VirginiaHuguenot
Puritanboard Librarian
A collection of statements on the question of whether the Pope is Antichrist:
Waldenses: In 1100, the Waldensian document, Noble Lesson, identified the Pope as the "œAntichrist, the predicted murderer of the Saints, hath already appeared in his true character, seated monarchally in the seven-hilled city." "œOf the authenticity of the Noble Lesson, the beautifully simple production of a confessedly simple people, there can, I think with the learned Raynouard, be no reasonable doubt entertained" (Faber, The History of the Ancient Vallenses and Albigenses, p. 371).
Albigenses: In 1206, at the conference of Montreal, the Albigenses made the following confesÂsion: "œThat the Church of Rome was not the spouse of Christ, but the Church of confusion, drunk with the blood of the martyrs. That the polity of the Church of Rome was neither good nor holy, nor established by Jesus Christ" (Allix, p. 178). The Albigenses "œexpressly declared that they received the canonical books of the Old and New Testament, and that they rejected every doctrine that was not grounded upon, or authorized by them, or was contrary to any one point of doctrine that may be found there. According to which maxim, they confessed that they rejected and condemned all the ceremonies, traditions, and ordinances of the Church of Rome, which they declared to be a den of thieves, and the whore that is spoken of in the Revelation" (Peter Allix, The Ecclesiastical History of the Ancient Churches of Piedmont and of the Albigenses, I, 1692, 1821 edition, p. 194).
John Hus: Reply to the synod of Prague in 1413 A.D.: [To understand this text it is necessary to recall that from 1409 A.D. there had been three popes in the church. Here John Hus has particularly in mind John XXIII, the pope, of Pisa.] Ah, if only the disciples of Antichrist could declare themselves in accord on the true Holy Roman Church, that is to say all the faithful Christians and saints militant in the faith of Christ, obedient to the teaching of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, and even more to those of Christ! If it came about that Rome were destroyed like Sodom, with its pope and its cardinals and that is not impossible the holy church would still exist. This is what I wish to hold to: I hold the pope to be the vicar of Christ in the Roman Church. But I do not consider this to be a matter of faith ... I also hold the following: if the pope is predestined, and exercises his pastoral office in imitation of Jesus Christ, then he is the head of the portion of the church militant that he governs. And if he governs in this way as head of all the church militant according to the law of Jesus Christ then he is its true head under the arch-head, Our Savior Jesus Christ. But if his life is contrary to Christ, then he is a thief a robber, who introduces himself surreptitiously, a ravening wolf a hypocrite and of all mortals the chief Antichrist. The Lord has warned us sufficiently to guard against false Christs and their miracles. And I also hold this: I am ready to accept with respect and reverence, as befits a faithful Christian, all that the Roman Church or the pope and his cardinals define and command to believe and to practice according to the law of Christ, but not all that the pope and his cardinals define and command in general. For nothing is more certain than that the pope and all the Curia can be deceived as to the truth as in their customs.
William Tyndale: http://www.iconbusters.com/iconbusters/docs/tyndale/part1.htm
John Wycliffe: "When the western church was divided for about 40 years between two rival popes, one in Rome and the other in Avigon, France, each pope called the other pope antichrist - and John Wycliffe is reputed to have regarded them as both being right: "two halves of Antichrist, making up the perfect Man of Sin between them." -- LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers, 4 vols. (Wash DC: Review and Herald publishing assc, 1950-1954). "œWhy is it necessary in unbelief to look for another Antichrist? Hence in the seventh chapter of Daniel Antichrist is forcefully described by a horn arising in the time of the 4th kingdom. For it grew from [among] our powerful ones, more horrible, more cruel, and more greedy, because by reckoning the pagans and our Christians by name, a lesser [greater?] struggle for the temporals is not recorded in any preceding time. Therefore the ten horns are the whole of our temporal rulers, and the horn has arisen from the ten horns, having eyes and a mouth speaking great things against the Lofty One, and wearing out the saints of the Most High, and thinking that he is able to change times and laws." (Daniel 7:8, 25 quoted) "¦"For so our clergy foresee the lord pope, as it is said of the eighth blaspheming little head." Translated from Wyclif's, De Veritate Sacrae Scripturae, vol. 3 pp. 262, 263
Ulrich Zwingli: "œI know that in it works the might and power of the Devil, that is, of the Antichrist"¦ the Papacy has to be abolished"¦ But by no other means can it be more thoroughly routed than by the word of God (2 Thessalonians 2), because as soon as the world receives this in the right way, it will turn away from the Pope without compulsion." Principle Works of Zwingli, Vol. 7, p. 135.
