JM
Puritan Board Doctor
From Erroll Hulse's "The Puritans and the Promises."
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The Puritans and the Promises
This antichrist pretends to be the real Christ but is counterfeit. Antichrist in the text implies opposition but its primary meaning is not against. First and foremost anti means IN PLACE OF. Antikeimai is the present participle of the verb antikeimai, to set oneself in the place of by taking the place of another. Anti in Greek usage means instead or in the place of. For instance, ‘If your son asks for a fish will he (anti) in the place of it give him a serpent’ and Matthew 2:22, ‘Archelaus was reigning (anti) in the place of his father Herod.’ This antichrist takes the room or place of Christ. He becomes the vicar (substitute) of Christ on earth.
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The Reformers and Puritans were unanimous in seeing 2 Thessalonians 2 as descriptive of the papacy. The Puritans not only agreed about this but they decided that it was important enough to inscribe into the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 26 on the Church, paragraph 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 exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.
The 1689 London Baptist Confession, chapter 26, on the Church paragraph 4, has the same wording as the above but adds the promise, Whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. As in the Westminster Confession 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9 is cited in support of this.
Samuel E. Waldron in his exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith states that the confession is false at this point and without adequate basis. Mr Waldron’s opinion is defective. He makes no attempt to work at the principles of apocalyptic interpretation. He provides no exegesis and no examination of the testimony of history.
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 exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.
The 1689 London Baptist Confession, chapter 26, on the Church paragraph 4, has the same wording as the above but adds the promise, Whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. As in the Westminster Confession 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9 is cited in support of this.
Samuel E. Waldron in his exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith states that the confession is false at this point and without adequate basis. Mr Waldron’s opinion is defective. He makes no attempt to work at the principles of apocalyptic interpretation. He provides no exegesis and no examination of the testimony of history.
The Puritans and the Promises