That is why Solovyov's Antichrist, having gained power, forcibly drives all peoples into his empire, kills Pope Peter II and Elder John, exiles Christians devoted to Christ to the desert, forbidding them "to dwell in cities and other populated places," and finally, organizes a mass slaughter of Christians and Jews who do not bow down before him. This is the path of the power of the Antichrist at all times. From the very beginning, the spirit of the Antichrist has been murder since the time of Cain. Wherever the destruction of existence takes place, where brother hates brother, where children betray their fathers, where man is man's enemy, there the Antichrist lurks, there he creates his kingdom, for the devil "was a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44). He is the true author of death, for "God did not create death, nor did He rejoice in the destruction of the living" (1:13). The killing of life is the most significant phenomenon of the land defiled by the devil. This is a sign of demonism lurking in nature and in history.

And yet this is only the consistent development of self-love, which, through aversion to being, through hatred of it, leads man to its destruction in every possible way. Every Antichrist is selfish, and therefore a murderer. It is enough to make self-love the basis of life, and the performers of this life will wander through the blood of their brothers. That is why the devil is a murderer from the very beginning, because he is selfish from the very beginning. Self-love is the source of every action of the Antichrist. It is the anthropological sign of the Antichrist, which the supporters of the beast wear on their right hand or on their foreheads (cf. Rev. 13:16), and consequently in their thoughts and deeds. Their reason may believe in God and man, they may tremble before God and help man, but selfishness turns them away from God, focuses them on themselves, destroys the image of the Lord in them, and thus makes them open and accessible to the eternal enemy of God. Self-love is the sign of the Antichrist, the way and means of his activity in history.

2. THE PERCEPTION OF CHRIST BY THE FORERUNNER

Self-love determines the relationship of the Antichrist not only with God, not only with the world and man, but also with Christ. The Antichrist, as has been said, is turned away from God by the whole direction of his being. However, superficially, he appears to be a believer, for he believes in goodness, God and the Messiah. He even patronizes religion: he tries to unite the divided churches, grants them rights and privileges, supports them financially, and keeps with him Bishop Apollonius, whom he later even elects pope. The outward relationship of the Antichrist with God and with religion seems to be quite positive.

It is precisely this superficial positivity that obscures the true spirit of the Antichrist. Not a single one, seeing the Antichrist believing in God, admiring his amazing generosity to religion, does not notice the essential godlessness hidden in him, and therefore is deceived by these external manifestations. Not alone, having experienced a shock, goes over to his side, considering the defenders of Christ to be stubborn, narrow-minded, not understanding the spirit of the times and therefore losing. Let us agree that there are such people in the company of the Lamb, that they try to hide their limitations under the need to preserve the heritage of doctrine (cf. 1 Timothy 6:20) and therefore do not move forward in their activities, thus distorting the character of the Church itself, for the Church is always in development, like that mustard seed. It is not a petrified antiquity, but an ever-living force. But the real petrification of these people in no way justifies their superficiality, with which, opening their arms, they meet the help of the Antichrist of religion, considering those who provide this help to be supporters of the Lamb, and willingly help them. This downright tragic misunderstanding runs like a red thread through the entire story. The temptation of earthly rights, opportunities, privileges and benefits is so great that few can resist it. The majority succumb to it, thus yielding to the hidden will of the Antichrist.

So it is not without reason that Solovyov depicts this falling away from God, mentioned in Holy Scripture (cf. 2 Thess. 2:9), in the image of this temptation. His Antichrist, having become the ruler of the world, returns the exiled popes to Rome, restoring them to all the rights and privileges that they have possessed since the time of Constantine the Great. Indeed, this act of his is a significant support for the Church. True, the Church is essentially not connected with any space of our land, nor with any rights or opportunities granted to it by people in history. It exists in the world, but it is not of the world. Therefore, any gift of the world cannot enrich its essence. The Church is enriched only by the Holy Spirit, who truly spreads divine Revelation and exalts her eternal values, who calls the saints into the vineyards of Christ, who spreads the Gospel throughout the world, and who builds and gives meaning to the forms of divine worship. These are the true riches of the Church and its true values. However, since these values must be spread throughout the world, the world's assistance in their implementation also becomes significant. It makes it so that divine values are perceived by people in different ways – some more easily, others with difficulty, in one place they can be realized, in another – not. Worldly help either helps the Kingdom of God or hinders it.

Knowing this, Solovyov's Antichrist dares to offer his help to the Church. He chooses the highest form of this assistance, rights and privileges, and gives them in the highest place of the Church, in the institution of the Pope, in its very center. So, maybe he should be supported? Perhaps he himself should be recognized as the guardian of the Church, as was Constantine the Great and a number of subsequent holy and non-holy kings? Most representatives of the Church do so. "And with joyful exclamations: 'Gratiasagimus! Domine, salvum fac magnum imperatorem!" — almost all the princes of the Catholic Church, cardinals and bishops, most of the lay believers and more than half of the monks ascended the stage and, after low bows in the direction of the emperor, took their seats. The same thing happened with representatives of two other confessions: the Orthodox and the Protestants. The former were tempted by the museum of Christian archaeology established by the emperor, the latter by the World Institute for the Free Study of the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, most of the first and second ascended the stage together with their bishops and leaders and took the benches at the throne of the emperor.

