Antichrist

In Christian eschatology, Antichrist refers to a kind of person

prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and falsely
substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before the
Second Coming.[1] The term Antichrist (including one plural
form)[2] is found four times in the New Testament, solely in
the First and Second Epistle of John.[2] Antichrist is
announced as one "who denies the Father and the Son."[2]

The similar term pseudokhristos or "false Christ" is also

found in the Gospels.[3] In Matthew (chapter 24) and Mark
(chapter 13), Jesus alerts his disciples not to be deceived by
the false prophets, who will claim themselves to be the
Christ, performing "great signs and wonders".[4][5][6] Three
other images often associated with Antichrist are the "little The Antichrist (the figure on the left, with
horn" in Daniel's final vision, the "man of sin" in Paul the the attributes of a king) by Herrad of
Apostle's Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, and the Beast Landsberg (about 1180), from the 12th-
of the Sea in the Book of Revelation.[7][8][9] century Hortus deliciarum

Etymology
Antichrist is translated from the combination of two ancient
Greek words ἀντί + Χριστός (anti + Christos). In Greek,
Χριστός means "anointed one" and the word Christ derives
from it.[10] "Ἀντί" means not only anti in the sense of
"against" and "opposite of", but also "in place of".[11][12]

History

New Testament
Whether the New Testament contains an individual Antichrist
is disputed. The Greek term antikhristos originates in 1
John.[13] The similar term pseudokhristos ("False Messiah")
is also first found in the New Testament, but never used by
Josephus in his accounts of various false messiahs.[14] The
concept of an antikhristos is not found in Jewish writings in The Devil whispers to the Antichrist; detail
the period 500 BC–50 AD.[15] However, Bernard McGinn from Sermons and Deeds of the Antichrist,
conjectures that the concept may have been generated by the Luca Signorelli, 1501, Orvieto Cathedral.
frustration of Jews subject to often-capricious Seleucid or
Roman rule, who found the nebulous Jewish idea of a Satan who is more of an opposing angel of God in
the heavenly court insufficiently humanised and personalised to be a satisfactory incarnation of evil and
threat.[16]

The five uses of the term "antichrist" or "antichrists" in the Johannine epistles do not clearly present a single
latter-day individual Antichrist. The articles "the deceiver" or "the antichrist" are usually seen as marking
out a certain category of persons, rather than an individual.[17]

Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists
have come. From this we know that it is the last hour.

— 1 John 2:18 NRSV (1989)

Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who
denies the Father and the Son.

— 1 John 2:22 NRSV (1989)

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the
spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the
world.

— 1 John 4:2–3 NRSV (1989)

Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist!

— 2 John 1:7 NRSV (1989)

Consequently, attention for an individual Antichrist figure focuses on the second chapter of 2
Thessalonians.[18][19] However, the term "antichrist" is never used in this passage:

As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you,
brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by
letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive
you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is
revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called
god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be
God.

— 2 Thessalonians 2:1–4 NRSV (1989)

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is
removed. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the
breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. The coming of the
 lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and
every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the
truth and so be saved.

— 2 Thessalonians 2:7–10 NRSV (1989)

The latter of these passages is also the primary scriptural source concerning the Katechon, the "one who
now restrains" the coming of the Antichrist. The identity of this person, if it is a person, is mysterious and
the subject of debate.[20]

Although the word "antichrist" (Greek antikhristos) is used only in the Epistles of John, the similar word
"pseudochrist" (Greek pseudokhristos, meaning "false messiah") is used by Jesus in the Gospels:[14]

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead
astray, if possible, even the elect.

— Matthew 24:24 and Mark 13:22 NRSV (1989)

Early Church
The second- or first-century book Odes of Solomon, written by an Essene convert to Christianity, makes
mention of the Antichrist in figurative terms, where the redeemer overcomes the monstrous
dragon.[21][22][23]

The only one of the late 1st-/early 2nd-century Apostolic Fathers to use the term is Polycarp (c. 69 – c.
155), who warned the Philippians that everyone who preached false doctrine was an antichrist.[24] His use
of the term Antichrist follows that of the New Testament in not identifying a single personal Antichrist, but a
class of people.[25]

Irenaeus (2nd century AD – c. 202) wrote Against Heresies to refute the teachings of the Gnostics. In Book
V of Against Heresies he addresses the figure of the Antichrist referring to him as the "recapitulation of
apostasy and rebellion." He uses "666", the Number of the Beast from Revelation 13:18, to
numerologically decode several possible names. Some names that he loosely proposed were "Evanthos",
"Lateinos" ("Latin" or pertaining to the Roman Empire). In his exegesis of Daniel 7:21, he stated that the
ten horns of the beast will be the Roman Empire divided into ten kingdoms before the Antichrist's arrival.
Additionally, he stated that the antichrist would be of the tribe of Dan, evoking Jeremiah 8:16. This would
correlate to the Talmudic view of the Jewish Messiah coming from the tribe of Dan on his maternal line.
However, his readings of the Antichrist were more in broader theological terms rather than within a
historical context.[26]

The non-canonical Ascension of Isaiah presents a detailed exposition of the Antichrist as Belial and
Nero.[27]

Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 220 AD) held that the Roman Empire was the restraining force written about by Paul
in 2 Thessalonians 2:7–8. The fall of the Western Roman Empire and the disintegration of the ten provinces
of the Roman Empire into ten kingdoms were to make way for the Antichrist.
 By, "For that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first," he [Paul] means indeed this
present empire, "and the man of lawlessness is revealed"—that is to say, the Antichrist, "the son
of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or religion, so that he
takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. Do you not remember that I told
you these things when I was still with you? And you know what is now restraining him, so that
he may be revealed when his time comes. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but
only until the one who now restrains it is removed." What obstacles are there but the Roman
state, the rebellion of which, by being scattered into the ten kingdoms, will introduce the
Antichrist upon its own ruins? "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will
destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. The
coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying
wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing."[28]

Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170 – c. 236) held that the Antichrist would come from the tribe of Dan and would
rebuild the Jewish temple on the Temple Mount in order to reign from it. He identified the Antichrist with
the Beast out of the Earth from the book of Revelation.

