The Antichrist in Catholic Thought

Jacobus de Voragine: On the Antichrist and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

2006-03-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Jacobus de Voragine, O.P., Archbishop of Genoa, 1275, in his famous medieval work, The Golden Legend, summarized the writings of the Fathers and Doctors and Saints, Matryologies and Historians in a popular collection of readings (legends). In the section entitled, The Second Advent of Christ, he speaks of the Antichrist.

Of the second coming which shall be at the last Judgment two things be to be seen, that is to wit, that which cometh before the Judgment, and that which shall be at the Judgment. As for the first, three things shall be tofore the Judgment. First, the terrible confusion of signs and tokens. Secondly, the malice and deceit of Antichrist, and the third, of vehement and marvellous operation of the fire. As touching the signs, S. Luke saith in the twenty-fifth chapter: Erunt signa in sole, luna et stellis, etc. There shall be great signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars, and in the earth oppression of people anguishous for the confusion of the sound of the sea and of the waves. The three first signs be determined in the Book of the Apocalypse in the sixth chapter. Sol factus est niger tanquam saccus cilicinus: et luna facta est sicut sanguis, et stellæ ceciderunt super terraim. Then shall be the time that the sun shall be black as a sack, gross and rude, and the moon shall be as blood, and the stars shall fall on the earth. The sun is said dark, forasmuch as he is deprived of his light, as though he wept for the dying of men. For S. Austin saith that, the vengeance of God shall be so cruel at the day of doom, that the sun shall not dare behold it. Or as for to speak of the proper signification spiritually to be understood, is that, the Son of Justice, Jesu Christ, shall be then so dark that no man shall dare know him. The heaven is here taken for the air, and the star judge in great fear. The sixth sign, the edifices and buildings shall fall down: and in this sixth day thunders and tempests full of fire shall grow in the west, where the sun goeth down against the firmament, in running to the east. The seventh sign, the stones shall smite and hurtle together and shall cleave in four parts, and each part shall smite other, ne none. The eighth sign shall be the moving and general trembling of the earth, which shall be so. The ninth sign, all the earth shall be even and plain, and all the mountains and valleys shall be brought into powder and be all like. The tenth day, the men shall issue out of the caves and shall go by the ways and fields as men aliened and out of their wit, and shall not con speak one to another. The eleventh day the bones of dead men shall issue out of their burials and places and shall hold them upon their sepulchres, and from the sun rising unto it go down, the sepulchres shall be open, to the end that the dead bodies may all issue. The twelfth sign all the stars shall fall from the heaven and shall spread out rays of fire, and then great quantity shall grow. In this twelfth day it is said that all the beasts shall come to the field howling, and shall not eat ne drink. The thirteenth sign, all living shall die, to the end that they should arise with the dead bodies. The fourteenth day the heaven and the earth shall burn. The fifteenth day shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and all things and all dead men shall arise.
The second thing that shall be afore judgment, shall be the folly and malice of Antichrist; he shall pain him to deceive all men by four manners. The first manner shall be by suasion and false exposition of Scripture. Forasmuch as he may, he shall give them to understand Christ, and he shall destroy the law of Jesu Christ, and shall ordain his law in alleging David the Prophet that saith: Constitue domine legislatorem super eos. Thus shall he say, that it was said for him as he that was ordained of God for to set law upon his place, after this that is said in the scripture of Daniel, Daniel xi.: Dabunt abominationem et desolationem templi, etc. Antichrist and his complices shall give abomination and desolation to the temple of God in this time, as saith the gloss: Antichrist shall be in the temple of God, as God, for that he shall destroy the law of God.

