THE APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN, THE APOSTLE
PREFACE of the HAYDOCK COMMENTARY
Though some in the first ages[centuries] doubted whether this book was canonical, and who was the author of it, (see Eusebius, lib. 7, History of the Church, chap. xxv.) yet it is certain much the greater part of the ancient fathers acknowledged both that it was a part of the canon, and that it was written by St. John, the apostle and evangelist. See Tillemont, in his ninth note upon St. John, where he cites St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenęus, St. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, St. Cyprian, St. Athanasius., Eusebius, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, &c. It was written in Greek to the churches in Asia[Asia Minor], under Domitian, about the year 96[A.D. 96] or 97, long after the destruction of Jerusalem, when St. John was banished to the island of Patmos, in the Ęgean Sea. It is by some called the prophecy of the New Testament, and the accomplishment of the predictions of all the other prophets, by the first coming of Christ at his incarnation, and by his second coming at the end of the world. As to the time when the chief predictions should come to pass, we have no certainty, as appears by the different opinions, both of the ancient fathers, and late interpreters. Many think that most things set down from the fourth chapter to the end, will not be fulfilled till a little time before the end of the world. Others are of an opinion, that a great part of them, and particularly the fall of the wicked Babylon, happened at the destruction of paganism, by the destruction of heathen Rome, and its persecuting heathen emperors. Of these interpretations, see Alcazar in his long commentary, the learned Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, in his treatise on this book, and P. Alleman, in his notes on the same Apocalypse, tom. xii, who, in his preface, says, that this in a great measure may be now looked upon as the opinion followed by the learned. In fine, others think that St. John’s design was in a mystical way, by metaphors and allegories, to represent the attempts and persecutions of the wicked against the servants of God, the punishments that should in a short time fall upon Babylon, that is, upon all the wicked in general; the eternal happiness and reward which God had reserved for the pious inhabitants of Jerusalem, that is, for his faithful servants, after their short trials and tribulations of this mortal life. In the mean time we meet with many profitable instructions and admonitions, which we may easily enough understand; but we have no certainty, when we apply these predictions to particular events; for as St. Jerome takes notice, the Apocalypse has as many mysteries as words, or rather mysteries in every word. Apocalypsis Joannis tot habet sacramenta quot verba….parum dixi, in verbis singulis multiplices latent intelligentię. (Ep. ad Paulin. t. iv., p. 574. Edit. Benedict.) (Witham) — In the first, second, and third chapters of this book are contained instructions and admonitions which St. John was commanded to write to the seven bishops of the churches in Asia. And in the following chapters, to the end, are contained prophecies of things that are to come to pass in the Church of Christ, particularly towards the end of the world, in the time of antichrist. It was written in Greek, in the island of Patmos, where St. John was in banishment by order of the cruel emperor Domitian, about sixty-four years after our Lord’s ascension. (Challoner) — This is the last in order of the sacred writings, and contains, in twenty-two chapters, revelations, as the name imports, extremely obscure it must be acknowledged, yet undoubtedly of the utmost importance to the Christian Church, if we may judge from the dignity of the author, who was the beloved disciple, or the grandeur and majesty of the ideas, which pervade every chapter of the work. Being a sealed book, or a hidden mystery, in the beginning of the Church, when nothing of this important prophecy had yet been fulfilled, it is no wonder we are deprived of the usual lights which we have hitherto followed in expounding the Scripture, viz. the works of the fathers. So little was it indeed understood at that time, that by many it was long considered as a reverie, and an extravagant composition, though the most learned always looked upon it as an inspired work. One reason, which may have led the faithful to class this among the apocryphal works, was the number of fables and illusions published by the misguided piety of the ignorant. We know at least, that on account of the heresy of Cerinthus, which was filled up with illusion and fanaticism, this book was not circulated among the faithful: a few copies were kept with care in the archives of the Churches, to be perused only by the bishop, or such as he thought not likely to abuse it. With regard to the interpretation of it, it will not be expected that it should be attempted in a work of this kind. We shall therefore only give a short account of the principal commentators, and their plans, that the enlightened reader may consult their works, if he wish to enter deeper into the subject. But it should never be forgotten, that the connection of sublime and prophetical ideas which compose this work, has at all times been a labyrinth, in which the greatest geniuses have lost themselves, and a rock on which most commentators have split, the great Sir Isaac Newton not excepted. Hence Scaliger’s praise of Calvin; Calvinus sapuit, quia non scripsit in Apocalypsim. 