The Apostasy of the Latter Times, Title page – Errata
THE APOSTASY OF THE LATTER TIMES.
In which, (according to divine prediction) the world should wonder after the Beast, the Mystery of Iniquity should so farre prevaile over the Mystery of Godlinesse, whorish Babylon over the virgin-Church of Christ; as that the visible glory of the True Church should be much clouded, the True unstained Christian Faith corrupted, the purity of true worship polluted.
OR, THE GENTILES THEOLOGY OF DAEMONS, i. e. inferiour divine powers: Supposed to be mediatours between God and man: Revived in the LATTER TIMES amongst Christians, in worshipping of Angels, deifying and invocating of Saints, adoring and templing of Reliques, bowing downe to Images, worshipping of Crosses, &c.
All which, together with A true discovery of the Nature, Originall, Progresse, of the great, fatall, and solemn Apo…tasy, are cleared.
Delivered in publique some years since upon 1 Tim. 4.1, 2, 3. By IOSEPH MEDE B. D. and late Fellow of Christs Colledge in Cambridge.
1 Iohn 5.21.
Little children, keep your selves from Idols.
LONDON, Printed by Richard Bishop for SAMUEL MAN dwelling at the signe of the Swan in Pauls Church-yard. 1641.
The Preface to the Reader.
VIno vendibili non opus est suspensâ hederâ: A cup of good wine will be known where it is without an Ivy bush; such is the following discourse, and so I am perswaded it will approve it self unto all unpartiall and judicious Readers. Many yeers agoe I was acquainted with it, by the Authors own hand: For such was his scholasticall ingenuity; I found him most free in communicating his studies; right like unto the description of the Scholar in Chaucer:
Sounding in morall vertue was his speech,
And glady would Learne, and gladly teach.
And sometimes he dealt plainly with me, in telling me the reason why; and that was, because he found me so inquisitive after his meditations, whereas those with whom he familiarly conversed, were nothing so. The truth is, I was exceedingly taken with his notions; for he had a Critical wit, and affected to correct common errours: and herein he seemed to me exceeding happy, Demonstrating not onelyonly acutenesse of wit, and clearnesse of conceipt, but solidity of judgment. And therfore from the first time, that I grew acquainted with him, I made bold to improve my acquaintance to the uttermost of mine owne advantage scholasticall, encouraged thereunto by his facility and ready condescension to my requests.
2 The beginning of our familiaritie was occasioned by a rumour spread of his opinion, concerning the glorious Kingdome of Christ here on earth, which many hunderd yeeres agoe was cryed downe, as the Errour of the Millenaries: and Augustine himselfe, though confessing that at first he liked the same, yet sheweth how that afterwards he was taken off from it, and upon what ground. And it seemed wondrous strange to us, that such an opinion should after so many hundred yeeres be revived; and that in so strange a manner, as now we finde, both amongst us, and amongst outlandish Divines. Neverthelesse my selfe being firmely set upon studies of another nature, I had no great edge so much as to hearken to it, much lesse to take it into consideration. But a friend in the Countrey sometimes urged me to write to an acquaintance in London; and to entreate him to enquire of Master Mede, whether he were of the same opinion with Piscator and Alstedius concerning the first resurrection▪ and the glorious kingdome of Christ. And hereupon shortly after, word was sent me, that he did agree with Piscator in this, that some shall rise a thousand yeeres before others, but he differed from him in this, that Piscator thought this Reign of Christ should be in heaven; but I (said Master Mede) agree rather with Alstedius and conceive, that the thousa…d yeeres reigne of Christ shall be on earth. Yet herein he differed from Alstedius; that whereas Alstedius was of opinion, that the thousand yeers reigne of Christ should be after the day of judgment, Master Medes opinion was that it should be in & Durante die judicii, in an… during the day of judgement; which day of judgement should continue a thousand yeeres, beginning with the ruine of Antichrist, and ending with the destruction of cog and Magog. And that Camerarius writing upon Plato's Alcinous, testifies that the Rabbines among the Iews write, that the seventh thousand yeeres shall be the great day of judgement, or the judgement of the great day. And Hierome upon the sixty fifth chapter of Esay confesseth, that it was a tradition among the Jews, that the Messias should reigne a thousand yeeres in new Jerusalem.
