I Jn 2:18
18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
(KJV)
When Apostle John said that phrase in bold, he was reminding them how they had already heard that antichrist shall come. The antichrist in that phrase is singular, not plural. That's why the early Church fathers also made a distinction between 'the' Antichrist, and his followers or forerunners ("many antichrists" latter phrase).
Polycarp was a disciple of Apostle John, and Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, and Hippolytus was a disciple of Irenaeus.
Polycarp of Smyrna
"Everyone who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is an antichrist [1 John 4:2-3, 2 John 7]; whoever does not confess the testimony of the cross is of the devil; and whoever perverts the sayings of the Lord for his own desires, and says that there is neither resurrection nor judgment, such a one is the firstborn of Satan" (Letter to the Philadelphians 7:1 [A.D. 135]).
Polycarp defines an antichrist also as the "firstborn of Satan". That makes Satan 'the' Antichrist with that explanation.
Irenaeus
"By means of the events which shall occur in the time of the Antichrist it is shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God, and that although a mere slave, he wishes to be proclaimed as king. For he, being endued with all the power of the devil, shall not come as a righteous king nor as a legitimate king in subjection to God, but as an impious, unjust, and lawless one . . . setting aside idols to persuade [men] that he himself is God, raising himself up as the only idol. . . . Moreover [Paul] has also pointed out this which I have shown in many ways: that the temple in Jerusalem was made by the direction of the true God. For the apostle himself, speaking in his own person, distinctly called it the temple of God [2 Thess. 2:4] . . . in which the enemy shall sit, endeavoring to show himself as Christ" (Against Heresies 5:25:1-2 [A.D. 189]).
"Moreover, another danger, by no means trifling, shall overtake those who falsely presume that they know the name of the Antichrist. For if these men assume one [number] when this [Antichrist] shall come having another, they will be easily led away by him as supposing him not to be the expected
one. . . . It is therefore more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfillment of the prophecy than to be making surmises and casting about for any names that may present themselves, inasmuch as many names can be found possessing the number mentioned, and the same question will, after all, remain unsolved" (ibid., 5:30:2-3).
"But when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months and will sit in the temple at Jerusalem; and then the Lord will come from heaven in the clouds, in the glory of the Father, sending this man and those who follow him into the lake of fire" (ibid., 5:30:4).
Irenaeus is specific that the Antichrist that's to come is a singular entity, a king even, which means he linked the Antichrist to the false one Daniel was given to prophesy of. He makes it plain with phrases like "the expected one" and "this Antichrist". He even affirms the Antichrist sitting in a literal temple in Jerusalem for 3 and 1/2 years, and by that links all the prophecies about the same false one in Daniel 11, and by our Lord Jesus in Matthew 24, and by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2. And remember, Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of Apostle John.
Hippolytus
"Now as our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God, was prophesied of under the figure of a lion, on account of his royalty and glory, in the same way have the scriptures also beforehand spoken of Antichrist as a lion, on account of his tyranny and violence. For the deceiver seeks to liken himself in all things to the Son of God. Christ is a lion, so Antichrist is also a lion. Christ is a king, so Antichrist is also a king. The Savior was manifested as a lamb, so he too in like manner will appear as a lamb without; within he is a wolf. The Savior came into the world in the circumcision [i.e., the Jewish race], and he will come in the same manner. . . . The Savior raised up and showed his holy flesh like a temple, and he will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem" (The Antichrist 6 [A.D. 200]).
Hippolytus even well understood what the Antichrist is coming to try and do, i.e., "liken himself in all things to the Son of God." He also asserts that the Antichrist will come in the role of a king in Jerusalem to sit in a temple in Jerusalem.
From the Church fathers above, they got their understanding about the coming of the Antichrist from Apostle John.