This is an amazingly deep symbol of the life of the Church. To sit in the shadow of earthly thrones and bow down before earthly rulers is the most significant and ever-present threat to the Church. Under the influence of this threat, it is easiest to fall away from God, for this, as St. Paul says, supports "a form of godliness," but "those who do not deny it" (2 Tim. 3:5). They support the external in religion, but commit desecration within it: instead of the King Christ, they raise up an earthly king, instead of God's mercies they accept the gifts of a ruler. Faith in the Holy Spirit and the blood of the saints here turns into faith in cunning and in the support of princes. The Antichrist is well aware of this weakness of Christians and therefore always offers his gifts. He constantly calls Christians to him to sit in the shadow of his throne and thus protect themselves from the sun's heat of struggle. He promises to destroy all the disobedient with his mighty hand. In the course of centuries he carries the Christians up to a high mountain, shows them all the kingdoms of the world, their glory and power, promising to give them all this, if only they, falling before him, glorify him. And many praise him. Many climb onto the stage, bow down before him and sit in the shadow of his throne, not even feeling that it is the shadow of death.

But there are others who do not succumb to this temptation. There are people in the Church of Christ who do not believe in the help of the earthly emperors of religion, so they do not respond to their call and do not sit at their throne. They prefer to stay down with their true and elder guides. When Solovyov's Antichrist proclaimed the restoration of the rights and privileges of the popes, and when the admiring princes of the Church and teachers moved to the emperor, "in the middle of the cathedral, straight and motionless as a marble statue, sat Pope Peter II in his place. But the thinned crowd of monks and laymen who remained below moved towards him and closed in a tight ring." The same happened with members of other faiths. Bishop Elder John and his supporters did not move from the orthodox, they "moved closer to Pope Peter and his circle." Of the Protestants, Professor Pauli and his group remained downstairs. He also moved closer to Pope Peter and Elder John.

With this spatial convergence of Christian confessions, Solovyov wants to say that in all churches there are people who feel the temptations of the Antichrist and resist them; they see in these temptations a preparation for the struggle with the Church, and therefore they unite. This Christian clairvoyance in relation to the promises of the Antichrist is based on the general measure by which they measure all the promises of the Antichrist, finding them unacceptable. That is why they do not move from their places and do not respond to the calls of the Antichrist; On the contrary, they rally and prepare for the struggle, for they know that resisting the temptations of the Antichrist is his exposure, followed by a bloody persecution.

But what is that measure? On what do these people who remained below and, as the emperor himself notes, "abandoned by the majority of their brothers and leaders, condemned by the feeling of the people" hold on? This question arises not only for us. It is also raised by the Antichrist himself," asking those sitting below: "What is most precious to you in Christianity?"

To this, on behalf of all the Christians who remained below, the elder Bishop of the Orthodox John answered him: "Christ Himself is dearer to us than anything else in Christianity." And this is a response not only to the emperor of Solovyov's legend. This is the answer that has been given for centuries to all earthly rulers who try to circumvent this basis of Christianity, who offer anything, but pass over Christ in silence. This is the measure by which earthly promises and gifts of kings are measured. These small groups remain at the bottom because they do not feel the presence of Christ on the other side of the restorers of the rights and privileges of the pope, on the other side of the museum of Christian archaeology, on the other side of the institute of free study of the Holy Scriptures. They do not enter the stage of the emperor, for they do not consider the steps to this elevation to be steps to the Kingdom of Christ. They do not sit at the throne of the emperor because this throne does not mean the throne of Christ to them. They do not reject the gifts of the ruler and himself. Elder John clearly observes: "But even from you, Sire, we are ready to accept every good, if only in your generous hand we recognize the holy hand of Christ." But they must see this hand. They must feel that earthly rulers speak and act not in their own name, but in the name of Him Who is the King of kings and rulers. And if they are like that, if we see Christ in their words and deeds, then they are symbols of Christ the King, then they are His forerunners, preparing His glorious coming, which will strengthen the eternal and universal Kingdom of truth, love and holiness.

Therefore, Christians faithful to Christ demand a sign that would confirm the Christocentric orientation of earthly rulers, that would confirm the connection of their authority and power with the source of this authority and power. Through the mouth of the elder Bishop John. they demand to publicly confess Jesus Christ, incarnate, born, suffering, dead, resurrected and coming again. If a sign of confession is given, it will be a testimony to the clear conscience of the rulers and to their unblemished sacrifice of religion. Their gifts will be received with love. Then the groups that remain below will rise and ascend the steps, for they will be sure that they have entered the steps that lead to the Kingdom of Christ. But if earthly rulers do not give such a sign, if they do not publicly confess Christ, then Christians will not rise from their pews, for they will understand that behind all earthly religious help lies the spirit of the Antichrist. Then they will reject this help and will more readily accept the wrath of earthly kings than reject Christ by accepting their gifts.

Solovyov's Antichrist did not listen to the demands of Elder John and did not confess Christ. By this he exposed himself as an opponent of Christ, as a representative of the devil and the executor of his will. Elder John declared this publicly, and Pope Peter anathematized the emperor so that he would not mislead people. Thus, the religious mask was removed from the Antichrist.