THE Romish superstition, considered in its structure, and the progress it has made in the world, is at once a sur­prising monument of human sagacity and weakness.

[Page 6] ADVANCING by slow degrees to that fatal maturity it acquired before the refor­mation, it was nurtured by the observation and experience of ages, and the abilities of a long succession of as deep politicians as perhaps the world ever produced. It dis­covers a thorough acquaintance with the frailty of the human mind: Its pomp and pageantry strike the senses: It manages with uncommon art and address, every ob­ject that can touch the passions; and while it flatters the corrupt inclinations of the heart, it is at the same time covered with a glare of devotion and austerity, and supported with a sophistry, extremly adapt­ed to dazzle and mislead the understanding.

LONG before Luther appeared, it had extended itself over the whole face of the Christian world: It had grown venerable by age: It had acquired astonishing strength by its long prepossession of the minds of men: It had broken and nearly extinguished, what it had most to dread, a liberal spirit of enquiry: To conceal its own opposition to the model upon which it professed to form itself, it had art­fully withdrawn the sacred scriptures from common view: It had closely interwoven itself with the constitution of states and kingdoms; and under a pretence of aid­ing, [Page 7]had strangely gained an ascendancy over the civil power, for which it soon plead­ed a divine authority. While therefore we may justly wonder that so much of it re­mains in this enlightened age, we are at the same time obliged to acknowledge and adore a particular interposition of divine providence, in the rescue of so many coun­tries, from a species of false religion, re­markable for the deep possession it takes of the minds of those who have once been devoted to it.

POPERY, like other oppressive powers, grew too confident of its own strength, and presumed too much upon the igno­rance and submissive temper of those whom it had subjected. Having long practised, with amazing success, upon the credulity and weakness of mankind, it at length pushed the experiment too far. Contrary to that spirit of dissimulation and subtilty by which it had been generally guided, it neglected to varnish its avarice, and venal dispensations for licentiousness, with the colour of prudence and sobriety. The sale of indulgences at the beginning of the six­teenth century, was conducted in a manner that shocked the grossest understanding, and offended the consciences even of those who had implicitly resigned them to the [Page 8]direction of the church, and had never en­tertained very rigid sentiments of morality.

THIS roused the great spirit of Luther, and prepared the minds of men to listen to his discourses, and adopt his free and noble sentiments, as they gradually open­ed and enlarged themselves.

HAPPILY for the cause of truth and righteousness, the tenth Leo, though care­less of the reputation of the church for sanctity and morals, was a friend and pat­ron of the liberal arts. Protected and sostered by him, they were eagerly seiz­ed by the reformers, and employed by them with happy advantage in effecting one of the most important and glorious revo­lutions the Christian church ever saw. The human mind, awakened from its lethar­gy, and engaged in the pursuit of religious truth, felt an unusual pleasure in the free exertion of its own faculties, and pushed its enquiries from one subject to another with surprising avidity and success. The scriptures being laid open, and the expla­nation of them greatly aided by the revi­val of the Greek and Roman learning, it soon appeared how contrary the distin­guishing doctrines of Popery were, to those delivered by Christ and his apostles; and [Page 9]how exactly the church of Rome, that had so long been revered as the pillar and ground of truth, resembled that apostate and idolatrous, that subtil and fraudful, that tyrannical and persecuting power, predict­ed in our text, and in other passages of the new-testament.

WITH this resemblance, the reformers and their followers were greatly struck, and finding the event so plainly corres­ponding to the prophecy, not only their faith was hereby confirmed in the sacred writings, as a revelation from him who alone declareth the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done; but their confidence in the truth and goodness of their cause was strengthened, and their honest zeal and ambition enlivened, to separate themselves from a religious community that had so grossly departed from the doctrine and pre­cepts of Jesus; to oppose its corruptions with the armor of light; and to be ho­noured as instruments in the hand of divine providence, of delivering mankind from a system of false religion, which the pro­phetic spirit itself had described and exe­crated as a child of perdition.

UPON this ground they boldly withstood the exorbitant and impious demands of [Page 10]the chair of St. Peter, which had long been regarded as the centre of unity, and infallible in its dictates: Upon this ground they supported themselves against the charge of scism, a charge which in that day carried a dreadful sound to the ears of men, and which the papal power had em­ployed every artifice, every species of persecution and cruelty, to render for­midable.

THE argument was indeed popular, and had great effect: The sound of antichrist, and the Man of Sin, must have heightened an abhorrence of the Bishop of Rome. But the reformers did not invent it; they found it prepared for them by the spirit of truth; and they urged it with a manly boldness and energy, for which they will long be honoured in the church of God. That it was not the extravagance of en­thusiasm, not the artifice of a party heat­ed by controversy, and exasperated by in­juries, to support its own cause, but the result of a sober, though free enquiry into the sacred writings, has been confirmed by the judgment of the most learned and temperate expositors from that day to the present; and must be evident to every one who impartially considers what these writ­ings have delivered to us upon this point, [Page 11]and especially the passage of St. Paul, which I have now read. A subject that very properly comes under our present conside­ration, as it has been particularly pointed out by the honourable founder of this Lec­ture; who, in an institution that will trans­mit his name to posterity as a warm and generous friend to protestant piety, and the rights of conscience, has expressed his will, that the business of the third discourse up­on this occasion should be ‘for the detect­ing and exposing the idolatry of the Romish church; their tyranny, usurpa­tion, fatal errors, abominable supersti­tions, and other crying wickednesses in their high places; and finally, to prove that the church of Rome is that mystical Babylon, that MAN OF SIN, that apos­state church, spoken of in the New-Testament.’

No one will assert that prophesy, or a prediction of things to come, which depend upon what are to us contingencies, is im­possible. To man indeed, futurity is veil­ed, or at best, the object of uncertain con­jecture; but to the eye of God all things are naked and open. He may then, in what manner, and to what degree he pleas­es, foretell future events. Nor is there in reason, any presumption against his doing [Page 12]this, upon special occasions, and for some important purpose. And when he does it, in a manner plainly beyond all human fore­sight, and in a great compass and variety of connected instances, such a scheme of prophecy, accomplished, authenticates it­self, and carries, in the very face of it, the most genuine and convincing mark of its divine original and authority.

