Who is the Antichrist?

Short answer

In the Bible the word “antichrist” appears only in John's letters, where it means anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh. Paul and Revelation also speak of a final opponent of Christ. Christians differ on whether this is one future ruler, a spirit at work in every age, or both.

Antichrist is a name from films and novels as much as from Scripture, and many people picture a single villain with a secret number. The Bible says less and says it more carefully. This page follows the texts and shows where Christians understand them differently.

What John means by antichrists

The word itself appears only in the letters of John.

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.
1 John 2:18 · King James Version (1769)

John MacArthur notes that the first “antichrist” here is singular and points to the coming final ruler of whom the prophets spoke, while “many antichrists” are people, specifically the false teachers who were troubling John’s churches. William MacDonald adds that, just as coming events are preceded by signs, the appearance of the many antichrists points ahead to the final one. The New Geneva Study Bible reads “the last hour” as the whole time between the first and second coming of Christ, and Lopukhin, in the same way, sees in the antichrists a sign that the last era is near.

John says what marks them.

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1 John 4:3 · King James Version (1769)

MacDonald says that today many speak acceptably of Jesus yet do not confess Him as God come in the flesh; some call Him “divine” but not God. This is the same test John gives in his second letter (2 John 1:7). Lopukhin names an example: the Docetists, who denied the real incarnation. In plain terms, any teaching that rejects Jesus as the Christ who truly became man has the spirit of antichrist.

Paul’s man of lawlessness

Paul writes about a final enemy, although he does not use the word “antichrist.”

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
2 Thess 2:3–4 · King James Version (1769)

MacDonald sees here a coming world leader who embodies sin and rebellion, sits in the temple in Jerusalem and takes the place that belongs to Christ. He also points out that the Greek prefix anti means both “against” and “instead of”. MacArthur likewise links Paul’s text with the final world ruler. The New Geneva Study Bible recalls that the description echoes the “little horn” in Daniel and prepares for the beast in Revelation 13.

Here, too, readers differ. The Dallas Seminary commentary takes the temple as a real temple, although it notes that some think Paul is speaking figuratively. Lopukhin notes that the picture could have been prompted by Antiochus Epiphanes and by Emperor Caligula’s attempt to set up his statue in the Jerusalem temple.

The mark and the number 666

The book of Revelation shows the beast demanding worship from everyone.

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Rev 13:16–18 · King James Version (1769)

MacArthur explains that in the Roman world a mark was a familiar sign: slaves and soldiers bore one, and members of secret cults wore tattoos that marked their worship. He notes that the text does not say what the name or the number system will be. For MacDonald the mark is economic pressure meant to force people to betray Christ for idolatry, and he says true believers will prefer death to denying their Saviour.

On the number, MacArthur says six is the number of man, one short of the perfect seven. Repeated three times, it stresses a human person who is powerful but still imperfect. The Dallas commentary gives the same explanation and says there are hundreds of attempts to decode 666 with the numerical values of letters, so that even if the number points to a person, it is impossible to say whom. The New Geneva Study Bible notes the old reading that 666 stands for “Caesar Nero” in Hebrew, and adds that the number may have been tied only to Nero. Lopukhin considers attempts to find the beast in later figures such as Napoleon to be stretches.

What this means for us

So Christians hold at least three views. Some expect one person at the end of history (MacArthur, MacDonald and the Dallas commentary). Some stress that the antichrist spirit is already at work wherever Christ is denied, which is how John writes. Some also look to figures of the ancient world such as Nero or Antiochus Epiphanes, who, as the New Geneva Study Bible and Lopukhin point out, match the imagery of these texts. These views are not always opposed, and many Christians combine them.

What is not in doubt is the call. Don’t chase names and dates. Jesus himself says that no one knows the day (Matthew 24:36). Instead, test every teaching by one question John gives us: does it confess Jesus Christ, God come in the flesh? Whoever holds to Him has nothing to fear from any antichrist.