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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: The AntiChrist explained These are some precise thoughts by Theologian Dax S. Farris on Prophecy FUTURISM: THE COUNTERFEIT PROPHECY In the Protestant world today—especially in America—the most widely known and the most acceptable position on prophetic theology is the system of Dispensational Futurism. This system teaches that prophecy—both Old and New Testament—has met a partial fulfillment up to the time of Christ, while the major bulk of prophecy is still yet unfulfilled and inevitably will be fulfilled within the framework of a future seven-year tribulation. The time frame between Christ and the arrival of the seven-year tribulation is viewed as a parenthesis in history, where the major bulk of prophecy has no fulfillment. In the seven-year tribulation, it is believed that the Antichrist will rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, rule the world in the temple, persecute the Jews, and pretend to be God up to the time that he is destroyed by Christ (See Tim Lahaye. Revelation Illustrated And Made Plain, 94, 95). The Protestant denominations associated with the dispensational futurist colleges are traditionally viewed as being Protestant, because they are believed to be the offspring of the Protestant Reformation. Protestant futurists see themselves as distinct from Roman Catholicism, because they believe that the Bible is their only rule of faith, whereas Catholicism is viewed as an organization that bases their beliefs largely on traditions—tradition s that are not in accordance with the Bible. The questions that we wish the reader to ask throughout this chapter are: Are dispensational futurist organizations truly Protestant by the true definition of the word, and is the theological system of futurism truly a product of the Bible? It is our overall purpose in this chapter to demonstrate that dispensational futurism is neither Protestant nor is this doctrine derived from the Bible. Rather, the so-called Protestant dispensational futurist ideology is a product of Catholic elaborations of Church father traditionalism— stemming back to extra-biblical sources that span from the second century B.C. through the second century A.D. It is our purpose to reveal the fact that futurism is a counterfeit prophecy designed by the Jesuits to subvert Protestantism under the control of the Papacy. Some Of The Basic Differences Between Protestantism And Catholicism In order to ascertain whether modern day dispensational futurists are Protestant or whether they are more closely related to Catholicism, we must understand the foundational differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. We will explain the differences as they relate to the issue of this chapter. What is Catholicism by definition? Catholicism is an ideology that has its foundation in traditions that stem from the Church fathers and other extra-biblical sources. This is described in the dogma that came out of the Council of Trent (1545 – 1563). Froom explains: Tradition and Scripture were ostensibly placed on a par, though by implication Scripture is made subservient to tradition through insistence that it be understood only in the light of the tradition of the church, specifically, the ‘unanimous teaching of the fathers.’ The Latin Vulgate was declared the one authentic version, with the intermingled apocryphal books as canonical (Prophetic Faith Of Our Fathers, Vol. 2, 475). Now, before we move any further, we must underscore that the Papacy still functions on the same ideological foundations that were established at the Council of Trent. The Papacy still bases its dogmas, not only on the traditions of the Church fathers, but also on extra-biblical writings, such as the apocrypha and the pseudapigraphal writings. These writings consist of books, such as: Tobit; Baruch; Maccabees; Esdras, Testament Of Twelve Patriarchs, and the book of Enoch—to name a portion. What is Protestantism by definition? In order to accurately answer this question, we must ascertain Protestantism in the days of its inception. The Protestant Reformation based its reforms on the Bible. The goal of Protestantism was to be modeled as closely as possible with the Bible—rejecting the absolute authority of the Church fathers. They also rejected the apocryphal or pseudapigraphal writings as non-canonical and mythical. Another point to be noted in ascertaining the meaning of Protestantism is that the name points to the great “protest” of Catholic men against the traditions of the hierarchical Church. The “protesters” of the Papacy separated themselves from the hierarchical Church as a distinct movement whose goal was to make the Bible the supreme authority of their doctrines. One of the primary and outstanding foundations of Protestantism was its view of prophecy. The Reformers viewed prophecy as a continual process of fulfillment—without parenthetical divisions. Consequently, the Reformers were known as historicists. To the Protestants, the prophecies of scripture had been fulfilled in the past, were being fulfilled in the present, and were to be fulfilled in the future. The application of Historicism was one of the most fundamental marks that divided Protestantism from Catholicism. The Protestant application of Historicism lead the Reformers to identify the existence of the Papacy as being the great apostasy (Falling Away) foretold in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, and they saw the Pope as the fulfillment of the position of the “man of lawlessness” in verse 4. The Reformers