Holy Qur'an
Surah 2 - Al Baqarah THE HEIFER
Surah 2 - Al Baqarah THE HEIFER
Ayah
002.136 Say ye: "We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to Prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to God."
002.137 So if they believe as ye believe, they are indeed on the right path; but if they turn back, it is they who are in schism; but God will suffice thee as against them, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.
002.138 The Baptism of God: And who can baptize better than God? And it is He Whom we worship.
002.139 Say: Will ye dispute with us about God, seeing that He is our Lord and your Lord; that we are responsible for our doings and ye for yours; and that We are sincere in Him?
We make no difference between the prophets of God, but 'Isa al-Maseeh (Jesus Christ) is the only Messiah in Islam as he is in Christian profession of faith in God. He is not relegated to only the status of a prophet, but as he himself said, he is a prophet and is the prophet that Moses prophesied would come and be rejected by the Jews.
Moses said -
Deuteronomy 18:15
The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear:
The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear:
[17] And the Lord said to me: They have spoken all things well. [18] I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their brethren like to thee [Moses]: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. [19] And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my name, I will be the revenger.
"And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my name,"
[in all these verses Jesus Christ is that prophet that will be rejected by the Jews and God will revenge the rejection of the Christ by those apostates who rejected him. That came to pass with the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D..]
Jesus Christ said -
Matthew 13:57
And they were scandalized in his regard. But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
And they were scandalized in his regard. But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
John 4:44
For Jesus himself gave testimony that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. [which testified that he was the prophet that Moses prophesied would be rejected by his and Moses own household, that is only Jesus.]
For Jesus himself gave testimony that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. [which testified that he was the prophet that Moses prophesied would be rejected by his and Moses own household, that is only Jesus.]
Matthew 28:19
Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
John 7:28
Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching, and saying: You both know me, and you know whence I am: and I am not come of myself; but he that sent me, is true, whom you know not.
Luke 10:16
He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me.
Matthew 10:40
He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.
John 14:24
He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. And the word which you have heard, is not mine; but the Father's who sent me.
Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching, and saying: You both know me, and you know whence I am: and I am not come of myself; but he that sent me, is true, whom you know not.
Luke 10:16
He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me.
Matthew 10:40
He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.
John 14:24
He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. And the word which you have heard, is not mine; but the Father's who sent me.
The leader of the apostles that Christ taught while on earth, Peter, said -
The Catholic Creed: Baptism into Christ Jesus
1 Peter 3:
In Christian Suffering13. And who is there to harm you, if you are zealous for what is good? 14. But even if you suffer anything for justice’ sake, blessed are you. So have no fear of their fear and do not be troubled. 15. But hallow the Lord Christ in your hearts. Be ready always with an answer to everyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in you. 16. Yet do so with gentleness and fear, having a good conscience, so that wherein they speak in disparagement of you they who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17. For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that you suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18. Because Christ also died once for sins, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Put to death indeed in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit, 19. in which also he went and preached to those spirits that were in prison. 20. These in times past had been disobedient when the patience of God waited in the days of Noe [Noah] while the ark was building. In that ark a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water. 21. Its counterpart, Baptism now saves you also (not the putting off of the filth of the flesh [the water is referred to], but the inquiry [response] of a good conscience after God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; 22. who is at the right hand of God, swallowing up death that we might be made heirs of eternal life; for he went into heaven, Angels, Powers and Virtues being made subject to him.
Holy Qur'an
Surah 3 - Ali 'Imran - THE FAMILY OF 'IMRAN
Ayat 003:055
And God said: Oh Jesus! I am causing you to die, and lifting you up to Me, and cleansing you of those who blasphemed, and making those who follow you above those who blasphemed, until the Day of Resurrection when to Me shall all of you return. Then I will judge between you on the strained points of matters upon which the whole unreasoning had disputed.
