Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On Antichrist · On the Roman Pontiff, Book III
Chapter 16: On the Kingdom and Battles of Antichrist
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. II, De Antichristo, On Antichrist (On the Roman Pontiff, Book III). The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
Of the Kingdom and battles of Antichrist we read four things in the Scriptures. First, that Antichrist, coming forth from a most humble place, will obtain the Kingdom of the Jews by frauds and deceits. Secondly, that he will fight with three Kings, namely of Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia, and, they being conquered, will occupy their kingdoms. Thirdly, that he will subject to himself seven other Kings, and in that way become Monarch of the whole World. Fourthly, that with an innumerable army he will persecute the Christians in the whole World, and that this is the battle of Gog and Magog. Of all which, since nothing suits the Roman Pontiff, it follows manifestly that he can in no way be called Antichrist.
Of the first, thus speaks Daniel, chapter 11: There shall stand up in his place one despised, and the kingly honor shall not be given him; and he shall come privately, and shall obtain the kingdom by fraud. On which place Jerome writes that although these are understood in some way of Antiochus Epiphanes, yet they are to be fulfilled far more perfectly in Antichrist — just as the things which are said in Psalm 71 of Solomon are understood indeed of Solomon himself, but were more perfectly fulfilled in Christ. Therefore in the same place Jerome, after he had expounded this place of Antiochus, following Porphyry, subjoins thus: “But our writers interpret it both better and more rightly, that Antichrist will do these things at the end of the World. He is to rise from a small nation, that is, from the people of the Jews, and will be so humble and despised that royal honor will not be given him, and by ambushes and fraud he will obtain the principality, etc.” Where Jerome signifies that this is the common exposition of the Christians. For which cause also, chapter 7, Daniel compares Antichrist with a little horn, namely because of his vile and obscure beginning.
And certainly this first point in no way suits the Roman Pontiff; for it would be necessary to say that the Roman Pontiff, down to the year 600, was most obscure and of no name, and then suddenly, and by frauds, occupied some lofty place; but this is openly false. For, as Augustine says, letter 162: “In the Roman Church the primacy of the Apostolic Chair has always flourished.” And Prosper, Book 2 on the Calling of the Nations, chapter 6: “Rome, by the primacy of the priesthood, was made greater by the citadel of religion than by the throne of power.” And the Council of Chalcedon, in its letter to Leo, asserts that at Rome shine Apostolic rays, which thence spread themselves to all, and communicate their goods with the rest. Finally, even the Heathen writer Ammianus Marcellinus, Book 27, writing of the schism of Damasus and Ursicinus, says that he does not wonder if men strive with so great zeal for the Roman Pontificate, since its wealth and greatness are so great.
Of the second, thus speaks the same Daniel, chapter 7: I considered the horns, and behold another little horn sprung out of the midst of them, and three of the first horns were plucked up at the presence thereof. And below, explaining: The ten horns shall be ten kings; and another shall rise up after them, and he shall be mightier than the former, and he shall bring down three kings. And chapter 11, explaining who these three Kings are: He shall put his hand upon the lands, and the land of Egypt shall not escape; and he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and all the precious things of Egypt; and he shall pass through Libya and Ethiopia. On which places Jerome, writing, and especially on chapter 7, says: “Let us say what all the Ecclesiastical writers have delivered: that at the consummation of the world, when the Kingdom of the Romans is to be destroyed, there will be ten Kings who will divide the Roman world among themselves, and an eleventh, a little King (Antichrist), will rise up, who will overcome three Kings out of the ten Kings, that is, of the Egyptians, and of Africa, and of Ethiopia; and, these being killed, the other seven Kings too will submit their necks to the victor.” The same teach, of the three Kings to be killed by Antichrist, Irenaeus Book 5, Lactantius Book 7 chapter 16, and Theodoret on chapters 7 and 11 of Daniel.
