DEMONSTRATIO LUCULENTA, NOVA: Or, A New Method of DEMONSTRATING That ROME CHRISTIAN( and Not, Heathen,) is the WOMAN, Called BABYLON, in th' Seeventeenth Chapter of the REVELATION. By wall. Garrett, Rector of Everly in Wiltshire.  
I will give you a Mouth, and Wisdom, which All your Adversaries shall not be able to Gainsay, nor Resist,  Luk. XXI. 15. 
IT is Frequently observed by Monsieur de Meaux, in his Exposition of the Revelation, with what Great Confidence, and Assurance, the Protestant Party Abroad, and particularly in Holland, do Assert the Truth of the above said Proposition. He calls it Asseûrance étonnante, an Astonishing Assurance, Pref. p. 64. l. ult. and, une Confiance qui étonne L'univers, a Confidence, that Amazes the Whole World, Pref. p. 41. l. 11. And I cannot but Commend them highly for it: for it is not Easy to be too Zealous in a Cause of such Concernment; and where our Confidence,( were it as Great, as it is said to be,) is nothing so Astonishing, as our Reasons.  
But I am afraid my own Countrymen have not the same Opinion of them, that I have. And therefore to Provoke their Zeal, to a Just Emulation of our Brethren beyond Sea, I humbly Offer to their Pious Consideration, these following Remarks; whereby I hope to put it past all Doubt, with men of Sense and Ingenuity, That Rome CHRISTIAN,( and Not Heathen) is That Wretched WOMAN, in the XVII. Chap. of the Revelation.  
And this I mean( with God's Good Help) to Prove at present, only by Comparing the Woman in the XVII. Chap. with the Woman in the Twelfth. From whence I thus Argue: The Woman In the Wilderness, Rev. XVII. is the Same with the Woman, that Fled into the Wilderness, Rev. XII. But the Woman, that Fled into the Wilderness, Rev. XII. is a Church; Ergo, The Woman In the Wilderness, Rev. XVII. is a CHURCH likewise. That the Woman, Rev. XII. is a Church, appears so Plainly from the Description, that is There given of her, that it is confessed on All hands. For she was seen in Heaven, Clothed with the Sun, and the Moon under her Feet, and upon her Head a Crown of Twelve Stars. And being with Child she cried, Travailing in Birth, and Pained to be delivered. Upon which words let us hear Monsieur de Meaux for All. A Woman Clothed with the Sun C'est l'Eglise( says he Presently) toute Eclatante de la Lumiére de Jesus-Christ, It is the Church, Shining all over with the Light of Jesus Christ.  
The Moon under her Feet, is according to him, in the next words The Dim and Changeable Lights of Man's Wisdom. And her Crown of Twelve Stars, he calls The Twelve Apostles. Her Travail-pains he refers to her Sufferings; and handsomely applies to this purpose That of Primasius, queen l'Eglise Enfante parses Souffrances, That the Church Brings. forth Children by her Sufferings; and that the Blood of her Martyrs makes her Fruitful. Well then, we need not give ourselves any further Trouble about the Woman in Rev. XII. for she is confessed to be a Church, by One who Never makes a Good Interpreter of the Revelation, but when he cannot Possibly Avoid it.  
The Proposition, then that must be Fought for, is the First, viz. that the Woman In the Wilderness, Rev. XVII. is the Same with the Woman that Fled into the Wilderness Rev. XII. That the Woman that was Clothed with the Sun, and had the Moon under her Feet, and upon her Head a Crown of Twelve Stars, Fled into the Wilderness, is the Express Affirmation of Rev. 12.5. and is not Possible to be denied, neither is it by Any man. And it shall go very hard then, but I will Convince 'em if it be Possible, That the Woman In the Wilderness, Rev. XVII. is the Same with the Woman that Fled into the Wilderness, Rev. XII. 5. And why not? I pray, Sirs, For,  
Consider, That from the XII. Chap. to the XVII. Chap. inclusively, the Same Matter in General is Treated of, viz. The Affairs of the Church, and State of the Roman Empire. There is no New Subject entred on, in all those Chapters; from what had been Begun, Chap. XII. as is confessed by Every body. And, Why then must we needs make One Woman, of her that Fled into the Wilderness, Rev. XII. and Another, of her that was Seen in the Wilderness, Rev. XVII? I confess myself Utterly Unable to imagine Any Reason,( and without Reason, we know, non sunt Multiplicanda Entia) that may Justly minister any Colour of Suspicion, that they are Two Several Women; but Only that they are so Little LIKE. Which, methinks, should be no such Great Argument of Diversity.  