Real baptism in Jesus Christ, the only Messiah of Allah (SWT) is in the Holy Spirit. Only those who believe in their hearts and follow in their works, publicly professing God and His Christ are truly believers and loved by God unto salvation. This applies to all people and especially Muslims and Christians. Unless you are persecuted somewhere, somehow, (Christians, pick up your cross, Mt. 16:34. Muslims, the example of the prophet (pbuh), 006.035) are you even really a believer?
Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Surah 6
Ayat 006.035 If their spurning is hard on thy mind, yet if thou wert able to seek a tunnel in the ground or a ladder to the skies and bring them a sign,- (what good?). If it were God's will, He could gather them together unto true guidance: so be not thou amongst those who are swayed by ignorance (and impatience)!
Christ's baptism with water by John the Baptist
Matthew 3:16 found 1
And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. [The Spirit of God was always with him. But this manifestation was for a public witness.]
John the Baptist, who is the only one that Jesus allowed to baptize him with water, said -
Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you in the water unto penance, but he that shall come after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire.
John 1:[20] And he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ.
[21] And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered: No. [22] They said therefore unto him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? [23] He said: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias. [24] And they that were sent, were of the Pharisees. [25] And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? [26] John answered them, saying: I baptize with water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not. [27] The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. [28] These things were done in Bethania, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. [29] The next day, John saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world. [30] This is he, of whom I said: After me there cometh a man, who is preferred before me: because he was before me.
[31] And I knew him not, but that he may be made manifest in Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. [32] And John gave testimony, saying: I saw the Spirit coming down, as a dove from heaven, and he remained upon him. [33] And I knew him not; but he who sent me to baptize with water, said to me: He upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, he it is that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. [34] And I saw, and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God.
[21] And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered: No. [22] They said therefore unto him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? [23] He said: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias. [24] And they that were sent, were of the Pharisees. [25] And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? [26] John answered them, saying: I baptize with water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not. [27] The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. [28] These things were done in Bethania, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. [29] The next day, John saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world. [30] This is he, of whom I said: After me there cometh a man, who is preferred before me: because he was before me.
[31] And I knew him not, but that he may be made manifest in Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. [32] And John gave testimony, saying: I saw the Spirit coming down, as a dove from heaven, and he remained upon him. [33] And I knew him not; but he who sent me to baptize with water, said to me: He upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, he it is that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. [34] And I saw, and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God.
The Messiah of God, Allah (SWT), 'Isa al-Maseeh baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
"...if thou be not Christ, nor Elias [Elijah], nor the prophet?"
Jesus is the only Messiah, the Christ, Elijah is Elijah who will return with Enoch (the two witnesses) before Christ at Christ's Parousia, his return at the end of this age.
Christians also observe the baptism of water since Jesus Christ did, we do not criticize that. Athanasius of Egypt, who was responsible for the Nicene Creed at the first Christian council of Nicaea said that if anyone thought that the water itself had any salvific power to save that person would be guilty of the idolatrous belief of Egyptian pagan Hydromancy, a transgression of God's commandments against idol worship and sorcery. We agree with the Christian, Athanasius of Egypt, first primate of the Egyptian Church.
Mt:5:
1 ¶ And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him.
2 And opening his mouth he taught them, saying:
3 ¶ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.
5 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
6 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the clean of heart: they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake:
12 Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.
13 ¶ You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing anymore but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men.
14 You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house.
16 So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
17 ¶ Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
21 ¶ You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment.
22 But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
23 If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee;
24 Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.
25 Be at agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
26 Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.
27 ¶ You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not commit adultery.
28 But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29 And if thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than thy whole body be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than that thy whole body go into hell.
31 And it hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce.
32 But I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting the cause of fornication, maketh her to commit adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.
33 ¶ Again you have heard that it was said to them of old, thou shalt not forswear thyself: but thou shalt perform thy oaths to the Lord.
34 But I say to you not to swear at all, neither by heaven for it is the throne of God:
35 Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool: nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king:
36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
37 But let your speech be yea, yea: no, no: and that which is over and above these, is of evil.
38 ¶ You have heard that it hath been said: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
39 But I say to you not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other:
40 And if a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him.
41 And whosoever will force thee one mile, go with him other two.
42 Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away.
