Posted on 10/12/2024 5:26:02 AM PDT by Philsworld
The Protestant reformers held the almost unanimous view that the Papacy was the predicted Antichrist of Bible prophecy. They shared several theological concepts: • The fourth beast of Daniel 7 is a symbol of the Roman Empire. • The “restrainer” in II Thessalonians 2 is also the Roman Empire. • The Antichrist is not an individual, but rather a succession of popes who, taken together, constitute an apostate religious system. • The time periods in symbolic prophecy are to be understood figuratively, not literally. • The “temple” in which the Antichrist sits is not the literal Jerusalem temple but rather the Christian Church. • The word “Antichrist” does not denote a blasphemous individual who openly denies and defies God but rather one who opposes Christ by posing as the Vicar of Christ. • Though not unanimous, most Protestant reformers believed that the little horn of Daniel 7 represents the Roman Catholic papal system. • The Protestant Reformers frequently remarked that the “Man of Sin,” the “little horn,” “the beast,” “the abomination of desolation,” and “the harlot” all represented the Roman Catholic papacy.
The Protestant Reformers knew for certain that in the prophetic flow of time, the lion (Babylon), the bear (Persia), the leopard (Greece), and the dragon (Rome) had already ruled the world. They also knew that Rome had been divided into ten kingdoms when the barbarians carved up the empire. They knew all too well that the predicted Antichrist was to arise among these ten kingdoms of Western Europe. They saw clearly and distinctly that they were living in the time period of the little horn. The historicist hermeneutical method made it quite simple. A correct understanding of Bible prophecy gave them the unmistakable mandate to unmask this system which had usurped the prerogatives of Christ, truth of God!!
(Excerpt) Read more at secretsunsealed.org ...
The Early Church Fathers lived in the time of the fourth beast (Rome). The Empire had not yet crumbled into ten kingdoms. The little horn had not yet arisen. The best they could do was guess about the identity of the Antichrist.
But the Protestant Reformers did not need to guess. They had the benefit of looking back at over one thousand years of church history. They saw, with their own eyes, what the early church fathers did not. By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Empire had crumbled into ten kingdoms and an evil spiritual empire (Papal Rome) had risen among these kingdoms to rule over them. Thus, the Reformers had the benefit of historical hindsight to help them identify the little horn, the Man of Sin, the Beast, the Harlot and the Abomination of Desolation.
All from the article:
Hmmmm...preterist and futurist Protestantism is the false prophet.
“By employing the preterist and futurist prophetic principles of the Roman Catholic Church, Protestants have made a “hermeneutical” image to the beast. Furthermore, they have become the False Prophet because they proclaim the prophetic message they obtained from the beast.”
Thanks for posting.
You’re welcome. And, I encourage everyone interested to read the end notes.
It's set in the past but is in fact a precognition.
Thanks for posting, and all the scholarship the post provides.
More the Pipe is the antichrist drivel.
You want to see a crumbling? See the divisions Martin Luther and his sons generated.
Every Protestant wants to be their own pope.
They only thing they can agree on is that the Catholic Church is wrong.
Meanwhile the Catholic Church still stands 2000 years later while denominations go extinct.
Says a lot, doesn’t it?
If you know church history then you’ll know.
Why won’t you use bible prophecy AND HISTORY to prove me wrong?
The answer is, BECAUSE YOU CAN’T. Bible prophecy, AND HISTORY, only supports the Papacy as being the Antichrist.
Among the Antichrist identifiers in the bible, Daniel 7 clearly states that it comes out of the 4th beast, WHICH IS THE ROMAN EMPIRE and lasts until the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.
Your own CATHOLIC CHURCH admits that it came out of the ROMAN EMPIRE and its temporal/civil power lasted some 1200 years, WHICH YOU DENY, of which I recently showed you proof, FROM YOUR OWN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
——The 1260 years of Papal Supremacy
——Catholic writers attest to 12 centuries of Papal Supremacy and Sovereignty:
https://www.biblelightinfo.com/1260years.htm
I’ve also shown you that PRETERISM AND FUTURISM comes from your Catholic Church, in an attempt to deflect Protestant criticism that they were the Antichrist power (Futurism is now known as Dispensationalism):
The Catholic Origins of Futurism and Preterism
https://www.biblelightinfo.com/antichrist.htm
Interesting is that one of the main Jesuit authors of Futurism, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, was also on the board of inquisition, accusing Galileo of his theory of planet motion, geocentric vs heliocentric, etc..., known as copernicanism.
