empire from Egypt & Syria where the mischief began, & the invocation of the saints was at the same time set on foot by Oratorical flourishes between jeast & earnest, & by stories of the good effects of such devotion, untill the doctrine that the saints did hear & heltp was brought t into the Churches & the oratorical flourishes ended in direct & positive prayers: so that in the reign of Theodosius this heathen doctrine that yethe Saints did hear & heltp us, & the idolatraous practise of praying to them overspread as well the western as the eastern churches, & before his death or at the furthest in the reign of his sons was generaly received & fully established in all the Roman Empire, the whole world ringing with the noise of the miracles said to be done every where at the shrines of the saints. And in setting up this new religion the ringleaders were the Monks were very active who feigning miracles & pretending by extraordinary dreams & revelations to discover where the bodies of the saints & martyrs were buried, dug up the bones of the dead & carried them up & down the Empire & did it so very much that some recconed this to be the first resurrection spoken of in the Apocalyps & that the Emperors at length forbad these shameful practises by publick edicts. They set up Altars also in the fields & by the sides of the high ways over the ~ – graves of such pretended Saints in the fields & by the sides of the high ways for the devotion of travellers. [ And thus th was StSaint Pauls Prophesy fullfilled that in the latter times some shall [ or times of the great Apostacy ] some τωες a sort of men shall depart from the faith giving heed to [ men of ] seducing spirits & to doctrines of Dæmons [ or such old & heathen doctrines of concerning dead mens souls, ] through the hypocraisy of lyars [ or [ such wrho feign lying stories of miracles ] who havieng their consciences seared with a hot iron, who forbidding to marry [ & [ commanding ] to abstein from meats, wchwhich God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them wchwhich beleive & know the truth. By their abstinence from meats & marriage & meats you know that the lying lyars hypocrites Lyars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron are the Monks, & by whose hypocrisy the rest are deceived, are the Monks. ]

To presecute this matter fully would require a large discourse. I shall content my self with some things testimonies about the

was three months before his death, his son Honoriu he sent for his son Honorius from Cons to reign in the west & by his last will & testament left the Empire divided between gave the western Empire to him. And now the Beast This was at the very beginning of the times of the seven Trumpets when the seven Angels prepared themselves to sound. And now the s thirteen years after, when the second Angel sounds, ed, the A.C. 408, the western Empire becomeames at once divided into ten kingdoms : signified by the ten horns. And which makes good the prophesy of yethe ten horns. The ten horn wchwhich thou sawest are ten kings wchwhich have received no kingdom as yet [ i.e. id est in the time of the sixt head ] but receive power as kings the same hour [ wthwith the bBeast or in a very short time, as it were wthwith in an hour, or very short time after the Beast 's receiving the throne of the Dragon. Thus did the Beast after he was wounded to death, recover & arrive to h pe his perfect state by degrees. First he revived, then he rose out of the sea, then he received his throne from the Dragon who stood upon the sea-shore & b after that his received power as kings then became divided into the ten kingdoms represented by his horns.

And all the world wondered after the Beast, or, as is afterwards exprest, all they that dwell on the earth whose names are not written in the book of life. They all had this holy Catholick Beast in great admiration. And they worshipped the Dragon so wchwhich gave power to the Beast that is, they worshipped his Gods. For as the idolatry of Iudah & Israel is represented ( in Ezekiel Ezek. 23. ) by the Samaria & Ierusalem's committing whoredom with the great men of Assyria & Egypt & Babylonia, & by the great men are meant the Gods of those nations: so here by the worshipping the Beast Dragon is put for worshipping the Gods of the Dragon. And they worshipped the Beast [ that is the Gods of the Beast , ] saying who is like unto yethe Beast [ in power? ] & who is able to make war [ or contend with him. ]

And there was given him a mouth [ or legislative power ] speaking great things & blasphemies & blasphemies [ against the God of heaven ] & blasphemies Gods in setting up [ in setting up other Gods ] the worship of other Gods & their images ] & power was given him him to act [ in this manner or to continue [ in this manner of acting ] forty & two months. & [ all this time ] he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name & his tabernacle & them that dwell in heaven The 42 months are not the whole time of his continuing dated from but the time only of his blaspheming after he is arrived to the height of impiety. The woman must arrive to her place in the wilderness to her place upon his back or dignity of reigning over him before the 42 months begin.

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints & to overcome them & power was given him over all [ as the Church Catho over all kindreds & tongues & nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written from yethe foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. That is all men except the saints shall take him for the Church Catholick & submit to his authority & worship his Gods & by the sword & captivity he shall overcome the saints themselves. If any man hath an ear let him hear. He that leadth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience of the saints.

And Iohn beheld another Beast coming up out of the earth [ that is out of the nations of the Eastern Empire ] & he had two horns like the Lamb, that is, & therefore he was an ecclesiastical body composed of two churches as the seven Lamb wthwith his seven horns was an