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CHRISTIANITY

AND ANTI-CHRISTIANITY

IN THEIR FINAL CONFLICT

BY

SAMUEL J. ANDREWS

Author of "The Life of Our Lord Upon the Earth," "God's Revelations of Himself to Men," "Some Thoughts on Christian Unity"

SECOND REVISED EDITION

FOURTH IMPRESSION

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

NEW YORK AND LONDON

1899

COPYRIGHT, 1898

BY

SAMUEL J. ANDREWS

CONTENTS.

______

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION . . . . . . . . v

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

PART I

THE TEACHINGS OF THE SCRIPTURES RESPECTING THE

ANTICHRIST, . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Teachings of the Old Testament, . . . . . . . . 3

Teachings of the Lord, . . . . . . . . . . 10

Teachings of the Apostles Collectively, . . . . . . 21

* St. Paul and his Teachings, . . . . . . . . . 28

Teachings of St. John, St. Peter, and St. Jude, . . . . 44

Teaching of the Revelation, . . . . . . . . . 52

PART II

THE FALLING AWAY OF THE CHURCH, . . . . . . 69

Its Origin and Nature, . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Initial Stage of the Falling Away, . . . . . . . . 87

1. In Relation of the Church to the Head, . . . . . 87

2. In Relation of the Church to the Holy Ghost, . . . . 98

3. In Relation of the Church to the World, . . . . . 103

PART III

TENDENCIES IN OUR DAY PREPARING THE WAY OF THE

ANTICHRIST, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Modern Pantheistic Philosophy, . . . . . . . . 119

Modern Philosophy and the New Christianity, . . . . 139

Deification of Humanity, . . . . . . . . . . 159

Tendencies of Modern Biblical Criticism, . . . . . . 169

Tendencies of Modern Science, . . . . . . . . . 185

Tendencies of Modern Literature, . . . . . . . . 201

Christian Socialism and the Kingdom of God, . . . . . 221

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iv CONTENTS.

PART IV

THE REIGN OF THE ANTICHRIST, . . . . . . . . 237

The Personal Christ in the First and the Nineteenth

Century, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

The Pantheistic Revolution, . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Antichrist as Head of the Nations, . . . . . . . . . 264

The Morality of the Future, . . . . . . . . . . . 284

The Church of the Future, . . . . . . . . . . . 303

The Church of the Beast and the False Prophet, . . . . . 319

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION, . . . . . . . . . 337

NOTES, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

_________

The issue of a second edition of this book gives an opportunity to notice some objections, and, also, to re- move some misapprehensions of its aim which have found expression in various criticisms.

The chief burden of these criticisms is that the book is pessimistic in its tone. It is said by one: "It does not acknowledge that there are any Christian tendencies; everything in our age is antichristian." By another: "It adopts a pessimistic theory of history." By another: "It represents the world as growing worse, rather than better."

A brief examination will show how baseless is all criticism of this kind.

We may assume that these writers accept as true the Lord's words : "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth"; and believe that in due time He will mani- fest this power in a kingdom of righteousness and peace which will embrace all nations. Because Himself im- mortal, the final victory of Christianity is assured; and we need not dwell upon the signs of its triumph which 80 many are engaged in pointing out. The objection based upon pessimism is not, therefore, that the glorious goal set before the Church will not be reached; but that the present stage of its progress, and its immediate future, are presented in a pessimistic way. We are told that an Antichrist in the future is an anachronism; he has no place there. The clouds and tempests are behind us; only a cloudless sky and a smooth sea are before ns, and the haven is at hand.

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vi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

In all questions as to the future of humanity, we must either picture this future for ourselves, or accept Divine revelation. Those who reject revelation, and map out the course of human history as pleases them, are of two classes. The first, which embraces not a few names dis- tinguished in science and literature, affirms that so long as men live on the earth there will be a mingling of good and evil, a perpetual struggle between them. They see no kingdom of God in the coming years. With the second class, which embraces many nominal Christians, it is the evolutionary theory which determines for them the future of humanity. Believing in its continual upward progress, they can find no place for any development of evil and an Antichrist. The kingdom must come because it lies in the ever-ascending order of nature.

