"Creeds of Christendom"; also the Address of the translators of the Bible to King James.) In the Westminster Confession we read: "The Pope is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that setteth himself in the church against God, and all that is called God." (The references in proof are. Matt, xxiii, 8-10; 2 Thess. ii; Rev. xiii, 6—.) The same is said in the Savoy Declaration of 1658 with this addition: "We expect that in the latter day, Anti- Christ being destroyed, the Jews called, and the ad- versaries of the Kingdom of God's Son broken, the Church of Christ, enlarged and edified through a free communication of life and peace, will enjoy in this world a more quiet, peaceable, and glorious condition than it has enjoyed."
The belief of the Protestant churches as to the papal Antichrist continued to be generally held, though with some modifications, down to the time of the French Revolution. It was, however, held less and less firmly, and by some was openly rejected. The glaring inconsistency of calling those antichris- tians who offered all their worship in the name of Christ, was more and more felt.
III. Third Period, from the French Revolution to the present time.
After this Revolution the belief of the Reformers as to the papal Antichrist was much modified, and by many Protestants is now entirely given up. Several causes for this may be given—the natural decay of the old animosity and bitterness of feeling toward the Roman Church; and the growing consciousness that a church which holds and repeats in its services the three great Creeds, and claims its head to be the vicar of Christ, cannot in any real sense of the term be
INTRODUCTION. xxvii
called antichristian. Still more important in effect- ing this change was the French Revolution, which brought into view a new and most deadly element of hostility to the Christian faith, not its corruption merely, but its total denial; and, therefore, affecting alike all Christian Communions. Not a few Protest- ants now accept the primitive belief that the Anti- christ is a single man, and that he is yet to come. Others distinguish between the Roman Church and the Papacy, the last being the Antichrist. Others still find two Antichrists, the papal and the infidel, the first fulfilling one part of the Scriptures, and pre- paring the way for the last, who will completely fulfil them. Dr. Hodge says ("Systematic Theology", Vol. Ill): "There may hereafter be a great anti- christian power concentrated in an antichristian ruler, who will be utterly destroyed at the coming of the Lord; and at the same time the belief may be main- tained that the Antichrist, designated by Daniel and St. Paul, is not a man but an institution or organized power, such as a kingdom or the papacy."
There are probably many Protestants in our day who have no definite belief, and, while they may re- gard Roman doctrine in important points as corrupt, do not look upon the Papacy itself as antichristian; and there is, doubtless, a very considerable and in- creasing number in all Christian communions who wholly disbelieve in any Antichrist to come, and who think the matter to be of no practical importance, and not worthy of consideration; some because they be- lieve in a victorious future of the Church, and others because they expect on evolutionary grounds a gradual but continuous development of humanity, and reject all supernatural interpositions.
xxviii INTRODUCTION.
In the Roman Church there seems to be no au- thoritative teaching, and various beliefs are expressed. The belief of Malvenda (De Antichristo) that the Anti- christ will be an individual, and is still future— Antichristum futuram unum certum et singularem hominem—is probably the more general belief.* It is said by Bellarmine (De Controversiis): Catholici omnes ita sentiunt fore Antichristum unum quandam hominem.
We may add here some remarks of J. H. Newman (1835) as to the value of this enquiry: "In the pres- ent state of things, when the great object of educa- tion is supposed to be the getting rid of things super- natural . . I must think that this vision of Anti- christ, as a supernatural power to come, is a great providential gain as being a counterpoise to the evil tendencies of the age. It must surely be profitable for our thoughts to be sent backward and forward to the beginning and the end of the Gospel times, to the first and second coming of Christ.''
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*A late distinguished member of the Paulist Fathers, Rev. F. A Hewitt, in a recent article (Catholic Quarterly, April, 1894), attempts to show that the predictions respecting Antichrist were fulfilled in Mohammed; and that " the Kingdom of Christ is advancing on a steady line of progress towards a development which shall surpass anything in its past history."
CHRISTIANITY
AND ANTI-CHRISTIANITY
P A R T I.
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THE TEACHINGS OF THE SCRIPTURES RE-
SPECTING THE ANTICHRIST.
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THE TEACHINGS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
THE TEACHINGS OF THE LORD.
THE TEACHINGS OP THE APOSTLES COLLECTIVELY.
ST. PAUL AND HIS TEACHINGS.
THE TEACHINGS OF ST. JOHN, OF ST. PETER, AND
OF ST. JUDE.
THE TEACHINGS OF THE REVELATION.
THE TEACHINGS OF THE SCRIPTURE.
OLD TESTAMENT.
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We now come to the inquiry, What do the Script- ures teach us respecting the Antichrist? We begin by asking whether the Old Testament speaks of him as the Antimessiah? and this leads us to enquire as to the Messianic expectations of the Jews in our Lord's day. These, as based upon the cove- nants and the prophets, had their culmination in the Kingdom to be set up by the Messiah. Into the con- ception of the Kingdom there entered three chief elements: (a) the authority of Jehovah, their cove- nant God, would be established over all the earth; (b) to the Jews as the covenant people would be given the highest place among the nations; (c) the government under Jehovah would be administered by a Son of David, under whose rule all peoples would dwell in unity and peace. Jehovah would every- where be honoured as the supreme God, but in Jeru- salem would be His temple, and the centre of all worship.
In regard to the time and manner of the setting up of the Messianic Kingdom, it was believed that it
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Note—Passages speaking of the Kingdom of the Messiah:
(a) Its King, a Son of David, Jer. xxiii, 5, xxxiii, 15; Isa. ix, 7; Isa. xi, 1.
(b) Under it the Jews will be saved, Jer. xxiii, 6, xxxiii, 7; Isa. xxvii, 6, lx, 21.
(c) Under it all nations will dwell in peace, Ps. lxxii; Is. Lx, 8; Isa. ii, 4.
(d) Under it all people will worship Jehovah, Isa. ii, 8, xi, 9, lxvi, 28; Zech. xiv, 16.
3
4 THE TEACHINGS OF THE SCRIPTURE.
would be when the Jews were in great trouble and distress (Dan. xii, 1). They would be scattered abroad in all lands, and subject to cruel oppres- sion, and encounter the hostility of all nations. But the Messiah would appear, and through Him Jehovah would deliver them from their oppressors, gather them together into their own land, and fulfill to them all the promises made through the prophets of the prosperity and glory of the Messianic King- dom. The period of trial and judgment immediately introductory to the Kingdom would be one of brief duration. At its beginning, the enemies of the Messiah would be active and triumphant, but at the end would be overthrown, and the authority of the Messiah everywhere be recognized. This period of trial, preceding the coming of the Messiah, and fol- lowed by the Kingdom, was known by various names, "the day of wrath," "the day of judgment,"