BE it allowed, that a bold conjecture may be fortunate, and the event sometimes surprisingly answer what was foretold at random, or upon the principles of human probability, or some pretended occult art. Let the prediction of Vettius Valens, the augur,^*, respecting the duration of the [Page 13] Roman empire, be cited as an example. Should we grant that this was as remark­able in its accomplishment as it is said to have been, and that more of the like kind might be produced; yet, what sober man can suppose, that a few such unconnected instances, respecting separate and unrelated events, in distant ages, can vie with or di­minish the credit and authoirty of the scrip­ture [Page 14]system of prophecy? A system vastly extensive, and consisting of a great variety of parts, all closely combined in tendency and design; surprisingly various, and yet minutely particular in the events it fore­tells, which do all gravitate, so to speak, to one common centre: A prophetic sys­tem, that has been gradually accomplish­ing from the infancy of the world; that is fulsilling more and more every day, and increasing the evidence of its own divine original, and will do so, till the mystery of God shall be finished.

IT has been insinuated, not only with­out proof, but in direct opposition to the testimony of all history, that some scrip­ture predictions were framed after the events had happened, and are only histo­ries, antedated and transmuted by pious fraud into the shape of prophecies. But this cannot be pretended in the instance we are now considering. For as the ancient pre­dictions respecting Jesus Christ were in the hands of the Jews, his greatest enemies, who preserved with religious care and ve­neration, what has long since become the monument of their own blindness, and ob­stinate infidelity; so the prophecies of the new-testament, concerning the apostacy of the church of Rome, have been for many [Page 15]ages in the custody of that church (a very strict custody indeed) and with all their policy, so infatuated have they been, as that with these predictions in their hands, the divine authority of which they zeal­ously maintain, they have yet been gradu­ally fulfilling them, and proving their own ecclesiastical polity, to be that very mys­tery of iniquity there described, and de­voted to destruction.

LET it be further observed, that though we esteem the argument from prophecy, to be solid and convincing, and a good ad­ditional one, against the church of Rome; yet it is only one, among many; and not so essential to the Protestant cause, as that upon supposition it should fail, and be giv­en up, that cause must fall with it. The main arguments against the corruptions of Popery, arise from their own intrinsic absur­dity, and direct opposition to the first noti­ces of the human mind in a religious enqui­ry; from the unprophetic and didactic part of holy writ; from the plain doctrines and precepts of Jesus Christ; and from the genius and spirit with which the whole gospel is animated and distinguished. Not only doth scripture condemn, but reason and common sense reclaim, against the distinguishing tenets and practices of the [Page 16]church of Rome; and against that arrogant and lordly, that intolerant and cruel, that delusive and worldly spirit, that guides her decisions, directs her conduct, and breathes through the whole pompous exterior of her religious offices and rites. So that we have enough to satisfy us, without recur­ring to prophecy, that Popery is in the true and proper sense, antichristian.

YET, when we behold with wonder this system of falshood and iniquity, and that divine providence should permit it to lift its head so high, and to obtain so wide and lasting an establishment, in the visible kingdom of God; does it not relieve our minds, and support our constancy to the truth, to consider, that all this was not unforeseen by the true head of the church; that it was permitted by him for wise and holy purposes; that it was foretold, and the church early warned of it by the spirit of truth; and that the same spirit hath as­sured us, this grand delusion shall in due time pass away, and like the "baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a wreck be­hind."

I AM aware indeed, that in the cata­logue of learned authors, who consider the [Page 17]papal power as antichrist^*, and pictured by St. Paul in our text, some distinguish­ed Protestant names are not to be found. A particular account of the ground of this dissent, on the one side, and what has been offered on the other, by the much larger number of equally great and unbiassed men, cannot be expected in a single dis­course^†.

GROTIUS, supposes this prophecy to refer to the time preceding the destruc­tion of the temple at Jerusalem, and that the Man of Sin, was the Roman Emperor Caligula: And not being able to make out the resemblance, between this Emper­or and the subsequent part of the descrip­tion, he is obliged to introduce Simon Ma­gus, as that wicked one who was to come with signs and lying wonders. But Gro­tius, whose parts and learning are every where confessed, carried his candor to an excess. He was deeply engaged in a plan, which almost every one but himself consi­dered as vain and impracticable, for ac­commodating the difference between the Protestant and Popish communion: His [Page 18]hopes, however, upon this point, were for a good reason, flattered by some of the most respectable personages on the papal side. This might give a biass even to the mind of so great a man; and knowing that nothing was more offensive to the Pope and his adherents, than the applica­tion of the propheices concerning Antichrist, and the Man of Sin to the papal chair, he might be led to employ his abilities to find out another meaning. However this may be, it shews the soundness of the common interpretation of this passage, that even such abilities could oppose it with no greater advantage. For it is con­fessed on all hands, that Grotius never fell so much below himself as upon this ar­gument. The Romanists themselves have tacitly acknowledged this, of whom it has been observed, that while they have been fond of his name in this dispute, they have never boasted of the strength or suc­cess of his arguments. In the opinion of the best chronologists, the accomplish­ment he contends for, was prior to the prophecy; for Caligula died before St. Paul wrote this epistle.

DR. Hammond, supposes Simon Magus and the Gnostics to be here described. Among the learned refuters of this sup­position, [Page 19] Grotius himself is one; and Le'Clerc, another; whose opinion is, that the apostacy predicted in this passage of St. Paul, was the revolt of the Jews from the Romans; and that Simon the son of Gioras, who headed the revolt, in con­junction with his rebellious followers, was the Man of Sin.