If we turn to those who believe that all true knowledge of the future of man is based upon Divine revelation, we find two classes: (a) those who hold that Christ will establish His kingdom by the peaceable and gradual diffusion of His principles; (b) those who look for its establishment through His personal acts in the separa- tion of the good and the evil, and in final judgment. These two interpretations of the Divine purpose in Christ, as it is revealed, are radically at variance. One rests upon the conception that the depths of wickedness in man's sinful nature have been already fathomed. There are no lower deeps, no new forms in which the hostility to God and Christ can manifest itself. The other con- ceives of depths not yet fathomed, of forms of wickedness not yet manifested. It sees actively working a spirit of pride and lawlessness which will find its culmination and highest expression in the man of sin who seats himself in the temple of God, " showing himself that he is God.''

Which of these conceptions of the future shall we take? We turn to the parable of the tares and the w heat. Have

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. vii

the tares already ripened and brought forth their perfected fruits, and are they now withering away?" Let both tares and wheat grow together until the harvest,'' said the Lord. The harvest is when both are ripe, when right- eousness and wickedness have both come to the full.* Is to see this growth of evil pessimistic? Who has so openly and strongly spoken of the evil days to come as our Lord Himself? Not a few in our day call any teaching of the fall of man, of the sinfulness of human nature, of the pun- ishment of sin, pessimistic. They have ears for those only who cry, "Peace, Progress"; and eyes only to see signs of good. But if revelation clearly teaches the contempo- raneous development of good and evil, why should we ignore or minimise the evil? The highest form of wick- edness is at the end in him " who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or is worshipped."

To call good evil, as the pessimist does, is not so dan- gerous as to call evil good. In the former case, we are at least kept on our guard; in the latter, we are taken un- awares. If the blind optimist lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Better that the supposed evil should prove to be good, than that the supposed good should prove to be evil. To ignore the Antichrist of whom she has been forewarned, is for the Church to expose herself defenceless to his wiles, deceptions, and attacks.

It may be said in general that all who complain of the development of evil in the future as ''a pessimistic theory,"

*In his comment on this parable it is said by Archbishop Trench: “We learn that evil is not, as so many dream, gradually to wane and disappear before good; but is ever to develop it- self more fully, even, as on the other side good is to unfold itself more and more mightily also. Thus it will go on until at last they stand face to face, each in its highest manifestation in the persons of Christ and of Antichrist. . . . Both are to grow, evil and good, till they come to a head, till they are ripe, one for destruction, and the other for full salvation."

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should direct their attention to these two points: first, whether or not the Scriptures foretell an Antichrist in whom the enmity to God and to His Son will culminate, “the man of sin”; and, secondly, if they do, whether or not the movements and tendencies, religious, political, social, of the present time give any signs of his appearing. If there is to be no Antichrist, all enquiry respecting him is lost labour; and if he is to come, but only in some re- mote future, the subject has for us no present interest.

A word may be said of the objection that the doctrine of the Divine transcendence, as here presented, denies the Divine immanence. This is an error. God is im- manent in man.'' In God we live, and move, and have our being." But what is said is, that the doctrine of the Divine immanence is so presented in many quarters as to be indistinguishable from pantheism. Philosophy and science in many eminent representatives agree in affirm- ing that there is no personal God, only a universal, im- personal Spirit or Energy, of which everything that exists is a part. This, viewed on the material side, is atheism; on the spiritual, is pantheism. If the tran- scendence of God in His acts of creation, as declared in the Scriptures, is given up, the ordinary mind—whatever some acute metaphysicians may say of themselves—can find no final resting-place but in the humbling negations of atheism, or the deifying affirmations of pantheism.

S. J. A.

November, 1898.

PREFACE.

