In this star he speaks of the body of those many persons who have fallen from heaven through agreement [with the devil]. . . . We ought to understand the key to the pit to be false teachings that confine those within it in such a way that they are not able to look upon the light of truth. And so the devil fell from heaven and received the key to the pit, and [he] opened his mouth in blasphemy and taught his followers not to do the will of God but to do their own will.

Until now the vision has explained to us how and by what manner of plagues that upon the earth and in heaven and humankind together with them shall be brought to completion or will be changed. But now, since the consummation has already occurred and the resurrection has been effected, the vision indicates the punishment of sinners. I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth, calling an angel of God a star because it descends to the earth with brightness. For the judgment of sinners will be on the earth, which was called the valley of Jehoshaphat by one of the holy prophets.^[1] And he was given, it says, the key of the shaft of the bottomless pit. He calls Gehenna the shaft of the bottomless pit.

The abyss and the pit are people who are hiding places for error, that is, they hide iniquity in their hearts even though they are in the church. . . . I think that they receive this key to the pit, and through it they open the poisons of their hearts and, once made manifest, burst forth into the open. For, as the apostle says, There must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.^[1] Whenever error arises, the truth is preached all the more, and as the integrity of the faith is being defended, that deceptive falsehood that had been hidden for such a long time is at the right time uncovered. For schismatics and heretics frequently arise from those who have fallen, and of these the church truly speaks in the Song of Songs, The sons of my mother fought against me.^[2]

The star is a divine angel. With God’s permission he leads up [from the pit] the evil demons who have been condemned to the pit, namely, those whom Christ bound at his incarnation. [He leads them up] so that they might do their work before the consummation but then attain to neverending torment.

The fifth trumpet reveals the increased infestation of the heretics who are the forerunners of the time of the antichrist.

He opened the shaft of the pit means that he revealed his own heart and taught people to sin without any fear or shame. And smoke arose from the pit, that is, from the heart of a blasphemous people which also persecutes the church. And the sun and air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. The sins that people constantly commit through the world obscure among them the sun of faith and of righteousness and in some produce a blindness so that they do not see the light of truth. As smoke from a great furnace. This smoke that precedes the fire of the furnace generally refers to the last persecution, for the earlier persecution burns against the church, and then the crowd of hypocrites and unbelievers will be manifested. And outside [the church] the insanity of many caused by this smoke is already advanced.

And smoke rose from the shaft, as though a significant fire was evidently burning in the shaft. So the smoke indicates not only fire but also darkness. For the words of the prophet, the voice of the Lord divides the flame of fire,^[1] is interpreted by the saints in this way, that the light-giving fire of Gehenna will be divided, so that only the burning heat of the fire along with the darkness remain in it. And the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke. This does not suggest that these elements were themselves darkened but that those cast into the shaft were filled with darkness because of their punishment and could not any longer see the air and the sun. For, one of the holy prophets said, The sun will be darkened at midday,^[2] referring by this to the misfortunes of the Jews, even though the sun had not been darkened. But those who were suffering in this tribulation were not able to see the sun, because the magnitude of misfortune sometimes causes dizziness.

[The devil] revealed his own heart, which sins without any fear or shame. And smoke rose from the pit, that is, from a people that covers and obscures the church, so that it is said that the sun and air were darkened with the smoke. It says that the sun was darkened, not that it fell to the earth. For the sins of evil and prideful persons, which are constantly being committed throughout the world, obscure the sun, that is, obscure the church and sometimes cause darkness for the saints and the righteous. For the number of the evil is so great that it is often with great difficulty that the good among them become evident.

In the locusts he signifies spiritual and adversarial powers that we see flying around in the air in the manner of locusts for the purpose of harming humankind.

I think that he calls locusts those worms of which Isaiah spoke: Their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched,^[1] perhaps calling a worm that gnawing of the soul and the unceasing, creeping pain that it suffers.

The locusts signify those who come forth from the smoke. For, like smoke, the heretics desire to rise high, since by their teachings they strive for positions of eminence, yet, again like smoke, they are dissipated. We read of this smoke, for in the person of those who are evil it was said, Smoke is the breath in our nostrils, and reason is the sparks for moving our heart.^[1] When the impious are said to strive by sin against wisdom, that is, against the Lord Jesus Christ, they are also described as fighting against his church, harming it by their malicious mouth, while they are hindered from harming the green grass and trees.

