The interpretation which has been given in
the text of the strongest terms in the apostle's language respecting the antichrist, by understanding them of a virtual, in
contradistinction to a formal and avowed assumption of blasphemous
prerogatives, is so much in accordance with the general style of prophecy, and
so plainly demanded by the connection, that we cannot refrain from expressing
our wonder, at finding interpreters of note still pressing the opposite view.
Their doing so must be regarded as another instance of that tendency to
literalism, which has wrought such confusion in the prophetical field, and
which, at particular points, returns upon some, who in general have attained to
a correct discernment of the characteristics of prophecy. The practice of
describing things by their real, as opposed to their professed or apparent
character, is one that peculiarly distinguishes the Apocalyptic
imagery. Thus the worldly kingdoms, both in Daniel and the Revelation, are
represented as beasts-not that they actually were, or gave themselves out to be
such, but because they pursued a course which partook largely of the bestial
nature; they were, one might say, virtual beasts. And the false, seductive
power designated Babylon, the mother of harlots an d abominations, we may be
sure, was not going to proclaim her own shame by declaring herself to be what
those epithets import. Beyond all doubt, she is described according to what she
really was, not by what she would profess, to be. In like manner, th e names of
blasphemy on the head of the beast indicate a real rather than a professed
dishonour to the God of heaven; for open profanity and avowed atheism have,
with few exceptions, been studiously avoided by the worldly power. It has
almost uniformly striven to associate with its different forms of government,
and political aims, the name and sanctions of religion. Even in the more
prosaic parts of the Apocalypse
we find the same characteristic prevailing-as when it describes the soaring
spirit of the Gnostic teachers, by their knowing the depths of Satan (not those
of God, which they themselves rather affected to understand), and designates
them by such epithets as Nicolaitans (people-destroyers), followers of Balaam,
Jezebels-which they were so far from professing to be, that they laid claim to
the highest gifts and the most honourable distinctions. Nor could it be
otherwise with the wolves, of whose coming St Paul warned the Ephesian elders
(Acts xx.); they were not going, when they appeared, to avow their own
wolf-like character, but would, doubtless, aspire to the place of guides and
shepherds of the flock. All prophecy, indeed, abounds with examples of this
mode of representation; for, speaking as with Divine intuition, it ever
delights to penetrate through showy appearances, and to strip deceivers of
their false disguises. Thus the self-deifying pride of the Chaldean conquerors
has its representation in the prophet Habakkuk, by their being characterised as
successful fishers, sacrificing to their own net (chap. i. 16); and the
corruption of degenerate Israel is exhibited with singular boldness by Ezekiel,
under the form of their having had an Amorite father and a Hittite mother
(chap. xvi. 3); and by Isaiah, under the announcement, as from themselves, that
they had made a covenant with death, and come to an agreement with hell (chap.
xxviii. 15). By a still bolder figure the prophet Amos calls the tabernacle in
the wilderness the tabernacle of their Moloch, because the idolatrous and unsanctified
spirit which still clung to them rendered it practically an idol-tent rather
than that of the true God (chap. v. 26). These and many similar representations
are obviously designed to set before us the real state and character of the
parties described, though entirely different from the outward profession and
appearance. On any other principle it were impossible to render much that is written
in prophecy either intelligible in itself, or consistent with the facts of
history.
