American Orthodox Catholic Christianity
Faith Of Our Fathers Series
Rassophore-monk
Vsevolod
... I have an
opinion as to this number [666], though I do not know for certain, for many
names have been found in this number when it is expressed in writing. Still we
say that perhaps the scription of this same seal will give us the word "I
deny."..
Of such kind, in
the time of that hater of all good, will be the seal, the tenor of which will be
this: "I deny the Maker of heaven and earth, I deny the baptism, I deny my
(former) service and attach myself to thee, and I believe in thee."
... truly those who are engrossed in the
affairs of life, and with the lust of this world, will be easily brought over to
the accuser [Antichrist] then, and sealed by him. - Saint Hippolytus of
Rome
"Discourse on the
End of the World and on Antichrist"
In the Apocalypse, the holy Apostle John
the Theologian indicated the number of Antichrist in these words: And he causeth
all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in
their right hand, or in their forehead... Let him that hath understanding count
the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six
hundred threescore and six (Rev. 13:16, 18). Ever since then, there have been
many interpretations of this number. In their exegeses the Holy Fathers have
proceeded from the fact that the number of the beast [i.e., Antichrist] is the
number of his name, as it says in verse 17: ...the mark, or the name of the
beast, or the number of his name. During the time of Antichrist, everyone will
be offered to receive the mark of the beast, and therefore Christians ought to
know the essence of what this means and just what this number signifies.
On this subject, a
majority of Christians today fall into one of two basic categories. To the first
belong those who are altogether indifferent to this question, who consider it to
be of little import and who even laugh at those who are interested in it. It
would appear that such apathy, such a lukewarm attitude, reflects a shallow,
superficial faith. In the second group are those Christians who, possessing
"zeal without knowledge," are led astray by the enemy into overly literal
interpretations, finding the number of Antichrist in trademarks, in documents
and on currency - an extreme approach that frequently leads to the development
of a pharisaical-sectarian spirit.
What is the genuinely
Orthodox approach to this subject? We shall try to explain. The Holy Fathers of
the Orthodox Church allow of various explanations of the number of the beast.
Most often the name is sought in the correspondence between the number of the
beast and the sum of letters of this or that name. Thereby people have arrived
at many descriptive and even proper names of Antichrist, and likewise his title.
They have deduced such names as "Wicked Leader," "Ancient Envier," "Truly
Malicious," "Unrighteous Lamb," and others.
Doubtless, any
descriptive names corresponding to the number 666 can, of course, be applied to
Antichrist. However, we must direct our attention not to an external search for
names, but to ascertaining the inner meaning of the name of the beast. After
all, the Apostle John the Theologian indicated specifically that in order to
comprehend the name of the beast it was essential to have wisdom, i.e.,
Christian love of wisdom, and not simply an arithmetical formula.
We know that Divine
names - as, for example, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, and others - can contain
a condensed form of the entire Christian confession. The hesychast fathers often
point this out in speaking about the Jesus Prayer. Antichrist, in seeking to
counterfeit Christ in all respects, will also have a name that expresses, in
condensed form, his entire false teaching. The name of Antichrist will be a kind
of brief but precise symbol of the antichristian faith. It will contain in
itself all the fundamental theses of this false teaching. Only in this way can
one explain how the acceptance of the inscription of this name, the mark of the
beast, will be a denial of Christ and His Church.
It is this denial of
true Christianity that constitutes the principal reason for setting the seal of
Antichrist. Clearly, then, the acceptance of this seal is not connected to any
trademarks or commercial marks on documents, money or even on the flesh (for
example, prisoners in labor camps wear numbers on their clothing, and slaves
used to be branded). This is not
the seal of Antichrist. The acceptance of the mark must be joined with a
conscious denial of Christ and the acceptance of the law of Antichrist.