43 ¶ You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thy enemy.
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you:
45 That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.
46 For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? do not even the publicans this?
47 And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? do not also the heathens this?
48 Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.
(DRV)
The Catholic Creed: It is a profound teaching of Catholicism
Let us make this clear before venturing onto the below. All men are called to salvation in Christ, Jew and Gentile alike.
It is a profound teaching of Catholicism that Jesus Christ took upon Himself flesh of ALL men from Adam on - subsumed from the Blessed Virgin Mary (see the genealogies of Christ from the Gospel of St. Matthew Chapter 1 and the Gospel of St. Luke Chapter 3). Therefore He is equally the Saviour of all men regardless of race or ethnicity. In contrast to this sublime truth is the lie that a particular race is the salvific hope of mankind and ultimately that a given individual of that particular race is a man-god and that race alone is human, such as the so-called Aryan Nazis and Hitler or 'the form of the elect of the nations' of Dr. Klausner and a "natural messiah" for them only and from them only – see below:
From:
The Point
Edited Under Fr. Leonard Feeney M.I.C.M. — Saint Benedict Center
June, 1957
THE REJECTED PEOPLE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE
Why the Jews Fear the Bible
Why The Jews Fear The Bible (June, 1957)The prime incentive for reading God’s word is always, of course, just that: it is God’s word — the thundering, inspired account of man’s long climb from Genesis to Apocalypse; how he fell from grace, how he was redeemed, what he must do to be saved.
But there is another reason also why now, particularly, we ought to take our Scriptures off the shelves. The notion has got around (at whose prompting, we will let you guess) that the Bible is a book which celebrates the Jews; and that since we Catholics are supposed to reverence the Bible, we ought also to honor the race to whom it is devoted.
The number of people who have been deceived by this artful dodge indicates one thing: how crass and colossal is our present-day ignorance of Holy Scripture.
No one could possibly read the seventy-two books which constitute God’s revelation and conclude that Jews deserve the esteem of Catholics. For albeit the Bible presents Jewish history, it is not the sort of history the Anti-Defamation League would approve. It is the story of how a few faithful Jews in each generation championed God against the rest of their race —a proud, stubborn, ungrateful, and unbelieving multitude. Far from promoting love for the Jews, the Bible is thus the font of Christian anti-Jewishness. No other book gives such a strong, sure taste of their perfidy.
It is in the New Testament that the Jews are shown at their ultimate worst — when they are confronted with the Messias, reject Him, crucify Him, call down His Blood as a curse upon them, and then do their utmost to prevent His gospel from being spread through the world. A partial report on this New-Testament portrayal of the Jews appears below. But even under the Old Law it is evident what the Jews are coming to. Prophet after prophet castigates them for their wickedness and warns them that they are going to be rejected by God in favor of the Gentiles; and prophet after prophet is killed by the Jews in defiant retort. As early as the book of Exodus, God has said to Moses: “See that this people is stiff-necked. Let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them, and that I may destroy them: and I will make of thee a great nation.” (Exodus 32:9)
Plainly, it is not for their own sakes, or for any goodness inherent in the race, that the Jews are kept at the center of the Old-Testament stage. It is, rather, because through some Jews — a holy, beleaguered handful, like Moses and Joshua and David and the prophets — the true Faith is kept alive down to the time of Our Lord. And the other reason for God’s sustained interest in the Jews is that eventually from their thorny midst there will blossom His one perfect creature, the Virginal Mother of His Son.
But if the Jews make such a poor showing in the Old Testament, how do they bear to read it? The answer is, they don’t. Their religious reading time is devoted to a post-Crucifixion book of their own devising, the Talmud. The Jews have rejected the first part of Holy Scripture as surely and as violently as they have rejected the second. Nor is it merely the treatment of their ancestors that the Jews object to; it is equally the Old Testament’s prophecies of the coming Messias, so blazingly and unmistakably fulfilled in Jesus. [Especially see Isaiah, chapters 52 and 53 and Daniel, chapter 9.]