The violation of this principle in regard
to the passages which treat of the
antichristian apostacy, by adhering to a mistaken literalism, is the more
to be regretted, as it is doing with this portion of the prophetic Scriptures
what it has already d one with those which have respect to the promised
Messiah-it is altogether destroying in the hands of its abettors their
apologetic value. As, with the one class of predictions, Jewish Rabbis find
themselves backed by Christian literalists in denying the fulfilment of some of
the clearest prophetic intimations in the history of Jesus of Nazareth, so
Romish controversialists are sheltering themselves under the wing of Protestant
interpreters of the same school, in rebutting the application of the Scriptural
antichrist
to Popery. Thus, in a small volume recently published on "The End of
the World, or the Second Coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by the
Very Rev. John Baptist Pagani," a very adroit use is made of the name of
the late Mr Faber. A n astonishment is first expressed that any intelligent
person could ever have thought of identifying the Pope of Rome with the
antichrist of Scripture, especially that this could be done in so enlightened a
country as England; and then a passage from Mr Faber's "Calendar of
Prophecy" is quoted to show how a sensible Protestant writer exposes the
absurdity of the idea. In the passage referred to the argument is thrown into
what is considered both by Mr Faber and by his Catholic admirer a conclusive
syllog ism. "I shall throw my argument," Mr Faber says, "into
the form of a syllogism, and if any person be able to confute me, I shall be
very ready to own myself mistaken. According to St John, he who denies the
Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. T he line of the Roman Pontiffs did
not deny the Father or the Son; therefore the line of the Roman Pontiffs is not
the antichrist." Embracing with satisfaction this triumphant syllogism, Mr
Pagani proceeds to give it additional strength by affirming, that so far from
denying the Father and the Son, the Roman Pontiffs have always maintained the
doctrine of the Trinity against Deists, Sabellians, Unitarians, and other
herectics; that they have uniformly held, that Christ has come in the flesh;
that they hav e also been remarkably distinguished for their humility, taking
for their ordinary title, "unworthy ministers of Christ,"
"servants of the servants of God," whereas antichrist is to exalt
himself above all that is called God. P. 41, sq.
One might go through a considerable
portion of prophecy with this sort of syllogism, and ask in vain for any thing
in the transactions of real life, that would answer to the terms of the
predictions. What, on such a style of interpretation, could b e made of the
passages to which we have been adverting? Must we suspend the veracity of one
prophet on the question, whether the proud Chaldeans actually hung up a net in
some temple and did sacrifice to it? Or that of another, on the similar
question, whether the Israelites literally bore about during their long sojourn
in the wilderness an idolatrous tabernacle in impious rivalry to that of
Jehovah?1 Or must we have credible testimony to the fact, that the great worldly
monarchies, as they successively arose, did each proclaim their own beast-like
and blasphemous character? Or, finally, shall we hold that nothing can verify
the description given of the mystic Babylon, which does not set itself openly
to establish and avow the prostitution of all r ighteous principle? If such be
the kind of expectations, with which we proceed to examine the prophetic word,
we may certainly lay our account to meet with few instances of fulfilment; we
know not where they are to be found in the past, and are afraid th ey shall in
vain be looked for in the future. But surely, if the apostle in his day knew
persons in the Christian church, whom he could declare to be the "enemies
of the Cross of Christ," even while they were avowedly looking to that
cross for salvation, the pontiffs of Rome might justly enough be characterized
as denying the Father and the Son, if they should be found claiming
prerogatives, and upholding a system of error and delusion, which virtually
subvert the revelation given of the Father and the S on in Scripture. Let it
just be granted, that in the descriptions of the collective antichrist, the
apostles had their eye on the realities, not on the mere appearances of
things--no very extravagant postulate surely--then the proper syllogism will
stand thus: the
antichrist, according to St. John, is he who denies the Father and the Son;
but the line of the Roman Pontiffs, by their own blasphemous assumptions, and
by their system of legalized falsehood and corruption, utterly opposed to the
spirit and design of the Gospel, have denied what is revealed of the Father and
the Son; therefore the line of the Roman pontiffs is antichrist. This we take
to be a truer form of syllogism than Mr. Faber's. But it only meets one fallacy
involved in the interpretation. There is another in its taking for granted,
that the representations in John's epistles are to be regarded as comprehensive
of all that was to characterize the spirit and conduct of the antichrist. He
merely points to one of the first forms and manifestations of the evil-that
which took shape under the hands of the Gnostic teachers. By and by this was to
lead on to others, of which not less distinct intimation was given elsewhere in
the New Testament writings. The anti christian spirit was to assume different
phases, according to the peculiar influences of the time, and the changing
fortunes of the church. But they were all to have one thing in common: under a
profession of Christianity, there was to be something in doctrine or practice,
which i n effect made void the Christian truth and life. This in every form was
to be the characteristic of antichristianism as contradistinguished from
atheism, heathenism, or undisguised worldliness. And hence, so far from expecting
that the Popes, or any other embodiments of the antichrist, should formally
assume what is predicted of this power, we should rather expect the reverse. We
should expect a studious effort to disguise the truth of the case, though such
a one as should only impose upon the ignorant or the corrupt. And precisely as
the Servant of servants can in lordly arrogance place his foot upon the necks
of princes, and claim the ascendency over all earthly power and authority, so
under a boastful proclamation of the doctrine of the Trinity, an d the
conversion of the Cross into a magic charm, may there by found the most
substantial denial of the Father and the Son. In a word, the question is, not
what Popery pretends to be, but what it really is; with this alone we have to
do in determining its relation to the prophetic delineations of Scripture. And
when the subject is viewed in this light, he must be strangely blinded or
unhappily biassed, who fails to perceive the striking correspondence between
the one and the other.