believed that the great “falling away” had taken place in Christendom, and the man of lawlessness had manifested himself as the head of a corrupted church. This was the opinion, for example, of the German Reformer and founder of the Lutheran Church, Martin Luther (1483 – 1546): I am practically cornered, and can hardly doubt any more, that the Pope is really the Antichrist, whom the world expects according to a general belief, because everything so exactly corresponds to the way of his life, action, words, and commandments (Sammtliche Schriften. Edited by Joh[ann] Georg Walch, Vol 21a, col. 234). The French Reformer, John Calvin (1509 – 1564), believed that the Antichrist was being fulfilled in the Papacy: Some people 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 (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 2: 410, 411). Throughout the centuries—before and after these Reformers—multitudes of confessors proclaimed the same thing as they: that the Antichrist was a corrupt church with a corrupt position of popery—tyrannizing the people into submission to church dogmas, which were antagonistic to the Bible. Protestant historicists in both Reformation days and the present day have come to the conclusion that the Papacy is the prophesied Antichrist. The books of Daniel and Revelation are clearly predicated to the Papacy, for the Catholic system and her history unequivocally coincide with the definition of the Antichrist (see chapters’ 5 and 6). Why is it clear to historicists that the Papacy is the prophesied Antichrist? Historicists use the whole Bible as an organic unit without arbitrary divisions. Because of this principle of studying the Bible as a whole book, we find that the New Testament interprets the Old. We find the unity of God’s saints in all ages as one people (Heb. 11). We need not chop up the Bible—especially prophecy—to fit up to some Zionist expectation for the nation of Israel. The New Testament perspicuously interprets the Church as the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promises. As a result of this clear understanding of scripture, we can see that prophecy has progressively unfolded throughout the centuries. Why would it? Biblical prophecy pertains to the Church—the spiritual temple—with her connection to the Davidic temple where Jesus reigns as both king and priest; thus, Israel in her local settings was a type of a much greater Israel inclusive of all nationalities— with the heavenly Jerusalem being the focal point of all unilateral provision. The unity of the scriptures, the unity of the saints, the Church constituting God’s temple, and the progressive unfolding of prophecy through history has led historicists to realize that the Pope is the Man of Lawlessness in the midst of Christendom fulfilling the abomination of desolation. This was the view of the Protestant historicists of the past, and is still the view of modern day Protestant historicists. The difference between Catholicism and Protestantism is thus summarized: Catholicism based its doctrines on traditions that stem from the early church fathers and extra biblical sources, whereas Protestantism sought to base its doctrines solely on the authority of the Bible—applying the methodology of Historicism; and Protestantism was a movement that “protested” against the Papacy. Note: These fundamental distinctions between Catholicism and Protestantism are of the utmost importance. As we move through each section in this chapter, we ask the reader to keep these fundamental distinctions in mind, because the sources that were used as authorities to form the creeds of either Catholicism or Protestantism are the main foundations that distinguish the two systems. The Jesuit Scheme Of Prophetic Interpretation Question: What kind of problems did the Papacy have with the Protestant Reformation? Froom explains: The Reformers in all lands had been unanimous in applying most of the prophecies of Antichrist to the Papacy, though some applied one or two symbols to Mohammedanism, as a paralleling Eastern Antichrist. In fact, it was this united Protestant stand on the Papacy that became the spring of their reformatory action. It was this clear understanding of the prophetic symbols that led them to protest against Rome with such extraordinary courage and effectiveness, nerving them to break with her, and to resist her claims, even unto death. These positions were, moreover, shared by hundreds of thousands, and were adopted by both rulers and people. Under their influence, whole nations abjured allegiance to the bishop of Rome. It was clearly a crisis of major proportions (Prophetic Faith Of Our Fathers, Vol. 2, 485. Emphasis mine). Question: What did Rome do to thwart the Protestant message that the Antichrist was fully realized in the Papacy? Froom reveals: Rome’s answer to the Protestant Reformation was twofold, though actually conflicting and contradictory. Through the Jesuit Ribera, of Salamanca, Spain, and Bellarmine, of Rome, the Papacy put forth her Futurist interpretation. And through Alcazar, Spanish Jesuit of Seville, she advanced almost simultaneously the conflicting Preterist interpretation. These were designed to meet and overwhelm the Historical interpretation of the Protestants. Though mutually exclusive, either Jesuit alternative suited the great objective equally well, as both thrust aside the application of the prophecies from the existing Church of Rome. The one accomplished it by making prophecy stop altogether short of Papal Rome’s career. The other achieved it by making it overlap the immense era of papal dominance, crowding