Lux Lucet

There was a time in my Christian walk that eschatology, that is, the study of the doctrine of end times, didn’t seem all that important.  There were a lot of competing ideas about end times in the popular Christian press, but none of the popular ones that I saw made much of an impact on me.  None of them struck me as compelling.

But the longer I’ve been a Christian, the more I’ve come to appreciate the importance of having a sound understanding of eschatology.

Take the doctrine of the identity of Antichrist.  Although many Presbyterians and members of other Reformed churches may be surprised to hear this, the original version of the Westminster Confession of Faith had a very well-developed statement on Antichrist, leaving no one in doubt as to the identity of this person. 

It was the Pope of Rome.

Westminster Confession of Faith 25.6 originally read,

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.

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