He is, therefore, as we said, the offspring of
fornication and is nurtured in secret, and on a sudden he rises up and
rebels and assumes rule. And in the beginning of his rule, or
rather tyranny, he assumes the role of sanctity Text, ἁγιοσύνην
. Variants, ἀγαθωσύνην,
δικαιοσύνην
. Old trans. “justitiam,” but Faber has
“bonitatem.”. But when he becomes master he
persecutes the Church of God and displays all his wickedness. But
he will come with signs and lying wonders 2 Thess. ii. 9., fictitious and not real, and he will
deceive and lead away from the living God those whose mind rests on an
unsound and unstable foundation, so that even the elect shall, if it be
possible, be made to stumble St. Matt. xxiv. 24..