Can We Identify Antichrist?
Introduction
“Even so, Come [quickly], Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:21)
Few subjects have intrigued the student of prophecy more than the Antichrist—“Man of Sin.” Small wonder, all Bible-believing Christians with the Apostle John long to be united with our Heavenly Bridegroom at his return, the event which will bring the satisfying grand fulfillment of “that blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). Excited by Paul’s clue in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 that the Man of Sin must first be revealed before Christ returns, speculation on the identity of this mysterious figure has always been intense….
Eager for their Bridegroom’s return, Christians during the first three centuries concluded that the Pagan Roman Empire was undoubtedly the Man of Sin. In the sixteenth century, the rallying cry of the Reformation leaders was that Papacy was the Man of Sin. And so the imminent return of Christ was the heart-throbbing expectation of Christians during the centuries that followed.
With the rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948 and Jewish zealots calling
for the construction of the third temple, a literal, superhuman Man of Sin
sitting in a literal temple in
How can we identify the Antichrist, the Man of Sin, which must come before Jesus Christ can return for his Bride, his Church? When then can John’s prayer representing the longings of the Church for centuries be answered?
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Endnotes
Chapter 1
The Antichrist and the “Little Horn”
The literal Man of Sin
concept holds that the four beasts of Daniel 7 represent four governments or
empires. The “little horn” of the fourth beast (vss. 8, 11, 20) symbolizes a
single individual who is the Man of Sin. At the same time this concept claims
that the Leopard Beast of Revelation 13 pictures not a government, but a
personal Man of Sin and that the ten horns (verse 1) picture ten governments
that support this worldwide dictator. But this interpretation is completely
inconsistent with itself:
Inconsistent
Interpretation
|
Daniel 7 |
Revelation 13 |
|
Horn = Individual Man of Sin Beast = Government |
Horns = Governments Beasts = Individual Man of Sin |
Once the Bible
identifies a symbol, then we are on shaky ground to assign that symbol a
different meaning. Since Daniel identifies these beasts as governments, most
agree that these beasts of Daniel 7 are universal empires:
The justification for this
reversal of interpretation is the claim that the Leopard Beast of Revelation 13
is referred to by a personal pronoun he; whereas the government beasts of
Daniel are not. This reasoning, however, is simply not valid. The fourth beast
(Daniel 7:19, 20), which all agree represents the
In Daniel and Revelation
beasts are governments of long duration—empires. Horns are governmental powers
within these empires. They can be sequential as in Daniel 7. Or they can be
contemporaneous as in Revelation 13. According to history, Papacy was a power
which grew out of the
The Persecution of the
Saints
Several other factors
concerning the Little Horn prove that Antichrist is a system and not an
individual. The “little horn… wears out the saints of the most high” (Daniel
7:25). This fact presents a dilemma if a personal Antichrist wears out the
saints during a future “seven-year tribulation.” If, as some claim, the true
Church is taken to heaven before the “tribulation,” who are the “saints of the
most high” that are persecuted by the Man of Sin? They reply that these are the
“tribulation saints” (Revelation 7:14) and not the saints or
This difference cannot be
correct. The same saints that are persecuted by the Little Horn, the Man of
Sin, are also given the Kingdom. The sequence of events in Daniel 7 is significant:
First, Christ is brought before the Heavenly Father and given the Kingdom (vss.
13, 14). The saints of Daniel 7, like Christ, are given the Kingdom (vss. 21,
22) after the Little Horn “made war with [them] the saints and prevailed
against them.” Notice—the saints that are persecuted by the Little Horn are the
same saints that reign with Christ. The saints of Daniel 7 are not the
“tribulation saints” of Revelation 7. Only Christ and his Church reign in his
Kingdom. Therefore, “the saints of the most high” of verse 22 are not the
“tribulation saints,” but the
“The Seven Years’
Tribulation”
In fact, the whole
“seven-year tribulation” concept dissolves before the Book of Daniel. “The
saints of the most high” are worn out by the Little Horn for a period of a
“time, times, and the dividing of time” (Daniel 7:25), which most agree refers
to 3 ½ years or 1260 days. Since the saints persecuted by the Man of Sin are
the Church who reign with Christ and not the tribulation saints, this 1260-day
persecution must occur before the great tribulation and not be part of that
tribulation.
The popular, literal Man of
Sin view just does not harmonize with Daniel 7 and Revelation 13, the very
scriptures that are used as an evidence for this teaching…. We must go back to
the basic scriptures of the Apostles which clearly delineate the characteristics
that enable us to identify the Man of Sin—the Antichrist.
Chapter 2
What Do the Apostles Say?
The Apostle Paul’s
discussion in his letter to the Thessalonians is essential in identifying the
Man of Sin. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9 (KJV), Paul mentions three names for
Antichrist:
- The Man of Sin (Vs. 3)
- The Mystery of Iniquity (Vs. 7)
- That Wicked [One] (Vs. 8)
If the Man of Sin and
Mystery of Iniquity are, indeed, names of the same entity, then we have an
important clue as to both the identity and the time of operation of the Man of
Sin.
