Reply Against Gilbert Brown, Section 32
Maiſter Gilbert Browne.
It is an wonder to heare the word of God abuſed, not only with falſe expoſitions repugnant to the words ſelfe, but alſo alledging the word falſlye. For the text of Saint Iohn hes but this, (for he notes no place, becauſe (a)This is your imagination, and you are deceiued in it therefore correct your thoughts M. Gil.he knowes it may not abyde ane triall) And the woman fled vntounto the wilderneſſe, where ſhe had ane place prepared of God, that there they might feede her, ane thouſand, two hundreth, and threeſcore dayes. Heir there is no word that ſhe ſhalbe latent, nor lurke, nor be ſecreat. And if Maiſter Iohn wil meane that the fleeing to the wilderneſſe, is nothing but to be inuiſible, and to lye ſecreat: then it muſt followe that the whoore of Babylons ſelfe muſt be inviſible and ſecret. For the ſame Saint Iohn ſayes. And the Angell tooke mee away in ſpirite into the deſert, and I ſawe ane woman ſitting vppon ane ſkarlet coloured beaſt, full of names of blaſphemie, hauing ſeuen heades and ten hornes. This word (deſert) ſignifies more properlie to be ſecret or inviſible, nor the word (wilderneſſe) It is true appearandlie, that if this Woman ſi nifies the Kirk of Chriſt that in the time of the Antichriſt, ſhee ſhalbe redacted to ane ſmall number, as it were in ane wilderneſſe, and ſhall not poſſeſſe eueryevery nation, as ſhe had wont to doe: but that ſhe may be made inviſible, and not to be ſeene, there is no true Catholick that expones it ſo. And ſiklike, this time ſhalbe but ſhort, that is, for 1260 dayes, as the text ſayes, whilk is but three yeares and ane halfe. And if Maiſter Iohns Kirk had beene but ſo long inviſible, we ſhould hauehave diſpenſed with the ſame. But it hes bene inuiſible thir thouſand yeares, as it is now profeſſed in Scotland, and much more as young Marchiſtoun hes in his booke vponupon the Reuel. cap. 12. ver. 14
Maister Iohn Welſche his Reply.
Al that you can find fault with here, is this, that I ſaid the Kirk in the time of the Antichriſt, ſhould be latent and lurk & be fed ſecretly: the whilk hes ſtirred you vp in ſik a choller that you hauehave cried out with admiration that I hauehave abuſed the Scripture: &c. Now tel me (Maiſter Gilbert) whether is it becauſe theſe ſame wordes are not founde in the Scripture, or becauſe the doctrine it ſelfe cannot be warranted by the ſame? If the former, then I ſay you are but a quarreller about words, And all the doctrine whilk ye hauehave ſet downe in this your anſwer is not ſet downe in ſo manie termes in the Scripture, and yet ye will hauehave it to bee the doctrine of Gods ſpirit, (ſuppoſe it be not ſo.) So it ſufficeth that this whilk I ſayd be warrāted by the Scripture, ſuppoſe the ſame termes be not found. If the other: then I ſay beſide other places of Scripture, this ſame place whilk yee quote here confirmes the ſame. For knowe ye not that the wilderneſſe is a place of refuge and ſecrecie from the tyrannie of their purſuers? And they that flies to the ſame, they flie to lurk there, and to be keeped cloſe and ſecret from the rage of their perſecuters for the ſafetie of their liues. So while it is prophecied that this woman (wherby is ſignified the Kirk,) whilk ſuppoſe ye condtionally expone ſo, 40. demonſtrat.yet Sanderus one of your owne number expones it to be the Kirk without all doubt ſhall flie in the wilderneſſe from the face of the Dragon, and that for her ſafetie, and there be fed &c. Is it not then manifeſt that ſhe ſhalbe ſecret and lurk then, and not be ſo open and viſible as ſhe was before? And if this be an abuſe of the Scripture, then not onelie your ſelfe hes abuſed it, but alſo ſundrie of your owne Kirk, as the Rhemiſtes, Bellarmine, & Sanderus. For your ſelfe ſayes that in the time of the Antichriſt, ſhe ſhalbe redacted in a ſmall number, as it were in a wilderneſſe, and ſhall not poſſes euerie nation as ſhe had wont to doe. For what is this els but to lurk and be latent, and to be fed ſecretly, in compariſon of that eſtate wherein ſhe was before? And therefore the onlie thing that I inferred on this in the end, was that no man ſhould thinke that the Kirk of God was euer open and viſible, in ſik a floriſhing eſtate as it is now. And the Rhemiſts ſayes that in the time of the Antichriſt, Annotat. in 2. Theſſal.this great defection or reuolt ſhalbee of kingdomes, people, and Prouinces, from the open externall obedience & communion with the Kirk of Rome. So that their communion with her ſhall be in hart, and the practiſe thereof in ſecret, and he ſhall aboliſh the publike exerciſe of al religions trew or falſe, Bellarm. lib. 3. de Rom Pont. cap. 17. & 18 Sander. demonſt 35. & 37ſaue that whilk is done to himſelf: So that the Meſſe they ſay, ſhall be had but in ſecret then. And Bellarmine and Sanderus is of the ſame minde, that his cruell perſecution ſhall ſtay all publick exerciſe of religion, and he ſhall make open warfaire with the whole Kirk, and ſhall endeuour to deſtroy the vniuerſall eſtate of the whole Chriſtian common weale, and ſhall ſhut vp the doore of ſacraments, and ſhall ſuffer no man anye more to enter in the Kirk of Chriſt, and ſhalbe Monarch