Many Antichrists vs. "The Antichrist"
Many things need to be sorted out in order to understand the concept of “The Antichrist” properly in its entire Biblical context. First of all, the only place where the term “antichrist” is used in the Bible is in 1 & 2 John, mainly a general term for all people who oppose Jesus the Messiah with an antichrist spirit that was already present in New Testament times. Nevertheless, many Pretribulationists have applied this term to a specific world-dominating leader during an alleged future seven-year “Great Tribulation ,” giving it a limited personalized interpretation. Below are those verses taken from the Epistles of John. [1] “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming , so now many antichrists have come . Therefore we know that it is the last hour ” (1 Jn. 2:18). “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 ” (1 Jn. 2:22). “…and every spirit that does not c...