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Description: Historicism is a system for understanding Bible prophecies and symbols. It links predictions to actual world events and people over history in stages leading towards Jesus' eventual return. For example, many Protestant interpreters believed only the Roman Catholic Papacy matched Bible descriptions about the villainous Antichrist. Concern involved papal claims of authority over all church matters as Christ's supreme earthly representative, plus exercising control over kings' political decisions as well.
So when popes moved to wield power extending outside purely church affairs into government policy too, Protestant historicism increasingly viewed this as embodying Revelation's warnings about the deceitful Antichrist. The perspective sees prophecy fulfilled in phases spanning from Daniel's time writing of troubles and deliverance for the Jews all the way through struggles early believers faced under Roman oppression up to Jesus climactic second coming expected in the unknown future.
In essence, it views God charting the full timeline of human events with Bible prophecies marking key milestones ultimately culminating in Christ dethroning earthly evils and setting up eternal peace. So Historicism attempts tracing a straight line of continuous predicted fulfillments across generations in actual history leading towards final consummation. The question facing us today is whether or not Jesus, the Apostles and the first Christians understood urgent end times prophecies in light of an impending future dominated by Roman Catholic realities soon to disappear? Or were their eyes trained on something more fundamental, dangerous, near and relevant to their immediate concerns?