_____

The aim of this book is not historical or polemical. It does not repeat in detail the opinions of the early Fathers, or of later writers, or enter into the controversy whether Nero or Mohammed, the Pope or Luther, the Papacy or Protestantism, be called the Antichrist. There is a true sense in which it may be said, "Let the dead past bury its dead." It is in the light of the present that we must re-examine the prophetical problems of the past. As the purpose of God draws nearer to its fulfillment, passing events will tend to show in their distinctive features the nature of that fulfillment. (it is, therefore, for us of to-day to note the religious tendencies of the present, and to con- sider carefully their bearing upon the Divine purpose in man as it has been made known to us in the Scriptures. To those who believe that God, who knows the end from the beginning, has through His prophets and His Son declared this purpose in its outlines for the guidance of His children, our inquiry is of deepest interest. We ask, To what stage of His actings have we come? What are the religious characteristics of the present time? )

If the right discernment of the religious character of an age is always to those living in it of the highest import- ance, the right discernment of the present time is especially important to us, if, as we are told by not a few, it is in many points to be distinguished from all that have pre- ceded it. To-day, indeed, is always the child of yesterday. The continuity of history is never broken. Yet history tells us of successive stages of religious development, each having its own marked features. Whether we have come to a new stage, must be determined by its special charac-

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teristics. Let us, therefore, note what is said of the present time by representative men, regarding it from very different points of view. What new religious elements do we find in it? In what direction are they developing? And what is the goal?

It was said early in the century by the German philoso- pher Schelling, noting the tendencies of philosophic thought around him: “As regards the past, there is striving a com- plete new age, and the old cannot comprehend it, nor has it a distant presentiment how distinct and complete is the antagonism to it of the new."

Lecky ("History of Rationalism"): "It has long been a mere truism that we are passing through a state of chaos, of anarchy, and of transition. During the past century the elements of dissolution have been multiplying all around us. . . . The days of Athanasius and of Augus- tine have passed away never to return. . . .The controver- sies of bygone centuries ring with a strange hollowness upon the ear."

Cardinal Newman ("Patristical Idea of Antichrist") speaks of "a special effort made almost all over the world, . . . . .but most visibly and formidably in its most civilized and powerful parts, an effort to do without Religion.... Truly there is at this time a confederacy of evil marshal- ing its hosts from all parts of the world, organizing itself and taking its measures, enclosing the Church of Christ as in a net, and preparing the way for a general Apostasy from it."

Leslie Stephen ("Agnostic's Apology"): "I conceive that a vast social and intellectual transformation is taking place, and taking place more rapidly now than at almost any historical period….I cannot say what will be the outcome of this vast and chaotic fermentation of thought.

….The creed of the future, whatever it may be, exists only in germ. Philosophers, not apostles or prophets, are founding a philosophical system, not a religion."

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Goldwin Smith: "There is a general feeling that the stream of history is drawing near a cataract. . . .There is everywhere in the social frame an outward unrest, which, as usual, is the sign of fundamental change within. Old creeds have given way."

Gronlund, the Socialist: "All signs and portents show that the face of mankind has already been set in a social- istic direction.... There has been the access of a new, rational, divine order in human life that is disintegrating the old, outward, and temporary organization, and gradu- ally creating the new."

Kuenen, the Biblical critic: "The problem of the future is especially serious now when so much is being super- seded and is passing away, when a new conception of the world is spreading in ever wider circles; when new social conditions are in the very process of birth. . . . . In us the ends of the ages meet, the ends of the old and the new."

Prof. Sohm ("Outlines of Church History"), speaking of culture, says: ''This tendency has become more and more powerful since the middle of the century, and is hostile, not only to the ecclesiastical and Christian, but to every religious theory of the universe." "The society of our day is like the earth on which we live—a thin crust over a great volcanic, seething, revolutionary heart of liquid fire." "More and more clearly are shown the signs of the movement, the aim of which is to destroy the entire social, order of the State, the Church, the Family. Unbelief has grown up among us, an unbelief which is kindling the revolution of the nineteenth century."

Kidd ("Social Evolution"): "The present is a period of reconstruction. A change is almost imperceptibly tak- ing place in the midst of the rising generation respecting the great social and religious problems of our time. . . .We are rapidly approaching a time when we shall be face to face with social and political problems graver in character and more far-reaching in extent than any which have been

xii PREFACE.

hitherto encountered." "To the thoughtful mind the out- look at the close of the nineteenth century is profoundly interesting. History can furnish no parallel to it. . . .We seem to have reached a time in which there is abroad in men's minds an instinctive feeling that a definite stage in the evolution of Western civilization is growing to a close, and that we are entering upon a new era."

