07-20-2017, 07:53 PM
(07-20-2017, 05:39 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:There are other passages in the Bible that many associate with the term 'antichrist', but the term 'antichrist' only appears in 4 verses in 1 John and 2 John.(07-20-2017, 03:42 PM)radind Wrote: My idea of antichrist is from:
1 John 2:22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.(ESV)
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.(ESV)
It's been a while since I took the Bible too seriously, but my impression from the old Catholic days was that there would be only one antichrist. John certainly had different ideas. Who am I to argue? During the Reformation era, the usual guess was that the current Pope was the antichrist. This would not be a bad guess given their morality at the time.
The one time Jesus got really upset was while kicking money people out of the temple. Anyone who makes a profit from a believer's sincere attempts to communicate with God would be suspect. When I was in Colorado Springs it was noted that there were two dominant industries, the Air Force (Cheyenne Mountain, several air bases and the Academy) and televangelists. The Air Force came first, building a massive internet access capability. The televangelists looked at all the internet access, salivated, and moved in. Making money off God is a really big time industry out there. I'm not sure which would be more devastating to the area, incoming warheads going after the Air Force, or the second coming.
The 20th Century certainly produced enough murderous tyrants to be worthy of nomination, but they were mostly secular. I'd hit them with other insults. There's no one on the religious side that matches the secular guys. No real opinion.
… whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Phil 4:8 (ESV)