Editing Great Apostasy (section)

===Dispensationalist perspective===
{{anchor|Dispensationalism}}

The [[Historicism (Christianity)|Historicist]] biblical interpretation was the viewpoint of most major Protestant Reformers, beginning with the accusations of Martin Luther. Refuting these claims was accordingly a major objective of the [[Counter-Reformation]], both in the Catholic Church's initial response to Luther and especially in the aftermath of the [[Council of Trent]]. This required a renewed effort to interpret the relevant scriptural passages in light of the arguments put forth by the early Protestants. Two particularly noteworthy theories were proposed during the Counter-Reformation to address the historicist claim that the Antichrist was actually the Roman Catholic church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/prophecy/ellen-g-white-and-interpretation-daniel-and-revelation|title=Ellen G. White and the Interpretation of Daniel and Revelation &#124; Biblical Research Institute|website=adventistbiblicalresearch.org|access-date=2015-07-04|archive-date=2020-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204071005/http://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/prophecy/ellen-g-white-and-interpretation-daniel-and-revelation|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Francisco Ribera]] and [[Luis de Alcazar]], both 16th-century Spanish [[Jesuits]], rose to meet the challenge by introducing counter-interpretations of the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation.<ref>The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4 [4BC], 42.</ref> Their approaches became known as the [[Preterist]] and [[futurism (Christianity)|Futurist]] schools, and both theologies quickly gained traction throughout Catholic Europe.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Futurism and Preterism|url=https://amazingdiscoveries.org/RT_encyclopedia_Futurism_Preterism_Catholic|access-date=2020-08-25|website=amazingdiscoveries.org|language=en}}</ref>

Gradually, Preterism and Futurism gained currency even in Protestant thought. Few mainstream Protestant leaders today still employ the vocabulary of "apostasy" and "anti-Christ" when discussing the papacy, although some conservative Evangelical and [[Christian fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] churches still accept these teachings to varying degrees.

The spread of [[dispensationalist]] doctrine has led many conservative Protestants to drop the traditional interpretation of the Book of Revelation as prediction of events that have taken place throughout history (historicism) and shifted it to future events (futurism), eliminating any relation between the prophecies and the Catholic Church. This has resulted in a re-interpretation of the [[Eschatology|end times]]. Although Protestant fundamentalists still largely object to Catholic doctrine concerning the papacy, most have dropped the harsher Reformation view and no longer identify the pope as the Antichrist.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dispensationalism's Basic Fallacies – No.&nbsp;1 |url=https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1939/11/dispensationalisms-basic-fallacies|access-date=2020-08-25|website=www.ministrymagazine.org|language=en}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=January 2021}}