And this chiefly refutes the madness of the heretics, who make the Pontiff Antichrist. For let them say, if they can, when the Roman Pontiff killed the Kings of Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia, and occupied their kingdom. Theodore Bibliander, in his Chronicle, says that the Roman Pontiff, as a little horn, struck out the first horn of those ten when Gregory II excommunicated Leo the Greek Iconoclast Emperor, and forbade the tributes to be paid to him by the Italians, and gradually obtained his principality, that is, the Exarchate of Ravenna. The second horn he says was struck out when Pope Zachary deposed Childeric King of the Franks, and ordered Pippin to be created in his stead. Of the third he does not speak openly, but seems to indicate that the third horn was then struck out when Gregory VII excommunicated and deposed the Emperor Henry IV. There is extant also a certain letter of the Emperor Frederick II written against the Pontiff, in which he asserts that the three horns plucked out by Antichrist are the kingdom of Italy, of Germany, and of Sicily, which the Roman Pontiff chiefly compelled to serve him.
But these are most vain. For, first, Daniel does not speak of the kingdom of Gaul or Germany, but of the kingdom of Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia. Next, the Pope killed none of those Kings; but Antichrist will kill those three Kings, as Jerome says. Moreover, Antichrist will claim those kingdoms for himself, not deliver them to others; but the Pontiff delivered the kingdom of Gaul not to himself, but to Pippin; and, the Emperor being deposed, ordered another to be created, and did not usurp the Empire to himself. And similarly, when he deprived the Emperor Leo of the principality of Ravenna, he did not claim that principality for himself, but permitted it to the Kings of the Lombards; which yet Pippin afterward, the Lombards being conquered, gave to the Pontiff. Finally, if to depose Princes is to strike out horns, there will be not three, but many more, plucked out by Antichrist; for it is established that by the Pontiffs there were deposed, besides Leo III the Greek and Childeric the Frank, also Henry IV by Gregory VII, Otto IV by Innocent III, Frederick II by Innocent IV, who all in fact lost the Empire.
Of the third we have most plain testimonies of the Ancients. Lactantius, Book 7, chapter 16, and Irenaeus, Book 5, say that to Antichrist, after he has killed three Kings out of the ten, the rest are straightway to be subjected, and that then he himself will be Prince of all. Jerome, on chapter 11 of Daniel, on that, And he shall do things which his fathers did not, says: “No one of the Jews, except Antichrist, ever reigned in the whole world.” Chrysostom, on 2 Thessalonians 2, asserts that Antichrist will be a Monarch, and will succeed the Romans in the Monarchy, as the Romans succeeded the Greeks, the Greeks the Persians, the Persians the Assyrians.
Finally Cyril, catechesis 15, says that Antichrist will obtain the Monarchy which before had been the Romans'. And this opinion of the Fathers is plainly enough deduced from Apocalypse chapter 17, where we read: And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings. These have one design, and their strength and power they shall deliver to the beast. But that this in no way suits the Roman Pontiff is certain; for the Pontiff was never King of the whole World.
Of the fourth speaks John, Apocalypse 20: And when the thousand years shall be finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth, and seduce the nations which are over the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, and shall gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they came upon the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. And there came down fire from heaven, and devoured them; and the devil, who seduced them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the beast and the false prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. By these words is described the last persecution and its end. Of which matter thus speaks Augustine, Book 20 of the City of God, chapter 11: “This will be the last persecution, the last judgment being imminent, which the holy Church throughout the whole world will suffer — the whole city of Christ, namely, from the whole city of the devil, as great as each will be upon the earth.” Like things are had in Ezekiel 38 and 39, which are to be briefly expounded because of the many errors which have arisen on this matter.