Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He teaches that the day of judgment is not at hand, and that before it there will come a general apostasy, and the Antichrist will come; whose pride, impiety, miracles, seduction, and destruction he describes secondly, from verse 3 to verse 12. Thirdly, in verse 12, he congratulates the Thessalonians that they are the firstfruits of the faithful and of those to be saved. Fourthly, in verse 14, he confirms them in the faith, and commands them to hold the traditions received not only in writing, but also by word; and finally he prays for them God's grace.
Vulgate Text: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-16
1. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together unto Him: 2. that you be not soon shaken in your mind, nor be terrified, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. 3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, 4. who opposes and is exalted above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God. 5. Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6. And now you know what withholds, that he may be revealed in his time. 7. For the mystery of iniquity already works: only that he who now holds, may hold, until he be taken out of the way. 8. And then that wicked one shall be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: 9. whose coming is according to the working of Satan in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, 10. and in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish: because they have not received the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying, 11. that all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity. 12. But we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of God, for that God hath chosen you firstfruits unto salvation, in sanctification of the spirit, and in faith of the truth: 13. whereunto also He hath called you by our Gospel, unto the purchasing of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 14. Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle. 15. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God and our Father, who hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation, and good hope in grace, 16. exhort your hearts, and confirm you in every good work and word.
Verse 1: We Beseech You by the Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ
1. We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and (repeat: by the coming) of our gathering together unto Him, — that is, when Christ comes to us to judge the world, we in turn shall come and be gathered together to Him, and shall meet Him. So Chrysostom and Theophylact. Hence it could be more clearly rendered with Vatablus from the Greek, "and by our gathering together unto Him," namely Christ. It is a beseeching and an adjuration by the coming of Christ the judge, that is, by Christ who is to come to judgment (for it is a hypallage), and by the salvation of the Thessalonians themselves and their being gathered to Christ, so that, just as much as they reverence Christ, and as much as they love their own salvation, just so much may they turn away from false teachers, and not believe those who teach that the day of judgment is at hand.
Verse 2: That You Be Not Soon Shaken in Your Mind
2. That you be not soon shaken in your mind, — that is, in the opinion which you have had hitherto, and which you were taught by me concerning the day of judgment, concerning Antichrist, and the other signs which will precede that day. This sense is clear from what follows, verses 4 and 5.
Neither be terrified, neither by spirit, — that is, by a feigned revelation, as if the Holy Spirit had revealed to some prophet that the day of judgment was at hand: for these false teachers boasted of such revelations and prophecies. Hence he commanded such prophecies to be tested and examined, in the first epistle, chapter V, verses 20 and 21.
Nor by word, — supply: ours, or spoken by us; for the following words in the Greek argue that this is how it must be understood.
Nor by letter as sent from us, — ὡς δι' ἡμῶν, that is, as proceeding from us, both word and letter.
As if the day of the Lord were at hand. — Doubtless these false prophets feigned certain words as if spoken by the Apostle, and certain letters as if written by him, by which they tried to persuade the people of their own teaching, or rather their own dream, namely that the day of judgment was at hand. Moreover, even St. Gregory, St. Leo, and other Fathers thought in their own age that the day of judgment was at hand, because, reckoning from the years of Genesis according to the Septuagint, they considered the sixth and last millennium of the world to be due to be completed in their century — of which I shall say more on Apoc. XX. So too St. Vincent Ferrer preached that he had been sent by God to announce to men that the day of judgment was at hand. It is a wonder what Procopius and Leonardo Aretinus write, in book I On the Gothic War, that under the Emperor Justinian a Sibylline oracle had been spread abroad, that the world "with its offspring would perish:" when behold, a certain commander named Mundus, who was to free Italy from the Goths, fighting unsuccessfully with them and slain together with his offspring, fulfilled the oracle, and freed the world from the fear of impending judgment.
Verse 3: Unless There Come a Falling Away First, and the Man of Sin Be Revealed
3. For unless there come a falling away first, — supply: the day of the Lord shall not come. For discessio, the Greek is ἡ ἀποστασία, Syriac mardula: which corresponds to the Hebrew מרד mered, that is, defection and rebellion by which one falls away from his prince and rebels against him, namely that notable, full, and general one (for this is what the article ἡ implies, and the general name "apostasy," which is here restricted or determined by no naming of nation or place), by which most and indeed all nations everywhere will depart and fall away both from the Roman empire, as Ambrose, Primasius, and Sedulius explain, of which more on verse 6; then consequently from the Roman Pontiff and the Church, as Anselm holds; then finally from faith and Christ. Hence Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Œcumenius, and Augustine, in book XX On the City, ch. XIX, interpret this falling away as the Antichrist, by metonymy: because he himself will be the cause of the universal apostasy, so that almost all will depart from Christ. But we shall more properly take the falling away itself as the universal defection of the nations from the Roman Empire. Here the Apostle sets down two signs preceding the judgment: first, this universal defection; second, the Antichrist himself, who will follow this defection immediately, as will become clearer from what follows. Add that the apostasy and defection itself is not rightly, and very improperly, called Antichrist. Hence St. Augustine seems to have read apostata for apostasia: for he renders, "unless the renegade come first," that is, Antichrist, who will be a renegade and apostate from the Lord God. But the Greek and Latin and the Syrian consistently have apostasia, not apostata; whence, as I said, not the Antichrist, but the general apostasy is signified.
And the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, — that is, the Antichrist, who will be a most wicked man, so that he seems to be wholly nothing else but the instrument, slave, and fulfillment of sin; so that the whole universe of sin will dwell in him, says Blessed Irenaeus.
Secondly, Antichrist is called the son of perdition, that is, most lost, and most worthy to be destroyed and to perish, so that he seems to have been born from perdition itself for this purpose, namely to destroy himself and others, and to cast them into perdition. So "perdition" here can be taken in two ways: first, for wickedness and the most wicked man, and then the word "son" means the same as one given over, inclined, enslaved. For just as he is called "son of disobedience, of pride, of luxury," who has wholly devoted and enslaved himself to disobedience, pride, luxury: so he is called "son of perdition," who lives so wickedly and so lost, that he seems to have devoted himself to wickedness. Secondly, "perdition" here can be taken for damnation and gehenna, in which the damned are destroyed by eternal death and perish, and then the word "son" must be expounded as "worthy." For just as he is called "son of death and of gehenna," who is worthy of death and gehenna: so he is called "son of perdition," who is worthy of perdition, to be damned and to perish forever. See what was said on Ephesians II, 3. So "perdition" is taken in Proverbs XV, 11: "Hell, and perdition are before the Lord: how much more the hearts of the children of men?" As if to say, God knows not only death and the state of the dead (for this even angels and demons know); but He knows also the very depths of hell, and who and how many are to be damned, or are damned; how many places of hell are filled, how many still remain to be filled and by whom, how much, and in what manner: how much more does He know the secret thoughts and intentions of men? So also in chapter XXVII, verse 20: "Hell and perdition are never filled: in like manner the eyes of men are insatiable."
Note: St. Augustine, in book XX On the City, ch. XIX, understands this man of sin, that is, Antichrist, not as a definite person, but as the whole multitude of the impious, opposed to Christ. Beza and all the Innovators eagerly seize on this: Antichrist, they say, is the whole body of ecclesiastical tyranny, which exists and will exist until the end of the world, whose head is the Pope, who is adored and carried about as God.
But I say and assert, although Antichrist from the etymology signifies one opposed to Christ, and thus, with the testimony of St. John, in his first epistle, ch. II, vv. 18 and 22, all heretics are antichrists: yet it is certain and of the faith that the Antichrist will be one man, and a definite person, whose name is as yet unknown, and who will be called Antichrist by antonomasia, because he will be the bitterest enemy of Christ. This is clear, because that same one is here called the man of sin, son of perdition, showing himself as if he were God, that wicked one, whom the Lord Jesus will slay, etc. Where in the Greek the article ὁ is always added, which designates a definite person: ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ὁ ἀντικείμενος, ὁ ἄνομος. How could the Apostle have shown and described a definite man more clearly? This will be clearer in verse 11. And this is the sense and consent of the whole Church and of all the Fathers, whom Sanderus cites, in his book On Antichrist, Bellarmine, in book III On the Pontiff, and others.
To St. Augustine I reply first, that he has nothing in common with the heretics; for he himself does not call the Roman Pontiff Antichrist, nor the people or Church adhering to him; but the whole multitude of the impious — for instance Turks, Saracens, pagans, heretics, and evil Christians. The Roman Pontiff is not the head of this multitude: for what jurisdiction does he have over Turks, Saracens, pagans? Indeed, this multitude has no head on earth, no man, no king, pontiff, or monarch presiding over it, as is clear.
Therefore St. Augustine did not understand by "Antichrist" the Roman Pontiff, or any other man presiding over the multitude of the impious; but only that very multitude and aggregation of the impious. Add that St. Augustine does not speak assertively, but doubtfully, and from the opinion of others, as is plain to one who looks: and only explains how the Antichrist is said to be about to sit in the temple of God, about which I shall presently speak; otherwise, in the same chapter further on, Augustine twice says that Antichrist will be a particular man, and will not come except at the end of the world. This, as I said, is the common opinion of the other Fathers, to which no one will prefer Augustine alone (even if we conceded that he was of a different opinion, which however we do not concede), since Augustine himself would not have wished to set himself before them, or to oppose them. So elsewhere often, as is plain in the explanation of the Psalms, St. Augustine, omitting (not however denying, but rather supposing) the literal sense of Sacred Scripture, passes to the mystical or symbolic, as more subtle, recondite, and pious. For this is the genius of St. Augustine, that he feeds himself on new, ingenious, and pious meanings.
Verse 4: Who Opposes and Is Exalted Above All That Is Called God
4. Who opposes and is exalted above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. — He explains the name of Antichrist, namely that he will set himself in opposition to Christ and to God and to every divinity. Ridiculously then does Wolfgang Musculus say: Antichrist (he says) is the same as the Vicar of Christ, such as the Roman Pope boasts himself to be; therefore he himself is Antichrist.
First, this is contrary to the Greek ἀντί, which in composition signifies not "vicar" but "opposed," or "set against" and "equal." Thus ἀντίθεος in Homer and others is said not of one who calls himself the vicar of God, but of one who opposes God, or who is equal to God and as it were set against Him. Thus ἀντίπαλος signifies an antagonist and rival in wrestling. Thus ἀντιστράτηγος does not signify the vicar of the general, but one opposed to the general, or one who is in the place of the general, not as subject to him, but as equal and opposed to him.
Add: if Antichrist is the same as the Vicar of Christ, then Peter and Paul and all the Apostles were antichrists: for they themselves were Vicars of Christ. "We are ambassadors for Christ," they say, 2 Cor. V, 20, "as it were God exhorting through us." For an ambassador exercises his embassy in the place of the king, and is the king's vicar. And in chapter II, 10, Paul says that he absolved the incestuous man from excommunication "in the person of Christ;" therefore Paul bore not only the place, but also the person of Christ.
