It is a very general opinion that Antichrist will set himself up as the Messias. This opinion seems to be supported by the words of our Saviour: "I am come in the name of my Father, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive." [1] This pretension to Messiasship will make it necessary that he spring from the Jewish race.
The coming of Antichrist opens the decisive conflict between the Church and the powers of hell. It shall be the complete realization of the prophecy of Genesis: "I will put enmities between thee and the woman and thy seed and her seed." [2] The seed of the serpent is Anti-christ and his followers; the seed of Mary, the woman, is Jesus Christ and his faithful disciples.
The beast has seven heads and ten horns like those of the dragon. As the representative of Satan Anti-christ will be aided and abetted by the same kings and rulers symbolized in both instances by the horns and diadems. Antichrist will follow in the footsteps of his master by employing every form of sin and error to seduce the faithful. [3] Hence each head is branded with a name descriptive of the sin or error it represents. All heresies blaspheme by denying some dogma of Faith; thus, for example, atheism denies the existence of God; Arianism rejects the divinity of Christ; Mohammedanism denies both the divinity of Christ and the Trinity of God, while Judaism refuses to recognize our Lord as Messias.
