the anti christ

[comebacktome]

What are supposed to be the characteristics of the anti-christ, and why do some believe it is the pope?

 

[Joe_5859]

What are supposed to be the characteristics of the anti-christ, and why do some believe it is the pope?

Here’s what the Catechism of the catholic Church says about the antichrist:

CCC 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 earth [575] 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]

CCC 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]

CCC 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.[579] 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.[580] 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.[581]

[574] Cf. Lk 18:8; Mt 24:12.
[575] Cf. Lk 21:12; Jn 15:19-20.
[576] Cf. 2 Thess 2:4-12; 1 Thess 5:2-3; 2 Jn 7; 1 Jn 2:18,22.
[577] Cf. DS 3839.
[578] Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris, condemning the “false mysticism” of this “counterfeit of the redemption of the lowly”; cf. GS 20-21.
[579] Cf. Rev 19:1-9.
[580] Cf Rev 13:8; 20:7-10; 21:2-4.
[581] Cf. Rev 20:12 2 Pet 3:12-13.

As to why some call the pope the antichrist, that can be rather complicated. It’s mostly based on some severely anti-Catholic heavy hitters (Lorraine Boettner, Alexander Hyslop, Jack Chick [who relies on the other two, but makes their work more accessible]). The claims of the anti-Catholics have been thoroughly discredited numerous times by numerous people, but to those who hate the Church, no explanation can shake them from their prejudices.

 

[JimO]

What are supposed to be the characteristics of the anti-christ, and why do some believe it is the pope?

I’m not a theologian, so others feel free to correct me, but the anti-christ is typically linked to the beast in Revelation; however, this is somewhat speculative. I don’t believe the term “anti-christ” appears at all in Revelation. The “spirit of anti-christ” is spoken of as being in the world and is characterized as that force (satan) opposed to the Gospel.

Many Evangelicals believe the anti-christ to be a specific person who will come into the world at the end times, and, as stated above, will be the beast in Revelation who will persecute the Church before the Second Coming of Christ. Because many Protestants believe that the Catholic Church is wayward and teaching false doctrine, they believe that the Pope is the anti-christ. From a purely pragmatic standpoint, this has been said of every pope since the Reformation. If the biblical test for genuine prophets was applied, then all those who claimed this about previous popes would be considered false prophets.

Anyway, the linkage of the anti-christ with the beast in Revelation is theological speculation and there are many different interpretations by various Evangelicals regarding the whole end times concept. Claiming that the Pope is the anti-christ is simply the result of misunderstanding, misinformation, or simple slander. Any one who took the time to read the writings of any of the modern popes, for example, would see that they have faithfully preached the Gospel message to the Church and to the world. An anti-christ would not do that. There are thousands of threads on this site that have dealt with the many misunderstandings between Protestant faiths and the Catholic Church, so I won’t go into that any further. Suffice it to say that anyone who claims that the Pope is the anti-christ needs to do some research.

I hope this helps. Blessings.

 

[heisenburg]

Personally, I think it is pretty obvious that Tom Cruise is the Anti-Christ…

If not him then Defiantly Oprah, or maybe it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger…

Oh, wait… no, It has to be sponge bob!



In Christ

 

[love-bias]

Personally, I think it is pretty obvious that Tom Cruise is the Anti-Christ…

If not him then Defiantly Oprah, or maybe it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger…

Oh, wait… no, It has to be sponge bob!



In Christ

all wrong. clearly it is Miley Cyrus.

 

[JimO]

Oh, wait… no, It has to be sponge bob!

If Sponge Bob isn’t the anti-christ, then he has to be some kind of little demon. Him and Barney too.

 

[CentralFLJames]

Before Anti-Christ comes onto the scene the False Prophet will come in the identical role of John the Baptist to “prepare the way”. Anti-Christ is a specific person, generally believed to be Satan himself who will fashion himself a body from the dust of the earth.

He will come to offer peace plans to settle animosities between Israel and her enemies and will be charismatic. But its all a deception intended to get the world to worship him and to reject Christ.

No Pope could ever be anti-Christ since anti-Christ could never stand to be in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist or the highly spiritual settings of The Church and the Holy Mass. Anti Christ could never publicly pray for and bless people in the name of Jesus Christ as do ALL of of The Church’s popes.

Anyone who calls the pope or any clergy of The Catholic Church Anti-Christ is just so utterly ignorant and lacking spiritual insight that they are no more than minor precursors to false teachings and disciples of the real Anti-Christ and are exhibiting clear markers that the are not predestined to salvation. Anyone who slanders the Holy Catholic Church even out of utter red-neck ignorance is in a state of mortal sin and will go to hell unless they repent and make atonement for all the damage and serve God the rest of their lives.

It is just amazing to me in this modern day and age where people are “educated” that they are more ignorant than people in the dark ages in spiritual matters. These false teachings of men have all been foretold in the Catholic Bible that the Catholic Church assembled and made available to The Catholic Church to spread the good news and to form the liturgy of the Holy Mass.

I don’t think most non-Catholics “get it”. VERY FEW non-Catholic escape hell. Jesus was not kidding when he said “those that reject you reject me”. Anyone that mocks Christ’s Church is just putting themselves deeper and deeper into progressive punishments in the hell they already elected when they consciously rejected the Catholic Church.

In this modern world Baptism is NOT enough. Most people are committing mortal sins daily and are too spiritually blind that our culture is permeated with temptations that have become a way of our life. Even dressing provocatively and causing a person to lust is a mortal sin. Advising someone to not become Catholic is a mortal sin. Teaching false doctrine (all Protestantism) is a mortal sin.

Anti-Christ, when he comes will find legions of people living in mortal sin and error who will trade the promise of a few years of prosperity for eternity with him in hell. Mortal sin separates a person from God’s saving grace and God can not and will not rescue those who refuse that grace by rejecting Him or His Church. God turns such over to Satan.

James

 

[PNEUMA]

If Sponge Bob isn’t the anti-christ, then he has to be some kind of little demon. Him and Barney too.

I thought it was Donald Duck