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.

Christ is the sword that divides souls. Christ is the measure by which we can understand who is God and who is not. "Know the Spirit of God (and the spirit of error) in this way: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God" (1 John 4:2). In other words, whoever acknowledges and confesses the divine-human fullness of Christ is from God; and on the contrary, whoever does not recognize and confess Christ as God and Man is the Antichrist. He can believe in God and the Messiah, like Solovyov's Antichrist and like a multitude of representatives in the world; it can grant religion considerable rights and even greater assistance; he may even declare himself the guardian and leader of the Church; however, the non-recognition of Christ moves him into the ranks of the supporters of the beast, and all his efforts become only a cover for the struggle with the Lamb. To exclude Christ from Christianity means to exclude its ontological content, turning it into a purely moral relationship with the boundless Supreme Being. Every antichrist willingly acknowledges the moral values of Christianity. Moreover, every Antichrist considers him to be the most valuable religion in the maintenance of the morality of mankind, for the improvement of social relations, for the realization of peace and democracy, and for the enhancement of culture. However, no antichrist recognizes his ontological content, which is Jesus Christ. Not a single Antichrist confesses the supernatural content of Christianity.

This is the indicator that reveals what is hidden under the so-called earthly rights, gifts, privileges and aspirations of the Antichrist. Here is also the measure by which all the promises and deeds of Christians themselves are measured. It is not the theoretical recognition of God or the good that is the sign of the Lamb, nor the legal or material assistance of religion that is the manifestation of the Spirit of God, but Christ Himself: his recognition and confession, the affirmation of the supernatural character of Christianity, the veneration of Him as the Divine Messiah. In order to reveal the true face of earthly aspirations and deeds, they must be measured by Christ Himself. The attitude to Christ reveals the spirit of both an individual and an entire period of history.

That is why we ask now: how does the spirit of the Antichrist experience Christ? What is His relationship with His divine-human fullness? The answer to these questions will allow us to evaluate earthly life more clearly and at the same time to understand our age more deeply.

The historical existence of Christ is not rejected by the spirit of the Antichrist today. The storm raised by Rentn and Strauss ended in complete defeat: the historical figure of Christ was not only not destroyed, but was even more revealed, like the sky after a long rain. Solovyov's deep perspicacity could well characterize the Antichrist as the Antichrist, who "initially had no enmity towards Jesus. He recognized His messianic significance and virtues." Solovyov had a deep understanding that the denial of the historical existence of Christ is short-lived and that it will not leave deep traces in humanity. That is why he made his Antichrist a believer in Christ as a historical figure and even as a messenger of God. By this Solovyov meant that the denial of the historicity of Christ, characteristic of his time, cannot satisfy people of outstanding intellect; that this is only a naïve attempt, not worthy of attention, even a harmless attempt. His Antichrist, a man of outstanding ability and comprehensive education, could not join the ranks of the followers of Renan or Strauss. He had to be quite mature, even in his attitude toward Christ. And here Solovyov was not mistaken. Half a century passed, and the historicity of Christ was recognized by all. Therefore, today something else is denied, namely, that today Christ is denied as the First and the Last.

What is meant by this, Solovyov himself explains to us by a further characterization of his Antichrist. The Antichrist, as it was said, recognized Christ. He did not consider Him a legend, but considered Him a real historical man. "He sincerely saw in him only his greatest predecessor – the moral feat of Christ and His absolute uniqueness were incomprehensible to this mind darkened by self-love. He reasoned thus: "Christ came before me: I am the second; but that which is after in the order of time is essentially first. I come last, at the end of history, precisely because I am the perfect, ultimate savior. That Christ is my forerunner. His vocation was to anticipate and prepare my appearance." In other words, the spirit of Antichrist, even though it recognizes the historicity of Christ, tries to see in him only its forerunner. And here the question of whose forerunner Christ is considered to be is superfluous. Solovyov's Antichrist considered Him to be his forerunner; and since he was a man of great intellect and high morals, thanks to these qualities he convinced himself that he was "the only son of God." Our age is increasingly inclined to regard Christ as the forerunner of the moral order which laid the foundations of modern human morality, social order, democracy, and even world peace. What humanity has assimilated over two thousand years, what it has developed, educated, perfected, all this was begun by Christ. Christ is the forerunner of modern development.

Therefore, today more than one willingly returns to the Gospel and seeks in it all kinds of clues that would show humanity the way in the present. More than one says that the spirit of the Greeks, Romans and the spirit of Christ are hidden in the foundations of European culture and the cultures of other continents. The Greeks gave Europe philosophy, the Romans law, Christ morality and religion. And this amazing trinity has developed in the course of centuries into the modern amazing culture. Christ is an integral part of this culture. He is its forerunner: true, not the only one, but one of the main ones. And this thought of Christ as a forerunner is increasingly taking hold of consciousness today. Today, almost everyone, with the exception of the Communists, recognizes that Christ was the forerunner of moral, social, national, and even international relations. He pointed out that man should be for man. The "liberty, equality, fraternity" proclaimed by the French Revolution were only a real expression and a complete formulation of love for one's neighbor. Today, the law of love for one's neighbor is inscribed in all constitutions. The struggle for man begun by Christ has been realized. In this respect, Solovyov was indeed far-sighted, for he substantiated the relationship of his Antichrist to Christ by the idea of a forerunner. The spirit of the Antichrist from Christ as a legend came to Christ as a forerunner. The attitude of the Antichrist Solovyov in relation to Christ has become the attitude of our age.

However, what is this idea of the forerunner in essence? Why is it so readily accepted and proclaimed even by the rulers of the world? Has it really already understood that Christ is the First, as Revelation says of him (cf. Rev. 22:12)? To think so would be to be deceived by the antichrist's cover-up, under which lies one of the ways in which Christ is denied. The idea of the Forerunner is the refutation of Christ as the Final and thus as God. Who the Forerunner is and what his role is, St. John the Baptist reveals to us, defining his relationship with Christ: "He who is stronger than I am comes after me" (Mark 1:7), "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). In these words lies the essence of each forerunner. The Forerunner is the herald of future reality and its sign, but he himself is not this reality. He does not create it himself. He only declares, 37!