Antichrist

==History==
{{Christian Eschatology}}

===New Testament===
Whether the New Testament contains an individual Antichrist is disputed. The Greek term ''antikhristos'' originates in 1 John.<ref>{{cite book |last=Horbury |first=William |title=Messianism Among Jews and Christians: Biblical and Historical Studies |date=2003 |publisher=[[A&C Black]] |isbn=978-0567088086 |location=London, England |page=333 |language=en-uk |quote=Against this background it can be seen that the technical Greek term ''antichristos'', although it is known only from Christian … ''Antichristos'' first occurs in the Johannine epistles, and it is not used by other Greek Jewish or early Christian writings ... |author-link=William Horbury}}</ref> The similar term ''pseudokhristos'' ("False Messiah") is also first found in the [[New Testament]], but never used by [[Josephus]] in his accounts of various false messiahs.<ref name=pseudochrist>{{cite book|first=Ulrich|last=Mauser|title=The Gospel of Peace: A Scriptural Message for Today's World|date=1992|page=70|quote=From Josephus's writings we collect, first of all, without much critical comment, some statements showing the close affinity of the … nowhere in his extensive accounts of the Jewish–Roman war uses the word "pseudo-Christ" (pseudochristos).}}</ref> The concept of an ''antikhristos'' is not found in Jewish writings in the period 500 BC–50 AD.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sacred texts: Judaism |url=https://www.bl.uk/works/sacred-texts-judaism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423093412/https://www.bl.uk/works/sacred-texts-judaism |archive-date=April 23, 2023}}</ref> However, [[Bernard McGinn (theologian)|Bernard McGinn]] conjectures that the concept may have been generated by the frustration of Jews subject to often-capricious [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] or [[Roman Judaea|Roman rule]], who found the nebulous Jewish idea of a [[Satan]] who is more of an opposing angel of God in the [[Throne of God|heavenly court]] insufficiently humanised and personalised to be a satisfactory incarnation of evil and threat.{{sfn|Cabinet|2001}}{{unreliable source?|date=August 2018}}

The five uses of the term "antichrist" or "antichrists" in the [[Johannine epistles]] do not clearly present a single latter-day individual Antichrist. The articles "the deceiver" or "the antichrist" are usually seen as marking out a certain category of persons, rather than an individual.<ref>{{cite book|first=Robert|last=Yarbrough|title=1–3 John|publisher=[[Baker Publishing Group|Baker Academic]]|location=Ada, Michigan|isbn=978-0801026874|page=344|date=2008|quote=The articles in front of "deceiver" (ὁ πλάνος, ''ho planos'') and "antichrist" (ὁ ἀντίχριστος, ''ho antikhristos'') should be seen as marking out a certain category of persons (Wallace 1996: 227–230). This is a common Johannine usage (1 John 2:23)}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour.|1 John 2:18 [[New Revised Standard Version|NRSV]] (1989)}}

{{blockquote|Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.|1 John 2:22 NRSV (1989)}}

{{blockquote|By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world.|1 John 4:2–3 NRSV (1989)}}

{{blockquote|Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist!|2 John 1:7 NRSV (1989)}}

Consequently, attention for an individual Antichrist figure focuses on the second chapter of [[2 Thessalonians]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Jeffrey Alan David|last1=Weima|author-link1=Jeffrey A. D. Weima|first2=Stanley E.|last2=Porter|author-link2=Stanley E. Porter|title=Annotated Bibliography of 1 & 2 Thessalonians|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|location=Leiden, Netherlands|page=263|date=1998|quote=(2) Does the New Testament support the notion of an individual Antichrist in whom all the anti-Christian strife of all ages will be concentrated? 2 Thess 2 answers the second question in the affirmative: an individual Antichrist will bring evil to its ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Anthony A.|last=Hoekma|author-link=Anthony A. Hoekema|title=The Bible and the Future|publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]]|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|page=[https://archive.org/details/biblefuture0000hoek/page/159 159]|date=1979|isbn=978-0802808516|quote=Whereas [[Berkouwer]] states, "There is no reason to posit with certainty on the basis of the New Testament that the antichrist ... 2. particularly his statements about the "restrainer," compel us to believe that there will be a future, individual antichrist.|url=https://archive.org/details/biblefuture0000hoek/page/159}}</ref> However, the term "antichrist" is never used in this passage:

{{blockquote|As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God.|2 Thessalonians 2:1–4 NRSV (1989)}}

{{blockquote|For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.|2 Thessalonians 2:7–10 NRSV (1989)}}

Although the word "antichrist" (Greek ''antikhristos'') is used only in the Epistles of John, the similar word "pseudochrist" (Greek ''pseudokhristos'', meaning "false messiah") is used by Jesus in the [[Gospel]]s:<ref name=pseudochrist/>

{{blockquote|For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.|Matthew 24:24 and Mark 13:22 NRSV (1989)}}

===Early Church===
{{See also|Early Christianity}}
The second- or first-century book [[Odes of Solomon]], written by an [[Essenes|Essene]] convert to Christianity, makes mention of the Antichrist in figurative terms, where the redeemer overcomes the monstrous dragon.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Efrón |first=Joshua |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sqs3lj8qmIUC&dq=Odes+of+Solomon+trinity&pg=PA285 |title=Studies on the Hasmonean Period |date=1987 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-07609-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=J. Rendel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQAHBwAAQBAJ&dq=Odes+of+Solomon+antichrist&pg=PA63 |title=The Odes and Psalms of Solomon |date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-49773-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Charlesworth |first=James H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZujYAAAAMAAJ&dq=Odes+of+Solomon+docetism&pg=PA184 |title=Critical Reflections on the Odes of Solomon |date=1998 |publisher=Sheffield Academic Press |isbn=978-1-85075-660-6 |language=en}}</ref>

