In the New Testament, particularly in theJohannine epistles, the term does not refer to a single individual but rather to a category of people opposing Christ, often called deceivers or false teachers.Early Church Fathers likeIrenaeus,Tertullian, andHippolytus expanded on the idea, sometimes linking the Antichrist to theRoman Empire, thetribe of Dan, or the eschatological “man of lawlessness” described in2 Thessalonians. Over time, interpretations varied, including figurative, historical, and personal applications of the concept.
During theReformation, many Protestant leaders identified thePapacy as the Antichrist, viewing it as a present manifestation rather than a future individual. This historicist interpretation was shared by figures likeMartin Luther,John Calvin, andJohn Knox, who associated the Pope with the “man of sin” and other biblical symbols of opposition to Christ.Catholic,Orthodox, and other Christian traditions generally see the Antichrist as a future deceiver or a manifestation of evil, sometimes inhabited bySatan, whose deception challenges human allegiance to God. Non-Christian traditions, such asJudaism andIslam, have analogous figures—likeArmilus in Jewish eschatology or theDajjal in Islamic thought—representing ultimate evil opposing divine will.
Etymology
Antichrist is translated from the combination of two ancientGreek wordsἀντί + Χριστός (anti + Christos). In Greek,Χριστός means "anointed one" and the word Christ derives from it.[10] "Ἀντί" means not only anti in the sense of "against" and "opposite of", but also "in place of".[11][12]
The Antichrist (the figure on the left, with the attributes of a king) byHerrad of Landsberg (about 1180), from the 12th-centuryHortus deliciarum
Whether the New Testament contains an individual Antichrist is disputed. The Greek termantikhristos originates in 1 John.[13] The similar termpseudokhristos ("False Messiah") is also first found in theNew Testament, but never used byJosephus in his accounts of various false messiahs.[14] The concept of anantikhristos is not found in Jewish writings in the period 500 BC–50 AD.[15] However,Bernard McGinn conjectures that the concept may have been generated by the frustration of Jews subject to often-capriciousSeleucid orRoman rule, who found the nebulous Jewish idea of aSatan who is more of an opposing angel of God in theheavenly court insufficiently humanised and personalised to be a satisfactory incarnation of evil and threat.[16][unreliable source?]
The five uses of the term "antichrist" or "antichrists" in theJohannine epistles do not clearly present a single latter-day individual Antichrist. The articles "the deceiver" or "the antichrist" are usually seen as marking out a certain category of persons, rather than an individual.[17]
Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour.
Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
— 1 John 2:22 NRSV (1989)
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world.
— 1 John 4:2–3 NRSV (1989)
Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist!
— 2 John 1:7 NRSV (1989)
Consequently, attention for an individual Antichrist figure focuses on the second chapter of2 Thessalonians.[18][19] However, the term "antichrist" is never used in this passage:
As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God.
— 2 Thessalonians 2:1–4 NRSV (1989)
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
— 2 Thessalonians 2:7–10 NRSV (1989)
The latter of these passages is also the primary scriptural source concerning theKatechon, the "one who now restrains" the coming of the Antichrist. The identity of this person, if it is a person, is mysterious and the subject of debate.[20]
Although the word "antichrist" (Greekantikhristos) is used only in the Epistles of John, the similar word "pseudochrist" (Greekpseudokhristos, meaning "false messiah") is used by Jesus in theGospels:[14]
For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
The second- or first-century bookOdes of Solomon, written by anEssene convert to Christianity, makes mention of the Antichrist in figurative terms, where the redeemer overcomes the monstrous dragon.[21][22][23]
The only one of the late 1st-/early 2nd-centuryApostolic Fathers to use the term isPolycarp (c. 69 – c. 155), who warned thePhilippians that everyone who preached false doctrine was an antichrist.[24] His use of the termAntichrist follows that of the New Testament in not identifying a single personal Antichrist, but a class of people.[25]
Irenaeus (2nd century AD – c. 202) wroteAgainst Heresies to refute the teachings of theGnostics. In Book V ofAgainst Heresies he addresses the figure of the Antichrist referring to him as the "recapitulation ofapostasy and rebellion." He uses "666", theNumber of the Beast from Revelation 13:18, tonumerologically decode several possible names. Some names that he loosely proposed were "Teitan", "Evanthos", "Lateinos" ("Latin" or pertaining to theRoman Empire). In hisexegesis ofDaniel 7:21, he stated that the ten horns of the beast will be the Roman Empire divided into ten kingdoms before the Antichrist's arrival. Additionally, he stated that the antichrist would be of the tribe of Dan, evoking Jeremiah 8:16. However, his readings of the Antichrist were more in broader theological terms rather than within a historical context.[26]
Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 220 AD) held that the Roman Empire was the restraining force written about byPaul in 2 Thessalonians 2:7–8. Thefall of the Western Roman Empire and the disintegration of the ten provinces of the Roman Empire into ten kingdoms were to make way for the Antichrist.
