"A possible seed of truth in the future is that one day, there will be a Pope who is the Antichrist." - Arthur Wildfire! March
I hope you don't hold your breath 'til then. LOL
The Antichrist
Antichrist is a term used exclusively in two books of the New Testament: 1 John and 2 John.
Contrary to popular assumption the word “antichrist” does not appear in the book of the Revelation; John only uses this term in his first two epistles, with a specific definition.
The term antichrist is used, by John, two ways: it identified a heresy which denied certain essential doctrines concerning Jesus, and it identified a person or persons holding that heretical view. ..... [huge snips]
...Finally, we can see that the antichrists were recognizable. The discerning believer would be able to examine the teachings of the antichrists and distinguish truth from error. This was John’s purpose in writing about them: so that believers of his day could recognize these false teachers by his clear description of them, and avoid them.
The antichrist heresy was apparently an early form of gnosticism, .... Church history records that the arch-heretic of John’s day was a man by the name of Cerinthus. Church historian Philip Schaff relates a meeting between
John and Cerinthus recorded by Irenaeus:
“On meeting in the public bath at Ephesus the Gnostic heretic Cerinthus, who denied the incarnation of our Lord, John refused to remain under the same roof, lest it might fall.”
In 1 John 2:18, John states that “the antichrist is coming” and “many antichrists have come." If John had one particular man in mind as the Antichrist, it is possible that that man was Cerinthus.
The Time of the Revelation "The Beast"
Now, let us turn our attention to the book of the Revelation and in particular, the one referred to as “the Beast."
[snip] Click here to read the entire commentary:
http://www.preteristarchive.com/PartialPreterism/walker-don_pp_01.html
"They were engaged in the most crucial battle of history, against the Dragon and the evil Empire which he possessed. The purpose of the Revelation was to comfort the Church with the assurance that God was in control, so that even the awesome might of the Dragon and the Beast would not stand before the armies of Jesus Christ.”
May it ever be thus!! God -- bless and keep Your Holy Church and guide our new Pope Benedict XVI with humility, grace and courage ... courage, most especially, in the name of Jesus. Amen.