The only one of the late 1st-/early 2nd-century [[Apostolic Fathers]] to use the term is [[Polycarp]] (c. 69 – c. 155), who warned the [[Philippian]]s that everyone who preached false doctrine was an antichrist.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Polycarp |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Polycarp%27s_letter_to_the_Philippians_(Lightfoot_translation) |title=Polycarp's letter to the Philippians |at=paragraph 7}}</ref> His use of the term ''Antichrist'' follows that of the New Testament in not identifying a single personal Antichrist, but a class of people.<ref>{{cite book |last=Trebilco |first=Paul |title=The Early Christians In Ephesus From Paul To Ignatius |date=2004 |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing]] |isbn=978-0802807694 |location=Leiden, Netherlands |page=268 |quote=Finally, Hartog notes that the Johannine Letters are the only NT [New Testament] writings to use the term "antichrist" (1 Jn 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 Jn 7) and Polycarp is also the only Apostolic Father to use the term. He notes "Thus, the tests of 'density' and 'singularity' ...}}</ref>

[[Irenaeus]] (2nd century AD – c. 202) wrote ''[[On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis|Against Heresies]]'' to refute the teachings of the [[Gnostic]]s. In Book V of ''Against Heresies'' he addresses the figure of the Antichrist referring to him as the "recapitulation of [[apostasy]] and rebellion." He uses "[[666 (number)#Number of the beast|666]]", the [[Number of the beast|Number of the Beast]] from Revelation 13:18, to [[Numerology|numerologically]] decode several possible names. Some names that he loosely proposed were "Evanthos", "Lateinos" ("Latin" or pertaining to the [[Roman Empire]]). In his [[exegesis]] of [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] 7:21, he stated that the ten horns of the beast will be the Roman Empire divided into ten kingdoms before the Antichrist's arrival. Additionally, he stated that the antichrist would be of the tribe of Dan, evoking Jeremiah 8:16. This would correlate to the Talmudic view of the Jewish Messiah coming from the tribe of Dan on his maternal line. However, his readings of the Antichrist were more in broader theological terms rather than within a historical context.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Kevin L.|title=Constructing antichrist : Paul, biblical commentary, and the development of doctrine in the early Middle Ages|year=2005|publisher=[[Catholic University of America Press]]|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=978-0813214153|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ttvHhsEkXoC&q=Irenaeus+antichrist&pg=PA30|pages=29–31}}</ref>

The non-canonical [[Ascension of Isaiah]] presents a detailed exposition of the Antichrist as [[Belial]] and [[Nero]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Geoffrey W.|last=Bromiley|title=International Standard Bible Encyclopedia|page=140|date=1979|isbn=978-0802837813|quote=The fullest exposition of the ideas associated with the antichrist in the early decades of Christian history is to be found in the Ascension of Isaiah. In this we are told that "Beliar" (Belial) would enter into "the matricide king" (Nero), who would work great wonders and do much evil.|title-link=International Standard Bible Encyclopedia|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans }}</ref>

[[Tertullian]] (c. 160 – c. 220 AD) held that the Roman Empire was the restraining force written about by [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] in 2 Thessalonians 2:7–8. The [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] and the disintegration of the ten provinces of the Roman Empire into ten kingdoms were to make way for the Antichrist.

{{blockquote|By, "For that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first," he [Paul] means indeed this present empire, "and the man of lawlessness is revealed"—that is to say, the Antichrist, "the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or religion, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed." What obstacles are there but the Roman state, the rebellion of which, by being scattered into the ten kingdoms, will introduce the Antichrist upon its own ruins? "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.v.viii.xxiv.html |title=On the Resurrection, chp 24 |website=Christian Classics Ethereal Library|date=June 1, 2005 |access-date=June 18, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100628020454/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.v.viii.xxiv.html| archive-date= June 28, 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>}}

[[Hippolytus of Rome]] (c. 170 – c. 236) held that the Antichrist would come from the [[tribe of Dan]] and would [[Third Temple|rebuild the Jewish temple]] on the [[Temple Mount]] in order to reign from it. He identified the Antichrist with the Beast out of the Earth from the book of Revelation.

{{blockquote|By the beast, then, coming up out of the earth, he means the kingdom of Antichrist; and by the two horns he means him and the false prophet after him. And in speaking of "horns like a lamb," he means that he will make himself like the Son of God, and set himself forward as king. And the terms, "it spoke like a dragon," mean that he is a deceiver, and not truthful.<ref>Hippolytus's [[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume V/Hippolytus/The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus/Dogmatical and Historical/Treatise on Christ and Antichrist|Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, part 2]]</ref>}}

[[Origen]] (185–254) refuted [[Celsus]]' view of the Antichrist. Origen, using scriptural citations from [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], Paul, and the [[Gospels]] argued:
{{blockquote|Where is the absurdity, then, in holding that there exist among men, so to speak, two extremes—the one of virtue, and the other of its opposite; so that the perfection of virtue dwells in the man who realizes the ideal given in Jesus, from whom there flowed to the human race so great a conversion, and healing, and amelioration, while the opposite extreme is in the man who embodies the notion of him that is named Antichrist?... one of these extremes, and the best of the two, should be styled the Son of God, on account of His pre-eminence; and the other, who is diametrically opposite, be termed the son of the wicked demon, and of Satan, and of the devil. And, in the next place, since evil is specially characterized by its diffusion, and attains its greatest height when it simulates the appearance of the good, for that reason are signs, and marvels, and lying miracles found to accompany evil, through the cooperation of its father the devil.<ref>{{harvnb|Origen|1872|p=386}}</ref>}}

===Post-Nicene Christianity===
{{See also|First seven Ecumenical Councils}}
[[File:Antechrist in the Catalan Atlas (1375).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Antichrist in the [[Catalan Atlas]] (1375). The label reads: "Antichrist. He will be raised in Goraym of Galilea, and at the age of thirty he will start to preach in Jerusalem; contrary to the truth, he will proclaim that he is Christ, the living son of God. It is said that he will rebuild the Temple."<ref>{{cite web |title=Catalan Atlas. The Cresques Project – Panel VI |url=https://www.cresquesproject.net/catalan-atlas-legends/panel-vi |website=www.cresquesproject.net}}</ref>]]
[[Cyril of Jerusalem]], in the mid-4th century, delivered his [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf207.ii.xix.html 15th] [[Cyril of Jerusalem#Catechetical lectures|catechetical lecture]] about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, in which he also lectures about the Antichrist, who will reign as the ruler of the world for three and a half years, before he is killed by Jesus Christ at the end of his three-and-a-half-year reign, shortly after which the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will happen.