They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only^[1] those of humankind who do not have the seal of God upon their foreheads, since by a transformation the earth had become new. Somewhere it says concerning this, You will send forth your Spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth.^[2] It was not yet good for anything that adorns the earth to be stricken, neither a tree nor any plant, only those persons who do not have the seal of God upon their foreheads. For those persons who were perfectly holy and pure had received that place mentioned above, being always with Christ and gazing upon the throne of God. However, those who have been baptized and bear the sign of Christ upon their foreheads, yet are less holy and have seriously soiled themselves and their baptism by sinful behavior, such persons are, so to speak, halfway between virtue and evil and remain upon the earth, although they experience no further punishment.

By grass he refers to those small ones who are content with the milk of the Christian faith. By green vegetation he refers to those who have begun to live according to the virtues and who are moving not toward dryness but toward a fruitful fertility. By trees he refers to those persons in the church who already give spiritual thanks by the production of fruit. Of the first kind, the small ones, we read, Who spread out the earth upon the waters,^[1] that is, baptism. Of the second type, we read, It shall rejoice in its drops when it comes forth.^[2] And concerning the third kind we read, I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of the Lord.^[3] The number of the elect is perfected from all of these kinds of persons, which the bite of the locusts cannot harm, except for those who do not have the sign of God upon their foreheads. For the apostle says, For not all have faith.^[4] By such persons, it says, the sun will be darkened, however not extinguished, for although with the increase of iniquity the love of many will grow cold,^[5] God’s firm foundation stands, as it is written, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows who are his,’ and ‘Let every one who calls upon the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.’^[6]

Was it not the case that certain fathers deduced the [idea] of restoration from this passage, saying that sinners are punished until now but afterward no longer, since they had been purified through punishment?^[1] But what is to be done when the majority of the other fathers and the received Scriptures claim that the torments of those suffering at that time will be everlasting? What should one say, and how should one decide between these two options? One must combine these two opinions. I say this as a kind of exercise and not as an outright assertion. For I agree with the teaching of the church that the punishments in the future age will be everlasting, for this is also what the Lord asserted according to the Gospel of Matthew: And they will go away into eternal punishment.^[2] And Isaiah also said, Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched.^[3] But by way of an exercise this must be said, taking a sort of middle path between the two opinions, that until a certain time, which this Revelation says is five months, using a certain mystical number, the sinners will be punished with greatest severity as though a scorpion were biting them. But after this, [they will be punished] less severely—for we will not be altogether without punishment—yet to such an extent that they seek death but do not attain it.

There are two parts in the church, one part of those who are good and one part of those who are evil. The one part is persecuted in order that it might be corrected; the other part is given up to its own desires. A part of those who are good is handed over to humiliation that they might know the righteousness of God and might remember penance, as it is written, It is good that you have humbled me, that I might know your righteous deeds.^[1] [The torture like a sting of a scorpion] occurs when the devil draws near through the poison of transgressions and sins.

That these spiritual locusts sting people after the manner of scorpions shows the baneful death of the soul that lies hidden at the end of evil deeds. Those are subjected to [such a death] who have not signed their forehead with the divine seal and with the enlightenment of the life-giving cross through the Holy Spirit, so that, as the Lord says, they may let their light shine before men for the glory of the divine name.^[1] We think that the five months of their torment signifies either the shortness of time—For had those days not been shortened, no flesh would have been saved,^[2] as the Lord says—or a certain five-day period representing the five senses through which sin enters into people, or a determined period that is known to God alone.

Although supported by the secular power, the heretics are for a time allowed to attack those who are good, yet, as the Lord said, they are not able to kill the soul.^[1] By the five months he indicates the time of this age on account of the five senses that we use in this life. Another translation has six months, which agrees with this interpretation on account of the six periods of the age.^[2] . . . As a scorpion dispenses its poison from its tail, so the impiety of evil persons injures from their hind parts, when by threats and allurements it causes temporal things, which are behind, to be preferred to that which lies before, that is, to eternal blessings.

