INTERPRETATION OF THE ANTICHRIST IMAGE IN THE RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE OF CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL

Abstract

B a c k g r o u n d . It is noted that in periods of profound social changes, apocalyptic images always become relevant, becoming a source of searching for answers to the alarming demands of society. One of the key figures of Christian apocalypticism remains the Antichrist as an eschatological source of spiritual threat. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, this image was interpreted by C. Russell, the founder of the International Bible Students movement, which emphasized the interpretation of eschatological events in world history.

M e t h o d s . The analysis was conducted within the framework of the religious studies approach, taking into account the historical, dogmatic and eschatological contexts. The following scientific methods were used to achieve the research results: historical, casual, comparative and hermeneutic.

R e s u l t s . The author of the article shows that, living at the end of the 19th century, C. Russell opposed new trends in theology, tendentiously identifying the Antichrist with a specific person. C. Russell revealed that this eschatological character is an institutionalized religious system that developed over the centuries of the Christian era – the papacy. The article demonstrates that for Russell, the Antichrist is not a specific pontiff, but a structured system of spiritual apostasy that arose on the basis of the merger of political and religious power in the Christian West. The author examines the sources of Russell's arguments, such as biblical texts and a wide range of historical sources, including the works of Catholic authors, the research of secular historians, and literature of Protestant origin. It is determined that C. Russell defines the time limits of the formation and decline of the Antichrist system, interpreting the period of 1260 as a prophetic interval during which the papacy exercised secular dominion. Particular attention is paid to the doctrinal elements that C. Russell considered to be signs of the Antichrist system: attempts to counterfeit the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, ideas about the infallibility of the church, the prohibition of independent reading of the Bible, the teachings about the immortality of the soul, purgatory, indulgences, as well as the mass as a counterfeit of the sacrifice of Christ. The article also examines C. Russell's consideration of the number 666 as a symbolic characteristic of the papacy through the Latin title Vicarius Filii Dei.

C o n c l u s i o n s . The study emphasizes the influence of the socio-cultural and historical context of the late 19th – early 20th centuries on the formation of the theological and prophetic interpretations of Charles Russell. At the same time, his ability to reasonably defend his own positions, relying on a wide base of historical facts and documents, is especially important, which contributes to a deeper understanding of the Protestant criticism of the papacy as a system.