ProtestantReformer
Puritan Board Freshman
Westminster 25.6
There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ; nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.
Are there any who object to this historic position & believe the reformers were merely seeing through a lens contextual to their time?
I posit that the Papacy, though a shadow of what it once was, is still that Antichrist & perceive that at some point, she will either receive more power, have her power restored or have the nations wonder after her mysteries. I believe she fulfills the prophecies of 2 Thessalonians 2, in which Calvin commentates;
"The two epithets — man of sin, and son of perdition — intimate, in the first place, how dreadful the confusion would be, that the unseemliness of it might not discourage weak minds; and farther, they tend to stir up the pious to a feeling of detestation, lest they should degenerate along with others. Paul, however, now draws, as if in a picture, a striking likeness of Antichrist; for it may be easily gathered from these words what is the nature of his kingdom, and in what things it consists. **For, when he calls him an adversary, when he says that he will claim for himself those things which belong to God, so that he is worshipped in the temple as God, he places his kingdom in direct opposition to the kingdom of Christ. Hence, as the kingdom of Christ is spiritual, so this tyranny must be upon souls, that it may rival the kingdom of Christ. We shall also find him afterwards assigning to him the power of deceiving, by means of wicked doctrines and pretended miracles. If, accordingly, you would know Antichrist, you must view him as diametrically opposed to Christ."
And that the Papacy may be properly called Antichrist even moreso today, than in the times of the Reformers, as her doctrine as only continues to diverge from the Apostolic faith & dissolve more and more into that which makes the whole up of the mystery of iniquity.
Augustine’s observation on this point is well taken, “Let us not be attentive to the tongue, but to the facts. Similarly, Antichrist is a liar, who by his mouth professes Jesus Christ, yet by his deeds denies him.” Thus, when the Pope usurps the triple office of Christ, he destroys Christ’s gospel by his own traditions, also destroying Christ’s redemption by his own indulgences, purgatory, masses, and rewards; all this while verbally professing Jesus to be the Christ. Notwithstanding his profession, he must be regarded as having denied Christ, together with the Father, by his very deeds and works.”
-- Francis Turretin
There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ; nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.
Are there any who object to this historic position & believe the reformers were merely seeing through a lens contextual to their time?
I posit that the Papacy, though a shadow of what it once was, is still that Antichrist & perceive that at some point, she will either receive more power, have her power restored or have the nations wonder after her mysteries. I believe she fulfills the prophecies of 2 Thessalonians 2, in which Calvin commentates;
"The two epithets — man of sin, and son of perdition — intimate, in the first place, how dreadful the confusion would be, that the unseemliness of it might not discourage weak minds; and farther, they tend to stir up the pious to a feeling of detestation, lest they should degenerate along with others. Paul, however, now draws, as if in a picture, a striking likeness of Antichrist; for it may be easily gathered from these words what is the nature of his kingdom, and in what things it consists. **For, when he calls him an adversary, when he says that he will claim for himself those things which belong to God, so that he is worshipped in the temple as God, he places his kingdom in direct opposition to the kingdom of Christ. Hence, as the kingdom of Christ is spiritual, so this tyranny must be upon souls, that it may rival the kingdom of Christ. We shall also find him afterwards assigning to him the power of deceiving, by means of wicked doctrines and pretended miracles. If, accordingly, you would know Antichrist, you must view him as diametrically opposed to Christ."
And that the Papacy may be properly called Antichrist even moreso today, than in the times of the Reformers, as her doctrine as only continues to diverge from the Apostolic faith & dissolve more and more into that which makes the whole up of the mystery of iniquity.
Augustine’s observation on this point is well taken, “Let us not be attentive to the tongue, but to the facts. Similarly, Antichrist is a liar, who by his mouth professes Jesus Christ, yet by his deeds denies him.” Thus, when the Pope usurps the triple office of Christ, he destroys Christ’s gospel by his own traditions, also destroying Christ’s redemption by his own indulgences, purgatory, masses, and rewards; all this while verbally professing Jesus to be the Christ. Notwithstanding his profession, he must be regarded as having denied Christ, together with the Father, by his very deeds and works.”
-- Francis Turretin
