In modern society, the word "messiah" is firmly associated with the Second Coming of Christ and the appearance of the Antichrist, and the Apocalypse and the Last Judgment following this.
To create a complete picture of the definition of this concept, you need to look at the definition of the messiah from the perspectives of several world religions.
Messiah - Teacher in Judaism
(literally - the anointed one; the Greek translation is Christ).
In ancient times, all kings ascending the throne were anointed with oil. According to Judaism, the Messiah is a descendant of the lineage of King David. It should be noted that the Tanakh calls all the kings of Judea and Israel, priests, biblical patriarchs, the people of Israel, some prophets and the Persian king Cyrus with the word "madlyashiakh" because of his special services to the Jewish people.
The concept of the coming of the Messiah was introduced into Judaism by the prophets of Ancient Israel. The main criterion for this arrival is the prophecy of Isaiah, indicating that the Messiah will appear to the world in an era of social and ethnic change. ATthe era of Mashiach, wars will stop, general prosperity will come on Earth, and people will turn their attention to spirituality and service to God, and the entire Jewish people will live according to the laws of the Torah.
According to the teachings of the Midrash - the oral Torah - a parallel is drawn between the first coming of the "first Redeemer" Moses and the "second Redeemer" Messiah, which allows us to talk about the origin of the messianic idea in ancient times.
Messiah in Islam
In Islam, Mahdi - the Messiah - is the last successor of the Prophet Muhammad, who will appear in the world on the eve of the end of the world. The Quran itself does not mention the arrival of the Messiah, but it is widely known in the hadiths of Muhammad, initially identified with the prophet Isa (Jesus), who will announce the approach of Qiyamah - the Day of Judgment.
In ancient times, Mahdi was perceived as a future ruler who would restore the original purity of Islam. Therefore, messianic ideas have always inspired Muslim religious and social movements.
It is worth mentioning separately that due to certain dogmatic circumstances, the belief in the Mahdi was especially actively perceived in Shiite Islam, where it merged with the belief in the return of the "hidden imam".
The basis of the doctrine of the Messiah in Christianity
According to the new dictionary of the Russian language edited by T. F. Efremova, the Messiah is:
- an epithet of the name of Jesus Christ as a deliverer from sins and the savior of all mankind;
- the expected deliverer of the Jewish people fromprophecies.
In the Christian world, faith in the appearance of the Messiah as the return of Christ to Earth has become the most widespread. At the same time, there is a consensus in the orthodox church that the Messiah is precisely Jesus of Nazareth, who will be sent to people again by God to perform the Last Judgment.
It is worth noting that in European folklore, which is based on numerous currents of Christianity and local pagan traditions, there is a common standardized image of Christ, who should enter Jerusalem on a donkey at the beginning of his coming. Jesus Himself will be very careful about the use of the word "Messiah", so the options for his self-declaration are practically excluded.
Antimessia in the Russian people's consciousness
In the Russian religious Orthodox tradition, it is also widely believed that, in opposition to the Messiah, his complete antipode should be born on Earth. Moreover, if beliefs about Christ are reinforced by the biblical tradition about the unknown day of his appearance, then the Dark Messiah - Trishka, Antichrist - was expected by believers almost every century. To this day, there is an opinion among some Orthodox that both of these phenomena, if they did not occur in modern times, will certainly occur in the near future.
In the mind of the layman, the Messiah and the Dark Messiah appear as unusually charismatic personalities. They are also credited with the ability to instantly give a person a feeling of love for the surrounding world and people, to feel evil in them, and some others.quality.
In some cases, there is also a combination of images of the Dark Messiah and Dennitsa - the angel Lucifer, the most beautiful of divine creatures, cast down to hell for pride.
An analogue of this concept in Hinduism
What is a messiah in the Hindu religious tradition? This concept is directly related to the concept of the Teacher and the Savior, and is represented by the incarnation on Earth of ten avatars of the god Vishnu.