3. When I heard this, my Spirit was stirred up in me to lay aside for a while my ordinary studies, and to take this into consideration; and I prayed Master Mede to give me leave to propose my reasons against this opinion of his. And the truth is, the improbability of it seemed very pregnant unto naturall reason; and diverse arguments that way offered themselves, which seemed to be of very difficult (if at all possible) solution. And over and above it seemed very contradictious to diverse plaine passages of holy Scripture. Master Mede very redily enterteyned the motion, and prescribed me a time after which he should be at leasure for me; and in a letter after this, in his familiar manner asked me saying; when come your Queries? I accepted his courteous answer, and sent up unto him, first and last, twelve arguments against that opinion of his; and at the first I sent him ten, with an answer devised by my selfe to nine of them; for so I had promised him, namely that I would bethinke my wits of what possibly might bee said in the solution of them, according to the straitnesse of my invention, leaving it to him to approve, or correct, or adde, as he thought good. And whereas I could devise nothing at all in answer to my tenth argument, he sent me a large answer thereunto in three sides of a sheet of Paper; whereby I well percieved, that my best arguments had been known to him, and examined before I devised them.
4. After this, I came acquainted with many discourses upon the same argument, one Printed at Hanow in Germany, De die novissimo, Of the last day; a few onelyonly were Printed; Two copies (and no more) were brought into England; Master Mede bought them both, and sent me one of them to Copy it out, which we did After this, no lesse then seven manu-scripts were sent me from one Divine, treating of this and other mysteries. Now here I cannot but confesse my corruption, for I received them by way of a bribe. And indeed I was to doe him a favour (which yet was never done, the death of a speciall Friend preventing it) and I dealt plainly wiih him, and told him I would not sell my favours Gratis; I would be well payd for them. And therefore whereas I heard he had strange notions upon the Revelation, and touching the mysteries of the first resurrection, and Christs Kingdome; I looked to be see'd with the communication of them; with promise to return them safely, after I had suckt the honey out of them, though he had never a whit the lesse for that, such is the nature of spirituall commodities. The good man sent me word, that such bribes would never make me rich: But I returned answer, that they would make me more rich then the enjoying of all the treasures of Aethiopia, and the hill Amara to boote: And here I found rich mines indeed, even all the mysteries belonging to Christs glorious kingdome set downe apart, by way of question, and a solemn resolution thereof, with proofes adjoyned out of holy scripture. Since that, I have met with diverse choyse pieces of the same argument; some prosecuting a few parts thereof only, and others more. But l…t that passe, I returne to Master Mede.
Many letters passing betweene us, he had occasion sometimes to touch upon somethings, whereof he had written more at large, either by occasion of Chappell exercises, as he called them, or in more operous and large discourses. I was glad to observe such pre…ious birds of Paradise spring; and thereupon insinuated with him further, entreating him to communicate such exercises of his to me. And truly I found such exemplary favour with him, that he would scarce deny me any thing. Thus I came to be partaker of divers Chappell exercises of his, one whereof was a notable discovery of the common errour, about Zipporahs circumcising of her childe, as if she did it in discontent and in spleene, throwing the foreskin at Moses feete, and saying, Thou art a bloody husband. But Master Mede brings it about to signifie the ordinary forme of expression used in that Sacrament, which was to this effect, Thou art my blood, sonne; and he proves it both out of notable circumstances of the story of Moses, and out of the Rabbines, acknowledging that forme, and applying it to that fact of Zipporah.
