No More Learning

Tell me yourselves, you Christians, deserted by the
majority of your brothers and leaders, condemned
by popular sentiment : what is it that you value
most in Christianity? " At this Elder John rose up
like a white candle, and said in a quiet voice :
"
^Christianity is Christ Himself He in His person. All the rest cometh from Him, for we know that in Him dwelleth bodily the whole fulness of Divinity. But we are ready, sire, to accept any gift from you
Great sovereign ! The thing w<g value most in
? wr
jf^
change had come over it.
A hellish storm was
214 SOLOVIEV
as well, if only we recognise the holy hand of Christ in your generosity. Our candid answer to your
question, what you can do for us, is this : Here, now and before us, name the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh, rose, and is comingagain nameHisname,andwewillaccept you with love as the true forerunner of His second
gloriouscoming. " Hefinishedhisspeechandfixed his eyes on the face of the Emperor. A terrible
raging within him, like the one he experienced on that fateful night. He had entirely lost his mental
^5"
\ balance, and was concentrating all his thoughts on
preserving control over his appearance, so that he should not betray himself before the time. He was
making superhuman efforts not to throw himself,
yelling wildly, on Elder John and begin tearing him with his teeth. Suddenly he heard a familiar, un-
earthly voice: r Keep silent and fear nothing! ]/ He remained silent. Only his face, livid like death,
lookeddistortedandhisej^esflashed. Inthemean- time, while Elder John was still making his speech,
the great magician, wrapped in his ample tri-coloured mantle, which concealed nearly the whole of his car-
dinal purple, could be noticed to be busy doing some- thing underneath it. His eyes were fixed and flash-
ing, and his lips slightly moving. It could be seen through the open windows of the temple that an
immense black cloud was covering the sky, and soon a complete darkness set in. Elder John, startled
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 215
and frightened, stared at the face of the silent
Emperor, when he suddenly sprang back, and turning to his followers shouted in a stifled voice :^
!
V" My dearest ones, it is Anti-Christ " f At this
moment, followed by a deafening thunderclap, a great thunderbolt flashed into the temple and struck
ElderJohn. Everyonewasstupefiedforasecond, and when the deafened Christians came to their
senses, Elder John was seen lying dead on the floor. The Emperor, pale but calm, spoke to the
;<
You have witnessed the judgment of God. I had no wish to take any man's life, but thus my Heavenly Father avenges His beloved son. Itisfinished. WhowillopposethewilloftheMost High ? Secretaries, write down : The CEcumenical Council of All Christians, after an insensate oppo- nent of the Divine Majesty had been struck by fire
from heaven, recognised unanimously the sovereign Emperor of Rome and all the Universe its supreme
leaderandlord. " Suddenlyaword,loudlydistinct,
his body trembling with indignation, lifted up his
"
assembly :
passed throughout the temple :
Pope Peter II. rose, and with face empurpled and
"" Contradicatur !
Our only is Jesus Christ, the Son of the
stick in the direction of the Emperor.
"
Lord," shouted he,
living God ! And who thou art, thou heardest just
Away ! thou Cain, thou murderer !
Get thee gone, thou incarnation of the Devil ! By the authority of Christ, I, the servant of God's servants, for ever expel thee, thou foul dog, from the precincts
now.
? 216 SOLOVIEV
of God, and cast thee out to thy father Satan !
"
Anathema ! Anathema ! Anathema !
While he
was so speaking, the great magician was moving restlessly under his mantle, and louder than the
"" last Anathema !
the thunder rumbled, and the
"
last Pope fell lifeless on the floor.
So die all my
enemies by the arm of my Father !
"
said the
"" Emperor. Pereant, pereant !
exclaimed the
trembling princes of the Church. The Emperor turned round, and, supported by the great magician
and accompanied by all his crowd, slowly walked outtothedooratthebackoftheplatform. There remained in the temple only the corpses and a little knot of Christians half-dead from fear. The only person who did not lose control over himself was Professor Pauli. The general horror seemed to have raised in him all the powers of his spirit. He even changed in appearance ; his countenance becamenobleandinspired. Withdeterminedsteps he walked up on to the platform, took one of the seats previously occupied by some State official, and begantowriteonasheetofpaper. Whenhehad
" In
The
finished he got up and read out in a loud voice :
the glory of our only saviour, Jesus Christ !