Most translations—including
the New International Version (NIV) and The New American Standard (NAS)—leave
no doubt that all three names refer to the same entity.
|
2 Thess. 3:3-8 (NIV) 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in
any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of
lawlessness is revealed the man doomed to destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself
over everything that is called God or is worshipped, and even sets himself up
in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Don’t you remember that when I
was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding
him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of
lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will
continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be
revealed whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and
destroy by the splendor of his coming. |
2 Thess. 3:3-8 (NAS) 3 Let no one in any way deceive
you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. 4 who opposes and exalts himself
above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in
the 5 Do you not remember that while I
was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him
now, so that in his times he may be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is
already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out
of the way. 8 And then that lawless one will be
revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an
end by the appearance of His coming. |
Notice the names, “Man of
Lawlessness” and “Mystery of Lawlessness” (vss. 3 and 7). These two
translations are based on the two oldest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament
where the same Greek word anomia (anomia) is the basis of both names, “Man of
Sin” (anomia) and “mystery of iniquity” (anomia).[1]
Actually, all three names (vss. 3, 7 and 8) contain this same basic Greek word.
The nas translates this basic Greek word anomia in the English, “man of
lawlessness” (vs. 3), “mystery of lawlessness” (vs. 7) and “that lawless one”
(vs. 8).
Obviously “that lawless
one” (vs. 8) that is destroyed during the Lord’s Second Advent is the “man of
lawlessness” (vs. 3) who is also called the “mystery of lawlessness” (vs. 7).
NAS That Lawless One = Man of Lawlessness = Mystery of
Lawlessness
KJV That Wicked = Man of Sin = Mystery of Iniquity
Although the name “man of
lawlessness” is more scripturally accurate, the name “Man of Sin” is the name
of popular usage. Therefore, we will continue to use “Man of Sin” in this
treatise as rendered in the King James Version.
Origin of the Man of Sin
Having established the Man
of Sin and Mystery of Iniquity as names of the same entity, we can readily
understand the important clues the Apostle Paul provides us in 2 Thessalonians
2:7 identifying the Man of Sin.
|
Clue #1 |
Paul calls the Man of Sin
the Mystery of Iniquity and observes that it is already at work in his day. The
Man of Sin could not be a literal man for he would be nearly two thousand years
old by now!
|
Clue #2 |
Why did Paul call the Man
of Sin the Mystery of Iniquity? Paul’s lesson of contrast is clear. Remember
the beautiful mystery of the true Church described in his letters (Ephesians
5:30-32; Colossians 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 12:12-28). Christ is “not one
member, but many”! Just as the human body is a union of many members, so the
church is the body of Christ. Just as there is a mystery class of righteous or
justified believers who compose Christ, so there is a mystery class of
iniquity—evil workers—who comprise Antichrist.
|
Clue #3 |
All agree the King James
Version is a poor translation of vss. 7 and 8, “For the mystery of iniquity [Man
of Sin] doth already work [in Paul’s day]: only he who now letteth [Greek,
restrains] [2]
will let [restrain] until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that
Wicked [Man of Sin] be revealed.” All other translations are similar to the
nas, “For the mystery of lawlessness (Man of Sin) is already at work; only he
who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then that
lawless one (Man of Sin) will be revealed.”
The Pagan Roman Empire was
the restraining factor. Any profession of Christianity, true or false, was
restrained in varying degrees during the first three centuries of church
history. But the political power opportunists were ever present in the Church.
When
|
Clue #4 |
The Man of Sin is a
“mystery” or secret during its incipient beginnings. This secret stage is in
contrast to its revilement during its future full-scale operation. And that
revilement, Paul explains, would come before “our gathering together unto him”
(vss. 1-3), which many refer to as the “rapture.”
Carefully study 2
Thessalonians 2:1-3, nas:
1 Now we request you, brethren, with
regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to
Him.
2 that you may not be quickly shaken
from your composure or be disturbed. . .to the effect that the day of the Lord
has come.
3 Let no one in any way deceive you,
for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.
Verse 2 establishes that
“the day of the Lord” includes both “the coming of our Lord and our gathering
together with him.”
When Paul says in vs.3, “it
will not come,” he is referring to “the day of the Lord” (vs. 2). Since the day
of the Lord is the time of the “coming of our Lord Jesus and our gathering
together to him,” we may conclude the “man of lawlessness” or the “Man of Sin”
is revealed before the first resurrection of the saints or “rapture.”
This sequence presented by
the Apostle Paul presents a problem to those who hold the pre-tribulation
rapture scenario (that Jesus returns to rapture his saints before the
tribulation). Paul is here teaching that the Man of Sin is revealed before “our
gathering together to him,” whereas, pre-tribulationists[3]
believe the Man of Sin is revealed after their rapture.
|
Clue #5 |
“The day of Christ” could
not come except there come “a falling away first” [apostasy] and secondly,
“that man of sin be revealed” (vss. 2-3, KJV).
These two events must
proceed “the day of Christ.” “First,” the “falling away [Greek, apostasia]” and
then the “Man of Sin be revealed.” Many believe this apostasia is a rebellion
or wave of anarchy that will cause the world to accept a superman dictator who
will during the last half of the 7-year tribulation be revealed as the “Man of
Sin.”
