Gleanings from Orthodox Christian Authors and the Holy Fathers

antichrist

24 Entries

18. Guard thyself then, O man; thou hast the signs of Antichrist; and remember them not only thyself, but impart them also freely to all. If thou hast a child according to the flesh, admonish him of this now; if thou hast begotten one through catechizing, put him also on his guard, test he receive the false one as the True. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. I fear these wars of the nations; I fear the schisms of the Churches; I fear the mutual hatred of the brethren. But enough on this subject; only God forbid that it should be fulfilled in our days; nevertheless, let us be on our guard. And thus much concerning Antichrist. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture XV



All men ,led by the light of fallen nature alienated from guidance of God's light ,will be enticed into submission to the seducer(antichrist). St Ignaty Brianchaninov

In that time, infants will die on their mother’s lap, and the mothers will die over their children, fathers will die with their wives and children in the marketplace, and there will be nobody there who will bury them. St. Ephriam the Syrian, Oration on the Coming of the Lord

The Kingdom of the Church will abide unto the ages St. Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on St. Luke

“A false prophet will prophesy concerning the Antichrist saying he is Christ and he himself will try to convince everyone that he is Christ.” St. Ambrose of Milan, Catechetical Lectures, Oration 15

“Do not leave the Church, for there is nothing mightier than She; She will never grow old and will always bloom; thus the Scriptures, showing Her durability and stability, calls Her a mountain.” St. John of Chrysostom, On Eutropius

“For the Antichrist will come for the destruction of men, and to injure them, for what will he not then work? He will change and confound all things, both by his commandments and by the fear of him. He will be terrible in every way: by his power and by his unlawful commandments.’’ St. John Chrysostom, Commentary on 2 Thessalonians

“God will allow persecution from the Antichrist not because He cannot stop it, but because He desires, as usual, His strugglers to be crowned,” and for this reason, “the reverent ones among the living will be taken up into the clouds, receiving, as a reward of honor, that which is higher than any man.” St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 15

“Having filled himself with pride, the Antichrist will begin to set himself up and glorify himself as God, belching forth slander against Christ.” He will do this so openly that he will command that all those who do not want to serve him as God be killed. St. Hippolytus of Rome, On Christ and the Antichrist.

“He shall be known by his crimes of inhumanity and lawlessness, so as to out do all unrighteous and ungodly men who have gone before him; displaying against all men, but especially against us Christians, a spirit murderous and most cruel, merciless and crafty” St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechetical Lecture 15, Ch. 12)

“Many people will be found pleasing God, for whom it will be possible, in the mountains and in dessert places, to save themselves by much prayer….for God, seeing their many tears and sincere faith, will have mercy on them, as a tender Father, and will keep them.” St. Ephraim the Syrian, Oration on the Coming of the Lord

“Many will believe the Antichrist and will glorify him as God ... many will worship the torturer with trembling crying out: ‘Thou are our saviour!’” St. Ephriam the Syrian, Commentary of Psalm 43 and the Gospel of St. Luke

“The Antichrist will not only pronounce himself highest of the false gods, but will sit in the Temple of God, as if he were God ... the Jews, who did not want to believe in the Lord, as though He were an adversary to God, will believe in the Antichrist who will pronounce himself to be the god of all.” Blessed Theodoret of Cyprus, Commentary on 2 Thessalonians

“The Antichrist will not rule over all, but only over those who are worthy of perdition, who, even if he did not come, still would have deprived themselves of salvation.” Blessed Theodoret of Cyprus, Commentary on 2 Thessalonians

“The Christian society will never be depleted and will particularly become strong when in its appearance it will seem to wane.” Tertullian, In lib ad Scapulam, Ch. V

“The Jews, who did not accept the Lord Jesus Christ as the true Son of God and God, will receive a deceiver who will call himself God.” St. John of Damascus, Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, Ch. 26

“The adversary will sit in the temple of Jerusalem, in order to show himself as Christ, he will demand that those who are captivated by him should worship him as Christ. The Antichrist will demand worship as if he were God.” St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book 5, Ch. 25

“We firmly believe that the Church will never fall, will never waiver and will not be destroyed. For this is what Christ taught, by Whom the heavens were established and the earth was founded, and stands firmly as the Holy Spirit says”. (Ps. 32:6) The Antichrist will lure to himself “those who have a weak and feeble mind, will seduce and will tear them away from the living God.” St. John of Damascus, Oration on the Transfiguration of the Lord

All men, led by the light of fallen nature alienated from guidance of God's light ,will be enticed into submission to the seducer(antichrist). St Ignaty Brianchaninov

He who has not received within himself the kingdom of God cannot recognize the antichrist. He is absolutely sure to become in a way incomprehensible to himself his follower. St Ignaty Briancaninov

I say that martyrs of that time excel all martyrs,for martyrs hitherto have wrestled with men only ,but in the time of antichrist they shall battle with satan in his own person. St Cyril of Jerusalem

I say that martyrs of that time excel all martyrs,for martyrs hitherto have wrestled with men only ,but in the time of antichrist they shall battle with satan in his own person. St Cyril of Jerusalem

Let not us who would be Christians expect anything else than to be crucified....for to be Christian is to be crucified in this time and in any time since Christ came for the first time. His life is the example and warning to us all. We must be crucified personally,mystically;for trough crucifixion is the only path to resurrection,if we would rise with Christ,we must be humbled with him even to the ultimate humiliation, being devoured and spit forth by the uncomprehending world........we must be crucified outwardly in the eyes of the world, for Christ kingdom is not of this world and world cannot bear it, even a single represantative, even for the single moment. The world can only accept antichrist now or at any time. Fr Seraphim Rose

The antichrist must be understood as spiritual phenomenon...,why will everyone in the world want to bow down to him, obviously it is because there is something in him that responds to something in us, that something being lack of Christ in us, if we will bow down to him (God forbid that we do so) it will be because we feel an attraction to some kind external thing which might even look like Christianity since antichrist means the one that is in place of Christ or looks like Christ. Fr Seraphim Rose Not of this world p772




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