Yet it should not be assumed that in shunning the Faith of Moses and David the Jews have abandoned all religious doctrine. Everyone familiar with Jewish practices knows that they still do believe most fervently in a Messias. And they profess this belief constantly — when they force Gentile merchants out of business and take over a city’s shopping district; when they take control of a nation’s newspapers and other means of disseminating ideas; when they demand that laws be passed forbidding anyone to speak against the Jews; when they drive a million Arabs from their homes and appropriate the land for themselves; when they insist that Western nations not only allow this outrage, but support it with their wealth and the blood of their youth — in all these ways and in hundreds of others, the Jews testify to their belief in a Messias.
And if anyone is still wondering who the Jews think the Messias is, Dr. Joseph Klausner, internationally recognized Jewish spokesman, supplies the answer. In his book, The Messianic Idea In Israel (Macmillan, 1955), Dr. Klausner declares that a personal savior has long since been an old-fashioned notion with the Jews and that, “Thus the whole people Israel, in the form of the elect of the nations, gradually became the Messiah of the world, the redeemer of mankind.”
It is out of that horrid racist idea of only Jews being human and elect of God that the Antichrist will emerge in his time.
The Catholic Creed: Rev. Paschal Huchede's view of the Antichrist
From below - ARTICLE II - 2.: "And we see that in the mystery of iniquity Antichrist adores Satan and the false prophet glorifies Antichrist. Hence we have every reason to show that this false prophet will be an individual person and not a collective term to designate the universality of preachers engaged in the service of Antichrist. We can even assert that he will not be a king, nor a general of an army, but a clever apostate, fallen from the episcopal dignity."
The false prophet will be the Antipope and his successors at that time. This began with Antipope John XXIII and continues through, including Antipope Benedict XVI and all successors to this line of apostasy. All of them are apostate from the faith and came to the See of Peter invalidly as well. Their Apostasy alone marks them as Antipopes and to follow them is to embrace apostasy and be damned.
Chapter 2- The Action
ARTICLE I-CONTEST AND POLITICAL SWAY OF ANTICHRIST
1. Antichrist Begins to Manifest Himself to the Jews
Antichrist, being a Jew, will be circumcised; he will observe the Mosaic Law, and finally he will give himself for the Messiah whom Israel still expects, and he will be received by those whose names are not written in the Book of Life, in the Book of the Lamb. (Apoc. 13:8). Hence Our Lord thus reproaches the Jews, "I am come in the name of my Father, and you receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive." Jn. 5:43). St. Irenaeus, St. Hilary, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and St. Damascus are of opinion that Our Lord makes allusion in this passage to Antichrist.
2. He Achieves the Conquest of the World and Makes Jerusalem its Capital
Antichrist will naturally meet with obstacles in carrying out his designs. The ten kings, who, according to the prophet Daniel and St. John, will have divided the Roman empire among them, shall endeavor to conserve the independence of their realms and consequently will resist him with fire and sword. "I considered," says the prophet, "the horns, and behold another little horn sprung out of the midst of them, and three of the first horns were plucked up at the sight thereof. . . And these ten horns shall be ten kings, and another shall rise up after them, and he shall be mightier than the former, and he shall bring down three kings." (Dan. 7:8 & 24). "He shall take possession of the land; Egypt will not escape his power. . . he shall pass into Libya and Ethiopia." (Dan. 11 :42-43). St. Jerome has left us the interpretation of the Fathers, which is corroborated by all ecclesiastical writers who have since treated the question. At the end of the world. after the destruction of the empire, ten kings will divide among them the fragments of the Roman empire; then an eleventh king will enter the scene and conquer three of their number: the king of Egypt, the king of Africa, and the king of Ethiopia. After their death, the remaining seven laid their scepters at the conqueror's feet. (Dan. 7 [esp. 24-25]).