By, "For that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first," he [Paul] means indeed this present empire, "and the man of lawlessness is revealed"—that is to say, the Antichrist, "the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or religion, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed." What obstacles are there but the Roman state, the rebellion of which, by being scattered into the ten kingdoms, will introduce the Antichrist upon its own ruins? "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing."[28]
By the beast, then, coming up out of the earth, he means the kingdom of Antichrist; and by the two horns he means him and the false prophet after him. And in speaking of "horns like a lamb," he means that he will make himself like the Son of God, and set himself forward as king. And the terms, "it spoke like a dragon," mean that he is a deceiver, and not truthful.[29]
Origen (185–254) refutedCelsus' view of the Antichrist. Origen, using scriptural citations fromDaniel, Paul, and theGospels argued:
Where is the absurdity, then, in holding that there exist among men, so to speak, two extremes—the one of virtue, and the other of its opposite; so that the perfection of virtue dwells in the man who realizes the ideal given in Jesus, from whom there flowed to the human race so great a conversion, and healing, and amelioration, while the opposite extreme is in the man who embodies the notion of him that is named Antichrist?... one of these extremes, and the best of the two, should be styled the Son of God, on account of His pre-eminence; and the other, who is diametrically opposite, be termed the son of the wicked demon, and of Satan, and of the devil. And, in the next place, since evil is specially characterized by its diffusion, and attains its greatest height when it simulates the appearance of the good, for that reason are signs, and marvels, and lying miracles found to accompany evil, through the cooperation of its father the devil.[30]
Antichrist in theCatalan Atlas (1375). The label reads: "Antichrist. He will be raised in Goraym of Galilea, and at the age of thirty he will start to preach in Jerusalem; contrary to the truth, he will proclaim that he is Christ, the living son of God. It is said that he will rebuild the Temple."[31]
Cyril of Jerusalem, in the mid-4th century, delivered his15thcatechetical lecture about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, in which he also lectures about the Antichrist, who will reign as the ruler of the world for three and a half years, before he is killed by Jesus Christ at the end of his three-and-a-half-year reign, shortly after which the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will happen.
Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 298–373) wrote thatArius of Alexandria is to be associated with the Antichrist, saying, "And ever since [the Council of Nicaea] has Arius's error been reckoned for a heresy more than ordinary, being known as Christ's foe, and harbinger of [the] Antichrist."[32]
As part of his prediction that the world would end before 400 CE,Martin of Tours (c. 336 - 397) wrote that "There is no doubt that the Antichrist has already been born. Firmly established already in his early years, he will, after reaching maturity, achieve supreme power."
John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) warned against speculating about the Antichrist, saying, "Let us not therefore enquire into these things". He preached that by knowing Paul's description of the Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians, Christians would avoid deception.[33]
Jerome (c. 347–420) warned that those substituting false interpretations for the actual meaning of scripture belonged to the "synagogue of the Antichrist".[34] "He that is not of Christ is of Antichrist", he wrote toPope Damasus I.[35] He believed that "the mystery of lawlessness" written about by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 was already in action when "every one chatters about his views."[36] To Jerome, the power restraining this mystery of lawlessness was the Roman Empire, but as it fell this restraining force was removed. He warned a noble woman ofGaul:
He that letteth is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes, Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus Christ "shall consume with the spirit of his mouth." "Woe unto them," he cries, "that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days." ... Savage tribes in countless numbers have overrun all parts of Gaul. The whole country between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid waste by hordes ofQuadi,Vandals,Sarmatians,Alans,Gepids,Herules,Saxons,Burgundians,Alemanni, and—alas for the commonweal!—evenPannonians.[37]
In hisCommentary on Daniel, Jerome noted, "Let us not follow the opinion of some commentators and suppose him to be either the Devil or some demon, but rather, one of the human race, in whom Satan will wholly take up his residence in bodily form." Instead of rebuilding the Jewish Temple to reign from, Jerome thought the Antichrist sat in God's Temple inasmuch as he made "himself out to be like God." He refutedPorphyry's idea that the "little horn" mentioned in Daniel chapter 7 wasAntiochus IV Epiphanes by noting that the "little horn" is defeated by an eternal, universal ruler, right before the final judgment.[38] Instead, he advocated that the "little horn" was the Antichrist:
We should therefore concur with the traditional interpretation of all the commentators of the Christian Church, that at the end of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there shall be ten kings who will partition the Roman world amongst themselves. Then an insignificant eleventh king will arise, who will overcome three of the ten kings... after they have been slain, the seven other kings also will bow their necks to the victor.[38]
When the Roman empire shall have ceased, then the Antichrist will be openly revealed and will sit in the House of the Lord in Jerusalem. While he is reigning, two very famous men, Elijah and Enoch, will go forth to announce the coming of the Lord. Antichrist will kill them and after three days they will be raised up by the Lord. Then there will be a great persecution, such as has not been before nor shall be thereafter. The Lord will shorten those days for the sake of the elect, and the Antichrist will be slain by the power of God through Michael the Archangel on the Mount of Olives.[39]
Augustine of Hippo (354–430) wrote "it is uncertain in what temple [the Antichrist] shall sit, whether in that ruin of the temple which was built by Solomon, or in the Church."[40]
Gregory of Tours claimed that the antichrist would place his image to be worshipped in the temple in Jerusalem, he would assert himself to be Christ and would call for Christians to undergo circumcision.[41]
Pope Gregory I wrote to theByzantine Emperor Maurice in A.D. 597, concerning the titles of bishops, "I say with confidence that whoever calls or desires to call himself 'universal priest' in self-exaltation of himself is a precursor of the Antichrist."[42]
By the end of the tenth century,Adso of Montier-en-Der, a Benedictine monk, compiled a biography of Antichrist based on a variety of exegetical and Sibylline sources; his account became one of the best-known descriptions of Antichrist in the Middle Ages.[43][44]
De Antichristo libri undecim, published byTomàs Maluenda in 1604, is considered the most complete treatise on the subject.[45]
Arnulf (bishop of Orléans) disagreed with the policies and morals ofPope John XV. He expressed his views while presiding over theCouncil of Reims in A.D. 991. Arnulf accused John XV of being the Antichrist while also using the2 Thessalonians passage about the "man of lawlessness" (or "lawless one"), saying: "Surely, if he is empty of charity and filled with vain knowledge and lifted up, he is Antichrist sitting in God's temple and showing himself as God." This incident is history's earliest record of anyone identifying a pope with the Antichrist (seeChristian Historicism).[46][47][48]
Pope Gregory VII (c. 1015 or 1029–1085), struggled against, in his own words, "a robber of temples, a perjurer against the Holy Roman Church, notorious throughout the whole Roman world for the basest of crimes, namely,Wilbert, plunderer of the holy church ofRavenna, Antichrist, and arch-heretic."[49]