[[Athanasius of Alexandria]] (c. 298–373) wrote that [[Arius]] of Alexandria is to be associated with the Antichrist, saying, "And ever since [the Council of Nicaea] has Arius's error been reckoned for a heresy more than ordinary, being known as Christ's foe, and harbinger of [the] Antichrist."<ref>{{Cite web |title=CHURCH FATHERS: Discourse I Against the Arians (Athanasius) |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/28161.htm |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>

As part of his prediction that the world would end before 400 CE, [[Martin of Tours]] (c. 336 - 397) wrote that "There is no doubt that the Antichrist has already been born. Firmly established already in his early years, he will, after reaching maturity, achieve supreme power."

[[John Chrysostom]] (c. 347–407) warned against speculating about the Antichrist, saying, "Let us not therefore enquire into these things". He preached that by knowing Paul's description of the Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians, Christians would avoid deception.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schaff |first=Philip |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Nicene_and_Post-Nicene_Fathers:_Series_I/Volume_XIII/On_Philippians,_Colossians,_and_Thessalonians/On_2_Thessalonians/Argument |title=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume XIII/On Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians/On 2 Thessalonians |others=Original author: John Chrysostom |display-authors=et al}}</ref>

[[Jerome]] (c. 347–420) warned that those substituting false interpretations for the actual meaning of scripture belonged to the "synagogue of the Antichrist".<ref>{{harvnb|Jerome|1893b|p=334}}</ref> "He that is not of Christ is of Antichrist", he wrote to [[Pope Damasus I]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jerome|1893|p=19}}</ref> He believed that "the mystery of lawlessness" written about by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 was already in action when "every one chatters about his views."<ref>{{harvnb|Jerome|1893c|p=449}}</ref> To Jerome, the power restraining this mystery of lawlessness was the Roman Empire, but as it fell this restraining force was removed. He warned a noble woman of [[Gaul]]:

{{blockquote|He that letteth is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes, Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus Christ "shall consume with the spirit of his mouth." "Woe unto them," he cries, "that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days." ... Savage tribes in countless numbers have overrun all parts of Gaul. The whole country between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid waste by hordes of [[Quadi]], [[Vandals]], [[Sarmatians]], [[Alans]], [[Gepids]], [[Heruli|Herules]], [[Saxons]], [[Burgundians]], [[Alemanni]], and—alas for the commonweal!—even [[Pannonians]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jerome|1893d|pp=236–237}}</ref>}}

In his ''Commentary on Daniel'', Jerome noted, "Let us not follow the opinion of some commentators and suppose him to be either the Devil or some demon, but rather, one of the human race, in whom Satan will wholly take up his residence in bodily form." Instead of rebuilding the Jewish Temple to reign from, Jerome thought the Antichrist sat in God's Temple inasmuch as he made "himself out to be like God." He refuted [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]]'s idea that the "little horn" mentioned in Daniel chapter 7 was [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]] by noting that the "little horn" is defeated by an eternal, universal ruler, right before the final judgment.<ref name="Commentary on Daniel">{{harvnb|Jerome|1958|pp=}}</ref> Instead, he advocated that the "little horn" was the Antichrist:

{{blockquote|We should therefore concur with the traditional interpretation of all the commentators of the Christian Church, that at the end of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there shall be ten kings who will partition the Roman world amongst themselves. Then an insignificant eleventh king will arise, who will overcome three of the ten kings... after they have been slain, the seven other kings also will bow their necks to the victor.<ref name="Commentary on Daniel" />}}

Circa 380, an apocalyptic pseudo-prophecy [[pseudepigraphy|falsely attributed]] to the [[Tiburtine Sibyl]] describes Constantine as victorious over [[Gog and Magog]]. Later on, it predicts:
{{blockquote|When the Roman empire shall have ceased, then the Antichrist will be openly revealed and will sit in the House of the Lord in Jerusalem. While he is reigning, two very famous men, Elijah and Enoch, will go forth to announce the coming of the Lord. Antichrist will kill them and after three days they will be raised up by the Lord. Then there will be a great persecution, such as has not been before nor shall be thereafter. The Lord will shorten those days for the sake of the elect, and the Antichrist will be slain by the power of God through Michael the Archangel on the Mount of Olives.<ref name="Sibyl">{{cite web |url=http://http-server.carleton.ca/~jopp/3850/1–1.htm |title=Latin Tiburtine Sibyl |publisher=Http-server.carleton.ca |access-date=June 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702171945/http://http-server.carleton.ca/~jopp/3850/1–1.htm |archive-date=July 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>}}

[[Augustine of Hippo]] (354–430) wrote "it is uncertain in what temple [the Antichrist] shall sit, whether in that ruin of the temple which was built by Solomon, or in the Church."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120120.htm|title=Church Fathers: City of God, Book XX (St. Augustine)}}</ref>

[[Gregory of Tours]] claimed that the antichrist would place his image to be worshipped in the temple in Jerusalem, he would assert himself to be Christ and would call for Christians to undergo circumcision.<ref>A history of the Franks, Gregory of Tours, Pantianos Classics, 1916</ref>