(Ecumenical Council of our Lord's
which met at Jerusalem after our most blessed
brother John, the representative of Christianity of the East, had exposed the arch-deceiver and the
enemy of God as the true Anti-Christ, foretold in the word of God, and after our most blessed father
churches,
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 217
Peter, the representative of Christianity of the West,
had lawfully and justly expelled him for ever from the Church of God, now in the face of the corpses of
these two witnesses of Christ, murdered for the truth, resolves : To cease any communion with the excommunicated one and with his foul crowd, and to go to the desert and to wait for the inevitable comingofourtrueLord,JesusChrist. " Thecrowd was seized with enthusiasm, and loud exclamations
" Jesus Christ !
"
Komm, Herr Jesu, komm! Come, Lord
could be heard on all sides. cito !
Adveniat ! Adveniat
"
ing unanimously this first and last deed of the last
"
Professor Pauli wrote again and read :
Accept-
GEcumenical Council, we sign our names
and here
heinvitedthosepresenttodoso. Allhurriedtothe
platform and signed their names. And last in the
list stood in big Gothic characters the signature :
"
Duorum defunctorum testium locum tenens Ernst Pauli. " " Now let us go with our ark of the last covenant," said he, pointing to the two deceased.
The corpses were put on stretchers. Slowly, sing- ing Latin, German and Church-Slavonic hymns, the Christians walked to the gate leading out from Haram-esh- Sheriff. Here the procession was
stopped by one of the Emperor's officials, who was
accompanied by a squad of the Guards. The sol-
diers remained at the entrance whilst the official
" read :
ByorderofhisDivineMajesty. Forthe enlightenment of the Christian people and for its
? 218 SOLOVIEV
safety from wicked men spreading unrest and temptations, we deem necessary to resolve that the
corpses of the two agitators, killed by the heavenly fire, be publicly exhibited in the street of the Chris-
tians (Haret-en-Nasara), at the entrance into the
principal temple of this religion, called the Temple of our Lord's Sepulchre, also that of the Resurrec-
tion, so that everybody may convince himself that they are really dead. Their obstinate followers, who
wrathfully reject all our benefits and insanely shut
their eyes to the patent signs of Deity itself are by
our mercy and presentations before our Heavenly Father, relieved from a much-deserved ^death by the
j- heavenly fire, -knd are left at their free will with the
i sole prohibition/ necessary for the common goodj of living in towns "and other places of residence, lest
they disturb and tempt innocent, simple-minded folk with their malicious fancies. " When he had
finished reading, eight soldiers, at the sign of the officer, came up with stretchers to the bodies.
"
Let the written word be fulfilled," said Professor
Pauli. And the Christians who were holding the
stretchers silently passed them to the soldiers, who went away with them through the north-western gate,
whilst the Christians, having gone out through the north-eastern gate, hurriedly walked from the city past the Mount of Olives to Jericho, along the road which had previously been cleared of other people
by the gendarmes and two cavalry regiments. It was decided to wait a few days on the desert hills
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 219
near Jericho. Next morning, friendly Christian pilgrims came from Jerusalem and told what had
been going on in Sion. After the dinner at the Court all the members of the congress were invited to a vast throne hall (near the supposed site of Solo-
mon's throne), and the Emperar, addressing the
representatives of the Catholic hierarchy, told them that the well-being of their Church clearly de-
manded from them the immediate election of a worthy successor to the apostate Peter, that in the circumstances of the time the election must needs be
a summary one, that his the Emperor's presence as that of the leader and representative of the whole
Christian world, would amply make up for the in- evitable omissions in the ritual, and that he on behalf of all the Christians suggested that the Holy College elect his beloved friend and brother Apollonius, so that their close friendship could firmly and in-
unite Church and State for their / mutual benefit. The Holy College retired to a separate room for a conclave, and in an hour and ahalfitreturnedwithitsnewPopeApollonius. In the meantime, while the election was being carried out, the Emperor was meekly, sagaciously, and elo- quently persuading the Orthodox and Evangelical representatives, in view of the new great era in
Christian history, to put an end to their old dissen-r
sions, giving his word that Apollonius would be able to abolish all the abuses of the Papal authority known to history. Persuaded by this speech, the
dissolubly
U
? 220 SOLOVIEV
J Orthodox and Protestant representatives drafted a
^ deed of the unification of all the churches, and when
Apollonius with the cardinals appeared in the hall, met by shouts of joy from all those present, a Greek
bishop and an evangelical pastor presented to him
"
their document.