Utterances like these, repeated in sermons and lectures, in books, magazines, and the daily press, meet us on every side; all alike proclaiming a new age at hand. Whilst differing widely as to the final result, there is general agreement that we have come to the border line that separates two eras, that we have left the old behind us and are entering upon the new. This is in itself a most remarkable fact What is its significance? Why a new age? Are our old beliefs, our old institutions, outgrown? Are we about to break with the past, and take a sudden leap onward? What has aroused this general feeling of restlessness, this widespread discontent with the present, these eager anticipations of something better soon to come?

In considering the significance of this fact, our attention is here given chiefly to its religious bearing, although a change in religion necessarily brings with it a change in every department of human thought and action. When the new age has fully developed itself, what religion will it give us? Will it be some new phase of Christianity, or an eclectic religion, or something distinctively new? Here the anticipations of men differ widely. Let us attempt to classify them.

First, those Christians who believe that the Kingdom of God was established in the earth and the reign of Christ begun when He ascended into Heaven, or perhaps when the Roman Empire acknowledged Christianity. This is said by many, or most, in the Roman, Greek, and Anglican com- munions. They, therefore, look for no change in belief af- fecting essentially the creeds or rituals of the Church. As a

PREFACE. xiii

Divine Institution it is permanent, and this ensures the permanence of the present Christianity. No new religious era is to be looked for; its supposed signs are fallacious. The future will be as the past in all its main features till the Lord returns to final judgment.

Secondly, those—chiefly to be found in Protestant bodies—who think but little of the Church as a historic institution, to be preserved unchanged, but believe that there will be a wider and ever-growing spread of Chris- tianity as a spiritual influence till the world is leavened. This class would retain for the most part the Protestant confessions of faith without any vital doctrinal or other changes. The new era they expect will come through a Christianized civilization, and the enlargement of Christen- dom to embrace all nations.

Thirdly, those who, having the same expectations as to the spread and triumph of Christianity, affirm that it must have large modifications in order that it may be adapted to the present conditions of religious enquiry. It is amongst these that we find many leaders of modern thought. They affirm, to use the evolutionary phrase, that the organism must be adjusted to its present environment The Church, both as to its doctrine and polity and labours, must respond to the demands of the new age, and adapt itself to its needs. As to the extent of these modifications, there are wide diversities of opinion. Some would give up only those doctrines and rites which are most offensive to the spirit of the time; others would go further, and put away a large part of what has been regarded as distinctive in Christianity, that it may serve as a basis for an universal religion. But most have apparently no clear conception of what they must give up or retain.

Fourthly, those in all sections of the Church who see clearly enough the rapid religious changes all around them, and feel the power of the growing revolutionary tendencies, and are greatly perplexed what to think of the

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future, or what to da They ask anxiously: Where are the proposed modifications of Christianity to end? Is it true that we are at the beginning of a new and better age? Is it the light of a glorious dawn that is beginning to illumine the heavens, or the lurid gleam of far-off volcanic fires? They know not what to believe in the present, or what to expect in the future. Faith in God, in the Scrip- tures, in the Church, does not wholly fail, but they are disquieted in spirit and sad at heart

On the other hand, there are many in Christendom, and apparently a continually increasing number, who affirm that mere modifications of Christianity, greater or less, cannot permanently save it Christendom has proved it for many centuries, and found it a practical failure. Its fundamental principles conflict with the growing intelli- gence of the world. We have come to a new age, and a new age must bring with it a new religion, not a revivifi- cation of the past; one based upon a new conception of God, simple, comprehensive, and fitted to be a world- religion. Some, indeed, think to make it eclectic, and to incorporate in it more or less of Christianity; but those of clearer vision see the impossibility of this, and affirm that Christianity must be taken as a whole, or rejected as a whole. Of these Renan is a sample, who says: "The future will no longer believe in the supernatural, for the supernatural is not true, and all that is not true is con- demned to die. The pure truth will triumph. Judaism and Christianity will disappear." In the same way speaks the learned Jew, Darmesteter: "All Europe is in quest of a new God, and seeking everywhere for the echo of a coming gospel.” And all those who, like Herbert Spencer, substitute an impersonal Force for a personal God, will have nothing of Christianity but its ethics. Of the attempts to formulate the new religion, we shall, later, have full occasion to speak. But in them all we shall see ample proof that Christianity, with its vital doctrines, the

PREFACE. xv

Trinity, the Incarnation, Sin and Atonement, Resurrection and Judgment, must give place to some form of belief better suited to the modern conceptions of a Supreme Being, of the reign of Law, and of the goodness and dignity of human nature.