The second manner shall be by marvellous operation of miracles, whereof saith the apostle S. Paul in his second Epistle ad Thessalonicenses in the second chapter, where he saith: Cujus adventus erit secundum operationem Sathanae in omnibus verbis et prodigiis mendacibus. Of Antichrist it is said that, the coming shall be after the operation of Satan in all his signs, in all his marvels, and false Iying deeds, whereof S. John maketh mention in the Apocalypse, the thirteenth chapter: Fecit signa ut etiam ignem facerit de celo in terram descendere. Antichrist shall make such signs, that is to say, he shall make such tokens that he shall make the fire descend from heaven. The gloss saith that, like as the Holy Ghost descended in likeness of fire, in likewise shall Antichrist give the evil spirit in likeness of fire. The third manner that he shall do for to deceive, shall be in giving of gifts, of which is written in the book of Daniel the Prophet in his eleventh chapter: Dabit eis potestatem in multis et terram divides gratuito: Antichrist shall give puissance to his servants in many things, and shall depart the earth to them after his will. The gloss saith that, Antichrist shall give many gifts to them that he shall deceive. And to his disciples he shall divide the earth, and them that and make them thereby to obey him. The fourth manner for to deceive them shall be by torments that he shall give to them, whereof Daniel saith in his eighth chapter: Supra quod credi potest universe vastabit; no man shall believe how he shall destroy and torment them that will not believe in him, for to draw them to him by force. And S. Gregory saith of him: Robustos quippe interficiet, et cetera; he shall slay the great and strong men; when he may not win nor overcome them by heart ne will, he shall overcome them by torment. The third thing that shall go before the judgment shall be the right vehement fire, the which shall go tofore the face of the judge. And God shall send this fire for four causes. First for the renewing of the world, for he shall purge and renew the elements. And, like to the form of the deluge it shall be forty cubits higher than all the mountains, like as it is written in the history scholastic; for the works of the people may mount so high. Secondly for the purgation of the people; for then that fire shall be instead of the fire of purgatory to them that then shall be on live. Thirdly for to give more greater torment to them that be damned. Fourthly for to give more clearness and light unto the saints. For after the saying of S. Basil: Our Lord God when shall make the purgation of the w others should see them. And it ought not to be believed that within that little valley all might be enclosed, after that which S. Jerome saith, but many shall be there, and the others there about. Nevertheless, in a little space of land may be men without number by divine puissance and ordinance, and, if it be of necessity, the chosen people shall be in the air for the agility and lightness of their bodies, and also in soul. And then the judge shall dispute and reprove the wicked men of the works of mercy which he ordained to us. And they shall not mow reply, but shall then weep upon themselves and upon their deeds; like as S. John Chrysostom saith upon the gospel of S. Matthew, in saying that, the Jews shall weep their life when they shall see their judge and him that giveth life to all men, whom they esteemed and trowed a dead man, and shall blame themselves for his body hurt and wounded by them. And they may not deny their cruelty but shall weep in great distress. The paynims, which by the vain disputations of the philosophers were deceived and supposed it to have been folly to worship God crucified. The Christian men, sinners, shall weep that have more loved the world than God. The heretics shall weep because they holden false opinions against the Faith of Jesu Christ whom then they shall see the sovereign judge, whom the Jews crucified. And so shall all the lineages of the world weep, for they shall have no force ne power ne strength against him, nor they may not flee before his face, nor they shall have no time of space to do penance for their sins nor to make satisfaction of the great anguish that they shall have of all things: there shall nothing abide to them but weeping. The second thing that shall follow at the judgment is the difference of the orders. For thus, as S. Gregory saith: at the day of judgment shall be four things, two on the party reproved, and two on the party chosen. The first shall be damned and perished, to whom he shall say, Esurivi et non dedistis mihi manducare; I had hunger and ye have given to me no meat. The other shall not be judged and perish, of whom it is written, Qui non credit jam judicatus est; he that believeth not is now judged. For they shall not perceive the words of the judge, which would not keep the words of God. The other of the party of the good shall be judged and shall reign, as they to whom shall be said: I have had hunger and ye have given me meat. The other shall not be judged and yet shall reign. That is to wit, the perfect men that shall judge others; not that they shall give the sentence of the judgment; for the sovereign judge shall only give the sentence, but they be said judges, because they be present approving the judgment. And this assistance shall be first to the honour of saints. For it shall be great honour to them to have their seats and sit with the judge, like as Jesu Christ promised to them, that they should be sitting upon twelve seats judging the twelve lineages of Israel. Secondly, to the confirmation of the sentence; for they shall approve the sentence given of the judge, as do the assistants in judgment which approve the sentence of the judge that is good and just. And with their hands they set-to their names in witness; like as David saith: Ut faciant in eis judicium conscriptum, etc. To the end that they make upon the damned, judgment written with the judge. Thirdly, that shall be to condemnation of the evil people whom they shall condemn by the works of their good life.

(For the rest of what Fr. de Voragine has to say on the Antichrist, see the link in the title to this post.)

St. John Chrysostom: Those who recieve the Antichrist will do so out of hatred of God

2006-03-08T04:54:00.000-08:00

St. John Chrsysostom, in his Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, says that those who reject Jesus Christ, will receive the Antichrist, because they rejected Him because He claimed to be God, but they will receive him because he claims to be greater than God.

Ver. 43 . “I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him will ye receive.”

[2.] Seest thou that He everywhere declareth that He hath been “sent,” that judgment hath been committed to Him by the Father, that He can do nothing of Himself, in order that He may cut off all excuse for their unfairness? But who is it that He here saith shall come “in his own name”? He alludeth here to Antichrist, and putteth an incontrovertible proof of their unfairness. “For if as loving God ye persecute Me, much more ought this to have taken place in the case of Antichrist. For he will neither say that he is sent by the Father, nor that he cometh according to his will, but in everything contrariwise, seizing like a tyrant what belongeth not to him, and asserting that he is the very God over all, as Paul saith, ‘Exalting himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, showing himself that he is God.’ ( 2 Thess. ii. 4 .) This is to ‘come in his own name.’ I do not so, but am come in the Name of My Father.” That they received not One who said that He was sent of God, was a sufficient proof that they loved not God; but now from the contrary of this fact, from their being about to receive Antichrist, He showeth their shamelessness. For when they received not One who asserteth that He was sent by God, and are about to worship one who knoweth Him not, and who saith that he is God over all, it is clear that their persecution proceeded from malice and from hating God. On this account He putteth two reasons for His words; and first the kinder one, “That ye may be saved”; and, “That ye may have life”: and when they would have mocked at Him, He putteth the other which was more striking, showing that even although His hearers should not believe, yet that God was wont always to do His own works. Now Paul speaking concerning Antichrist said prophetically, that “God shall send them strong delusion,—that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” ( 2 Thess. ii. 11, 12 .) Christ said not, “He shall come”; but, “if He come,” from tenderness for His hearers; and because all their obstinacy was not yet complete. He was silent as to the reason of His coming; but Paul, for those who can understand, has particularly alluded to it. For it is he who taketh away all excuse from them.

