Sunday Nugget-The Antichrist

From todays readings:1 Jn 2:18-21


Children, it is the last hour;
and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming,
so now many antichrists have appeared.
Thus we know this is the last hour.
They went out from us, but they were not really of our number;
if they had been, they would have remained with us.
Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number.
But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One,
and you all have knowledge.
I write to you not because you do not know the truth
but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth.

The History Channel aired the two part program "The Antichrist" last night. It described the impact of the concept of antichrist on the world...from the fact that nearly every warring faction has had it's "antichrist" to fight to the bookselling takeover of the Left Behind series. The show had a host of opinions about the antichrist and endtimes prophecy. Some suggested the antichrist is a literal figure while others refered to him as the spirit of the age. I especially enjoyed the history of dispensationalism which began with Irish clergyman J. N. Darby and became the most popular imported belief of america in the 19th century. It is said that between 1880-1940 hundreds of bible institutes produced hundreds of thousands of pastors and teachers who expounded this teaching. It is little wonder why that version of endtime events is the most widely held in America today.

One thing I took away from the program is a statement that seems to fit today's reading. Bishop Frank Griswold spoke of the older concept of antichrist being that which is not "of" Christ. He said, and I agree, that we should ask ourselves daily, how have I been antichrist today. I think that kind of examination of conscience would be very revealing indeed.

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