as a child (in the 80's) much was taught about the antichrist and endtimes..the thought was a man would come to power claiming to be Jesus and decieve many with the mark of the beast and be-head all who apposed him..he would be an "imposter" of jesus-thus the anti-christ.
but "anti" does not mean imposter but rather against or opposed to. not one who tries to imitate but one who is against! (arch enemy or nemisis if you will.)
that of course is satan himself. but who is christ but the church: the body of christ on the earth today....we are
then...who is the "anti-christ" on the earth today..if christ is revealed on the earth by a group of people that represent him as one body...then it stands to reason that the "anti-christ" could be represented by a body of people on the eath as well!
revelations tells us that there will be a beast and he will have a prophet the beast is satan...could his prophet be..., first let me say this, revelations tells us that power was given to the beast to make war with the saints. I believe it is possible that we are seeing this come to pass in the world to day. enemies of america and israel war against us because of our relegion. now (just like the bible says) you can be "be-headed" (in the name of religion) some have taught in the past that the antichrist would come from a one world relegion like tha catholic church. Jack Chik thought it would be the pope! but anti---literally means against. now we see a powerful relegion in the world that stands firm against christ and because of the progress of technology has multiplied the world over....could this be the "anti-christ"

god is still in control!!!

OK... where to begin...

First off, the book is called Revelation, singular. Not Revelation[b]s[/b]. That seems trite, but it isnt. The book is about one revelation, and that being of Jesus Christ. The revelation, or revealing, of Christ. It is treated like it is a serious revelations about what is to come in the end times, but it isnt. It is focussed on Jesus Christ, and His revealing of Himself to all mankind.

Secondly: [b]1 John 4:3[/b] [i] And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.[/i]

This is quite clear that there has always been since Jesus time a spirit of antichrist in the world. That should be obvious.

Thirdly, the beast is a man. [b]Rev 13:18[/b] [i]Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of [b]a man[/b]; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.[/i]

Fourthly, Jack Chik-Fil-A is not the first person to consider the Roman Catholic Church into Revelation. Matthew Henry's commentary talks about it (published in the 1700's). The Reformers (tho biased as they were, they had very good points to make) consider the RCC to be figured into Revelation.

Revelation 17 does not describe the beast, it describes the Great Whore. It's describes a religious entity, and even describes the geographic location of the Great Whore: Rome. While the pope will not be the antichrist, the RCC as an entity will be the Great Whore (it already is, in my opinion). If you look at history, the RCC has truly been drunk on the blood of the saints. (the [b]true[/b] saints... not the fairy tale saints they pray to)

Hope this helps.

Krispy

Actually "anti-" means in place of.
If you read the epistles of John, he gives a description of "antichrist". Interesting to note, that nowhere else in the Bible is that term used except in 1 and 2 John.

1John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
1John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
2John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
As you can see, antichrist is a group or person that went out from among those who had the truth, and began to deny that Jesus was the Christ(Messiah), deny that Jesus came in the flesh, or according to the nature of flesh.
If you look at the title given to the pope which is "the vicar of Christ" it means "substitute for Christ, or in place of Christ".
The popes believe that they are the voice of God and claim they are infallible. They offer forgiveness of sins based on their word, denying that Christ is the one who alone provides forgiveness.
Roman Catholic theology denies that Christ was born without sin. They say that Mary was sinless, and the divine child received his nature from his mother, thus denying His sinlessness, while venerating her!
There is much, much, much, more and it would take awhile to put up, but here is a kicker.
The Council of Trent is the goal of the roman catholic system it always has been, and always will be. Here are two key points-

[b]Justification[/b] (sixth session) was declared to be offered upon the basis of faith and good works as opposed to the Protestant doctrine of faith alone, and faith was treated as a progressive work. The idea of man being utterly passive under the influence of grace was also rejected.

The greatest weight in the Council's decrees is given to the sacraments. [b]The seven sacraments were reaffirmed and the Eucharist pronounced to be a true propitiatory sacrifice as well as a sacrament, in which the bread and wine were consecrated into the Eucharist (thirteenth and twenty-second sessions). The term transubstantiation was used by the Council, but the specific Aristotelian explanation given by Scholasticism was not cited as dogmatic. Instead, the decree states that Christ is "really, truly, substantially present" in the consecrated forms.[/b] The sacrifice of the Mass was to be offered for dead and living alike and in giving to the apostles the command "do this in remembrance of me," Christ conferred upon them a sacerdotal power. The practice of withholding the cup from the laity was confirmed (twenty-first session) as one which the Church Fathers had commanded for good and sufficient reasons; yet in certain cases the Pope was made the supreme arbiter as to whether the rule should be strictly maintained.

These have not changed! Not even in Vatican 2. If you ever feel led, browse through the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You will be amazed at what they believe.
I fear that if we forget our heritage, we will be sucked into the harlot. And most forget harlots seduce people with enticing words, and things that seem good to the flesh. Read Proverbs 7:4-19.

_________________
patrick heaviside

i'm not condoning nor do i agree with catholacism but i don't see the consummation of the antichrist spirit in the catholic church.

Thats because you didnt read what I wrote. I stated clearly that the antichrist is a man... not the Catholic Church. No one knows who the antichrist will be. But I believe he will be a political figure who comes out of the EU.

The Catholic Church will be his patsy. The world will be decieved, but he wont be able to just dump evil straight up on the world and have everyone go along with it. He will use the RCC to seduce people... an appearance of religion... which the RCC has mastered.

Krispy

brethren
it seems to me that the catholic church of Rome is guilty of much before God including the death of many, many saints. it is a blasphemy before God and God will surely judge Rome for this.

if nothing else, the institution of the Papacy is indeed the epitome of the spirit of what is antichrist. The pope himself may not be the antichrist but the papacy is made in the spirit of what is antichrist. there is no other office in any other religion wherein a man is set up as the closest thing to God on earth.it sets up a man and calls him "the Holy Father" or "the Vicar of Christ" Vicar means one who stands in the place of. if we have defined antichrist correctly as being a false version of then in this case we see clearly that to be called vicar of Christ is to be in the spirit of what is antichrist.

_________________
Farai Bamu

bro Mike
i suppose the E.U. is that beast which rises out of the water in the revelation and has long been viewed as the revived roman empire which incidentally is Europe. Revelation says that one of the horns which shall come up and uproot 3 of the horns and speak all kinds of blasphemies against God. this is understood to be antichrist. antichrist is also the rider on the first white horse with the bow. irrespective of whether he comes out of the E.U. (which i concur with Krispy on) or elsehwere, he will be hailed as messiah by the jews so i believe he will be a jew or have jewish heritage to appeal to the jew...but then again he will appeal to the whole world and will bring peace for a time.maybe he may not need be a jew...then the rider of the red horse comes forth...

let us watch and be alert

_________________
Farai Bamu

(serious question...not a statement)where does Islam fit into all of this? the relegion of the middle east rising up against jews and christians alike?
I respect your knowledge an all of this...you guys have realy done you're homework! :-o

The antichrist will sign a peace treaty between Israel and it's enemies, triggering the beginning of the 7 year period known as the Tribulation Period. After 3 1/2 years, he breaks the treaty and all hell breaks loose.

In order for there to be a need for a peace treaty there has to be conflict. Seen the news lately? Who is Israel's arch enemy? Islamic states. Interestingly, where do these Islamic states get their weaponry? ... Russia & China.

Thats how Islam fits into this.

Krispy