Antichrist’s coming begins with naturalism – this religious movement is spreading it

The following is Part VI in a series on Catholic teaching on the rise of the prophesied Antichrist. Read Part I here; Part II here; Part III here; Part IV here; and Part V here. 

(LifeSiteNews) — Our Lord taught that both faith and charity would decay towards the end of the world.  

This is accomplished in our day by the spread of naturalism – the idea that mankind can set aside the truths of divine revelation, the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Redemption; and that we can exist without regard for the objective supernatural order established and willed by God. 

The Jewish people did not accept Our Lord Jesus Christ because they were awaiting an earthly Messiah. It is evident from the expectations mentioned previously that they continue to await an earthly Messiah today. This necessarily entails an opposition to the objective supernatural order – and this is the very definition of the term “naturalism.”  

It seems that this opposition and naturalism will play a key role in the reign of the Antichrist. He will claim to be the Messiah at the expense of Our Lord; and that by fulfilling the expectations of the Jewish people, he will deceive them into accepting him as the true Moshiach (Messiah). 

There is a close alignment between their expectations and what Catholic authorities expect from the Antichrist. For example, the Antichrist will likely try (and perhaps succeed) to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple, and persecute the Church by imposing a false and minimalist religion, based around this Temple, on the entire world.  

This corresponds closely to the way the earthly Moshiach is expected to impose the vague and minimalist religion of the Noahide Laws on the Gentiles. This minimalist religion is one of naturalism, for the reasons already discussed. 

In this part, we shall see that Catholic authorities hold the spread of such naturalist systems as a necessary preparation for the coming of the Antichrist – and that this is in fact a stated aim on the part of some significant Jewish authorities.   

Pope St. Pius X and the preparation for the Antichrist 

The special mark of the Antichrist and the antichristian spirit is the denial of the Incarnation of Christ, and thus also the Holy Trinity. St. John writes in two epistles:  

Who is a liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, who denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. He that confesseth the Son hath the Father also. (1 John 2.22-3)  

For many seducers are gone out into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a seducer and an antichrist. (2 John 1.7) 

A person or nation which adopts naturalist principles can be said, in St. John’s terms, to be “antichrist.” As Our Lord said, “He that is not with me, is against me.” (Mt. 12.30) 

It is for this reason that Pope St. Pius X, in his first encyclical, suggests that the revolt of naturalism demonstrated that preparation for the Antichrist was underway: 

When all this is considered there is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days; and that there may be already in the world the “Son of Perdition” of whom the Apostle speaks. […] 

While, on the other hand – and this according to the same apostle is the distinguishing mark of Antichrist – man has put himself in the place of God with infinite temerity, raising himself above all that is called God; in such wise that (although he cannot utterly extinguish in himself all knowledge of God) he has contemned God’s majesty and made of the universe a temple wherein he himself is to be adored, as it were. “He sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God.”^[1]

Condemnations of naturalism and the “cult of man” appear in papal texts on Freemasonry and revolution leading up to the twentieth century.  

Further, writers such as Fr. Michael Muller state that Freemasonry and naturalism are the forerunners of the Antichrist: 

[A]s our Saviour had St. John the Baptist as his forerunner, to prepare the hearts of men by penance for his reception, so Antichrist had the Freemasons as his forerunners, to prepare the hearts of their followers by pride, arrogance, want of submission to Christ’s Vicar, irreligion; infidelity, and immorality, to follow and worship him, the son of perdition, as their sovereign Lord and God.^[2]

Monsignor George Dillon also tells us that the allegory of rebuilding of the Temple in Freemasonry refers to a restoration of “the original state of man supposed to be a commonwealth of equality with a vague Deism as its religion.”^[3]

This “vague Deism,” which Dillon associates with rebuilding the Temple, may be a fitting description of the Noahide religion, as previously discussed.  

Dillon continues in terms which seem to apply both to Freemasonry and to the ideas preparing the way for the Antichrist:  

This temple, destroyed by Christ for the Christian order, was to be restored by Freemasonry after Christ and the Christian order should be obliterated by conspiracy and revolution.  

The state of Nature was the ‘Hiram [Abiff]’ whose murder Masonry was to avenge; and which, having previously removed Christ, was to resuscitate Hiram, by re-building the temple of Nature as it had been before.^[4]

In 1898, Fr. Joseph Maitre also wrote of the “vague deism” of the Antichrist period, and discusses the naturalism necessary to prepare his way:  

But this great apostasy is not to come without preparation […] 

Studying this question from this point of view we can find that Evil has made great headway especially since the coming of Protestantism.  

