The Antichrist

(1 John 2:18, 22, 4:3, 2 John 1:7) is identified as a liar and deceiver who denies that Jesus is the Christ. As of the writing of 1 and 2 John, at the end of the first century, many antichrists were said to be already present in the world. It is not clear, but there may be another antichrist to come whose spirit is already present in the world.

The antichrist is sometimes said to be the beasts of Daniel 7:1-12, the beast of Revelation 13:11-18, or the "man of sin" of 2 Thessalonians 2:3, but those interpretations are not certain.

At various times in history one group or another has proclaimed the identity of the antichrist. Those who have been so named include the Roman emperors Caligula, Titus, Nero and Claudius, Muhammad (the prophet of Islam), most of the popes, many Protestant theologians, many world leaders, and many other individuals and groups. However, such proclamations do not have any Biblical basis.

Revelation 13:11-18

¹¹Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. ¹²It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. ¹³It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all; ¹⁴and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived; ¹⁵and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.

آنگاه دیدم وحشی دیگر از زمین بیرون می‌آید. همچون بره دو شاخ داشت ولی مانند اژدها سخن می‌گفت.۱۲با تمام اقتدارِ وحش اوّل و به نام او عمل می‌کرد، و زمین و ساکنانش را به نیایشِ وحش اوّل که زخم مهلکش بهبود یافته بود، برمی‌گماشت.۱۳آیات عظیم از او به‌ظهور می‌رسید و حتی موجب می‌شد پیش چشم مردم آتش از آسمان بر زمین فروبارَد.۱۴به‌سبب آیاتی که اجازه داشت به نام آن وحش به‌ظهور آورد، ساکنان زمین را بفریفت و به آنها دستور داد تمثالی از آن وحش بسازند که به شمشیر زخم خورده، امّا همچنان زنده بود.۱۵به او قدرت داده شد که جان در تمثال آن وحش بدمد تا آن تمثال بتواند سخن بگوید و اسباب کشتن همۀ آنکسان را فراهم آورد که از پرستش تمثال سر بازمی‌زدند.۱۶همچنین، همۀ کسان را، از خُرد و بزرگ، دارا و نادار، و غلام و آزاد واداشت تا بر دست راست خود یا بر پیشانی خویش علامت گذارند.۱۷تا هیچ‌کس نتواند بدون آن علامت بخرد یا بفروشد، و آن علامتْ یا نامِ آن وحش بود، یا شمارۀ نام او.۱۸و این حکمت می‌طلبد. هر‌که بصیرت دارد، بگذار تا عدد آن وحش را محاسبه کند، چرا‌که آن، عدد انسان است. و عدد او ششصد و شصت و شش است

مکاشفه یوحنا 13: 11-18