Part IV — The Half of Time

Dimidium Temporis

Being the Fourth Part of The Book of the Promises and Predictions of God

by Quodvultdeus, Bishop of Carthage (c. AD 390 – c. 454) a disciple and correspondent of Augustine; long transmitted under the name of Prosper of Aquitaine

Translated from the Latin of the 1744 Roman edition of the Opera Omnia of Prosper — a public-domain text — where the work stands among the "Dubia et Spuria." To the best of our knowledge this is the first complete rendering of this work into English.

PROLOGUE

In this "half of time," — the end of the world, and the signs that are to come, and the deeds of Antichrist himself, his pride, and the power of his brief season — we have undertaken, by the Lord's gift and the working of his grace, to prove these things out of the divine testimonies, in the chapters here set down.

But first we show and demonstrate what he was, who is now called the devil; and of what sort he was formed by the Author of all good things; and then also the ruin and end of his fall — which I shall briefly set forth out of the whole authority of prophecy and of the New Testament: lest these things be wearisome, if everything were to be written into this work.¹

THE CHAPTERS OF THE HALF OF TIME

1. PRED. The angel made a devil through pride.
2. PRED. His self-exaltation.
3. PRED. His headlong fall, and the prison of the air.
4. PRED. The devil bound, and cast into the abyss.
5. PRED. The mysteries of iniquity, which the devil works through his own.
6. PRED. The signs of Antichrist.
7. PRED. The woman, and the beast that carries her.
8. PRED. The ten kings.
9. PRED. The character of Antichrist.
10. PRED. His persecutions.
11. PRED. The pride of Antichrist.
12. PRED. Antichrist to be convicted — that he is not Christ.
13. PRED. The sending of Elijah and Enoch.
14. PRED. The garment of Christ.
15. PRED. The passion of Elijah and Enoch.
16. PROM. Their resurrection.
17. PRED. The coming of the Son of God and of Man.
18. PROM. The resurrection of the flesh.
19. PROM. The judgment of Christ the Lord.
20. PROM. The purifying fire.

Chapter 1 — Prediction fulfilled: How the angel was created, who through pride was made the devil

By Ezekiel the Lord says of him: Thou wast the seal of likeness, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty; thou wast in the paradise of thy God. Every precious stone was thy covering; thou didst walk in the midst of the stones of fire, perfect in thy ways from the day of thy founding, until iniquity was found in thee [Ezek 28:12–15].

And Isaiah: How art thou fallen, he says, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? [Isa 14:12].

The Lord confirms these things in the Gospel: Ye, he says to the Jews, are of your father the devil. For he was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth [John 8:44].

He was MADE in the truth, in which he did not STAND — because he would not be subject to his Creator, whose power not even the evil one escapes.

Chapter 2 — Prediction fulfilled: By what self-exaltation the devil fell

Isaiah the prophet, concerning him: Thou saidst, he says, in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, above the stars of God I will exalt my throne; I will sit in the mount of the testament, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, and I will be like the Most High [Isa 14:13–14].

And in Ezekiel: Thy heart was lifted up, he says, in thy beauty; thou hast destroyed all thy wisdom [Ezek 28:17].

The Lord confirms these things in the Gospel: Now, he says, is the judgment of the world; now shall the prince of this world be cast down [John 12:31].

Peter the apostle also testifies in his epistle to the nations: For God, he says, spared not the angels that sinned [2 Pet 2:4].

Yet he DOES spare men that sin — because man sinned by the devil's seducing; but he seduced himself, by his own sinning.²

Chapter 3 — Prediction fulfilled: Whither the devil was cast headlong

Isaiah the prophet: But yet, he says, thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit [Isa 14:15]. And a little after: But thou art cast out of thy sepulchre, as a useless trunk [Isa 14:19].

And by Ezekiel the Lord says of him: I have cast thee to the ground, I have set thee before the face of kings, that they might behold thee, and the multitude of thine iniquities. And by the iniquity of thy trafficking thou hast destroyed thy sanctification [Ezek 28:17–18].

The Lord confirms these things in the Gospel, saying: I beheld Satan, as lightning, falling from heaven [Luke 10:18].

For then he fell further, when Jesus permitted himself to be tempted by him — showing the worthlessness of his seductions, and teaching his own how they ought to resist the tempter [Matt 4:1ff].

Peter the apostle also says: Thrusting them down into the dark dungeons of hell, he delivered them to be kept and punished at the judgment [2 Pet 2:4].

And in the Apocalypse of John it is said: That great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world; and he was cast headlong into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him — following his ruinous pride. Woe was said to the earth and to the sea: for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time [Rev 12:9, 12] in the trafficking of his seduction.

What things he has done in deceiving the proud and the greedy, the earlier parts of this book contain. But now, in the short time — that is, at the end of time — let us pursue what deceits of his are yet to come, with the signs, as has been said, that run before them.

Chapter 4 — Prediction fulfilled: The devil bound, and cast into the abyss

David the prophet says: The dragon, whom thou hast formed to make sport of him [Ps 104:26]. And again: Thou hast broken the heads of the dragons upon the waters; thou hast crushed the head of the great dragon, and hast given him to be meat for the peoples of the Ethiopians [Ps 74:13–14].

And in the book of Job it is said: This is the beginning of the Lord's fashioning, which he made that he might be mocked by his angels [Job 40:19, LXX].

The Evangelist confirms these things, saying: The demons besought Jesus that he would not send them into the abyss [Luke 8:31].

