No More Learning

PRINCE. Why that?
MR. Z. Why, because you not only admit with
everybody else the fact of death as such, that is that
men generally died, die, and will die, but you raise this fact to the position of an absolute law, which
does not in your opinion permit of a single excep- tion. But what should we call the world in which
death for ever has the force of an absolute law but the Kingdom of Death ? And what is your Kingdom of God on Earth but an arbitrary and purposeless euphemism for the Kingdom of Death ?
POLITICIAN. I also think it is purposeless, because
it is wrong to replace a known quantity by an un- known one. Nobody has seen God and nobody
knows what His Kingdom may be. But we have
all seen the death of men and animals, and we also
know that nobody in the world can escape this
supreme power of death. What is the good then
of replacing this certain "a" by some unknown
""
x ? Nothing but confusion and temptation for
the "little ones" will ever result from such a substitution.
TRINCE. I don't quite understand what it is that
? THE END OF HISTORY 167
we are talking about. Death is, of course, a very
interesting phenomenon. One may perhaps call it even a law, in the sense of a phenomenon which is
universal amongst earthly beings and unavoidable foranyoneofthem. Onemayalsospeakofthe
"
absoluteness of this
hasbeenauthenticallyrecorded. Butwhatmaterial vital importance can all this have for the true Chris-
tian teaching which speaks to us, through our con- science, only one thing : that is, what we must and
what we must not do here and now? It is also obvious that the voice of conscience can refer only towhatisinourpowertodoornottodo. Forthis reason conscience not only remains silent about death, but cannot be anything else. With all its vastness for our human, worldly feelings and desires, death is not controlled by our will, and cannot there- fore have for us any moral significance. In this relation and, properly speaking, it is of course the only important one death is a fact of indifference similar, say, to bad weather. Because I recognise the unavoidable periodical existence of bad weather, and have to suffer from it to a greater or smaller extent, does it follow that for this reason I should,
instead of speaking of the Kingdom of God, speak of the kingdom of bad weather ?
MR. Z. No, you should not; firstly, because it reigns only in St. Petersburg, and we both come here to the Mediterranean and laugh at it; and, secondly,
your comparison is faulty, because even in bad
law," as until now no exception
? 168 SOLOVIEV
weather you are able to praise God and feel yourself in His Kingdom, whilst the dead, as you know from the Bible, do not praise God. I agree for these reasons with his Excellency that it is more appro- priate to call this world the Kingdom of Death than the Kingdom of God.
LADY. Why are you arguing all the time about
titles ? It is so uninteresting. Titles, surely, matter very little. You had better tell me, Prince, what you actually understand by the Kingdom of God and His Truth.
PRINCE. By this I understand the state of men when they act only in accordance with their inner conscience and thus carry out the will of God, which
prescribes them nothing but pure good.
MR. Z. The voice of conscience, however, speaks
ofperformingwhatisdueonlynowandhere. Isn't this the view you hold ?
PRINCE. You are quite correct.
MR. Z. But does your conscience remain silent about those wicked deeds which you may have com- mitted in your youth in relation to people long since dead?
PRINCE. In such cases the meaning of such reminders would be to warn me against repeating similar deeds now.
MR. Z. Well, it is not exactly so, but we need not argue about it. I would only like to indicate anothermoreincontestablelimitofconscience. The moralists have for a long time been comparing the
? THE END OF HISTORY 169
voice of conscience with that genius or demon which
accompanied Socrates, warning him against things he should not do, but never giving a positive
indication as to what he should do. Precisely the same may be said of conscience.
PRINCE. Howisthat? Doesnotconsciencesug-
gest to me, say, that I should help my neighbour in case of need or danger?
MR. Z. I am very glad to hear this from you. But if you examine such cases thoroughly you will see that the role of conscience even here remains purely negative : it demands from you only that you should not remain inactive or indifferent in face of your neighbour's need, but as to what and how you should do, this your conscience does not disclose.
PRINCE. Naturally so, because it depends on the circumstances of the case, on my own position, and that of the neighbour whom I must help.
MR. Z. Just so. But weighing and appraising these circumstances isjiot a matter for conscience,
but for your reason.
PRINCE. How can you separate reason from
conscience ?
