754 THE EEFOKMATION IN FRENCH SWITZERLAND.
He withdrew only his visible presence till the day of judgment, but promised to be with us invisibly, but none the less really, to the end of the world.^
6. The Kingdom of Christ, and the Reign of Antichrist.^
We have already noticed the apocalyptic fancies of Servetus. He could not find the kingdom of God or the kingdom- of heaven, so often spoken of in the Gospels (while Christ speaks only twice of the " Church "), in any visible church organization of his day. The true Church flourished in the first three centuries, but then fled into the wilderness, pursued by the dragon ; there she has a place prepared by God, and will remain " a thousand two hundred and threescore prophetic days " or years (Rev. 12 : 6) — that is, from 325 till 1585.
The reign of Antichrist, with its corruptions and abominations, began with three contemporaneous events : the first (Ecumenical Council of Nicsea (325), which split the one Godhead into three idols ; the union of Church and State under Constantine, when the king became a monk ; and the establishment of the papacy under Sylvester, when the bishop became a king.^ From the same period he dates the general practice of infant baptism with its destructive consequences. Since that time the true Christians were everywhere persecuted and not allowed to assemble. They were scattered as sheep in the wilderness.
Servetus fully agreed with the Reformers in opposition to
^ " Non dixit, non ero vobiscum ; sed, non videbitis me, et ego vobiscuin sum." Rest. 509.
2 De fide et justitia regni Christi. Rest. 287 sqq. Sigtia sexaginta Regni Christi et Antichristi et revelatio eius jam nunc prcesens, 664-670. Comp. above, § 146.
2 " Quamvis post Christum max ccepit Antichristi mysterium : vere tamen emicuit et stabilitum est regnum tempore Sylvestri et Constantini. Quo tempore est mox cecumenico concilio a nobis ereptus filius Dei, fugata ecclesia, et abominationes omnes legibus decretoe. Hinc transierunt tempus et tempora et dimidium temporis, anni mille ducenti sexaginta." Rest. 666.
§ 147. THE THEOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF SERVETUS. 755
the papacy as an antichristiau power, but went much furtlier, and had no better opinion of the Protestant churches. He called the Roman Church "the most beastly of beasts and the most impudent of harlots." ^
He finds no less than sixty signs or marks of the reign of Antichrist in the eschatological discourses of Chi'ist, in Daniel (chs. 7 and 12), in Paul (2 Thess. 2:3, 4; 1 Tim. 4:1), and especially in the Apocalypse (clis. 13-18).
But this reign is now drawing to a close. The battle of Michael with Antichrist has already begun in heaven and on earth, and the author of the " Restitution " has sounded the trumpet of war, which will end in the victory of Christ and the true Church. Servetus might have lived to see the millennium (in 1585), but he expected to fall in the battle, and to share in the first resurrection.
He concludes his eschatological chapter on the reign of Antichrist with these words : " Whosoever truly believes that the pope is Antichrist, will also truly believe that the papistical trinity, p?edobaptism, and the other sacraments of popery are doctrines of the daemons. O Christ Jesus, thou Son of God, most merciful deliverer, who so often didst deliver thy people from distresses, deliver us poor sinners from this Babylonian captivity of Antichrist, from his hypocrisy, his tyranny, and his idolatry. Amen." ^
7. ESCHATOLOGY.
Servetus was charged by Calvin and the Council of Geneva with denying the immortality of the soul. This was a heresy punishable by death. Etienne Dolet was executed
^ Rest. 462 sq. : " 0 bestiam hestiarum sceleratissimani, meretricuni impudentiasimam. . . . Papa est Deus, in papatu est trinitas, draconis bestice et pseudoprophetce. Trinitatem papisticam faciunt tres realiter distincti spiritus, qui loanni dicuntur tres immundi spiritus ranarum, multis rationibus. Quia sunt de abyssi aquis immundis, sicut ranee," etc. Comp. his exposition of prophetic passages, pp. 393 sqq. and 666 sqq.
2 "Libera nos miseros ab hac Babylonica Antichristi captivitate, ab hi/pocrisi ejus, tyrannide, et idololatria. Amen." liest. 670.