Who is the AntiChrist? (Identifying Him)

[Hobie]

Why not answer the question asked with a simple, "yes"? Satan is not the antichrist. period. No need for anything more, nor anything else.

Who is the power behind what?

If you mean Satan is the power behind the antichrist then please acknowledge the Creator, God, is the power behind the creature, Satan, because Satan has no power or authority except that which he is given by his Creator and that endowment then serves only the will and purpose of the Creator. Satan is not a free agent. It's a very simple request.

Yes, Josh, Satan has no power but that which God gives him.


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I have spoken to you about this before. That kind of interpretation violates the most basic precepts in sound exegesis. It ignores the understanding of the original writer and his original readers. There was no pope (or papal system) when John wrote his epistles!!! There is absolutely no way in heaven or earth those readers would have understood John's words as a reference to a religious and political entity or individual that did not then exist. The kind of interpretation asserted in Post 59 renders the text meaningless to the original readers.

Scripture is never meaningless.

Verse 5 never mentions the word "antichrist."

What you are posting is modern futurism, not scripture.

The whole conflict has been because of Satan causing this great conflict from the very beginning, he is at the center of it as scriptures shows us...

Revelation 12:3-9
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

He is who is behind these nations and powers which do his work and follow his purpose, and the center of it has been the apostate church of Rome who rose up as the antichrist entity to persecute the true church of Christ, and will go to the end where it will meet its destruction.

 

[Josheb]

The whole conflict has been because of Satan causing this great conflict from the very beginning, he is at the center of it as scriptures shows us...

Revelation 12:3-9
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

He is who is behind these nations and powers which do his work and follow his purpose, and the center of it has been the apostate church of Rome who rose up as the antichrist entity to persecute the true church of Christ, and will go to the end where it will meet its destruction.

That is incorrect.

The entire conflict exists because of sin. Satan is a sinful, sin enslaved and sinfully dead created creature. YES?????

 

[Hobie]

That is incorrect.

The entire conflict exists because of sin. Satan is a sinful, sin enslaved and sinfully dead created creature. YES?????

Read what Gods Word says, he is very much alive and has been from the beginning and walks to and fro as the ruler since Adam fell..

Job 1:7
And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Zechariah 3:1
And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

John 16:11
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

2 Corinthians 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Ephesians 2:2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

And shows the rise of the antichrist power with the power and lying wonders of the devil, and Papal Rome comes just as predicted..

2 Thessalonians 2:9
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

In his encyclical, "The Reunion of Christendom" (1885), Pope Leo XIII stated that the pope holds "upon this earth the place of God Almighty."

In the Catechism, can be found the following: "The Pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth...by divine right the pope has supreme and full power in faith and morals over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the true Vicar of Christ, the head of the entire church, the father and teacher of all Christians He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being judged by one, God himself on earth." and also "The Pope can make and unmake laws for the entire Church; his authority is supreme and unquestioned. Every bishop, every priest, every member of the Church is subject to him."

Here are some others…"The Pope is not simply the representative of Jesus Christ. On the contrary, he is Jesus Christ Himself, under the veil of the flesh." (Evangelical Christendom, January 1, 1895, pg. 15, published in London by J. S. Phillips)

"Against this background of love towards Holy Church, 'the pillar and bulwark of the truth' (1 Tim 3:15), we readily understand the devotion of Saint Francis of Assisi for 'THE LORD POPE', the daughterly outspokenness of Saint Catherine of Siena towards the one whom she called 'SWEET CHRIST ON EARTH'." (Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation on the Consecrated Life and Its Mission in the Church and in the World, to the bishops and clergy, religious orders and congregations, societies of apostolic life, secular institutes, and all the faithful, given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, March 25, 1996)

"The Pope is of so great dignity, and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God and the vicar of God." (Ferraris Ecclesiastical dictionary)

"All names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that He is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope." (On the Authority of the Councils, book 2, chapter 17)

"The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth." (Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, "Cities Petrus Bertanous)

"To believe that our Lord God the Pope has not the power to decree as he is decreed, is to be deemed heretical." (the Gloss "Extravagantes" o.f Pope John XXII *** inter, Tit. XIV, Cap. IV. Ad Callem Sexti Decretalium, Paris, 1685)

"Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions." (Ferraris, «Prompta Bibliotheca», 1763, Volume VI, 'Papa II', p.26)

"The Saviour Himself is the door of the sheepfold: 'I am the door of the sheep.' Into this fold of Jesus Christ, no man may enter unless he be led by the Sovereign Pontiff; and only if they be united to him can men be saved, for the Roman Pontiff is the Vicar of Christ and His personal representative on earth." (Pope John XXIII in his homily to the Bishops and faithful assisting at his coronation on November 4, 1958)

"This is our last lesson to you: receive it, engrave it in your minds, all of you: by God's commandment salvation is to be found nowhere but in the Church; the strong and effective instrument of salvation is none other than the Roman Pontificate." (Pope Leo XIII, Allocution for the 25th anniversary of his election, February 20, 1903; Papal Teachings: The Church, Benedictine Monks of Solesmes, St. Paul Editions, Boston, 1962, par. 653)

He calls himself the Supreme ruler of heaven and earth, the Supreme Pontiff, the Holy Father, which belong only to God and "God himself on earth". No such terms were given to a mere man anywhere in scripture and the term "Holy Father" is used only by Jesus in John 17:11 as He prayed to God the Father. For a sinful man to assume the authority and titles which belong only to God, seems the height of blasphemy.

So the Pope has laid claim to take the place of God with infallible authority and we find the Council of Trent declared: "Sitting in that chair in which Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, sat to the close of life, the Catholic Church recognizes in his person the most exalted degree of dignity, and the full jurisdiction not based on constitutions, but emanating from no less authority than from God Himself. As the Successor of St. Peter and the true and legitimate Vicar of Jesus Christ, he therefore, presides over the Universal Church, the Father and Governor of all the faithful, of Bishops, also and of all other prelates, be their station, rant, or power, what they may be."

So its not just the Pope, the councils have also laid claim that the Pope holds of himself in the place of God, and we see who is behind it.

 

[Josheb]

John 16:11
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

How then can he have any power? Do you not see the contradiction that occurs when an already defeated and judged enemy is attributed as the cause of the problem? Is God almighty or not? Is God always and everywhere sovereign, or not?

If God is almighty and sovereign, then the underlying truth of scripture's talk about war is that no conflict lasts one fraction of a nanosecond longer than God permits!!!

God is always and everywhere omnipotently in charge. If He wanted to defeat any fool warped enough to wrongly, delusionally imagine s/he can wage an actual war against the Creator, all the Creator has to do is speak! God can speak Satan out of existence. With a word God can remove all history of Satan's existence, not just Satan himself. Satan has always been a minion. He has never held any power but that which his Creator gives him and on any such occasion that power serves only the Creator's will and purpose, never the created creature's.



Affirm and confirm this, please.

 

[Josheb]

Read what Gods Word says, he is very much alive and has been from the beginning and walks to and fro as the ruler since Adam fell...

Nice red herring and a quote mine strawman. No one here is denying Satan's existence. That was just dumb to suggest he's not alive and this conversation has anything to do with some non-existence of Satan. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were just covering the base but it was unnecessary. Of course Satan is alive. Nothing I have posted even remotely suggests otherwise, nor should any of it ever be construed that way. The part about Satan walking to and fro has context that you left out. Satan roams the earth looking for whom he may devour. Satan does not devour those in whom Christ and the Holy Spirit dwell. He lacks that ability. No one can overpower the almighty, omnipotent God. Therefore, Satan's walking to and fro over the world is not a problem for Christians. Satan serves God's purpose and we can/should/do trust God's purpose - even where it involves Satan.

Romans 8:26-30
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

God works all things for good in our lives. If, for whatever reason, God saw fit to hand one of us over to Satan we know and we trust God does so for good, according to His purpose.

1 Corinthians 5:5
I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

Handed over to Satan so that he might be saved. That's enormously counterintuitive but there it is explicitly stated in God's word.

