5 Characteristics of Antichrist

From: Henry Edward Cardinal Manning, The Pope and the Antichrist, (Saint Croix du Mont France: Tradibooks, 2007), first published in 1861 under the title of: The Current Crisis of the Holy See Tested by Prophecy.

The Antichrist who will make an appearance at the end of time will have the following 5 characteristics:

1.) The Antichrist will be an individual male.

2.) The Antichrist will be a Jew.

3.) The Antichrist will deny the Incarnation of Christ, the whole Christian Faith and the Church. He will not simply be an antagonist but the substitute or supplanter of the true Messiah in every way.

4.) The Antichrist will perform false "miracles." His coming is "according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish." (2 Thess. 2: 9,10)

5.) The Antichrist will claim to be Divine. St. Paul describes him as "the man of sin the son of perdition, who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God showing himself as if he were God." (2 Thess. 2: 4) Cardinal Manning taught that the Church Fathers were in agreement that the Antichrist as here described by St. Paul will "call himself God" (St. Jerome) "will affirm himself to be God" (St. Ambrose) and "profess himself to be the God of all" (St. John Chrysostom). He will demand to be worshiped as God.

For those readers who have become concerned that the appearance of the Antichrist is immanent, it is useful to review these criteria provided by Cardinal Manning who nicely summarized the statements from Sacred Scripture and from the Church Fathers with regard to the characteristics of Antichrist. Obviously no such individual is currently on the world stage. Whether he could be alive is of course not knowable at this time.

--Dr. J. P. Hubert