They say that death is a rest. And so, they seek death, not that they may die but that they might have rest from evil things while the evil vices die away. They desired to die, that is, that they might die to the world and, as the apostle says, live again to God.^[1] They seek death but will not find it, it says. They desire to be changed to better things, so that they might have rest after the labor of sins. . . . Therefore, death will flee while life is close by and we are truly dying while we are being freed from the chains of sins.

Through these words the magnitude of the evils is revealed. For it is common among those in severe troubles to call upon death. But it is from the judgments of God that death does not come to those in the midst of trouble who seek it. For he considers it beneficial to use the bitterness of tribulations to make hateful that sin which was the mother and patron of their torments.

In the image of the horses he shows the suddenness of persecution that runs around so that it might oppress the innocent and obstruct [their path] to the celestial kingdom. . . . We recall that it was written that upon the heads of the twenty-four elders, who were a figure of the church, there were crowns of gold. However, these [locusts] do not present a true figure of the church but one only by way of pretense,^[1] and so they are not said to have crowns of true gold but crowns similar to gold. . . . Likewise, they are not perfect human beings but like human beings. . . . And by the hair he speaks not only of the effeminacy and laxity of women, but he speaks of those from either sex who are given to wantonness and are stained by every baseness. . . . [By the teeth like lions’ teeth] they daily devour the church.

By the locusts prepared as horses for war he means those who originate evil teachings. For just as locusts which destroy by their mouth, so also these persons tear asunder by their preaching. It is as we read, fierce wolves not sparing the flock.^[1] Moreover, they are like horses running around aimlessly and so destroy in such a war many whom they lead astray. . . . And if false doctrine is indicated by the mouth, by the hair of women he aptly describes their effeminate morals and their souls that are open to seduction. And so the apostle says, These are those who make their way into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and swayed by various impulses.^[2] By these images he suggests both leaders and those whom they have led astray, so that he shows them to be not only deceitful in their faith but also hateful in their morals. The historical record shows that some of both sexes exhibit [these characteristics]. For women gave their support to many heretics, such as Priscilla and Maximilla to Montanus and Lucilla to Donatus. . . . It is natural for the teeth of lions not only to mangle but also to give off a natural stench. And since [the heretics] run around like horses to acquire for themselves fleeting fame as preachers, their opinion is rightly regarded as a stench. For in a good sense the apostle said, We are the good aroma of Christ.^[3] This bad odor, therefore, is derived from their evil doctrine and is by comparison like the odor of a lion’s mouth.

Some have interpreted these words and those which come afterward to indicate that the locusts are angels who administer the divine punishment and who are metaphorically described through each of the various images.^[1] These images would then describe either their fearsomeness and the panic they arouse, or their swiftness, or the destruction that comes upon those worthy of condemnation in Gehenna. However, I think that the image of these locusts depicts rather evil demons who are prepared for war against us and who wear upon their heads crowns as of gold in expectation of victory against us. Whenever we submit to these demons and win an evil victory through pleasure, we believe ourselves also to be crowned with such crowns. That their hair is like that of women reveals their love of luxury and their arousal to fornication. The teeth like those of a lion signifies their murderous and poisonous character.

By the tails he speaks of the leaders who have fallen away from the Head of the church, that is, from the Lord, and so those who were the first have become the last. This is as God thought it worthy to say through Isaiah, The elders who are honored and admired are the head; and the prophet who teaches iniquity is the tail.^[1] Therefore, the power of the locusts refers to the character of the false prophets who never desist from attacking the true church by their lying and venomous doctrines.

[The noise of their wings was like the sound of chariots] signifies that the few who were in the lead as the horses have now been multiplied in the chariots [that follow]. This suggests either an increase in the diversity of new opinions or the increase in the number of those who have been led astray. Moreover, they rush into battle because the preachers of error rebel against the truth and fight against unity. The apostle described such persons in a similar fashion, As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, and following.^[1] . . . [That they had power in their tails] reminds us of what Isaiah wrote, The elder and the honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail, and those who bless my people will lead them astray, and those who are blessed have fallen.^[2] It is clear from this that these persons wish to rule that which every saint and teacher of the truth desires at all costs to avoid, namely, the glory of the world and the error of a destructive preaching. That they have power in their tails for five months indicates again the present life where falsehood can be strong and can either capture the useless or torment the spiritual for a short period of time.

