Tertullian (About A. D. 160-240)

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now hinders must hinder, until he be taken out of the way.” What obstacle is there but the Roman state, the falling away of which, by being scattered into ten kingdoms, shall introduce Antichrist upon (its own ruins)? “And then shall be revealed the wicked one.”-“On the Resurrection of the Flesh,” chap. 24;; “Ante-Nicene Fathers,” Vol. III, p. 563. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1908.HBS 9.6

The very end of all things threatening dreadful woes is only retarded by the continued existence of the Roman Empire.—“Apology,” chap. 32;“Ante-Nicene Fathers,” Vol. III, p. 43.HBS 10.1