By the beast, then, coming up out of the earth, he means the kingdom of Antichrist; and by the
two horns he means him and the false prophet after him. And in speaking of "horns like a lamb,"
he means that he will make himself like the Son of God, and set himself forward as king. And the
terms, "it spoke like a dragon," mean that he is a deceiver, and not truthful.[29]

Origen (185–254) refuted Celsus' view of the Antichrist. Origen, using scriptural citations from Daniel,
Paul, and the Gospels argued:

Where is the absurdity, then, in holding that there exist among men, so to speak, two extremes—
the one of virtue, and the other of its opposite; so that the perfection of virtue dwells in the man
who realizes the ideal given in Jesus, from whom there flowed to the human race so great a
conversion, and healing, and amelioration, while the opposite extreme is in the man who
embodies the notion of him that is named Antichrist?... one of these extremes, and the best of the
two, should be styled the Son of God, on account of His pre-eminence; and the other, who is
diametrically opposite, be termed the son of the wicked demon, and of Satan, and of the devil.
And, in the next place, since evil is specially characterized by its diffusion, and attains its greatest
height when it simulates the appearance of the good, for that reason are signs, and marvels, and
lying miracles found to accompany evil, through the cooperation of its father the devil.[30]

Post-Nicene Christianity
Cyril of Jerusalem, in the mid-4th century, delivered his 15th (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf207.ii.xi
x.html) catechetical lecture about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, in which he also lectures about the
Antichrist, who will reign as the ruler of the world for three and a half years, before he is killed by Jesus
Christ at the end of his three-and-a-half-year reign, shortly after which the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
will happen.
Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 298–373) wrote that
Arius of Alexandria is to be associated with the
Antichrist, saying, "And ever since [the Council
of Nicaea] has Arius's error been reckoned for a
heresy more than ordinary, being known as
Christ's foe, and harbinger of [the] Antichrist."[32]

As part of his prediction that the world would end

before 400 CE, Martin of Tours (c. 336 - 397)
wrote that "There is no doubt that the Antichrist
has already been born. Firmly established already
in his early years, he will, after reaching maturity,
achieve supreme power."
Antichrist in the Catalan Atlas (1375). The label reads:
John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) warned against "Antichrist. He will be raised in Goraym of Galilea, and
speculating about the Antichrist, saying, "Let us at the age of thirty he will start to preach in Jerusalem;
not therefore enquire into these things". He contrary to the truth, he will proclaim that he is Christ,
preached that by knowing Paul's description of the the living son of God. It is said that he will rebuild the
Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians, Christians would Temple."[31]
avoid deception.[33]

Jerome (c. 347–420) warned that those substituting false interpretations for the actual meaning of scripture
belonged to the "synagogue of the Antichrist".[34] "He that is not of Christ is of Antichrist", he wrote to
Pope Damasus I.[35] He believed that "the mystery of lawlessness" written about by Paul in 2
Thessalonians 2:7 was already in action when "every one chatters about his views."[36] To Jerome, the
power restraining this mystery of lawlessness was the Roman Empire, but as it fell this restraining force was
removed. He warned a noble woman of Gaul:

He that letteth is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes,
Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus Christ "shall consume with the spirit of his mouth." "Woe
unto them," he cries, "that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days." ... Savage
tribes in countless numbers have overrun all parts of Gaul. The whole country between the Alps
and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid waste by hordes of Quadi,
Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Herules, Saxons, Burgundians, Alemanni, and—alas for the
commonweal!—even Pannonians.[37]

In his Commentary on Daniel, Jerome noted, "Let us not follow the opinion of some commentators and
suppose him to be either the Devil or some demon, but rather, one of the human race, in whom Satan will
wholly take up his residence in bodily form." Instead of rebuilding the Jewish Temple to reign from, Jerome
thought the Antichrist sat in God's Temple inasmuch as he made "himself out to be like God." He refuted
Porphyry's idea that the "little horn" mentioned in Daniel chapter 7 was Antiochus IV Epiphanes by noting
that the "little horn" is defeated by an eternal, universal ruler, right before the final judgment.[38] Instead, he
advocated that the "little horn" was the Antichrist:

We should therefore concur with the traditional interpretation of all the commentators of the
Christian Church, that at the end of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there
shall be ten kings who will partition the Roman world amongst themselves. Then an insignificant
 eleventh king will arise, who will overcome three of the ten kings... after they have been slain, the
seven other kings also will bow their necks to the victor.[38]

Circa 380, an apocalyptic pseudo-prophecy falsely attributed to the Tiburtine Sibyl describes Constantine as
victorious over Gog and Magog. Later on, it predicts:

When the Roman empire shall have ceased, then the Antichrist will be openly revealed and will
sit in the House of the Lord in Jerusalem. While he is reigning, two very famous men, Elijah and
Enoch, will go forth to announce the coming of the Lord. Antichrist will kill them and after three
days they will be raised up by the Lord. Then there will be a great persecution, such as has not
been before nor shall be thereafter. The Lord will shorten those days for the sake of the elect, and
the Antichrist will be slain by the power of God through Michael the Archangel on the Mount of
Olives.[39]

Augustine of Hippo (354–430) wrote "it is uncertain in what temple [the Antichrist] shall sit, whether in that
ruin of the temple which was built by Solomon, or in the Church."[40]

Gregory of Tours claimed that the antichrist would place his image to be worshipped in the temple in
Jerusalem, he would assert himself to be Christ and would call for Christians to undergo circumcision.[41]

Pope Gregory I wrote to the Byzantine Emperor Maurice in A.D. 597, concerning the titles of bishops, "I
say with confidence that whoever calls or desires to call himself 'universal priest' in self-exaltation of
himself is a precursor of the Antichrist."[42]

By the end of the tenth century, Adso of Montier-en-Der, a Benedictine monk, compiled a biography of
Antichrist based on a variety of exegetical and Sibylline sources; his account became one of the best-known
descriptions of Antichrist in the Middle Ages.[43][44]

De Antichristo libri undecim, published by Tomàs Maluenda in 1604, is considered the most complete
treatise on the subject.[45]

Pre-Reformation Western Church accusers

Arnulf (bishop of Orléans) disagreed with the policies and morals
of Pope John XV. He expressed his views while presiding over the
Council of Reims in A.D. 991. Arnulf accused John XV of being
the Antichrist while also using the 2 Thessalonians passage about
the "man of lawlessness" (or "lawless one"), saying: "Surely, if he
is empty of charity and filled with vain knowledge and lifted up, he
is Antichrist sitting in God's temple and showing himself as God."
This incident is history's earliest record of anyone identifying a
pope with the Antichrist (see Christian Historicism).[46][47][48]

Pope Gregory VII (c. 1015 or 1029–1085), struggled against, in his

own words, "a robber of temples, a perjurer against the Holy Woodcut showing the Antichrist,
Roman Church, notorious throughout the whole Roman world for 1498
the basest of crimes, namely, Wilbert, plunderer of the holy church of Ravenna, Antichrist, and arch-
heretic."[49]

Cardinal Benno, on the opposite side of the Investiture Controversy, wrote long descriptions of abuses
committed by Gregory VII, including necromancy, torture of a former friend upon a bed of nails,
commissioning an attempted assassination, executions without trials, unjust excommunication, doubting the
real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and even burning it.[50] Benno held that Gregory VII was "either a
member of Antichrist, or Antichrist himself."[51]

