After reading your essasy, here is what I have to say:

A slightly different view of John's reference to "the many antichrists who went out from among them" were the many false teachers and prophets who spoke antithetical to the precepts taught by the Apostles - those who were actually acting out against Jesus and the Gospel and the Apostle John's ministry that is in their daily assemblies. From my viewpoint, John was talking about the immediate activities of individuals and not Nations, not Denominations, but individuals, associates living among them.

Note that John was writing these letters a ways before his exile to Patmos and the Revelations he wrote down later in his life.

Now, I have read much the same of your identification of the nations represented by animals, and am assuming your accuracy, but I know from experience that Biblical prophecies have an eternal aspect - timeless in their understandings and applications, and that is where I get my view of the Beast And the Whore riding the Beast, and except for the antichrist as the person being Satan's prophet, the rest is an existing Nation and a worldwide governing System.

The seven heads and ten horns are in existence today, not long ago, as your referencing the Roman Catholic Church has been. (This is exactly where I was afraid that you were going from your prefacing remarks.)

The indications of the Antichrist should be of worldwide proportions like governing bodies such as the World Monetary Fund and World Bank with the Whore Babylon being not the historical empire but the modern rendition with parallel traits as a world encompassing merchant, making everybody materialistically wealthy...

You see, "the end is not yet" section of Jesus' warnings about the end times has nothing to do with the Papacy. I would say the Reformatioists were not any better and whose dogmas are pretty opposed to the Gospel teachings of the first century Apostles and Believers.

I repeat, you are hung up on the succession of popes while John was referring to individuals in his missionary work at that time.

You should be looking at political systems instead of religious ones - devices which are taking the place of God, Jesus, and theBible.

While correctly asserting "every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh." as some sort of evidentiary proof condemning the Catholic Church. However, I am quite cdertain, in fact I'm positive that each and every Mass celebrates the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It seems that the rest of your evidentiary proofs echo the exact problem with all Denominational Churches who have many Biblical misinterpretations and misunderstandings that have resulted in diverse and divergent doctrines and essential dogmas which contradict everyone else's. Yet, that doesn't make them antichrists! It just makes them wrong.

The rest of your essay strains at the gnats, becoming moot.

All the churches have been wrong about a lot of things.

I, for one, as a Born Again Bible Believing Christian, see no difference in the guiltiness of anyone, anybody, or any group being greater than any other. All have definitely sinned. In that, we are all equal in the sight of God.

By the by, I've read all of your accusations before and have rejected all of them every time.

People have been wrestling and twisting verses out of their context ever since the Bible was written!