“Thus, on February 26 (1616), the Inquisition’s most authoritative cardinal, Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), met with Galileo in private and gave him the following warning: the Church was going to declare the idea of the earth’s motion false and contrary to Scripture, and so this theory could not be held or defended. Galileo agreed to comply.
The Papacy is the Antichrist power as proven from scripture and history.
Exactly as prophecy predicts:
Daniel 7:
15I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. 17These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 18But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
19Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; 20And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 21I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22UNTIL THE ANCIENT OF DAYS CAME, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
23Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25And 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. 26But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Pope Pius IX gave this remarkable testimony:
La Chiesa Cattolica fondata e istituita da Cristo Signore per provvedere alla salvezza eterna degli uomini, avendo conseguito, in forza della sua divina istituzione, la forma di società perfetta, deve godere, nell’esercizio del suo sacro ministero, di quella libertà che la sottrae alla soggezione di qualsivoglia potere civile.
Poiché per operare liberamente, come era necessario, doveva fruire di quei supporti che rispondevano alle condizioni e alle esigenze dei tempi, per una speciale disposizione della divina Provvidenza avvenne che, quando l’Impero Romano si dissolse e fu diviso in vari regni, il Romano Pontefice, costituito da Cristo capo e centro di tutta la Chiesa, ottenne un Principato civile.
Questo fu disposto con somma sapienza da Dio stesso, perché in mezzo ad una tale moltitudine e varietà di sovrani temporali, il Sommo Pontefice disponesse di quella libertà politica che era indispensabile per esercitare, senza alcun impedimento, il suo potere spirituale, la sua autorità e la sua giurisdizione sul mondo intero. − Pius IX, Apostolic Letter Cum Catholica Ecclesia, March 26, 1860.
(Translated)
The Catholic Church which was founded and instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ to procure the eternal salvation of men, has, by reason of this divine institution, the form of a perfect society. Therefore, she must possess liberty such that she cannot be subject to any civil power in the execution of her sacred ministry.
To act with freedom, as it is just she should, she has always needed the assistance which was suitable to the conditions and the necessities of the age. It is, therefore, by a particular decree of Divine Providence that, at the fall of the Roman Empire and its partition into separate kingdoms, the Roman Pontiff, whom Christ made the head and center of his entire Church, acquired civil power.
Certainly, it was by a most wise design of God Himself that in the midst of so great a multitude and variety of temporal princes, the Sovereign Pontiff enjoyed political liberty, which is so necessary for him to exercise his spiritual power, his authority, and his jurisdiction over the whole world.
Source: Papal Teachings: The Church, selected and arranged by the Benedictine Monks of Solesmes, translated by Mother E. O'Gorman, R.S.C.J., Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart, St. Paul Editions, Boston, © 1980, 1962 by Daughters of St. Paul, Library of Congress catalog card number 62-12454, par. #225, page 160.
The above quote is taken from this article/link:
https://www.biblelightinfo.com/1260years.htm
1260 years of Papal TEMPORAL/CIVIL rule.
12 centuries of Papal Supremacy and Sovereignty:
Scripture predicts it, and your church AND HISTORY confirm it.
Just curious if your PCA Church has an opinion on this thread’s subject matter? PCA does not believe in Dispensationalism, correct? Do they take anything from the Protestant Reformation? Are they Historicists?
Evangelical DENIAL of what came out of the Protestant Reformation, as proven through prophecy, and verified by history, is DEAFENING. Evangelical clergy, (and their bible college graduates), should be ashamed in what they believe and teach.
I'm sure they will be.
Not really. The Jews have you beat by a couple of thousand years and they know which day to worship on because they read the 10 Commandments. So, if longevity is the measure, Catholics lose by a lot.
If you know church history then you’ll know.
Know what? If you have a point, make it. Did you read the posting? It's all about Church History. IF YOU read and know church history the you'll know the Catholics and most Protestants missed the boat.
As I said...
Why won’t you use bible prophecy AND HISTORY to prove me wrong?
The answer is, BECAUSE YOU CAN’T. Bible prophecy, AND HISTORY, only supports the Papacy as being the Antichrist.
Why can’t you back up your claims?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.