VISIO DECIMA, cap. XXXVI
The Revelation and Fall of the Antichrist
The wicked one will be revealed and struck down by Christ, cast down by divine power amid sulfur and terror.
But then that wicked one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy by the breath of his own mouth (2 Thess. 2). The meaning of this statement is to be understood in this way: At that time that son of iniquity will be laid bare, and it will be clear to all the people that he was a liar, when in his presumption he has seized the ambition to ascend into the heavens, since in that very presumption the one who is both the condemner and the savior of peoples — the Son of God — will strike him down, and he will do this with that same power by which he himself, existing as the Word of the Father, will judge the whole circle of the earth with righteous judgment. For when that son of perdition has lifted himself upward by devilish craft, he will be cast down by divine power, and the stench of sulfur and pitch will overtake him, so that even the peoples standing by will flee to the shelters of the mountains.
Conversion and the Serpent's Lament
The terror of judgment leads many to renounce the devil and be converted, while the ancient serpent laments the end of his power.
So great a terror, indeed, will overwhelm those seeing and hearing these things that, renouncing the devil and his son, they will be converted to the true faith of baptism. Therefore the ancient serpent, struck with terror, gnashing his teeth against himself in fury, will say: 'And we are put to shame. From now on we will no longer be able to subjugate people to ourselves, as we have done until now. »
The Glory of the Son of God and the Apocalypse
After the Antichrist's ruin, the glory of the Son of God will be magnified, and a testimony from the Apocalypse of John is fittingly recalled.
Because after the ruin of the Antichrist the glory of the Son of God will be magnified, and all who believe in him will praise him with a humble voice, and a testimony from the Apocalypse of John fitting for these things, and in what sense it is to be understood.✦
Read the original Latin
« Sed tunc revelabitur ille iniquus, quem Dominus Jesus interficiet spiritu oris sui (II Thess. II). Hujus sententiae intellectus hoc modo accipiendus est: Eo tempore denudabitur ille filius iniquitatis, eumque mendacem fuisse omni populo apparebit, cum praesumptionem ad coelos ascendendi arripuerit, quoniam ipsum in praesumptione ista damnator et salvator populorum qui Filius Dei est occidet, et hoc fortitudine illa faciet, qua ipse Verbum Patris existens, totum orbem terrarum justo judicio judicabit. Cum enim iste filius perditionis diabolica arte se sursum extulerit, divina virtute dejicietur, atque fetor sulphuris et picis eum suscipiet, ita ut etiam astantes populi ad praesidia montium fugiant. Tantus quippe terror haec videntes et audientes occupabit, ut diabolo filioque ejus abrenuntiantes, ad veram fidem baptismi convertantur. Quapropter antiquus serpens attonitus in semetipsum frendens dicet: « Et nos confusi sumus. Amodo homines nobis ita subjugare non valebimus, quemadmodum hactenus fecimus. »
Quia post ruinam Antichristi gloria Filii Dei amplificabitur, et omnes credentes in eum humili voce laudabunt eam, et testimonium ex Apocalypsi Joannis ad ista competens, et quo sensu intelligendum sit.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Rev.12.10-Rev.12.12 — Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. Rev.12.11 — And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even unto death. Rev.12.12 — Therefore rejoice, O heavens and those who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.
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