Antichrist the Pope of Rome, Treatise 3 · Answer 6 – Mark 2
Anſwere.
It is a falſe ſuppoſition, that the holy Scripture ſhould giuegive vsus for a ſigne of the comming of Antichriſt, that the Goſpell ſhould bee preached throughout the whole world; for there is not ſo much as one word heereof in the holy Scripture. For that ſpeech of our Sauiour Chriſt alledged out of S. Mathew, doth no w…yes ayme at any ſuch thing; foraſmuch …s hee ſpeaketh not of the vniuerſall perſecution, which ſhal bee ſtirred vp againſt the Chriſtian Church by Antichriſt: but of a particular perſecution, by the which, the Nation of the Iewes ſhould be oppreſſed, and the Temple deſtroyed, as it c…me to paſſe abo…t fiue and thirty yeares after the death of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt: God in the meane while, hauing before this deſol…tion of the Iewes, gathered together his Church out of all Nations of the world by the preaching of the Apoſtles, as is manifeſt in the booke of their Acts. And as S. Paul, Rom. 10. ſaith, That their ſound was gone out through all the earth: and Col. 1. That the Goſpel was come into all the world. Now this will eaſily appeare if we rightly conſider the Text of the Goſpell: for when the Apoſtles had ſhewed vntounto our Sauiour Chriſt the goodly buildings of the Temple, hee ſaith vntounto them: See you all theſe things? of a truth I ſay vntounto you, that there ſhall not bee heere left a ſtone vponupon a ſtone that ſhall not be caſt downe, Mat. 24.2. Whereupon our Sauiour ſitting vponupon the Mount of Oliues, his diſciples ſaid vntounto him, Tell vsus when theſe things ſhall come to paſſe, and what ſhall be the ſigne of thy comming, and of the end of the world: which Queſtion ſtandeth vponupon two parts: Firſt, concerning the deſtruction of the Temple, and ſecondly of the ſignes of the comming of the Sonne of God, and of the end of the world. Now our Sauiour anſwereth diſtinctly to each part of the queſtion, and that according to the order wherein it was propounded: And ſo hee handleth the firſt part touching the deſtruction of the Temple vntounto the 22. verſe: and from thence to the end of the Chapter, hee ſpeaketh of the end of the world, which is the ſecond. Now that which the Ieſuites here alledge, is the 14. verſe, which appertayneth yet to the firſt queſtion: and therefore when our Sauiour ſaith, That after the Goſpell ſhall be preached to all Nations, then the end ſhall be; hee vnderſtandeth not the worlds end, which is called in this Chapter foreign, the conſummation of the world; but the end of the Temple and Common wealth of the Iewes, whereof he had ſaid in the ſixt verſe, All thoſe things muſt come to paſſe, but the end ſhall not be yet, to wit, the end of Ieruſalem. And thus Euthymius following S. Chryſoſtome, and Theophilact them both, expound the place. Secondly, admit that by the end ſhould be meant the end of the world, as S. Ierome and others hauehave taken it: yet it will not follow, that the preaching of the Goſpell to all the world muſt go before the comming of Antichriſt, as they pretend, but onelyonly before the end of the world. In breefe, if wee ſhould conſent to that (which is not true) that this perſecution whereof our Sauiour Chriſt ſpeaketh, ſhould bee the laſt perſecution ſtirred vp by Antichriſt (as they would hauehave it,) yet would they bee farre from their reckoning: for, that the Goſpell be preached throughout the whole world, before Antichriſt attempteth his great and laſt perſecution, is one thing: and that this be done before the comming of Antichriſt, is another; and yet this is the foundation which they lay: but a falſe and weake one,1 Iohn. 4.3. 2. Th…ſſ. 2. God wot. For the Apoſtles tell vsus, that in their time Antichriſt was already come, and was in working, but he was not yet reuealed, nor ſtirred vp this great perſecution. Beſides all this, when Chriſt ſaith, That the Goſpell ſhall bee preached through the whole world, hee ſpeaketh not of all the world, conſidered ſimply and vniuerſally in it owne latitude, but comparatiuely, in conference with the boundes of Iudea and Iſrael; wherein the preaching of the Goſpell had bene lockt vp, as it were, vntill his aſcenſion into heauen. Or as Ma…donate ſpeaketh,Maldon in Mat. 24.14. this was but an Hyperbolicall manner of ſpeaking, by the whole