Is one of these the AntiChrist?

[Guest SouthernCelt]

maybe $thhorseman could elaborate on this but i thought it was biblical prophecy that the anti-christ was to be born froma Jackyl?

I was joking primarily over your spelling. "Jackyl" is a band; a "jackal" is a fox/wolf-like scavenger. I know "The Omen" had the AntiChrist being born of a jackal, but I'm not into the details of the rise of the Antichrist enough to know if the Biblical references literally say that. Maybe 4th does.

[hippyroo]

Hollywood vs. the Bible: I don't think there is any mention of the antichrist's birth in the bible. We are told that he comes out of the sea.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

once again i might be confused

[Guest Thomas]

I just hope that if the anti christ begins his deception during my life I will be able to discern it.

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. (1Jn 2:18 KJVR)

[Guest Sheree Dawn]

maybe $thhorseman could elaborate on this but i thought it was biblical prophecy that the anti-christ was to be born froma Jackyl?

Keep in mind, many people who study the bible take the stories literally while others see most of it in symbolic terms. Jackyl could be a term referring to the personality of the father of the son of satan. (Hail Rosie O'Donnell).

Yeah, Rosie just won't go away; maybe we should pour salt on her. I used to do that to slugs.

[Guest peas_and_corn]

Your choices:

Vladimir Putin -- Starting to throw out a lot of Cold War sounding rhetoric with threats, e.g., point missles at Europe if the US provides a defense shield against Iranian weapons.

Admadinejad -- Latest Hitler-esque speech talks about the countdown to the end of Israel.

Nah, just intelligent politicians. Vladimir Putin has taken a democratic state with a middle ground, flatering economy and used the turmoil to turn it into a semi-autocracy. He's certainly been very successful at improving the economy, but used this as a cover to destroying democracy. In addition, he's turned the economy into a petrostate, something which in the long run will not afford Russia any prestige. What he is doing is using Russia's only realy bargaining chip to give Russians the feeling of greatness that they had for the entire period it was part of the USSR.

Ahmadinejad- well, his anti-Israel sentiment is only for domestic consumption- he really doesn't mean it. I was in Israel a couple years back and I asked an Israeli about his comments that Israel should be wiped off the map and he replied with "He always says that. It means nothing". He won the presidential elections because the president before him was somewhat moderate and liberal, and when he made advances to improve relations with the United States, the US wasn't interested for a variety of reasons (this has been characteristic of the US-Iran relationship). And so Ahmadinejad campaigned that the United States was only interested in dominating Iran, and that a return to fundamental Islamic values and military assertion is the only way to ensure that Iran can remain an independent nation. He will not use this capability, but will use it rhetorically to ensure his popularity, but Iran's growing sphere of influence across the Arabian peninsula (which is causing unrest among Sunni elites).

[Guest queequeg914]

As a amillennialist, I believe that we are in the last days and have been since the ascension of Christ. I also believe that much of the Biblical texts about the end times are not to be taken literally. I think the "anti-christ" is the collective evil of mankind leading the world into destruction.

[Guest Sheree Dawn]

As a amillennialist, I believe that we are in the last days and have been since the ascension of Christ. I also believe that much of the Biblical texts about the end times are not to be taken literally. I think the "anti-christ" is the collective evil of mankind leading the world into destruction.

You make a very good point. The anti-christ could merely be anti-christian consciousness. It could as easily represent a council or group of people. Doesn't it mention something to the fact that the antichrist appears as a peace maker of sorts? Think of the UN--a body of people seeking peaceful co-existence among nations. Yet, think of how they function... One group of people trying to run the world--trying to tell each individual country what they can or can't do, where they can or can't go...

Think about it.

Another structure that is worth examining is the Vatican and think of how the catholic society looks for the pope to tell them what is right or wrong, rather than relying on scripture.

[Guest Rhodes_Knight]

Sheree Dawn -

I've asked a similar question of several practicing Christians. Their belief levels range from those that identify themselves as devout fundamentalists wherein the biblical word is the actual voice of God captured on paper to those that merely attend church most Sundays and believe that much of the bible is imaginative fable, life lessons meant to inspire and lead - and a few other types I'll characterize as in between. Interestingly, despite the wildly divergent religious opinions held by these Christians in most other matters, they all believe that the anti-Christ is or will emerge in the exact shape or form as has been described in the bible or, more importantly (at least to me), as described by the various Churches. I find it interesting to note that organized religion has painted a far more detailed face for the anti-Christ than can be found within the pages of the Holy Bible. I do not think this is by accident. In any event, I too have wondered just exactly what the anti-Christ is - man, idea, demon, devil, or as you postulate in your previous post, a collective will that moves away from the Christian god.

I like having an opinion so I'll offer mine: the anti-Christ will likely be either the head of a popular Christian denomination, one who believes that it is his mission not only to preach the gospel but also that only he can truly understand its message - he will ask that if you seek salvation that you seek it through him. The other would be the head of a global religion, one founded upon an earthly message of peace (in itself not a bad thing) rather than a message of the divine trinity. The idea will be undermined almost immediately as this leader wold realize that you have to keep the peace, it doesn't just manifest naturally on earth, and who better to force the peace than himself? It's for our own good after all...right?

Anyway, just some thoughts that came to mind after having read your post.

Thanks.

[Guest SouthernCelt]

First of all...just so everyone is clear... my original question was primarily rhetorical designed to generate a little bit of discussion but with a bit of connection back to MM and how the series skirted the edges of the exact final days beliefs.

Secondly, I think it should be remembered by all whether you are Biblical literalists or consider it to be as stated above -- a book of allegory, symbolism and life lessons, that the Bible does not specifically define many of the signs of the Second Coming or the rise of the Antichrist. Other than the 7 years of tribulation, divided into two phases of 42 months each, and the "number of the beast", little else is concretely described since all the prophets up to and including the final one, John, received their information via visions and dreams that contained the directive to report what they were being told. The prophets, being devout believers, did what they were told. And I think that was the whole point -- the prophecies were set down in permanent form to create a "mystery" of sorts that would-be believers would want to investigate and consider for themselves.

The foregoing is why we here have to keep in mind that it's one thing to offer a statement of your beliefs about the end times but quite another to criticize, belittle or ignore others that don't share your specific beliefs. Such discussions as is going on here can be both entertaining and educational for those with interest, but we need to keep posting directed to those ends.

Just my thoughts on this and some other threads that've gone down the tubes in the past...