Antichrist_(historicism)

Antichrist is the view among certain historic Reformation communities that the papacy or the Pope is the Antichrist. This historicism interpretation has been superseded in many or most Protestant churches, who currently interpret the apocalyptic passage to mean a number of things.

Pre-Reformation use

Articles of the Lollards

The first of the twenty-five articles of the Lollards from 1388 is:

The first, that this Pope Urban the Sixth hath not the power of Saint Peter in earth, but they affirm him to be son of Anti-christ, and that no true pope was from the lime of Silvester pope. ^[1]

Passional Christi und Antichristi, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, from Luther's 1521 Passionary of the Christ and Antichrist. The Pope is signing and selling indulgences.

Some of the Spiritual Franciscans considered the Emperor Frederick II a positive Antichrist who would clean the Church from riches and clergy.^[2]

Protestant Reformation

Views of the reformers

Many Protestant reformers, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, John Knox, and Cotton Mather, identified the Roman papacy as the Antichrist.^{[citation needed]}

The Centuriators of Magdeburg, a group of Lutheran scholars in Magdeburg headed by Matthias Flacius, wrote the 12-volume "Magdeburg Centuries" to discredit the papacy and identify the pope as the Antichrist. The fifth round of talks in the Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue notes,

In calling the pope the "antichrist," the early Lutherans stood in a tradition that reached back into the eleventh century. Not only dissidents and heretics but even saints had called the bishop of Rome the "antichrist" when they wished to castigate his abuse of power.^[3]

Reformation confessions of faith

The Reformation allowed for more confessions of faith to be written. Previously, this was prevented by a prohibition on creed writing in the Council of Nicea. Lutherans, Reformed, Anabaptists, and Methodists all included references to the Papacy as the Antichrist in their confessions of faith:

Smalcald Articles, Article four (1537)

...the Pope is the very Antichrist, who has exalted himself above, and opposed himself against Christ because he will not permit Christians to be saved without his power, which, nevertheless, is nothing, and is neither ordained nor commanded by God. This is, properly speaking to exalt himself above all that is called God as Paul says, 2 Thess. 2, 4. Even the Turks or the Tartars, great enemies of Christians as they are, do not do this, but they allow whoever wishes to believe in Christ, and take bodily tribute and obedience from Christians... Therefore, just as little as we can worship the devil himself as Lord and God, we can endure his apostle, the Pope, or Antichrist, in his rule as head or lord. For to lie and to kill, and to destroy body and soul eternally, that is wherein his papal government really consists... The Pope, however, prohibits this faith, saying that to be saved a person must obey him. This we are unwilling to do, even though on this account we must die in God's name. This all proceeds from the fact that the Pope has wished to be called the supreme head of the Christian Church by divine right. Accordingly he had to make himself equal and superior to Christ, and had to cause himself to be proclaimed the head and then the lord of the Church, and finally of the whole world, and simply God on earth, until he has dared to issue commands even to the angels in heaven...^[4]

Christus, by Lucas Cranach. This woodcut of John 13:14-17 is from Passionary of the Christ and Antichrist. Cranach shows Jesus kissing Peter's foot during the footwashing. This stands in contrast to the opposing woodcut, where the Pope demands others kiss his feet.

Passional Christi und Antichristi, by the Lutheran Lucas Cranach the Elder. This woodcut of the traditional practice of kissing the Pope's toe is from Passionary of the Christ and Antichrist. The two fingers the Pope is holding up symbolizes his claim to be the Church's substitute for Christ's earthly presence.

Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (1537)

...Now, it is manifest that the Roman pontiffs, with their adherents, defend [and practice] godless doctrines and godless services. And the marks [all the vices] of Antichrist plainly agree with the kingdom of the Pope and his adherents. For Paul, in describing Antichrist to the Thessalonians, calls him 2 Thess. 2, 3: an adversary of Christ, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God. He speaks therefore of one ruling in the Church, not of heathen kings, and he calls this one the adversary of Christ, because he will devise doctrine conflicting with the Gospel, and will assume to himself divine authority...^[5]

National Covenant of 1580

...And therefore we abhor and detest all contrary religion and doctrine; but chiefly all kind of Papistry in general and particular heads, even as they are now damned and confuted by the word of God and Kirk of Scotland. But, in special, we detest and refuse the usurped authority of that Roman Antichrist upon the scriptures of God, upon the kirk, the civil magistrate, and consciences of men; all his tyrannous laws made upon indifferent things against our Christian liberty; his erroneous doctrine...^[6]

Westminster Confession (1646)

25.6. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalts himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.^[7]

1689 Baptist Confession of Faith

26.4. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order or government of the church, is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner; neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ.