[[Pope Gregory I]] wrote to the [[Maurice (emperor)|Byzantine Emperor Maurice]] in A.D. 597, concerning the titles of bishops, "I say with confidence that whoever calls or desires to call himself 'universal priest' in self-exaltation of himself is a precursor of the Antichrist."<ref>quote from McGinn, Bernard, ''Visions of the End. Apocalyptic Traditions in the Middle Ages'', New York: Columbia
University, 1979. p. 64, found in Brug's [http://www.wlsessays.net/node/376 A Scriptural and Historical Survey of the Doctrine of the Antichrist] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130093419/http://www.wlsessays.net/node/376 |date=November 30, 2010 }}</ref>

By the end of the tenth century, [[Adso of Montier-en-Der]], a Benedictine monk, compiled a biography of Antichrist based on a variety of exegetical and Sibylline sources; his account became one of the best-known descriptions of Antichrist in the Middle Ages.<ref>{{cite book |last=Emmerson |first=Richard Kenneth |title=Antichrist in the Middle Ages |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=1981 |location=Seattle, Washington |pages=74–107 |chapter=The Life and Deeds of Antichrist}}</ref><ref name=emmerson>{{cite journal|title=Antichrist as Anti-Saint: The Significance of Abbot Adso's ''Libellus de Antichristo''|first=Richard Kenneth|last=Emerson|journal=[[American Benedictine Review]]|pages=175–190|year=1979|volume=30|issue=2}}</ref>

''De Antichristo libri undecim'', published by [[Tomaso Malvenda|Tomàs Maluenda]] in 1604, is considered the most complete treatise on the subject.<ref>{{cite book|first=Bernard|last=McGinn|author-link=Bernard McGinn (theologian) | chapter=Portraying Antichrist in the Middle Ages|editor1=Werner Verbeke|editor2=D. Verhelst|editor3=Andries Welkenhuysen|title=The Use and Abuse of Eschatology in the Middle Ages|publisher=Leuven University Press|location=Leuven|date=1988|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=89frds8lRqkC|isbn=978-9061862598|page=1|quote=[...] Thomas Malvenda, the indefatigable Dominican whose massive ''De Antichristo'' published in 1604 is still the most complete treatment of the subject.}}</ref>

===Pre-Reformation Western Church accusers===
[[File:AntichristSOF.jpg|thumb|[[Woodcut]] showing the Antichrist, 1498]]
[[Arnulf (bishop of Orléans)]] disagreed with the policies and morals of [[Pope John XV]]. He expressed his views while presiding over the [[Council of Reims#Council of Reims, 991|Council of Reims in A.D. 991]]. Arnulf accused John XV of being the Antichrist while also using the [[2 Thessalonians 2|2 Thessalonians passage]] about the "[[Man of Sin|man of lawlessness]]" (or "lawless one"), saying: "Surely, if he is empty of charity and filled with vain knowledge and lifted up, he is Antichrist sitting in God's temple and showing himself as God." This incident is history's earliest record of anyone identifying a pope with the Antichrist (see [[Historicism (Christianity)|Christian Historicism]]).<ref>{{cite book|first=Bernard|last=McGinn|title=Anti-Christ: Two Thousand Years of the Human Fascination With Evil|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|location=New York|date=2000|isbn=978-0231119771|page=100}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Schaff|Schaff|1885|p=291}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Russell |first=William R. |date=1994-12-01 |title=Martin Luther's Understanding of the Pope as the Antichrist |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.14315/arg-1994-jg02/html |journal=Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte |language=de |volume=85 |issue=jg |pages=32–44 |doi=10.14315/arg-1994-jg02 |s2cid=194015213 |issn=2198-0489}}</ref>

[[Pope Gregory VII]] (c. 1015 or 1029–1085), struggled against, in his own words, "a robber of temples, a perjurer against the Holy Roman Church, notorious throughout the whole Roman world for the basest of crimes, namely, [[Antipope Clement III|Wilbert]], plunderer of the holy church of [[Ravenna]], Antichrist, and arch-[[Heresy in Christianity|heretic]]."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Correspondence of Pope Gregory VII|translator-first=Ephraim|translator-last=Emerton|translator-link=Ephraim Emerton|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|location=New York |date=1990|isbn=978-0231096270|page=162}}</ref>

Cardinal [[Beno of Santi Martino e Silvestro|Benno]], on the opposite side of the [[Investiture Controversy]], wrote long descriptions of abuses committed by Gregory VII, including [[necromancy]], [[torture]] of a former friend upon a bed of nails, commissioning an attempted assassination, executions without trials, unjust [[excommunication]], doubting the [[real presence of Christ in the Eucharist]], and even burning it.<ref>From long quotations in {{harvnb|Foxe|1583|p=121}}</ref> Benno held that Gregory VII was "either a member of Antichrist, or Antichrist himself."<ref>{{cite journal|first=David M.|last=Whitford|s2cid=162257968|title=The Papal Antichrist: Martin Luther and the Underappreciated Influence of Lorenzo Valla|journal=Renaissance Quarterly|volume=61|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, England|issue=61|pages=26–52|date=Spring 2008|doi=10.1353/ren.2008.0027}}</ref>

