S. Hilarie expounding these selfe same woordes of Christe, When ye shal see ye Abo∣mination
of Desolation standinge in the Holy place, saith thus, De Antichristi tem∣poribus
haec loquutus est: Christe spake these woordes of the time of Antichriste. Like∣wise
saith Theodoretus, writinge vpon y• Prophete Daniel, Abominationem De∣solationis
ipsum vocat Antichristum. And bisides others, the moste Ancient, & most
Catholique Fathers, likewise saithe Eusebius Emissenus in a special Homilie to
this purpose. Now, M. Hardinge, whereas ye so certainely assure your selfe, y• these woordes of christe maie in no wise be taken of y• confusion, & horroure, y• shalbe at
y• ende of y• worlde, bisides al these Learned & Godly Fathers, I beseche you, con∣sider
the whole drifte, & circumstance of the place, & the woordes, that Christe spake
immediately before. The Apostles demaunded him this question: What is the token
of thy Comminge (to Iudgement) and of y• ende of the worlde? To this question Christe
answeareth in this wise: Take heede, yt noman deceiue you. Many shal comme in my name,
and shal saie, I am Christe: and shal deceiue many. Yee shal heare of warres, and talkes of warres:
But be not yee troubled: Al these thinges must happen: yet this is not the ende, &c. Ma∣ny
Passe Prophetes shal rise, and shal deceiue many. Iniquitie shal encrease: Charitie shal waxe
colde. Who so continueth vnto the ende, he shalbe saued. And this Gospel of the Kingedome
shalbe Preached in al the worlde, for a witnesse vnto al Nations, and then shal come the
ende. The nexte woordes, that folowe, are these, Therefore when ye shal see the Abo∣mination
of Desolation, yt was spoken of by Daniel, &c. Thus maie yee sée, M.
Harding, by the very course, & te••oure of Christes answeare, yt, if the Iudgemente,
be the Iudgemente: if the Ende, be the Ende: if the VVorlde, be y• VVorlde, then
must these woordes needes haue relation to the Ende of the vvorlde: what so euer
any of your beste Learned Diuines, of whom ye haue hitherto named none, haue
taught, or saide to y• contrarie. Whereas wee saie, Antichriste shal stande euen
vvithin the Churche, y•, ye saie, we finde not in S. Paule. Notwithstandinge, oure good
wil, ye saie, ye vnderstande: although ye finde in vs neuer a good Reason. As for the good∣nesse
of our Reasons, wée wil not striue. But whether S. Paule saie, y• Antichriste
shal stande in y• Churche, or no, let vs be iudged by S. Paule. His woordes be plaine
Adeò, vt in Templo Dei sedeat, tanquam Deus: So that he wil sitte in the Churche of
God, as if he were God. If the Churche of God, be the Churche, then dothe S. Paule
saie, Antichriste shal sitte vvithin the Churche. In like sense Christe saith, An∣tichriste
shal sitte in the Holy place: By whiche woordes many of the best learned
Fathers haue expounded, the Churche. S. Augustine saith, Non enim Templum
alicuius Idoli, aut Daemonis, Templum Dei Apostolus diceret: For the Temple of an
Idole, or of a Diuel, the Apostle would neuer cal the Temple of God. And he addeth
further, Quidam putant rectiùs Latinè dici, sicut in Graeco est, nō, in Templo Dei, sed,
in Templum Dei sedeat: Tanquam ipse sit Templum Dei, quod est Ecclesia.
Sicut dicimus, Sedet in amicum, id est, velut amicus: Somme menne thinke, we should bet∣ter
reade it in Latine, as it is in the Greeke, not, He sitteth in the Temple of God, but, he sit∣teth
For, or As the Tēple of God: As if he him selfe vvere the Temple of God,
vvhiche is the Churche. As we saie, He sitteth for a Frende, yt is, He sitteth as a Frende.
Here S. Augustine saithe, Antichriste shal not onely sitte in y• Churche, but also
shal shewe him selfe in outwarde appearance, as if he him selfe were the Churche
it selfe. Now, M. Hardinge, who this shoulde be, I reporte me to your owne Do∣ctoures,
of whom one hath written thus, Papa quodammodò virtualiter est tota Ec∣clesia:
The Pope in a māner by waie of vertue, or Power, is the whole Vniuersal Churche.
S. Hierome saith, Antichristus stabit in loco Sancto, id est, in Ecclesia, & se ostendet,
vt Deum: Antichriste shal stande in the Holy place, that is to saie, in the Churche: and shal
shewe him selfe, as if he were God. S. Chrysostome saithe, Incident in Abominatio∣nem
Desolationis, quae stat in Sanctis Ecclesiae locis: They shal fal into the Abo∣mination
of Desolation, that standeth in the Holy places of the Churche.
S. Hilarie saithe, Vnum moneo: Cauete Antichristum. Malè enim vos parietū