The Second Coming Of Christ Jesus And The Millennium

The second coming of Christ Jesus is clearly taught in the canonical, as

well as in the apocryphal, books of the New Testament. Paul teaches, or

is made to teach it,[233:1] in the following words:



"If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them

also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we

say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive

and re ain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent

them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend

from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,

and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise

first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up

together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the

air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."[233:2]



He further tells the Thessalonians to "abstain from all appearance of

evil," and to "be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus

Christ."[233:3]



James,[233:4] in his epistle to the brethren, tells them not to be in

too great a hurry for the coming of their Lord, but to "be patient" and

wait for the "coming of the Lord," as the "husbandman waiteth for the

precious fruit of the earth." But still he assures them that "the coming

of the Lord draweth nigh."[233:5]



Peter, in his first epistle, tells his brethren that "the end of all

things is at hand,"[233:6] and that when the "chief shepherd" does

appear, they "shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not

away."[233:7]



John, in his first epistle, tells the Christian community to "abide in

him" (Christ), so that, "when he shall appear, we may have confidence,

and not be ashamed before him."[234:1]



He further says:



"Behold, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet

appear what we shall be, but we know that, when he shall

appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he

is."[234:2]



According to the writer of the book of "The Acts," when Jesus ascended

into heaven, the Apostles stood looking up towards heaven, where he

had gone, and while thus engaged: "behold, two men stood by them

(dressed) in white apparel," who said unto them:



"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This

same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so

come in like manner as ye have seen him go (up) into

heaven."[234:3]



The one great object which the writer of the book of Revelations wished

to present to view, was "the second coming of Christ." This writer,

who seems to have been anxious for that time, which was "surely" to come

"quickly;" ends his book by saying: "Even so, come Lord Jesus."[234:4]



The two men, dressed in white apparel, who had told the Apostles that

Jesus should "come again," were not the only persons whom they looked to

for authority. He himself (according to the Gospel) had told them so:



"The Son of man shall come (again) in the glory of his Father

with his angels."



And, as if to impress upon their minds that his second coming should not

be at a distant day, he further said:



"Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which

shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming

in his kingdom."[234:5]



This, surely, is very explicit, but it is not the only time he speaks of

his second advent. When foretelling the destruction of the temple, his

disciples came unto him, saying:



"Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the

sign of thy coming?"[234:6]



His answer to this is very plain:



"Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till

all these things be fulfilled (i. e, the destruction of the

temple and his second coming), but of that day and hour

knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father

only."[234:7]



In the second Epistle attributed to Peter, which was written after

that generation had passed away,[235:1] there had begun to be some

impatience manifest among the believers, on account of the long delay

of Christ Jesus' second coming. "Where is the promise of his coming?"

say they, "for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they

were from the beginning of the creation."[235:2] In attempting to

smoothe over matters, this writer says: "There shall come in the last

days scoffers, saying: 'Where is the promise of his coming?'" to which

he replies by telling them that they were ignorant of all the ways of

the Lord, and that: "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a

thousand years as one day." He further says: "The Lord is not slack

concerning his promise;" and that "the day of the Lord will come."

This coming is to be "as a thief in the night," that is, when they least

expect it.[235:3]



No wonder there should have been scoffers--as this writer calls

them--the generation which was not to have passed away before his

coming, had passed away; all those who stood there had been dead many

years; the sun had not yet been darkened; the stars were still in the

heavens, and the moon still continued to reflect light. None of the

predictions had yet been fulfilled.



Some of the early Christian Fathers have tried to account for the words

of Jesus, where he says: "Verily I say unto you, there be some standing

here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming

in his kingdom," by saying that he referred to John only, and that

that Apostle was not dead, but sleeping. This fictitious story is

related by Saint Augustin, "from the report," as he says, "of credible

persons," and is to the effect that:



"At Ephesus, where St. John the Apostle lay buried, he was not

believed to be dead, but to be sleeping only in the grave,

which he had provided for himself till our Saviour's second

coming: in proof of which, they affirm, that the earth, under

which he lay, was seen to heave up and down perpetually, in

conformity to the motion of his body, in the act of

breathing."[235:4]



This story clearly illustrates the stupid credulity and superstition of

the primitive age of the church, and the faculty of imposing any

fictions upon the people, which their leaders saw fit to inculcate.



