doth naturally tend to introduce it; are ta ken from the Notion of Antichrift, and of hi Kingdom, which is found in the Holy Scri

ptures, more especially in the Writings of + See and † St. John the Beloved of his Lord, and is the compare uncontroverted Doctrine of the Primitive 1 John ii. with Rev. Fathers, which they may be fuppofed to xiii.6.and have had from Apoftolical Tradition. Whence Joh. v.43. he was not for confounding the Prophecy

in the 13th with that which follows in the 17th and 18th Chapters of the Revelation but confider'd them as two diftin&t Prophe cies. And as he was clear that Rome in it prefent corrupt State is a Myftical Babylon he was as clear alfo for the Opinion of naus, Hippolytus, Origen, Cyril of Jerufalem and other Antient Catholick Writers, that Antichrift fhould be "Arou, a certain Law. lefs Tyrant, or Beast, making War with the Chriftians and overcoming them; who would blafpheme God, and deny Chrift. Bu let us hear fome of his Reasons.

I. His First Reason then for a Diftin ction betwixt Apoftate Rome and Antichrif and for the Preference of the Antient to the Modern Notion, is, That the Ten Kings ad hering to Antichrift, and confequently Anti chrift himself fhall make War with and overthrow Rome: And that Rome fhall be refra &tory, and will oppose him and them. Bu the Kingdom of Antichrift will not be divi ded against it felf; therefore the Kingdom of Antichrift and the Kingdom of Mystical B bylon, or the Roman Papacy, are Two diftind Kingdoms. For it is exprefly written con

cerning

cerning these Antichriftian Kings, or Confederates with Antichrift, that they fhall abo minate this Babylon mortally, and fhall not only make her defolate and naked, but shall eat up with the Sword the Flesh of her Inha-· bitants, and then burn her City with Fire, Rev. xvii. 6, If therefore Babylon the Great, in the Mystery be according to the Angel's Interpretation that Great City, which then reigned over the Kings of the Earth, Ver. 18. and which is granted on both hands to be Rome and if Antichrift and his Allies, even I the very fame that make War with Chrift and his Followers, Ver. 14. are also to make War with Rome and her Followers, and are in this War to be Conquerors; how can it be that Rome that is to be Conquer'd and quite Deftroy'd, can ever be that Antichrift whofe Princes are to be the very Inftruments of this Defolation, and who muft afterward be caft himself into the Pit of Deftruction? Therefore Antichrift and Babylon are not the fame.

II. His Second Reafon for the aforefaid Distinction of Antichrift and Babylon, and for explaining and confirming his Hypothefis, that the Court of Rome may be Babylonish, without the Pope's being therefore Antichrift, is a Corollary of the former, and is grounded upon this Pofition, viz. The Kings of the Earth that cleave to Babylon, or that fpiritually commit Fornication with Rome, and the Kings that cleave to the Beast, i. e. Antichrift, are by no means the fame, but very different. Which he thus proves. The Anti

chriftian

chriftian Kings, if we believe the Prophec fhall bate the Whore, that is, the Idolatro Church: But the Kings of the Earth, that i of the Roman Empire, are described by the Holy Ghoft as affected after a quite contr ry manner towards Rome, the Myftical Baby lon, Rev. xviii. 9, 10. Thefe Kings moft cer tainly fhall not hate her, nor with her Over throw, much lefs contribute to it; but on the contary they fhall bewail her, and lamex for her, when they shall fee the Smoke of her Bur ing caufed by the other Kings, or Poten tates; and fhall fay in the Anguifh and Hor ror of their Minds, ftanding afar off for fear of the fame Fate upon themselves and their Cities, Alas, alas, that great City Babylon [o Rome] that mighty City! How in an Hour is thy Judgment come! Now to bewail and la ment over any one is a Sign undoubtedly of Love and Friendship: Therefore they tha be the Friends of Rome; which was to be proved. And by confequence thefe are not the fame with them that are appointed to execute Vengeance upon her. And further, this is that which St. John alfo exprefly af ferts, when according to the Heavenly Voice he fays, they committed Fornication, and lived deliciously with her: whereas the Kings that adhere to the Beast, or Antichrift, fhall the be enflamed with Hatred against Rome to utmoft degree, and fhall, having first plun der'd her, after that burn her with Fire, as before hath been declared from the fame Divine Revelation. Now obferve here that the Kings who shall have committed Idola

try

try,which is Spiritual Fornication,with Rome, fhall be brought to a Knowledge how that by the juft Judgment of God thefe Evils have befallen her, because of her Fornication wherewith the hath provoked the Wrath of God against her. But if this Fornication (or Idolatry) were the very Worship of Antichrift, or the proper Antichriftian Service, as fome do fuppofe, then the faid Kings feeing fo great Judgments of God and bewailing them, would for certain defert hereupon from Antichrift and his Service. Nevertheless these Kings that ftand by Antichrift fhall not hereupon defert from him, or leave his Party; but even after the Defolation of Rome, continuing firmly to adhere to him, fhall fight againft Chrift and his Army of = Saints, Rev. xix. 19. Therefore unless Antichrift can be and not be at the fame time; or unless he can make War and bring a vast Army with feveral Confederate Kings into the Field, after that both he and his Empire hath been for fome time brought to an utter end; or unless the very fame Perfons can be both Friends and Enemies at the fame time, can be carried with quite contrary Affections at once to the very fame Object, can love and hate together in the utmost extremes, and can exert Revenge without all Pity, and yet at the fame inftant diffolve into Tears of Pity, and moft bitterly lament; it follows evidently that Antichrift and Babylon are Two, not One: and that neither the Pope is properly Antichrift, nor the Fornication of the Church of Rome the

proper

proper Antichriftian Service or Worship. The which is further proved by the following Reason.

III. THE Angel tells St. John, That he will fhew him the Judgment of the Great Whore: But St. John faw nothing concerning the Woman [or Rome] which can at all be taken for a Judgment with refpect to the Antichriftian Beaft. Yea so far is it from this, as the Kings adhering to the Beaft, and that too while they adhere to him, fhall execute the Judgment of God upon this Spiritual Adulterefs, and burn her, according to the Law of Lev. xxi. 9. for Profanation of her Sacerdotal Pedegree. Therefore the Great Whore, who is Judged, is not Antichrist: which Antichrist is by the Sovereign Judge made ufe of to fulfil his Sentence against her and her Adherents, before his own Turn cometh to be Judged alfo. And indeed the Coming of Antichrist fhall be for this very End, that all may be Judged whether they adhere to the Truth of Chrift's Gofpel or not, and whether they have Pleasure in it more than in any Antichriftian Delufion whatsoever, or Deceivableness of Unrighteousness: and that they all might be condemned who obey not the Truth that is in Chrift, but take Pleafure rather in pursuing the Lufts of the Flesh and the Spirit; not standing fast in the Antient Faith and Practice, nor bolding the Traalitions which they have been taught both by Word and by Epiftle from the Apoftles. This fhall bring down the Judgment upon Rome, presently after the Appearance of Antichrift

and