Scriptures

• 1 John 2:18-22; 4:3; 2 John 7: ANTICHRIST
  • “Antichrist is coming…many antichrists have come”
  • “from us…not of us;” “denies…Jesus;” “false prophets;” replaces God (cf. 1 Jn 2:26-27)
• Dan. 7:7-12, 17-27: LITTLE HORN
  • Emerges in 4th kingdom, when 10 kingdoms arise (Rome); plucked up three horns; “eyes like the eyes of a man” (false prophet/seer); “made war with the saints and prevailed over them”; a “different” kingdom; “speak words against the Most High;” “the saints…shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time;” defeated by Jesus’ return
• 2 Thes 2:3-12: MAN OF LAWLESSNESS
  • “Rebellion;” “opposes and exalts himself…proclaiming himself to be God;” “in the temple of God;” “the mystery of lawlessness is already at work…he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way;” “the Lord Jesus will kill;” “power and false signs and wonders;” “deception…strong delusion”
• Rev. 13; 17: LAMB-BEAST
  • “like a lamb…spoke like a dragon;” “exercises all the authority of the first beast;” “great signs…deceives;” “his number is 666”
  • “False prophet” (Rev. 19:20)
  • Connected with earthly-harlot-Babylon / false church (Rev. 17); contrasting heavenly-bride-Jerusalem / true church (Rev. 21)
• Book of Revelation
  • 1; 21-22: Jesus & Pure Bride
  • 2-3: Seven existing churches = “things that are” (1:19)
  • 4-5: “things that are to take place after this” (1:19; 4:1)
  • 6-7: Seals (Secular Rome – “Christian” Rome?)
  • 8-9: Trumpets (Rome & Islam?)
  • 10-11: Church’s witness reduced; Word & Spirit present
  • 12-13; 17: Beast of Sea, Earth (Secular Gov’t, False Church?)
  • 14-16; 18-20: Bowls & final judgments

Historical Records

Daniel 7; 2 Thessalonians 2 & the Papacy

• Arises after Rome Falls: “The early writings of the [church] fathers tell us with remarkable unanimity that…on the fall of Caesar, he [Antichrist] would arise.” (Guinness, as qtd by Ralph Woodrow, Great Prophecies of the Bible, 1989, p. 130)
• Rome split into 10 kingdoms: “Macchiavelli, the Roman historian, described the [Roman] Empire as being divided among the [10] various Gothic tribes.” (Ralph Woodrow, Great Prophecies of the Bible, 1989, p. 136)
• Rome takes 3 kingdoms: “The ‘three kings’ which he [the Papacy] displaced…are thought to refer to Lombards, Ravenna and Rome, which were handed over to the Popes as the beginning of their Temporal Kingdom, (A.D. 754).” (H. H. Halley, Halley’s Bible Handbook, 1965, p. 346). They could also be: Heruli (493), Vandals (534), Ostrogoths (553) (Elliot, as qtd by Ralph Woodrow, Great Prophecies of the Bible, 1989, pp. 136-137)
• “a time, times, and half a time” (1,260 days/years): “The Papacy dominated the world for approximately 1260 years, 6th to 18th centuries A.D.” (H. H. Halley, Halley’s Bible Handbook, 1965, p. 348)
• Boastful words against God: “It is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Bull of Pope Boniface VIII promulgated November 18, 1302) “Union of minds, therefore, requires…complete submission and obedience of will…to the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself.” (SAPIENTIAE CHRISTIANAE ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON CHRISTIANS AS CITIZENS) “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” (Encyclical Letter Præclara Gratulationis Publicæ of Pope Leo XIII JUNE 20, 1894)
• “War with the saints”: “Untold millions” of martyrs died at the hands of popes (H. H. Halley, Halley’s Bible Handbook, 1965, p. 793). “It has been estimated that fifty million Christians were killed during those centuries of Papal persecution.” (Ralph Woodrow, Great Prophecies of the Bible, 1989, p. 139)

Notable Christians Endorsing the Papacy as Antichrist:

Eberhard II (1200s); Michael of Cesena (1300s); John Wyclif (1300s); John Huss (1369-1415); Martin Luther (1483-1546); Philipp Melancthon (1497-1560); John Calvin (1509-1564); John Knox (1505-1572); Huldreich Zwingli (1484-1531); William Tyndale (1484-1536); King James Bible translators (1611); Nicholas Ridley (1500-1555); Hugh Latimer (1490-1555); Roger Williams (1603-1683); Westminster Confession of Faith (1647); Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727); Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758); John Wesley (1703-1791); Albert Barnes (1798-1870); Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)