Abstract
Not only for the common sins of the world doth the Lord plague, but most of all for unthankfulness—of all blasphemies the greatest, for that spurneth against knowledge and directly worketh against the Holy Ghost. A double destruction or decay both of soul and body by the righteousness of God must needs follow the willful contempt of his verity, manifestly showed and openly taught. Yet is the Lord so merciful that he willeth not the damnation of a sinner. Such compassion hath he over our manifold weakness that he promonisheth us of his most terrible plagues to call us back by fear if love will not do it—as here consequently in the first vision of this present revelation to John, which followeth after this sort in this fifteenth and sixteenth chapters.
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Notes
- 1.
They = the angels.
- 2.
virulent] 1545; violent 1548.
- 3.
communed] 1550, Christmas (communeth); commoneth 1545, 1548, 1570.
commune = to talk over together, confer about, discuss, debate.
‘Common’ is defined by OED as ‘to communicate (verbally), tell, declare, publish, report’ (v. 2, obsolete), so the word is closely related to ‘commune’.
- 4.
Them, they = the beast and his number, constant Christians.
- 5.
other = others.
- 6.
that = that which.
- 7.
vouchsafeth] 1545 (wytsaueth). ‘Withsave’ is an obsolete form of ‘vouchsafe’ (OED).
- 8.
The clause beginning with ‘which’ modifies ‘angels’, not ‘temple’.
- 9.
and he within none again comprehended = i.e., no one understood the temple (God).
- 10.
As he does earlier, Bale mentions the three fingers of God (see 93n.).
- 11.
propitiatory = mercy-seat (OED 1a). OED’s definition 2 for propitiatory is ‘an atoning sacrifice’, citing this passage as the first instance of this sense.
- 12.
‘Manner building’ is obscure. It could mean that the tabernacle was not in the process of being built, but already complete. Alternatively, if ‘manor’ is the correct reading, the phrase could mean that the tabernacle is not like an ordinary manor, but a much greater building.
- 13.
tabernacle] 1545, 1570; om. 1548, 1550, 1550(W).
- 14.
The 1545 spelling (‘streyght’) could indicate either ‘straight’ or ‘strait’, but the latter sense is more likely intended, given the context of tight-fitting clothes.
- 15.
Bale is attempting to clarify that the beast here stands for the ‘universal Christian church’, as do the 7 churches (from Chapter 1) and the 4 beasts (Chapter 4).
- 16.
an allusion to the trinity.
- 17.
See Prov 6.16–19.
- 18.
commoved = agitated.
- 19.
whirlwind] 1545 (horle wynde).
- 20.
that is = that which is (in the following clause as well).
- 21.
Rom 11.33.
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Minton, G.E. (2013). The Fifteenth Chapter. In: Minton, G. (eds) John Bale’s 'The Image of Both Churches'. Studies in Early Modern Religious Tradition, Culture and Society, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7296-0_18
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