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Just Who or What Is the

"Antichrist"?

Some say the Bible plainly teaches that the Antichrist will not be
revealed until after the rapture. Others say the Bible plainly
teaches that the Antichrist will be revealed before the rapture
takes place. Meanwhile, many spend their time speculating on
whom the Antichrist will be! Is he Bill Clinton? England's Prince
Charles? How about Juan Carlos of Spain? Saddam Hussein?
Take your pick! With a careful study of the scriptures you can
know the TRUTH about this important subject!

Ralph Woodrow
John D. Keyser

Who hasn't heard of the term "Antichrist" these days -- it gets a lot of publicity on religious
radio and TV programs, and in religious tracts and prophetic books. Some of these books are sen-
sational and scary, as are numerous motion pictures dealing with this theme. The common concep-
tion is that the "Antichrist" will be an atheistic politician who will explode on to the world scene
in the near future with vast control of air power -- including rockets, bombs, computers, spy satel-
lites -- and cause all manner of hell to break out on this earth.

As far back as World War I, many believed that the German Kaiser would be the dreaded
man of sin -- the Antichrist. A few years later it was Joseph Stalin. When the New Deal was insti-
tuted in the Unites States, some thought that Franklin Roosevelt was at least the forerunner of Anti-
christ. Others believed Hitler or Mussolini were likely candidates. Herbert W. Armstrong, in his
early writings, certainly believed that Mussolini was a more than likely the Antichrist. A book
published in 1940 echoed Armstrong's theory by asking the question: "Is Mussolini the Antichrist?"
and the author , John R. Rice, answered: "He may be. I know of no reason why he should not fit the
description of this terrible man of sin...He is evidently an atheist" (World-wide War and the Bi-
ble, p. 212). Another writer even claimed that Mussolini had fulfilled forty-nine of the prophecies
concerning the Antichrist!

Others have thought the Antichrist will be Nimrod, Nero, or a Roman Emperor resurrected
from the dead. Some believe it will be Judas Iscariot. After comparing John 17:12 with 2 Thessa-
lonians 2:3, M.R. De Haan proclaimed: "Judas, then, will be the Antichrist" (Thirty-five Simple
Studies on the Major Themes in Revelation, p. 184). Author Dan Gilbert put it this way: "Anti-
christ will be Judas come to earth again!" (Who Will be the Antichrist? p. 21).

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