world, ſignifying the greateſt part of the world. For at that time (ſaith he) when Ieruſalem was deſtroyed there was ſcarce one Region to be found of thoſe that were then diſcouered, wherein the voyce of the Gospell had not ſounded. And that which is more then all this, I ſay that it is a falſe pretence of theirs, that there are any quarters or countries of the earth, either in the Eaſt or Weſt, wherein no ſigne of the preaching of the Goſpell is to be found. For all thoſe that write of the new-found world, and ſuch Countries as are dayly diſcouered, doe verify the contrary. For they affirme that in India there are many Chriſtians which ſay that they receiued the Goſpell by the Miniſtery of S. Thomas, and theſe admit Baptiſme, and receiue the Lords Supper vnderunder both kindes, and execrate the doctrine and manners of the Ieſuites: In ſuch ſort, that in the yeare 1567. as in the Citty of Cochim, not farre from Calecut, an Armenian Biſhop exhorted the Chriſtians that pretended to follow the doctrine of S. Thomas, to beware of Popiſh ſuperſtitions: and that one Melchior Carnerius a Ieſuite, inſtiling himſelfe the Biſhop of Nicea, oppoſed againſt him: the …eſuite had bene oppreſſed with darts diſcharged againſt him by the Ind ans, had he not ſaued himſelfe by flight into the land of China, which bordereth vponupon India on the Eaſt, amongſt the idolatrous Pagans, where hee was miſerably buried. Neuertheleſſe, euen here alſo are occurrent I know ſome ſhadowes of ancient Chriſtianiſme, expreſſed by certaine pictures which they retaine. For they hauehave an Image with three heads, which heads looke towards one another, and in the ſame three faces of one God, which they ſay are of one intelligence and will. In like manner, they hauehave the Image of a Woman, holding a Child in her armes, who they ſay was a Virgin both before and after her Childbearing. They confeſſe the immortallity of ſoules, and beleeue that there are rewards for iuſt men, and eternall puniſhments for the wicked after this life.
In America, the Religion is wholly Pagan: but yet altogether vnlike to that of the Ancient Gentiles, and ſuch as giueth probable coniecture, that Chriſtianity hath bene before time there preached. For Peter Martyr ſaith, that towardes Dar…en there are certaine American Prieſts, that Baptize infants of a yeare old, caſting the water in croſſe vponupon their heads, with certaine ceremonies and ſpeeches, which the Spaniards vnderſtood not. And Iohn de Lery doth report of thoſe of Braſil that they beleeue the immortality of ſoules: and that at a certaine time diſcourſing with them about the true ſeruice of God, the creation of the world, the fall and reparation of mankind, and ſuch like points of Chriſtian doctrine: when they had heard him attentiuely and with admiracion, for the ſpace of two houres, at the laſt one of the moſt Ancient of them, thus anſwered: That they had heard of their Anceſtors, that a great while ſince, there was a certaine man that was bearded and clothed as wee are, which preached vntounto vsus theſe things. But when their Fathers would not giuegive credite vntounto him, then another came after him, that giuegive them th ſw…rd, which they vſe as a Symbol of malediction, and that euer ſince, there ha…h beene no…hing but warres and diſſentions amongſt them. Theſ are manifeſt tokens of the publication of the Goſpell in thoſe Countries, and of the contempt which they made thereof. All which things may encline vsus eaſily to iudge, that no man can pret…nd that the Goſpell hath not bene preached through the whole world, and conſequently that Antichriſt is not come, according to this Maxime.
And thus this ſubtilty of wit, is not a demonſtration, but a dreame, too feeble to be oppoſed to this Diuine truth, that aſſureth vsus that Antichriſt was in the world in the Apoſtles time; and to experience, which ſo many Ages hauehave already had of his Tyranny.
The ſecond marke: the totall deſtruction of the Romane Empire.
Bel. de Rom. Pon…f…. 3.The ſecond marke and fore-runner of Antichriſt, is the totall ſubuerſion of the Romane Empire: That as Chriſt came into the world, Remond. de Antich. cap. 9 Viegas in Apo cap. 13. ſect. 17.when this Empire was at the per… d of his greatneſſe: So Antichriſt ſhould come, when it ſhould bee vtterly ruined, and at it's loweſt ebbe.