Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re going to discuss the
Antichrist. We’re going to dive into a treatise written in the 10th century that details that
Antichrist’s entire life; it was a seminal work, and though short, it’s packed with information,
taking from scripture, of course, but also many other works written by philosophers and
theologians in previous centuries. Let’s get into it.
In the 10th century, Adso of Montier-en-Der, a monk and abbot, wrote a treatise on the
Antichrist in a letter he sent to Queen Gerberga of France. It became the standard
mediaeval reference work on the Antichrist, and it’s the perfect work to explore in this video
because it covers the Antichrist’s entire life, drawing on a number of other works:
scripture, of course, but also other exegesis still extant from centuries past.
The Antichrist will be the antithesis of Christ, diametrically opposed in every way. Effectively,
the two form an intricate and elaborate dichotomy in which each is the opposite reflection of the
other. Where Christ is humble, the Antichrist will be proud. Where Christ champions the lowly
and judges sinners, the Antichrist will persecute the lowly and exalt sinners.
Christ is the incarnation of virtue, and the Antichrist will be the incarnation of vice,
something he will blight the masses with, a sickness of the mind that spreads like the
plague. His coming will destroy the law of the gospel and drive people to worship demons. And
he will seek to glorify himself as only God should be. In the time of his rule, he will endeavour,
wielding every wickedness at his disposal, to destroy the human race, but ultimately,
though his evil will be great, he will not survive the last judgement, destroyed by Christ
The author goes on to claim that none of what he’s written is a product of his imagination,
but rather, the distillation of his efforts, the culmination of diligent work and the careful
research of old sources, sifting and compiling information about the Antichrist from them.
He continues: the Antichrist will be born from the tribe of Dan, one of the 12 tribes of Israel,
as opposed to Jesus, who was born from the Tribe of Judah. “Dan is like a snake by the roadside, an
adder on the path.” And like that adder, he, the Antichrist, will be a serpent that sinks its fangs
into and poisons those who walk the righteous path. As Jesus was born of immaculate conception,
his mother impregnated by the spirit of God, this dark doppelganger will be born like other men,
from sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. Yet his beginning will also not
be like that of other men, for the womb that harbours his malignant growth will be like
a capsule containing shadow and sin, utterly suffused by the Devil’s own perverted potency.
Inside he will be imbued with the Devil’s strength and cunning, just as the Holy Spirit entered the
virgin Mary and filled Jesus with his strength and righteousness. The Devil’s essence will permeate
the mother and, through her, the child will be like a sponge inside absorbing the fetid filth,
the very tar of Hell, becoming more a spawn of the great adversary than he ever was a son of
mortal parents - ruined, rotten, and repulsive in every way, every fibre. He will be called the son
of destruction, for his time on earth will see him endeavour to put an end to the human race.
Here’s a passage from an English translation of the letter:
“Now you have heard about the manner of his birth; hear also the place where he is to be
born. For just as our Lord and Saviour preordained Bethlehem for Himself, the place where He put on
humanity for us and deigned to be born, so the devil knows a fit place for this man of perdition
called Antichrist, whence it is fitting that all evil will arise, namely, the city of Babylon. For
in this community, which was once a famous and proud city of the heathen and the capital of the
Kingdom of the Persians, Antichrist will be born. It is said that he will be brought up and live in
the towns of Bethsaida and Corozain; for the Lord condemn these towns in the Gospel with the words:
"Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida." Antichrist will have magicians, criminals,
soothsayers, and wizards, who, with the devil's inspiration, will bring him up
and instruct him in every iniquity, trickery, and wicked art. And evil spirits will be his
leaders and eternal friends and inseparable comrades. Then he will come to Jerusalem,
and all the Christians whom he cannot convert to his side he will kill by various torments,
and he will place his own throne in the holy temple. He will restore the temple, now in ruins,
which Solomon built to God, into its original form and will circumcise himself and give out
the lie that he is the son of the almighty God.” First kings and princes will be converted by him,
dragged into the filth of unholy worship, then, with the elite as thralls, the rest
he will claim. After desecrating and destroying all of Christendom, tainting everything holy,
he will send forth his dark disciples to the far corners of the world. Everywhere, from sea to sea,
to the farthest reach of each cardinal direction, his will shall spread. To crystalize his position,
he will win the minds of men with miracles: raining fire from the sky, causing plants and
trees to bloom or wither, enraging or calming the seas, redirecting rivers, transforming objects,
and unleashing storms into the firmament so that gales rip and lightning flashes split the sky.
