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having been made manifest, the type and the shadow are useless. So that now it is superfluous to be circumcised and contrary to holy baptism. For he who is circumcised is a debtor to keep the whole law; but the Lord, that he might fulfill the law, was circumcised, and he kept the whole law and the Sabbath, that he might fulfill and establish the law. But from the time he was baptized and the Holy Spirit was manifested to men in the form of a dove descending upon him, from then on spiritual worship and life and the kingdom of heaven have been proclaimed. 99 Concerning the Antichrist It is necessary to know that the Antichrist must come. Therefore, everyone who does not confess that the Son of God and God has come in the flesh and is perfect God and became a perfect man while remaining God is an antichrist. However, in a particular and special sense, he who is coming at the consummation of the age is called Antichrist. Therefore, the gospel must first be preached among all the nations, as the Lord said, and then he will come for the conviction of the godless Jews. For the Lord said to them: “I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; another will come in his own name, and you will receive him.” And the Apostle: “Because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved, and for this reason God will send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” The Jews, therefore, did not receive the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God and God, but they will receive the deceiver who calls himself God. For that he will call himself God, the angel teaching Daniel says thus: “He shall not regard the gods of his fathers,” and the Apostle: “Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God as God, proclaiming himself to be God.” Into the temple of God, not ours, but the old one, the Jewish one. For he will not come to us, but to the Jews; not for Christ but against Christ and those of Christ, for which reason he is also called Antichrist. Therefore, the gospel must first be preached among all the nations. “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whose coming is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, whom the Lord will slay with the word of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.” Therefore, the devil himself does not become a man in the manner of the Lord's incarnation—may it not be!—but a man is born of fornication and receives all the energy of Satan. For God, foreknowing the strangeness of his future choice, permits the devil to dwell in him. Therefore, he is born of fornication, as we said, and is brought up secretly and suddenly rises up and rebels and reigns. And in the beginning of his reign, or rather his tyranny, he feigns righteousness; but when he becomes dominant, he persecutes the church of God and reveals all his wickedness. And he will come “with false signs and wonders,” fabricated and not true, and he will deceive those who have a rotten and unstable foundation of mind and will turn them away from God, so as to cause to stumble, “if possible, even the elect.” And Enoch and Elijah the Tishbite will be sent and they will turn the hearts of fathers to the children, that is, the synagogue to our Lord Jesus Christ and the preaching of the apostles, and they will be killed by him. And the Lord will come from heaven, in the manner the holy apostles saw him going into heaven, perfect God and perfect man, with glory and power, and he will slay the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, with the spirit of his mouth. Therefore, let no one expect from the earth the
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ἐμφανισθείσης ἀνόνητος ὁ τύπος καὶ ἡ σκιά. Ὥστε περιττὸν νῦν τὸ περιτέμνεσθαι καὶ ἐναντίον τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος. Ὁ γὰρ περιτεμνόμενος χρεωστεῖ ὅλον τὸν νόμον τηρῆσαι· ὁ δὲ κύριος, ἵνα πληρώσῃ τὸν νόμον, περιετμήθη, καὶ πάντα δὲ τὸν νόμον καὶ τὸ σάββατον ἐτήρησεν, ἵνα πληρώσῃ καὶ στήσῃ τὸν νόμον. Ἀφ' οὗ δὲ ἐβαπτίσθη καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐνεφανίσθη ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς καταβαῖνον ἐπ' αὐτόν, ἔκτοτε ἡ πνευματικὴ λατρεία καὶ πολιτεία καὶ ἡ τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλεία κεκήρυκται. 