Pope Francis consecrates the world and, in particular, Ukraine and Russia to a demon posing as Mary, the mother of Jesus during a Lenten penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 25, 2022. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
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.
The Borg, a recurring antagonist in Star Trek the Next Generation, was a group of cyborgs linked in a hive mind called “the Collective.” The Wikipedia entry on the Borg tells us that the goal of the Borg was to absorb the technology and knowledge of other species through the process of assimilation with the ultimate aim of achieving perfection.
One could think of the Borg as the ultimate expression of collectivism, an idea that stands in opposition to the historic western, Protestant idea of individualism, which can be defined as “a doctrine that the interests of the individual are or ought to be ethically paramount” (Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary).
I had meant to write this post last week, but, as they say, life got in the way. So here’s the belated version for you.
As do many, I find New Year’s a convenient time to stop and reflect on the year past and consider what may lie ahead.
In my case, I like to mention upfront that I’m thankful to the Lord God Almighty for the opportunity to write this blog during 2021. Before I begin each post, I pray that the Lord would grant me the grace to write truthfully, clearly, and in a way that glorifies His name and edifies his people. Moreover, November 2021 marked the seventh anniversary of my prayer to God asking him to help me write at least one blog post a week. By his grace I have kept this pace, posting at least one new item every week since then. Thanks be to God for giving me the strength to do this!
There are times as a writer when I really do wonder if I’m doing the Lord’s will or my own. Has God called me to do this work, or am I just kidding myself and rebelling against him? That he has honored my prayers for this blog, that people still seem to get something out of it, and that I continue to enjoy writing are big hints to me that, yes, I am doing what the Lord has called me to do.
Justice For Immigrants webpage, accessed 1/2/2022. Note well, there’s no mention of justice for American citizens. Rome cares only about foreigners. And really, Rome doesn’t care about the illegal aliens either. The only thing Rome cares about is advancing its causes of socialism and world government by any means necessary. The migrants are pawns in Rome’s power game.
Exsul Familia Nazarathana by Pope Pius XII, 1952. Pope Pius XX, also known as “Hitler’s Pope” (see John Cornwell’s book by the same title). This Apostolic Constitution sets forth the migration principles Rome is using to destroy the West. The Babylonian Harlot has figured out a way, not only to destabilize and ultimately destroy the free, independent nations of the West, but also to make the citizens of these nations pay for their own destruction. Truly a Satanic work.
“Was Jesus An Illegal Immigrant?” Pulpit & Pen, 12/18/2013. This article quotes Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention talking his usual immigration nonsense, aping the papal Antichrist by calling Jesus an “illegal immigrant” when he was nothing of the sort. Russell Moore, it would seem, has made a prosperous career for himself denouncing his putative fellow Christians to an ever-eager audience of progressives and various America haters. His message? “I’m an Evangelical, but not one of those icky sorts of Evangelicals who voted for Donald Trump or who questions the wisdom of admitting endless millions of welfare migrants into the country.”
“Pope Francis: ‘No Country Can Exempt Itself From Duty To Take In Migrants” by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D, 12/22/2021. The “duty” for nations to admit welfare migrants of which Pope Francis speaks is found nowhere in Scripture. It is a figment of the Antichrist papal imagination. The words of Genesis 6:5 are applicable here, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Martin Luther as Hercules Germanicus by Hans Holbein, 1523. “In the picture, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, Duns Scotus and Nicholas of Lyra already lay bludgeoned to death at his feet and the German inquisitor, Jacob van Hoogstraaten was about to receive his fatal stroke. Suspended from a ring in Luther’s nose was the figure of Pope Leo X,” The Reformation Room.
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.
Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 25.6
“I have no idea who Antichrist is.” I don’t remember anything else about the sermon. I don’t even recall the name of the man who preached it. But I do remember it was on a Sunday morning in December 2006 that I heard those words, “I have no idea who Antichrist is,” come from the pulpit of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.
I case you’re wondering, no, it wasn’t D. James Kennedy who made that comment. It was a guest preacher, whose name escapes me.
It’s just as well I don’t recall the man’s name who uttered those words. For it seems to me that what he said that Sunday could well be said by most of the professing reformed church, both in 2006 and in 2021. No one, it seems, has any idea who Antichrist is.
It’s a mystery wrapped in an enigma, to borrow a turn of phrase from Winston Churchill. Or at least that’s how it seems to most Christians today.
Lux Lucet 