However, this Greek word
apostasia as used in the Bible means “a defection from the truth”[4] and
not a political rebellion. Apostasia is used twice in the New Testament—here
and in Acts 21:21, where the text speaks of those who “forsake” the teachings
of Moses.[5]
The revilement of the Man of Sin, which is a system and not an individual, will
be preceded by a doctrinal defection and not a political rebellion.
|
Clue #6 |
The “Man of Sin” “exalts
himself” “in the
2 Thess. 2:4 (nas)
…who opposes and exalts
himself [above every so-called] god or [object of worship,] so that he takes
his seat in the
Can there be any doubt as
to what “
Some speculate that
Israelis will construct a literal temple just before or during the first part
of a 7-year tribulation. But when God destroyed His literal temple in A.D. 70
during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, that temple was only a
picture or type of the Church which is the actual or antitypical temple of God
(1 Corinthians 3:16). God left no instructions for the Jews to build a temple
before He sets up His Kingdom in
Therefore, when the Apostle
Paul said the Man of Sin will exalt himself in “the
Apostle John and
Antichrist
Most students of prophecy
agree that the Antichrist and the Man of Sin are one and the same entity. The
Apostle John’s evaluation of Antichrist in 1 John 2 somewhat parallels the
Apostle Paul’s description of the Man of Sin in 2 Thessalonians 2.
1 John 2:18 (nas)
Children, it is the last
hour; and just as you heard that [the] antichrist is coming, even now many
antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour
By the authority of the
Apostle John, the Christian dispensation is called the “last hour” during which
the Antichrist—the Man of Sin—would come.
|
Clue #7 |
The Apostle John calls the
Man of Sin the “Antichrist” for good reason. The name Man of Sin implies an
entity that would be against or opposing the righteous ways of Christ. But the
Greek prefix anti signifies “instead of” or “in place of.”[6] Anti
is used 20 times in the New Testament as a complete word and never does it have
the meaning of “against.” Nineteen times it is translated “for” as in Romans
12:17, “Recompense no man evil for evil.”[7] We
should not return or replace evil with evil. Thus “Antichrist” replaces the
position of Christ. Since Antichrist is also called the Man of Sin, obviously
the operating principles of this system would be also against the principles of
Christ.
Summary of the Apostles’
Clues:
- The Man of Sin was at work in Paul’s day, but was not a
literal man for then he would be almost 2,000 years old.
- The Man of Sin is a counterfeit body of Christ, that
is, a system of lawlessness intent on setting up a
- The Man of Sin was held back by the Pagan Roman Empire
until a Roman Emperor joined forces with the power-hungry element of the
Christian Church.
- The Man of Sin system would be in full operation,
identified and revealed before the dead and living in Christ are
“gathered” to him.
- The revilement of the Man of Sin system would be
preceded by the apostasy, a great defection from pure Christian doctrine.
- Professed Christians are the
- “Antichrist” signifies not only against Christ,
but in place of Christ.
Chapter 3
A Search Through History
Using the clues left by the
Apostles Paul and John, we will trace through history for the Antichrist/Man of
Sin system with the searchlight of the Scriptures. Our time frame, of course,
is the Christian Age-between the Apostles’ day and the gathering of the dead
and living in Christ to himself in the first resurrection at our Lord’s return.
The Apostle Paul said, “The
apostasy comes first.” No Protestant will deny that in the first centuries of
the Christian Age, there was a great “falling away” (apostasy). Paul again
warned of this apostasy in 2 Timothy 4:3, 4. “In later times (not the “last
times”—the Greek literally means after the present time) some will fall away
from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of
demons…Men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from meat…” This
description gives us further clues as to specific characteristics of the “Man
of Sin.” There is, of course, only one church that for centuries prohibited its
clergy to marry and forbade the eating of meat on Friday.
Jude was one of the last
writers of the New Testament. By the time Jude wrote the book that bears his
name, some of the apostles had already died in the Lord. False teachers had
become influential. It was necessary for Jude to sound an alarm to “earnestly
contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints” (vs. 3). Jude warns that
just as predicted, “certain men crept in unawares” and were teaching error
(vss. 3,4). Then he devoted the rest of his epistle to warning against the dire
consequences of their doctrine. Yes, just as Paul predicted in his first letter
to Timothy (4:1-6), the apostasy would shortly follow.
Debut of the Man of Sin
The defection from pure
doctrine that continued in the next few centuries was incredible. The system
that this error developed was monstrous in both its claims and deeds. Indeed,
very soon the Man of Sin made a debut in full splendor….
Pompous rituals and
elaborate ceremonies replaced the simple preaching of the Gospel. Salvation was
sought no longer through the blood of Christ alone—but from holy water, relics
of saints, medals and amulets, the rosary and the intercession of Mary.
Multitudes flocked to converted heathen temples to pray to and adore the very
same idols which the Pagans had worshipped a short time before. The names of
the statues were simply changed from those of Pagan gods and heroes to the
names of Christian martyrs and saints. The Roman Emperor, who as Pontifex
Maximus (“Chief Religious Ruler”) had been the head of all the Pagan priests,
vacated his office in favor of the Bishop of Rome, the new Pontifex Maximus.
Whereas the Roman emperors had claimed to possess the “Keys of Janus and
Cybele,” the new supreme pontiffs, dressed in the same costume as their
forerunners (the Pagan Roman emperors), claimed possession of the “Keys of St.
Peter” and attempted to prove that the Apostle Peter had once been the Bishop
and Pope of Rome—a claim completely unsubstantiated by history.
This Man of Sin growing out
of the apostasy as foreseen by Paul, exalted “himself above every so-called god
or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
displaying himself as being God” (nas). Since the “temple” Paul refers to is
not a literal building, but the
The System—Not Individuals
Not any one Pope was the
Antichrist——much less is every Catholic or Pope a Man of Sin. The Man of Sin,
the Antichrist, the “Mystery of Iniquity,” is the Papal system. It is not an
individual.
