the present appearance of things, that any such event will soon take place. On the contrary-many prophecies are yet to be accomplished. The Jewish nation is yet to be converted," and both Jew and Gentile are to be one fold under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and a more general and universal influence of his Religion, to be effected than has hitherto been experienced. It behoves the friend of Christianity therefore to be extremely cautious and guarded against forming expectations which may never be realized, lest his disappointment should have, an unfriendly influence, upon his own mind, as well as upon the minds of others.

The same observations will apply to the term Antichrist which has, generally, been supposed to be synonymous with the Man of Sin, and has been, as generally, applied to the Church of Rome. It will therefore be necessary to enquire what is the meaning of the term Antichrist, and whether it is justly applicable to that Church, according to the use of it, in the sacred Writings: for, if it was used to signify the Bishop of Rome; it will be, an insuperable bar, to the interpretation which has here been adopted concerning the Man of Sin : for they both have, as will presently be seen, an evident reference to the same subject.

The term Antichrist is made use of, no where, in the sacred Writings, but in the two first Epistles of St. John, and no language can be stronger than that which is used, in these Epistles-not only to express his near approach—but his actual existence. 1 John ii. 18. Little children it is THE LAST TIME; and as ye have heard that ANTICHRIST shall come even now there are many ANTICHRISTS, whereby we know that it is the last time. It is the more necessary to examine into this matter, because it has been thought, from these and similar expressions, in the Epistles, that the Apostle asserted the near approach of the end of the World.

There is some difference of opinion respecting the time when this Epistle was written, some supposing that it was written, a short time BEFORE the destruction of Jerusalem, and others, that it was not written till some years afterwards. And, if the latter was the case; it will be very difficult to understand what the Apostle could mean by the term Antichrist, -particularly as connected with his assertion that it was the last time, and that there were many Antichrists, whereby they knew it was the last time.

Dr.

Dr. Lardner has mentioned Mill, Le Clerc, Basnage, Baronius, Beausobre, and L'Enfant, Dupin, Mr. Whiston, and Mr. Lampe, as being of the opinion that it was composed after the destruction of Jerusalem, and he himself, after examining the internal evidence of the time when it was written, is inclined to place it about the year Eighty. On the other hand, he very candidly mentions Grotius, Hammond, Whitby, and Dr. Benson, as being of opinion, that it was wrote before that great calamity befel the Jewish nation; and he mentions the latter of these Writers as inclined to place it in the year of our Lord Sixty-eight-of Nero Fourteen-that is, after the Jewish war broke out, and not long before the destruction of Jerusalem. * It may be added also that Mr. Pyle, Bishop Hurd, Dr. Macknight, and the very respectable Archbishop Newcome, were of the opinion that it was composed before that event took place. And they appear to have formed this opinion from the internal evidence contained in the Epistle; which in this case is the best evidence which can be obtained.

Thus Mr. Pyle, in his preface to the first Epistle of St. John, says His mentioning the last hour; (i. e. Christianity abolishing the Jewish dispensation, along with the "Antichrists and false Prophets that our Saviour foretold "would be the forerunners of the destruction of that nation), seem most strongly to intimate the time of writing this Epistle to have been before the destruction of Jerusalem, "and it is therefore, I think, with the most probability placed by Dr. Whitby in or about the year Sixty-seven "or Sixty-eight,"

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Dr. Benson, in his Note on the expression-From whence we know that it is the last hour, says, "The strength of the "argument is here Our Saviour had prophesied, that just "before the destruction of Jerusalem, Antichrist would "appear, A number of Antichrists had accordingly ap❝peared. From hence they might conclude that it was the "last hour, or that the desolation of the Jewish Temple, "City, and Nation, was just at hand." And, in his preceding Note, he says, "St. John's putting them in mind, that they had heard of these things, was, in effect, saying,

See Lardner's History of the Apostles, Vol. III, pages 266, 267.

"TAKE HEED, and beware, by attending to the admonitions, "which have been given you. (See 2 John ver. 7, 8.)

Bishop Hurd says, "The time that elapsed from Christ's ascension to the destruction of Jerusalem, is called the latter times; and the eve of its destruction, is called the "last hour." See Vol. II. page 7. And again he says, "That the appearance of false Christs and false Prophets, (of "which there were many, according to our Lord's prediction, "in St. John's time), indicated the arrival of that hour, that was to be fatal to the Jewish state." Ibid. page 9.

Dr. Macknight's Paraphrase is as follows. Be not terrified by the rage of the unbelieving Jews; It is the last "hour of the Jewish Commonwealth. And as ye have "heard that the Antichrist, who denieth the appearing of "Christ in the flesh, chap. iv. 3. cometh before the de"struction of Jerusalem, so now there are many such Anti

christs; from which we know that it is the last hour of the Jewish state."