CardinalBenno, on the opposite side of theInvestiture Controversy, wrote long descriptions of abuses committed by Gregory VII, includingnecromancy,torture of a former friend upon a bed of nails, commissioning an attempted assassination, executions without trials, unjustexcommunication, doubting thereal presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and even burning it.[50] Benno held that Gregory VII was "either a member of Antichrist, or Antichrist himself."[51]
Eberhard II von Truchsees,Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg in 1241, denouncedPope Gregory IX at the Council ofRegensburg as "that man of perdition, whom they call Antichrist, who in his extravagant boasting says, I am God, I cannot err."[52] He argued that the ten kingdoms that the Antichrist is involved with[53][54][55] were the "Turks, Greeks, Egyptians, Africans, Spaniards, French, English, Germans, Sicilians, and Italians who now occupy the provinces of Rome."[56] He held that the papacy was the "little horn" of Daniel 7:8:[57]
"A little horn has grown up" with "eyes and mouth speaking great things", which is reducing three of these kingdoms (i.e. Sicily, Italy, and Germany) to subserviency, is persecuting the people of Christ and the saints of God with intolerable opposition, is confounding things human and divine, and is attempting things unutterable, execrable.[56]
From a series of woodcuts (1545) usually referred to as thePapstspotbilder orPapstspottbilder in German orDepictions of the Papacy in English,[58] byLucas Cranach, commissioned byMartin Luther.[59] Title: Kissing the Pope's Feet.[60] German peasants respond to a papal bull ofPope Paul III. Caption reads: "Don't frighten us Pope, with your ban, and don't be such a furious man. Otherwise we shall turn around and show you our rears."[61][62]Passional Christi und Antichristi, byLucas Cranach the Elder, from Luther's 1521Passionary of the Christ and Antichrist.[63] ThePope as the Antichrist, signing and sellingindulgences.
Among the others who interpreted the biblicalprophecy historically there were manyChurch Fathers;Justin Martyr wrote about the Antichrist: "He Whom Daniel foretells would have dominion for a time and times and a half, is even now at the door".[68]Irenaeus wrote inAgainst Heresies about the coming of the Antichrist: "This Antichrist shall ... devastate all things ... But then, the Lord will come from Heaven on the clouds ... for the righteous".[69]Tertullian looking to the Antichrist wrote: "He is to sit in the temple of God, and boast himself as being god. In our view, he is Antichrist as taught us in both the ancient and the new prophecies; and especially by theApostle John, who says that 'already many false-prophets are gone out into the world' as the fore-runners of Antichrist".[70]Hippolytus of Rome in hisTreatise on Christ and Antichrist wrote: "As Daniel also says (in the words) 'I considered the Beast, and look! There were ten horns behind it—among which shall rise another (horn), an offshoot, and shall pluck up by the roots the three (that were) before it.' And under this, was signified none other than Antichrist."[71][72]Athanasius of Alexandria clearly hold to the historical view in his many writings; inThe Deposition of Arius, he wrote: "I addressed the letter to Arius and his fellows, exhorting them to renounce his impiety.... There have gone forth in this diocese at this time certain lawless men—enemies of Christ—teaching an apostasy which one may justly suspect and designate as a forerunner of Antichrist".[73]Jerome wrote: "Says the apostle [Paul in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians], 'Unless the Roman Empire should first be desolated, and antichrist proceed, Christ will not come.'"[74] He also identifies thelittle horn ofDaniel 7:8 and7:24–25 which "He shall speak as if he were God."[75]
SomeFranciscans had considered the EmperorFrederick II a positive Antichrist who would purify the Catholic Church from opulence, riches and clergy.[76]
Historicist interpretations of Book of Revelation usually included the identification of one or more of the following:
The identification of the Pope with the Antichrist was so ingrained in theReformation Era, that Luther himself stated it repeatedly:
"This teaching [of the supremacy of the pope] shows forcefully that the Pope is the very Antichrist, who has exalted himself above, and opposed himself against Christ, because he will not permit Christians to be saved without his power, which, nevertheless, is nothing, and is neither ordained nor commanded by God".[81]
and,
"nothing else than the kingdom of Babylon and of the very Antichrist. For who is the man of sin and theson of perdition, but he who by his teaching and his ordinances increases the sin and perdition of souls in the church; while he yet sits in the church as if he were God? All these conditions have now for many ages been fulfilled by the papal tyranny."[82]
"Though it be admitted that Rome was once the mother of all Churches, yet from the time when it began to be the seat of Antichrist it has ceased to be what it was before. Some persons think us too severe and censorious when we call the Roman Pontiff Antichrist. But those who are of this opinion do not consider that they bring the same charge of presumption against Paul himself, after whom we speak and whose language we adopt ... I shall briefly show that (Paul's words in II Thess. 2) are not capable of any other interpretation than that which applies them to the Papacy."[83]
"Yea, to speak it in plain words; lest that we submit ourselves to Satan, thinking that we submit ourselves to Jesus Christ, for, as for your Roman kirk [church], as it is now corrupted, and the authority thereof, whereon stands the hope of your victory, I no more doubt but that it is thesynagogue of Satan, and the head thereof, called the pope, to be that man of sin, of whom the apostle speaks."[84]
"Whereof it followeth Rome to be the seat of Antichrist, and the pope to be very antichrist himself. I could prove the same by many other scriptures, old writers, and strong reasons."[85]
John Wesley, speaking of the identity given in the Bible of the Antichrist, wrote:
"In many respects, the Pope has an indisputable claim to those titles. He is, in an emphatical sense, the man of sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too, properly styled, the son of perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, both of his opposers and followers, destroyed innumerable souls, and will himself perish everlastingly. He it is that opposeth himself to the emperor, once his rightful sovereign; and that exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped—Commanding angels, and putting kings under his feet, both of whom are called gods in scripture; claiming the highest power, the highest honour; suffering himself, not once only, to be styled God or vice-God. Indeed no less is implied in his ordinary title, "Most Holy Lord," or, "Most Holy Father." So that he sitteth—Enthroned. In the temple of God—Mentioned Rev. xi, 1. Declaring himself that he is God—Claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone."[86]
"the pretendedVicar of Christ on earth, who sits as God over the Temple of God, exalting himself not only above all that is called God, but over the souls and consciences of all his vassals, yea over the Spirit of Christ, over the Holy Spirit, yea, and God himself ... speaking against the God of heaven, thinking to change times and laws; but he is the Son of Perdition."[87]
The identification of the Roman Catholic Church as the apostate power written of in the Bible as the Antichrist became evident to many as the Reformation began, includingJohn Wycliffe, who was well known throughout Europe for his opposition to thedoctrine and practices of the Catholic Church, which he believed had clearly deviated from the original teachings of the early Church and to be contrary to the Bible. Wycliffe himself tells (Sermones, III. 199) how he concluded that there was a great contrast between what the Church was and what it ought to be, and saw the necessity for reform. Along with John Hus, they had started the inclination toward ecclesiastical reforms of the Catholic Church.
