by Woodrow W. Whidden (Revised Version of An Article originally published on May 25, 2000) Emeritus Professor of Religion Andrews University .. Prof Whidden has no association with The Plain Truth, and we link this article for the education of our readers only!
In this age of ecumenical calls for the unity of all Christians, when all professed Christians are supposed to see what they can do to find common ground and show both personal and theological charity to others not of their particular tradition of belief, the traditional Historicist interpretation of the Antichrist (also espoused by White Horse Media) as being fulfilled by the Roman Papal Church has been called into question.
Should The Traditional Papal Interpretation Change?
What is to be made of this delicate situation? Has the Roman Catholic church (the Papacy) changed to the point that Historicist interpreters and their respective ministries need to seriously reconsider their traditional position that this largest of Christian bodies is the antichrist portrayed in the prophetic imagery of the “little horns” of Daniel 7 and 8, “the man of sin” of 2 Thess.2 and the Leopard-like, or sea beast of Rev. 13? In all of the changes that have occurred since Catholicism’s Vatican Council II of the early 1960s, has such change been sufficient to suggest that traditional Historicist expositions of prophecy should seriously modify or even jettison its standard antichrist interpretation?