The doctrine of the millennium designates a certain period in the

history of the world, lasting for a long, indefinite space (vaguely a

thousand years, as the word "millennium" implies) during which the

kingdom of Christ Jesus will be visibly established on the earth. The

idea undoubtedly originated proximately in the Messianic expectation of

the Jews (as Jesus did not sit on the throne of David and become an

earthly ruler, it must be that he is coming again for this purpose),

but more remotely in the Pagan doctrine of the final triumph of the

several "Christs" over their adversaries.



In the first century of the Church, millenarianism was a whispered

belief, to which the book of Daniel, and more particularly the

predictions of the Apocalypse[236:1] gave an apostolical authority,

but, when the church imbibed Paganism, their belief on this subject

lent it a more vivid coloring and imagery.



The unanimity which the early Christian teachers exhibit in regard to

millenarianism, proves how strongly it had laid hold of the

imagination of the Church, to which, in this early stage, immortality

and future rewards were to a great extent things of this world as yet.

Not only did Cerinthus, but even the orthodox doctors--such as Papias

(Bishop of Hierapolis), Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and others--delighted

themselves with dreams of the glory and magnificence of the millennial

kingdom. Papias, in his collection of traditional sayings of Christ

Jesus, indulges in the most monstrous representations of the re-building

of Jerusalem, and the colossal vines and grapes of the millennial reign.



According to the general opinion, the millennium was to be preceded by

great calamities, after which the Messiah, Christ Jesus, would appear,

and would bind Satan for a thousand years, annihilate the godless

heathen, or make them slaves of the believers, overturn the Roman

empire, from the ruins of which a new order of things would spring

forth, in which "the dead in Christ" would rise, and along with the

surviving saints enjoy an incomparable felicity in the city of the "New

Jerusalem." Finally, all nations would bend their knee to him, and

acknowledge him only to be the Christ--his religion would reign

supreme. This is the "Golden Age" of the future, which all nations of

antiquity believed in and looked forward to.



We will first turn to India, and shall there find that the Hindoos

believed their "Saviour," or "Preserver" Vishnu, who appeared in

mortal form as Crishna, is to come again in the latter days. Their

sacred books declare that in the last days, when the fixed stars have

all apparently returned to the point whence they started, at the

beginning of all things, in the month Scorpio, Vishnu will appear

among mortals, in the form of an armed warrior, riding a winged white

horse.[236:2] In one hand he will carry a scimitar, "blazing like a

comet," to destroy all the impure who shall then dwell on the face of

the earth. In the other hand he will carry a large shining ring, to

signify that the great circle of Yugas (ages) is completed, and that

the end has come. At his approach the sun and moon will be darkened,

the earth will tremble, and the stars fall from the firmament.[237:1]



The Buddhists believe that Buddha has repeatedly assumed a human form

to facilitate the reunion of men with his own universal soul, so they

believe that "in the latter days" he will come again. Their sacred

books predict this coming, and relate that his mission will be to

restore the world to order and happiness.[237:2] This is exactly the

Christian idea of the millennium.



The Chinese also believe that "in the latter days" there is to be a

millennium upon earth. Their five sacred volumes are full of

prophesies concerning this "Golden Age of the Future." It is the

universal belief among them that a "Divine Man" will establish himself

on earth, and everywhere restore peace and happiness.[237:3]



The ancient Persians believed that in the last days, there would be a

millennium on earth, when the religion of Zoroaster would be accepted by

all mankind. The Parsees of to-day, who are the remnants of the once

mighty Persians, have a tradition that a holy personage is waiting in a

region called Kanguedez, for a summons from the Ized Serosch, who in the

last days will bring him to Persia, to restore the ancient dominion of

that country, and spread the religion of Zoroaster over the whole

earth.[237:4]



The Rev. Joseph B. Gross, in his "Heathen Religion,"[237:5] speaking of

the belief of the ancient Persians in the millennium, says:



"The dead would be raised,[237:6] and he who has made all

things, cause the earth and the sea to return again the

remains of the departed.[237:7] Then Ormuzd shall clothe them

with flesh and blood, while they that live at the time of the

resurrection, must die in order to likewise participate in its

advantage.