Astounding as these false
claims are, they deceived the whole Christian world during most of Papacy’s
dark reign. Only a faithful few escaped their baneful influence and remained
loyal to their true Lord and Head. And as already noted, the Greek prefix anti
signifies not merely “against” or “opposing,” but also “instead, in the place
of.” Thus, Antichrist is not simply an opponent of our Lord and his truth, but
an impostor, a usurper of his position. Claiming to be the “Vicar of Christ” on
earth and supreme “Head of the Church,” each Pope in turn, has applied the
Messianic promises and titles of Scripture to himself. Even kings were required
to kiss the Pope’s great toe, in supposed fulfillment of Psalm 2:12, “Kiss the
Son, lest he be angry.” However, attributing the purest motives to the Popes,
the Papacy would still be the Antichrist
If the development of such
a pompous church defected from the original simplicity and purity of the
apostolic church seems implausible, a glance at history will confirm our
conclusions. The testimony of history presents a clear case of how the Papacy
developed and claimed to be reigning in the place of Christ and his Kingdom on
earth. (See Appendix A for an historic documentation of Antichrist’s incredible
rise to power.)
Chapter 4
Man of Sin Becomes The Antichrist
Three centuries of
defection from the teachings of the Apostles had gradually prepared the worldly
Church to step into the role of the Antichrist. In A.D. 313
Between A.D. 413-426,
Augustine wrote in a 22-volume work, the city of god, that Christians were all
wrong in waiting for the second advent before the
That stone increased and
filled the whole earth: that he showed is His Kingdom, which is the church,
with which He has filled the whole face of the earth.
The Millennium, Augustine
advocated, was figurative of the period between the first and second advents.
“From the first coming of Christ to the second time…during this interval, which
goes by the name of a thousand years, he [Satan] should not seduce the Church.”[10]
That Satan was bound for a thousand years in God’s Kingdom, Augustine construed
to mean Satan could only inflict selective harm. “The devil is prohibited and
restrained from seducing those nations which belong to Christ…” “By the abyss”
is meant the countless multitudes of the wicked…when prevented from harming
believers he takes more complete possession of the ungodly.[11]
Augustine taught two
resurrections for his Kingdom, the “first resurrection” of Revelation 20 is
spiritual—“from the death of sin to the life of righteousness.” The second
resurrection is that of the body which occurs at the end of the world, when the
thousand years end. Thus he wrote, “There are two resurrections,—the one the
first and spiritual resurrection, which has its place in this life…the other
the second, which does not occur now, but in the end of the world.”[12]
The Catholic Church readily
embraced Augustine’s theology that the
To this day, the
“Who Sits as God in the Temple of God
Before Pagan Rome became
Papal Rome, the Pagan Emperor claimed the title of Pontifex Maximus, that is,
the Greatest Religious Ruler. As a demigod, in some sense descended from their
heathen deities, he was worshipped and his statues adored. Then when Pagan Rome
became Papal Rome, the Emperor who still possessed the title of Pontifex
Maximus was delighted with Augustine’s teaching that the Papal Roman Empire was
the
At that point in history
(AD 413), no single one of the eighteen hundred bishops of the empire was yet
prepared to demand recognition as the head or pope. But several had their eyes
on the prize. The prestige of the bishops of
Beware! I am the successor
of St. Peter, to whom God has given the keys of the kingdom of heaven…I am the
living representative of divine power on the earth: I am Caesar, a Christian
Caesar…I absolve all subjects from allegiance to kings; I give and take away,
by divine right, all thrones and principalities of Christendom.
Succeeding bishops of Rome
made the same pompous claims, but it was not until A.D. 533 that the bishop of
Rome was so recognized by the Roman Emperor, Justinian I. Excerpts from a
letter from Justinian reveals significantly the emperor’s acknowledgment of the
Pope John, Patriarch of Rome—as well as what the emperor expected in return:[14]
The victorious Justinian…to
John, the most holy archbishop of the fostering city of
In another letter to the
bishop of Constantinople, the arch rival of Pope John, the Emperor Justinian
warned him to acknowledge Pope John of
However, one problem
remained for complete sovereignty of the Church: The Ostrogothic kingdom that
ruled
“The Holy
Roman Empire ”
The French kings, Pepin and
Charlemagne, each in turn brought his army to the protection of Papacy’s
dominion. In A.D. 800 Charlemagne formally presented Papacy with the Papal
States and the reign of the “
The following is a
capsulation of this supreme sovereignty of the Papacy:[18]
The pontiff…trod on the
necks of Kings, made and unmade sovereigns, disposed of states and kingdoms,
and, as the great high-priest and vicegerent of the Almighty on earth,
established an authority as lord paramount, and reigned over heads of other
sovereigns…
Did Papacy as the Man of
Sin fulfill sitting “in the
The Pope is of such dignity
and highness that he is not simply a man but, as it were, God, and the vicar
[representative] of God…the pope’s excellence and power are not only about
heaven, terrestrial and infernal things, but he is also above angels…He is of
such great dignity and power that he occupies one and the same tribunal with
Christ…The pope is, as it were, God on earth…the Pope is of so great authority
and power that he can modify, declare or interpret the divine law.
