Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Against Christ, or an opposition Christ, a rival Christ. The word is used only by the apostle John. ) This name has been applied to the “little horn” of the “king of fierce countenance” (Dan. 7:24, 25; 8:23-25). ) It has been applied also to the “false Christs” spoken of by our Lord (Matt. 24:5, 23, 24). ) To the “man of sin” described by Paul (2 Thess. 2:3, 4, 8-10). ) And to the “beast from the sea” (Rev. 13:1; 17:1-18).
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
This term is employed by the apostle John alone, and is defined by him in a manner which leaves no doubt as to its intrinsic meaning. With regard to its application there is less certainty. In the first passage— (1 John 2:18)—in which it occurs, the apostle makes direct reference to the false Christs whose coming, it had been fore-told, should mark the last days. In v. ” Comp.
(2 John 1:7) From these emphatic and repeated definitions it has been supposed that the object of the apostle in his first epistle was to combat the errors of Cerinthus, the Docetae and the Gnostics on the subject of the Incarnation. ) The coming of Antichrist was (believed to be foretold in the “vile person” of Daniel’s prophecy, (Daniel 11:21) which received its first accomplishment in Antiochus Epiphanes but of which the complete fulfillment was reserved for the last times.
” 2 Thessalonians 2:3) This interpretation brings Antichrist into close connection with the gigantic power of evil, symbolized by the “beast,” (Revelation 13:1) ... e. the devil, the serpent of Genesis), continued for forty and two months, and was invested with the kingdom of the ten kings who destroyed the harlot Babylon, (Revelation 17:12,17) the city of seven hills.
The destruction of Babylon is to be followed by the rule of Antichrist for a short period, (Revelation 17:10) to be in his turn overthrown in “the battle of that great day of God Almighty,” (Revelation 16:14) with the false prophet and all his followers. Rev. 19. The personality of Antichrist is to be inferred as well from the personality of his historical precursor as from that of him to whom he stands opposed.
Such an interpretation is to be preferred to that which regards Antichrist as the embodiment and personification of all powers and agencies inimical to Christ, or of the Antichristian might of the world.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898) & Schaff's Bible Dictionary
AN'TICHRIST. This word occurs only in the Epistles of John. Etymologically, it may mean either one who is opposed to Christ or one who sets himself up in the place of Christ. Comp. " A comparison of the four passages in which the word is found,1 John 2:18,Lev 19:22;1 John 4:3; 2 John 7, shows that John meant to designate various persons holding heretical opinions in regard to the incarnation of Christ. " 1 John 4:3. " 1 John 4:3.
We know that in John's day there were in the Church false teachers who denied the union of the divine and human in Christ and resolved the history of Christ into a mere phantom or myth. Such were Cerinthus and the early Gnostics (who have their followers in the modern assailants of the gospel history). But this use of the word by the apostle does not exhaust its meaning.
It can be also applied to all enemies of Christ, and to all those doctrines and influences which tend to set up against the simplicity of gospel truth the traditions or speculations of men, thus weakening or destroying the force of the former. We should not confound the antichrist of John's Epistles with the beasts from the abyss, or the antagonistic worldpowers described in Daniel and in Revelation. " 2 Thess 2:3.
Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869)
an adversary to Christ