Westminster's Antichrist Defended

In I John 2:18 the word "antichrist" is used for the first time the Bible: “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.”

We need to explore from the Scriptures this idea of antichrist. John mentions it several times and we need to look more in-depth, as it is important to the Apostle John. John is quite bold in putting the word antichrist before his hearers—but it really the first time in the whole of the Bible that the word “antichrist” is used.

From where’s he getting this idea? What’s the point of bringing this up? Is this something that John made up or is antichrist found elsewhere in the Scriptures?
You may not know this but the Apostle John is the only writer in the Bible to even use this word. Is he making theology up as he goes along? No. We will see.

The History of Antichrist

Notice the way that John structures the sentence in 2:18. He says “it is the last hour and you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.” John is telling his hearers that something that they have already heard—they have already had teaching on this as something that was taught before John taught it. And notice that he makes a distinction between THAT antichrist and the many antichrists. 



Sometimes when talking about the doctrine of Antichrist people will just say, “there’s many antichrists” as a way to stop the conversation. Of course there’s many—that’s clearly taught by John—but there is also that antichrist that is part of the teaching of the Apostles.

As John was the first to write the word antichrist down in the Scriptures—and we know that it’s pretty far along in the New Testament—most of the New Testament and almost all of the Bible is written before John’s Epistles, but John says:

“They have heard this.”

It is part of the apostolic teaching. In 2 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul also teaches on the doctrine of Antichrist—there Paul uses some words that are different, such as “son of perdition” and “the man of sin” and the “lawless one.”

You can be assured that Paul is teaching the same doctrine that John is teaching, yet earlier. Most conservative Bible scholars will date 2 Thessalonians around the year 52AD. That’s less than 20 years from the resurrection—very early on. And notice what Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:5: “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?”


That’s interesting to me. Here’s a new church just less than 20 years after the resurrection of Christ and the Apostle Paul teaches them this doctrine concerning the antichrist and then later writes about it and calls it to their attention.

I have pastored for over 15 years. I was in college and seminary for about 8 years before that– I have taught very few times on the doctrine of the antichrist. For Paul, though, it is clearly part of the teaching of the church of the New Testament era and of great importance to the apostolic faith to pass on this truth.

Why?

It is because the early church understood the historicist nature of prophecy. The early church was looking at the Old Testament prophets, seeking to find their place in the writing of the Old Testament Scriptures—and it is clear to me that Paul was opening up the prophets that the church could benefit from them. Second Thessalonians 2:7: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.”

That’s cryptic.

He’s writing in cryptic language; but that language is driving his hearers back to Daniel 7 and Daniel 11. Daniel 7:8 talks of the “little horn” coming up after the other horns were plucked up—taken out by the root.” This needs to be taken away.
The prophecy of Daniel and the four beasts is a prophecy that is well known and well understood by all Bible scholars—both Jewish and Christian—almost without controversy—or at least with very little controversy—as unfolding of the empires of this world leading into the time of the New Testament.

There are four beasts—are each called kingdoms and kings and we know who they are; even Daniel tells us who the first three are: 



The lion with eagle’s wings:
Babylon.

The bear with three ribs in his teeth:
Medo-Persian Empire.

The four headed; four winged leopard:
The Greek Empire.

The ten headed beast with iron teeth:
The Roman Empire. 



You can fact check me— the fourth beast arises and what we see is that beast produces ten horns and from that horn a little horn comes up. And that little horn, cannot be revealed until the “one that restrains is taken away.” That’s Paul’s language in 2 Thessalonians—he is reminding the church in writing that the Roman Empire; the fourth beast; must collapse or be taken out of the way before the “little horn arises.” That time of apostasy will not come until the empire falls.

The teaching of the antichrist—or the history of antichrist in the Word of God is first extensively taught by Daniel and then the New Testament writers use Daniel’s language and imagery to give a fuller picture of the teaching:

Matthew 24
2 Thessalonians 2
I John 2, 4
Revelation 13; 17; 18; 19; 20

All of these verses pick up on Daniel’s language and interpreting the “little horn” and points us towards the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s heavy stuff.

That’s a lot of Bible passages—but I want you to know that this is how the teaching of the Scriptures unfold; this is why we must look at the Word of God systematically and show the connectedness of the Scriptures as we use those more clear passages to shed light on less clear passages.

I would encourage you to look at the connections made between these passages, as I cannot take the full time to do all the exegetical work in a short article.

The Character of Antichrist

The word antichrist, is obviously made up two words; anti and christos. Christ is obvious; but the word “anti” can made two things—it can mean “against” Christ” or it can mean “in the place of Christ.” That’s John’s word—what else do we have in the Word of God?

The first thing that we can say about the antichrist is that he is the leader of a nation or holds office within a kingdom. We see that in Daniel 7:8 as he is called the little horn. Now the horn in Daniel’s prophecies of the beasts is a king as Daniel interprets the dream himself in that way—but what’s important is that in Daniel’s prophetic statements he describes these as kingdoms as well as kings—so we could say that it is the office of that king representing a kingdom.