MR. Z. Youneednotseparatethem,butyoumust
distinguish them. Because just in reality it some- times happens that reason and conscience become
not only separated but even opposed to each other. Should they be one and the same thing, how would it then be possible for reason to be used for acts
not only foreign to morality, but positively immoral ?
? 170 SOLOVIEV
And,youknow,thisdoeshappen. Why,evenhelp can be offered in a way that is approved by reason butisinimicaltomoralconsciousness. Forinstance, I may give food and drink and show other considera- tion to a needy man in order only to make him an
accomplice in a fraud I am preparing, or any other wicked act.
PRINCE. Well, it is, of course, so elementary. But what conclusion do you deduce from it?
MR. Z. The conclusion that if the voice of con-
science, however important it may be for the pur-
pose of warning and reproving you, does not at the
same time give you any positive and practically definite instructions for your conduct ; and if, further,
our good will requires reason as a subsidiary instru- ment, whereas its services prove rather doubtful as
it is equally ready of serving two masters, namely, good and evil, it follows from the above that for
carrying out the will of God and attaining to the
Kingdom of God, a third thing is necessary besides conscience and reason.
PRINCE. Whatis it, then?
MR. Z. Briefly it is the inspiration of good, or the direct and positive action of the good power itself
on us and within us. With this help from above, both reason and conscience become trustworthy assistants of good, and morality itself, instead of
"
thealwaysdoubtful goodconduct,"istransformed
into a real life in the good into an organic growth and development of the whole man of his internal
? THE END OF HISTORY 171
and external self, of personality and of society, of nation and of mankind in order to attain to the vital unity of the risen past with the realising future in that external present of the Kingdom of God which will be, though on the earth, the new Earth, joined in love with the new Heaven.
PRINCE. I have nothing to say against such
poetical metaphors, but do not exactly see why men, performing the will of God according to the commandments laid down in the Gospel, are not actuated by what you call "the inspiration of
good. "
MR. Z. They are not; not only because I do not
see in their actions any signs of such an inspiration,
of those free and sweeping impulses of love (God does not measure out the spirit He gives to man);
nor only because I do not see that joyous and
compliant peace arising from possessing those gifts, if even only primary ones, do I fail to see in
you the religious inspiration, but because, properly speaking, you yourself recognise its uselessness for
you. If good is confined only to carrying out the "rule," there is no room left here for inspiration.
Is there? A "rule" is given once and for all, is definiteandthesameforeverybody. Hewhogave
that rule has been dead long since, and, according to you, has never risen to life, so that He has not for us any personal vital existence. Whilst at the same time you see the absolute, primary good, not as a father of light and life, who could breathe light
? 172 SOLOV1EV
and life straight into you, but as a prudent lord, who sent you, his hirelings, to do the work in his vineyard, while he himself lives somewhere abroad and sends his men to you to bring him his rent.
PRINCE. We did not invent that image arbitrarily,
MR. Z. No, you did not, but you do arbitrarily see in it the highest standard of relations between
man and Deity, arbitrarily casting out of the Gospel
much : so long as your lord only imposes duties on you and demands from you compliance with his
will, I do not see how you can prove to me that he is a true lord and not an impostor.
that which is the most essential part of it :
the reference to the son and heir, in which the true standard of relations between man and God is given. You say : the lord, the duties towards the lord, the will of the lord. But I will tell this
PRINCE. This is very funny, really !
But what if I know in my conscience and reason that the
lord's demands express the purest good?
MR. Z. Pardon me, I am not speaking about this.
I do not deny that the lord demands good from you. But how does it follow that he is good him- self?
PRINCE. What else could he be?
MR. Z. 'Tis strange to hear it. I, on the con-
trary, always thought that the goodness of anybody is proved not by what he wants other people to do,
but by his own acts. If this is not clear to you from the standpoint of logic, I will quote you a
? THE END OF HISTORY 173
historical example. The Moscow Tsar, Ivan the Terrible, demanded in his well-known letter to Prince Andreas Kurbsky that the Prince should show the greatest goodness, the loftiest moral heroism, by refusing to resist force and meekly accepting the death of a martyr for the cause of truth. This lord's will was a will of good as far as its demands from the other man was concerned. However, it did not prove in the least that the lord who demanded that good was good himself. It is evident that 'though martyrdom for the cause of truth is of the highest moral value, this does not say anything for Ivan the Terrible, as he in that case was not a martyr, but a torturer.
