Rome was to be the cause of those events in the West; yet they are not only silent, with respect to the apostacy which was to depress the church in the East, but reject the only one mentioned by the prophet, that should execute that wicked business: and thus they leave out a great part of the most important events, which properly appertain to the history of the church. This I cannot for a moment suppose to have been done by the spirit of prophecy: but by extending the apostacy to the Mohamedan power in the East, and to the Papal in the West, the history of the church becomes full and complete.

Considering the apostacy foretold by St. Paul in this light, we shall find that the eventsclearly confirm the truth of the prophecy : for it is a most remarkable fact, that both these apostacies rose in the world, not only in the same age, but in the same year. It was in the year 606 that Mohamed, falsely pretending to a familiar intercourse in his cave with the angel Gabriel, and even to a journey up to heaven, and to receive thence the revelation of the will of God, laid the foundation of apostacy in the East; and it is equally true that the Pope, in the same year, obtained from Phocas, one of the most cruel and abandoned of the Roman emperors, a commission as bishop over all the Christian Churches; and imme diately thereupon erected an apostacy in the West. From the date of these great events, their power and influence rapidly increased,

insomuch that before the twelfth century they had overwhelmed both hemispheres with the darkness of their errors and impiety, and trodden the holy city, or church of Christ, under foot, in strict conformity to the prophecy; so that the pure and primitive Gospel of Christ was scarcely to be found in either: and as the whole church had revolted from the word of God (a small remnant excepted,) and as these two apostacies were to be the instruments of inflicting the divine visitations upon it, they were allowed the same period of " forty and two months," 1260 years, to be the two scourges, during which "the two witnesses should prophecy in sackcloth." Here we have the apostacy which was " to be taken out of the way;" or so much thereof as should be necessary to make room for "the Man of Sin ;" and it is perfectly ascertained by history, that these two powers have "trodden the holy city, or church of Christ, under foot," more than 1200 prophetic years: so that this is about the time in which their power is to cease, the "two witnesses to throw aside their sackcloth," and the "Man of Sin to be revealed."

As to "the Man of Sin," commentators have been so wild in their interpretation of his marks, so various and opposite in their ideas. and opinions respecting the Power described. by them, that they have thrown the prophecy into great confusion, and convinced us of their inability to interpret it properly. Grotius, for

instance, insists that it was Caligula, that wicked and blasphemous emperor of Rome. Dr. Hammond applies it to Simon Magus; Le Clerc to the rebellious Jews; Dr. Whitby to the Jewish Nation; and Wetstein, to the Flavian family. Bishop Newton, with much perspicuity of argument, has refuted these several opinions; but, in my humble apprehension, has mistaken the prototype of "the Man of Sin," as much as any of his predecessors. He applies the figurative description of this political monster to the Papal Hierarchy, while some of the Papal expositors transfer the character to Mohamed, and others to the great anti-christ, who should appear in the world "in the last time," in direct opposition to God and his blessed Son. Many of the ancient fathers of the primitive church, were of the same opinion. But the Protestant commentators, led by their zeal in propagating the doctrines of their own church, and to defend them against Papal idolatry, apostacy, and oppression, have ascribed all the marks of " the Man of Sin," the "Son of Perdition," to the Pope, while the Papal expositors with design to throw off the odious imputation from their church, have followed the ancient fathers. I confess, after the most mature consideration of all the descriptive marks of this monstrous Power, I cannot with-hold my consent to the last opinion; and I trust, before I conclude this dissertation, I shall fully justify, not only the opinion of the ancient fathers, and the Ro

man Catholic commentators, but my own, however different it may be from those of the Potestant commentators. Indeed, were it not too great a digression from the subject before me, I could prove that no one mark, or figurative expression, made use of in describing the prototype of " the Man of Sin," can, with any degree of propriety, and prophetic accuracy, be applied to the Pope.

I shall, however, in a few words, show this mistake in its true light, which will render all further remark upon it unnecessary. Bishop Newton and others contend, that the apostacy is the church of Rome, and the Man of Sin the Pope; i. e. that the church of Rome, and the Man of Sin, are one and the same power; but the apostle positively asserts, that the apostacy and the "Man of Sin" are two distinct powers; the former to come first, and to " let, "with-hold, or prevent the coming of the lat"ter, until he shall be taken out of the way, "that the latter may be revealed in his time,' and of course that the two Powers were not either to be the same, or to be co-existent.How then can the Pope, the chief head and father of the church of Rome, and in truth the apostacy itself, be "the Man of Sin? Aware

of this objection, he endeavours to parry it, by drawing this absurd conclusion from his argument. "The apostacy," says he, " produces "him (the Pope,) and he (the Pope) promotes "the apostacy." But this conclusion only

renders the error more evident; for if the

apostacy produced the Pope, who produced the apostacy? Did the apostacy beget the Pope, and the Pope the apostacy? The plain, untortured truth, supported by all the prophetic marks relating to the apostacy in the West, and by the historical events fulfilling them, is, that the bishop of Rome, upon receiving a commission as Pope, or universal bishop, from the eastern emperor in the beginning of the seventh century, immediately established a system of idolatry; and thus became the author and father of the Western apostacy.

As I have before mentioned, that "the Man of Sin" is a different Power which was to succeed the apostacy or the Pope, I have thought it necessary to make these general strictures upon the errors of former commentators, to remove them out of the way of the following dissertation upon the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition." In describing this monstrous Power, the reader will find the language of the apostle comprehensive, and sublime. He begins, carries on, and finishes his grand and awful subject in a few verses.

His

figures are bold, consistent and perfect his general trope includes, in one view, his whole subject; and when he descends to a particular description, every type and figurative expression unfold some extraordinary quality or action, distinguishing the power foretold from all others heretofore existing upon the earth; harmoniously uniting at the same time to prove