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The appearance of the Antichrist and the establishment of his kingdom are preceded by corresponding signs: a decline in morals, natural disasters, plague, the ferocity of the mysterious Gog and Magog; moreover, all these misfortunes were already predicted by Christ: "... nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven" (LUKE 21:10-11). Gog and Magog particularly stirred the imagination: they were identified with various barbarian tribes, but most often — with the ten lost tribes of Israel (10 tribes that founded the state of Israel in the north in 930 BC, while the tribes of Judah and Benjamin founded the state of Judah in the south; after the defeat of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians in 721 BC, the 10 mentioned tribes dissolved into other peoples and disappeared from history, however, there was always a belief that they would be found). Theologians interpreted Gog and Magog allegorically. Jerome (Commentary on the Book of Ezekiel) gives the etymology of these names: Gog — tectum, "roof," Magog — de tecto, "from the roof"; Jerome's etymologies were accepted by medieval scholars as a key to a hidden allegory: AUGUSTINE believes that Gog represents sinners in whom the devil hides, "as under a roof," and Magog — the devil who comes out of these people, "as from under a roof" (ON THE CITY OF GOD, 20:11). Some demons rejoice at the appearance of the Antichrist, who they have been waiting for for a long time: for example, underground demons keep their treasures for him, so that he can use them to tempt Christians.
Before the coming of the Antichrist, ten kings will rule; or his coming will be preceded by a twelve-year (or even one hundred and twelve-year) reign of the Last Great Emperor, who will save Jerusalem from the pagans, destroy Babylon, and then renounce power, placing his crown on the altar of the Jerusalem temple — but it is then that the Antichrist will appear. In the Latin play "The Play of the Antichrist" from Tegernsee (Bavaria, 12th century), he appears accompanied by allegorical figures — Hypocrisy and Heresy — and asks them to begin by destroying all memory of Christ on earth. During his reign, the Antichrist will initially portray himself as Christ, but very soon he will reveal his tyranny; in the medieval drama, this dual nature of the Antichrist was sometimes emphasized by a change of clothes: the Antichrist appeared first in religious robes, but then he took them off, revealing military armor underneath.
Sometimes the Antichrist begins his career as a king and even defeats the enemies of Christianity, portraying himself as a savior-ruler in the manner of the Last Emperor. In other versions, he begins as a false Christ and gradually, through cunning, gains secular power. He proclaims: "I am Christ" (Ego sum Christus), he begins to preach a new doctrine and declares that the previous (true) Christ was a false prophet. He imitates Christ's miracles, raises the dead, and even supposedly dies on the cross, naturally rising on the third day. At the same time, he criticizes the Bible and denies the Holy Trinity, proclaiming himself the only true God. He sends out prophets who act very successfully and convert almost the whole world to the new faith. Then the Antichrist goes to Jerusalem, drives out the faithful Christians from there, restores the Temple of Solomon, destroyed by the Romans, and establishes worship of his own idol in the temple; he acts so cunningly that he confirms his loyalty to the Old Testament and even submits himself to circumcision; as a result, the Jews, who are charmed by him, accept his faith.
Added 5 minutes ago
The biography of the Antichrist is meaningfully woven into the sacred history of the world. Irenaeus of Lyons saw a parallel between Lucifer and Adam, on the one hand, and the Antichrist and Christ, on the other — between two great temptations that frame the entire history of mankind. History begins with a temptation (of Adam by Lucifer) and ends with it; but if at the beginning of the world the devil managed to seduce a man, then at the end of the world the devil and God, both taking on human nature — one in the person of the Antichrist, and the other in the person of Christ — again engage in a struggle, and God takes revenge this time.
Before the coming of the Antichrist, ten kings will rule; or his coming will be preceded by a twelve-year (or even one hundred and twelve-year) reign of the Last Great Emperor, who will save Jerusalem from the pagans, destroy Babylon, and then renounce power, placing his crown on the altar of the Jerusalem temple — but it is then that the Antichrist will appear. In the Latin play "The Play of the Antichrist" from Tegernsee (Bavaria, 12th century), he appears accompanied by allegorical figures — Hypocrisy and Heresy — and asks them to begin by destroying all memory of Christ on earth. During his reign, the Antichrist will initially portray himself as Christ, but very soon he will reveal his tyranny; in the medieval drama, this dual nature of the Antichrist was sometimes emphasized by a change of clothes: the Antichrist appeared first in religious robes, but then he took them off, revealing military armor underneath.
Sometimes the Antichrist begins his career as a king and even defeats the enemies of Christianity, portraying himself as a savior-ruler in the manner of the Last Emperor. In other versions, he begins as a false Christ and gradually, through cunning, gains secular power. He proclaims: "I am Christ" (Ego sum Christus), he begins to preach a new doctrine and declares that the previous (true) Christ was a false prophet. He imitates Christ's miracles, raises the dead, and even supposedly dies on the cross, naturally rising on the third day. At the same time, he criticizes the Bible and denies the Holy Trinity, proclaiming himself the only true God. He sends out prophets who act very successfully and convert almost the whole world to the new faith. Then the Antichrist goes to Jerusalem, drives out the faithful Christians from there, restores the Temple of Solomon, destroyed by the Romans, and establishes worship of his own idol in the temple; he acts so cunningly that he confirms his loyalty to the Old Testament and even submits himself to circumcision; as a result, the Jews, who are charmed by him, accept his faith.
Added 5 minutes ago
The biography of the Antichrist is meaningfully woven into the sacred history of the world. Irenaeus of Lyons saw a parallel between Lucifer and Adam, on the one hand, and the Antichrist and Christ, on the other — between two great temptations that frame the entire history of mankind. History begins with a temptation (of Adam by Lucifer) and ends with it; but if at the beginning of the world the devil managed to seduce a man, then at the end of the world the devil and God, both taking on human nature — one in the person of the Antichrist, and the other in the person of Christ — again engage in a struggle, and God takes revenge this time.