PRINCE. Perhaps. But what do you want to
prove by this?
MR. Z. Simply that until you show me the good-
ness of your lord in his own deeds and not in verbal
precepts to his employees, I shall stick to my opinion that your distant lord, demanding good
from others but doing no good himself, imposing duties but showing no love, never appearing before
your eyes but living incognito somewhere abroad, isnooneelsebutthegodofthisage. . .
GENERAL. Here it is, this damned incognito!
LADY. Oh, do please say no more of this. How frightful the Devil must be with us ! (Crosses
herself? )
PRINCE. One might have anticipated that all the
time!
? 174 SOLOVIEV
MR. Z. I have no doubt, Prince, that you are
genuinely erring when you take the clever impostor for real God. The cleverness of the impostor is a
mitigating circumstance which greatly reduces your
own guilt. I myself could not see through it at once. But now I have no doubts of any kind, so
you will understand with what feeling I must look at what I consider a deceptive and seductive mask
of good.
LADY. Oh, how can you say this. It hurts one's
feelings.
PRINCE. I can assure you, madam, it has not hurt
mine. The question raised here is a general one, and it presents some considerable interest. It is
only strange that my opponent seems to imagine that it can be addressed only to me, and not to him as
well. YoudemandofmethatIshowyoutheper- sonal good deeds of my lord that would prove him to be a power of good and not of evil. Very well. But can you show any good deed of your lord which I should be unable to ascribe to
mine?
GENERAL. You have already heard of one such
deed, by which all the rest stand.
PRINCE. What is it?
MR. Z. The real victory over evil in the real re-
surrection. Only this, I repeat, opens the real Kingdom of God, whereas without it you have only the kingdom of death and sin and their creator, the Devil. Theresurrection,andnotinitsmetaphori-
? THE END OF HISTORY 175
cal, but in its literal meaning here is the testimony of the true God.
PRINCE. Well, if you are pleased to believe in such mythology ! But I ask you for facts, which could be proved, and not for your beliefs.
MR. Z. Not so high up, Prince, not so high. We both start from the same belief, or, if you like, mythology, with this difference that I consistently carryitthroughtoitslogicalend; whilstyou,violat- ing logic, arbitrarily stop at the first stage. After all, you do recognise the power of good and its coming triumph over evil, don't you ?
PRINCE. Most emphatically ! MR. Z. Butwhatisit: afactorabelief?
PRINCE. A reasonable belief.
MR. Z. Let us see if it is so. Reason, as we have
been taught at school, amongst other things de- mands that nothing should be accepted without sufficient grounds. Now tell me what sufficient
grounds have you, whilst admitting the power that
good has in the moral development and perfection of man and mankind, not to admit that power
against death?
PRINCE. In my opinion it is for you to answer
why you attribute to good some power beyond the limits of the moral sphere.
MR. Z. Oh, I can answer that. If I believe in
good and its own power, whilst assuming in the very notion of good its essential and absolute superiority,
then I am bound by logic to recognise that power
? 176 SOLOVIEV
as unlimited, and nothing can prevent me from be- lieving in the truth of resurrection, which is his-
torically testified.
However, had you frankly told me from the beginning that Christian faith does not
concern you, that the subject of it is only mythology for you, then I should naturally have refrained from
that animosity to your ideas which I have been un-
"
able to conceal from you. For fallacy and error
are not debited as frauds," and to bear ill-will to people because of their mistaken theoretical notions would disclose one's possession of too feeble a mind, too weak a faith, and too wretched a heart.
But everybody really religious, and thereby freed from these extremes of stupidity, cowardice, and heartlessness, must look with real good will at a
straightforward, frank, in a word, honest opponent and denier of religious truths. It is so rare to meet
such a one in our time, and it is even difficult for me to describe to you how greatly I am pleased when
I see an open enemy of Christianity. In nearly everyone of them I am inclined to see a future St.
Paul, whilst in some of the zealots of Christianity
there seem to be looming }udas, the traitor himself.