Eberhard II von Truchsees, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg in 1241, denounced Pope Gregory IX at the
Council of Regensburg as "that man of perdition, whom they call Antichrist, who in his extravagant
boasting says, I am God, I cannot err."[52] He argued that the ten kingdoms that the Antichrist is involved
with[53][54][55] were the "Turks, Greeks, Egyptians, Africans, Spaniards, French, English, Germans,
Sicilians, and Italians who now occupy the provinces of Rome."[56] He held that the papacy was the "little
horn" of Daniel 7:8:[57]

"A little horn has grown up" with "eyes and mouth speaking great things", which is reducing
three of these kingdoms (i.e. Sicily, Italy, and Germany) to subserviency, is persecuting the people
of Christ and the saints of God with intolerable opposition, is confounding things human and
divine, and is attempting things unutterable, execrable.[56]

Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformers, including John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, John
Thomas, John Knox, Roger Williams, Cotton Mather, and John Wesley, as well as most Protestants of the
16th–18th centuries, felt that the Early Church had been led into the Great Apostasy by the Papacy and
identified the Pope with the Antichrist.[64][65] Luther declared that not just a pope from time to time was
Antichrist, but the Papacy was Antichrist because they were "the representatives of an institution opposed to
Christ".[66] The Centuriators of Magdeburg, a group of Lutheran scholars in Magdeburg headed by
Matthias Flacius, wrote the 12-volume Magdeburg Centuries to discredit the Catholic Church and lead
other Christians to recognize the Pope as the Antichrist. So, rather than expecting a single Antichrist to rule
the earth during a future Tribulation period, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other Protestant Reformers saw
the Antichrist as a present feature in the world of their time, fulfilled in the Papacy.[64][67]

Among the others who interpreted the biblical prophecy historically there were many Church Fathers; Justin
Martyr wrote about the Antichrist: "He Whom Daniel foretells would have dominion for a time and times
and a half, is even now at the door".[68] Irenaeus wrote in Against Heresies about the coming of the
Antichrist: "This Antichrist shall ... devastate all things ... But then, the Lord will come from Heaven on the
clouds ... for the righteous".[69] Tertullian looking to the Antichrist wrote: "He is to sit in the temple of God,
and boast himself as being god. In our view, he is Antichrist as taught us in both the ancient and the new
prophecies; and especially by the Apostle John, who says that 'already many false-prophets are gone out
into the world' as the fore-runners of Antichrist".[70] Hippolytus of Rome in his Treatise on Christ and
Antichrist wrote: "As Daniel also says (in the words) 'I considered the Beast, and look! There were ten
horns behind it—among which shall rise another (horn), an offshoot, and shall pluck up by the roots the
three (that were) before it.' And under this, was signified none other than Antichrist." [71][72] Athanasius of
Alexandria clearly hold to the historical view in his many writings; in The Deposition of Arius, he wrote: "I
addressed the letter to Arius and his fellows, exhorting them to
renounce his impiety.... There have gone forth in this diocese at this
time certain lawless men—enemies of Christ—teaching an apostasy
which one may justly suspect and designate as a forerunner of
Antichrist".[73] Jerome wrote: "Says the apostle [Paul in the Second
Epistle to the Thessalonians], 'Unless the Roman Empire should
first be desolated, and antichrist proceed, Christ will not come.'"[74]
He also identifies the little horn of Daniel 7:8 (https://www.esv.org/
Daniel+7:8) and 7:24–25 (https://www.esv.org/Daniel+7:24) which
"He shall speak as if he were God."[75]

Some Franciscans had considered the Emperor Frederick II a

positive Antichrist who would purify the Catholic Church from
opulence, riches and clergy.[76]
From a series of woodcuts (1545)
Historicist interpretations of Book of Revelation usually included usually referred to as the
the identification of one or more of the following: Papstspotbilder or Papstspottbilder
in German or Depictions of the
the Antichrist (1 and 2 John); Papacy in English,[58] by Lucas
the Beast of Revelation 13; Cranach, commissioned by Martin
the Man of Sin, or Man of Lawlessness, of 2 Luther.[59] Title: Kissing the Pope's
Thessalonians 2 (2:1–12 (https://www.esv.org/2+Thessal Feet.[60] German peasants respond
onians+2:1)); to a papal bull of Pope Paul III.
the "Little horn" of Daniel 7 and 8; Caption reads: "Don't frighten us
The Abomination of desolation of Daniel 9, 11, and 12; Pope, with your ban, and don't be
and such a furious man. Otherwise we
shall turn around and show you our
the Whore of Babylon of Revelation 17.
rears."[61][62]
The Protestant Reformers tended to hold the belief that the
Antichrist power would be revealed so that everyone would
comprehend and recognize that the Pope is the real, true Antichrist and not the vicar of Christ. Doctrinal
works of literature published by the Lutherans, the Reformed Churches, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the
Anabaptists, and the Methodists contain references to the Pope as the Antichrist, including the Smalcald
Articles, Article 4 (1537),[77] the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope written by Philip
Melanchthon (1537),[78] the Westminster Confession, Article 25.6 (1646), and the 1689 Baptist Confession
of Faith, Article 26.4. In 1754, John Wesley published his Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament,
which is currently a Doctrinal Standard of the United Methodist Church. In his notes on the Book of
Revelation (chapter 13), he commented: "The whole succession of Popes from Gregory VII are
undoubtedly Antichrists. Yet this hinders not, but that the last Pope in this succession will be more eminently
the Antichrist, the Man of Sin, adding to that of his predecessors a peculiar degree of wickedness from the
bottomless pit."[79][80]

The identification of the Pope with the Antichrist was so ingrained in the Reformation Era, that Luther
himself stated it repeatedly:

"This teaching [of the supremacy of the pope] shows forcefully that the Pope is the very
Antichrist, who has exalted himself above, and opposed himself against Christ, because he will
not permit Christians to be saved without his power, which, nevertheless, is nothing, and is
neither ordained nor commanded by God".[81]
and,

"nothing else than the kingdom of Babylon and of the

very Antichrist. For who is the man of sin and the son of
perdition, but he who by his teaching and his ordinances
increases the sin and perdition of souls in the church;
while he yet sits in the church as if he were God? All
these conditions have now for many ages been fulfilled
by the papal tyranny."[82]

John Calvin similarly wrote:

"Though it be admitted that Rome was once the mother

of all Churches, yet from the time when it began to be the Passional Christi und Antichristi, by
seat of Antichrist it has ceased to be what it was before. Lucas Cranach the Elder, from
Luther's 1521 Passionary of the
Some persons think us too severe and censorious when
Christ and Antichrist.[63] The Pope
we call the Roman Pontiff Antichrist. But those who are
as the Antichrist, signing and selling
of this opinion do not consider that they bring the same indulgences.
charge of presumption against Paul himself, after whom
we speak and whose language we adopt ... I shall briefly
show that (Paul's words in II Thess. 2) are not capable of
any other interpretation than that which applies them to
the Papacy."[83]

John Knox wrote on the Pope:

