Cooper, Semuel Discourse on the man of sin DUKE UNIVERSITY DIVINITY SCHOOL LIBRARY Dr. COOPER’S Ps E RM ON: es Pee ACHED At The 3 DUDLEIAN-LECTURE, SEPTEMBER if, 4 M,DpcC,Lx xt1ith +i it " . yi x) =. 5 : Re 4 is oe a! | ' a | — Ny . — eg = | } 4 : 2 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from — ____ Duke University Libraries 4 es https://archive.org/details/discourseonma hh pe DISCOURSE @ON .THE -M A N 0.F Sot N=: DELIVERED IN THE Cuarzs of HARVARD COLLEGE: grr Le Nix: CAMBRIDGE, eR tet : SEPTEMBER », 1773: At the LECTURE, FounDER _ By the HONORABLE PAUL ee ESQ. Br SAMUEL COOPER, D.D. ; ; Paftor of the Church in Brattle-Street, Boston. lia | _. BOSTON : Printed and Sold at GrEENLEAF’S. pee: shone -Office, in HANOVER-STREET: , __ - ee ee Cys ex ye x fm x etx. « xe oe ear 1 ‘THESSALONIANS, bbseve lenordit 4 ira 2, 35 ‘4b sd b To. ad .? 4 wow we béfecch y you brethren by ‘the coming ve our Lord aie Chrift, and by aur: gathering’ together unto m3 thatye be not foon fhaken tn mind, or be trou- “bled, neither ‘by fpirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as Si from us, as thatthe day of Chrift is at hand. Zet.no man deceive you by any means ; for that ee _ frall not come except there come a falling away frrft, © “and that man of fin be revealed. The fon of perdi- f:-tion ~—who oppofeth, and exalteth bimfzlf abave alt _ that is called God, or ‘shat is wor ‘foipped ; fo that He © a: God, Se in o se of 0 Sewing peek ~ >that, He is Gad. d -then fhall that mee ie She ee she ~ Lord hall confume with the fpirit of his mouth, and ~ foall deftroy with the brightnefs of hts coming. Even » bim, whofe coming is after the working of Satan, with h all power,--and figns, and lying. wonders, and with : eee cetveablenefs of unrightzoufnefs in them that pe- > becanfe- they received not ‘the lave of the dy ‘de, Abey. might be faveds.: : wes i E Routilhy, alent pti Peace T dered in it’s ftruture, and the /progrefs it has made in the world, j Is: at,once a furprizing .monu-. ment of hunian fagacity and weaknef§. oF ROE foe oe 6 yo » ADVANCING by flow alates to tha fatal maturity it pequired before: the reformation, it was nurtured by the obfervation -and -experience - of- ages; * and the abilities of a long fuceeffion of . 48 deep politicians as perhaps the world ever produced, It difcovers a thorough vacquaintance with the frailty of the hu- ‘man mind: Its pompand pageantryftrike the fernfes : It manages with uncom- mon art and addrefs, every object that ‘ean touch the paffions ; and while it - flatters the corrupt inclinations of the heart; it is at the fame time covered ‘with a glare of devotion and autterity, and fupported with a fophiftry, ex- tremely adapted to dazzle ae ee the ‘underftanding.. ES Be a i Tone befxe Ear Soneaeedl it Tad extended itfelf overthe whole faceof the chriftian world: It had grown venerable by age: It had acquired aftonifhing firenpth by it’s long prepoffeflion of the minds of men: Tt had broken and almoft:-extinguithed,.what it had moft ~to- dread, a liberal fpirit of i inquiry : -Fo‘conceal it’s own oppofition to the Re Sa ynodel upon which it profeffed to form it(elf, it had artfully withdrawn the facred {criptures from common view. : It had clofely interwoven itfelf .with the conftitution of ftates and kingdoms; and under a pretence of aiding, had ftrangely gained an afcendancy over the civil power, for which it foon pleaded a divine authority. While ‘therefore we may juftly wonder — that fo. much of it remains in this | : enlightened age, we are at the fame time obliged to acknowledge and adore ‘a particular interpofition, - of divine providence, in the refcue of fo many countries,from a fpecies of falle rel gi- ‘on, remarkable for the deep poflef- | fion it takes of the minds of thofe who have once been devoted to it. = “+: ai -Porery, like other oppreflive pow; ers, grew too confident of it’s own ) ftrength, and prefumed too much up- | ; i on the ignorance and fubmiffive tem- per of thofe whom it had fubjected, Having long practifed, with amazing fuccefs, upon the credulity and weak- vies. of mankind, it at length pufhed, eae the? experiment too far." Contrary td that fpirit of diffimulation and fubtilty by’ which ie had beer’ generally guid: éd, it tteglected to varnifh it’s avarice, ". and venal difpenfations for liceritiouf . hefs, with the colour of prudence and fobriety. The fale’ of inctilgéncies at the beginning of the fixteenth century, was ‘conducted “in ‘ 2: ‘mharmer that flioéked the grofleft underftandin g, and offended the ednfeiences ever of thofe who-had implicitly refigned them to the direction of the éharch, ‘and had never entertained ; “very rigid fentiments 4 - Sea. ase ae samaeie Sas Ri on destin cs ' tfSE Siist to. eajastiin mot +S 599 Fars pooled the great {pirit. of ie thér,; dnd prepared: the minds of men to liften to his. difcourfes, : and -adopt hid free and noble fentiments, as they gra- = eeey openiedand euler Ehemuic lees Bail orat ce for the one ae a ae E breoutnelia the. tenth Eco, though carelefs of the reputation ef the church for fanctity and morals, was.a friend _ apdpatron of the arts and {ciences. Pro- tected and poftured by him, they were , A c 2 te “ Ee eagerly feized by the reformers, and employed by them with happy fuccefs in effecting one of the moft important and glorious revolutions the chriftian church ever faw: The human mind, awakened from it’s lethargy, . and en- gaged in the purfuit of religious truth; felt an unufual pleafure in the free ex> : ertion of it’s own faculties, and pufhed | is inquiries from one fubject to. ano- | ther with great eagernefS aind advan- | tage: _. The fcriptures being laid open, and the explanation of them, greatly. | aided by the revival of the Greek and Roman learning, it.foon appeared how, contrary the diftinguifhing doctrines of Popery were, to thofe delivered by Chrift and his apoftles ; and how exactly the church of Rome; that had fo long been revered as the pillar and ground of truth, fefembled that apoftate ‘and idola- trous, that fubtil and fraudful, that tyrannical and perfecuting power, pre- dicted in our text, and in other paflages: * bf the néw teftament.'*°*! "= ae With this refemblance, the refofmers and their followers were greatly ftruck, A TTS eons Ree get EE RE EE A ed tle teenie ¢ ‘FPage S.laft line si for poftired’? read foltered.J ; | Hp fesai and finding the event fo plaifly correfs ponding to the prophety, not only their faith was hereby confirmed in the facred Writings,as-arevelation from him who a* lonédeelareth theendfromthe beginning andfrom ancient times thethingsthat arenotyet done; but their confidence in the truth and good+ ‘nefs of their caufe was ftrengthened, arid. their honeft zeal and.ambition enliven> - ‘ed;to feparate themfelves from a religi- ous community :that had fo grofsly departed from the doctrineand precepts of Fefus y to oppole it’s corruptions with the‘armor-of light ;" and to be honoured. aycinftruments-in the hand of divine providence, of delivering mankind fron» a fyftem of falte shea which the prot phetic f{pirit: icfelf had defcribed cue éxécrated. as a child ae eae rete getss i> Rae Bisel ban neat ve Bade -»[Uron. this ground they 1 bold! ly with mands. of the. chair of Ses Peter, which had. long. | been regarded = the center of unity, ‘and infallible in it’s dictates ee Upor this grotind they fupported them- felves again{tthecharge of {cifm,acharge _4which in that day.: -carried a fel . found to the ears of men, and L which the ee « e 2 f i a; papal power had imployed every arti. fice, every fpecies of perfecution and cruelty, to render formidable. peed 9 8 argument was indeed popular, and had great effect :. The found of antin - chrift,and the Man of Sia, mufthave heigh- thened an abhorrence of the Bifhop of Rome. Butthe reformers didnotinventit; they. found it prepared for them by_the fpirit of truth ; andthey urged it with a manly botdnefs and energy, for which: they willlong »e honoured in the church. of God. That it was not the extrava- gance of enthufiafm, not the artifice of” a party heated by controverfy, and ex- afperated by injuries, to fupport. it’s. own. caufe, but the refult of a fober,tho’ free inquiry into the facred writings, has been confirmed by the judgment of the - moft learned and temperate expofitors.. - from that day to the prefent ; and muft be evident to every ane who impartial- ‘eonfiders what thefe- writings, have de~ Jivered to us upon this point, and par~ ticularly the paflage. of St. Paxl, which, Lhave now read. A fubieét that very- preperly comes under our prefent cons - prticg by B52,e-9! eae fideration, as it has been particularly _ -pointed out by the honourable founder - ofthis Lecture ; who, in an inftitution that will tranfmit his name to pofterity ‘as a warm and generous friend to pro- teftant: piety, and the rights of conf{ci- -ence, has expreffed his ae that the bu- finefS of she third difcourfe upon this ‘occafion fhould be *“ for the detecting ‘s¢ and expofing the idolatry of the Ro- as mifh church ; their tyranny, ufurpa- “€-tion, fatal errors, abominable {uper- “«€ Sitions, and other crying wicked- “« neffes in their high places ; and fin- “ee “ally, to prove ‘that the church of Rome “eis that myftical Babylon, that MAN OF = “SIN, that apoftate church, pean of ©in the New-Tefament. S54 No-one will affert that cSsphetes , or. a_-prediction of things to come, which ‘depend upon what areto us contingen- - -€ies, is impoffible.’ Toman indeed, fu- ‘turity is veiled, or at beft, the object of - -ancertain conjecture 5 but'to the eye ‘of God all things are naked and open. He “may. then, in w shar manner, and to what. degree he LEE foretell future sae 1. 3S Nor is there in reafon, any prefump- tion againft his doing this, upon fpect- al occafions, and for fome important purpofe. And when he does it, in a manner plainly beyond all human fore- fight, and ina great compafs and va- riety of connected inftances, fuch a fcheme - of prophefy, accemplifhed, authenticates itfelf, and carries in the very face of it, the moft genuine and convincing mark of it’s divine origi nal and authority. ee Be it allowed, that a bold conjecture may be fortunate, and the event fome- times furprizingly anfwer to what was . foretold at random, or upon the prin- ciples of human probability, or fome pretended. occult art. Let the prediction of Vettius Valens, the augur, %* refpecting the duration of the Roman .* Fram the twelve vultures that appeared to Romulus, Valens foretold that the foyereignty of . Rome would laft twelve hundred years. pare . Dr. Hurd cites another prediction, re{pecting what hecallsa /till more important fubje, im which every American is particularly interefted. ‘* A << Poet, fays he, in the idea of paganifm, was “a Prophet too. . And: Seneca hath left usin proof of the infpiration to which, in his dou; foz4 }.. ‘empire, be cited asan example.Should we grant that this. was as remarkablein it’s. aacomplifhmenc as it ig faid tohave beens, and that more of the like kind might be produced 3 yet, what fober man ¢an fup- -pofe,-that a few fuch unconnected in- tances, refpecting feparate and unrelat- ea evenagy pe diliout ages, can vie Te “ -F or te 2> EO: ays Sky ie 2 a é¢ ble gqgasiey i igh pretend, the elles ing Mn Oracle. Bee aad LAE S —Venient annis ade Secula pri, quibus Occanus, __Vincula Rerum laxet, et ingens. . Pateat Tellus, Typhifque TOVOS., etegat Orbes 3. nec jit Terris euineis Yhima Zbule -::: . mistol o6. pase _%: Fhis prediction was made in che reign of « Nero;’and tor more than fourteen hundred os years,might onlypafs for one of thofe fallies of $f. imagination,in which poetr yfomuchdelights. ¢ But “when at length, in the, clofe of the fif= “teenth century, the difcoveries of Columbus f© had reahzed this vifion ; when that enter- ‘*. prizing navigator had forced the’ barriers of, “« ‘the vait atlantic ocean ; had loofened what. « the Poet calls the chain if things ; and in © thefe laterages;as was exprefily fignified, had «© fet_at liberty an immenfe continent, fhut up, MH by SF * Pe 3! _ before in furrounding feas from the commerce *¢ and acquaintance of our world : When this. s¢ event 1 fay, fo important and fo unexpected « came to pafs, it might almoftfurprife one into «. a belief, that the prediction: was fomething. - s NE a a Bore. fancyay, and that Hes 2g 2 be : cs [Tog @r diminifh the credit and authority of the fcripture fyftem of prophefy.!. -A- fyftem vaitly extenfive, and confifting of a great variety of parts, all clofely | combined in tendency and defign ; fur- prizingly various, and yet minutely particularinthecventsit foretells, whicht | do all gravitate, fo to fpeak§ to orte cominon centre: A prophetic fyftem;” that has been gradually accomplifhing from the infancy of the world; that is’ r tt ver had indeed revealed fo one favoured: % Spaniard, what it had decreed, in due time, to _€ accomplifh by another.” ery se “*The Dr. adds, “ Thefe two inftances of ca @ fual conjecture, converted by time and acci-, « dent into prophefies, I take for granted, are: “© as remarkabie as any other that can be al- % ledged.” Hurd’s Sermon at the Leéture of the: Bithop of Gloucefter. p. ior. , - ey eee Eee T he laft is quoted by Dr. Samuel Mather, in hid. ee Astempt to-fhew that America muff be known to the An-" cients.. His remark uponitis; “ We need not % be fo unreafonably credulous as to believe; é that when Seneca wrote in this manner, he’ & was infpired with the fpirit of prophefy ; no} «¢ for nothing of this fort appears. {t is muelt ¢¢ more likely that either from fome faint ap: * prehenfion of thé ftfucture of the terraque-" % eus globe, or from fome traditional accounts. %& of the greatnefs of the earth, and of another - & world befides their old one ; he might write’ after this feemingly prophetic manner: = ? t “ _ ne ee Fulfilling more and moreevery day,and : increafing the evidence of it’s own di- vine original, and will do fo, till the my ftery of God fhall be finifhed: ny ftery of | '.-Ir has been infinuated, “not only without proof, but in direct oppofition to the teftimony of all hiftory, that fome. . feripture . predictions were, framed after the évents had happened, and aré only hiftories, antedated and tranfmuted by pious fraud into the fhape of propheties. .But this cannoe | _be pretendedin the inftance wearenow . confidering. For as the ancient pre- | dictions -refpecting Jefus Chrift were in the hands of the Fews,his greateft ene- mies, who preferved with religious care ~ and veneration, what has long fince became the monument of their own blindnefs, and obftinate infidelity ; fo the proplifies of the néw-teftament, concerning the apoftacy of the church of Rome, liave been for many agesin | the cuftody of that church (a very | | ftric&t cuftody indeed) ; and with alt. their policy, fo infatuated have they. been, as that with thefe. predictions in E.2l their hands, the divine authority of which they zealoufly maintain, they have yet been gradually fulfilling them, and proving their own ecclefiaftical poli- ty, to be that very my flery of iniquity there’ defcribed, and, devoted to deftruction. — Ler it be further oblerved, that. though we efteem the argument from. prophefy, to be folid and convincing, and a good additional one, againft the church of Rome ; yet itis only ones among many ; and not fo effentialte the Proteftant caufe, as that upon fuppofi- - Hon it thould fail, and be given up, that caufe muft fall with it. The main arguments againft the corruptions of Popery, arife from their own intrin- ’ fic abfurdity, and direct oppofition to - _ the firft notices of the human mind in a. religious inquiry ; from the unpro- -phetie and didaétic part of holy writ > _ from the plain doctrines and precepts ef Jefus Chrift ; and from the genius af and{pirit with which the whole gofpel is "animated and diftinguifhed. Not only. doth {cripture condemn, but reafon ~_- Pa : \ E. 33] and common fenfe reclaim, againft the diflinguifhing tenets and practifes of the church of Ronis ; and againft that ar- rogant and lordly, that intolerant and cruel, that delufive and worldly {pirit, that giiides her decifions, directs her conduct, and breaths through the whole . pompous - exterior of ler religious of- i 4 » fices and rites. So that we have -é€nough to fatisfy us, without recur- ring to prophecy, that Popery i is in the _ true and. _proper fenfe, antichr ipian. ype When ive Eeroitwitt wonder this fyfiem of falfhood and iniquity; and’ that ‘divine providence fhould permit it to lift i it’ § head fo high, and to obtain fo wide and lafting an eftablifhment, in, the ‘vifible kinedom of .God : does it not relievé our-minds, and fippert ‘ou conftancy to the truth, to confider,._ ‘that all this was not unforefeen by the trué head So the church ; that it was per mitted by him for wife and holy. pur _pofes s that it was. foretold; and the és ‘ehtitch carly warned of it by the fpirit — of truth > and that the fame fpirit hath affured us, this grand delufion fhall in due time Nes away: and like ae ‘f * bate. x Doe | tefs fabric of a vifion, leave not a wreck behind.” a7 I aM aware indeed, that in the cata- logue of learned authors? who confider the papal power as antichrift, * and pic- tured by St. Paulin our text, fome dif- tinguifhed Proteftantnames are not tobe for Aparticularaccount oftheground ofthis diffent,ontheone fide,and what hag, | been offered on the other, by the much larger number of equally great and, A biaflce men, cannot be expedted in a fingle difcourfe. T : 4 'GrorTrvus, fappofes this, prophefy to. atte to the time preceeding the de- ftruction ‘of the temple at Ferufalem, and that the Man of Six, was the Roman Emperor Caligula :. And not being able _to make out the refemblance,. between _ this Emperor and the fubfequent ’ part ‘of the defcription, heis obliged to intro-. ‘duce Simon Magus, ‘as that wicked one. : “who was to. come with Sfgns and dying. A : ce choke aie are in favour of this opi-~. aS we find a Newton and a Clarke. y “4 See, Mede, Poole, Ww hitby; Benfon, Bifhop, Newton, Hurd, oc. - f 20 7: -qwonders. But Grotius,. whofe parts and. learning are every where confeiled, “carried Shas candor to an excefs. He was deeply engaged in a plan, which ; -almott | every one ee himifelf confider- ed as vain and impracticable, for accom- - modating _ the difference between the Proteftant and Popifh communion : His hopes, however upon. this paint, were for a good reafan, flattered vy fome of the mot refpectable perfonages on the papal fide. ‘This m'ght give a biafs - even to the mind time great aman ; -‘offenfive to the Pope and his adherents, _ _fuch, abilities could oppofe | it with no greater advantage. For. it.is confeffed and knowing that pone was more than the application of the prophefies ‘concerning, autichrift, and the Man of Sin to the a ‘chair, he- ‘might be led to : _ employ his abilities to find out another ‘meaning, However this may be, it ~ fhews the foundnels of the common interpretation of this paflage; that even on all hands, that Grotius never fell fo much below himfelf as upon this ar- -gument._, The, Romanifts. themfelves have ae hi acknowleged an) of whom : — ——= RRIRLR PLT EMILE De et en ee Ses cx Pred Fer it has been obferved, that while they have been fond of his name in this dif- pute, they have never boafted of the ftrength or fuccefs of his arguments. In the opinion of the beft chronolo- gifts, the accomplifhment he contends for, was prior to the prophefy ; for Caligula died before St. Paul wrote this epiftle. Manip “> Dr. Hammond, fappofes Simon Magus and the Guoftics to be here defcribed. Among the learned refuters of this fup- ,pofition, Grotius himfelf is one ; and Le’Clerc, another ; whofe opinion is, that the apoftacy predicted in this paflage of St. Paul, was the revolt of the Fews from the Romays ; and that Simon the fon of Gioras, who headed the revolt, in con- junction: with his rebellious. followers, was the Man of Sin. — (2 atte TueEdefenders of the Bithop of Saee are divided in their opinion upon this fubject. Some interpret it of Rome Pa- gan, or particular Emperors. Some plainly difcern the grand impoftor Ma- homef in this prophetic paffage, and af o 3 2 i - f ‘ _—— rt oat ed: teoeiged Oopuy - Be es ae fert it refers to him alone: of which opinion there are writers, not_ of their owncommunion. Others, return the’ weapons of the Proteftants upon them- felves, and affirm with much refent- mentand confidence, though littleplau- ‘fibikity,and lefs truth, that the northern _ hierefy, .as they call the reformation, is. _the apoftacy foretold by St. Pau/ ; and the chief promoters of it, the Maz of: Siz. *™ But the greater part. of the Ro- mifh writers, fenfible of the weaknef and inconfiftency of other interpreta- tions in favour of their caufe,do frank...’ | ay acknowledge that antichrift is. here’ defcribed, the grand oppofer of Chrift snd his religion, But antichrift. fay they, is a fingle perfon, not a combi-__ nation or fucceflion of perfons ; his. Continuance upon -earth will be very. oe fhort : Adopting upon. this. odcafion . the prophetic period, 4 time, and Limes, and half a time, and taking it literally, » + they limit the duration of antichrift to ae three years and an half. - He will be res vealed, they affirm,fome time before the < wn ‘ive abt bd WS ey “ 8'Bithep Newton, Dr. Benton,” 97) s ted Po ks ee eee toming of our Lord at the laft day } when the church will feel the fad effects. of his fubtilty and power ; but, in their, opinion, he has never yet made his ap~ pearance in the worldy=<: gfe This deferves particular attentions It is an important confeffion from am adverfary ; not from a-fingle writer up- . on this fubject, but the beft Popifh Doce tors. Calmet himfelf, in his Differtation. upon antichrift, authorifes us to affert | this. They own then; that antichrife. . and the Man of Siz, are one and the fame; they own that nothing has yet. appeared, in the world to fulfilthe prophefies con- _- cerning this iniquitous power. Is not. this to confefs, that all the expofitors _ we have now mentioned, and others who have endeavoured to prove, that . Simon Magus, the Guoftics, the revolting ews, the Roman Emperors, or Mahomet, were folely intended by thefe predicti- ons, are quite miftaken, fince antichrift has riever yet been feen? Strange indéed, _ that fo remarkable a power asthe my tery ofiniquity is reprefented to be, in the facred ‘writings, and which the : : _. » ableto aflign fome good reafon for this ; : aoe AE ae 7 ‘Apoltle exprefsly tells us began to work in his own day, fhould not in the courfe of feventeen hundred years, have grown tofuch a fize.as to be vifible fomewhere+ Yet fo it is, according to the beft inter- preters on the papal fide ; and if anti- chrift is not to be found in the chair off _.¢ How then, you may perhaps fay, - .fhall we difinguifh truth from error - .upon.fuch a fubject, and amidft fo “many various and contradictory opini- ...ons of thofe who have employed much. -time, ‘and no {mall abilities,.in thefe . refearches? But let us not be difcourag-- > ed: Difficulties excite attention, and || ~ \«-eall forth the exertion of the human . Mind ; and attention to fo noble a fub-, . ject as the facred writings will ever be . well repaid. There isa portion of ob- _ feurity intermingled with the light, of | \ oe” ra “Fy | % {eripture prophefies, before theiraccom-_ : plifhment,.and even atter this is confi- | -: derably advanced. - We ourfelves are = p Serr x 5 : eee PRG VST ERLE TS pr re eat - scree and there may be more, with which we are not acquainted. Even the doc- irinal part of {cripture is not in all it’s branches, fo plain, Sut that wife and good men have diifered in their expla- | nations of it ; and can we wonder that this fould take place with refpect to the prophetic ! If we do not drop our attention to the former upon this ac? count, why fhould we to the latter. Are not the decifions of mere reafon, in different perfons; various and often op- pofite upon the fame fubject ? Muft we therefore turn fceptics ? Time matures our obfervations and -reafonings upon - common fubjects, and gives ts an in- creafe of n2tural knowledge: Time re- wards our religiozt inquiries’ with’ a knowledge more important ‘- Time il- juftrates what was darkj and explains: what was myfterious in the -prophe- cies of holy writ: |The fuccéffive la- ‘bours of the learned and inquifitive, up- on this, as upon ail other fudjects, how- ever they may differ in their procefs, ‘and conclufions, hdvé jointly contribut- éd to enlarge the huimaa uaderitand* = a I ea “Ing. - oe gS D Gs siete ae | ee v] mee: © ~ P[ 2267} 2 ~Dr. Whit by, whom’ I have not iyet tnentioned, fo far agrees with Le’Clere, fas to ‘fuppofe' this