The Pope as Antichrist
The Westminster clause that the American 1788 revision dropped.
Settled clearly
Background
The identification of the Pope with the eschatological Antichrist had been a Reformation commonplace since Luther — drawn from the prophecies of Daniel 7, 2 Thessalonians 2, and Revelation 13. Calvin took the position in the *Institutes*, the Reformed confessions had taken it (Helvetic, Belgic), and the Westminster divines unanimously held it. The clause appears in WCF XXV.6 as a direct identification.
The Assembly’s handling
WCF XXV.6 (1646) makes the identification explicit and direct: 'There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.' The clause was not contested at the Assembly — the divines were unanimous — but it has been the most explicitly polemical eschatological identification in the Standards. The 1788 American revision excised the 'is that Antichrist' clause; the original Scottish text retained it; the 1903 PCUSA revisions kept the American softening.
Parties
The 1646 Westminster identification
The Pope of Rome is that Antichrist, the man of sin and son of perdition. The identification is required by Daniel 7, 2 Thessalonians 2, and Revelation, and is the unanimous Reformation reading.
- Edmund Calamy the Elder (1600–1666)
- Samuel Rutherford (c. 1600–1661)
- George Gillespie (1613–1648)
- Cornelius Burgess (1589–1665)
- Edward Reynolds (1599–1676)
The 1788 American revision (softened)
The Pope of Rome cannot in any sense be head of the church, but the specific identification with the eschatological Antichrist is dropped — leaving the identification open to historical-prophetic judgement.
Confessional language
WCF XXV.6 (1646): 'There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.' WCF XXV.6 (1788): 'There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof.'
Legacy
The 1646 identification has been the most polemical clause of the Standards through Reformation history. Modern Reformed bodies that retain the 1646 text (Free Church of Scotland, Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America) have continued to affirm the Pope-as-Antichrist identification, often with explanatory notes. The American 1788 revision has been followed by the PCA, OPC, and most American Reformed bodies.