The seconde tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testament conteynyng the epistles of S. Paul, and other the Apostles : wherunto is added a paraphrase vpon the reuelacion of S. John.

¶ The .xiii. Chapter.

The texte.

¶ And I sawe a beast ryse out of y^• sea, hauing seuen heades and ten hornes, and vpon his bornes ten crownes, and vpon his heade the name of blasphemye. And the beaste whiche I saw, was lyke a catte of the mountayne, & his fete were as the fete of a beare, & his mouth as y^• mouth of a lion. And the dragon gaue him his power and his feare, & great auctorite.

BY this beast, which was sene to ryse vp in the raging sea of this worlde, is signified y^• kingdome of Rome, vnder y^• dominion of whiche kingdom, Christ was borne, & suffred his passion, & vn∣der y^• same kyngdōe also S. Iohn did write both this boke and his holy gospel. For this kingdom obteyned power & dominion ouer many nacions & landes, and ouercame very many kinges. Whiche thinges came not to passe for y^• vertue & godlines of y^• Romaynes, for they knew not their Lord & God: much lesse did they honour him. For they dyd ascribe their wealth, good fortune, successe & their victorie, not vnto y^• true ly∣uing God, but vnto their false goddes. And diuerse Emperours of Rome haue set out them selues, also for goddes, & haue suffred oblacions & sacrifices to be made & done vnto them. And thus haue they blasphemed y^• true god, creatour & gouernour of al thīges, whose seruice & religiō, yea & his temple, priesthode and sacrifices, they did vtterly abolishe & subuert most spitefully & contemptuously, and set vp al false religiō & ydolatrie to please y^• people. For whose pleasure they buylded & set vp a churche of Pantheon, for y^• honour of all sainctes & goddes, whiche remaineth at Rome vntil this day. The errours, riches & blasphemous* 1.1 vices of y^• whole world, which wer gotten in batel, are like vnto a cat of y^• moun∣tayne w^t her many speckles & spottes, whiche with her smacke & souour draweth many beastes vnto her, which she destroieth. Euē as y^e Romaynes vnder y^• pre∣tēce of their glorious name & title, haue gottē great power, & auctoryte, wherby they haue oppressed & hurt y^• whole world, in so much, y^• at length it was intolle∣rable. The Beare hath a weake heade, but very strōg feete, which signifieth y^• po∣wer* 1.2 of his tyrannye, & the weakenes & feblenes of their captaines & of their Em∣perours, which for y^• most part haue had shamful endes, after their wicked & sha∣meful liues. And it was as spoilful & gredy to deuour as a Liō, & had his power might & strēgth of all mighty god, but yet they haue not cōfessed it, nor ascrybed

it vnto him, but vnto their own ydolles and false goddes, and vnto Lucifer the kyng and head of their false goddes, whiche is here named a dragon, and wyll be estemed and taken for a Lorde of this worlde, as he is also in the hartes of the vngodly and supersticious, heathen, and ydolaters, whiche knowe nothing of the onely true lyuynge God.

The texte.

¶ And I sawe one of his heedes as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wounde was healed. And all the worlde wondred at the beaste, and they worshipped the dragon, whiche gaue power vnto the beaste, and they worshipped the beaste, sayinge: who is lyke vnto the beaste? who is able to warre with him?

This Empire of Rome dyd suffer muche at the beginning, and was ofte tymes very feble, and many tymes deadly sycke, by the meanes of the daylye & continuall vproares and sedicions of the nobilitie against the commons, and againe of the kynges against them bothe. In so muche as at length, they made and suffered great battels amonge them selues, vntil the dominion at the laste, came in to one hande, and so was thought to be healed, and safe againe. As than had they y^• whole earth vnder them, but they honoured and serued the deuyll and false goddes, the enemies of God, of all truth and true godlynes. Vnto these goddes of theirs, dyd they ascribe the fortune and successe of their power and of their kingdome. And so dyd their subiectes lykewyse, whiche dyd honour the Romaynes for goddes and toke and estemed them for inuincible.

