The following is an excerpt from the monumental (and what I believe is the best book ever written on Revelation and the Antichrist) 1955 book, The Book of Destiny, by Father Herman Bernhard Kramer, in which he provides a descriptive outline of the beast second only to Antichrist in the Book of Revelation, also known as the False Prophet. I have believed for some time that we are in the presence of this False Prophet, first believing it probably was Francis I (and, indeed, I believe he certainly was a forerunner); however, Francis was too old to complete the machinery that had been entrusted to him. That would have to be left to a much younger candidate. Dare I suggest that this False Prophet could very well be Leo XIV? He more than fits Kramer’s description to an uncanny “T” down to having the false demeanor of a lamb. But read the description for yourself and decide, especially in light of his first enclyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, wherein man gets all the praise and God, zero. (Please note, all emphasis in the body of the chapter is mine.)
4. The Beast Out of the Earth.
Verses 11-15.
Verse 11
In the vision of the Seer now appears a second beast rising out of the earth, having two horns like a lamb but speaking like a dragon. This beast is the prophet of Antichrist. In other places he is called the “False Prophet” (XVI. 13; XIX. 20). Antichrist will have a forerunner or prophet, who will prepare the way for him. It will undoubtedly be someone who has done great work of evil in the world so as to be especially fitted for the position. Many may have developed so evil a character as to be fit for such a job, but this one may be at the head of a strong worldpower. Satan will not know long beforehand the time of these events, as he will not know when he shall be cast out of the Church. So choosing the False Prophet will be the work of Antichrist himself after he has made his own pact with Satan. This prophet may re-establish the pagan Roman Empire and build the “Great Harlot”, Babylon. He comes out of the earth, which is the term for the Gentile nations from which he springs.
He is briefly described. He has two horns; Antichrist has ten. These two horns might stand for two kings subject to him, if the phrase “like a lamb” were not added. That gives the horns a different significance. He may have two world-powers subject to himself; but the added phrase seems to intimate that he is an apostate bishop or cardinal, or he resembles one. The Church having fled from Rome after the murder of the pope leaves the papal chair vacant. (Could this actually refer to the resignation, likely forced, of Pope Benedict XVI from the papacy?) This false prophet possibly at the behest of Antichrist usurps the papal supremacy and proposes himself as emperor of Rome. His assumed spiritual authority and supremacy over the Church would make him resemble the Bishop of Rome, and his temporal regency over the re-established empire would make him emperor of Rome. He would be Pontifex Maximus, a title of pagan Roman emperors, having supreme spiritual and temporal authority. Assuming authority without possessing it makes him the False Prophet. Does this allude to what our Lord said?
Though he poses as a lamb, a Christian, his doctrines betray him, for he preaches the doctrines of the dragon. His principles and dogmas to be accepted, his moral and civil law will be of diabolical inspiration. It may be communism or plain idolatrous paganism; it will comprise emperor-worship and devil-worship coupled with persecution of the true believers. They will know him at once as an impostor and will not be misled. He will be in league with the antichristian world-powers and adopt their principles of government and civil law. As spiritual head of his empire, he may declare it treason against the state to accept Christianity or the moral law of God. He will evidently do in his own empire what Antichrist will do in his, who as Daniel writes, “shall think himself able to change times and laws”.
Verse 12
Antichrist shall endow the False Prophet with his own satanic might and authority, who will then exercise it in the presence of his master. Seeing Antichrist invest another with his own superhuman power shall win the admiration of the infidels. Satan will hold himself at the service of Antichrist at all moments and also at the beck and call of the False Prophet invisibly working signs and lying wonders in the presence of Antichrist. Being the constant guardian angel of Antichrist, so that his apparent supernatural powers might seem personal, Satan can be at the service of the False Prophet only in Antichrist’s presence. He is present only in one place, and though he can move with swifter than lightning speed, he is not omniscient and could not know when in Pekin with Antichrist, what the False Prophet might have in mind for him to do at Rome, unless the communication were brought him by other devils. Then he would need to leave Antichrist’s presence to attend to the wishes of the False Prophet. Antichrist’s power would then be suspended, and the charmed life he will possess under the tutelage of Satan would be endangered. The False Prophet will therefore be able to work his signs only in Antichrist’s presence, who shall thus easily win the antichristian Jews and be proclaimed the long expected messias by them. His “signs” will gain credence for himself among all infidels who have been or shall become unfaithful to the Church. The False Prophet will exercise his borrowed power for Antichrist’s honor and glory and will persuade all infidels, apostates and apostate nations to worship and adore him. And Antichrist will support his prophet and secure him in his empire.
