The Antichrist is a very mysterious person, who will rule over the world during the End Times. In this article, I am going to summarize the main known points about the Antichrist, from the Bible and the interpretation of the Church Fathers.
Let’s start with this famous passage from St. Paul:
“And we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together unto him: That you be not easily moved from your sense, nor be terrified, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, Who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh: only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way. And then that wicked one shall be revealed, *whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: him, Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, And in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish: because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe a lie. That all may be judged, who have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity.” (2Thess 2:1-11)
The Antichrist is called a “beast” in the Book of Revelation.
This article is partially based on the book “De Romano Pontifice” by the great Doctor of the Church, Saint Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621). He wrote this book to explain and defend the papacy against Protestants. Since Protestants, especially during the Reformation, claimed that the Popes in general are the Antichrist, the author addresses this topic in his book and, referring to the Church Fathers, explains the Bible’s teaching on the Antichrist.
Who will the Antichrist be
The Antichrist will be one man. It is clear from the Bible that it is one man. St. Paul calls him the “man of sin” in 2Thess 2:3. In the Book of Revelation, St. John mentions two “beasts”, one of which is the Antichrist, the other a person known as the “False Prophet”.
All of the Church Fathers agree that Jesus’ words: “I am come in the name of my Father, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive.” (John 5:43) refer to the acceptance of the Antichrist by the Jews as their Messiah.
What will precede the reign of the Antichrist
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come.” (24:14) In other words, the Church has to have proclaimed the Gospel to all nations before the Antichrist can come.
The Church Fathers stressed that the Roman Empire will fall before the Antichrist comes (see e.g. St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies book 5 [37]). Since it has already fallen, this point is not important for us.
How long will he rule
The Antichrist will reign for three and a half years. St. John says about the beast coming from the sea, symbolizing the Antichrist, in Rev 13:5: “And there was given to him a mouth, speaking great things, and blasphemies: and power was given to him to act forty-two months.”
He gets more specific in Chapter 11 of Revelation, where he mentions that the two witnesses, which we will get to later in this article, will preach for 1260 days (11:3),
St. Irenaeus wrote: “He will reign for three years and six months, then the Lord will come from heaven”. 59
The Bible emphasizes that those days will be “short” (Rev 12:12, 20:3). “And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should, be saved: but for the sake of the elect, those days shall be shortened.” (Mt 24:22)
What will he teach
The false prophet orders that all human beings receive a “mark of the beast”: “And he shall make all, both little and great, rich and poor, freemen and bondmen, to have a mark in their right hand, or on their foreheads.” (Rev 13:16)
Other aspects of the teachings of the Antichrist are summarized well by Saint Bellarmine:
“1) He will deny that Jesus is the Christ and hence he will oppose all the things our Savior established, such as Baptism, Confirmation, etc. He will teach that circumcision and the Sabbath have not yet ceased, as well as other ceremonies of the old law. ‘Who is a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? And this is Antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son’, etc. [1John 2:22]
2) After he will have persuaded the world that our Savior is not the true Christ, then he will assert that he is the true Christ promised in the law and the Prophets. ‘If anyone will come in my name, you will receive him,’ [John 5:43] that is as the Messiah.
3) He will declare that he is God and will demand to be worshiped as a god. ‘So that he shall sit in the temple, showing himself just as if he were God.’ [2Thess 2:4]
4) He will not only say that he is God, but even that he alone is God and will oppress all other gods, i.e., both the true God and false gods, and all idols. ‘Who extols himself over everything which is called God, or that is worshipped.’ [2Thess 2:4] And in Daniel: ‘He will not think God is his father, nor will he worship anything of the gods, because he will rise against them all.’ [Dan 11:37]” (p. 107-108)”
The seat of the Antichrist
St. Paul’s statement that the Antichrist will sit “in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God” (2Thess 2:4) has caused much speculation in Church history. Some Church Fathers believe that the Jewish temple will be rebuilt and that the Antichrist will take his seat there; others believe that he will take his seat in the hearts of individual Christians (since St. Paul calls the body of Christians the temple of the Holy Spirit); while still others believe that the Antichrist will take his seat in the Church in some form. They agree, however, that he is going to demand to be worshiped as god.
The two witnesses
Revelation Chapter 11 mentions God’s “two witnesses”, who He will send during the days of the Antichrist and who will “prophesy” (11:3).
“These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast, that ascendeth out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” (11:6-7)
“And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them: Come up hither. And they went up to heaven in a cloud: and their enemies saw them.” (11:11-12)
The Church Fathers and later Christian tradition clearly agree that the two witnesses will be Enoch and Elijah, who will return.
They haven’t died: Enoch was “taken” by God (Gen 5:24), while Elijah was taken up into heaven (4Kings 2:11). The Book of Sirach, which was removed from Protestant Bibles, states that Elijah “registered in the judgments of times to appease the wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob” (48:10) and that Enoch “pleased God, and was translated into paradise, that he may give repentance to the nations.” (44:16)
(Some references to what the Church Fathers said about Elijah and Enoch, given by Bellarmine: Lactantius, lib. 7, cap. 17; St. Augustine, Tracta. 4 in Ioannem; St. John Damascene, lib. 4, cap. 28)
The end of the world
It would be out of scope for this article to write about the end of the world (the Second Coming of Christ and Judgment Day), however, it is clear that it takes place some time after the death of the Antichrist and of the false prophet. These events are described in the last three chapters of Revelation.
Other statements of the Church Fathers
The Church Fathers have speculated on other characteristics of the Antichrist.
St. Robert Bellarmine summarizes:
“… There are two probable opinions of the holy Fathers on the begetting of the Antichrist.
1) That Antichrist is going to be born from a woman by fornication, not from a legitimage marriage. St. John Damascene teaches this, [Lib. 4, cap. 28] as well as certain others. Still, since it cannot be shown from the Scriptures it is not certain, although it is probable.
2) Antichrist will be born from the tribe of Dan, which many Fathers and Doctors assert. [footnote references St. Irenaeus lib. 5, St. Augustine Iosue quaest 22; St. Gregory Moralium lib. 31, cap. 18] They prove this from Genesis 49: ‘Let Dan be a snake on the path, let him be a horned snake on the path, etc.’ Likewise in Jeremiah 8: ‘From Dan we heard the growling of his horses, etc.’ Next, because in Apocalypse 7, where twelve thousand from every tribe of the sons of Israel is signified by the angel, the tribe of Dan is left out, which appears to be done in hatred of the Antichrist.