___________________________________
1. Even Hengstenberg has given too much
countenance to this utterly groundless and extravagant idea, when, in
discoursing upon this passage of Amos in the first volume of his work on the
Pentateuch, he thus unfolds the general sense of the announcement: "T he
great mass of the people had, for the larger part of the time during their
march through the wilderness, given up honouring the Lord by sacrifices, and
instead of Jehovah, the God of hosts, had set up a spurious king of heaven (the
Egyptian Pan), whom with the rest of the host of heaven, they honoured with a
spurious worship." It is against all probability, that such an openly
idolatrous worship, as is here supposed, should have been practised by the mass
of the Israelites during their stay in the wilderness. Occasional defections
there no doubt were, but we have no reason to think more-at least, nothing
approaching to such a regular, systematic, and general idolatry. We are told
even of the comparatively smaller and isolated offences of a public nature-such
as the gathering of sticks on the Sabbath, and the blaspheming of God's
name-being capitally punished; and can it be imagined that an idol-tabernacle
should have been allowed to be carried about, and openly frequented? Assuredly
not. It is of the state of the heart, of its still unsanctified and idolatrous
spirit, that the prophet speaks; this practically turned Jehovah's tent and
worship into the interest of heathenism; in God's sight it belonged to Moloch
rather than to himself. When thus viewed, also there is no need, with
Hengstenberg, of rendering "your king" instead of "your
Moloch;" indeed, to do so rather obscures the meaning. The prophet is
seeking to identify the idolatrous spirit of his own day with that of earlier
times; they w ere then going after Moloch; and so, says the prophet, you have
always been substantially doing. You did so through your forefathers in the
wilderness; even then you bore the tabernacle of your Moloch, and sacrificed to
strange gods, and the old doom mu st return upon you. It is, therefore, the
later form of idolatry, which is used to characterize the earlier, not (as
Hengstenberg would have it) the earlier the later.
The preceding article was excerpted from
Appendix "L," Page 367, of Patrick Fairbairn's The Interpretation
of Prophecy, 1864 (Recently
reprinted by Banner of Truth Publishing)
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The Interpretation of Prophecy
This is Fairbairn's best-known work. Like all
his writings it is characterized by a deep familiarity with the text and
language of Scripture, careful and thoroughly-researched scholarship, and a
sane and balanced approach to exegesis. Here we have "the mature
reflections of a lifetime of devoted scholarly study of the subject of
prophecy. Part one deals with the principles of interpretation. Part two
applies these principles to matters related to the kingdom of Christ (and its
victory), Antichrist and the beast (and their doom), the millennium, the
mystery of iniquity, and much more. If you want to know, from a practical
standpoint, why in our day so-called Protestants are signing compromising
agreements with Roman Catholics, why there is so much disunity and defection in
the church, why age old standards are being dropped, and why their is general
turmoil all about, this book will certainly help to give you the clear and sobering
answer.
The Prophetical Future of the Church
and Kingdom of Christ, in their Relation to the Character, Working, and Fate of
the Antichristian Apostasy
Excerpted from the book The Interpretation
of Prophecy this book gives us a fascinating
look at what the bible has to say about the period in which we live. It focuses
on one of our great enemies, Antichrist, and exhibits the manner in which he is
portrayed in "Daniel both Typically and Antitypically;" "as
represented by our Lord and his Apostles;" "as represented in the
Apocalypse;" and in regard "to its Overthrow and Final Doom." A
fine short introduction to classic Protestant Historicist Postmillennialism and
a good way to whet your appetite for the major release (sometime next year,
D.V.) of David Steele's Notes on the Apocalypse, which should prove to be one of the most
important books on eschatology to be published in quit some time.
