Whether or not the next pope is the anti-Christ can be no more than speculation. There is no meaning to be derived from extrapolating from the Catholic Church's history. It would be like extrapolating from a man's history to determine if he will become saved.
The idea does have a few things going for it, however: For one, the bible says he will come from the city of the seven hills. Rome is the city of seven hills. Even if the Anti-Christ comes from Rome, it doesn't mean he will necessarily be a pope. The reign of the anti-Christ will be fairly short. A Cardinal or Priest or political figure could arise to prominence or power and become the Anti-Christ all within the reign of a single pope with no pope selection process occurring during the whole time. The Bible tells us that the "Abomination of Desolation" will occur when the Anti-Christ proclaims himself to be God (or his equal) in the re-constructed temple in Jerusalem. He will demand to be worshiped by the people of the world. The idea of the rebuilt temple is fascinating. How will it be built with the Muslim Dome of the Rock sitting in its place on the temple mount? A group of Jews calling the temple society or the temple mount society or the rebuild the temple society (can't remember) is collecting all the parts and pieces necessary for the new temple. They claim they have no interest in destroying the Dome of the Rock. They don't have a clue how it might be destroyed or even if it needs to be. They say if it needs to be destroyed, God will take care of it. For them to do it would be like Moses beating the rock with a stick to get water out of it. The bible says that the Jews will return to Israel as flesh only, at first, and then the spirit will come into them later. That's what's happening now. Jews are returning to Israel having no idea that Jesus Christ is their savior. At the same time, there are way many more Christian Jews than ever before. Many Orthodox Jews are fascinated by born-again Christians' interpretations of Biblical Prophecy. There are tough times ahead for Israel and the Jews. It will be destroyed one more time before Christ's return. 144,000 of God's "chosen" people (Jews) will be saved and endure the tribulation to spread the Gospel, even in that dark time. In the meantime, pray for the Peace of Israel. .and check out this web site: www.levitt.com <http://www.levitt.com/> When you check it out, look for the Levitt Letter. It is a monthly publication by a Christian Jew (Zola Levitt) You can download it in PDF from the website. -David Perich _______________________________________________ Jesus Christ is LORD! To send mail to everyone on the RangerNet mailing list, send it to <[email protected]>. Only list members may post. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://lists.rangernet.org/mailman/listinfo/rangernet
