Antichrist
From the Greek 'antichristos' (adversary of Christ), it is the name of the demon who is supposed to precede the Second Coming of Christ, as mentioned in Revelation, 13 (also referred to as "the second Beast"). The Antichrist is also mentioned in the Bible in the First and Second Epistles of John, where the term is applied to anyone who in the "last time" (see 1 John 2:18) denies that Jesus is the Christ, that is to say, the Anointed One.
The Antichrist is the universal enemy of mankind, sent to scourge the world for its wickedness. He is regarded as a tyrant, impious and excessively cruel, the arch enemy of Christ, and the last ruler of the earth. In the early Christian church the term was applied to the Roman Empire, and during the Reformation the Papacy became identified by Protestants with the Antichrist.
The Antichrist will have a great number of forerunners, and will appear just before the end of the world. According to medieval legends, he is to be born from a sexual union between a virgin girl and a demon. This was also the belief of St. Jerome. The magician Merlin was fabled to have been born into the world in this manner, and destined to become the Antichrist, but his destiny was allegedly changed when a priest baptized him as an infant. Other Fathers of the Church, such as St. Ireneus, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, thought that the Antichrist would be a mortal man conceived in the same way as all others, differing from them only in a malice and an impiety more worthy of a demon than of a man. Past identifications of the Antichrist included the Roman empire, the emperor Nero, the Papacy, Napoleon, and Hitler, amongst many.
Today some claim, like the medieval folks, that the Antichrist will be a man begotten by a demon; others a demon in the flesh, visible and fantastical, or an incarnate demon. The most accepted thinking is that he will be an common man born in the ordinary way, but more wicked than other men, a kind of demon incarnate.
Many today equate the Antichrist with events in the Middle East and Israel, and think that the so called Great Tribulation will be World War III or the Final Middle East Conflict, fought by the "righteous" nations — assisting Israel in their struggle opposing the Antichrist — against a charismatic but evil non-Christian leader. Only time will tell for sure. Nations, righteous or not, are bound to resist the "beast" and wage war against what they perceive as a threat to their way of life.
See Apocalypse, Heptameron, Demonology, Demonomancy, Grimoires,, Witchcraft, Agrippa, Diviner, Divination, Wizard, Pythagoras, Witch, Warlock, Alchemy, Paracelsus, Devil, Kabbalism, Numerology, Alchemy, Magic, Satan, Casting Black Magic Spells, Commanding Spirits, The Tarot Store, Divination & Scrying Tools and Supplies, and The Pyramid Collection.
Sources: (1) Dictionary of the Occult, Caxton Publishing; (2) Spence, Lewis, An Encyclopedia of Occultism, Carol Publishing Group; (3) Alexander, J.C., The Kingdom of the Beast and the End of the World: The Truth About the End, ACW Press.
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