The texte.

¶ And there was geuen vn to him a mouthe, that spake great thinges and blasphemyes: and power was geuen vnto him to do two & fourtye monethes. And he opened his mouthe vnto blasphemye against God, to blaspeme his name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heauen. And it was geuē vnto him to make warre with the sainctes, and to ouer∣come them. And power was geuen him ouer all kinred, and tonge, and nacion, and all that dwell vpon the earth worshipped him: whose names are not wrytten in the boke of lyfe of the lambe, whiche was kylled from the beginning of the worlde.

Bothe Iewes and false christians of very pryde, malice, and obstinacye, haue blasphemed and persecuted the God of Israell, and the christen faith & Christe him selfe also the sauiour of y^• worlde, with deede, worde, statutes, & lawes and that a great deale ouerlong. Through Pilate their depute thei put our sauiour Christ vnto death, and all the Apostles also, vnder their regiment and iurisdic∣cion, vntill the tyme of Constantyne, and also more than .iii. hundred yeares af∣terwarde. Here haue we again .xlii. monethes, for .iii. yeares & an halfe, and by these .iii. yeares & an halfe is vnderstanded thre hundred yeares & an halfe, in whiche time y^• name of the true God & of our sauiour Christ hath bene wonder∣fully & manyfolde wayes blasphemed, & shamefully dyshonoured in his moste faithful seruantes & ministers, whom they haue most cruelly tormented & put to most painful death throughout y^• whole Romishe Empire, onely for the true faithes sake in y^• onely one god. His tabernacle, that is to say, y^• temple of Ie∣rusalem* 1.3 did they pollute & breake downe, withall y^• seruice & religion of God. And after that, they began a sore battel & persecuciō against the christen faithe, & against al faithful beleuers throughout y^• whole world, by their deputes. In so muche that all the worlde must honour the kyngdome & dominion of Rome, and be obedient therunto, onely the holy electe excepte, whiche obserued y^• word of God and his wyll, and refused their ydolatrie: And therfore a great nomber dyd suffer and were put to death by them.

The texte.

¶ If any man haue an eare, let him heare. He that leadeth into captiuite, shall goe into captiuitie: he that kylleth with a swearde muste be killed with a swearde. Here is the pacience, and the faithe of the sainctes.

As thoughe he woulde saye: wilt thou heare howe the pryde, abhominacion and tyrannye hath or shall haue an ende? Than heare in one worde, howe the Assirians, Bybylonians, Medes and the Grecians had an ende: And euen so shall Rome also. Lyke as y^• hath ouercome, robbed, spoiled murthered, shamed and condemned all the world, euē so shall it be serued againe also. And so shall it happen vnto all them, that doe lyke vnto them, as Christ sayde in the garden. And therfore the angell and S. Iohn exhorte all christians (that are combred and oppressed with persecucion) and him selfe also whiche was banysshed into Pathmos & condemned of Domicianus for God and the true faithes sake, vn∣to pacience in perfyte faithe in God, whiche shall once geue and sende a prospe∣rous & a blissed ende vnto al suche afflicciōs. And shal eyther reforme y^• rageing Romyshe kingdome, or els shal vtterly destroye it, as he hath done the other.

The texte.

¶ And I behelde another beast comminge vp out of the earth, and he had two hornes lyke a lambe, and he spake as did the dragon. And he dyd all that the first beast could do in his presence, and he caused the earth, and them whiche dwel therin to worship the first beast, whose dedly wounde was healed. And he dyd great wonders, so that he made fyre come downe from heauen in the syght of men. And deceaued them that dwelte on the earthe by the meanes of those signes, whiche he had power to doe in the syght of the beaste, saying to them that dwelt on the earthe: that they shoulde make an ymage vnto the beaste, which had the wounde of a swearde and dyd lyue.

