Article 4.-Principal errors of the Jews respecting the coming of Christ and His kingdom, p. 137. Article 5.-Remarkable predictions respecting the re- turn of the children of Israel to Judea and their conversion to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Article 6.-Remarkable predictions respecting the glory Article 7.-An important question respecting the future glory of Jerusalem, p. 171. Article 8.-The voice of Christ inviting the children of ON THE STATE OF THE WORLD AT THE TIME OF THE SECOND CHAPTER 1.-At the time of the second coming of Christ the world will be in a frightful state of religious and moral ON THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS WHICH WILL ACCOMPANY THE SECOND CHAPTER 1.-The burning of the earth, p. 212. First Question.-Will the earth be absolutely destroyed and annihilated by the fire? p. 216. Second Question. - Will all mankind at the second coming of Christ be absolutely consumed by fire, without any exception? p. 219. CHAPTER 2.-The binding of Satan, p. 225. CHAPTER 3.-The first resurrection, p. 230. ON THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS WHICH WILL FOLLOW THE SECOND Article 1. -Three distinct classes of Millenarians, Article 2.-Principal ground for the opinion of the kingdom of Christ upon earth for a thousand years together with His saints, p. 254. Article 3.-The passage of the Apocalypse concerning the Millennium explained by St. Augustine and other Catholic writers, p. 256. Article 4. The same passage explained by several ancient fathers and other ecclesiastical men, p. 257. Article 5.-The opinion of the Millennium considered in reference to the divine system of Christianity, Article 6.-Predictions contained in the second chapter of Daniel, which seem to foreshow the kingdom of Article 8.-A short sketch of the action of the secular powers towards the Church since the establishment of Christianity until now, p. 290. Article 9.-Some passages of the New Testament which seem favourable to the kingdom of Christ upon Article 10.-On the condition of the saints who shall live and reign with Christ upon earth for a thousand Article 11.-On the condition of those men who shall live upon earth during the kingdom of Christ with Article 12.-Characteristics of the kingdom of Christ Article 13.-The principal objections against the Mil- CHAPTER 2.-The loosing of Satan, and his seduction of nations, THE END OF THE WORLD; OR, THE Second Coming of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. INTRODUCTION. "Extinguish not the spirit. Despise not prophecies. But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”—(1 Ep. Thess. v. 19, 20, 21.) Ir is an article of Catholic belief, that the eternal Word of God, who, to rescue us from the slavery of sin, clothed Himself with our mortality, and expired as a malefactor upon the infamous gibbet of the cross, will one day come in the clouds of heaven, with much power and majesty, to judge the living and the dead. The Apostles have solemnly declared this truth in their Creed from the very commencement of Christianity, and all the faithful have expressly professed it for more than eighteen centuries. This was the great theme on which St. Paul dwelt, to animate the first Christians in their trials, and to console them in their afflictions. "The Lord Himself," he writes to the Thessalonians, "shall come down from heaven with com B mandment, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up with them in the clouds, to meet Christ in the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort you one another with these words." 1 And as he exhorted the faithful to take courage, and to console themselves with the expectation of the coming of Christ in glory, and of their union with Him, so did he himself derive from this blessed hope a great comfort in his own sufferings and tribulations. "I am not ashamed," he writes to Timothy, "for I know whom I have believed. I am certain that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him unto that day." And again: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course; as to the rest, there is laid for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day; and not only to me, but to all them also that love His coming."3 up "2 Christ's second coming in power and glory is the principal topic of the Apocalypse of St. John; and to this he especially directs the attention of the first Christians. With this he begins, saying: "Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him."4 With this he concludes: 1 Thess. iv. 15, 16, 17. 3 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. 2 2 Tim. i. 12. |