But you, Prince, have now stated your opinion so
frankly that I positively refuse to include you amongst the innumerable Judases and little Judases
of our time. I can even foresee the moment when I shall feel towards you the same kind disposition of humour which I experience when meeting out- and-out atheists and infidels.
? THE END OF HISTORY 177
POLITICIAN. Now that we have safely come to the
conclusion that neither those atheists and infidels,
""
nor such true Christians as our Prince, represent
the Anti-Christ, it is time for you to show us his real
portrait.
MR. Z. You want rather too much, your Ex-
cellency. Are you satisfied, for instance, with a single one of all the innumerable portraits of Christ which, you will admit, have sometimes been made even by artists of genius ? Personally, I don't know
of a single satisfactory portrait. I believe such is even impossible, for Christ is an individual, unique in His own kind and in the personification of His essence good. To paint it, a genius will not suffice. The same, moreover, has to be said about Anti- Christ : he is also an individual, singular in com-
pleteness and finish, a personification of evil. It is impossible to show his portrait. In Church litera-
ture we find only his passport with a description of his general and some special marks . . .
LADY. No ; we do not want his portrait, God save
You had better explain why he himself is wanted, what his mission is, and when he will come.
MR. Z. Well, in this respect I can satisfy you even better than you expect. Some few years ago a fellow-student from the Church Academy, later made a monk, on his death-bed bequeathed to me a manuscript which he valued very much, but did not wish, or was not able, to publish. It was entitled, "A Short Story of the Anti-Christ. " Though
us!
N
? 178 SOLOVIEV
dressed in the form of fiction, as an imaginary fore- cast of the historical future, this paper, in my opinion, gives all that could be said on this subject in accordance with the Bible, with Church tradition, and the dictates of sound sense.
POLITICIAN. Is it the work of our old friend
Monk Barsanophius ?
MR. Z. No; this one's name was even more ex-
quisite : Pansophius, he was called.
parson. Ifyouwillpermitmetogoupstairstomy room I will fetch the manuscript and then read it
to you.
LADY. Make haste, make haste ! See that you
don't get lost !
(While Mr. Z. was out, the company left their seats and walked in the garden? )
POLITICIAN. I wonder what it may be : is it my
eyesight that is getting weak, or is something taking place in nature? I notice that in no season, in no
place, does one see those bright clear days which formerly used to be met with in every climate. Take to-day : there is not a single cloud, and we are far from the sea, and yet everything seems to
be tinged with something subtle and imperceptible, which, though small, destroys the full clearness of things. Do you notice this, General?
GENERAL. It is many a year since I began to notice it.
POLITICIAN. PanSophius?
MR. Z. Not in the least. A son of a Russian
Was he a Pole ?
? THE END OF HISTORY 179
LADY. Last year I also began to notice, and not
only in the air, but in the soul as well, that even
"
there the full clearness," as you style it, is no
longertobefound. Allisseizedwithsomeuneasi-
nessandsomeill-omenedpresentiment. Iamsure,
Prince, you feel it too.
PRINCE. No; I haven't noticed anything par-
ticular : the air seems to be as usual.
GENERAL. You are still too young to notice the
difference, for you have nothing to compare with. But when one remembers the 'fifties one begins to feel it.
PRINCE. I think the explanation first suggested was the correct one : it is a matter of weak eye-
sight.
POLITICIAN. It is hardly open to argument that
weareevergrowingolder. Butneitheristheearth
getting younger, so that our mutual fatigue now begins to show itself.
GENERAL. I think it is even more likely that the
Devil, with his tail, is spreading fog over the world. AnothersignoftheAnti-Christ!
LADY (pointing to Mr. Z. , who was coming down
fromtheterrace]. Weshalllearnsomethingabout
this presently.
(All took their seats, and Mr. Z. began to read
his manuscript. ")
? A SHORT STORY OF THE ANTI-CHRIST. >
Pan-Mongolim ! The name is savage, But it pleases my ear immensely,
As if it were full of forebodings
Of the great destiny appointed by God. .
LADY. Where is this motto taken from?
. .
MR. Z. I think it is the work of the author himself.
LADY. Well, we are listening.