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Tertullian
"[T]he man of sin, the son of perdition, who must first be revealed before the Lord comes, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; and who is to sit in the temple of God and boast himself as being God. . . . According indeed to our view, he is Antichrist; as it is taught us in both the ancient and the new prophecies, and by the apostle John, who says that ‘already many false prophets have gone out into the world,’ the forerunners of Antichrist, who deny that Christ is come in the flesh, and do not acknowledge Jesus, meaning in God the Creator" (Against Marcion 5:16 [A.D. 210]).
Tertullian refers to "the ancient and the new prophecies" about the coming of the Antichrist, keeping what John said later separate. Those prophecies about the coming of the Antichrist originate in the Book of Daniel and Christ's Olivet Discourse, and by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2. Tertullian calls the "many antichrists" of John "forerunners of Antichrist". Just in case some do not know what a 'forerunner' is, it means someone who comes prior to the main one they follow; in this case 'the' Antichrist is who they are forerunners for.
Lactanitius
"[A] king shall arise out of Syria, born from an evil spirit, the overthrower and destroyer of the human race, who shall destroy that which is left by the former evil, together with himself. . . . But that king will not only be most disgraceful in himself, but he will also be a prophet of lies, and he will constitute and call himself God, and will order himself to be worshipped as the Son of God, and power will be given to him to do signs and wonders, by the sight of which he may entice men to adore him. He will command fire to come down from heaven and the sun to stand and leave his course, and an image to speak, and these things shall be done at his word. . . . Then he will attempt to destroy the temple of God and persecute the righteous people" (Divine Institutes 7:17 [A.D. 307]).
Lactanitius also recognized the Antichrist as a specific king, and will seek to exalt himself in the place of The Father, and even demand "to be worshipped as the Son of God". And the Antichrist is to "do signs and wonders, by the sight of which he may entice men to adore him." He was simply following the prophecies in the Book of Daniel and our Lord Jesus' own prophecy about a specific false one coming to play Him per His Olivet Discourse (Matt.24; Mark 13).
Cyril of Jerusalem
"This aforementioned Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman Empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world is drawing near. There shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts, perhaps, but all reigning at the same time. After these there shall be an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by the evil craft of his magic shall seize upon the Roman power. Of the kings who reigned before him, three shall he humble [Dan. 7:24], and the remaining seven he shall have as subjects under him. At first he shall feign mildness—as if he were a learned and discreet person—and sobriety and loving kindness" (Catechetical Lectures 15:12 [A.D. 350]).
"Having beguiled the Jews by the lying signs and wonders of his magical deceit, until they believe he is the expected Christ, he shall afterwards be characterized by all manner of wicked deeds of inhumanity and lawlessness, as if to outdo all the unjust and impious men who have gone before him. He shall display against all men, and especially against us Christians, a spirit that is murderous and most cruel, merciless and wily. For three years and six months only shall he be the perpetrator of such things; and then he shall be destroyed by the glorious second coming from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus, the true Christ, who shall destroy him with the breath of his mouth [2 Thess. 2:8], and deliver him over to the fire of Gehenna" (ibid.).
Cyril puts the coming of the Antichrist at a time when "the end of the world is drawing near." He calls the coming Antichrist "an eleventh" king. He directly refers to the false one in the Daniel prophecy as that Antichrist. And that is also pointing to the false beast king of Revelation 17 as that 'eleventh' king.
And if you're a Catholic, here's one from Augustine
Augustine
"Daniel prophesies of the last judgment in such a way as to indicate that Antichrist shall first come and to carry on his destruction to the eternal reign of the saints. For when in prophetic vision he had seen four beasts, signifying four kingdoms, and the fourth conquered by a certain king, who is recognized as Antichrist, and after this the eternal kingdom of the Son of Man, that is to say, of Christ" (The City of God 20:19 [A.D. 419]).
Augustine also agreed with the early Church fathers that the coming Antichrist will be a "certain king", and after this event Christ's Kingdom will come.
So who are the false prophets going around today preaching the lie that there is no singular Antichrist entity coming in the role of king to mimic our Lord Jesus Christ? They are liars, deceivers, the "forerunners of Antichrist" like Tertullian also showed.