"Before this momentous event takes place, three illustrious

prophets shall appear, who will announce their presence by the

performance of miracles.



"During this period of its existence, and till its final

removal, the earth will be afflicted with pestilence,

tempests, war, famine, and various other baneful

calamities."[237:8]



"After the resurrection, every one will be apprised of the

good or evil which he may have done, and the righteous and the

wicked will be separated from each other.[238:1] Those of the

latter whose offenses have not yet been expiated, will be cast

into hell during the term of three days and three

nights,[238:2] in the presence of an assembled world, in order

to be purified in the burning stream of liquid ore.[238:3]

After this, they enjoy endless felicity in the society of the

blessed, and the pernicious empire of Ahriman (the devil), is

fairly exterminated.[238:4] Even this lying spirit will be

under the necessity to avail himself of this fiery ordeal, and

made to rejoice in its expurgating and cleansing efficacy.

Nay, hell itself is purged of its mephitic impurities, and

washed clean in the flames of a universal regeneration.[238:5]



"The earth is now the habitation of bliss, all nature glows in

light; and the equitable and benignant laws of Ormuzd reign

supremely through the illimitable universe.[238:6] Finally,

after the resurrection, mankind will recognize each other

again; wants, cares, and passions will cease;[238:7] and

everything in the paradisian and all-embracing empire of

light, shall rebound to the praise of the benificent

God."[238:8]



The disciples of Bacchus expected his second advent. They hoped he

would assume at some future day the government of the universe, and that

he would restore to man his primary felicity.[238:9]



The Esthonian from the time of the German invasion lived a life of

bondage under a foreign yoke, and the iron of his slavery entered into

his soul. He told how the ancient hero Kalewipoeg sits in the realms of

shadows, waiting until his country is in its extremity of distress, when

he will return to earth to avenge the injuries of the Esths, and

elevate the poor crushed people into a mighty power.[238:10]



The suffering Celt has his Brian Boroihme, or Arthur, who will come

again, the first to inaugurate a Fenian millennium, the second to

regenerate Wales. Olger Dansk waits till the time arrives when he is to

start from sleep to the assistance of the Dane against the hated

Prussian. The Messiah is to come and restore the kingdom of the Jews.

Charlemagne was the Messiah of mediaeval Teutondom. He it was who founded

the great German empire, and shed over it the blaze of Christian truth,

and now he sleeps in the Kyffhauserberg, waiting till German heresy has

reached its climax and Germany is wasted through internal conflicts, to

rush to earth once more, and revive the great empire and restore the

Catholic faith.[239:1]



The ancient Scandinavians believed that in the "latter days" great

calamities would befall mankind. The earth would tremble, and the stars

fall from heaven. After which, the great serpent would be chained, and

the religion of Odin would reign supreme.[239:2]



The disciples of Quetzalcoatle, the Mexican Saviour, expected his

second advent. Before he departed this life, he told the inhabitants of

Cholula that he would return again to govern them.[239:3] This

remarkable tradition was so deeply cherished in their hearts, says Mr.