It is almost inevitable that but few in a time of transi- tion like the present can have any definite conception whither they are going, for such a time is always one of obscurity and confusion. Christendom is a battlefield where the old elements and the new are struggling to- gether, assailants and defenders inextricably mingled. It is in such a transition period that the light of the pro- phetic word is indispensable to clear vision. Knowing what God has said of His purpose in His Son, and in humanity, and illumined by it, we may discern the signs of the times, and the real nature and significance of pass- ing events, and thus know the meaning of the present, and the goal to which it leads.

Assuming here (what the examination of the Scriptures will soon show us) that the antichristian spirit, which has often had its partial representatives in the past, is to be finally summed up in a single person, who is distinctively the Antichrist—the last product of the antichristian tend- encies — we are brought to the vital question. What will be the relations of the coming new age to him? Do we see in its spirit and principles a preparation for him? We are taught by the Apostle Paul that “he shall sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." Are we to have a new religion in which the Saviour from sin can have no place, but will be supplanted by one who will present himself as the representative of a Divine humanity, and so an object of worship? It is the purpose of this book to answer these questions. To those who look upon the present tendencies as the harbingers of a new and higher evolution of Christianity, it will be both false and offensive. Why, they will ask, these pessimistic utterances? Why

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dishearten the spirits of zealous men by forebodings of evil? Why speak of an apostasy when the Church is just arising into the full consciousness of its mission, and gird- ing itself anew for its accomplishment ? Why speak of an Antichrist when the world is honoring the Christ more than ever before?

To those, also, on the other hand, who think that the world is outgrowing Christianity, and that there is no longer a place for the Church or its Head, and that humanity, freeing itself from its old and burdensome religious traditions, is entering upon a new and higher development, this book will be an offense; if it be not rather wholly disregarded and despised as a vain attempt to revive an antiquated belief which the Church of to-day itself rejects.

Thus, both by Christians who believe that the trials and perils of the Church are in a great measure over, and the day of triumph at hand, and by Antichristians who believe that Christianity will soon pass away, or be merged into a larger religion, the belief in a coming Antichrist as here presented will be rejected. But for all who accept the Scriptures as an intelligible revelation of a Divine purpose, the first duty is to ask what they teach us. Putting away all prejudices and unreasoned beliefs, we must ask what the Holy Ghost, speaking by the prophets of old and by the Lord and His apostles, has told us of the final stages of the great conflict between good and evil so long waged in the earth, and of its chief actors in the time of the end.

It is only through Scriptural light that we can fully know the character and work of the Antichrist; and to. this light it is of vital importance that we give heed, for we are forewarned that he will present himself .to men under an aspect best fitted to deceive. Those despising the prophetic word, and not believing in his appearing, will be attracted and fettered by the power of his person:

PREFACE. xvii

and those whose conception of him is that of an open blasphemer of God, a bitter enemy of all religion, detest- able because of his vices, will not discern him should he appear as a saviour of society and a religious leader. It is only through the attentive study of the Scriptures, and its prophetic outlines of the future, and especially of St. Paul (2 Thess. ii. 2), that we can be kept from fatal mis- conceptions. He who seats himself in the temple of God, “shewing himself that he is God," is not, as is often said, one who compels the world to pay him Divine homage by brute violence; it is done voluntarily. That he can pre- sent himself to men as the object of Divine honour, and receive it, shows a community of belief already existing between him and his worshippers. They see in him the representative of their own religious ideas. He will not come as a spectre of the night, but as an angel of light, the morning star of a new day; and the age that will welcome and worship him will not think itself, irreligious, but the most religious of all the ages. In him the modern spirit will find its truest representative and exponent. We may believe that he will be regarded by his generation as the highest type of our developed humanity, the noblest embodiment of its dignity, its "consummate flower." He will be recognized as a natural king of men, and his king- dom, rising grandly before the world, will be welcomed as the full evolution of the democratic idea» the realization of popular aspirations, the end of social strife, the unity of nations, the natural outcome and highest product of our civilization, and the goal of human history. It will be welcomed by the multitude as the long promised "King- dom of God."

