# Who Is the Antichrist?

> First John says many antichrists have come and that the antichrist shall come. The Catechism, Cyril, Westminster, and Dallas Theological Seminary do not name the same figure. This page quotes them and does not decide.

- Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-is-the-antichrist
- Religions: Christianity
- Denominations: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Reformed
- Beliefs: none
- Tags: antichrist, revelation, prophecy
- Updated: 2026-10-13


Jesus is the Christ, God the Son. The Greek word [antichristos](/bible/greek/antichristos-g500) is the opponent of the Messiah, or one who puts himself in the Messiah’s place. [1 John 2:18](/bible/1-john/2/18) [(1)](#ref-1) says many antichrists have already come, and that the antichrist shall come. The Catholic catechism, an Orthodox catechism chapter, Cyril of Jerusalem, the Westminster Confession in two published forms, and Dallas Theological Seminary do not name the same figure. This page quotes them. It does not decide.

## Key Points

- [1 John 2:18](/bible/1-john/2/18) says “ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists.” [1 John 2:22](/bible/1-john/2/22) says he is antichrist “that denieth the Father and the Son.”
- [1 John 4:3](/bible/1-john/4/3) and [2 John 1:7](/bible/2-john/1/7) tie the word to a denial that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
- [2 Thessalonians 2:3–4](/bible/2-thessalonians/2) says that day shall not come except a falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, who “as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
- [Catechism 675](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1V.HTM) [(9)](#ref-9) calls the Antichrist “a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.”
- Cyril of Jerusalem, in a catechetical lecture hosted on New Advent, describes a future individual after ten kings, destroyed at the second advent. [(11)](#ref-11) An Orthodox Church in America catechism chapter calls hypocrisy the way of the antichrist. [(10)](#ref-10)
- The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland’s text of Westminster 25.6 says the pope of Rome “is that Antichrist.” [(14)](#ref-14) The Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s American revision of that paragraph does not. [(13)](#ref-13)
- Dallas Theological Seminary’s doctrinal statement places a translation of the church before Israel’s seventieth week and cites Revelation 6–19 for the tribulation. [(15)](#ref-15) The fetched articles do not use the word Antichrist.

## What the Letters Say

The Dodson lexicon on [antichristos](/bible/greek/antichristos-g500) says “antichrist, either one who puts himself in the place of, or the enemy (opponent) of the Messiah.”

[1 John 2:18](/bible/1-john/2/18) [(1)](#ref-1): “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 2:22](/bible/1-john/2/22) [(2)](#ref-2): “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.” [1 John 4:3](/bible/1-john/4/3) [(3)](#ref-3): “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.”

[2 John 1:7](/bible/2-john/1/7) [(4)](#ref-4): “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”

[2 Thessalonians 2:3](/bible/2-thessalonians/2/3) [(5)](#ref-5): “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.” [2 Thessalonians 2:4](/bible/2-thessalonians/2/4) [(6)](#ref-6): “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” [2 Thessalonians 2:9](/bible/2-thessalonians/2/9) [(7)](#ref-7): “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.”

[Revelation 13:1](/bible/revelation/13/1) [(8)](#ref-8) opens the vision of a beast rising out of the sea. The chapter does not use the word antichrist. [What Is the Mark of the Beast?](/christianity/what-is-the-mark-of-the-beast) stays on the mark, the name, and the number in that chapter.

## What the Signs in Those Texts Are

The letters name a denial that Jesus is the Christ, a denial of the Father and the Son, and a denial that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Second Thessalonians names a falling away, then a man of sin who sits in the temple of God and shows himself that he is God, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with power and signs and lying wonders. The verses do not give a height, a portrait, or a personal name.

## The Catholic Catechism

[Catechism 675](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1V.HTM) [(9)](#ref-9): “Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the ‘mystery of iniquity’ in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.”

[Catechism 676](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1V.HTM) [(9)](#ref-9): “The Antichrist’s deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgement. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the ‘intrinsically perverse’ political form of a secular messianism.”

[Catechism 677](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1V.HTM) [(9)](#ref-9) says the kingdom will be fulfilled “only by God’s victory over the final unleashing of evil,” and that God’s triumph “will take the form of the Last Judgement after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.”

