Antilib'anus (AvTtXiijavor, opposite Libanus,
Judith i, 7), the eastern of the two great parallel ridges of mountains that enclose the valley of Cade- Syria proper (Strabo, xvi, 754 ; Ptol. v, 15, §8; Pliny, v, 20). It is now called Jebel esh-Shurki. The He- brew name of Lebanon (Sept. Aijiavog, Vulg. Libanus), which signitics "whitish," from the gray color of the limestone, comprehends the two ranges of Libanus and Antilibanus, as they are distinguished in classical usage. The general direction of the Antilebanon range is from north-east to south-west. Nearly oppo- site Damascus it bifurcates into diverging ridges ; the easternmost of these, the Hekmon of the O. T. {Jebel esh-Sheilh), continues its south-west course, and at- tains, in its greatest elevation, a point about 10,000 feet above the sea. The other ridge takes a more westerlj' course, is long and low, and at length unites with the other bluffs and spurs of Libanus. The former of these branches was called by the Sidonians Siric.n, and by the Amorites Shenir (Deut. iii, 9), both names signi- fying "a coat of mail" (Roscnmuller, Alterth. ii, 235). In Deuteronomy (iv, 9) it is called Mount Sion, "an elevation." In the later books (Cant, iv, 8 ; 1 Chron. v, 23) Shenir is distinguished from Hermon properly so called ; and in its Arabic form, Sunir, this was ap- plied, in the Middle Ages, to Antilibanus, north of Hermon (Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. p. 1G4). The geologi- cal formations seem to belong to the Upper Jura classi- fication of rocks, oolite and Jura dolomite prevailing. The poplar is characteristic of its vegetation. The outlying promontories, in common with those of Lib- anus, supplied the Phoenicians with abundance of tim- ber for ship-building. — Grote, Hist. <Tf Greece, iii, 358; Ritter, Erdkunde, XV, ii, 156 sq., 495 ; Raumer, Paldst. p. 29-35; Burckhardt, Syria; Robinson, Researches, iii, 344, 345. See Lebanon.
Antimensium (from avri, instead of, and mensa, a table), a consecrated table-cloth, occasionally used in the Greek Church in places where there was no altar. It answers to the Latin altare portabile, or port- able altar. The origin of this cloth is said to be the following: When the bishop consecrated a church, a cloth, which had been spread on the ground and over the communion-table, was torn in pieces and distrib- uted among the priests, who carried away each a frag- ment to serve to cover the tables in their churches and chapels ; not that it was necessary such cloths should be laid on all tables, but only on those which either were not consecrated or whose consecration was doubtful.
Anti-mission Baptists. See Baptists.
Antinomians (from avri, against, and vdpoc, the law), those who reject the moral law as not binding upon Christians. Some go farther than this, and say that good works hinder salvation, and that a child of God cannot sin ; that the moral law is altogether ab- rogated as a rule of life ; that no Christian believeth or worketh any good, but that Christ only believeth and worketh, etc. AVesley defines Antinomianism as "the doctrine which makes void the law through faith." Its root lies in a false view of the atonement ; its view of the imputation of Christ's righteousness implies that he performs for men the obedience which they ought to perform, and therefore that God, in jus- tice, can demand nothing further from man. As con- sequences of this doctrine, Antinomianism affirms that Christ abolished the moral law; that Christians are therefore not obliged to observe it ; that a believer is not obliged to use the ordinances, and is freed from "the bondage of good works;" and that preachers ought not to exhort men unto good works: not unbe- lievers, because it is hurtful; not believers, because it is needless (Wesley, ll'irfs, v, 196).
1. Antinomianism, i. e. faith without works, is one of the forms of error against which the Epistle of James is directed, showing that even in the apostolic age it had made its appearance. So the tract of
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Augustine (contra adversarium legis et prophetarum) indicates the existence of such opinions in the fourth century.
2. But the full development of Antinomianism is due to John Agricola (f 1566), one of the early coad- jutors of Luther. See Agricola. Some of the ex- pressions of Luther and Melancthon, as to justifica- tion and the law, in the ardor of their controversy with Koine, were hasty and extravagant : e. g. Lu- ther declared that "in the new covenant there is no longer a constraining and forcing law ; and that those who must be scared and driven by laws are unworthy the name of Christians" (Luther, Werke, Walch's ed. xviii, 1855). So, in his writings against the Zwickau enthusiasts, he was hast}' enough to say, ' ' These teach- ers of sin annoy us with Moses ; we do not wish to see or hear Moses ; for Moses was given to the Jews, not to us Gentiles and Christians; wo have our Gospel and New Testament ; they wish to make Jews of us through Moses ; but they shall not" ( Werke, xx, 203). Melancthon (Loci Communes, 1st ed. hy Augusti, p. 127) declares that "it must be admitted that the Dec- alogue is abrogated." But these unguarded expres- sions did not set forth the real views of Luther and Melancthon. So, in the "Instructions to the Pastors of the Saxon Electorate" (1527), it was enjoined that " all pastors must teach and enforce diligentty the ten commandments, and not only the commandments themselves, but also the penalties which God has af- fixed to the violation of them." Agricola saw in these instructions what he thought was a backsliding from the true doctrine of justification by faith only, and charged Luther and Melancthon bitterly with de- reliction in faith and doctrine. He affirmed that the Decalogue is not binding on Christians, and that true repentance comes, not from preaching the law, but by faith. Luther confuted Agricola, who professed to re- tract at Torgau (1527) ; but Melancthon remarked that " Agricola was not convinced, but overborne" (Corpus Reformatorum, i, 914). Accordingly, in 1537, when Agricola was established at Wittenberg, he wrote a number of propositions, published anony- mously, under the title Positiones inter fratres spar- see, on the nature of repentance and its relations to faith, in which his heresy was taught again, even in language so extreme as the following: "Art thou steeped in sin — an adulterer or a thief? If thou be- lievest, thou art in salvation. All who follow Moses must go to the Devil; to the gallows with Moses." After a while Agricola confessed the authorship of these theses ; and Luther replied in a series of dispu- tations (Werke, Walch, xx, 2034; ed. Altenb. vii, 310 sq.), in which he refuted the doctrines of Agricola, but dealt gently with him personally. Finding mild- ness of no avail, Luther attacked Agricola violently in 1539 and 1540, classing him with the Anabaptist fa- natics, and calling him very hard names. About this time Agricola had a call to Berlin, retracted again, and was reconciled to Luther (Dec. 9, 154d). He con- tinued, however, to be violently attacked by Flacius. After the death of Agricola, Antinomian opinions were in particular advocated in Germany by Amsdorf (q.v.), who maintained that good works are an obstacle to salvation, and by Otto of Nordhausen, who repeated the opinions of Agricola. In the Formula Concoreliie (pt. ii, cap. v, § 11) we find the following condemna- tion of these heresies : " Et juste damnantur Antinomi udversarii legis, qui prcedicationem legis ex ecclesiei er- plodmt et affirmant, noil ex lege, seel ex solo Ecangelio p ccat i arejuenda et contritionem doeeneleim esse."