It need not be said that this man and his kingdom are not the accidents of an hour; there is a long preparatory process. As with our Lord, so with him. There is a "fulness of time" for his appearing, and this is not till the antichristian leaven has spread through Christendom.

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Then will be the final test of Christian faith and discern- ment. Before the world will be two kings and two king- doms. He who will set up the kingdom of God, is the Incarnate Son returning from Heaven; he who will set up the kingdom of man, is a son of the earth; and the ques- tion which must then be answered is, Which king and which kingdom will Christendom and the nations have?

The order of our enquiry is, therefore, this: First, what do we learn from the Scriptures—from the prophets and from the teachings of the Lord and of His apostles— respecting the religious condition of the world and of the Church at the period immediately preceding His return? And what is predicted of the Antichrist? And in this enquiry we are especially concerned with the doctrine of St. Paul and of St John respecting the nature of the apostasy as preparatory to the coming of the man of sin, its final product Having a clear conception of that apostasy, its origin, its nature, and final development in the man of sin; we may proceed, secondly, to examine the religious and the philosophical tendencies of the present time, that we may know its real character, and how far it is a preparation for the fulfilment of the Scripture predic- tions. This enquiry necessarily embraces many distinct points, which must be separately discussed. But it will be noted that the present purpose is to state and illustrate the religious tendencies and movements of the time, and not to confute them. Their confutation lies in seeing the goal to which they lead.

Perhaps more space has been given to the philosophic tendencies of our times than many may think to be neces- sary. But no one can truly know them who does not discern the pantheistic spirit which underlies them, and determines their practical working, manifested in all de- partments of human life. To understand the prophetic descriptions of the Antichrist, as claiming Divine homage, we must see how the prevalent philosophy tends to the deification of man, and so helps to prepare his way.

INTRODUCTION

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The term Antichrist is to many, perhaps to most Christians of our day, a term of great vagueness. But to the early Christians, and to the Church for several centuries, it was of very definite and fearful meaning. It designated the last and greatest of the enemies of God and of His Christ—an apostate who would sum up in himself all wickedness. Endowed by Satan with all his power, he would receive from him the kingdoms of this world, and rule over the na- tions. He would make war with the saints, and would overcome them, and reign supreme for a little time; but be himself destroyed at the coming of the Lord.

It is the purpose of this essay to enquire what the Scriptures teach concerning the Antichrist and his times; and how far we may see in the history of the Church, and in the movements and tendencies of our day, the foreshadowing of him, and the preparation for him. This involves a consideration of the place of Christ in the Divine purpose, and of His person and prerogatives.

But, before entering upon this enquiry, it will be well to define the term antichrist, and to give a brief outline of the several phases of belief in the Church in regard to his person and work.*

* Among the more important writers on the Antichrist are the Roman Catholics, F. T. Malvenda, De Antichristo Libri undecim,

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xx INTRODUCTION.

The term "antichrist" plainly denotes an enemy of Christ, but leaves indefinite whether a person or a series of persons; whether one arising from within the Church or without it; whether one who has ap- peared or is yet to appear. Nor does the word itself determine whether he is simply an enemy of. Christ, or both an enemy to Him and a substitute for Him. Many find only the element of hostility. This cer- tainly is the predominant idea, but does not exclude that of substitution. This appears if we note that the work of Christ in our redemption has two chief parts, that of atonement—the propitiation for our sins and the heavenly intercession based upon it; and that of judging and ruling, or the administration of the Mes- sianic kingdom. The first of these Antichrist wholly denies. He will know no atonement, no cross, no priesthood. Here his hostility to Christianity is openly avowed. For the second of these, the Mes- sianic kingdom, he will substitute an earthly king- dom, the elements of which will be fraternity, liberty, equality, and in which will be the highest de- velopment of man. It is here that he offers himself as a substitute for Christ. He will be the Messiah of the nations, and under him all will be blessed. As said by Archbishop Trench ("Synonyms," sub voce),