1. The fathers living before the accomplishment of the events, have of course given us no interpretation. Those, therefore, who have written on it at all, have explained it in a mere moral sense, and drawn from it useful parables and instructions. None of them have given a regular systematic explanation. It must, however, be observed, as a circumstance of some moment, that many of them, particularly Sts. Augustine and Jerome, thought the Apocalypse contained prophecies regarding the whole time of the existence of the Church of Christ, till its triumphant state in the new Jerusalem. 2. Among the moderns we have abundant interpreters of the Apocalypse in all the reformed Churches. It has indeed grown into a mania among them, the only difference being their respective degrees of absurdity. This has been to all of them the common quarry, whence they have hewn the stones to cast at their mother Church. For to this day they have continued to disgrace themselves and Christianity, by depicting the Church of Rome as the scarlet w—e[whore] of Babylon, popery the beast, and the pope antichrist. We must, however, except Grotius and Hammond, who have given historical interpretations, and some few others. 3. Among Catholic expositors stands eminently conspicuous the learned bishop of Meaux, Bosseut. This light of the Galican Church has improved upon and filled up the outlines which Grotius had only sketched. The first three chapters, according to him, regard only the Churches of Asia, to which they are addressed; the other chapters, to nineteen, have been fulfilled in the persecutions which the Church endured under the pagan emperors. The last three are merely allegorical of the triumphs which the Church finally gained over her persecutors. 4. Du Pin has taken a wider range. The last three chapters regard the final judgment, and the establishment of the Church in heaven. And all the chapters between the first three and last three, are mere general descriptions of persecutions, fall of tyrants, heresies, &c. which shall happen in the Church; represented under the various figures which the rich imagination of St. John supplied. This system certainly removes all difficulties at once, by saving the trouble of comparing each figure with corresponding historical facts; but substitutes a vague and indeterminate sense, which we do not expect in prophecy. 5. Calmet does not vary a great deal in the outlines with Bossuet; but their applications of the text to the history are in many points widely different. He conceives the intermediate chapters between the first three and last three to have been fulfilled in the general persecution begun by Diocletian, in 303[A.D. 303], and the destruction of Rome, in 410, by Alaric. The last three chapters give the triumph of the martyrs at that period, as well as many things, which are to take place at the coming of antichrist, and the dissolution of the world. 6. Conceiving that all the above commentators had too much contracted the time for the accomplishment of the prophecy, by limiting it to the establishment of Christianity, Monsieur de la Chetardie established a new system upon the supposition that the Apocalypse includes the whole history of Christ’s Church upon earth. In doing this, he had the authority of St. Augustine, and other fathers. Observing, therefore, upon an attentive perusal of this work, that there were seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, and that at the opening of each seal a new revelation was made, he ingeniously concluded, that the history of the whole Church was divided into seven periods or ages, and that to each period belonged one seal, one trumpet, and one vial. Six of these periods he conceives to be already accomplished, the seventh yet remains concealed in the womb of futurity. 7. Ingenious as is this system of Chetardie, it was not adopted, since Calmet, who wrote after him, preferred his own, which resembled that of Bossuet. It has, however, been renewed by the late bishop Walmsley, under the name of Signor Pastorini, who has taken up the idea and general outline from Chetardie, but illustrated the same with his own interpretation and application to historical facts. The erudition with which the latter author has clothed this system, and the striking aptness of his comparisons of the words of the prophecy to the events which have passed, have gained a very general approbation, and he is almost exclusively followed in the interpretation of this sealed book. How far he has succeeded in his explanation of the seventh age of the Church, cannot be determined by us, since it is shut up in the dark recess of futurity. Posterity will decide. To him we refer the English reader for any further information on the subject, convinced that his researches will be amply gratified, his education wonderfully improved. For, says the illustrious prelate Bossuet, “notwithstanding the obscurities of this book, we experience in its perusal an impression so sweet, and at the same time so magnificent, of the majesty of God; such sublime ideas present themselves of the mystery of Jesus Christ, such noble images of his victories and his reign, and such terrible effects of his judgment, that the soul is quite moved and penetrated. All the beauties of the Scriptures are collected in this book. Whatever there is melting, lively, and majestic in either the law or the prophets, acquires in this book an additional lustre.” O truly adorable truths contained herein! of which God is the plentitude and eternal source; of which Jesus Christ is the prophet, the teacher and master; truths which have the angels for servants and ministers; the apostles and bishops for witnesses and depositaries; and all faithful souls, ver. 3.[chap. i. 3.?], for children and disciples. Let us prepare our hearts to hear Jesus Christ arisen from the dead, discovering to us the mysteries of his kingdom, and the truths of the gospel of his glory. Let us hear his warning voice, and prepare for his speedy coming by a strict observance of every duty. Happy, thrice happy that Christian whom the death of sin, and the sleep of tepidity shall not render deaf to this voice!