"Yea, to speak it in plain words; lest that we submit ourselves to Satan, thinking that we submit
ourselves to Jesus Christ, for, as for your Roman kirk [church], as it is now corrupted, and the
authority thereof, whereon stands the hope of your victory, I no more doubt but that it is the
synagogue of Satan, and the head thereof, called the pope, to be that man of sin, of whom the
apostle speaks."[84]

Thomas Cranmer on the Antichrist wrote:

"Whereof it followeth Rome to be the seat of Antichrist, and the pope to be very antichrist
himself. I could prove the same by many other scriptures, old writers, and strong reasons."[85]

John Wesley, speaking of the identity given in the Bible of the Antichrist, wrote:

"In many respects, the Pope has an indisputable claim to those titles. He is, in an emphatical
sense, the man of sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too, properly
styled, the son of perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, both of his
opposers and followers, destroyed innumerable souls, and will himself perish everlastingly. He it
is that opposeth himself to the emperor, once his rightful sovereign; and that exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped—Commanding angels, and putting kings under
 his feet, both of whom are called gods in scripture; claiming the highest power, the highest
honour; suffering himself, not once only, to be styled God or vice-God. Indeed no less is implied
in his ordinary title, "Most Holy Lord," or, "Most Holy Father." So that he sitteth—Enthroned. In
the temple of God—Mentioned Rev. xi, 1. Declaring himself that he is God—Claiming the
prerogatives which belong to God alone."[86]

Roger Williams wrote about the Pope:

"the pretended Vicar of Christ on earth, who sits as God over the Temple of God, exalting
himself not only above all that is called God, but over the souls and consciences of all his vassals,
yea over the Spirit of Christ, over the Holy Spirit, yea, and God himself ... speaking against the
God of heaven, thinking to change times and laws; but he is the Son of Perdition."[87]

The identification of the Roman Catholic Church as the apostate power written of in the Bible as the
Antichrist became evident to many as the Reformation began, including John Wycliffe, who was well
known throughout Europe for his opposition to the doctrine and practices of the Catholic Church, which he
believed had clearly deviated from the original teachings of the early Church and to be contrary to the
Bible. Wycliffe himself tells (Sermones, III. 199) how he concluded that there was a great contrast between
what the Church was and what it ought to be, and saw the necessity for reform. Along with John Hus, they
had started the inclination toward ecclesiastical reforms of the Catholic Church.

When the Swiss Reformer Huldrych Zwingli became the pastor of the Grossmünster in Zurich (1518) he
began to preach ideas on reforming the Catholic Church. Zwingli, who was a Catholic priest before he
became a Reformer, often referred to the Pope as the Antichrist. He wrote: "I know that in it works the
might and power of the Devil, that is, of the Antichrist".[88]

The English Reformer William Tyndale held that while the Roman Catholic realms of that age were the
empire of Antichrist, any religious organization that distorted the doctrine of the Old and New Testaments
also showed the work of Antichrist. In his treatise The Parable of the Wicked Mammon, he expressly
rejected the established Church teaching that looked to the future for an Antichrist to rise up, and he taught
that Antichrist is a present spiritual force that will be with us until the end of the age under different religious
disguises from time to time.[89] Tyndale's translation of 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, concerning the "Man of
Lawlessness" reflected his understanding, but was significantly amended by later revisers,[90] including the
King James Bible committee, which followed the Vulgate more closely.

In 1973, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious
Affairs and the USA National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation in the official Catholic–
Lutheran dialogue officially signed an agreement on Papal Primacy and the Universal Church, including
this passage:

In calling the pope the "Antichrist", the early Lutherans stood in a tradition that reached back into
the eleventh century. Not only dissidents and heretics but even saints had called the bishop of
Rome the "Antichrist" when they wished to castigate his abuse of power. What Lutherans
understood as a papal claim to unlimited authority over everything and everyone reminded them
of the apocalyptic imagery of Daniel 11, a passage that even prior to the Reformation had been
applied to the pope as the Antichrist of the last days.[65]
In 1988 Ian Paisley, Evangelical minister and founder of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, made
headlines in an infamous manner by accusing Pope John Paul II as the Antichrist during one of the pope's
speeches before the European Parliament, which at the time Paisley was member. His accusation, and the
reactions of both Pope John Paul II and other members of the European Parliament, was recorded on
video.[91][92]

The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod states about the Pope and the Catholic Church:[93]

There are two principles that mark the papacy as the Antichrist. One is that the pope takes to
himself the right to rule the church that belongs only to Christ. He can make laws forbidding the
marriage of priests, eating or not eating meat on Friday, birth control, divorce and remarriage,
even where there are not such laws in the Bible. The second is that he teaches that salvation is not
by faith alone but by faith and works. The present pope upholds and practices these principles.
This marks his rule as antichristian rule in the church. All popes hold the same office over the
church and promote the same antichristian belief so they all are part of the reign of the Antichrist.
The Bible does not present the Antichrist as one man for one short time, but as an office held by a
man through successive generations. It is a title like King of England.[94]

Currently, many Protestant and Restorationist denominations still officially maintain that the Papacy is the
Antichrist, such as the conservative Lutheran Churches[93][95][96] and the Seventh-day
Adventists.[97][98][99][100][101]

Counter-Reformation
In the Counter-Reformation, the views of Preterism and Futurism were advanced by Catholic Jesuits
beginning in the 16th century in response to the identification of the Papacy as Antichrist. These were rival
methods of prophetic interpretation: the futurist and the preterist systems both are in conflict with the
historicist method of interpretation.

Historically, preterists and non-preterists have agreed that the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar (1554–1613) wrote the
first systematic preterist exposition of prophecy—Vestigatio arcani sensus in Apocalypsi (published in 1614)
—during the Counter-Reformation.

Christian views

Roman Catholicism
From the Fifth Council of the Lateran, the Catholic Church teaches that priests may not "preach or declare a
fixed time for...the coming of antichrist..."[102] The church also teaches that it must undergo trials before the
Second Coming,[103] and that the church's ultimate trial will be the mystery of iniquity.[104] In Judaism,
iniquity is a sin done out of moral failing.[105] The mystery of iniquity, according to the church, will be a
religious deception: Christians receiving alleged solutions to their problems at the cost of apostasy.[104] The
supreme religious deception, according to the church, will be the Antichrist's messianism: mankind
glorifying himself rather than God and Jesus.[104] The church teaches that this supreme deception is
committed by people who claim to fulfill Israel's messianic hopes, such as millenarianism and secular
messianicism.[104]