Eberhard II von Truchsees, [[Archbishopric of Salzburg#Prince-Archbishopric|Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg]] in 1241, denounced [[Pope Gregory IX]] at the Council of [[Regensburg]] as "that man of perdition, whom they call Antichrist, who in his extravagant boasting says, I am God, I cannot err."<ref>{{cite journal|title=Editorial Departments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YTAuAAAAYAAJ|journal=The Methodist Review|publisher=J. Soule and T. Mason|location=New York City|volume=XLIII|issue=3|page=305|year = 1896}}</ref> He argued that the ten kingdoms that the Antichrist is involved with<ref>{{bibleverse-nb||Daniel|7:23–25|31}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse-nb||Revelation|13:1–2|31}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse-nb||Revelation|17:3–18|31}}</ref> were the "Turks, Greeks, Egyptians, Africans, Spaniards, French, English, Germans, Sicilians, and Italians who now occupy the provinces of Rome."<ref name="A Dictionary of the Bible">{{cite encyclopedia|first=John Mee|last=Fuller|title=Antichrist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zM0UAAAAYAAJ|encyclopedia=A Dictionary of the Bible|publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]|location=London, England|date=1893|page=147}}</ref> He held that the papacy was the "little horn" of Daniel 7:8:<ref>{{bibleverse-nb||Daniel|7:8|31}}</ref>
{{blockquote|"A little horn has grown up" with "eyes and mouth speaking great things", which is reducing three of these kingdoms (i.e. Sicily, Italy, and Germany) to subserviency, is persecuting the people of Christ and the saints of God with intolerable opposition, is confounding things human and divine, and is attempting things unutterable, execrable.<ref name="A Dictionary of the Bible" />}}

===Protestant Reformation===
{{See also|Anti-Catholicism|Great Apostasy|History of Protestantism}}
[[File:The Papal Belvedere.jpg|thumb|right|From a series of woodcuts (1545) usually referred to as the ''Papstspotbilder'' or ''Papstspottbilder'' in German or ''Depictions of the Papacy'' in English,<ref name=Oberman>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_leG5ztYoZwC&pg=PA61|title=The Impact of the Reformation: Essays|first=Heiko Augustinus|last=Oberman|date=1994|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0802807328}}</ref> by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder|Lucas Cranach]], commissioned by [[Martin Luther]].<ref name="Edwards–1">{{Cite book |last=Edwards, Jr. |first=Mark U. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYbupalP98kC&pg=PA4 |title=Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics 1531-46 |date=2004-11-19 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-1-4514-1398-4 |language=en}}</ref> Title: Kissing the Pope's Feet.<ref>In Latin, the title reads "Hic oscula pedibus papae figuntur"</ref> German peasants respond to a papal bull of [[Pope Paul III]]. Caption reads: "Don't frighten us Pope, with your ban, and don't be such a furious man. Otherwise we shall turn around and show you our rears."<ref>"Nicht Bapst: nicht schreck uns mit deim ban, Und sey nicht so zorniger man. Wir thun sonst ein gegen wehre, Und zeigen dirs Bel vedere"</ref><ref name="Edwards-2">{{Cite book |last=Edwards, Jr. |first=Mark U. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYbupalP98kC&pg=PA198 |title=Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics 1531-46 |date=2004-11-19 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-1-4514-1398-4 |pages=199 |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Antichrist1.jpg|thumb|right|''Passional Christi und Antichristi'', by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]], from Luther's 1521 ''Passionary of the Christ and Antichrist''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Luther |first=Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NMQ_Ar84DCcC |title=Passional Christi vnd Antichristi |date=1521 |publisher=Rhau-Grunenberg |language=de}}</ref> The [[Historicist interpretations of the Book of Revelation#Antichrist|Pope as the Antichrist]], signing and selling [[indulgence]]s.]]

[[Protestant Reformers]], including [[John Wycliffe]], [[Martin Luther]], [[John Calvin]], [[Thomas Cranmer]], [[John Thomas (Christadelphian)|John Thomas]], [[John Knox]], [[Roger Williams]], [[Cotton Mather]], and [[John Wesley]], as well as most [[Protestants]] of the 16th–18th centuries, felt that the [[Early Christianity|Early Church]] had been led into the [[Great Apostasy]] by the [[Papacy]] and identified the [[Pope as Antichrist|Pope with the Antichrist]].<ref name="Johnstone">{{cite book |last1=Johnstone |first1=Nathan |title=The Devil and Demonism in Early Modern England |date=2009 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0511495847 |location=[[Cambridge]], England |pages=27–59 |language=en-uk |chapter=The synagogue of Satan: anti-Catholicism, false doctrine and the construction of contrariety |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511495847.002}}</ref><ref name="Burgess">{{cite book|editor1=Joseph A. Burgess|editor2=Jeffrey Gros|title=Building Unity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICCi66SNBUoC&pg=PA140|publisher=Paulist Press|year=1989|location=[[New York City|New York]]|page=140|isbn=0-8091-3040-8}}</ref> Luther declared that not just a pope from time to time was Antichrist, but the [[Papacy]] was Antichrist because they were "the representatives of an institution opposed to Christ".<ref>Roland H. Bainton, The Reformation of the Sixteenth
Century (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1952), 43, 44.</ref> The [[Centuriators of Magdeburg]], a group of Lutheran scholars in [[Magdeburg]] headed by [[Matthias Flacius]], wrote the 12-volume ''[[Magdeburg Centuries]]'' to [[Anti-Catholicism|discredit the Catholic Church]] and lead other Christians to recognize the Pope as the Antichrist. So, rather than expecting a single Antichrist to rule the earth during a future [[Great Tribulation|Tribulation]] period, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other Protestant Reformers saw the Antichrist as a present feature in the world of their time, fulfilled in the Papacy.<ref name="Johnstone"/>{{Sfn |Froom|1948| pp= 244–245 | ps =: "The reformers were unanimous in its acceptance. And it was this interpretation of prophecy that lent emphasis to their reformatory action. It led them to protest against Rome with extraordinary strength and undaunted courage. [...] This was the rallying point and the battle cry that made the Reformation unconquerable."}}