THE defenders of the Bishop of Rome are divided in their opinion upon this sub­ject. Some interpret it of Rome Pagan, or particular Emperors. Some plainly discern the grand impostor Mahomet in this prophetic passage, and assert it refers to him alone; of which opinion there are writers, not of their own communion. Others, return the weapons of the Protes­tants upon themselves, and affirm with much resentment and considence, though little plausibility, and less truth, that the northern heresy, as they call the reforma­tion, is the apostacy foretold by St. Paul; and the chief promoters of it, the Man of Sin ^* But the greater part of the Romish writers, sensible of the weakness and in­consistency of other interpretations in fa­vour of their cause, do frankly acknow­ledge that Antichrist is here described, the [Page 20]grand opposer of Christ and his religion. But Antichrist, say they, is a single person, not a combination or succession of persons; his continuance upon earth will be very short: Adopting upon this occasion the prophetic period, a time, and times, and half a time, and taking it lite­rally, they limit the duration of Antichrist to three years and an half. He will be revealed, they affirm, some time before the coming of our Lord at the last day; when the church will seed the sad effects of his subtilty and power; but, in their opinion, he has never yet made his appear­ance in the world.

This deserves particular attention. It is an important confession from an adver­sary; not from a single writer upon this subject, but the best popish Doctors. Cal­met himself, in his dissertation upon Anti­christ, authorises us to assert this. They own then, that Antichrist and the Man of Sin, are one and the same; they own that nothing has yet appeared in the world to fulfil the prophecies concerning this ini­quitous power. Is not this to confess, that all the expositors we have now mentioned, and others who have endeavoured to prove, that Simon Magus, the Gnosticks, the re­volting Jews, the Roman Emperors, or [Page 21] Mahomet, were solely intended by these predictions, are quite mistaken, since An­tichrist has never yet been seen? Strange indeed, that so remarkable a power as the mystery of of iniquity is represented to be in the sacred writings, and which the Apostle expressly tells us began to work in his own day, should not in the course of seventeen hundred years, have grown to such a size as to be visible somewhere! Yet so it is, according to the best inter­preters on the papal side; and if Antichrist is not to be found in the chair of St. Pe­ter, he is no where to be found; but, like the imaginary Messiah of the modern Jews, is still to come.

How then, you may perhaps say, shall we distinguish truth from error upon such a subject, and amidst so many various and contradictory opinions of those who have employed much time, and no small abili­ties, in these researches? But let us not be discouraged: Difficulties excite atten­tion, and call forth the exertion of the human mind; and attention to so noble a subject as the sacred writings will ever be well repaid. There is a portion of ob­scurity intermingled with the light of scripture prophecies, before their accom­plishment, and even after this is conside­rably [Page 22]advanced. We ourselves are able to assign some good reasons for this; and there may be more, with which we are not acquainted. Even the doctrinal part of scripture is not, in all its branches, so plain, but that wise and good men have differed in their explanations of it; and can we wonder that this should take place with respect to the prophetic! If we do not drop our attention to the former up­pon this account, why should we to the latter. Are not the decisions of mere reason, in different persons, various and often opposite upon the same subject? Must we therefore turn sceptics? Time matures our observations and reasoning upon common subjects, and give us an in­crease of natural knowledge: Time re­wards our religious enquiries with a know­ledge more important: Time illuminates what was dark, and explains what was mysterious in the prophecies of holy writ. The successive labours of the learned and inquisitive, upon this, as upon all other subjects, however they may differ in their process and conclusions, have jointly con­tributed to enlarge the human understand­ing.

DR. Whitby, whom I have not yet mentioned, so far agrees with Le'Clerc, [Page 23]as to suppose this apostacy, or falling away, to intend the rebellion of the Jews against the Roman government; but then he includes in it also, the apostacy of ma­ny Jewish converts, from the christian faith; and the Man of Sin, according to his explanation, is the body of the Jewish nation, the man of disobedience, who will not submit to law and government. He allows, however, this and other characters here given, to refer in part to the papal apostacy and usurpation. "I grant, says he, it may in a secondary sense, be attri­buted to the papal Antichrist or Man of Sin, and may be signally fulfilled in him, he being the successor to the apostate Jewish church, to whom these characters agree as well as to her."

THIS leads me to observe, that there is doubtless, a double sense in many scrip­ture prophecies. By this double sense, I do not mean a studied and deceitful un­certainty in the expression, on purpose to secure the credit of the prediction, on which side so ever the event may fall.

OF this kind was the answer of the ora­cle at Delphos to Craesus: To Pyrrhus it was the same: So compleat was the am­biguity, that one would hesitate in deter­mining [Page 24]which was the most natural con­struction of the words, whether the Ro­mans should vanquish him, or he should vanquish the Romans.

SUCH was the base duplicity of the an­cient Pagan oracles, which some, even of their own writers have not failed to com­plain of, and expose. But not an instance of this kind is to be found in the prophe­cies of scripture. They do not indeed speak of single and unrelated events; they are a regular system, whose parts relate to one another, and to one grand object; and when they predict an event, they of­ten do it in language that plainly rises above it, and looks further, and is after­wards found to be more fully accomplish­ed in a subsequent one, similar indeed to the first, but perhaps much more impor­tant. This is what I intend by a double sense: More events than one may corres­pond to, and be intended by, the same pre­diction; events that have some general re­semblance to each other, and refer to one grand design, though they may differ in some circumstances, and happen in distant ages.

THIS is undoubtedly true of the pro­phecies of holy writ; and so far is it from [Page 25]diminishing, that it rather increases their lustre and authority. They appear more plainly from this circumstance to be a plan of prophecy not to be counterfeited; and to proceed from that divine foresight, to which all events in all ages, are at once open. This was the opinion of Lord Bacon. "In sorting the prophecies of scripture with their events, we must allow for that latitude which is agreeable and familiar to divine prophecies, being of the nature of their author, with whom a thou­sand years are but as one day: And there­fore they are not fulfilled punctually at once, but have springing and germinant accomplishment throughout many ages, though the height or fullness of them may refer to some one age." Thus speaks, that great man.

THERE is a general analogy that runs through the whole providence and moral government of God. One thing is often by its very nature the figure and type of another. The dispensation of Moses was a ruder draught of that which the gospel has established; and the state of the Jewish, preluded in many circumstances that of the Christian church. And though the ancient prophecies might be partly fulfilled in that age, yet we cannot doubt that they [Page 26]looked further, and have been more fully accomplished under the gospel. In like manner, there is an analogy between the first and succeeding ages of the christian church; and though the predictions of our Saviour and his apostles might have a first respect to events, in their own day, or not very distant from it, yet we have the best reason to conclude, that in many parts of them, they regarded distant ages, and will not have their full and absolute completion till the time of the restitution of all things.