## An Orthodox Catechism and a Clergy Answer

The Orthodox Church in America catechism chapter [Honesty](https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/the-virtues/honesty) [(10)](#ref-10) says of hypocrisy: “This is the way of all the false prophets, and of the antichrist himself.” The chapter then quotes 2 John 7 and Matthew 24:4, 11, and 24 in its own English. It is catechesis, not a synod.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 15.12, in the English on New Advent [(11)](#ref-11): “But this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world is now drawing near. There shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts perhaps, but all about the same time; and after these an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by his magical craft shall seize upon the Roman power.” The same paragraph says that “after perpetrating such things for three years and six months only, he shall be destroyed by the glorious second advent from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus, the true Christ, who shall slay Antichrist with the breath of His mouth, and shall deliver him over to the fire of hell.” New Advent is a third-party host of that translation. The lecture is not a synod.

A later [clergy answer on the same church’s site](https://www.oca.org/questions/scripture/book-of-revelation) [(12)](#ref-12) rejects identifying a living politician by a birthmark. It says: “While Revelation does say that all organizations will be deceived by Antichrist, there is nothing whatsoever in Revelation that deals with the United States or the American Eagle.” The writer says he is a priest of 27 years. The answer is not a synod. It also quotes the creed: “He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose Kingdom shall have no end.”

## The Westminster Confession

The [Orthodox Presbyterian Church](https://opc.org/wcf.html) [(13)](#ref-13) publishes this American revision of chapter 25.6: “There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof.”

The [Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland](https://www.fpchurch.org.uk/about-us/important-documents/the-westminster-confession-of-faith/) [(14)](#ref-14) publishes the 1647 sentence, which continues: “but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.” The proof texts on that page include 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4, 8–9, and Revelation 13:6. The word Antichrist there is inside the confession. This page does not use it as its own name for the Catholic Church. [Is the Rapture Biblical?](/christianity/is-the-rapture-biblical) quotes the same American confession on the last day, where the word rapture does not appear.

## A Dispensational Seminary Statement

[Dallas Theological Seminary, Article XVIII](https://www.dts.edu/about/doctrinal-statement/) [(15)](#ref-15): “We believe that, according to the Word of God, the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord in the air to receive to Himself into heaven both His own who are alive and remain until His coming and also all who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”

Article XIX: “We believe that the translation of the church will be followed by the fulfillment of Israel’s seventieth week, during which the church, the body of Christ, will be in heaven.” It says the latter half “will be the time of Jacob’s trouble, which our Lord called the great tribulation,” and it cites Revelation 6:1–19:21. Article XX says that tribulation “will climax in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ” to the earth, introducing the millennial age. The fetched articles do not print the word Antichrist and do not give the figure a personal name. The text is a seminary statement, not a synod.

| Reading | What the fetched text says |
| --- | --- |
| First John | Many antichrists already, and the antichrist shall come. The denial is that Jesus is the Christ, come in the flesh. |
| Catechism of the Catholic Church | A final trial and a pseudo-messianism in which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah. |
| Cyril of Jerusalem | A future individual after ten kings, for three years and six months, destroyed at the second advent. |
| Westminster, 1647 text | The pope of Rome “is that Antichrist.” The American revision published by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church omits that clause. |
| Dallas Theological Seminary | The church is translated, then Israel’s seventieth week, with Revelation 6–19 cited for the tribulation. The word Antichrist is not in those articles. |

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What Are the Signs of the Antichrist?

In the letters, the signs are a denial that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh, a falling away, and a man of sin who sits in the temple of God and shows himself that he is God, with lying wonders. Cyril’s lecture adds ten kings, a show of mildness, then lawlessness, and a limit of three years and six months. The Catechism speaks of religious deception and self-glorification. The page does not add a portrait those texts do not give.

### What Does the Antichrist Look Like?

First John and Second Thessalonians do not describe a face, a height, or a mark on the skin. Cyril says he will “put on a show of mildness” and afterward be marked by “crimes of inhumanity and lawlessness.” The Orthodox clergy answer rejects treating a birthmark as the number 666. [What Is the Mark of the Beast?](/christianity/what-is-the-mark-of-the-beast) is the separate sentence in Revelation 13 about a mark on the hand or the forehead.

### Who Comes Before the Antichrist?

[2 Thessalonians 2:3](/bible/2-thessalonians/2/3) says that day shall not come except a falling away comes first, and that man of sin is revealed. [1 John 2:18](/bible/1-john/2/18) says many antichrists are already present. The Catechism says a final trial precedes the second coming. Dallas Theological Seminary says the next great event is the Lord coming in the air, and that the seventieth week follows the translation of the church. Cyril places the figure after ten kings, when the times of the Roman empire have been fulfilled. The texts do not agree on one sequence. This page does not pick one.

