Imaginea și rolul Antihristului în eshatologia populară românească
The image and role of Antichrist in Romanian popular eschatology

Summary/Abstract: Antichrist dominated Romanian popular eschatological scenarios through his physical and moral portrayal, through his neverfully elucidated origin, but especially through his evil activity among people and all creation, an activity that would precede The Second Coming of Christ. The popular eschatological figure of Antichrist and his work have its sources both in apocalyptic canonical scriptural literature and in the various apocryphal sources that have begun to circulate in the three Romanian provinces: Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia starting with the fifteenth century. Almost never for the Romanian peasant can we talk about the idea of Antichrist in the plural or about identifying it with any political or other ideology that conflicts and persecutes religion. On the contrary, the Popular Antichrist is always and everywhere an individual character. In this study we will deal with three aspects of the Antichrist present in the Romanian popular eschatology: 1. The Person of Antichrist (origin, physical and moral portrait); 2. His apocalyptic negative role; 3. The associations of the Antichrist with various distinguished personalities in universal or national history.

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