EDMThe Last Temptationof Giorgio Agamben

2009

Die IDWRG (Innsbrucker Diskussionspapiere zu Weltordnung, Religion und Gewalt) verstehen sich als unregelmäßige Reihe zur Veröffentlichung von wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten, die im Umfeld der Forschungsplattform "Weltordnung -Religion -Gewalt" an der Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck entstanden sind.

This article, using Daniel Chapter 8, develops and uses a non- figurative interpretative approach to the identification of the Antichrist. The article relies on an inductive hermeneutics for its investigation and conclusion. The paper aims at enhancing the understanding of Daniel's literature.

Religions

The figure of Antichrist, linked in recent US apocalyptic thought to President Barack Obama, forms a central component of Christian end-times scenarios, both medieval and modern. Envisioned as a false-messiah, deceptive miracle-worker, and prophet of evil, Antichrist inversely embodies many of the qualities and characteristics associated with Max Weber’s concept of charisma. This essay explores early Christian, medieval, and contemporary depictions of Antichrist and the imagined political circumstances of his reign as manifesting the notion of (anti)charisma, compelling but misleading charismatic political and religious leadership oriented toward damnation rather than redemption.

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS), 2020

Studies on the development of the antichrist biblical motif either focus on the antecedents and early Christian interpretations (e.g. Gregory Jenks, Lambertus Peerbolte), or its broad history from the Apostolic Fathers to the present time (e.g. LeRoy Froom, Bernard McGinn, Stephen Vicchio). Almond's Antichrist adds to the latest group of fine studies on this topic. Although the examples of specific interpretations on the identity of the antichrist from the second to the twenty-first century presented by Philip Almond are found elsewhere, his organization is concise and to the point. This is a great work of scholarship, impressive in its breadth at the same time that it is clear and succinct in its presentation. A good history for sure, full of dates, names, and details. Almond's historical analysis reads smoothly and covers a lot of ground, like other works of its kind. And though careful attention is given to the presentation of details of a subject that already begs patience by the non-specialist, readers will not find the minutia cumbersome, but quite entertaining. To add colors to his nicely constructed narrative, Almond also includes the inimical eschatological figure of the Jews (Armilus), and Muslims (Al-Dajjal), and a few recent secular applications of the name antichrist as a comparison. Unlike the modern critical commentaries on important biblical passages (mainly Dan 7; 2 Thess 2; Rev 11-13, 17), used historically as indicative of the identity of the antichrist figure(s), this history gives little attention to figures from the time of the NT writers. Just looking at the index, it is clear that Antiochus Epiphanes (for Daniel) or Nero (for Revelation) are minor figures in this story of biblical interpretation. Meanwhile, a future Jew, the papacy, and Islam looms large on the horizon of Christian interpreters' identification of the final Satanic animosity against the people of God. Instead of an explicit pagan, idolatrous, and antagonistic force of the past, most Christian interpreters throughout history have identified the spirit of the antichrist closer to home and in the future of the biblical authors. The reason for this is simply based on interpretative commitments. Most ancient readers of the Bible believed that the prophetic antichrist would be a figure of the end-times, and not a dead character of the past, a hermeneutical choice negated by most biblical scholars today.

Reviews in Religion and Theology, 2019

The figure of the katechon, the one who holds back the Antichrist, has become a surprisingly frequent figure in recent philosophical works at the intersection of politics and theology. Mentioned in passing by Paul in the Second Letter to the Thessalonians, the katechon received relatively scant attention until the last decades. The latest contribution to this literature is Massimo Cacciari’s The Withholding Power: An Essay on Political Theology, where one of the best-known philosophers inside Italy canvasses the broad field of political theology, with special attention paid to the catechontic role of Empire, Church, Inquisitor, and State. This complex and ambitious work was originally published in Italian in 2014 and the Bloomsbury edition, translated by Edi Pucci, features an appendix of eschatological material discussed throughout the work, an interview between Pucci and Cacciari, as well as an introductory essay by Howard Caygill. While Cacciari’s dense prose can prove difficult – replete with original Latin and Greek terms, emphatic italics and hyphens, and oblique allusions – and his tour of eschatological theology and philosophy spares little time for explanation, the introduction, interview, and translator’s footnotes throughout aid greatly in the readability of the text.

A fairly wide-ranging discourse on this ultimate embodiment of evil, focusing especially on the details given in the Book of Revelation

Philo, 2012

Our world is littered with examples of the cannibalisation by secondary authors of the thoughts of original thinkers, rehashed as rule-books and manuals on how to live our lives. No such distortion of an idea has had the lasting success of Saint Paul’s corruption of the life and thoughts of Jesus of Nazareth—man or myth we’ll never know. Nietzsche’s over quoted remark, “God is dead”, belies his frustration that in 2,000 years, Western civilisation has not invented for itself a new god. His project of exposing Paul as a charlatan in his penultimate work, The Anti- Christ, hardly disguises Nietzsche’s belief that he could have done a better job, in his case celebrating everything that Christianity stood against: the lost glories of our ancient past symbolising our ‘natural’ human instincts. This essay reassesses assumptions about Nietzsche and his intentions in writing The Anti-Christ to reveal the philosopher’s deep affinity for the original, pre-Christian sage, who provided the main character and plot for Paul’s fiction.

Andrews University Seminary Studies, 2022

Arcadia. International Journal of Literary Culture/ Internationale Zeitschrift für literarische Kultur, 53, 2 (2018) pp. 432-435

This is the first of two essays in the Bruce Metzger festschrift, edited by J. Harold Ellens, Text and Community, Essay in Commemoration of Bruce M. Metzger, Vol. 1 (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2007), 196-216. Serious errors of interpretation include the facts that: (1) "Antichrist" never occurs in Revelation--only in 1 John and 2 John; (2) the "Antichrists" are mentioned as plural rather than a singular individual--referencing an actualized schism and impending visits of false teachers; (3) their christological errors are different--the first schism refuses to believe in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah/Christ, the false teachers advocate a docetic Christology--refusing to believe Jesus came in the flesh. Therefore, the Antichrists in 1 and 2 John reference two distinctive threats in the late first century with implications for later interpretations.

This paper examines textual and iconographic representations of antichrist personae in medieval Christian and Jewish manuscripts. Through a common lan- guage of polemics, Christians and Jews conflated antichrist personae to represent a more generalized category of apocalyptic antagonist that reflected the most significant temptations and threats to each respective religious community. As will be argued here, the greatest temptation and threat for Christians and Jews alike were those posed by members of the other religious group.

Academia.edu, 2024

This paper presents a comprehensive examination of the antichrist concept as it appears throughout biblical and post-biblical traditions. By analyzing figures from the Old Testament, Intertestamental period, New Testament, and post-biblical Christian tradition, this study identifies common traits and explores the theological implications of the antichrist as both recurring historical archetype and specific historical figures. The research traces the evolution of the antichrist concept from specific historical figures to a more generalized symbol of opposition to divine will and Christian values. Furthermore, this study delves into the complex symbolism of Revelation 17, exploring various interpretations of the seven kings and the enigmatic eighth king. It presents and critiques both approximate historical and historicist approaches to identifying these figures. The paper also examines the concept of the ultimate antichrist, drawing connections between Christian, Islamic, and Jewish eschatological traditions.

Quidditas, 2017