Changes

:2 John 7: 'For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.'  

:2 John 7: 'For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.'  

Based on the lack of direct references, some Christians argue that the Bible refers only to a ''generalized concept'' of Antichrist, applicable to anybody who is 'against Christ', not to a particular person. Moreover,  such 'antichrists' were already present in the world nearly two thousand years ago. [[Augustine|St. Augustine]] in his ''City of God'' relates the long-held belief in his day that [[Nero]] was the Antichrist, and that he was still alive and in hiding, awaiting his opportunity. And he said, "I wonder that men should be so audacious as to believe it."<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf102.iv.XX.19.html Augustine, ''The City of God'', chapter 19 (ccel.org)]</ref> Other Christians, such as the [[Catholic Church]] and many [[Protestant]] denominations, have argued that these verses mainly prefigure the actual Antichrist and that one can see a single unifying Antichrist figure with the proper exegetical methods if one looks at the books of [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Antichrist| url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01559a.htm| publisher=New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia}}</ref>  So while there is a spirit of antichrist, there is also one Antichrist who is to come.

Based on the lack of direct references, some Christians argue that the Bible refers only to a ''generalized concept'' of Antichrist, applicable to anybody who is 'against Christ', not to a particular person. Moreover,  such 'antichrists' were already present in the world nearly two thousand years ago. [[Augustine|St. Augustine]] in his treatise ''The City of God'' relates the long-held belief in his day that [[Nero]] was the supreme Antichrist, and that he was still alive and in hiding, awaiting his opportunity, a belief he dismisses as absurd, saying, "''But I wonder that men can be so audacious in their conjectures''<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf102.iv.XX.19.html Augustine, ''The City of God'', chapter 19 (ccel.org)]</ref>." Other Christians, such as the [[Catholic Church]] and many [[Protestant]] denominations, have argued that these verses mainly prefigure the actual Antichrist and that one can see a single unifying Antichrist figure with the proper exegetical methods if one looks at the books of [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Antichrist| url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01559a.htm| publisher=New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia}}</ref>  So while there is a spirit of antichrist, there is also one Antichrist who is to come.

The Antichrist is often associated with, and in some interpretations considered equivalent to, ''the Beast'' of Revelation or the ''Man of Sin'' referenced in II Thessalonians 2:3.

The Antichrist is often associated with, and in some interpretations considered equivalent to, ''the Beast'' of Revelation or the ''Man of Sin'' referenced in II Thessalonians 2:3.