His miracles, to all but the most righteous and resilient, will be undeniable and irresistible,
for even the dead, in the sight of men, will he again imbue with life. Fear, gifts,
and miracles will be his weapons of corruption, and with them he will subvert Christianity and
subdue all but those who cling to god as a man clings to a cliff’s edge for dear life. With gifts
he will buy people, showering silver and gold. Those who cannot be bought will be coerced by
fear. Those too stalwart to be cowed will be won over by miracles. And finally, those whom neither
gifts, nor fear, nor miracles corrupt, will be subject to torture and death. When this happens,
to flee will be the only option available for true Christians, finding shelter in the mountains. They
will cry out to God, begging for salvation, but He will not come, not yet; and those who
are caught will fall prey to every manner of pain and perversion: swords, and fire, and snakes, and
feral beasts. For three and a half years this hell will exist on earth, but after that time will be
the second coming of Jesus; and with the power of his breath, the Son will destroy the Antichrist.
Here’s another passage from the English translation:
“Antichrist will not come into the world unless the apostasy comes first, that is, unless first
all the kingdoms which long ago were subject to the Roman Empire secede from it. This time,
however, is not yet come, because, even though we see that the Empire of the Romans is for the
most part destroyed, nevertheless, as long as the kings of the Franks, who possess the Roman Empire
by right, survive, the dignity of the Roman Empire will not perish altogether, because it
will endure in the French kings. Indeed, certain of our learned men tell us that one of the kings
of the Franks, who will come very soon, will possess the Roman Empire in its entirety. And
he will be the greatest and last of all kings. He, after governing his kingdom prosperously,
will ultimately come to Jerusalem and lay down his sceptre and crown on Mount Olivet.
This will be the end and the consummation of the Empire of the Romans and the Christians. And
immediately, according to the aforesaid opinion of the Apostle Paul, they say that Antichrist
will soon be at hand, and then will be revealed indeed the "champion of wickedness," … Antichrist,
who, though he be a man, nevertheless will be the source of all sins, and the "son of
perdition," that is, the son of the devil, not through nature, but through imitation,
because he will carry out the devil's will in all things; because the fulness of diabolical
power and of depraved nature will dwell bodily in him, where there will be hidden
away all the treasures of malice and iniquity.” The Antichrist, the great rebel, will ascend in
pride, placing himself above the myriad false gods of heathens and heretics. Hercules, Apollo,
Jupiter, Mercury, pagan gods such as these will be mere trifles, paltry powers, compared to the
Antichrist when his blasphemy comes to bear on the world, corrupting minds and hearts, leading people
astray from the righteous path so that they become lost souls severed from the grace of God. What's
more, not only will these pagan relics pale in comparison to him, but the holy trinity also will
he subvert, seating himself on a throne of sin and sacrilege above what nothing can truly be above,
the glory of God. People will flock to him, thinking him the incarnation of salvation,
but really, they will unwittingly open their arms wide, their defences dismantled,
and embrace evil in its most insidious form. Born in Babylon, he will come to Jerusalem and
circumcise himself, cutting away skin so that he may claim the skin of another. To
the Jews he will proclaim himself as Jesus in the flesh, once again walking the earth
in the second coming that was promised - at least, that’s how it will appear; however,
in point of fact, the Antichrist will usher in a period utterly opposite to Jesus’ second coming.
After the world has been tortured and tormented by the Antichrist for three and a half years,
after the prophets Elijah and Enoch return to earth to help humanity and are then killed,
after the Christians who resisted the tyranny of the antichrist are crowned with martyrdom,
God will no longer hold back, unleashing his final judgement up on all of creation. With
the breath of Jesus’ mouth will the Antichrist be destroyed. It is said that the Antichrist
will finally be destroyed atop Mount Olivet, where it was that Jesus ascended to heaven. .
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