UPON this principle, may we not in some measure, reconcile the opinions of the learn­ed Protestant authors before mentioned, and even some of the Romish, with the truth of scripture prophecy, and at the same time maintain the conclusion of by far the greater part of our own writers, that the papal Antichrist is ultimately in­tended by the Man of Sin, and that no other power fully answers to all the cha­racters in this prophetic description.

THE Apostle John expressly tells us, that there are many Antichrists. These are of different forms and sizes, and may appear in different ages, though all agree­ing in their opposition to Jesus Christ and [Page 27]his kingdom. A number of them then may be so considerable, as to be the sub­ject of scripture prophecy, and pointed out before hand by the spirit of truth in this and other predictions, for the warn­ing and support of the faithful in different periods, though there may be one princi­pal Antichrist, chiefly and ultimately intend­ed by these predictions, in which they do all evidently center and unite.

WE may grant then, that the Man of Sin, he that opposeth himself, and was in due time to be consumed and destroyed, does not exclusively intend the papal pow­er, but also other enemies to christianity,^* [Page 28]in or near to the apostles time; and some that are cotemporary with this power. All of these are certainly not too small and inconsiderable to be noticed in the predictions of holy writ, and ranked among the grand opposers of the gospel. Nor would our concession injure the unity of design in these predictions; or weaken the evidence, that in our text, the Romish Antichrist is chiefly intended.

THE Jewish nation as a body were ad­versaries to Christ, and persecutors of his followers: Those of them that apostatised from the christian faith were perhaps as fierce in this opposition as any: Their San­hedrim and High Priest, who sat in the temple of God, were the leaders in this per­secution: They were for exalting them­selves above the Roman Emperors, called [Page 29] Gods in the sense that civil rulers are so called in the sacred writings. But the power and polity of this nation were soon after, according to scripture predictions, signally broken, by the coming of the Lord Jesus, to execute his judgments upon them.

SIMON MAGUS was a Man of Sin; he came with signs and lying wonders; but with other seducers, and opposers of the gospel, who accompanied, or soon follow­ed him, he has long since passed away.

THE Pagan Emperors employed their power to destroy the religion of Jesus in its infancy, and severely oppressed and per­secuted his followers: But the gospel, as had been foretold, prevailed; and at length the Empire, with Constantine at its head, assumed the profession of christianity. This was one remarkable coming of the son of man, though clouded by the internal cor­ruptions of the church.

MAHOMET, was a Man of Sin, a false prophet; who came with deceiveableness of unrighteousness, and induced many to believe a lie; a great and successful oppo­ser of the gospel by the sword. His seat the Turkish Empire, has for a long time, [Page 30]according to scripture predictions, been upon the decline. It was once the terror of all Europe; it can now scarcely support itself against the attack of a single Chris­tian power.

HOW far we may allow this prophetic description of St. Paul to refer to these persons, and events, I leave, after what has been said, to the decision of others: My principal design being to shew, that none of them do fully answer and absolve this prophecy; while in the Papal Anti­christ, all the characters surprisingly center and unite.

THESE characters are, apostacy; a Man of Sin who sitteth in the temple of God; or in the church; who at the same time opposeth himself to Christ and his kingdom; who exalteth himself above all that is call­ed God, all civil rulers; who sheweth him­self that he is God, impiously assuming the power and authoriry of the Almighty: whose coming is after the working of Satan; with cruelty, subtilty, and unrighteous deceivings; with lying wonders and false miracles. The time also of his appear­ance, though not particularly ascertained, is in general pointed out by several cir­cumstances.

[Page 31] SOME of these characters do not agree to the body of the Jewish nation. They did not apostatize from christianity, for they never assumed that profession: Those who fell away from the gospel, had no leader, and were absorbed in the much greater part of the nation, to which they returned. Simon the son of Gioras was never exalted above the Emperor, but be­came his captive. Neither he, nor the High Priest, nor the Sanhedrim, much less the body of the nation, ever sat in the temple, and received homage as God; for the Jews in that age, with all their impieties and vices, had the greatest ab­horrence of idolatry, and could not endure any approaches to it. These important circumstances evidence, that the Jewish nation does not afford a compleat fulfil­ment of this prophecy.

NEITHER do Simon Magus, and the Gnostics, as Dr. Whithy has largely and fully proved. The Apostle declares, in the beginning of this chapter, that the day of Christ was not at hand: But if by this day be principally meant, the day in which he was to come for the destruction of Si­mon Magus, as Dr. Hammond's hypothesis supposes, it was, contrary to the declara­tion of the Apostle, near at hand; for [Page 32] Simon perished within four years after the writing of this epistle; and sixteen years before the destruction of Jerusalem. He never sat, shewing himself as God, either in the Jewish temple, or the Christian church. Nor did the sect of the Gnostics fall with this their supposed leader; nor indeed with the Jews, at the ruin of their temple and City; for it prevailed most after both these events.

THE Roman Emperors, though inimi­cal to Jesus and his religion, do not fully answer to this description of the Man of Sin. They never apostatized either from the Jewish or Christian faith: They were revealed before the writing of this epistle: Their power and authority, and their en­mity to the gospel, was open and known to all the world; whereas the Apostle in­forms us, that the Man of Sin, though he already began to work, yet did not appear, but was to be revealed in some future time. They did not pretend to the pow­er of working miracles; nor was their chair or seat in the temple of God.

MAHOMET was no apostate; for he ne­ver professed either the religion of Moses, or of Jesus. He never sat in the temple of God; for though he changed many [Page 33]Christian churches into Mosques; yet cer­tainly these edifices, filled with Mahome­tan zealots, could not be called after such a change, in the sense of the Apostle, the temple or the church of God: Nor did this deceiver ever pretend to establish his authority by miracles. This is acknow­ledged, as Dr. Prideaux assures us, in the Alcoran itself, and by the best interpreters of it.