apoftacy, or. falling “way, to ‘intend. the. rebellion “of the Fews againft the Roman. goveramients; “but cthen he-includes: in-it-alfo, the . ‘apoftacy of many -Jewiflt converts;: fram ‘the chriftian faith; and! the Man “of Sit, ‘according to his explanation; is- the body" of: the ‘Jewifh’ nation, ¢ the : maz-of _ difobedtence, «whe will not sfibmit= to-law ~and government. He allows, howeVen, sthis: and .other characters here: given, | o'refer in part to. the papal: apoftacy and ufurpation. . *€T grant, fays «he, it! may in a fecondary fenfe, be:attri- uted to the papal antichrift or Maz :of Sin, and: may be fignally fulfiled in him, | -hecbeing. the fucceffor. to thé apoftate ’ Jewith church,to. whom thefe characters “agreeas well as to her.” Ree, cae cos Ade tee aah 2: ath 1s tesa me to. abieee: that there is, doubtless, ae double fenfe. in many feripture: prophecies, By this double ‘“fenfe, Ido not mean a ftudied and de= | ‘feeitful uncertainty in. the expreffion, “en Purpofe to. fecure the “credit of. f the 3 £ § + fr & g a 2 é RETIRE a rte 2 et er tse) prediction, on which fide foever -the- event may. fallesis: .n3 baie we? Ry eee “OF this. kind was. ‘the anfwer of the oracle at Delphos to Crefiss: To Pyrrbus it was the fame: So compleat | was the ambiguity, that one ‘would hefitate inz determining which was the moft natu> par eodiiaction of the words, whether. the Romans fhould. vanquifh him, or he: sani yanquilh the Romans... baavecrds te “Sucu was the bafe. duplicity af the. ancient Pagan oracles, which fome, even, of their own writers have not failed to, complain of, and. expofe. But not am inftance of this kind is to be found in. the prophecies of. {cripture. © They do, not indeed {peak of fingle and unrelat- ed events Ks ‘they are a “Fegular fyftem,, whofé parts relate to. one another, and. to one. grand. objet 3 and when ‘they. predict an event, they often” doit in lan- guage that plainly - rifes above it. and looks further, ‘and. is afterwards’ found: to be more ful! yaccomplifhed in “a fub~ fequent one, fimilar indeed to the’ firft; but perhaps much ° more important, ue is what - ji iatend by” a *doukies 22] fenfe : More events than one may cor- ; re{pond to, and be intended by, the fame prediction ; events that have fome general refemblance to each other, and refer to one grand defign, though they | “may differ in fome circumftances, and \ Bopper | in diftant ages. TH Isis undoubtedly true ie help pro- emisihs ‘of holy writ ; and fofar isit from diminifhing, that it- rather increafes their Inftre and authority.: They ap- pear more plainly from this circum-_ itance to be a plai of prophecy not to be counterfeited ; and to proceed from me eerat diyi ine forefight, to. “which all events _ latitude which is agreeable and familiar ~]) in all ages, are at once open. This was the opinion’ of Lord Bacon aa fort- ing ‘the prophefies of fcripture with their events, we mutt allow for that to. divine prophecies, being ‘of the na- ture of their author, with hen a thou- fand years are but as ane day : And there- fore they are not fulfilled pun@ually at once, but have {pringing and germi- “nant _accomplifhment throughout may BY: ages, though me LES ar fullnghs ~ jp d _ . ~ , ss shail _ ee pan ns _ E nee J ce of.them may refer to fome one age.”* Thus fpeaks that great man. ' : THere is a general analogy that _ runs through the whole providence ji and moral government of God. One thing is often by it’s very nature the . | figure and type of another. - The dif- penfation of Mofes was a ruder draught of that which the gofpel has eftablifh- ed; and the -ftate of the Jewith, pre- Iuded in many circumiftances that of the Chriftian church. And thoughthe _ ancient prophecies might be partly ful- filled in that age, yet we cannot doubt that they looked further, and have been more fully accomplifhed under the gofpel. In like manner, _there is an analogy between the firft and fuc- _ ceeding ages of the chriftian church ; and though the predictions of our Savi- our and his, apoftles might have a firft yefpeét to events, in their own day, or - not very diftant from it, yet we have - the beft reafon to conclude, that in ‘many parts ‘of them, they regard= ed ‘diftant ages, and will not have their'full and. abfolute completion till 7 { 3e } she. tinte of the ee of ne ae Uronthis eeepc. may wenotin ne ' meafure, reconcile the opinions of the learned Proteftant authors before men- tioned, and even: fome of the Romith, 7 i with the:truth of fcripture prophecy; and at the fame time maintain the con- clufion of by far the greater part ofour | own writers,that the papal antichrift is ultimately_intended by the Man of Sin, ‘and that no other power. fully anfwers to all: the. Seana EES in ae ee ath | Sheol ; THE Apoftle Fobn Kali tells us, that, there are many antichrifis, Thefe are of different forms and fizes, and may appear in different ages, though all agreeing in their oppofition to Jefus Chrift ada his kingdom, A. number of. them then may be fo confiderable, Las to be the fubject of fcripture pro-~ phecy, and pointed out before hand by. the fpirit of truth in this and other, predictions, for the | warning and, fupport of the ‘faithful in different, periods, though there may be one prin-. hn antichritt, chiefly and ultimate. i ea db tart ee ly inténded by thefe predictions, in which they do all evidently. center and Sunite.’- 4s fo5e74 ot _ WE may grant then, that the Man of Sin, he that oppofeth himfelf, and was in due time to ‘be confumed and. de- ftroyed, does not exclufively intend the papal power, but alfo other erfemies to chriftianity, *-in-. or near-to the vapoftles time ; and. fome that are ce- temporary with thispower. Allof thefe -are certainly: not, too fmall and incon- 3, * &. There is, fays a latelearned and judici« “ous writer, a.complex kind of prophecy, viz. - when future perfons and things in theirnatural characters and actions, are made emblems of -petfonsand things more remote thanthemfelves, ‘and are predicted with this very view, that they ‘ may reprefentthem. In thiscertainly there is nothing incongruous. Known untoGod are all -the ations of men from the beginning. Every event that comes to pafs is the effect of his pre- . vidence., From the characters and actions there- fore of perfons, who he knew would come upon ethe ftage, he might eafily choofe thofe which in tHeir nature and eircumftantes, were beft -adapted te be emblematical reprefentations of -the future perfons and events to be introduced -in more diftant periods: And having fixed upon .fuch as he faw to be proper for that end, it was every way agreeable to his wifdom to foretell them, in order that he might raife and keepup ‘among mankind, an expectation ef the more es re 4 fiderable to be noticed in the pre=. dictions of holy writ, and ranked - among the grand oppofers of the gof -pel... Nor would our conceflion in- jure the unity of defign in thefe pre- dictions 3 or weaken the ev idence, that - jn our text, the Romifh | antichrist is chiefly - intended. ; arian : eet : + > ~ Tze. Gewitle: nation as a ‘bushy were sayertatics to. Chrift, and perfecutors of his followers : Thofe of them that -Apoftatized from the chriftian faith were diftant greater events. Indeed this metkod of “prophecy is fo far from being abfurd, that no- thingean beconceived better ‘adapted to difplay “the perfectior:of God. For it gives us the grand: .eft, moft miagzificent; and moft affecting idea ‘of the power and fore-knowlege of God, and “of the extent cf his pravidcees whereby the 'world is coverned.” .