Antichrist

In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist has come to mean a person or other entity that is the embodiment of evil and utterly opposed to truth.

Appearance of the word in the New Testament

To the surprise of many, both Christian and Non-Christian alike, the actual word "Antichrist" itself does not appear once in the Book of Revelation or the Book of Daniel and is never used at all by Christ during his ministry including his discussion about the signs of the "End of the Age" in Matthew 24 and parallels.

Related Topics:
Book of Revelation - Book of Daniel - Christ

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The words "Antichrist" and "Antichrists" appear only five times in the Bible - in two of the Apostle John's three letters in the New Testament, 1 John and 2 John:

Related Topics:
New Testament - 1 John - 2 John

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:Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22, ESV)

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:Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. (1 John 2:18, ESV)

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:and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (1 John 4:3, ESV)

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:Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist (2 John 1:7, ESV.)

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Here it seems to describe any false teacher or false prophet or corrupter of the Christian faith, but sometimes also seems to indicate a specific person or a single spirit of deception that motivates false teaching, and whose presence is a sign of the end times. Many Christians identify this particular Antichrist with the man of sin or son of perdition mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2, and with several figures in the Book of Revelation including the Dragon, the Beast, the False Prophet, and the Whore of Babylon. The Antichrist is variously understood to be a group or organization, such as a consummately evil system of government or a false religion; or, more commonly, as an individual, such as an evil government leader, a religious leader that sets up false worship in place of the worship of Christ, the incarnation of Satan, a son of Satan, or a human being under the dominion of Satan.

Related Topics:
End times - 2 Thessalonians - Book of Revelation - Dragon - Beast - False Prophet - Whore of Babylon - Satan - Human being

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The understanding of one person being 'the' Antichrist appears to be combined in 1 John with the idea of a class of persons. There John speaks of "many antichrists" who typify the "spirit of the antichrist" that was both present in the first century ("is in the world already" 1 John 4:3) and continues to exist down to this day. As John wrote, such an antichrist (opponent of Christ) is anyone who "denies that Jesus is the Christ;" "denies the Father and the Son;" "does not confess Jesus;" and does "not confess the coming of Jesus."

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Related ideas and references appear in many other places in the Bible and various apocrypha, so that a more complete biblical portrait of the Antichrist has been built up gradually by Christian theologians and folk-religionists. Matthew 24 warns of "false Christs" in several places, and of deceivers who would appear claiming falsely to be the returned Christ. (Matt. 24:5, 24)

Related Topics:
Apocrypha - Folk-religionists - Matthew

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In the "small apocalypse" of Saint Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12, a "man of sin", "the son of perdition" is expected to set himself up in the temple of God, on the false pretense that he is God himself. This portrait of the Antichrist is reminiscent of the acts of Antiochus Epiphanes, who around 170 BC commanded Jews to sacrifice pigs on the altar, four times a year on the Shabbat, in tribute to him as the supreme god of the Seleucids. Paul appears to be warning his readers by this allusion to events in the past, to anticipate similar trouble in the future. Some Christians believe that the events warned of in this passage have already taken place soon after Paul warned of them. Many others believe that the Antichrist has yet to appear.

Related Topics:
Apocalypse - Saint Paul - 2 Thessalonians - Antiochus Epiphanes - 170 BC - Jews - Shabbat

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