of the whole world. Now if this be trew, whether ſhall the Kirk of Chriſt by your owne doctrine be fed ſecretly, or not be latent and lurk, in the time of the Antichriſt, let al men iudge. But what a contradictorious ſpirit is this of yours, who to gaineſay the thing that I write, cares not to inuolue your ſelfe in a contradiction, not only to the trueth, but alſo to your own Catholicks. Either therefore wonder at your owne Catholickes, who hes ſpoken as much and more in this poynt nor I did, and at your ſelf alſo, who grants as much in ſubſtance as I meaned, that ye and they hauehave abuſed the Scripture, or els leaue of to wonder at me, and wonder at the vaile whilk is hung ouer your owne eies, whilk hinders you not only to vnderſtand the trueth, but alſo to vnderſtand what your ſelfe and your owne bretheren teaches. Now as for your reaſon, it is not ſaid that Babylō was in the deſert, but that Iohn was taken in the ſpirit, that is, rauiſhed in the ſpirit (as in the 1. and 4. chapter) into the deſert that is, into a ſolitare and heauenlie contemplation of that viſion whilk was afterward ſhowne him. For as this carrying of him in the ſpirit ſignifies his ſpirituall rauiſhing, ſo this deſert ſignifies the ſolitarenes of his contemplation. And as that lifting vp of Ezechiell by the lockes of the haire of his head betwene the heauen and the earth, & that carrying of him to the door of the innermoſt port towards the North, to ſee the abominations of Ieruſalem, was only in viſion, & not bodily. So I take this carrying of Iohn in ſpirit to the wilderneſſe to ſee the whoore of Babylon to hauehave bene in viſion only, and not bodily. And whereas ye ſay that this worde deſert ſignifies more properlie to be hid and inviſible nor the word wilderneſſe, I pray you tell me (Maiſter Gilbert) what is betwene deſert & wilderneſſe? ſaue that the firſt is driuen from the Latine, & the ſecond is Engliſh? Muſt you be ſet to the grammer ſchoole againe? What fancie is this wherewith ye are poſſeſſed, that you put a difference betweene wildernes and deſert? Is there anie difference, if you vnderſtood the greek language, betweene foreign and foreign, that is, betwene deſert and deſert, wilderneſſe and wilderneſſe? And if ye hauehave euer red the new Teſtament in Greeke, there is but the ſelfe ſame worde foreign in both theſe places, whilk ſignifieth deſert or wilderneſſe. But where hauehave you bene when ye did imagine this difference? Appearandly ye hauehave bene dreaming in ſome wilderneſſe, or elſe wandring in the wildernes of your owne blind imaginations. As for the expoſition of your trew Catholickes, we count not much of them. Alwaies theſe whome ye call your trew Catholicks, Bellarmine the Rhemiſts, and Sanderus hes bene plaine in this matter, and hes ſpoken more in this poynt then we doe. And as for the time of this her ſecrecie and lurking 1260. daies whilk you expound literallie to be but three yeares and a halfe. I anſwer, this expoſitiō of yours is againſt firſt the cuſtome of propheſies, whilk are expounded figuratiuelie and not literally, as theſe 70. weekes in Daniel concerning Chriſt, where there a daye is put for a yeare. Next, it is againſt the whole circumſtances of ihe text: for will you expound this woman figuratiuely for the Kirk, as Sanderus does: and the wildernes vntounto the whilk ſhe fled, figuratiuely for the ſmall number wherunto ſhe ſhalbe redacted, as you doe: & the ſun wherewith ſhe was cled, and the moone whilk was vnderunder her feete, and the twelue ſtarres that was vponupon her head, and the red Dragon whilk perſewed her with ten heads &c. all figuratiuelie, and yet will yee expound the time of her being in the wilderneſſe literallie? What violence is this whilk yee will offer vntounto the holye trueth of God, to expound all the reſt figuratiuely, and onlie the time literallie? So then a day here is ſet for a yeare, as alſo it is taken in the ſame ſenſe in the 2. chapter of the Reuelation in the Epiſtle to Smyrna, where it is ſaid they ſhal hauehave tribulation for the ſpace of ten dayes: that is, for the ſpace of ten yeares. As for the inviſibility of our Kirk, becauſe that queſtion cums afterward, therefore I omit it now. Only this, as your Hierarchie and abhomination of your Kirk grew, ſo did the puritie of the doctrine of Ieſus Chriſt in his Kirk decay. And as your Popes came not to their height at an inſtant, and brought not in their abhominations at an inſtant but peece and peece, and by longproces of time: So the puritie of the trueth of God decayed not at an inſtant, but peece and peece and by a long proces of tyme. For the degrees of your exalting, was the degrees of the depreſſing of the trueth of God in his Kirk. As for our diſpenſation ſuppoſe your Kirk vſeth not to giuegive them without money laide downe, yet we will neither buie them, nor hauehave them for nought. So keepe your diſpenſations at home (Maiſter Gilbert) whill we ſend for them.
Maiſter Iohn Welſche.
And the Miniſters thereof ſhal preach in ſackcloth, that is, vnderunder perſecution, all th… …, and at the laſt they ſhalbe put to death for the teſtimonie of Ieſus, and for ſpeaking againſt their falſe worſhip & Religion.