When the Swiss ReformerHuldrych Zwingli became the pastor of theGrossmünster inZurich (1518) he began to preach ideas on reforming the Catholic Church. Zwingli, who was a Catholic priest before he became a Reformer, often referred to the Pope as the Antichrist. He wrote: "I know that in it works the might and power of the Devil, that is, of the Antichrist".[88]
The English ReformerWilliam Tyndale held that while the Roman Catholic realms of that age were the empire of Antichrist, any religious organization that distorted the doctrine of the Old and New Testaments also showed the work of Antichrist. In his treatiseThe Parable of the Wicked Mammon, he expressly rejected the established Church teaching that looked to the future for an Antichrist to rise up, and he taught that Antichrist is a present spiritual force that will be with us until the end of the age under different religious disguises from time to time.[89] Tyndale's translation of 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, concerning the "Man of Lawlessness" reflected his understanding, but was significantly amended by later revisers,[90] including theKing James Bible committee, which followed theVulgate more closely.
In 1988Ian Paisley,Evangelical minister and founder of theFree Presbyterian Church of Ulster, made headlines in an infamous manner by accusingPope John Paul II as the Antichrist during one of the pope's speeches before the European Parliament, which at the time Paisley was member. His accusation, and the reactions of both Pope John Paul II and other members of the European Parliament, was recorded on video.[91][92]
There are two principles that mark the papacy as the Antichrist. One is thatthe pope takes to himself the right to rule the church that belongs only to Christ. He can make laws forbidding the marriage of priests, eating or not eating meat on Friday, birth control, divorce and remarriage, even where there are not such laws in the Bible. The second is that he teaches that salvation is not by faith alone but by faith and works. The present pope upholds and practices these principles. This marks his rule asantichristian rule in the church. All popes hold the same office over the church and promote the same antichristian belief so they all are part of the reign of the Antichrist. The Bible does not present the Antichrist as one man for one short time, but as an office held by a man through successive generations. It is a title like King of England.[94]
In theCounter-Reformation, the views ofPreterism andFuturism were advanced by Catholic Jesuits beginning in the 16th century in response to the identification of the Papacy as Antichrist. These were rival methods of prophetic interpretation: the futurist and the preterist systems both are in conflict with the historicist method of interpretation.
Historically, preterists and non-preterists have agreed that the JesuitLuis de Alcasar (1554–1613) wrote the first systematic preterist exposition of prophecy—Vestigatio arcani sensus in Apocalypsi (published in 1614)—during theCounter-Reformation.
Christian views
Roman Catholicism
From theFifth Council of the Lateran, the Catholic Church teaches that priests may not "preach or declare a fixed time for...the coming of antichrist..."[102] The church also teaches that it must undergo trials before theSecond Coming,[103] and that the church's ultimate trial will be the mystery of iniquity.[104] In Judaism, iniquity is a sin done out of moral failing.[105] The mystery of iniquity, according to the church, will be a religious deception: Christians receiving alleged solutions to their problems at the cost ofapostasy.[104] The supreme religious deception, according to the church, will be the Antichrist'smessianism: mankind glorifying himself rather than God and Jesus.[104] The church teaches that this supreme deception is committed by people who claim to fulfill Israel'smessianic hopes (world peace, immortality, end of evil and suffering, no more poverty or pollution, etc.), such asmillenarianism and secular messianicism.[104]
Popes
Pope Pius IX in the encyclicalQuartus Supra, quotingCyprian, said Satan disguises the Antichrist with the title of Christ.[106]Pope Pius X in the encyclicalE Supremi said that the distinguishing mark of the Antichrist is claiming to be God and taking his place.[107]Pope Pius XI in the encyclicalDivini Redemptoris comparedCommunism to the pseudo-messianism of the Antichrist.[108]Pope John Paul II, in his 18 August 1985 address on his apostolic journey to Africa, said 1 John 4:3 ("Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of antichrist") evokes the danger of theology divorced from holiness and theological culture divorced from serving Christ.[109]Pope Benedict XVI said in the Sunday Angelus of 11 March 2012 that violence is the tool of the Antichrist.[110] In the General Audience of 12 November 2008, Benedict XVI said Christian tradition had come to identify the son of perdition as the Antichrist.[111]Pope Francis, in his morning meditation of 2 February 2014, said that Christian faith is not an ideology, but that "theApostle James says that ideologues of the faith are the Antichrist."[112] In his morning meditation of 19 September 2014, Francis said the Antichrist must come before the final resurrection.[113] In his morning meditation of 7 January 2016, he said the evil spirit spoken of in 1 John 4:6 is the Antichrist.[114] In his morning meditation on 11 November 2016, Francis said whoever says the criteria of Christian love is not the Incarnation is the Antichrist.[115]
Speculation
TheProphecy of the Popes (identified as a 16th-century forgery by historians[116]) claims Rome will be destroyed during the pontificate of the last Pope, implying a connection to the Antichrist.
