The term antichristos occurs in the New Testament solely in the Johannine epistles: five times, across 1 John 2:18 (twice), 2:22, 4:3, and 2 John 7.
Imported citation, not independently checked: 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7
religion · Shared topic · Revision 0
Where Did the Antichrist Come From?
Where Did the Antichrist Come From?
The current answer
No single book describes him: he was stitched together from a lawless man, a beast, a horn, and a dead emperor's ghost.
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The author writes "even now many antichrists have come" (1 John 2:18) and defines an antichrist simply as anyone "who denies that Jesus is the Christ" (1 John 2:22).
Imported citation, not independently checked: 1 John 2:18, 22
Revelation 13 adds the imagery: a beast from the sea wielding worldwide authority, demanding worship, marked by the number 666 (Revelation 13:18).
Imported citation, not independently checked: Revelation 13:18
McGinn traces how each later century re-cast this composite onto its own enemies: Roman emperors, then heretics, popes, and rival rulers.
Imported citation, not independently checked: B. McGinn, Antichrist: Two Thousand Years of the Human Fascination with Evil (1994)
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