What are the antecedents of the "Antichrist" figure and its associated themes in Jewish literature prior to the New Testament? Here, Lorein offers the texts and translations of all the relevant passages, together with a discussion of their meaning and significance. He concludes that the "Antichrist" theme arises in different currents within this literature, but has its sources in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. In its scope and detail, as well as in many of its conclusions and its general synthesis, this book surpasses previous scholarship on a very important aspect of New Testament and early Christian thought.

In The Legend of the Anti-Christ, Stephen Vicchio offers a concise and historical approach to the history of the idea of the Anti-Christ, including precursors to the idea, the development of the idea in the New Testament, as well as the understandings of the legend of the Anti-Christ in the history of Christianity. Vicchio also raises the question of why there is so much emphasis in the modern world about the idea.

"Was the idea of the ancient tradition surrounding the Antichrist present in related forms among both Jews and Christians? Mateusz Kusio reveals an anti-messianic tradition involving a variety of eschatological antagonists in conflict with diverse messianic actors that stretches across both Jewish and Christian corpora and revolves around a set of similar motifs, ideas, and core Biblical texts." --

James R. Harrison investigates the collision between Paul's eschatological gospel and the Julio-Claudian conception of rule. The ruler's propaganda, with its claim about the 'eternal rule' of the imperial house over its subjects, embodied in idolatry of power that conflicted with Paul's proclamation of the reign of the risen Son of God over his world. This ideological conflict is examined in 1 and 2 Thessalonians and in Romans, exploring how Paul's eschatology intersected with the imperial cult in the Greek East and in the Latin West. A wide selection of evidence - literary, documentary, numismatic, iconographic, archeological - unveils the 'symbolic universe' of the Julio-Claudian rulers. This construction of social and cosmic reality stood at odds with the eschatological denouement of world history, which, in Paul's view, culminated in the arrival of God's new creation upon Christ's return as Lord of all. Paul exalted the Body of Christ over Nero's 'body of state', transferring to the risen and ascended Jesus many of the ruler's titles and to the Body of Christ many of the ruler's functions. Thus, for Paul, Christ's reign challenged the values of Roman society and transformed its hierarchical social relations through the Spirit.

In Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe wrote a profoundly religious drama despite the theater's newfound secularism and his own reputation for anti-Christian irreverence. The Aesthetics of Antichrist explores this apparent paradox by suggesting that, long before Marlowe, Christian drama and ritual performance had reveled in staging the collapse of Christianity into its historical opponents—paganism, Judaism, worldliness, heresy. By embracing this tradition, Marlowe's work would at once demonstrate the theatricality inhering in Christian worship and, unexpectedly, resacralize the commercial theater. The Antichrist myth in particular tells of an impostor turned prophet: performing Christ's life, he reduces the godhead to a special effect yet in so doing foretells the real second coming. Medieval audiences, as well as Marlowe's, could evidently enjoy the constant confusion between true Christianity and its empty look-alikes for that very reason: mimetic degradation anticipated some final, as yet deferred revelation. Mere theater was a necessary prelude to redemption. The versions of the myth we find in Marlowe and earlier drama actually approximate, John Parker argues, a premodern theory of the redemptive effect of dramatic representation itself. Crossing the divide between medieval and Renaissance theater while drawing heavily on New Testament scholarship, Patristics, and research into the apocrypha, The Aesthetics of Antichrist proposes a wholesale rereading of pre-Shakespearean drama.

The first of Nostradamus's three Antichrists is clearly Napoleon Bonaparte, given both the extent and the quality of the prophecies he dedicates to the man. The second Antichrist is Adolf Hitler - again, Nostradamus devoted an inordinate amount of space to Hitler's effect on the world stage. The third of his Antichrists is the 'one still to come', to which he devotes a number of prophecies still waiting to be fulfilled. They include dates and consequences: the period starts in 2010, with advance warning of the Third Antichrist, covers his birth in 2035, the Global War triggered by the Antichrist in 2070, and the decay and destruction of the Antichrist's empire by 2097.' Although many people know that Nostradamus prophesied the coming of the three Antichrists allegedly foretold in St John's Epistles (and also, in the guise of the Beast, the Dragon, the False Prophet, and the Whore of Babylon, in Revelation), they don't know who the first two Antichrists were, nor who the third will be when his time comes. This book will answer those questions. Nostradamus differs from the Biblical Book of Revelation in his emphasis that there are three Antichrists, and not simply one. Author Mario Reading believes that Nostradamus intended his concept of the three Antichrists to act as an evil mirror image of the Holy Trinity, and designed this as a possible three-stage build up to Armageddon. He concludes that Nostradamus intuited that all three Antichrists would be supra-national, in the sense that their actions would affect the whole world - and not simply their own countries.

The Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament (EGGNT) closes the gap between the Greek text and the available lexical and grammatical tools, providing all the necessary information for greater understanding of the text. The series makes interpreting any given New Testament book easier, especially for those who are hard pressed for time but want to preach or teach with accuracy and authority. Each volume begins with a brief introduction to the particular New Testament book, a basic outline, and a list of recommended commentaries. The body is devoted to paragraph-by-paragraph exegesis of the Greek text and includes homiletical helps and suggestions for further study. A comprehensive exegetical outline of the New Testament book completes each EGGNT volume.

By means of careful historical work and exegesis, Streett argues that the secession mentioned in 1 John did not have to do with a later complex Christological issue such as docetism, Cerinthianism, or a devaluation of the historical life/death of Jesus, but rather concerned the foundational belief in the Messiahship of Jesus, a tenet the secessionists had renounced in order to return to the Jewish synagogue. He critiques the common maximalistic mirror-reading approach to the letter as misguided, and contends that the letter is primarily pastoral, meant to comfort and reassure the community rather than to argue against the secessionists. Streett’s main contributions are his detailed examination of the ancient historical evidence (especially the Patristic evidence) for the Johannine opponents, and his in-depth and innovative exegesis of the key opponent passages (1 Jn 2:18–27; 4:1–6; 5:6–12; 2 Jn 4–11).

A leading biblical scholar shows that the New Testament texts cannot be understood without careful attention to their Judaic and Second Temple roots.

The thought of René Girard on violence, sacrifice, and mimetic theory has exerted a strong influence on Japanese scholars as well as around the world. In this collection of essays, originating from a Tokyo conference on violence and religion, scholars call on Girardian ideas to address apocalyptic events that have marked Japan's recent history as well as other aspects of, primarily, Japanese literature and culture. Girard's theological notion of apocalypse resonates strongly with those grappling with the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as events such as the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In its focus on Girard and devastating violence, the contributors raise issues of promise and peril for us all. The essays in Part I of the volume are primarily rooted in the events of World War II. The contributors employ mimetic theory to respond to the use of nuclear weapons and the threat of absolute destruction. Essays in Part II cover a wide range of topics in Japanese cultural history from the viewpoint of mimetic theory, ranging from classic and modern Japanese literature to anime. Essays in Part III address theological questions and mimetic theory, especially from a Judeo-Christian perspective. Contributors: Jeremiah L. Alberg, Jean-Pierre Dupuy, Yoko Irie Fayolle, Eric Gans, Sandor Goodhart, Shoichiro Iwakari, Mizuho Kawasaki, Kunio Nakahata, Andreas Oberprantacher, Mery Rodriguez, Thomas Ryba, Richard Schenk, OP, Roberto Solarte, Matthew Taylor, and Anthony D. Traylor.