Their iron breastplates show their hardness of heart. . . . We think that the sound of the wings of these spiritual locusts is said to resemble the sound of war chariots because of their speed in the air. For, as the blessed David says, They make war upon us from on high.^[1] And their tails which are like those of scorpions symbolize the result of sins, the producing of spiritual death. For sin when it is perfected brings forth death.^[2]

[The angel of the bottomless pit] is the devil, who possesses his great power among the kings of the world.

[As king they have over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is ‘Armageddon,’ whose name in Greek is ‘Apollion,’ and whose name in Latin is ‘Exterminans.’] Although God is supremely good, by hidden yet just judgments he nevertheless allows an angel suitable for such persons to rule over them. For a person is awarded as servant to the one who conquered him. And so the apostle said that they had been handed over to every wicked deception because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends upon them a strong delusion that they might believe what is false and that all who did not believe the truth but consented to iniquity might be condemned.^[1] The kind of work he did, therefore, was befitting to the character of his name, that is, the exterminator.

It follows that the devil is to be regarded as their king, for he certainly destroys those who obey him.

Since he had foretold that three woes were to come, he now mentions that one woe has already come in the deceit of heresy. However, he says that two woes remain which will come against the perverse during the time of the antichrist and at the day of judgment.

When it says that the first woe has passed and the trumpet of the sixth angel has sounded, it announces the final preaching, that of the sixth age.

The sixth trumpet shows the appearance of the antichrist and the war that his followers will wage against the church, and after an insertion reviewing again the [time from] the coming of the Lord, the sixth trumpet indicates the destruction of the same enemy. . . . The sixth angel indicates the preachers of the final struggle, who, as the gospel warns, uncover the lies of the antichrist.

By the horns of the altar he refers to those preeminent among the angels and who are superior to all the others. He says that the altar is golden, for in mentioning that element that is of great value among us, he describes the altar as precious and holy and wondrous. And since we understand the horns of the altar to refer to the leaders of the angels, it follows that we interpret the altar itself to refer to all the ministering spirits on account of the spiritual sacrifice they bring to God.

In the altar that is in the sight of God we are to understand the church. In the time of the last persecution she will despise the words and commands of that most inhumane of kings and will separate from those who have submitted to him.

Certainly the horns of the golden altar are the Gospels, which are preeeminent in the church.

In these four angels that are bound at the Euphrates River we understand those adversaries that God will command to be loosed for the testing of his church. To be sure, this passage shows that the winds and the angels are the same thing, for it said that the winds were held back by the angels^[1] and now that the angels are to be loosed by an angel. Loose, it says, the four angels at the great river Euphrates. Those whom above it said were at the four corners of the earth it now says are bound at the river Euphrates. The river Euphrates indicates a people that persecutes [the church]. In this people, Satan and his will are bound, lest he should accomplish whatsoever he desires before it is time. The Euphrates is in the land of Babylon, of which the prophet Jeremiah testifies as follows, This says the Lord concerning this Euphrates, This is the day of the Lord God of hosts, so that he might avenge himself on his foes, and the sword shall devour and be sated and drink its fill of their blood. For the sacrifice to the Lord of hosts is in the north country by the river Euphrates.^[2] He speaks of sacrifice, but that of strangled animals, not of praise. And Isaiah said, The sword of the Lord is sated on blood, it is gorged with the fat of goats and rams, for the sacrifice of the Lord is in Bosor and a great slaughter in Idumea.^[3] Bosor and Idumea are cities of Esau, who by persecution forced his brother, Jacob, to flee from his father’s lands.

