Is There an Antichrist?

While listening to Brian Simmons, author of The Passion Translation, I heard some very interesting teaching on eschatology (i.e. the study of prophecy/end times prophecy). By interesting, I mean that it was radically different than anything I have heard before.

This teaching involved the idea that how we interpret the book of Revelation has been wrong for the last two thousand years. Almost everything he taught is a lie—or false teaching—that doesn’t land anywhere near the truth. That said, he is very persuasive if you aren’t following up his statements by searching the Scriptures and original languages for yourself. This makes him very dangerous because most Christians simply do not look critically at what is taught by their teachers. The video itself doesn’t play much into this blog since I am just asking this question: Is there one single person who will be the Antichrist? That said, this question comes from hearing Brian Simmons argue against the existence of the Antichrist. He teaches that all references to “antichrist” are allegorical or are the “spirit of antichrist” rather than a single legit person. This leads him to completely reinterpret the book of Revelation in a way that simply doesn’t work.

Before I go any further let me say this: I do not recommend using The Passion Translation for anything, not even casual reading of Scripture. Despite its name, it is not a translation of the Bible. It unashamedly abuses the Scriptures in the pursuit of regaining the “passion” in Scripture that has apparently been lost. I called Brian Simmons the author because he isn’t a translator, nor did God have any part in the writing of this “translation.” The topic of The Passion Translation is for another blog, or multiple blogs more likely. I intend to address this soon, but for now, I will stop with just the warning.

To begin with, we need to look at how the Bible uses the word “antichrist.” The Greek word is “ἀντίχριστος” (antichristos) and it is used exactly five times in Scripture. Four of which appear in 1 John with the last one appearing in 2 John. The article “the” is written in front of all of them in many English translations. That said, the Greek only has “the” in front of “antichrist” three of the five times. Yet, the presence, or lack, of “the” doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Let me explain. Greek nouns all have a gender. They are either masculine, feminine, or neuter. “Antichrist” is masculine. It appears four times as a singular masculine noun, and once as a plural masculine noun. Looking purely at this word, I could almost agree with Brian Simmons in that, for the most part, it references multiple antichrists or demonstrates a type of person. However, there is one of those references that is different than the others. Let’s take a quick look at each reference.

1 John 2:18 says,

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.

1 John 2:18

This verse has two of the references. Neither have the article “the” and the second use is the one plural form of the word. That said, I believe that the first reference is a reference to the antichrist despite the lack of the article. Due to the word’s singular masculine nature. The singular masculine “antichrist is coming” is in contrast to “so/and/even now many antichrists (plural) have come.”

Verse 22 has the article “the” but it is referencing anyone who is a liar and denies that Jesus is the Christ.

1 John 4:3 says,

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

Again, we see the article “the,” but this is clearly not discussing a single person. Rather, this is a way to discern whether a spirit is the Holy Spirit or something else.

2 John 7 is very similar to 1 John 1:22 in that it discusses “many deceivers” who go out into the world and are “the antichrist.”

Thus, I believe that the word “antichrist” itself only references a single person one time out of the five. But, is that the end of it? Well, no. There is actually a significant number of other verses that reference what has become labeled as “the Antichrist.” The Bible may not use the word “antichrist” itself, however, the text clearly teaches that there will be a single person who rises up and deceives the world.

So, what are some of these references? To start with, I am just going to list the names that Scripture gives. I will then go into more detail later. These are in no particular order.

• Beast (Revelation 13:1-18)
• Man of Lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)
• Son of Destruction (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)
• The Lawless One (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
• The Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24:15 and parallel passages in Mark and Luke)
• The king (Daniel 7:7-25, Daniel 8:23, Daniel 11:36)
• Horn (the visions preceding references to the “king” in Daniel)

By reading the above passages you can get a good understanding of what the Bible says on the Antichrist. Yes, the word “antichrist” isn’t used here, but each of these passages references someone who is fundamentally against Christ which is what “antichrist” means. Let’s delve into some of the passages listed above so we can understand what Scripture says about the Antichrist.

I am going to start with the 2 Thessalonians passage since I can kill three birds with one stone. In this passage, Paul is discussing the second coming of Jesus and our being gathered to Him. This is called the “day of the Lord.” On the coming of this day, he says,

Let no one decieve you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearence of his coming.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-8

The man (singular) of lawlessness, also called the son of destruction, will appear just prior to the second coming of Christ. This man is going to exalt himself above every so-called god so much so that he will sit in the temple of God and proclaim that he is God. He is referred to again as “the lawless one” a couple of times in verses 8 and 9. As a side note, this passage is one of the primary passages that we pull the doctrine of the rapture from. The rapture is something for another blog, I just wanted to point it out. Let’s move on to Mattew 24:15

So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Matthew 24:15-16

Jesus refers to “the abomination of desolation” who will stand in the holy place. Clearly, this is a person of some sort. This is especially true considering that he appeals to the book of Daniel which we will get to next. As another side note, Matthew places “let the reader understand” immediately following the mention of the “holy place.” Why? Well, he just got done telling of how Jesus foretold the destruction of the temple. The “holy place,” then, refers to a third temple to be built.

The book of Daniel contains mulitiple references to a “king” who will arise unlike the kings before him. In addition to that, Daniel is where we see the references to the “horn.” In his visions, Daniel sees a horn, but when the visions are explained to him the “horn” is described as a “king.” This means that the “horn” and the “king” are one and the same thing.

Daniel received a vision of the events leading up to the end times as well as the end times themselves in Daniel 8. The archangel Gabriel tells Daniel the meaning of the vision which is where this verse is pulled from. On the king who will arise he says,

And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall rise.

Daniel 8:23

He goes on to tell of how powerful this king will be. How he will destroy many, including many of the saints. Not only that though, he shall rise up even against the Prince of princes (God, though likely Jesus specifically) who shall then destroy him. The description lines up excellently with the “beast” found in Revelation as well as the “man of lawlessness” in 2 Thessalonians. Daniel 11 also discusses this king as one who will “do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods” (Daniel 11:36).”

Now, of the “beast” we have many verses and passages in Revelation. I will not address them all since that is beyond the scope of this blog, but I will show the introductory passage in Revelation. If you want to see all of the verses on the “beast,” I recommend that you read all of the book of Revelation. I understand that it is a very challenging read, but just because something is challenging doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it. There are some amazing things that can be learned from this difficult book.

The book of Revelation introduces the “beast” in the 13th chapter. It says,

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

Revelation 13:1

As the passage goes on we see that this beast will be worshipped by the whole earth, will speak blasphemy against God, will be allowed to make war on and conquer the saints, and will have authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation for 42 months. This is exactly the teaching on the Antichrist.

While it can be argued that “antichrist” is possibly a hijacked term, there is a lot of evidence that there will be a single person who gains control over the entire world. This person will be worshipped as God by the whole world (minus the saints), and will have the power of Satan. He will only be able to be defeated by the return of Jesus at the end of the great tribulation. We label this person “the Antichrist” because that is precisely what he is. There are many who are “antichrist,” but only one who will rule the world for the time allotted him.

This topic is an example of when a “new” teaching on a topic is utterly wrong. If Scripture and the church has held to a certain believe for a long time, it is likely the truth on the matter. Be wary of “new” teachings about Scripture. More often than not, they are not the truth and will lead you and others astray if they are believed. Always verify any teaching you hear (including mine) against what Scripture shows.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact me at ljandersonbooks@outlook.com and I will do my best to answer any questions that you have. Also, if you would like to stay up-to-date on new blog posts or anything regarding my writing projects then follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter.