False Christs Will Arise

Just before he went to the cross, Jesus prophesied that false Christs would arise in the future.

Some would perform great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even God’s elect or “chosen.”

His words have been repeatedly fulfilled throughout history.

People have been claiming to be the Jewish Messiah—or even Jesus Christ himself—ever since:
• All the way from Simon bar-Kokhba, the military leader who led the Jewish revolt against Rome in the second century . . .
• Down to Charles Manson, the drug-crazed hippie murderer of the 1960s.

Through the activity of the devil, false Christs have attracted large numbers of followers, sometimes deceiving even Christians—members of God’s chosen people.

But not everyone is willing to fall for so big a lie, and so the devil has other ways of corrupting people’s faith in Jesus. That’s why there’s an even bigger problem today than the literal false Christs who appear from time to time.

The devil’s angle of attack is based on a question Jesus himself asked.

“Who Do You Say That I Am?”

There was confusion about Jesus even in his own day. The apostles reported to him that some said he was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.

But when Jesus asked the disciples who they said he was, Simon Peter replied with the correct answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Even then, the disciples didn’t fully understand his mission and what he meant when he said he would die on the cross and be raised again on the third day.

Like many at the time, they may have understood the messiah as a political leader who would throw off the yoke of the hated Romans and liberate the Holy Land.

This shows that, even if you recognize Jesus as the Christ, you can still misunderstand what he’s all about—and that’s what the devil is seeking to exploit.

If he can’t convince people to follow a literal false Christ, he wants to corrupt their understanding of who Jesus is, and that’s happening on a massive scale . . .

Counterfeit Christs!

Today, false Christs are arising in a whole new way. Consider these false images of Jesus:

• All kinds of people claim he was a “good and wise teacher” who wouldn’t judge or condemn anybody, no matter what they do
• Mythicists claim he is a fictional character based on pagan gods
• Muslims claim he was a mere human prophet
• Skeptics claim he was a failed prophet
• New Agers claim he was a guru teaching reincarnation
• Jehovah’s Witnesses claim he was just an angel
• Mormons claim he was just a special man and our “elder brother”
• Marxists claim he was a socialist liberator
• “Oneness” preachers claim he was God the Father in another guise
• Word-Faith preachers claim he taught their “prosperity gospel”
• Fundamentalists claim he was an anti-Catholic

People of all different stripes fall for these false Christs—even many scholars and pastors who claim to be Christian, whether they’re skeptical liberals or fiery conservatives!

Unmasking the False Christs!

Many people are being deceived by these counterfeit Christs. Millions and millions of people across the world believe in one or another of them. Sometimes even our own loved ones are hoodwinked by one of these deceptions.

And even if we don’t fall victim to them, we can be caught flat-footed and not know how to respond when we encounter people who advocate them.

That’s why Catholic Answers has published Trent Horn’s new book, Counterfeit Christs.

In it, Trent exposes eighteen popular but false images of Jesus, and gives you the tools you need to refute them.

When you read Counterfeit Christs, you’ll be able to recognize the fakes when you see them, explain why they’re phony, and make a case for the full truth and beauty of who Jesus is: the Christ, son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). Order your copy of Counterfeit Christs today! CLICK HERE TO ORDER