One common objection to the papacy is that the pope is an antichrist. The idea is that because Christ is the true Head of the Church, he cannot claim headship in any way. To address this, let us see what the Bible does say about antichrists. The word antichrist is used four times in Scripture, as follows.
The first is 1 John 2:18-19, “Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us.” We can tell from this passage that there is one major Antichrist coming and many minor ones. The appearance of the individual Antichrist is still future, but the presence of the many antichrists is a signal that “it is the last hour.” These antichrists are apostate Christians because “they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us.”
“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:22-23) This is consistent with the apostate nature of many antichrists. They deny “that Jesus is the Christ” by which they implicitly deny the Father.
“By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already.” (1 John 4:2-3) This shows that the antichrists are inspired by spirits who bear false revelation and that refuse to confess our Lord as Christ. This movement had begun in John’s day but would grow afterward.
“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (2 John 7) So the spirit of Antichrist and his human collaborator will deny our Lord’s coming in the flesh.
So with this in mind, can the Pope be called an antichrist? St. John clearly indicates that the antichrist is the one who denies Christ has come in the flesh. The basis, however, for the pope’s position is that Christ has come in the flesh and has ascended to heaven, leaving the successor of Peter as His representative on earth. No pope has historically denied that Christ had come in the flesh, and if a pope were to do so, it would destroy the whole basis of his position. The entirety of his job is to bring people to Christ. He is the Servant of the Servants of God. If he does not acknowledge Christ Jesus as his Lord, as infinitely greater than he, and as the One who will hold him accountable if he abuses his office, that pope is in the wrong.
Bonum Certamen Certemus
I am the Catholic of Honor
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All Scripture verses are from the Revised Standard Version
Chivalric Apologetics 
2 replies on “Is the Pope an Antichrist?”
Indeed. I like when people cut to the case. I think it is much more sustainable to hold that the Pope cannot be antichrist by definition of his office than otherwise. Sometimes I really do believe that others just call Popes antichrist because they don’t like them and want to prove the point. It is easier to hold a black and white view good or bad which is why many people claim such evils — than it is to deal with corruption in the church without turning a blind eye to evil while still being obedient.
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Yes. Jimmy Akin argued that this was a psychological necessity for Protestant Reformers to make the Church out to be the Whore of Babylon to justify breaking away from it.
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