p. 104The Man of Sin
“The Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition.”
The Dragon, the Old Serpent, surnamed the Devil and Satan, being representative of SIN in its imperial constitution, as manifested in the past, present, and future, upon “the Habitable,” or Roman territory; the Man of Sin is that dynasty, “whose coming was after the energy of the Adversary with all power, and tokens, and prodigies of falsehood, and with all the deceit of iniquity in them that perish.”a This is what he was in his coming, or presence. The power is styled, “the Man of Sin,” not because it is to be found in only one man, but because it is sin pre-eminently incarnate in an order of men. This order occupying one throne, was to “be revealed” out of an apostasy from the original apostolic faith; but before its presence could be manifested, a certain obstacle was to “be taken out of the way.” No order of men such as the apostle describes, could make its appearance upon the territory of the Roman Dragon, so long as the constitution of the empire continued pagan. This, then, was the obstacle to be removed. While it continued, the elements of the new power were at work in the Christian body; but incapable of the exercise of political authority. These elements are collectively styled “the Mystery of Iniquity,” the open manifestation of which was withheld for a time.
When the “Red,” or pagan aspect of the Dragon was changed for the “Catholic,” by the victories of Constantine, the opposing power was removed; in fact, the Adversary, or Satan, now a professor of Christianity, took “the Mystery of Iniquity” under his patronage; and as he found paganism no longer fit for the contest against the apostolic faith, he determined to change his weapon, and to fight it with the apostasy in the name of Christ. Hence, the first thing he did was to impose this apostasy on the world as its religion. He married it to the state, and established it by law. The National Establishment, as it now became, assumed the character of “Mother Church;” and the community in Old Rome, with its bishop now converted into the chief magistrate of the city at its head, claimed to be the mistress of all churches. The apostasy being united to Satan, became the open enemy of God, and the worse than pagan persecutor of His truth. Its name is Catholic; and since the division of the Dragon territory into east and west, and the great schism about image-worship, it is surnamed Greek Catholic, and Roman Catholic. The undivided catholic apostasy in its first establishment is represented in the Apocalypse by “a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”b This p. 105 woman, after nine months of years, or “a set time,” and not long before she was clothed with the imperial robes, was “pained to be delivered” of her child, which had been conceived in her by sin. As the betrothed of the Second Adam, the Serpent had beguiled her, and had corrupted her mind from the simplicity that is in Christ. Part of her body had embraced another Jesus, another Spirit, and another gospel;a by which they were so corrupted that they were prepared to take the sword; declare for the first military chieftain, whose anti-pagan ambition of supreme power should induce him to embrace their cause; and to turn Christianity into a State Religion. This party found a semi-pagan suited to their purpose in Constantine, surnamed “the Great.” When he avowed himself their champion, all the power of the Old Serpent was brought to bear against him and his confederates. They fought; and victory perched upon the standard of the Cross, now become “the mark” of the Apostasy.
Constantine was the man-child of sin, who began that iron-rule, which, in the name of Christianity, has soaked the dust of the earth with the best and noblest blood of its inhabitants. He set himself up as the arbiter of faith, and the correcter of heretics; and though pretending to believe, yet refusing to be immersed till within three days of his death, that he might commit all the sins he would be likely to do before he was baptised for remission of sins—yet he is belauded by ecclesiastics as a great and pious Christian! What Constantine began, his successors on the Dragon throne, Julian excepted, perfected. For the Bishop of Old Rome, they conceived an especial veneration and regard; seeing that he was more of a hypocrite, and as much of a serpent as themselves. They energized him with all power, and set him up as the supreme pontiff of the world. This god upon earth, whom their pagan predecessors knew not, they “honoured with gold, with silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.” A humble bishop of an obscure society in Rome, they acknowledged as a god, and increased with glory;b so that “by the energy of Satan with all power,” the dominion founded by the man-child of the apostasy was matured; and at length possessed by the Roman bishop as the full-grown Man of Sin.
The presence of the man of sin in Rome for upwards of twelve centuries past may be determined by Paul’s description of him. If we find an order of men there answering to the character recorded against them, we may know that the man of sin has been revealed. He describes him as one “who opposes and exalts himself above every one called a god, or an object of veneration; so that he sits in the temple of the god as a god, exhibiting himself that he is a god.”c This in few words is highly descriptive of the Popes. “God” in the passage signifies a ruler of whatever kind; for “god” in the scriptures is applied to angels, magistrates, and the p. 106 whole nation of Israel; as “I said, ye are gods; but ye shall die as one of the princes;” and “worship him ye gods;” the former being addressed to Israel; the latter, to the angels concerning Jesus. The “temple of the god” is St. Peter’s at Rome. Now, the history of the papacy shows the applicability of the description to the Popes, and to them exclusively. They have systematically opposed and exalted themselves above every ruler, whether emperors or kings, and above all bishops and priests; so that they have sat in St. Peter’s as gods, exhibiting themselves thus, because they claim to be gods upon earth. The incarnate devilism of these blasphemers of God’s name and of His people,a and murderers of His saints, cannot be surpassed by any power that could possibly arise. They are essentially sin corporealized in human shape; and therefore most emphatically the order of the Man of Sin; as “the Holy, Apostolic, and Roman Catholic Church” is the “Mother of Harlots, and of all the abominations of the earth.”
Paul styles this dynastic order ὁ ἀνομος, the Lawless One; and because of its destiny, “the Son of Perdition.” In the Apocalypse, it is represented by an Eighth Headb of the Beast, which divides “the habitable” with the Dragon. Of this head, the Spirit saith, “It goeth to perdition.” It is a head, which exercised both civil and pontifical dominion over the west; and when resolved into other symbols, its conjoint dominion is represented by a Two-horned Beast,c and an image of the sixth head of the Seven-headed Beast;d the former symbolizing the Austrian power; and the latter, his ally, the Lawless One. These are both doomed to perdition together. Their present intrigues are contributing to kindle a flame in Europe, that will convert it into “a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”e Into this will the Beast, and the Lawless One, his pseudo-prophet, be “cast alive.” The dominions they represent will be utterly destroyed by the lightning and thunderbolts of war; and their power transferred to the Dragon, the Old Serpent, surnamed the Devil and Satan, of whom I have already spoken in the last section. The binding of the Dragon will terminate the struggle which began in 1848. Sin will then be chained; and all flesh implicated in maintaining its ascendancy, be put to shame before the universe of God.