One visitor to my web site left me a comment, but had the discourtesy to leave a false e-mail address so I could not reply. I will take this forum for my opportunity to do so.
The individual wrote:
"The Antichrist" section [presumably of my Topical list of questions] should be "AntiChrist" section and the bible does talk about "one" man, the number of "his" name is six hundred threescore and 6.
My response:
In many English translations of the Bible, the word is "antichrist," not "AntiChrist." Even if, although it goes against what John writes, the term should be capitalized, there is no reason to capitalize the letter C. If it were a hyphenated word, Anti-Christ, that might be a possibility. Since it is a single word, all rules of grammar go against capitalizing within the word.
The book of the Revelation never uses the term antichrist (or Antichrist or AntiChrist). Since it is in that book that mention is made that the number of a man (most likely an emperor of Rome) is six hundred sixty six, there is no reason to believe that number should be applied to a man with the title of AntiChrist. From what the book says, you could just as easily apply that number to a man with the title of "Statistician."
As I have pointed out before (What Does the Bible Say About..Antichrist? and It Ain't Necessarily So), when John does use the term antichrist, he specifically says there are many (1 John 2:18; 2 John 1:7), and that they had already come in his day. Anyone who claims that there is only one who bears a title of "The AntiChrist" needs to prove that from scripture. They cannot. Anyone who says that there is one AntiChrist in our future must prove that from scripture. They cannot.
One problem that I find with modern premillennialists is that they take a biblical term or concept and place a "The" in front of it to make it something other than what the scriptures talk about. This is true of "The Antichrist," "The Rapture," and "The Tribulation," among other things. They personify general concepts as specific events or people. There is no justification from scripture, grammar, or common sense for doing this.