### Are We Going to Know Who the Antichrist Is?

[2 Thessalonians 2:3](/bible/2-thessalonians/2/3) says the man of sin is revealed. The 1647 Westminster sentence names the pope of Rome inside the confession. Cyril describes a future individual and does not give a modern name. Dallas Theological Seminary’s articles do not print a name. The Orthodox clergy answer rejects identifying a contemporary politician by a birthmark. The churches quoted here do not give one public identification.

### Who Is the Antichrist’s Father?

The Bible does not name a human father. [2 Thessalonians 2:9](/bible/2-thessalonians/2/9) says the coming is “after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” It does not call Satan a father in that verse, and it does not give a family name.

## Keep Reading

- [What Is the Mark of the Beast?](/christianity/what-is-the-mark-of-the-beast)
- [Is the Rapture Biblical?](/christianity/is-the-rapture-biblical)
- [What Is Bible Prophecy?](/christianity/what-is-bible-prophecy)
- [The Deity of Christ](/christianity/deity-of-christ)
- [ἀντίχριστος (G500)](/bible/greek/antichristos-g500)
- [1 John 2](/bible/1-john/2)

## Passages Quoted on This Page

### 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4

King James Version.

> [2:3] 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; [2:4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

### 2 Thessalonians 2:3

King James Version.

> 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;

### 2 Thessalonians 2:9

King James Version.

> Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

### Revelation 13:1

King James Version.

> And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

## Sources
Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site.

1. [First Letter of John, 2:18](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-john/2/18). King James Version
2. [First Letter of John, 2:22](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-john/2/22). King James Version
3. [First Letter of John, 4:3](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-john/4/3). King James Version
4. [Second Letter of John, 1:7](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-john/1/7). King James Version
5. [Second Letter to the Thessalonians, 2:3](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-thessalonians/2/3). King James Version
6. [Second Letter to the Thessalonians, 2:4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-thessalonians/2/4). King James Version
7. [Second Letter to the Thessalonians, 2:9](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-thessalonians/2/9). King James Version
8. [Book of Revelation, 13:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/revelation/13/1). King James Version
9. [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 675](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1V.HTM) (Paragraphs 676 and 677 are on this same page. Footnote markers in the Vatican text are omitted.)
10. [The Orthodox Faith, Honesty](https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/the-virtues/honesty) (A catechism chapter on the Orthodox Church in America site, not a synod. It quotes 2 John 7 and Matthew 24 in its own English.)
11. [Catechetical Lecture 15, 12](https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310115.htm) (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 15.12. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, as published on New Advent, a third-party host, revised and edited by Kevin Knight. Not a synod.)
12. [Orthodox Church in America, Revelation](https://www.oca.org/questions/scripture/book-of-revelation) (A clergy question-and-answer. The writer says he is a priest of 27 years. It is not a synod.)
13. [Westminster Confession of Faith, 25.6](https://opc.org/wcf.html) (The Orthodox Presbyterian Church publishes the American revision. The Antichrist clause is not in this text.)
14. [Westminster Confession of Faith, 25.6](https://www.fpchurch.org.uk/about-us/important-documents/the-westminster-confession-of-faith/) (The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland publishes the 1647 wording, including the Antichrist clause. Proof texts include 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 and Revelation 13:6.)
15. [Doctrinal Statement, Article XVIII](https://www.dts.edu/about/doctrinal-statement/) (Dallas Theological Seminary. A seminary statement, not a church synod. Articles XIX and XX are on the same page. The fetched articles do not use the word Antichrist.)

## See Also
- [What Is the Mark of the Beast?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/what-is-the-mark-of-the-beast) — Revelation 13 says the mark is on the right hand or the forehead, tied to the beast’s name and the number 666. The Catechism, an Orthodox clergy answer, Westminster, and Dallas Theological Seminary do not describe a chip.
- [Is the Rapture Biblical?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/is-the-rapture-biblical) — The King James Version says believers will be caught up. The Assemblies of God and the Church of God teach a rapture and then a visible thousand-year reign. Westminster, the Catechism, and the Baptist Faith and Message describe one return and the judgment.
- [Can You Lose Your Salvation? What Each Church Teaches About "Once Saved, Always Saved"](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/once-saved-always-saved) — Can a Christian lose salvation? Official teaching from Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, and other churches, with the King James verses each side cites.
- [How Was the Bible Canon Decided, and What Is the Apocrypha?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/what-is-the-apocrypha) — Trent receives the longer Old Testament and anathematizes refusal. Westminster says the books called Apocrypha are no part of the canon. The Catechism says the Church discerned the list by Tradition.
- [Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/is-baptism-necessary-for-salvation) — Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal texts on whether baptism is necessary for salvation, with Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21, and the thief on the cross.