And elsewhere Jesus said to his disciples: Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and they shall not hurt you [Luke 10:19].

Likewise the Lord: No man, he says, entereth into the house of the strong man, to spoil the vessels of his house, except he first bind the strong man [Matt 12:29].

Above these things the Apocalypse of John testifies: I saw, he says, an angel coming down from heaven, having a great chain in his hand: and he laid hold on that great dragon, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, AND BOUND HIM A THOUSAND YEARS, and cast him into the abyss. And he shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should no more seduce the nations, TILL THE THOUSAND YEARS SHOULD BE FINISHED: and after these things HE MUST BE LOOSED FOR A SHORT TIME [Rev 20:1–3].

Here he has expounded what was said in the same book of GOG and MAGOG — Hebrew words, which in Latin are rendered Roofed and Unroofed¹⁹ — so that we take "Roofed" to mean that the devil has been cast into the abyss, shut and sealed over him; but "Unroofed," because he must be loosed and brought forth for a short time [Rev 20:7–8].

2. But the thousand years are to be taken either as a part for the whole (as Peter the apostle says: For one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day [2 Pet 3:8]) —

OR, FROM THE GOING FORTH OF THE WORD, WHEN THE SEVENTY WEEKS WERE RECKONED OUT BY DANIEL AS BEING UNTO CHRIST THE LEADER [Dan 9:25].

For then was that war made, that Michael and his angels should fight with the dragon [Rev 12:7]; and the angel showed it to Daniel also, saying that he had been sent to fight with the prince of the kingdom of the Persians: And there is none, he says, that helpeth me, but Michael your prince [Dan 10:20–21].

In which war the devil was conquered, cast down headlong, and bound — as it was shown to that prophet at the beginning of time, so to John at the end of it.

So that those FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY YEARS, and those which run from the ADVENT OF THE SAVIOUR down to the LOOSING of that same devil, TOGETHER MAKE UP THE THOUSAND YEARS in which the devil is bound, that he should no more seduce the nations, which formerly he had possessed in idolatries.

"But with how great power," as Augustine of blessed memory says, "shall the saints then be strong, who are to wrestle with the devil loosed — with whom, even bound, we contend at such peril?" [City of God XX.8].

For already, as Paul says, the mystery of iniquity worketh [2 Thess 2:7]. But what his mysteries are, the chapters appended below shall contain, by the Lord's help.³

Chapter 5 — Prediction fulfilled: How the devil works the mysteries of iniquity through all his own

The Apocalypse of John says: The beast was taken, and with him that false prophet who had wrought signs — by which signs he seduced them that received the inscription of the beast in their forehead and in their hand [Rev 19:20].

The inscription in the forehead and in the hand is this: not so much to imitate the deeds of the devil, as to GLORY in his evil works — so that, under the figure of Christ, they may carry out the deeds of Antichrist.

Whom also the Lord Jesus testified of in the Gospel, saying: Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall seduce many; go ye not after them [Mark 13:6].

And the apostle John: Ye have heard, he says, that Antichrist cometh: now are there MANY Antichrists [1 John 2:18]. And he shows who these are: They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would surely have remained with us [1 John 2:19].

He shows that these are all the heretics — and especially the ARIANS, whom we now see seducing many: whether by temporal power, or by the industry of an evil wit, or indeed by the abstinence of their frugality, or by the deception of signs of whatever kind. As the Apostle says: For Satan himself is transfigured into an angel of light. It is no great thing, therefore, if his ministers are transfigured as the ministers of righteousness: whose end shall be according to their works [2 Cor 11:14–15].

Since the Lord shall say to them as they boast in their wonders: I never knew you. Depart from me, all ye that have wrought iniquity [Matt 7:23].

FOR INIQUITY IS TO REND THE UNITY — as though rending the garment of Christ, as though tearing the nets of the fishing apostles.

From whose fellowship all heretics are found to be strangers, who, forsaking the peace of the communion and of the one bread, of God and of the apostles, preach not in their own churches, but in the streets — and do not commune at the memorials of the apostles, and, cut off from the whole, arrogate to themselves the name of Catholic.

Whereas in Jerusalem itself James and Stephen the first martyr; and John at Ephesus; and Andrew and the rest throughout all Asia; and Peter and Paul the apostles in the city of Rome — the Church of the Gentiles (in which they schooled the doctrine of Christ the Lord) — handing down one Church, at peace, to those that came after, consecrated her with their own blood and their own memorials, out of the Lord's Passion.

The Christian who communicates with this general Church is a CATHOLIC. He who is severed from her is a heretic, and an Antichrist: and when he shall be openly manifested, the things that follow shall show that he will work greater signs still.⁴

Chapter 6 — Prediction fulfilled: The signs of Antichrist

In the book of Job it is said of Antichrist: His strength is in his loins, and his power in the navel of his belly [Job 40:16].

And again: There is not, he says, a power upon earth that may be compared with him, who was so made that he should fear none. He beholdeth every high thing; HE IS KING OVER ALL THE SONS OF PRIDE [Job 41:24–25].

And Paul the apostle says: According to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish [2 Thess 2:9–10].

And the Lord in the Gospel: There shall arise, he says, false Christs and false prophets, and shall give great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, even the elect themselves should be seduced. Behold, he says, I have foretold it unto you [Matt 24:24–25].

