Antichrist is the enemy of Jesus Christ. Mention in the Bible

Recently, not only people associated with religion began to pay attention to the Antichrist, but ordinary people as well. His personality has become popular due to literature, cinema, print media and other media. Some imagine it as something terrible, some, on the contrary, try to idealize the image of the biblical enemy of Christ. In any case, there is a lot of information on his account, but few can say with absolute certainty who he is. Let's figure out who the Antichrist is and what his role in the life of mankind is.

General information

It is customary to call the Antichrist a being that is the opposite of the Messiah. Under his name, it is customary to mean opponents of the doctrine and the Christian Church as a whole. The very first mention of him can be found in the Cathedral Epistle of the Apostle John, from where, in fact, he was taken, in order to make it a canonical definition. Referring to the information provided by John, the Antichrist can be described as a liar who rejects the person of Jesus and the existence of God, and also denies the possibility of the appearance of the Son of God on Earth in the flesh.

That is, Christ and Antichrist are two opposing forces representing Paradise and Hell. Analyzing the words of John, you can safely say that he had in mind a particular person, although he predicted the appearance of many Antichrists. Nevertheless, based on his words, one should expect one, the most dangerous person for the Church, who will have many followers. As for the time when the coming of the Antichrist will take place, the apostle indicates that he will appear in "the last time," in other words, just before the present world appears before the court of God. But according to the Orthodox theologian Belyaev, the Antichrist is a man who brings sin and death to people who will appear and will reign before the second coming of Christ. He declares this in one of his eschatological works.

Proceeding from this, it can be noted that all antichrists appearing earlier in the person of apostates, schismatics and heretics are but the forerunners of the true Antichrist. Since the true adversary of Christ must have the power commensurate with the power of Jesus, in order to enter into an equal rivalry with him during the second coming. And this is evidenced even by his very name, which can be deciphered as "opposing Christ" and the Church as a whole.

Antichrist and the number of the beast as a religious term

Antichrist can be viewed not as a person, but as a term in religion, reflecting the attitude of the parishioners of the Christian church towards the heretic and the apostate, the person who went against the faith. Like Jesus, the Antichrist will have his own name. The Church believes that the name of the true Antichrist lies in such a concept as the number of the beast, the apocalyptic 666.

Many spiritual leaders and other ministers of the Church attempted to decipher this number, but, unfortunately, they all had to admit the futility of this action. Apparently, the personal name of the enemy of Christ will be revealed only after his appearance.

British Encyclopedia

The Antichrist is the head of all the enemies of Christ, as stated in the "British Encyclopedia", which emphasizes his leadership over the opponents of the Church. It is believed that he will be the ruler of the last kingdom on Earth.

It is taken into account that Jesus was symbolically king, but not crowned. And his enemy will rule the entire universe. And the coming of the Antichrist can only be if there is a Christ, that is, the balance of the forces of Paradise and Hell is important here.

Opinion of the elders Optina desert

The elders believed that the Antichrist was a man who would be the complete opposite of Christ. Its main difference from other opponents of the Church lies in its eschatological character, that is, it is more terrible than its predecessors, and after it opponents of the clergy will no longer come. And considering that the world has become so evil that it will soon die, the Antichrist will represent all the world's evil in one person. According to Belyaev, the Antichrist will personify in himself all the evils of people at the peak of his development, and that is why it will disappear. After reaching the maximum development, the evil society will be reset, the evil in it will simply exhaust itself.

Christian eschatology

Considering the spiritual doctrine of the end of the world, it is worth noting that the main goal of the coming of Antichrist is the seduction of the Church. That is, this person will manipulate the faith of Christians, turning everything for their own benefit, namely, to take the place of Christ in the soul of believers. He will deceive believers, convincing them that he is the messenger of God. After that, he will pervert faith, forcing people to believe in themselves. He needs complete trust, worship and obedience, and anyone who obeys him will bear the seal of Antichrist.

This is exactly the temptation, which will be the last test of the Church, a test of strength. And in connection with the fact that the Church will resist him, the Antichrist will direct all his anger and fury toward her, in order to become the most cruel and final persecutor of believers. It is believed that during these repressions unprecedented cataclysms will begin, including drought and famine. Because of this, a large number of people will die, and those who are saved will not be happy about it, as the doctrine says - they envy the dead. The question of whether the Antichrist created these calamities or whether he is the same is their victim, remains unknown, since in the teaching there is no data on this matter. It is worth noting that due to the fact that the rulers negatively regard chaos in their possessions, Daniel Andreev moved the time of cataclysms forward when the Antichrist has already ceased to reign.

Appearance of Antichrist

In Christian literature there is a description of the appearance of the future rival of Christ. The most basic and distinguished feature is the ugliness of this person. In the view of medieval artists, he will appear in the guise of an apocalyptic beast that will emerge from the abyss. He has four legs, huge sticking out fangs and a lot of horns. That is, the Antichrist is a beast-like monster with a flame from the ears and nostrils, and also with a stench, according to the archpriest Avvakum. Daniel also describes this person not in the most pleasant way.

According to his apocrypha, the appearance of the Antichrist is roughly as follows: the height is ten cubits, the hair is long to the feet, it has three heads, large legs, glowing eyes, like the morning star. In addition, he has steel cheeks and iron teeth, the left hand is made of copper, and the right hand is made of iron, the size of the arms being three cubits. Of course, over time, he was no longer painted so monstrous, but made more human. But all the same, there was one important feature that was always portrayed as repulsive.

Church teaching

If we consider information from the church doctrine, then the Antichrist is a false Messiah, a false Savior, in other words, a usurper who claims to be a real Christ. According to the spiritual workers, he will portray himself as the Savior, using the information about the second coming, will guide the believers in the Kingdom of God, deceiving them and directing them in the opposite direction. People will be promised all the same, but the very concepts of bliss and well-being will be skilfully distorted. Eschatology suggests that when the Kingdom of Antichrist appears, there will be an abundance of material wealth. The very essence of his deception is not that he can not fulfill the promised, but that it will not last forever.

That is, all the wealth and joy will grow into ruin and poverty. As soon as he comes to power, everyone will truly believe that they are in the Kingdom of God. The only way to escape from a fall with him is to recognize the enemy in him. The religion itself originated on the basis of faith in miracles, in Christ, and therefore the Antichrist will also work miracles in order to prove to everyone that he is the son of God. But it is worth considering that all miracles will be imaginary and false, because they are enclosed in a devilish nature. In the opinion of John the Theologian, the Beast will lead many nations along with it, tempt entire nations. Ephraim the Syrian also prophesies that many will believe in the chosenness of the Antichrist.

Antichrist and Russia

In the opinion of Seraphim of Sarov and Lavrenty of Chernigov, all countries except Russia will bow before the Antichrist. It is believed that only the Slavic peoples will be able to stand, and they will give the most powerful rebuff to the Beast. It is he who will declare the Orthodox country the enemy of the world, since only there will be truly believers in her, and in other countries religion will come to desolation. But in the western religions the picture is completely different, for them it is the Slavic peoples who will become the first admirers of Antichrist.

Church

Another interesting fact is that the Gospel of Matthew states: when the Beast comes to earth, in the Church itself there will be lawlessness and apostasy, and spiritual ministers will submit to the slavery of material goods. Given what is happening lately, and how many members of the Church are departing from their faith, there is reason to believe that this is the real threshold of the coming of Antichrist. But this can not be asserted, since there were many predictions of his appearance in history, but all the prophecies about the Antichrist did not come true completely.