Prescott in his "Conquest of Mexico," that "the Mexicans looked

confidently to the return of their benevolent deity."[239:4]



So implicitly was this believed by the subjects, that when the Spaniards

appeared on the coast, they were joyfully hailed as the returning god

and his companions. Montezuma's messengers reported to the Inca that "it

was Quetzalcoatle who was coming, bringing his temples (ships) with

him." All throughout New Spain they expected the reappearance of this

"Son of the Great God" into the world, who would renew all

things.[239:5]



Acosta alludes to this, in his "History of the Indies," as follows:



"In the beginning of the year 1518, they (the Mexicans),

discovered a fleet at sea, in the which was the Marques del

Valle, Don Fernando Cortez, with his companions, a news which

much troubled Montezuma, and conferring with his council, they

all said, that without doubt, their great and ancient lord

Quetzalcoatle was come, who had said that he would return from

the East, whither he had gone."[239:6]



The doctrine of the millennium and the second advent of Christ Jesus,

has been a very important one in the Christian church. The ancient

Christians were animated by a contempt for their present existence, and

by a just confidence of immortality, of which the doubtful and imperfect

faith of modern ages cannot give us any adequate notion. In the

primitive church, the influence of truth was powerfully strengthened by

an opinion, which, however much it may deserve respect for its

usefulness and antiquity, has not been found agreeable to experience.

It was universally believed, that the end of the world and the kingdom

of heaven were at hand.[240:1] The near approach of this wonderful

event had been predicted, as we have seen, by the Apostles; the

tradition of it was preserved by their earliest disciples, and those who

believed that the discourses attributed to Jesus were really uttered

by him, were obliged to expect the second and glorious coming of the

"Son of Man" in the clouds, before that generation was totally

extinguished which had beheld his humble condition upon earth, and

which might still witness the calamities of the Jews under Vespasian or

Hadrian. The revolution of seventeen centuries has instructed us not to

press too closely the mysterious language of prophecy and revelation;

but as long as this error was permitted to subsist in the church, it was

productive of the most salutary effects on the faith and practice of

Christians, who lived in the awful expectation of that moment when the

globe itself and all the various races of mankind, should tremble at

the appearance of their divine judge. This expectation was

countenanced--as we have seen--by the twenty-fourth chapter of St.

Matthew, and by the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians. Erasmus

(one of the most vigorous promoters of the Reformation) removes the

difficulty by the help of allegory and metaphor; and the learned

Grotius (a learned theologian of the 16th century) ventures to

insinuate, that, for wise purposes, the pious deception was permitted

to take place.



The ancient and popular doctrine of the millennium was intimately

connected with the second coming of Christ Jesus. As the works of the

creation had been fixed in six days, their duration in the present

state, according to a tradition which was attributed to the prophet

Elijah, was fixed to six thousand years.[240:2] By the same analogy it

was inferred, that this long period of labor and contention, which had

now almost elapsed, would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a

thousand years, and that Christ Jesus, with the triumphant band of the

saints and the elect who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously

revived, would reign upon earth until the time appointed for the last

and general resurrection. So pleasing was this hope to the mind of the

believers, that the "New Jerusalem," the seat of this blissful kingdom,

was quickly adorned with all the gayest colors of the imagination. A

felicity consisting only of pure and spiritual pleasure would have been

too refined for its inhabitants, who were still supposed to possess

their human nature and senses. A "Garden of Eden," with the amusements

of the pastoral life, was no longer suited to the advanced state of

society which prevailed under the Roman empire. A city was therefore

erected of gold and precious stones, and a supernatural plenty of corn

and wine was bestowed on the adjacent territory; in the free enjoyment

of whose spontaneous productions, the happy and benevolent people were

never to be restrained by any jealous laws of exclusive property. Most

of these pictures were borrowed from a misrepresentation of Isaiah,

Daniel, and the Apocalypse. One of the grossest images may be found in

Irenaeus (l. v.) the disciple of Papias, who had seen the Apostle St.

John. Though it might not be universally received, it appears to have

been the reigning sentiment of the orthodox believers; and it seems so

well adapted to the desires and apprehensions of mankind, that it must

have contributed in a very considerable degree to the progress of the

Christian faith. But when the edifice of the church was almost

completed, the temporary support was laid aside. The doctrine of Christ

Jesus' reign upon earth was at first treated as a profound allegory,

was considered by degrees as a doubtful and useless opinion, and was

at length rejected as the absurd invention of heresy and fanaticism. But

although this doctrine had been "laid aside," and "rejected," it was

again resurrected, and is alive and rife at the present day, even among

those who stand as the leaders of the orthodox faith.



