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Historical Church Leaders Call Pope Antichrist

EastCoastRemnant

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Here are some quotes that show that all the protestants and even some catholics considered the papacy to be the antichrist:

Eberhard II, archbishop of Salzburg (Roman Catholic)
"stated at a synod of bishops held at Regensburg in 1240 (some scholars say 1241) that the people of his day were "accustomed" to calling the pope antichrist." -LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers, 4 vols. (Wash DC: Review and Herald publishing assc, 1950-1954)

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." -Ibid

Martin Luther (Lutheran)
"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.

Cotton Mather (Congregational Theologian)
"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.

John Wesley (Methodist)
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.

Ellen G. White (Seven Day Adventists)
"This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in the development of "the man of sin" foretold in prophecy as opposing and exalting himself above God. That gigantic system of false religion is a masterpiece of Satan's power--a monument of his efforts to seat himself upon the throne to rule the earth according to his will.

Thomas Cranmer (Anglican)
"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.

Roger Williams (First Baptist Pastor in America)
He spoke of the Pope as "the pretended Vicar of Christ on earth, who sits as God over the Temple of God, exalting himself not only above all that is called God, but over the souls and consciences of all his vassals, yea over the Spirit of Christ, over the Holy Spirit, yea, and God himself...speaking against the God of heaven, thinking to change times and laws; but he is the son of perdition (II Thess. 2)." Taken from The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers by Froom, Vol. 3, pg. 52.

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 )

John Knox (Scotch Presbyterian)
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.
John Calvin (Presbyterian)
"Some 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 (Paul's words in II Thess. 2) are not capable of any other interpretation than that which applies them to the Papacy." Taken from Institutes by John Calvin.
 

Wgw

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I myself consider it possible based on St. John's remark "the antichrist is already in the world" that the antichrist might be iconographically or typologically embodied by various heresiarchs. So for example, Simon Magus, Marcion, Valentinus, Arius, Nestorius, and many centuries later, the likes of Pope Leo X, were all embodiments of the antichrist. This lineage I would argue continues into modern times with the likes of Joseph Smith, Ellen G. White, Bishop James Pike, and their ilk.
 
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EastCoastRemnant

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Seeing how you included EG White in your list, please quote for me something she wrote that is heretical, that opposes the righteousness of Christ. Did she ever state that she was equal to or above God as many Popes have claimed? Has she taught people that traditions carry more weight than scripture? has she blasphemed God by claiming to be able to forgive sins?
 
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EastCoastRemnant

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I myself consider it possible based on St. John's remark "the antichrist is already in the world" that the antichrist might be iconographically or typologically embodied by various heresiarchs.
The scripture says the spirit of antichrist was already at work... that spirit being Satan. Don't worry though, we are going to get into the next level of identifying who the beast, the scarlet harlot, the little horn, etc. is... I think you'll find they all point to the same entity.
 
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Wgw

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Seeing how you included EG White in your list, please quote for me something she wrote that is heretical, that opposes the righteousness of Christ.

Lift Him Up is riddled with classically Nestorian statements. What is more, she has elsewhere variously endorsed Chiliasm, Iconoclasm and Donatism.

Did she ever state that she was equal to or above God as many Popes have claimed?

No Pope has publically claimed to be above God. Privately one suspects the Borgias or Julius II may well have harboured delusions of grandeur, but they had the political smarts not to claim it publically.

Has she taught people that traditions carry more weight than scripture?

There is a thinly veiled pretense of sola scriptura, however, Adventism as a whole represents a spectacular capitulation to Rabinnical traditions regarding the Sabbath. What is more, the infallibility you seem to wish to assign to her writings amounts to a tradition of men.

has she blasphemed God by claiming to be able to forgive sins?

Christian clerics have the right to bind and loose sin on the basis of Matthew 16:18. Do Adventists deny this is canonical scripture?

The scripture says the spirit of antichrist was already at work... that spirit being Satan.

On which basis one might alternately reject the idea that antichrist has been in the world in any capacity; certainly, the ridiculous notion that every Roman bishop is ex officio the antichrist.

Don't worry though, we are going to get into the next level of identifying who the beast, the scarlet harlot, the little horn, etc. is... I think you'll find they all point to the same entity.

I have thoroughly debated the absurd claims of Ellen G. White on these before in other threads, and am prepared to debate them again, as they are entirely without merit.
 
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EastCoastRemnant

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No Pope has publically claimed to be above God.

"The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth." Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, "Cities Petrus Bertanous".

Pope Nicholas I declared that "the appellation of God had been confirmed by Constantine on the Pope, who, being God, cannot be judged by man." - Labb IX Dist.: 96 Can. 7, Satis evidentur, Decret GratianPrimer Para.


"We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty" ...Pope Leo XIII Encyclical Letter of June 20, 1894,




 
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EastCoastRemnant

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There is a thinly veiled pretense of sola scriptura, however, Adventism as a whole represents a spectacular capitulation to Rabinnical traditions regarding the Sabbath. What is more, the infallibility you seem to wish to assign to her writings amounts to a tradition of men.

I don't seem to recall ever saying that Ellen White was infallible... actually, if you read her writings she says as much herself... hardly tradition when she points the reader back to the scriptures.

"In regard to infallibility, I NEVER claimed it; God ALONE is Infallible." Selected Messages, Book One, pp 415 and 37

"Our position and faith is in the Bible. . . . And never do we want any soul to bring in the Testimonies ahead of the Bible." Evangelism, p. 256

"There is no excuse for anyone in taking the position that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all our expositions of Scripture are without error. The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people is not a proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make an error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation. Review and Herald, December 20,1892
 
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Seeing how you included EG White in your list, please quote for me something she wrote that is heretical, that opposes the righteousness of Christ. Did she ever state that she was equal to or above God as many Popes have claimed? Has she taught people that traditions carry more weight than scripture? has she blasphemed God by claiming to be able to forgive sins?