Among the others who interpreted the biblical [[prophecy]] historically there were many [[Church Fathers]]; [[Justin Martyr]] wrote about the Antichrist: "He Whom Daniel foretells would have dominion for a time and times and a half, is even now at the door".<ref>''Dialogue with Trypho'', ch. 32, in Ante-Nic. Fath. I:210.</ref> [[Irenaeus]] wrote in ''[[Against Heresies]]'' about the coming of the Antichrist: "This Antichrist shall ... devastate all things ... But then, the Lord will come from Heaven on the clouds ... for the righteous".<ref>''Against Heresies'', III: 7:2, in Ante-Nic. Fath. Ib., V:30:3–4.</ref> [[Tertullian]] looking to the Antichrist wrote: "He is to sit in the temple of God, and boast himself as being god. In our view, he is Antichrist as taught us in both the ancient and the new prophecies; and especially by the [[Apostle John]], who says that 'already many false-prophets are gone out into the world' as the fore-runners of Antichrist".<ref>''Against Marcion'', V:16, in Ante-Nic. Fath. III:463f.</ref> [[Hippolytus of Rome]] in his ''Treatise on Christ and Antichrist'' wrote: "As Daniel also says (in the words) 'I considered the Beast, and look! There were ten horns behind it—among which shall rise another (horn), an offshoot, and shall pluck up by the roots the three (that were) before it.' And under this, was signified none other than Antichrist."<ref>''Treatise on Christ and Antichrist'', chs. 25 to 63, in Ante-Nic. Fath. V:209–218.</ref><ref>''Fragments from Commentaries'', 2:1–3, in Ante-Nic. Fath. V:178.</ref> [[Athanasius of Alexandria]] clearly hold to the historical view in his many writings; in ''The Deposition of Arius'', he wrote: "I addressed the letter to Arius and his fellows, exhorting them to renounce his impiety.... There have gone forth in this diocese at this time certain lawless men—enemies of Christ—teaching an apostasy which one may justly suspect and designate as a forerunner of Antichrist".<ref>''The Deposition of Arius'', paras. 2 & 4, in Nic. & Post-Nic. Fath., 2nd Ser., IV:69.</ref> [[Jerome]] wrote: "Says the apostle [Paul in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians], 'Unless the Roman Empire should first be desolated, and antichrist proceed, Christ will not come.'"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Standish |first1=Colin D. |title=The Antichrist is here |last2=Standish |first2=Russell R. |date=November 1988 |publisher=Hartland Publications |isbn=0-923309-22-5 |pages=32 |language=en-us}}</ref> He also identifies the [[Daniel 7|little horn]] of {{Bibleverse||Daniel|7:8|ESV}} and {{Bibleverse-nb||Daniel|7:24–25|ESV}} which "He shall speak as if he were God."<ref>{{cite book|first=Adam|last=Clarke|title=Commentary on the Old Testament|volume=4|publisher=World Publishing|location=Rapidan, Virginia|date=1997|isbn=978-0529106346|page=596}}</ref>

Some [[Franciscans]] had considered the Emperor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] a positive Antichrist who would purify the Catholic Church from opulence, riches and clergy.<ref>{{cite book | title = Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture | first = Marvin | last = Harris | author-link = Marvin Harris | publisher = [[Vintage Books]] | location = New York | isbn = 978-0679724681 | page = [https://archive.org/details/cowspigswarswitc00marv/page/196 196] | url = https://archive.org/details/cowspigswarswitc00marv/page/196 | year = 1989 }}</ref>

[[Historicity|Historicist]] interpretations of Book of Revelation usually included the identification of one or more of the following:
* the Antichrist ([[First Epistle of John|1]] and [[Second Epistle of John|2 John]]);
* the [[The Beast (Bible)|Beast]] of [[Revelation 13]]; 
* the [[Man of Sin]], or Man of Lawlessness, of [[2 Thessalonians 2]] ({{Bibleverse-nb||2 Thessalonians|2:1–12|ESV}}); 
* the "Little horn" of [[Daniel 7]] and [[Daniel 8|8]];
* The [[Abomination of desolation]] of [[Daniel 9]], [[Daniel 11|11]], and [[Daniel 12|12]]; and
* the [[Whore of Babylon]] of [[Revelation 17]].

The Protestant Reformers tended to hold the belief that the Antichrist power would be revealed so that everyone would comprehend and recognize that the Pope is the real, true Antichrist and not the vicar of Christ. Doctrinal works of literature published by the [[Lutherans]], the [[Reformed Churches]], the [[Presbyterians]], the [[Baptists]], the [[Anabaptists]], and the [[Methodists]] contain references to the Pope as the Antichrist, including the [[Smalcald Articles]], Article 4 (1537),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bookofconcord.com/smalcald.html#article4|title=Smalcald Articles – Book of Concord|date=8 November 2019|access-date=21 April 2007|archive-date=10 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010210703/http://www.bookofconcord.com/smalcald.html#article4|url-status=dead}}</ref> the ''[[Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope]]'' written by [[Philip Melanchthon]] (1537),<ref>[[Philip Melanchthon]], ''[[Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope]]'' ([http://www.bookofconcord.com/treatise.html full text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010210647/http://www.bookofconcord.com/treatise.html |date=2008-10-10 }}) in the Triglot translation of the [[Book of Concord]].</ref> the [[Westminster Confession]], Article 25.6 (1646), and the [[1689 Baptist Confession of Faith]], Article 26.4. In 1754, [[John Wesley]] published his ''[[Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament]]'', which is currently a Doctrinal Standard of the [[United Methodist Church]]. In his notes on the [[Book of Revelation]] (chapter 13), he commented: "The whole succession of Popes from [[Pope Gregory VII|Gregory VII]] are undoubtedly Antichrists. 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."<ref>[https://archive.today/20070202121310/http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1648 Archived copy] at the [[Library of Congress]] (May 8, 2009).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.umc.org/frames.asp?url=http://www.livingweb.com/library/projects/notes/index.html|title=UMC.org : the official online ministry of The United Methodist Church}}</ref>

The identification of the Pope with the Antichrist was so ingrained in the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation Era]], that Luther himself stated it repeatedly:

