So what is the big deal about the "Antichrist"? Why do some people always accuse the newest head of the UN, the newest Pope, or the President of the USA of being the Antichrist? These make the mistake of saying "he's a powerful leader, so he must be the Antichrist". In this article I will discuss the characteristics of the prophesied Antichrist as described in the Bible, as well as some speculation on who he may be and how he might accomplish his goals. I believe this is important not only to reduce the number of these "Oh, that person is the Antichrist" type accusations, but also to warn those who will live during the Tribulation not to follow him. There are many distinguishing features of the Antichrist, and so we should all learn how to identify him when he shows up.
What the Bible says about the Antichrist
In the Bible, the Antichrist is the head of the government that will eventually rule over the the "Revived Roman Empire". However, he will not be just a typical politician. Eventually he will have influence over the whole world, and will he will claim to be God and demand to be worshipped by everyone. He will kill many Christians who do not accept him as God, and will lead the world's armies into battle against the armies of heaven when Jesus returns. Below is a more thorough summary of the characteristics of the Antichrist:
A Rider on a White Horse
"Then I saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow and was given a crown. He had already won some victories, and he went out to win more." (Revelation 6:2). Most Bible commentators believe this is a description of the Antichrist, who will try to impersonate Jesus, who comes riding on a white horse in Revelation 19:11. The fact that he has a bow but no arrow could mean that he has authority but no real power, since his true power is from Satan: "The dragon handed over its own power and throne and great authority to this beast." (Revelation 13:2).
This is the same offer that Satan made to Jesus in Matthew 4:8-10: "Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. The devil said to him 'I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me.'". Probably Satan will make this same offer to the Antichrist, and the Antichrist will accept it.
The Beast
The Antichrist is also described as the "beast" in the book of Revelation. "The beast was allowed to brag and claim to be God, and for forty-two months it was allowed to rule. The beast cursed God, and it cursed the name of God. It even cursed the place where God lives, as well as everyone who lives in heaven with God. It was allowed to fight against God's people and defeat them. It was also given authority over the people of every tribe, nation, language, and race. The beast was worshiped by everyone whose name wasn't written before the time of creation in the book of the Lamb who was killed." (Revelation 13:5-8).
So the Antichrist will hate the Christian God, will say all sorts of nasty things about Him and about Christians, will fight against and overcome the Christians (those who convert after the Rapture), and will have power over all the Earth and be worshiped as God.
The Antichrist's Government
The Antichrist starts off as one of ten world leaders, but eventually takes control from them. "I looked and saw a beast coming up from the sea. This one had ten horns and seven heads, and a crown was on each of its ten horns." (Revelation 13:1). "The ten horns that you saw are ten more kings, who have not yet come into power, and they will rule with the beast for only a short time. They all think alike and will give their power and authority to the beast." (Revelation 17:12-13).
This is the same beast that Daniel prophesied about in Daniel 7:7-8: "The fourth beast was stronger and more terrifying than the others. Its huge teeth were made of iron, and what it didn't grind with its teeth, it smashed with its feet. It was different from the others, and it had horns on its head - ten of them. Just as I was thinking about these horns, a smaller horn appeared, and three of the other horns were pulled up by the roots to make room for it. This horn had the eyes of a human and a mouth that spoke with great pride.".
This vision is later explained to Daniel: "The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom to appear on earth. It will be different from all the others - it will trample the earth and crush it to pieces. All ten of those horns are kings who will come from this kingdom, and one more will follow. This king will be different from the others, and it will conquer three other kings. This king will speak evil of God Most High and he will be cruel to God's chosen ones. He will try to change God's law and the sacred seasons. And he will be able to do this for a time, two times, and half a time. But he will finally be judged, and his kingdom completely destroyed.".
A more thorough analysis of the four beasts in Daniel's vision and the beast in Revelation can be found in my article here. The four beasts are four empires - the Babylonian Empire, Medo-Persian Empire, Greek Empire, and Roman Empire. The Roman Empire is the fourth beast which will reappear as the "Revived Roman Empire" at the start of the Tribulation or slightly before the Tribulation begins. It will most likely be the European Union, or some form of it with power consolidated into 10 ruling positions (although some people think it could possibly be a coalition of 10 Arab countries instead). The Antichrist will appear by taking over three of these ruling positions, and after he is killed and comes back to life he will declare himself to be God and will be promoted to rule the entire Revived Roman Empire.