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPDT XVI. De Regno et pr celiis Antichristi. De Regno et praeliis Antichristi , quatuor in Scripturis legimus. Primo , Antichristum ex humillimo loco prodeuntem per fraudes et dolos Regnum Judaeorum adepturum. Se¬ cundo, pugnaturum cum tribus Regibus, ni¬ mirum iEgypti, Lybiae, atque iEthiopiae, et eorum regna, illis devictis, occupaturum. Tertio, subacturum sibi alios septem Reges, et eo modo Monarcham totius Mundi evasu¬ rum. Quarto, [cum innumerabili exercitu toto Orbe Christianos persecuturum, et hoc esse praelium Gog, et Magog. Quorum omnium, cum nihil in Pontificem Romanum conveniat ; sequitur manifeste, eum Antichristum nullo modo vocari posse. De primo sic loquitur Daniel. cap. XI : Stabit , inquit, in loco ejus despectus , et non tribuetur ei honor regius , et veniet clam , et ob¬ tinebit Regnum in fraudulentia (2). Quem in locum Hieronymus scribit, quod etsi haecin- telliguntur aliquo modo de Antiocho Epi¬ phane ; tamen longe perfectius implenda sunt in Antichristo, quemadmodum quae di¬ cuntur in Psal. LXXI de Salomone , intelli- guntur quidem de ipso Salomone , sed per- (1) Apoc. XIII, 4. — (2) Dan. XI, 21. fectius impleta sunt in Christo. Propterea ibidem Hieronymus, posteaquam exposuerat hunc locum de Antiocho , secutus Porphy- rium, ita subjungit : « Nostri autem et me¬ lius interpretantur et rectius , quod in fine mundi haec sit facturus Antichristus. Qui con¬ surgere habet de modica gente , id est, de populo Judaeorum, et tam humilis erit atque despectus, ut ei non detur honor regius, et per insidias et fraudulentiam obtineat prin¬ cipatum etc. » Ubi Hieronymus significat, hanc esse communem Christianorum expo¬ sitionem. Qua etiam de causa cap. VII. com¬ parat Daniel Antichristum cum cornu par¬ vulo, nimirum, propter ipsius vile et obscu¬ rum principium. Et certe hoc primum nullo modo conve¬ nit Romano Pontifici ; oporteret enim dice¬ re, Romanum Pontificem usque ad annum 600, fuisse obscurissimum, et nullius nomi¬ nis, et tunc repente, ac per fraudes locum aliquem excelsum occupasse : at hoc est aperte falsum. Nam ut Augustinus epist. 162. ait : « In Romana Ecclesia semper vi¬ guit Apostolicae Cathedrae principatus. » Et Prosper lib. U de Vocat Gent. cap. 6 : « Ro¬ ma, inquit, per sacerdotii principatum am¬ plior facta est arce religionis, quam solio potestatis. » Et Concilium Chalcedonense in epist. ad Leonem, asserit, Romae lucere Apostolicos radios, qui inde se ad omnes expandunt, et bona sua cum caeteris com¬ municant. Denique , ipse etiam Ethnicus scriptor Ammianus Marcellinus lib. XXVII scribens de schismate Damasi et Ursicini, dicit : se non mirari, si homines tanto stu¬ dio contendunt pro Romano Pontificatu, cum tantae sint ejus opes, et amplitudo. De secundo sic loquitur idem Daniel cap. VII : Considerabam, inquit, cornua , et ecce cornu aliud parvulum ortum est de medio eo¬ rum , et tria de cornibus primis evulsa sunt a facie ejus. Et infra explicans : Porro , inquit, cornua decem , decem Reges erunt , et alius con¬ surget post eos, et ipse potentior erit prioribus , et tres Reges humiliabit. Et cap. XI explicans qui sint isti Reges tres : Mittet , inquit, ma¬ num suayn in terras , et terra /Egypti non ef¬ fugiet, et dominabitur thesaurorum auri et ar¬ genti, et in omnibus pretiosis /Egypti. Per Lybiam quoque et Aethiopiam transibit (1). In quae loca Hieronymus scribens, ac prae¬ cipue in cap. VII. inquit : « Dicamus, quod omnes scriptores Ecclesiastici tradiderunt, in consummatione mundi, quando Regnum destruendum est Romanorum, decem futu¬ ros Reges, qui orbem Romanum inter se di¬ vidant , et undecimum surrecturum esse Regem parvulum (Antichristum) qui tres Reges de decem Regibus superaturus sit, id est, JEgyptiorum, et Africae, et .dEthiopiae, quibus interfectis, etiam alii septem Reges victori colla submittent. » Idem docent de tribus Regibus ab Antichristo occidendis, Irenaeus lib. V, Lactantius