As to the recrimination of the Papal writers against the Protestants upon this point; in order to shew the justice of it, they must first prove that the reformed churches have a Man of Sin at their head, to whose supremacy they pay an unlimited submission; that he sitteth in some capital temple as God; and that his cause has been promoted by pretended miracles: And finally, to prove the reformation an apostacy, they must overthrow all the arguments brought by the reformed against the distinguishing dogmas and rites of their own church; and evidence, that these are supported by the authority of the new-testament. But this would be a much greater miracle, than with all their pretensions, they have ever yet been able to perform.

[Page 34] HAVING thus shewn, that none of these persons and events do fully answer to this prophecy; though in several of them there is some general and strong resem­blance of it; if now we can prove that all its characters are to be found in the Papal power, it must satisfy us, that this power was ultimately, and principally in­tended by it.

IN the first place, let it be observed, that the Apostle's design in the begining of this epistle, is to shew, that the day of Christ, by which he plainly means, as has been abundantly proved by expositors, the final judgment, was not at hand, and should not come, except there come a fal­ling away first; and that Man of Sin be re­vealed. By which he strongly intimates, that the apostacy he principally meant should be extended to a distant time, and far beyond the destruction of Jerusalem.

THIS apostacy is evidently a religious one; not a falling away from government, but from the purity of faith and worship: It was to be effected by strong delusions, and the deceiveableness of unrighteousness; through which those who had not the love of the truth, should be induced to believe a lie that they might be damned; having [Page 35]had pleasure in unrighteousness, and been fond of the deception.

THE principal character in it; the lead­er, to whom the prophecy chiefly refers, is the Man of Sin: A strong expression, indicating not only one who is very wicked himself, but eminently induces others to act wickedly. By this Man, in the sin­gular number, the absolute monarchy in the church of Rome is well described; though we do not suppose any particular Pope is intended, but the Bishops of Rome in succession. It gives us a general cha­racter of that order of men, and of those who have had the principal share in their ecclesiastical administration; the chief pro­moters and defenders of the Romish apostacy.

THAT this application, severe as it may seem to be, is not unjust, all history attests. No man can read Platina's lives of the Popes, and Bowers's larger and more mo­dern history, without being shocked at the impieties, the perfidy, and unbounded de­baucheries of those who have sat in St. Peter's chair; and without acknowledg­ing, that these, if any upon earth, were Men of Sin. Nor can we take even a cursory view of the Papal system of reli­gion; its direct opposition to the honour [Page 36]of God and the one mediator; its gross superstition and idolatries; its tendency to debase and enslave the human mind; the indulgence it grants to vice in every form; and the pleas it allows for crimes, at which the untutored breast immediate­ly revolts; without acknowledging, that the contrivers of such a system, with the gospel in their hands, must have had an heart, to an uncommon degree insensible and depraved.

ANOTHER character is, he opposeth: He is an adversary to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom. This directly answers to the name Antichrist, and indicates the head of the Romish church to be the principal An­tichrist, spoken of by St. John; which may signify, both one who places himself in the room of Christ, and acts in opposition to him. The Pope calls himself the vicar of Christ; the only visible head of the church; and blasphemously arrogates to himself the infallibility and supremacy of our ascended Lord. Under the pretence of serving him, he steps into his place; and there corrupts the simplicity, defiles the purity, and opposes the true power and spirit of his religion. This Son of perdition, the very phrase by which our Lord describes Judas, betrays his master [Page 37]with a kiss, and sells him for silver; de­basing his doctrine and worship for the gain of unrighteousness.

HE opposes with fierceness, as well as subtilty and deceit. He maketh war with Saints, and proves himself to be that cruel and oppressive power, predicted by Daniel, and afterwards in the revelations of St. John, which hath horns like a Lamb, but at the same time, speaketh like a Dragon.

How mild his appearance, how gentle his language, upon some occasions! But how dreadful his power! How relentless his cruelty! Speak, ye holy souls, for you can tell! Ye martyrs, and confessors! Who, because you would not violate your consciences by submitting to his unrigh­teous impositions, and renouncing the truth as it is in Jesus, have lost your estates; been torn from your tenderest connections; have languished in dungeons, have groan­ed upon the wreck, and expired in flames. Speak, ye who suffered in England in the Marian days! Speak, ye thousands, ye many thousands, that fell at once in the massacres of Paris and Ireland! Speak, ye Waldenses, and Albigenses, who fell in still greater numbers, and more varied forms of torture! Your blood indeed is [Page 38]vocal, it crieth from the ground: Though art and falshood have been employed, to disguise the facts, and to stifle the voice; it pierces through all, and rings in the ears of men, the unparalleled cru­elty of that mystical woman, that mother of abominations, the church of Rome; drunken with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

IN vain does she attempt to conceal, or palliate this part of her odious character: The stain is indelible. To her we may apply the words of the prophet; though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet is thine iniquity marked before me, saith the Lord God ^*.

IT can be demonstrated from history that she has shed ten times more chris­tian blood, by her holy wars, her cru­zades, her assassinations, and numberless persecutions, than all the pagan Emper­ors united. The inhumanity of her court of inquisition is not to be equalled, among the most barbarous nations, nor by any other court, ever erected by the greatest tyrant.

WHAT an idea does it give us of the detestable cruelty of the sons of Rome, [Page 39]to be told, that an American savage, ready to expire under the hands of the Spaniards, asked a priest, who offered to prepare him for Heaven, whether the Spaniards would dwell there: Being as­sured they would; then, said he, "let me go to another place." It was the lan­guage of nature: He knew he could not be happy with such associates. Much the same idea of christianity was given to the pagan Saxons. Charles the great, under the influence of the court of Rome, Mon­sieur St. Faux says, having conquered them, commanded them to abstain from meat in Lent, and to be baptized, under pain of death. In this manner was the Prince of peace first revealed to them; and the poor Saxons were driven to chris­tian baptism, from the terror of being baptized in their own blood^*.