18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
(KJV)
When Apostle John said that phrase in bold, he was reminding them how they had already heard that antichrist shall come. The antichrist in that phrase is singular, not plural. That's why the early Church fathers also made a distinction between 'the' Antichrist, and his followers or forerunners ("many antichrists" latter phrase).
Polycarp was a disciple of Apostle John, and Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, and Hippolytus was a disciple of Irenaeus.
Polycarp of Smyrna
"Everyone who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is an antichrist [1 John 4:2-3, 2 John 7]; whoever does not confess the testimony of the cross is of the devil; and whoever perverts the sayings of the Lord for his own desires, and says that there is neither resurrection nor judgment, such a one is the firstborn of Satan" (Letter to the Philadelphians 7:1 [A.D. 135]).
Polycarp defines an antichrist also as the "firstborn of Satan". That makes Satan 'the' Antichrist with that explanation.
Irenaeus
"By means of the events which shall occur in the time of the Antichrist it is shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God, and that although a mere slave, he wishes to be proclaimed as king. For he, being endued with all the power of the devil, shall not come as a righteous king nor as a legitimate king in subjection to God, but as an impious, unjust, and lawless one . . . setting aside idols to persuade [men] that he himself is God, raising himself up as the only idol. . . . Moreover [Paul] has also pointed out this which I have shown in many ways: that the temple in Jerusalem was made by the direction of the true God. For the apostle himself, speaking in his own person, distinctly called it the temple of God [2 Thess. 2:4] . . . in which the enemy shall sit, endeavoring to show himself as Christ" (Against Heresies 5:25:1-2 [A.D. 189]).
"Moreover, another danger, by no means trifling, shall overtake those who falsely presume that they know the name of the Antichrist. For if these men assume one [number] when this [Antichrist] shall come having another, they will be easily led away by him as supposing him not to be the expected
one. . . . It is therefore more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfillment of the prophecy than to be making surmises and casting about for any names that may present themselves, inasmuch as many names can be found possessing the number mentioned, and the same question will, after all, remain unsolved" (ibid., 5:30:2-3).
"But when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months and will sit in the temple at Jerusalem; and then the Lord will come from heaven in the clouds, in the glory of the Father, sending this man and those who follow him into the lake of fire" (ibid., 5:30:4).
Irenaeus is specific that the Antichrist that's to come is a singular entity, a king even, which means he linked the Antichrist to the false one Daniel was given to prophesy of. He makes it plain with phrases like "the expected one" and "this Antichrist". He even affirms the Antichrist sitting in a literal temple in Jerusalem for 3 and 1/2 years, and by that links all the prophecies about the same false one in Daniel 11, and by our Lord Jesus in Matthew 24, and by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2. And remember, Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of Apostle John.
Hippolytus
"Now as our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God, was prophesied of under the figure of a lion, on account of his royalty and glory, in the same way have the scriptures also beforehand spoken of Antichrist as a lion, on account of his tyranny and violence. For the deceiver seeks to liken himself in all things to the Son of God. Christ is a lion, so Antichrist is also a lion. Christ is a king, so Antichrist is also a king. The Savior was manifested as a lamb, so he too in like manner will appear as a lamb without; within he is a wolf. The Savior came into the world in the circumcision [i.e., the Jewish race], and he will come in the same manner. . . . The Savior raised up and showed his holy flesh like a temple, and he will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem" (The Antichrist 6 [A.D. 200]).
Hippolytus even well understood what the Antichrist is coming to try and do, i.e., "liken himself in all things to the Son of God." He also asserts that the Antichrist will come in the role of a king in Jerusalem to sit in a temple in Jerusalem.
From the Church fathers above, they got their understanding about the coming of the Antichrist from Apostle John.
