34. Primum est discessio, quod multipliciter exponitur in Glossa. Et primo a fide, quia futurum erat, ut fides a toto mundo reciperetur. Matth. XXIV, 14: et praedicabitur hoc Evangelium regni in universo orbe. Istud ergo praecedit quod secundum Augustinum nondum est impletum, et post multi discedent a fide, et cetera. I Tim. IV, 1: in novissimis temporibus discedent quidam a fide, et cetera. Matth. XXIV, 12: refrigescet caritas multorum.
34. First comes the revolt, which is explained in many different ways in the Gloss. And first it is explained as a revolt from faith, because later the faith would be accepted by the whole world. And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world (Matt 24:14). Therefore this comes before what according to Augustine has not yet been fulfilled, and afterwards many will depart from the faith, etc. In the last times certain men will depart from the faith (1 Tim 4:1). The love of many will grow cold (Matt 24:12).
Vel discessio a Romano imperio, cui totus mundus erat subditus. Dicit autem Augustinus, quod hoc figuratur Dan. II, 31 in statua, ubi nominantur quatuor regna; et post illa adventus Christi, et quod hoc erat conveniens signum, quia Romanum imperium firmatum fuit ad hoc, quod sub eius potestate praedicaretur fides per totum mundum.
Or a revolt from the Roman empire, to which the whole world was subject. And Augustine says that this is represented in Daniel by the statues (Dan 2:31), where four kingdoms are named after whom comes Christ, and that this was a fitting sign because the Roman empire was strengthened for this very purpose, namely that under its power the faith should be preached throughout the whole world.
35. Sed quomodo est hoc, quia iamdiu gentes recesserunt a Romano imperio, et tamen necdum venit Antichristus?
35. But how can this be, since the nations have already withdrawn themselves from the Roman empire and yet the Antichrist has still not come?
Dicendum est, quod nondum cessavit, sed est commutatum de temporali in spirituale, ut dicit Leo Papa in sermone de apostolis. Et ideo dicendum est, quod discessio a Romano imperio debet intelligi, non solum a temporali, sed a spirituali, scilicet a fide Catholica Romanae Ecclesiae. Est autem hoc conveniens signum, quod sicut Christus venit quando Romanum imperium omnibus dominabatur, ita e converso signum Antichristi est discessio ab eo.
The answer is that it is not over yet, but has changed from a temporal revolt into a spiritual revolt, as Pope Leo says in a sermon about the apostles. And so one should say that the revolt from the Roman empire should be understood not only as a revolt from the temporal but from the spiritual empire, namely from the catholic faith of the Roman church. And it is fitting that, as Christ came when the Roman empire held sway over all, so conversely a sign of the Antichrist is revolt against it.
36. Secundo praedicit secundum futurum, scilicet Antichristum. Et
36. Second, he predicts according to the future, namely, the Antichrist.
primo quantum ad eius culpam et poenam;
And first, regarding his guilt and punishment;
secundo quantum ad eius potestatem, ibi eum cuius adventus.
second, regarding his power, at him whose coming.
Item primo communiter et implicite tangit culpam eius et poenam;
Again, first he touches generally and implicitly on his guilt and punishment;
secundo explicat utrumque, ibi qui adversatur.
second, he explains both, at who opposes.
37. Dicit ergo: discessio primo veniet, et tunc revelabitur. Dicitur autem esse homo peccati et filius perditionis, secundum Glossam, quia sicut in Christo abundavit plenitudo virtutis, ita in Antichristo multitudo omnium peccatorum. Et sicut Christus est melior omnibus sanctis, sic ille peior omnibus malis. Et propter hoc homo peccati dicitur, quod totaliter erit peccatis deditus. Sed non dicitur sic homo peccati, quin posset esse peior, quia numquam malum corrumpit totum bonum, licet quantum ad actum non poterit esse peior. Christo autem nullus homo potuit esse magis bonus.
37. He says, therefore: The revolt will come first, and then he will be revealed. According to the Gloss, he is said to be the man of sin and the son of perdition because, as the plenitude of virtue abounded in Christ, so a multitude of all sins will abound in the Antichrist. And as Christ is better than all the saints, so that man will be worse than all the wicked. And so he is called the man of sin, because he will be wholly given over to sins. But he is not called the man of sin in such a way that there could not be a worse man, because evil never corrupts the entire good—although no man could be worse in the actual order of things. But there could be no man better than Christ.