St. Augustine: When the Antichrist comes the unbelieving Jews will receive him

2006-03-08T04:52:00.000-08:00

St. Augustine, in his Tractates on the Gospel of St. John, n. 39, explains the teaching of Jesus Christ, that when the Antichrist comes, the unbelieving Jews will receive him.

8. "He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: `This will be he who is called Antichrist,'exalting himself," as the apostle says, "above all that is called God, and that is worshipped." The Lord, declaring that this same it is that will seek his own glory, not the glory of the Father, says to the Jews: "I am come in my Father's name, and ye have not received me; another will come in his own name, him ye will receive." He intimated that they would receive Antichrist, who will seek the glory of his own name, puffed up, not solid; and therefore not stable, but assuredly ruinous. But our Lord Jesus Christ has shown us a great example of humility: for doubtless He is equal with the Father, for "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;" yea, doubtless, He Himself said, and most truly said, "Am I so long time with you, and ye have not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Yea, doubtless, Himself said, and most truly said, "I and the Father are one." If, therefore, He is one with the Father, equal to the Father, God from God, God with God, coeternal, immortal, alike unchangeable, alike without time, alike Creator and disposer of times; and yet because He came in time, and took the form of a servant, and in condition was found as a man, He seeks the glory of the Father, not His own; what oughtest thou to do, O man, who, when thou doest anything good, seekest thy own glory; but when thou doest anything ill, dost meditate calumny against God? Consider thyself: thou art a creature, acknowledge thy Creator: thou art a servant, despise not thy Lord: thou art adopted, not for thy own merits; seek His glory from whom thou hast this grace, that thou art a man adopted; His, whose glory He sought who is from Him, the Only-begotten. "But He that seeketh His glory that sent Him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him" In Antichrist, however, there is unrighteousness, and he is not true; because he will seek his own glory, not His by whom he was sent: for, indeed, he was not sent, but only permitted to come. Let us all, therefore, that belong to the body of Christ, seek not our own glory, that we be not led into the snares of Antichrist. But if Christ sought His glory that sent Him, how much more ought we to seek the glory of Him who made us?

St. Ireneaus: On the Characteristics of the Government of the Antichirst

2006-03-08T04:49:00.000-08:00

St. Ireneaus of Lyons, speaks of the characteristics of the Antichrist's government.

Chapter XXV.—The fraud, pride, and tyrannical kingdom of Antichrist, as described by Daniel and Paul.

1. And not only by the particulars already mentioned, but also by means of the events which shall occur in the time of Antichrist is it shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God; and that, although a mere slave, he wishes himself to be proclaimed as a king. For he (Antichrist) being endued with all the power of the devil, shall come, not as a righteous king, nor as a legitimate king, [i.e., one] in subjection to God, but an impious, unjust, and lawless one; as an apostate, iniquitous and murderous; as a robber, concentrating in himself [all] satanic apostasy, and setting aside idols to persuade [men] that he himself is God, raising up himself as the only idol, having in himself the multifarious errors of the other idols. This he does, in order that they who do [now] worship the devil by means of many abominations, may serve himself by this one idol, of whom the apostle thus speaks in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians: “Unless there shall come a failing away first, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God.” The apostle therefore clearly points out his apostasy, and that he is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped—that is, above every idol —for these are indeed so called by men, but are not [really] gods; and that he will endeavour in a tyrannical manner to set himself forth as God.

2. Moreover, he (the apostle) has also pointed out this which I have shown in many ways, that the temple in Jerusalem was made by the direction of the true God. For the apostle himself, speaking in his own person, distinctly called it the temple of God. Now I have shown in the third book, that no one is termed God by the apostles when speaking for themselves, except Him who truly is God, the Father of our Lord, by whose directions the temple which is at Jerusalem was constructed for those purposes which I have already mentioned; in which [temple] the enemy shall sit, endeavouring to show himself as Christ, as the Lord also declares: “But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, which has been spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand), then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains; and he who is upon the house-top, let him not come down to take anything out of his house: for there shall then be great hardship, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be.”

(For more on what St. Irenaeus says here, see the link in the title to this post.)

Pope St. Leo the Great: To dare request the review of an Infallible Council is a mark of the Antichrist

2006-03-08T04:34:00.000-08:00

Pope St. Leo the Great, Doctor of the Church, d. A.D. 461, in his Letter to Leo Augustus, n. 156, states quite unequivocally that to question the teaching of an infallible council proceeds from the spirit of the Antichrist. How much more then, to enact any disciplinary measure or theological explanation of it, which is against the doctrinal teaching of any infallible council?

I. There is No Need to Open the Question of Doctrine Again Now.

Your clemency's letter, which was full of vigorous faith and of the light of truth, I have respectfully received, which I wish I could obey, even in the matter of my personal attendance, which your Majesty thinks necessary; for then I should gain the greater advantage from the sight of your splendour. But I believe you will approve of my view when reason has shown it preferable. For since with holy and spiritual zeal you consistently maintain the Church's peace, and nothing is more conducive to the defence of the Faith than to adhere to those things which have been incontrovertibly defined under tile unceasing guidance of the Holy Spirit, we shall seem to be doing our best to upset the decrees, and at the bidding of a heretic's petition to overthrow the authorities which the universal Church has adopted, and thus to remove all limits from the conflicts of Churches, and giving full rein to rebellion, to extend rather than appease contentions. And hence because after the disgraceful scenes at the synod of Ephesus, whereat through the wickedness of Dioscorus the catholic Faith was rejected, and Eutyches' heresy accepted, nothing more useful could be devised for the preservation of the Christian Faith than that the holy Synod of Chalcedon should rescind his wicked acts, and that such care should be bestowed thereat on heavenly doctrine, that nothing should linger in any one's mind in disagreement with the utterances of either the Prophets or the Apostles, such moderation of course being observed that only the persistent rebels should be east off from the unity of the Church, and no one who was penitent should be denied pardon, what more in accordance with men's expectations or with religion will your Majesty be able to decree, than that no one henceforth be permitted to attack what has been determined by decrees which are Divine rather than human, lest they be truly worthy but to lose God's gift, who have dared to doubt concerning His Truth?