For to This the Answer is Obvious enough, viz. That possibly the Woman, Rev. XII. 1. did not Continue fixed, and Permanent, in her heavenly State, Clothed with the Sun, &c. but might in Process of time, Exchange her heavenly Ornaments, Rev. XII. for such as the Woman in the Wilderness appeared in, Chap. XVII. that is, her Clothing of Light, for a Vesture of Purple,( a more Fashionable Dress, it may be, in that Wilderness, whither she Fled; and so, no wonder if the Woman struck into it.) her Divine Knowledge of Jesus Christ( wherewith she Formerly had allured so Many to his Service,) for an Intoxicating Cup of Superstitions, and Idolatries, to make the Nations Drunk withal: And her Crown of Twelve Stars, for the more Modish Ornaments, of Gold, and Precious ston, and Pearls. And, lastly, It is not Impossible, but that, Instead of being Persecuted by the Beast with Seven Heads, and Ten Horns, as she had been in Heaven; she might Afterwards, being tricked up A la mode du Desert, prove so Taking in his Eye, as to win him to her Friendship, and to have him at her Devotion, and to Manage him at her Pleasure that is, in the style of the prophesy, to Sit upon him, or Preside over him; as she was seen to do, Rev. XVII. So that, the Wilderness she fled to, seems to be, the Pomps and Vanities of this Lower World; which, like an Eagle, Greedy of her Prey, she Flew upon, Rev. XII. 14. So soon as she had got an Emperor of her Own Profession, Rev. XII. 4, 5.  
To this I dare aver, there's nothing Possible to be replied, but that, De Facto, the Christian Church of the Roman Empire, has never yet been Guilty of any Such Degeneracy. And this is the Post, that I am now to Beat 'em from. Which Thus I do; to wit, by only Minding them, That it is Exceeding Manifest, tho' it has not( that I Know of) been taken Notice of by any Other, That the Woman in heaven, Clothed with the Sun, &c. was Afterwards, upon her Quitting of that Station, Foully to Degenerate. This I say, is Exceeding Manifest, even from the Description, that we have of her in Rev. XII. without going to the XVII. Chap. for a Proof of it. For it is both Apparent, and confessed, That by the Woman's being in heaven, Clothed with the Sun, having the Moon under her Feet, and upon her Head a Crown of Twelve Stars, is signified her Apostolical Purity. But, What was to become of all those Fine things, when she was come into the Wilderness? Was she to be in heaven Still; and to remain Still Clothed with the Sun; to have the Moon under her Feet in a Wilderness, and upon her Head a Crown of Twelve Stars? And, Is there then a Wilderness in heaven? If Monsieur de Moze, will Affirm This, I Know of no body so Fit to Dispute the Point with him, as the Man in the Moon; to whom therefore I must remit him. But if he will show himself a Fair Antagonist, and Grant, that the Wilderness, the Woman fled into, was in that part of the Universe, where All Other Wildernesses are said to be, Is it not Then Exceeding Plain, that this Foolish Woman changed from heaven to Earth; and Consequently, from being Clothed with the Sun, &c.