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

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СКАЧАТЬ 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

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      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

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      "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

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      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.

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      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

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