The expectation of the "last day" in the year 1000 A. D., reinvested the

doctrine with a transitory importance; but it lost all credit again when

the hopes so keenly excited by the crusades faded away before the

stern reality of Saracenic success, and the predictions of the

"Everlasting Gospel," a work of Joachim de Floris, a Franciscan abbot,

remained unfulfilled.[241:1]



At the period of the Reformation, millenarianism once more experienced

a partial revival, because it was not a difficult matter to apply some

of its symbolism to the papacy. The Pope, for example, was

Antichrist--a belief still adhered to by some extreme Protestants. Yet

the doctrine was not adopted by the great body of the reformers, but by

some fanatical sects, such as the Anabaptists, and by the Theosophists

of the seventeenth century.



During the civil and religious wars in France and England, when great

excitement prevailed, it was also prominent. The "Fifth Monarchy Men" of

Cromwell's time were millenarians of the most exaggerated and dangerous

sort. Their peculiar tenet was that the millennium had come, and that

they were the saints who were to inherit the earth. The excesses of

the French Roman Catholic Mystics and Quietists terminated in

chiliastic[242:1] views. Among the Protestants it was during the

"Thirty Years' War" that the most enthusiastic and learned chiliasts

flourished. The awful suffering and wide-spread desolation of that time

led pious hearts to solace themselves with the hope of a peaceful and

glorious future. Since then the penchant which has sprung up for

expounding the prophetical books of the Bible, and particularly the

Apocalypse, with a view to present events, has given the doctrine a

faint semi-theological life, very different, however, from the earnest

faith of the first Christians.



Among the foremost chiliastic teachers of modern centuries are to be

mentioned Ezechiel Meth, Paul Felgenhauer, Bishop Comenius, Professor

Jurien, Seraris, Poiret, J. Mede; while Thomas Burnet and William

Whiston endeavored to give chiliasm a geological foundation, but without

finding much favor. Latterly, especially since the rise and extension of

missionary enterprise, the opinion has obtained a wide currency, that

after the conversion of the whole world to Christianity, a blissful and

glorious era will ensue; but not much stress--except by extreme

literalists--is now laid on the nature or duration of this far-off

felicity.



Great eagerness, and not a little ingenuity have been exhibited by many

persons in fixing a date for the commencement of the millennium. The

celebrated theologian, Johann Albrecht Bengel, who, in the eighteenth

century, revived an earnest interest in the subject amongst orthodox

Protestants, asserted from a study of the prophecies that the millennium

would begin in 1836. This date was long popular. Swedenborg held that

the last judgment took place in 1757, and that the new church, or

"Church of the New Jerusalem," as his followers designate

themselves--in other words, the millennial era--then began.



In America, considerable agitation was excited by the preaching of one

William Miller, who fixed the second advent of Christ Jesus about 1843.

Of late years, the most noted English millenarian was Dr. John Cumming,

who placed the end of the present dispensation in 1866 or 1867; but as

that time passed without any millennial symptoms, he modified his

original views considerably, before he died, and conjectured that the

beginning of the millennium would not differ so much after all from the

years immediately preceding it, as people commonly suppose.





FOOTNOTES:



[233:1] We say "is made to teach it," for the probability is that Paul

never wrote this passage. The authority of both the Letters to the

Thessalonians, attributed to Paul, is undoubtedly spurious. (See The

Bible of To-Day, pp. 211, 212.)



[233:2] I. Thessalonians, iv. 14-17.



[233:3] Ibid. v. 22, 23.



[233:4] We say "James," but, it is probable that we have, in this

epistle of James, another pseudonymous writing which appeared after the

time that James must have lived. (See The Bible of To-Day, p. 225.)



[233:5] James, v. 7, 8.



[233:6] I. Peter, iv. 7.



[233:7] I. Peter, v. 7. This Epistle is not authentic. (See The Bible of

To-Day, pp. 226, 227, 228.)



