The Antichrist in Christian Church History

Searching for the Man of Sin Began in the Early Days of Rome

Oct 4, 2009 Michael Streich

Identifying the antichrist has been a preoccupation of Christians since the persecutions of Christians in Imperial Rome but has taken on new meaning in the 20th Century.

The search for an “antichrist” has been part of Christian tradition since the earliest days of Christianity. During the Roman period, various emperors involved in the persecution of Christians — from Nero to Julian the Apostat — were deemed worthy of the title.

As the Christian church became an established institution following the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire, it was a “spirit of antichrist,” reserved for heretics and “infidels,” that dominated eschatological views. Finally, in the 20th century, the search for the biblical antichrist took new meaning as prophetic interpretation embraced new perspectives, most notably in Protestant fundamentalist denominations.

The Ancient World Antichrists and Christian Persecution

No ancient world leader could have surpassed the qualifications of the Roman Emperor Nero as the awaited antichrist. In the Christian perspective, Nero was the ultimate incarnation of the definitive “man of sin.” His personal lifestyle of immoral behaviors and his proclivities to perceived maniacal violence were linked to the first persecution of Christians following the burning of Rome during his reign by later Christian writers.

Yet Nero was only the first of several emperors to persecute Christians. Domitian and Decius presided over bloody persecutions while Diocletian and Galerius ordered the Great Persecutions of the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. The mid to late 4th century emperor, Julian the Apostate, attempted to restore Paganism while ruthlessly suppressing Christianity. Many Christian leaders of the time viewed him as the promised antichrist.

The Spirit of Antichrist in the Middle Ages

Following the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire, the Christian church emerged as an institution of stability and leadership. Until the 16th century Reformation, excepting occasional heretical threats, the church dominated religious belief and tradition. Secular leadership, though often quarreling with the papacy and its agencies, never directly threatened the theological fundamentals of the church.

The spirit of antichrist was confined to heretical movements and equated with external threats such as the rise and expansion of Islam. Thus, the church was able to galvanize Catholic forces to combat the Muslim occupation of sacred sites in the Holy Land by launching the Crusades. Internal heretical movements like the Cathars in Southern France were also dealt with in similar fashion.

It was the Reformation that would equate the antichrist with the Medieval church itself. Reformer Martin Luther called the pope the “beast,” an Old Testament prophetic term equated with the end times and the coming of the antichrist. In his later years, Luther believed that the end of the world was imminent and that the papacy conformed to prophecies describing events preceding the return of Christ.

20th Century Perspectives on Antichrist

The recent century has seen the most activity in terms of the search for the Biblical man of sin. Significant changes in prophetic interpretation, traced to the dispensational system of theological understanding, established a chronology of eschatology that includes a “rapture” of believing Christians prior to the world domination of an antichrist figure.

This view has generated volumes of books, articles, and other commentary on possible antichrists that have included brutal dictators like Hitler and Stalin, as well as more benign figures like American presidents. When Ronald Wilson Reagan was elected in 1980, extremist writers noted that his full name consisted of three sequences of sixes. The number 666 is significant to those searching for an antichrist.

The Search for the Antichrist Will Continue

Future generations will continue to identify characteristics of the antichrist. Even reputable media outlets like the History Channel have devoted series to the subject.

For Christians, the search is part of an extensive end of times mentality. As long as prophecy is a vital part of Christian theology, identifying the antichrist will be a significant endeavor.

Sources:

• Norman Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium (Oxford University Press, 1970).
• Bernard McGinn, Antichrist: Two Thousand Years of the Human Fascination with Evil (HarperCollins, 1994).

Copyright Michael Streich. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.