Avatar does not have to be represented in the human body. In previous incarnations, Vishnu was a fish, a tortoise, a boar, a half-man-half-lion, a dwarf-brahmin, a brahmin Parashurama, Rama - the legendary king of Ayodhya, a shepherd Krishna and Buddha. Believers expect the last, tenth appearance of the avatar of Vishnu on Earth at the end of the Kali Yuga, the era of human passions and the worst human manifestations.
According to the teachings, Kalki - the last avatar of Vishnu - will descend to Earth on a horse, endowed with a sparkling sword and eight human abilities. He will destroy unjust and greedy kings, restore justice, and also restore the minds of people living in the world, "making them pure as crystal." It is assumed that all people who survive the end of the Kali Yuga will move into the era of Crete, the age of Purity, and will live according to its laws.
Buddhist teacher
Buddhism also has a concept similar to the Christian and Jewish Messiah and has the features of a cyclic stay in the mortal world.
Strictly speaking, according to Buddhist religious provisions,there are countless buddhas as beings who have realized the truth, and each appearance of them on the planet is nothing more than a link in the endless chain of the universe. Thus, each Buddha is an intermediary in achieving world knowledge between people and God. Bodhisattva is close to the concept of Buddha in character, but alien in function - “a being striving for awakening” and who has decided to take on the role of a Teacher in the process of achieving world truth by people. The motivation for this action is the desire of the bodhisattva to relieve all living beings from suffering and free them from samsara - an endless circle of rebirths.
Therefore, the Buddhist Messiah is the Bohisattva Maitreya, whose prophetic appearance at the end of the Satya Yuga is recognized by all schools of Buddhism. His name literally means "Lord, called Compassion." He is the future Teacher of humanity, will give the New Teaching and will himself be the bearer of the Buddha's Teaching. People will break the web of passions, learn to enter a trance, and lead a chaste and righteous life.
One of the things that herald Maitreya's coming will be the shrinking of the oceans to make it easy for the Bodhisattva to cross them.
Appearances of the False Messiah throughout the 20th century
In history, there are many manifestations of the False Messiah, produced by people in order to enrich or gain fame and influence. It is worth noting that often high hopes were associated with these people. Christ Himself repeatedly warned His followers about the appearances of False Messiahs.
In modern psychiatry there is also a definition of "Jerusalem syndrome", or"messianic syndrome", applicable to mentally ill people who consider themselves prophets of the gods and teachers of mankind.
Among the most famous False Messiahs of the 20th century, Grigory Grabovoi stands out, the scandal involving which thundered in the case of "resurrection of the children of Beslan"; Jim Jones, founder of the Peoples Temple Church and instigator of the 1978 massacre of its adherents; Sun Myung Moon, founder of the South Korean sect "Unification Church"; Marina Tsvigun, who called herself the Virgin Mary Christ, created a sect named after herself in 1980 and declared herself the "Messiah of the Age of Aquarius and the Mother of the World."
Messiah theme in art
Georg Friedrich Handel, whose "Messiah" is now the most recognizable oratorio in the world, made a great contribution to culture. A wonderful work consists of three parts, with several scenes in each. Despite Handel's hardships in 1741, Messiah was written in just 24 days.
Another well-known work dedicated to the Messiah is Andrew Webber's opera "Jesus Christ Superstar", written in 1970.
The earthly life of the Messiah Christ is also devoted to many paintings by artists from different historical eras.
Messiah in the modern culture of European countries and America
The image of the Messiah is reflected in various areas of world culture. For example, one of the examples of using the image of the Messiah as a kind of lifeguide is the inclusion of it in his surrealist works by the American writer Richard Bach. "Messiah's Pocket Guide" is a book oracle, which at any time can prompt the suffering person the necessary solution or explain the current life situation.
The theme of "Antimession" also found its reflection in the cultural and mass perception, giving rise to a large number of computer games for users to choose from. One of these games is Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements ("Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements"), which has an exciting plot in the form of searching for an artifact and the struggle of the main character and his teacher with the demons of the apocalypse. The main character here appears as a Knight of Light, who needs to pierce the heart of the black magician Dark Messi with an arrow, finally defeating the army of the Dark Forces.
