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the one nor the other can be preserved, but by applying it to the second Advent, when Jesus Christ comes a conqueror in the most majestic apparel of grandeur and strength, charged with a double ministry, the Almighty Saviour and the inexorable Judge, to deliver his people Israel, and to exterminate the guilty nations, who shall have persevered in their impenitence.

It is then that Antichrist is to be taken with the false prophet, thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, and the rest of his army to be killed by the two-edged sword, which shall proceed from the mouth of the King of kings, or exterminated by dreadful plagues. But before he perishes this impious one shall exercise unheard-of cruelties; using with fury the great power that the dragon will have given to them, he shall break down all that shall dare to resist him. He shall be in God's hands a rod of anger to chastise all the inhabitants of the earth. He will exercise his remarkable ministry with a malice and a fury until then unknown in any instance. "He will make war against the saints of the Most High; he will exterminate them; he will tread them under his feet."

The violence of Antichrist and his fellow-workers will not be the greatest trouble of those wretched times. His artifices and his seduction will be much more terrible. Having received from Satan power to perform all sorts of deceit, he will make use of them with deplorable success to draw into his snare all the dwellers upon earth. Even the elect themselves will have the greatest possible difficulty to escape from his delusions. There will then be false Christs, who will have false prophets, who to give weight to their imposture, and to cause the faithful to follow them, will perform before their eyes the most astonishing wonders. Our Saviour has forewarned us against such a dangerous delusion. (Matt. xxiv. 5-11, 24-27.) Let the faithful who live in the days of trial and tribulation, to whom our Lord speaks, hold themselves on their guard. Let them repulse as a deceiver whosoever proclaims himself Christ, though he even performs, by way of proving it, the most surprising feats, if he possesses not the distinctive mark," by which our Saviour wishes that they should recognise him, which is that at the moment of his coming he shall appear suddenly to the world, as the lightning shines from east to west. All the particular and isolated appearances with which the false Christs will puff themselves up will be only impostures. They will have nothing of the grandeur and magnificence which, according to the formal declaration of our Lord, must accompany the

Advent of the Son of Man, the true Messiah. In spite of a warning so precise, a great number of the faithful will fall into this seduction, as Christ has predicted (so much power has the marvellous), and they can hardly resist long the illusions, which have the outward appearance of miracles. We may believe, notwithstanding, that this illusion will be less criminal, will entail less disastrous consequences than that which will carry away all the lovers of the world, to follow the beast or Antichrist, and adore him. It is said of these last that they shall be given over to the Divine justice. "If any one worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark on their forehead, or in the hand, he shall drink of the wrath of God, of unmixed wine poured out from the cup of his fury; and he shall be tormented in the fire and brimstone, before the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." (Rev. xiv. 10.)

There is such a marked relation between the Mystery of Iniquity and Antichrist, who will at once be the product and consummation of that mystery, that we cannot finish this chapter without explaining a passage in Second Thessalonians, where the apostle speaks of this mystery. The text has ap peared very obscure to all interpreters, both ancient and modern; and their opinions, far from clearing_up the difficulty, have overspread it with fresh darkness. Let us, then, commence by laying before the reader the very words of the apostle, according to the Vulgate translation, first printing the Greek :

2 Thess. ii. 6.Καὶ νῦν τὸ κατέχον οἴδατε, εἰς τὸ ἀποκαλυφ θῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ καιρῶ. Τὸ γὰρ μυστήριον ἤδη ἐνεργεῖται τῆς ἀνομίας μόνον ὁ κατέχων ἄρτι ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται. Καὶ τοτε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος ὃν ὁ Κύριος ἀναλώσει τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργήσει τῆ ἐπιφανεια τῆς παρουσίας αύτον, &c.

*

The

"Et nunc quid detineat scitis, ut reveletur in suo tempore; nam mysterium jam operatur iniquitatis; tantùm ut, qui tenet nunc, teneat, donec de medio fiat; et tunc revelabitur iste Iniquus, quem interficiet Dominus Jesus," &c. French translators have made this text quite unintelligible. The version of the new Bible of Cologne will enable us to form an opinion of the others. The translator, though in other cases so exact and clever, has not hit the meaning of the apostle a whit better than the others. "And you well know what it is that prevents the Man of Sin from coming,

* And no doubt that, with his view of the construction of the Greek text, he would have added, "and English" as well.

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until he makes his appearance at the due time. For the Mystery of Iniquity is already gathering, and will gather, until that which now prevents his arrival shall be itself removed from out of the way:* and it is something good which prevents his coming: Then shall be disclosed that impious One, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth.”

Out of respect to Mr. Legros, the translator, I will not be bold enough to say, that he did not himself understand the words just quoted as he wrote them, but I will confess that I do not understand them; they do not present to my mind any distinct idea, any reasonable and consecutive sense. None of the translators would have been very far from the apostle's meaning had they not been pleased to refer the last words of the text (" de medio fiat"), "be removed out of the way," to the others (" qui tenet"), "he who lets." Instead of which, if we refer them, as the drift and sequence of the argument requires, to "the Mystery of Iniquity," all is plain, simple, and natural.

Another source of their embarrassment and mistakes arises from their not seeing in the original term, KaTexwv, another sense besides that of "preventing, forming an obstacle," which holds back the Antichrist and suspends his arrival; whereas really, in the clause in question, the term has a totally different sense, as I shall presently show. . .

