Is the pope the anti-christ?

Question

Martin Luther proclaimed that the pope was the anti-christ do you agree?

not MLK im talking about the original

Answer 1

Luther was not the first person to make this claim. John Wycliffe came to the same conclusion some 200 years before Luther did. Unlike Luther, Wycliffe had everything to loose and nothing to gain from proclaiming this, but he did it anyway because that is what he believed. Let us examine the facts.

What is the beast (the anti-Christ)? It is a religious power that rises out of Europe after the fall of Rome (and 3 of the tribes of the fallen empire are taken out) that acts as sovereign nation. It has much wealth and wants to change the laws of God.

"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. “(Daniel 7:24 - 25 KJV)

The history of Europe settles the matter. There were 10 kingdoms that formed directly after the fall of Rome. After three kingdoms were taken out (the Vandals, Lombards, and Huns), the "Bishop of Rome" rose to power and formed what we now know as the Roman Catholic Church and this position is now known as the pope. With this power, the pope has changed God's times and laws. Many Christians no longer observe the Sabbath (God's time and God’s law) because the pope has instituted Sunday worship; the Roman Catechism even has a different set of Ten Commandments in it than the Bible's. It is also obvious that this kingdom represented by the little horn is different from all the others. The Vatican is a nation that has great wealth (the little horn wares an expensive crown earlier in Daniel chapter 7) but is very small (like a little horn among big ones) and is wholly ruled by a religious leader unlike any other nation in Europe today. The Vatican is a nation because the USA has an ambassador to the Vatican.

There are even more clues to point to the papal system as being the anti-Christ.

"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." (Revelation 13:3 KJV)

The pope was taken out of power and made prisoner (wounded) in 1798 by Napoleon. But, the pope was miraculously healed from his deadly wound in 1929, by Premier Mussolini of Italy who gave the pope all his power back!

The whole world has wondered after the pope. Just look at everyone that attended the funeral of the late John Paul II - leaders of almost every nation in the world!

Also, we find this of the anti-Christ. " And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:5 - 6 KJV)

What is blasphemy? "The act of claiming for oneself the attributes and rights of God." (American Heritage Dictionary)

Does the pope blaspheme?

"Against this background of love towards Holy Church, 'the pillar and bulwark of the truth' (1 Tim 3:15), we readily understand the devotion of Saint Francis of Assisi for 'the Lord Pope', the daughterly outspokenness of Saint Catherine of Siena towards the one whom she called 'sweet Christ on earth'" (Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation VITA CONSECRATA, (On The Consecrated Life And Its Mission In The Church And In The World), March 25, 1996.)

"The Pope is of so great dignity, and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God. and the vicar of God." (Ferraris Ecclesiastical dictionary)

"All names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that He is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope." (On the Authority of the Councils, book 2, chapter 17)

"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")

"The Pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth...by divine right the Pope has supreme and full power in faith, in morals over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the true vicar, the head of the entire church, the father and teacher of all Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being judged by no one, God himself on earth." (Quoted in the New York Catechism)

""To believe that our Lord God the Pope has not the power to decree as he is decreed, is to be deemed heretical." (the Gloss "Extravagantes" o.f Pope John XXII *** inter, Tit. XIV, Cap. IV. Ad Callem Sexti Decretalium, Paris, 1685)

I would say he dose!

I think the papal system matches up with the anti-Christ too much to be a coincidence.

Answer 2

What Martin Luther did was identify the papacy of his time--not a particular pope--with the antichrist.

Luther's criticism focused on the practices of the church, particularly the sale of papal indulgences, which provided the common people with the idea that salvation could be attained through a human agency, rather than divine will. An indulgence basically allowed its buyer to spend less time in Purgatory, and indulgence sales were one of the main sources of income of the papacy.

Yet according to Luther, "An indulgence can never remit guilt; the Pope himself cannot do such a thing; God has kept that in His own hand."