We also are able to know that this kingdom from which antichrist will rise is a kingdom that comes out of the Roman Empire. That’s Daniel 7:8 as the little horn comes up from the fourth beast—the fourth beast breaks into 10 horns—or heads in the language of Revelation—and the little horn comes from that. So we know that the antichrist comes from the Roman Empire— not from China, not from the USA, but from a nation that breaks off from the Roman Empire.

We also learn that this king or this office of a king that comes out of the Roman Empire—he speaks pompous words—or great words. You see that in 7:8. The word means domineering in the Hebrew. He is domineering in his words or speaks big things.

What else do we learn from Daniel? In the same chapter—7:21, 25 and 25 the Word of God teaches us that this antichrist will make war against the church and and will change laws and times. He will have some ability to change times and laws—the nations of the world will change under him and laws will change. And the true church will suffer persecution under him—this is said again in Revelation 17.

As we leave the prophecy of Daniel behind we see that the Lord Jesus speaks of the one who is called the “abomination of desolations” standing in the holy place. Paul picks up on the holy place language in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 where he says that the antichrist would be in the temple of God—this antichrist is someone who claims to be a part of the visible church. 
 The church is the temple of God—and this antichrist will be among those who count themselves as a part of the church—that temple of God.

So Daniel connected to Matthew connected to 2 Thessalonians.

He’s in the church—but there’s something more.

We see that 2 Thessalonians 2:3 calls him a very specific name: “the son of perdition.” That’s a title—Paul is calling our attention to something isn’t he? When else has that phrase been used in the Bible? Judas Iscariot is called the Son of Perdition. So not only is that antichrist one who make great and pompous claims—he is one who is in the church—and it looks like he is a deceptive office bearer in the church as well. One who has something of the spirit of Judas Iscariot in him—one ordained; one that the world would look upon and say, “He’s close to Jesus.”
But in his heart and in reality is a deceptive officer in the church of Christ.

Connected to that deception and that office—Matthew 24:24 and 2 Thes. 2:9 teaches us that this antichrist will deceive with signs and wonders and miracles—the work that he does is connected to signs, wonders and miracles that could even deceive the very elect of God if God would allow it.

Second Thessalonians 2:3 tells us that he is man. He’s personal. So not only is he is a king and an office and leads a nation—we are told that he is a man as well. This man—this lawless one, this son of perdition exalts himself above the church. That means that he claims a position of authority that over all others in the church. He lifts himself up to that place.

So we see a lot of church related connections with that antichrist—and he is bold in the church. Look at 2 Thes. 2:4: This verse tells us that he shows himself to be God or he sits in the place of God in the church. Does this mean that he personally claims to be God or does it mean that he wants the place of God—the seat that only belongs to God in the church?

As we pause so you can breathe for a minute you might be thinking that it’s all so overwhelming and that there’s probably more than one antichrist anyway. And that’s true—that’s what John says—there is the many and there is the one. And then later in the book he says the same--2:22-23--and then in his next epistle as well. John does tell us there is one antichrist and there are many antichrists—and that heresies—heresies connected to the Christ, and heresies that can deceive are connected to him.

These deceptive heresies developing and slowly opening up in the New Testament Church were doing so to bring antichrist on the scene of history—there was already a spirit of antichrist developing in the early church—John tells us that in I John 4:3. The heresies developing in the early church are setting the stage for him to come: What heresies do we see in the New Testament?

Judaizing.
Greek philosophy.
Gnosticism.

The elevation of certain teachers and leaders causing true apostles to be cut off. We see all of this—and John calls it the spirit of antichrist.

But that’s not where the teaching on antichrist ends in the New Testament: Remember we saw Daniel as the most prominent of the prophets speaking of the antichrist. Then we came to the Lord Jesus in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24 and he too spoke of the antichrist—connecting him back to Daniel. And then we looked at the epistles and we saw that antichrist shows up very early in the apostolic writings—2 Thessalonians and then he also finds about three places in John’s epistles.


And I would call you back to our principle of interpretation that says that the Scriptures are to be used to interpret the Scriptures and more clear passages are used to interpret less clear passages. That brings us to the book of Revelation, which you remember is also written by the Apostle John. And we find familiar language in Revelation 13; 17; 18; 19; and 20.

And it’s important to remember that the language of Revelation is drawn from Daniel and that some of the language of Revelation interprets itself— pointing us to the fact that the beast of Revelation and the one who sits upon the whore of Babylon—it is that same man of sin; that same son of perdition; that same lawless one; that same little horn; that same abomination of desolations; that same antichrist that we have seen in so many other places of the Scriptures.

Revelation 13 teaches us something that we have already seen already. This antichrist is going to be connected to both the civil magistrate as well as the church. We see both institutions int hat chapter.

And things get really interesting in chapter 17 when the beast and the woman—again persecuting the church—like Daniel 7:21 and 25 told us— that mystery of Babylon is revealed in chapter 17--17:9 tells us that the antichrist rules from the city which is built on seven hills or seven mountains. Verse 18 teaches us that he reigns over the kings of the earth from this city on seven hills and then in Revelation 18 we are told that the nations of the world live luxuriously with the city over which he reigns, the beast; the antichrist caters to the nations of the world from that city.

