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The Antichrist

The Bible speaks briefly about the Antichrist: "Since the mass apostasy has not yet occurred nor the man of lawlessness been revealed–that son of perdition and adversary who exalts himself above every so-called god proposed for worship, he who seats himself in God's temple and even declared himself to be God . . . This lawless one will appear as part of the workings of Satan, accompanied by all the power and signs and wonders at the disposal of falsehood" (2 Thess. 2:3-9); "Just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many such antichrists have appeared . . . every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, while every spirit that fails to acknowledge him does not belong to God. Such is the spirit of antichrist which, as you have heard, is to come; in fact it is in the world already" (1 Jn. 2:18, 4:3); "Many deceitful men . . . do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh . . . This is the antichrist" (2 Jn. 7). "The beast was given a mouth for uttering proud boasts and blasphemies" (Rev. 13:1-10,18).

Some Protestants say these Biblical texts are fulfilled in the pope, who they say is the Antichrist. Although from a Protestant standpoint the prophecies can be construed as being fulfilled in the pope, there are many problems with such an interpretation.

First of all, John says that the spirit of Antichrist denies Jesus has come in the flesh (Incarnation). The Catholic Church has never denied the Incarnation, nor has any pope. Paul says that the Antichrist will declare himself to be God. Far from declaring himself God, the pope is called under many titles, including the Vicar (or representative) of Christ, and Servant of the Servants of God, but never God. It is also clear that in the Biblical texts, the Antichrist will be one man (not an office) who will appear at the end of the world. Popes began appearing 2000 years ago, long before the end times, and there have been 265 of them. Clearly, the Biblical texts do not speak of the Petrine office, but about an Antichrist who has yet to appear. The "spirit of Antichrist" has already appeared (this is what is meant when John says the Antichrist is "in the world already"), but the Antichrist himself has yet to come. And what about "proud boasts and blasphemies?" Of course, often when the pope says anything Catholic, it seems "boastful" and "blasphemous" to Protestants. But the nothing the pope says in itself is boastful and blasphemous, when understood properly.

Some Protestants also say that the pope is the beast spoken of in Revelation 13, which says: "the number of the beast . . . is six hundred and sixty-six" (666) (Rev. 13:18). They say Vicarius Filii Dei, which means "Vicar of the Son of God," adds up to 666 in Latin.

In some ancient languages, letters also stood for numbers. When taking the title Vicarius Filii Dei and adding up the numbers in Latin to which a numerical value is attached, you end up with the number 666. There are, however, two problems with this.

First of all, Vicarius Filii Dei is not an official title of the pope. Vicarius Christi (Vicar of Christ) is, but this title, nor any of the other titles the pope goes by, adds up to 666. Secondly, Revelation was written in Greek, not Latin, so the beast would most likely be figured with Greek numerology. When this is done, Nero Caesar becomes the most likely interpretation of the beast. In early Greek manuscripts, the number of the beast was sometimes rendered 616 rather than 666. The Greek form of the name Nero Caesar in Hebrew letters adds up to 666, but the Latin form of his name in Hebrew letters adds up to 616. Thus it appears as though the earliest copiers of manuscripts believed the beast to be Nero Caesar, a tradition that almost certainly originated with early Christians who knew John was writing about Nero. This is a sensible interpretation, since at the time John wrote Revelation, Nero Caesar was the most violent persecutor of Christians who had yet lived. And the passage from Revelation 13 provides a good description of Nero Caesar, much more so than the pope.

The other problem with this position is that the names of Ellen Gould White and Martin Luther, founders of the two churches which claim the pope is the Antichrist, both add up to 666 in Latin as well. This is not surprising, since hundreds of names add up to 666. Most likely, these names add up to 666 for the same reason that other names do–mere coincidence.

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