{{blockquote|"This teaching [of the supremacy of the pope] shows forcefully that 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".<ref>Smalcald Articles, II.</ref>}} and,

{{blockquote|"nothing else than the kingdom of Babylon and of the very Antichrist. For who is the man of sin and the [[son of perdition]], but he who by his teaching and his ordinances increases the sin and perdition of souls in the church; while he yet sits in the church as if he were God? All these conditions have now for many ages been fulfilled by the papal tyranny."<ref>Martin Luther, ''First Principles'', pp. 196–197.</ref>}}

[[John Calvin]] similarly wrote:

{{blockquote|"Though it be admitted that Rome was once the mother of all Churches, yet from the time when it began to be the seat of Antichrist it has ceased to be what it was before. Some persons think us too severe and censorious when we call the Roman Pontiff Antichrist. But those who are of this opinion do not consider that they bring the same charge of presumption against Paul himself, after whom we speak and whose language we adopt ... I shall briefly show that (Paul's words in II Thess. 2) are not capable of any other interpretation than that which applies them to the Papacy."<ref>John Calvin, ''[[Institutes of the Christian Religion]]'', Vol. 3, p. 149.</ref>}}

[[John Knox]] wrote on the Pope:

{{blockquote|"Yea, to speak it in plain words; lest that we submit ourselves to Satan, thinking that we submit ourselves to Jesus Christ, for, as for your Roman kirk [church], as it is now corrupted, and the authority thereof, whereon stands the hope of your victory, I no more doubt but that it is the [[synagogue of Satan]], and the head thereof, called the pope, to be that man of sin, of whom the apostle speaks."<ref>John Knox, ''[[The History of the Reformation in Scotland]]'', p. 65.</ref>}}

[[Thomas Cranmer]] on the Antichrist wrote:

{{blockquote|"Whereof it followeth Rome to be the seat of Antichrist, and the pope to be very antichrist himself. I could prove the same by many other scriptures, old writers, and strong reasons."<ref>''Works by Cranmer'', Vol. 1, pp. 6–7.</ref>}}

[[John Wesley]], speaking of the identity given in the Bible of the Antichrist, wrote:

{{blockquote|"In many respects, the Pope has an indisputable claim to those titles. He is, in an emphatical sense, the man of sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too, properly styled, the son of perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, both of his opposers and followers, destroyed innumerable souls, and will himself perish everlastingly. He it is that opposeth himself to the emperor, once his rightful sovereign; and that exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped—Commanding angels, and putting kings under his feet, both of whom are called gods in scripture; claiming the highest power, the highest honour; suffering himself, not once only, to be styled God or vice-God. Indeed no less is implied in his ordinary title, "Most Holy Lord," or, "Most Holy Father." So that he sitteth—Enthroned. In the temple of God—Mentioned Rev. xi, 1. Declaring himself that he is God—Claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone."<ref>John Wesley, ''[[Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament]]'', p. 216.</ref>}}

[[Roger Williams]] wrote about the Pope:

{{blockquote|"the pretended [[Vicar of Christ]] on earth, who sits as God over the Temple of God, exalting himself not only above all that is called God, but over the souls and consciences of all his vassals, yea over the Spirit of Christ, over the Holy Spirit, yea, and God himself ... speaking against the God of heaven, thinking to change times and laws; but he is the Son of Perdition."<ref>Froom, ''The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers'', Vol. 3, p. 52.</ref>}}

The identification of the Roman Catholic Church as the apostate power written of in the Bible as the Antichrist became evident to many as the Reformation began, including [[John Wycliffe]], who was well known throughout Europe for his opposition to the [[Catholic theology|doctrine and practices of the Catholic Church]], which he believed had clearly deviated from the original teachings of the early Church and to be contrary to the Bible. Wycliffe himself tells (''Sermones'', III. 199) how he concluded that there was a great contrast between what the Church was and what it ought to be, and saw the necessity for reform. Along with John Hus, they had started the inclination toward ecclesiastical reforms of the Catholic Church.

When the Swiss Reformer [[Huldrych Zwingli]] became the pastor of the [[Grossmünster]] in [[Zurich]] (1518) he began to preach ideas on reforming the Catholic Church. Zwingli, who was a Catholic priest before he became a Reformer, often referred to the Pope as the Antichrist. He wrote: "I know that in it works the might and power of the Devil, that is, of the Antichrist".<ref>''Principle Works of Zwingli'', Vol. 7, p. 135.</ref>

The English Reformer [[William Tyndale]] held that while the Roman Catholic realms of that age were the empire of Antichrist, any religious organization that distorted the doctrine of the Old and New Testaments also showed the work of Antichrist. In his treatise ''The Parable of the Wicked Mammon'', he expressly rejected the established Church teaching that looked to the future for an Antichrist to rise up, and he taught that Antichrist is a present spiritual force that will be with us until the end of the age under different religious disguises from time to time.<ref>Tyndale, William, ''Parable of the Wicked Mammon'', c. 1526, (facsimile copy of later printing, no ISBN, Benediction Classics, 2008) at pp. 4–5.</ref> Tyndale's translation of 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, concerning the "Man of Lawlessness" reflected his understanding, but was significantly amended by later revisers,<ref>"Tyndale's Doctrine of Antichrist and His Translation of 2 Thessalonians 2", R. Davis, [[Matthew Bible#Literature|New Matthew Bible Project]]; a shorter version of this article was also published in the Tyndale Society Journal No. 36, Spring 2009, under the title ''Tyndale, the Church, and the Doctrine of Antichrist'').</ref> including the [[Authorized King James Version#Committees|King James Bible committee]], which followed the [[Vulgate]] more closely.