In 1754, John Wesley published his Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, which is currently an official Doctrinal Standard of the United Methodist Church.^[8] In his notes on Revelation chapter 13, he commented,

"The whole succession of Popes from Gregory VII. are undoubtedly antichrist. Yet this hinders not, but that the last Pope in this succession will be more eminently the antichrist, the man of sin, adding to that of his predecessors a peculiar degree of wickedness from the bottomless pit. This individual person, as Pope, is the seventh head of the beast; as the man of sin, he is the eighth, or the beast himself."^[9]

Since 1900

Confessional Lutherans

Confessional Lutheran church bodies, such as the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Church of the Lutheran Confession teach that the Roman papacy or office of the pope is the Antichrist, including this article of faith as part of a quia rather than quatenus subscription to the Book of Concord. In 1932 the LCMS adopted A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod. Statement 43, Of the Antichrist:

43. As to the Antichrist we teach that the prophecies of the Holy Scriptures concerning the Antichrist, 2 Thess. 2:3-12; 1 John 2:18, have been fulfilled in the Pope of Rome and his dominion. All the features of the Antichrist as drawn in these prophecies, including the most abominable and horrible ones, for example, that the Antichrist "as God sitteth in the temple of God," 2 Thess. 2:4; that he anathematizes the very heart of the Gospel of Christ, that is, the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins by grace alone, for Christ's sake alone, through faith alone, without any merit or worthiness in man (Rom. 3:20-28; Gal. 2:16); that he recognizes only those as members of the Christian Church who bow to his authority; and that, like a deluge, he had inundated the whole Church with his antichristian doctrines till God revealed him through the Reformation -- these very features are the outstanding characteristics of the Papacy. (Cf. Smalcald Articles, Triglot, p. 515, Paragraphs 39-41; p. 401, Paragraph 45; M. pp. 336, 258.) Hence we subscribe to the statement of our Confessions that the Pope is "the very Antichrist." (Smalcald Articles, Triglot, p. 475, Paragraph 10; M., p. 308.)^[10]

Lutheran Churches of the Reformation

The Lutheran Churches of the Reformation,^[11] the Concordia Lutheran Conference,^[12] the Church of the Lutheran Confession,^[13] and the Illinois Lutheran Conference^[14] all hold to Brief Statement.

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

In 1959 the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) formally issued its Statement on the Antichrist, a doctrinal statement that declared, "we reaffirm the statement of the Lutheran Confessions, that 'the Pope is the very Antichrist'".^[15]

Seventh-day adventists

Seventh-day Adventists teach that the anti-Christ is the office of the Papacy.^{[citation needed]} In 1798, the French General Berthier exiled the Pope and took away all his authority, which was later restored in 1929. This is taken as a fulfillment of the prophecy that the Beast of Revelation would receive a deadly wound but that the wound would be healed. Catholics do not accept any suspension of papal authority or succession, as Pius VII was elected successor in the standard procedure, which was followed in later elections as well. As far as temporal power is concerned, it was first completely restored between 1815 and 1870 and again in 1929, when Vatican City was established as an independent state by the Lateran Treaty. Hence there were two periods of suspension of political independence of papacy, not just one.^{[citation needed]}

Some Adventists have interpreted the number of the beast, 666, as corresponding to the title Vicarius Filii Dei of the Pope. But it was claimed by Catholic apologists that Vicarius Filii Dei was never an official name or title of the Pope (appearing in the forged Donation of Constantine), instead it was Vicarius Christi. Latin also does not use the letter U, but V, which would throw off the numerical value of the title. The beast number 666 some Historicists claim is engraved in the Pope's tiara has never been proven to exist.

Adventists have also attributed the wounding and resurgence in Revelation 13:3 to the papacy, referring to General Louis Berthier's capture of Pope Pius VI in 1798 and the pope's subsequent death in 1799. Instead of reducing the power of the papacy, however, it grew and became the most influential political and religious power in the world.^{[citation needed]}

Philippine Protestant Churches

Some Philippine Protestant Churches and groups (example of which is the Kahayag Mission Group) consider the Mary of the various apparitions (e.g. Our Lady of Fatima) as the Antichrist.

Ian Paisley

Ian Paisley, MEP and the leader of the Free Presbyterian Church, loudly denounced then-Pope John Paul II as an antichrist in 1988 while the pontiff was giving a speech at a sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

References

1. ^ See On The Twenty Five Articles and English Historical reprints p.25
2. ^ Marvin Harris. Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches. p. 196. 
3. ^ See Building Unity, edited by Burgess and Gross
4. ^ Smalcald Articles, Article 4 in the Triglot translation of the Book of Concord
5. ^ Treatise on the Power and in the Triglot translation of the Book of Concord
6. ^ The Confession of Faith of Scotland, or The National Covenant
7. ^ Col. 1:18; Matt. 28:18-20; Eph. 4:11-12; 2 Thess. 2:2-9
8. ^ See Section 3 - Our Doctrinal Standards and General Rules
9. ^ See section of the book commentating on the Book of Revelation on the United Methodist Church website, or Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, p.715 from Google Books
10. ^ "Of the Antichrist". Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. 1932. http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=579. 
11. ^ "Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod". Concordia Publishing House. 1932. http://www.lcrusa.org/brief_statement.htm. 
12. ^ "Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod in the By-Gone Days of Its Orthodoxy". 1932. http://www.concordialutheranconf.com/doctrine/brief_1932.cfm. 
13. ^ "A Brief Statement of our Doctrinal Position". 1932. http://clclutheran.org/library/BriefStatement.html. 
14. ^ "Doctrinal Position". http://www.illinoislutheranconference.org/our-solid-foundation/doctrinal-position-of-the-ilc.lwp/odyframe.htm. 
15. ^ "Statement on the Antichrist". http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=795&contentID=4441&shortcutID=5297.