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The City of God

Chapter 13.--Whether the Time of the Persecution or Antichrist Should Be Reckoned in the Thousand Years.

This last persecution by Antichrist shall last for three years and six months, as we have already said, and as is affirmed both in the book of Revelation and by Daniel the prophet. Though this time is brief, yet not without reason is it questioned whether it is comprehended in the thousand years in which the devil is bound and the saints reign with Christ, or whether this little season should be added over and above to these years. For if we say that they are included in the thousand years, then the saints reign with Christ during a more protracted period than the devil is bound. For they shall reign with their King and Conqueror mightily even in that crowning persecution when the devil shall now be unbound and shall rage against them with all his might. How then does Scripture define both the binding of the devil and the reign of the saints by the same thousand years, if the binding of the devil ceases three years and six months before this reign of the saints with Christ? On the other hand, if we say that the brief space of this persecution is not to be reckoned as a part of the thousand years, but rather as an additional period, we shall indeed be able to interpret the words, "The priests of God and of Christ shall reign with Him a thousand years; and when the thousand years shall be finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison;" for thus they signify that the reign of the saints and the bondage of the devil shall cease simultaneously, so that the time of the persecution we speak of should be contemporaneous neither with the reign of the saints nor with the imprisonment of Satan, but should be reckoned over and above as a superadded portion of time. But then in this case we are forced to admit that the saints shall not reign with Christ during that persecution. But who can dare to say that His members shall not reign with Him at that very juncture when they shall most of all, and with the greatest fortitude, cleave to Him, and when the glory of resistance and the crown of martyrdom shall be more conspicuous in proportion to the hotness of the battle? Or if it is suggested that they may be said not to reign, because of the tribulations which they shall suffer, it will follow that all the saints who have formerly, during the thousand years, suffered tribulation, shall not be said to have reigned with Christ during the period of their tribulation, and consequently even those whose souls the author of this book says that he saw, and who were slain for the testimony of Jesus and the word of God, did not reign with Christ when they were suffering persecution, and they were not themselves the kingdom of Christ, though Christ was then pre-eminently possessing them. This is indeed perfectly absurd, and to be scouted. But assuredly the victorious souls of the glorious martyrs having overcome and finished all griefs and toils, and having laid down their mortal members, have reigned and do reign with Christ till the thousand years are finished, that they may afterwards reign with Him when they have received their immortal bodies. And therefore during these three years and a half the souls of those who were slain for His testimony, both those which formerly passed from the body and those which shall pass in that last persecution, shall reign with Him till the mortal world come to an end, and pass into that kingdom in which there shall be no death. And thus the reign of the saints with Christ shall last longer than the bonds and imprisonment of the devil, because they shall reign with their King the Son of God for these three years and a half during which the devil is no longer bound. It remains, therefore, that when we read that "the priests of God and of Christ shall reign with Him a thousand years; and when the thousand years are finished, the devil shall be loosed from his imprisonment," that we understand either that the thousand years of the reign of the saints does not terminate, though the imprisonment of the devil does,--so that both parties have their thousand years, that is, their complete time, yet each with a different actual duration approriate to itself, the kingdom of the saints being longer, the imprisonment of the devil shorter, --or at least that, as three years and six months is a very short time, it is not reckoned as either deducted from the whole time of Satan's imprisonment, or as added to the whole duration of the reign of the saints, as we have shown above in the sixteenth book ¹ regarding the round number of four hundred years, which were specified as four hundred, though actually somewhat more; and similar expressions are often found in the sacred writings, if one will mark them.

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La cité de dieu

CHAPITRE XIII.

SI LE TEMPS DE LA PERSÉCUTION DE L’ANTÉCHRIST DOIT ÉTRE COMPRIS DANS LES MILLE ANS.

Cette dernière persécution de l’Antéchrist doit durer trois ans et demi, selon l’Apocalypse¹ et le prophète Daniel². Bien que ce temps soit court, on a raison de demander s’il sera compris ou non dans les mille ans de la captivité du diable et du règne des saints. S’il y est compris, le règne des saints s’étendra au-delà de la captivité du diable, et ils régneront avec leur roi, lors même que le diable sera délié et qu’il les persécutera de tout son pouvoir. Comment alors l’Ecriture détermine-t-elle le règne des saints et la captivité du diable par le même espace de mille ans, si le diable doit être délié trois ans et demi avant que les saints cessent de régner ici-bas avec Jésus-Christ? D’un autre côté, si nous disons que les trois ans et demi ne sont pas compris dans les mille ans, afin que le règne des saints cesse avec la captivité du diable, ce qui semble être le sens le plus naturel des paroles de l’Apocalypse, nous serons obligés d’avouer que les saints ne régneront point avec Jésus-Christ pendant cette persécution. Mais qui oserait dire que les membres du Sauveur ne régneront pas avec lui, lorsqu’ils lui seront le plus étroitement unis, et que la gloire des combattants sera d’autant plus grande et leur couronne plus éclatante, que le combat aura été plus rude et plus opiniâtre ? Ou si l’on prétend qu’il n’est pas convenable de dire qu’ils régneront alors, à cause des maux qu’ils souffriront, il faudra dire aussi que pendant les mille ans mêmes, tous les saints qui ont souffert ne régnaient pas avec Jésus-Christ au temps de leur souffrance, et qu’ainsi ceux qui ont été égorgés pour avoir rendu témoignage à Jésus-Christ et pour la parole de Dieu, ces martyrs dont l’auteur de l’Apocalypse dit qu’il a vu les âmes, ne régnaient pas avec ce Sauveur, quand ils enduraient la persécution, et qu’ils n’étaient pas son royaume, quand il les possédait d’une manière si excellente. Or, il n’est rien de plus faux, ni de plus absurde. An moins ne peut-on pas nier que les âmes des martyrs ne règnent pendant les mille ans avec Jésus-Christ, et qu’elles ne règnent même après avec lui, lorsque le diable sera délié. Il faut croire aussi, par conséquent, qu’après les mille ans, les saints régneront encore avec ce Sauveur, et qu’ainsi leur règne s’étendra de ces trois ans et demi au-delà de la captivité du diable. Lors donc que saint Jean dit: « Les prêtres de Dieu et de Jésus-Christ régneront avec lui pendant mille ans ; et les mille ans finis, Satan sera délivré de sa prison » ; il faut entendre que les mille ans ne finiront pas le règne des saints, mais seulement la captivité du diable ; ou du moins, comme trois ans et demi sont peu considérables, en comparaison de tout le temps qui est marqué par mille ans, l’Ecriture ne s’est pas mise en peine de les y comprendre. Nous avons déjà vu la même chose, au seizième livre de cet ouvrage³, au sujet des quatre cents ans, bien qu’il y eût un peu plus : coutume assez fréquente dans les saintes Ecritures, si l’on y veut faire attention.