[2] The reason why it is said, another voice, is, that the former voice was that of the angel crying aloud, "Fallen is Babylon, and is become a habitation of demons"; here, therefore, follows the exhortation to all, both to those who are within Babylon, and have any affection for truth, and are in the life of good, to come out from her, and place no faith in her witchcrafts and incantations; and to those who are outside of Babylon, not to suffer themselves to be led astray by these things. For such is the character of that nation, that they persuade by means of the delight of every one's love, and in this way close up the understanding, and induce men to believe everything they say.

That such is the character of that Babylonish nation has been made known to me from much experience. For they enter into the delights of a man's life, and in this way they take possession of his mind, and thus as it were insinuate themselves and enter into it, until they control his life, and by this means lead him as one blind and powerless, wherever they choose, as soon as he embraces their blind faith. And they do this by removing from the understanding all light in matters of a theological nature, in order that the ends for which they act may not appear, and these ends are, that they may be rulers not only over the interiors of man which belong to his mind, but also over the exteriors which belong to his body; rulers over the interiors belonging to his mind, by dominion over everything pertaining to the church and heaven, thus over souls; and rulers over the exteriors which belong to the body, by dominion over their wealth. In a word, the ends of their actions are that they themselves alone may be rulers, and the rest servants. For thus, if not in open words, yet in tacit acknowledgment, they are worshipped as gods, this being their ultimate end, which is concealed from men, but is manifest before the angels in heaven. That this is their ultimate end is perfectly evident from this fact, that they have taken from the Lord Himself all power of saving, by ascribing this to the Pope, and from him to his ministers; while notwithstanding it is the very Divine of the Lord that saves man, and he who can do this is not man, but God. But more will be said upon this subject in the following pages.

[3] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Faith.- It has been shown that the doctrine of faith, which takes its name from Athanasius, leaves when read a clear idea that there are three persons, and therefore that there are three co-ordinate Gods, and an obscure idea that God is one, and so obscure that it does not remove the idea of three Gods. It has also been shown that the same doctrine leaves a clear idea that the Lord has a Divine and a Human, or that the Lord is God and Man, but upon the question whether the Divine and Human of the Lord are one person, and whether His Divine is in His Human as the soul in the body, an obscure impression is left. It has been also said that nevertheless everything contained in that doctrine, from beginning to end, both what is clear and what is obscure, agrees and coincides with the truth, if instead of saying that God is one in essence and three in person, it is believed that God is one both in essence and in person, for this is the fact. There is a trinity in God, and there is also a unity. That there is a trinity is evident from those passages in the Word where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are mentioned; and that there is a unity, from those passages in the Word where it is said that God is one. The unity in which is the trinity, or the one God in whom is a trine, does not exist in the Divine which is called the Father, nor in the Divine which is called the Holy Spirit, but in the Lord alone; for in the Lord is a trine, that is to say, the Divine called Father, the Divine Human called Son, and the proceeding Divine which is the Holy Spirit, and this trine is one, because it is of one person, and may be called a triune.

The agreement of everything in the Athanasian doctrine with that which is here asserted will be shown in what follows: (1) Concerning the trinity; (2) concerning the unity of person in the Lord; (3) it will be shown that this doctrine was so formulated of the Divine Providence that although it seems to disagree with the truth, yet it agrees with it; then it shall be proved in general that there is a trine in the Lord, and afterwards specifically, that the Divine which is called the Father, is He, that the Divine which is called the Son, is He, and that the Divine which is called the Holy Spirit, is He.