The return of the Roman Empire is predicted in Revelation 17:8: "The beast you saw is one that used to be and no longer is. It will come back from the deep pit, but only to be destroyed. Everyone on earth whose names were not written in the book of life before the time of creation will be amazed. They will see this beast that used to be and no longer is, but will be once more.". So I think the Revived Roman Empire will be recognizeable as the ancient Roman Empire, and this is why people are amazed.
The Antichrist's Death and Resurrection
The Antichrist will be assassinated, and come back to life. Speaking about the Beast, John writes "One of its heads seemed to have been fatally wounded, but now it was well." (Revelation 13:3). In Tim Lahaye's "Revelation Illustrated and Made Plain", he believes that when the Antichrist is assassinated, he will rise 3 days later to impersonate Jesus (who rose 3 days after being crucified). He also thinks that at this point the Antichrist may be possessed directly by Satan [2].
The False Prophet
The Antichrist will have a False Prophet who works for him. "I now saw another beast. This one came out of the ground. It had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon. It worked for the beast whose fatal wound had been healed. And it used all its authority to force the earth and its people to worship the beast. It worked mighty miracles, and while people watched, it even made fire come down from the sky. This second beast fooled people on earth by working miracles for the first one." (Revelation 13:11-14).
Also "When the wicked one appears, Satan will pretend to work all kinds of miracles, wonders, and signs. Lost people will be fooled by his evil deeds. They could be saved, but they will refuse to love the truth and accept it. So God will make sure that they are fooled into believing a lie. All of them will be punished because they would rather do evil than believe the truth." (2 Thess. 2:9-12).
This prophet will convince people that the Antichrist is God and should be worshipped by using demonic power to do "miracles". The fire coming down from the sky may be to impersonate the prophet Elijah, who made fire come down from heaven to prove to the worshipers of Baal that God is the only true God (1 Kings 18:38). Elijah is the only prophet in the entire Bible who performed this miracle. I had previously thought that the False Prophet could be anyone that Satan decides to empower to promote the Antichrist. However, after further study, I have discovered that the False Prophet may in fact be an imposter of Jesus Himself! For more info, read my article here.
The Idol of the Beast
The False Prophet will create a "living idol" of the Antichrist to be worshipped. "Then it (the second beast/False Prophet) talked them into making an idol in the form of the beast who did not die after being wounded with a sword. It was allowed to put breath into the idol, so that it could speak. Everyone who refused to worship the idol of the beast was put to death." (Revelation 13:14-15).
This idol will most likely be placed in the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem, which will be completed at or near the beginning of the Tribulation period. Daniel said "For one week, this foreigner will make a firm agreement with many people, and halfway through the week he will end all sacrifices and offerings. Then the 'Horrible Thing' that causes destruction will be put there. And it will stay there until the time God has decided to destroy this one who destroys." (Daniel 9:27). The "week" is interpreted as a period of 7 years, as that is how ancient Jewish people counted time (not in decades of ten years, but in "weeks" of 7 years) [1]. Some guesses for the "idol" that can speak could be a robot, or a hologram, or some other technology, but this is just speculative for now.
Daniel says that there will be 1290 days from when the sacrifices in the Temple are stopped to when the "Horrible Thing" is set up in the Temple. This is approximately 3.5 years. Most interpretations I have read say that the peace treaty the Antichrist makes with Israel will allow them to rebuild their temple (next to the Dome of the Rock, since the actual Temple was located to the side of the Dome of the Rock, not at the exact same location), but then 3.5 years later the False Prophet will set up the Antichrist's idol in the Holy of Holies in the Temple, thus declaring it to be God [1].
This warning about the idol in the Temple was repeated by Jesus in Mark 13:14-19: "Someday you will see that "Horrible Thing" where it should not be. Everyone who reads this must try to understand! If you are living in Judea at that time, run to the mountains. If you are on the roof of your house, don't go inside to get anything. If you are out in the field, don't go back for your coat. It will be an awful time for women who are expecting babies or nursing young children. Pray that it won't happen in winter. This will be the worst time of suffering since God created the world, and nothing this terrible will ever happen again."
The Mark of the Beast
"All people were forced to put a mark on their right hand or forehead. Whether they were powerful or weak, rich or poor, free people or slaves, they all had to have this mark, or else they could not buy or sell anything. This mark stood for the name of the beast and for the number of his name. You need wisdom to understand the number of the beast! But if you are smart enough, you can figure this out. Its number is six hundred sixty-six, and it stands for a person." (Revelation 13:16-18).