Secondly, that Antichrist signifies, not vicar, as Musculus would have it, but one contrary to Christ, is plain from John II, 22: "Who is a liar, but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son." Again the Apostle clearly teaches the same here: "Who opposes and is exalted above all that is called God." Or, as the Greek now has, ὑπὲρ πάντα λεγόμενον Θεόν, that is, above every one who is called God. Our Latin seems to have read ὑπὲρ πᾶν τὸ λεγόμενον Θεός, which better corresponds to the following σέβασμα. Hence it is plain that Antichrist will be opposed not only to Christ, but to every God. Or from this alone let prudent men see the calumny and imposture of the Innovators, when they contend to make the Roman Pontiff out to be Antichrist; for, to be silent about other things, this demonstration overturns this calumny. Antichrist will deny Christ, and will be opposed to Christ and to God; nay, he himself will wish to be regarded and worshipped as God and Christ; but the Roman Pontiff does not wish to be worshipped as Christ, nor does he deny Christ — nay, he believes in Christ, worships and adores Christ: therefore he is not Antichrist.
Hence it is plain in the second place that the pride of Antichrist will be so great, not only that he opposes Christ and God, but also that he exalts himself and sets himself before Christ and every God, and says that he is greater, and more to be worshipped and adored than Christ and any God. Hence for what our Latin renders "or that is worshipped," the Greek is σέβασμα, which the Magdeburg Centuriators render "cult"; the Syriac, "religion"; better and more clearly Erasmus, Vatablus, and even Beza render: "numen" — what is to be venerated by its majesty, is worshipped and adored. For Antichrist will wish not only to be worshipped above every cult and religion, but also above every divinity; nay, he alone will wish to be regarded as a divinity and God. For this is what Paul subjoins: "So that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God;" or, as the Greek clearly has, ὅτι ἔστι Θεός, that is, showing that he is God. Hence it is clear that the name of God is here taken properly. The Innovators therefore wrongly explain: the Pope, they say, is exalted above all the Gods, that is, kings and princes, who in Psalm LXXXI, 6, are called "Gods," when it is said: "I said, you are gods." Wrongly, I say: for what kind of "gods" the Psalmist understands there, he immediately explains, when he subjoins: "And all of you the sons of the Most High." But here it is said of Antichrist that he will oppose and exalt himself above all gods and divinities, so that he sits in the temple of God, and wishes to be worshipped as a divinity, displaying himself as though he alone were God. Therefore "gods" and "God" here do not signify kings, but the divinity itself, as all the Fathers teach, and as Erasmus, Vatablus, and Beza acknowledge. The same about Antichrist Daniel teaches in chapter XI, verses 36 and 37: "He will be lifted up, and shall be magnified against every God, and shall speak great things against the God of gods, and shall not regard the God of his fathers, nor shall he care for any of the gods: because he shall rise up against all things."
Hence it follows that Antichrist will wish to be worshipped, as a divinity, with every divine cult and acts of every religion, and consequently he will wish sacrifices, temples, and vows to be made to himself; he will wish men to swear by his name; he will wish to be adored, not only with dulia, but even with latria; he will wish to be invoked as the giver and author of all crops, wealth, and goods, nay, as the author of all grace and glory. Which of the Popes has hitherto so exalted himself, as to wish to be worshipped thus? Which kings and princes have been so foolish as to confer these honors upon him?
You will say: The Roman Pontiff is carried about on a golden chair, distinguished by a triple tiara in solemn processions, as if some divinity, whose feet kings and princes kiss. I reply: All this honor is not of a divinity, nor of latria, but is far inferior to that, which many even kings and princes among various nations have appropriated. For so Abraham worshipped the sons of Heth bowing himself to the earth, Gen. XXIII, 7. So the Saracens, the Asians, the Japanese, the Chinese, when they wish to honor anyone, prostrate themselves on the ground and strike the earth with their forehead. Finally, Isaiah, chapter XLIX, 23, foretold that this honor and reverence is to be paid by kings to the Church in her head the Pontiff: "And kings shall be, he says, your nursing fathers, and queens your nurses: with their face toward the earth they shall adore you, and they shall lick the dust of your feet." Is it not more to lick the dust of one's feet than to kiss them? This honor is owed to the Pontiff as Hierarch, and as the supreme Pontiff of sacred things and Christ's Vicar; and consequently with this honor we venerate not so much the Pontiff as Christ in the Pontiff. For on account of Christ, and in respect to Christ, whose place the Pontiff bears, we render this honor to the Pontiff. Hence it is plain that this honor is not contrary to the honor of Christ, nor does it take anything from Christ's honor; nay rather, it increases and amplifies the honor of Christ. For just as he who honors a legate honors the king who sent him; and the king thinks himself honored, if his legate be honored; and conversely thinks himself despised, if the legate be despised: so also Christ thinks Himself honored or contemned, when His vicars the Apostles and Pontiffs are honored or contemned. "He who hears you, He says, hears Me; he who despises you, despises Me."
Hence it follows in the second place that Antichrist will be an atheist, and when he has gained full power, he will, as far as in him lies, take from the world not only Christ, the idols, and the gods of the Gentiles, but also the true God and His worship. For he alone will wish to be worshipped as God; for this is what the words of Paul here clearly signify.
You will say: How then does Daniel, chapter XI, verse 38, say of Antichrist, by the type of Antiochus Epiphanes, that he will worship the god Maozim? I reply: Because Antichrist, although publicly he will wish to be worshipped alone as God, yet privately he will worship his demon, whom he will call the god Maozim, that is, of strongholds and of fortifications; because by his help, strength, and power Antichrist will subject all things to himself.
Morally, St. Bernard, citing these words of the Apostle, sermon 4 on the Vigil of the Nativity: "Every proud man," he says, "is exalted above God. For God wills His own will to be done, and the proud man wills his own to be done. God indeed wills His will to be done only in those things which reason approves, but the proud man wills his to be done both with reason and against reason."
So that he sits in the temple of God. — Greek εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, that is, that he sit into the temple of God, that is, in the Church, says St. Augustine, as if Paul said: Antichrist, that is, the multitude of the impious will display itself, as if it together with its own were the people and Church of God. Hence some manuscripts have, instead of ναὸν (temple), λαὸν (people); but what follows and what precedes contradicts this; for there follows: "Showing himself as if he were God." Therefore Antichrist will sit in the temple, not to show himself to be the Church of God, but to be adored as God. The word "sit" also signifies this: for it is not rightly said that the multitude of the impious sits in the Church, that is, occupies and arrogates to itself the name, title, and right of the Church; but it is rightly said of an idol, or of a most haughty king, such as Antichrist will be, that he sits in the temple of God to be adored as God. The preceding words also signify this — namely, that he will oppose and lift himself above every divinity, that he alone may be regarded and worshipped as a divinity. I say therefore that the Greek εἰς is often taken for ἐν, into the temple, that is, in the temple; and so the Syriac, Chrysostom, and others everywhere render it here. Antichrist therefore will sit in the temple, that is, in the temples of Christians; or simply, in the Temple of Jerusalem, which alone in St. Paul's time properly was and was called the Temple of God. This Temple therefore in the time of Antichrist will be after a fashion rebuilt by Antichrist, that it may be as it were his throne. For Antichrist will be a Jew, and king of the Jews, and will have his royal seat not at Rome (for Rome will be overthrown before Antichrist by ten kings, as I shall show below), but at Jerusalem, and there Elias and Henoch, contending and preaching against Antichrist, will be slain by him, as is plain from Apoc. XI, 8, where it is said: "And he will kill them (the two witnesses of God, namely Elias and Henoch), and their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified" — Christ, namely; but Christ was crucified at Jerusalem: therefore this great city, in which Elias and Henoch will be slain by Antichrist, will be Jerusalem, not Rome, or any other city. For Antichrist will persuade the Jews that he is the Messiah promised in the Law, as is plain from John V, 43; and therefore, says Cyril, in Catechesis 15, he will build them a temple, that he may be regarded as the Son of David, that is, the Messiah, and as it were another Solomon, who first built the temple.
In this his temple, therefore, Antichrist will sit, not as Pope or Bishop, as the Innovators wish, but as Messiah, and will be adored by the Jews as Messiah, as God. For this is what Paul says here: "Showing," he says, "himself as if he were God," and, as the Greek more clearly has, ὅτι ἐστὶ Θεός, that is, that he is God. "For (says Chrysostom) he will not lead them to idolatry; but he will be a kind of antitheos, putting down whatever gods there are, and will command himself to be worshipped and venerated as God, and to be set in the temple of God, not only the one at Jerusalem, but also in the churches. Showing, he says, himself to be God: he did not say that he is God, but that he attempts to display himself as such. He will indeed do magnificent works, and accomplish wondrous signs." The same is taught by Ambrose, Theophylact, Œcumenius, Anselm, and everywhere by all the other Fathers, whom Bellarmine cites in book III On the Pontiff, ch. XIII, and Francisco Suárez, III part., Quaest. LIX, art. 6.
Verse 5: Remember You Not
5. Remember you not, — by memory. The Greek is οὐ μνημονεύετε, that is, do you not remember? So Ambrose and others.
Verse 6: And Now What Withholds You Know
6. And now what withholds (namely, the coming of Antichrist and of the day of judgment) you know, — namely the mystery of iniquity, as follows, which is already at work, until it be taken out of the way: that is, that Nero and the like still hold sway, and that the falling away and general defection from the Roman Empire has not yet come; because the sins of the Romans are not yet filled up. So Chrysostom, Ambrose, Theophylact, Œcumenius, and Augustine above, Jerome, Quaest. XI to Algasia; Cyril, Catech. 15; Lactantius, book VII, ch. XV. All these say that not merely the decline of the Roman Empire, or a change of dominion or of seat, as the heretics would have it; but its full desolation and the rebellion of all nations against it, will give way to and precede the coming and kingdom of Antichrist; and this is what Paul says in the following verse, "until it be taken out of the way," that is, until the Roman Empire be wholly taken away.
Add that the very city of Rome must then be wholly desolated and burnt up, as is plain from Apoc. XVII, 16, of which more on the following verse.
From this passage and from Daniel, ch. VII, vv. 22, 25, and 26, and Daniel XII, 11 and 12, all orthodox writers teach that Antichrist will come only at the end of the world.
That he may be revealed, — that one (whence the Greek adds αὐτὸν) the man of sin, namely Antichrist.
Verse 7: For the Mystery of Iniquity Already Works
7. For the mystery of iniquity already works. — First, Cajetan: "mystery," he says, that is, the hidden measure of the iniquities of the Romans is already at work, and gradually is being perfected and filled up; and when it has been filled, the Roman Empire will be taken away.
Secondly, some others explain it thus: "mystery," that is, the hidden, secret, and symbol of iniquity is already at work — namely Nero himself now reigning; in whom lies a great secret, namely that he himself will be Antichrist. For they think that Nero is not yet dead, or at any rate is to be raised again at the end of the world, so that he himself may be Antichrist. So Victorinus, on Apoc. XVII, and many of the ancients, as Jerome testifies on Daniel XI. Hence St. Augustine, book XX On the City, ch. XIX: "Some," he says, "suspect that he (Nero) will rise again and will be the Antichrist. Others indeed think he was not even slain, but rather withdrawn when he was thought to have been slain, and that he is hidden alive in the vigor of that age in which he was when he was believed to be extinct, until in his own time he be revealed and restored to the kingdom. But this presumption of those who hold this opinion seems to me very strange."
This suspicion of those holding this opinion was helped by the fact that even among the Gentiles a rumor was spread that Nero had not been slain, but had been withdrawn from death. So Suetonius, in Nero, ch. LVII: "There were not lacking," he says, "those who for a long time adorned his tomb with spring and summer flowers, and now brought forth on the rostra his images in praetextae, now edicts as if of one still living and soon to return to the great hurt of his enemies. Nay, even Vologeses, king of the Parthians, having sent legates to the senate concerning the renewal of the alliance, earnestly begged this, that the memory of Nero be honored. Finally, when after twenty years, when I was a youth, there had arisen one of uncertain station who boasted himself to be Nero, his name was so favorable among the Parthians that he was vehemently aided and was scarcely given up." Thus Suetonius. But the same things Tacitus more clearly in these words: "About the same time, Achaia and Asia were falsely terrified, as though Nero were coming, with various rumors about his death, many feigning that he was alive, and believing it."