Whan as the Romyshe kyngdome, after the tyme of Iulyanus began to be di∣uided into the east and west, and to diminishe for a ceason, than began a newe Romyshe kingdome and iurisdiccion, namely the Popes pompe: which was not onely in the spirituall iurisdiccion (as he dyd first pretende with his wordes) but also in secular power, and toke vpon him this power, euen with the sworde. And for this cause, this beast hath .ii. hornes, not with out a cause. And yet he wyll be named lyke the lambe, and Christes deputie or vicar, and wyll haue all power, as Christ hathe, bothe in heauen and in earthe. This beastes dragonishe speache maye well be estemed, and taken for none other but for y^• bloudye, mur∣theringe, suspendynge, excommunicatinge and banysshinge of the good Em∣perour of the Grecians, because he dyd take al ymages out of the churches, and also the godlye byshoppes of the Grecians, because they woulde haue kepte their Easter, as they had learned of saincte Iohn the Apostle. This dyd no angell commaunde hym to doe, nor yet the worde of God, but onely this dragon or destroyer. This kingdome of papacie, toke vpon it all the power of the first beast the romyshe Emperour, and compelleth the christians to ydo∣latrye and the seruice of false goddes vnder a priuie colour and a secret pretēce, as to further the true faithe the honour of the holy sainctes, of the martirs, of the seruauntes of Christ, and of Christ him selfe. By the meanes of the whiche pretence, it came to passe in processe of tyme, that men did honour and worship euen the very deuyll, in as muche as they dyd performe and obey his wyll, transgressinge the seconde commaundement of ymages and strange goddes, which is euē as muche as to serue the deuil. This euil and wounde was healed longe before, of the godlye Emperour Constantine and of the holy bysshoppes throughout the whole christendome, and nowe this deuyll bringeth it againe into the churche vnder a pretence of holines, out of y^• which pretence did spring, departinge from the faithe, and decaye of loue, as the Chronicles testifie. What wonderfull tokens haue bene wrought in the papacie, and to what ende Christ him selfe dyd prophecye longe agoe vnto his disciples, and gaue them war∣ning

of them: Vnto this seconde beaste, muste ymages be made euen accor∣dinge vnto the pleasure of the dragon, and as the papacye wyll haue it with∣out any respecte, whether it be conformable vnto the worde of God, or good and profitable for the conscience and soule of man or no.

The texte.

¶ And he had power to geue a sprete vnto the ymage of the beast, and that the ymage of the beaste should speake, and should cause, that as many as woulde not worship y^• ymage of the beaste shoulde be kylled. And he made all bothe small and great, riche and poore, fre and bonde, to receaue a marke in their right handes or in their forheades. And that no man might by or sell, saue he that had the marke or the name of the beaste, other the nomber of his name. Here is wysdome. Let him that hath witte, counte the nomber of the beaste. ••or it is the nomber of a man, and his nomber is syxe hundred, three score and syxe.

This bringethe the dragon to passe, to establyshe and confirme the wor∣shipping of ymages, whiche began to doe miracles, and dyd speake, (to the great wonder of all men) somtyme with the helpe of nicromancie the science of the deuyll: by the whiche science, many of them came vnto the papacye as their owne stories doe testyfie. Out of this, dothe it folowe afterwarde, that whoso euer wyll not worship this ymage, the same must dye, euen as the papacye wyll haue it yet vntyll this daye. And with parcialite, geue them markes, that is excommunicate them, and dysherite them of their kyngdomes and here∣tages, suche as wyll not worshyppe and honour their ymages. Here must men speake warely and circumspectly, that they dysplease no man, that they maye enioye lyfe, bodye, estimacion and goodes quietly. But goddes worde and wyll commaundeth otherwyse, and is an other maner of wysdome. God willeth, that this beastes nomber and errour shoulde haue an ende. Reken* 1.4 from the yeare of our Lorde, a thousande v. hundreth and .xx. backewarde this nomber of .vi. hundreth .iii. score and .vi. yeares and looke what tyme it was thā with the popes and the Emperours.

Notes

• * 1.1

  The catte.
• * 1.2

  The Beare.
• * 1.3

  Tabernacle
• * 1.4

  Ludouicus pius .viii. hundreth lvi.