As the centuries
progressed, the Popes became more and more arrogantly articulate in their
presumptuous claims. “The pope holds the place of the true God,” declared Pope
Innocent III (A.D. 1198-1216). The Lateran Council (A.D. 1123) acclaimed the
Pope as “Prince of the Universe.” St. Bernard (A.D. 1090-1153) wrote that “none
except God is like the Pope, either in heaven or on earth.” And Pope Nicholas
(A.D. 858-856) boasted, “What can you make me but God?” Ferrar’s (Roman
Catholic) Ecclesiastical Dictionary states, “The Pope, is as it were, God on
Earth.”[20]
No wonder the Revelator wrote, “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies…And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,
to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven”
(Revelation 13:5, 6).
Clearly, the “Little Horn”
of Papacy which grew out of the
Chapter 5
The Man of Sin Revealed
Since it is necessary that
the “Lawless One will be revealed” before the Lord returns, has this prophecy
(2 Thessalonians 2:8) been fulfilled? The answer is yes. The Man of Sin was
understood and “revealed” in the writings of the sixteenth century Reformation.
The historic Protestant identification of Antichrist is not a matter of
superficial arguments against a common adversary—the Papacy. The Reformers
comprehended root causes and serious consequences of sin in man and his
institution. The Romish Church is the religious personification of fallen human
nature.
The noted historian
D’Aubigne observed, “We cannot reproach
Lest we become haughty in
identifying the Man of Sin, we must realize the Antichrist succumbed to the
same struggle that every individual leader in the
The Reformation
Although many
pre-Reformation writers perceived Papacy as the Man of Sin, the leaders of the
sixteenth century Reformation wove this identification into a larger prophetic
mosaic. That Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation, recognized the
Papacy as the Man of Sin is obvious, “We are convinced that the Papacy is the
seat of the true and real Antichrist.”[22] The
From the first, and
throughout, that movement [the Reformation] was energized and guided by the
prophetic Word. Luther never felt strong and free to war against the papal
apostasy til he recognized the pope as antichrist. It was then he burned the
papal Bull. Knox’s first sermon, the sermon which launched him on his mission
as a Reformer, was on the prophecies concerning the papacy…All the Reformers
were unanimous in the matter…It nerved them to resist the claims of that
apostate church to the uttermost. It made them martyrs, it sustained them at
the stake. And the views of the Reformers were shared by thousands, by hundreds
of thousands.
Not only did the Reformers
proclaim the mighty truth of justification by faith for the liberation of men’s
souls, but they nerved thousands to break from the tyranny of the dark ages of
the Papacy by explicitly identifying the Antichrist of Bible prophecy. The
symbols of Daniel, Paul and John were applied with tremendous effect. The
realization that the incriminating finger of prophecy rested squarely on
The Counter Reformation
Jesuit scholarship rallied
to the Roman cause by providing alternatives to the historical interpretation
of the Protestants:
“Futurism”—Antichrist, a
Man in the Future
|
The most
successful tack was taken by Francisco Ribera (1537-1591) of While the first few
chapters in the Revelation were assigned to ancient Rome in the time of John,
the greater part of the prophecies of the Revelation were assigned to the
distant future—to events immediately preceding the second coming of Jesus
Christ. Antichrist would be a
single evil person who would be received by the Jews and would rebuild the
temple in Antichrist would rule the
world from this temple in |
Doesn’t this 1590
presentation sound like a page right out of Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet
Earth—or some other current evangelical’s writings on the Antichrist and the
7-year tribulation?
Joseph Tanner in 1898 made
these observations on the origin of Futurism:[24]
The Jesuit Ribera tried to
set aside the application of these prophecies to the papal power by bringing out
the Futurist system, which asserts that these prophecies refer properly not to
the career of the papacy, but to that of some future supernatural individual,
who is yet to appear, and to continue in power for three and a half years.
Thus, as Alford says, the Jesuit Ribera, about A.D. 1580, may be regarded as
the Founder of the Futurist system in modern times.
Ribera’s futurism was
polished and popularized by the great Papal controversialist, Cardinal
Bellarmine (1542-1621) of
For all Catholics think
thus, that Antichrist will be one certain man; but all heretics teach…that
Antichrist is expressly declared to be not a single person, but an individual
throne or absolute kingdom, and apostate seat of those who rule over the
church.
For 300 Years Protestants
“Revealed” Antichrist
The Reformation Cry identifying
Papacy as the Antichrist predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 nerved countless
thousands to leave the Roman Catholic Church. The concept fabricated by
Catholic Jesuits that an individual Antichrist seated in a literal temple in
Wake Up, Protestants!
Two hundred and forty years
after the Jesuit Ribera founded the Futurist school (individual man of Sin who
will reign in a literal temple for 3 ½ years), John Darby, embraced Ribera’s
Futurist concepts.
Darby, a founder of the
Plymouth Brethren, embellished the idea of a future Antichrist with a
Pre-tribulation-Secret-Rapture concept. S. P. Tregelles, whose scholarly works
are still highly esteemed among evangelicals, was an associate of Darby in the
Plymouth Brethren. Tregelles identified the origin of the Secret Rapture idea:[27]
I am not aware that there
was any definite teaching that there should be a Secret Rapture of the Church
at a secret coming until this was given forth as an “utterance” in Mr. Irving’s
church from what was then received as being the voice of the Spirit. But
whether anyone ever asserted such a thing or not it was from that supposed
revelation that the modern doctrine and the modern phraseology respecting it
arose…it came not from Holy Scriptures, but from that which falsely pretended
to be the Spirit of God.
The
Pre-tribulationist-Secret-Rapture-Antichrist-Superman concept is not
scriptural. Furthermore, this concept traces back to a Protestant, John Darby.
