I have quoted this again because I think it too important for you'll to just bypass and not consider. I believe the vast majority of Christians, due to having been deceived only very recently as in the last 200 years, have abandoned the only hermeneutic by which the Antichrist is accurately identified. Preterism has Nero and Antiochus, neither of which meet the criteria, futurism or dispensationalism has...well, put your own guess in here________.
Historicism uses both scripture and history, has the advantage of being able to look back on fulfilled prophecy, has the mandate of every reformer who all agreed on the criteria and who had met those criteria, and which even today, after all this time, still has an accurate lock on who the beast/little horn/Antichrist is. And we need to know. We cannot pretend it doesn't matter, or that to make a decision is too politically incorrect and may hurt feelings. God didn't provide all the information we have concerning this entity if He didn't fully intend that we understand and accept the warnings appropriate to this power.
The very word, Antichrist, today conjures up imagery of evil and witchcraft and demons running around and clear and present danger. But nothing could be further from the truth. The entire paradigm that contextually surrounds the Antichrist is one of deception and camouflage. The beast my friends is like a leopard. You don't see it until its revealed. To the casual observer, he's hidden. But the name itself gives us the first very real tangible clue. He isn't just an enemy to Christ and His people. Etymologically the word means 'instead of'. The Antichrist replaces Christ. It is through replacing Christ in the minds and hearts of people, that the Antichrist opposes. Most of you know who it is I'm referring to here...the Catholic Church system. Not the individual pope, not the people, not individual clergy. But the church system itself, as it is the system of belief and concept that she replaces Christ, and does so in numerous ways. Here's just one...
Zechariah 6:13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
This is an OT prophecy concerning Messiah. Jesus. It says as you see above, He shall be a Priest upon His throne. This tells us that Jesus is both Priest and King. It also tells us there is peaceful harmony between the two ideas. Jesus is both Savior and Lord. And by being both Savior and Lord, He is able to secure our salvation. Through His mediatorial role as Priest, and His Kingship over our lives, He is able to affect salvation, sanctification, and our glorification.
Catholicism however, while perhaps acknowledging this, has replaced it. The system has placed a priest upon a throne. This priest claims to have mediatorial powers, in fact claims unique and specific mediatorial power that no-one else has on the earth, and that only through him is anyone saved. But that is not all. He also claims kingship. But that kingship and authority does not extend only to his own people in Rome, nor even only his own people across all lands, but he claims kingly rule and authority over the entire planet, believer and unbeliever alike.
Do you see how perfectly the Catholic system thus fulfills the criteria that prophecy demands, and how deception has deluded the minds of so many, even Protestants? Prophecy is there for a reason. But there's harmony between the prophecy itself...history...and the rest of scripture. We all know the roles Christ has in the earth. Priest...Prophet...and King. The Pope claims all 3 for himself. We cannot afford to ignore this.
"Here is wisdom..."