5 I confesse there hath been some difference between us about ceremonies, as about the lawfulnesse of bowing towards the Altar, and about the holinesse of Churches, whereof he was as zealous as his Lord of Canterbury, or rather more; for he held it unlawfull to pull downe Churches, they being places separated for Gods use, and his peculiar: wherein he followed Master Hookers conceit, in the fifth Booke of his Ecclesiasticall Policie. But his Lord of Canterbury did not hold it unlawfull to pull downe Saint Gregories. That axiome, Eadem est ratio loci & temporis, There, is the same reason of time and place, deceived him, as it deceiveth many, for where it doth hold, it holds only in reference to time, and place, naturall. And indeed, time is only naturall; but place may be artificiall, and such is a Temple. That is for the generall notions of them; then as touching the special notions of them, herein is a vast difference. For the proportion of time is very considerable for the advancing of Gods service; as one day in seven, rather then one day in a fortnight, or one day in a monethmonth; the like cannot be said of the proportion of place. And lastly, the time of Gods worship is defined by God still even under the Gospell, namely, the Lords day; not for any place defined by him. And truely the Lord seemed to me by speciall providence to cast us upon a debate about the holinesse of Churches. And it was high time to enquire into it, superstition in this kinde of late strangely encreasing. The Austine disputations in Oxford, which were wont to be kept in Saint Maries of late I heare, are excommunicated thence. I wonder the Act, and the exercises thereof, are not translated to some other places, for feare of prophanation: and the Terrae-filius, or Praevaricator, must take heed of observing the old forme of exercising their pleasant wits in facetious discourse, for feare of prophanation, which cannot he salved by ought but Doctor Cozens his Devotions: Yet were not the same kinds of exercises performed at the same time, and in the same place, in the time of Popery? Whence it followes, that either they were mrre prophane than we now adayes, or we more superstitious than they.
6 But whereas some were too forward in censuring Master Mede, as complying with the times in this, it is well knowne, that twenty yeares and more, before that last Sermon of his, whereat divers took great offence, he had maintained his opinion that way, and upon a text very plausible at first sight to justifie it, Lev. 19.30. Ye shal reverence my Sanctuary, which text may easily miscarry an honest man, and a good schollar, into an opinion of reverence due unto Churches, either civill or religious, or of a middle size betwixt them, as some (I heare) have very unhappily set their wits on work to devise; as if man, made after Gods image, were bound to performe reverence to the worke of his own hands. But if we seriously consider the two parts of the text, and duly weigh and compare them together, we shall soone finde, how the meaning of the one, will give light to cleare the meaning of the other: for thus it runs, Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my Sanctuary. Now the keeping of the Sabbath is clearly no other, than the reverenceing of God upon the Sabbath: so say I, the reverencing of the Sanctuary is no other, than the reverencing of God in the Sanctuary. In all this I have spoken nothing of the vast difference between the Temple at Jerusalem, and our Temple and Chappels; every one where of amongst us, for devotion thereunto, is compared with the Temple of King Solomon; whereas there was but one Temple for all the Scribes, and into that Temple none presumed to come but the Priests and into the Sanctum Sanctorum no Priests, but the High Priest, and that but once a yeare. The truth is, both the Sanctuary, at the first, and the Temple throughout, were Ceremoniall, both whole and part, and all the services thereof; and so God made use of it, as of sacrifices to communicate mysteries of godlinesse unto his people. Yet I confesse I have heard some in great state, to professe that the Temple was morall, that is, the building of it a morall duty: But I prove it was not; if it were morall, then all the Church of God for 1600. yeares before the floud, and some 1200. after, till the building of the Temple, failed of the substance of a morall duty; for till then they had none. Againe, if it were a morall duty, then God commanded it from the first, either by word, or by writing it in mans heart; not by word, as appeares by Gods owne profession made to David, 2 Sam. 7.7. In all the places wherein I have walked, with all the children of Israel, spake I one word with any of the tribes of Israel, when I commanded the Judges to feed my people Israel; or said I, Why build ye not me an house of Cedar trees? If written in mans heart, then all along so many ages, the people of God sinned against their consciences, in not building a Temple unto God.
