What is the Catholic view of the Antichrist and the End Times?

Norm d'Plume said:

I bought a study guide recently to help me understand Revelation, but it turns out it only gives the Futurist interpretation, which is only one of four many points of view (Futurist, Preterist (partial or full), Idealist, and Historicist). Can anyone tell me what the Catholic interpretation is? From research online, I think it's partial Preterist, but my sources aren't clear. Under Catholicism, will there be a physical (human) Antichrist? And is the Antichrist the first beast of Revelation ("seven heads and ten horns"), or is he the False Prophet?

Thanks.
Norm

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It's kind of open. As in not rigidly defined. Two options that I think are definitely rejected. The first is the whole rapture thing made famous by the 'Left Behind' series, where true Christians get 'airlifted' out at the end of times. The second would be the whole Seventh Day Adventist mythology of the pope being antichrist. Of course that whole train of thought apparently started with Luther 500 years ago. Outside of those non-starters it's not nailed down. You can do your own research, you can have your own opinion.

One good fiction book that explores a possibility is by Michael OBrien, and is called 'Father Elijah'. It was a good read. But just a possibility.

My own view is rather preterist but that there is also a future element to it all as well. So I do expect there may be a physical antichrist, difficult times, and possibly the Last Day. How soon? I don't set dates, but sometimes I pray for it all to just happen and be over with. I don't bother with trying to nail it all down, just to be as spiritually ready for whatever comes even if that is this afternoon. So more preparation by prayer than by investigation.

I hope you get that this is rather an open thing among Catholics, and we have some real freedom to follow the evidence. We've all seen other groups with their predictions and elaborate theories and how they get kind of lost in speculation.

Here's a video that explains well what the Catholic position is on the End Times:


And I recommend these books:

• The Explanation of the Apocalypse by St. Bede (ISBN 978-1500524357)
• Eschatology or the Catholic Doctrine of the Last Things: A Dogmatic Treatise by Rev. Joseph Pohle Ph.D. (ISBN 978-1502737250)
• St. Jerome's commentary on the book of Daniel (ISBN 978-1606083758)

Norm d'Plume said:

Under Catholicism, will there be a physical (human) Antichrist? And is the Antichrist the first beast of Revelation ("seven heads and ten horns"), or is he the False Prophet?

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The Catholic Church has taught that the Antichrist is a physical man.


There have been many antichrists. Nero was one of them. These were prototypes of the final Antichrist. And, judging by the current state of things, I think that the Antichrist is currently in the world.

LivingWordUnity said:

Here's a video that explains well what the Catholic position is on the End Times:

And I recommend these books:

• The Explanation of the Apocalypse by St. Bede (ISBN 978-1500524357)
• Eschatology or the Catholic Doctrine of the Last Things: A Dogmatic Treatise by Rev. Joseph Pohle Ph.D. (ISBN 978-1502737250)
• St. Jerome's commentary on the book of Daniel (ISBN 978-1606083758)

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Good post. Good video. Only thing I would add is that there is not just one single Catholic position. There are multiple allowable Catholic positions. I suppose it would be nice to have absolute clarity, but we don't yet.

google catholic answers. from what i know it is pretty specific what the catholic view of end times is. i dont know where this other person is getting that it's "open" from. i read "trial triumph and tribulation" by desmond birch and "the end of the present world" by charles arminjon please google them.
on ewtn radio there is a series by desmond birch and colin donovan talking about this there is so much specific information not vague at all.

chevyontheriver said:

Good post. Good video. Only thing I would add is that there is not just one single Catholic position. There are multiple allowable Catholic positions. I suppose it would be nice to have absolute clarity, but we don't yet.

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Is it possible that these multiple positions are connected to one another in some way. I have often found that many catholic prophecies speak of the same things but in different terms these multiple prophecies when taken together often give a better picture of the events than taking just one.. could it be that the different positions when taken as a whole could in some way lead to a better more clear picture. For example those who are focusing on the past fullfilment when read in futurist terms could we be looking for similar occurances that warn us of the coming of the final antichrist.

I agree that it was a very good video too

The Grouch said:

Is it possible that these multiple positions are connected to one another in some way. I have often found that many catholic prophecies speak of the same things but in different terms these multiple prophecies when taken together often give a better picture of the events than taking just one.. could it be that the different positions when taken as a whole could in some way lead to a better more clear picture. For example those who are focusing on the past fullfilment when read in futurist terms could we be looking for similar occurances that warn us of the coming of the final antichrist.

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I think it's just that this is not a hard and fast area of theology, to have it all worked out. There are things we know. That there will be death, judgement, heaven, or hell. That some day there will be a last judgement. The rest is just not systematic. Not yet. Best to be prepared and leave it at that.

There is going to be a person near the End of Time who will be a powerful ruler
This person will more fully cooperate with Satan then any other person in history, in the Bible he is called the “man of sin” sometimes translated as lawlessness depending on which bible translation you have
He is also called the “little horn” in the Revelation of St John

Norm d'Plume said:

I've read different interpretations online. Sometimes the Antichrist is the first beast of Revelation and, according to others, he is the second beast (the False Prophet). Is that open to interpretation in Catholicism?

Thanks
Norm

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normally it is described that the First Beast is the Anti-Christ/Man Of Lawlessness and the Second Beast is the False Prophet, an evil person who supports the Anti-Christ

I am not sure how firmly dogmatic this is, but this is the normal interpretation I have seen in Catholic circles as well as most Protestant interpretations to

The Catechism of the Catholic Church identifies what might be called the personal anti-Christ with what it terms "the church's ultimate trial". The two go together.

The Church's ultimate trial

675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.574 The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth575 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.576

676 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 judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,577 especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.578

677 The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.579 The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven.580 God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.

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This is not exactly encouraging stuff, but that's how the catechism identifies the ultimate anti-Christ. Since it will involve the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism, then it would stand to reason that the anti-Christ will be a political figure, not religious. We're also in an age where a single earthly political power is a possibility, with satellites and other technology potentially tracking our every transaction and move. If you combine a political figure who has unbridled access to today's formidable technology and who is also aided by the the devil's supernatural gifts, such an unholy alliance would be very difficult to overcome. Imagine Adolf Hitler with today's technology at his disposal.

For what it's worth I think the anti-Christ is around today, a political figure, but I think the "false prophet" has already been and gone (if there is a "false prophet"), someone who divided the church at a cost of millions of lives, with the division still living on today. And I got that opinion from a Protestant pastor, for whom I developed an enormous amount of respect.

As a weird personal side note, I think God intends to drive us off the planet and out into the universe He's put there. If we consider that we've gone from horse and buggy stuff in the 19th century to the first petrol "car" circa 1870 (gasoline for our US friends), the radio in 1894, the first flimsy aircraft in 1903, the first liquid fueled rocket in 1923 (Dr. Robert Goddard) to the technology we've got today, then if God's the author of history, He's sure pushing the technical wheelbarrow at this point in our history.

The question is "Why?" We also find that as we push our boundaries into space, we're concurrently developing other technology which will be an absolute necessity if we're going to travel and settle in space - in particular IT, artificial intelligence and robotics.

I'll put my faith in quantum teleporting as the means of transport, which scientists are just starting to dabble in. It's also instantaneous, and not limited by the speed of light.

That's my own weird personal aside. If that comes before or after the anti-Christ is a moot point, but that's what I think anyway.