The popular image of an antichrist is associated with movie characters. An antichrist has Satanic power that is superhuman and paranormal. An antichrist may summon cosmic powers and demons. An antichrist possesses knowledge of the future and surpasses many in intelligence. An antichrist is an ultimate villain in religious imagination.
But an antichrist St John describes in his letter doesn’t satisfy our popular image. An antichrist is anyone who remains not in the truth. And this truth is nothing but Christ Jesus, who is the light and life for the world. As we hear in the gospel today, the world rejects this light and life. In other words, the world is full of antichrists.
We don’t have to investigate hard to discover who these antichrists are in our times. Many elected officials, academics, journalists, theologians, and clergy declare what is contrary to the truth of the Christian faith. Our legal system, schools, mass media and faith communities popularize what is diametrically opposing to the truth. But the difference between the antichrists in our age from those in the days of St John is this. Those antichrists of old walked out of faith communities. But the antichrists of our times insidiously twist the truth and claim authenticity.
That is why we need to know Christ Jesus well. That is why we want to spend much time reading the Bible. That is why we should study the authentic teaching of the Church. That is why we cannot ignore the Tradition of the Church. Only when we know the truth, we can tell who is an antichrist.