[Page 40] THE next character of the Man of Sin, is, he exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. Who does not immediately confess the Bishop of Rome in this description? He exalteth himself, not only above all pastors, all ecclesiastical officers and dignitaries, but above all civil rulers, who are called Gods; above all Kings and Emperors. The Em­peror Frederick the first, held the styrup of his horse, and was chid for holding it on the wrong side. Another Emperor, Henry IVth, waited three days at the gates of Pope Gregory VIIth, to obtain an au­dience. Frederick, fell prostrate in St. Mark's church at Venice, before Alexan­der III, in presence of the people; while the humble Bishop, placing his foot upon his neck, uttered that passage of the Psal­mist; thou shald tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot. The Pre­late of Rome has deposed Kings and Em­perors; absolved their subjects from all allegiance to them; and authoritatively re­quired their taking arms against them.

This has not only been done by some who have filled the pontifical chair, but is [Page 41]agreeable to one of the professed principles of the Romish church. It is to be seen in their decrees, of at least equal venera­tion and authority among them, with the Bible itself; ‘That all Kings and Em­perors ought to be subject to the Pope; that he is placed by the Lord over na­tions and kingdoms; not some only, but all: That whatsoever the Roman church ordaineth, must be observed by all, without control, and everlasting­ly; and that it is of absolute necessity to salvation, that every human crea­ture should be subject to the holy fa­ther. Accordingly, Clement the fifth declared, that by his undoubted supe­riority to the Emperor, and by the fulness of power Christ had given him in the person of St. Peter, he did an­nul all his proceedings.’

THE Apostle adds, So that he as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing him­self that he is God. The temple of God, signifies, in prophetic language, the church of God; and as the Man of Sin was to appear after the abrogation of the Jewish law, it is plainly intimated here, that he was to be found in the christian church; that by means of his rank and influence in this church, he was to rise to his exorbi­tant [Page 42]power; and that it would be held and administred in an ecclesiastical form. He is then a professed christian: The au­thority he claims is spiritual; and in the church he receives the homage of a God.

WHAT can give us a more exact idea of the sovereign Pontiff at Rome? When he is elected, he is seated on the high al­tar of St. Peter's church, the very place of the idolized host, which the Papists say, is Christ himself: The people prostrate themselves before him, and implore his favour and blessing. They address him, "Our Lord God the Pope." He extends his singer, and makes a motion with his hand, and their sins are all forgiven. Is not this like the feigned Jupiter, on old Olympus? Is not this to sit in the tem­ple as God?

AFTERWARDS he sovereignly controls every thing in religion. He exalts him­self above God himself; he makes void the law of God by vain traditions, and im­pious establishments of his own. He holds back from the people the scriptures of God, and places in their room his own decrees. He forgives sins upon terms di­rectly opposite to those upon which God hath declared them to be forgiven; and allows vice to be justified by a casuistry, [Page 43]of which even a pagan would be asham­ed.

THE coming of the Man of Sin is said by the Apostle to be after the working of Satan. This I know is generally taken to refer to the signs and lying wonders, men­tioned immediately after. But does it not appear natural to suppose, that this coming after the working of Satan, may intend, more generally, after the model of Satan, the God of this world, in his own kingdom; or among the pagans, where he had so great an influence; and that it contains a strong intimation that the cor­rupt religion introduced and established by the Man of Sin, should bear a strong resemblance to that which was formerly found in the kingdom of darkness? That this is true, no one who takes a fair and impartial view of both, can doubt. So that however really christian Rome once was, it has for many ages so far returned to an imitation of its former pagan ido­latries and superstitions, that christianity seems to be almost covered and buried under them.

IN place of the worship of the one God and Father of all, their prayers and vows are chiefly directed to the Virgin Mary, and other saints. The canonizaton of [Page 44]these saints strongly resembles the apothe­osis of the ancient pagans.

THE custom of leaving legacies to their gods, which grew to such excess, as to require being bounded by the Roman law, as we learn from Ulpian, has in no small degree been followed by the church of Rome. In imitation of the pagan festivals, the Popish calendar has marked at least an equal number of christian holidays. The writers of their legends, and lives of the Saints, have evidently borrowed the sub­stance of many marvellous tales from Ovid, and other pagan authors, leaving out at the same time, the beauty and ele­gance of the classic originals^*.

Go into the churches of modern Rome, and according to the account of the most judicious and faithful travellers, you will see almost every thing, after the working of Satan, and the model of paganism. You will see many altars, called christian, smoaking at once in the same church, with incense; though the primitive pro­fessors of the gospel, would endure any thing, rather than offer incense before an idol. You will there see, as in ancient Rome, innumerable tapers and candles, burning before the shrines and images of [Page 45]their Saints: You will see offerings and votive gifts of various kinds, hanging round their altars as in a pagan temple; and innumerable devotees, bowing and prostrating themselves before images of wood and stone; and some of these the very images that were adored by pagans, having undergone no other change than the ceremony of baptism Go into their roads, and you will meet with many such images, like those of the guardians of the high-ways among the Heathen, and tra­vellers in various forms paying their de­votions to them. Enter their cities, you will find the same kind of idols, and re­ceiving the same homage, at the corners of the streets, in the baths, in the mar­kets, and in almost every place of public resort. All this, which is certainly ac­cording to the model, formerly produced by the working of Satan, in the darkness of heathenism, you will now find in the patrimony of St. Peter, and in the very city where his pretended successor sits en­throned.

THE Man of Sin, comes, says the Apos­tle, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders: And with all deceiveableness of unrighteousness. This part of the de­scription, as exactly corresponds to the papal Antichrist, as any we have consider­ed. [Page 46]Every one knows the pious frauds that have been sanctified and practised by the Romish church; and that it has all along been fond of supporting its credit and authority by pretended miracles.

BELLARMINE mentions miracles as one mark of the true church; and it would fill volumes, to give a particular account of all these lying wonders. How many ghosts have appeared, to establish the doc­trine of purgatory, and support the reve­nue which the church draws from it? All the images of their Saints, have wrought miracles. They have sweat; they have groaned; they have shed tears; they have bled; they have spoken; they have changed their posture; they have walk­ed; they have flown through the air; they have disappeared in one place, and been visible again in another; they have given sight to the blind; hearing to the deaf; health to the sick; and even life to the dead. Almost every votive gift, is produced as an evidence of some mira­cle performed by the saint at whose shrine it stands; and these miracles are related to encourage such donations, by which the wealth of the church has become immense. The holy house of Loretto, which they tell us, was brought many miles through the air, to the place where it now stands, [Page 47]has upon this account been amazingly en­riched by such offerings.