He ironically utilized the Catholic idea of a one-person Antichrist to counter
the historic Protestant belief of Papacy as Antichrist, which had stood for 300
years. However, Darby’s Catholic view did not become popular among born-again
Christians until after World War II.
Although a vociferous
minority currently has yielded the 300-year-old historic Protestant view of
Antichrist in favor of a Catholic view, the Antichrist was still unmistakably
identified. That the Papacy is Antichrist was the rallying cry of the
Reformation! There can be no doubt that the Man of Sin, The Antichrist, was
completely “revealed” to the Christian Church as a necessary prerequisite to
the second advent of Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
But Antichrist will again
take center stage at an “end-time drama” before it’s complete demise.
Chapter 6
The 1260 Days of Daniel - The Saints are Worn Out
As established in Chapter 1
of this treatise, the saints that are persecuted by the “little horn” (Daniel
7:25) compose the Church who reigns with Christ. Further, it was proven this
1260-day persecution must occur before the great tribulation and not be part of
that tribulation. These persecuted saints are not the “tribulation saints.”
What and when is this
1260-day period? The Bible is its own interpreter. That is, the Lord has put
into the Bible certain rules for interpreting symbols, parables, time
prophecies, etc. If we ignore these basic Scriptural rules, then our
understanding of scriptures will be confused. The Scriptural key for
interpreting time prophecy is found in Ezekiel 4:1-8. A 390-day period is
prophesied and a key is also provided, “I have appointed thee each day for a
year.” By this divinely provided rule of interpretation, 390 days equals 390
years. Based on this day-equals-a-year key revealed in Ezekiel, all readily
agree that in the Seventy Weeks prophecy (Daniel 9:24), the seventy weeks refer
to 490 years and not 490 literal days (70 weeks x 7 days = 490 days/years).
Why then do some make an
exception to the 1260 days of Daniel and Revelation and insist on a literal
period of 1260 days? According to the Lord’s rule of a day for a year, this
period would be 1260 years. When did it begin? How did it end? As already
proven, A.D. 539 marked an important prophetic date when the last of the three
horns (civil powers)-standing in the way of the Pope of Rome being recognized
as the civil ruler of the Roman Empire-was removed (Daniel 7:8).
What followed was 1260
years of unrelenting, pitiless bloody persecution of so-called heretics. Then
it was that Popes, councils, theologians, kings, crusaders and inquisitors
combined their fiendish powers to exterminate every opponent. This persecution
reached its ultimate in the “Holy Inquisition.” Established by Pope Innocent
III in A.D. 1204, it was applied with unimaginable cruelty in every country.
Whole villages and towns were indiscriminately slaughtered on the theory that
“God will know his own.” Tens of thousands were burned alive at the stake,
while countless others were subjected to torture by the most hideous
inventions. The following history, which can be verified by numerous records,
is but a glimpse into the nightmare of the Dark Ages:[28]
The Nightmare of the Dark
Ages
Pope Innocent III
proclaimed a crusade against the Albigenses and offered to all who would engage
in it the pardon of all sins and an immediate passport to heaven without
passing through purgatory. The city of
All this rioting in blood
and villainy was done in the name of religion: professedly for the glory of
God, but really to uphold Antichrist, sitting in the
But it would be a great
mistake to suppose that the crusades against whole communities were the only
persecutions. The quiet, steady crushing of individuals, in the aggregate also
numbering thousands all over Papacy’s wide domain ground steadily on “year
after year, decade after decade, century after century” wearing out the saints
of the Most High.
Charles V, Emperor of
Germany and King of Spain and the
Francis and Henry, the
French kings, followed the example of Charles and Philip…The massacres of
Merindol,
In the massacre of
The massacre of Huguenots
in
In 1641 Antichrist
proclaimed a “war of religion” in
The total number of deaths
directly or indirectly accountable to the so-called “Holy Inquisition” is
incalculable due to the limitations of recorded history. However, if we tally
the many historic accounts, we can attribute several million deaths to Papacy
down through the centuries.
When dealing with such
numbers, the enormity of human suffering also becomes incomprehensible. After a
point, figures and details begin to dull the mind of its sensitivity. But
perhaps the Apostle Paul succeeded in encapsulating the enormity of the
diabolical acts of the Papacy by the title, “The Man of Sin.” That system has
proved itself capable of escalating astronomically every sin conceivable to
man.
Papacy’s Persecuting Power
Broken
This steady, relentless
crushing of whole communities as well as individuals over many centuries lasted
until Papacy’s persecuting power was broken by Napoleon imprisoning the Pope in
1799. Pius VI died in prison. The historian of Napoleon’s wars, describing the
capture of
No wonder the vision of the
long 1260 years of persecution of God’s people had such a terrifying effect on
Daniel, “As for me Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face
grew pale….” From 539 to 1799, the saints were relentlessly persecuted. During
the 1260 years in which Papacy persecuted the true Church, the Bible was also
suppressed. The period of persecution and suppression was long and wearing.
Seven-Year Tribulation—A
Jesuit Fabrication
A thorough search through a
Bible concordance—preferably an exhaustive concordance—will reveal not a single
verse of Scripture mentioning a 7-year tribulation. Not one! The only other
possibility for construing a 7-year tribulation, is piecing two back-to-back
1260-day (or 3 ½-year) periods which would then equal 7 years. But the only
place (Revelation 11:2,3) where 1260 “days” are mentioned in two succeeding
verses, does not justify a 2520-day or 7-year tribulation. All exponents of the
Pre-tribulationist and/or the Futurist school readily concede that verses 2 and
3 of Revelation 11 are concurrent. They refer to events during the same
1260-“day” period. They cannot be added together to make seven years.
