The Pope is the Antichrist

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The Pope is the Antichrist

Dr. Ian R.K. Paisley

 

The Church of Rome portrays herself as the Mother and Mistress of all

Christian Churches, and behold the Protestants have a new name --

they are no longer 'heretics' but 'separated brethren.'

 

The Ecumenists, having rejected the Bible, are in total darkness and

ignorance concerning the Papacy. In their folly they have all

clambered aboard the 'Roman Express.' They wish to distance

themselves as quickly as possible from anything which exposes the

deception, dissimulation and counterfeit of Popery. Hence in

Ecumenical Presbyterianism, the Church of Scotland led the way in

jettisoning Paragraph IV of Chapter 25 of the Historic Westminster

Confession of Faith which reads as follows:

 

'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, the man of sin, the son of perdition, that exalteth

himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God.'

 

In June 1988 the General Assembly of the Irish Presbyterian Church

sought to follow.

 

A new ecumenical Church Council is being formed in these islands to

replace the British Council of Churches ('British' in the title was

objected to by the Irish Roman Catholic hierarchy). The new Council

will have the Church of Rome as a foundation member. Cardinals Hume

and O'Fee are now taking an active interest in the shaping of the

same.

 

This replacement Council has been agreed by the old British Council

in which the Irish Presbyterian Church, the Irish Methodist Church

and the Church of Ireland all hold membership.

 

So the ecumenical churches are moving rapidly to final Church Unity

with the Pope. The Anglican International Commission, led by a Church

of Ireland Archbishop, has already agreed that the Pope should be the

Head of the envisaged United Church. This has been accepted by the

recent Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Churches.

 

In order to deceive the people in the pews the apostate 'protestant'

clergy are now energetically campaigning in a great whitewash of

Popery. An attempt is under way to erase from the historic creeds of

the Reformed Churches the teachings condemnatory of the Papacy and

identifying the Pope as Antichrist.

 

The Pope, the ecumenists and their dupes tell us, is a truly godly

man, a sweet and blessed representative of Christ, the 'Holy Father'

in deed and in truth!

 

The Church of Rome is presented as truly the church which Christ

founded, and the Reformation which separated true believers from that

apostate body is mourned over and confessed as sin.

 

The priests of Rome are presented as true ministers of Jesus Christ

and faithful preachers of His Holy Gospel. Prayer and Evangelism in

harness with such priests is engaged in by no less a person than Dr.

Billy Graham who directs his Roman Catholic converts back to the

Church of Rome.

 

The ordinary man in the pew must know where the truth lies. If the

Lord Jesus be Christ, SERVE HIM. If the Pope be Christ, SERVE HIM.

 

The present Moderator of the General Assembly, Dr. Godfrey Brown,

speaking on the BBC Radio 'Sunday Sequence' on Sunday (12th June,

1988), after his installation as Moderator slated, 'There is no

scriptural evidence at all for the Confession of Faith's statement

that the Pope is the Antichrist.' Yet the same Dr. Brown swore at his

ordination that he believed the Confession and then signed it as a

confession of his own faith! One of the Roman Catholic SDLP's

leaders, Dr. Joe Hendron hailed the Assembly's decision to attempt to

undermine the Confession's identification of the Pope as the

Antichrist with delight. To him it was a mark of 'true' Christianity.

 

So it is timely we should ask the question, 'Is the Pope the

Antichrist?' and see if it can be demonstrated from SCRIPTURE,

HISTORY and HIS OWN CONFESSION that HE IS.

 

It was the great Dr. Thomas Chalmers, one of the founding fathers of

the Free Church of Scotland and the first Moderator of that Church,

who said when commenting on the second chapter of II Thessalonians:-

 

'Save us O Lord, from falling away, lest we share the perdition that

waiteth on the great Apostasy. We hold the usurpation of Rome to be

evidently pointed at, and therefore let us maintain our distance, and

keep up our resolute protest against its great abominations.'

 

Today Dr. Chalmer's Chair of Theology in Edinburgh is held by a Roman

Catholic Priest.

 

Exactly one hundred years ago Dr. J. A. Wylie, author of the

famous 'History of Protestantism' (3 Volumes) published a small book

of 168 pages entitled, 'The Papacy is the Antichrist.'

 

The Rev. James Aitken Wylie was for many years a leading Protestant

spokesman. Born in Scotland in 1808, he was educated at Marischal

College, Aberdeen and at St. Andrews; he entered the Original

Secession Divinity Hall, Edinburgh in 1827, and was ordained in 1831.

Dr. Wylie became sub-editor of the Edinburgh Witness in 1846, and,

after joining the Free Church of Scotland in 1852, edited the Free

Church Record from 1852 until 1860. In 1860 he was appointed Lecturer

on Popery at the Protestant Institute, a position he held until the

year of his death. Aberdeen University awarded him the LL.D. in 1856.

 

Dr. Wylie was a prolific writer on Protestant themes. In 1851 the

Evangelical Alliance awarded him first prize for his writing 'The

Papacy' which he submitted as his entry for a competition for the

best essay on Popery.

 

I have simply made a precis of his excellent work, 'The Papacy is

Antichrist,' because its demonstration cannot be surpassed. I have

also added some additional material.

 

IAN R. K. PAISLEY

 

http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=antichrist_intro