In the 18th century, Naturalism and Rationalism had been directly opposed to the reign of Jesus Christ in the world; the Secret Societies were directing the struggle.  

In the 19th century, the fruit of that detestable work of destruction was gathered. More and more, modern society turns away from Jesus Christ and His religion.^[5]

The theologian Fr. E. Sylvester Berry also suggests that modernism itself, as “the synthesis of all heresies” and naturalism par excellence, is a prelude to the Antichrist:  

A prelude to [the final struggle against Christ] may be seen in the errors of Modernism which has been rightly designated “a synthesis of all heresies.^[6]

There is notable convergence between the Noahide religion, naturalism, freemasonry, modernism, the worship of man and a merely “ethical” religion without Christ.  

State naturalism as an essential element  

Many other Catholic authorities talk about the world falling away from Christ, particularly into paganism.   

Perhaps we can see the beginning of this in the era of “Pachamama” and the “Western Grandmother.”  

Fr. Henry James Coleridge is another nineteenth century priest who states that the paganism of the last days will consist of “the blasphemy of the true God.”^[7] 

He specifies that this will be achieved, at least indirectly, through the denial of Christ and the assertion “that whatever is natural is right, and by nature is meant nature corrupted by sin, nature not illuminated by faith and unassisted by grace.”^[8]  

Several churchmen (such as Cardinal Manning) explain that paganism also applies to naturalist pantheism and “the cult of man.” In his book on the Antichrist, he talks of: 

[The] religious worship addressed to humanity – the collective body of deified men, which is the natural basis of the religion of ancient Greece and Rome.^[9]  

Manning also refers to state naturalism – the denial that the state has duties to recognize God and the supernatural order – which Leo XIII described as “the legal apostasy of society.”^[10] Manning concludes that “the natural society of man without God, which took the form of paganism of old, and will take the form of infidelity in the last days” – as well as serving as a preparation for the Antichrist’s coming.^[11] 

He also notes that state naturalism “remove[s] the social life and order in which [we] live from the Incarnation to the basis of mere nature,” and links this tendency to the coming of the Antichrist:  

[T]he third and special mark of Antichrist is the denial of the Incarnation; and if the nations of the world have been constituted by faith, upon the basis of the Incarnation, the national act which admits those who deny it to a social and political unity, is in fact a removal of the order of social life from the supernatural to the natural order: and this is what we see accomplishing.^[12]

He writes of this: 

Already we see that every Government in Europe is excluding religion from its public acts. The civil powers are desecrating themselves: government is without religion; and if government be without religion, education must be without religion. […] 

The result of this can be nothing but the re-establishment of mere natural society; that is to say, the governments and the powers of the world, which for a time were subdued by the Church of God to a belief in Christianity, to obedience to the laws of God, and to the unity of the Church, having revolted from it and desecrated themselves, have relapsed into their natural state.^[13]

Fr. Arminjon – beloved of St. Thérèse of Lisieux – also wrote the following in relation to state naturalism and the preparation for the Antichrist: 

It is undeniable that all governments at the present time are at work accomplishing this abominable operation of apostasy, and that they are striving to banish Jesus Christ from the school, the army, and from the very abode of justice. 

Are not His Cross and His adorable name blasphemed and held up as a symbol of ignorance and fanaticism? Has not the Church been outlawed and excluded from the councils of governments and deliberative assemblies?^[14]

He links this state naturalism with religious liberty and the resurgence of a kind of naturalist paganism, and concludes that this seems likely to be preparing the way for the Antichrist. 

Blasphemy is raised to the level of a privilege and a right. […] 

Christianity is declared to be the enemy, and at the same time, materialism is presented to the aspirations of peoples as the moving force of progress and the god of the future. 

… proceeding from these facts and observations, we must conclude that the hypothesis of the proximity of the Antichrist’s coming is more probable than the hypothesis that consider his coming as remote.^[15] 

As we can see, many Catholic authorities have lamented the spread of naturalism in the world, and suggested that it is a preparation for the Antichrist.  

It is very striking, therefore, that significant Jewish authorities view the spread of naturalist principles of “ethics” via the Noahide Laws as a duty, and a key means of preparing for the coming of their earthly Moshiach. 

