So, let's try to calmly figure it out: is it true that the expanses of the unfolding third millennium can't hide the "kingdom of the Antichrist" anywhere? And in general, what kind of "kingdom" is it?.. But at the same time, let us remember: "The first whip to the informer." The one who raised the false alarm is no less guilty than the one who overslept the time of the real alarm. Constant false alarms can be no less dangerous than preaching serenity. People get used to it: "Ah, these Christians always and everywhere see the horns of the Antichrist!" Let's try to walk between thoughtless fear and problem-free optimism.

The first article of this book was already published as a separate edition in 1996 – as a brochure "On Our Defeat" (and as a chapter in the book "Satanism for the Intelligentsia"). For the new edition, it has been significantly revised and supplemented, becoming almost three times larger.

Since it was part of my anti-Roerich book, it is understandable that it also appeared in the occult press. Therefore, the article "Roerich's Reading of "On Our Defeat"" was written. It has not been published before.

Since, strange as it may seem, it caused misunderstanding among some Orthodox readers, I had to write an article entitled "And Defeat and Victory Are Not Given to Us to Distinguish."

I must say right away that the chapter "In Search of the Golden Age" was partially (by one quarter) already published earlier: several of its pages were in one of my first books, "Tradition, Dogma, Ritual" (Moscow, 1994). I would recommend this chapter primarily to those who are preparing to enter the seminary, that is, to live for the Church.

The article "Is the Seal of the Antichrist Given Today?" was published as a separate book quite recently, in the summer of 2001. But it has also been updated for this edition by a third. Tax "identification codes" introduced in Russia and other post-Soviet countries have caused embarrassment among many Orthodox people. And this gave rise to discussions on the topic of what the "seal of the Antichrist" is. This is what my article is about.

In addition, a conversation about the impact of modern computer technologies on people's lives required the formulation of several fundamental theses about our attitude to the computer world. This is what the article "In Defense of the Computer" is about.

ABOUT OUR DEFEAT

Why does history have an end?

Christianity is almost the only worldview on earth that is convinced of the inevitability of its own historical defeat. Christianity ushered in one of its darkest eschatologies: it warned that in the end the forces of evil would be "given ... to wage war with the saints and to conquer them" (Rev. 13:7). The Gospel promises that the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against the Church, that the Church is invincible (cf. Matt. 16:18). But "invincible" does not necessarily mean "victorious": "I have seen this horn wrestling with the saints, and overcoming them" (Dan. 17:21).

From the perspective of earthly history, it is not the world-historical triumph of Christians, but the world-wide dominion of the Antichrist. [4]

Yes, it is time to start a conversation about what is least common today in "intelligent society" and in "modern culture" – about the latter. About the end of the world. About the Antichrist.

The topic of the Antichrist is considered obscene in democratic journalism. Even those publicists who consider themselves Christians find it inconvenient to recall the final book of the Bible – the Apocalypse. I have nothing to lose. After the publication of my brochure on the desirability of restoring the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, people of the "anti-system" (to use Gumilev's term) made a final diagnosis for me: "Ahead of Kuraev, apparently, is simple Black-Hundred nationalism and the most banal great-power chauvinism. His gift for preaching is already disappearing – not a single vivid image, not a single brilliant paradox. He already frightens readers with the "formation of a new world order" – a favorite theme of the fighters against Judeo-Masonry. So far, these are still barely discernible notes, but the speed of falling is greater than the speed of ascent... The bottom is the bottom, and falling there can be endless, but it cannot be unpunished." [5]