It seems that he will probably be defeated by certain people of the Western nations, who will give him a naval battle, people whom Daniel calls "Romans." (11:30). But he will soon recover from this defeat. St. Irenaeus and St. Hippolytus of Antioch concur with St. Jerome in the same opinion, which gives this interpretation of the prophet a theological certitude. When Antichrist shall have conquered all his enemies, power shall be given him over all tribes, peoples, languages, and nations; he will be the first Jew to reign over the whole world. When he shall find himself master of the world, he will choose for his capital the city in which Our Lord was crucified. (Apoc. 11 :8). If he did otherwise. he would fail to make the Jews receive him for the Messiah since their hearts will be fixed on terrestrial glory and Jerusalem, in their esteem, must be the sojourn of the Messiah.
ARTICLE II-CONTEST AND RELIGIOUS SWAY OF ANTICHRIST
1. He Declares Himself to be God and Desires to Establish His Religion Throughout the World
"And they adored the beast, saying, who is like to the beast? and who shall be able to fight with him?" (Apoc. 13 :4).
All vile parasites of fortune, astonished at the rapidity with which Antichrist achieves his conquests and also at the unlimited sway of his power, deceived by his prodigies, will prostrate themselves before him and adore him as their god. As soon as he believes himself master of the bodies and souls of all peoples, he will decree and proclaim his divinity and establish a new religion. According to the Apostle, he will lift himself up above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God showing himself as if he were God. (2 Thes. 2:4). He will command all peoples to place his statue in the public places to be worshipped, the image of the beast whose wound was healed. (Apoc. 13 :13-15). "He will sit in the temple of God showing himself as if he were God." (2 Thes. 2:4). This temple is probably that of Jerusalem, which he will have rebuilt and in which he will have divine honors paid to him. (Damascus, Book 4, Ch. 37). It is then, according to the prophecy of Daniel and in full force of the term, that the abomination of desolation shall be in the temple, seated in the holy place. (Dan. 9:27). Then he shall think himself able to change times and laws - religious, political, and sacred - by which the world had been governed up to his advent. (Dan. 7:25). Although he will make himself the object of idolatrous worship, he himself will adore a god called Moazim, ignored by his ancestors, and he will load this idol with gold and precious stones. (Dan. 11:38-39).
Our Lord Jesus Christ as man adored His Father. Antichrist will adore his father, Satan, principal author of his power. As for the moral of his religion, we are permitted to believe that he will eliminate from it whatever is painful to corrupt human nature, so that he may more easily gain men over to his party. (Suarez et Bellarm.)
2. His Apostles
In order to propagate his religion, he will send out missionaries to all parts of the world, as Our Saviour sent His Apostles to preach His doctrine. Among the false prophets, there will most probably be one more illustrious than the others, as St. Ambrose remarks. (in Apoc.). St. John describes him as follows: "And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns, like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon." (Apoc. 13:11). And in another passage he seems to point out three different persons: "And I saw from the mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs." (Apoc. 16:13). The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet signify Satan, Antichrist, and the principal apostle of Antichrist. These three different beings command all the other demons. In the work of our redemption, the three divine persons of the adorable Trinity manifested themselves. The Son adores the Father; the Holy Ghost gives glory to the Son. And we see that in the mystery of iniquity Antichrist adores Satan and the false prophet glorifies Antichrist. Hence we have every reason to show that this false prophet will be an individual person and not a collective term to designate the universality of preachers engaged in the service of Antichrist. We can even assert that he will not be a king, nor a general of an army, but a clever apostate, fallen from the episcopal dignity. From being an apostle of the Gospel he will become the first preacher of the false messiah. These conjectures are not devoid of much plausibility. (Acosta, Book 2, Ch. 16). Antichrist will communicate his power of working miracles to others, who will go into different countries and cities to gain new proselytes by all the human and diabolical means in their power. (Acosta, 2, 16). It is thus that the words of Our Lord will be fulfilled. "For there shall rise up false Christs and false prophets, and they shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Take ye heed, therefore. Behold I have foretold you all things." (Mk. 13:22-23). "And then if any man shall say to you: Lo, here is Christ; 10, he is here, do not believe. . . he is in the desert, go ye not out." (Mat. 24:23-26). Benighted apostles who will indeed turn away from truth! (2 Tim. 4:4). They blaspheme the majesty of God and despise all true authority. "Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their confusion, wandering stars to whom the storm of darkness is reserved forever." (Jude 1:13). "Fountains without water and clouds tossed with whirlwinds, to whom the midst of darkness is reserved." (2 Pet. 2:17).