lib. VII, cap. 16 et Theodoretus in cap. VII. et XI Dan. Hoc autem maxime refellit insaniam hae¬ reticorum, qui Pontificem Antichristum fa¬ ciunt. Dicant enim si possunt ; quandonam Pontifex Romanus occiderit Reges Egypti, Libyae, et dEthiopiae, et eorum occupaverit regnum. Theodorus Bibliander in suo Chron. dicit, Romanum Pontificem tanquam cornu parvulum excussisse primum cornu de illis decem, quando Gregorius II excommunica- vit Leonem Imperatorem Graecum Iconoma- chum, et prohibuit, tributa illi ab Italis red¬ di, et paulatim principatum ejus, id est, Exarchatum Ravennae obtinuit. Secundum cornu dicit excussisse, quando Zacharias Papa deposuit Childericum Regem Franco¬ rum, et Pipinum pro eo creari jussit. De Tertio non aperte loquitur, sed videtur in¬ dicare, tunc fuisse excussum tertium cornu, quando Gregorius VII excommunicavit , et deposuit Henricum IV Imperatorem. Exstat etiam epistola quaedam Frederici II Impera¬ toris contra Pontificem scripta, in qua asse¬ rit, tria cornua ab Antichristo evulsa, esse regnum Italiae, Germaniae, et Siciliae, quae ' sibi potissimum Romanus Pontifex servire coegit. At haec vanissima sunt. Nam in primis Daniel non de regno Galliae vel Germaniae loquitur, sed de regno dEgvpti, Lybiae et.dE- , thiopiae. Deinde nullum eorum Regum Papa occidit : Antichristus autem tres illos Reges interficiet, ut Hieronymus dicit. Praeterea Antichristus sibi illa regna vendicabit, non aliis tradet : at Pontifex regnum Galliae non sibi, sed Pipino tradidit : et Imperatore de¬ posito, alium creari jussit, non sibi Impe¬ rium usurpavit. Et similiter quando privavit Leonem Imperatorem principatu Ravennae, non sibi vendicavit principatum illum, sed Regibus Longobardorum permisit : quem (1) Dan. VII, 8; XI, 42 et 43. tamen postea Pipinus, devictis Longobar¬ dis, Pontifici donavit. Denique, si deponere Principes est cornua excutere, non erunt tria, sed multo plura ab Antichristo evulsa : constat enim, a Pontificibus fuisse depositos, praeter Leonem III Graecum, et Childericum Francum, etiam HenricumlY a Gregorio VII, Othonem IV ab Innocentio III, Fridericum II ab Innocentio IV, qui omnes reipsa Impe¬ rium amiserunt. De tertio habemus testimonia Veterum apertissima. Lactantius lib. VII, cap. 16. et Irenaeus lib. V dicunt, Antichristo, postea- quam occiderit tres Reges ex decem, reli¬ quos continuo subjiciendos, et tum ipsum omnium Principem futurum. Hieronymus in cap. XI Dan. in illud Et faciet , quae non fe¬ cerunt patres ejus : r Nullus, inquit, Judaeo¬ rum absque Antichristo in toto unquam orbe regnavit. » Chrysostomus in II. Thess. II as¬ serit, Aqtichristum Monarcham futurum, et successurum Romanis in Monarchia, sicut Romani successerunt Graecis, Graeci Persis, Persi Assyriis. Denique Cyrillus Catech. 15. dicit, Anti- christum Monarchiam adepturum, quae an¬ tea fuerat Romanorum. Et satis aperte de¬ ducitur haec Patrum sententia, ex Apoc. c. XVII, ubi legimus : Et decem cornua , quae vidisti , decem Reges sunt. Hi unum consilium habent , et virtutem , et potestatem suam bestiae tradent (1). Hoc autem nullo modo conveni¬ re Romano Pontifici, certum est : nec enim unquam Pontifex Rex fuit totius Orbis terra¬ rum. De quarto loquitur Joannes Apoc. XX : Et cum consummati fuerint mille anni , solve¬ tur Satanas de carcere suo, et exibit , et seducet Gentes , quae sunt super quatuor angulos terrae Gog et Magog , et congregabit eos in proelium, quorum numerus est sicut arena maris. Et as¬ cenderunt super latitudinem terree , et circuie- runt castra Sanctorum et civitatem dilectam. E t descendit ignis de coelo , et devoravit eos, et diabolus , qui seducebat eos, missus est in stag¬ num ignis, et sulphuris , ubi et bestia et Pseu- doprophetee cruciabuntur die ac nocte in saecula saeculorum (2). His verbis describitur ultima persecutio, et finis ejus. De quare sic loqui¬ tur Augustinus lib. XX de Civit. Dei, cap. 11 : « Haec erit novissima persecutio novis¬ simo imminente judicio, quam sancta Eccle¬ sia toto terrarum orbe patietur, universa scilicet civitas Christi ab universa diaboli civitate , quantacumque erit utraque super terram. » Similia habentur Ezechielis XXXVIII, XXXIX, quae sunt breviter expo¬ nenda propter multos, qui de hac re exsti¬ terunt errores.