Dicitur autem filius perditionis, id est, deputatus extremae perditioni. Iob XXI, 30: in diem perditionis servabitur malus, et ad diem furoris ducetur. Vel perditionis, id est, diaboli, non per naturam, sed per suae malitiae complementum, quae in eo complebitur.
He is also called the son of perdition, i.e., consigned to the utmost perdition. The wicked will be preserved for the day of perdition, and will be led to the day of fury (Job 21:30). Or son of perdition, i.e., of the devil, not by nature but by the completion of his wickedness, which will be completed in him.
Et dicit revelabitur, quia sicut omnia bona et virtutes sanctorum, qui praecesserunt Christum, fuerunt figura Christi, ita in omnibus persecutionibus Ecclesiae tyranni fuerunt quasi figura Antichristi, et latuit ibi Antichristus: et ita tota illa malitia, quae latet in eis, revelabitur in tempore illo.
And he says be revealed, because as all the good deeds and virtues of the saints who came before Christ were figures of Christ, so in all the persecutions of the church the tyrants have been so to speak figures of the Antichrist, and the Antichrist was hidden in them. And so that whole wickedness, which was hidden in them, will be revealed at that time.
38. Deinde cum dicit qui adversatur, explicat quae dixerat. Et
38. Then when he says, who opposes, he explains what he said before. And
primo ostendit quomodo sit homo peccati;
first, he shows how he will be the man of sin;
secundo quomodo filius perditionis, ibi et tunc revelabitur.
second, how he will be the son of perdition, at and then that wicked one shall be revealed.
Item primo praenuntiat eius futuram culpam;
And first, he foretells his wrongdoing;
secundo assignat eius causam, ibi et tunc.
second, he gives the cause for it, at and now.
Item primo describit culpam,
And first, he describes the wrongdoing;
secundo dicit se non annuntiare doctrinam novam, ibi non retinetis.
second, he says that he is not announcing a new teaching, at do you not remember.
Item primo ostendit culpam,
And first, he sets out the wrongdoing;
secundo eius signum, ibi ita ut, et cetera.
second, the sign of it, at so that.
39. Duplex est autem eius culpa, scilicet contrarietas ad Deum; unde dicit qui adversatur omnibus spiritibus bonis. Iob c. XV, 26: cucurrit adversus Deum erecto collo, et pingui cervice, armatus est, sicut et membra eius. Is. III, 8: lingua eorum et adinventiones eorum contra Dominum, ut provocarent oculos maiestatis eius.
39. Now his wrongdoing has two sides to it. First, opposition to God; hence he says who opposes all the good spirits. He charged against God with an upraised neck, and with a fat neck, and he is armed, as are his members (Job 15:26). Their tongues and their schemes are against the Lord, that they may provoke the eyes of his majesty (Isa 3:8).
Secunda est, quia praefert se Christo; ideo dicit extollitur, et cetera.
Second, he puts himself above Christ; and so he says and is lifted up.
Dicitur autem Deus tripliciter. Primo naturaliter. Deut. VI, 4: audi, Israel, Dominus Deus tuus, Deus unus est. Secundo opinative. Ps. XCV, 5: omnes dii gentium daemonia. Tertio participative. Ps. LXXXI, 6: ego dixi: dii estis. Omnibus autem his se praeferet Antichristus. Dan. XI, 36: elevabitur et magnificabitur adversus omnem deum, et adversus Deum deorum loquetur magnifica.
The name God is said in three ways. First, according to nature: hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God (Deut 6:4). Second, according to opinion: all the gods of the nations are demons (Ps 95:5). Third, by way of participation: I have said, you are gods (Ps 81:6). And the Antichrist would put himself over all these: he will be lifted up and will magnify himself against every god, and against the God of gods he will speak great things (Dan 11:36).
40. Signum autem culpae est, cum dicit ita ut in templo, et cetera. Superbia enim Antichristi maior est superbia omnium praecedentium. Unde sicut de Caio Caesare legitur, quod cum in vita adhuc esset, coli voluit, statuam suam ponens in quolibet templo, et Ez. XXVIII, 2 de rege Tyri dicitur: dixisti, quia Deus ego sum, etc.: ita credibile est, quod sic eis faciet Antichristus, dicens se Deum esse et hominem. Et in huius signum sedebit in templo.