St. Bede on Revelation 
LETTER OF BEDA TO EUSEBIUS
Eusebius, or Huaetberht, was Abbat of the Monastery of Jarrow, to which he was unanimously elected on the resignation of Ceolfrid, in A.D. 716. Besides his obedience in the monastic life, he was distinguished for his “industry in writing, singing, reading, and teaching.” His Letter to Pope Gregory II. on the occasion of his appointment, sent by Ceolfrid, is in part preserved. See Beda’s Vita SS. Abbat. Mon. in Uuiram. et Gyr., ch. xiv sq.
TO THE BELOVED BROTHER, EUSEBIUS,
BEDA SENDS GREETING.
THE Apocalypse of St. John, in which God was pleased to reveal by words and figures the wars and intestine tumults of the Church, seems to me, brother Eusebius, to be divided into several sections.
In the first of these, after a copious preface to strengthen the faith of the weak, and a description of the sufferings of the Lord and of the glories which followed, he sees one like unto the Son of Man clothed with the Church, Who, after He has related what has happened, or is about to happen, in the seven Churches of Asia in particular, recounts the general conflicts and victories of the whole Church. And here, designedly, in the sixth place He has foretold that the Jews are to be made subject to the Church, and that there is to be a trial of the world at large, and that He Himself will come quickly; and He places in the seventh the lukewarm Laodicea. For “when the Son of Man cometh, will He,” dost thou think, “find the faith in the earth?” [Luke 18.8]
Then in the second section, after that the four living creatures in the throne of God, and the twenty-four elders, have been described, he sees the Lamb, on the opening of the seven seals of the closed book, unfold the future conflicts and triumphs of the Church. And here, according to the custom of this book, he preserves the order unto the sixth number in the series; and then he passes by the seventh, recapitulates, and concludes the two narrations with the seventh. But the recapitulation is also itself to be understood according to its place, for sometimes he recapitulates from the commencement of suffering, sometimes from the middle period, and sometimes with a view to speak of the last affliction only, or a short time before. But this he observes as a fixed point, to recapitulate after the sixth.
Next, in the third section, under the likeness of seven angels sounding with a trumpet, he describes the various events of the Church.
In the fourth, under the figure of a woman bringing forth, and a dragon persecuting her, he reveals the toils and victories of the same Church, and assigns to both combatants their due rewards. And here the words and actions of seven angels are also recorded, but not in the same manner as above. So in mystic wisdom he almost always retains this number, for neither in his gospel nor his epistles is the same John accustomed to say anything with remissness and brevity.
Then, in the fifth section, by seven angels he has overspread the earth with the seven last plagues.
In the sixth, he has manifested the condemnation of the great whore, that is, of the ungodly city.
In the seventh, he has shewn the ornament of the Lamb’s wife, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
I have also thought that the seven rules of Tichonius [fl. c. 390], a man of the most learning among those of his sect [The Donatists], should be briefly enumerated, inasmuch as those who are desirous to learn, receive great assistance from them for understanding the Scriptures. The first of these is concerning the Lord and His body, when there is a transition from the Head to the body, or from the body to the Head, and yet no recession from one and the same person. For one person speaks, saying, “He set a chaplet upon me, as a bridegroom, and adorned me with an ornament as a bride” [Is. 41.10]; and yet, certainly, it must be understood how much of this belongs to the Head, how much to the body; that is, how much to Christ, how much to the Church.
The second is concerning the twofold body of the Lord, or rather, concerning the true and simulated body of the Lord, as St. Augustine was better pleased that it should be termed. So the Church says “I am dark and comely, as the tents of Kedar, and as the curtains of Solomon” [Song of Solomon 1.5]; for she does not say, I was dark and am comely, but she has said that she is both, because of the fellowship in sacraments, and the commingling for a time of the good and bad fish within one net, seeing that the tents of Kedar belong to Ishmael, “for that he shall not be heir with the son of the free woman” [Gal. 4.20].
The third is concerning the promises and the law, which may otherwise be expressed as concerning the spirit and the letter, or concerning grace and the commandment This appears to St. Augustine to be itself a great question, rather than a rule to be applied to the solution of questions. For it was through failing to understand this that the Pelagians either began, or increased their heresy.
The fourth is concerning species and genus. For species is a part, but genus the whole of which it is a part, as each state is a part of the whole province, and each province a part of the whole world. These terms, accordingly, have come to the knowledge of persons in general, so that even the unlearned understand what is enjoined in any imperial command. This takes place also in respect of men, as the things which are said of Solomon are out of proportion to him; and it is only when they are referred to Christ and the Church, of which He is part, that they become clear. Yet the species is not always exceeded, for such things are often said as more evidently agree with it also, or perhaps with it alone. But when there is a transition from the species to the genus, as if Scripture were still speaking of the species, there the attention of the reader ought to be on the watch.