II. The Proposal to Reconsider the Question Proceeds from Antichrist or the Devil Himself.

Since, therefore, the universal Church has become a rock (petra) through the building up of that original Rock, and the first of the Apostles, the most blessed Peter, heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock (petra) I will build My Church," who is there who dare assail such impregnable strength, unless he be either antichrist or the devil, who, abiding unconverted in his wickedness, is anxious to sow lies by the vessels of wrath which are suited to his treachery, whilst under the false name of diligence he pretends to be in search of the Truth. And his unrestrained madness and blind wickedness has deservedly brought contempt and disrepute on himself, so that while he rages against the holy church of Alexandria with diabolical purpose, men may learn the character of those who desire to reconsider the Synod of Chalcedon. For it cannot possibly have been that an opinion was there expressed contrary to the holy Synod of Nicaea, as the heretics falsely maintain, who pretend that they hold the faith of the Nicene Council, in which our holy and venerable fathers, being assembled against Arius, affirmed not that the Lord's Flesh, but that the Son's Godhead was homoousion with the Father, whereas in the Council of Chalcedon against the blasphemy of Eutyches, it was defined that the Lord Jesus Christ took the reality of our body from the substance of the Virgin-mother.

St. Athanasius: Evil Bishops have the Mark of the Antichrist

2006-03-08T04:32:00.000-08:00

St. Athanasius, one of the fourt great Doctors of the Church in the East, in his work, The History of the Arians, part 8, n. 74, says that evil bishops bear the mark of the Antichirst. There is a lot of criticism today of those who criticize evil bishops; and a great lack of zeal on the part of bishops to see that good men are appointed. This condemnation of St. Athanasius of an evil bishop, is thus most timely.

74. The Episcopal Appointments of Constantius a Mark of Antichrist.

Will not every just person break forth into lamentations at the sight or hearing of these things, at perceiving the arrogance and extreme injustice of these impious men? `The righteous lament in the place of the impious.' After all these things, and now that the impiety has reached such a pitch of audacity, who will any longer venture to call this Costyllius a Christian, and not rather the image of Antichrist? For what mark of Antichrist is yet wanting? How can he in any way fail to be regarded as that one? or how can the latter fail to be supposed such a one as he is? Did not the Arians and the Gentiles offer those sacrifices in the great Church in the Caesareum, and utter their blasphemies against Christ as by His command? And does not the vision of Daniel thus describe Antichrist; that he shall make war with the saints, and prevail against them, and exceed all that have been before him in evil deeds and shall humble three kings, and speak words against the Most High, and shall think to change times and laws? Now what other person besides Constantius has ever attempted to do these things? He is surely such a one as Antichrist would be. He speaks words against the Most High by supporting this impious heresy: he makes war against the saints by banishing the Bishops; although indeed he exercises this power but for a little while to his own destruction. Moreover he has surpassed those before him in wickedness, having devised a new mode of persecution; and after he had overthrown three kings, namely Vetranio, Magnentius, and Gallus, he straightway undertook the patronage of impiety; and like a giant he has dared in his pride to set himself up against the Most High. He has thought to change laws, by transgressing the ordinance of the Lord given us through His Apostles, by altering the customs of the Church, and inventing a new kind of appointments. For he sends from strange places, distant a fifty days' journey, Bishops attended by soldiers to people unwilling to receive them; and instead of an introduction to the acquaintance of their people, they bring with them threatening messages and letters to the magistrates. Thins he sent Gregory from Cappadocia to Alexandria; he transferred Germinius from Cyzicus to Sirmium; he removed Cecropius from Laodicea to Nicomedia.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem: On the deceits of the Antichrist

2006-03-08T04:25:00.000-08:00

St. Cyril of Jerusalem , Doctor of the Church, d. A.D. 386, in his famous work, Catechetical Instructions, lecture 15, discusses the deciets the Antichrist will use and how Satan himself will inspire him and assist him.

11. But as, when formerly He was to take man's nature, and God was expected to be born of a Virgin, the devil created prejudice against this, by craftily preparing among idol-worshippers fables of false gods, begetting and begotten of women, that, the falsehood having come first, the truth, as he supposed, might be disbelieved; so now, since the true Christ is to come a second time, the adversary, taking occasion by the expectation of the simple, and especially of them of the circumcision, brings in a certain man who is a magician, and most expert in sorceries and enchantments of beguiling craftiness; who shall seize for himself the power of the Roman empire, and shall falsely style himself Christ; by this name of Christ deceiving the Jews, who are looking for the Anointed, and seducing those of the Gentiles by his magical illusions.