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ome, 1604 A.D.; Cardinal Bellarmine, De Controversiis Christianae Fidei, 4 Tomi, 1622. In Tomus I he treats at length the charge of Calvin that the papacy is Antichrist. A good sum- mary is found in Stem's Commentar, Die Offenbarung, ch. xiii, 1854. Among recent Protestant writers, aside from the com- mentators, are C. Maitland's "Apostolic School of Prophetic Interpretation"; Dr. J. H. Todd's "Discourses on the Prophe- cies Relating to Antichrist," Dublin, 1840. For a very recent statement of early and mediaeval belief see Wadstein in Hilgen-felds Zeitschrift, 1896-6.

INTRODUCTION. xxi

"He will not call himself Christ, for he will be filled with deadliest hate, both against the name and office, against the whole spirit and temper of Jesus of Naza- reth, now the exalted King of Glory. . .He will not assume the name of Christ, and so will not in the letter be a false Christ, yet assuming to himself Christ's offices, presenting himself to the world as the true centre of its hopes, as the satisfaction of its needs, and healer of its hurts, he will, in fact, take upon himself all names and forms of blasphemy; will be the false Christ and the Antichrist both at once.''

In giving a brief outline of the various beliefs in the Church respecting the Antichrist, we find three periods clearly marked.

First, the belief in the early Church, and in general down to the Reformation. Second, from the Reforma- tion to the French Revolution. Third, from the French Revolution to the present time.

I. In the first period, extending over some fifteen centuries, there was not absolute uniformity of be- lief, but substantial agreement. To quote in detail the words of the early fathers would demand more space than we can give, nor is it at all necessary for our purpose. That there is such agreement is af- firmed by all who have investigated the matter, both Roman Catholics and Protestants. Some quotations from the more recent writers will be sufficient here. Thus it is said by Greswell ("Parables," Vol. II), "Another article of belief on which the fathers are unanimous is this: That before the end of the world Antichrist must be expected to ap- pear. It made no difference whether they were advo- cates or opposers of the doctrine of the millennium in particular; in the reception of this opinion there was

xxii INTRODUCTION.

perfect agreement among all parties. . . The fathers are likewise agreed in considering Antichrist to be a real person, and not merely a figurative or symbolic character. . . They are unanimous that the appearance and rise of the Antichrist would be accompanied by the persecution of the followers of the true Christ, and that his kingdom would be estab- lished on the ruins of the Church." It is said by Bishop Wordsworth (Com. on 2 Thess.), "The gen- eral opinion of the fathers was that a personal .Anti- christ would appear a short time before the second coming of Christ."

In like manner it is said by Todd ("Discourses," note p. 18), "All more ancient writers unanimously agreed that an individual Antichrist was described in the prophecy, and that he was to appear at the end of the world immediately before the second coming of the Lord." After stating the early opinions in brief, S. B. Maitland says: "I believe that the opinions which I here attribute to the early Church, were held by all Christian writers until the twelfth century." Prof. Eadie remarks ("Essay on Man of Sin") "That the man of sin was to be one human be- ing, one man, . . was the first and prevailing inter- pretation." So also J. H. Newman ("The Patristi- cal Idea of Antichrist"), “That Antichrist is one in- dividual man was the universal tradition of the early Church." Perhaps these statements should be some- what modified as regards the Alexandrian School.

This agreement of the fathers embraced the fol- lowing points :

1. That before the end of the world or age, there would be an apostasy, which in its culmination would be not merely a corruption of the Christian faith, but

INTRODUCTION xiii

a total denial of it—an apostasy not universal, but very general.

2. That the last representative and leader of this apostasy would be a man, "the man of sin," "the wicked one," "the son of perdition," or "the Anti- christ."

