CHAP

X.

Eccl. His

selves. The only difficulty they had to surmount, was, to determine which of them should be the greatest. 42. Mosheim says, that even, "the office of a pres' byter was looked upon of such a high and eminent na- tory, vol. 'ture, that Martin, bishop of Tours, was so audacious ( as to maintain, at a public entertainment, that the Em'peror was inferior, in dignity, to one of that order." How then must the bishops have appeared?

43. Nor were the bishops themselves, at this time the highest order of ecclesiastics. Five were distinguished from the rest, under the name of Patriarchs, namely, the bishop of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem; whose office it was to consecrate inferior bishops, assemble yearly councils in their respective districts, and regulate the affairs of the church universal.

ii. p. 29.

ibid.

44. But Antichrist must needs have a supreme head; and as this had hitherto been vested in the emperors, and the ecclesiastics were now aspiring after the supremacy, it became necessary that one of that order should have power to rule the rest. Hence ambitious quarrels, and bitter animosites arose among p. 26. the patriarchs themselves, which produced the most bloody wars, and the most detestable and horrid crimes. 45. It would be endless to trace the artful measures which these ungodly tyrants pursued, from time to time, to supplant one another, in order to attain the last and highest degree of pre-eminence. However, "None of the contending bishops, (says Mo'sheim,) found the occurrences of the times so fa- p. 27. 'vourable to his ambition as the Roman pontiff."

46. And—“ Among all the prelates who ruled the 'church of Rome during this century, there was none } who asserted, with such vigour and success, the ' authority and pretensions of the Roman pontiff, as LEO,* commonly surnamed the GREAT;" whose supreme authority was particularly owned by the general council assembled at Chalcedon, A. D. 451.

ibid.

i. c.

the Lin.

47. About this time a new controversy arose, occasioned by certain doctrines advanced by Eutyches, a monk at Constantinople. Eutyches maintained, that in Christ, there was but one nature, viz. that of the Eccl.His. incarnate word; for which he was accused of heresy, ii. p. 73.

tory, vol.

X.

CHAP. in a council assembled at Constantinople, A. D. 448, by Flavianus, the Patriarch of that city.

Eccl.His

tory, vol. *. p. 74.

ibal.

P. 75.

ibid.

P. 27.

48. By a decree of this council, Eutyches was ordered to renounce the above mentioned opinion. He obstinately refused; for which he was excommunicated and deposed. He appealed to a general council, which was, accordingly, by order of the emperor THEODOSIUS, assembled at Ephesus, A. D. 449, in which Dioscorus, the Patriarch of Alexandria, presided, who was of the same opinion with Eutyches. 49. By the order of this council, Eutyches was acquitted of the charge of error; and the patriarch Flavianus, publicly scourged in the most barbarous manner, and banished to Epipas, a city of Lydia, where he soon after died of his wounds. But previous to his death he appealed to LEO the GREAT, who took up the cause, and demanded of THEODOSIUS, another general council, which this Emperor could not be prevailed upon to grant.

50. Upon his death, however, his successor MARCIANUS Consented to LEO's demand, and called, in the year 451, the council of Chalcedon. In this council the legate, or representative of LEO presided ; the decrees of the council of Ephesus were annulled; an epistle, which LEO had written to Flavianus on the subject of debate, was received as a rule of faith; Eutyches was condemned; and the following doctrine," which "(says Moshiem,) is at this time almost generally received, was inculcated upon Christians [i. e. Catholics] as an object of faith, viz. "That in Christ wo "distinct natures were united in one person, and that "without any change, mixture or confusion."

51. "A great number of Oriental and Egyptian 'doctors, united in opposing, with the utmost vehe'mence, the council of Chalcedon, and the epistle of LEO, which it had adopted as a rule of faith.Hence arose deplorable discords, and civil wars, 'whose fury and barbarity were carried to the most 'excessive and incredible lengths."

52. "But the Roman pontiff, far superior to them all, in wealth and power-daily added new degrees of influence and authority to the Roman see, rendered it every where respected, and thus impercepStibly established its supremacy."

THE TESTIMONY OF

CHRIST'S SECOND APPEARING.

PART IV.

THE REIGN AND DOMINION OF
ANTICHRIST.

CHAPTER I.

The Beginning of the Reign of Antichrist.

THE
reign, has been a matter of

I.

