Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,
2. It is declared that, in spite of many resemblances, the idea of the papacy does not and never did fulfill the prophecy in  2 Thessalonians 2:4.  Bishop Purcell, in the debate with Campbell, made this his principal reply, refuting the notion that the pope is antichrist.  Alford, for example, viewed the behavior of the popes as a "most abject adoration and submission to God."[24] As regards the profession of popes, this is true; but have their lives honored such professions?  Gloag, on the other hand, pointed out the conviction that "The arrogance of the pope, his assertion that he is the vicar of Christ, and his claim of infallibility are a distinct fulfillment of this prediction."[25] Furthermore, the difficulty of meeting this objection is completely solved when the "antichrist" of John is understood as the final and terminal embodiment of the "man of sin."  This was the way Campbell understood it; and Bishop Purcell's argument begged the question by not taking this into account. Campbell did not affirm that popery was "the antichrist," but that it was the man of sin and Babylon.  Viewing "the man of sin" as an institution and system and the "antichrist" as its final fruition clears the matter up completely.