Hence partly from this rumor of the Gentiles, partly from the passage of Paul, some have opined that Nero would return, that he might be Antichrist, or at least an associate and colleague of Antichrist. So among others Severus Sulpitius, in book II of his History: "Whence, he says, it is believed that, although he (Nero) himself transfixed himself with a sword, he was saved by his wound being healed, according to that which has been written about him (tell me, I pray, where?). When his wound was healed, he was withdrawn, to be sent at the end of the age, that he might exercise the mystery of iniquity." And — what you will marvel at — Severus attributes this opinion to St. Martin: "When," he says, "we asked him about the end of the age, he said to us that Nero and Antichrist were to come first; that Nero would reign in the Western region, with ten kings subdued; that a persecution must be exercised so far, as to compel the worship of the idols of the Gentiles. But that the Eastern empire was to be taken by Antichrist: who indeed would have his seat and capital of his kingdom at Jerusalem: that the city and the temple were to be rebuilt by him. That his persecution would be such, that he would compel the Lord Christ to be denied, asserting rather that he himself is the Christ, and would command all to be circumcised according to the Law; and that finally Nero himself was to be slain by Antichrist, and that under his power the whole world and all nations were to be brought."
But if it is true that St. Martin said these things, he did not say them as a prophet, but as recounting and narrating those things which some had opined, partly from the rumor of the Gentiles, partly from this passage of St. Paul, as I said. Moreover, these dialogues, under the title of "Postumianus and Gallus" (for so they are inscribed, because these are the interlocutors), in the Roman Council under Gelasius, by decree concerning the apocryphal books, were placed among the apocrypha. But this opinion is rash, and lacks foundation: for it is certain from Suetonius, Tacitus, and others, that Nero was killed and is dead; and that he is to rise again neither Paul nor any other Prophet has predicted. Add: by "the mystery of iniquity" is not understood Antichrist, but the precursors of Antichrist; this is clear from the following verse, where Paul subjoins: "And then (namely, after this mystery has been fulfilled) shall be revealed that wicked one (namely, Antichrist), whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of His mouth." Finally, when Paul wrote these things, Nero was not yet reigning: for this epistle, as I said at the beginning, was written in the year of Christ 53, when Claudius was still reigning. Nero succeeded Claudius in the year of Christ 57. Yet this passage can be taken about Nero, not as actually reigning, but as about to reign shortly, as I shall now say.
I say therefore, "mystery" here is the same as the figure and type of Antichrist, and of his supreme iniquity: for the whole iniquity and the cesspool of all sins will seem to be gathered up in Antichrist and in the kingdom of Antichrist.
Hence the Syriac translates: "the mystery of that wicked one (namely Antichrist) is now beginning diligently to work." So in Apoc. XVII, 7, the "sacrament," or as it is in Greek, the "mystery," of the woman is called the hidden meaning and representation of the woman, or that which that woman whom St. John saw typically signified — which woman signified Rome and the Roman Empire. So in Apoc. I, 20, the "sacrament" of the seven stars is called the very hidden meaning of the seven stars. So in Daniel II, 18 and 36, the "sacrament" of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar is called the very meaning of the dream.
By this "mystery," Paul understands Simon Magus and his followers, the precursors of Antichrist; so that Paul says here the same as John, in his first epistle, ch. II, v. 18: "Now there are many antichrists." Or rather, he understands Nero himself together with his men and his cesspool of wicked ones, and other Roman Emperors who either preceded Nero or followed him; who reigned with great pride and tyrannically, and persecuted Christ and Christians — such as were Caius Caligula, Hadrian, Decius, Heliogabalus, Diocletian, and others over three hundred years. For concerning these he subjoins: "Only that he who now holds, may hold, until he be taken out of the way." For Nero, equally with Antiochus Epiphanes, was a notable type and figure of Antichrist, because he was a most haughty monarch, most luxurious, most powerful, most wicked; he favored Simon and other magicians; he was an enemy of Christ and the Christians, against whom he stirred up the first solemn persecution, and wished to be worshipped as God, and was the greatest tyrant — such as Antichrist will be. As if to say: Nero and similar tyrants are now driven and operate by the same spirit by which Antichrist himself will be driven, the head and prince of all iniquity; and therefore his "mystery," that is, figure and type, and precursors they are. So Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome above. Therefore Paul wishes to say: This is the mystery which holds back and delays the coming of Antichrist, namely because it is necessary that Nero and the like, as types and figures, should precede Antichrist himself, and as it were give him birth, says Anselm.
For just as Moses, John the Baptist, and the Prophets preceded Christ and prepared the way for Him: so it is fitting that Nero and the tyrants precede Antichrist, and gradually prepare the way for him by their crimes, so that Antichrist when he comes may be able to bring forth and pour out all his iniquity.
Hence secondly, with Theodoret and Augustine above, and with Anselm, this passage can be taken thus: "the mystery of iniquity," that is, hidden and mystical iniquity, that is, iniquity cloaked under the title and name of piety or of legitimate dominion and rule, is already secretly working in impious hypocrites and heretics, and especially in the most impious Nero; which gradually creeps forward and grows, until through the Antichrist it breaks forth into public iniquity. For this is the Greek (ἐνεργεῖται), that is, exerts its own force. Just as therefore a coal of fire among logs secretly exerts its own force and burns the surrounding wood, and gradually creeps forward, until it bursts into a manifest flame and conflagration: so iniquity kindled by the demon secretly exerts its force in the impious and creeps along, until it bursts under the Antichrist into the public flame of all crimes.
Only that he who now holds, may hold, until he be taken out of the way. — That is, as Augustine says above, let him who holds the faith of Christ hold it until the mystical, that is, hidden, iniquity grows into a great people: and so when it shall be taken out of the way along with the Antichrist, that is, when it shall go forth from the midst of the Church, and openly declare war on it. But this sense tears apart the words which Paul joins together. For Paul joins the phrase "be taken out of the way" with what immediately precedes, "He who holds, let him hold": both therefore must be referred to the same thing. But St. Augustine refers "he who holds, let him hold" to the pious faithful and to the faith of Christ; and the phrase "be taken out of the way" he refers to the Antichrist and the assembly of the impious.
It must therefore be noted that these words depend on the preceding verse, and explain what it is that holds back the coming of the Antichrist, namely that Nero and the Roman Emperors hold the Empire, until it be overturned and taken out of the way. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, and the Fathers generally, as I have said: indeed even Erasmus and Beza. Hence the Syriac translates here, "only" (namely this is what holds back the coming of the Antichrist), "that he who now holds [the empire of the world] be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked Antichrist be revealed." The Greek has μόνον ὁ κατέχων ἄρτι ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται, that is, "only he who now holds, until he be taken out of the way." Where necessarily either there is missing, or it is to be supplied (as Erasmus and Beza confess), κατεχέτω, that is, "let him hold," as Our translator renders it.
Whence note secondly, with Chrysostom and Theophylact: Paul speaks here very covertly and obscurely about Nero and the Roman empire, not out of fear, but prudently, lest without cause he stir Nero up against himself and the Christians. For if he had said clearly that Nero was the mystery of iniquity and a figure of the Antichrist, and that the Roman empire was to be dissolved, both Nero and the Romans would have risen up against him as an imposter, and would have buried him alive, along with other faithful with him, as men who were prophesying about and rejoicing over the demolition of so great an empire, as Theophylact says.
Note thirdly: Paul alludes to the seventh chapter of Daniel (as it were the most certain, well-known, and celebrated chronologer of all times): where Daniel reviews in order the principal empires and monarchies of the world succeeding one another. The first was that of the Assyrians and Babylonians, which was represented to Daniel by a lion; the second of the Persians, signified by a bear; the third of the Greeks, signified by a leopard; the fourth and last that of the Romans, signified by a beast with ten horns. After which, as Daniel says, an eleventh little horn (that is, the Antichrist) shall arise and grow, and shall make war against the Saints, and shall prevail, until the Ancient of Days come, to deliver judgment and the kingdom to His saints.
"And [the Antichrist] (says Daniel) shall speak words against the Most High, and shall crush the Saints of the Most High; and he shall think that he can change laws and times; and they shall be delivered into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time; and judgment shall sit, that his power may be taken away, and crushed, and perish utterly even unto the end; but the kingdom and power and the greatness of the kingdom which is under all heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all kings shall serve Him and obey Him."
Daniel therefore teaches that the Babylonians reigned first; then that they were subdued by the Persians, and the Persians by the Greeks, and the Greeks by the Romans; and that to the Romans there would succeed the kingdom of the Antichrist for a short time, which will be overthrown by the glorious and eternal kingdom of Christ the Judge and of the Saints. To this therefore Paul alludes here, as if to say: All the other monarchs and tyrants, namely the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks have already passed away: there remain Nero and the Romans, who now hold the empire, until it be taken away, and then will come the Antichrist; and soon afterwards Christ the Judge, who will slay the Antichrist by the breath of His mouth, and will introduce and establish His own eternal kingdom with the Saints. So Chrysostom, Theophylact and others.
In a similar hidden and prophetic manner St. John describes these same things, Apoc. XVII, 9: "There are," he says, "seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and another has not yet come: and when he comes, he must remain a short time." Then he adds that ten kings will subject themselves to him. "These," he says, "will fight with the Lamb (Christ), and the Lamb will conquer them: because He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they that are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."
Where, as Ambrose, Bede, Richard, Ribera and others teach, by the seven kings he signifies the conspiracy of tyrants who in the seven ages of the world have persecuted, are persecuting, and will persecute the Church. Whence he says that five have passed away, the sixth is still present, the seventh will reign for a short time.
The first king was Cain with the giants and other tyrants, who in the first age of the world, that is, from Adam to the Flood, persecuted the pious and the Church.
The second king was Nimrod, and the Meropes joined with him, the architects of the Tower of Babel, who from Noah down to Abraham (for this is the second age of the world) harassed the faithful.
The third king, who in the third age of the world, which runs from Abraham to Moses, oppressed the pious, was Pharaoh and the like in Egypt and Sodom.
The fourth was Jeroboam, and the other impious kings of Israel and Judah, who in the fourth age of the world, namely from Moses down to the Babylonian captivity, brought in the golden calves and idols.
The fifth was Nebuchadnezzar with Antiochus Epiphanes and others down to Christ: for this is the fifth age of the world.
The sixth was Nero and the other Roman Emperors, who are, have been, or will be from Christ down to the Antichrist.
The seventh will be the Antichrist, who will reign a short time, namely three and a half years, and will be defeated by Christ the Judge.
From what has been said it is deduced first, that it is certain that the Roman Empire is the last, and will last until the end of the world; but then it will be changed into another empire (namely that of the Antichrist), though brief. This is clear from the cited passage Daniel, ch. VII, vv. 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, and Apoc. XVII, vv. 9 and 10, and from Paul here, and is the common tradition of the Fathers, on the testimony of Jerome on ch. VII of Daniel, and, as it seems, an Apostolic one.
Secondly, the same Fathers teach with certainty that the Roman Empire will be destroyed either by the Antichrist himself, or shortly before him.