( that is, from being toute éclatante de la Lumiére de Jesus Christ, all over shining with the Light of Jesus Christ,) to What? I pray, Tell us yourself, Sir; for Protestants I Need not Tell; and your Own men will not Believe me. But it must needs be to Somewhat, as Different from what she was Before, as Earth from heaven; and as the Dimness of a Cavern, from the Lustre of the Zodiac. But it is worth ones While, to hear what Monsieur de Moze says of this Notable Flight of the Woman's; L' Eglise cache son Service dans des Lieux Retirez, says he, The Church Conceals her Service in Secret Places. But, What? In heaven Clothed with the Sun still, and the Moon under her Feet? I trow Not. Wherefore she lost those Heavenly Indications of her Piety; and What Others Got she in their Stead? For Since it is Every way so Undeniable That the Woman Left her heavenly for an Earthly Station; Would not Any one be Apt to Ask, What Clothing had she, when she Came into the Wilderness? And, What did There Become of her? Is not This a very Natural Enquiry, as Can be? And is not That as Proper an Answer to it, which is given in Chap. XVII. to wit, That, in the Wilderness, she came to be Clothed( Not with the Sun, but) with Purple, and Scarlet Colour and Decked with Gold,( for the Wilderness, it seems, is not a Place for Hiding, but Appearing in) and Precious ston, and Pearls, having a Golden Cup in her Hand, Full of Abominations, and Filthiness of her Fornication, &c. And upon her Forehead a Name written,( instead of her Apostolical Crown in her heavenly State,) Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and Abominations of the Earth. And so far from being Persecuted Now, as she had been Before; that, on the Contrary, she had even made her self Drunk'n with the Blood of Saints, and with the Blood of the Martyrs of Jesus. And That, by virtue of her Sitting on the Beast in the Wilderness, which Before had Persecuted her.  
But This is Rome Heathen, they say; tho' she be no where said to have Gone into the Wilderness; Whereas the Church, that is Expressly said to have Fled into the Wilderness, has no Notice taken of her There at all; nor is there any mention of her Habit in the Wilderness; tho' one could not but Expect to find one. But there is no Occasion for such Shuffling at all. For, Is not All the Woman's Wilderness-Description, for matter of Fact, Apparently Evident of the Church of Rome? I speak Now to Protestants. And if the Papists could but See their Worship to be Idolatrous; they would Confess( and All the World with them) that Nothing could be a more Lively Representation, than This is, of the Christian City of Rome. They must therefore Own thus much at least, to their Confusion, and Astonishment, That the Spirit, in this prophesy, does most Wonderfully Favour the Hypothesis of the Protestants.  
But I was saying, That upon the Woman's Coming out of Heaven into the Wilderness, it would be a very proper Enquiry, What Then Became of her; and of her Heavenly Ornaments, the Sun, Moon, and Stars, which she could not Carry into the Wilderness with her? I now add, That S. John, While he was Receiving these Visions, is Plainly Intimated to have had the Same Thoughts about her. For Instantly, upon her being Represented to him in her Wilderness-Condition, when I saw her, says he, I wondered with Great Admiration, Rev. XVII. 6. As who should say; Having observed it to be so Common a thing in these Visions, to Describe People by their Habits( as in Rev. I. 13. IV. 4. VII. 9. IX. 7, 17. XI. 3. XII. 1, 3. XIII, 1. XIV. 1. XV. 6.) and finding, that this Woman had changed her Station where she had been Clothed with the Sun, &c. for a Wilderness; I was resolved to Observe, What kind of Figure she would make There. For by the Vision of Chap. XII. I had only understood, that she was Fled into the Wilderness, vers. 5, 14. but had not Seen her in the Wilderness till Now. So when I saw her, in the Wilderness, Clothed with Purple, &c. and remembered How Glorious I had Seen her Before in Heaven, I could not but stand amazed, at the Vastness of the Alteration.  