MR. Z (reads). The twentieth century A. D. was the epoch of the last great wars and revolutions. The greatest of those wars had its remote cause in
the movement of Pan-Mongolism, which originated in Japan as far back as the end of the nineteenth
century. TheimitativeJapanese,whoshowedsuch a wonderful cleverness in copying the external forms of European culture, also assimilated certain Euro- pean ideas of the baser sort. Having learned from the papers and text-books on history that there were in the West such movements as Pan-Hellenism, Pan-Germanism, Pan-Slavism, Pan-Islamism, they proclaimed to the world the great idea of Pan- Mongolism; that is, the unification under their leadership of all the races of Eastern Asia, with the
object of conducting a determined warfare against the foreign intruders, that is the Europeans. As in the beginning of the twentieth century Europe was
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 181
engaged in a final struggle against the Moslem world, they seized the opportunity to attempt the
realisation of their great plan first, by occupying Korea, then Peking, where, assisted by the revolu-
tionary party in China, they deposed the old Manchu
dynasty and put in its place a Japanese one. In this the Chinese Conservatives soon acquiesced, as
they understood that of two evils the less is the
"
better, and that family ties make all brothers,
whether they wish it or not. " The state indepen- dence of old China already proved unable to
maintain itself, and subjection to the Europeans or the Japanese became inevitable. It seemed clear,
however, that the dominance of the Japanese, though it abolished the external forms of the Chinese state
organisation (which besides became palpably worth- less), did not interfere with the main foundations of
the national life, whereas the dominance of the Euro-
pean Powers, which for political reasons supported Christian missionaries, would have threatened the very spiritual basis of China. The national hatred in which the Japanese were formerly held by the Chinese developed at a time when neither one nor
the other knew the Europeans, and in consequence this enmity of two kindred nations acquired the
character of a family feud and was as unreasonable as it was ridiculous. The Europeans were unre-
servedly alien, nothing but enemies, and their pre- dominance promised nothing that could flatter the national ambition, whilst in the hands of Japan the
? 182 SOLOVIEV
Chinese saw the tempting bait of Pan-Mongolism, which at the same time made more acceptable to
their mind the painful necessity of assimilating the
"
external forms of the European culture.
Will you
understand, you obstinate brothers," the Japanese urged them repeatedly, "that we take from the Western dogs their weapons, not because we like them, but so as to beat them with their own devices ?
If you come out to join us and accept our practical guidance, we shall soon be able not only to drive
out all the white devils from our Asia, but also to conquer their own lands and establish the true Middle Empire all the world over. You are right
in your national pride and your contempt for the
Europeans, but you should keep these feelings alive not only by dreams, but by sensible actions as well.
In these latter we are far in advance of you and have to show you the ways of mutual benefit. If you look around you will see yourselves what little gains you have obtained by your policy of confidence in your- selvesandmistrustofus yournaturalfriendsand protectors. YouhaveseenhowRussiaandEngland,
Germany and France nearly divided you up amongst themselves, and how all your tigerish schemes could show only the harmless end of the serpent's tail. " The sensible Chinese found this reasonable, and the
Japanese dynasty became firmly established. Its first care was, of course, to create a powerful army
and fleet. The greater part of the Japanese troops were brought over to China and served as a nucleus
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 183
for the new colossal army. The Japanese officers
who could speak Chinese proved much more suc-
cessful instructors than the dismissed Europeans,
whilst the immense population of China, with Man-
churia, Mongolia, and Tibet, provided a sufficient
supply of good fighting material. It was already
possible for the first Emperor of the Japanese dynasty to make a successful test of the power of
the new Empire by driving out the French from Tonkin and Siam, and the English from Burma, and by adding to the Middle Empire the whole of Indo-China. Hissuccessor,Chineseonhismother's side, combined in himself Chinese cunning and
tenacity with Japanese energy, agility, and enter- prise. He mobilised a four-million army in the
Chinese Turkestan, and whilst Tsun-li-Yamin, his
Prime Minister, was confidentially informing the Russian Ambassador that this army was intended for
the invasion of India, the Emperor with his immense forces suddenly invaded Russian Central Asia,
and having here raised against us all the population, rapidly crossed the Ural Mountains and overran
Eastern and Central Russia with his troops, whilst the Russian armies, mobilised in all haste, were hurrying to meet them from Poland and Lithuania, Kiev and Volhyn, St. Petersburg, and Finland.