Thirdly, Rome at the end of the world will return to the former dignity of the Empire, and likewise to its crimes, and from Christianity to paganism, will expel her own Pontiff, and persecute the faithful adhering to him, as she did in the time of Nero, Decius, and the other Gentile Emperors. Whence in Apoc. ch. XVII, XVIII and following, Rome at the end of the world is called "Babylon the great harlot, sitting upon seven mountains, drunk with the blood of the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus, who has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication"; that is, she has drawn down upon all nations the punishments of her own idolatry (for by the Prophets this is called fornication) and of other consequent crimes, by this very fact, namely that she compelled them to imitate her idolatry and other crimes.
Fourthly, the Fathers and interpreters agree, and teach from Apoc. XVII, 12 and 16, compared with Daniel VII, 8 and 24, that before the Antichrist, while Rome and the Roman Empire still stand, there will be ten kings, lords of the whole world, who will take, overthrow, and burn Rome, Apoc. XVII, 16, and throughout ch. XVIII. And these will divide the Roman Empire, says St. Jerome and others. Furthermore, the Antichrist will successively invade and defeat three of these ten kings, as Daniel says, namely the king of Ethiopia, the king of Libya, and the king of Egypt, as Jerome, Theodoret, Cyril, and Irenaeus hand down. Terrified by this defeat, the remaining seven kings will subject themselves to him, and one king and monarch of them all will be the Antichrist. But whether these ten kings will overthrow Rome before the Antichrist, or rather under the Antichrist, is doubtful, which I have treated at Apoc. XVII, 16.
Beza objects secondly: The Roman Empire has now ceased; therefore the Antichrist has come. The antecedent is proved, because the Roman emperor no longer reigns at Rome, but the Pontiff has occupied Rome: he therefore seems to have destroyed the Roman empire, and consequently to be the Antichrist.
I reply, Rome is one thing, the Roman Empire another: for the Roman Empire and the Roman Emperor can subsist without Rome. For as long as one Roman Emperor succeeds another in the same power and dignity, as we have seen done up to now, whether he reigns at Rome or not, whether he holds more provinces or fewer, he is and is called the Roman Emperor, and to hold the Roman Empire. This is clear first, because when Rome was taken by the Huns and Goths, namely by Attila, and afterwards by Genseric, the Roman Empire did not cease, nor the Roman Emperor; just as the Roman Pontiff St. Leo did not cease to be such. For Honorius then remained Roman Emperor, though he resided at Ravenna. Again Valens, Arcadius, Theodosius, and the rest down to Justinian were Roman Emperors, and yet they were without Rome.
Secondly, this is clear from the common sense of all: for all call the modern Emperor Rudolph the Roman Emperor. The Lutherans themselves also call their Electors the Electors of the Emperor, or of the King of the Romans. Finally at Rome the Emperor receives the crown and is inaugurated.
Thirdly, the Roman Empire will be destroyed and divided at the end of the world by ten kings, who will be enemies of the Empire and of the Roman emperor; and afterwards the Antichrist will come, as I have already shown: but the Pontiff is not an enemy, but a friend and preserver of the Roman Empire and of the Emperor, and he occupies Rome and other places not by invasion, but by donation and consent of the Emperors and Princes; and this for many centuries before the end of the world. Again the Pontiff is not a king, much less the same as the ten kings. Finally the Pontiff has not destroyed the Roman Empire, nor divided it into ten kings: therefore the destruction of the Roman Empire, which must precede the coming of the Antichrist, of which the Apocalypse, Daniel, and Paul speak, has not been brought about by the Pontiff; and much less is the Pontiff the Antichrist.
Finally note here: This sign of the apostasy and overthrow of the Roman Empire is being fulfilled gradually, while the Roman Empire is gradually inclining and failing, and at the same time the Gospel is gradually being spread among the Japanese, Indians, Chinese, and throughout the whole world; which is the second sign of the coming of the Antichrist and of the judgment, given by Christ to the disciples who questioned Him on this matter, Matth. XXIV, 3: "This Gospel of the kingdom," He says, v. 14, "shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations; and then shall come the end."
Verse 8: That Wicked One Whom the Lord Jesus Shall Slay with the Spirit of His Mouth
8. And then that wicked one shall be revealed (the Antichrist, who by antonomasia is called ὁ ἄνομος, that is, that wicked and impious one), whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. — Note: "The spirit of His mouth" does not signify the preaching of the word of God, because this will not kill the Antichrist; on the contrary, at the end of the world the Antichrist will abolish it, when he kills Elijah and Enoch: hence the Apostle, explaining, adds: "And shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." Then therefore Christ will kill the Antichrist by the spirit of His mouth, when He destroys him by the brightness of His coming to judgment; but Christ will then not come to preach, but to judge: therefore the spirit of Christ's mouth is not preaching, but rather the sentence and judgment of condemnation.
I say therefore: Christ will kill the Antichrist by the spirit of His mouth, that is, by His command, by His word, by His sentence, as it were He will breathe upon him with a deadly breath and slay him. Paul alludes to, or rather cites, Isaiah XI, 4: "He (Christ) shall strike the earth (the sinners of the earth) with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the impious." Where for "rod," the Hebrew has שבט schebet, that is, scepter. He calls "the scepter of His mouth" the dominant, most powerful, and most efficacious command, order and sentence, by which Christ will kill the Antichrist and all the impious. "For just as (as Theophylact says following Chrysostom), fire, even before its arrival, while still far off, makes tiny creatures grow torpid and stupid and consumes them: in this way Christ, by His command alone, or by the breath of the Holy Spirit, will completely destroy and obscure the Antichrist himself, and by His coming alone will abolish him, that is, render him entirely empty and ineffective: for as soon as He has only been seen, He will halt the deception."
Note secondly. For "shall destroy," the Greek is καταργήσει, that is, He will render him ineffective, unwarlike, enervated, vanishing, will take away from him all vigor and strength, so that with his spirit and life failing and vanishing he may die and perish.
Note thirdly: For "brightness," the Greek is ἐπιφανείᾳ, that is, as the Syriac has it, revelation, or appearance; or, as Augustine, bk. XX De Civitate, ch. XIX, the illumination of His presence; or, as Vatablus, by the brightness of His coming. He signifies therefore by the light, brightness, and splendor, which as it were a herald will go before Christ coming to judgment, and which will be a sign of Christ's approach, that the Antichrist must be destroyed and scattered, just as when the sun comes the clouds and darkness are scattered and vanish; so that by the mere fear, says Anselm, of the approaching Christ, that pestilent one will die.
Note here: The Antichrist will be slain before the day of judgment. For after his death at least forty-five days of penitence will be given to men, as is clear from Daniel XII, 12; therefore Paul here signifies only that, when the preceding signs will go before the judgment and Christ the Judge, the Antichrist must be struck and breathed upon by Christ with a kind of unusual flash from heaven, as it were a thunderbolt.
You will say: in Apoc. XIX, 20, it is said that the beast, that is, the Antichrist, with his precursor and false prophet, is to be cast alive into hell; how then is he said here to be slain?
I reply: For "shall slay," the Greek is ἀναλώσει, that is, He will consume, devour, destroy; so that he will cease to be on earth among living men, and will be cast headlong into the eternal death of hell. Christ therefore either by Himself, as Lactantius teaches, bk. VII, ch. XIX; or rather, as others have it, through the Archangel Michael as His minister, the executor of His sentence and His precursor to judgment, will cast down the Antichrist, and the earth gaping open will swallow him, and demons will snatch him living into Tartarus, whether he arrives there alive or not, but is killed on the way: for both are probable; just as concerning Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (of whom it is said in Num. XVI, 33: "They went down alive into hell, covered with earth") some hold that they remained alive and arrived in hell; others hold that they began to descend alive, but died in the very descent, before they reached hell, so that the phrase "they went down alive" signifies the act of descending begun, not consummated. Both views are probable, but the latter more so. For plainly the general sentence of death has been laid upon all men: "It is appointed," says the Apostle in Hebrews IX, 27, "unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." And this is what Paul signifies here, when he says "He will slay" him, or, as the Greek has it, ἀναλώσει, that is, He will consume him. In the very descent therefore to the underworld the Antichrist will be killed; nevertheless he is said to be cast alive into hell, because he will alive begin to be sent down there and to descend; but on the way, before he reaches hell, he will be suffocated and killed, as I have already said of Korah.
St. Jerome and Theodoret on ch. XI of Daniel, and St. Thomas here, add that this will take place on the Mount of Olives: for there Christ will come to judgment, and will judge in the valley of Josaphat, as is said in Joel III, 2, which is near the Mount of Olives; so that just as Christ ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, so from the same the Antichrist will be cast down and descend into Tartarus.
Verse 9: Whose Coming Is According to the Working of Satan
9. Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power (δυνάμει, that is, might), and signs, and lying wonders, — as if to say: At whose coming, or through whom as he comes, Satan will work and put forth all his power, all his signs and lying wonders.
Note: The Greek παρουσία signifies both coming and presence; and it can be taken both of his presence and coming into the world, and into his kingdom, so that it signifies both the birth, nativity, and upbringing of the Antichrist, and that his life and rule will be according to the working of Satan: but the Apostle here signifies more this second sense, namely that the Antichrist will have the assistance of Satan, and Satan working in him and through him, says Theophylact. Whence he adds: "In signs and wonders," namely those things which the Antichrist will do in order to seduce men.
Hence note secondly: Some have thought that the Antichrist will be a devil incarnate, so as to be opposed to Christ the incarnate God; so that, just as the Word through assumed humanity worked and exerted His own power, so Satan through assumed flesh might work and exert his own power in like manner. So Theodoret seems to speak. But because it cannot happen that the devil or any other creature should hypostatically assume flesh or another creature, as God assumed human flesh, as the Theologians teach; hence secondly, Hippolytus the Martyr, On the Consummation of the Age, holds that the Antichrist will be a demon, not incarnate, but appearing in the flesh, and assuming a false and phantasmal flesh from a false virgin.
Thirdly, others in Raban, in his tract On the Antichrist, think that the Antichrist will not be a demon, but a man; who however will be conceived from a virgin by the work of the demon, as Christ was conceived from the Virgin by the Holy Spirit. But the demon cannot make a virgin fruitful, unless as a succubus he should have received human seed from elsewhere, which he then pours into the virgin's womb, and consequently she will not remain a virgin who has been impregnated by him: but in the manner of other women in childbed she will conceive and bear with the enclosures of virginity unsealed.
Fourthly, more probably Francis Suarez and many others hold that by these words Paul signifies that the Antichrist will receive every operation of the devil in himself from boyhood, and that the devil first, in the womb of the Antichrist's mother, will so temper the humors that the Antichrist's temperament and complexion will become most inclined to every vice. And this St. Jerome seems to mean, when in ch. XVI of Isaiah he calls the demon the father of the Antichrist.
Secondly, from infancy the demon will fill the Antichrist with his own malice, not as if the Antichrist were to be possessed bodily by the demon, like one demoniac: for thus he would not be free, nor would he sin; but because the demon will always and in all things rule and govern him from boyhood, says Damascene, bk. IV De Fide, ch. XXVII.
Thirdly, in adult age the demon will work through the Antichrist not only every crime and wickedness, but also all signs and lying wonders, all flattery, wisdom, threats, terrors, and torments, and will exert all his power, to deceive and entice all men away from Christ to himself; and this is what Paul especially means when he says: "Whose coming is according to the working of Satan."
