St. John Henry Newman - The Patristical Idea of Antichrist | Pt. 2: The Religion of Antichrist

<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Surely the world is impregnated with the elements of preternatural evil, which ever and anon, in unhealthy seasons, give lowering and muttering tokens of the wrath to come!”</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is the second in a series of four lectures by Newman on</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The Patristical Idea of Antichrist</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the first lecture of which we released back in January.</span> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">Whereas the first lecture considered</span> "<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Times of Antichrist"</span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">this second lecture</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">addresses the question of whether the Antichrist will profess any particular religion at all.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the one hand, Antichrist will not only reject Christ — he will oppose all religion, all worship, and all that is called God.</span> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">On the other hand, the Antichrist will be mistaken for the Christ. He will impersonate the Messiah, and therefore will have some connection to Jewish custom, ritual, and the Temple. Further, he will usher in a novel form of false worship, and will do so even as he restores the old Roman Empire.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Newman recalls some remarkable features of the French Revolution to illustrate that "</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">there</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">are</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">ways of fulfilling sacred announcements that seem at first sight contradictory.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As with the first lecture, this present installment is an exhortation to take seriously the prophecies concerning the Antichrist, and to a renewed confidence in God’s providence through history.</span></p> <p><strong>Links</strong></p> <p><em>The Religio