Martin Luther: "We here are of the conviction that the papacy is the seat of the true and real Antichrist...personally I declare that I owe the Pope no other obedience than that to Antichrist." (Aug. 18, 1520) Taken from The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 2., pg. 121 by Froom. (In response to a papal bull [official decree]): "I despise and attack it, as impious, false... It is Christ Himself who is condemned therein... I rejoice in having to bear such ills for the best of causes. Already I feel greater liberty in my heart; for at last I know that the pope is antichrist, and that his throne is that of Satan himself." --D'Aubigné, b.6, ch. 9. See also On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church.
Philipp Melanchthon: "œSince it is certain that the pontiffs and the monks have forbidden marriage, it is most manifest, and true without any doubt, that the Roman Pontiff, with his whole order and kingdom, is very Antichrist. Likewise in 2 Thess. II, Paul clearly says that the man of sin will rule in the church exalting himself above the worship of God, etc."
Translated from Melanchthon, Disputationes, No. 56, "De Matrimonio", in Opera (Corpus Reformatorum), vol. 12 col. 535
John Calvin: "œI deny him to be the vicar of Christ, who, in furiously persecuting the gospel, demonstrates by his conduct that he is Antichrist--I deny him to be the successor of Peter..I deny him to be the head of the church." "œSome persons think us too severe and censorious when we call the Roman pontiff Antichrist. But those who are of this opinion do not consider that they bring the same charge of presumption against Paul himself, after whom we speak and whose language we adopt"¦I shall briefly show that (Pauls words in 2 Thessalonians 2) are not capable of any other interpretation than that which applies them to the Papacy" John Calvin, Tracts, Vol. 1, pp. 219,220. John Calvin, Institutes.
John Knox: Knox wrote to abolish "that tyranny which the pope himself has for so many ages exercised over the church" and that the pope should be recognized as "the very antichrist, and son of perdition, of whom Paul speaks." Taken from The Zurich Letters, pg. 199 by John Knox. He preached that Romish traditions and ceremonies should be abolished along with "œthat tyranny which the Pope himself has for so many ages exercised over the church" and that he should be acknowledged as "the son of perdition, of whom Paul speaks." In a public challenge he declared: "As for your Roman Church, as it is now corrupted"¦ I no more doubt but that it is the synagogue of Satan, and the head therof, called the Pope, to be the man of sin of whom the apostle speaketh." Knox, The Zurich Letters, p.199
Thomas Cranmer: "Whereof it followeth Rome to be the seat of antichrist, and the pope to be very antichrist himself. I could prove the same by many other scriptures, old writers, and strong reasons." (Referring to prophecies in Revelation and Daniel.) Taken from Works by Cranmer, Vol. 1, pp. 6-7.
Nicholas Ridley: "œThe See of Rome is the seat of Satan, and the bishop of the same, that maintained the abominations thereof, is Antichrist himself indeed; and for the same causes this See at this day is the same that St. John calls, in his Revelation, Babylon, or the whore of Babylon, and spiritual Sodom and Egypt, the mother of fornications and abomÂinations on earth."
1646 Westminster Confession: Chap. 25.VI: There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ [n]. 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 [o]. [n] Col. 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Eph. 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. [o] Matt. 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 2 Thess. 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. Rev. 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
1689 London Baptist Confession: Chapter 26: Of the Church. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order or government of the church, is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner; neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God; whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. ( Colossians 1:18; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11, 12; 2 Thessalonians 2:2-9 )
Francis Turretin: http://www.iconbusters.com/iconbusters/works-turretin.htm
Cotton Mather: "The oracles of God foretold the rising of an Antichrist in the Christian Church: and in the Pope of Rome, all the characteristics of that Antichrist are so marvelously answered that if any who read the Scriptures do not see it, there is a marvelous blindness upon them." Taken from The Fall of Babylon by Cotton Mather in Froom's book, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 3, pg. 113.
Matthew Henry: http://www.ccel.org/h/henry/mhc2/MHC66016.HTM
John Owen: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonid=980116119
Jonathan Edwards: http://www.crta.org/books/edwards/redemption/index_hisred.html
John Wesley: Speaking of the Papacy he said, "He is in an emphatical sense, the Man of Sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too, properly styled the Son of Perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, both of his opposers and followers... He it is...that exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped...claiming the highest power, and highest honour...claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone." Taken from Antichrist and His Ten Kingdoms by John Wesley, pg. 110.