While the Scriptures
prophesy a “great tribulation” which will conclude the Age, they do not
describe a 7-year tribulation. The concept of 7 years’ tribulation was a
convenient invention of the Catholic Jesuits which Protestants have bought. The
1260 “days” obviously are symbolic of years which occurred during the Christian
Age. The combined testimony of the following scriptural citations is
conclusive:
|
Text |
1260
Years of Papal Power |
Note |
|
Daniel
7:25 |
Little
Horn wears out saints 1260 days* |
Papal
power grew out of fourth beast, Dan. 7:7,8 |
|
Daniel
12:7 |
Scattered
the power of the holy people 1260 days* |
Saints
means “holy ones” |
|
Revelation
11:2,3 |
Holy city
trod under foot 42 months (or 1260 days*); two witnesses prophesy in
sackcloth |
City
identified in Rev. 21:2 as Bride of Christ; Old & New Testaments
“witnessed,” spoke, in dead language of Latin |
|
Revelation
12:6,14 |
Woman
flees into wilderness, nourished 1260 days* |
Symbolic
of Church, 2 Corinthians 11:2, sustained during a spiritually barren time |
|
Revelation
13:5 |
Leopard
beast (Papacy) blasphemes God and makes war with saints 42 months (42 x 30 =
1260 days*) |
Beast
same as Little Horn of Daniel which persecutes saints who later reign with
Christ |
*Key: 1 day = 1 year (Ezekiel 4:6)
More Convincing Evidence
Four characteristics by
which the Man of Sin are identified are summarized in Daniel 7:25: “And he [1]
shall speak great words against the most High, and [2] shall wear out the
saints of the most High, and [3] think to change times [4] and laws.”
The first two points have
already been considered, namely, the preposterous words by which popes claimed
to be “as God” and the wearing out of the true Church by Papacy. Additionally,
the Papacy did “change times.” Unwilling to await the unfolding of God’s plan,
Papacy changed the time of Christ’s Kingdom by declaring Papcy’s rule over the
nations as God’s kingdom on earth. Another example of Papacy’s attempting to
“change times” is in its changing of the calendar.
How did Papacy also
“change…laws”? The precepts and commands of God meant little. By the claimed
right of issuing “dispensations,” the Popes frequently set aside the moral
laws. Murder of heretics was called praiseworthy; subjects were encouraged to
rebel; oaths and contracts were cancelled; torture was declared to be an “act of
faith.” Spying, intrigue, perjury and theft were pronounced virtuous deeds when
performed in the service of the church. Not content, moreover, in dispensing
with divine laws, the popes were always ready to create new ones if convenience
so required. Clerical celibacy was prescribed; meat was forbidden for centuries
on Fridays; ecclesiastical taxes were levied and often personal liberties of
the people were forbidden. Papacy’s rational for changing divine law is
pointedly reflected in the following quote from a Catholic authority:[30]
The Pope is of so great
authority and power that he can modify, declare or interpret the divine law….
The pope can sometimes counteract the divine law by limiting, explaining, etc.
But no individual—even a
Pope—qualifies as the Man of Sin, the Antichrist. All the characteristics and
actions of the Little Horn of Daniel unmistakably brand the Papacy as the great
Antichrist system.
Chapter 7
Wounded to Death——and then Healed Revelation 13:3,14
Some, wrongly expect a
superman Antichrist at the end of the Age who is wounded—then healed—based on
Revelation 13:12-15. Is this reasonable? According to this scenario, the
Antichrist superman is killed. Then this Antichrist superman is miraculously
raised from death to life. How preposterous. Only the power of the Heavenly
Father can raise a being to life. (Even Jesus had to pray for the Father’s
power to raise Lazarus. John 11:41-44) Certainly, the Heavenly Father would not
raise an Antichrist superman to life! And no amount of satanic power can raise
the dead to life. (In view of this obvious problem, some conclude the
Antichrist man will just seem to die and then be revived.)
Then according to this
scenario, the Two-Horned Beast/False Prophet—another individual who possesses
great satanic power—makes an “image of the beast.” They claim the image will be
a statue likeness of the superman Antichrist. Using satanic power, the
Two-Horned Beast/False Prophet will then cause this statue to come to life and
speak. All who would not worship him would be killed. The absurdity grows…this
scenario is not anticipating a statue becoming mechanically or electronically
animated. (That would not be a miraculous phenomenon.) The claim is satanic
power will infuse life into this statue transforming it into a living
creature—a human-type being. This is impossible. Only the power of God can
create a living being.
Reason returns to
interpretation when we realize that these prophecies in Revelation are highly
symbolic. The language of Revelation is consistently symbolic. Just as the
Leopard Beast is symbolic of Papacy, a system, so the Two-Horned Beast and the
Image of the Beast are also church-state systems. Exercising similar power as
the Papacy and working together with the Papacy, the Image of the Beast will
probably be a Protestant federation united with civil government.
While it is unreasonable to
suppose satanic power creating a human-type being, it is customary to speak of
organizations “dying” or one organization putting “life” into another
organization. The Papal Leopard Beast, the Two-Horned Beast and the Image of
the Beast interpreted as organizations, harmonizes with the highly symbolic
terminology of Revelation 13. A literal superman Antichrist scenario does not.
