Great Apostasy - Protestant Views

Protestant Views

Protestant Christianity separated itself from what it felt was the fulfilment of prophecy that there would be a falling away from the truth given by Jesus Christ and his apostles. They look to 2 Thessalonians prediction regarding the "falling away." 2 Thess. 2:3-12 says, "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

They felt Papacy fulfilled the falling away of the scriptures, for it agrees on the prophecy in all the following points:

1. It has one official man as its head, and its claims are centered in him, the Bishop of Rome.

2. The Bishop of Rome exalts himself against all that is called God; e.g., he is addressed by terms (Pope, Supreme Pontiff, Holy Father, etc.) which belong only to God, and that man came with and out of an apostasy, the very kind the apostles describe elsewhere (1 Tim. 4:1-3; Acts 20:28-31; 2 Pet. 2:1-3).

3. He sits in the temple of God, e.g., his sphere of dominion is in the church or temple of God, as seen in the Papacy.

4. His appearance was hindered by some force in Paul's time (2 Thess. 2:6-7); e.g., when the bishops of Rome began to assert power, they were in conflict with the Roman civil government; however, when the Roman empire collapsed, they quickly gained supremacy.

5. The mystery of iniquity was already working in Paul's day (2 Thess. 2:7) and would continue until the Lord's coming (2 Thess. 2:8).

6. The apostasy would produce fraudulent miracles, signs and wonders; e.g., supposed cures brought about by relics and shrines.

7. The Lord shall destroy him with the brightness of His coming (2 Thess. 2:8). Only by a continual succession of the men of sin as seen in the line of men ascended to the title of Pope, could this be possible.

Protestantism asserts that many abuses by Church leadership occurred prior to the Reformation in 1517 AD. Nevertheless, it does not suggest that these abuses led to a complete state of anarchy and apostate renderings of Scripture within the Early Church. In turn, from the Protestant perspective, abuses within the church led to a poor application of doctrine and Biblical Truths. Historically, this view is generally seen to have been declared by the contents of the 95 Theses compiled by Martin Luther.

To a large degree, Protestantism recognizes that the formation of the Orthodox-Catholic Church under Caesar Constantine I (c. 325 AD) sought to bring stability, continuity and organization to the birth of the relatively new Christian faith. However, through decades of succession by poor, often politically motivated leadership, abuses of Scriptural application became prevalent. In turn, Protestantism generally asserts that although Scripture itself remained pristine, the leaders and teachers became fouled. To that end, most of Traditional Christianity agrees that the Biblical message itself was ultimately never lost to mankind. In addition, historical and archeological evidence - such as the Dead Sea Scrolls - have provided a considerable measure of creditability to this position.

Additionally, Protestant Evangelicals concede that although the Early Church had not completely "fallen away" after the death of the first Apostles, it fell under the control of the bishop of Rome and became governed by errant men with a poor understanding of Scripture.