Having no ready plan of campaign, and being faced with an immense superiority in numbers, the fighting qualities of the Russian armies were sufficient only to allow them honourable defeat. The swiftness of
? 184 SOLOVIEV
the invasion left them no time for a proper concen- tration, and corps were annihilated one after another in desperate and hopeless battles. The victories of the Mongols also involved tremendous losses, but these were easily made good with the help of all the Asiatic railways, while the Russian Army, two hundred thousand strong, and for some time con- centrated on the Manchurian frontier, made an abor- tiveattempttoinvadewell-defendedChina. After leaving a portion of his forces in Russia, so that no new armies could be formed in the country, and also to fight the numerous bodies of franc-tireurs, the Emperor with three armies crossed the frontiers ofGermany. Herethecountryhadhadsufficienttime to prepare itself, and one of the Mongolian armies metwithacrushingdefeat. Atthistime,however, in France the party of belated revanche acquired the power, and soon the Germans found in their rear an army of a million bayonets. Finding itself be-
tween the hammer and the anvil, the German Army was compelled to accept the honourable terms of peace offered to it by the Chinese Emperor. The exultant Frenchmen, fraternising with the yellow men, scattered over Germany and soon lost all notion
of military discipline. The Emperor ordered his army to cut up allies who were no longer useful, and
with Chinese punctiliousness the order was exactly carried out. Simultaneously in Paris workmen sans
patrie organised a rising, and the capital of Western culture joyfully opened its gates to the Lord of the
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 185
East. His curiosity satisfied, the Emperor set off to Boulogne, where, protected by the fleet that had come round from the Pacific, transports were speedily prepared for ferrying his army over to England. He was short of money, however, and so the English succeeded in buying him off with a sum of one
milliard pounds. In a year's time all the European States submitted as vassals to the domination of
the Chinese Emperor, who, having left sufficient troops in Europe, returned to the East in order to
organise naval expeditions against America and Australia.
The new _MongQlian--yoke-aveF Europe lasted for half-a^century. Intheinnerformsoflifethisepoch
was marked by a general confusion and deep mutual
permeation of European and Eastern ideas, provid- ing a repetition on a grand scale of the ancient
Alexandrian syncretism. The most characteristic
facts in the practical walks of life were three : the
great influx into Europe of Chinese and Japanese
workmen and the consequent acuteness of social and
economic problems; the continued activity of the
ruling classes in the way of palliative attempts in order to solve those problems; and, lastly, the in-
creased activity of secret international societies,
organising a great European conspiracy for expel- ling the Mongols and re-establishing the indepen- dence of Europe. This[colossal conspiracy^which
was supported by the local national governments, in so far as they could evade the control of the
? 186 SOLOVIEV
Emperor's legates, was organised in masterly fashion and was crowned with most brilliant success.
An appointed hour saw the beginning of a massacre of the Mongolian soldiers, and of annihilation and expulsion of the Asiatic workmen. Secret bodies
of European troops were suddenly revealed in various places, and a general mobilisation was car-
ried out according to plans previously prepared.
The new Emperor, who was a grandson of the great conqueror, hurried from China to Russia, but his
innumerable hordes suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the All-European Army. Their scat- tered remnants returned to the interior of Asia, and
Europebreathedfreelyagain. Thelongsubmission to the Asiatic barbarians due to the disunity of the
States, which troubled themselves only about their
own national interests, was now over, brought to an end by an international organisation of the whole of the European population. As a natural conse- quence of this fact, the old traditional organisation of individual States was everywhere deprived of its former importance, and the last traces of ancient monarchical institutions
Europe in the twenty-first century represented an alliance of more or less democratic nations the
UnitedStatesofEurope. Theprogressofmaterial
culture, somewhat interrupted by the Mongolian yoke and the war of liberation, now burst forth with a
greaterforce. Theproblemsofinnerconsciousness,* however, such as the questions of life and death,
gradually disappeared.