So what does it mean that Satan walks the earth to and fro? The Job 2 text you are presumably referencing does not provide an explanation, but we know from other texts Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10 - such accusation is what happened in Job 2). It happens quite often, possibly every day in the courts of God. 1 Peter 5:8 states Satan roams the earth looking for those he might devour, but Satan was already a defeated enemy when Peter wrote those words and we know from the Romans epistle God works all things for good. Satan is not devouring Christians. I am appreciative of the fact that Post 63 contains some post-Calvary scripture because, as a Dispensationalist, you usually ignore or neglect the NT. The problem is 2 Cor, 4:4 and Eph. 2:2 support my position, not yours. First of all, Paul was writing about conditions that existed at the time he was writing those epistles. Yes, we could generalize his words, infer their relevance to our time, and apply them principally to our time, but Paul was not specifically writing to us. He was writing to the saints in Corinth and Ephesus living in the first century. Second, and perhaps more importantly for this discussion, Paul explicitly reported the problem was for nonbelievers, not believers. Satan has blinded the minds of those that do not believe. Satan has not blinded the minds of those that believe. Satan works in those who are disobedient, not those who are obedient. Both verses you sight explicitly report the Satan problem is one that exists among the unsaved, not the saved. Therefore, when Peter writes about Satan devouring people we necessarily understand he is devouring noon-believers, not believers. This is a reference to the Old Testament Law. The failure of modern futurism to understand this has always amazed me because of the Dispensationalist emphasis on the OT. Nonbelievers are unclean people. In the Old Testament there were laws prohibiting the eating of unclean foods. Among those Laws was the prohibition against eating an already dead animal. God's people were not to eat carrion. Those Laws have all changed with Christ but the fact remains Satan is a carrion eater! Figuratively speaking, he eats dead people.

• Satan is a created creature, not a god. He is not an autonomous creature with power of his own.
• Satan is enslaved by and dead in his own sin. He is not an autonomous creature with power of his own.
• Satan fell from heaven and has been held in bonds of eternal darkness awaiting his day of judgment. He is not an autonomous creature with power of his own.
• Satan roams the earth as a carrion eater. He is not an autonomous creature with power of his own. He is not an autonomous creature with power of his own.
• All a Christian has to do is resist the creature and he will flee (Jms. 4:7) .
• Those in Christ put on the armor of God and extinguish ALL of Satan's machinations (Eph. 6:10-17).

These are some of the many verses that inform the "prince of power of the air," the "rulers of the darkness of this world." It is completely inappropriate to remove those two verses from their stated contexts and render them in any manner contradictory to all else that the NT writers stated about Satan. Making Satan out to be a boogieman we should all be fearing is godless, an abject abdication of faith and faithfulness. The only power any creature - including Satan - ever has is that which his or her Creator gives him, and then that power serves only the Creator's purpose. Satan is a minion and the only purpose he serves in creation is God's purpose.

If you are saved
then you are an adopted son of The Most High God,
and as such,
you are bestowed with all the power, authority, and inheritance
that is found in Christ.

Act like it.​

Ditch the Dispensational Premillennialism because it compromises core Christian doctrine. It teaches a bad Theology, a bad Christology, a bad Satanology, and a bad ecclesiology.


As for 2 Thessalonians, Post 63's use of that text is exegetically shameful. Paul was writing about conditions that existed back then, conditions relevant to the Thessalonians lives in the first century, and the larger text implies they knew the man's identity. Furthermore, the events described are conditional, not inevitable, every word of it should be understood in the context of everything stated in this post.

As for Pope Leo, he's not God and nothing he wrote has any authority or veracity in comparison to God's word. Nothing in scripture can or should be construed to be about the RCC and/or its papal system simply because doing so violates the first rule of scriptural interpretation:

Read the text with the normal meaning of the words in their everyday usage
unless there is something in the surrounding text providing a reason to do so,
and
understand the text as the original writer and his first century readers would have understood it.​

If you practiced that precept with any degree of consistency, you'd cease to be Dispensationalist and premillennial.

And you've, once again, done what Dispies do when their beliefs are challenged: You've taken the conversation way off topic and broached non sequiturs instead of sticking to the identity of the antichrist and sticking to the scriptures that speak to that identity. You've got a bad Theology because you've argued against the Creator's omnipotence. You've got a bad Christology because you think there exists rules apart from the Lordship of Christ, you've got a bad Satanology because you think Satan has power he does not have, and you've got a bad ecclesiology because you think the Church is something other than Israel and the saints need to be concerned about Satan being the cause of all the drama in the world. These are very real and very substantive problems. They are also unnecessary. Just believe the whole of God's word exactly as written and not just the selective portions Dispensationalism eisegetically teaches.

