For Eastern Orthodox: The Antichrist

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What dose the Eastern Orthodox Church believe about the antichrist? 🙂
 
Eucharisted said:
What dose the Eastern Orthodox Church believe about the antichrist? 🙂
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Are you asking the Orthodox? :confused:

I respectfully suggest that if you want to address Orthodox beliefs the best place would be an Orthodox forum, not here.

Perhaps you should begin by describing your church’s belief about the Anti-Christ.

I will tell you what I personally think. There is not a single AntiChrist, any one can place themselves in opposition to the Will of Christ, and thereby be an anti-Christ at least for the time and to the degree that they position themselves that way.
*
Michael*
 
Hesychios said:
Are you asking the Orthodox? :confused:

I respectfully suggest that if you want to address Orthodox beliefs the best place would be an Orthodox forum, not here.

Perhaps you should begin by describing your church’s belief about the Anti-Christ.

I will tell you what I personally think. There is not a single AntiChrist, any one can place themselves in opposition to the Will of Christ, and thereby be an anti-Christ at least for the time and to the degree that they position themselves that way.
*
Michael*
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Well, the Catholic Church believes that anyone who denies Christ in the flesh and the Holy Trinity is an antichrist, and that the world is under the spirit of the antichrist, that is, rebellion against Christ. So one could see why Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and Muslims were once referred to as antichrists and sons of the devil, because they rejected Christ in the flesh and the Trinity. And because every spirit that proclaims Christ did not come in the flesh is an unclean spirit, it is said that the devil reigns in the world; he is the spirit of rebellion against Christ Jesus.

As for the person of the antichrist, he is said to come after a minor apostasy. He will cause a major apostasy - that is, he will cause many to forsake the Catholic Faith - because he will appear as Christ returned, using magic to heal and cast out demons and do other wonders in the world; he will appear as Christ but not be Christ, for he will only be a man and not God. Yet he will erect a temple for himself, and he will fool many in to believing he is God and messiah, and so he will be worshipped. The antichrist will lead man in glorifying himself and marvelling over his achievements and works, puffing up many souls with pride and self-love, and so the world will believe, because of his worldiness, that he is the messiah to come, for he will appear as a savior in accordance with the maxims and notions of the world. Many good believers will believe he is a god, and many other good believers will believe he is a savior, a king, a prophet, or a priest to come, such as Mohammed or Buddha or Elijah or John the Baptist, and so they will stir up a false hope among men and lead many in to following the antichrist, and those who do not believe he is a god or a messiah will be ignored, and many of them, persecuted.

Then when he is enthroned as god and king, the antichrist will begin a global persecution on the Church, because the Church will not bow down to him; in truth, it will be Satan’s final attack on the Church, it will be the Bride of the Lord following Jesus unto death, being nailed to the Cross as the Body of Christ, and spilling her blood - the blood of martyrs, which is the blood of Jesus. The Catholic Church will be so persecuted that many will despair and some will doubt if Jesus will ever return, and a few even think that the antichrist is Jesus returned, yet as the Church is killed, she will actually be given eternal life, and as she is ashamed, she will actually be glorified, for in weakness is strength and in death life - for this is the paradox of the Cross.

It is said that the antichrist will not reign for very long, because his reign will be terrible, and that when the coming of the Lord is near, all the celestial bodies in the heavens will be extinguished, and this to show that the end is near and a new beginning is coming: the world is steeped in darkness just as it was steeped in darkness when it was created, for God is now creating something new, He is about to consummate His creation. But this darkness will also serve to symbolize the spiritual state of the world, which is dark, ruled by evil, the work of Satan reaching its peak, and hopelessness spreading everywhere. But then when the lights go out, there will appear in the sky the sign of the Son of Man, the sign of our salvation, the sign of victory: a cross of light, and where Jesus was nailed will radiate red lights, red to signify His Blood and the blood of the martyrs. The Cross will infuriate the antichrist, for he will believe he is being mocked and that he is finished, yet for the Church the Cross will be joy and renewment and strethening of spirit. The antichrist will double his efforts to get rid of the Church, but before his work is accomplished - ironically, just as Satan unwillingly and unknowingly aided God in saving man, so too will the son of perdition unwillingly and unknowingly aid God in saving His Church - the Lord will come in glory, and He will come with fire, the fire of His love, which will renew heaven and earth, and the dead will be raised, and judged, and thus will begin eternity.