===============================================================
Tertullian
"[T]he man of sin, the son of perdition, who must first be revealed before the Lord comes, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; and who is to sit in the temple of God and boast himself as being God. . . . According indeed to our view, he is Antichrist; as it is taught us in both the ancient and the new prophecies, and by the apostle John, who says that ‘already many false prophets have gone out into the world,’ the forerunners of Antichrist, who deny that Christ is come in the flesh, and do not acknowledge Jesus, meaning in God the Creator" (Against Marcion 5:16 [A.D. 210]).
Tertullian refers to "the ancient and the new prophecies" about the coming of the Antichrist, keeping what John said later separate. Those prophecies about the coming of the Antichrist originate in the Book of Daniel and Christ's Olivet Discourse, and by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2. Tertullian calls the "many antichrists" of John "forerunners of Antichrist". Just in case some do not know what a 'forerunner' is, it means someone who comes prior to the main one they follow; in this case 'the' Antichrist is who they are forerunners for.
Lactanitius
"[A] king shall arise out of Syria, born from an evil spirit, the overthrower and destroyer of the human race, who shall destroy that which is left by the former evil, together with himself. . . . But that king will not only be most disgraceful in himself, but he will also be a prophet of lies, and he will constitute and call himself God, and will order himself to be worshipped as the Son of God, and power will be given to him to do signs and wonders, by the sight of which he may entice men to adore him. He will command fire to come down from heaven and the sun to stand and leave his course, and an image to speak, and these things shall be done at his word. . . . Then he will attempt to destroy the temple of God and persecute the righteous people" (Divine Institutes 7:17 [A.D. 307]).
Lactanitius also recognized the Antichrist as a specific king, and will seek to exalt himself in the place of The Father, and even demand "to be worshipped as the Son of God". And the Antichrist is to "do signs and wonders, by the sight of which he may entice men to adore him." He was simply following the prophecies in the Book of Daniel and our Lord Jesus' own prophecy about a specific false one coming to play Him per His Olivet Discourse (Matt.24; Mark 13).
Cyril of Jerusalem
"This aforementioned Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman Empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world is drawing near. There shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts, perhaps, but all reigning at the same time. After these there shall be an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by the evil craft of his magic shall seize upon the Roman power. Of the kings who reigned before him, three shall he humble [Dan. 7:24], and the remaining seven he shall have as subjects under him. At first he shall feign mildness—as if he were a learned and discreet person—and sobriety and loving kindness" (Catechetical Lectures 15:12 [A.D. 350]).
"Having beguiled the Jews by the lying signs and wonders of his magical deceit, until they believe he is the expected Christ, he shall afterwards be characterized by all manner of wicked deeds of inhumanity and lawlessness, as if to outdo all the unjust and impious men who have gone before him. He shall display against all men, and especially against us Christians, a spirit that is murderous and most cruel, merciless and wily. For three years and six months only shall he be the perpetrator of such things; and then he shall be destroyed by the glorious second coming from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus, the true Christ, who shall destroy him with the breath of his mouth [2 Thess. 2:8], and deliver him over to the fire of Gehenna" (ibid.).
Cyril puts the coming of the Antichrist at a time when "the end of the world is drawing near." He calls the coming Antichrist "an eleventh" king. He directly refers to the false one in the Daniel prophecy as that Antichrist. And that is also pointing to the false beast king of Revelation 17 as that 'eleventh' king.
And if you're a Catholic, here's one from Augustine
Augustine
"Daniel prophesies of the last judgment in such a way as to indicate that Antichrist shall first come and to carry on his destruction to the eternal reign of the saints. For when in prophetic vision he had seen four beasts, signifying four kingdoms, and the fourth conquered by a certain king, who is recognized as Antichrist, and after this the eternal kingdom of the Son of Man, that is to say, of Christ" (The City of God 20:19 [A.D. 419]).
Augustine also agreed with the early Church fathers that the coming Antichrist will be a "certain king", and after this event Christ's Kingdom will come.
So who are the false prophets going around today preaching the lie that there is no singular Antichrist entity coming in the role of king to mimic our Lord Jesus Christ? They are liars, deceivers, the "forerunners of Antichrist" like Tertullian also showed.