The divine Scriptures sometimes represents to us the apostate angel—by which I mean Satan and those who fell along with him—as having been bound in darkness by eternal chains. At other times it represents him as having been condemned to the depths of the sea. In his second letter Peter says, For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned but cast them into Tartarus and to the pits of gloom, to be held for judgment,^[1] and in his letter Jude said, The angels that did not keep their own rule but left their proper dwelling, he kept in gloom by eternal chains for the judgment of the great day.^[2] Also in the book of Job it says that the apostate was cast into the sea, in many ways speaking figuratively of the form, size and bitterness of his abode, saying also that the angels of God make sport of him.^[3] . . . But there is no tradition among us that they are bound at the river Euphrates or will ever be loosed, or that people will be punished through them. For when Jude says that they are bound by eternal chains, he excludes the idea that they will ever be released. . . . How, therefore, should someone understand the present claim that they are bound at the river Euphrates and that they will be released and that they themselves will punish sinners? I think that he is speaking figuratively, as is customary in visions. I think he means to say that the angels are bound to the vision of God, which gladdens the soul. For that which is divine is figuratively called a river by Isaiah, Behold, I will extend peace to them like a river and the wealth of nations like an overflowing stream,^[4] and by the prophet, The streams of the river make glad the city of God.^[5] And in section twenty-two of the Gospel of John, the Lord himself speaks of the Holy Spirit: He who believes in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his belly.^[6] It says that he loosed these [angels] from the vision of God and sent them for the punishment of the wicked, for these have been set apart for the coming day. What kind of angels are these? Perhaps they are those mentioned in the Scripture—Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael.^[7] When this happens, they went out with an army of cavalry of a great, indeterminate size. This indicates the invincible power of the angels of God, whom he compares to a very large cavalry.

I think that these [angels] are the most evil of the demons who were bound at the coming of Christ and who, according to a divine command that comes from the heavenly altar (whose image was the ancient tabernacle), will be loosed by a divine angel so that they might trouble the nations. They will fight not only against the Christians but also against each other, so that while some, like ripe wheat, might be made manifest as approved and faithful and worthy of the best rewards and of the highest mansions and dwellings, others, like chaff, namely, the wicked and the gross sinners and those unrepentant, might be here justly punished but receive at the judgment an even harsher condemnation. It is not strange that they are bound at the Euphrates.^[1] For according to the ordinance of God, some [demons] were condemned for a time to the abyss, others to the swine, and others to other places, so that after the conclusion of their warfare against humankind they might receive eternal punishment. And perhaps the mention of Euphrates indicates that the antichrist will come from those regions. And we have no reason to doubt concerning the multitude of demons, for all the saints say that the air is replete with them.

The four angels were released indicates the beginning of the persecution. . . . He indicates by an apt expression the four times during which the persecution will be continuing, that is, [he indicates] three years and six months. He said for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, since a day is gradually filled with hours, and months with days, and finally years with months. It says that they were prepared in order to indicate the character of the devil and his angels. For they entangle themselves in ongoing hostilities against the church and constantly desire to do it harm. However, divine power restrains them, lest they wreak havoc as much as they want. Rightly did he previously say that the locusts were similar to horses arrayed for battle,^[1] for now when he says that the angels were loosed, he says that he saw horses.

He spoke of four angels, since the persecution will rage in the four parts of the world. These are the same angels whom the seer previously saw standing at the four corners of the earth and restrained from harming the earth and the sea so that the servants of God might be sealed. . . . [They were ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year] for the wicked spirits desire the death of humankind at every hour and moment of time. These will be permitted to rage more freely so that the church might be made stronger, but at the proper time, they themselves will be destroyed. And what do you think [such spirits] will do when they are released, when they work such devastation even now when they are bound?

The number of that cavalry was eighty thousand. . . . He again uses different ways to suggest the whole body of evil persons. Here it says eighty thousand. Just as through the perfection of the number six, he signifies for us the form of sixty good people, so that we read there were sixty queens,^[1] so sometimes the number eighty is used in a bad sense. [Eighty] arises from that which is fourfold, on account of the four well-known qualities of the body—cold and heat, moisture and dryness—or on account of the four passions that often vex humans in life—dread, desire, pain and joy. When these four are doubled because of the two sexes, they become eight. This number similarly increasing by way of tens makes eighty, and in some way this shows that portion of evil persons who as cavalry fight against the body of Christ, which is the church. Therefore, that verse continued, there are eighty concubines,^[2] as though they were not united by a legitimate union but by a fraudulent one. And this is characteristic of all heresies that lay hold of the sacraments of faith for a time while they are clothed in the name of Christ. Yet just like concubines who do not remain permanently in the home, they desire to profit from the name of Christ by gaining influence or advantage or authority or human praise. . . . Tyconius comments upon another translation, And the number of soldiers was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. . . . It seems to us that also in this translation the portion of the people of perdition are aptly indicated. For twice ten thousand is twenty thousand, and this is the number which the Lord in the Gospel placed against the king who had ten thousand,^[3] so that, as it were, the duplicity of those who are evil opposes the simplicity of the Christians.