Many Christians over the last 30 or so years have assumed this mark would have a technological component, such as either a barcode tattoo or an electronic RFID implant, or some other type of technology. They think this is the reason that no one will be able to buy or sell without it - because all money will be electronically transferred. If you don't have one, you won't be able to get food, clothing, pay rent, etc. However, you may be able to survive off an underground barter system, or by finding a compassionate person with the mark who will hide you and provide for you in return for say, cleaning their house, watching their kids, etc.
One interesting Youtube video I watched (I can't find it again) talked about the VeriChip microchip implant system, where a developer discussed how it would be ideally put in the hand or forehead because those two areas in the human body are least prone to temperature variations. This is a very interesting statement which could explain why those two locations are indicated in the Bible as the location of the Mark. There is an interesting webpage about the Mark of the Beast and the VeriChip system here [3].
To receive this Mark, is is likely that you will have to pledge allegiance to the Antichrist's government or the Antichrist himself. So I don't think a person could accidentally accept it, and it won't just be biometrics or an ID card - it will be something physical that people will be able to clearly see on the hand or forehead. Perhaps a tattoo will be added on top (if it's an implant) just to make it clear who has one and who doesn't. Probably in this sort of system, anyone who doesn't have the Mark will be either arrested or accused of being a terrorist and killed. Either way, you definitely don't want to get this Mark. The Bible says that people who take this Mark will be tortured with fire and burning sulfur, and will be tortured day and night and never be able to rest (Revelation 14:10-11). This is usually interpreted as being thrown into the lake of fire (i.e. hell), which is the same place the Antichrist and False Prophet are thrown when Jesus returns (Revelation 19:20).Who will be the Antichrist?
It is interesting that there are currently many different people that some think may be the Antichrist. Two of the most notable, I believe, are the Islamic Mahdi or perhaps Maitreya. I will discuss both of these characters here, as well as a few other possibilities.
The Mahdi
The Mahdi is the "messiah" of Islam. Muslims are looking forward to his return, because they believe he will do things like wipe out the Jews and establish Islam as the worldwide religion. It is also interesting to note that the Muslims' beliefs about their Mahdi are very similar to what the Bible says about the Antichrist.
Muslims believe their Mahdi will come riding on a white horse, will reign for 7 years, will be an "unparalleled spiritual, political and military world leader"[4], will conquer Israel and kill the Jews, will make a 7 year peace treaty with Israel, and many other things which match very closely with what Revelation describes the Antichrist will do. I suspect that in order to gain the following of the Muslim population, the Antichrist may very well pose as the Mahdi. Already Europe's Muslim population is multiplying faster than non-Muslims, and some sources estimate that at this rate Europe could be 20% Muslim by 2050 [5]. So if the Antichrist does rise out of the revived Roman Empire (i.e. the EU), then he would definitely have to appeal to the large Muslim population there.
If you believe the Qu'ran was satanically inspired, perhaps Satan told Muhammed exactly what to write to match what the Antichrist will do, and in effect the Antichrist will actually be the Mahdi. It is interesting that the Qu'ran can be modified through their doctrine of abrogation [2] where if the Mahdi wanted to edit the Qu'ran to further his agenda, I'm sure he could. He could probably change it to declare that he is their Allah incarnate, and therefore have a large percentage of the Muslim world worship him.
Additionally, the teachings about Islam about the return of Jesus match surprisingly well with the descriptions of the False Prophet. They say that Jesus will come back, will say that Christianity has been corrupted and Islam is the truth, and that everyone should worship the Mahdi. For a more in-depth analysis of this topic, please see my article here.
It is also interesting to note that the Christians who were killed in Revelation 20:4 for not worshiping the Antichrist or taking his Mark were "beheaded". In the Qu'ran, it says in Surah 47:4: "When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield, strike off their heads..."[6]. So the Antichrist might very well use this tradition against the Christians, and have the Muslims willingly help with it.
As of March 28, 2011, a new video has been promoted by the Iranian government which claims that the current unrest in the middle-east is a sign that the Mahdi may be appearing soon. So you may want to keep an eye out for the Mahdi in the news.