Charles Spurgeon: "It is the bounden duty of every Christian to pray against Antichrist, and as to what Antichrist is no sane man ought to raise a question. If it be not the popery in the Church of Rome there is nothing in the world that can be called by that name. If there were to be issued a hue and cry for Antichrist, we should certainly take up this church on suspicion, and it would certainly not be let loose again, for it so exactly answers the description." "Popery is contrary to Christ´s Gospel, and is the Antichrist, and we ought to pray against it. It should be the daily prayer of every believer that Antichrist might be hurled like a millstone into the flood and for Christ, because it wounds Christ, because it robs Christ of His glory, because it puts sacramental efficacy in the place of His atonement, and lifts a piece of bread into the place of the Saviour, and a few drops of water into the place of the Holy Ghost, and puts a mere fallible man like ourselves up as the vicar of Christ on earth; if we pray against it, because it is against Him, we shall love the persons though we hate their errors: we shall love their souls though we loath and detest their dogmas, and so the breath of our prayers will be sweetened, because we turn our faces towards Christ when we pray."
Charles Hodge: In his Systematic Theology wrote about twenty pages on the antichrist. He takes 2 Thessalonians 2 as descriptive of the papacy. Hodge explains that the antichrist is religious in character; he sits in the temple of God which is not true of any worldly power. "˜It was not true of Antiochus Epiphanes, who is regarded as the type whence the prophetic portrait of Antichrist was drawn. It is not true of the Roman emperors.´ "˜The popes claim the honour that is due to God alone. They exalt themselves above God.´ "˜Rome is sustained by "˜lying wonders´ a history of apparitions of the Virgin Mary and of saints and angels and miracles of every possible description from the most stupendous to the most absurd.´ Hodge gives sound advice that while recognising that many Roman Catholics past and present are true believers, we must expose the papal system as rotten. There is a difference between the core and the circumference. The core comprising the Pope and the curia is corrupt in doctrine. On the circumference are many sincere souls to whom the call is made, Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues (Rev 18:4).
J.A. Wylie: http://www.historicism.net/readingmaterials/thepapacy.pdf
Erroll Hulse: http://www.reformation-today.org/puritans_and_promises/promise3.htm
Ian Paisley: http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=antichrist_20
Dr. F. Nigel Lee: http://www.fpcr.org/blue_banner_articles/lee1.html
Waldenses: In 1100, the Waldensian document, Noble Lesson, identified the Pope as the "œAntichrist, the predicted murderer of the Saints, hath already appeared in his true character, seated monarchally in the seven-hilled city." "œOf the authenticity of the Noble Lesson, the beautifully simple production of a confessedly simple people, there can, I think with the learned Raynouard, be no reasonable doubt entertained" (Faber, The History of the Ancient Vallenses and Albigenses, p. 371).
Albigenses: In 1206, at the conference of Montreal, the Albigenses made the following confesÂsion: "œThat the Church of Rome was not the spouse of Christ, but the Church of confusion, drunk with the blood of the martyrs. That the polity of the Church of Rome was neither good nor holy, nor established by Jesus Christ" (Allix, p. 178). The Albigenses "œexpressly declared that they received the canonical books of the Old and New Testament, and that they rejected every doctrine that was not grounded upon, or authorized by them, or was contrary to any one point of doctrine that may be found there. According to which maxim, they confessed that they rejected and condemned all the ceremonies, traditions, and ordinances of the Church of Rome, which they declared to be a den of thieves, and the whore that is spoken of in the Revelation" (Peter Allix, The Ecclesiastical History of the Ancient Churches of Piedmont and of the Albigenses, I, 1692, 1821 edition, p. 194).
John Hus: Reply to the synod of Prague in 1413 A.D.: [To understand this text it is necessary to recall that from 1409 A.D. there had been three popes in the church. Here John Hus has particularly in mind John XXIII, the pope, of Pisa.] Ah, if only the disciples of Antichrist could declare themselves in accord on the true Holy Roman Church, that is to say all the faithful Christians and saints militant in the faith of Christ, obedient to the teaching of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, and even more to those of Christ! If it came about that Rome were destroyed like Sodom, with its pope and its cardinals and that is not impossible the holy church would still exist. This is what I wish to hold to: I hold the pope to be the vicar of Christ in the Roman Church. But I do not consider this to be a matter of faith ... I also hold the following: if the pope is predestined, and exercises his pastoral office in imitation of Jesus Christ, then he is the head of the portion of the church militant that he governs. And if he governs in this way as head of all the church militant according to the law of Jesus Christ then he is its true head under the arch-head, Our Savior Jesus Christ. But if his life is contrary to Christ, then he is a thief a robber, who introduces himself surreptitiously, a ravening wolf a hypocrite and of all mortals the chief Antichrist. The Lord has warned us sufficiently to guard against false Christs and their miracles. And I also hold this: I am ready to accept with respect and reverence, as befits a faithful Christian, all that the Roman Church or the pope and his cardinals define and command to believe and to practice according to the law of Christ, but not all that the pope and his cardinals define and command in general. For nothing is more certain than that the pope and all the Curia can be deceived as to the truth as in their customs.