This stance obviously conflicted with the practices of the church, and particularly with the practices of the papacy. A papal bull, in fact, condemned 41 of the 95 theses; in response, Luther burned it publicly.

The ensuing conflict, particularly the papacy's unwillingness to change its methods, led to Luther's formulation of the idea that the papacy was deliberately turning people away from God, which had to be the Devil's work. Hence, the papacy was the antichrist.

Answer 3

No Martin Luther was closer than the pope to being the anti-christ

Answer 4

Martin Luthor was a bigot and a fool who didn't get his own way so decided to make his own religion. Like the fundamentalists of today, he went overboard with his preaching

oh, and No, the pope is not the anti-christ. he is a good, god-fearing man who has given much time and thought to help the world's sick and hungry. Which is more than you can say for any evangelical minister, besides Billy Graham.

Answer 5

When Martin Luther made that observation, the Church of Rome (Roman Catholic) was riddled with corruption and greed. The Church was out for temporal power and wealth and sought to control all.

Many people and groups who did not agree with the church were hunted down by armies at the command of the pope, tortured and murdered in horrendous ways.

The church, via Pope Leo X was also into the aggressive marketing practices of selling indulgences ("remission of temporal punishment for sins forgiven by God") in 1517 to raise money for rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Martin Luther saw this "as the purchase and sale of salvation" and it was one of the main reasons for the .Protestant Reformation.

In "The Table Talk of Martin Luther, of the Antichrist" Martin Luther does refer to the pope as the Antichrist because of the total corruption of the Church of Rome and it's leader. You can read that yourself (see the link under sources)

P.S. In the beginning of the Christian Church there were a number of bishops appointed by the apostles in different parts of the known world. All the bishops were charged with the handling of Church affairs. There was no pope, although there was a Bishop of Rome. By amassing great temporal power, armies, and the submission of the leaders of countries. The Bishop of Rome was able to gather almost all the Church's power and proclaim himself Pope, temporal and spiritual leader over all of Christendom. Any who opposed were proclaimed heretics and murdered.

Answer 6

You'd think if the Pope was the Anti-Christ, one of them would've put the End Days in motion. It's just thinly veiled bigotry against an altogether cool set of dudes.

Answer 7

I do not agree. The pope is the Vicar of Christ here on earth. He is the Shepherd of Christs church, in a long line of Apostolic Succession, each Pope chosen by the Holy Spirit to shepherd Jesus church here on earth.

Answer 8

Not at all. Bush is the anti-christ. The pope only looks like one - maybe he is a second cousin or something.

Answer 9

No but the last Pope will be the False Prophet predicted in the Bible (the False Prophet will come after the current Pope)

Answer 10

No, but you have the idea that the anti-christ will be someone over a church who will flatter the people, have great wealth and influence, build many great and spacious buildings (and temples) and slowly lead the people to hell because they will believe in this "man of god" to save them individually. In fact, the anti-christ will seem like such a wonderful person, with great public relation skills.
Behind the scenes, he's been involved in numerous thefts of member's assets justifying it as being the Lord's, murder of people who could have proved to be politically embarrassing to him. Someday, he will be exposed. The church that the anti-christ IS over makes all of their members swear with a blood oath of secrecy (it's NOT sacred as they claim), masonic rituals of hand shakes, etc., and to consecrate all that they possess to the CHURCH rather than to God (idolatry). Their image is one of "perfection." This church also believes in polygamy and has the highest rate of depression/suppression of women in the nation. They also have the highest rate of boy's suicide. They believe they are the only true church and that "all is well in Zion." They have also altered an ancient historical record of the Americas which clearly states that "polygamy is an abomination of the Lord" The major alteration involves the identity of God (Jesus) which is why this church is known as worshiping multiple Gods.

Answer 11

The Emperor Nero was believed by early Christians to be the Anti-Christ. They thought he was going to come back from the dead...but he didn't. Thus, Revelations is something you don't have to worry about. http://usminc.org/Paranormal/antichrist.html