[234:1] I. John, ii. 26. This epistle is not authentic. (See Ibid. p.

231.)



[234:2] I. John, v. 2.



[234:3] Acts, i. 10, 11.



[234:4] Rev. xxii. 20.



[234:5] Matt. xvi. 27, 28.



[234:6] Ibid. xxiv. 3.



[234:7] Ibid. xxiv. 34-36.



[235:1] Towards the close of the second century. (See Bible of To-Day.)



[235:2] II. Peter, iii. 4.



[235:3] II. Peter, iii. 8-10.



[235:4] See Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 188.



[236:1] Chapters xx. and xxi. in particular.



[236:2] The Christian Saviour, as well as the Hindoo Saviour, will

appear "in the latter days" among mortals "in the form of an armed

warrior, riding a white horse." St. John sees this in his vision,

and prophecies it in his "Revelation" thus: "And I saw, and behold a

white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was

given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer." (Rev. vi.

2.)



[237:1] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 75. Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. pp.

497-503. See also, Williams: Hinduism, p. 108.



[237:2] Prog. Relig. Ideas, i. 247, and Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 48.



[237:3] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 209.



[237:4] See Ibid. p. 279. The Angel-Messiah, p. 287, and chap. xiii.

this work.



[237:5] Pp. 122, 123.



[237:6] "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." (Rev.

xx. 12.)



[237:7] "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it." (Rev. xx.

13.)



[237:8] "And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars." "Nation shall

rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be

famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places." (Matt. xxiv. 6,

7.)



[238:1] "And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall

separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from

the goats." (Matt. xxv. 32, 33.)



[238:2] "He descended into hell, the third day he rose (again) from the

dead." (Apostles' Creed.)



[238:3] Purgatory--a place in which souls are supposed by the papists to

be purged by fire from carnal impurities, before they are received into

heaven.



[238:4] "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the

Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." (Rev. xx. 2.)



[238:5] "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." (Rev. xx.

14.)



[238:6] "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first earth,

and the first heaven were passed away." (Rev. xxi. 1.)



[238:7] "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there

shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there

be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Rev. xxi. 1.)



[238:8] "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in

heaven, saying, 'Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honor, and power,

unto the Lord, our God.'" (Rev. xix. 1.) "For the Lord God omnipotent

reigneth." (Rev. xix. 6.)



[238:9] Dupuis: Orig. Relig. Belief.



[238:10] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 407.



[239:1] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 407.



[239:2] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities.



[239:3] Humboldt: Amer. Res., vol. i. p. 91.



[239:4] Prescott: Con. of Mexico, vol. i. p. 60.



[239:5] Fergusson: Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 87. Squire: Serpent

Symbol, p. 187.



[239:6] Acosta: Hist. Indies, vol. ii. p. 513.



[240:1] Over all the Higher Asia there seems to have been diffused an

immemorial tradition relative to a second grand convulsion of nature,

and the final dissolution of the earth by the terrible agency of FIRE,

as the first is said to have been by that of WATER. It was taught by the

Hindoos, the Egyptians, Plato, Pythagoras, Zoroaster, the Stoics, and

others, and was afterwards adopted by the Christians. (II. Peter, iii.

9. Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. pp. 498-500.)



[240:2] "And God made, in six days, the works of his hands, . . . the

meaning of it is this; that in six thousand years the Lord will bring

all things to an end." (Barnabas. Apoc. c. xiii.)



[241:1] After the devotees and followers of the new gospel had in vain

expected the Holy One who was to come, they at last pitched upon St.

Francis as having been the expected one, and, of course, the most

surprising and absurd miracles were said to have been performed by him.

Some of the fanatics who believed in this man, maintained that St.

Francis was "wholly and entirely transformed into the person of

Christ"--Totum Christo configuratum. Some of them maintained that the

gospel of Joachim was expressly preferred to the gospel of Christ.

(Mosheim: Hist. Cent., xiii. pt. ii. sects. xxxiv. and xxxvi.

Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 695.)



[242:1] Chiliasm--the thousand years when Satan is bound.