Was Nero the Antichrist? | The Story of God

But why might early Christians have called Nero the Antichrist? Kim brings me to the very heart of the Vatican, St. Peter's Square, to show me the answer.

So, we know that the code 666 refers to the emperor Nero. Why? Emperor Nero was despised for many things, including persecuting Christians. Now in the Square here, you can see an obelisk that he arranged to stand at the turning point in his Circus, Circus Maximus. Uh, the Circus Neuronas—Neuronas, yeah, the Circus stood here and was a place for chariot races, games. But he also used it then for persecuting Christians.

So, in '64, there was a major fire in Rome and much of the city was destroyed. Yeah, Nero wound up blaming Christians and he executed them in great numbers, as far as we can tell, right here in this Circus. Tradition says Nero even executed the man many considered to be the founder of the church in Rome, Peter. The story about Peter was that he was crucified upside down. Some of them were lit on fire, burning to light the place. It explains why they despised him so much.

So now we have the Basilica of St. Peter standing here, commemorating his death. So, the irony that this is where Peter founded the church—yeah, it's pretty dramatic. The crucifix on which Peter died could have been just yards from where I stand now.

Obviously, the Christians hated Nero; he was the Antichrist. Even after his suicide, they feared that he had the power to come back and rule, which was why it was safer to refer to him in a secret code. But the Christians living under the conditions that they were living, Juda, couldn't come too soon.