Popes
Pope Pius IX in the encyclical Quartus Supra, quoting Cyprian, said Satan disguises the Antichrist with the
title of Christ.[106] Pope Pius X in the encyclical E Supremi said that the distinguishing mark of the
Antichrist is claiming to be God and taking his place.[107] Pope John Paul II, in his August 18, 1985
address on his apostolic journey to Africa, said 1 John 4:3 ("Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus
does not belong to God. This is the spirit of antichrist") evokes the danger of theology divorced from
holiness and theological culture divorced from serving Christ.[108] Pope Benedict XVI said in the Sunday
Angelus of March 11, 2012 that violence is the tool of the Antichrist.[109] In the General Audience of
November 12, 2008, Benedict XVI said Christian tradition had come to identify the son of perdition as the
Antichrist.[110] Pope Francis, in his morning meditation of February 2, 2014, said that Christian faith is not
an ideology, but that "the Apostle James says that ideologues of the faith are the Antichrist."[111] In his
morning meditation of September 19, 2014, Francis said the Antichrist must come before the final
resurrection.[112] In his morning meditation of January 7, 2016, he said the evil spirit spoken of in 1 John
4:6 is the Antichrist.[113] In his morning meditation on November 11, 2016, Francis said whoever says the
criteria of Christian love is not the Incarnation is the Antichrist.[114]

Speculation
The Prophecy of the Popes (identified as a 16th century forgery by historians[115]) claims Rome will be
destroyed during the pontificate of the last Pope, implying a connection to the Antichrist.

Fulton J. Sheen, a Catholic bishop, wrote in 1951:[116][117]

The Antichrist will not be so called; otherwise he would have no followers... he will come
disguised as the Great Humanitarian; he will talk peace, prosperity and plenty not as means to
lead us to God, but as ends in themselves... He will tempt Christians with the same three
temptations with which he tempted Christ... He will have one great secret which he will tell to no
one: he will not believe in God. Because his religion will be brotherhood without the fatherhood
of God, he will deceive even the elect. He will set up a counterchurch... It will have all the notes
and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a
mystical body of the Antichrist that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which John Paul II said is a "sure norm for teaching the faith," puts
the doctrine on the Antichrist under a subsection entitled "The Church's Ultimate Trial," equating it with
"the supreme religious deception" and "pseudo-messianism" of human "self-glorification":

Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith
of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the
"mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to
 their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of
the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his
Messiah come in the flesh. (CCC 675)

The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made
to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through
the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of
the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the "intrinsically perverse"
political form of a secular messianism. (CCC 676)

Eastern Orthodox
Throughout history, various ecclesiastics of the Eastern Orthodox Church have identified the office of the
Roman Catholic papacy with the antichrist.[118] Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky, in
explaining the necessity of rebaptism for Roman Catholics, Protestants and Nestorians, declared:[118]

It is clear that by this regulation the Church does not recognize in heretics and schismatics either
the priesthood or the other mysteries, and considers them subject to ecclesiastical baptism in the
nature of things ... the Church by receiving Latins into communion in the same way as Nestorians
(Council of Trullo, 95) does not make any distinction between old heresies and the Latin one. I
think that the Latins are considerably further from the Church and they are worse than
Monophysites and Monophelites, because they created a second Christ, i.e., the antichrist in the
person of the Pope, who is supposedly infallible...[118]

In a Christmas 2018 interview on Russian state television, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow warned that "The
Antichrist is the person that will be at the head of the world wide web controlling all of humanity. That
means that the structure itself poses a danger. There shouldn't be a single centre, at least not in the
foreseeable future, if we don't want to bring on the apocalypse." He exhorted listeners not to "fall into
slavery to what's in your hands"..."You should remain free inside and not fall under any addiction, not to
alcohol, not to narcotics, not to gadgets."[119]

Old Believers
After Patriarch Nikon of Moscow reformed the Russian Orthodox Church during the second half of the
17th century, a large number of Old Believers held that Peter the Great, the Tsar of the Russian Empire until
his death in 1725, was the Antichrist because of his treatment of the Orthodox Church, namely
subordinating the church to the state, requiring clergymen to conform to the standards of all Russian
civilians (shaved beards, being fluent in French), and requiring them to pay state taxes.[120]

There are two conceptions of the Antichrist among the Old Believers: the spiritual Antichrist and the sensual
Antichrist. The sensual means a particular person who will rule at the end of times for literal 3.5 years. The
priested Old believers mostly adhere to this conception. The spiritual Antichrist is said to rule in the heretical
church and state as a spirit through many people – since the year 1000 in the West and since 1666 in
Russia. The true priesthood is considered to be lacking in the world due to 'abomination of desolation',
which is synonymous with the rule of Antichrist. Most non-priested Old believers adhere to this conception
(except the so called "Chasovennye").[121]

Age of Enlightenment
Bernard McGinn noted that complete denial of the Antichrist was rare until the Age of Enlightenment.
Following frequent use of "Antichrist" laden rhetoric during religious controversies in the 17th century, the
use of the concept declined during the 18th century due to the rule of enlightened absolutists, who as
European rulers of the time wielded significant influence over official state churches. These efforts to
cleanse Christianity of "legendary" or "folk" accretions effectively removed the Antichrist from discussion
in mainstream Western churches.[16]

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the "Antichrist" is anyone or anything that counterfeits
the true gospel or plan of salvation and that openly or secretly is set up in opposition to Christ. The great
antichrist is Lucifer, but he has many assistants[122] both as spirit beings and as mortals."[123] Latter-day
Saints use the New Testament scriptures: 1 John 2:18, 22; 1 John 4:3–6; 2 John 1:7, and the Book of
Mormon: Jacob 7:1–23, Alma 1:2–16, Alma 30:6–60, in their exegesis or interpretation of the Antichrist.

Seventh-day Adventists
Seventh-day Adventists teach that the "Little Horn Power", which (as predicted in the Book of Daniel) rose
after the break-up of the Roman Empire, is the Papacy. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late
5th century. In 533, Justinian I, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (which historians have labelled
the Byzantine Empire), legally recognized the bishop (pope) of Rome as the head of all the Christian
churches.[124] Because of the Arian domination of some of the Roman Empire by barbarian tribes, the
bishop of Rome could not fully exercise such authority. In 538, Belisarius, one of Justinian's generals,
succeeded in withstanding a siege of the city of Rome by Arian Ostrogoth besiegers, and the bishop of
Rome could begin establishing universal civil authority. So, by the military intervention of the Eastern
Roman Empire, the bishop of Rome became all-powerful throughout the area of the old Roman
Empire.[125] The Ostrogoths promptly re-captured the city of Rome eight years later in 546, and again in
550.

Seventh-day Adventists understand the 1260 years as lasting AD 538 to 1798 as the (supposed) duration of
the papacy's domination over Rome.[126][127] This period is seen as starting from one of the defeats of the
Ostrogoths by the general Belisarius and as ending with the successes of French general Napoleon
Bonaparte, specifically, with the capture of Pope Pius VI by general Louis Alexandre Berthier in 1798.