One of the main reasons why people will accept Antichrist is the healing of the “wound to death” of one head of the beast. That one head is ancient Roman paganism, which shall be restored by the False Prophet through the power of Antichrist. (A hint of this was already begun by Francis I with the Pachamama debacle and the Amazon Synod in 2019.) This seems to locate the prophet’s capital at Rome. It would make possible a literal fulfillment of the prophecies of chapters XVII. and XVIII. In chapter XVII., the beast carries the scarlet woman, showing the re-establishment of the pagan empire made possible by his power. The covenant between Antichrist and his prophet will probably stipulate the submission of all people in the restored empire to the former, the acknowledgement of his divinity and the acceptance of his doctrines and morality. The empire will not be as large as formerly, for the empire of Antichrist shall occupy some of the ancient empire’s territory. The influence of the False Prophet shall induce the unchristian and apostate nations to deify Antichrist. His doctrines will be enunciated in a high-sounding literary style and ornamented with an alluring mysticism, the better to fit them for fostering every degree of pride and moral abandonment. They shall then be enthusiastically accepted by all sinners. And these enthusiasts shall proclaim the resurrection of the Roman Empire the miracle of the ages. The Church is defeated. The papacy is abolished.
St. Paul says that Antichrist “sitteth in the temple of God” to receive divine worship as if he were God (2 Thess. II. 4). This is not the ancient Temple of Jerusalem, nor a temple like it built by Antichrist, as some have thought, for then it would be his own temple. In chapter XI. 1 and 19, this temple is shown to be a Catholic Church, possibly one of the churches in Jerusalem or St. Peters in Rome, which is the largest church in the world and is in the full sense “THE temple of God”. If Antichrist went in person to that great temple to receive the worship of his followers, the False Prophet would accomplish his mission eminently. The capital of Antichrist will be in Jerusalem until the resurrection of the Two Witnesses. But if he were never seen by the peoples outside his capital, his power and influence would remain very limited. He will surely travel from country to country to show himself, teach his doctrines, work his lying miracles, establish his empire and be worshipped by his votaries. By personally appearing in all the principal cities of his empire, he will persuade the wicked to mobilize great armies enabling him to crush the nations opposed to him.
Verse 13
The False Prophet working his “signs” will even cause lightning from the sky at his command. That Satan can cause lightning seems proven in Scripture (Job I. 16). Satan will use this power to establish his church, his world-dominion. By such signs the False Prophet will gain credence to the claims of divinity for Antichrist. It will be all the more convincing to the wicked, because Antichrist confers this power on another. What will happen if others request the power from him?
Those who claim that these words of the Apocalypse mean the practice of magic can put forward no authority for the claim, especially not for the falling of fire from heaven at the command of any man in history except Elias. St. John writes of a great sign to be wrought by the False Prophet alone, which shall show the true believers who he is, when the “Beast” shall have appeared. This description is no proof of such things having been accomplished in St. Johns time. Magic and deceits of various kinds were practiced, as in India today, but this sign was to be beyond the power of the fakirs of that time. And it proved to the reader that the Beast had not yet appeared. It demonstrates too, that the Beast is not the Roman empire nor the emperor, and the False Prophet is not the pagan priesthood of that time. Those who hold such a view and know that the signs were not produced contradict themselves. In the present chapter, the personal traits and satanic gifts of Antichrist are portrayed in apocalyptic imagery as being the soul of the world-empire founded by him to constitute Satan’s last obstacle to the progress of the Church. The verbal dictation of this book is not held here, but the visions are true revelations not the Seer’s own imaginings. Identifying the jugglery practiced by fakirs in the presence of the imperial officers with the “signs” mentioned in this text is dragging in an explanation by the hair. No historical record proves that a fakir made lightning fall from the sky at his word, or that an emperor possessed such power or conferred it on another. Had it been a fact, the memory of it would not have been lost.
Verse 14
The pagan priesthood ordered statues of the emperor to be made and set up for worship. At Pergamum was a temple dedicated to the emperor, and his statue was worshipped there; and this practice spread to other cities. The cities of Asia really vied with one another in worshipping Caesar. This passage may allude to such practices, but this narration of the False Prophet’s work does not state the above idolatry. Whenever in later times persecution was decreed and enforced against the Christians, they were given the choice between worshipping the statue of Caesar and death by torture. But in the vision here, the peoples are “seduced” by the False Prophet through the “signs” he works, and especially through the lightning he causes to spring from the sky. And those who are seduced render the craven worship to Antichrist freely and enthusiastically.
The clause, “which had the wound by the sword and lived”, again returns in this verse. This fact will be considered of decisive importance. The opinion that it means the resurrection and return of Nero is absurd. Such a fable was circulated but not as widely as some modern writers imagine. Besides it was an impossibility, and therefore no inspired writer could have entertained the idea. Too many fables have been dragged into the Apocalypse by strenuous interpreters. There is a much easier explanation for this head that had the “death-wound”.
The Church claims to have overthrown Judaism and paganism not by military force but by the sword of God’s word. The military power of Rome subjected the world. The divinity of the Church was particularly evident in its ability to live and thrive under imperial persecution. Paganism was destroyed indirectly by the Church but directly and finally by the military forces of Constantine. The Roman empire was the sixth head of the beast. By his victory and by his edict of religious liberty and the abolition of official paganism, Constantine gave the beast “the death-wound by the sword”. The False Prophet will proclaim the resurrection of the Roman empire and the whole pagan order of affairs with its worship of Antichrist, its laws, its oracles and the pagan religious system the greatest miracle of the ages. Paganism came back and destroyed its destroyer. He will attempt to demonstrate this to be the absolute proof of the divine origin of paganism and of the divinity of Antichrist. He will thus win for the Beast the admiration of all who hate the Church. This is stated in verses 3 and 12. They need not fear the Church any longer, for their champion defies her and all she holds sacred. Their fear of the Church was nothing but the fear of Satan, and he instills this fear in his dupes.
Verse 15
The False Prophet will even outdo the Two Prophets. He will advise his followers to chisel a statue of Antichrist, will animate it and order it to speak. The word “image” is in the singular number, indicating only one statue, which he may set up in the great church, St. Peter’s. We do not know the limits of Satan’s power, but as he can possess persons and animals, he may be able to enter a statue and give it flexibility, motion and speech. We have a demonstration of this in what the magicians of Egypt did (Exod. VII. 12). By this sign of his prophet to apparently give life to a statue of stone, Antichrist will move his followers to believe in his own creative powers. Neither Christ nor his apostles showed off with such power. St. Vincent Ferrer did give life to two boys who had been killed and hacked to pieces, and they lived many years after. But he did not turn a statue of stone into a living being. In the minds of his followers, this power of Antichrist will offset any claims made by the Church or any miracles wrought by the Two Witnesses. The plagues they shall inflict on the earth will not win the antichristians.
Animating a statue may have been a possibility for the demons in St. John’s time, but no historical writers record it. Later commentators on the Apocalypse advance the legends about Appolonius of Tyana and Simon Magus as a proof of these things having been done by the magicians. But they claim no other authority than this verse in the Apocalypse. The Acts of the Apostles record the astonishment of Simon Magus at the miracles worked by the apostles. They were far above his magical trickery. There is no proof in history of anyone animating a statue. This will be a sign shown by Satan in its time at the command of Antichrist’s prophet to win the world away from Christ.
Satan speaking through the image of Antichrist, will demand the death of all who refuse to adore the statue. By adoring the statue, they adore Satan who animates it and Antichrist whom it represents. The fanatical worshippers of the Beast ready to obey the oracle will begin the bloody persecution of the true believers at once considering it an honor and a service due their god to put all unbelievers to death.