7. But perhaps there is some colour at least, or shew of reason to prove this? and what may that be? is it that of Solomon to the King of Tyrus? 2 Chron. 2.5. The house which I build is great, for great is our God above all gods. Here seemes to be an intimation, that the house must be answerable to the greatnesse of God: whereto I answer: Then belike it is a morall duty to build an house answerable to Gods greatnesse. But, say I, this was utterly impossible to man in the state of Innocency; therefore this is no morall duty. Such an house had need be as bigge as all the world, from the outermost cope of heaven, to the center of the earth, yet that not answerable; for as Solomon saith, verse 6. The heavens of heavens cannot conteyne him; but I do it to burn incense before him. Yet it became Salomon in undertaking it to goe through with it answerably to the glory, wherewith God had adorned him: But the patterne of it was delivered to him by David his Father, and his Father received it by revelation. Surely it hath been in the power of heathens since that time to build temples exceeding the glory of the Temple built by Salomon: witnesse the Temple of Diana at Ephesus: and that of Fez at this day. Surely the richer Potentates are, the more they are enabled to build more glorious Temples: And the greatest States of the world at this day are heathenish, not Christian.
8 But to the matter in hand, Amongst the cheife pieces which Mr. Mede was pleased to communicate unto me, this of the Apostasie of Latter times, as it was the largest of all the rest, so it gave me greatest content; both for the interpretation he makes of the text in Paul, different from all former interpretations of course, which he shews to bee most agreeable to the text; and that it affordes new and more plentifull matter of meditation, both as touching the doctrines of Daemons, opening the meaning thereof, & shewing what they are: and as touching the description of those persons, who were the founders of them; which openeth a large field of discourse, and that so pertinently and fully exemplified by the Author, as cannot but give great content to the Protestant Reader; the foule superstitions and corruptions in use among the Romanists, being represented to the life, and that with great variety of reading, together with the explication, and illustration of some very obscure passages in Daniels prophecy.
9. I had sometimes a dispute with Doctor Sibs about Master Medes explication of Saint Pauls phrase, the doctrines of Daemons, which he took to be somewhat violent and strayned, But I professed freely, I saw no just reason for such a censure. It is true we commonly conceived the word Daemoniorum, to be Genitivus efficientis, a genitive case noting the Author or efficient cause. But Master Mede takes it to be Genitivus materiae, the genitive case noting the matter, or subject. Now all the learned and judicious know it to be as usuall to take the genitive case in this latter sense, as in the former; and therefore no racking of the text is committed by him in this: Whereas on the other side, Beza despaires of making Paul speake true Greeke, unlesse by Daemons we understand false Prophets. But Master Mede, by his interpretation is driven to no such shift, but preserves the integrity of the language, as well consisting with his interpretation.
10. I have heard others highly commend this discourse of Master Medes, as a choice piece, as Master Steven Marshall by name, that worthy Preacher. My opinion is, that never was the defection of the Church of Rome, and the native genius thereof more lively, and clearely, and learnedly set forth, as most exactly answereable to that which the Scripture hath foretold, then by Master Mede in the opening and expounding of this text, whereupon he insists, and accommodating the manners of the Church of Rome in the latter dayes thereunto; and by Master Potter in his learned and accurate discourse of the number of the Beast 666 whereof Master Medes judgement was, that it was the greatest discovery that hath been made since the world began. Much adoe I had to draw him to peruse it, and give me his judgement of it: for he feared it would prove but a fancy; but after he had perused it, he sent me word, that he did not think it possible that a matter of such reality and solidity could be wrought out of it.
WILLIAM TWISSE.
The Catalogue of the Authors.
A
ACta Stephani Monachi.
Aemilius Sura apud Paterculum.
Ambrosius.
Ammianus Marcellinus.
Apuleius.
Arnobius.
Athenagorae legat. pro Christ.
Augustinus.
B
Balaeus.
Baronius.
Basilius.
S. Benedicti Reg.
Beza.
Budaeus.
