576. Verse 3. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded unto death, signifies that this point of doctrine, which is the head of the rest, that man is justified and saved by faith alone without the works of the law, does not agree with the Word, where works are so often commanded. By "one of the heads" is signified the chief and fundamental article of the whole doctrine of the church of the Reformed. For the beast had seven heads, by which is signified insanity from mere falsities (n. 568); thus also all falsities in the aggregate: for by "seven" in the Word is signified all (n. 10, 391). And as all the falsities of their doctrine concerning salvation depend on this one, that man is justified and saved by faith alone without the works of the law, it is this which is signified by "one of the heads of the beast." By its being "as it were wounded unto death," is signified that it does not agree with the Word, where works are so often commanded. For everything of the doctrine of the church, which does not agree with the Word, is not sound, but is sick with a deadly disease; for the doctrine of the church must be from the Word, and from no other source.