denye him shall not be his people. And the citie and sanctuary shall a people, with their captaine that shall come with them destroye, whose ende shalbe vtter desolation, and after the ende of the warre a determined destructiō. Now, he shall in one weeke cōfirme his couenaunt towardes many, and in the halfe weeke shall the offeryng & sacrifice cease, and in the temple shall there be an abhomination of desolation, and euen to the fulfillyng vp of all, and to the ende, shall the desolation continue. It is playne and manifest that this prophecie is now fulfilled. For the people of Rome with their captayne, destroyed Ierusalem euen to the ground, & the people of the Iewes was slayne and scattered. MarginaliaThe abhomination or idoll of desolation standyng in the holy place.And the abhominaciō, that is, the Idoll of desolation was placed of Adrian, in the last destruction in Ierusalem in the holy place, that is to say, in a place of the temple. And frō that tyme hetherto haue passed nere aboute. 1290. dayes, takyng a daye for a yeare, as Daniell takes it in his prophecies, and other prophets likewise. For Daniell speaking of 62. weekes, doth not speake of the weekes of dayes but yeares. So therefore when he sayth, From the tyme that the continuall sacrifice was taken awaye &c. 1290. dayes must be taken for so many yeres, from the tyme of the desolation of Ierusalem, euen vnto the reuealing of Antichrist: and not for iij. yeares and an halfe, which they say, Antichrist shall reigne. And agayne, whereas Daniell sayd, How long till the ende of these merueilous matters? it was aunswered him. For a time, and times, and halfe a tyme. MarginaliaAntichrist to raigne onely 3. yeares and half is false.Beholde also, howe vnfitly they did assigne thys time, by iij. yeares and a halfe, which they say, Antichrist shall reigne. For when as it is sayd, a tyme, tymes, and halfe a time: there is a going downeward from the greater to the lesse: from the whole to the parte, because it is from a time to halfe a time. Yf therfore, there be a going downewarde from the whole to the parte, by the mydst (which is greater then the whole it selfe) the goyng downward is not meete nor agreeing. And this is done when as it is sayd, that a tyme, tymes, and halfe a tyme is a yeare, two yeares, & halfe a yeare. Wherfore more fytly it is sayd, that a tyme, tymes, and halfe a tyme, doth signifie. 1290. yeares, as is before sayd in the chapter preceding. Thus therfore is the prophecy of Daniell falsly applied to that imagined Antichrist. Likewise is the proces of the Apocalips applied to þ^e same imagined Antichrist, to much erroneously. MarginaliaLoke before in the story of the x. fyrst persecutions.Because that the same cruell beast whiche came vp out of the sea, hauyng vij. heades, and x. hornes, to whom there was power geuen ouer euery tribe, people, and tonge, & the power geuen for the space of 42. monthes: This beast doth note the Romane Emperours, which moste cruelly did persecute the people of God, aswell Christians as Iewes. For when as the cōdemnation of the great whore sitting vpon þ^e many waters was shewed to Iohn: MarginaliaApoc. 13.he sawe the same woman sitting vpon the purple coloured beast full of the names of blasphemie, hauing vij. heades, and x. hornes: & he saw a woman being dronken with the bloud of the saincts and martirs of Iesu. MarginaliaThe beast in the 13 of the Apoc. expounded.And the angell expounding and telling him the misterie of the woman and the beast that caried her, sayd: The vij. heades are vij. hils, and are vij. kings: Fiue are fallen, one is, the other is not yet come: and when he shall come, he must reigne a short time. MarginaliaThe purple beast in the Apoc. meaneth Rome.And the x. hornes which thou sawest, are x. kinges, who haue not yet taken their kingdome, but shall receaue their power as it were in one houre, vnder the beast. And finally he sayth, the woman whom thou sawest, is the great citie, which hath the kingdome ouer the kinges of the earth. And it is manifest that the citie of Rome, at the tyme of this prophecie, had the kingdome ouer the kinges of the earth. And this citie was borne vp and vpholden by her cruell and beastlye Emperours: who by their crueltie & beastlines did subdue vnto themselues in a manner, all the kingdomes of the world, of a zeale to haue lordshipouer others, and not vertuouslye to gouerne the people that were their subiectes, seing that they themselues did lacke all vertue, and drew backe others from the fayth and from vertue