> we s¢ Ofthiskindof eee ane an example . -2 Sam. vii 12. In it’s firft meaning, this pro- -phefy- evi ‘dently refers ta Solomon. _Néverthe- ‘lef3,, that it had a fecond meaning, refering to more diftent perfons, is equally plain. The ‘diffzrent pafiages of the prophecy mutt be ap- “plied, in their hicheft fenfes, to the different ‘perfons fecken of, according to the peculiar nature of ezch. ‘Some, cf Solomon, and his or- ‘dinary defcerdents-: Others, of the Meffiah on- ‘ly; 3 and of Solozton, as his type.” ~ PMACEMIOETS. Truth of Gofpel Hittery. F P. 186, ¥ F SO RRR MARTON EIT Ie* | fn Le Se oa perhaps as fierce in this oppofition as any :. Their Sanhedrim and High Prieft,- who fat in the.temple of God,were the lea- ders in this perfecution : They were for exalting themfelves’ above the Ro- | man Emperors, called Gods in the fenfe that civil rulers are fo called in the fa- | ered writings. But the power and | polity of this nation was foon after, ac- cording to fcripture ~ predictions, fig- nally -broken, by the coming of the Lord Jefus, to execute his judgments upon them. I lil SIMON Macus was aMan of Sin; he came with figas and lying wonders ; but with other (educers,and oppofers of the gofpel, «ho accompanied, or foon followed him, he has long fince pafled away.” - "Fue Pagan Emperors employedtheir power to. deftroy the religion of Jefus in it’s infancy, and feverely oppreff-, ed and perfecuted his followers : But the gofpel, as had been foretold, pre- wailed ; and at length the Empire, - with Conftantine at it’s head, affumed the prefefficn of chriftianity. -This) was oo-ee 2'- + - ib se 1Y- | One femarkable coming of the fon of man, though clouded iy the ——— = hal See of the: church. 2: + 7 Manonnt, was a Man He cae a ae prophet ; who came with deceiveable-.__ — nefs of unrighteoufue/s and induced many. | ta believe a lie; a great and fuccefsful oppofer of the golpel by the fword. His feat, the Turkifh Empire, | has for a long time, according to {cripture .pre- dictons, been upon the decline. - It “now fearcely fupport irfelf againt the attack of 2 a fingle Chrittian: poo i »sHow fac we may allow, this ee. tic; defcription of St. Paul to refer to -thefe perfons, and events, I leave, after «what has been faid, to the decifion of . - ethers’! My” principal defign being'to | fhew, that none of them Ba fully anf= _| _ wer and abfolve this prophecy ; while in the Papal antichrift,. all the charac- ters furprizingly center rand unite. : se we Sales £- THESE. chaeicier are, “apoftacy ; a | Man of Sin who jitteth in the temple of God s. er. in the church ; 3 ho at tthe a time ~ ~ ames rf x ae 2 om (a aa eal lili la a SS aS — 4 i i ' tao 3 gppofeth himfelfto Chriftand his kingdom; who exalteth himfelf above all that is called God, all civil rulers ; who /heweth himfelf : that he is God, impioufly affuming the ||) power and authority of the almighty : |) Who comes. after the working of Satan 3 ¢ with cruelty, fubtilty, and unrighteous deceivings ; with lying wonders and falfe miracles. Thetime alfo of his appear- ance, though not particularly afcer- tained, is in general pointed out by ~~, feveral circumftances. Ae heey dP. . the ‘temple or’ the ‘church> “of God “Nor did this deceiver ever set # retend to eftabliih his authority by . Odie MS ASTSATS Gigi ck Seeks int ‘ ‘ — . £238 J uatracles. i This is: Soaledaedy “aS Dr. Prideaux affures us, in the Alcoran atfelf, a by: the beft interpreters of it. teat?) s AS. ta the recrimination, of the Papal : swriters againft the Proteftants upon this joint; in 1 order to fhew the juftice of i it, ‘head, to. whole ere ae pay an cunlimited fu. ymiffion 5. that he fitteth in : fome, ‘capital temple as God; and that his. caufe, has: been promoted by pre- . tended. miracles. ; And finally, to prove the reformation an apoftacy, they mutt overthrow. all the arguments brought by the reformed againit the diftinguifh- -ing: dogmas. and © rites. ‘of their own. - church ; and evidence, that. thefe are *fipported by the authority of the new- — , ET oe i! -vernment, but from the purity of faith — cue een refemblance of it ; if now wé can prove that all it’s characters are to be found in the Papal power, it mutt fatisfy us, that this power was ultimately, and prin-" eipally intended by it. “97 “Yn the firft place, let it be obferved. rs that the Apoftle’s defign in the begin- ing of this epiftle, is to fhew, that the day af Chrifi,by which he plainly means,ashas beenabundantly provedbyexpofitors,the final judgment, wasnotat hand,and fhould notcome, except therecomea falling away firftz and that Man of Sin be revealed. By which he ftrongly intimates, that. the apof- tacy he principally meant fhould be ex- tendedto a diftant time, and farbeyon the deftruction of Ferufalem.- ~ “Tuts apoftacy is evidently a religi- ous one ; not a falling away from go- pe and worthip : It was to be effected by. frrong _delufions, and the dceceiveablenefs of anrighteoufne/s > through which thofe | who had not the love-of the truth, fhould . be induced to believe a lie that they might be. damned ; baviig had pleafure in unrigh+ . = teoufnes,andbeen fond of the deception. ~ t - f 40 J © TA = principal. character in it; the - Yeader,- te whom the prophecy chiefly ¥éférs, is the Man: of Siu = : A ftrong ex e. preffion,. indicating not only one who is very wicked himfelf,but emmently indus cesotherstoact wi ickedly. Bythis Maz,in the fingular Srumber;the abfolutemonar- chy-ifi the: éhiurch of Rome is well defcrib~ ad; thoughwe ‘de not fuppofe.any par _ deutie Popeis imtended, las the Bifhops’ Sf Rowe in facceffiotr. .- It gives us” x Bites character of hile ised of men, and of thofe who have had‘ the prin+ . éipal fhare ‘in their- ecclefiaftical admi- niftration ; the: chief promoters anid Gefenders of the Romifh Hone oe eyscust i TuHat this. application, ore as it may. feem to be, is not unjutt, all hiftory -attefts. “No man cart read Flafina's lives of the Popes, and Bowers’s larger and more ‘fnodern hiftory, “without being fhocked atthe impieties, the perfidy; and’ S unbounded debaucheries, of thofe who. chair ; ee with> = any” “Bpoii ¢ earth, were Swe ‘take even a curf “eS i0Li aor DSfitt pas bes! - 2 ~ ¢ tat ; pal fyftem of re'igion ; it’s direct ops .pofition to the honour of God and the ~ -one mediator; it’s grofs fuperftition and §dolatries ; it’s tendency to debafe and enflave the human mind ; the:indul- gence it grants to vice in every form ; and the pleas it allows for crimes, at which the untutored breaft immediate= - ly revolts ; without acknowledgings that thé contrivers of fuch a fyftem; with the gofpel in their hands, muft hhave Had an heart, to an uncommon degree infenfible and depraved: / ANOTHER charaéter is, he oppofeth 3 He is an adverfary to Jefus Chrift and his Kingdom. This diredtly anfwers to the name antichri/t, and indicates the “head of the: Romifh chureh to be the | principal antichrift; {poken of by Ste “ohn; which may fignify; both one who places himfelfin theroom of Chrift; and aéts in oppofition to him: The Pope Calls: himfelf the vitar of Chrift 3 the only vifible head of the church 3 and blafphemoufly arrogates to himfelf ° the infallibility and fupremacy of ong’ ms! = a ene Xe g me S¥e.8 += = % ft > , — a ‘ > : t ; wt Sh vee gi Fe he Ferre es [a2] attended Lord. PUsder the -pretericé of. ferving him, he fteps into his place ; and ghece: corrupts the fimplicity, defiles _ the purity, and oppofes the true power and fpirit of his religion: This Sox of perdition, the very phrafe by which our » Lord deferibes Fadas, betrays -his ma& ter with a kifs, and fells him for filyer; debafing his doctrine and ae for. the oo of unrighteoufnefs.. rs a : Buui Poste. oppoles with eae) as well as fubtilty and deceit. He maketh wat with the Saints, and proves “himfelf to be.that cruel and oppreffive power, predicted by Dauiel, and afterwards in _ the revelations of St. Foln, which hath horns like a Lamb; but at the fame. time, gy coet like a. TES Aye DS eae s How mild hisa appearance, ie gen- tle his language, upon fome accafions ¢ Bur: how dreadful his Rewer ! How re- ; Tentles his. exuelty ! 