Though indeed the apostle Paul mentions some men in silence — having their conscience seared [1 Tim 4:2] — and others openly, as Hymenaeus and Philetus, Demas, Hermogenes, and Alexander the coppersmith [2 Tim 2:17; 4:10, 14], whose errors and diverse doctrines and many evils he recounts. And he himself testifies that after his departure there would be no lack of grievous wolves [Acts 20:29], and of that one who even now worketh in the sons of unbelief [Eph 2:2].

2. In our own times, too — when Aspar was stationed at Carthage, in his [sixth²⁰] consulship — this diabolical and monstrous sign happened there: what citizen of that country does not know it?

A certain young girl, an Arab by nation, wearing the habit of a handmaid of God, while washing in the bath, gazed immodestly upon a certain image of Venus, and upon herself — and, likening herself to it, she offered herself as a dwelling-place to the devil.

At once that lion who goeth about roaring [1 Pet 5:8] found the one he was seeking. Seizing therefore the passage of her throat, letting through no food and no drink for nearly seventy days and as many nights, the devil put on a display of fasting out of the vessel he had captured and possessed.

The girl's parents, hoping through so many days' space that the thing could be carried off — when they could no longer endure the continual evil — came with their daughter to the priest, faithfully reporting what had been done. This only the girl confessed: that a certain bird appeared to her in the middle of the night, which poured I know not what into her mouth.

And astonishment fell on all, to see the girl marked by no sign of a long fast — undone by no pallor, no wasting, no weakness; but rather robust in the juice of her flesh and in the mass of her limbs.

And since the things said seemed incredible, counsel was taken, and the priest entrusted the girl to the prior in a convent of girls, in which the relics of Saint Stephen were laid. There, she affirmed, that bird appeared only on the first day, and rebuked her — that though driven by neither hunger nor thirst, she should seek out that place, to which it was not permitted him to come. For two whole weeks she remained in the monastery, taking no food or drink.

3. And it happened that the fifteenth Sunday dawned. The priest going up with us, that the morning sacrifice might be offered there as usual, the prior led the girl to the altar — with that gait and bearing with which women flushed red from feasting and drinking are wont to come.

But when she prostrated herself at the altar, the sound of her cry drew groans and tears from all who stood by, with which the people there present besought the Lord that so great an evil might be taken away. For there was already an unseemly murmur among the people.

And so, the sacrifice being finished, when she among the rest received a small dipped portion of the Body of the Lord from the priest, she could not get it down, chewing for half an hour — that one not yet being put to flight, of whom the apostle says: What concord hath Christ with Belial? [2 Cor 6:15]. And again: Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. Ye cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord and of the table of devils [1 Cor 10:20–21].

And so, while the priest supported her face with his hand, lest she should spit out the holy thing, it was suggested by a certain deacon that the bishop should apply the saving CHALICE to her throat.

And when this was done — at once, as soon as he left that place which the devil had besieged, at the Saviour's command — the girl cried out that she had swallowed down the Sacrament she carried in her mouth, with praise of the Redeemer.

Hence joy; hence voices to the glory of God, that after eighty-five days, the devil being cast out, the girl was rescued from the enemy's power. And so an oblation of thanksgiving is offered again for her; and receiving a sure portion of the Sacrifice, she was restored to her former use.

Then also, while these things were being done, a deacon of that same church, moved by the divine Spirit, took down that statue and broke it into dust — and the divine Majesty overcame all the cunning of the ambusher.⁵

4. We also know that a certain man came there under the guise of a monk, who professed that he had worked certain signs of healing. And when he was playing certain illusory games about blind men and lame men, and anointing them with oil into which the bone of some dead man had been poured — while they reckoned that sight and step had been given back to them, they departed still remaining in the very infirmities they had been held by before. But that seducer, knowing himself found out in these things, fled.

5. In Asia, indeed, a certain religious and noble Christian related that this same man — or another — had done such things.

In Italy also, when we were stationed in Campania — while the venerable Pope Leo, to be named with apostolic honour, was overthrowing the Manichees and grinding down the Pelagians, and especially Julian — a certain man then going about, Florus by name, seized by a spirit of seduction, assigning to himself the power and merit of the holy martyr Sossius, when not far from the city of Naples he was promising and doing certain unlawful things to the overthrow of souls, was seized and restrained by the brother of the venerable bishop Nostrianus, and by Herius the presbyter, together with the clergy of the aforesaid Church — and so was driven out from the borders of that province.

Many things indeed he works through divers lands, who seeks companions for his own perdition. And therefore I have thought a few of his doings should be set down in this work, so that those who come after us may learn by reading with what caution, God helping, they may be strong to overcome the enemy.⁶

Chapter 7 — Prediction to be fulfilled: The woman, and the beast that carries her

In the Apocalypse John the apostle says: There came one of the seven holy angels, and spake with me, saying: Come, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters. And he led me away in the spirit, and I saw a woman sitting upon a beast having seven heads and ten horns, bearing a cup in her hand, full of the execrations of the uncleanness and fornication of the whole earth [Rev 17:1–4].

And a little after: I saw that woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Christ Jesus [Rev 17:6].

This is that great Babylon, to be stripped of her trophies throughout the world; and her daughter is any wretched city whatsoever that imitates her deeds and her pride.

AND DO NOT SUPPOSE HER TO BE A CITY IN ONE PLACE — SHE IS SCATTERED WHOLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

Of whom David the prophet also says: O wretched daughter of Babylon, blessed is he that shall render to thee thy recompense, which thou hast rendered unto us [Ps 137:8].