In 1973, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' [[Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs]] and the USA National Committee of the [[Lutheran World Federation]] in the official [[Catholic–Lutheran dialogue]] officially signed an agreement on ''Papal Primacy and the Universal Church,'' including this passage:

{{blockquote|In calling the pope the "Antichrist", the early [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]] stood in a [[#Pre-Reformation Western Church accusers|tradition that reached back into the eleventh century]]. Not only dissidents and [[Heresy in Christianity|heretics]] but even saints had called the bishop of Rome the "Antichrist" when they wished to castigate his [[abuse of power]]. What Lutherans understood as a [[Papal supremacy|papal claim to unlimited authority]] over everything and everyone reminded them of the [[Apocalypticism|apocalyptic imagery]] of [[Daniel 11]], a passage that even prior to the Reformation had been applied to the pope as the Antichrist of the [[Eschatology|last days]].<ref name="Burgess"/>}}

In 1988 [[Ian Paisley]], [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical minister]] and founder of the [[Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster]], made headlines in an infamous manner by accusing [[Pope John Paul II]] as the Antichrist during one of the pope's speeches before the European Parliament, which at the time Paisley was member. His accusation, and the reactions of both Pope John Paul II and other members of the European Parliament, was recorded on video.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/16/weekinreview/headliners-papal-audience.html|title=Papal Audience|date=October 16, 1988|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Ian Paisley Heckles the Pope (1988) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlbmIMbKZa4 |access-date=2023-11-05 |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] states about the Pope and the Catholic Church:<ref name="WELS"/>

{{blockquote|There are two principles that mark the papacy as the Antichrist. One is that [[Papal supremacy|the pope takes to himself the right to rule the church]] that belongs only to Christ. He can make laws forbidding the marriage of priests, eating or not eating meat on Friday, birth control, divorce and remarriage, even where there are not such laws in the Bible. The second is that he teaches that salvation is not by faith alone but by faith and works. The present pope upholds and practices these principles. This marks his rule as [[Anti-Christian|antichristian rule]] in the church. All popes hold the same office over the church and promote the same antichristian belief so they all are part of the reign of the Antichrist. The Bible does not present the Antichrist as one man for one short time, but as an office held by a man through successive generations. It is a title like King of England.<ref name=WELS-CL>{{cite web |url=https://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=19&cuItem_itemID=4242 |work=WELS Topical Q&A |title=Roman Catholic |publisher=[[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] |access-date=July 5, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090927213220/https://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=19&cuItem_itemID=4242 |archive-date=September 27, 2009 }}</ref>}}

Currently, many Protestant and [[Restorationism|Restorationist denominations]] still officially maintain that the Papacy is the Antichrist, such as the [[Confessional Lutheranism|conservative Lutheran Churches]]<ref name="WELS">{{cite web |url=https://wels.net/about-wels/what-we-believe/doctrinal-statements/antichrist/ |title=Doctrinal Statements: Antichrist |date=2018 |website=[[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] |access-date=August 17, 2018 |quote=We reject the idea that the teaching that the Papacy is the Antichrist rests on a merely human interpretation of history or is an open question. We hold rather that this teaching rests on the revelation of God in Scripture which finds its fulfillment in history. The Holy Spirit reveals this fulfillment to the eyes of faith (cf. The Abiding Word, Vol. 2, p. 764). Since Scripture teaches that the Antichrist would be revealed and gives the marks by which the Antichrist is to be recognized (2 Th 2:6, 8), and since this prophecy has been clearly fulfilled in the history and development of the Roman Papacy, it is Scripture which reveals that the Papacy is the Antichrist.}}</ref><ref>Nolting, Paul F., [http://www.clclutheran.org/atlanta/bibleclass/endtimes/antichrist1.html The Antichrist (part 1)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522192542/http://www.clclutheran.org/atlanta/bibleclass/endtimes/antichrist1.html |date=May 22, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=lutheran |date=2011-12-20 |title=The Brief Statement of 1932 {{!}} Church of the Lutheran Confession |url=https://clclutheran.org/2011/12/the-brief-statement-of-1932/ |access-date=2023-11-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> and the [[Seventh-day Adventism|Seventh-day Adventists]].<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.666truth.org/ | title = 666 Truth}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Bacchiocchi |first=Samuele |title=Islam and The Papacy in Prophecy |date=July 6, 2002 |url=http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/endtimeissues/eti_86.html |journal=Endtime Issues |number=86 |access-date=August 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822065910/http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/endtimeissues/eti_86.html |url-status=dead |place=Berrien Springs, Michigan |publisher=Biblical perspectives |archive-date=August 22, 2013}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Paulien |first1=Jon |title=September 11 and God's Mysterious Mercy |date=October 17, 2002 |url=http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/endtimeissues/eti_90.html |journal=End Time Issues |number=90 |access-date=August 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405142918/http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/endtimeissues/eti_90.html |url-status=dead |place=Berrien Springs, Michigan |publisher=Biblical perspectives |archive-date=April 5, 2018 |last2=Bacchiocchi |first2=Samuele}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | contribution = Reformed | title = Eschatology | url = http://www.mountainretreatorg.net/eschatology/reformedescha.html | publisher = Mountain Retreat}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.presenttruthmag.com/archive/XVII/17-2.htm | title = Antichrist Today | journal = Present Truth | volume = XVII | number = 2}}.</ref>

===Counter-Reformation===
In the [[Counter-Reformation]], the views of [[Preterism]] and [[Futurism (Christian eschatology)|Futurism]] were advanced by Catholic Jesuits beginning in the 16th century in response to the identification of the Papacy as Antichrist. These were rival methods of prophetic interpretation: the futurist and the preterist systems both are in conflict with the historicist method of interpretation.

Historically, preterists and non-preterists have agreed that the Jesuit [[Luis del Alcázar|Luis de Alcasar]] (1554–1613) wrote the first systematic preterist exposition of prophecy—''Vestigatio arcani sensus in Apocalypsi'' (published in 1614)—during the [[Counter-Reformation]].