In signs and lying wonders. — Note: Neither the Antichrist, nor the demon, nor the angels can perform a true miracle; but God alone. For a miracle is what is done above all the power of nature, and which exceeds and transcends the powers of all natural causes and creatures: therefore the Antichrist will perform miracles that are not true, but false and lying.
Note secondly: The miracles of the Antichrist are called lying in four ways, namely by reason and in respect of all the causes. First, in respect of the final cause: because for this end the Antichrist will perform them, that he may lead men into falsehood and error, namely that through these miracles he may prove himself to be the Messiah and God, as Christ did. So Ambrose and Chrysostom.
Secondly, by reason of the efficient cause, because their architect will be the father of lies, namely the devil.
Thirdly, by reason of the material cause, as Theodoret teaches: for many of these miracles will be illusions, by which he will fascinate the eyes, so that he may seem to do what he really does not do. For the Antichrist, says Cyril, Catech. 15, will be most thoroughly schooled in magic.
Fourthly, in respect of the formal cause, because those of these things which will not be illusions, will be done naturally through a hidden application of natural causes. Whence they will indeed be wonders, but not miracles which would surpass all the powers of nature.
Note thirdly: In Apoc. XIII, three miracles of the Antichrist are described. The first, vv. 3 and 11, that he will heal one of the kings subject to himself, or rather himself, wounded with a deadly blow (received in war or from elsewhere). Where note that this blow will not really be deadly, but either will only seem so to men, but will not be so in reality; or if it really is incurable, this will only be in respect of human art and aid: for to the demon, who knows thoroughly and penetrates our whole body, it will be naturally curable, and consequently the cure will not transcend the power of a created agent, nor will it be a miracle.
Secondly, in the same place v. 13, that he will make fire descend from heaven: but the demon can also do this naturally, as we know that he stirs up lightnings, thunders, and storms by stirring up vapors and clouds.
Thirdly, in the same place v. 15, that the prophet and precursor of the Antichrist will make his statue speak: but in this way the demon has spoken through idols, and through pythons even now naturally speaks.
The Sibyl in bk. III of the Oracles adds other miracles, namely that the Antichrist will halt the sea, the mountains, the sun, the moon, and will raise the dead to life. But, she says, they will not be true signs, but he will deceive: for most of his marvels will be illusions, by which he will mock the eyes of men, as already through his itinerant performers and conjurers the demon mocks the eyes of men.
Methodius the Bishop and Martyr hands down similar things about the Antichrist in his Revelations, which are reported in vol. II of the Library of the Holy Fathers: "He will do," he says, "many signs and sophistical wonders; the blind will see, the lame will walk, the deaf will hear, the possessed will be cured, he will turn the sun into darkness and the moon into blood, in appearance." For he himself will wish to be held as Christ, and consequently will do those things which the Prophets foretold of Christ, and which the Evangelists narrate that Christ did. And Hippolytus the Martyr, in his oration On the Consummation of the world: "He will cleanse," he says, "the lepers, raise up the paralytics, expel demons, will announce distant things no differently than things present, will raise the dead, will transfer mountains before the eyes of the onlookers, will walk dry-shod upon the sea, will draw down fire from heaven, will turn day into darkness and night into day, will drive the sun about wherever he pleases. And, to say it once for all, he will demonstrate that all the elements of land and sea, by the force of the apparition presented, obey him before the onlookers." And St. Ephrem in his treatise On the Consummation of the World and the Antichrist: "He will transfer," he says, "mountains and islands deceitfully, and a mountain will indeed seem to run before all the onlookers, although it is in no way moved from its foundations: he will walk over the abyss, and will pretend to walk on it as on dry land. There will be great tribulation in those days, when he will display himself as God with terrifying portents, flying through the air, and all the demons in the form of angels will be seen to fly aloft in the air with fear before the tyrant."
Verse 10: And in All Seduction of Iniquity to Them That Perish
10. And in all seduction of iniquity to those who perish, — that by every art and means he may seduce men into iniquity, so that they may perish and be damned.
Note: With these stratagems the Antichrist will entice men. First, with great affability and grace of insinuating himself and capturing the favor of men. Secondly, with simulated holiness. Thirdly, with his wisdom and incredible eloquence; for he will be skilled in all arts and Scriptures, says Anselm. Fourthly, by promising and lavishing immense wealth on his followers. Fifthly, by inflicting on those who resist exquisite terrors and torments. Sixthly, by performing signs and wonders to be marveled at by the unlearned. Finally, from his own demon he will learn every art of deceiving.
Note: The phrase "to them," or, as the Greek has it, "in those who perish," signifies that these arts will be effective in men who are light, impious, and therefore reprobate, who will perish in eternal death, and so they will be seduced by these arts, and consequently will perish and be damned. He marks especially the Jews, as I shall soon say. For others, prudent and constant, will easily see through these arts and impostures, and will not allow themselves to be seduced by them, but will resist the Antichrist even unto death, and therefore will obtain the laurel of martyrdom.
Because they have not received the love of the truth, that they might be saved. — "The love of the truth," first, according to Anselm, is true love, or the love and Spirit of Christ, truthful and truly lovable. Secondly, as Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius say, "the love of the truth" is Christ, who is both, namely both love and truth, and on account of both He came into the world; namely, that both with most true love He might give Himself to us, and might teach us to embrace and emulate His love and truth. Whence St. Cyprian, epist. 35 to Cornelius, reads, "because they have not had the beloved of the truth." Thirdly, "the love of the truth" is love, or, as Ambrose, "the affection for the truth," as if to say: Because they have not had the love of the truth, because they were unwilling to love the truth; therefore God will send them the working of error through the Antichrist. So Vatablus. This sense is easier and plainer, and more closely connected with the following verse; for set the love of the truth in opposition to error, or to the love and embrace of error.
Without naming them, he marks the Jews: for hence the Fathers teach that the Antichrist will come chiefly for this cause, that he may deceive the Jews, and this as a punishment of their unbelief, by which they were unwilling to receive Christ, who exhibited to the Jews so many true miracles, so true a faith and doctrine, such pure morals and life. Christ signifies the same thing, John ch. V, v. 43: "I have come," He says, "in the name of My Father, and you do not receive Me: if another (the Antichrist) shall come in his own name, him you will receive." Whence follows:
Verse 11: God Shall Send Them the Operation of Error, That They May Believe Lying
11. Therefore (namely because they were unwilling to receive the truth and the love of the truth) God shall send them the working of error, that they may believe a lie. — For "the working of error," the Greek is ἐνέργειαν πλάνης, that is, as the Syriac has it, the efficacy of seduction or imposture, namely those miracles and other arts of deceit, by which, as I have said, the Antichrist will powerfully and effectively entice to himself the Jews who have turned away from Christ.
Note: God is said to send these works and impostures of the Antichrist, because by purpose He will permit them to be sent in upon the Jews and other men, says St. Augustine, bk. XX De Civitate Dei, ch. XIX, by loosening, namely, the reins both for the devil and for the Antichrist himself: for there is no need that God positively send them to deceive men, since they themselves of themselves will be most ready for this, and will desire nothing other than that God permit them to accomplish this deception. In a similar way it is said in 2 Kings XXIV that God moved (that is, permitted to be moved by the devil and his flatterers) David (to number the people), which was the sin of pride in David. In the same way and sense God is said to mingle a spirit of dizziness, to give a spirit of lying, of compunction, of slumber, etc., as I have said at chapters 17 and 23.
Hence it is clear that God, when He sends a spirit of error, when He blinds, when He hardens, and indeed when He punishes preceding sins by following sins, does not behave merely negatively; for thus He would not inflict punishment: for a judge is not held to punish a guilty man, if he merely negatively allows him to steal and do evil; but He also behaves positively and by a positive act, and by a special providence and decree determines to permit a later sin for this end, that He may punish the prior one, as I have said at ch. 16.
Morally St. Augustine, bk. V Against Julian, ch. III, teaches that men, on account of preceding sins, especially on account of the rejection of the offered truth, are punished by God with this most grievous penalty (in the way and sense which I have already explained), namely that they believe lies and errors to their own destruction. "Is it not a sin," he says, "and a penalty of sin, where it is read: The Lord has mingled in them the spirit of error, and they have led Egypt astray in all its ways, as a drunkard is led astray? Is it not a sin and a penalty of sin, where the Prophet says to God: Why hast Thou made us err, O Lord, from Thy way; Thou hast hardened our hearts, that we should not fear Thee? Is it not a sin and a penalty of sin, where again it is said to God: Behold, Thou art angry, and we have sinned, therefore have we erred, and have all been made unclean? Is it not a sin and a penalty of sin, where it is read of the nations whom Joshua warred down, that by the Lord it was brought about that their heart was strengthened, so that they should go to meet battle against Israel, and be exterminated? Is it not a sin and a penalty of sin, that king Rehoboam did not listen to the people well advising him, since as the Scripture says: It was a conversion from the Lord, that He might establish His word, which He had spoken concerning him by the hand of the Prophet? Is it not a sin and a penalty of sin in what is written, that Amaziah king of Judah was unwilling to listen to Joash king of Israel well advising him not to advance to battle?" And further down citing this passage of Paul he speaks thus: "Whence is that which the Apostle writes to the Thessalonians: Because they have not received the love of the truth, that they might be saved, therefore God shall send them the working of error, that they may believe a lie. That Ahab might be seduced and perish in battle, Micaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, and the armies of heaven before Him. And the Lord said: Who shall seduce Ahab, that he may go up and fall in Ramoth Gilead? And a certain spirit said: I shall seduce him. And the Lord said to him: With what? And he said: I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his Prophets. And He said: Thou shalt seduce, and shalt prevail; go forth, and do so."
The word "that" can be referred to "will send," and then it signifies not the final cause, but only the consequence, as if to say: God will permit the Antichrist to work and seduce men, from which it will follow that those who were unwilling to follow Christ will believe the lying Antichrist. For God will not send the Antichrist for this end, that He may intend through him to seduce men, and to drive them into falsehood: but rather for this end, that men may know through the works of the Antichrist how great is the efficacy of the demon, and how great is the infirmity of man; that they may fortify themselves against him, and humbly invoke the grace of God: so that on the contrary it may be apparent how great is the efficacy of the grace of Christ in those who will resist the Antichrist, which will generously and constantly overcome every infirmity of nature and efficacy of the demon. From this mission, however, or rather permission of the Antichrist, it follows that many men inclined to evil and errors will be seduced by him, and will believe his lies and deceits.
Secondly and better, the word "that" can be referred to that which immediately precedes, namely to "the working of error"; and then it is taken properly, and signifies the final cause, as if to say: This working of error and seduction of the Antichrist will be done by him for this end, that men may believe his lie; or these works of the Antichrist will impel men, and will cause them to believe the lie.
That all may be judged, who have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity. — As if to say: That by the just judgment of God the Jews and the like may be convicted and condemned, who were unwilling to believe Christ and the Gospel truth brought through Christ; but received the lying Antichrist, and followed and emulated his heresy and wicked morals.
Note: "That" signifies here the final cause of the sending of the Antichrist; for it refers to what he said in the preceding verse: "Therefore God shall send them the working of error."
On which note secondly: There is a twofold cause why God will permit the Antichrist to work such and so powerful things. The first and primary one is that which I have already said, that the efficacy of the grace of Christ may appear in the Saints who will resist him. The other, and secondary and as it were consequent cause, is that which the Apostle alone here brings forward, namely that by this reason God may punish the unbelief of the Jews who were unwilling to follow Christ: He may punish, I say, first by the permission of so great a temptation of the Antichrist, and the fall and consent of the Jews, that they may believe a lie.
