Last Things: The Antichrist

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.ScripturesWhere the word antichrist appears:1 John 2:181 John 2:221 John 4:32 John 7Passages that do not mention antichrist but which are popularly understood to refer to him:2 Thessalonians 2Appears to be a Roman emperor, one with the arrogance of Caligula, Nero, or Domitian.Stands as a warning for all generations.No mention of "antichrist."Revelation 13Whereas the "number" of the Beast is 666, the apocalypse never identifies the Beast (Rome the false religious power) with an antichrist.Applies in immediate context to the persecuting Roman Empire.That antichrist is a figure who would be worshipped is a second century construction. This notion was never part of the apostolic doctrine.The specific truth denied by the opponents of the faith is the incarnation.The heretics in view were Docetists, a variety of Gnostics who denied that Jesus (God) came in the flesh; rather, he appeared (Greek dokein = appear) to come in a body. These heretics were active in the late first century, at the time 1 and 2 John were written.They held that the physical world is evil, and therefore...They denied that God came to us in a body.ConclusionsAntichrist was already present even in the first century, although those rejecting the incarnation are still among us (e.g. theological liberals who deny Jesus was God, but rather a guru whose God-consciousness inspired others).The antichrist is not a single person; contradicts 1 John 2:18.Popular guesses: Hitler, Muhammad, the Pope.There have been, and presumably will be, many antichrists.Antichrist lives in those who have left the community.Joining the antichrist is more than a subtle doctrinal shift; it is to join the agents of evil, with seriously negative cosmic implications.It is unlikely an antichrist would come in a body, since incarnation is the very truth denied by the antichrist!Eventual triumph comes not by inflicting death on the followers of evil, but by words that engender faith (Revelation 12:11).We as readers of the Bible are called to distinguish truth from falsehood.Further study: Listen to all the podcasts in the Last Things series.