12. But this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world is now drawing near. There shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts perhaps, but all about the same time; and after these an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by his magical craft shall seize upon the Roman power; and of the kings who reigned before him, three he shall humble, and the remaining seven he shall keep in subjection to himself. At first indeed he will put on a show of mildness (as though he were a learned and discreet person), and of soberness and benevolence: and by the lying signs and wonders of his magical deceit a having beguiled the Jews, as though he were the expected Christ, he shall afterwards be characterized by all kinds of crimes of inhumanity and lawlessness, so as to outdo all unrighteous and ungodly men who have gone before him displaying against all men, but especially against us Christians, a spirit murderous and most cruel, merciless and crafty. And after perpetrating such things for three years and six months only, he shall be destroyed by the glorious second advent from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus, the true Christ, who shall slay Antichrist with the breath of His mouth, and shall deliver him over to the fire of hell.

13. Now these things we teach, not of our own invention, but having learned them out of the divine Scriptures used in the Church, and chiefly from the prophecy of Daniel just now read; as Gabriel also the Archangel interpreted it, speaking thus: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall surpass all kingdoms. And that this kingdom is that of the Romans, has been the tradition of the Church's interpreters. For as the first kingdom which became renowned was that of the Assyrians, and the second, that of the Medes and Persians together, and after these, that of the Macedonians was the third, so the fourth kingdom now is that of the Romans. Then Gabriel goes on to interpret, saying, His ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and another king shall rise up after them, who shall surpass in wickedness all who were before him; (he says, not only the ten, but also all who have been before him;) and he shall subdue three kings; manifestly out of the ten former kings: but it is plain that by subduing three of these ten, he will become the eighth king; and he shall speak words against the Most High. A blasphemer the man is and lawless, not having received the kingdom from his fathers, but having usurped the power by means of sorcery.

14. And who is this, and from what sort of working? Interpret to us, O Paul. Whose coming, he says, is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders; implying, that Satan has used him as an instrument, working in his own person through him; for knowing that his judgment shall now no longer have respite, he wages war no more by his ministers, as is his wont, but henceforth by himself more openly. And with all signs and lying wonders; for the father of falsehood will make a showof the works of falsehood, that the multitudes may think that they see a dead man raised, who is not raised, and lame men walking, and blind men seeing, when the cure has not been wrought.

15. And again he says, Who opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God, or that is worshipped; (against every God; Antichrist forsooth will abhor the idols,) so that he seateth himself in the temple of God. What temple then? He means, the Temple of the Jews which has been destroyed. For God forbid that it should be the one in which we are! Why say we this? That we may not be supposed to favour ourselves. For if he comes to the Jews as Christ, and desires to be worshipped by the Jews, he will make great account of the Temple, that he may more completely beguile them; making it supposed that he is the man of the race of David, who shall build up the Temple which was erected by Solomon. And Antichrist will come at the time when there shall not be left one stone upon another in the Temple of the Jews, according to the doom pronounced by our Saviour; for when, either decay of time, or demolition ensuing on pretence of new buildings, or from any other causes, shall have overthrown all the stones, I mean not merely of the outer circuit, but of the inner shrine also, where the Cherubim were, then shall he come With all signs and lying wonders, exalting himself against all idols; at first indeed making a pretence of benevolence, but afterwards displaying his relentless temper, and that chiefly against the Saints of God. For he says, I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints; and again elsewhere, there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation upon earth, even to that same time. Dreadful is that beast, a mighty dragon, unconquerable by man, ready to devour; concerning whom though we have more things to speak out of the divine Scriptures, yet we will content ourselves at present with thus much, in order to keep within compass.

(For the rest of what St. Cyril has to say, see the link in the title to this post.)

St. Augustine. On the Persecutions that will be in the time of the Antichrist

2006-03-08T04:16:00.000-08:00

St. Augustine, in his great work, The City of God, Bk XVIII, chapter 52 ff. discusses the persecutions which will mark the comming of the Antichrist.

Chapter 52.—Whether We Should Believe What Some Think, That, as the Ten Persecutions Which are Past Have Been Fulfilled, There Remains No Other Beyond the Eleventh, Which Must Happen in the Very Time of Antichrist.

