ANTICHRIST

ANTICHRIST, or Antichrist, Antichristus, among Divines, etc., a Tyrant who is to reign on Earth, toward the end of the World; for the ultimate Proof of the Elect; and to give a shining Instance of the Divine Vengeance, before the last Judgment.
The Word is compounded of the Greek ἀντί, contra, against, and χριστός, Christ.
In Scripture, he is also called Man of Sin, Son of Perdition, etc. 'Tis added that he shall set up his Throne at Babylon.
The Bible and the Fathers all speak of Antichrist as a single Man; though they assure withal, that he is to have divers Precursors or Forerunners.
Yet many Protestant Writers apply to the Roman Church, and the Pope who is at the Head of it, the several Marks and Signatures of Antichrist, enumerated in the Apocalypse; which would rather imply Antichrist to be a corrupt Society, or a long Series of persecuting Pontiffs, than a single Person.
However, the Point having been maturely debated at the Council of Gap, held in 1603, a Resolution was taken thereupon, to insert an Article in the Confession of Faith, whereby the Pope is formally declared to be Antichrist.
Pope Clement VIII, we read, was stung to the Life with this decision; and even King Henry IV of France was not a little mortified, to be thus declared, as he termed it, an heir of Antichrist.



The learned Grotius maintains that Caligula was Antichrist; but neither does this quadrate with his Appearance at the end of the World. Father Malvenda, a Spanish Jesuit, has published a large and learned Work, de Antichristo, in XIII Books. In the first, he relates all the Opinions of the Fathers with regard to Antichrist. In the second, he speaks of the Times when he shall appear; and shows that all the Fathers who supposed Antichrist to be near at hand, judged the World was near its Period. In the third, he discourses of his Origin and Nation; and shows that he is to be a Jew, of the Tribe of Dan. This he founds on the Authority of the Fathers, on the Passage in Genesis XLIX. "Dan is a Serpent in the Way," etc. On that of Jeremiah, VIII. 16, where it is said "the Armies of Dan shall devour the Earth"; and on the Expression, cap. VII, where St. John, enumerating all the tribes of Israel, makes no mention of that of Dan. In the fourth and fifth Books, he treats of the Signs of Antichrist. In the sixth of his Reign and Wars. In the seventh of his Vices. In the eighth of his Doctrine and Miracles. In the ninth of his Persecutions. And in the rest, of the coming of Enoch and Elias, the Conversion of the Jews, the Reign of Jesus Christ, and the Death of Antichrist, after having reigned three Years and a half.

ANTICHRIST