Maitreya
Maitreya is an interesting character. Although no one really knows who he is, there are all sorts of expectations for what he'll do when he openly reveals himself. His main advocate is a man named Benjamin Creme, who promotes New Age beliefs and the teachings of people such as Helena Blavatsky and Alice A. Bailey (popular new age writers) [7]. Mr. Creme receives his information about the Maitreya from an "ascended master" via telepathic communication (which most Christians would consider to be near demonic possession).
Mr. Creme claims the Maitreya will be (the second appearance of) Christ, as well as the Imam Mahdi, the Jewish Messiah, Krishna, and the Maitreya Buddha, and will therefore fulfill the prophecies of all these religions. He says Maitreya will be a "World Teacher" who will "inspire humanity to see itself as one family, and create a civilization based on sharing, economic and social justice, and global cooperation" [8]. Mr. Creme believes the Israeli-Palestinian problem will not be solved until Maitreya comes and advises both sides [9], which again matches the 7-year peace treaty the Antichrist will make with Israel. On the Maitreya's Day of Declaration, he says Maitreya will appear on TV to everyone who has one, and will telepathically communicate with all humanity at the same time. They say that everyone will feel love and people will be spontaneously healed [10].
Mr. Creme says that eventually the Maitreya will institute a new world religion based on "initiation", and will be made of people from all religions [11]. It is interesting that he says "initiation", as usually in New Age circles this means "Luciferian initiation". This is described by David Spangler (Director of Planetary Initiative, United Nations) as "Lucifer comes to give us the final 'Luciferic initiation' that many people now and in the days ahead, will be facing - for it is an initiation into the New Age. No one will enter the New World Order unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian initiation" [12]. Since Satan was known as Lucifer before he rebelled against God, the Luciferic Iniitiation discussed is basically a direct pledge to Satan himself. Satan would love it if the Antichrist could make the world pledge loyalty to Satan, since Satan desires to be worshiped as God.
There is a whole lot more information out there about these types of New Age beliefs, but I find most of them are very abstract and many sources are not reliable and/or contradictory. There are some sources of information which show links between Luciferian New Age groups and important government organizations, such as the UN or others (although most of these references are from "conspiracy" type sources). To cover all this would go way outside the scope of this article, but if you're curious it's quite easy to find information via Youtube or using a Google search.
It is also interesting that Mr. Creme teaches that Jesus was not "Christ", but was a disciple of "Christ" and it was "Christ's" power that overshadowed (i.e possessed) Jesus and let him do miracles. He claims that Jesus is just an Ascended Master who now lives in Rome and whose task will be to take over the throne of St. Peter (i.e. the Papacy) and reform Christianity/Catholicism so it will accept the Maitreya [13]. At an occult conference, one of the leaders and main speaker of the House of Theosophy declared that the Pope will accept Maitreya, and will probably promote this new one world religion [14]. This again matches quite well with my analysis here that an imposter of Jesus may be the False Prophet, and would support the Antichrist/Maitreya and do miracles to prove he supposedly is "Jesus".
Mr. Creme says that Maitreya will say to everyone "You have a choice. Choose life, if you are sensible, and create a brilliant, golden, civilization, better than anything the world has ever seen. Or face annihilation." [9]. This seems to be a threat saying that if someone does not follow Maitreya, they will be killed. It is also interesting that people have made statues of Maitreya, which apparently Maitreya can "transmit his energies through" [15]. This is interesting because Revelation talks of the people who were killed because they did not worship the beast, or the idol, and refused to let its mark be put on their hands or foreheads (Revelation 20:13). The idol described in Revelation 13:15 is also apparently able to "speak". So this idol could be one of these supposed "mystical statues" of Maitreya.
Just as recently as Jan 14, 2010, on Benjamin Creme's site there is a post saying that the open mission of the Maitreya has begun, and was announced by a "star" which is what most people have seen called the "Norway spiral" [16]. Most information sources claim the Norway Spiral was just a failed Russian missile test, but some think it was an alien spacecraft or perhaps Project Bluebeam (a secret military system of satellites in orbit which project holographic images in the sky). But either way, it should be interesting to see if anything happens related to this Maitreya guy in the future.
The Head of the EU
I don't believe that the current new EU prime minister Herman von Rompuy [17] is the Antichrist. He doesn't match the profile or have the charisma, doesn't have the popular support of the people, and most of the world doesn't care about him. The Antichrist will be more like President Obama when he was popular - someone a large portion of the population likes and willingly follows. There was a big enough deal made about Obama when he was elected - some people even called him the "messiah", and all around the world people knew who he was. I don't think the Antichrist is Obama, but that's the sort of hype there will be about this guy.