THE legends of the Romish church are full of these ridiculous miracles: And though since knowledge has increased in the world, they have grown more modest in their accounts; yet the same fondness for these lying wonders continues among them; as appears from the pompous ac­count, published not many years ago, of the miracles performed at the tomb of the Abbe' de Paris.

IT would be endless to reckon up all the unrighteous deceivings practised by the papal Antichrist; and to trace the art and subtilty employed to cover the falshood and deformity of his religious system. The Pope pretends to nothing but a spi­ritual power, and holds his territories and wealth in right of St. Peter. He is a ten­der father, and makes no use of the sword; he only gives up obstinate heretics and incorrigible offenders to the civil magi­strate, and admonishes him to do his du­ty. Though the idolatry and supersti­tion he authorizes are gross in many in­stances as the pagan; and though the people are known to address the image, and to believe that the Saint some how dwells in it; yet the plea is, that the [Page 48]highest worship is not given to the latter, and that the former is designed only to bring to remembrance some eminently ho­ly person.

WITH what specious pretences doth he varnish some of the blackest crimes, and even sanctify perfidy, treasons, murders and massacres, while he throws the most frightful colours upon every manly asser­tion of the rights of human nature, and the freedom of conscience? Those who have disputed his usurped authority, and nobly resisted his unrighteous impositions, if it was without the reach of his power to torment their bodies, have at least been blackened by every artifice of calum­ny, and represented in the most odious characters. Luther, among many others, experienced this. His motives for oppos­ing the papal power, his whole life, and the manner of his dying, have been base­ly misrepresented by the Romish writers. But the faithful pen of history hath re­futed these malicious calumnies, and vin­dicated his integrity; and without rais­ing him above the frailties of a man, hath preserved his name in all the lustre, that undaunted fortitude, and uncommonly great and successful efforts, in a cause im­portantly good, never fail to impart.

[Page 49] To those who have a respect for rigid morals, and a life of mortification and self-denial, the Romanists hold up the severity of their pennances, and the rigour and austerity of some of their religious orders. At the same time, they who choose to live like men of the world, need not, upon this account, go out of their church, nor resign one of its privileges. The pontiff has the merits of all the Saints, as well as of Christ, in a common fund at his own disposal, and from thence for a good price he draws dispensations, indulgences and pardons, adequate to the most licentious inclinations. Under this pretext he va­cates every obligation to a religious life, and leads those to destruction, who have pleasure in unrighteousness; whose condem­nation is just; inasmuch as such a de­ception, so contrary to the prompt decisi­ons of conscience, must be chosen and affect­ed. By these and such like arts, an in­credible share of the lands and wealth in England, and in other kingdoms and states in Europe, was, before the reformation, the property of the church.

THE terms in which the benefit of in­dulgences, and the necessity of purchasing them, were recommended by Tetzel and [Page 50]his associates in Germany, are too extra­vagant to gain belief had we not the most authentic testimony for them. ‘If any man, said they, purchases letters of in­dulgence, his soul may rest secure of its salvation^*. The souls confined in pur­gatory, for whom they are bought, as soon as the money tinkles in the chest, immediately ascend from their torments to Heaven: Through them, the most heinous sins, though one should violate the mother of God, would be remitted! The cross erected by the catholic preachers of the gospel is as efficacious as the cross of Christ himself. Lo! the Heavens are opened; you may enter now. For twelve pence, you may re­deem the soul of your father from pur­gatory: And are you so ungrateful that you will not redeem the soul of your father from torment? If you had but one coat, you ought to strip your­self instantly and sell it, to purchase such benefits.’

To all this we might add the unrighte­ous deceivings by which the Romanists have corrupted christian morals; their de­testable principle, that faith is not to be kept with heretics; the perfidy and inhu­manity [Page 51]with which, according to this principle, Huss was treated at the council of Constance: Their allowance of equivo­cation and mental reservation; and that the blackest crimes may become innocent and even meritorious, if they be done from a good intention, and for the service of the church. All this is well known to the world, and may at once be discerned to be part of the character of that wicked one described in our text.

BUT high as he may exalt himself; confident as he may be in his own policy and power, and in the support given him by the kings of the earth, he is after all the son of perdition, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the brightness of his coming. This prediction, we have before observed, does not respect any particular person, but an order of men in succession, contriv­ing and advancing a system of falshood and iniquity. This is the object to be consum­ed. The breath of Christ's mouth is his word, and a brightness ever attends it. Error is destroyed by the light of truth, as darkness ceases when the sun appears.

WHILE the Man of Sin rose, the gos­pel was obscured, and gradually withdrawn [Page 52]from the view of men; the truth was held, or imprisoned, in unrighteousness: But when this was set at liberty, and the sacred volumes opened, the papal system felt the shock, and was evidently blasted, though not destroyed, as by the fire of Heaven; blasted by the stroke of that gospel, which our Saviour compares to the lightning which cometh out of the East, and shineth even to the West. So fire pro­ceedeth out of the mouth of the two wit­nesses in the Revelations, and devoureth their enemies. The simplicity of the gos­pel, carries with it a wonderful light and energy: It is great, and will finally prevail. Like a flame, it goes through the briars and thorns that oppose it, and burns them together. In its progress, it punishes and torments the obstinately erroneous and wicked: They gnaw their tongues for pain, at the detection of those errors they will not renounce, and at the pungent reproof of those vices which they cannot forsake. They have often other punishments from the judicial dispensations of Heaven, even in this life; which are a prelude of what shall be awarded them, in proportion to their guilt, at the bar of the Son of Man.

THE second coming of Christ extends in some sense from his ascension to the [Page 53]final judgment. In this period Antichrist will be consumed. We have seen already this part of the prediction in a considerable degree fulfilled. He has surprisingly wasted away. He no longer appears what he once was; the disposer of crowns, the arbiter of kingdoms, and the dread of the world. His strength is abated, and the reverence that was once paid him by Prin­ces greatly diminished. He now palliates and seems half ashamed of what he once openly professed, and boasted in. This is owing to the increasing light springing from the reformation.