40. When he says so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God, he gives the sign of this wrongdoing. For the Antichrist’s pride is greater than the pride of all who came before him. So as it is written of Gaius Caesar that he wanted to be worshiped while he was still alive, and put statues of himself in every temple, and as Ezekiel says of the king of Tyre, I have said that I am God (Ezek 28:2), so it is quite believable that the Antichrist will act as they did, saying that he is both God and man. And as a sign of this he will sit in the temple.
Sed in quo templo? Nonne est destructum a Romanis? Et ideo dicunt quidam, quod Antichristus est de tribu Dan, cuius tribus inter alias duodecim non nominatur Apoc. c. VII, 5. Et ideo Iudaei primo eum recipient, et reaedificabunt templum in Ierusalem, et sic implebitur illud Dan. IX, 27: erit in templo abominatio et idolum; Matth. XXIV, 15: cum vero videritis abominationem desolationis, quae dicta est a Daniele propheta, stantem in loco sancto, qui legit intelligat.
But in what temple? Was it not destroyed by the Romans? This is why some say that the Antichrist is from the tribe of Dan, whose tribe is not named among the other twelve in Revelation (Rev 7:5). Because of this, the Jews will accept him at first, and will rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and thus Daniel will be fulfilled: an abomination and an idol will be in the temple (Dan 9:27). But when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, let him who reads understand (Matt 24:15).
Quidam vero dicunt, quod numquam Ierusalem, nec templum reaedificabitur, sed usque ad consummationem et finem perseverabit desolatio. Et hoc etiam aliqui Iudaei credunt. Ideo exponitur in templo Dei, id est, in Ecclesia, quia multi de Ecclesia eum recipient. Vel secundum Augustinum, in templo Dei sedeat, id est, principetur et dominetur, tamquam ipse cum suis nuntiis sit templum Dei, sicut Christus est cum suis.
But some say that neither Jerusalem nor the temple will ever be rebuilt, but that their desolation will last until the final consummation. And even some Jews believe this. So this text is explained to mean in the temple of God, i.e., in the Church, since many from the church will accept him. Or according to Augustine, he sits in the temple of God, i.e., he rules and governs as though he himself with his messengers were the temple of God, as Christ is the temple with his adherents.
41. Deinde cum dicit non retinetis, ostendit quod nihil novi scribet; quasi dicat: olim cum essem apud vos, dixi hoc. II Io., 5: non mandatum novum scribo vobis, sed mandatum vetus, quod habuistis ab initio. II Cor. X, 11: quales fuimus verbo per epistolas absentes, tales et praesentes in facto, et cetera.
41. Then when he says, do you not remember, he shows that he is writing nothing new, as though to say: when I was with you long ago, I said this. I do not write a new command for you, but an old command, which you have had from the beginning (2 John 5); as we are in word by epistles when absent, such also we will be indeed when present (2 Cor 10:11).
Lectio 2
Lecture 2
Antichristus
The Antichrist
2:6 Et nunc quid detineat scitis, ut reveletur in suo tempore. [n. 42]
2:6 And now you know what withholds, that he may be revealed in his time. [n. 42]
2:7 Nam mysterium jam operatur iniquitatis: tantum ut qui tenet nunc, teneat, donec de medio fiat. [n. 44]
2:7 For the mystery of iniquity is already at work: only so that he who now holds, should hold until he be taken out of the way. [n. 44]
2:8 Et tunc revelabitur ille iniquus, quem Dominus Jesus interficiet Spiritu oris sui, et destruet illustratione adventus sui [n. 46]
2:8 And then that wicked one shall be revealed: whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the Spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [n. 46]
2:9 eum: cujus est adventus secundum operationem Satanae in omni virtute, et signis, et prodigiis mendacibus, [n. 47]
2:9 Him whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power and signs and lying wonders: [n. 47]
2:10 et in omni seductione iniquitatis iis qui pereunt: [n. 51] eo quod caritatem veritatis non receperunt ut salvi fierent. [n. 52]
2:10 And in all seduction of iniquity to those who perish: [n. 51] because they do not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. [n. 52]
42. Superius Apostolus praenuntians narravit adventum et culpam Antichristi, hic ostendit causam dilationis. Et
42. Above, the Apostle foretold the coming and the wrongdoing of the Antichrist; here he explains the reason for its delay. And