The Antichrist will not be so called; otherwise he would have no followers... he will come disguised as the Great Humanitarian; he will talk peace, prosperity and plenty not as means to lead us to God, but as ends in themselves... He will tempt Christians with the same three temptations with which he tempted Christ... He will have one great secret which he will tell to no one: he will not believe in God. Because his religion will be brotherhood without the fatherhood of God, he will deceive even the elect. He will set up a counterchurch... It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the Antichrist that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which John Paul II said is a "sure norm for teaching the faith," puts the doctrine on the Antichrist under a subsection entitled "The Church's Ultimate Trial," equating it with "the supreme religious deception" and "pseudo-messianism" of human "self-glorification":
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. (CCC 675)
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, especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism. (CCC 676)
Eastern Orthodox
Throughout history, various ecclesiastics of the Eastern Orthodox Church have identified the office of the Roman Catholic papacy with the antichrist.[119]Russian Orthodox MetropolitanAnthony Khrapovitsky, in explaining the necessity of rebaptism for Roman Catholics, Protestants andNestorians, declared:[119]
It is clear that by this regulation the Church does not recognize in heretics and schismatics either the priesthood or the other mysteries, and considers them subject to ecclesiastical baptism in the nature of things ... the Church by receiving Latins into communion in the same way as Nestorians (Council of Trullo, 95) does not make any distinction between old heresies and the Latin one. I think that the Latins are considerably further from the Church and they are worse than Monophysites and Monophelites, because they created a second Christ, i.e., the antichrist in the person of the Pope, who is supposedly infallible...[119]
In aChristmas 2018 interview on Russian state television,Patriarch Kirill of Moscow warned that "The Antichrist is the person that will be at the head of the World Wide Web controlling all of humanity. That means that the structure itself poses a danger. There shouldn't be a single centre, at least not in the foreseeable future, if we don't want to bring on the apocalypse." He exhorted listeners not to "fall into slavery to what's in your hands"..."You should remain free inside and not fall under any addiction, not to alcohol, not to narcotics, not to gadgets."[120]
Old Believers
AfterPatriarch Nikon of Moscow reformed theRussian Orthodox Church during the second half of the 17th century, a large number ofOld Believers held thatPeter the Great, theTsar of theRussian Empire until his death in 1725, was the Antichrist because of his treatment of the Orthodox Church, namely subordinating the church to the state, requiring clergymen to conform to the standards of all Russian civilians (shaved beards, being fluent in French), and requiring them to pay state taxes.[121]
There are two conceptions of the Antichrist among the Old Believers: the spiritual Antichrist and the sensual Antichrist. The sensual means a particular person who will rule at the end of times for literal 3.5 years. The priested Old believers mostly adhere to this conception. The spiritual Antichrist is said to rule in the heretical church and state as a spirit through many people – since the year 1000 in the West and since 1666 in Russia. The true priesthood is considered to be lacking in the world due to 'abomination of desolation', which is synonymous with the rule of Antichrist. Most non-priested Old believers adhere to this conception (except the so called "Chasovennye").[122]
Age of Enlightenment
Bernard McGinn noted that complete denial of the Antichrist was rare until theAge of Enlightenment. Following frequent use of "Antichrist" laden rhetoric during religious controversies in the 17th century, the use of the concept declined during the 18th century due to the rule ofenlightened absolutists, who as European rulers of the time wielded significant influence over official state churches. These efforts[further explanation needed] to cleanse Christianity of "legendary" or "folk" accretions effectively removed the Antichrist from discussion in mainstream Western churches.[16]
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Inthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the "Antichrist" is anyone or anything that counterfeits the true gospel orplan of salvation and that openly or secretly is set up in opposition to Christ. The great antichrist isLucifer, but he has many assistants[123] both as spirit beings and as mortals."[124]Latter-day Saints use the New Testament scriptures: 1 John 2:18, 22; 1 John 4:3–6; 2 John 1:7, and theBook of Mormon:Jacob 7:1–23,Alma 1:2–16, Alma 30:6–60, in theirexegesis or interpretation of the Antichrist.
Seventh-day Adventists understand the 1260 years as lasting AD 538 to 1798 as the (supposed) duration of the papacy's domination over Rome.[127][128] This period is seen as starting from one of thedefeats of the Ostrogoths by the generalBelisarius and as ending with the successes of French generalNapoleon Bonaparte, specifically, with the capture ofPope Pius VI by generalLouis Alexandre Berthier in 1798.
Like manyReformation-era Protestant leaders, the Adventist pioneerEllen G. White (1827–1915) spoke of theCatholic Church as a fallen church in preparation for its nefarious eschatological role as the antagonist against God's true church; she saw the pope as the Antichrist. Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther, John Knox, John Calvin, William Tyndale and others held similar beliefs about the Catholic Church and the papacy when they broke away from the Catholic Church during the Reformation.[129]
Ellen White writes,
His word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.[130]
Seventh-day Adventists view the length of time the apostate church's unbridled power was permitted to rule as shown in Daniel 7:25: "The little horn would rule a time and times and half a time" – or 1,260 years. They regard papal rule as supreme in Europe from 538 (when the Arian Ostrogoths retreated from Rome into temporary oblivion) until 1798 (when the French generalLouis-Alexandre Berthier tookPope Pius VI captive) – a period of 1,260 years[131] – including the 67 years of theAvignon Captivity (1309–1376).