Wherfore, that cruel beast comming vp out of the sea, doth rightlye note the Romaine Emperours, who had power ouer euery language, people and country. And the power of this beast was for. 42. monethes: because that from the first Emperour of Rome, that is to saye, Iulius Cesar, vnto the ende of Fridericke the last Emperour of Rome there were. 42. monethes, MarginaliaFor these 42. mōthes loke before pag. 493.taking a moneth for. xxx. daies, as the monethes of the Hebrwes and Grecians are, and taking a day alwayes for a yeare, as commonly it is takē in the Prophets. By which things it may plainly appeare, how vnfitly this prophecy is applied to that imagined Antichrist, and the. 42. monethes taken for three yeares and an halfe, which (they saye) he shall raigne in, against the saying of þ^e prophets, because that dayes are taken for yeares. As in the fyrst of the Apocalips: They shalbe troubled. x. daies. Which do note the moste cruell persecution of Diocletian againste the Christians that endured. x. yeares. MarginaliaApoc. 1.And in an other place of the Apocalips, it is written of the smoke cōming vp out of the bottomles pit. Out of which pyt there cam forth Grashoppers into the earth: and to them was power geuen, as scorpiōs haue power, to vexe and to trouble men fiue monethes. MarginaliaApoc. 9.
The beginning & end of the valiant begging Friers spoken of, in the Apoc. expounded. Of Armachanus, loke before pag. 502.Nowe it is manifest, that from the begynning of the Friers minours and preachers, to the tyme that Armachanus, began to disclose and vncouer their hypocrisie, and their false fundation of valiant begging vnder the pouertie of Christ, were v. monethes, taking a moneth for xxx. dayes, & a day for a yeare. And to Ezechiel, were dayes geuen for yeares. Wherfore it is an vnfyt thyng to assigne the 42. monethes beyng appointed to the power of the beast, vnto iij. yeares and a halfe, for the reigne of that fātasticall and imagined Antichrist: specially seyng that they do applie to his reigne, the 1290. dayes in Daniell, which make 42. monethes, and in the Apocalips they assigne him 42. monethes. MarginaliaNon cōcordat Psalterium cum cithara.. Prouerb.It is playne that the psalterie and the harpe agree not. And therfore seing that it is sufficiently shewed, that the same fablyng tale of that imagined Antichrist to come, is a fable and erroneous: MarginaliaWhether Antichrist be already come.Let vs go forward to declare whether Antichrist be already come, and yet is he hyd from many, and must be opened and disclosed within a lytle while, accordyng to the truth of the holy Scripture, for the saluation of the faithfull.

And because that in the first conclusion of mine aunswer, I haue conditionally put it, who is þ^e Antichrist lyeng priuie in the hid Scriptures of the Prophetes: I wil passe on the declaration of that conclusion, bryngyng to light those thinges, whiche lay hid in darkenes, because nothing is hid whiche shall not be disclosed, and nothyng couered that shall not be knowē: And therfore, the thing that was said in the darkenes, let vs say in the light: and the thyng that we haue heard in the eare, let vs preache vpon the house tops. I therfore as I haue before sayd, so say, þ^t if the high Byshop of Rome, callyng him selfe the seruaunt of God, and the chief vicare of Christ in this world, do make and iustifie many lawes contrary to the Gospell of Iesu Christ: MarginaliaThe pope proued Antichrist.thē is he the chief of many, which comming in the name of Christ, haue said, I am Christ, who haue seduced many. Whiche is the first parte of the first conclusion & is manifest. For Christ is called of the Hebrues the very same, that we call annoynted. MarginaliaAnointing double in scriptureAnd amongest them there was a double sort of legalle annointyng by the law, the one of kinges & the other of priestes. And aswell were the kyngs, as the priestes, called in the law, Christes. The kynges: as in the Psalme. The kings of the earth stode vp together, and the princes assembled them selues in one agaynst the Lorde and agaynste hys Christ or annointed. And in the bookes of the kynges ve-