Papacy’s Deadly Wound
The Papal Leopard Beast was
to be wounded, “And I saw one of his [Leopard Beast’s] heads as it were wounded
to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the
beast” (Revelation 13:3). Has this happened?
Many believe that the
Protestant Reformation inflicted this deadly wound that was eventually healed.
Just prior to the Protestant Reformation, it is interesting to note by contrast
the unchallenged position Papacy enjoyed:[31]
Just prior to Luther’s
movement, the Pope, in a bull closing the Laternal Council, A.D. 1517,
felicitated himself and his bishops, because the unity of the Catholic church
was at the moment untroubled by a single heresy. There was an end of all
resistance to Papal tyranny.
On October 31, 1517, Martin
Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door at
But when the Protestant
churches united with the state... Reformation and cleansing for a time ceased,
and, instead of progressing with the cleansing, the reformers gave attention to
organizing themselves, and to revamping and repolishing many of the old Papal
dogmas, at first so loudly condemned. Thus did Satan decoy the reformers into
the very “harlotry” (union of church and state) which they had denounced in the
Church of Rome. And thus the deadly wound which Papacy had received was for a
time healed. Rev. 13:3[32]
666——The Number of the Beast
The fascinating identifying
number of Antichrist is 666, “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding
count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is
Six hundred threescore and six” (Revelation 13:18). What does this number
signify?
The number seven is the
most frequently used number in the Bible and has long been thought to denote
completeness or perfection. Three sevens (777) would signify the ultimate in
perfection. (“Holy, holy, holy” denotes God’s holiness to the greatest
magnitude. Revelation 4:8) Six, on the other hand, is symbolic of human
imperfection. Therefore, 666 would denote the ultimate of human
imperfection—great depravity. Just as the Little Horn had the “eyes of a man,”
Antichrist is the creation of imperfect man’s wisdom. When an institution of
imperfect man attempts to replace God (2 Thessalonians 2:4), the result can
only be an ingenious deception of greatest corruption—symbolized by 666.
This number 666 is not
going to be displayed prominently on worshippers like a barcode on everybody’s
forehead—or even on I.D. cards that everyone has to carry in his or her wallet.
The number of Antichrist will only be discerned by “wisdom.” “Let him that hath
understanding count the number of the beast.” The numerical value of the
letters of many names have been found to total 666. How can it be determined
which name is correct? First, the “wisdom from above” will enable one to
Scripturally confirm that Papacy is the Antichrist. Then with this
“understanding,” one can sift through the many numerical interpretations and
correctly calculate the numerical value of its name.
Interpretations are many.
But once Papacy has been Scripturally identified as Antichrist, the number of
Antichrist’s name becomes apparent. There is one title that the Popes of Rome
have assumed to themselves and caused to be inscribed over the door of the
When the numerical values
of the letters of this title are added together, the irresistible conclusion
points to the
This prophetic, numerical
identification of Papacy is further confirmation that the Antichrist is really
the Papacy. The Papacy’s career also fits the description of being “wounded,”
then recovered. Papacy, the Antichrist, is very much alive—ready for its
end-time role in prophecy.
Chapter 8
The Antichrist in the Twentieth Century
The twentieth century has
certainly witnessed the Papacy again as a prominent force in world affairs. By
maneuvering as a world political power, it has affected the course of world
events. One area has been Papacy’s support of Fascism.
In 1919 Archbishop Pacelli
(who later became Pope Pius XII) gave
Under Vatican pressure, in
1926 Pilsudski set up a Catholic Fascist dictatorship in
Between 1929 and 1942 the
The
In the event of a war
between
Understandably, the
In 1933, the Pope had
Francz von Papen persuade President Hindenburg to appoint Hitler to be a
Chancellor of Germany.[40]
Fritz Thyssen, a rich Catholic steel magnate who financed Hitler, wrote an
article in the Swiss Arbeiterzeitung entitled, “Pius XIII, As Nuncio, Brought
Hitler to Power.”[41]
Impressed with the organization of the Papacy, Hitler is quoted as saying the
following:[42]
I learned much from the
Order of the Jesuits…until now there has never been anything more grandiose on
the earth than the hierarchical organization of the Catholic Church. I
transferred much of this organization into my own party.
In 1936 the
The Pope even collaborated
with Hitler regarding the invasion of
The Pope had been informed
of the war plans of Hitler to invade
The
Meanwhile, by Papal
intrigue in French affairs, the power of Pétain, Lavan and Weygand consolidated
to the point that they could surrender
Hitler promised the Pope
that a German victory in Europe would result in a “new Christian Europe, formed
by Catholic States and by victorious
In 1941 the Axis Powers and
the
Under the headline, “The
Catholic Church is Accused of Complicity in the killing of Serbs,” The New York
Times (September 6, 1994), gave the real reasons for the cancellation of the
Pope’s visit to
Serbian anger, which is
evident in the Bosnian Serbs’ refusal to assure the Pope’s visit, is
essentially rooted in the events of World War II, so a papal visit might have
been greeted with whistles and boos. During the War, Roman Catholic Archbishop
of Zagreb, Alojzije Stepinac, greeted the installation of the Pavelic regime as
“God’s hand at work” and never publicly denounced the onslaught on Serbian
civilians. The ferocity of this onslaught, which often involved conversion of
Greek Orthodox Serbs to Roman Catholicism at gun point or their massacre in
churches, was well known in the
The article then described
some executions of masses of Serbs by the Croats. As incredible as it sounds,
Pope John Paul II, during his visit to