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 187
the ultimate destiny of the world and mankind, made more complicated and involved by the latest researches and discoveries in the fields of psychology ^ andphysiology theseasbeforeremainedunsolved.
Only one important, though negative, result made itself apparent : it was the final bankruptcy of the
materialistictheory. Thenotionoftheuniverseas a system of dancing atoms, and of life as the result" of mechanical accumulation of the slightest changes
in materia, no longer satisfied a single reasoning intellect. Mankind had outgrown that stage of
On the other side, it became equally evident that it had also outgrown the in- fantilecapacityforanaive,unconsciousfaith. Such ideas as God, creating the universe out of nothing,
philosophical infancy.
were no longer taught even at elementary schools, -^^e
A certain high level of ideas concerning" such sub- cV ^o
jects had been evolved, and no dogmatism could
And though the majority of thinking people had remained faithless, fiie few believers had of necessity become thinking"^ thus
"
Be
risk a descent below it.
fulfilling the commandment of the Apostle : infants in your hearts, but not in your reason. "
At that time there was among the few believing spiritualists a remarkable man many called him a superman whowasequallyfarbothfrominfantile intellect and infantile heart. He was still young,
but owing to his great genius, at the age of thirty- three he already became famous as a great thinker,
writer, and politician. Conscious of the great power
"
"
.
? 188 SOLOVIEV
of spirit in himself, he was always a confirmed spiritualist, and his clear intellect always showed him the truth of what one should believe in : good, God, Messiah. In this he believed, but he loved onlyhimself. HebelievedinGod,butatthebottom
of his heart he involuntarily and unconsciously pre- ferred himself to Him. He believed in good, but
the all-seeing eye of the Eternal knew thaCthis would bow down before Evil as soon as it bribed him not by a deception of senses and base pas- sions, not even by the bait of power, but only by his own unutterable
neither an unconscious instinct nor an insane ambi-
tion. Apart from his exceptional genius, beauty, and nobility of character, the reserve, disinterested- ness, and active sympathy with those in need, which
he evinced to such a great extent, seemed abundantly to justify the immense self-love of this great
spiritualist, ascetic, and philanthropist. Did he deserve blame because, being, as he was, so gener- ously supplied with the gifts of God, he saw in them the signs of Heaven's special benevolence to him, and thought himself to be second only to God himself? In a word, he considered himself to be what Christ in reality was. But this conception of his higher value showed itself in practice not in the exercise of his moral duty to God and the world,
but in seizing his privilege and advantage at the expense of others, and of Christ in particular.
At first he had no ill-feeling towards Christ. He
self-love. ^]
This self-love was
? A STORY OF ANTI-CHRIST 189
recognised His Messianic importance and value, but he was sincere in seeing in Him only his own
the moral achievement of Christ and His uniqueness were beyond an intel- lect so completely clouded by self-love as his. He
"
greatest precursor
reasoned thus :
Christ came before me. I come
second. But what in order of time appears later
is in its essence of greater importance. I come last
at the end of history for the very reason that I am
most perfect. I am the final saviour of the world,
and Christ is my precursor. His mission was to
precedeandprepareformycoming. " Sothinking,
the superman of the twenty-first jcejitury applied to
himself everything that was said in the Gospels about the second advent, explaining the latter not as a return of the same Christ, but as a replacing of the preliminary Christ by the final one that is, by himself.
At this stage the coming man presented few characteristic or original features. His attitude to
Christ resembled, for instance, that of Mahomed, a
truthful man, against whom no charge of harbouring
evil designs can be brought.
Yet in another way this man justified his selfish
"
preference of himself before Christ.
Christ," he
said, "preaching and practising in life moral good,
was a reformer of mankind, whereas I am called to ""
be the benefactor of that same mankind, partly reformed and partly incapable of being reformed.
Iwillgiveallmenwhattheyrequire. Asamoralist.
? J*r
Christ divided men by the notion of good and evil. I shall unite them by benefits which are as much needed by good as by evil people. I shall be the true representative of that God who maketh His sun to shine upon the good and the evil, and who maketh the rain fall upon the just and upon the unjust. Christ brought the sword; I shall bring peace. He threatened the earth with the Day of
Judgment. But the last judge will be myself, and
my judgment will be not only that of justice, but also that of mercy.