Like many Reformation-era Protestant leaders, the Adventist pioneer Ellen G. White (1827–1915) spoke of
the Catholic Church as a fallen church in preparation for its nefarious eschatological role as the antagonist
against God's true church; she saw the pope as the Antichrist. Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther,
John Knox, John Calvin, William Tyndale and others held similar beliefs about the Catholic Church and the
papacy when they broke away from the Catholic Church during the Reformation.[128]

Ellen White writes,

 His word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant
world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the
snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative
halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in
the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and
unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come
for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We
shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe
and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.[129]

Seventh-day Adventists view the length of time the apostate church's unbridled power was permitted to rule
as shown in Daniel 7:25: "The little horn would rule a time and times and half a time" – or 1,260 years.
They regard papal rule as supreme in Europe from 538 (when the Arian Ostrogoths retreated from Rome
into temporary oblivion) until 1798 (when the French general Louis-Alexandre Berthier took Pope Pius VI
captive) – a period of 1,260 years[130] – including the 67 years of the Avignon Captivity (1309–1376).

Other Christian interpretations

Martin Wight
The devout Christian and political theorist Martin Wight, writing immediately after World War II, favoured
the revival of the Antichrist doctrine not as a person, but as a recurrent situation featuring "demonic
concentrations of power."[131]

As "man of lawlessness"
The Antichrist has been equated with the "man of lawlessness" or "lawless one" of 2 Thessalonians 2:3,
though commentaries on the identity of the "man of lawlessness" greatly vary.[132] The "man of
lawlessness" has been identified with Caligula,[133] Nero,[134] and the end times Antichrist. Some scholars
believe that the passage contains no genuine prediction, but represents a speculation of the apostle's own,
based on contemporary ideas of the Antichrist.[133]

As "being in league with other figures"

Several American evangelical and fundamentalist theologians, including Cyrus Scofield, have identified the
Antichrist as being in league with (or the same as) several figures in the Book of Revelation including the
Dragon (or Serpent), the Beast, the False Prophet, and the Whore of Babylon.[135]

As Satan
Bernard McGinn described multiple traditions detailing the relationship between the Antichrist and Satan. In
the dualist approach, Satan will become incarnate in the Antichrist, just as God became incarnate in Jesus.
However, in orthodox Christian thought, this view was problematic because it was too similar to Christ's
incarnation and suggested dualism. Instead, the "indwelling" view became more accepted. It stipulates that
the Antichrist is a human figure inhabited by Satan, since the latter's power is not to be seen as equivalent to
God's.[16] Luca Signorelli's fresco, The Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist (see above), depicts the
indwelling view. Satan whispers in the ear of this Christlike figure and his left arm is slipped through the
Antichrist's garment as if he is manipulating him.

As Jesus himself
Creciendo en Gracia (Growing in Grace) was a sect led by José Luis de Jesús, who claimed to be both the
returned phase of Jesus Christ and the Antichrist. He claimed that the term Antichrist had nothing to do with
Satan (who according to him was destroyed); rather, it referred to his assertion that the old "Jewish" laws,
which Jesus had taught during his first coming, were now abrogated during his second coming as de Jesús.
Followers of the sect had themselves tattooed with the number 666, referencing this belief.

Non-Christian views

Judaism
There are warnings against false prophets in the Old Testament of the bible.

An anti-Messiah figure known as Armilus, said to be the offspring of Satan and a statue, appears in some
schools of Jewish eschatology, such as the 7th century CE Sefer Zerubbabel and 11th century CE Midrash
Vayosha. He is stated to be the God and Messiah of the Christians, making him identical to Jesus.[136] He is
described as "a monstrosity, bald-headed, with one large and one small eye, deaf in the right ear and
maimed in the right arm, while the left arm is two and one-half ells long." Being considered similar to, or
even identical with Gog,[136] his believed destruction by a "Messiah ben Joseph" (Messiah, of the tribe of
Joseph) symbolizes the ultimate victory of the Jewish Messiah in the Messianic Age.[136]

Islam
Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (Arabic: ‫المسيح الدّج ال‬, romanized: Al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl, lit. 'Deceitful Messiah'), or in
short Ad-Dajjal (‫)الدّج ال‬, is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology, who will appear after the coming of the
Mahdi.[137] The Dajjal is never mentioned in the Quran but he is mentioned and described in the ḥadīth
literature.[137] The Dajjal is described as one eyed (blind in the right eye) and the blind eye looks like a
bulging out grape.[138] Like in Christianity, the Dajjal is said to emerge out in the east, although the specific
location varies among the various sources.[139] He will imitate the miracles performed by ʿĪsā (Jesus), such
as healing the sick and raising the dead, the latter done with the aid of demons (Shayāṭīn). He will deceive
many people, such as weavers, magicians, half-castes, children of prostitutes, and non believers but the
majority of his followers will be Jews.[139] According to the Islamic eschatological narrative, the events
related to the final battle before the Day of Judgment will proceed in the following order:

11 Hadith also report on the "Greater Signs" of the end, which include the appearance of the
Antichrist (Dajjal) and the reappearance of the prophet Jesus to join in battle with him at Dabbiq
in Syria, as well as the arrival of the Mahdi, the "guided one." As another hadith attributed to Alī
ibn Abī Talib puts it, "Most of the Dajjal's followers are Jews and children of fornication; God
will kill him in Syria, at a pass called the Pass of Afiq, after three hours are gone from the day, at
the hand of Jesus".[140]

‫ْل‬
Imam Mahdi (Arabic: ‫ٱْل َم ْه ِد ّي‬, romanized: al-Mahdī, meaning "the
rightly guided one") is the redeemer according to Islam.[141] Just
like the Dajjal,[137] the Mahdi is never mentioned in the Quran but
his description can be found in the ḥadīth literature;[141] according
to the Islamic eschatological narrative, he will appear on Earth
before the Day of Judgment.[137][140][142][143] At the time of the
Second Coming of Christ,[144] the prophet ʿĪsā shall return to defeat
and kill al-Masih ad-Dajjal.[137][140][145] Muslims believe that both
ʿĪsā and the Mahdi will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice, and
tyranny, ensuring peace and tranquility.[146] Eventually, the Dajjal
will be killed by theʿĪsā at the gate of Lud, who upon seeing Dajjal
will cause him to slowly dissolve (like salt in water).[139]

Ahmadiyya
Prophecies concerning the emergence of the Antichrist (Al-Masīḥ
ad-Dajjāl) are interpreted in Ahmadiyya teachings as designating a An image from a Falname made in
specific group of nations centred upon a false theology (or India around 1610-1630, depicts
Christology) instead of an individual, with the reference to the Jesus fighting the Dajjal (False
Antichrist as an individual indicating its unity as a class or system Prophet). Behind, the Mahdi with a
rather than its personal individuality. As such, Ahmadis identify the veiled face.
Antichrist collectively with the missionary expansion and colonial
dominance of European Christianity throughout the world that was
propelled by the Industrial Revolution.[147][148][149] Mirza Ghulam Ahmad wrote extensively on this topic,
identifying the Antichrist principally with colonial missionaries who, according to him, were to be
countered through argumentation rather than by physical warfare and whose power and influence was to
gradually disintegrate, ultimately allowing for the recognition and worship of God along Islamic ideals to
prevail throughout the world in a period similar to the period of time it took for nascent Christianity to rise
through the Roman Empire.[150] The teaching that Jesus was a mortal man who survived crucifixion and
died a natural death, as propounded by Ghulam Ahmad, has been seen by some scholars in this regard as a
move to neutralise Christian soteriologies of Jesus and to project the superior rationality of
Islam.[151][152][153][154]

