Biblical scholars: Could you tell me which chapter of Revelation speaks

[Deja Q]

of being vigilant to the antichrist, or how people would be falling for a false prophet?

Or is my mind a bit fuzzy today?

Thanks!

[Sporadicus]

1. Revelation Doesn't Refer to the Antichrist

References to the antichrist or antichrists are found only in the books of I and II John.

[AntiCoup2K4]

4. Uh, then who would the "Beast" be in Revelation 13?

The Beast in this chapter is clearly the all powerful world ruler who commands worship of himself under penalty of death. If that doesn't fit the description of Antichrist, then I don't know who does. And this person later winds up in the Lake of Fire with the False Prophet and Satan himself.

[Sporadicus]

7. Technically Not One & the Same

Naturally, the beast is AN antichrist. But as the apostle John points out, the antichrists were already active in his day.
The beast is to yet to come, but the antichrist is already here. The word 'antichrist' is translated from the Greek word 'antichristos,' and it means literally 'against Christ' or 'instead of Christ.'

[mcscajun]

2. And the references to false prophets are likewise in the New Testament

in the books before Revelation

Try this:
http://bibleontheweb.com/Bible.asp

[Deja Q]

3. Mark 13:22

Thanks!!!

Search Results
"false prophet" was found 11 times in 11 verses.

Matthew 7:15 - Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Matthew 24:11 - And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

Matthew 24:24 - For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Mark 13:22 - For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

Luke 6:26 - Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Acts 13:6 - And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:

2 Peter 2:1 - But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

1 John 4:1 - Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Revelation 16:13 - And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

Revelation 19:20 - And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

[htuttle]

5. You know, I just tried to google that, and couldn't quite figure it out

Every piece I found on Revelations carried on about the False Prophet guy, but they were cutting and pasting sentences and phrases from all over the Old and New Testament. A sentence from Matthew here, then a sentence from Isaiah to back it up.

You know, I think could prove just about anything by cutting and pasting sentences out of a one volume encyclopedia. But I digress.

So I'm not entirely sure what is actually listed in the Book of Revelations about the details of the False Prophet guy, and the gunshot wound to the head fake miracle, and all that other stuff (ala Hal Lindsey's mythos). I think the commonly held dispensationalist 'timeline' of armageddon is mostly modern mythmaking.

[mcscajun]

6. It's all a load of codswallop, as they used to say...

...many scholars believe the book of Revelations was a veiled message to early Christians talking about the coming fall of the Roman Empire. In which case, naturally, any predictive value in the book is Null.

[antigone382]

10. Yes, there are actually seven interpretations of Revelation.

Dispensiationalism is the most radical, literalist interpretation. It was developed by a highly respected pastor in the eighteenth century, who claimed to have seen visions from God explaining it all to him. He eventually fell into an extremely radical, heretical form of Christianity, and was denounced by many of his former colleagues.

So how does an atheist know all this? Well, I used to be a Christian, and the church I went to was moderately RW, but not rabid fundies. My Sunday School teacher taught us about Revelation and explained the schools of interpretation and their histories, and presented his own view, which saw Revelation as much more symbolic, general, and spread over the entire period between Christ's resurrection and Armageddon, rather than just the last days. Sorry I don't remember the fine details better, but I hope it's helpful. :)

[norml]

8. Here's a Christian web site with some cool church organ music on it.

I found it while looking for the info that others have already provided. http://www.branchministry.net/otherthings/amtichrist.htm

[democrat in Tallahassee]

9. it's all an allegory referring to Nero; he was like Bush, you

couldn't just come out and insult him or you'd commit suicide in a hotel room

[HawkerHurricane]

11. Unlike Bush...

if you publicly insulted Nero, he'd just have you executed and everyone knew it was because Nero ordered it.
Unlike Bush, who does it in secret.

[democrat in Tallahassee]

12. you are correct. Also nero thought he was a musician and if you

fell asleep at one of his interminable concerts, he'd have someone come and hit you on the head.

[okasha]

13. Martin Luther

hated Revelations and desperately wanted to kick it out of his translation of the Bible. He had a point.

Okasha

[mcscajun]

14. Why stop there?

The world would be much better off without Paul's letters, too. Everything that's past the four gospels, really.