99 Περὶ τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου Χρὴ γινώσκειν, ὅτι δεῖ τὸν ἀντίχριστον ἐλθεῖν. Πᾶς μὲν οὖν ὁ μὴ ὁμολογῶν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθέναι καὶ εἶναι θεὸν τέλειον καὶ γενέσθαι ἄνθρωπον τέλειον μετὰ τοῦ μεῖναι θεὸν ἀντίχριστός ἐστιν. Ὅμως ἰδιοτρόπως καὶ ἐξαιρέτως ἀντίχριστος λέγεται ὁ ἐπὶ τῇ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐρχόμενος. Χρὴ τοιγαροῦν πρῶτον κηρυχθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι, καθὼς ἔφη ὁ κύριος, καὶ τότε ἐλεύσεται εἰς ἔλεγχον τῶν ἀντιθέων Ἰουδαίων. Ἔφη γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὁ κύριος· «Ἐγὼ ἦλθον ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ οὐ λαμβάνετέ με· ἔρχεται ἄλλος ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τῷ ἰδίῳ, κἀκεῖνον λήψεσθε». Καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος· «Ἀνθ' ὧν τὴν ἀγάπην τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἐδέξαντο εἰς τὸ σωθῆναι αὐτούς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πέμψει αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς ἐνέργειαν πλάνης εἰς τὸ πιστεῦσαι αὐτοὺς τῷ ψεύδει, ἵνα κριθῶσι πάντες οἱ μὴ πιστεύσαντες τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, ἀλλ' εὐδοκήσαντες ἐν τῇ ἀδικίᾳ». Οἱ οὖν Ἰουδαῖοι υἱὸν θεοῦ ὄντα τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν καὶ θεὸν οὐκ ἐδέξαντο, τὸν δὲ πλάνον θεὸν ἑαυτὸν λέγοντα δέξονται. Ὅτι γὰρ θεὸν ἑαυτὸν ἀποκαλέσει, ὁ ἄγγελος τῷ ∆ανιὴλ διδάσκων οὕτω φησίν· «Ἐπὶ θεοὺς τῶν πατέρων αὐτοῦ οὐ συνήσει», καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος· «Μή τις ὑμᾶς ἐξαπατήσῃ κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον, ὅτι, ἐὰν μὴ ἔλθῃ ἡ ἀποστασία πρῶτον καὶ ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας ὁ ἀντικείμενος καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενος ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν ἢ σέβασμα, ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς θεὸν καθίσαι ἀποδεικνύντα ἑαυτόν, ὅτι ἔστι θεός». Εἰς τὸν ναὸν δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐ τὸν ἡμέτερον, ἀλλὰ τὸν παλαιόν, τὸν Ἰουδαϊκόν. Οὐ γὰρ ἡμῖν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις εἰσελεύσεται· οὐχ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ ἀλλὰ κατὰ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, διὸ καὶ ἀντίχριστος λέγεται. ∆εῖ τοίνυν πρῶτον κηρυχθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι. «Καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος, οὗ ἐστιν ἡ παρουσία κατ' ἐνέργειαν τοῦ σατανᾶ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει καὶ σημείοις καὶ τέρασι ψεύδους καὶ ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ τῆς ἀδικίας ἐν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις, ὃν ὁ κύριος ἀνελεῖ τῷ ῥήματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργήσει τῇ παρουσίᾳ τῆς ἐπιφανείας αὐτοῦ». Οὐκ αὐτὸς τοίνυν ὁ διάβολος γίνεται ἄνθρωπος κατὰ τὴν τοῦ κυρίου ἐνανθρώπησιν-μὴ γένοιτο-, ἀλλ' ἄνθρωπος ἐκ πορνείας τίκτεται καὶ ὑποδέχεται πᾶσαν τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ σατανᾶ. Προειδὼς γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τὸ ἄτοπον τῆς μελλούσης αὐτοῦ προαιρέσεως παραχωρεῖ ἐνοικῆσαι ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν διάβολον. Τίκτεται τοίνυν ἐκ πορνείας, ὡς ἔφημεν, καὶ ἀνατρέφεται λεληθότως καὶ αἰφνίδιον ἐπανίσταται καὶ ἀνταίρει καὶ βασιλεύει. Καὶ ἐν τοῖς προοιμίοις μὲν τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ τυραννίδος, ὑποκρίνεται δικαιοσύνην· ἡνίκα δὲ ἐπικρατὴς γένηται, διώκει τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐκφαίνει πᾶσαν τὴν πονηρίαν αὐτοῦ. Ἐλεύσεται δὲ «ἐν σημείοις καὶ τέρασι ψεύδους» πεπλασμένοις καὶ οὐκ ἀληθέσι καὶ τοὺς σαθρὰν καὶ ἀστήρικτον τὴν βάσιν τῆς διανοίας ἔχοντας ἀπατήσει καὶ ἀποστήσει ἀπὸ θεοῦ, ὥστε σκανδαλισθῆναι, «εἰ δυνατόν, καὶ τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς». Ἀποσταλήσεται δὲ Ἑνὼχ καὶ Ἡλίας ὁ Θεσβίτης καὶ ἐπιστρέψουσι καρδίας πατέρων ἐπὶ τέκνα, τουτέστι τὴν συναγωγὴν ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων κήρυγμα, καὶ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἀναιρεθήσονται. Καὶ ἐλεύσεται ὁ κύριος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, ὃν τρόπον οἱ ἅγιοι ἀπόστολοι ἐθεάσαντο αὐτὸν πορευόμενον εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, θεὸς τέλειος καὶ ἄνθρωπος τέλειος, μετὰ δόξης καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ ἀνελεῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον τῆς ἀνομίας, τὸν υἱὸν τῆς ἀπωλείας, τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ. Μηδεὶς τοίνυν ἀπὸ γῆς ἐκδεχέσθω τὸν