Accipio et approbo et laetificatur
" amas cor meum," said Apollonius, signing it. I
much a true Orthodox and a Protestant as I am a
true Catholic," added he, and exchanged friendly kisses with the Greek and the German. Then he came up to the Emperor, who embraced him and long held him in his arms. At this time tongues of flame began to dart about in the palace and the temple. Theygrewandbecametransformedinto luminous shapes of strange beings, and flowers never seen before came down from above, filling the air with unknown aroma. Enchanting sounds of music,
stirring the very depths of the soul, produced by unfamiliar instruments, were heard, while angelic voices of unseen singers sang the glory of the new
lordsofheavenandearth. Suddenlyaterrificsub-
terranean noise was heard in the north-western
" cornerofthepalaceunder Kubbet-el-Aruah,"that
is "the dome of souls," where, according to the Moslem belief, the entrance to the hell was hidden. When the assembly invited by the Emperor went to that end all could clearly hear innumerable voices,
^j
thin and penetrating^ekheij^dish-jcuL_deyilish >K
"Thetimehascome,dolet )
whichwere
out, dear saviours, dear saviours !
exclaiming :
"
But when
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 221
Apollonius, kneeling on the ground, shouted some- thing down in an unknown language three times,
the voices died down and the subterranean noise subsided. Meanwhile a vast crowd of people sur- rounded Haram-esh- Sheriff on all sides. Dark- ness set in and the Emperor, with the new Pope, came out upon the eastern terrace the signal for
astormofrejoicings. TheEmperorbowedaffably to the people around, whilst Apollonius, taking from the huge baskets brought up by the cardinal-deacons, incessantly threw into the air, making them burn by mere touch of his hand, magnificent fireworks, rockets, and fountains, that now glimmered like
phosphorescent pearls, and now sparkled with all j/
the tints of a rainbow. (On the all ' reaching ground
the sparkles transformed into numberless variously coloured sheets containing complete and absolute
1
indulgences of all sins past, present, and future. The popular exultation overflowed all limits.
True, there were some who stated that
had seen with their own eyes the indulgences turn into hideous frogs and snakes. /But the vast majority
of the people were pleasea immensely, and the popular festivities continued a few days longer.
The prodigies of the new Pope now surpassed all imagination, so that it would be a hopeless task even
to attempt a description of them. In the meantime among the desert hills of Jericho the Christians
were devoting themselves to fasting and prayers. 1 With reference to the above, see Preface. Author.
they
? I
222 SOLOVIEV
On the night of the fourth day Professor Pauli, with nine comrades riding on asses and having a cart with them, succeeded in getting inside Jerusalem and passing through side-streets by Haram-esh-Sheriff to Haret-en-Nasara, came to the entrance to the Temple of Resurrection, in front of which, on the pavement, the bodies of Pope Peter and Elder John were lying. The street was deserted at that time of night, as allthepeoplehadgonetoHasam-esh-Sheriff. The sentries were fast asleep. The party that came for the bodies found them quite untouched by decom-
position, not even stiff or heavy. They put them on the stretchers covered with the cloaks they had
brought with them, and by the same circuitous road went back to their followers. They had hardly lowered the stretchers to the ground^when suddenly \\ the spirit of life could be seen re-entering the deceased bodies. ! They moved slightly as if they
v^ were trying to throw off the cloaks in which they
were wrapped. With shouts of joy everyone lent
them aid, and soon both the revived men rose to
theirfeetsafeandsound. ThensaidlilderJohn:
"
Ah, my dear ones, we have not parted after all ! I will tell you this : it is time that we carry out the last prayer of Christ about His disciples that they should be all one, even as He Himself is one with the Father. For this unity in Christ let us honour ourbelovedbrotherPeter. Lethimatlastpasture
"
put his arms round Peter. Here Professor Pauli
theflocksofChrist. Thereitis,brother!