1 Speak ye aly _ foxls,, ‘for. you, can. ‘tell | Ye martyrs, - ; , and confeffars ! Who, sbecaufe you: would RQ yiolate your. confciences by fubmit= ' ting to his ‘unrighteous ‘impofitions,: 2 and. renouncing the truth as itis in t Felis Mee s e [ 4a have loft your eftates; been torn from your tendereft connections ;~ have _Janguifhed in dungeons, have groan-_ ed upon the wreck, and expired in flames. Speak,ye who fuffered in Eng fand in the Marian days + Speak, ye thou- fands, ye many thoufands, that fell — i -4t once in the maflacrés of Paris and Ireland F Speak, ye Waldenfes, and Al- bigenfes, who fell in ftill greater numbers, i and more varied forms’ of ° torture. Your blood indeed is vocal, it crieth he the graund-+ Though art and falfe- nood. have been employed, to difguife the facts, and to. ftifle the voice ; it pierces through all, andrings in the ears of men, the unparralleled cruelty of that myftical woman, that morber of — @bominations, the church of Rome x. drunk= "en with the blood of the Saints, aud with fhe blood of the Martyrs of Teity. * Iw vain doed fhe attempt to eoiiceak, or pattiate this, part of: her odious. ‘Character. The ftain is indelible! To ~ het we may apply the words of the - prophet ; though thou wafs thee with nim are, and: take theemuch foap, yek tt thing | merit? [ 44 } : 7 ery marked Toe me, Leith the ford God. ; 2. )r.ean 1 be demonftrated from hiftory that fhe hath fhed ten times more chriftian bload, by her holy wars, her | eruzades, her affaflinations, and num- berlefs perfecutions, than all the pagan. --Emperors united. The inhumanity of her court of inquifition is not to be *- equalled, among the moft barbarous nations, nor by any other court, ever erected by the greateft tyrant. -Wuar an idea does it give us of the’ deteftable cruelty of the fons of | Rome, to be told, that an American fa- , .Vage, ready to expire under the hands ef the Spaniards, afked a prieft, who offered to prepare him’ for Heaven, whether the Spaniards would dwell there; Being affured they: would ; then faid he, ‘ : se Shey : PR CE es . ®# & Popith writers affure us, that they are * € now grown much more mild and moderate, « and have none of the ferocity and cruelty « which was the temper of forraer times, and « thatthey condemn perfecution for amerediv- « erfity of religiousfentiments. They may be fo, «* and they mutt be fools wha‘ believe them. «It is probable enough, that amongft their & Laity thereare feveral who diflike all fangui- « nary methods of fupporting their religion 3 « but it is becaufe they do not fully underitand _ their awn ecclefiaftical fyftem, into the very “€ nature of which perfecution is fo clofely wo- «© ven, thatnothing can feparate it. Upon blood “€ it was built, and by blood it muft be fupport- _ @ ed. Toleration and liberty of conicience « would infallibly undermine and deftroy it. | _ « In thisprefent century,and in our own times, «© there have been cruel examples of Popifh in- ‘€ toleration and perfecution; fufficient towarm 4¢ as what we are to expect from them.” so LL Jartin’s Sermons. V. 7+ P- 449 . 3 Saas: * a A — ; . ~—y . 3 . rad ven 2 7 ~ od > ™ 2 Tals ¢ 2% ee | a *:"Frenext character of the Maz of Six, is ; he exalteth bhimfelf above all that is called Ged, or that is worfripped. . Wha does sot immediately confefs the Bi- fhop of Rome in this defcription ? Hé exalteth himfelf, not only above: all paftors, all ecclefiaftical officers and dignitaries, but above all civil rulers, _ who are called Gods ; above all Kings and Emperots,..The Emperor Fre= deric the firft, held the ftyrup of his, horfe, and was chid for holding it on the wrong fide.- Another Emperor, + Henry \Vth, waited three days at the gates of Pape Gregory VIIth, to obtain, an audiente, Frederic, fell proftrate. tr St. Mark’s church at Venice, before. _ Alexander the Ul, in prefence of the peo- _ ple ; while the humble Bifhop, placing. — _ his foot upon his neck, uttered that paf fage of the Pfalmift ; thou (halz tread upox. phe lion and the adder 3 the. young lion and the. dragon fhalt thou trample under foot. The Prelate of Rome has depofed Kings and Emperors ; abfolved their fubjects, . from. all allegiance to them ; and au- _thoritatively required their ‘aking arms p #eaintt them, ; : { 47 3 Tuts has not only been done by fome who have filled the pontifical ehair; but is agreable to one of the profeiied ‘principles of the Romi church: It is to be feen in their de- trees, of at leaft equal veneration and authority among them; with the Bible itfelf ; @ That all Kings and Einperors * ought to be fubject to the Pope ; that & he is placed by the Lord over nations ‘cand kingdoms; net fme only, bué f© all : That whatfoever the Roman «« church ordaineth; mutt be obferved ‘© by all; without contrpz}; and ever- *< Jaftingly ; and thet it is of abfolute *¢ neceflity to falvation; that every hu= ** man creature fhouid be fubje@ to ** the Holy father: Azcordingly,;” Cles “* ment the fifth deciared, that by hig ** undoubted fuperiorizy to the Em< peror, and by the fulhieS of power “ Chrift had given him in the perfor & of St. Peters” ‘he did Me au = “« proceeding oS" Tre: Apottle per i: % hdl ey ag eee fisess in. the temple of God, fhewing bine * Self, that he is God. The temple of God, 4 fs 5 Cas | Gigwifies in prophetic language, the church of God ; and as the. Man of Sik. was to appear after the abrogation of the Jewifh law, it is plainly intimated here, that he was to be found in the ehriftian church; that by means of his. rank and influence inthischurch,hewas — to rife to his exorbitant power; and - 4 that it would be held and adminiftred in an ecclefiaftical form. He is then a profeiled chriftian : The authority he -claims is {piritual ; and in the church ~ _ he receives the homage of a God, . War can givé usa more éxactidea of the fov ereign Pontiff at Rome ? When he is elected, he is feated on the high altar of St. Peter’s church, the very place oftheidolizedhoft, whichthe Papifts fay is. Chrift himfelf :_ The people proftrate ‘themfelves before. him, and implore hia | favour.and blefling. ...They addrefs him, {¢.Our Lord God dine Pope? He et finger, and makes a motion: _- jwith his hand; and their fi nsare all for- ~ givens - Is not this like the feigned Fu« — | piter,.on old poe ?-Is not this to /is . ae the tenes gitete ie “i Nuala Siac ig pee rae cm eal aR ee 8 mae 5% 26-8 €. 5 ute ot) Be ; a a - . il 9 3] « AfTERW salts himfelf above God himfelf ; he | imakes void the law. of-God by vain tra- | «ditions and impious eftablifhmentsofhis sown. Heholds back fromthe peoplethe fcriptures of God, and places in their -room his own decrees: He forgives fins upon terms directly oppofite to thofe : apon which God hath declared them to be forgiven ; and allows vice to be ju tified by a cafuiftry; of which even a. pagat would be afhamed. is THe coming of the Man of Sint is id By the Apoftle to be after the working of Satani © This I know is generally taken © to:refer to the figs and lying wonders, mentioned immediately after. But -. Goes it noi appear natural té fuppofe, that this‘ coming after the working of Satan, ‘may intend, more generally, after the model of Satan; the God of this world, in his own. kirigdom ; or among the _ pagans, where’ ‘he had fo gteat an in- “fluence! and that'it contains a ‘ftrong ntimation that the corrupt religion in- Sashes and eee be the bee £ $Q {97sec iG rie ae g A .50 2) - Sin, fhould bear.a ftrong Peete nee, ‘to that. which was formerly found in ‘the. kingdom of darknefs. ? That this is true, no one-who takes a fair and ‘impartial view of both, can doubt. So ‘that however teally chriftian Rome.once owas, -ic has for many ages fo far_re- ‘turned to -an imitatiom -of it’s former ‘pagan idolatries and fuperttitions, that ‘chriftianity feems to be almoft covered ‘and buried under: tient. ¢ 277 sade 43° Sisvix ftreets,* in’ the’ baths, in the markets,’ _ and ih‘almoft every place of public re? _ fort.’ “All ‘this, ‘which’ is ‘certainly ac- _ cording to the model, formerly ‘pro- duced By the working of Satan,in ‘the dark- neéfs of ‘heatHenifm, you will now find - ii the : patrimony ‘of Sc: Perer, ind im the _ very’ city where his° SEES faceef for fits enthroned. " : peewee - ~ Be *3i9-55. 