A lot of what I just wrote is my speculation, and the speculation of some Church Fathers, but basically the Catholic Church believes that anyone who denies Christ and the triune God is an antichrist, and that at the appointed time, the antichrist will bring one final trial against the Church, but before the Church is extinguished - just as Mary, who is a sign of the Church, was saved from death and assumed body and soul into Heaven - the Lord will come and He will vanquish the antichrist and renew the world, and those who did His Father’s Will will live and reign with Him for eternity. The Emperor Nero is a proto-antichrist, just as Gensis 3:15 is a proto-evangelium (apologies if I misspelled that). The mystical number six hundred and sixty six found in the Book of Revelations refers to both Nero and to the coming man of lawlessness.
 
I apologize if what I have written has offended anyone. I don’t want anyone to think that only Mother Church will be saved. Quite the contrary. I think that many good believers who do not believe that the antichrist is god or messiah along with their fellow believers will be blessed together with the Church, that is, they will suffer and die for righteousness’ sake and thers is the Kingdom of Heaven. For all salvation comes from Christ Jesus through His Body.
 
See APOCALYPSE by Archbishop Averky of Jordanville, translated into English and expanded by Fr. Seraphim Rose. It’s published by St. Herman’s Monastery of Platina, CA.
 
Does the Catholic Church teach about an individual Antichrist, Eucharisted? I honestly don’t know anything about that. I thought that this “search for the Antichrist” was something of a Protestant preoccupation on the same level as that “left behind”/rapture business (which is not to say that there will not be an individual as you’ve described, but it is enough to make me wonder about that ideology, because I’m not sure how prominent it has been in historical Christianity). Are we required to believe in an individual Antichrist in the way that you’ve described?

:confused:
 
dzheremi said:
Does the Catholic Church teach about an individual Antichrist, Eucharisted? I honestly don’t know anything about that. I thought that this “search for the Antichrist” was something of a Protestant preoccupation on the same level as that “left behind”/rapture business (which is not to say that there will not be an individual as you’ve described, but it is enough to make me wonder about that ideology, because I’m not sure how prominent it has been in historical Christianity). Are we required to believe in an individual Antichrist in the way that you’ve described?

:confused:
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Some of the Church Fathers speculated about an indivudal antichrist. The Catechism speaks of a false messiahism. Some believe the antichrist is a person, others believe he is a whole movement. I believe he is a person, though.

Of what I wrote about the antichrist, only the first and last paragraphs (“Well, the Catholic Church believes that…”, “…but basically the Catholic Church believes that…”) are a general idea of what the Catholic Church teaches on the antichrist. The rest is just some speculation.
 
St. John of Damascus, among others, wrote of Antichrist as being an individual.

I wonder if it’s occurred to anyone but me that Antichrist could be female?
 
the antichrist is the man of sin. He is certainly a real man.

As for his existence today, well current most likely to be Antichrist is you know who 🙂
 
bpbasilphx said:
St. John of Damascus, among others, wrote of Antichrist as being an individual.

I wonder if it’s occurred to anyone but me that Antichrist could be female?
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Don’t get puffed up with pride there. Some people have even speculated that Hitler was a woman. So speculating that the antichrist could be female is not too far off.

But most theologians don’t think the antichrist will be female because in the bible he is called a man - the man of lawlessness - and a son - the son of perdition - and he is thought to be like Christ, and Christ is male, a man and a son.
 
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