Baha'i
The Antichrist is considered to subvert the religion of God from the inner reality of man as 'Abdu'l-Baha
narrates: "Christ was a divine Center of unity and love. Whenever discord prevails instead of unity,
wherever hatred and antagonism take the place of love and spiritual fellowship, Antichrist reigns instead of
Christ."[155]

Scientology
In a document originally released only to high-ranking followers, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard
referred to himself as the Antichrist, who would defend humanity against an alien invasion (for which he
believed the Second Coming of Jesus was a metaphor). Many Scientologists who read the document for the
first time found its contents highly upsetting. It was subsequently revised after Hubbard's death, with the
new version lacking any references to Hubbard as the Antichrist.

In popular culture
In February 1900, the Christian Russian philosopher and mystic Vladimir Solovyov published the
apocalyptic A Short Tale of the Antichrist, showing his prophetic vision about the oncoming 20th century
and the end of the human history.[156][157] It is prophesied that the Antichrist will present himself to the
whole of humanity like a pacifist, animalist, ecologist, vegetarian, ecumenist, biblical exegete,
philanthropist, as a person who has faith in the progress of science and in universal forgiveness.[158][159]
He "will convoke an ecumenical council and will seek the consensus of all the Christian confessions,
granting something to each one."[156]

The enthronement of the Antichrist is associated with conspiracy theories, particularly a Satanic plot to
destroy the Christian faith in St. Nicholas.[160]

Antichrist is the title of a song released by British alternative band The 1975 released in 2012 on the
Facedown EP.

See also
Armageddon
Bible prophecy
Christendom
Constantine (film)
Glossary of Christianity
Lake of fire
New World Order (conspiracy theory)
Old Testament messianic prophecies quoted in the New Testament
References to the Antichrist in ecclesiastical writings
The Omen
Two witnesses

References

Citations
1. Lietaert Peerbolte, Bert Jan (2018). "Antichrist". In Hunter, David G.; van Geest, Paul J. J.;
Lietaert Peerbolte, Bert Jan (eds.). Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity Online. Leiden,
Netherlands and Boston, Massachusetts: Brill Publishers. doi:10.1163/2589-
7993_EECO_SIM_00000194 (https://doi.org/10.1163%2F2589-7993_EECO_SIM_0000019
4). ISSN 2589-7993 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2589-7993). S2CID 239226039 (https://a
pi.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:239226039).
 2. 1 John 2:18–22 (https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=1%20John%202:18–22&version=nrsv);
4:1–6 (https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=1%20John%204:1–6&version=nrsv). 2 John 1:7–
11 (https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=2%20John%201:7–11&version=nrsv).
3. Strong, James (1890). "G5580 – pseudochristos" (https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g55
80). Strong's Concordance. Blue Letter Bible. Retrieved 27 December 2021. "ψευδόχριστος
pseudóchristos, psyoo-dokh'-ris-tos; [...] a spurious Messiah:—false Christ. ψευδόχριστος,
ψευδοχριστου, ὁ (ψευδής and χριστός), a false Christ (or Messiah) (one who falsely lays
claim to the name and office of the Messiah): Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22."
4. Aune, David E. (1983). "The Prophecies of Jesus: Unmasking False Prophets" (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=0cY3kedl8NMC&pg=PA222). Prophecy in Early Christianity and the
Ancient Mediterranean World. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 222–229.
ISBN 978-0-8028-0635-2. OCLC 9555379 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/9555379).
5. Chae, Young S. (2006). "Matthew 7:15: False Prophets in Sheep's Clothing" (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=tliVZ-_MAOoC&pg=PA234). Jesus as the Eschatological Davidic
Shepherd: Studies in the Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and in the Gospel of
Matthew. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe. Vol. 216.
Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 234–236. ISBN 978-3-16-148876-4. ISSN 0340-9570 (https://w
ww.worldcat.org/issn/0340-9570).
6. France, Richard T. (2007). "Scene 2: False Prophets" (https://books.google.com/books?id=0r
uP6J_XPCEC&pg=PA289). The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, Michigan and
Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 289–291. ISBN 978-0-8028-2501-8.
LCCN 2007013488 (https://lccn.loc.gov/2007013488).
7. Lietaert Peerbolte, Bert Jan (2013). "How Antichrist Defeated Death: The Development of
Christian Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Early Church" (https://books.google.com/books?id=
MoKxIeOTkqYC&pg=PA238). In Krans, Jan; Lietaert Peerbolte, L. J.; Smit, Peter-Ben;
Zwiep, Arie W. (eds.). Paul, John, and Apocalyptic Eschatology: Studies in Honour of
Martinus C. de Boer. Novum Testamentum: Supplements. Vol. 149. Leiden: Brill Publishers.
pp. 238–255. doi:10.1163/9789004250369_016 (https://doi.org/10.1163%2F978900425036
9_016). ISBN 978-90-04-25026-0. ISSN 0167-9732 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0167-973
2). S2CID 191738355 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:191738355).
8. Rowland, Christopher (2010) [2007]. "Part I: Historical Eschatology – The Eschatology of the
New Testament Church" (https://books.google.com/books?id=voEVDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56).
In Walls, Jerry L. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology. Oxford and New York: Oxford
University Press. pp. 56–73. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195170498.001.0001 (https://doi.org/
10.1093%2Foxfordhb%2F9780195170498.001.0001). ISBN 978-0195170498.
LCCN 2006032576 (https://lccn.loc.gov/2006032576). S2CID 171574084 (https://api.semant
icscholar.org/CorpusID:171574084).
9. Chrysostom, John. "Homily 4 on Second Thessalonians" (http://newadvent.org/fathers/2305
4.htm). Translated by John A. Broadus. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series,
Vol. 13. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, New York: Christian Literature Publishing
Company, 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.
10. See Strong's Bible Dictionary: χριστος (http://cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?
Strongs=G5547&t=KJV) Archived (https://archive.today/20120711175622/http://cf.blueletterb
ible.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5547&t=KJV) July 11, 2012, at archive.today
11. See Strong's Bible Dictionary: αντί (http://cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Stro
ngs=G473&t=KJV) Archived (https://archive.today/20120716020304/http://cf.blueletterbible.o
rg/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G473&t=KJV) July 16, 2012, at archive.today
12. See the Lexicon to Pindar (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atex
t%3A1999.04.0072%3Aentry%3Da%29nti%2F). Related terms as noted by the Catholic
Encyclopedia include: antibasileus – a king who fills an interregnum; antistrategos – a
propraetor; anthoupatos – a proconsul; antitheos – in Homer, one resembling a god in power
and beauty (in other works it stands for a hostile god).
13. Horbury, William (2003). Messianism Among Jews and Christians: Biblical and Historical
Studies. London, England: A&C Black. p. 333. ISBN 978-0567088086. "Against this
background it can be seen that the technical Greek term antichristos, although it is known
only from Christian … Antichristos first occurs in the Johannine epistles, and it is not used by
other Greek Jewish or early Christian writings ..."
14. Mauser, Ulrich (1992). The Gospel of Peace: A Scriptural Message for Today's World. p. 70.
"From Josephus's writings we collect, first of all, without much critical comment, some
statements showing the close affinity of the … nowhere in his extensive accounts of the
Jewish–Roman war uses the word "pseudo-Christ" (pseudochristos)."
15. "Sacred texts: Judaism" (https://www.bl.uk/works/sacred-texts-judaism). Archived (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20230423093412/https://www.bl.uk/works/sacred-texts-judaism) from the
original on April 23, 2023.
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ἀντίχριστος, ho antikhristos) should be seen as marking out a certain category of persons
(Wallace 1996: 227–230). This is a common Johannine usage (1 John 2:23)"
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individual Antichrist will bring evil to its ..."
19. Hoekma, Anthony A. (1979). The Bible and the Future (https://archive.org/details/biblefuture0
000hoek/page/159). Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
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9.
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Netherlands: William B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 268. ISBN 978-0802807694. "Finally,
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131. Hall, Ian (2006). The International Thought of Martin Wight. London, England: Palgrave
Macmillan. p. 37. ISBN 978-1403969279.
132. Schink, W. F. (1991). "The Scriptural Doctrine of the Antichrist". In Lange, Lyle; Albrecht,
Jerome G. (eds.). Our Great Heritage: Vol. 3. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Northwestern
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133. Net Bible: Man of sin (http://net.bible.org/dictionary.php?word=MAN%20OF%20SIN)
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134. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on II Thess., Nicene-Post Nicene Fathers
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138. Sahih al-Bukhari 3439 (https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3439)
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144. [Quran 3:55 (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2002.02.0006%3Asura%3D
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145. Sahih Muslim, 41:7023 (https://web.archive.org/web/19700101010101/http://cmje.usc.edu/rel

