Just what is The Beast?

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Chazemataz

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I see of it as just what Revelation makes it out to be: a dragon-like thing with ten head and seven horns (see Revelation 13) that is a servant of satan and people will worship it because it is so powerful and nobody can stand against it. It sounds rather scary- slaying anybody who refuses to worship it. However some people say it represents Rome or the UN or something, and that if they got together with all the major powers of Europe they could defeat the US, and that they will be promoting a false religion with the Antichirst as their leader.
Also, I have another question: say I lived in the end times, and I refused to wroship this “beast” and refused to get that credit thing (mark of the beast) and as a result it… erm, well it killed me somehow. Would I be guarunteed to get into heaven for dying a martyr? Do all martrys get into Heaven? Thanks in advance.
 
The Beast is the Pope, silly. Don’t you ever read Chick or Boettner? But, seriously…
Would I be guarunteed to get into heaven for dying a martyr? Do all martrys get into Heaven?
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It has long been a pious belief that martyrs have a “fast tack” to heaven (and they are close to the Throne in the Book of Revelation), but I don’t think this has been declared as an official doctrine (I could be wrong - correction welcome). The Church has, however, declared that those who confess Jesus and are thus martyred before being Baptized are nonetheless “credited” with Baptism (called “Baptism of Blood”).
 
I believe most scholars picture the beast of Revelation 13 as Pagan Rome. This would seem to be the case, because during and after the time of John’s writing Rome was severely persecuting the church. Martyrdom was an everyday event in John’s day.
 
What I do not understand is the fact that the Beast, and the Antichrist was supposed to come at the end times (or that was what i was taught anyway). Why do people say they already came? Like many say that Caesar Nero was the antichrist. Did the world end over 500 years ago? Didin’t think so.
 
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Chazemataz:
What I do not understand is the fact that the Beast, and the Antichrist was supposed to come at the end times (or that was what i was taught anyway). Why do people say they already came? Like many say that Caesar Nero was the antichrist. Did the world end over 500 years ago? Didin’t think so.
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That’s the mistaken protestant notion of millenarianism, where after the beast and all, the second coming happens and Christ reigns on earth for a long period (usually 1000 years). As Catholics we believe that the millenium is now. Christ is ruling from heaven with the pope being the vicar on earth. Therefore the beast and four horsemen and all that came before the Church age. Nero was an antichrist, not necessarily THE Anti-Christ.

From the Catechism:

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The Church’s ultimate trial

**675 **Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.573 The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth574 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.575

**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,576 especially the “intrinsically perverse” political form of a secular messianism.577

**677 **The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.578 The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God’s victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven.579 God’s triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.580

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I think the Beast is simply a rather extravagant description (a lot of those in Revelation, aren’t there?) of the Antichrist.

I don’t see how people can think that *this *time period is the one where Christ is having His 1,000-year rule. That’s like saying…well, a lot of dumb things.
Now, maybe I’m mistaken, but I thought I heard somewhere that it is Satan who is supposed to have the long rule. That, obviously, is a possibility.
 
the Hatter:
I think the Beast is simply a rather extravagant description (a lot of those in Revelation, aren’t there?) of the Antichrist.

I don’t see how people can think that *this *time period is the one where Christ is having His 1,000-year rule. That’s like saying…well, a lot of dumb things.
Now, maybe I’m mistaken, but I thought I heard somewhere that it is Satan who is supposed to have the long rule. That, obviously, is a possibility.
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Satan is chained and cast into the abyss for what is called the Millenium (not necessarily 1000 years, the word in the original text can also be translated to mean simply a very long time). That doesn’t mean he can’t tempt us, howerever, his powers are just restrained a great deal. Our time now could also be the period at the very end where Satan is unchained for a little while before Christ comes again and defeats him once and for all.
 
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