But now, If this Woman were Rome Heathen,( as the Papists, and their Favourers, would have it,) What Matter was there, of such Mighty Admiration? or indeed, of Any at all? Poor Monsieur de Meaux upon the Place, seems to have been ware of this: and what do ye think, he Assigns for the Reason of the surprise? Peut easter, says he, It may be, the Prophet was astonished to see, that She that was Represented to him so Rich, and Powerful, should be Tumbled down in One Moment. A Wretched Shift! For, 1. no such thing had Yet been signified to S. John. And, 2. When it was, he does not Wonder at it at all, as may be seen in the Following Chapter. For indeed, it is God's Ordinary Way of Dealing with the Persecutors of his People: The Instances whereof are Many. And 3. the Prophet tells us Himself, what it was, he wondered at, by saying, When I Saw her, I wondered &c. That is, I wondered at the Sight of her as she was Then Represented to me. She had been a Great Wonder Before, in Heaven, Rev. XII. 1. but, in the Wilderness, I looked upon her as a Greater, So that I was beyond Measure astonished, and surprised, to find her in That Habit, and Condition, so Vastly Distant from her Former.  
Lastly, Let but Any Judicious, Sober Person, Compare the Account, that is given of this Admirable prophesy, in the Protestant Way, with what the Papists, and their Favourers, Afford us of it, and I doubt not at All, but he will Pronounce of Ours, That it is Truly Noble, and August; and Such as one might Expect from the Divine, All Seeing Wisdom of the H. Spirit of prophesy: the Proofs whereof are Extant Still; Fresh, Visible, and Conspicuous at This Very Day; in the Womans most Excessive Grandeur, Pride, and Tyranny; as also in her multiplied Superstitions, and Idolatries; and( I wish, I could not Add, what cannot Possibly be Dissembled) in her being Drunken with the Blood of Saints and with the Blood of the Martyrs of Jesus. But to give so Gallant a View, of a Church so Glorious, and Attractive, for above Two Hundred Years,( as is done in Rev. XII. Themselves being the Interpreters;) and Then, to Huddle her down, in Hugger-mugger,( as it were,) from Heaven into a Wilderness, no man Knows Where, nor Why; and There to Leave her, from about the Year 323. Lost, bewildered, and Forsaken Utterly; without think, or tidings to be Heard of her for Ever After( Altho' it be Pretended at the Same Time, that she was to Continue in the Wilderness but Three Single Years and a half, or Thereabouts;) What a Sneaking, Lame, Abrupt, Short-sighted Business is it! and in All respects Dishonourable, Mean, Ridiculous, Pitiful, and Contemptible!  
From All which, I Conclude, That the Woman, the Church, upon her Leaving Heaven, was Forthwith to Degenerate to such a State, as Rev. XVII. Assigns to her in the Wilderness: and therefore, That she did Accordingly Degenerate.  
It is therefore Clear to Admiration, what our Adversary So Undauntedly in Every Corner of his Book Denies; viz. That the Apocalyps does make Mention of a Corrupted CHURCH. It is more than Probable indeed, that he might never have Seen the Evidence, I here Bring of it: For I do not Know, that it was any where Extant, but in my Exposition of Rev. XVII, XII and XIII. near Twenty Years ago made public. Since therefore I have a little Room left for it, I care not if I Proceed to examine his Main Objection, against the Common Protestant Exposition of the XVII. Chapter( set on foot by Mr. meed) which makes the Woman in that Chapter, to be the Christian City of Rome: to see if it be such a Dreadful, and Redoutable Attack, as Himself makes of it.  