I do not think, indeed, that what some have thought or may think is rashly said or believed, that until the time of Antichrist the Church of Christ is not to suffer any persecutions besides those she has already suffered,—that is, ten,—and that the eleventh and last shall be inflicted by Antichrist. They reckon as the first that made by Nero, the second by Domitian, the third by Trajan, the fourth by Antoninus, the fifth by Severus, the sixth by Maximin, the seventh by Decius, the eighth by Valerian, the ninth by Aurelian, the tenth by Diocletian and Maximian. For as there were ten plagues in Egypt before the people of God could begin to go out, they think this is to be referred to as showing that the last persecution by Antichrist must be like the eleventh plague, in which the Egyptians, while following the Hebrews with hostility, perished in the Red Sea when the people of God passed through on dry land. Yet I do not think persecutions were prophetically signified by what was done in Egypt, however nicely and ingeniously those who think so may seem to have compared the two in detail, not by the prophetic Spirit, but by the conjecture of the human mind, which sometimes hits the truth, and sometimes is deceived. But what can those who think this say of the persecution in which the Lord Himself was crucified? In which number will they put it? And if they think the reckoning is to be made exclusive of this one, as if those must be counted which pertain to the body, and not that in which the Head Himself was set upon and slain, what can they make of that one which, after Christ ascended into heaven, took place in Jerusalem, when the blessed Stephen was stoned; when James the brother of John was slaughtered with the sword; when the Apostle Peter was imprisoned to be killed, and was set free by the angel; when the brethren were driven away and scattered from Jerusalem; when Saul, who afterward became the Apostle Paul, wasted the Church; and when he himself, publishing the glad tidings of the faith he had persecuted, suffered such things as he had inflicted, either from the Jews or from other nations, where he most fervently preached Christ everywhere? Why, then, do they think fit to start with Nero, when the Church in her growth had reached the times of Nero amid the most cruel persecutions; about which it would be too long to say anything? But if they think that only the persecutions made by kings ought to be reckoned, it was king Herod who also made a most grievous one after the ascension of the Lord. And what account do they give of Julian, whom they do not number in the ten? Did not he persecute the Church, who forbade the Christians to teach or learn liberal letters? Under him the elder Valentinian, who was the third emperor after him, stood forth as a confessor of the Christian faith, and was dismissed from his command in the army. I shall say nothing of what he did at Antioch, except to mention his being struck with wonder at the freedom and cheerfulness of one most faithful and steadfast young man, who, when many were seized to be tortured, was tortured during a whole day, and sang under the instrument of torture, until the emperor feared lest he should succumb under the continued cruelties and put him to shame at last, which made him dread and fear that he would be yet more dishonorably put to the blush by the rest. Lastly, within our own recollection, did not Valens the Arian, brother of the foresaid Valentinian, waste the catholic Church by great persecution throughout the East? But how unreasonable it is not to consider that the Church, which bears fruit and grows through the whole world, may suffer persecution from kings in some nations even when she does not suffer it in others! Perhaps, however, it was not to be reckoned a persecution when the king of the Goths, in Gothia itself, persecuted the Christians with wonderful cruelty, when there were none but catholics there, of whom very many were crowned with martyrdom, as we have heard from certain brethren who had been there at that time as boys, and unhesitatingly called to mind that they had seen these things? And what took place in Persia of late? Was not persecution so hot against the Christians (if even yet it is allayed) that some of the fugitives from it came even to Roman towns? When I think of these and the like things, it does not seem to me that the number of persecutions with which the Church is to be tried can be definitely stated. But, on the other hand, it is no less rash to affirm that there will be some persecutions by kings besides that last one, about which no Christian is in doubt. Therefore we leave this undecided, supporting or refuting neither side of this question, but only restraining men from the audacious presumption of affirming either of them.

(For the rest of what St. Augustine says, here, see the link in the title to this post.)

St. Augustine: the Nature of the Spirit of the Antichirst

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St. Augustine of Hippo, d. A.D. 430, August 28th, is the greatest of the Latin Fathers of the Patristic Period. In his Tractates on the Letters of St. John, he discusses that Apostle's teaching on the spirit of the Antichrist.

3. But lest any be sluggish to go forward, let him hear: "Children, it is the last hour." Go forward, run, grow; "it is the last hour." This same last hour is long; yet it is the last. For he has put "hour" for "the last time;" because it is in the last times that our Lord Jesus Christ is to come. But some will say, How the last times? how the last hour? Certainly antichrist will first come, and then will come the day of judgment. John perceived these thoughts: test people should in a manner become secure, and think it was not the last hour because antichrist was to come, hesaid to them, "And as ye have heard that antichrist is to come, now are there come many antichrists." Could it have many antichrists, except it were "the last hour"?

4. Whom has he called antichrists? He goes on and expounds. "Whereby we know that it is the last hour," By what? Because "many antichrists are come. They went out from us;" see the antichrists! "They went out from us:" therefore we bewail the loss. Hear the consolation. "But they were not of us." All heretics, all schismatics went out from us, that is, they go out from the Church; but they would not go out, if they were of us. Therefore, before they went out they were not of us. If before they went out they were not of us. many are within, are not gone out, but yet are antichrists. We dare to say this: and why, but that each one while he is within may not be an antichrist? For he is about to describe and mark the antichrists, and we shall see them now. And each person ought to question his own conscience, whether he be an antichrist. For antichrist in our tongue means, contrary to Christ. Not, as some take it, that antichrist is to be so called because he is to come ante Christum, before Christ, i.e. Christ to come after him: it does not mean this, neither is it thus written, but Antichristus, i.e. contrary to Christ. Now who is contrary to Christ ye already perceive from the apostle's own exposition, and understand that none can go out but antichrists; whereas those who are not contrary to Christ, can in no wise go out. For he that is not contrary to Christ holds fast in His body, and is counted therewith as a member. The members are never contrary one to another. The entire body consists of all the members. And what saith the apostle concerning the agreement of the members? "If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; and if one member be glorified, all the members rejoice with it." If then in the glorifying of a member the other members rejoice with it, and in its suffering all the members suffer, the agreement of the members hath no antichrist. And there are those who inwardly are in such sort in the body of our Lord Jesus Christ-seeing His body is yet under cure, and the soundness will not be perfect save in the resurrection of the dead-are in such wise in the body of Christ, as bad humors. When these are vomited up, the body is relieved: so too when bad men go out, then the Church is relieved. And one says, when the body vomits and casts them out, These humors went out of me, but they were not of me. How were not of me? Were not cut out of my flesh, but oppressed my breast while they were in me.

(For the entire commentary of St. Augustine, see the link in the title to this post.)

St. John Chrysostom: On the Antichrist in 2nd Thessalonians

2006-03-08T04:05:00.000-08:00

St. John Chrysostom, d. A.D. 407, is one of the Four Great Doctors of the Church in the Patristic Period. In his commentary on the Letters of St. Paul, he discusses what the Apostle says on the Antichrist.

