Anti-Christ? For real?

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Debora123

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Does the Church still hold the belief in an Anti-Christ?

If so, can someone please explain to me what this is exactly?
 
Yes.

This is what the CCC says:
675 Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.574 The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth575 will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.576
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676 The Antichrist’s deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,577 especially the “intrinsically perverse” political form of a secular messianism.578
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676 The Antichrist’s deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,577 especially the “intrinsically perverse” political form of a secular messianism.578

Can someone please explain what that means?
 
I see what the catechism says, but I don’t understand it.

Can someone elaborate? Do we really believe the Antichrist is the devil hiding inside a person’s body around the time the world is supposed to end?? :confused:
 
The way I understand it is the antichrist is a term that has been used to describe Nero but like many things in the Bible, a term can be applied to a reoccurrence (sort of) of a past event. The abomination of desolation was used to describe what an evil ruler had done in the Jewish temple couple of centuries before Christ came but it’s also used to describe the antichrist who will sit in the (most likely) rebuilt temple and be worshipped as God. Satan can’t become incarnate like Jesus but I suspect the antichrist will be as close a devil incarnate as Satan can get. When a man of unprecedented stature, intelligence and charisma comes along with a bunch of solutions to world problems we thought could not be solved, then that’s the guy. Secular messianism is trying to recreate heaven on earth without God (“they want the kingdom, but they don’t want God in it”) and that’s what this antichrist guy will try and do. I believe halfway through his reign, he’ll show his true nature, but never from day 1 on will he acknowledge Jesus as the son of God. I grew up believing we were very close to his appearance (and hence to the end of time), now I just don’t know. Logistically, technologically, mentality-wise though, we’re quite ripe for his coming (world government, inability to buy or sell without giving him our allegiance, world tyranny etc.). My take.

On a lighter note, I see you’re from Florida, when I think of Heaven on Earth, Florida and the Bahamas always come to mind, nature is so beautiful, plentiful and clement (well, most of the time) down there. But I digress.🙂
 
The term anti-Christ comes from the epistles of John, specifically 1 John 2:18-23. However they are referenced by Jesus as false/pseudo Christs/Messiahs, Mark 13:22, Matthew 24:24. Pseudo Christ makes more sense. It’s just anyone falsely pretending to be God’s Anointed

An classic example of this would be Hilter. Not because of his genocide, but because he was the Savior of Germany. He freed it from the economic depression and oppression of the Versailles Treaty. Industrialized it in a very short time. Was to restore the Aryans to their rightful place in the world. (Aryan was an anthropological term meaning the true original native European. Naturally every country claimed that they were them.) And create a supreme glorious Third German Empire lasting a 1000 years.

Jesus Christ, as well that the Church Fathers, and the Magesterium warn against these charlatans. That is what is stated in the Catechism but wordy. To paraphrase: Antichrists create deception every time they claim to bring the Reign/Peace of the Messiah when it isn’t the actually Final Judgment.

On a side note some Protestants in their very personal interpretation of the bible sometimes claim that the First Horsemen in Revelation is the Antichrist. The term Antichrist or Psuedo-Christ is never mentioned in Revelation. There’s a Beast, False Prophet, and Dragon but not him. Also that horsemen is described as a conqueror not an impostor.
 
Debora123 said:
I see what the catechism says, but I don’t understand it.

Can someone elaborate? Do we really believe the Antichrist is the devil hiding inside a person’s body around the time the world is supposed to end?? :confused:
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I can’t quote a source but the anti-christ will be a real person. He has been prefigured in certain really evil personages throughout history. As far as we know the real McCoy has not yet appeared. But he will not be the devil in disguise ( i.e. in human form), he will merely be one whose soul is entirely devoted to evil. It will not be apparant who he is but it is thought that he will try to lead the elect away by appealing to a " more perfect " way, one he will preach that all men can follow without trouble and which is opposed to the Catholic Church and her infallible doctrine.

👍
 
Ugh… not to let anyone down or anything but I’m just as confused as I was when I first wrote this… :confused:
 
Debora123 said:
I see what the catechism says, but I don’t understand it.

Can someone elaborate? Do we really believe the Antichrist is the devil hiding inside a person’s body around the time the world is supposed to end?? :confused:
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The vast majority of Church leaders and theologians do not believe in a literal (horror movie like) antichrist. It is seen as a heresy and a deception of humanity.

It’s just more “fun” to believe in a literal evil figure. The notions shown around here are characteristic of the evangelical flavor often displayed on CAF.

THis belief in a human antichrist is more a Protestant, and specifically, an Evangelical idea.
 
ringil said:
The vast majority of Church leaders and theologians do not believe in a literal (horror movie like) antichrist. It is seen as a heresy and a deception of humanity.

It’s just more “fun” to believe in a literal evil figure. The notions shown around here are characteristic of the evangelical flavor often displayed on CAF.

THis belief in a human antichrist is more a Protestant, and specifically, an Evangelical idea.
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Ok, so basically the answer is NO.

Catholicism doesn’t have a belief/teaching in the Antichrist, though we are allowed to personally believe it if we’d like.

Is that accurate?

If so, it’s what I thought.
 
I think that the Antichrist is alive, well, and living among us. I know him well as a matter of fact. The reason is I am the Antichrist when I sin, when I fail to love as a Christian should love, when I lure people away from good and into evil. Yes I am a crafty Antichrist sometimes, how about you?
 
Up until recently the writing of many Catholics, including the ancient Church Fathers, claimed that the Antichrist is a real person. A Jew who will claim to be the messiah and eventually get people to worship him as God, even though Jesus is God. I think it has to be a Jew: will the Jewish ever accept a non-Jew as the Christ?
 
Some of these responses are completely contradictory to one another, some of them didn’t make any sense at all, and others just seemed like they had no idea what they were talking about lol. From past experiences, when I get answers like these, it means the real answer is the Church has no clear cut stance on it but no one wants to admit it. 🙂
 
I would say that the Vatican II takes a economical approach, but if you read works by Catholics before it they discuss a Jewish Antichrist, which is just too offensive to say openly and sounds archaic to the modern man.
 
InJesusItrust said:
I would say that the Vatican II takes a economical approach, but if you read works by Catholics before it they discuss a Jewish Antichrist, which is just too offensive to say openly and sounds archaic to the modern man.
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Well I started this thread because I was asking for the Church’s formal/official stance on this matter. Come to find out, the Church really doesn’t have one.

Thanks to all who participated.
 
Debora123 said:
Ok, so basically the answer is NO.

Catholicism doesn’t have a belief/teaching in the Antichrist, though we are allowed to personally believe it if we’d like.

Is that accurate?

If so, it’s what I thought.
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Yes, that is my take on it.

We do believe in “something” which has been called the antichrist. Most theologians and churchman believe that it is a profound heresy.

Revelations is a mystical work- not a literal one.
 
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