Just curious. I have seen remarkably little of this sort of talk, when it seems such an obvious conclusion for the apocalypticos to draw. Any support for it?
Why would he have to be the Antichrist, why not Christ himself?
Not sure about ObL, but atheists, agnostics, and Jews are certainly antichrists:
1 John 2:22-23 (NIV)
“Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist–he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
The original author was probably refering to the Gnostics as antichrists. They believed (among other things) that Jesus spiritually, not physically rose from the dead. It was quite a point of contention among the 1st-century church (slight understatement):
2 John 1:7
“Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”
Yeah, from what I can tell Muslims generally accept Jesus as a prophet, now to most Christians this is blasphemous that one can accept Jesus as anything other than god.
hehe, my question on that has always been “If he was god, and he knew he would be resurrected, where is the sacrifice?”
If you want to go with the Napolean and Hitler as the first two antichrists, then you can make an argument for bin Laden as the third.
Erek
To answer your question Toadspittle…NO. He’s not.
Bin Laden a.k.a Arrogant piece of camel bile excreted through the anus of a pig. Can not take the position of anti-Christ. First of all he’s not smart. He’s not the leader every numb minded militant thinks he is and he lacks power. He is a fanatical rich kid kicked out of his own country and disowned by his own family, who is now leading a bunch of other fanatics to something they could not possibly ever hope to attain. The world as a whole could never allow it. The Chinese have there own troubles with Muslim insurrections and so do many other countries around the world. The main reason that Camel Fker is not the anti-christ is that when he dies, there will be another to take his place and will try to take over where the fker left off. I don’t see it happening, too many factors against it. This will be a long war, but I think the UN and USA will put a big enough dent in global terrorism so that we can live life to the fullest and with out so much anxiety.
bin Laden is not smart? If bin Laden is not smart, we are SO fucked when a smart guy plans a hit like Sept 11th.
Erek
The concept of antichrist will crumble when Christianity falls. It is actually a silly curse placed by the priesthood against those who would be so brave as to reveal church secrets.
While I may be wrong since it’s been a while since I’ve read the bible, but I thought that revelations says that the antichrist is going to be someone who is at first capable of preforming mircles, then reveals his true colors. This mircle working would serve to mislead people and gather believers in him. (I’m assuming it would be a him, sorry) I haven’t heard of Bin Laden preforming any wonderous deeds, have you?
The only 2 biblical references to “antichrist” are provided in my post above. It’s simply anyone who either 1) denies Jesus is the Son or 2) denies Jesus physically resurrected.
Which can fit atheists, agnostics, Jews, Gnostics, and nearly every other religion.
That’s all. Nothing about there being a limited number per generation, special powers, being especially evil, etc.
An antichrist is one who calls another the antichrist because it’s antichristian to call someone the antichrist.
As far as the OP, I’d say no, with the same reasoning as elfkin.
In Revelation, it talks about the dragon, the beast, and its image. I don’t remember exactly what each one represents, but I think most interpret that the dragon is Satan, the beast is what most would call the Antichrist, and… don’t 'member what the image is. The idea of calling the beast of Revelation the Antichrist is probably expanded from 1 John 2:22-3, as HubZilla noted. People probably figured that the beast would be the ultimate “antichrist”, and voila!
bin Laden could be the False Prophet.
Erek
None of the above…
He is merely a violent conniving scumbag who soon enough will be wearing his @ss for a hat.
No No… Osama is not the anti-christ!!! Definitly does not fit the criteria. Look at George W. Bush or perhaps P.M. Tony Blair. They seem to fit a little better. No I do not think either one of them are. No one will no until he [supposedly] reveals himself. I still think the whole thing is one big farce by the church…
The person referred to in the book of Revelation sounds a lot like the Roman emperor Nero Caesar. The value of Nero’s name is 666, and the “Antichrist” of Revelation fits very closely with the “myth of Nero’s return”–a notion among some early Christians that the nefarious emperor Nero would be resurrected to a reign of bloody terror over Christians. (When Nero was alive, he enjoyed making human candles out of Christians and other such tricks.)
If you want to take a 20th century fundamentalist Christian approach to biblical prophecy (so that you can argue that this Antichrist figure is a real person who is yet to come), Osama Bin Laden would not fit the mold of the so-called “Antichrist”–because that individual would be someone who at first appears to be a bringer of peace (because Satan would want to mock Christ by pretending to be Christ-like–he wouldn’t just come out and say, “I’m evil, and I want you all to obey me.”).
Based on my impressions based on reading fundameatalist Christian interpretations, A.C. will more likley be a charismatic leader of a new “Roman Empire”, ie the European Union.
Some have however interpreted Nostradumass’s quatrains to theorize the Anti-Christ will be from the Middle East.
Osama no doubt is a demon in his own right, but seems way too minor league to be the Big Bad Man.
Considering that the Antichrist is supposed to be a charismatic figure who will draw all men to him, I’d say Osama bin Laden doesn’t qualify.
As one atheist to another, The Iconoclast, read up on your early church history and get a good book on Biblical exegesis because you do not know what you are talking about.
No.
The antichrist will be beloved by the world, sortof like Mister Rogers.
Thats how he’ll fool everyone.
Mr. Rogers is the Antichrist! That’s why he retired, to [BRAIN VOICE] try to take over the world. [/BRAIN VOICE]
An aside to the iconoclast, your vauge references to conspiracy literature do not make you smarter than everyone else. Please just come out and say what you want to say, rather than acting like its some big secret that will get you killed.