In Newton's eyes, the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity in the fourth century CE was - paradoxically - probably the worst thing that had ever happened to the Christian faith. So long as the true religion had been persecuted, only sincere believers had been prepared to risk their lives by claiming allegiance to it. But as soon as it became the Empire's official religion, it was adopted by hypocrites and time-servers who saw it only as a means of gaining social or political advantage. As he explains in this document, Newton regarded this development as a fulfilment of St Paul's prophecy of the 'mystery of iniquity' (2 Thessalonians 2:7)."http://dlib.nli.org.il/R/-?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=NEWTON-091&silo_library=GEN01