No Pope has ever claimed to be equal or above God.
 
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"The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth." Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, "Cities Petrus Bertanous".
Pope Nicholas I declared that "the appellation of God had been confirmed by Constantine on the Pope, who, being God, cannot be judged by man." - Labb IX Dist.: 96 Can. 7, Satis evidentur, Decret GratianPrimer Para.


Those quotes are obscure and don't mesh with Catholic theology. Catholics don't believe the Pope is God, that makes absolutely no sense.


"We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty"
...Pope Leo XIII Encyclical Letter of June 20, 1894,

That's referring to being a representative.
 
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EastCoastRemnant

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Those quotes are obscure and don't mesh with Catholic theology. Catholics don't believe the Pope is God, that makes absolutely no sense.

Really?! What's so obscure about the quote, it reads as clear as the light of day. Just because it doesn't mesh with catholic theology only means that the catholic laity has been deceived as to the true spirit of the Papacy. To all those that value Truth and the Word of God as sacred, God says to come out of this apostate church or else you will receive of her plagues.
 
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MarkRohfrietsch

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Note that this argument would be very interesting if I were a Roman Catholic...as it happens I'm not, thus I fear you deployed the wrong polemic.
Anti Catholicism is endemic in various movements. One trick pony?
 
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Really?! What's so obscure about the quote, it reads as clear as the light of day. Just because it doesn't mesh with catholic theology only means that the catholic laity has been deceived as to the true spirit of the Papacy. To all those that value Truth and the Word of God as sacred, God says to come out of this apostate church or else you will receive of her plagues.

Obscure means that it's not from a commonly heard of source, doubting the credibility of it.

In other words, it bogus, or if it is real, it has no meaning. If the quote were true, why would it have ever been stated publicly? Your conspiracy views don't make sense. If the Pope thought he were God, they'd just say it. Why not?
 
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The rock that Peter is referred to is "petros"... a stone, pebble, fragment of rock, whereas the rock that Jesus refers to as the foundation of the church, "petra" is the rock itself from which the stone came from. Jesus is the Rock that the church is built on...

FWIW- Petros is the male declension of rock. They are the same word. In Greek the same word is spelled and pronounced differently depending on how it is being used.
 
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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."

There are several other quotes from him like this. I respect Spurgeon but I do not respect these statements in any way. My brothers and sisters, may the peace of our Lord Jesus be with all.
 
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MarkRohfrietsch

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Really?! What's so obscure about the quote, it reads as clear as the light of day. Just because it doesn't mesh with catholic theology only means that the catholic laity has been deceived as to the true spirit of the Papacy. To all those that value Truth and the Word of God as sacred, God says to come out of this apostate church or else you will receive of her plagues.
As a Lutheran and a person of reason, Christ said this to St. Peter not because Peter is the Rock but his faith is. The Church is Christ's, but it is for us sinners. Peter's faith in his confession "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" is the rock upon which the Chruch us built. Needless to say, we don't make a big deal of of Apostolic succession; although some Synods in Northern Europe, and their affiliates do have valid claim to Apostolic Succession as defined by both the CC and the Orthodox. But such succession neither makes a one Synod more valid, licit or "true" than others; it is Apostolic teaching that does so.
 
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EastCoastRemnant

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As a Lutheran and a person of reason, Christ said this to St. Peter not because Peter is the Rock but his faith is. The Church is Christ's, but it is for us sinners. Peter's faith in his confession "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" is the rock upon which the Chruch us built. Needless to say, we don't make a big deal of of Apostolic succession; although some Synods in Northern Europe, and their affiliates do have valid claim to Apostolic Succession as defined by both the CC and the Orthodox. But such succession neither makes a one Synod more valid, licit or "true" than others; it is Apostolic teaching that does so.
Bottom line, Peter wasn't the head of anything but a faithful follower like Christ has called all of us to be. Therefore apostolic succession is a premise based on nothing.
 
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EastCoastRemnant

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FWIW- Petros is the male declension of rock. They are the same word. In Greek the same word is spelled and pronounced differently depending on how it is being used.
Sorry my concordance says otherwise... what is your source?
 
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Sorry my concordance says otherwise... what is your source?

Knowledge of the language. They are the masculine and feminine forms of the word.

The spellings of words change based on to what they refer. In the feminine form, rock has a different meaning than the masculine form. However, Peter, being a male, is given the masculine form.

"Petra" isn't a word per se. It is the declension. Petr is the root and other letters can change depending on the context.
We do not decline our words anymore. All we have left is adding "s" to make something plural. We sometimes use "es." Some words carry over the plurals from latin, like "Octopi" for multiple octipus.
 
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MarkRohfrietsch

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Bottom line, Peter wasn't the head of anything but a faithful follower like Christ has called all of us to be. Therefore apostolic succession is a premise based on nothing.
Well, it seems he was often in a leadership position. Pope, not sure. St. James of Jerusalem seems to have been the chair of the 1st Ecumenical Counsel; St. James the first Pope?

Oh, and BTW, Luther did not call the Pope the anti-Christ, but the powers and attributes imparted on that office by the Popes themselves; Papal Supremacy and Infallibility (same things the EO had issues with).
 
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Well, it seems he was often in a leadership position. Pope, not sure. St. James of Jerusalem seems to have been the chair of the 1st Ecumenical Counsel; St. James the first Pope?

Oh, and BTW, Luther did not call the Pope the anti-Christ, but the powers and attributes imparted on that office by the Popes themselves; Papal Supremacy and Infallibility (same things the EO had issues with).

James was the leader of the community and the bishop of Rome had not yet been established by Peter/Paul.
 
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