Christianity and Anti-Christianity in Their Final Conflict. Samuel J. Andrews

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СКАЧАТЬ is, also, one who "exalteth himself above" ("against," R. V.) " all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." The spirit of pride, of self-exaltation is so developed in him that he claims Divine honour. He will not worship any God, but will be himself worshipped.

      As to this claim to be God, three suppositions may be made. That he claims to be the God of the Jews, Jehovah, and therefore seats himself in the Jewish temple, and as such is to be worshipped. This, though affirmed by some early fathers, is wholly incredible. Still more is it incredible that he claims to be the Christian God, the Father. Antichrist denies both the Father and the Son.

      That he claims such limited Divinity as was

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      affirmed of the Roman emperors—apotheosis. But the emperor was deified because he was regarded as the embodiment of the State, which had a sacred or divine character. As such embodiment he was enrolled among the Gods. This apotheosis was an honour originally given by the Roman senate, and only to the emperor, and usually after his death; though later given by the emperor himself, in occa- sional instances, to some member of his family. It is said by Tiele ("Hist. of Religion") that "the Cultus of the emperors was pursued with such zeal that games were instituted in their honour, temples were built, and special priests appointed." But it clearly appears from the Apostle's words that this man does not regard himself exalted by any act of man, or as merely one of many deified men. He comes not in the name of another, but " in his own name." He exalts himself above all that is called God, or is an object of worship. He claims a hom- age that is paid to none beside. He shews himself that he is God, and thus is exalted above all that is called God, above all polytheistic deities, all deified men, whether demons or spirits of heroes; above every being who can be an object of worship. A fuller discussion of the ground on which this asser- tion of Divinity is made, will come up when we speak of the pantheistic tendencies of our time.*

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      *As all prophecy which finds its complete fulfillment in the remote future, has something in the present which serves as its foreground, and gives it form and meaning, so is it here. It is said by Burton (Church Hist.), that the Gnostic philosophy in St. Paul's day was beginning to be widely spread, and that he probably alluded to it in the passage now before us. It is generally agreed that in Simon Magus (Acts viii, 9), we meet a representative of this philosophy. The Gnostics occupied them

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      We have still to speak of the relation of the man of sin to Satan. His "coming is after the working —energy—of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders." As his endowments are super- human, so also his energy. (This term is said in G. and T. Lexicon, to be used in the N. T. only of superhuman power.) Here, also, he appears as the counterpart of the Lord. As the Son received power from the Father to do His works, so does Antichrist from Satan. As the Son had no will of His own, but did the Father's will, and so was His perfect instrument; so the man of sin is the perfect instru- ment of Satan, doing in all things his will. As to his endowment with all satanic power and author- ity, this point will meet us again in our examination of the teaching of The Revelation.

      But it is said by some that the Apostle here speaks of pretended miracles, wonders, and signs, which are only illusions and deceptions. This is affirmed on the ground that Satan has not the power to work miracles, God giving to His messengers only this power, in order to serve as their infallible credential. But in calling them "lying wonders," the apostle does not affirm that they are unreal, but that they are wrought to confirm lies. This appears from the con-

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      conselves with the old problem how to pass from the Infinite to the finite. This they did by means of a series of emanations, or of spiritual beings, interposed between God and the human race, and appearing as occasion demanded in the human form. Such a being was Simon Magus. He was believed to be the greatest of these, "the great power of God." It is, therefore, not im- probable that the Christians to whom St. Paul wrote, may have better understood his words about "a man claiming Divine honour," than later generations wholly ignorant of Gnostic ideas. (See note of Meyer, Com. in loco.)

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      text: "And with all deceivableness of unrighteous- ness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth." As they who had the love of the truth, believed the Lord's words, and needed not the miracle for confirmation, so they who have not the love of the truth, will believe Antichrist's word; but as the Lord confirms the words of His servants by signs following, so Satan will confirm his lies by miracles that he may take all captive. (See Mark xvi, 20; Rev. xiii, 13, 14.)

      Fourthly. The hindrance to his revelation. The Apostle, enlightened by the Spirit of God, saw the mystery of lawlessness then working, and knew what its ultimate product would be; yet he, also, saw that its speedy development would be hindered by an ob- stacle; and that the lawless one could not be revealed until it was taken out of the way. What was the obstacle he does not say, but it seems to have been made known by him earlier to the Thessalonians, and therefore was no secret. "And now ye know what withholdeth." A very common interpretation, dating from the time of Tertullian (Quis, nisi Romanus status?), is, that the Roman Empire as the preserver of political order in the earth was intended by the Apostle, but not expressed lest the mention of its be- ing " taken out of the way," or, in other words, its overthrow, might be offensive to the Roman rulers. In favour of this interpretation is the use of the mas- culine and neuter articles, "what withholdeth" and "he who withholdeth." But this interpretation, though approved of by many, was by no means uni- versally received, and is not well sustained. The Apostle is speaking of lawlessness then working in the Church, of disobedience to spiritual rulers and to

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      Christ their Head; and with this the preservation of legal order in a heathen State had nothing to do. Obedience of Christians to Christ and to His apostles was based on faith and love, and dependent on no po- litical institutions. It remained the same whether the Roman Empire survived or perished. It may, in- deed, be said that the regard for law which marked the Roman State, and the habit of obedience enforced, were opposed to the lawlessness of the man of sin, and so an obstacle to his revelation. Without doubt the habit of obedience, whether to civil rulers or to parents, tends to help obedience to God. But the Apostle is not speaking of him in relation to civil au- thority, or as himself a political power. It is in the Church that this lawlessness is seen, and in the Church the hindrance is to be sought. The disposi- tion to find the hindrance in something external, arose at a later period; and, as we shall see, from the unwillingness to believe that the apostasy began so early in the Church, and would continue to develop itself until it ended in the man of sin. And it is to be borne in mind that, as the Apostle expected the Lord to return in the lifetime of some then living, and that by Him the Antichrist would then be de- stroyed, if the hindering power were the Roman Em- pire, it must be overthrown before the Antichrist could appear. Did St. Paul look for any such speedy over- throw? It is scarcely credible that he did.*

      * A friend has made some remarks on this point from which I quote: "I can not help thinking that the hindrance and the hin- derer or restrainer must include a spiritual element, must imply some long-suffering acting of God which at last comes to an end. . . In many passages of Scripture I see the possibility of such a departure of the Holy Spirit from an apostate Christ

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      If, then, the lawlessness spoken of by the apostle was within the Church, and found here the sphere of its activity, we must find that which СКАЧАТЬ