And in the Apocalypse of John it is said: Render to her as she also hath rendered to you; in the cup which she hath mingled for you, mingle to her double. And as much as she hath glorified herself and had power, so much give to her of torment and of mourning. Because she saith: I sit a queen, and am no widow, and I shall see no mourning. Therefore in one hour her plagues have come — death, and famine, and mourning. And she shall be burnt with fire, because strong is the Lord who shall judge her [Rev 18:6–8].

2. But who does not understand what he means by her that bears a cup full of the execrations of the uncleanness and fornication of the whole earth?

When that is called ETERNAL which is TEMPORAL, that is surely the name of blasphemy — when mortal kings, though they be mortal, are called in her Divi, "the divine ones," and men say to them as suppliants: "To your Godhead," "to your altars," "to your everlastingness," and the rest — things which vanity, not truth, hands down, and which are execrable. For these things are owed to the eternal God.

Indeed, in her sacrilegious rites, and by her then effeminate priests, inviting all the nations to the fornication of idolatry, she defiled herself in her own subjects. Of whom the holy Psalm sounds out: Thou hast destroyed all them that go a-whoring from thee [Ps 73:27].

Nevertheless, because there are in her citizens of the heavenly fatherland, Jerusalem, who say: But it is good for me to be joined to God [Ps 73:28] — to them it is said: Go out of her, my people, lest ye be partakers of her sins, and lest ye be stricken with her plagues [Rev 18:4].

For those go out who follow, not her deeds, but Christ the lowly way: who love not rapine but mercy; who keep peace and sanctification, without which no man shall see God [Heb 12:14]; who groan and grieve for the iniquities that are done in the midst of them; and who are not yoked together with unbelievers [2 Cor 6:14].

Whom also the Lord in the Gospel exhorts with his own address, saying among other things: Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [Matt 5:4–10].

Paul also testifies, saying: Only he who now holdeth, let him hold, until he be taken out of the way; and then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of his mouth, and shall bring to nought in the brightness of his presence [2 Thess 2:7–8].⁷

Chapter 8 — Prediction to be fulfilled: The ten kings whom Antichrist shall find

In the Apocalypse John: The angel said to me: Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the sacrament of this woman, and of the beast that carrieth her. The beast which thou sawest WAS, AND IS NOT; but she shall come up out of the abyss, and go into destruction. Those seven heads of hers are seven mountains, upon which the woman sitteth; and they are seven kings: whereof five are fallen, one remaineth, and another is not yet come; and when he shall come, he must remain a short time. And the beast which WAS AND IS NOT — she also is in the eighth place, though she be of the seven, and shall go into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but shall receive power as kings for ONE HOUR after the beast [Rev 17:7–12].

This was shown by Daniel — the FOURTH BEAST, which was greater than all the beasts, having so many horns [Dan 7:7].

2. But whereas there he says that a lesser horn arose, and shut out three horns before it, here he names SEVEN kings, those three being expelled — and that the eighth is Antichrist himself, since he is of the seven.

Therefore, so far as an estimate may be given: either he is recalling the earlier kings, who were the more savage against the Christian religion; or that, out of the ten, three being extinguished, there shall be seven who shall likewise rage against the Church.

Certainly he means all the ARIAN heretics to be understood, when he says: These shall fight against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them [Rev 17:14]. For they fight by blowing upon and REBAPTIZING the members of the Lamb, whom Christ had already consecrated with his own blood. But none hath perished, says the Lord, but the son of perdition [John 17:12].

Now the EIGHTH king, whom he calls Antichrist, some would have understood as NERO — so that he himself is the beast that was, and is not, and is yet to come.

But whether he take Nero's very form and bodily appearance and appear in it (as, conversely, the holy angel in the book of Tobit took on the appearance and likeness of Azariah, son of the great Ananias), or whether Antichrist appear in the likeness of another — that he will nonetheless have Nero's luxury and filth and savagery of character, Daniel the prophet testifies; which things are to be shown in the following chapter.⁸

Chapter 9 — Prediction to be fulfilled: The character of Antichrist

Daniel the prophet says that the angel said to him: The sons also of the transgressors of thy people shall be lifted up, that they may fulfil the vision [Dan 11:14].

And a little after: There shall stand up in his place one most vile and unworthy of kingly honour; and in a few days he shall be crushed, not in fury, nor in battle. And the king shall do according to his own will, and he shall be lifted up, and shall be magnified against every God, and against the God of gods he shall speak great things, and shall prosper, until the wrath be accomplished — for the determination is carried out. And he shall not regard the God of his fathers, and HE SHALL BE IN THE LUSTS OF WOMEN, and he shall worship a God whom his fathers knew not, and he shall set up the God Maozim in his place [Dan 11:21, 36–38].

Here it is shown that Antichrist comes OUT OF THE JEWS, OF THE TRIBE OF DAN — which is in Persia to this day — according to the prophetic blessing of Jacob the patriarch, saying: Dan shall judge his people, as another tribe of Israel. Let Dan be a serpent in the way, a horned viper in the path, biting the hoofs of the horse, that his rider may fall backward [Gen 49:16–17].

And immediately he shows that the true Christ the Lord shall come, saying: I will wait for thy salvation, O Lord [Gen 49:18].

This also the Lord testifies in the Gospel, which we set down above, saying to the Jews: I am come in my Father's name, and ye received me not; ANOTHER SHALL COME IN HIS OWN NAME, AND HIM YE WILL RECEIVE [John 5:43].

