Page:Mahometanism in its relation to prophecy - or, an inquiry into the prophecies concerning antichrist, with some reference to their bearing on the events of the present day (IA mahometanisminit00philrich).pdf/83

 And again the same holy doctor, on another occasion explaining the same passage, says: "Only that the Roman empire, which at present holdeth all nations beneath its sway, be taken away, and then shall Antichrist come." (Hieronymi, Epist. cli. ad Algas. qu. xi.) The illustrious Patriarch of Constantinople, St. John Chrysostome, commenting on the same text, speaks thus: "It may be asked, what is the meaning of St. Paul, when he says, you know what withholdeth him from being revealed; and why does the Apostle speak so obscurely? It is because he has in view the Roman empire: and on that account, with good reason, he speaks in obscure and enigmatical terms, for fear of irritating the Romans. The Apostle then on this account says: only that he, who now holdeth, doth hold, until he be taken out of the way; that is, when the Roman empire shall have been removed from the face of the earth, then shall Antichrist come." (Chrysost. Homelia iv. in Pauli Epist. ad Thessalonicenses ii.) A still earlier father of the Church, the great Laetantius, speaking of the latter period of the world, says: "At that time desolation will overspread the whole earth, destroying everything: the cause of which desolation will be that the Roman empire (I shudder to say it, but I must needs say it, because it is to be) will be taken