25 ssupig nizorm sd | : =-Tae ak cor “Sun, :comes,. fays:thé ; Apoftle,. with all power, and:figns, andlya _ ing wonders : And with all decetveablenefz of unrighteoufnefs-. This: part ofthe des | feription, as exaftlycorrefponds to _ _ the papal antichrift, as any we have _ confidered. Every one knows the pi- ous. frauds. that haye been fandtified i a - 3 TS Se Sr a ~~ C sx. and prattifed by the Romifh church and that it has all along been fond of fapporting it’s credit and authority by pretended miracles... > +#2{fe2.d ais S35; ie fc “rk : ey 4 fats wee) hss |, -BELarmine mentions miracles as ~ one mark of the true church; andi {i would fill volumes, to give a particular iI account of all thefe lying wonders. How many ghofts have appeared, td éftablifh the.doétrine-of purgatory, and ‘ fapport the revenue which the churclt » draws from it?: All the images of their Saints, have. wrought miracles. They have fweat ; they: have groaned ; they have fhed tears; they have bled ; they have fpoken.; they have changed their pofture ; they have walked ; they-have own thra’ the air; they have difappear= éd in one place, and been vifible again fa another » They have given fight to the blind ; hearing to the deaf ; health zo the fick ; and’even life to the dead. Almoft every votive gift, is produced as ' gn evidence of fome miracle perform- édby the faint at whofe fhrine itftands 5 and thefe miracles are related to en- gourage fach donations, by which the: To wéalth of. he church: has Become im= -mmenfe.. The holy. houfe of. Loretto, which they tell us, was brought many miles through the. air,. to. the. place - where it now ftands, has upon this ac- . éouint beer’ amazin ae eo by fuch | offerings. oe fo Bey yest Be PO Tr Se Sb UR as zlegends of the Romifh church are full of diclecidicnlous miracles: And though fince knowledge has increafed in the world, they have grown more modeftin their accounts; yet the fame — fondnefs for thefe lying wonders contis - mues among them; as appears” from ee) the pompous account, publifhed _not many years ago, of the miracles pera soacd at the tomb of os Abbe de Parise lt ata) be sei to Ree. up iif the unrighteous deceivings practiced by the. papal antichrift ; and to trace the art and fubtilty employed to cover the falfe- hood and deformity of his religious 3 fyfter. - The Pope pretends to nothing but 4 {piritural power, and holds hig territories and wealthin right of St. Peter. > ¢-—*"y +; ~ > = He. is a tender there and d makes. ne I 35 1. ule of the fword ; he only gives up ob- ftinate heretics and incorrigible offend- ‘ers to the civil magiftrate, and admon- " $fheshim to do his duty. Though the - fdolatry and fuperttition he authorizes are grofs in many inftances as the par gan; and though the people are known to. addrefs the image, and to believe that the Saint fome how dwells in, it ; yet the plea is, that the higheft worfhip is not given to the latter, and that the former is deligned only to bring to re- membrancefome eminently holy perfons - - *” Wits what fpecious pretences doth s he varnith fome of the blackeft crimess and even fanctify perfidy, treafons, mur? ders and maffacres, while he throwsthe -moft trightful colours upon every manly ‘affertion of the rights of human nature, gnd the freedom of confcience?. Thofe: awho have difputed his ufurped authoris ‘ty, and nobly refifted his unrighteous - impofitions, if itwas without the reach. of his power to. torment their bodies, es have at leaft been blackened by every artifice of calumny, and reprefented in the. moft: odious characterse -. Luthery. [ 36 ] amone many ‘others, experiended this: ‘His motives for oppofing the papal pow- ‘er; ‘his whole life, and the manner of his dying, have been bafely mifrepre- . fented by the Romifh writers. But the faithful pen of hiftory hath refuted shefe malicious calumnics, and vindi- - wated hisinteegrity ; and without-raifing tesrity Ss. _ fhim‘above the frailties of a man, hath prefervedhis name in-all.the luftre, that undaunted fortitude,and uncommonly great and fuccefsful efforts, in a caufe _ importantly good, never failto imparts f° To thofewho have a refpett for rigid wtorals, and a life of mortification and - felf denial, the Romanifts hold up the feverity of their pennances, and the ri- your-and aufterity of feme of their re ligious-orders. At the fame time, thofe qwho chufe to live like men of the warld, need not, upon this account, go out of _ their church, nor refign one of it’s. pri- _ wileges. The Pontiff has the merits of ' @lithe Saints, as well as of Chrift, in a ‘wommon fundat his own difpofal, and _ from thence for a good price he draws ' difpenfations, indulgences and pardons, ~ e at e Ee 57. V adequate to the moftlicentiousinclinati- ons. Underthis pretext he vacates every — obligation to a religious life, and leads thofe to. deftruction, who have pleafure in unrighteoufne/s ; whofe condemnation is jaft ; inafmuch as fuch a deception, fo contrary to the prompt decifions of con{cience, muft be chofen and affect+ ed. By thefe and fuch like arts, am -tncredible fhare of the lands and wealth in England, and in other kingdoms and ftates in’ Europe, was, before the refor- "mation, the property of the church. _ Tue terms in which the benefit of ‘indulgences, and the neceffity of pur- chafing them, were recommended by Ferzel and his affociates in Germanys - are too extravagant to gain belief had _we not the moft authentic teftimony, for them. ‘‘ If any man, {aid they, — *« purchafes letters of indulgence, his << foul may reft fecure of it’s falvation.* «© The fouls, confined in purgatory; <¢ for whom they are bought,.as foon «¢ a5 the money tinkles in the cheft, im- « mediately afcend from their torments Robertfan’s Hiftory of Charles 5.% 2. 2 43. im. EX, . we ~eaest S2- = 7 3 to Heaven: Through them, the mot. ‘heinous fins, though one fhould. #6: violate the mother of God, would. “be remitted. ! J he crofs, erected by “< the cazholie preachers of the gofpel. 4-is az-efficacions.as the crofa_ef Chrift | ** hinifelf.. Lo! the Heavens are epened:s you may: enter: now. -For> tyyrelves — s*tpende, you inay redeem the foul of. ‘*¢yaur father. from. purgatory’ t. And. 4S are you fo. ungrateftl chat you will, {not redeem the ieul of your father ** trom tormettt ? If you. hadi bunt one -“* coat, you ought to ftrip yourfelf » €4nitantly and jell it, to See ee 6s Benefits. fe - ae “Fo all this we eee adil the neha ; ae deccisingcby which the Romanilts: have corrupted chriftian morals 3. their-_ ~ detettablepriaciple,that faizhis nottobe - kepewithheretics; the perfidy andinhu- | Manity withwhic! eecurdir tod: s.prin- - ciple, Hu/s wastreated at the councilof Conftance: Their allowance ofequivocati> - -_en-and mental! refervation:;: and - thar the blackelt crimes. niay- breome inno- . cent and even mcsitoricus, if they be dane from a goad. intention, and for : ‘the. fervice of the. church, _ All this is | ‘{ . ‘and a brightnefS ever attends it. Error {ys deftroyed by the light of truth, as. - darknefS ceafes when, the fan appears., ‘Ware ge the Man of Sin rofe, the gof- “pel was obfcured, and ‘gradually with- ‘drawn from the view of mem ; the truth was held,or imprifoned,in xnrighteoufnefs: ‘But when this was fet.at liberty, and - the facred volumes opened, the papak fy ftem felt the fhock,and was evidently ~~ - HE 60 3 platted, Pech not deftroyed,’ as by “the fire of Heaven ; blafted by the ftroke. of that gofpel, which our Savi- our compares to the lightning which com- - eth out. of the Eaft, and fhineth even to the ‘Weft. ‘So. fire-proceedeth out of the “mouth of the two witneffes in the Re- “velations, and deftroyeth their enemies. “The fimplicity of the. gofpel, carries with it'a wonderful light and energy: _ Itis great, and will finally prevail. Like “a flame, it Goes through the briars and “thorns that’ oppofe it, and durus them “together. In it’s progrefs, ic punifhés and.torments the obftinately erroneous “and wicked : They gnaw their Tongues 3 for pain, at the detection of thofe er- — Fors they will not renounce, - and at the “pungent reproof of thofe vices’ which ‘they cannot forfake. | ‘They have ofteh ‘other punifhments from “the. ‘judicial _ difpenfations “of Heaven, even in this lite ; which area prelude: ‘of. what fhall be awarded . them, in. proportion to their guilt, at the bar of the fon of man, aaa E fecond coming of Chrilt extends ~ in fome fenfe’ from is afcenfion to the final judgment. ‘In this‘ period - anti- ) eee will he Seat ee Have feen | ay ‘already this part of the prediction in = confiderable degree fulfilled. - He has furprizingly wafted away. He no long- ‘er appears what he once was ; the dif-. ‘pofer of crowns, the arbiter of king- . -doms, and the dread of the world. 