Antichrist into a small fragment of time in the still distant future, just before the great consummation. It is consequently often called the gap theory (Prophetic Faith Of Our Fathers, Vol. 2, 486, 487). The Protestant writer, Joseph Tanner, tells us: Accordingly, towards the close of the century of the Reformation, two of her most learned doctors set themselves to the task, each endeavoring by different means to accomplish the same end, namely, that of diverting men’s minds from perceiving the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Antichrist in the Papal system. The Jesuit Alcasar devoted himself to bring into prominence the Preterist method of interpretation, which we have already briefly noticed, and thus endeavored to show that the prophecies of Antichrist were fulfilled before the Popes ever ruled at Rome, and therefore could not apply to the Papacy. On the other hand the Jesuit Ribera tried to set aside the application of these prophecies to the Papal Power by bringing out the Futurist system, which asserts that these prophecies refer not to the career of the Papacy, but to that of some future supernatural individual, who is yet to appear, and to continue in power for three and a half years. Thus, as Alford says, the Jesuit Ribera, about A.D. 1580, may be regarded as the Founder of the Futurist system in modern times (Daniel and the Revelation: The chart of prophecy and our place in it. A study of the Historical and Futurist Interpretation, 16). George S. Hitchcock, a Catholic writer, also agrees that the systems’ of preterism and futurism both have their origin in the Jesuits: The Futurist School, founded by the Jesuit Ribera in 1591, looks for Antichrist, Babylon, and a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, at the end of the Christian Dispensation. The Preterist School, founded by the Jesuit Alcasar in 1614, explains the Revelation by the Fall of Jerusalem, or by the fall of Pagan Rome in 410 A.D. (The Beast and the Little Horn, 7) Since our focal point of analysis is the system of futurism, we ask for emphasis: What was the basic view of Jesuit futurism? Futurism contended insistently for an individual Antichrist, not a system or dynasty; for a diminutive three and a half literal years, not twelve and a half centuries; for an individual Jew of the tribe of Dan, a clever infidel, to set himself up in the Jewish temple at Jerusalem, not a succession of bishops in the Catholic Church. Thus the prophecies allegedly had only to do with the first few centuries after Christ, and then three and a half years sometime in the future. Between the two was the great gap of the spreading centuries with which prophecy had not to do. Antichrist obviously had not come-because the time of the end had not come (Froom, Prophetic Faith Of Our Fathers, Vol. 2, 488, 489). Up to this point, we can deduct that two systems of prophetic interpretation were developed through the Jesuits to destroy the Historical Protestant’ school of interpretation. Francisco Ribera (1537 – 1591), Jesuit scholar of Salamanca, and Robert Bellarmine (1542 – 1621), Italian cardinal and Jesuit, developed the system of futurism. Jesuit futurism allows prophecy to be fulfilled up to the time of Christ; and then, prophecy is forced up in the distant future—prior to the end of the world—as a three and a half year tribulation. The Jesuit Alcazar, through his system of preterism, has the whole of prophecy fulfilled before the Popes ever ruled in Rome. What is extremely obvious about these systems is the fact that they deliver a message that can be visualized through the “gap theory.” They are systems that can be visualized as a mechanism that does everything to excuse the Papacy from the BIG PICTURE of prophecy. Common sense can detect that the “gap,” which the Jesuits have placed between Pagan Rome and the three and a half year tribulation, is a blank spot purposely created to blind men’s minds from seeing the fulfillment of the tyranny of the Papacy. As we have analyzed in chapters’ 5 and 6 of this course, Historicism is based on serious research, not just theological, but also historical. In fact, Historicism is congruous with the nature of God (Rev. 1:4, 8, 19; 22:16). The Jesuit systems are based on a research that overlooks the research of the Church age; which means, their system is an omission of credible knowledge, and thus research that does not really amount to much. The Jesuit systems are a prime example of the fallacy of false alternative; meaning, they “exclude relevant possibilities without justification.” Both preterism and futurism had the same purpose: a speedy resolution to solve and eliminate the Protestant identification of the Papacy as the Antichrist. Because Alcazar’s system was not very convincing—even among the Jesuits—the Jesuits for the most part focused on the futurist scheme as the theological savior of the Catholic Church. Indeed the Jesuits were busy in every frontier of knowledge to win the world to the control of the Catholic Church, and it is clear that they have had great success in the evangelical world today. In today’s evangelical world, one only has to turn on the television, and they can hear the doctrines of the Counter Reformation preached by “so called” Protestant teachers. One thing is certain; there could never be a successful ecumenical movement if Protestants still held to the Reformation view of Antichrist. It is the Jesuit view of prophecy that is causing the evangelicals in today’s Protestantism to wonder after the Beast. This is an issue that will be thoroughly covered in following chapters. Now we are going to