 

[EarlyActs]

Hobie, the jump from 2 Th 2 to and 1889 document is too much for me.

The 2 Th 2 lines have to do with what was expected in that generation, because Mt 24A (and the others) were about 'this generation' and are clearly that time and about Judea.

 

[Hobie]

Hobie, the jump from 2 Th 2 to and 1889 document is too much for me.

The 2 Th 2 lines have to do with what was expected in that generation, because Mt 24A (and the others) were about 'this generation' and are clearly that time and about Judea.

Well, one has to look and put it together as prophecy is not like CNN but has to be studied and with the help of the Holy Spirit come to an understanding. So lets take what we are given and work from there. We have the text giving us the characteristics of what is Antichrist.

1 John 2:18
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1 John 2:22
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1 John 4:3
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2 John 1:7
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

But we find that the characteristics of the antichrist is also referred to under other names. We find Paul gives this clue in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 and it has a name attached to it.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

"The son of perdition", who is the son of perdition? We see many who say it is Judas. But is it, Judas betrayed Christ for the thirty pieces of silver, but he doesnt fit the context given in the prophecy as Paul is talking to the Thessalonians about deception which Judas couldnt do as he was dead, and especially the 'falling away first'.

No some try to say Satan is the antichrist, but is Satan the "son of perdition", no, he is the source of it, but someone else sits in Gods church with the characteristics of Satan, who is the actual "son of perdition" and as you can see 'that man of sin be revealed' is has a man at its head.

In the description of the man of sin, the son of perdition, who operates under cover for a time and is then revealed at the end, we are told opposes God, exalts himself above God, sits in the temple, and proclaims that he is God. Exalting himself above God and usurping God’s place in the heavenly temple recalls the little horn of Daniel 8. Showing himself to be God recalls Satan in scripture in Isaiah and Ezekiel, but it also points to the blaspheming power of Daniel and Revelation.
Daniel 7:11
I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

Daniel 7:25
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Revelation 13:6
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

So, the description of the man of sin contains elements pointing to both Satan himself and a wicked agent of Satan in the course of Christian history. Through much of Christian history he has operated to undermine God’s law, in particularly the Sabbath, and to usurp powers that belong only to Christ, and claim he has the power of God on earth and claim basically he is infallible. In passages such as Daniel 7 showing the little horn power and Revelation 13 showing the Beast from the sea, we see this same power operates after the fall of the pagan Roman Empire, combining both religious and secular authority to persecute the saints of God, history shows us what came after it, up rises Papal Rome. Many interpreters and Bible Scholars from the Middle Ages, and the Reformers designated this entity that has all the characteristics as the antichrist. The only power in history that fits all the specifications of these prophecies and characteristics is the power in the church of Rome, the Papacy.

 

[Hobie]

So what is happening to the churches today, are they loosing what made them be called 'Protestants', and forgetful of the truth they once saw clearly.

Here is good description of Martin Luther's conviction on this...
"Luther came to think of the pope as the Antichrist because, first, of what the general tradition was about where to find the Antichrist. The Antichrist was someone subverting the Church from within. That was the expectation popularly. And when he saw the papal office and read the histories and saw it subverting the gospel as he understood it, he became convinced that that was the proof that the papal office was the office of the Antichrist, trying to destroy God's church from within.

The pope claimed to be Christ's representative on earth. Luther became convinced that the pope was the devil's representative on earth. And that took graphic form very early in the Reformation ... with one of the most effective pieces of propaganda in the early Reformation: a series of 26 woodcuts that juxtaposed some action in Christ's life with something in the papacy. Christ carrying his cross to be crucified; the pope being carried in his throne on the backs of people ... . Christ washing the feet of the disciples; the pope having his feet kissed. And over and over again, scenes from Christ's life juxtaposed with scenes from the papacy. ... Christ was always humble and serving; the papacy, the pope was always lordly and [lording] over others. Christ is Christ; the pope is Antichrist.

