69. The time of Antichrist
TRANSLATION
of them presumes to speculate or to teach that this [hour] is near at hand or far o¡. Hence St Augustine, rebu⁄ng that wicked servant who says in his heart, My master delays his homecoming5 ^ surely this man hates the coming of his lord, without any doubt ^ gives the example of the three superior servants who look forward with longing to the coming of their master, watching for it vigilantly and loving faithfully. One of them says,
''Let us watch and pray, because the Lord is coming swiftly.'' The second one says, ''Let is watch and pray, for this life is brief and uncertain, though our Lord delays His coming.'' The third says, ''Let us watch and pray because this life is brief and uncertain, and we do not know the time when the Lord will come.'' Accordingly, if it turns out as the ¢rst one predicted, the second and third ones will rejoice with him. But if it does not come to pass, one might dread lest those who believed him be upset, and begin to think that the coming of the Lord was not delayed, but rather non-existent. /538/ Those who believe what the second one says ^ that the Lord will come later ^ will in no way be disturbed in their faith if [that servant] is proved wrong and the Lord comes quickly, but will rejoice greatly with unexpected delight. For this reason, he who says that the Lord is coming quickly speaks more in line with what is desirable, but poses a danger if he is mistaken. He who says the Lord will come later, but believes, hopes for, and longs for His coming nonetheless, even if he is mistaken about His delay, is happily mistaken. For he will have greater patience if it is so, and greater joy if it is not so. And for this reason he is heard with greater pleasure by those who desire the Lord's appearing, and he is believed with greater security. But he who confesses himself truly ignorant of the hour, longs for the former and bears with the latter and errs in neither, since he neither a⁄rms nor denies either.6
69. THE TIME OF ANTICHRIST7
We have two very certain indicators of the approach of the Day of Judgement, namely the conversion of the Jewish people, and the reign and persecution of Antichrist, which persecution the Church believes will last three and a half years. But lest this [persecution] come unexpectedly and 5 Matthew 24.48.
6 Augustine, Ep. 199.13.52^54, CSEL 57 (289.10^292.14).
7 This chapter is largely based on Augustine, DCD 20.13 and Jerome, [De Antichristo] In Danielem 4.
THE RECKONING OF TIME
involve everyone whom it ¢nds unprepared, [the Church believes] that Enoch and Elijah, great prophets and teachers, will come into the world before [Antichrist's] arrival, and will convert the Jewish people to the grace of faith, and will surrender to the insuperable a¥iction of this mighty whirlwind directed against the elect. After they have preached for three and a half years, and as the prophet Malachi predicts, one of them ^ Elijah ^ has turned the hearts of thefathers tothechildren8 (that is, when they will have planted the faith and love of the saints of old in the mind of those who will then be persuaded), then that horri¢c persecution will burst into £ame. First it will crown [Enoch and Elijah] with the virtue of martyrdom, and then engul¢ng the rest of the faithful, it will make them either glorious martyrs of Christ or condemned apostates. This is what the Apostle John seems to signify when he writes in the Apocalypse:
But do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for fortytwo months.9 That is, show that those who love external things only, but claim the title of faithful, are to be set apart from the destiny of the elect.
FortheythemselveswillturntopersecutingtheChurchinthat¢nalpersecution of three and a half years. And I will grant /539/ my two witnesses powerto prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth,10 that is, they will preach clothed in the con¢ning labours of continence and a¥iction. And a little later on he says: And when they have ¢nished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them, and so on.11
He records that the ministers of this same beast, that is, Antichrist, will rejoice over the slaying of these two witnesses, that is, martyrs, and will even mock them after their death.12
And in another place he says: And I saw a beast rising out of the sea.
And to it the dragon gave his power and great authority,13 that is, I saw a man of savage mind, begotten from the turbulent stock of the impious, to whom after his birth and training by the most despicable teachers in the magic arts, the Devil will add all the authority of his power, through which he will accomplish feats of magic greater than any others. [The 8 Malachi 4.6.
9 Apocalyse 11.2; cf. Bede, Explanatio Apocalypsis 11.2 (PL 93.162B).
10 Apocalypse 11.3.
11 Apocalypse 11.7.
12 Cf. Apocalypse 11.10.
13 Apocalypse 13.1^2.