He lays down a fifth rule, which he names concerning times, and it may, as appears to me, also be called concerning numbers. This he states to be of force, even in the case of legitimate numbers, by the figure synecdoche. For the figure synecdoche is either to infer the whole from a part, or a part from the whole. And by this manner of speaking is the question of the resurrection of Christ also solved. For unless the last part of the day on which He suffered is taken for the whole day, that is, with the addition of the past night too, and unless the night in the latter part of which He rose again is taken for a whole day, that is, with the addition of the dawning Lord’s day, there cannot be the three days and three nights, in which He foretold that He should be in the heart of the earth [Matt. 12:40]. Now by legitimate numbers he means those which the divine Scripture more eminently commends, as the seventh, or tenth, or twelfth; by which, for the most part, either the whole course of time, or the perfection of anything is designated, as, “seven times in a day I sing praise unto Thee,” [Ps. 98 (AV 99): 164)] is nothing else than, “His praise was ever in my mouth” [Ps. 33:2 (AV 34:1)] And they are of the same value also when they are multiplied either by ten, as seventy and seven hundred, in which case, the seventy years of Jerusalem may be taken spiritually for all the time during which the Church is among aliens; or by themselves, as ten by ten are a hundred, and twelve by twelve are a hundred and forty-four, by which number the whole body of the saints is denoted in the Apocalypse.
The sixth rule Tichonius calls recapitulation. For some things are stated in the Scriptures as if they follow in the order of time, or are related in the succession of events, when, indeed, the narration is tacitly recalled to what has been omitted. As it is said in Genesis, “These are the sons of Noah, in their tribes and their tongues. By these are the isles of the nations upon the earth overspread” [Gen. 10:32; 9:19] and immediately, “But the whole earth was of one lip, and of’ the same speech” [Gen. 11.1] So it seems to be stated, as if at the very time when they were dispersed, they all had one language, when rather, by a recapitulation, he was secretly adding in what manner the tongues were divided.
His seventh rule is, concerning the devil and his body. For sometimes that is stated in respect of the devil which cannot be recognised in himself, but only in his body; as the Lord saith, among other things, to the blessed Job, in exposing the deceit and power of this enemy, “Will he make many prayers to thee, or will he speak soft things to thee?” [Job 41:3]. And it is not the devil himself who is anywhere read of as repentant, but his body, which, when condemned at the last, will say, “Lord, Lord, open unto us” [Matt. 25.11].
So then, if any one will observe carefully, he will find these rules to prevail in all the canonical Scriptures, and especially in the prophetical parts, as well as in the Apocalypse, that is, the Revelation of St. John the Apostle, which the same Tichonius both understood with a lively apprehension, and expounded with truthfulness, and in a sufficiently Catholic sense, excepting only those places in which he endeavoured to defend the schism of his party, that is, the Donatists. For here he laments the persecutions which they endured from the religious Emperor Valentinian, as heretics, when their churches, and followers, and houses, and possessions were given up into the hands of the Catholics, and their priests were driven into exile; and he calls these things martyrdoms, and boasts that they were foretold in the same Apocalypse. Now we have followed on our part the sense of this author in the present work, but in so doing we have omitted some things beyond the purpose which he inserted, in order that we may be more compendious; and we have taken care to add many more, which to him, as a man of genius, and who flourished, as was said of him, like an open rose among thorns, appeared plain and unworthy of investigation; and this we have done, so far as we have been able to attain, either by the tradition of masters, or the recollection of reading, or even our own capacity; for this, too, is among the commandments which we have received, to return to the Lord with usury the talents which have been committed to us. Now, although it had seemed fit that the aforesaid work should be divided into three short books <a> to relieve the mind; for in some way or other, as the blessed Augustine says: “The attention of the reader is refreshed by the termination of a book, as the toil of the traveller by resting at an inn” [Contr. adv. leg. et. proph., Bk. I. Ch. 33]; nevertheless, that it might be rendered more easy for those who search to find, it was thought good that the continuous order of paragraphs should be preserved through out, which I had previously noted in the book itself by prefixing marks. For, as I think that the indolence of our nation, I mean of the English, ought to be taken into account,–which too, not long since, that is, in the time of the blessed Pope Gregory, received the seed of faith, and has cultivated the same remissly enough, so far as reading is concerned,–I have arranged my plan, so as not only to elucidate the sense, but also to compress the sentences, inasmuch as brevity, if it is clear, is wont to be fixed in the memory more than prolix discussion.
I bid thee farewell in Christ, most beloved brother, and desire that thou mayest deign to be ever mindful of thy Beda.