Q. Do you think the pontiff at Rome could be the Antichrist?
A. Some people believe that the pope is indeed the Antichrist, regardless of who is holding that office at any particular time. Martin Luther held to that view. The religious denomination stemming from Luther has historically believed it as well, so it is interesting and odd that many in that denomination today are looking for every possible way to get back into the Roman church through ecumenism.
As Bible-believing Christians, we believe that the pope is an antichrist, and we believe that the Roman church is identified in Revelation 17, but we believe that many other people in the world are antichrists as well (see 1 John 2:18). We will stay with Scripture as to the identity of the Antichrist—he is yet to be revealed, after the Rapture of believers (1 Thessalonians 4:13—5:11; 2 Thessalonians 2).
This article appeared in the “Q & A” column of the Baptist Bulletin by Norman A. Olson.