demonstrate the sophistries of the futurist scheme and reveal its insufficiency as a proper method of prophetic interpretation. Prophetic Ideas of Ribera and Bellarmine (1) The first few chapters of Revelation are assigned to John in his own time. (2) Five of the seals are applied to the Christian era. (3) At the sixth seal, the saints will be sealed by the angel of Revelation 7. (4) The sixth seal more or less initiates the three and a half year tribulation. (5) Prior to the coming of antichrist, the ten horns destroy the Papacy after a falling away from the Pope. (6) Then the antichrist comes and destroys three of the kingdoms and initiates the three and a half year tribulation. (7) During the duration of the three and a half years—under the seventh seal—the seven trumpets meet their fulfillment. (8) Enoch and Elijah are the two witnesses of Revelation 11 who prophesy for three and a half years. (9) During the three and a half years of tribulation, the woman of Revelation 12 (the remnant of the church) flees from the antichrist. Revelation 12 and 13 are treated as parallel—as the reign of antichrist. (10) During the three and a half years, the antichrist reigns in a literal temple in Jerusalem. (11) The antichrist is only one man who possesses all the power of the devil. As a man, he is Satan incarnate. The analysis and picture of the Jesuits above comes from Prophetic Faith Vol. 2, Froom uses the following commentaries: [Francisco Ribera, In sacram Beati Ioannis Apostoli, & Evangelistae Apocalypsin Commentarij. ( Lugduni: Ex Officina Iuntarum, 1593). Froom also gives illustrations of Robert Bellarmine’s Futurism from (Robert Bellarmine, Disputationes Roberti Bellarmini . . . de Controversiis Christianae Fidei, Adversus Huius Temporis Haereticos. Cologne: Anton & Arnold Hieratorus Brothers, 1628. 4 Vols.) Jesuit Construct Dispensational Futurist Construct
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#7. To: richard9151 (#0)
The orthodox position on prophesy is from an amillennial point of view.. the dispensationalist idea is rather recent..
Compared to what? Someone posted a story, yesterday?, about Christmas and how it was not celebrated in early America (as if that was a bad thing!), and how Congress actually met on Dec. 25th! America WAS Christian, and did not permit apostasy to claim it until later. BUT, non-sense creeps in, and those responsible are you and I when we permit traditions to rule us, as opposed to His Word, and that is the point of this post. As well as pointing a finger directly at those responsible for the problems in the world. It was also the point of the post on leaderles resistance, which starts by not accepting the non-sense of the world, i.e., tradition.
America's population was not overwhelmingly Christian until recently. If you want to say that people lived by Christian principles, that might be accurate, but they were not regularly practicing churchgoing Christians until recently.
Define church, please, and then re-read the info that I posted in this thread. I am a Christian, and I live as one; I DO NOT BELONG TO ANY CHURCH AS DEFINED IN THIS INFORMATION, and most Christians do not, and I have not since I wised up and left the Roman church. If you read the post, Leaderless Resistance, you begin to get just a small taste of Christianity, and how it is supposed to be lived. I belong to no groups, I do not vote, I am not anti-government, per se, and I accept no freebees. Never have, and never will. I do accept my responsibilities and share, freely, what I do have, including information. And the population of America IS NOT TODAY CHRISTIAN. It is overwhelmingly tradionilist, and worships, almost without exception, according to the precepts of the Babylonian Mystery Religion, and this is true even if the people do not understand what they do through ignorance. Ignorance is no excuse, and explains why America is under judgement, which cometh.
Go read the Didache. It is the basis for the Catholic Mass and is being brought out again with the "First Century" movements popping up. But, for the sake of argument, What Is A Christian - as you see them?
There is no argument to be made. I understand the Bible reasonably well, although I still need to study more, of course, but the principles are simple, as is pointed out in the paper above. If you simply read it, the Bible, and pray for guidance. For instance, there is no basis in Scripture for the Roman mass, which comes from Babylon, or for ANY of the holy days observed by so-called Christians. Most esp., Xmas. And that is the first thing; accept the Words of Jesus Christ, who said, if you love Me, do My Words, and the Words I speak are not My Words, but the Words of My Father. Pretty plain speaking that we are to listen to God, and not to the many gods that are put in front of us... i.e., government and organized religions. Believe in Jesus Christ, and do His Words. Pretty easy, actually. And if you name yourself a Christian, and you do not do this, then you are a hyprocite. And if you do name yourself as a Christian, then you can not do most of the things that people of this world hold important; Xmas, organized religion, participation in the government scam and the like.
Okay. So, you say the Church went apostate in 50AD but we know that the NT was written *after* 50AD and the Catholic Bible was compiled around 400AD. We also know that the Protestants took the Catholic Bible and used it as the basis for their own. So then, how can one then be a Christian by adhering to a document produced by an apostate Church? I don't understand how this can be. Please explain?