However, since the description of the Antichrist is as a king which conquers three other kings of the 10-king kingdom in Daniel (as shown previously in this article), the Antichrist will not just be elected out of the blue. Also, since he is only a "little" horn, perhaps he will not be very well known when he starts off his political career.
British Royalty
One analysis I saw which was quite interesting tried to link the Antichrist to Prince Charles. They analyzed his family crest, and found that it matches the description of the beast in Revelation 13:2. The beast is described as having the body of a leopard, feet of a bear, and mouth of a lion. His crest also contains the "white horse", a horn (on the horse's head), and a red dragon in the bottom right corner [18]. However, I don't know if this is enough proof, especially considering that Prince Charles is never going to be accepted at the Mahdi by Muslims, or as someone to be worshiped by the whole world. Some people have said the same thing about Prince William, because he is much younger and more appealing than Prince Charles, but I still don't see him having enough influence over the whole world to be the Antichrist.
How should Christians Respond?
Don't be fooled
If you are a Christian now, before the Rapture, I doubt we will ever know for sure who the Antichrist is. The Antichrist is only revealed in Revelation chapter 6, but the Rapture occurs in Revelation chapter 4. However, there will be people who become Christian after the Rapture. To these people, Jesus warns them and says "If someone should say, 'Here is the Messiah!' or 'There he is!', don't believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will come and work miracles and signs. They will even try to fool God's chosen ones. But be on your guard! That's why I am telling you these things now." (Mark 13:21-23).
It will be blatantly obvious when Jesus returns, for Jesus says "Then the Son of Man will be seen coming in the clouds with great power and glory."(Mark 13:26) and also "The day of the Son of Man will be like lightning flashing across the sky."(Luke 17:24). So if anyone claims they have found the Messiah, or the the Messiah is on TV, or anything else like that, it's clearly false. When Christ returns everyone will see Him personally, and there will be no doubt that it is Him. "Look! He is coming with the clouds. Everyone will see him, even the ones who stuck a sword through him. All people on earth will weep because of him." (Revelation 1:7).
It is also clear the the Antichrist will come before Jesus returns. If there is no Antichrist and someone starts claiming to be Christ, he is not. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 it says: "So I ask you, my friends, not to be easily upset or disturbed by people who claim that the Lord has already come. They may say that they heard this directly from the Holy Spirit, or from someone else, or even that they read it in one of our letters. But don't be fooled! People will rebel against God. Then before the Lord returns, the wicked one who is doomed to be destroyed will appear. He will brag and oppose everything that is holy or sacred. He will even sit in God's temple and claim to be God."
Also "When the wicked one appears. Satan will pretend to work all kinds of miracles, wonders, and signs. Lost people will be fooled by his evil deeds. They could be saved, but they will refuse to love the truth and accept it. So God will make sure that they are fooled into believing a lie. All of them will be punished because they would rather do evil than believe the truth." (2 Thess. 2:9-12).
The Antichrist is destroyed when Jesus returns at the battle of Armageddon. If there is no massive gathering of armies in northern Israel, led by the Antichrist and the kings of the world, then Jesus is not returning, and he will not be back until that happens. Note: The Rapture is not the same as Jesus' final return to earth, so don't confuse the two. The Rapture is a sudden event before the Tribulation, and no one but the Christians will see Jesus. When Jesus returns at the battle of Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation, everyone will see him.
Know the Bible
Not only will we know the Antichrist is not Jesus by the way he comes, but also by what he teaches. Paul criticized the Galatians for quickly forgetting what they had been taught. Paul said "I pray that God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from our message to you! It doesn't matter if that person is one of us or an angel from heaven." (Galatians 1:8). Also, John warned of how to test supposed "teachers" to tell if they are from God or not. John said "You know that liars do not belong to the truth. And a liar is anyone who says that Jesus isn't truly Christ. Anyone who says this is an enemy of Christ and rejects both the Father and the Son."(1 John 2:21-22). By Jesus being "Christ", he meant as in Jesus was the Son of God, and who died to pay for humanity's sins on the cross.
