compounded of ἀντὶ, _contra_, _against_, and Χριϛὸς,
_Christ_, in a general sense, denotes an adversary of Christ, or one who
denies that the Messiah is come. In this sense, Jews, infidels, &c, may
be said to be _antichrists_. The epithet, in the _general_ sense of it,
is also applicable to any power or person acting in direct opposition to
Christ or his doctrine. Its _particular_ meaning is to be collected from
those passages of Scripture in which it occurs. Accordingly, it may
either signify one who assumes the place and office of Christ, or one
who maintains a direct enmity and opposition to him. The Fathers all
speak of antichrist as a single man; though they also assure us, that he
is to have divers precursors, or forerunners. Yet many Protestant
writers apply to the Romish church, and the pope who is at the head of
it, the several marks and signatures of antichrist enumerated in the
Apocalypse, which would imply antichrist to be, not a single person, but
a corrupt society, or a long series of persecuting pontiffs, or rather,
a certain power and government, that may be held for many generations,
by a number of individuals succeeding one another. The antichrist
mentioned by the Apostle John, first Epistle ii, 18, and more
particularly described in the book of Revelation, seems evidently to be
the same with the _man of sin_, &c, characterized by St. Paul in his
Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, chap. ii; and the whole description
literally applies to the Papal power. A late writer, after collecting
the principal prophecies relating to antichrist, infers from them that a
power, sometimes represented as the little horn, the man of sin, the
antichrist, the beast, the harlot, the star falling from heaven, the
false prophet, the dragon, or as the operation of false teachers, was to
be expected to arise in the Christian world to persecute and oppress,
and delude the disciples of Christ, corrupt the doctrine of the
primitive church, enact new laws, and establish its dominion over the
minds of mankind. He then proceeds to show, from the application of
prophecy to history, and to the remarkable train of events that are now
passing in the world, how exactly Popery, Mohammedanism, and Infidelity,
correspond with the character given in Scripture of the power of
antichrist, which was to prevail a certain time for the especial trial
and punishment of the corrupted church of Christ. Upon this system, the
different opinions of the Protestants and Papists, concerning the power
of antichrist, derived from partial views of the subject, are not wholly
incompatible with each other. With respect to the commonly received
opinion, that the church of Rome is antichrist, Mede and Newton, Daubuz
and Clarke, Lowman and Hurd, Jurieu, Vitringa, and many other members of
the Protestant churches who have written upon the subject, concur in
maintaining, that the prophecies of Daniel, St. Paul, and St. John,
point directly to this church. This was likewise the opinion of the
first reformers; and it was the prevalent opinion of Christians, in the
earliest ages, that antichrist would appear soon after the fall of the
Roman empire. Gregory the Great, in the sixth century, applied the
prophecies concerning the beast in the Revelation, the man of sin, and
the apostasy from the faith mentioned by St. Paul, to him who should
presume to claim the title of universal priest, or universal bishop, in
the Christian church; and yet his immediate successor, Boniface III,
received from the tyrant Phocas the precise title which Gregory had thus
censured. At the synod of Rheims, held in the tenth century, Arnulphus,
bishop of Orleans, appealed to the whole council, whether the bishop of
Rome was not the antichrist of St. Paul, “sitting in the temple of God,”
and perfectly corresponding with the description of him given by St.
Paul. In the eleventh century, all the characters of antichrist seemed
to be so united in the person of Pope Hildebrand, who took the name of
Gregory VII, that Johannes Aventinus, a Romish historian, speaks of it
as a subject in which the generality of fair, candid, and ingenuous
writers agreed, that at that time began the reign of antichrist. And the
Albigenses and Waldenses, who may be called the Protestants of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, expressly asserted in their
declarations of faith, that the church of Rome was the whore of Babylon.
The Papists imagine they view in the prophetical picture of antichrist,
imperial Rome, elated by her victories, exulting in her sensuality and
her spoils, polluted by idolatry, persecuting the people of God, and
finally falling like the first Babylon; whilst a new and holy city,
represented by their own communion, filled with the spotless votaries of
the Christian faith, rises out of its ruins, and the victory of the
cross is completed over the temples of Paganism. This scheme has had its
able advocates, at the head of whom may be placed Bossuet, bishop of
Meaux, Grotius, and Hammond. Some writers have maintained, that Caligula
was antichrist; and others have asserted the same of Nero. But in order
to establish the resemblance, they violate the order of time, disregard
the opinions of the primitive Christians, and overlook the appropriate
descriptions of the Apostles. After the point had 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 was stung with
this decision; and even king Henry IV, of France was not a little
mortified, to be thus declared, as he said, an imp of antichrist.
In the book of Daniel it is foretold, that this power should exercise
dominion until a time and times, and the dividing of time, Dan. vii, 25.
This expression is generally admitted to denote 1260 years. The Papal
power was completely established in the year 755, when it obtained the
exarchate of Ravenna. Some, however, date the rise of antichrist in the
year of Christ 606; and Mede places it in 456. If the rise of antichrist
be not reckoned till he was possessed of secular authority, his fall
will happen when this power shall be taken away. If his rise began,
according to Mede in 456, he must have fallen in 1716; if in 606, it
must be in 1866; if in 755, in 2015. If, however, we use prophetical
years, consisting of three hundred and sixty days, and date the rise of
antichrist in the year 755, his fall will happen in the year of Christ
2000. Every thing however in the state of the world betokens a speedy
overthrow of the Papal and Mohammedan powers, both of which have indeed
been already greatly weakened.