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151. Francis Robinson.'The British Empire and the Muslim World' in Judith Brown, Wm Roger
Louis (ed) The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume IV: The Twentieth Century. (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=XLvL4zh8KK4C) Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 411. "At
their most extreme religious strategies for dealing with the Christian presence might involve
attacking Christian revelation at its heart, as did the Punjabi Muslim, Ghulam Ahmad (d.
1908), who founded the Ahmadiyya missionary sect. He claimed that he was the messiah of
the Jewish and Muslim tradition; the figure known as Jesus of Nazareth had not died on the
cross but survived to die in Kashmir."
152. Yohanan Friedmann. Prophecy Continuous: Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and its
Medieval Background (https://books.google.com/books?id=rv8EAAAACAAJ&q=Prophecy+
Continuous) Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 114. "He [Ghulam Ahmad] realized the
centrality of the crucifixion and of the doctrine of vicarious atonement in the Christian dogma,
and understood that his attack on these two was an attack on the innermost core of
Christianity "
153. Kambiz GhaneaBassiri. A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New
World Order (https://books.google.com/books?id=xKsLCx2VmcwC) Cambridge University
Press, 2010, p. 208. "Ghulam Ahmad denied the historicity of Jesus' crucifixion and claimed
that Jesus had fled to India where he died a natural death in Kashmir. In this way, he sought
to neutralize Christian soteriologies of Christ and to demonstrate the superior rationality of
Islam."
154. Valentine, Simon (2008). Islam and the Ahmadiyya jamaʻat: history, belief, practice.
Columbia University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-231-70094-8. "Proclaiming himself as
reformer of Islam, and wanting to undermine the validity of Christianity, Ahmad went for the
theological jugular, the foundational teachings of the Christian faith. 'The death of Jesus
Christ' explained one of Ahmad's biographers 'was to be the death-knell of the Christian
onslaught against Islam'. As Ahmad argued, the idea of Jesus dying in old age, rather than
death on a cross, as taught by the gospel writers, 'invalidates the divinity of Jesus and the
doctrine of Atonement'."
155. 'Abdu'l-Baha, Abbas Effendi. "Some Answered Questions" (http://www.bahai.org/r/90174760
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156. card. G. Biffi. "Russia Will Punish the World – 3rd Secret of Fatima Revealed" (https://web.ar
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of the Antichrist. The Times of London reported in 2004 that the Cardinal described the
Antichrist as "walking among us"."
157. Pronechen, J. (February 24, 2017). "Vladimir Soloviev, the Mystic Admired by Popes" (http://
www.ncregister.com/blog/joseph-pronechen/soloviev-the-mystic-admired-by-popes).
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External links
The dictionary definition of antichrist at Wiktionary Quotations related to antichrist at Wikiquote
Media related to Antichrist at Wikimedia Commons
 Of Antichrist and His Ruin (http://acacia.pair.com/Acacia.John.Bunyan/Sermons.Allegories/A
ntichrist.Ruin/index.html) (1692) by John Bunyan. Online as part of the Acacia John Bunyan
Online Library.
Lerner, Robert E. (March 22, 2007). "Antichrist" (https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-90078
14/Antichrist). Encyclopædia Britannica (online ed.).
Knight, Kevin (ed.). "Against Heresies: Book V: Chapter 25" (http://www.newadvent.org/fathe
rs/0103525.htm). Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1. Translated by Alexander Roberts; William
Rambaut. Buffalo, New York: New Advent.
Ginzberg, Louis (1901–1906). "Antichrist" (http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1577-ant
ichrist). In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk &
Wagnalls.
Lutheran Scholarly Works on the Antichrist (https://web.archive.org/web/20101130192708/htt
p://wlsessays.net/subject/A/Antichrist) Texts on Wikisource:
Davidson, Samuel (1878). "Antichrist". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (9th ed.).
pp. 124–127.
Bousset, Wilhelm (1911). "Antichrist". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.).
pp. 121–123.
Maas, Anthony John (1907). "Antichrist". Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1.
"Antichrist". Easton's Bible Dictionary. 1897.
"Antichrist" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyclopaedia_Biblica/Antichrist-Apocalypse
#ANTICHRIST). Encyclopaedia Biblica. Vol. 1. 1899.
Nietzsche, Friedrich (2006) [1918]. The Antichrist: Curse on Christianity (https://en.wikis
ource.org/wiki/The_Antichrist). Translated by Mencken, Henry Louis.

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