3. That this man would attain to universal domin- ion, all nations becoming subject to him.

4. That this dominion would continue but a short time, forty-two months, or three and a half years.

5. That he would claim divine honours for himself, and persecute all upholding the faith of Christ, and suppress, as far as possible, all Christian worship.

6. That the time immediately preceding and dur- ing his reign would be one of great tribulation.

7. That many of the Jews would receive him as their Messiah.

8. That he would be destroyed with his adherents by the Lord at His appearing.

Besides these points of general agreement, there were diverse particular opinions about the person of the Antichrist, of which we may mention: a. That he was Satan incarnated. b. That he was a son of Satan by a human mother, c. That he was a man possessed by Satan. d. That he was a man who vol- untarily gave himself up to do Satan's will, and was endowed by him with miraculous powers—Organum diaboli—and to him Satan would give the rule of the kingdoms of this world. e. That he was a man raised from the dead by Satan, and so a counterpart of the risen Christ.

The surmises of some of the fathers as to his birth in Bethsaida, and his education in Babylon, are of no importance. It was held by many that he was to be

xxiv INTRODUCTION.

a Jew, and of the tribe of Dan, chiefly on the ground that Dan is not mentioned among the sealed tribes of The Revelation (ch. vii). It was said by Lactantius and some of the fathers, that he would come from the East and subdue the West.

The points enumerated as those of general belief in the first age of the Church, are still held in substance in the Roman Catholic and Greek communions, and probably in the small Eastern sects. But some im- portant modifications gradually came in, the grounds of which will be better understood after speaking of the nature of the apostasy. It need only be said here that, as the expectation of a speedy return of the Lord gradually passed away, and it was believed that the prophecies respecting the success and glory of the Church were to be fulfilled during His absence, and that this might be indefinitely prolonged, the fear of Antichrist's speedy appearance ceased, and compara- tively little interest was taken in it; and the matter became practically of little importance.

It does not really affect the unanimity of the pre- Reformation Church that in the twelfth and follow- ing centuries some small sects began to apply the prophecies respecting Babylon to the Church of Rome, and identified the Papacy with the Antichrist ; since this seems to have been done rather out of anger because of real or supposed oppression, than upon any clear view of the character of Antichrist, or upon any consistent principle of prophetic interpretation. At this time, too, or a little later, when the Roman Church was much distracted with the contentions of rival popes, it was not unusual for zealous partisans to brand the claimants they opposed with the title of Antichrist. Thus St. Bernard of the twelfth century

INTRODUCTION xxv

called Pope Leo, whom he regarded as an usurper of St. Peter's chair, the beast of the Apocalypse. (See Todd, "Discourses," p. 28, Note A.) But it will be noted that it was the usurper, not the real pope, whom he so called. It was not the bishop of Rome, the true vicar of Christ, as such, to whom the title of Anti- Christ in these disputes was applied, but to one who falsely claimed to be His vicar. And it was not until the Reformation that it was applied to the popes offi- cially without distinction—a series of Antichrists. Some changes during this period of the primitive be- lief will be spoken of later.

II. Second Period, from the Reformation to the French Revolution.

The application of the term Antichrist to the pope in his official position, or its application to the Papacy as a system, marks the Reformation period. It is said by the Roman Catholic commentator, Estius, in his remarks on Second Thessalonians 11, that "Luther, instigated by the Devil, was the first who applied the term to the pope as pope." ("Adversus execrabilem bul- lam Antichristi, " 1520.) But it is not clear that at first Luther meant it to apply to the whole series of popes. This was done later by many of the leading Reform- ers, and marks the growing estrangement from the Papacy. It shows also a wide departure from the early belief in affirming: a. That the Antichrist was not an individual; b. That he had already appeared; c. That the apostasy would not be a total denial of the truth.

The designation of the papal system as antichris- tian, and its bead as Antichrist, is found in several of the Confessions of the Reformed Churches. (See "Hutterus Redivivus" of Hase, p. 342; and Schaff's

xxvi INTRODUCTION.

"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.''

__________

*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.

__________

THE TEACHINGS OF THE SCRIPTURES RE-

SPECTING THE ANTICHRIST.

__________

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.