NOR ought we to overlook a late event, that deserves particular attention. One of his religious orders, I mean the Jesuits, remarkable for a mixture of subtilty and enthusiasm, which rendered them singular­ly active and successful in his cause, has not long since been suppressed by Princes, that once were most zealously devoted to him, and particularly friendly to this ve­ry order. Even the Pope himself, accord­ing to some recent accounts, has at length been compelled, sorely against his will, to imitate their example, and to concur with them in this signal, but very humiliating act of reformation. These things, among others, plainly show, how far this Lucifer, [Page 54]son of the morning, this pretended [...]n­tain of light, and dispenser of infallible knowledge, hath declined from his zenith, and may be one means of accelerating his descent. However this may be, we are assured, that at furthest, he will be totally and absolutely destroyed by the brightness of our Lord's second coming.

UPON the whole, whoever compares the predictions of Daniel and John, with that of Paul in our text, will find in them a surprizing agreement; and that all these distinguished servants of God, spake of the same iniquitous and oppressive power that was to rise in his kingdom, in latter ages, and oppose himself to it: A power that speaketh great things, even great things against the most High, and is full of the names of blasphemy: A power that pre­vaileth against, and weareth out the Saints; that changeth times and laws, and assumeth an authority, over all kin­dreds, and tongues, and nations: A pow­er that casteth down the host of Heaven, all civil rulers, and magnifieth himself against the Prince of the host; to whom notwithstanding, the Kings of the earth do give their strength: A power that deceiv­eth, by false miracles, done in the sight of the beast, them that dwell upon the earth; [Page 55]and upon whom the judgment should final­ly sit, to take away his dominion, and to consume and destroy it to the end.

"THE predictions of the three servants of God above-named, concerning the cor­ruptions of christianity in the Romish church, and concerning the political state of the world from first to last, but espe­cially as the revolutions of empire had a relation to our religion, these, I say, when united, form a prophetic picture, which in respect of the grandeur and importance of the events delineated therein, the variety and singularity of the particulars whereof these events consist, the clearness and pre­cision with which they are delineated, the exactness of their accomplishment, and the length of time taken up in the accomplish­ment, is one of the most astonishing ob­jects which it is possible for the human mind to contemplate. And therefore the due examination of this picture, cannot fail to strike all wise men with the highest conceptions of the prescience and power of God, and with the deepest veneration for the christian religion, in the records of which this astonishing picture is found. For common sense dictates, that the Ruler of the universe never would give the know­ledge of future events to impostors; es­pecially [Page 56]as upon the credit of that know­ledge, they have required mankind to be­lieve the history of Jesus. Wherefore, the corruptions of christianity, instead of be­ing any objection against the divinity of our religion, by having been so particular­ly predicted, are in reality the foundation of one of the strongest arguments in its favour^*."

TIME will not allow me to enlarge on the reflections which naturally arise from our subject.

WHAT a blessing to mankind was the reformation? What a yoke of bondage did it break? Even the papal power, where it still prevails, has been tempered by it. It was at once favourable to civil liberty, and to the rights of conscience. Religion and learning revived together. The Bible, the fountain of divine knowledge being unco­vered, the thirsty came and drank of the water of life freely. At the same time the best human models of writing, and the noblest sentiments on civility and go­vernment, were read with avidity in the ancient classics. The church emerged from darkness; human society was polished; the arts cultivated, and commerce enlarged.

[Page 57] THE happy fruits of the reformation have been transplanted to America; and what a change have they made already in the face of this continent? Here may they all flourish to the second coming of the Son of Man! And may this literary Society, according to the generous design of its founders, be eminently conducive to so happy a purpose! We have a Romish Bishop, and a Popish colony, not far from us; where, I am well informed, instead of the advancement of protestant truth, since its subjection to the British govern­ment, numbers have been perverted from our own profession. And if popery, de­ceitfully assuming a milder form, seems to be less dreaded and abhored than it once was; let us be upon our guard, and re­membering it is popery still, be prepared to oppose it in every form. At best it is the extremest despotism. It decides all things at once, and by mere authority, and allows no examination of its own mandates and decrees. It is a direct, an everlasting enemy to freedom of enquiry, and consequently to knowledge, and good literature. There are indeed many learn­ed catholics; but the learning among them is, in one way or another, greatly owing to the reformation: For when po­pery reigned without opposition, igno­rance [Page 58]every where prevailed. And even at this day, the body of the people in the Romish, are not near so enlightened as in the protestant communion.

POPERY is incompatible with the safety of a free government. It sets up a fo­reign head, superior to all civil rulers; a spiritual power that reaches to every thing upon earth, and can brook no control. Trampling upon the rights of conscience, and assuming an authority to dissolve eve­ry sacred obligation, what pledge can it possibly leave us for the security of civil freedom?

COMPARE the present state of Italy with what it once was. Where are the poets, the orators, the philosophers, the statesmen and heroes, that once guided, defended, and adorned that distinguished country? Where are the numbers it sup­ported, and the spirit and vigour of its inhabitants? Nature is the same; it is tyranny, and most of all the papal tyran­ny, that hath made the change. We have indeed, may a Popish bigot say, we have happily no more the fierce contentions of ancient Rome: All things are now settled by an indisputable authority; and we are at peace. But have there been no bloody [Page 59]contests in papal Rome? And what kind of tranquility does it ever enjoy? Is it the ease and happiness of a vigorous well go­verned state? Far from it: It is the si­lence of death; it is the peace of a church yard.

LET us therefore, stand fast in the li­berty wherewith Christ has made us free, and allow no unscriptural imposition, no trace of the papal bondage, to be found among us! May a liberal inquiry, a free and temperate discussion, dissipate error of every kind, and by advancing truth, secure the true order and felicity both of church and state! May the honor of the inspired writings, as the only infallible rule of faith and practice, and the right of private judgment, the basis of the re­formation, ever be sacredly preserved among us! And may serious piety, and christian morals, the end of all, adorn our profession as protestants, and ever keep pace with our improvements in specula­tive knowledge!