Whom Paul, rebuking as transgressors of the law, shows shall believe in Antichrist: Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, therefore God shall send them the working of error, that they may believe a lie; and that all may be judged who believed not the truth, but consented unto iniquity [2 Thess 2:10–12].

And it must certainly be noted that ALL THESE THINGS ARE TO COME AFTER THE BEAST — that is, when the kingdom is taken away in which the woman sits drunk with the blood of the saints — which we, believing, leave to be seen by those who come after.⁹

Chapter 10 — Prediction to be fulfilled: The persecutions of Antichrist

In the vision of Daniel, the angel says of Antichrist: His heart is against the holy covenant [Dan 11:28].

Likewise there: Arms shall stand up out of him, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and SHALL TAKE AWAY THE CONTINUAL SACRIFICE; and they shall set up the abomination in desolation; and the wicked shall dissemble deceitfully against the covenant [Dan 11:31–32].

AND HERE HE MARKS THE ARIANS, THE FORERUNNERS OF ANTICHRIST.

But the people, he says, that know their God shall prevail, and the learned among the people shall instruct many. And they shall fall by the sword, and by the flame, and by captivity, and by the spoil of days. And when they shall have fallen, they shall be raised up with a small help; and many shall be joined to them deceitfully. And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be tried, and chosen, and made white, UNTIL THE APPOINTED TIME [Dan 11:32–35].

Likewise there: At that time, it is said, shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the sons of thy people. And there shall come a time such as never was from the beginning, from the time that the nations began to be, even until that time. And at that time shall all thy people be saved, whosoever shall be found written in the book of life [Dan 12:1].

The Lord confirms these things in the Gospel: When ye shall see, he says, the devastation of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet — let him that readeth understand [Matt 24:15; Dan 9:27].

And again: In those days shall be tribulation and distress, such as was not from the beginning. And unless God had shortened those days, no flesh should have remained: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened [Matt 24:21–22].

John also testifies in the Apocalypse. There was given, he says, to the beast power to speak great things, and he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle. And there was given him power to make war with the saints, and to overcome and to kill them. And power was given him over every tribe and tongue and nation; and all shall adore him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, who was slain from the foundation of the world [Rev 13:5–8].

Here too the martyrdoms of Christ the Lord shine out — so that, as his FIRST advent had its thousands of infants, so his SECOND may fill up the number of the elect.¹⁰

Chapter 11 — Prediction to be fulfilled: The pride of Antichrist

Ezekiel the prophet: Thy heart is lifted up, he says, and thou hast said: I AM GOD, AND I SIT IN THE CHAIR OF GOD IN THE HEART OF THE SEA — whereas thou art a man, and not God. And thou hast set thy heart as the heart of God [Ezek 28:2].

And Paul the apostle says: When there shall come first the falling away, and the man of sin, the son of perdition, shall be revealed — who is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, SO THAT HE SITTETH IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD, SHOWING HIMSELF AS THOUGH HE WERE GOD [2 Thess 2:3–4].

And the Lord in the Gospel: When they shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ; lo, there — believe them not [Mark 13:21].

And in the Apocalypse of John: I saw, he says, a beast coming up out of the earth, and HE HAD TWO HORNS LIKE A LAMB, AND HE SPAKE AS A DRAGON [Rev 13:11].

And a little after: And he did great signs, so that he made fire come down from heaven upon the earth in the sight of men; and he seduced them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the signs which were given him to do [Rev 13:13–14].

Here let the curious be afraid — and especially the Jews. For the Jews require signs, as the Apostle says, and the Greeks seek after wisdom [1 Cor 1:22].

Whence some conjecture that Antichrist will sit in the temple of Solomon, or will exalt himself by signs, so that he may be believed to be Christ. For it has been shown that he will have heralds of his lie, since it is said that he shall have two horns like a Lamb.

John also says in the Apocalypse: I saw, he says, coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, THREE UNCLEAN SPIRITS LIKE FROGS: for they are the spirits of devils, working signs. They shall go forth unto the kings of the whole earth, to gather them together to battle against that great day of the Almighty [Rev 16:13–14].

For what was said in Daniel — swarms shall arise out of him²¹ — here is said openly: that THREE unclean spirits go out as his heralds, as it were INTO THE THREE PARTS OF THE WORLD, that is, of ASIA, EUROPE, AND AFRICA — who by signs may persuade men that Antichrist himself is Christ.

But that he is NOT, the things which follow shall show.¹¹

Chapter 12 — Prediction to be fulfilled: Antichrist to be convicted — that he is not Christ

In what pride Antichrist is to come, the things said above declare.

HIS COMING, THEREFORE, WILL NOT BE LOWLY — as all prophecy resounds concerning Christ, Isaiah saying: In his humility his judgment was taken away; and who shall declare his generation? for his life shall be taken from the earth [Isa 53:8].

He will not be led as a sheep to the slaughter — that is, to the Passion — as the Gospels and the prophecies testify Christ was led [Isa 53:7].

He will not give his cheek to him that smiteth him, nor, receiving spittings and buffets, will he hold his peace — which things, done in Christ, we so believe, as all prophecy foretells them [Lam 3:30].

He will not set his back to the scourges, nor be filled full with reproaches — which the whole Gospel and prophecy proclaim that Christ fulfilled.