Secondly, that with their fall now supposed, and that they have already believed the lie, He may punish them on the day of judgment, by reproving their malignity, that they were unwilling to embrace Christ's true miracles, true doctrine, true and holy life; but on the contrary embraced the Antichrist's false miracles, doctrine, and impious life; and consequently He may punish them, by adjudging them to eternal damnation.
Note thirdly: Both here and in v. 10, the Apostle opposes the truth of Christ not to falsehood, but to the iniquity of the Antichrist; because from truth he understands the justice and holiness of Christ, as it were rivulets flowing from a fountain. Again, under iniquity he embraces the lies and errors of the Antichrist, as it were the part under the whole: for the Antichrist will be the architect of all iniquity; and therefore all the iniquitous, impious, and wicked will receive him, will consent to him, will rejoice in him as their king.
This passage is partly controversial, partly didactic concerning the Antichrist: about whom many have written at length and excellently, which because there is not leisure for many to read through, I will here embrace those things in few words, and will bring forward whatever things from Holy Scripture or the Fathers about the Antichrist are certain, or highly probable.
Question I: Has Antichrist Already Come, or Is He Still to Come?
It is asked therefore first: Has the Antichrist come, or is he still to come? The heretics teach that he has come. For [they say] the Roman Pope, who previously was Pastor and Bishop of Rome, has been made the Antichrist, when he began against the law of Christ to introduce Masses, images, Purgatory, Indulgences, the cult of the Saints; and when he began to lord it over the other bishops, and arrogated to himself the right and title of Pastor and Prince of the whole Church. They say this happened around the year of the Lord 600. Whence David Chytraeus calls Gregory the Great (whom all both Greeks and Latins have venerated as a saint) the first Antichrist, while Illyricus, Luther, and many of the Innovators call Gregory the last Roman Pontiff. For to Gregory succeeded Sabinian: but he died immediately in the same year. To Sabinian succeeded Boniface III, who in the year of the Lord 606 received from the Emperor Phocas the name "Ecumenical," namely that he should be called the Universal Bishop and Pontiff of the whole world. They wish therefore him to be the first Antichrist.
But they are deceived and deceive others. For, to say nothing of other things, the Ecumenical Council held at Chalcedon, in the first, second, and third sessions, repeatedly calls St. Leo, who was Roman Pontiff long before St. Gregory, the Pontiff of the Universal Church. What is this other than to be Ecumenical? And so the Roman Pontiffs always presided over the Ecumenical Councils, either in person or through their legates, as the heads and princes of the whole Church, which the Ecumenical Council represents.
Again, if from Boniface III all the Roman Pontiffs were Antichrists, then for a thousand years already Christ has deserted His Church; therefore for a thousand years the Church of Christ has perished, which nevertheless in Scripture is proclaimed to be the eternal kingdom of Christ; therefore for a thousand years all the Catholic and Most Christian Kings, Princes, Rulers, Bishops, Doctors, and the whole Christian world has worshipped Antichrist; therefore for a thousand years the whole Church (which nevertheless is said by the Apostle to be the pillar and foundation of truth) has been in the gravest errors, indeed in idolatry, and has been the synagogue of Satan; therefore not in the Church of Christ, but of Antichrist and the devil, were Luther, Calvin, and the other Innovators born, baptized, and educated, if it is true, as they themselves say, that around the year six hundred Masses, images, invocation of Saints, and prayers for the dead began. But far be it. For these things — that they existed in the Church before the year six hundred, indeed from the times of the Apostles — are taught by St. Ignatius, Dionysius, Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine, Jerome, Chrysostom, and all others, whom on each subject through each century from the birth of Christ all Catholics who have written on controversies bring forth and cite.
I therefore reply and say that Antichrist has not yet come, but is to come, and consequently neither the Roman Pope, nor any other who lives or has lived, is Antichrist. This I briefly demonstrate by nine reasons.
First, because there will be one singular man who will be called Antichrist, as I have shown from verse 3; but "Pope" is not the name of a singular man, but the name of a common office, in which one succeeds another: for the name "Pope" is as common to many as the name of king, emperor, bishop: therefore the Pope is not Antichrist.
Secondly, Antichrist will not come, unless after the Roman Empire has been entirely overthrown by ten kings, as is clear here in verse 3, and Daniel chapter VII, verse 24, joined with Apocalypse XVII, 11 and 16; but the Roman Empire has not yet been entirely overthrown, nor have the ten kings overthrowing it been seen up to now: therefore Antichrist has not yet come.
Thirdly. Antichrist will be diametrically opposed to Jesus Christ, and will abolish His name, faith, and worship, and will himself wish to be regarded as Christ and Messiah, as is clear here in verse 14 and in 1 John II:22, and John V:43; but neither the Pope, nor anyone similar, has hitherto abolished the faith and worship of Christ, nor wished to be regarded as Christ: therefore neither the Pope, nor anyone like him, has hitherto been such as could be Antichrist.
Fourthly, Antichrist will abolish in the Church the perpetual sacrifice (which can be nothing other than the Mass) and all worship of God and ceremonies, indeed all religion, as is clear from Daniel XII:11 and here in verse 4; but hitherto the sacrifice of the Mass, the worship of God, and the ceremonies have endured in the Roman Church: therefore Antichrist has not hitherto been seen in the Roman Church.
Fifthly, Antichrist will oppose the true God and every divinity, and will wish himself alone to be regarded and worshipped in the temple as God and divinity; but neither the Pope, nor anyone else, has hitherto abolished every divinity, nor wished himself to be worshipped in the temple as a divinity: therefore neither the Pope, nor anyone else, has hitherto been Antichrist.
Sixthly, Antichrist, as Daniel teaches in the same place, will reign only one thousand two hundred and ninety days; but the Pope has reigned for many more days, indeed years: therefore the Pope is not Antichrist. The Innovators reply that Daniel takes a day for a year: but against this is the fact that St. John, in Apocalypse chapter XI, verses 2 and 3, reduces the days to months, and counts the months of Antichrist's persecution as forty-two, during which he will trample the Church and the holy city.
Again Daniel, VII:25, teaches that Antichrist will reign "for a time," that is, a year (for so Daniel IV:29 says that Nebuchadnezzar lived with the beasts for seven times, that is, seven years, as all expound), "and times," that is, two years, "and half a time," that is, of a year. Note here that for "times," in Chaldean (the language in which Daniel wrote this) it is עדנין iddanin, as the Rabbis affixed the points, which is plural in number and means "times"; but it seems should be read with other points in the dual עדנין iddanain, that is, two times: although the Chaldeans more rarely use the dual, and most often use the plural even for the dual, as Guido Fabricius notes in his Syro-Chaldaic Grammar. Whether therefore you read iddanin or iddanain, either way it is dual here, and, as all translate, means two times, that is, two years. For Daniel wished to number and record certain and definite times, that is, years of the monarchy and persecution of Antichrist, and he says they will be three and a half, which make 42 months, which St. John counts in the Apocalypse, and 1290 days, which Daniel counts in chapter XII. So the Fathers everywhere teach. But the Pontiff has reigned not three and a half years, but more than a thousand years in the Church: therefore the Pontiff is not Antichrist.
Seventhly, the empire of Antichrist will be the last of the world, and will be at the end of the world, a little before the judgment, as is clear from Daniel VII:21, 22, 25, 26; but the Pope has already reigned for a long time before the end of the world and the day of judgment, namely for a thousand years: therefore the Pope is not Antichrist.
Eighthly, Antichrist will kill Elijah and Enoch, as is clear from Apocalypse XI:7, and it is the common opinion of the Fathers; but the Pope did not kill Elijah and Enoch, nor have Elijah and Enoch been seen during these thousand years: therefore the Pope is not Antichrist.
Ninthly, Antichrist will not reign at Rome (for that will be overthrown and burned by the ten kings before Antichrist, as I have shown in verse 7); but at Jerusalem, as is clear from Apocalypse XI:8; but the Pope does not reign at Jerusalem, but at Rome: therefore the Pope is not Antichrist.
From this it is clear that it is ridiculous to say that Antichrist has come. But indeed envy blinds the mind, and necessity is a hard weapon. The Innovators see their own heresies and those of others of every age condemned and to have been condemned by the Roman Pontiff. What should they do to escape this judge? It is necessary that they make him Antichrist: for if they confessed him to be Christ's, with Christ, for Christ, and Christ's vicar, we would say to them: Why then do you not acquiesce in his judgment, indeed in Christ's judgment? It would be more tolerable, and they would say something more probable in appearance, if they cried that the Pope is not Antichrist, but Antichrist's forerunner and precursor; for then they would not do such violence to the Scripture, which they cry that they follow, when it speaks of Antichrist, though they would inflict an atrocious calumny and injury on the Pontiff. But hatred and indignation carry them beyond bounds, just as quarrelsome women, who, when they have begun to quarrel, out of weakness of mind vomit forth whatever passion suggests, and so cartloads of insults. Men of sound heart, who measure the matter not by passion but by the balance of reason, sufficiently perceive that these calumnies, having proceeded from hatred of the Pontiff, far more truly fit those very ones who hurl them. For St. John teaches that heretics are Antichrists, that is, Antichrist's fellow-initiates and associates, and are driven by the same spirit as Antichrist, in his First Epistle, chapter II, verse 22: "Who, he says, is a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? (as the heretic Cerinthus denied) this is Antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son;" and verse 18: "Now, he says, many Antichrists have come. They went out from us: but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would surely have remained with us."
Did not Luther, Calvin, and Menno go out from us? From our Catholic Roman Church? And to excuse themselves, they cry that she has become the harlot of Babylon, the whore of Antichrist and the devil. But by this very fact they make themselves the sons of Antichrist and of this harlot, illegitimate and diabolical. For they themselves, as I said, were born, baptized, and educated in this Church.
Question II: Who and of What Sort Will Antichrist Be?
It is asked secondly: Who and of what sort will Antichrist be? I reply: All teach that he will be a Jew, and many add that he will be from the tribe of Dan; and they prove this from Genesis XLIX:17, where it is said: "Let Dan become a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path." Although this is to be understood literally of Samson, who like a serpent attacked the Philistines cunningly and powerfully, yet mystically it can be taken of Antichrist; and so, they say, in Apocalypse VII, among the twelve tribes, in each of which twelve thousand sealed are numbered, the tribe of Dan is omitted, because from the tribe of Dan Antichrist will arise. Hence all the Danites will follow Antichrist as a fellow tribesman, and none of them will be saved.
Secondly, Antichrist will be born in a humble place, and from base Jews. For thence in Daniel chapter VII he is called the little horn, which will gradually grow, and which will obtain the kingdom not by inheritance but by fraud, Daniel XI:20 and 21. St. Jerome adds that Antichrist is to be born in Babylon; others in the city of Dan, which afterwards was called Caesarea Philippi. Moreover Damascene relates that he is to be begotten from fornication. The author of the tract on Antichrist, which exists in volume IX of the works of St. Augustine (it seems to be Rabanus), teaches that Antichrist is to be brought up in Chorazin and Bethsaida, and that Christ accordingly threatened woe to these cities. But all these things are either frivolous or uncertain.
Thirdly, the name of Antichrist is as yet unknown: yet this is certain, that the letters of his name will arithmetically make up the number 666, as is clear from Apocalypse XIII:18. Hence some have thought Mohammed to be Antichrist; because this impostor began under this number of years of the Lord. But they err: for Mohammed did not begin to reign in the year of the Lord 666, but 623. Nor does John speak of the number of years, but of the name of Antichrist.