And he
? came nearer. "
'
Tu es Petrus
" !
said he to the
A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 223
Pope, jetzt ist es ja grundlich erwiesen und
ausser jedem Zweifel gesetzt. " And he shook
Peter's hand firmly with his own right hand,
whilst his left hand he stretched out to John,
"
So also Vaterchennun sind wir ja Eins in Christo. ". In this manner the unification of churches took place in the midst of a dark night, onahighanddesertedspot. Butthenightdarkness
was suddenly illuminated with brilliant light and a 5<*r*
greatsignappearedintheheavens; itwas awoman, clothed in the sun with the moon beneath her feet, and a wreath of twelve stars on her head. The apparition remained immovable for some time, and then began slowly to move in a southerly direction.
saying :
" Pope Peter raised his stick and exclaimed :
is our sign !
" Let us follow it !
Here And he walked
after the apparition, accompanied by both old men and the whole crowd of the Christians, to God's
mountain, to Sinai. . . .
(Here the reader stopped. ) ^ N^Vv
LADY. Well, why don't you go on?
MR. Z. The manuscript stops here. Father
Pansophius could not finish his story. He told me
when he was already ill that he thought of com-
"
as soon as I get better," he said. But he did not get better, and the end of his story is buried with him in the graveyard of the Daniel Monastery.
LADY. But you remember what he told you, don't
pleting it
you?
Please tell us.
-9
? 224 SOLOVIEV
MR. Z. I remember it only in the main outlines.
After the spiritual leaders and representatives of Christianity had departed to the Arabian desert, whither crowds of faithful zealots of truth were
streaming from all countriesfthe new Pope was able to corrupt unimpededly with his miracles and pro-
digies all the remaining superficial Christians who werenotyetdisappointedwiththeAnti-Christ. He
declared that by the power of his keys he could open the gates to other worldsj Communion of the living with the dead, and also of men with demons, became a matter of everyday occurrence, and new
. uinheard-of forms of mystic lust and demonology
began to spread amongst the people] However, the Emperor scarcely began to feel himself firmly
established on religious grounds, and, yielding to the persistent suggestions of the seductive voice of
the "father," had hardly declared himself the sole true incarnation of the supreme Deity of the Uni- verse, when a new trouble came upon him from a
side from which nobody expected it : the^Jews^rose {{againsthim. Thisnation,whichatthattimereached
ty millions, was not altogether unfamiliar with the paving of the. way for the world's successes of the superman. When this latter transferred his
residence to Jerusalem, secretly spreading amongst the Jews the rumour that his main object was to
bring about a domination of Israel over the whole
of the world, the Jews proclaimed him as their Messiah, and their exultation and devotion to him
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 225
knew no bounds. / And now they suddenly rose, full ofwrathandthirstingforvengeance. Thisturnof events, doubtless foretold both in the Gospel and in the church tradition, was pictured by Father Pansophius, perhaps, with too great a simplicity andrealism. Yousee,theTews,whoregardedthe
expectedly discovered that he was not even circum- cised. The same day all Jerusalem, and next day
all Palestine, were up in arms against him. The boundless and fervent devotion to the saviour of
Israel, the promised Messiah, gave place to as boundless and as fervent a hatred of the wily
deceiver,theimpudentimpostor. Thewholeofthe Jewish nation rose as one man, and its enemies were surprised to see that the soul of Israel at bottom lived not by calculations and aspirations of Mammon butbythepowerofanall-absorbingsentiment the hope and strength of its eternal faith in the Messiah.