At the end of his life, Martin Luther decided he had to issue his final testament against all the enemies of the gospel. And he published treatises, he encouraged people, but words were not sufficient. He also had to use images. And so he asked his friend, the painter Lucas Cranach, to do a series of woodcuts, and Luther wrote the verses for them. And these woodcuts were designed to show as graphically as possible, to those who could read and those who couldn't, what Luther thought of the papacy... Another one shows the pope riding an ass, holding a pile of dung in his hands, saying "The pope is offering a counsel." And another that shows the German emperor lying on the ground with the pope with his foot on the emperor's neck, which shows, once again graphically, Luther's belief that the papacy was trying to control secular authority throughout the world. These were all actions of the Antichrist, and Luther wanted to make it clear what he thought of the pope".... Apocalypticism Explained | Apocalypse! FRONTLINE | PBS

 

[Hobie]

Here is a list I came across of Pre-Reformation and Reformers Interpretations:

Date Name Reference Interpretation

c. 1310 Dante Alighieri
Rev. 17 Harlot=Roman Church

c. 1331 Michael of Cesena
Rev. 17 Harlot/Antichrist=Roman Church, Pope

c. 1345 Johannes de Rupescissa
Antichrist, Rev. 17 Babylon, Rev. 17 Harlot=Pope/Roman church


c. 1350 Francesco Petrarch
Rev. 17 Harlot=Papal Court

c. 1367 John Milicz
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Man of Sin=Papacy


c. 1379 John Wycliffe
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Little Horn. Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot=Pope/Papacy


c. 1388 Matthias of Janow
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Man of Sin. Rev. 17 Harlot, Rev. 17 Babylon=Hierarchy/Papacy


c. 1390 John Purvey
Antichrist, Rev. 13 666, Rev. 17 Harlot, Rev. 17 Babylon=Pope/Papacy


c. 1393 Walter Brute
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Little Horn, Man of Sin=Papacy/Bishop of Rome/Papacy

c. 1412 John Huss
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Pope/Papacy


c. 1497 Girolamo Savonarola
Antichrist, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot, Rev. 17 Babylon=Pope/Papacy

Reformation Era Interpretations:

1522 Martin Luther
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy

1543 Philipp Melanchthon
Antichrist, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy

1545 Andreas Osiander
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy

1554 Nicolaus von Amsdorf
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy

1558 Johann Funck
Antichrist, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy

1560 Virgil Solis
Antichrist, Little Horn, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy

1570 Georg Nigrinus
Antichrist= Pope

1572 David Chytraeus
Antichrist, Little Horn, Man of Sin= Papacy

1530 Johann Oecolampadius
Antichrist, Little Horn=Papacy

1557 Heinrich Bullinger
Antichrist, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy

1550 William Tyndale
Antichrist, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy

1545 George Joys
Antichrist, Little Horn=Papacy

1554 Nicholas Ridley
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Rev. 17 Harlot. Rev. 17 Babylon
Rev. 17 Beast=Papacy

1553 Hugh Latimer
Antichrist=Papacy

1582 Thomas Cranmer
Antichrist, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy

1550 John Bale
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot, Rev. 17 Babylon
Rev. 17 Beast=Papacy

1562 John Jewel
Antichrist, Abomination of Desolation, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot, Rev. 17 Babylon
Rev. 17 Beast=Papacy

1587 John Foxe
Antichrist, Man of Sin=Bishop of Rome

1563 Anglican Formulas
Antichrist=Papacy

1547 John Knox
Antichrist, Little Horn=Church of Rome/Papacy

1593 John Napier
Antichrist, Man of Sin, Rev. 13 1st Beast, Rev. 17 Harlot, Rev. 17 Babylon
Rev. 17 Beast =Pope/Papacy/Latin Empire

1614 Thomas Brightman
Antichrist, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Pope/Papacy

1618 David Pareus
Antichrist, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Beast=Pope/Papacy

Sir Isaac Newton
Antichrist, Little Horn, Man of Sin, Rev. 17 Harlot
Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy

John Wesley
Man of Sin. Rev. 17 Harlot. Rev. 17 Babylon=Papacy also Antichrist

And they ask the question, "In view of the foregoing Reformation interpretations identifying Papacy as the Antichrist and Man of Sin, why do so many Evangelical Protestants today believe the Man of Sin and Antichrist are future individuals?" Reformation Views

We see the Protestant churches turn from what they held and purpose and slowly drift back to the grasp of the Papal Power, the AntiChrist entity which fulfills what prophecy gives us.

