FACTS OF FAITH By Christian Edwardson
Chapter 21
The Antichrist
DEFINING
THE NAME ANTICHRIST
(196) The name
"antichrist" is found in only three chapters of the Bible, and in
every instance it was emphatically stated that he was already in the world. We
read:
"Ye
have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists....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 2:18, 22.
"This
is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and
even now already is it in the world." 1 John 4:3.
"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." 2 John 7.
How can
anyone, in the light of these plain texts, say that the antichrist here spoken
of is not yet come, when the very texts declare that he is here already?
These texts also reveal the fact that the apostle did not
believe antichrist to be only one individual, but rather an antichristian
tendency in the church: an organization dominated by "the spirit of
antichrist," having a man at its head, so that when he died another would
take his place, and the antichristian system would continue. Thus there would
be "many antichrists," as the apostle says, but only one system; and this system had already made
such progress before the apostle died, that it was about to capture the church.
Its leader would not accept the Apostle John, one leader "forbiddeth them
that would, and casteth them out of the church." 3 John 9, 10. This
accounts for the warnings in John's epistles against these "many
antichrists." 1 John 2:18.
The Apostle Paul, during his last journey among the churches,
gathered "the elders," or bishops, and warned them against the coming
apostasy of the church, which was to be brought about by its leaders. He says:
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in
among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your
own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away
disciples after them." Acts 20:29,
30. Later the apostle reminded the believers, that the day of Christ's return
was not then at hand: "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 worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God [the church, 1 Cor. 3:10, 16], showing himself that he is God.
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?...For
the mystery of iniquity doth already work." 2 Thess. 2:3-7.
(197) These prophecies
point out clearly that the "elders" (later called bishops) would
"draw away" the people from the truth of the Bible, to follow men,
and that this "falling away," which had "already" begun in
Paul's day, would develop, until a "man" would exalt himself to take
the place of Christ in the church. Every thoughtful student of prophecy can see
that this points unmistakably to the Papacy, and it accords exactly with the
significance of the name "antichrist."
Dr. James Strong says that "antichrist" comes from
two Greek words, antee and khristos, and gives the following definition
of antte: "Opposite, i.e. instead
or because of,...for, in the room of. Often used in composition to
denote...substitution." - Exhaustive
Concordance, Greek Dictionary, entries Nos. 500, 473. Thomas Sheldon
Green says: Anti, prep, over against;
hence, in correspondence to; in place of..." - Greek-English Lexicon, p. 14. Boston: 1896. The meaning,
therefore, of "antichrist," as it is used in the New Testament, is a rival to Christ, or one who attempts to take
the place of Christ as his "vicar." This significance of the prefix
"anti" is also seen in the word "anti-pope." (For further
information on this point see "The Papacy
Is Antichrist," by J. A. Wylie, pp. 2-18. Edinburgh: George
M'Gibbon.) We shall now see that this is exactly the position which Catholics
claim for the pope, that he holds the place of Christ on earth. Rev. T. L.
Kinkead says:
(198) "Our Holy
Father the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the vicar of Christ on earth and the
visible head of the Church."
"'Vicar' - that is, one who holds another's place and
acts in his name." - 'Explanation of the
Baltimore Catechism," p. 130. Benziger Brothers (Sanctioned by
Cardinal Gibbons, five archbishops, nineteen bishops, and other dignitaries.)
Rev. William Humphrey, S. J., says:
"A vicar is put in the place of him whom he represents.
He is invested with his power, he is furnished with his authority....He
personates his principal....The master, by his appointment of a vicar, binds
himself to ratify his vicar's acts, an to recognize them as his own." -
"The Vicar of Christ," p. 4.
New York: Benziger Brothers, 1892.
Thomas Morell, D. D., and Prof. John Carey LL.D., says:
"Vicarius, a, um. adj. That is in stead, or place of
another; that supplies another's room; a deputy....One who performs the office,
or duty, of another; a deputy, a substitute." - "An Abridgement of Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary",
Designed for the Use of Schools, p. 604. London. 1826.
When the force of this similarity between the antichirst of
prophecy and the pope of Rome dawned upon the mind of Cardinal Newman, he
declared:
"The gibe, 'If the Pope is not Antichrist, he has had
bad luck to be so like him,' is really another argument in favour of the claims
of the Pope; since Antichrist simulates Christ, and the Pope is an image of
Christ, Antichrist must have some similarity to the Pope, if the latter be the
true Vicar of Christ." - Catholic
Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 561, art. "Antichrist."
