Are We Living In The Last Days?
Answer: No

We are NOT in or near the period of time known as the “last days” or “the reign of the Antichrist”. It is absolutely certain from the teachings of the Bible and the Saints that there is no Antichrist in the world today. The time of the Antichrist is in the distant future. The greater tribulation, as it is called, is in the distant future. The “seven years” and the “three and one half years” from the book of Daniel, both periods of time describing the worst of the End Times, are also in the distant future. The world does not “end” during this generation, nor the next, nor the next, nor the next.

The above described period of time is hundreds of years into the future. But even then, after that time of great suffering for the Church and the world is over, the world does not end. There will be, subsequent to the greater tribulation, a time of peace and holiness on earth. People will still be sinners. It will not be like heaven on earth. But the world will be a much better place.

[John]
{6:38} For I descended from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
{6:39} Yet this is the will of the Father who sent me: that I should lose nothing out of all that he has given to me, but that I should raise them up on the last day.
{6:40} So then, this is the will of my Father who sent me: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
…
{11:24} Martha said to him, “I know that he shall rise again, at the resurrection on the last day.”

The so-called “last day” is the day of the general judgment and general resurrection, a belief held by nearly all Christians, including Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians. In my understanding, this last day is many hundreds or even thousands of years in the future. We are not living anywhere near to the Last Day.

What Happens In Our Day?

My belief is that this generation will experience a time of increased suffering for the Church and the world. But in our time, there will be no Antichrist, no false prophet who assists the Antichrist, and Jesus does not return for this generation, nor until hundreds of years have passed.

My eschatology describes my speculations as to what will happen in our lifetimes. However, this is highly speculative. My readers know that I have repeatedly been wrong in the dates and timing of predicted events, especially the start of this period of suffering for the Church. (Latest predicted date for the start: Good Friday, 2022).

The worst that can happen in our day is the “lesser tribulation”, a time of suffering for the Church and the world, but one which is substantially less severe than the “greater tribulation”. The latter includes the reign of the Antichrist and the various descriptions in the book of Revelation about that time. The former includes greater suffering that in past generations, but not as bad as the later time.

How To Know The Time of the Antichrist

How can we know when the time of the Antichrist is near, or how do I know that we are not in the time of the Antichrist today?

Catholic eschatology has long described a division of the End Times into the lesser tribulation and greater tribulation. The lesser occurs first, then there is a long respite, and finally the greater tribulation and the reign of the Antichrist occurs. The break between the two is hundreds of years. Since the lesser has not happened yet, the greater is in the distant future.

This division can be seen in Matthew 24, where there is a set of sufferings described, then a respite, and then more sufferings: 24:13 to 24:15 describes the end of the first part of the tribulation, the break, and then the start of the second part of the tribulation (or greater tribulation).

The book of Daniel described 70 weeks of years beginning with the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The founding of the State of Israel was in 1948. If that is year one of the 70 weeks of years (490 years), then year 490 is 2437 (counting 1948 as year one and 2437 as year 490). The reign of the Antichrist is described by Daniel as the last week of years, which would be 2431 to 2437.

In the messages of La Salette from the Virgin Mary to Melanie Calvat (who received the messages), Mary states two years: 1864 and 1865. Those dates do not make sense in the Christian calendar. But in the Islamic calendar, they correspond to 2430 and 2431, the rise to power of the Antichrist, and the first year of his reign.

There are other indications that the reign of the Antichrist is in the distant future. One is the prediction from the Bible, La Salette, and various Saints that the world will be divided into ten kingdoms only, with one ruler or “king” over each, prior to the arrival of the Antichrist. After the world is in this state for several generations, with those generations being described by Daniel chapter 11, then the Antichrist rises to power as one of the ten rulers. He defeats three of the other rulers, and he makes a pact with the remaining rulers to control the world.

And this brings up an important point. The Antichrist is a political and military ruler, who gains power over the whole world — explicit formal power as the sole political and military ruler over every nation. This will be very obvious in that time. He is not hidden in the world. He does not run things from behind the scenes via some type of conspiracy theory. He will proclaim himself to be the ruler of the world, and after that, and only at that time, does he claim to be a god and try to get the world to worship him.

The world has not yet been divided into ten kingdoms only. There is no single human person who rules the whole world. The first part of the tribulation has not yet happened. The inter-tribulation period between the lesser and greater tribulation has not happened. There are many reasons to believe that the Antichrist is not in the world today, and will not arrive for many generations.

Ronald L. Conte Jr.