The Relics of Rome, Title page – Prophecy
The Reliques of Rome, contayning all such matters of Religion, as hauehave in times past bene brought into the Church by the Pope and his adherentes: faithfully gathered out of the moste faithful writers of Chronicles and Histories, and nowe newly both diligently corrected & greatly augmented, to the singuler profit of the Readers, by Thomas Becon. 1563.
Esay. 5.
Wo be vntounto them, that call euill good, and good euill, whiche make darknesse light and lighte darkenesse, that make soure swet, and swete soure. Wo be vntounto thē, that are wise in their owne sighte, and thinke thēselues to hauehave vnderstādyng.
¶Imprinted at London, by Iohn Day, dwelling ouer Aldersgate, beneath Saint Martines.
¶Cum Priuilegio.
THOMAS BECONVS SACROSĀC TAE THEOLOGIAE PROFESSOR.
Ora expressa vides, viuos imitantia vultus,
Quod potuit calimo, pictor, & arte vides.
Mentis quam nullus potuit tibi reddere pictor,
Effigiem scriptis, praebuit ipse suis.
¶ A Prophecie of Antichrist.
ANtichrist shall be, borne in great Babilon of an Harlot, that shal come of ye tribe of Dā. He shalbe replenished with ye deuill in his mothers wōbe. He shalbe nourished with spirituall euils & mischiefes. He shal rule ouer the whole world. He shal subdue all mākind vntounto him by foure māner of wayes. First he shall bring the cōmon people vnderunder his dominion by terrour & feare: for he shal exercise great cruelty & tyrāny against the true worshippers of god. Secōdly, he shall win vntounto him the noble personages, & suche as be in authoritye, by geuyng thē greate gifts & riches, wherof he shal hauehave great aboū daūce & plenty: for al the hid mony shal be open vntounto him. Thirdly, wt his wisedome & eloquēce which shalbe wonderful and incredible, he shal make the clergy to cleaue vntounto him: for he shall hauehave great knowledge of al arts, & of the scripture. Fourthly, thorow signes and wonders he shall deceaue such as despise the world, as monkes, & suche like. For he shal shew wonderfull signes and tokens. He shal be thought to cause fyre to come downe from heauen & to consume his aduersaries before him, and to raise vp the dead to geue witnesse of hym. But he shall not rayse vp the dead in deede. But thorowe hys witchcraft and forcery he shall cause the deuill to enter into the body of some damned dead persō, & this shal he cary about him, & by this shall he so speake that eueryevery mā shall thinke hym to be aliue, as it is written of hym: His comming shall be by the working of Sathā, with al lying power, signes & wonders, & in all deceauablenesse of vnrighteousnes among thē that perish. duplicate page duplicate page The Iewes and al misbeleuing persons out of all places of the worlde shall flock & flow vntounto him. But thorow the preaching of Enoch and Hely, the people shal forsake him & returne vntounto the true and christē religion: wherof shal ensue greate persecution and manslaughter, in so much that all in a manner shal suffer hard martirdome. He shal rule and obtaine the monarchy by the space of three yeares & an halfe. Afterward he shall pitche his tente in the moūt Oliuet to the ende that he may destroy the rightuous. But he shall not preuayle. For in the very same mount shal he be found sodenly dead. For he shalbe slaine at the commaundement of God with the breath of the Lordes mouth, as it is written: the Lord shal cast downe Hedlong and vtterly destroye in the holy hill the stoutest gyaunt of the whole worlde. After these thynges peace and righteousnesses shall spryng vp, and the earth shalbe filled full of the knowledge of the Lorde, so that the Gospell of the kingdome shalbe preached in al the worlde. For there shal go vp sauiours vntounto the mount of Sion to iudge the hill of Esau: and the kyngdome shal be the Lordes.
Osey. 14.
Who so is wise, shal vnderstand this, and …e that is right instruct will regard it.
Math, 24.
Who so readeth it let him vnderstand.
2. Timoth. 2.
The Lorde geue the vnderstandyng in all thynges.