William Tyndale: http://www.iconbusters.com/iconbusters/docs/tyndale/part1.htm
John Wycliffe: "When the western church was divided for about 40 years between two rival popes, one in Rome and the other in Avigon, France, each pope called the other pope antichrist - and John Wycliffe is reputed to have regarded them as both being right: "two halves of Antichrist, making up the perfect Man of Sin between them." -- LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers, 4 vols. (Wash DC: Review and Herald publishing assc, 1950-1954). "œWhy is it necessary in unbelief to look for another Antichrist? Hence in the seventh chapter of Daniel Antichrist is forcefully described by a horn arising in the time of the 4th kingdom. For it grew from [among] our powerful ones, more horrible, more cruel, and more greedy, because by reckoning the pagans and our Christians by name, a lesser [greater?] struggle for the temporals is not recorded in any preceding time. Therefore the ten horns are the whole of our temporal rulers, and the horn has arisen from the ten horns, having eyes and a mouth speaking great things against the Lofty One, and wearing out the saints of the Most High, and thinking that he is able to change times and laws." (Daniel 7:8, 25 quoted) "¦"For so our clergy foresee the lord pope, as it is said of the eighth blaspheming little head." Translated from Wyclif's, De Veritate Sacrae Scripturae, vol. 3 pp. 262, 263
Ulrich Zwingli: "œI know that in it works the might and power of the Devil, that is, of the Antichrist"¦ the Papacy has to be abolished"¦ But by no other means can it be more thoroughly routed than by the word of God (2 Thessalonians 2), because as soon as the world receives this in the right way, it will turn away from the Pope without compulsion." Principle Works of Zwingli, Vol. 7, p. 135.
Martin Luther: "We here are of the conviction that the papacy is the seat of the true and real Antichrist...personally I declare that I owe the Pope no other obedience than that to Antichrist." (Aug. 18, 1520) Taken from The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 2., pg. 121 by Froom. (In response to a papal bull [official decree]): "I despise and attack it, as impious, false... It is Christ Himself who is condemned therein... I rejoice in having to bear such ills for the best of causes. Already I feel greater liberty in my heart; for at last I know that the pope is antichrist, and that his throne is that of Satan himself." --D'Aubigné, b.6, ch. 9. See also On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church.
Philipp Melanchthon: "œSince it is certain that the pontiffs and the monks have forbidden marriage, it is most manifest, and true without any doubt, that the Roman Pontiff, with his whole order and kingdom, is very Antichrist. Likewise in 2 Thess. II, Paul clearly says that the man of sin will rule in the church exalting himself above the worship of God, etc."
Translated from Melanchthon, Disputationes, No. 56, "De Matrimonio", in Opera (Corpus Reformatorum), vol. 12 col. 535
John Calvin: "œI deny him to be the vicar of Christ, who, in furiously persecuting the gospel, demonstrates by his conduct that he is Antichrist--I deny him to be the successor of Peter..I deny him to be the head of the church." "œSome persons think us too severe and censorious when we call the Roman pontiff Antichrist. But those who are of this opinion do not consider that they bring the same charge of presumption against Paul himself, after whom we speak and whose language we adopt"¦I shall briefly show that (Pauls words in 2 Thessalonians 2) are not capable of any other interpretation than that which applies them to the Papacy" John Calvin, Tracts, Vol. 1, pp. 219,220. John Calvin, Institutes.
John Knox: Knox wrote to abolish "that tyranny which the pope himself has for so many ages exercised over the church" and that the pope should be recognized as "the very antichrist, and son of perdition, of whom Paul speaks." Taken from The Zurich Letters, pg. 199 by John Knox. He preached that Romish traditions and ceremonies should be abolished along with "œthat tyranny which the Pope himself has for so many ages exercised over the church" and that he should be acknowledged as "the son of perdition, of whom Paul speaks." In a public challenge he declared: "As for your Roman Church, as it is now corrupted"¦ I no more doubt but that it is the synagogue of Satan, and the head therof, called the Pope, to be the man of sin of whom the apostle speaketh." Knox, The Zurich Letters, p.199
Thomas Cranmer: "Whereof it followeth Rome to be the seat of antichrist, and the pope to be very antichrist himself. I could prove the same by many other scriptures, old writers, and strong reasons." (Referring to prophecies in Revelation and Daniel.) Taken from Works by Cranmer, Vol. 1, pp. 6-7.