His garments will not be divided, and no man will cast lots for his tunic — which was done upon Christ's clothing, as the Gospels and the prophecies testify [Ps 22:18].

He will not be crucified, nor receive gall and vinegar — which the Gospels and the prophecies alike say that Christ received [John 19:29; Ps 69:21; Matt 27:34].

He will not take the lance in his side, and the wounds of the nails will not be in him — which the Gospels and the prophecies testify were in Christ even after the Resurrection [John 19:34; 20:27].

He will not redeem the world with his own blood — which all prophecy proclaims of Christ.

He will not die, and rise again on the third day — which the Gospels, and the apostolic writings, and the prophecies testify that Christ did [Matt 27:63; Hos 6:2].

He will not ascend into heaven, nor pour out the Holy Spirit in tongues of fire upon the disciples — which the whole Gospel and prophecy sound forth that Christ fulfilled [Acts 1:9; 2:3–4; Joel 2:28].

And beyond these things, the whole world itself is now a witness.

2. Wherefore, these things being examined and looked through, let those who come after us understand THAT ANTICHRIST IS NOT CHRIST.

Whose end the Apocalypse itself shows. There came, it says, an angel, and laid hold on the dragon, and the beast, and the false prophets. These were cast ALIVE together into the lake burning with fire and brimstone, and they shall be tormented there for ever and ever [Rev 19:20; 20:10].

This shall be the end of the devil and of his angels, and of those men who passed over into his fellowship under his mark and his sign. As Daniel and Ezekiel the prophets also testify concerning his end.

But in the things which have been said, they will do well who shall then be alive to attend to prophecy — as to a lamp in a dark place, until the Day himself, who is to come, shine out in the hearts of them that believe [2 Pet 1:19].¹²

Chapter 13 — Promise to be fulfilled: The sending of Elijah and Enoch

In Malachi the prophet: Behold, he says, saith the Lord, I will send you Elijah the Tishbite, before the great and manifest day of the Lord come; who shall restore the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his neighbour, lest I come and strike the earth utterly [Mal 4:5–6].

For thus shall these prophets turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons — that is, to show what the patriarchs and the prophets said of Christ, who was to come IN HUMILITY, convicting Antichrist that he is not Christ.

This the Apocalypse of John shows more plainly. I will give, saith the Lord, to my two martyrs, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks that stand in the sight of the Lord of the earth [Rev 11:3–4].

And a little after: These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy. And they have power over all waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they will [Rev 11:6].

Behold, here too a threefold division of witnesses.

• Against Pharaoh, two witnesses of God were sent — MOSES and AARON; and two magicians of Pharaoh, JANNES and JAMBRES, resisting Moses, who perished together with their king [Exod 7; 2 Tim 3:8].
• And against Nero, two — the apostles PETER and PAUL; and on the contrary, SIMON MAGUS, who both destroyed himself and deceived Nero.
• And against Antichrist, two — the prophets ENOCH and ELIJAH; against whom shall rise up THREE false prophets of Antichrist.

Therefore here there is one MORE, because above there was one FEWER — so that the number six may be filled up out of both sides: on account of the six days of the creature disposed in the beginning, and the six angels sounding with trumpets and bringing as many plagues upon the world — so that the SEVENTH may signify the end of labours and the rest of the saints: as it were the seventh day, WHICH SHALL HAVE ONLY A MORNING, AND SHALL HAVE NO EVENING.

Which rest of the sabbath the Godhead itself commends to be kept by every precept — that, being free from every evil work, we may stand in the morning; that we may contemplate him who crowns all in pity and in mercy, judging justly, and condemning no man unjustly [Ps 103:4].

But concerning these things TYCONIUS has written much.

Now the consummation and perfection of the times — of THREE YEARS AND SIX MONTHS, which are called the ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY DAYS, and make FORTY-TWO MONTHS — not only the Apocalypse of John, but Daniel the prophet also commends [Rev 11:2–3; 12:6; Dan 12:11] — in which the holy city is to be trodden down, as is reckoned, by the heretics, and especially by the ARIANS, who were then most powerful: GOG and MAGOG, as some have said, meaning the Goths and the Moors, the Getae and the Massagetae — by whose savagery the devil already lays the Church waste, and then shall persecute her yet more.

They shall also make the continual sacrifice to cease. Wherefore the Lord admonishes, saying: Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked [Rev 16:15].

But what the garments are that must be kept, the following chapter shall show.¹³

Chapter 14 — Prediction to be fulfilled: The garment to be kept by Christians

Paul the apostle says: As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have PUT ON CHRIST [Gal 3:27].

And the Lord in the Gospel: He that is once washed, he says, needeth not to wash, save his feet only, for he is clean every whit [John 13:10].

Therefore everyone rebaptized by heretics either willingly loses his garment, Christ; or, failing in persecution, loses the clothing that he had.

While, then, there is yet time, let him run back — stripped and naked — by repenting, to the merciful Father, who to the returning lost son commands THE FIRST ROBE to be given back, and with it THE RING of dignity [Luke 15:22].

He who still desires to be fed on the twisted disputations of heretics, as on the husks of swine, let him remember the BREAD, and the FATHER [Luke 15:16–17]; let him flee the robbers who have stripped him; let him be ashamed that a son of God has been made a chattel of Antichrist.

Let him come back — of his own accord, or under compulsion — that he may be clothed, lest he be judged, exhibited naked.

