Apostle John re: antichrists in the 1st Century

The only occurrences of the term antichrist are in the following verses from the letters of the Apostle John:

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.

They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it may be shown that they all are not of us . . . . Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?

This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. . . . These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. (1st John 2:18-19, 22-23, 26).

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error (1st John 4:1-6).

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that we might not lose what we have accomplished, but that we may receive a full reward.

Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds (2nd John 7-11).

https://www.preteristarchive.com/BibleStudies/Bible_NT/John/index.html

It's pretty clear that the early Christians got this one wrong. It's been 2,000 years and that last hour still has not run out! I've heard of 'stretching the metaphor' but this is absurd.

PureX said:

It's pretty clear that the early Christians got this one wrong. It's been 2,000 years and that last hour still has not run out! I've heard of 'stretching the metaphor' but this is absurd.

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Maybe that is because there is a difference between the human perspective of "a long time" compared with God's time frame. According to the scriptures, it's only been about 2 days....

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is patient toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9

InChrist said:

Maybe that is because there is a difference between the human perspective of "a long time" compared with God's time frame. According to the scriptures, it's only been about 2 days....

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That's just typical Christian apologetic sophistry.

Even if God did exist, there would be no "hour", "morning", "evening", "day", "week", "month", "year", "century", etc, would be irrelevant in heaven, because all these words are tied to Earth observer's frame or period of time.

The one day = one thousand years in 2 Peter 3:8, is merely a simile, not meant for literal interpretation. As a poetic license, it is fine as simile or an allegory or analogy, but in term of actual time, is just meaningless.

To give you an example of simile, when like:


This is a just a simile that David is quick at running, it doesn't mean that he is literal or actual "wind", and it certainly doesn't mean David could actually run as fast gale-force wind. David is a man, a human man, not a wind,

Another example,is where Judah, son of Jacob, is often described and compared to a lion, or his brother Naphtali with a deer or hind. They are merely similes, so they are not to be taken as literal lion or hind.

Simile is a literary device, using the words "like" or "as", as a mean of comparing of one thing to something else.

So when Peter, or who ever wrote this epistle, use day and a thousand-year in a simile, it doesn't mean literal day = millennium.

gnostic said:

That's just typical Christian apologetic sophistry.

Even if God did exist, there would be no "hour", "morning", "evening", "day", "week", "month", "year", "century", etc, would be irrelevant in heaven, because all these words are tied to Earth observer's frame or period of time.

The one day = one thousand years in 2 Peter 3:8, is merely a simile, not meant for literal interpretation. As a poetic license, it is fine as simile or an allegory or analogy, but in term of actual time, is just meaningless.

To give you an example of simile, when like:

"David runs like a wind"​

This is a just a simile that David is quick at running, it doesn't mean that he is literal or actual "wind", and it certainly doesn't mean David could actually run as fast gale-force wind. David is a man, a human man, not a wind,

Another example,is where Judah, son of Jacob, is often described and compared to a lion, or his brother Naphtali with a deer or hind. They are merely similes, so they are not to be taken as literal lion or hind.

Simile is a literary device, using the words "like" or "as", as a mean of comparing of one thing to something else.

So when Peter, or who ever wrote this epistle, use day and a thousand-year in a simile, it doesn't mean literal day = millennium.

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I appreciate your thoughts and examples of similes in the scriptures. I do agree there are similes in the Bible. I also agree that human time is not applicable to God who is not tied to earth's time frame. Nevertheless, an eternal God outside of time is certainly aware of the time aspect on earth that humans live by. I think the passage itself gives further clarification to the point it means to get across when it says...

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is patient toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

And that is my point, 2000 years may seem like a long time for the Lord to return as He said He would, but from the perspective of the eternal, it is not really long as God is patiently waiting for many to come to repentance.

InChrist said:

I appreciate your thoughts and examples of similes in the scriptures. I do agree there are similes in the Bible. I also agree that human time is not applicable to God who is not tied to earth's time frame. Nevertheless, an eternal God outside of time is certainly aware of the time aspect on earth that humans live by. I think the passage itself gives further clarification to the point it means to get across when it says...

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Even so, it is no reason to treat 2 Peter 3:8 as if it apply to us , to our time.

I see that some Creationists would use Peter's passage with that of Genesis 1.

The problem here, is that the two texts are centuries apart, written by different people. To me, this is nothing more then just playing word games with the word "day".

Such game, only reveal the Christians' dishonesty.

For each of those days in Genesis 1, it say that one "day" is equaled to a cycle of one evening and one morning, not 1000 years.

The Hebrew word יוֹם "yôm" or "yowm" - if USED ALONE - would contextually be unspecified period of time...BUT, yôm isn't unspecified. The "evening" and "morning" provide all the context we need to determine that yôm means day in Genesis 1 verses.

That's how English language work, you read the passage and find context in that passage. What you don't do is apply different context to "yôm" from a different book written by different person of different time.

This is why I think Christian apologists should never be taken seriously to objectively and honestly interpret the Hebrew texts.