C
Caesarius.
Calvinus.
Castellio.
Cedrenus.
Celsus apud Originem.
Chemnitius.
Chrysostomus.
Cicero.
Clemens Alexandrinus.
Clementis alterius constitutiones.
Concilium Chalcedonense.
Concilium Constantinopolitanum.
Concilium Laodicenum.
Concilium Nicenum 2.
Constantinus Morossa.
Cosma Megalianus.
Cyrillus Alexandrinus.
Cyrillus Hierosolym.
D
Damascenus.
Diodorus apud Eusebium.
E
Epiphanius.
Evagrius.
Eucherius.
Eunapius.
Eusebius.
F
Fasciculus temporum.
Florus.
Franciscus Junius.
Fridericus Sylburgius.
G
Gennadius de viris ilillustribus.
Graserus.
Gratianus.
Gregorius magnus.
Gregorius Nazianzenus.
Gregorius Nyssenus.
Gregorius Turonensis.
H
Hermes Trismegistus.
Herodotus.
Hesiodus.
Hieronymus.
Hilarius.
Hyperius.
I
Iamblycus.
Interpres Aretae.
Interpretes Septuagint.
Interpres Syrus.
Interpres Vulgatus.
Joannes Curopalata.
Ioannes de Nicol.
Ionathan.
Iornandes.
Iosephus.
Irenaeus.
Iustinus Martyr.
K
Kircheri concordantia.
L
Lactantins.
Legenda aurea.
Leo magnus.
Linacer.
M
Martini Lexicon.
Melancthon.
Melchior Canus.
Miracula B. Virginis, lib. Ital.
O
Oecumenius.
Oenomaus apud Eusebium.
Onkelos.
Origines.
P
Paterculus.
Paulus Diaconus.
Philo Biblius.
Plato.
Plutarchus.
Porphyrius.
Possevinus.
Procopius.
Psellus.
Ptolomaeus.
Purchas pilgrimage.
S
Sammon. Serenus apud Macrobium.
Sanchuniathon apud Eusebium.
Servius.
Sigonius.
Simeon Metaphrastes.
Sleidanus.
Socrates, historicus Ecclesiasticus.
Stephani, Robertus & Henricus.
Suidas.
Surius.
Synesius
T
Targumin & Targumistae.
Tertullianus.
Theodoretus.
Theodorus apud Baronium.
Theophanis miscel. hist.
Theophanes presbyter apud Baron.
Theosterictus.
Tremelius.
Trithemius.
V
Varro.
Vatablus.
Venantius Fortunatus apud Biblioth. Patrum.
Vincent. histor.
Virgilius.
Z
Zozomenus.
Errata.
Pag. 2. line 17. reade discrete, p. 7. l. 2, foreign, p. 9. l. 28. profecta, p. 10, l. 13. foreign, l. 17. foreign, l. 18. foreign, l. 28. suppetias. p. 11. l. 5 foreign, p. 13. l. 6. Idololatrae, l. 7. Idola, l. 9. Es. 65. l. 10. Idolis, p. 18. l. 4. which, p. 31. l. 12. foreign, p. 34. l. 18. that, p. 42. l. 31. induxit, l. 33. pro Pandiis, p. 45. l. 26. attended, p. 47. l. 5. characters, p. 59. l. 25. beautifull, p. 61. l. 8. not, p. 70. l. 22. foreign, p, 71. l. 34. after sackcloth make a colon, p. 77. l. 19. & p. 78. l. 14. Iohojachin, p. 83. l. 22. contained, p. 93. verse 36. proficiet que p. 94. ver. 39. honorem, p. 100. l. 17. foreign, l. 7. polity p. 113. l. 14. he, p. 114. l. 8. sententiae.
In the Margine.
Pag. 7. foreign, &c. p. 13. foreign, p. 22. perspici, p. 46. foreign, p. 84. I…rnandes, p. 97. foreign, p. 48. habebatur. p. 125. for Rem r. Hom.