The fire is symbolic of wrath and punishment. The hyacinth reveals that these who are sent are of heaven, for the sky is similar to hyacinth. The sulfur indicates that they are pleasing to God, since they are delightful to God—for to delight is to please. And who would please God more than the holy angels? Then the vision changes imagery and exalts the power of the holy angels, comparing them with lions and to fire, smoke and brimstone and snakes. In all of these analogies their fearsomeness and irresistibility is signified.

The horses are men, and their riders are evil spirits. Just as we could say in a good sense You mounted upon your horses, referring to preachers, and your victorious cavalry,^[1] so here in an evil sense [these horses] are joined to iniquitous spirits. . . . And although little similarity can be found between locusts and horses, the same is true concerning lions. Yet each of these is suitable for symbolizing the persons of heretics. . . . The description of the breastplate signifies the punishments of the impious, for we read that those who worship the beast are promised fire and sulphur, and the smoke of their torments goes up for ever and ever.^[2]

I think that these horses are either men who, like beasts, lust after women, or they are those who are submitted to demons and are ruled by them. For those who sit upon others are those who also govern them. It is common for these to use not only each other as servants but also to use evil people as instruments for plotting against people of similar kind. We interpret the breastplates of fire and of smoke and of sulfur to signify the aerial nature of the evil demons and of their destructive work, and that the heads of lions show their murderous and beastly nature.

[The smoke, fire, and sulphur from their mouths] are the blasphemies that proceed from their mouths against God. Their tails are like serpents. The leaders [of the heretics] we call tails, and the rulers of the world we call heads. It is through these that the devil does his harm, and without these he is not able to do harm. For either irreligious kings do harm by an evil exercise of authority, or worldly prelates do harm by teaching badly.

The fire that proceeds with smoke and sulfur from their mouths, through which one third of humankind is killed, signifies those sins that consume the fruits of the heart by means of the poisonous assaults and instigations of the demons. Or the fire signifies the devastation of cities by fire and by the shedding of blood, which God allows to be done through the hands of the barbarians.

The prophet had described for us the fate of those being punished in hades, saying to God, In death there is no one who remembers you; in hades who will confess you?^[1] He thus indicates that they are deprived of both joy with God and repentance. For spiritual joy comes from the remembrance of God—for somewhere else he says, I remembered God and was made glad^[2]—and through confession there is repentance. Confession is the declaration of faults out of sorrow and a conversion that comes from contrition in the soul. Indeed, God has set before us two kinds of life, the present one and the future one. In the present one we are to live according to prudent judgment and authority, while in the future life there are rewards for how one has lived. The present life is not one of judgment, unless someone should perhaps be beneficially reminded and urged toward repentance. Nor is the future life one of works and habits, so that indeed we may be changed from a life filled with accusations into something better. This being the case, how is it then that this verse says of those being punished there, and the rest of humankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands? He did not say this for those who did not repent in the life there but for those who are still living and have not repented from such and such evil deeds out of obedience or from the sight of that which will occur then. And by this present plague they will not die the spiritual death—calling punishment death—since they endure forever with the wicked, unless they will be punished in another, harsher manner, which he attempted to explain but wisely kept secret. May it be that all of us remain free from such things by the grace and goodness of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

The rest of humankind, who were spared and did not suffer these things, yet remained unrepentant. They will suffer these same things, since they did not keep themselves from idolatries and murders and fornications and thefts and works of magic. It is clear that the universal wrath comes from such things as these. These various deceits effect a frenzy in those nations that do not acknowledge the truth and that worship idols and the creature rather than the creator. And this is certainly so among those who confess to know God but deny him by their works and who wrap themselves up in the form of piety but deny the power of it. . . . May it be that we display the purity and authenticity of our faith in Christ by deeds so that we never hear those terrible words, Truly, truly I say to you, I do not know you.^[1] Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.^[2] Rather, may we hear this blessed invitation, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.^[3]

Since he had described the false Christians and the heretics, now that he might fully describe the whole body of the devil, he mentions also the error of the pagans. For it in no way profited them not to be killed by these plagues, since it is clear that they continue in their pagan wickedness. Nor in that persecution will the pagans be coerced to consent by those things mentioned above, but rather they will die in their unbelief.