Nicholas Ridley: "œThe See of Rome is the seat of Satan, and the bishop of the same, that maintained the abominations thereof, is Antichrist himself indeed; and for the same causes this See at this day is the same that St. John calls, in his Revelation, Babylon, or the whore of Babylon, and spiritual Sodom and Egypt, the mother of fornications and abomÂinations on earth."
1646 Westminster Confession: Chap. 25.VI: There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ [n]. 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 [o]. [n] Col. 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Eph. 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. [o] Matt. 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 2 Thess. 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. Rev. 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
1689 London Baptist Confession: Chapter 26: Of the Church. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order or government of the church, is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner; neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God; whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. ( Colossians 1:18; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11, 12; 2 Thessalonians 2:2-9 )
Francis Turretin: http://www.iconbusters.com/iconbusters/works-turretin.htm
Cotton Mather: "The oracles of God foretold the rising of an Antichrist in the Christian Church: and in the Pope of Rome, all the characteristics of that Antichrist are so marvelously answered that if any who read the Scriptures do not see it, there is a marvelous blindness upon them." Taken from The Fall of Babylon by Cotton Mather in Froom's book, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 3, pg. 113.
Matthew Henry: http://www.ccel.org/h/henry/mhc2/MHC66016.HTM
John Owen: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonid=980116119
Jonathan Edwards: http://www.crta.org/books/edwards/redemption/index_hisred.html
John Wesley: Speaking of the Papacy he said, "He is in an emphatical sense, the Man of Sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too, properly styled the Son of Perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, both of his opposers and followers... He it is...that exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped...claiming the highest power, and highest honour...claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone." Taken from Antichrist and His Ten Kingdoms by John Wesley, pg. 110.
Charles Spurgeon: "It is the bounden duty of every Christian to pray against Antichrist, and as to what Antichrist is no sane man ought to raise a question. If it be not the popery in the Church of Rome there is nothing in the world that can be called by that name. If there were to be issued a hue and cry for Antichrist, we should certainly take up this church on suspicion, and it would certainly not be let loose again, for it so exactly answers the description." "Popery is contrary to Christ´s Gospel, and is the Antichrist, and we ought to pray against it. It should be the daily prayer of every believer that Antichrist might be hurled like a millstone into the flood and for Christ, because it wounds Christ, because it robs Christ of His glory, because it puts sacramental efficacy in the place of His atonement, and lifts a piece of bread into the place of the Saviour, and a few drops of water into the place of the Holy Ghost, and puts a mere fallible man like ourselves up as the vicar of Christ on earth; if we pray against it, because it is against Him, we shall love the persons though we hate their errors: we shall love their souls though we loath and detest their dogmas, and so the breath of our prayers will be sweetened, because we turn our faces towards Christ when we pray."
Charles Hodge: In his Systematic Theology wrote about twenty pages on the antichrist. He takes 2 Thessalonians 2 as descriptive of the papacy. Hodge explains that the antichrist is religious in character; he sits in the temple of God which is not true of any worldly power. "˜It was not true of Antiochus Epiphanes, who is regarded as the type whence the prophetic portrait of Antichrist was drawn. It is not true of the Roman emperors.´ "˜The popes claim the honour that is due to God alone. They exalt themselves above God.´ "˜Rome is sustained by "˜lying wonders´ a history of apparitions of the Virgin Mary and of saints and angels and miracles of every possible description from the most stupendous to the most absurd.´ Hodge gives sound advice that while recognising that many Roman Catholics past and present are true believers, we must expose the papal system as rotten. There is a difference between the core and the circumference. The core comprising the Pope and the curia is corrupt in doctrine. On the circumference are many sincere souls to whom the call is made, Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues (Rev 18:4).
J.A. Wylie: http://www.historicism.net/readingmaterials/thepapacy.pdf
Erroll Hulse: http://www.reformation-today.org/puritans_and_promises/promise3.htm
Ian Paisley: http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=antichrist_20
Dr. F. Nigel Lee: http://www.fpcr.org/blue_banner_articles/lee1.html