Classic Reformed View

[JM]

What is the classic reformed view of the 'Beast' from Revelations? What did the Reformers teach?

 

[Wilfred of Ivanhoe]

I've never read exactly what the Reformers taught the Beast to be, but I know that Luther believed the institution of the Pope to be an anti-Christ with a little "A". His reasoning being that only Christ can be head of the "universal" Church.

 

[Bulldog]

Most of the Reformers and much of the Reformed after (it was a statement in the original WCF) were historicist, believing the Beast to be the Papacy.

 

[M. Wayne Bradley]

Cf. Francis Turretin.

 

[Bradford]

Per rules, I can't post it here. But look up WCF 25-6- you're going to need the version of 1646, to get the whole message. The modern (1901) reeks of compromise...

http://www.reformed.org/documents/westminster_conf_of_faith.html

 

[JM]

Do the Reformed still teach this?

 

[rmwilliamsll]

----original
Chapter XXV
Of the Church

VI. 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.

----as amended
Chapter XXV
Of the Church

VI. 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.

or look at Hodge's commentary on the WCF at:
http://www.rtrc.net/documents/wcf/hodge/wcfaah25.htm

where he uses the old form:

SECTION VI. There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ.[13] Nor can the pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof;[14] but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.

but is rather mild in his commentary. Most of the rabid anti-Catholicism is no longer part of the cultural context of the conservative Reformed churches as it was in the 19thC. However rebaptism of RCC is routinely practiced and for most Reformed going to a mass would be idoltry.
As far as the common interpretation of the beast,
running google on something like:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=beast+revelation+catholic+church+&btnG=Search
hits 50K websites, most of which are protestants continuing the alignment of the Papacy with the Beast that first reached prominence in the Reformation. But if you look they are not primarily any one group of denominations but rather a cross section of the more literal interpretation groups.

 

[Knight]

You'll probably find that many in the Reformed camp are varied in the understanding of Eschatology.

One does not necessarily drive the other......

 

[JM]

Ah, so long ago...