Is the Pope the "Antichrist" of the Bible?

Pope Francis will be visiting the United States in September for a conference on family life.  Mentions of the Pope in current events tend to elicit strong reactions from certain segments of Christian culture in America.

One of those reactions is the claim that the Pope (or the Papacy in general) is the “Antichrist”.  This might strike the average person as being a bizarre, fringe opinion of a few screaming lunatics.  And it is true, thankfully, that this belief is becoming less common.

However, many would be surprised to find that this doctrine remains “on the books” in many mainstream Christian communions.  For instance, the doctrinal positions of the Missouri Synod Lutherans (LCMS) continue to state:

“As to the Antichrist we teach that the prophecies of the Holy Scriptures concerning the Antichrist, (2 Thess. 2:3-12; 1 John 2:18), have been fulfilled in the Pope of Rome and his dominion.  

All the features of the Antichrist as drawn in these prophecies, including the most abominable and horrible ones, for example, that the Antichrist ‘as God sitteth in the temple of God,’ (2 Thess. 2:4) 

[...]

These very features are the outstanding characteristics of the Papacy. Hence we subscribe to the statement of our Confessions that the Pope is ‘the very Antichrist.’"

 – A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod, www.LCMS.org

Today I wanted to open up the Bible and see how these accusations pan out.  Does the Pope meet the Biblical description of the Antichrist?


Saint John’s Description:

The only times the word “antichrist” appears in the Bible are in Saint John’s two pastoral letters.   That is where we will begin.

The first letter mentions the Antichrist in two places.  They are as follows:

“Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.”  - 1 John 2:21-23 

“Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world.”  – 1 John 4:1-3

Going off those two passages, we can find three criteria which describe the Antichrist.

• He will deny that Jesus is the Christ  … (or the Messiah, or the Savior).
• He will deny that Jesus is the Son of God… (the divinity of Christ)
• He will deny that Jesus came in the flesh… (the doctrine of the “Incarnation”)

  Now we’ll take a look at John’s second letter.  In the first chapter of this letter John says the following about the Antichrist:

“Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist.” – 2 John 1:7

Here John repeats from his first letter that the Antichrist will deny the incarnation.



Saint Paul’s Description:

Alright, now we can move on to one more place mentioned in the LCMS doctrinal statement.

Saint Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians does not mention the Antichrist using that precise word, but the concept seems to be present under a different title.  He calls the Antichrist “the lawless one” or “the man of lawlessness”.  Here is the quote:

“Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one doomed to perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God, claiming that he is a god.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 

So here Paul indicates the Antichrist will set himself up as a false god and demand to be worshipped.


Putting it Together:

Let’s recap for a moment.  Based on the descriptions from John and Paul, we learn the Antichrist will:

So does the Pope do this?

For the sake of simplicity, we will draw on statements from the Catechism of the Catholic Church  (the official “book of stuff the Catholic Church teaches”).  We will assume the Pope would teach precisely the contents of that book.

Let’s go point by point and see how the accusations fair.



Jesus The Christ:

We will start with the claim that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.  Would the Pope deny this or affirm it?  According to the Catholic Catechism:

“The name Jesus means ‘God saves’. The child born of the Virgin Mary is called Jesus, ‘for he will save his people from their sins’ (Mt 1:21).  ‘There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12). The title ‘Christ’ means  ‘Anointed One’ (Messiah).  Jesus is the Christ.” – CCC 452, 453

Nope… the reality seems quite the opposite.  The Catholic Church confesses that Jesus is the Christ.



The Incarnate Son of God:

Moving on, would the Pope deny that Jesus is the Son of God who came in the flesh?  Again, the Catholic Catechism states:

"The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. [] At the time appointed by God, the only Son of the Father, the eternal Word, that is, the Word and substantial Image of the Father, became incarnate. Without losing his divine nature, he has assumed human nature. Jesus Christ is true God and true man, in the unity of his divine person.  For this reason he is the one and only mediator between God and men." - CCC 457, 479, 480

Again the accusations do not hold up to the facts.  The Church enthusiastically proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God who came in the flesh.



Claims of Divinity, Demands of Worship:

Lastly does the Pope claim himself to be a god and demand to be worshipped?  Let’s tackle that by seeing what the Catechism says about worshipping anything other than God:

"The first commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord who has revealed himself to his people. [] Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God.  Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God." - CCC 2110,2113

Going off that, we can assume the Pope would insist he is not a god.  And he would also forcefully condemn any attempts to worship him as a deity.

Well, what does the Pope -DOES- claim about himself?

He claims to be the successor to the office which Jesus gave to Saint Peter, and is thereby the head pastor of the Catholic Church.  This means his position is one of incredible importance and authority.

Now, we also believe the Pope receives special help from God in fulfilling the duties of his office, but that does not amount to a claim to divinity.  Quite the opposite. To say the Pope is a sinner who needs God's help ... means he isn't God and is unworthy of worship.

So once again the accusation falls flat.



The Bible Told Me So:

Let’s wrap this up.

There are various groups of Christians who claim the Pope is the Antichrist.  But an odd thing happens when you actually crack open the Bible and see what Scripture says about the Antichrist.  As it turns out, the Pope does the exact opposite of what it says the evil one will do.

People of goodwill my object to various other things the Catholic Church might teach, or perhaps think the Papacy is invested with too much authority.  But if a person wishes to adhere to what the Bible says, there is no good reason to say the Pope is the Antichrist.