# Does the white horse in Revelations represent Christ or the Antichrist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809 "2013-12-20T08:28:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/1 "2013-12-20T08:28:08Z")
Does the white horse in Revelations represent Christ/Holy Spirit or the Antichrist? Writers, especially popular historians tend to refer to pestilence, war, famine and death…to alternatively to five horsemen of the apocalypse: 1.climate change 2.famine 3. state failure 4.migration 5.disease. Wikipedia has this to say of the white horse: > **[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse)** > > The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Bible, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. They are not specifically identified there but subsequent commentary often identifies them as personifications of Death, Famine, War, and Conquest. > Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals. The Lamb of God/Lion of Judah opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons four b... As righteous[edit] Irenaeus, an influential Christian theologian of the 2nd century, was among the first to interpret this horseman as Christ himself, his white horse representing the successful spread of the gospel.[3] Various scholars have since supported this notion,[9] citing the later appearance, in Revelation 19, of Christ mounted on a white horse, appearing as The Word of God. Furthermore, earlier in the New Testament, the Book of Mark indicates that the advance of the gospel may indeed precede and foretell the apocalypse.[3][10] The color white also tends to represent righteousness in the Bible, and Christ is in other instances portrayed as a conqueror.[3][10] However, opposing interpretations argue that the first of the four horsemen is probably not the horseman of Revelation 19. They are described in significantly different ways, and Christ’s role as the Lamb who opens the seven seals makes it unlikely that he would also be one of the forces released by the seals.[3][10] ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/2 "2013-12-20T08:39:07Z")
Unless I’m mistaken, John (?) uses the word “antichrist” in his Epistles, but not in Revelation (sic). In the former, it is more used to describe someone who denies Jesus, and not some Romanian demon child. In the latter, there is talk of an evil creature, but not by that name. If it’s a horseman, why does it have to be either? Your cite says it’s vague/interpretative. And the Pale Horse represents getting the hell off the Preacher’s lawn. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/3 "2013-12-20T08:40:27Z")
First time I hear someone discussing the identity of the white horse and not of the rider on it. The horse is a horse. Probably one that doesn’t poop and smells like clean horse all the time, but still, a horse. For those interested, the OP seems to be referring to [Revelations 19:11-16](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2019:11-16&version=NIV). The linked page includes several versions; copying from the NIV. > [@Revelations 19:11-16](#): > > 11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: > > king of kings and lord of lords. Just a bit further down: > [@Revelations 19:19](#): > > 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. The Rider on the White Horse is neither one of the Four nor on the Beast’s side. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/4 "2013-12-20T08:57:26Z")
Apologies. I should have written “the rider of the white horse”. I assumed the rider of the white horse in Revelations represented Jesus Christ. davidmch ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/5 "2013-12-20T14:59:20Z")
Minor nit-pick: Folks, the book is Revelation, as in singular (not Revelations, plural). One formal name of the book is The Revelation to John. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/6 "2013-12-20T16:08:55Z")
What I heard is that the white horse represents both of them. Supposedly it’s a corruption of an incident from when Jesus and the Antichrist went to a costume party at Herod’s house as a horse. Jesus insisted on being the one in front. The Antichrist has been pissed about that ever since. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/7 "2013-12-20T17:14:08Z")
You mean it’s not a drug reference? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/8 "2013-12-20T21:37:04Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The horse is a horse. Of course, of course. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/9 "2013-12-20T22:20:51Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > For those interested, the OP seems to be referring to [Revelations 19:11-16](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2019:11-16&version=NIV). The linked page includes several versions; copying from the NIV. The rider on the white horse in Revelation 19 is clearly Christ, but there’s also a rider on a white horse in [Revelation 6](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+6&version=NIV): > [@](#): > > I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. > > When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword. > > When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” > > When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. These four riders on their variously colored horses are who are usually referred to as “the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”. The question in the OP is, what is the relationship between the rider on a white horse in Revelation 6 (the first of the “Four Horsemen”) and the later rider on a white horse in Revelation 19? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/10 "2013-12-20T23:42:10Z")
Commentators have tried to find ways to authoritatively distinguish between the two riders for centuries. There are still those who find that Christ, as a victorious warrior, could be represented on the white horse both in chapters 6 and 19. The majority, however, disagree, as the riders of the horses vary considerably. That rider on the horse in 19 is Christ is almost universally agreed. The spirit of conquest, or war, as seen in chapter 6, though, had led to a variety of different interpretations. For example, in Ben Witherington III’s book _Revelation_ in the New Cambridge Bible Commentary series, he says: > [@](#): > > Some have seen here a reference to the Parthian archers, who in A.D. 62 (as well as in 53 and 35 B.C.) came riding from the east and won against the Romans. Favoring the allusions to the Parthians are the following: 1) we seem to have allusions to these dreaded cavalryman elsewhere in Revelation (9.14; 16.12); 2) Parthians were famous for their horses, and white was the Parthians’ sacred color, and every one of their armies included some sacred white horses; 3) Parthians were known for being highly skillful mounted archers; 4) many Jewish writers expected Parthians to play a role in the eschatological war against Rome (1 En. 56.5-7, Sib. Or. 5.438); and 5) the Romans most often feared the Parthians as a threat to the Pax Romana. While to some degree we have here a general symbol of military conquest, John has chosen his general image so it would be familiar and thus on target to his audience. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-white-horse-in-revelations-represent-christ-or-the-antichrist/676809/11 "2013-12-21T00:44:20Z")
Just as a related note, the Parthians invaded Judea in 40 BC, and it was that invasion that led to the fall of the Hasmoneans and the coming to power of the Herodians. (The Hasmonian Antigonus II Mattathias had led a revolt against his uncle and invited in the Parthians, who took over the place and installed Antigonus. Herod then became a client of Antony, who used his influence to get the Roman Senate to recognize Herod as rightful king and raise an army to drive Parthia out.) So the Parthians would have been recognized as a real threat at the time and Rome’s one equal in terms of imperial power and military might.