Other Christian interpretations
Martin Wight
The devout Christian and political theoristMartin Wight, writing immediately afterWorld War II, favoured the revival of the Antichrist doctrine not as a person, but as a recurrent situation featuring "demonic concentrations of power."[132]
The Antichrist has been equated with the "man of lawlessness" or "lawless one" of 2 Thessalonians 2:3, though commentaries on the identity of the "man of lawlessness" greatly vary.[133] The "man of lawlessness" has been identified withCaligula,[134] Nero,[135] and the end times Antichrist. Some scholars believe that the passage contains no genuine prediction, but represents a speculation of the apostle's own, based on contemporary ideas of the Antichrist.[134]
As "being in league with other figures"
Several Americanevangelical andfundamentalist theologians, includingCyrus Scofield, have identified the Antichrist as being in league with (or the same as) several figures in the Book of Revelation including the Dragon (orSerpent), the Beast, the False Prophet, and the Whore of Babylon.[136]
As Satan
Bernard McGinn described multiple traditions detailing the relationship between the Antichrist andSatan. In the dualist approach, Satan will become incarnate in the Antichrist, just asGod became incarnate in Jesus. However, inorthodox Christian thought, this view was problematic because it was too similar to Christ's incarnation and suggesteddualism. Instead, the "indwelling" view became more accepted. It stipulates that the Antichrist is a human figure inhabited by Satan, since the latter's power is not to be seen as equivalent to God's.[16]Luca Signorelli's fresco,The Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist, depicts the indwelling view. Satan whispers in the ear of this Christlike figure and his left arm is slipped through the Antichrist's garment as if he is manipulating him.
An anti-Messiah figure known asArmilus, said to be the offspring of Satan and a statue, appears in some schools ofJewish eschatology, such as the 7th century CESefer Zerubbabel and 11th century CEMidrash Vayosha. He is stated to be the God and Messiah of the Christians.[137] He is described as "a monstrosity, bald-headed, with one large and one small eye, deaf in the right ear and maimed in the right arm, while the left arm is two and one-half ells long." Being considered similar to, or even identical withGog,[137] his believed destruction by a "Messiah ben Joseph" (Messiah, of the tribe of Joseph) symbolizes the ultimate victory of the Jewish Messiah in theMessianic Age.[137]
Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (Arabic:المسيح الدجّال,romanized: Al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl,lit. 'Deceitful Messiah'), or in short Ad-Dajjal (الدجّال), is an evil figure inIslamic eschatology, who will appear before the coming of theMahdi.[138] The Dajjal is never mentioned in theQuran but he is mentioned and described in theḥadīth literature.[138] The Dajjal is described as one eyed (blind in the right eye) and the blind eye looks like a bulging out grape.[139] Like in Christianity, the Dajjal is said to emerge out in the east, although the specific location varies among the various sources.[140] He will imitate the miracles performed byʿĪsā (Jesus), such as healing the sick and raising the dead, the latter done with the aid of demons (Shayatin). It is claimed that he will deceive many people, such as magicians, half-castes, andJews.[140] According to theIslamic eschatological narrative, the events related to the final battle before theDay of Judgment will proceed in the following order:
11Hadith also report on the "Greater Signs" of the end, which include the appearance of theAntichrist (Dajjal) and the reappearance of the prophetJesus to join in battle with him atDabbiq inSyria, as well as the arrival of the Mahdi, the "guided one." As anotherhadith attributed toAlī ibn Abī Talib puts it, "Most of the Dajjal's followers areJews andchildren of fornication; God will kill him in Syria, at a pass called the Pass of Afiq, after three hours are gone from the day, at the hand of Jesus".[141]
Imam Mahdi (Arabic:ٱلْمَهْدِيّ,romanized: al-Mahdī, meaning "the rightly guided one") is the redeemer according to Islam.[142] Just like the Dajjal,[138] the Mahdi is never mentioned in the Quran but his description can be found in theḥadīth literature;[142] according to the Islamic eschatological narrative, he will appear on Earth before theDay of Judgment.[138][141][143][144] At the time of theSecond Coming of Christ,[145] the prophet ʿĪsā shall return to defeat and kill al-Masih ad-Dajjal.[138][141][146] Muslims believe that both ʿĪsā and the Mahdi will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice, and tyranny, ensuring peace and tranquility.[147] Eventually, the Dajjal will be killed by theʿĪsā at the gate ofLud, who upon seeing Dajjal will cause him to slowly dissolve (like salt in water).[140]
Ahmadiyya
Prophecies concerning the emergence of the Antichrist (Al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl) are interpreted inAhmadiyya teachings as designating a specific group of nations centred upon a false theology (or Christology) instead of an individual, with the reference to the Antichrist as an individual indicating its unity as a class or system rather than its personal individuality. As such, Ahmadis identify the Antichrist collectively with the missionary expansion and colonial dominance ofEuropean Christianity throughout the world that was propelled by theIndustrial Revolution.[148][149][150]Mirza Ghulam Ahmad wrote extensively on this topic, identifying the Antichrist principally withcolonial missionaries who, according to him, were to be countered through argumentation rather than by physical warfare and whose power and influence was to gradually disintegrate, ultimately allowing for the recognition and worship of God along Islamic ideals to prevail throughout the world in a period similar to the period of time it took for nascent Christianity to rise through the Roman Empire.[151] The teaching that Jesus was a mortal man who survived crucifixion anddied a natural death, as propounded by Ghulam Ahmad, has been seen by some scholars in this regard as a move to neutralise Christian soteriologies of Jesus and to project the superior rationality of Islam.[152][153][154][155]
Baháʼí Faith
The Antichrist is considered to subvert the religion of God from the inner reality of man as'Abdu'l-Baha narrates: "Christ was a divine Center of unity and love. Whenever discord prevails instead of unity, wherever hatred and antagonism take the place of love and spiritual fellowship, Antichrist reigns instead of Christ."[156]
In a document originally released only to high-ranking followers, Scientology founderL. Ron Hubbard referred to himself as the Antichrist, who would defend humanity against analien invasion (for which he believed theSecond Coming of Jesus was a metaphor). Many Scientologists who read the document for the first time found its contents highly upsetting. It was subsequently revised after Hubbard's death, with the new version lacking any references to Hubbard as the Antichrist.