 

[EarlyActs]

Well, one has to look and put it together as prophecy is not like CNN but has to be studied and with the help of the Holy Spirit come to an understanding. So lets take what we are given and work from there. We have the text giving us the characteristics of what is Antichrist.

1 John 2:18
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1 John 2:22
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1 John 4:3
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2 John 1:7
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

But we find that the characteristics of the antichrist is also referred to under other names. We find Paul gives this clue in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 and it has a name attached to it.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

"The son of perdition", who is the son of perdition? We see many who say it is Judas. But is it, Judas betrayed Christ for the thirty pieces of silver, but he doesnt fit the context given in the prophecy as Paul is talking to the Thessalonians about deception which Judas couldnt do as he was dead, and especially the 'falling away first'.

No some try to say Satan is the antichrist, but is Satan the "son of perdition", no, he is the source of it, but someone else sits in Gods church with the characteristics of Satan, who is the actual "son of perdition" and as you can see 'that man of sin be revealed' is has a man at its head.

In the description of the man of sin, the son of perdition, who operates under cover for a time and is then revealed at the end, we are told opposes God, exalts himself above God, sits in the temple, and proclaims that he is God. Exalting himself above God and usurping God’s place in the heavenly temple recalls the little horn of Daniel 8. Showing himself to be God recalls Satan in scripture in Isaiah and Ezekiel, but it also points to the blaspheming power of Daniel and Revelation.
Daniel 7:11
I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

Daniel 7:25
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Revelation 13:6
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

So, the description of the man of sin contains elements pointing to both Satan himself and a wicked agent of Satan in the course of Christian history. Through much of Christian history he has operated to undermine God’s law, in particularly the Sabbath, and to usurp powers that belong only to Christ, and claim he has the power of God on earth and claim basically he is infallible. In passages such as Daniel 7 showing the little horn power and Revelation 13 showing the Beast from the sea, we see this same power operates after the fall of the pagan Roman Empire, combining both religious and secular authority to persecute the saints of God, history shows us what came after it, up rises Papal Rome. Many interpreters and Bible Scholars from the Middle Ages, and the Reformers designated this entity that has all the characteristics as the antichrist. The only power in history that fits all the specifications of these prophecies and characteristics is the power in the church of Rome, the Papacy.

The materials of Mt 24A,that so concerned the early Christians that they were life or death, were not about an institution 4 centuries later. And the Papacy was not in Judea in 'that generation.'

That doesn't mean there weren't similarities, it just means there is a historical force to the Mt24A etc because of what took place as the 490 years ended. Dan 9:24-27 is pretty much a miniature NT history, well in advance.

 

[Hobie]

The materials of Mt 24A,that so concerned the early Christians that they were life or death, were not about an institution 4 centuries later. And the Papacy was not in Judea in 'that generation.'

That doesn't mean there weren't similarities, it just means there is a historical force to the Mt24A etc because of what took place as the 490 years ended. Dan 9:24-27 is pretty much a miniature NT history, well in advance.

Paul warned what would come and were already there...

2 Corinthians 11:13
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

2 Timothy 3:13
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

And the church of Rome has deceived and many have being deceived and the Reformers recognized its concealment of its true self and purpose, and brought out Gods people from it.

 

[EarlyActs]

Paul warned what would come and were already there...

2 Corinthians 11:13
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

2 Timothy 3:13
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

And the church of Rome has deceived and many have being deceived and the Reformers recognized its concealment of its true self and purpose, and brought out Gods people from it.

There are many deceptions: Islam, Marxism, Scientology, gender-affirmation, Democrat child-trafficking, etc. All are tyrannies. But the passage had a meaning for its first readers before all these, bc it was tying up Dan 2, 8, 9.