Toxic empathy and the spirit of antichrist
Christian philosopher Rene Girard once suggested that we face two types of evil: The evil of the far right, which he labeled as “Satan,” and the evil of the far left, which he labeled “antichrist.”
The idea is that Lucifer was overtly proud and power-hungry. The Nazis were possessed by the Luciferian spirit.
But the far left is more subtle. Its evil is also Satan-inspired, but it’s more deceptive because it seeks to pretend to be more Christian than Christianity. It’s antichrist because it uses the teaching of Christ like love for the individual, concern for the marginalized, and justice for the oppressed and seeks to redress these issues while denying the person of Christ and the saving message of the Gospel.
The apostle John wrote about these kinds of teachers, saying, “They went out from us, but they were not of us” (1 John 2:19), and we can know that “This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22).
The conceit of the far left is to take the values and moral intuitions of the Bible while denying their connection to Christ himself.
These antichrist doctrines give us compassion without sin, judgment without forgiveness, and love without salvation.
This reveals that behind these movements is not just another satanic power-grab but one that works better in a society heavily influenced by Christian ideals. Concepts like compassion, empathy, and love are being untethered from the Gospel, truth, and the rest of Scripture and are being weaponized against those who actually follow Jesus.
These antichrist doctrines give us compassion without sin, judgment without forgiveness, and love without salvation. They try to achieve justice through injustice, to overcome racism through racist acts, and to enforce equality through unequal application of the law.
John was the last apostle to write his New Testament books, and he saw that the greatest threat to the church would not come from those teaching the antithesis of Christ but those who distort the message of Christ. Even in his day, he warned that “many antichrists have come” (1 John 2:18).
That’s why we’re seeing Christianity succeed in Asia and Africa — because of its power to overthrow satanic strongholds — while at the same time shrinking in the West because the Western church hasn’t learned to overthrow the spirit of antichrist.
One example that I’ve seen personally is how many churches are afraid to teach biblical truths about the family because it might make those experiencing broken families feel bad. This is empathy weaponized against the truth.
Many churches want to be a hospital for the broken by neglecting our call to train disciples. It’s like a country deciding not to teach reading out of compassion for the blind. This is not Christ — this is antichrist.
Yes, we need compassion and empathy for those who are suffering, but without falling prey to the strategy of antichrist to use kindness to shame us from speaking the truth.
Antichrist in the West is growing and splitting up families, churches, and whole denominations.
So when you hear Christian leaders hiding clear teachings in Scripture out of a toxic compassion, you can know that “this the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and is now in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:3-4).
This essay was adapted from an article originally published at Jeremy Pryor’s Substack.