We must know then, That whereas the Angel there Expounds the Seven Heads of the Beast, to be Seven Kings; adding, Five are fallen; One is; &c. The Protestants say, That by the Five Kings that in S. John's time were fallen, are meant, Kings, Consuls, Decemvirs, Tribunes, Dictators, that is, the Five Several Sorts of Supreme Governments, that Rome had enjoyed, before her Heathen Emperors, who were the One King Then Reigning. But now against This Way of Interpreting, what a Heavy Out-cry does our Adversary make! He calls it une Bizzare Imagination, pag. 328. lin. 16. a Fantastical Imagination, to take Kings for Forms of Government; and to Count among the Kings of Rome, the Consuls, who driven them Thence. He makes as if he had been too Hard for Mons. Juriéu upon that Point; and Reckons it amongst his chooses bien plus Pressantes, his most weighty Objections, which his Antagonist dared not Enter the Lists withal. Whereupon he thus Vaunts himself, in these words: I had Demanded of him( says he) Where he had Learnt, That Forms of Government were Kings; what Example of Scripture he had for it. Where he had found, that a King was any other thing, than a Single Man, in whom the sovereign Power Resided, and in one word, A MONARCH. And, How then could he Think, that Two Consuls, Ten Decemvirs, and Seven or Eight Military Tribunes were a KING; &c. And at this Wild Rate he Runs on for Many Lines together.  
I Know not what Mons. Jurieu has since replied; but, I think, he could not be to Seek for an Answer, when Daniel( whose Visions most Resemble those of the Apocalyps,) calls Four Kingdoms by the Name of Four Kings: Dan. VII. 17, 23. And, that by the Fourth of those Kings, is meant the Roman Kingdom, we have the Concurrent Testimony of All Interpreters, both Jews, and Our own; ancient, and Modern; None Excepted. So Malvenda, a Learned Papist, who wrote in the Year 1621. in his De Antichristo, Lib. V. Cap. 24. Sect. equidem haec, &c. In which Place it is Observable, That Daniel speaks of the WHOLE Fourth Kingdom, from First to Last; from its First Rise, Dan. VII. 3. to its Utter ruin, verses. 23, 26. So that he Calls the Whole Succession of its Kings, Consuls, Decemvirs, Tribunes, Dictators, Emperors, and Popes, by the Name of a KING.  
So again When David, prophesying of the Glory of Christ's Kingdom, says, ALL KINGS shall Fall down before him, All Nations shall do him Service, Psal. LXXII. 11. it were both Ridiculous, and Impious, to Interpret him of Monarchs Only; and not, That All Nations of the World, be they Kingdoms, States or of What Denomination soever Else; with their Supreme Governours, of what sort, or Form soever, shall Adore and Serve Him that Made them;( as the Reason is intimated, Psal. LXXXVI. 9.) And there are Many Passages of Scripture to Like Effect. So Shameless is the Confidence( altho' the Naughtiness of his Cause Requiring such a Management, there's No Man much astonished at it) wherewith he would persuade his simplo Reader, That a KING is no where taken Otherwise in Scripture, Than for One Man, a MONARCH.  
O Babylon! Nostris tandem Spollanda Trophaeis!  
Magna etenim VERI Vis est, et Ubique Valeb●t.  
Lastly, King for All Sorts of Supreme Governours; Father, and Mother, for All Sorts of Honourable Persons; Murder, Adultery Theft, Falswitness, for All Sorts of Like Practices; Bread, for All Sorts of Necessaries, &c. is in scripture of All Others, a Figure the most Usual.  
But this is more than I thought to have said, For I designed at first, Only to Satisfy Mons. de Meaux's Curiosity,( who longed to Find in the Revelation some Mark of a Corrupted Church, and kept such a Heavy Stir, with Complaining of Our Hard Measure to the Church of Rome upon That Account) by showing, nay, DEMONSTRATING,( if That be So, which Cannot be Confuted) That the Woman called Babylon the Great, Rev. XVII. is the very Same with the Woman, the Church, Rev. XII. And I hope, I have so done it, as to Leave no Scruple in the Mind of Any Protestant, at least, that shall Peruse this Paper, That there are very Evident, and Unquestionable Marks of a CORRUPTED CHURCH discovered in the Revelation.  

Consectary.  