_Christ_, in a general sense, denotes an adversary of Christ, or one who
denies that the Messiah is come. In this sense, Jews, infidels, &c, may
be said to be _antichrists_. The epithet, in the _general_ sense of it,
is also applicable to any power or person acting in direct opposition to
Christ or his doctrine. Its _particular_ meaning is to be collected from
those passages of Scripture in which it occurs. Accordingly, it may
either signify one who assumes the place and office of Christ, or one
who maintains a direct enmity and opposition to him. The Fathers all
speak of antichrist as a single man; though they also assure us, that he
is to have divers precursors, or forerunners. Yet many Protestant
writers apply to the Romish church, and the pope who is at the head of
it, the several marks and signatures of antichrist enumerated in the
Apocalypse, which would imply antichrist to be, not a single person, but
a corrupt society, or a long series of persecuting pontiffs, or rather,
a certain power and government, that may be held for many generations,
by a number of individuals succeeding one another. The antichrist
mentioned by the Apostle John, first Epistle ii, 18, and more
particularly described in the book of Revelation, seems evidently to be
the same with the _man of sin_, &c, characterized by St. Paul in his
Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, chap. ii; and the whole description
literally applies to the Papal power. A late writer, after collecting
the principal prophecies relating to antichrist, infers from them that a
power, sometimes represented as the little horn, the man of sin, the
antichrist, the beast, the harlot, the star falling from heaven, the
false prophet, the dragon, or as the operation of false teachers, was to
be expected to arise in the Christian world to persecute and oppress,
and delude the disciples of Christ, corrupt the doctrine of the
primitive church, enact new laws, and establish its dominion over the
minds of mankind. He then proceeds to show, from the application of
prophecy to history, and to the remarkable train of events that are now
passing in the world, how exactly Popery, Mohammedanism, and Infidelity,
correspond with the character given in Scripture of the power of
antichrist, which was to prevail a certain time for the especial trial
and punishment of the corrupted church of Christ. Upon this system, the
different opinions of the Protestants and Papists, concerning the power
of antichrist, derived from partial views of the subject, are not wholly
incompatible with each other. With respect to the commonly received
opinion, that the church of Rome is antichrist, Mede and Newton, Daubuz
and Clarke, Lowman and Hurd, Jurieu, Vitringa, and many other members of
the Protestant churches who have written upon the subject, concur in
maintaining, that the prophecies of Daniel, St. Paul, and St. John,
point directly to this church. This was likewise the opinion of the
first reformers; and it was the prevalent opinion of Christians, in the
earliest ages, that antichrist would appear soon after the fall of the
Roman empire. Gregory the Great, in the sixth century, applied the
prophecies concerning the beast in the Revelation, the man of sin, and
the apostasy from the faith mentioned by St. Paul, to him who should
presume to claim the title of universal priest, or universal bishop, in
the Christian church; and yet his immediate successor, Boniface III,
received from the tyrant Phocas the precise title which Gregory had thus
censured. At the synod of Rheims, held in the tenth century, Arnulphus,
bishop of Orleans, appealed to the whole council, whether the bishop of
Rome was not the antichrist of St. Paul, “sitting in the temple of God,”
and perfectly corresponding with the description of him given by St.
Paul. In the eleventh century, all the characters of antichrist seemed
to be so united in the person of Pope Hildebrand, who took the name of
Gregory VII, that Johannes Aventinus, a Romish historian, speaks of it
as a subject in which the generality of fair, candid, and ingenuous
writers agreed, that at that time began the reign of antichrist. And the
Albigenses and Waldenses, who may be called the Protestants of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, expressly asserted in their
declarations of faith, that the church of Rome was the whore of Babylon.
The Papists imagine they view in the prophetical picture of antichrist,
imperial Rome, elated by her victories, exulting in her sensuality and
her spoils, polluted by idolatry, persecuting the people of God, and
finally falling like the first Babylon; whilst a new and holy city,
represented by their own communion, filled with the spotless votaries of
the Christian faith, rises out of its ruins, and the victory of the
cross is completed over the temples of Paganism. This scheme has had its
able advocates, at the head of whom may be placed Bossuet, bishop of
Meaux, Grotius, and Hammond. Some writers have maintained, that Caligula
was antichrist; and others have asserted the same of Nero. But in order
to establish the resemblance, they violate the order of time, disregard
the opinions of the primitive Christians, and overlook the appropriate
descriptions of the Apostles. After the point had 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 was stung with
this decision; and even king Henry IV, of France was not a little
mortified, to be thus declared, as he said, an imp of antichrist.
In the book of Daniel it is foretold, that this power should exercise
dominion until a time and times, and the dividing of time, Dan. vii, 25.
This expression is generally admitted to denote 1260 years. The Papal
power was completely established in the year 755, when it obtained the
exarchate of Ravenna. Some, however, date the rise of antichrist in the
year of Christ 606; and Mede places it in 456. If the rise of antichrist
be not reckoned till he was possessed of secular authority, his fall
will happen when this power shall be taken away. If his rise began,
according to Mede in 456, he must have fallen in 1716; if in 606, it
must be in 1866; if in 755, in 2015. If, however, we use prophetical
years, consisting of three hundred and sixty days, and date the rise of
antichrist in the year 755, his fall will happen in the year of Christ
2000. Every thing however in the state of the world betokens a speedy
overthrow of the Papal and Mohammedan powers, both of which have indeed
been already greatly weakened.