I put my faith in Jesus Christ and thank God for allowing me to know that.

I know nothing of Roman Catholic doctrine, but having attended with my aunt a couple of christmas eve mass's many years ago, I sure was uncomfortable with all the praise they give to Mary, and the Pope and the lack of recognition of the work of Christ as the ONLY means of salvation. As a new Christian, I knew what I was listening to then, was a farce.

In that sense the Church of Rome is Anti-Christ. We are now in this post just re tracing the foundational footsteps of many great reformers that have brought us to our present day freedom in the saving Grace of our Lord, and freedom from the Anti-Christ teachings of the Church of Rome. I think that Paul was dealing with similar issues with the Church in Thessalonians.

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Thanks in Christ
Gord
RTI Student
Burlington, Ontario

By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.

While the original WCF contains the condemnation of the papacy as the Anti-christ, the version used by the OPC does not. The question itself comes up because people in times past thought the papacy was corrupt (true) called itself the only true church (true) and was a synagogue Satan. Unable to escape their times, they viewed the verse in 2 Th as surely being fulfilled in the papacy. Yet nothing in the scripture itself mentions the pope in Rome (it could not, as that "office" did not exist yet).

We might yet see the RC church turn and repent of her sins of the past 1000 years, and become a true church yet again ... I do not think it appropriate to close that door forever.

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Brian Withnell
Deacon, OPC
Leesburg, Virginia

You cannot train for war in the midst of a battle. Prepare before the battle starts; if the battle is long and hard, you will wish you had.

That would be a truly awesome thing to see.

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Travis
URC
Boise, ID

This is an intriguing question. If I had come across this poll a few days ago, I would have answered, I don't know, and I was definitely in the camp of those who didn't care that the WCF took out it's comments about the pope. However, my husband and I watched a lengthy historical documentary on the RCC the other day. It left me completely stunned and almost completely convinced that the papacy is at the very least an anti-Christ, and at the most it is the anti-Christ. I haven't had finished my biblical study on the subject, but if there is one specific anti-Christ, it could very well come from the papacy.

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J Baldwin
Keowee Presbyterian Church, PCA
Pickens, SC
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

Check Out My Blog: http://reflectjoy.blogspot.com/

I cannot even begin to imagine. It would truly be awesome as you've said. The insurmountable riches of God's grace if indeed it happens!

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Ewen
1689 LBCF
Assemblies of God Bible College
Singapore

Does not the Scriptures often use imagery to foretell future events/people that does not directly name them? If this is true (and I do not think anyone would argue otherwise) why would 2 Thess 2:4 be required to specifically name the Papacy? It itself mentions the fact it is speaking of the future.

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Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

If the Bible did name the Papacy, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Maybe the passages that deal with the Papacy are a test?

Can we recognise (thinly?) disguised heresy and wickedness without it being spelled out to us in the Bible in words of one syllable?

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Richard
communicant member, FCoS
Perth, Scotland UK

His Name forever shall endure;
last like the sun it shall:
Men shall be blessed in Him,
and blessed all nations shall Him call (Ps. 72:17)

On my way to work today, I was listening to Riddlebarger's series on the Man of Lawlessness. He makes a pretty strong point that preterism takes the eschatological tension of the already/not yet and "solves" the tension by throwing everything into the past. Dispensational eschatology "solves" it by pushing everything off into the future.

Riddlebarger works deliberately through the texts on the Man of Lawlessness and on the Antichrist. He argues that we canNOT simply assume an identification between the two (e.g., Warfield's warning against such). Instead, it must be proven. Warfield ultimately did not think that a composite of the two could be made. Riddlebarger disagrees, suggesting that the two are the same. Also, John makes it pretty clear that the Antichrist (literally several Antichrists) were already at work in the first century.

Riddlebarger contends that Gentry makes a good case for the identification of Nero as 666 in the first century, certainly a Man of Lawlessness/Antichrist. He opines that the Reformers were correct in identifying the Pope/papacy as a Man of Lawlessness/Antichrist. His counter would be that as long as "the restrainer" is not removed, we have not reached the point of THE Antichrist, an eschatological figure that ought not be dismissed as fulfilled in Nero nor pushed entirely into the future.

Riddlebarger suggests that Vos is correct in saying that we will know THE Antichrist when we see him. Until then, we ought to contend against the spirit of antichrist evident in every age. At the end of time, there will be a combination of state power, idolatry, and persecution of believers that will be THE final Antichrist. The papacy not only held "spiritual" power, it also could direct armies to persecute believers, and through the mass it engaged in idolatrous worship. Trifecta for Antichrist in Riddlebarger's mind (as was Nero).

So . . . was Nero Antichrist? Yes.
Is the papacy of Reformation days Antichrist? Yes.
Will there be an Antichrist yet to come? Yes.

At least that would be one "take" on it from a contemporary orthodox amillennialist.

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Dennis E. McFadden, Ex Mainline Baptist (in Remission)
Atherton Baptist Homes, CEO
First Baptist Church of Alhambra, Member, Transformation Ministries (CA)

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

What was the name of the that documentary if you don't mind telling?

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Willie Grills
Trinity Presbyterian Church
OPC
Huntington, WV