From hence it follows, that the Woman, Rev 12. is the Church of that Particular City of Rome; and not, the Christian Church of the Roman Empire at Large: as All Other Interpreters,( for ought I Know) by an unhappy Oversight have Expounded her. For the Woman, Rev. XVII. 18. is on All hands Agreed to be that Individual City of Rome. And the Woman, Rev XII. to be a Church. If therefore These be the Same Woman,( as I have here Demonstrated them to be,) the Woman Rev. XII. must be that Particular Church of Rome: or, if you please, The Woman, Rev. XII. 1. must be as much the Church of Rome; as the Woman, Rev. XVII. 18. is the City of Rome. According as I have explained it in my Notes on the Seventeenth, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Chapters of the Revelation.  
And this Notion was it, that put me upon Examining, whether, as the Primitive Church was described by that Particular Church of Rome, So the Reformed were not likewise set-forth with Particular Respect had to the Church of England. The same which Presently I Found, to my no small surprise, and Admiration, to be True indeed; and thereby a Door set Open to the Understanding of the Five First Chapters( according to my Late Exposition of them;) and of Whatever Visions else, belong to the Reformed Churches.  
But my Business is at present, with the Church of Rome only Concerning whose Condition in the Wilderness, for a Further Illustration of what has been Already said, I shall Shut up All with these following Remarks. First, Observe, That she is not shown to S. John in the Wilderness, but by one of the Vial Angels, Rev. XVII 1. that is, not till she was arrived to the Height of her Impieties, and the Sentence of Destruction was gone forth against her. For the Vials are her Last Plagues, Rev. XV. 1, 6, 7. And by this Time, the Beast she Sate on,( or the Empire she Presided over,) was become Full of Names of Blasphemy,( that is, Idols;) and, for several Ages, she had exercised a Full Power over him. Next therefore, we may take Notice of the Advances, that she made to that her Wilderness-Condition. Where First we find her Habited in Purple, and Scarlet-colour, &c. To Denote her Grandeur, Pride, and Luxury. Which was her First Step; and Presently upon her Coming to Enjoy the Favour of her Emperors, it had a most Remarkable Completion in her. hody Effusum est Venenum in Ecclesiam, This Day is poison( meaning that of Riches) poured into the Church; said a Voice from Heaven at the Same Time. As witnesseth the Legend of P. Sylvester. See also Morney, mist. In Progress. 4.  
The Next Step was her Multifarious Superstations and Idolatries; with which her Mass( or Service) Book was Braught; called in Rev. XVII. 4. a Golden Cup( for the Good Prayers it contained) but in respect of its Idolatrous Mixtures, said also to be Full of Abominations, and Filthiness of her Fornication. And with this Cup of Love, when once she had Sufficiently bewitched her Paramours, That Name began to be Conspicuous in her Forehead,( verse 5.) Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and Abominations of the Earth. As if it were said, Behold, the Church of Rome is Plainly That Babylon of the Revelation; and it has been a Mystery to us All this While; we Found it not till Now. This Fatal Inscription then, when first it came to be discovered, and Cri'd-out upon, by the 
* See the Waldenses Treatise of Antichrist, Dated An. 1120. Extant in Dr. B.W. his Fall of Babylon.  Waldenses, and Others, in the Twelfth Century; it put her into such a Rage, that she Soon verified the Remaining part of her Character,( which was her Third, and Last Advance,) in making her self Drunken with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the Martyrs[ Witnesses, or Preachers] of Jesus. And in this Lamentable Pickle was she Represented to S. John, by one of the Vial-Angels.  
But you will say, Where was the True Church all this while? Why, it continued in that Remnant of the Woman's Seed, Rev. 12.17. which the Dragon, by Her Own Means, Persecuted for Keeping the Commandments of God( which Phrase is used with Particular Respect to the Second; even in the Commandment itself,) and having the Testimony of Jesus Christ. It continued, I say, in those Few Persons,( in her Own Communion, till they were forced out of it) whose Teachers are Called Witnesses Rev. 11. Who from the word of Jesus Christ, bore Testimony all along, against the Overspreading Abominations of the Romish Synagogue. And so much for This Time.   
FINIS.  
SOLI DEO GLORIA.   

Printed in June 1700.