These things shall the witnesses of God do with the lost sons. In them Elijah and Enoch shall consummate their martyrdom, as the authority of the following chapter narrates.¹⁴

Chapter 15 — Prediction to be fulfilled: The passion of Elijah and Enoch

In the Apocalypse of John it is said: When they shall have finished their martyrdom, the beast that shall come up out of the abyss shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and shall kill them. And their bodies shall lie in the street of that great city, which is spiritually called SODOM and EGYPT, where their Lord also was crucified [Rev 11:7–8].

This "street" is the CONSCIENCE OF ALL THE UNGODLY, applauding in the world at the death of the saints — because they have been rid, as it were, of their bitterest enemies.

On which account they shall not suffer their bodies to be laid in sepulchres, because these two prophets tormented them that dwell upon the earth [Rev 11:9–10].

And when these are slain — When they shall say, Peace and security, then shall sudden destruction come upon them, as the pang upon her that is with child, and they shall not escape [1 Thess 5:3]. Because the day of the Lord (as Paul the apostle says) shall so come as a thief in the night [1 Thess 5:2].¹⁵

Chapter 16 — Promise to be fulfilled: The resurrection of Elijah and Enoch

The Apocalypse of John says: After three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet [Rev 11:11].

Of these I judge the apostle Paul to have said: And the dead in Christ shall rise first [1 Thess 4:16].

The three and a half DAYS, therefore, answer to the three YEARS and six months in which Antichrist shall have power.

And these being fulfilled, before the eyes of their enemies, Elijah and Enoch, ascending into heaven, shall go to meet Christ, the true King and Judge, as he comes [Rev 11:12]: who shall slay Antichrist and all that are his with the spirit of his mouth [2 Thess 2:8], that he himself may reign in the house of Jacob — he of whom it was said: Of his kingdom there shall be no end [Luke 1:33; Mic 4:7].¹⁶

Chapter 17 — Promise to be fulfilled: The coming in glory of the Son of God and of Man

David the prophet says: God shall come manifest, our God, and he shall not keep silence. A fire shall burn before him, and round about him a mighty tempest [Ps 50:3].

And the prophet Amos says: Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord! And to what end is it for you? [Amos 5:18].

And Malachi: He shall suddenly come into his temple, the Lord whom ye know not, and the Angel of the testament, whom ye desire. Behold, he cometh, saith the Lord. And who shall endure his entrance? or who shall stand in his sight? For he shall enter in as the fire of the refiner [Mal 3:1–2].

And Isaiah says: Behold, the day of the Lord shall come as fire, and his chariot as a whirlwind, to render vengeance in wrath, and retribution in the flame of fire [Isa 66:15].

And the Lord says in the Gospel: For as the lightning cometh out of the East, and shineth even unto the West, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be [Matt 24:27].

And again: The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall be falling from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved: and then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory [Matt 24:29–30].

2. The Apocalypse of John also testifies, saying: The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell, in the manner in which a fig tree, shaken by a great wind, casteth her unripe fruits. And the heaven departed, as a book when it is rolled up; and every mountain and the islands were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great tribunes, and the rich, and the nobles, and the bondmen hid themselves in the caves and rocks of the mountains, saying to the mountains and rocks: Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of the Father that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb — FOR THE GREAT DAY OF THEIR WRATH IS COME. AND WHO SHALL BE ABLE TO STAND? [Rev 6:12–17].

And Paul the apostle says: The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with commandment, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God [1 Thess 4:16].

And the Sibyl confesses it, saying among other things:

The sun's radiance is snatched away, and the choir of the stars perishes; the heaven shall be rolled up; the splendour of the moon shall go out. But then a trumpet shall send down its mournful sound from the height of the world, groaning over wretched crime and manifold toils. And the gaping earth shall show the Tartarean chaos.

3. I have passed over many necessary testimonies through the several chapters, considering the measure of the work I undertook.

Wherefore the coming of the Son of God, as it brings gladness to the good, so brings destruction to the evil. NOW, THEREFORE, WHILE WE LIVE, AND IT IS THE TIME FOR SETTING RIGHT — LET US CHANGE OUR ACTS AND OUR WAYS.

And there follows the resurrection of the dead.

Chapter 18 — Promise to be fulfilled: The resurrection of the flesh

Ezekiel the prophet: The Lord said to me: Son of man, prophesy over these bones, and say: Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring you out of your graves, and I will lay sinews upon you, and I will put flesh upon you, and I will stretch skin over you. And I will put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am the Lord [Ezek 37:4–6, 12–14].

And Isaiah: The dead shall rise, and they that are in the graves shall be raised up [Isa 26:19].

And he himself in the Gospel: The hour shall come, he says, when all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment [John 5:28–29].

And Paul testifies that these things shall be done in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: For the trumpet shall sound, he says, and the dead shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed [1 Cor 15:52].

And the Apocalypse: The sea gave up the dead that it had in it; and death and hell likewise [Rev 20:13].

Here that question thrusts itself forward to be resolved, which is put forth by the mouth of foolish men and of the heathen: HOW SHALL THOSE RISE, WHOSE CORPSES WILD BEASTS AND BRUTES HAVE EATEN — and those beasts themselves been consumed by other beasts, by birds, by dogs?

They do not know that ALL THINGS CREATED OUT OF THE EARTH, BEING DISSOLVED, FALL BACK INTO THE SAME MATTER; and that it is easy for the power of the Creator to make again out of that matter the things that were — HE WHO WAS ABLE, among the rest, TO FORM THE FIRST MAN OUT OF IT WHEN HE WAS NOT AT ALL.

