Antichrist Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===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> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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