2 Thessalonians ii. 6-9.-"And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of His coming: even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan."

One may naturally enquire, what is that which withholdeth, and after that would know, why Paul expresses it so obscurely. What then is it that withholdeth, that is, hindereth him from being revealed? Some indeed say, the grace of the Spirit, but others the Roman empire, to whom I most of all accede. Wherefore? Because if he meant to say the Spirit, he would not have spoken obscurely, but plainly, that even now the grace of the Spirit, that is the gifts, withhold him. And otherwise he ought now to have come, if he was about to come when the gifts ceased; for they have long since ceased. But because he said this of the Roman empire, he naturally glanced at it, and speaks covertly and darkly. For he did not wish to bring upon himself superfluous enmities, and useless dangers. For if he had said that after a little while the Roman empire would be dissolved, they ing and warring to this end. And he did not say that it will be quickly, although he is always saying it-but what? "that he may be revealed in his own season," he says,
"For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work." He speaks here of Nero, as if he were the type of Antichrist. For he too wished to be thought a god. And he has well said, "the mystery"; that is, it worketh not openly, as the other, nor without shame. For if there was found a man before that time, he means, who was not much behind Antichrist in wickedness, what wonder, if there shall now be one? But he did not also wish to point him out plainly: and this not from cowardice, but instructing us not to bring upon ourselves unnecessary enmities, when there is noting to call for it. So indeed he also says here. "Only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way," that is, when the Roman empire is taken out of the way, then he shall come. And naturally. For as long as the fear of this empire lasts, no one will willingly exit himself, but when that is dissolved, he will attack the anarchy, and endeavor to seize upon the government both of man and of God. For as the kingdoms before this were destroyed, for example, that of the Medes by the Babylonians, that of the Babylonians by the Persians, that of the Persians by the Macedonians, that of the Macedonians by the Romans: so will this also be by the Antichrist, and he by Christ, and it will no longer withhold. And these things Daniel delivered to us with great clearness.

(For the rest of St. John Chrysostom's commentary, see the link in the title to this post.)

St. Irenaeus: On the Antichrist and his comming

2006-03-08T03:56:00.000-08:00

St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, France, was martyred c. A. D. 200. His Feast day is June 28th. In one of his most famous writings, Against Heresies, he speaks of the end of the world and the role the Antichrist will then take. This is an excerpt from chapter 28 of that work.

Chapter XXVIII.—The distinction to be made between the righteous and the wicked. The future apostasy in the time of Antichrist, and the end of the world.

1. Inasmuch, then, as in this world (αiwνι) some persons betake themselves to the light, and by faith unite themselves with God, but others shun the light, and separate themselves from God, the Word of God comes preparing a fit habitation for both. For those indeed who are in the light, that they may derive enjoyment from it, and from the good things contained in it; but for those in darkness, that they may partake in its calamities. And on this account He says, that those upon the right hand are called into the kingdom of heaven, but that those on the left He will send into eternal fire for they have deprived themselves of all good.

2. And for this reason the apostle says: “Because they received not the love of God, that they might be saved, therefore God shall also send them the operation of error, that they may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but consented to unrighteousness.” For when he (Antichrist) is come, and of his own accord concentrates in his own person the apostasy, and accomplishes whatever he shall do according to his own will and choice, sitting also in the temple of God, so that his dupes may adore him as the Christ; wherefore also shall he deservedly “be cast into the lake of fire:” [this will happen according to divine appointment], God by His prescience foreseeing all this, and at the proper time sending such a man, “that they may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but consented to unrighteousness;” whose coming John has thus described in the Apocalypse: “And the beast which I had seen was like unto a leopard, and his feet as of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon conferred his own power upon him, and his throne, and great might. And one of his heads was as it were slain unto death; and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon because he gave power to the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto this beast, and who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemy and power was given to him during forty and two months. And he opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And power was given him over every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation. And all who dwell upon the earth worshipped him, [every one] whose name was not written in the book of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any one have ears, let him hear. If any one shall lead into captivity, he shall go into captivity. If any shall slay with the sword, he must be slain with the sword. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.” After this he likewise describes his armour-bearer, whom he also terms a false prophet: “He spake as a dragon, and exercised all the power of the first beast in his sight, and caused the earth, and those that dwell therein, to adore the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he shall perform great wonders, so that he can even cause fire to descend from heaven upon the earth in the sight of men, and he shall lead the inhabitants of the earth astray.” Let no one imagine that he performs these wonders by divine power, but by the working of magic. And we must not be surprised if, since the demons and apostate spirits are at his service, he through their means performs wonders, by which he leads the inhabitants of the earth astray. John says further: “And he shall order an image of the beast to be made, and he shall give breath to the image, so that the image shall speak; and he shall cause those to be slain who will not adore it.” He says also: “And he will cause a mark [to be put] in the forehead and in the right hand, that no one may be able to buy or sell, unless he who has the mark of the name of the beast or the number of his name; and the number is six hundred and sixty-six,” that is, six times a hundred, six times ten, and six units. [He gives this] as a summing up of the whole of that apostasy which has taken place during six thousand years.

(St. Irenaeus' discussion of the Antichrist continues in the subsequent chapters: see link in title to this post.)

St. John Damascene: On the Antichrist

2006-03-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

St. John Damascene lived c. A.D. 676-749: this passage is an excerpt from his famous work On the Orthodox Faith, the entire ch. 26.