It is interesting to
trace how, over thousands of years, Satan has been preparing mankind to accept
his religion. Many pagan cults confess some kind of divine triad. The ancient
Romans had Jupiter, Juno and Minerva; the Hindus have Brahma, Siva and Visnu; in
the Egyptian religion one finds the trinitarian group of Osiris, Isis, and
Horus. The concept of a trinity also exists in Buddhism and among the ancient
Slavs and Celts. In the Graeco-Roman religious cults this idea was reflected in
the veneration of the three-bodied goddess Hecate, the three-headed Scylla, the
triune divinities of the Cabiri. At the gate of Hades stood guard the fiendish,
three-headed dog, Cerberus. Numerous divine triads have been revered by pagan
tribes of the Americas and Africa. The cult of voodoo, which is related to
modern satanism and still practiced today, believes in some anti-trinity.
These confessions may
be said to contain fragments of true revelation. If satan did not exist, one
could say that these pagan peoples revered the true God-in-Trinity, even though
their concepts of just Who this is were in many ways distorted. But because the
world of dark spirituality is in fact a distorted representation of the Divine
world, and the devil in his actions imitates God in a distorted fashion, it
follows that the distorted divinity of the pagans is a false god, endeavoring to
pass for the true God. Through the lips of the Prophet David, the Church warns
us that all the gods of the heathen are devils (LXX, Ps. 95:5). It is evident
that, under the guise of these pagan "trinities," satan himself is concealed
together with his minions. This is iconographically supported: in the Christian
art of Europe and Abyssinia one finds three-headed, three-faced or three-horned
depictions of satan, symbols of the satanic false trinity. Two thousand years
ago, as Christianity spread throughout the world, it disarmed and bound the
religion of satan, as this was manifest in numerous pagan cults. In the time of
Antichrist this religion of evil will again, in one form or another, come to
dominate the world.
In what will the
religion of Antichrist consist? It is enigmatically expressed for us by the
Apostle as the number 666. As we see, this number is composed of three sixes:
six hundreds, six tens and six ones. If we turn to Holy Scripture, we see that
the number six rarely figures in either the Old or New Testaments, whereas the
number seven is used in the Bible as a symbol of completeness, of fulfillment,
of perfection, of wholeness (often in the sense of absolute perfection). In
Christ, humanity is shown an example of the fullness of the Godhead (cf. Col.
2:9). The Antichrist, by contrast, will unite in himself all incompleteness, all
imperfection, and deficiency. The symbol of imperfection - that seeks to appear
as perfection - is none other than the number six. In the number of the beast
this imperfection is raised to its extreme: it is not merely six, but six
hundred, sixty-six!
If the Son of God
co-exists indivisibly and in unconfused union with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, the son of perdition, Antichrist, exists in the closest possible union
with satan and his false prophet. The three of them together represent a false
trinity, as it were: the spirit of malice-the beast-the second beast. These
three deficient persons, one in their spiritual essence, are united in a single
incompleteness, whose symbol is 666. And so, the number of the name of the beast
contains in condensed form the entire diabolical confession of the false
religion of the Antichrist. Herein lies the evil power of this bestial name.
The "moral" teaching
of satan can also be expressed as a type of triune evil: evil reasoning, evil feelings, and evil
will. This anti-moral teaching can also be symbolically expressed by the name of
the beast, more precisely, by the tripartite number of this name. For this
reason, the acceptance of this name of Antichrist in the form of some seal will
in fact be a denial of Christ and His Church.
The son of perdition,
the Antichrist, inasmuch as he is a man, will give the devil the possibility -
through him - to act openly in the world, and, with the help of the false
prophet, to deceive and destroy people. The greater part of humanity will gladly
accept this proud message of the man-god, whose principal postulates will be:
"Man! Know that your 'I' is a part of the divinity. You are truly a god! You are
a law unto yourself. No one has any authority over your 'I.' An example for you
is your messiah [Antichrist], a great man, who knows that he is a god!" The
false religion of Antichrist can be characterized as a humanist religion, in the
sense that it is not divine; it is vain, transitory. This is why the number of
the beast is called in the Apocalypse, the number of a man (Rev. 13:18). The
number of a man is the name of the man-Antichrist, who will reveal himself to be
a god, but who in essence will be merely a pathetic slave of the fallen angel.
Let us say now a few
words about that close unity of the three persons of the false-trinity.