In February 1900, the Christian Russian philosopher and mysticVladimir Solovyov published the apocalypticA Short Tale of the Antichrist, showing his prophetic vision about the oncoming 20th century and the end of the human history.[157][158]
The enthronement of the Antichrist is associated withconspiracy theories, particularly a Satanic plot to destroy the Christian faith inSt. Nicholas.[159]
Antichrist is the title of a song released by British alternative bandThe 1975 released in 2012 on theFacedown EP.
^Strong, James (1890)."G5580 – pseudochristos".Strong's Concordance.Blue Letter Bible. Retrieved27 December 2021.ψευδόχριστοςpseudóchristos, psyoo-dokh'-ris-tos; [...] a spurious Messiah:—false Christ.ψευδόχριστος,ψευδοχριστου,ὁ (ψευδής andχριστός), a false Christ (or Messiah) (one who falsely lays claim to the name and office of the Messiah): Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22.
^Chrysostom, John."Homily 4 on Second Thessalonians". Translated by John A. Broadus. FromNicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 13. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, New York: Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.
^See theLexicon to Pindar. Related terms as noted by theCatholic Encyclopedia include: antibasileus – a king who fills aninterregnum; antistrategos – apropraetor; anthoupatos – aproconsul; antitheos – inHomer, one resembling a god in power and beauty (in other works it stands for a hostile god).
^Horbury, William (2003).Messianism Among Jews and Christians: Biblical and Historical Studies. London, England:A&C Black. p. 333.ISBN978-0567088086.Against this background it can be seen that the technical Greek termantichristos, although it is known only from Christian …Antichristos first occurs in the Johannine epistles, and it is not used by other Greek Jewish or early Christian writings ...
^abMauser, Ulrich (1992).The Gospel of Peace: A Scriptural Message for Today's World. p. 70.From Josephus's writings we collect, first of all, without much critical comment, some statements showing the close affinity of the … nowhere in his extensive accounts of the Jewish–Roman war uses the word "pseudo-Christ" (pseudochristos).
^Yarbrough, Robert (2008).1–3 John. Ada, Michigan:Baker Academic. p. 344.ISBN978-0801026874.The articles in front of "deceiver" (ὁ πλάνος,ho planos) and "antichrist" (ὁ ἀντίχριστος,ho antikhristos) should be seen as marking out a certain category of persons (Wallace 1996: 227–230). This is a common Johannine usage (1 John 2:23)
^Weima, Jeffrey Alan David;Porter, Stanley E. (1998).Annotated Bibliography of 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Leiden, Netherlands:Brill Publishers. p. 263.(2) Does the New Testament support the notion of an individual Antichrist in whom all the anti-Christian strife of all ages will be concentrated? 2 Thess 2 answers the second question in the affirmative: an individual Antichrist will bring evil to its ...
^Trebilco, Paul (2004).The Early Christians In Ephesus From Paul To Ignatius. Leiden, Netherlands:William B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 268.ISBN978-0802807694.Finally, Hartog notes that the Johannine Letters are the only NT [New Testament] writings to use the term "antichrist" (1 Jn 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 Jn 7) and Polycarp is also the only Apostolic Father to use the term. He notes "Thus, the tests of 'density' and 'singularity' ...
^Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1979).International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 140.ISBN978-0802837813.The fullest exposition of the ideas associated with the antichrist in the early decades of Christian history is to be found in the Ascension of Isaiah. In this we are told that "Beliar" (Belial) would enter into "the matricide king" (Nero), who would work great wonders and do much evil.
^Emmerson, Richard Kenneth (1981). "The Life and Deeds of Antichrist".Antichrist in the Middle Ages. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press. pp. 74–107.
^Emerson, Richard Kenneth (1979). "Antichrist as Anti-Saint: The Significance of Abbot Adso'sLibellus de Antichristo".American Benedictine Review.30 (2):175–190.
^McGinn, Bernard (1988). "Portraying Antichrist in the Middle Ages". In Werner Verbeke; D. Verhelst; Andries Welkenhuysen (eds.).The Use and Abuse of Eschatology in the Middle Ages. Leuven: Leuven University Press. p. 1.ISBN978-9061862598.[...] Thomas Malvenda, the indefatigable Dominican whose massiveDe Antichristo published in 1604 is still the most complete treatment of the subject.
^Roland H. Bainton, The Reformation of the SixteenthCentury (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1952), 43, 44.
^Froom 1948, pp. 244–245: "The reformers were unanimous in its acceptance. And it was this interpretation of prophecy that lent emphasis to their reformatory action. It led them to protest against Rome with extraordinary strength and undaunted courage. [...] This was the rallying point and the battle cry that made the Reformation unconquerable."
^Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 32, in Ante-Nic. Fath. I:210.
^Against Heresies, III: 7:2, in Ante-Nic. Fath. Ib., V:30:3–4.
^Against Marcion, V:16, in Ante-Nic. Fath. III:463f.
^Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, chs. 25 to 63, in Ante-Nic. Fath. V:209–218.
^Fragments from Commentaries, 2:1–3, in Ante-Nic. Fath. V:178.
^The Deposition of Arius, paras. 2 & 4, in Nic. & Post-Nic. Fath., 2nd Ser., IV:69.