It should be known that the Antichrist is bound to come. Every one, therefore, who confesses not that the Son of God came in the flesh and is perfect God and became perfect man, after being God, is Antichrist. But in a peculiar and special sense he who comes at the consummation of the age is called Antichrist. First, then, it is requisite that the Gospel should be preached among all nations, as the Lord said, and then he will come to refute the impious Jews. For the Lord said to them: I am come in My Father’s name and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. And the apostle says, Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved, for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. The Jews accordingly did not receive the Lord Jesus Christ who was the Son of God and God, but receive the impostor who calls himself God. For that he will assume the name of God, the angel teaches Daniel, saying these words, Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers. And the apostle says: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition: who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God; in the temple of God he said; not our temple, but the old Jewish temple. For he will come not to us but to the Jews: not for Christ or the things of Christ: wherefore he is called Antichrist.

First, therefore, it is necessary that the Gospel should be preached among all nations: And then shall that wicked one be revealed, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, whom the Lord shall consume with the word of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. The devil himself, therefore does not become man in the way that the Lord was made man. God forbid! but he becomes man as the offspring of fornication and receiveth all the energy of Satan. For God, foreknowing the strangeness of the choice that he would make, allows the devil to take up his abode in him.

He is, therefore, as we said, the offspring of fornication and is nurtured in secret, and on a sudden he rises up and rebels and assumes rule. And in the beginning of his rule, or rather tyranny, he assumes the role of sanctity. But when he becomes master he persecutes the Church of God and displays all his wickedness. But he will come with signs and lying wonders, fictitious and not real, and he will deceive and lead away from the living God those whose mind rests on an unsound and unstable foundation, so that even the elect shall, if it be possible, be made to stumble.

But Enoch and Elias the Thesbite shall be sent and shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, that is, the synagogue to our Lord Jesus Christ and the preaching of the apostles: and they will be destroyed by him. And the Lord shall come out of heaven, just as the holy apostles beheld Him going into heaven, perfect God and perfect man, with glory and power, and will destroy the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, with the breath of His mouth. Let no one, therefore, look for the Lord to come from earth, but out of Heaven, as He himself has made sure.

St. Hippolytus's Treatise on Christ and the Antichrist

2006-03-07T16:17:00.000-08:00

St. Hippolytus, the martyr, was one of the first fathers of the Church to write extensively on the Antichrist. He lived in the 3rd Century, and his feast day is Aug. 13

1. As it was your desire, my beloved brother Theophilus, to be thoroughly informed on those topics which I put summarily before you, I have thought it right to set these matters of inquiry clearly forth to your view, drawing largely from the Holy Scriptures themselves as from a holy fountain, in order that you may not only have the pleasure of hearing them on the testimony of men, but may also be able, by surveying them in the light of (divine) authority, to glorify God in all. For this will be as a sure supply furnished you by us for your journey in this present life, so that by ready argument applying things ill understood and apprehended by most, you may sow them in the ground of your heart, as in a rich and clean soil. By these, too, you will be able to silence those who oppose and gainsay the word of salvation. Only see that you do not give these things over to unbelieving and blasphemous tongues, for that is no common danger. But impart them to pious and faithful men, who desire to live holily and righteously with fear. For it is not to no purpose that the blessed apostle exhorts Timothy, and says, "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called; which some professing have erred concerning the faith." And again, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me in many exhortations, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." If, then, the blessed (apostle) delivered these things with a pious caution, which could be easily known by all, as he perceived in the spirit that "all men have not faith," how much greater will be our danger, if, rashly and without thought, we commit the revelations of God to profane and unworthy men?

2. For as the blessed prophets were made, so to speak, eyes for us, they foresaw through faith the mysteries of the word, and became ministers of these things also to succeeding generations, not only reporting the past, but also announcing I the present and the future, so that the prophet might not appear to be one only for the time being, but might also predict the future for all generations, and so be reckoned a (true) prophet. For these fathers were furnished with the Spirit, and largely honoured by the Word Himself; and just as it is with instruments of music. so had they the Word always, like the plectrum, in union with them, and when moved by Him the prophets announced what God willed. For they spake not of their own power (let there be no mistake as to that), neither did they declare what pleased themselves. But First of all they were endowed with wisdom by the Word, and then again were rightly instructed in the future by means of visions. And then, when thus themselves fully convinced, they spake those things which were revealed by God to them alone, and concealed from all others. For with what reason should the prophet be called a prophet, unless he in spirit foresaw the future? For if the prophet spake of any chance event, he would not be a prophet then in speaking of things which were under the eye of aIl. But one who sets forth in detail things yet to be, was rightly judged a prophet. Wherefore prophets were with good reason called from the very first "seers." And hence we, too, who are rightly instructed in what was declared aforetime by them, speak not of our own capacity. For we do not attempt to made any change one way or another among ourselves in the words that were spoken of old by them, but we make the Scriptures in which these are written public, and read them to those who can believe rightly; for that is a common benefit for both parties: for him who speaks, in holding in memory and setting forth correctly things uttered of old; and for him who hears, in giving attention to the things spoken. Since, then, in this there is a work assigned to both parties together, viz., to him who speaks, that he speak forth faithfully without regard to risk, and to him who hears, that he hear and receive in faith that which is spoken, I beseech you to strive together with me in prayer to God.

(See link under title to to this post for rest of treatise)