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2. Pope Boniface III, had not, it seems, the fcruples, whatever they were, of his predeceffor, Gregory. He readily accepted, or rather importunately begged, this proud title of Oecumenical Bishop, from the Emperor, Phocas; and tranfmitted it to all his fucceffors. And now, it might be expected, that the Bishop of Rome would be Antichrift, in his turn. But, fuch was the fortune of that fee, or the devotion of the faithful to it, that this charge was not prefently brought against him: as if the fpirit of dominion, which had fo long posfeffed that city, were a thing of course, and could not mifbecome the Bishop of Rome, though it looked fo Antichriftian in him of Conftantinople.

Other reafons concurred to fave the honour of the papal chair. It's authority

him;

be feared, had fome Antichriftian marks upon and his adverfary of the Eaft might have gone fome way towards fixing them upon his Grandeur, if he had but obferved, that Antichrift, whoever he was, and whenfoever to appear in the world, is clearly marked out in the prophecies, as having his feat in old Rome.

grew,

grew, every day, more abfolute: and the tradition of the church (which had hitherto been the chief fupport of the doctrine concerning Antichrift) gradually funk under the apprehenfion of that power, to which alone it could, with any apparent propriety, be applied: while the ignorance of the times became fuch, that, except perhaps in the minds of fome few retainers to the fee of Rome, there was scarce light enough left in the Christian world to point out the meaning of the prophecies; if it's grofs fuperftition would have otherwise permitted the application of them to the facred perfon of the Pope.

3. Under the cover of all these advantages, the Man of Sin had a convenient time to difplay himself, and to grow up into that full fize and ftature, in which he could no longer be overlooked, or mistaken, by those who had any knowledge of the prophecies, or fkill in applying them. Accordingly we find that at the fynod of Rheims, held in the Xth century [n], Ar[»] A. 991.

nulphus,

nulphus, Bishop of Orleans, appealed to the whole council, whether the Bishop of Rome were not the Antichrift of the prophets; fitting in the temple of God; and perfectly corresponding to the marks, which St. Paul had given of him. In particular, fpeaking of John the XVth, who then governed the church of Rome, he apoftrophized the affembly in thefe words "What think ye, reverend Fathers, of this man, feated on a lofty throne, and fhining in purple and gold? Whom do ye account him to be? Surely, if destitute of charity, and puffed up with the pride of science only, He is ANTICHRIST, fitting in the temple of God, and fhewing himself that be is God [o]."

4. In the former part of the XIth century, Berengarius, a man of principal note in

[o] Quid hunc, reverendi patres, in fublimi folia refidentem, vefte purpureâ et aureâ radiantem; quid hunc, inquam, effe cenfetis? Nimirum, fi charitate deftituitur, folâque fcientiâ inflatur et extollitur, ANTICHRISTUS eft, in templo Dei fedens, et fe oftendens tanquam fit Deus. USSER. de Chriftian. Eccl. fucceffione &

those

thofe days, and diftinguished by his free writings concerning the Eucharist, went fo far as to call the church of Rome, the feat of Satan (which is but another apocalyptic name of Antichrift ;) and to know from what fource he derived this language, we need only reflect, that, in the catalogue of his works, we find a treatise written by him exprefsly on the book of Revelations [p].

As this century advanced, the papal power rose to its height. And all the characters of Antichrift glared so strongly in the perfon of Hildebrand, who took the

ftatu, c.ii. p. 36. Lond. 1613.-ILLYRICI Cat. Teft. Ver. p. 1558. Officin. Jacob. Stoër et Jacob. Chouël. -This Arnulph, Bishop of Orleans, was esteemed, in his day, the wifeft and moft eloquent of all the Gallican prelates. Arnulphus-de quo fic initio ejus fynodi fcriptum eft-Inter omnes Galliarum epifcopos fapientiâ et eloquentia clariffimus habebatur. Ib.

[p] "Ecclefiam vanitatis, & SEDEM SATANÆ Vocabat." USSER. de Chriftian. Eccl. fuccef. & ftatu, c. 7. f. xxiv. p. 196.-In Apocalyfin fcripfiffe teftatur Boftonius Burienfis. CAVE, H. L. vol. ii. p. 131. Oxon. 3743.

name

name of Gregory VIIth, that the Romish hiftorian, Joannes Aventinus, fpeaks of it as a point, in which the generality of fair, candid, and ingenuous writers, were agreed, That THEN began the empire of Antichrift [q].

5. Pafcal II, who had been brought up at the feet of Hildebrand, and sate upon the papal throne in the beginning of the XIIth century, was treated with as little ceremony, as his master had been; particularly, by Fluentius, Bishop of Florence, and by the whole church of Liege [r].

St. Bernard, too, the most eminent perfon of that age, was fo ftruck with the marks of Antichriftianifm in the church of Rome (to which, however, in other refpects, he was enough devoted) that he

[2] Plerique omnes boni, aperti, jufti, ingenui, fimplices, tum imperium Antichrifti cœpiffe, quod ea quæ Chriftus fervator nofter tot annos ante nobis cantavit, eveniffe eo tempore cernebant, memoriæ literarum prodidêre. ANNAL. BOIORUM, 1. v. p. 591. Ingolftad. 1554.

[r] CAVE, H. L. vol. ii. p. 258. Conc. Flor. 1104. USSER, De Chrifti Eccl. fucc. & ftat. c. v. f, v. p. 109. employed

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