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In order to discover the true force of the passage we must recollect, that the apostle, when he was with his faithful converts at Thessalonica, had instructed them minutely in all that concerned the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, and the Mystery of Iniquity: “Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you of all these things?" (2 Thess. ii. 5.) When writing to them afterwards, he exhorts them to preserve carefully the instructions which he had given them, vivâ voce, on this subject; a subject so important, that mistakes on it must necessarily be attended with fatal consequences. Keeping this in view, let us see how we can, and ought to, translate in Latin and in French the original text of the apostle :"Nunc quid detineat scitis, ut reveletur suo tempore, nam mysterium jam operatur iniquitatis solummodo qui callet (vel qui scit) sedulò calleat donec mysterium illud e medio prodeat vel erumpat.” "Vous savez à quoi il tient, ou, ce qui est necessaire, pour que l'homme de péché paroisse dans son temps. Car des à présent le mystère d'iniquité s'opère.

For this supplemental cause, even though it were correct as a comment, there surely is not a shadow of foundation in the original.

Seulement que celui, qui sait maintenant en quoi consiste ce mystère, le retienne bien, jusqu'à ce que ce mystère sorte de son secret, ou paroisse au grand jour." "Now you know what is necessary to his being revealed in his season, for the Mystery of Iniquity is already at work: only let him who understands this truth carefully keep it, until the Mystery of Iniquity or the Antichrist is disclosed."

A short analysis of the words of the apostle will show that my translation is simple and literal, that it has in it nothing arbitrary or forced. For,

1st. The term povov, which the Vulgate renders by "tantum ut," has here evidently an imperative or exhortative sense. It has the same meaning as our "seulement," only, in this phrase, or one similar to it, "I will be with you to-morrow, only take care that everything is ready."

κατέχων,

2d. The Vulgate very properly supplies after o KaTeXWV, "he who lets," the word KaTeX?, "will or may let." "All other versions agree in making this necessary addition.

3d. The Vulgate translates ó kaтexwv by "qui tenet," "he who letteth," a word which properly signifies, to lay hold of, to become possessed, then to know (le tenir, le possèder, le savoir). Hence, KатEXEIν та Yраμμaτa (scire litteras, savoir les lettres), to understand writing, or be acquainted with literature, is no uncommon expression.

But in lieu of this sense, so simple, so natural, and such as leaves no difficulty in the text of the apostle, the translators have made him quite unintelligible, by giving to this word, in contradiction to the context, the force of detinet, impedit, prevents or hinders," as if the apostle had intended to speak of some secret obstacle, which should retard the coming of the Man of Sin, although there is nothing in the text under consideration which obliges them to plunge into such a labyrinth.

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But it may be asked, as the words To KаTEXOV signify, that which "prevents or hinders" (ce qui empêche, ce qui arrête) in one verse, why should not the same verb have the same sense in the following verse? To this I reply, first, that though the verb in verse 6 has this, its ordinary meaning, yet there cannot be drawn any conclusion on that account against my translation of it in the next verse, as it is common in all languages for one word to be employed in different senses. Secondly, I answer, that instead of rendering Tо KATEXOV (ce qui empêche que), "that which prevents the Man of sin from coming," it is much more natural, and accords better with the Greek text, to translate the sixth verse thus,-" You know what is necessary, or on what it depends, that he should be revealed at his

due time;” for εἰς το ἀποκαλυφθῆναι αὐτὸν cannot mean "until he appear" (donec manifestetur,—jusqu'à ce qu'il paroisse), but "that he may or should appear" (ut manifestetur, pour qu'il paroisse). Lastly, these words, donec de medio fiat, which interpreters render by, "until it is removed. out of the way" (jusqu'à ce qu'il soit ôté du monde), have quite a contrary meaning. .. Here also we have reason for wonder, that authors so versed in the knowledge of Scripture should put aside the proper and natural meaning, which presents itself at once to the mind, to search out at a distance for another sense, which is positively foreign to the context, and makes the reasoning of the apostle an indecipherable puzzle.

Teivoμai, or yiyvoμai, generally means (nasci, fieri, oriri, prodire), to become, arise, come forth. Now, we must not forget that the apostle is here treating of a mystery, a secret, a matter concealed. The Mystery of Iniquity of which St. Paul speaks, is, as it were, an abscess, which was beginning in his time to gather in the body of the Church, though in a manner then scarcely perceivable. This is destined to make increase from age to age, and then to arrive at its consummation ;-to burst out and disclose itself in a frightful manner, covering and infecting with its deadly venom the whole Christian Gentile Church. What, then, can be more simple and more natural than thus to translate these words in question," until the Mystery of Iniquity discloses itself and bursts into open day.'

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What, then, is this Mystery of Iniquity, of which the consummation is, to work out the apostasy and reprobation of the Gentile Church, and bring forth the Man of Sin or Antichrist? It is this that the apostle had explained, vivâ voce, to the faithful converts of Thessalonica. Although he has not transmitted to us the instructions which he gave them on the subject, he has told us in many passages of Scripture as much as it concerns us to know on a point which influences our safety as essentially as theirs.

We see at once, by the manner in which he expresses himself, that he is treating of a Mystery of Iniquity, peculiarly such, (par excellence,)-of a Mystery which is destined to produce or unite in itself all the errors, scandals, and disorders which,

The following seems Père Lambert's version of the whole passage:— "You know what is necessary for his being revealed in due season, only let him who understands this truth be careful not to lose it, or be carefully on his guard, until the Mystery of Iniquity bursts into open day. Then," &c.

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