According to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, the whole life and activity of
Antichrist will be connected in one way or another to satan, to whom he will be
in conscious and voluntary submission. Antichrist will be close to the devil as
no other person in the history of the world. He will be a real instrument of
satan. In turn, the false prophet, who is called in the Scriptures the second
beast, will be Antichrist's closest ally. Through Antichrist, satan will give
enormous power and authority to the false prophet, who will act with all the
authority of the first beast, and will compel all the earth and all those living
upon the earth to bow down before him. Through the miracles that the beast will
grant the false prophet to perform, the latter will deceive many, telling them
to make an image to the beast (13:14): And he will be given power to give life
unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and
cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should all be
killed (Rev. 13:11-12, 14-15). From the second verse of the nineteenth chapter
of the Book of Revelation, one can conclude that it is precisely thanks to the
false prophet that many people will accept the mark of the beast. However, three
and a half years later the reign of lawlessness will come to an end, for the
Lord Jesus Christ will appear in glory and overwhelm all the enemies of God. And
the devil will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and
the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever
(Rev. 20:10).
Many people think that
the seal of the Antichrist will be something like a stamp or brand, or an
electronic chip implanted under the skin. The basis for such thinking lies in
the fantastically rapid development of science and technology in this direction.
Most likely, however, this scientific development is designed to distract
mankind's attention from the real mark of Antichrist, which will have nothing to
do with the advances of science, technology or medicine. At a time when people's
suspicions and anxieties are fixed upon some innovation of progress-the
implantation of computer chips in humans, for example-the real seal of
Antichrist will be imprinted quietly, without any particular commotion.
In a spiritual sense,
this satanic mystery - the imprinting of the mark of Antichrist - will be the
antithesis of the Christian Mystery of Chrismation, which, we recall, is the
placing of the seal of the Holy Spirit, while imitating its external form. Just
as in the Mystery of Chrismation, the priest anoints the newly-illumined on the
forehead and hands, so, too, in the placing of the mark of Antichrist, his
servants may well anoint people with some kind of "sacred" oil, which will
symbolize the voluntary acceptance of Antichrist and his religion. The
iconographic tradition of the Orthodox Church supports this supposition. In the
iconographic sketch, illustrating the pouring out of God's wrath upon those
bearing the mark of the beast - that is, the seal of Antichrist (Rev. 16:1,2) -
we see satan wearing a fiery three-horned crown (symbolizing the trinity of
evil); he is signing people on the forehead with the mark of the beast - the
seal of Antichrist. Moreover, he is using a brush, dipping into a vial that he
is holding in his other hand (The Illuminated Bible, 1914). Why is it that the
illustration depicts satan himself placing the mark?
Because it symbolizes
his spiritual presence among those numerous servants of the religion of
Antichrist, who will actually place the mark upon the peoples of the earth.
Of course, the sign of
Antichrist may be placed by means other than a brush - by some other "sacred"
instrument or simply by the hand of a servant of the universal (Antichrist's)
religion. Whatever the actual means, the aim is to induce people to renounce
Christ.
Let us return now to
the two groups of people whom we mentioned at the beginning of this article, and
see how they will react to the mark of the beast. It is very likely that both
those who are indifferent to the question of accepting the stamp and those who
zealously study marks on currency, documents and manufactured goods, endeavoring
to detect the mark of Antichrist-both groups will be found outside Christ's
Church. The first because, even in accepting the mark of Antichrist, they will
console themselves with the thought that this is merely some innocuous,
ecumenical rite. And the second, because even before the placing of the marks
(or even before the coming of Antichrist), they will accuse the earthly part of
Christ's Church with having accepted the mark of Antichrist, although in fact
this will be simply some credit card or new type of personal document.
Furthermore, such zealots "not according to knowledge" will proclaim that their
group alone - which has rejected these "marks" (cards, documents, products with
certain symbols, etc.) - is the true Church. Clearly, this will be nothing but a
new schism or sect. Already now we find many sad examples of such splinter
groups, and they will only increase in the last times.