Fourthly, Antichrist will first win over the Jews to himself by judaizing and promising them temporal goods, which they themselves eagerly expect from their Messiah; giving them treasures, which the demon will supply to him; for he will be most wealthy: for Daniel exalts his treasures in chapter XI, 43. Anselm, in his Elucidarius, by these treasures understands all the money which lies hidden in the sea or in the bowels of the earth: for this is to be revealed by the demon to Antichrist. Hence therefore Antichrist will be received by the Jews and held as the promised Messiah and the one so eagerly awaited by them for so many ages, John V:43.
Fifthly, he will have his forerunner, just as Christ had John the Baptist. He will be a notable impostor, so that he will appear to perform miracles, and will compel the image of Antichrist to be worshipped by all, Apocalypse XIII:15.
Sixthly, through the Jews Antichrist will gradually grow, and will become king; Francisco Suarez, Ribera, and many others add that he will begin to reign in Babylon. For this Zechariah seems to signify in chapter V, last verse, where Zechariah says that the woman sitting on the amphora, having her mouth closed with a talent, or a mass of lead, is carried by two women into the land of Shinar, that is, into Babylon. "That a house may be built for her," he says, "in the land of Shinar, and be established, and placed there upon its base."
To understand this remarkable vision, note first: This amphora, or, as in Hebrew, אפה epha, that is, a measure, signifies the measure of the sins of the Jews, which gradually grew and was at last entirely filled in the time of Christ, when the Jews were utterly rejected by God and Christ.
Secondly, the eye, says Zechariah, that is, the gaze of all the Jews is toward this amphora from every side, namely so that they may fill it with their sins.
Thirdly, the woman who at first sat in the amphora as far as the navel, is the impiety (Zechariah says) of the Jews not yet complete before Christ; but afterwards this woman was entirely cast down and submerged up to her head into the amphora, when through the slaying of Christ and the Apostles the impiety and measure of the Jews was entirely consummated.
Fourthly, the talent or mass of lead cast into its mouth, that is, of the amphora, as Ribera holds; or rather of the woman, as Jerome and Vatablus hold, by which it was entirely shut and stopped up, signifies the gravity and long duration of the punishment, which namely will last to the end of the world.
Fifthly, the two women signify the blindness and obstinacy of the Jews, which, driven by a diabolical spirit, with their wings as of most rapacious and strongest kites, carry this amphora through the air into the land of Shinar, that is, into Babylon; for the blindness, punishment, and desolation of the Jews will last until they worship Antichrist reigning in Babylon as in a stable and firm place and kingdom.
Sixthly, Antichrist will propagate his kingdom both by arms and by deceits and frauds, and every art, and he will prosper and do whatever he wills, says Daniel; so that of the ten kings, among whom the empire of Rome and of the world will then be divided, he will overthrow three, and soon the other seven, terrified, will of their own accord submit themselves to him, Apocalypse XIII:7; and so Antichrist will become monarch not only of the Roman empire, as Chrysostom says, or of the provinces of Asia, Africa, and Europe, in which the faith and the Church flourished longer, but, as it seems, even of the Indies and of the whole world, says Jerome on Daniel chapter XI, and Augustine, book XX of The City of God, chapter XI. For partly by himself, partly through his leaders and ministers, he will traverse and subjugate the world.
Seventhly, Antichrist will set up the seat of his monarchy at Jerusalem, and there in the temple restored by himself he will sit and be worshipped as God; and this for three and a half years, and there he will kill Elijah and Enoch, who teach and preach against Antichrist, and other Christians, Apocalypse XI:8. The bodies of Elijah and Enoch will lie unburied in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days; after which Elijah and Enoch will revive and rise again: presently a voice will be heard from heaven saying, Come up hither; and immediately Elijah and Enoch, with the whole city looking on, will ascend into heaven, as is clear from Apocalypse XI:12. After 30 days Antichrist with his forerunner will be cast down alive and snatched into hell, as is said in Apocalypse XIX:20. For that Antichrist will reign no longer than thirty days after the death of Elijah and Enoch is gathered from Apocalypse XI:3, where Elijah and Enoch are said to be about to preach for one thousand two hundred and sixty days: but Antichrist will reign for one thousand two hundred and ninety days, as is said in Daniel chapter XII, verse 11; therefore he will exceed the life and preaching of Elijah and Enoch by only thirty days. How brief will be the glory of Antichrist and of the impious in comparison with the eternity of punishments! How brief the affliction of Elijah and Enoch, and of the Saints, in comparison with the eternity of rewards!
Question III: What Will Be the Morals of Antichrist?
It is asked thirdly: What and of what sort will be the morals of Antichrist?
I reply first, he will be a hypocrite, and at the beginning will pretend to be very kind, benign, pious, a zealot of the law of Moses, that he may attract and deceive the Jews: for otherwise the Jews would not admit him. He will be entirely political, and will be skilled in all the arts, deceits, and practices of politicians. For this is what the Apostle said in verse 9, that the coming of Antichrist will be according to the operation of Satan, in every seduction of iniquity, to those who perish.
Secondly, he will be most desirous of glory, and will refer all his actions to his own glory, honor, and empire, and will be proud as another Lucifer, and having attained empire will wish to be worshipped as God, as we heard in verse 4.
Thirdly, he will be impudent, says Daniel, and moreover atheistic and blasphemous against God and the Saints, as is clear from Apocalypse XIII:6.
Fourthly, he will be a most cruel tyrant, especially against Christians, as is clear from Apocalypse XIII:10: "Here, he says, is the patience and the faith of the Saints."
Fifthly, he will be entirely in the lusts and concupiscences of women, as Daniel says, chapter XI, verse 37. Hence the Jews, among other earthly goods, also expect a multitude of wives from this their Messiah.
Sixthly, he will be a magician and from boyhood will be steeped in magical arts, and will have a demon named Maozim, as Daniel says, chapter XI, verse 38, so familiar that he will scarcely give place to any good inspiration, angelic guardianship, or divine grace; indeed he will scarcely accomplish any morally good work. For this is what the Apostle here in verse 3 signifies, when he calls him the man of sin, the son of perdition, and in verse 9, when he says his coming will be according to the operation of Satan. Antichrist therefore will be so much a wretch that in him, says Irenaeus, book V, chapter XXIX, there will be the recapitulation of all iniquity and every deceit, and into him will flow and be concluded all apostate power.
Question IV: What Will Be the Doctrine of Antichrist?
It is asked fourthly: What will be the doctrine of Antichrist?
I reply first, he will teach that Jesus was not the Messiah, nor the Son of God, nor the savior of men; and consequently that His whole religion and Sacraments are vain superstition: for therefore he will be called Antichrist, 1 John II:22.
Secondly, he will persuade the Jews that he is the Messiah; whence at the beginning he will teach that circumcision and the law of Moses must be kept, so that he may thus draw the Jews to himself, John V:43.
Thirdly, having become monarch he will reject the law of Moses, and even the law of nature, and will deny the true God, by whom it was given. "He will think (says Daniel, VII:25) that he can change the laws and times;" and he will preach that he alone is God, as is clear here in verse 4, and consequently he will teach that no punishment or reward is to be hoped for in another life from the true God; he will therefore deny hell, heaven, and the immortality of the soul; for these things atheists deny.
Hence fourthly it will come about that he gives the most ample license to gluttony, lust, and all crimes which will not stand in the way of his glory and empire.
Fifthly, he will command that temples be dedicated to himself, and that sacrifices be made; for he will wish to be worshipped as God.
Sixthly, he will wish his character, as the sign of his sect, to be borne by all his followers on the forehead or on the hand, Apocalypse VIII:16.
You ask: What will be this character of Antichrist? Hippolytus, in his book On the Consummation of the Age; Pererius, and many others reply that it will be this: "I deny the cross, I deny baptism, I deny Jesus;" but Ansbertus, whom Ribera follows in chapter XIII of the Apocalypse, says that it has been revealed to him from a passage that it will be the Greek letter X chi, in which is inserted Ρ rho, in this way. These are the initial letters of the name of Christ; which was the insignia of Constantine the Great on the labarum: for Antichrist will wish to be regarded as Christ. Finally, by threats, flatteries, and feigned miracles he will persuade all these things, as I said in verses 9 and 10, where I also taught what and what sort of miracles Antichrist will perform.
Question V: How Great Will Then Be the Persecution of the Church?
It is asked fifthly: How great will then be the persecution of the Church?
I reply first: Extreme and such as has not been from the origin of the world, Matthew XXIV:21; whence John, in Apocalypse XX, says that Satan will then be loosed, who will begin to rage because he will know that his time is short.
Secondly, Gog and Magog, who will be the innumerable army of Antichrist, like the sand of the sea, will come into battle against the Saints, Apocalypse chapter XX, verse 7, and Ezekiel chapter XXXVIII, of whom I shall speak in the following question.
Thirdly, this persecution will be both temporal upon bodies, and rather spiritual upon souls. For Antichrist will strive with all his forces to turn all from the worship and faith of God: namely he will compel all to deny that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, to abandon the Masses and all Christian rites (Daniel chapter XII, 11), to deny God and worship Antichrist, either present in himself, or absent in his image, which will be set up in the temples to be adored, Apocalypse chapter XIII, verse 15.
Fourthly, as a protestation not only of his empire, but also of this his worship, religion, and faith, he will compel all to bear his character, which I have mentioned; so that no one can buy or sell anything, except him who bears it. Whence in Apocalypse chapter XIV, verses 16, 19, and 20, all who bear it are condemned as idolaters.
Fifthly, the greater part of the faithful will fall and yield to Antichrist, Apocalypse XVII:8: "So that even the elect, if it be possible, may be led into error," Matthew XXIV:24; and there will be as it were a general apostasy and defection, as Paul said here in verse 3.
Sixthly, nevertheless the Church, faith, and religion will not fail under Antichrist, as Sotus holds in book IV, distinction XLVI, Question I, article 1: for this cannot be said; but it will remain in a few, who in hidden places will celebrate the sacred sacrifices, and on account of these, says Christ, "the days will be shortened" of the persecution of Antichrist.
Whence seventhly, then there will be most illustrious Martyrs, Apocalypse XIII:10, because they will fight not against men, but against the demon exerting all his forces, says Hippolytus the martyr.
Finally, after three and a half years Antichrist will be swallowed alive into hell, and at the same time fire will descend from heaven and will burn up Gog and Magog, and all the ministers and soldiers of Antichrist, and the persecution will cease, and to the lapsed there will be given, that they may repent, at least forty-five days. Then Christ will come to judgment, and all will rise again, Daniel XII:12.
Question VI: Who Will Be the Ministers, Soldiers, and Army of Antichrist?
It is asked sixthly: Who will be the ministers, soldiers, and army of Antichrist?
I reply: They will be Gog and Magog, as is clear from Apocalypse XX:7.
But you ask, who are Gog and Magog? The Jews fable that they are innumerable Scythian nations, which lie hidden within the Caspian mountains, and will come with Antichrist against the Messiah, but will be slain by him in Palestine.
Secondly, Lactantius, in book VII, chapter XXIV, thinks that the battle of Gog and Magog will take place a thousand years after the resurrection and death of Antichrist. The same opinion was held by Tertullian, Papias, Justin, and other Chiliasts.
Thirdly, Eusebius, in book VII of his Demonstration III, teaches that Gog is the Roman Emperor, Magog the Roman Empire.
Fourthly, others hold that Gog and Magog are the battles of angels and the devil.