The Papacy is the Antichrist (1888)
Few Christians know that the anti-Protestant
Futurist theory originated with a Spanish Jesuit by the name of Ribera, who, in
1585 published a Commentary on the Revelation, in which he laboured to turn
aside the Protestant application of the Apocalyptic prophecies and symbols from
the church of Rome. It is also not well known the anti-Protestant Praterite
(preterist) theory came from the pen of a Spanish Jesuit, Alcasar of Seville,
who in 1615 published a work having in view the same end as Ribera, viz, to set
aside the commonly accepted Reformation view that the Roman Papacy is the
Antichrist (adapted from Original Covenanter and Contending Witness magazine).
This book demonstrates that the Pope is the Antichrist using Scripture, history
and the Pope's own words. Or as Ian Paisley states: "It is the purpose of
this book to demonstrate that the preaching of the Great Cloud of Witnesses of
all ages in the Church is true and that the little horn is none other than the
Dynasty of Rome's Popes and that therefore THE POPE IS THE ANTICHRIST."
This view (the "continuous historical Protestant theory") stands in
agreement with Luther, Calvin, Knox, the Westminster Divines, Owen, Ames,
Spurgeon, Baxter, Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards, Cunningham, Ryle, Cotton,
Brown, and virtually all of the other standard Protestant interpreters of the
book of Revelation. Have you fallen for a Jesuit ruse or are you standing in
the footsteps of the flock? Read this book and find out.
The Pope of Rome is Antichrist (1675, 1845
edition)
Calvin (on I John 2:18) writes, "Those
that think that he (Antichrist) would be just one man, are dreaming! For
Paul... plainly shows that it would be a body or a kingdom (II Thes. 2:3). He
first foretells a falling away that would spread throughout the whole Church...
Then he makes the head of this apostasy the adversary of Christ who would sit
in God's temple and claim divinity and divine honours. Unless we deliberately
want to err, let us learn to know Antichrist from Paul's description"
(Cited in Nigel Lee, 666: Luther and Calvin's Doctrine of Antichrist:
Antichrist in Scripture [Focus Christian Ministries, 1992], p. 58). Wilkinson's
book takes the classic Protestant position, called "historicism;"
held by Luther, Calvin, Knox, the Westminster Divines, and most other Protestants,
until the Jesuit inspired "futurist" and "preterist"
systems began to gain ground, when Reformation hermeneutics waned. Shows how
Protestants prove that the Pope is that "Antichrist" and "man of
sin" set forth in Scripture. Deals with the mystery of iniquity, the great
apostasy, and practical applications of the doctrines examined.
The Rise and Fall of Papacy, The Import of God's
Dealing with Men of Earth, Etc. (1848)
"Originally published in 1701. The first
of these discourses has been the most celebrated. It arrested public notice,
and awakened the interest of Europe. After laying down the principle upon which
the author conceived the Apocalypse should be interpreted, he explained the
pouring out of the fourth vial with reference to Anti-Christian France, fixing
1794 as the date of the expiration of the vial. When the French Revolution took
place it was then remembered that it had been so predicted by a forgotten
Scottish pastor. The work was reprinted both in England and America, translated
into different languages, and once more fell out of sight till the revolution
of 1848 led to a fresh perusal. Referring to Italy, the author wrote: 'The
Fifth vial, which is to be poured out upon the seat of the Beast will probably
begin about 1794 and expire about the year 1848.' The downfall of the Papacy,
according to Fleming, is going on; the Mohammedan Antichrist will follow, and
about A.D. 2000 (Jewish reckoning, about 2017 on the Julian calendar--RB), the
millennial epoch will begin. In that memorable year (1848) the Pope was
compelled to become a fugitive from Rome; and it was certainly a striking
coincidence" (Johnston, The Treasury of the Scottish Covenant, 371). "A reprint," wrote The Patriot, "of one of the most remarkable and sagacious
works extant on the subject of unfulfilled prophecy, deserving a perusal as a
succinct, learned, and eminently devout exposition of the Apocalypse."
Reprinted without abridgement from the 1701 edition.
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The Rise of the Papacy with Proof from Daniel and
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The
Pope of Rome is Antichrist (1675, 1845 edition) by Henry Wilkinson