4 ‘His ftrength is abated, and therev¢rence — ‘that was once paid him by. Princes igreatly diminifhed. — He now palliates and feems half afhamed of what he once openly profeffed, and boafted in. This _ is owing to the increafiag light fpring- ‘ing from the reformation. ss - i : Nor’ ought we to overlook a late ‘event, that deferves particular atten” Stions One of his religious orders, I _ fmean’the Fefuits, remarkable for a mix- ‘ture of fubtilty and enthufiafm, which sendered them fingularly active and - faccelsful in his caule, has not. long “fince been fupprefled by Princes, that once. were moft zealoufly devoted to- him, and: particularly friendly ‘to this -‘yery order. © Even. the Pope himfelf, according to fome recent accounts; has ‘at length been compelled, forely againft ~ ig willy to- imitate their example, and to concur with them in this fignal, but - very ‘bumiliaring act of -yefarmations Ee). “Thefe ‘things, among others, pleinly _ .fhow, haw far this Lucifer, ion of uve ‘morning, this preteaded fountain of -light, and diipenien of inialli- . -ble knowlege, hath -deciined.trom Ins _ genith,and may be-one means of accel. erating his defcent. However this mcy de, we are aiured, that at rurthefk, he will be totaily. and .abfclurely deftroyed by the eens es our Lo:d’ S fecond - Soro Mee a8 wonw se 2G Eke e - Uron the whole, w hoc compa: res _ the predictions of Daniel, and Fobha, with that of Paz/ in our text, will find in them a furprizing agrement ; and . ghat all thefe diftinguifhed fervants of God, fpake of the fame iniquitous and oppreilive power that was to rife in his 3 kingdom, in later ages, and. oppofe _ - himielf to it ; A power that. _fpeaketh _° great things, even great things againfi the moft High, and is full of the- names-of blaf-_ phemjy:: A: power that prevailetd againft, _. @ad weareth out the Saints ; that changeth " §imes and laws,and affumeth an authorie ty, over all kindreds, and tongues, and na- = _ kions 2 A power that cafteth down the boft _ of Heaven, all civil rulers, and magnifieth _ bimfelf againft the Prince of the hoft 5.36 aad whom notwithtanding, the Kings of the: earth do give their ferength : A power that deceiverh, by falfe miracles,done in the: fight of the beaft, thems that dwell upon the earth ¢ and upon whom the. judgment: frould finally fit, to take away his dominion, aud to confume. and deftroy it to the end. |. /« Tie’ prediGions of thethree fers, . wants ef God above-named,concerning; ~ the corruptions of chriftianity in the Roe. mifh church. and concerning the polis - ¢ical Rate of the world from firft to laft,, but efpeciaily as the revolutions of empire kad a relation to our religions; thefe I fay. when united, form a pro-. phetic picture, which in refpect of the grandeur and importance of the events delineated. therein, the variety and fin- gularity of the particulars whereof thele- events confit, the clearnefs and, preci« -fion with which they are delineated, the. exactnefs of their accomplithment, and. | the length of time taken up in the ace. ea. complithment, is one.of the moft afton-, + $fhing objects which it is poffidie for the, | human mind to contemplate. And, therefore the due examination of this, pidure, cannot fail to ftrike all wife, men, with the higheit conceptions of thq >» - C 64 J prefcience and power of God, and with” the deepeft veneration for the chriftian- religion,” _in the records of which: - this aftonifhing piture is found. For. common fenfe dictates, that the ruler of. the univerfe never would give the know-:, Jege of future events to impoftors ; ef-. _ pecially as upon the credit of that know- Iége, they have required mankind to believe the hiftory of Jefus. Wherefore, _ the corruptions of chriftianity, inftead of being any objection againft the di-' _ Vinity of our religion, by having been’ - fo particularly predicted, are in reality’ the foundation of one of the pen est q SLi og mi it's favour.” * Bae ME will not, allow me . to enlarge. - on the reflections which naturally arife from our fubject. ) ~ Wuart a bleffing to mankind was 2 the reformation ? What a yoke of bon- dage did it break ? Even the papal power, where it ftill prevails, has. been 3 tempered by it. It was at once favour-". ~ able to civil liberty and to ‘the rights of confcience. | Religion — ‘and learning - revived together.- The Bible, the foun- , tain of ‘divine kriowlege being: unco- 2 B Mckay Truth of eo Hitter}: P. mee Ur toes ~vered, the thirfty came and drank of the water of life freely. At the fame time the beft human models of writing, and the nobleft fentiments on civility and government, were read with avidi- - ty im the antient claflics. The church emerged from darknefs ; -human focie- ty was polifhed ; the arts cultivated, .. and. commerce enlarged. . _ Tue happy fruits of the reformation have been tran{planted to America; and ’ what.a change have they made already - in the face of this continent ? Here may they all flourifh to the fecond com- ing of the fon of man ! And may this literary Society, according to the ge- ‘ nerous defign of it’s founders, be emi- nently conducive to fo happy a purpofe. _ We. have a Romifh Bifhop, and a Pos ' pif colony, not far from us’; where, I ~ ammwellinformed,inftead éfthewdvameas - tmenit of proteéftant truth, fince it’s fub- | _ jeétion to the Britifh ‘government, 7 numbers. havé’ been perverted from | eur’ own’ profeffion: And if Popery, deceitfully affuming a ‘milder form, “ f{eems td be lefs dreaded ‘and abhored than tit once was ; let us be upon our [ 66 } euard, and remembering it is Popery ftill, be prepared to oppole it in every Ress At beft itis the extremeit def- potifm, It decides all things at once, and by mere authority, and allows no examination of it’sown mandaiesandde- crees. Itisadire¢t,an everlafting enemyto freedom of inquiry,and confequently to knowlege, and good literature. There are indeed many learned catholics ; but. the learning among them is in one way or another greatly owing to the reformation : For when Popery reign- ed without oppofition, ignorance every where prevailed. And even at this day, the body of the people in the Ro- mith, are not near fo enlightened as in the cae ane communion. ~ Bae er vis oC PETanE with the fafety of a free government. ft fets up a fo- reign head, fuperior to all civil rulers ; a fpiritual power that reaches to every thing upon earth, and ean brook no 4 gontrol. Trampling “upon the rights of confcience, and affuming an autho- rity to abfolve every facred “obligation, what: pledge can it poffibly leave us, fer the Security = a freedom, 2 ae . P + se 2 2 Ping i = as 4 67 Compare the prefent ftate of Italy > svith what it once was. Where are the .. poets, the orators, the philofophers, the ftatefmen and heroes, that once guided, defended,and adorned that diftinguifh- ed country ?) Where are the numbers §t fupported, and the fpirit and vigour of it’s inhabitants? Nature is the fame ; it is tyranny, and moft of all, the papal tyranny, that hath made the change. We have indeed, may a Popith bigot fay, » we have happily no more the fierce” contentions of antient Rome : All things are now fettled by an indifputable autho- rity; and weare at peace. Buthavethere been no bloody contefts in papal Rome ? -And what kind of tranquility does it ever enjoy? Is it the eafe and happinefs of a vigorous,well governed ftate ? Far. from it : Itis the filence of death ; it is the peace of a church yard. - oe Ler ustherefore, ftand faft in the li- berty wherewith Chrift has made us free, “and allow no un{criptural impofition, no trace of the papal bondage, to be found among us! May a liberal in- __quiry, a free and temperate difcuffion, _diffipate error of every kind, and by &; ‘ <<” ¥ -: a a - - fs } Le i - advaficing truth, fecuré the true orde~ — and-felicity both: of church and ftate! - Maythe honour of the infpired writings, | as the only infallible: rule of faith aad _ practice, and: the right of private judg- ment, the bafis: of the reformation, eect - ever be. faeredly: preferved among us}. And... may.‘ferious. piery, and chriftian morals, thé end of all, adorn our pro- feffion‘as proteftants, and ever keep pacé — with our ee in. fpeculative io a RE e es oer nowy. ee set gay ear sce fo See See ave : = a5 % « ao ae mo ‘ ° a oe is ai Bn es ae oe Ee oe We be cao: Peas se DBs ; Si ' . °e ~ * - * ~ 3 aa Peteses as tat ERE, BETE -- = ee pars 4 — « a, * a a Se = 4 : ss 2 et} SS RE ry ea G= < m tz ‘ oF aS ee ee +? ay = . { eS ee ae el a Wi) ) Ie emer ae rm Ni A Sa Date Due tas ee rt [op] a ive) oD ¢ i} E uv (a) 8Z€9c0d PAV