But if anyone is troubled by what is written in the first Psalm — that the wicked shall not rise IN THE JUDGMENT [Ps 1:5] — let him understand that they rise NOT UNTO JUDGMENT, BUT UNTO PUNISHMENT, according to that sentence of the Lord: He that believeth not, he says, is judged already [John 3:18].

And the Sibyl confesses it:

So shall the souls be present with the flesh, whom he himself shall judge.

All rising again, the judgment follows.¹⁷

Chapter 19 — Promise to be fulfilled: The judgment of Christ the Lord

David the prophet says: The heavens shall declare his justice, for God is judge [Ps 50:6].

Likewise: He hath called the heaven above, and the earth, that he may discern his people [Ps 50:4].

Likewise: He hath judged the world in equity [Ps 96:13].

The Lord confirms these things in the Gospel. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, he says, all the nations shall be gathered before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats. He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall he say to them that are on the right hand: COME, YE BLESSED OF MY FATHER, POSSESS THE KINGDOM PREPARED FOR YOU FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. FOR I WAS HUNGRY, AND YE GAVE ME TO EAT — and the rest that belongs to the works of mercy [Matt 25:31–35].

In which works there is the great sacrifice that purges every sin, the Lord himself saying: I will have MERCY rather than sacrifice [Matt 9:13].

But to those on the left he shall say: Go into the eternal fire, which my Father hath prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, he says, and ye gave me not to eat — and the rest likewise, which belong to the destructions of cruelty, which drown a man in destruction and perdition [1 Tim 6:9] — while the greedy do not feed Christ, hungering in the poor man, who says: Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, neither did ye do it to me [Matt 25:41–45].

And there follows the sentence passed between the parties by the Judge. The wicked shall go, it is said, into everlasting burning.

2. Paul the apostle also testifies in these things. We shall all, he says, stand before the tribunal of Christ, that every one may render according to the things he hath done in the body, whether good or evil [2 Cor 5:10].

And the Apocalypse of John says: I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in the sight of the throne of God. Thereupon the books were opened; and ANOTHER book was opened, which is the book of the life of each one of men: and the dead were judged out of those writings of the books, according to their deeds [Rev 20:12].

THE BOOKS THAT WERE OPENED ARE THE CONSCIENCES OF INDIVIDUAL MEN. The OTHER book, which contains the acts of all, is THE JUSTICE OF GOD, bringing all things into the light.

Of which Paul says: Until the Lord come, and illuminate the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the thoughts of the heart: and then shall every man have praise from God [1 Cor 4:5].

The Apocalypse of John concludes: Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire; and whosoever were not found in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire, in which they shall be tormented for ever and ever [Rev 20:14–15].

As Isaiah also says: Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be, unto the satiety of the sight, to all flesh [Isa 66:24].

And the Sibyl confesses it:

Then, uncovering hidden deeds, each man shall speak his secrets; and God shall unlock the breasts unto the light. Then shall there be mourning; all shall gnash with their teeth.

And a little after:

And before this Lord shall the kings be set, down to the last man. A river of fire and brimstone shall fall from the heavens.

After these things it follows that certain faithful men, and the elements themselves, are purged BY A PURIFYING FIRE.¹⁸

Chapter 20 — Promise to be fulfilled: The purifying fire

David the prophet: All things shall grow old as a garment; and as a covering thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the selfsame [Ps 102:26–27].

Likewise he: Thou hast tried us by fire, as silver is tried [Ps 66:10]. And again: We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment [Ps 66:12].

And Malachi the prophet: He entereth in, he says, as the fire of the refiner, and he shall sit refining and purging as it were silver and gold; and he purged the sons of Levi [Mal 3:2–3].

And in the Gospel Matthew confirms these things of the Lord, saying: This is he that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit AND IN FIRE, bearing his fan in his hand, and he shall purge his floor. The wheat he shall lay up in the barn; the chaff he shall burn with unquenchable fire [Matt 3:11–12].

And again the Lord himself says: Before heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall not fall from the law, till all be fulfilled [Matt 5:18].

And Peter the apostle: But the heavens which are now, by the same word are stored up, being reserved unto fire against the day of judgment [2 Pet 3:7].

And a little after: Hastening, he says, unto the presence of the Lord, by which the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the burning heat of fire [2 Pet 3:12].

And Paul says: Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption, into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God [Rom 8:21].

And the Sibyl confesses it, saying:

All things shall cease; the shattered earth shall perish. So likewise the springs and the rivers are scorched away with fire.

These things therefore being done — when the wicked, looking back upon the just, shall say:

These are they whom we had once in derision, and for a parable of reproach. We fools counted their life madness, and their end without honour. HOW ARE THEY NUMBERED AMONG THE SONS OF GOD, AND THEIR LOT IS AMONG THE SAINTS! [Wis 5:3–5]

— then doing a fruitless repentance, since it is written: But in hell, who shall confess to thee? [Ps 6:5]

And the wicked being driven into the outer darkness, in which there shall be no light and no day; and when that terrible and fearful voice shall have sounded: Let the wicked be taken away, and let him not see the glory of the Lord of the saints [Isa 26:10] —

THEN SHALL FOLLOW THAT EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS GLORY, WHICH IS TO BE SET FORTH IN THE CHAPTERS THAT REMAIN.

END OF THE HALF OF TIME. 20 chapters.