He understood the Antichrist as first and foremost a spirit but then also as a body once that spirit has infiltrated and animated a particular body of believers: He spoke often of her “blasphemous rites and ceremonies” and decried the bloody massacres “committed by her hand, both in France, Ireland, Piedmont, and in several places besides.”

“She hath sinned, by labouring to hide all her wickedness, by lies, dissimulations, and filthy equivocations of her priests, friars, Jesuits, &c.” That Bunyan identifies the Roman Catholic Church as a particular manifestation of Antichrist would be difficult to deny: “The devil then, made use of the church of God to midwife this monster into the world.” Bunyan understands the Antichrist as emerging from inside the church: He presents himself as an agent of Christ but is contrary to him in practice. Against him in deed for him in word, and contrary to him in practice.” īunyan understands the Antichrist as pretending to be a friend of Christ and his followers while actually opposing them. “Antichrist is the adversary of Christ an adversary really, a friend pretendedly: so then, Antichrist is one that is against Christ one that is for Christ, and one that is contrary to him: (and this is the mystery of iniquity 2 Thess 2:7). Who or what does Bunyan Identify as “The Antichrist”?īunyan clearly identifies false religion in general and the Roman Catholic Church in particular as the Antichrist. In order to track with Bunyan’s argument and to make proper application of it within the contemporary sphere, it may be helpful to begin by defining our terms. However, as Charles Spurgeon famously suggested, Bunyan was a living Bible, “prick him anywhere his blood is bibline.” Both of these forces exert considerable influence upon Bunyan’s magisterial presentation. His understanding of the Antichrist and the war waged by him against the church was inevitably influenced by the history of the Protestant Reformation in Europe and particularly in England. He could not help but view human history from a particular vantage point. Like every pastor, preacher and author, Bunyan was to a great extent, a man of his times. The following represents my attempt at a brief review intended to assist the casual reader in making sense of Bunyan’s views and aims.

However, I only recently had occasion to read Of Antichrist And His Ruin. His Pilgrim’s Progress, Grace Abounding and Holy War have been frequent companions. I have long been an admirer of the Independent (Baptist?) author John Bunyan. Image: Edwardx, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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