Who said that?! And I said nothing about His Church going apostate in 50 AD; the people did, by accepting a lie instead of the Words of God. Have you ever studied the History of the Bible? I have, and I have books that trace, exactly, what, how and why. The Christ quoted from the Greek Septugint, which came down to us through Greek Papyri, which still exist, although the very earlist of the manuscripts of the Septugint do not. The Greek Papyri were copied into the Greek Uncials which is the oldest surviving complete manuscript from the 4th Century. There are countless fragments of manuscripts dating back before the time of The Christ which show, beyond question, by comparing words where the fragments match, what, how, why and where the manuscripts came from and who changed them, or, copied them exactly. At the same time, the Latin Vulgate was being created, changing countless words and meanings in the Bible; that became the Catholic Bible. Oh, and it was also copied into the King James Bible. But there were countless people who chose death over using the King James Bible; that is just another little piece of history that we are not informed about. Most of the people who came to America were fleeing religious terror in Europe, and they did not bring the King James with them! I just posted this; 666 appartently is here to stay. I suggest that you take a close look at it.
You said the apostasy started in 50AD in post 11. So the question is - how can we trust a document coming from apostasy? There are no documents from the "early" era as you say. So how does one know what to trust if all this is true? Or, does one simply do the best one can - regardless?
The above is exactly what I posted, because I copied it from there. I also told you that most of the Scripture comes from before that time; The Christ quoted from the Greek Sepuagint; that Bible exists and can be bought today in many, many locations. And no, we do not do the best that we can, regardless, because that is an excuse to use our own reason in opposition to God. Unless you know His Plan and intent, then, what choices do you make and for what reasons? Tell me something, what is the purpose of the Bible? If you can not answer this, then you are fumbling in the dark, my friend. By the way, I have 9 Bibles, all different, that I compare to find out if something is correct or not. One of them is the King James Study Bible, which is the first Bible that I read, and it revealved a lot to me, and, it can to you as well, IF you ask for guidance as you read it. And no, not guidance from me; this life is a journey that we must each undertake.
Certainly the OT comes from before 50AD, but the vast majority of the NT wasn't even penned until years after then. To make matters worse, no complete copies survive from before the third century. Textual analysis shows that no two copies are identical - period. There are no surviving manuscripts that are identical at all. What we have are compilations put together by teams who do their best to reconstruct what they think the original text was - because, as we know, there is no such thing as an "original" copy. In essence, we are relying on text that, as you put it, comes from after the apostasy started and is therefore suspect since it was copied by people who you claim may have gone apostate. Look up Marcion and his heresy. He altered the texts. Do we know if anyone else did? There are margin notes by scribes indicating as such on surviving manuscripts. To answer your other questions - nobody knows the "complete plan" and it is nowhere to be found. That, as they say, is a mystery. As for the purpose of the Bible, it is a guidebook, a declaration, and a history of the early Church. Not all parts of it are relevent or even accurate. If one were to take it all quite literally, one would have to believe that epilepsy is caused by demons, which we know is not the case. The various parts of the Bible were written down by people of their time using language of the time and intended to be read by the people of the time. In that, in modern times, it serves to inspire more than anything else. That leads to another question - what is the purpose of religion? Is it so that one group can lord it over another screaming "I'm right, you're wrong, you're gonna roast!" - I think not. Religion is a belief. It needs no grounding in fact to lead the believer where he goes and in fact, can lead two different people in two different directions even though they occupy the same pew, listen to the same sermons, live in the same house, and eat the same food. Since it is a personal thing, attempts to "prove" one's religion will always fail.
You are pretty well versed in the normal, mainstream beliefs. However, the Bible is not something that it is neccessary to believe in, as the proof as to its authenticity is carried within it. To believe is to be in opposition to knowledge and science. The Bible is a manual for freedom, and it has nothing to do with religion. It was penned by men with intimate knowledge of the Creator of the Universe, and His Laws. It explains how the earth and the universe works according to His Laws, and it was designed to give people a guide in how to live free, with only Him as King. That is why we are warned, in the Bible, as to exactly what would happen when we asked for an earthly king. An amazingly accurate prophecy for all time! The Bible is a way of life; or, more accurately, Christianity is a way of life. It most definately is not a religion.
#26. To: richard9151 (#25)
Or more accurately, the Bible will *point* you to a way of life. It does not include all that is needed for all time in terms of clear instruction, but it can help point one on the way. Along the way, it will also show you where the various sects get their ideas from so you can better understand them.
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