Fifthly, Theodoret asserts that Gog and Magog are Alexander the Great, and the kings of Syria and Egypt, the successors of Alexander, who afflicted the Jews and were finally overcome by the Jews. But this is false: for although the Jews had illustrious victories against them, nevertheless they never entirely overcame them, but were always vexed by them.
Sixthly, Theodore Bibliander, whom Chytraeus follows on Apocalypse chapter XX, will have Gog and Magog be Gregory VII, Godfrey of Bouillon, and the Christian princes, who recovered the Holy Land. But this is impious: for Gog will fight against the camp of the Saints and the holy city, that is, the true Church of God. Since therefore Bouillon and his associates fought in the holy war against the Turks and Saracens, it follows, according to Bibliander's opinion, that the Turks and Saracens are the camp of the Saints and the holy city.
Seventhly, the Magdeburgers think that Gog and Magog are Turks and Saracens: but they err. For Gog and Magog will only be at the end of the world with Antichrist, as is clear from Apocalypse XX:7 and 11.
Eighthly, St. Ambrose, in book II On the Faith, last chapter, thinks Gog to be the Goths, who devastated the provinces of the Romans. Others think Gog to be the Getae, Magog the Massagetae.
Ninthly, St. Jerome thinks that Gog is the heresiarchs, Magog those who believe them.
Tenthly, St. Augustine, in book XX of The City of God, XXI: Gog, he says, in Hebrew is the same as roof, or house; Magog is the same as from the roof, or he who comes from the house. Gog therefore are the nations, in which as in a house or abyss the devil is enclosed. Magog is the devil, who in some way raises himself up and proceeds from those nations. Or Gog are the nations in which the devil is now enclosed and covered; and the same nations will be Magog, that is, from the roof, when from the covered they will burst forth into open hatred. So Augustine. But that Gog will not be the devil is clear from Apocalypse XX, where St. John says that the devil will raise up Gog, therefore Gog is not the devil.
For the reply, note from Augustine, Arethas, Primasius, Rupert, Anselm, and others everywhere, that Gog and Magog will be at the time of Antichrist; whence Ezekiel says they will be at the last time. And it is clear from Apocalypse XX:7 and 11.
I say therefore that the battle of Gog is the battle of Antichrist against the Church, and is the last persecution. So St. Augustine and others.
Secondly, Gog seems to be Antichrist himself, or certainly his chief king and leader of war: Magog will be his army, because Ezekiel always calls Gog the prince, but Magog he calls the land or nation.
Thirdly, Gog is named from Magog, because he will be prince of the nation Magog.
Fourthly, the army of Antichrist is called Magog because it will consist of Scythians, Turks, Tartars; or because it will be barbarous and cruel like the Scythians; for that Magog are the Scythians is gathered from Genesis X, where the son of Japheth is called Magog, by whom Josephus, in book I of Antiquities, VI, and Jerome in Hebrew Questions on Genesis teach that Scythia was inhabited and named. Whence also the associates of Gog, whom Ezekiel here names, namely Gomer, Togormah, Mosoch, Tubal, are sons or nephews of Japheth, from whom other nations took their name; as Tubal are the Spaniards, Togormah the Phrygians, Mosoch the Cappadocians.
Hence again Ezekiel, chapter XXXVIII, verse 15, says that Gog and Magog will come from the north: but in the north dwell the Scythians and Tartars, and these were the soldiers of Tamerlane, who, as another Antichrist, devastated all things with his innumerable army.
You will say: in Apocalypse XX:7, it is said that Satan will seduce the nations which are upon the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog; therefore Gog and Magog are nations from every region of the world. So St. Augustine.
I reply: The sense of St. John is, Satan will seduce all nations, even Gog and Magog. For Gog and Magog seem to be kings and nations most wild and strongest, from those seven kings who, as I said, will of their own accord submit themselves to Antichrist.
Fifthly, the army of Antichrist will be very great, like the sand of the sea, Apocalypse XX. Some think that here belongs that passage of Apocalypse IX:16, where it is said: "And the number of the army of horsemen was twenty thousand times ten thousand;" in Greek δύο μυριάδες μυριάδων, that is two myriads of myriads: a myriad contains ten thousand; therefore two myriads of myriads are two hundred thousand thousand, or two hundred millions: therefore Antichrist would have two hundred millions of horsemen, how great then would be his infantry? But this passage does not pertain to Antichrist, but to the times preceding Antichrist. For which note: St. John saw, Apocalypse V:5, a book sealed with seven seals, and in the whole Apocalypse he does nothing else than explain this book with its seals. Whence there are two parts of the Apocalypse: in the former, up to chapter XII, are explained and unsealed the seven seals of this book; in the latter, from chapter XII to the end of the Apocalypse, are unsealed and explained what was written in the book.
Note secondly: The seven seals contain the seven persecutions of the Church, which she will suffer before and up to Antichrist. Whence the book could not be read, unless the seven seals were unsealed; for the times of Antichrist cannot be seen, unless other persecutions sealed with the seven seals precede them. But the book itself contains the very persecution of Antichrist, and the things which will happen in the time of Antichrist; now these two hundred millions of horsemen, Apocalypse chapter IX, verse 16, do not pertain to the book, and consequently not to Antichrist, but to the preceding times: for they pertain to the seventh seal, in which seven angels with seven trumpets called forth seven plagues into the world, and the sixth angel with his trumpet called forth these two hundred millions of horsemen, who slew a third part of men. This Francisco Ribera rightly demonstrates toward the end of chapter X of the Apocalypse.
Sixthly, the armies of Gog and Magog will come to Antichrist in Jerusalem, that in it and in all Judea they may destroy the faithful and Christians: for from every direction Christians and Gentiles will flow together to Jerusalem, to hear Elijah and Enoch preaching in it, and this St. John signifies in Apocalypse XX:8, when he says: "And they ascended (Gog and Magog) over the breadth of the earth; and they surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city (namely Jerusalem)." He calls the camp of the saints the receptacles and hiding places of the holy Christians; for it is not likely that the oppressed Christians will have military camps under the most powerful Antichrist, with which they would clash, banners arrayed, with Antichrist and his whole army. Whence St. John adds that beside Jerusalem Christ will fight from heaven against these Antichristians, and will destroy them all in the place, which hence in Hebrew will be called Armageddon, Apocalypse XVI:16, as if you should say, anathema of destruction, that is, complete destruction. For so he says in Apocalypse XX:9: "And fire descended from God from heaven and devoured them (Gog and Magog)." The same Ezekiel teaches, XXXVIII:22, when he says: "And I will judge (punish) him (Gog) with pestilence and blood, and with violent rain, and with immense stones; I will rain fire and brimstone upon him, and upon his army, and upon many peoples who are with him." Ezekiel adds that the spoils of the slain will be so great that they will be able to suffice as fuel for all Israel for seven years: then together with them Antichrist will be snatched into hell, Apocalypse XX:11. Finally Daniel XII, when he had numbered the days of his reign as 1290, adds: "Blessed is he who arrives at the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days," that is, at the 45th day from the slaying of Antichrist, Gog and Magog, not because then will be the day of judgment, but because then the Church and the world will plainly be freed from all the followers of Antichrist, that those who fell under Antichrist may repent, and then the Church will be restored and flourish again. There will therefore be given a little more time and space, and consequently the day of judgment will not follow immediately after these 45 days; indeed Ezekiel seems to say there will be still 14, 15. Whence the Sibyl, in her book of Oracles, teaches that after the death of Antichrist a widowed woman will reign, who will cast gold, silver, brass, and iron into the sea, and then there will follow the end of the world and the day of judgment.
Verse 12: God Has Chosen You Firstfruits Unto Salvation
12. But we ought to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of God, that God has chosen you as firstfruits unto salvation, in sanctification of the spirit and in faith of the truth. — Because, say Chrysostom and Theophylact, he had spoken horrible things about Antichrist and those who will believe him, hence he softens them and consoles his own, as if to say: These things are indeed terrible to others, namely to those who perish; but we should not be shaken with terror, but exult with joy and give thanks to God; we, I say, and much more you, in that "God has chosen you as firstfruits unto salvation," that is, for salvation, as if to say: God has chosen you, that you may be the firstfruits of those to be saved. For he opposes these to those who perish.
Note: Our translator in the Greek seems to have read ἀπαρχάς, that is firstfruits: now it is read, ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, that is from the beginning, which Theophylact refers to predestination, as if to say: From the beginning, from eternity God has chosen us unto salvation. The Thessalonians are rightly called firstfruits, because Paul preached the Gospel to them among the first, and converted them to the faith and salvation.
Secondly, Paul speaks of an election not efficacious, complete, and immediate to salvation, that is, heavenly glory, but mediate and initial, by which all Christians are chosen, that is, destined unto salvation through faith and baptism; so that if they preserve the grace which they received in baptism, and continue in the Christian life as they began, they will certainly and efficaciously attain salvation and glory. Whence Paul explains how God chose them unto salvation, when he adds: "In sanctification of the spirit and in faith of the truth," that is, as the Syriac, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Vatablus, and others, through sanctification of the spirit and faith of the truth, as if to say: God chose and directed us to salvation, and set us in the way of salvation, by this very thing that in baptism He infused into us the true faith of Christ and sanctifying grace, by which He sanctified our spirit and mind.
Verse 13: He Has Called You by Our Gospel Unto the Acquisition of the Glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ
13. Into which (to which, namely faith and sanctification, in Greek εἰς ὅ, that is, unto which; the Syriac unto which things, that it may refer to all the things Paul said in the preceding verse) He has also called you through our Gospel unto the acquisition of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. — Namely that you may acquire the heavenly glory, which our Lord Jesus Christ has; or rather, that through faith, grace, and salvation greater glory may be acquired for Christ, the author of these things. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Anselm. Whence the Syriac translates, that you may be an honor to our Lord Jesus Christ: for in Greek it is εἰς περιποίησιν. By which he alludes to Exodus XIX, where the Lord says to the Hebrews: "You shall be Mine for a peculium," that is, for a peculiar inheritance, as if to say: Although the whole world and all nations are Mine, yet you, O Hebrews, beloved and chosen by Me, will be My part and portion, chosen and beloved before all (for this is what the Hebrew סגלות segulla means), although you be a little flock, you will nevertheless be My whole herd, that is, all My substance, all My riches. For of old all the substance of the ancients was in flocks. Whence explaining this peculium, Deuteronomy XXXII:9: "The Lord's portion," he says, "is His people, Jacob (the Hebrews, descendants of Jacob, or Jacobites) the cord of His inheritance," that is, they will be a hereditary portion to God Himself, as if divided and measured by a cord. The Septuagint, in Exodus XIX, for "you shall be to Me for a peculium," translates, ἔσεσθε μοι λαὸς περιούσιος, you shall be to Me a peculiar people, and, as Theodoret translates, ἐξαίρετος, that is, chosen, whom namely God has acquired and bought for Himself as proper and peculiar, when He led him through so many labors from Egypt into Sinai and Canaan. Following the Septuagint, St. Peter, in his First Epistle, chapter II, verse 9: "You are," he says, "(O Christians) a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of acquisition," in Greek has εἰς περιποίησιν, that is, a people unto acquisition, namely Christ has acquired and bought with His own blood: so here Paul says Christians are an acquisition, that is, a people acquired for Christ and for the glory of Christ. Of which I shall again speak in 2 Timothy II:19.
Verse 14: Therefore, Brethren, Stand Fast, and Hold the Traditions
14. Therefore, brethren, stand (firm in the faith and Christian life which you have received) and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle.