Today, many Christians believe in some form of Futurism. The reign of the Antichrist is seen as a future reign of one man as opposed to a system that has already existed for many years and will force its will again. This futuristic literalism was unknown to the Protestant Reformers whom their followers today claim to have come from. Most of them held to a historicist view of prophecy. They saw the gradual slide into apostasy by the Church as a fulfillment of II Thessalonians 2’s “falling away.” They saw the emergence and domination of the Papal system through many centuries as a fulfillment of the long time prophecies reaching well over one thousand years. Today, the prevailing thinking is that the 3 1/2 years, the 42 months, and the 1260 days are literally 3 1/2 years just before the millennial reign of Christ. The amazing thing is that many pastors and theologians do not even know about the year-for-a-day position held by most in the past. It is puzzling how a belief held and written about so widely could be lost so soon!