HE precise period in which Antichrist began his CHAP. great search; and there are but few subjects on which the learned are more divided. What has rendered this point so extremely difficult to ascertain, was the great length of time that was taken up in laying the foundations of his kingdom, and the gradual manner in which his dominion arose to its greatest height.

2. Although the intimate connexion and resemblance between the preparatory work, and actual reign of Antichrist, has rendered the precise beginning of his reign a matter of such various conjecture; it has notwithstanding been agreed to by all, that there was such a period, and that the beginning of his dominion would finally be ascertained by the end, and confirmed by corroborating circumstances.

3. It is further agreed, that the reign of Antichrist began with the Papal hierarchy, or supremacy of the bishop of Rome; but it is evident, that they must be greatly mistaken, who fix the date of this hierarchy at the period when the bishop of Rome had gained the entire ascendancy, and exercised all the power of a temporal monarch, on the supposed grant of Seine Peter and Constantine the Great.

Y

СНАР.

L

Newton.

on Proph.

4. If he must needs reign, for the purpose of bringing every enemy into subjection, his reign must have begun long before this period; therefore the main question is, when did he begin to exercise that power by which he was exalted to su great a height? In order to open this matter in its proper light, the following facts are particularly worthy of notice, as relating to what has already been stated concerning the ambitious views of LEO the GREAT.

5. According to Mede and others, in the year 456, Dissert. the Roman empire was overrun by the Barbarians, vol. i. p. and the city of Rome sacked by Genseric king of the Vandals and the year following the empire was divided into ten kingdoms.

170.

6. Mosheim says, "The incursions and triumphs of the Barbarians were so far from being prejudi'cial to the rising dominion of the Roman pontiff, that they rather contributed to its advancement. For the kings, who penetrated into the empire, were only solicitous about the methods of giving a sufficient degree of stability to their respective gov ernments. And when they perceived the subjection of the multitude to the bishops, and the dependance of the bishops upon the Roman pontiff, they 'immediately resolved to reconcile this ghostly ruler ⚫ to their interests, by loading him with benefits and honours of various kinds."

7. Likewise the wars and contentions that had long existed among the patriarchs, and their appealing for redress to the bishop of Rome, had most certainly given him an entire superiority over all the episcopal orders. The authority of general councils was, moreover, almost universally acknowledged; and what greater mark of superiority could be shown to the Roman pontiff than to adopt his letter to Flavianus as a rule of faith?

8. Mosheim also observes that, "The declining 'power and supine indolence of the emperors, left ⚫ his authority almost without controul." Then add to all this, that in the year 457, the emperor Marcianus died; the same emperor who had yielded to the lordly demand of LEO. It must then appear very evident, that another emperor could not succeed him,

who could possibly rise in the public esteem to an equal degree of dignity and power with the artful bishop of Rome.

7.

1.

CHAP.

I.

9. Upon the authority of these facts, it is doubt- Dan. vii. less, with the greatest propriety, that some have re- Rev: xiii. ferred to this period, the rise of the ten horns of Daniel's fourth beast, and also of the first beast mentioned by John, which came up out of the sea.

10. This beast, as it appeared to Daniel, dreadful and terrible, was a figure of the Roman empire, in its tyrannical and persecuting power, under the Pagan emperors. To John, the same tyrannical power appeared as a beast coming up out of the sea, which was evidently fulfilled in that motley change of the empire, which took place under Constantine the Great.

Rev.xvi.

11. Here the monster, still more dreadful and terrible, and more unlike any thing that had ever been before it, rose up out of the sea of troubles, commotions and conflicts among different kindreds, tongues is and people. Notwithstanding, through the whole reign of Constantine and his immediate successors, this beast exhibited a plurality of heads, and these heads inspired to the most beastly conduct.

12. Yet the monster was not complete in all his parts; and it was not till the period of which we are speaking, that his ten horns appeared, which the angel expressly interpreted to be ten kings: and it was not till these ten horns appeared, that the little horn could rise up among them.

8.

-13. Now observe, this last horn, which had eyes Dan. vij. like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things, was little at first; and the same horn, which in another vision of the same thing, is said to represent the last king, appeared at first a little horn, which vii. 9, 10. waxed exceeding great-even to (or according to the original against) the host of heaven.

14. Then as this last horn, which was a figure of the Papal hierarchy, was little in its rise, and afterwards waxed great, it answered well to the Roman pontiff, who in his rise, was scarcely visible among the ten ruling powers, who at first loaded him with benefits and honours, and over whom he afterwards exercised unlimited authority.