^Standish, Colin D.; Standish, Russell R. (November 1988).The Antichrist is here. Hartland Publications. p. 32.ISBN0-923309-22-5.
^Clarke, Adam (1997).Commentary on the Old Testament. Vol. 4. Rapidan, Virginia: World Publishing. p. 596.ISBN978-0529106346.
^Tyndale, William,Parable of the Wicked Mammon, c. 1526, (facsimile copy of later printing, no ISBN, Benediction Classics, 2008) at pp. 4–5.
^"Tyndale's Doctrine of Antichrist and His Translation of 2 Thessalonians 2", R. Davis,New Matthew Bible Project; a shorter version of this article was also published in the Tyndale Society Journal No. 36, Spring 2009, under the titleTyndale, the Church, and the Doctrine of Antichrist).
^ab"Doctrinal Statements: Antichrist".Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. 2018. RetrievedAugust 17, 2018.We reject the idea that the teaching that the Papacy is the Antichrist rests on a merely human interpretation of history or is an open question. We hold rather that this teaching rests on the revelation of God in Scripture which finds its fulfillment in history. The Holy Spirit reveals this fulfillment to the eyes of faith (cf. The Abiding Word, Vol. 2, p. 764). Since Scripture teaches that the Antichrist would be revealed and gives the marks by which the Antichrist is to be recognized (2 Th 2:6, 8), and since this prophecy has been clearly fulfilled in the history and development of the Roman Papacy, it is Scripture which reveals that the Papacy is the Antichrist.
^Bacchiocchi, Samuele (July 6, 2002),"Islam and The Papacy in Prophecy",Endtime Issues (86), Berrien Springs, Michigan: Biblical perspectives, archived fromthe original on August 22, 2013, retrievedAugust 16, 2018.
^Paulien, Jon; Bacchiocchi, Samuele (October 17, 2002),"September 11 and God's Mysterious Mercy",End Time Issues (90), Berrien Springs, Michigan: Biblical perspectives, archived fromthe original on April 5, 2018, retrievedAugust 16, 2018.
^PapalEncyclicals: Lateran Council V, Session 11 They are in no way to presume to preach or declare a fixed time for future evils, the coming of antichrist or the precise day of judgment; for Truth says, it is not for them to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. Let it be known that those who have hitherto dared to declare such things are liars, and that because of them not a little authority has been taken away from those who preach the truth .
^Levillain, Philippe (2002).The Papacy: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. Psychology Press. p. 832.ISBN978-0415922302. RetrievedJuly 17, 2015.[Pope John II] received from Justinian a letter dated June 6, 533 [...]. In his letter, Justinian proclaimed that the Holy See is the leader of all the holy churches and confirmed the need for all churches to join together with Rome [...].
^Schink, W. F. (1991). "The Scriptural Doctrine of the Antichrist". In Lange, Lyle; Albrecht, Jerome G. (eds.).Our Great Heritage: Vol. 3. Milwaukee, Wisconsin:Northwestern Publishing House. p. 572.ISBN978-0810003798.
^Yohanan Friedmann.Prophecy Continuous: Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and its Medieval Background Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 114. "He [Ghulam Ahmad] realized the centrality of the crucifixion and of the doctrine of vicarious atonement in the Christian dogma, and understood that his attack on these two was an attack on the innermost core of Christianity "
^Kambiz GhaneaBassiri.A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 208. "Ghulam Ahmad denied the historicity of Jesus' crucifixion and claimed that Jesus had fled to India where he died a natural death in Kashmir. In this way, he sought to neutralize Christian soteriologies of Christ and to demonstrate the superior rationality of Islam."
^Valentine, Simon (2008).Islam and the Ahmadiyya jamaʻat: history, belief, practice. Columbia University Press. p. 21.ISBN978-0-231-70094-8. "Proclaiming himself as reformer of Islam, and wanting to undermine the validity of Christianity, Ahmad went for the theological jugular, the foundational teachings of the Christian faith. 'The death of Jesus Christ' explained one of Ahmad's biographers 'was to be the death-knell of the Christian onslaught against Islam'. As Ahmad argued, the idea of Jesus dying in old age, rather than death on a cross, as taught by the gospel writers, 'invalidates the divinity of Jesus and the doctrine of Atonement'."
Froom, Le Roy Edwin (1948).Pre-Reformation and Reformation Restoration, and Second Departure(PDF). The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers: The Historical Development of Prophetic Interpretation. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: The Review and Herald Publishing Association.
Jerome (1893) [347–420]."Letter to Pope Damasus". InSchaff, Philip (ed.).A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. 2nd series. Vol. VI.Henry Wace. New York: The Christian Literature Company. p. 19. RetrievedJune 7, 2010.
Jerome (1893b) [347–420]."The Dialogue against the Luciferians". In Schaff, Philip (ed.).A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. 2nd series. Vol. VI. Henry Wace. New York: The Christian Literature Company. p. 334. RetrievedJune 7, 2010.
Jerome (1893c) [347–420]."Against the Pelagians, Book I". In Schaff, Philip (ed.).A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. 2nd series. Vol. VI. Henry Wace. New York: The Christian Literature Company. p. 449. RetrievedJune 7, 2010.
Jerome (1893d) [347–420]."Letter to Ageruchia". In Schaff, Philip (ed.).A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. 2nd series. Vol. VI. Henry Wace. New York: The Christian Literature Company. pp. 236–237. RetrievedJune 8, 2010.
Origen (1872) [185–254]."Writings of Origen, vol 2". In Roberts, Rev. Alexander (ed.).Ante-Nicene Christian Library [Writings of the Fathers]. Vol. XXIII. James Donaldson. Edinburgh:T&T Clark. pp. 385–388. RetrievedJune 6, 2010.
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