Antichrist Today?
The first written history suggests Arnulf, the archbishop of Reims in the 10th century identified the Papacy as the Antichrist. Later Joachim of Fiore in the 12th century preached the Papacy was the Antichrist. This led to the martyrdom of many Albigenses, Anabaptists, and others who in part embraced his views. And the archbishop Eberhard II in 1240 also related the papacy to the Antichrist. Synopsis of the End Times; A look at the popular beliefs of today by Mike Morrill.
All the Reformers believed the Papacy is the Anarchist and some Lutheran and many Reformed creeds state this boldly.
What about the mark of the beast? Antichrist sitting in the Temple of God? The Jews?
Paul says; He would be the “[Man of sin] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in [Greek = as] the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4) (KJV 1900)
Augustine 354 – 430 first speculated about the Antichrist saying; “Antichrist means not the prince himself alone, but his whole body, that is, the mass of men who adhere to him, along with him their prince; and they also think that we should render the Greek more exactly were we to read, not “in the temple of God,” but “for” or “as the temple of God,” as if he himself were the temple of God, the Church.1405”
NPNF1-02. St. Augustine’s City of God and Christian Doctrine - Christian Classics Ethereal Library
So in his estimation, the man of sin would sit as the temple of God more so than in it. And that Christendom is the Temple of God in the New Testament.
Even if we translate Paul as saying in the temple, the meaning remains the same.
After centuries of bloodshed, Napoleon’s general Berthier locked the Pope away where he died in prison in 1799. But in 1929 the Lateran Treaty recognized Vatican City as an independent state under the sovereignty of the Holy See. So he’s back. But if the Papacy is the Antichrist, what is he doing today?
Simply stated, he’s probably in your church today through his principle doctrines even though homogenized for consumption by many Evangelicals and non-Reformed groups.
How so? Two of the most popular doctrines in churches today come from the Papacy and the Jesuits. Namely the doctrine of free will which is the bedrock of sacramental salvation. And through the Arminian free-will gospel. And the Jesuits rule the minds of many through Dispensationalism.
The Jesuits created a future Antichrist based on a gap they inserted between Daniel’s 69th and 70th weeks. This turned Jesus who fulfilled the prophecy into a future Antichrist. In doing so, they undermined the Reformers' claims about the Papacy being Antichrist. If the Antichrist is yet to come, then it cannot be the Pope. This found its way into what we call Dispensationalism today.
As far as free will, In the Catholic sense, free will makes the sacraments available to all who choose to save themselves through them. In the Evangelical sense, free will makes salvation available to any who choose to obey the gospel. But in neither sense does obedience earn salvation. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace that results in obedience to the gospel.
So even in death, and now in his temporarily weakened state, doctrinally, the Papacy still controls the thinking of the vast swath of Christendom.
The first written history suggests Arnulf, the archbishop of Reims in the 10th century identified the Papacy as the Antichrist. Later Joachim of Fiore in the 12th century preached the Papacy was the Antichrist. This led to the martyrdom of many Albigenses, Anabaptists, and others who in part embraced his views. And the archbishop Eberhard II in 1240 also related the papacy to the Antichrist. Synopsis of the End Times; A look at the popular beliefs of today by Mike Morrill.
All the Reformers believed the Papacy is the Anarchist and some Lutheran and many Reformed creeds state this boldly.
What about the mark of the beast? Antichrist sitting in the Temple of God? The Jews?
Paul says; He would be the “[Man of sin] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in [Greek = as] the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4) (KJV 1900)
Augustine 354 – 430 first speculated about the Antichrist saying; “Antichrist means not the prince himself alone, but his whole body, that is, the mass of men who adhere to him, along with him their prince; and they also think that we should render the Greek more exactly were we to read, not “in the temple of God,” but “for” or “as the temple of God,” as if he himself were the temple of God, the Church.1405”
NPNF1-02. St. Augustine’s City of God and Christian Doctrine - Christian Classics Ethereal Library
So in his estimation, the man of sin would sit as the temple of God more so than in it. And that Christendom is the Temple of God in the New Testament.
Even if we translate Paul as saying in the temple, the meaning remains the same.
After centuries of bloodshed, Napoleon’s general Berthier locked the Pope away where he died in prison in 1799. But in 1929 the Lateran Treaty recognized Vatican City as an independent state under the sovereignty of the Holy See. So he’s back. But if the Papacy is the Antichrist, what is he doing today?
Simply stated, he’s probably in your church today through his principle doctrines even though homogenized for consumption by many Evangelicals and non-Reformed groups.
How so? Two of the most popular doctrines in churches today come from the Papacy and the Jesuits. Namely the doctrine of free will which is the bedrock of sacramental salvation. And through the Arminian free-will gospel. And the Jesuits rule the minds of many through Dispensationalism.
The Jesuits created a future Antichrist based on a gap they inserted between Daniel’s 69th and 70th weeks. This turned Jesus who fulfilled the prophecy into a future Antichrist. In doing so, they undermined the Reformers' claims about the Papacy being Antichrist. If the Antichrist is yet to come, then it cannot be the Pope. This found its way into what we call Dispensationalism today.
As far as free will, In the Catholic sense, free will makes the sacraments available to all who choose to save themselves through them. In the Evangelical sense, free will makes salvation available to any who choose to obey the gospel. But in neither sense does obedience earn salvation. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace that results in obedience to the gospel.
So even in death, and now in his temporarily weakened state, doctrinally, the Papacy still controls the thinking of the vast swath of Christendom.
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