Historicism is the belief that Biblical prophecies about the little horn, the man of sin, the Antichrist, the Beast, and the Babylonian harlot of Revelation 17 all apply to the developing history of Christianity and to the ongoing struggle between Jesus Christ and Satan within the Church, culminating at the end time. Historicism sees these prophecies applying to papal Rome as a system whose doctrines deny the New Testament message of free salvation by grace through simple faith in Jesus Christ. Historicism was the primary prophetic viewpoint of the Protestant Reformation.

In direct opposition to historicism, and rising up a razor-sharp counterattack against Protestantism, was the Jesuit viewpoint of futurism. Futurism states that the Antichrist prophecies have nothing to do with history or papal Rome but rather apply to only one sinister man who comes at the end of time.

Jesuit futurism sweeps 1500 years of prophetic history under the proverbial rug. This is accomplished through a theory that says when Rome fell, prophecy stopped, only to continue again right around the time of the Rapture. Thus, the ten horns, the little horn, the Beast, and the Antichrist have nothing to do with Christianity today. According to this viewpoint, no prophecies were being fulfilled during the Dark Ages.

Dispensationalism is the theory that God’s dealings with humanity are divided into major time periods, or dispensations. According to John Nelson Darby, we are now in the “Church Age” until the rapture. After the rapture, the seven-year period of Daniel 9:27 will supposedly kick in, when the Antichrist will rise up against the Jews.

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