Archbishop Newcome has observed, " that Grotius's Note 66 upon 1 John ii. 18. is well worth considering. Ultima hora, i, e. ultimum tempus, ubi ad Judæos sermo est "significat tempus proximum excidio urbis ac templi & reipublica Judæorum." The Archbishop, with great propriety, adds, " And the words, whereby we know that it is the last time, have much force, if we suppose that they refer to our Lord's Prophecies," viz. of the destruction of Jerusalem. See Archbishop Newcome's Observations, page

192.

Bishop Prettyman likewise, when speaking of the date of this Epistle, says, "Some have supposed that it was written before, and others after, the destruction of Jerusalem. In "the following passage, It is the last time; and as we have

heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many "Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time, the "Apostle seems to allude to the approaching dissolution of "the Jewish state, and to Christ's predictions concerning "the false Teachers who were to appear before the destruction "of Jerusalem.". See Bishop Prettyman's Elements of Christian Theology, Vol. I. page 486.

The observation which was formerly made, when considering the meaning of the vth chapter of the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, will have equal force here, viz. that if St.

John's

John's language had a reference to that of our Lord, in the xxivth of Matthew and the parallel chapters, Commentators were bound, by all the rules of sound reasoning, to adhere to the obvious meaning of our Lord, which most unquesti onably was, to guard men against those who should assume the character of the Messiah-or who should oppose his just claims to that character. And this sense, the Writers just quoted, the judicious and attemtive Reader will observe, they have very sufficiently and fully expressed in those passages.

pre

But, most unfortunately another meaning of the word Anti christ, which is totally unconnected with our Lord's dictions, and most certainly was never meant by St. John, when he made use of the term Antichrist, has been introduced, and Bishop Hurd, in particular, though he has, in express terms, admitted that "the appearance of false Christs and false Prophets, indicated the arrival of that hour that was "to be fatal to the Jewish state," and that "the time that elapsed from Christ's Ascension to the destruction of Ferusalem, is called the latter times, and the eve of its destruc"tion, is called the last hour;" yet he yet he says, ❝ we are to apply them, in the same manner, to the reign of Antichrist to the Millenium-to the day of Judgment." But, upon what authority is this application made? Not, surely, upon that of St. John; for the learned Prelate has expressly referred his language to our Lord's prediction concerning the dsstruction of Jerusalem. But he says, "The appearance of

false Christs and false Prophets were, at the same time, the types and forerunners of a still more dreadful power, which "should be revealed in the latter times, in a future period, "when that calamity was past.' ."* For the truth of the assertion, that such a power should arise in the Christian church, he appeals to "a tradition, then current among the Disciples; and

his hated name of Antichrist is here applied, by way of anti"cipation, to the false Prophets of that time; as possessing "much of his character, and acting with his spirit."

Here the judicious and attentive Reader will observe, that the whole foundation of the doctrine of Antichrist is built upon the assertion, "That the appearance of false Christs

and false Prophets, were at the same time, the types and

Upon the subject of Types---See a remarkable passage quoted from Richards's Bampton Lectures, page 122. of this Work.

"forerunners

❝ forerunners of a still more dreadful power which should be fully revealed in the latter times, in a future period, when "that calamity was past." But has St. John said any such thing? Has he not, on the contrary, confined the appearance of false Christs and false Prophets, to the last hour that was to be fatal to the Jewish state, and that they knew by their appearance that it was the last hour? “But," says the Bishop,

for the truth of the assertion, that such a power should "arise in the Christian church, he appeals to a tradition, "then current among the Disciples." But where is this appeal made? The Apostle does indeed say-Ye have heard that Antichrist shall come-but this Antichrist was the false Christs and false Prophets that were now already in the world-whereby they knew that it was THE LAST TIME. The tradition then current among the Disciples was-not that such a power should arise in the Christian church, in a future period, when that calamity was past-but that Antichrist-or, as St. John himself explains the term, the false Christs and false Prophets appearing, would indicate the arrival of that hour that was to be fatal to the Jewish state. * The assertion therefore that," his hated name of Antichrist is here applied, "by way of anticipation, to the false Prophets of that time; "and as possessing much of his character, and acting with "his spirit," is totally without foundation,

That this is not a misrepresentation of the Apostle's meaning, will appear from an attentive examination of the Epistle itself, in which the Reader will not find, even the shadow of a proof, that the appearance of false Christs and false Prophets were "the types and fore-runners of a still more dread

ful power." And it is remarkable enough that Dr. Benson has, in the most express terms, acknowledged that the Apostle in this place, in using the word Antichrist, had not a reference to the Church of Rome. "I am," says he, "well

persuaded that the Church of Rome and the Pope, as the "head thereof, is an enemy to Christ; and as such prophesied "of, 2 Thess. ii. 1, &c. where he is described as the Man of "Sin; and he, whose coming is after the working of Satan.

* Mr. Hardy's idea of this tradition appears to be perfectly accurate; for in his Note, he says--- Sicut andivistis, ab ipso Christo, Matt. xxiv. 24. "et ab Apostolis, ut Joh. v. 43." In his subsequent Note on Unde scimus, &e. he says---" i. e. Certi sumus exitium gentis Judaicæ jam instare, exprædictione illa, Matt. xxiv. 5."

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"And