Genealogy of the Pope

Benjamin Brook, Lives of the Puritans, Vol. 1, pp. 282-283, writes of Anthony Gilby (c. 1510-1585), one of the translators of the Geneva Bible:

He was the author of a work, entitled "A Viewe of Antichrist, his Lawes and Ceremonies in our English Church unreformed," 1570. The first part of this humorous piece is called "The Book of the Generation of Antichrist the Pope, the revealed Child of Perdition and his Successors;" and is so singular and curious, that, for the satisfaction of the inquisitive reader, the substance of it is here transcribed. The ecclesiastical genealogy is expressed as follows:

The devil begat darkness. Darkness begat ignorance. Ignorance begat error and his brethren. Error begat free-will and self-love. Free-will begat merit. Merit begat forgetfulness of the grace of God. Forgetfulness of the grace of God, begat transgression. Transgression begat mistrust. Mistrust begat satisfaction. Satisfaction begat the sacrifice of the mass. Sacrifice of the mass begat popish priesthood. Popish priesthood begat superstition. Superstition begat hypocrisy the king. Hypocrisy the king begat lucre. Lucre begat purgatory. Purgatory begat the foundation of pensions, and the patrimony of the church. Pensions and patrimony begat the mammon of inquity. Mammon begat abundance. Abundance begat fulness. Fulness begat cruelty. Cruelty begat dominion in ruling. Dominion begat ambition. Ambition begat simony. And simony begat the POPE, and his brethren the cardinals, with all their successors, abbots, priors, archbishops, lord-bishops, archdeacons, deans, chancellors, commissaries, officials, and procturs, with the rest of the viperous brood.

The pope begat the mystery of iniquity. The mystery of iniquity begat divine sophistry. Divine sophistry begat rejection of the holy scriptures. Rejection of the holy scriptures begat tyranny. Tyranny begat murder of the saints. Murder begat despising of God. Despising of God begat dispensation of offences. Dispensation begat license for sin. License for sin begat abomination. Abomination begat confusion in matters of religion. Confusion brought forth travail of the spirit. Travail of the spirit brought forth matter of disputation for the truth; by which that desolator, antichrist the pope, hath been revealed, and all other antichrists shall in due time be revealed. And they are antichrists, who make laws for the church, contrary to the truth, and deprive, imprison, and banish the members of Christ, both preachers and others, refusing obedience thereunto. -- Most of the points in this curious genealogy, are supported by an appropriate portion of scripture.*

* Parte of a Register, p. 56, 57.