[The Emperor, taken by surprise at the sudden out- burst, lost all self-control, and issued a decree
sentencing to death all the insubordinate Jews and Christians^' Many thousands and tens of thousands who could not arm themselves in time were ruth- lesslymassacred. ButanarmyofJews,amillion strong, soon took Jerusalem, and locked up Anti- ChristinHaram-esh-SherifT. Hisonlysupportwas a portion of the Guards, wlib were not strong enough tooverwhelmthemassesoftheenemy. Assistedby the magic art of his Pope, the Emperor succeeded
w
Emperor a true and perfect Israelite by blood, un- *
.
Q
-
? 226 SOLOVIEV
in finding his way through the besieging army, and soon appeared again in Syria at the head of an
innumerablearmyofpagans. TheJewsadvanced to meet him, with little chance of gaining success. But no sooner had the outposts of the armies come in contact with each other than a terrific earthquake broke out, the crater of a tremendous volcano rose from the bottom of the Dead Sea, on the shores of which the Emperor's army had built their camp, and fiery streams mingling in a single lake of fire swal- lowed up the Emperor, all his innumerable troops,
and his constant companion, Pope Apollonius, to whomevenhismagicartprovedofnohelp. Atthe
same time the Jews were running to Jerusalem in fear and horror, praying to the God of Israel to
deliver them from peril. When the Holy City was
already in sight, a great lightning cut the sky open from east to west, and they saw Christ descending
to them clad in kingly apparel, and with the wounds fromthenailsonHisoutstretchedhands. Atthe
same time a crowd of Christians, led by Peter, John, and Paul, were moving from Sinai to Sion, and other
x/
came
from all sides. fThese were all the Jews and Chris- NJT
tians executed by the Anti-ChristJ} They rose to ^o-^y ^e' an<^ reigned with Christ for a thousand
At this point Father Pansophius thought to finish kis story, which was to picture not the final cata-
strophe of the Universe, but only the conclusion of
crowds,
all seized with
enthusiasm,
flocking
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 227
glorification, and the destruction of Anti-Christ^^ POLITICIAN. And do you think that the catastrophe
is very near ?
MR. Z. Well, there will still be a good deal of
rattling and bustling on the stage, but the drama has been all written long ago, and neither the
audience nor the actors are allowed to alter anything in it.
LADY. What is, however, the ultimate meaning of
this drama? I cannot understand, moreover, why your Anti-Christ hates God so much whilst in essence
~ a*a cc~ our historical processT This end is the coming, the
"All is not that simple proverb: gold
'
vJaV
. ^x( o fWv^-- K; * t
.
~> &K*jUio MR. Z. No. Not in essence/' That is just the
he is really kind and not wicked at all. "
That is the whole matter. I will withdraw tnewords I said before that "you cannot explain Anti-Christonlybyproverbs. " Inpointoffact,he is completely explained by a single and extremely
point.
glitters. "- Of sham glitter he indeed has more th^an enough;
but of the essential force
GENERAL. I beg to call your attention to yet
another thing. Note at what moment the curtain drops over this historical drama :Lk is war, a con- flict between two armiesT? So the end of our discus-
How do you like it, Prince? Good heavens, but where is
sion comes again back to its beginning.
the Prince?
POLITICIAN. Didn'tyouobserve?
Hequietlyleft
us at that pathetic scene when Elder John drove
nothing. /
? 228 SOLOVIEV
the Anti-Christ into a corner. I did not want to interrupt the reading at that time, and afterwards I
forgot.
GENERAL. I bet he ran away : ran away for the
And didn't he try to master himself ? But this was too much for the poor fellow : he could not stand it for anything. Oh, dear me ! dear me !
THE END
second time !
Printed for the UNIYERSITT OF LONDON Pans, LTD. , by RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, Ltd. London and Bungay.
?