Antichrist will furthermore make all men, great and small, rich and poor, freemen and bondmen, bear a sign on their right arm or on their forehead. (Apoc. 13 :16). What this sign shall be time alone will reveal. Yet there are some commentators of Holy Writ, who, according to a special revelation, pretend to say that it shall be formed out of the Greek letters X and P, interlaced like a figure which resembles the number of Christ. (Cornelius a Lapide in Epis. 2 to Thes.]
No one can either buy or sell without this mark, as distinctly specified in the Apocalypse (13:17). And that no man might buy or sell but he that had the character or the name of the beast or the number of his name." None but adorers of this new god can enjoy the possession of riches or honors. This god shall increase their glory and shall give them power over many and shall divide the land for nothing. (Apoc. 13:7).
2. Religious Persecution of Antichrist
I. God and Magog
Those who will refuse to obey his impious orders shall be the object of a terrible and universal persecution. Gog and Magog shall be let loose; they shall come upon the "breath of the earth and encompass the camp of the saints and the beloved city." (Apoc. 20:8). What do these names mean? The Jews pretend that Gog will be Antichrist and Magog the northern people. "At the coming of the Messiah, they shall enter Palestine and lay waste the country to such an extent that the unfortunate citizens will be obliged to 'burn for fuel the handles of the lances and shields left on the battlefield. But these misfortunes once over, the golden age shall revive." This Thalmudic interpretation of Ezechiel (28) given by St. Jerome cannot be questioned. [Ed. note - St. Jerome is not saying that we are to go to the Talmud for anything of the truth, for it is a book of nothing but Satanic deceit. But he is saying that the Jews await this earthly naturalistic false messiah and shall be taken in by this impostor.] Some other ecclesiastical writers, notably Eusebius (Book 3, Hist., c. ult.) and Lactance (Book c. 44, 25), place the battle of Gog and Magog a thousand years after the death of Antichrist. During those thousand years, Jesus Christ will reign with the saints in this world in the midst of infidels, if not converted at least subjugated. At the lapse of that time Gog and Magog shall appear on the scene and wage a bloody war against the saints. This war shall be closely followed by the end of the world and the last judgment. This is, as may be easily seen, the error of the millennium which has long since been refuted by the Fathers St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and many others. [Ed. note - St. Irenaeus, 180 A.D., is earlier and principle in refuting this error. It is noteworthy that St. Irenaeus teaches - as the Church always has as well - that Christ will return to earth and reign with all His saints resurrected then and all the angels of the Father. The false idea of the millenium, sometimes erroneously attributed to St. Irenaeus, is that only some of the saints will be resurrected for a thousand years or that Gog and Magog are separated by a thousand years from Antichrist; impossible, for Gog is Antichrist or termed the Dajjal in Islam. The true "millenial" teaching is, as St. Irenaeus and the Church from the beginning with her Lord has always confessed, that Our Lord Jesus Christ will return at His Parousia and reign for a "thousand years" meaning the beginning of that first of the eternal ages, which will never end. ] It is probable that Gog and Magog mean Antichrist's combat against the Church. According to Bellarmine, Gog will be Antichrist himself and Magog will be his army. Because Ezechiel always designates Gog as a leader and Magog as a region (Ezech. 38-39), Magog, it is true, is regarded as being the Sythian nation. In Genesis (10:2) the second son of Japeth is said to have borne this name, and the country in which he settled was naturally called after him, and this country, according to Josephus, is Scythia. In employing this term to designate the army of Antichrist, we are led to infer that the men composing it will be orientals, or what seems more plausible, that his soldiers will possess all the brutality of those barbarous people. [Ed. note - the Khazars as Judaist Gog and Magog fit quite well.]
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