Thus it is claimed that the pope is the vicar of Christ on
earth. But Christ left an altogether different Vicar, or Representative, in His
place; namely, the Holy Spirit. (John 14:15-18; 16:7.) Of this Representative
Christ says: "He shall teach you all things." "He will guide you
into all truth." John 14:26; 16:13. (Compare 1 John 2:29, 27.( The Holy
Spirit being the author of the Bible (2 Peter 1:21), certainly should be the
proper interpreter of it. To this the Roman church answers:
(199) "Nor can it
be said that being a divinely inspired book, its prime Author, the Holy Spirit,
will guide the reader to the right meaning.
"The Church which made the Bible, likewise interprets
the Bible." - "Things Catholics Are
Asked About," Martin J. Scott, S. J., Litt. d., pp. 119, 120. N.
Y.: Kenedy, 1927.
Pope Leo XIII says:
"But the supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman
Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires, together with a perfect accord in
the one faith, complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to
the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself." - "The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII," p. 193. New
York: Benziger Bros., 1903. He further says:
"We hold upon this earth the place of God
Almighty." - Id., p. 304.
We have now seen from authentic Catholic sources, that the
pope arrogates to himself the "place of God Almighty," the office of
Christ on earth, and the prerogative of the Holy spirit, as sole teacher of the
faithful, and the interpreter of the Holy Scriptures. What more is needed to
fulfill the prediction of 2 Thess. 2:3, 4, and the prophecies of the
Antichrist?
ALL
AGREED ON ANTICHRIST
Up to the close of the Reformation God's people were
generally agreed that the Papacy was the Antichrist foretold in prophecy. The
Waldenses taught it. (See page 122.) About 1384 A.D. John Wycliffe wrote a book
against the papal system entitled: "Of Antichrist and His Meynee." In
fact, the English Reformers, - Tyndale, Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, - all
agreed in pointing to the Papacy as the Antichrist. John Huss of Bohemia, in
his "De Anatomia Antichristi,"
did the same. Turning to Germany we find Dr. Martin Luther strong in his
convictions on this subject. He says:
"The Pope is...the true Antichrist, of whom it is
written, that he sitteth in the temple of God, among the people where Christ is
worshiped....
(200) "But Papists
want to divert this passage from themselves, and they say that Christ and Paul
speak about the temple at Jerusalem, and that Antichrist shall sit there and
rule; that will not do....It cannot be understood otherwise than of the new spiritual
temple, which he says we are.
"There shall the Pope sit and be honored, not above God,
but above all that is called God....So also we see it before our eyes, that
many princes and the world regard his law higher and more than the commandments
of God....Cannot this rightly be termed exalting and honoring Antichrist above
God?" - "Luther's Church Postil,":
"Gospels," 25th Sunday after Trinity, par. 24, 25, Part 2, pp. 734,
735. Stavanger, Norway: 1862.
Luther further declares:
"Therefore, let whosoever will doubt, God's word and the
proper divine worship convinces me sufficiently that the Pope is the
Antichrist, and the ecclesiastical orders are his disciples, which deceive the
whole world." - Id., Part 1, p. 379.
"I hope that the last day is at the door. Things could
not become worse than the Roman see makes it. It suppresses the commandments of
God, it exalts its own commandments above God's. If this is not Antichrist,
then some one else must tell what it is." - "Luther's Reformatory
Works," p. 280. Copenhagen: 1883.
"The Pope is the real Antichrist." - Id., p. 278.
Dr. Charles H. H. Wright, in speaking of the Bible prophecy
of "antichrist," says:
"In all ages of the Church, from the days of Gregory the
Great down to the present, men have pointed to the Papacy as the fulfillment of
the prophecy. That interpretation is set forth in the Homilies of the Church of
England and by all the Reformed Churches. The interpretation, however, has been
ignored or rejected by critics, for reasons which need not be specified. It
can, however, stand all the tests of criticism." - "Daniel and His Prophecies," p. 168.
London: 1906. (See also Catholic Encyclopedia,
Vol. I, p. 561, art. "Antichrist.")
To be
continued….
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