The antichrist is adored by the world.

That’s a short overview of the antichrist from the Word of God. A slow unfolding but phrases that connect the doctrine from Old Testament prophets to the Lord Jesus Christ to the epistle writers even to the closing of the book of Revelation.
You see this was a teaching that the early church brought to their people because we need to know the enemies of the gospel and those false christs who will be raised up throughout history.


So what do we do with this collection of related texts? Should we all just sit overwhelmed?

Applying Antichrist

We first need to think on all the hysteria that sees antichrist around every corner. There are very clear things that we can look for that are drawn from the Word of God, we can be assured that many of the typical contenders are not the antichrist.
The US President—whether he’s Republican or Democrat—cannot be the antichrist. Sorry MAGA haters. Sorry Obama foes. US Presidents do not meet the criteria of the Scriptures. The US President does not have an office in the church. He does not do signs and wonders. He does not have a kingdom coming out of the Roman Empire.


Nero does not fit the description although some will say Nero. Nero misses out on the whole host of theological and ecclesiastical requirements for the antichrist—he’s just not it.

Islam is not the antichrist. Islam is not in the church—Islam does not have the ability to deceive people into thinking that it is genuine Christianity. It’s not Islam.

The antichrist is not some European Union leader—he has to have deep ecclesiastical connections. The antichrist is not so much of what people think of because the Word of God sets out so many descriptions and characteristics. And the antichrist must fit all of them.

So who does lead a nation that was once part of the Roman Empire who speaks great words in the church and holds office and exalts himself above all of the church? Who reigns from the city on seven hills and has for centuries made war with true believers, damning to hell those who would believe in justification by faith alone? Who shows himself to sit in the place of God as the vicar—the one in place of? Who else controls a city that is also a nation wherein the world lives luxuriously from her while he deceives the nations with lying signs and wonders and false miracles?

The Westminster Confession of Faith says:

“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 exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.”

That’s not just early presbyterians having an axe to grind—it is an exegetically defensible statement based on a clear reading of the Word of God. And to this date there has not been a better or more clearly seen office or person or institution that fits the description of antichrist as the papacy in Rome. The Testimony of the RPCNA comments on this section which declares the Pope in Rome to be that antichrist—and rightly this clarification is given: “Many antichrists will be present in the world throughout history. Prior to Christ’s coming the final “man of lawlessness” will be revealed. He will be destroyed by Christ.”

The papacy is that antichrist spoken of by Daniel and the prophets and expounded in the New Testament.

Ad lectoris intellegentiam.
Let the reader understand.

______________________________________________

Below is an ever-expanding bibliography if you would like to take the proverbial red pill regarding this matter:

Magisterial Reformers
Bullinger, Heinrich. The Second Helvetic Confession. 1566. In Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English Translation, edited by James T. Dennison Jr., Vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2008.

Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Henry Beveridge. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1845. See Book IV, ch. 7.

Calvin, John. Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians. In Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1851.

Luther, Martin. The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. 1520. In Three Treatises. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1970.

Luther, Martin. Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil. 1545. In Luther's Works, Vol. 41. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966.

Puritan and Presbyterians
Gillespie, George. A Dispute Against the English Popish Ceremonies Obtruded on the Church of Scotland. 1637. Dallas: Naphtali Press, 1993.

Manton, Thomas. Sermons on 2 Thessalonians 2. In The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, Vol. 3. London: James Nisbet, 1871.

Owen, John. The Church of Rome No Safe Guide. 1679. In The Works of John Owen, Vol. 14. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1968.

Rutherford, Samuel. Lex, Rex: The Law and the Prince. 1644. Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 1982.

Ussher, James. A Body of Divinity. 1645. London: R. Bostock, 1653.

Ussher, James. The Power Communicated by God to the Prince. 1658. In The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Vol. 4. Dublin: Hodges and Smith, 1847.

Westminster Assembly. The Westminster Confession of Faith. 1647. In The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. Glasgow: Free Presbyterian Publications, 1994.

18-19th c. Reformed and Presbyterians
Cunningham, William. Historical Theology: A Review of the Principal Doctrinal Discussions in the Christian Church since the Apostolic Age, Vol. 2. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1863.

Edwards, Jonathan. The History of the Work of Redemption. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2003.

Edwards, Jonathan. The Fall of Antichrist. In The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 5. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957.

Modern Reformed Authors
Engelsma, David. The Man of Sin: Uncovering the Truth About the Antichrist. Grandville, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2001.

Lee, Francis Nigel. Antichrist in Scripture. Brisbane: Francis Nigel Lee, 1987.

Paisley, Ian. Antichrist. Belfast: Martyrs Memorial Publications, 1964.

Historic Confessions and Catechisms
The Irish Articles of Religion (1615). In Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English Translation, edited by James T. Dennison Jr., Vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2008.

The Scots Confession (1560). In Documents of the Christian Church, edited by Henry Bettenson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963.

Westminster Larger Catechism. 1648. In The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. Glasgow: Free Presbyterian Publications, 1994.