The salvific Royal
Path consists in, first: not accepting (only) those innovations of civilization
that are clearly connected with the renunciation of Christ, and, secondly, not
participating in any non-Orthodox rituals, for this path leads to Satan's
principal ritual - the acceptance of the seal of Antichrist, i.e., the
renunciation of Christ, under the guise of an outwardly innocuous, symbolical
act. One must also remember that an important sign of the mark of Antichrist is
that it will be made upon everyone throughout the whole world. This allows us to
draw two conclusions: 1. whatever registration methods are used by individual
governments are not the actual mark of Antichrist (although they may be
preparatory), and 2. we must be very vigilant towards registration methods of a
worldwide scale, if they in any way concern a confession of faith. Such an
approach will guard us from falling into fatal extremes.
To some it may appear
that keeping oneself from accepting the stamp of the Antichrist will be easy. We
should not forget the warning in Scripture that in the last times even many of
the chosen will be deceived, that is, many Orthodox Christians. How is this
possible? It is important to understand that the principal danger lies not in
the fact that this stamp will be masked and presented in the form of some
technological innovation, but rather in the fact that modern, "civilized" man
will be ashamed, he will be embarrassed not to accept it. This will be the
greatest temptation to overcome-and many will not. Just listen to the logic:
"Why do you refuse to take part in this measure that involves all of humanity,
that is being instituted worldwide? After all, it symbolizes unity and the
brotherly love of all peoples. It is a symbol of our unity under the aegis of a
lawful global authority that has been given to all men from above. Are you
against peace and order? Do you want a reign of chaos and enmity? If you are
people of good will, you must take part in these cultural enactments that
concern all mankind." Of course, it will turn out that one such "innocent" enactment will be, in fact,
the rite of bowing down before the God-hating Antichrist. Only a discerning
vigilance, illumined by the grace of God, will be able to preserve us from such
subtle deception of the last times. What will be the consequences of accepting
the mark of Antichrist? They will be truly horrific, destroying human souls. The
fruit of denying God is always dreadful, for life without God is death.
Will one be able to
repent after having accepted the mark of the beast? On the one hand, there is
little hope that a person who does not have enough faith and spiritual strength
to refuse the mark will be able to repudiate it once he has voluntarily accepted
it. On the other hand, our attitude towards the mark of the beast must be free
of all unorthodox fatalism and fetishism, for no seal or mark, in and of itself,
can have any power over a man. The powers of evil behind this mark have power
only over those who personally submit to them, who deny Christ. According to the
Orthodox teaching, the power of Christian repentance is stronger than the power
of evil. The history of the Church knows numerous examples of people who
accepted the spiritual seal of satan himself, people who signed a pact with the
devil, voluntarily entrusting their souls to him. And here we have a testimony
of God's love for mankind: even some of these apostates repented and became
saints. The Lord, by His authority, annulled their pact with satan. We have only
to recall the life of Saint Cyprian, a formidable satanist who became a saint
after repenting and turning to Christ.
The Orthodox Church
teaches us that, up to the time of his physical death, each person, by God's
mercy, has the possibility to repent. Therefore, we would deny God's mercy were
we to say that people who accept the mark of Antichrist will have no further
possibility of repentance. While they are still alive, this possibility will be
available to them. Desiring their repentance, the Lord will send down upon them
dreadful pestilences, as final, decisive measures for their spiritual
restoration. (cf. Saint Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse) But,
alas, Sacred Scripture clearly states that those who consciously accept the mark
of Antichrist will no longer have any desire to repent. They will bite their
tongues from pain, but even so they will not cease blaspheming God and they will
not repent of their deeds (Rev. 16:10-11). If, among those who bow down before
the beast, there should be some isolated cases of repentance, this conversion
and repentance can be regarded only as a miracle of God. The conscious
acceptance of the soul-destroying stamp under the assumption that one can later
repent is a terrible and unforgivable sin in the eyes of God. Therefore, while
there is yet time, let us prepare ourselves for the coming trials. Such
preparation consists in fulfilling all the soul-saving precepts and ordinances
of our Mother, the Orthodox Church. While we still have the opportunity and
spiritual strength, let us tirelessly entreat the Merciful God with the words of
the Lord's Prayer, as the Saviour intentionally ordained: "Our Father ... lead
us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one."
Holy Trinity Monastery, 1998 (Translated from the Russian)