John also said "Dear friends, don't believe everyone who claims to have the Spirit of God. Test them all to find out if they really do come from God. Many false prophets have already gone out into the world, and you can know which ones come from God. His Spirit says that Jesus Christ had a truly human body. But when someone doesn't say this about Jesus, you know that person has a spirit that doesn't come from God and is the enemy of Christ. You knew that this enemy was coming into the world and now is already here." (1 John 4:1-3). This was mostly in rebuttal to beliefs at the time that Jesus was not a real human, but only "spirit", however it can also be applied to today. If anyone claims that there are other ways to heaven besides Jesus, or that we are all "gods", or any other sort of teaching which goes against what is clearly stated in the Bible, then they are not from God and should not be believed.
Be ready for Persecution
"It (the beast) was allowed to fight against God's people and defeat them." (Revelation 13:7). As I discussed in my article about the Rapture, the Church is never defeated, but once the Church is Raptured, then people who convert to Christianity afterwards will be open targets for the Antichrist. They will have a really hard time, because by not taking the Mark of the Beast they will have no way to buy food or to do anything economically, and may be killed for not taking the Mark.
However, be encouraged that it's better to die than to take the Mark of the Beast. Anyone who refuses the Mark and is killed for it will be rewarded in heaven: "I saw thrones, and sitting on those thrones were the ones who had been given the right to judge. I also saw the souls of the people who had their heads cut off because they had told about Jesus and preached God's message. They were the same ones who had not worshiped the beast or the idol, and they had refused to let its mark be put on their hands or foreheads. They will come to life and rule with Christ for a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4).
Jesus warned Christians that we will be persecuted for following him. "And the time will come when people will kill you and think they are doing God a favor. They will do these things because they don't know either the Father or me." (John 16:2-3). Jesus said "If the people of this world hate you, just remember they hated me first. If you belonged to the world, its people would love you. But you don't belong to the world. I have chosen you to leave the world behind, and that is why people hate you. ... People will do to you exactly what they did to me. They will do it because you belong to me and they don't know the one who sent me." (John 15:18-22).
This hatred will come in many forms. "You will be taken to courts and beaten with whips in their meeting places." (Mark 13:9). There will be persecution even inside the family, as Jesus warned: "Brothers and sisters will betray each other and have each other put to death. Parents will betray their own children, and children will turn against their parents and have them killed. Everyone will hate you because of me. But if you keep on being faithful right to the end, you will be saved." (Mark 13:12-13). However, when compared to what heaven will be like, this temporary suffering is nothing, and you will be rewarded for your faith and endurance in heaven.
Conclusion
So now after analyzing what the Bible says about the Antichrist, we are much more prepared to identify who he is once he appears. There are many important signs of who the Antichrist will be, and if you are left after the Rapture if you pay attention you will see exactly who he is. Hopefully this analysis will also help you not be worried when someone else claims that "so and so" is the Antichrist just because they are famous or powerful.
There are several possibilities for who the Antichrist may be, and I believe that probably "Maitreya" and/or "Mahdi" is the most likely current candidate, so if you see him mentioned in news or if he does ever show up on TV, don't be tricked. If you are a Christian, make sure you know your Bible so you can discern what is true and what is a lie, and try to spread the truth about Jesus, even if you have to die for it. I don't know exactly when the Antichrist will show up, but Jack van Impe believes this man is currently alive and just waiting for the time when God will allow him to show himself. It could be very soon after the Rapture happens, which could happen anytime.
References
[1] Grant R. Jeffrey (2008) Countdown to the Apocalypse
[2] Tim Lahaye (1975) Revelation Illustrated and Made Plain
[3] www.tldm.org/News4/Markofthebeast.htm
[4] www.answering-islam.org, Chapter 4: The Mahdi - Islam's Awaited Messiah
[5] telegraph.co.uk: Muslim Europe - the demographic time bomb transforming our continent. Aug 8, 2009.
[6] www.bibleprobe.com: True History of Islam, Mohammed, and the Koran
[7] Share International: Benjamin Creme: A Messenger of Hope
[8] Share International: Who is Maitreya?
[9] Share International: Frequently Asked Questions about Maitreya
[10] Wikipedia: Benjamin Creme
[11] Share International: 50 Frequently Asked Questions
[12] Quotes by David Spangler
[13] Share International: 50 Frequently Asked Questions
[14] http://www.cuttingedge.org/articles/RC104.htm
[15] Share International: 50 Frequently Asked Questions
[16] Share International
[17] Wikipedia: Herman von Rompuy
[18] Youtube Video: Proof that Prince Charles is the Antichrist