The enormously influential twelfth century rabbi Maimonides writes: 

Moses was commanded by the Almighty to compel all the inhabitants of the world to accept the commandments given to Noah’s descendants.^[16]

He also adds:  

If one does not accept these commands, he should be executed.^[17]

These texts appear in a chapter of an army invading Gentile territory. It is not clear whether he intends this as a general rule, or whether this will be applied to the world by the Moshiach. 

Michael Kress notes that “most rabbinic authorities rejected Maimonides’ view, and the dominant halakhic (Jewish law) attitude had been that Jews are not required to spread Noahide teachings to non-Jews.”^[18]  

However, he admits that an extremely influential Jewish group does indeed follow Maimonides in seeing this as a mitzvah (commandment).^[19]

Chabad-Lubavitcher, Moshiach and the Noahide Laws  

This group is Chabad-Lubavitcher, a Hasidic group based in New York – under whose headquarters lay the illegal tunnels found in January 2024.  

This group was formerly headed by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known by many as “The Rebbe” or “The Lubavitcher Rebbe.”  

This is no small and insignificant group: its documented and open links extend to the World Economic Forum, media personalities, multiple world leaders, and politicians from across the political spectrum. 

The personality of Schneerson is at the heart of this group, at least in its modern incarnation. His personal magnetism seems to have been crucial in making Chabad-Lubavitcher the powerhouse that it is today.   

A sizeable number of adherents think that Schneerson himself was the Moshiach, and is either in hiding or will come back from the dead when the conditions are right.^[20]

We have referred to Maimonides many times in this series. This group encourages its adherents to study three chapters of Maimonides’ work a day. Following him, they hold that teaching the Noahide Laws to the gentiles is not something reserved for a future messianic age, but a mitzvah to be completed by all Jews today.  

Nor, in Schneerson’s doctrine, is it a mitzvah for its own sake. Rather, accomplishing this mitzvah will itself (supposedly) hasten the coming Moshiach, who will in turn cause the Noahide religion to triumph throughout the world.   

Because of this sense of duty, Chabad-Lubavitcher has been promoting the Noahide Laws across the world, and has been commended for this even by American presidents and congress.  

Other esoteric ideas taught by Schneerson  

The group promotes several concerning ideas, based on Schneerson’s doctrine and other monuments of Jewish thought, law and mysticism. 

Schneerson is on record scolding a Jewish-born Catholic convert named Daniel Lifshitz, telling him that by “apparently” ceasing to be Jewish, he has committed “the biggest sin that can be done” and has a “big illness” which was “deeper than [either of them] could imagine.”^[21] This scolding lasted several minutes, and ended with Schneerson accepting Lifshitz’s book to “prevent [him] giving it to someone else,” and throwing it off-screen.  

Schneerson said “apparently” ceasing to be Jewish, because of his esoteric doctrine that each Jewish person has an additional “Jewish soul,” “divine soul,” or spark.^[22] By contrast, he held that a Gentile only has an “animal soul” which tends towards selfishness and evil. This group, following Schneerson and their other “rebbes,” holds similar views about the differences between Jewish and non-Jewish bodies.^[23] 

Further – and most relevant to this series – Schneerson taught the following about what will happen when the earthly Moshiach comes: 

The gentiles will realize that the purpose of their existence is to serve the Jews. […] 

The existence of even the enemies of the Jewish people will be transformed through the revelation of G‑dliness in the Messianic Age, and they will serve and assist the Jews.^[24] (Emphasis added) 

Overall, Chabad-Lubavitcher and Schneerson’s approach could not be described in better terms than those used by Fr. Denis Fahey: 

They are demolishing what for them are the accretions due to pagan conceptions, by which Catholicism has disfigured the Messianic ideal.  

They want to prepare the way for the Messias who, according to them, is still to come and who is to bring about peace and harmony amongst all the people of the world under their own rule.^[25] 

It should be noted that we are not claiming that these views are held by all, or even most, of the Jewish people – and indeed, Chabad-Lubavitcher are even criticised by some Jewish commentators for different ideas discussed here. We are also not claiming that all those associated with Chabad-Lubavitcher are aware of these ideas either.

But the subject of Chabad-Lubavitcher and Schneerson brings us to the end of this series of articles, and to the beginning of an important series by my colleague, Dr. Maike Hickson, which will be published soon. 

Conclusion 

In this piece, we have seen that the spread of naturalism, in both the public and the private spheres, is a principal preparation for the Antichrist and the Moshiach – who appear to be the same person.  

Similarly, Catholic authors believe that a naturalist or humanist religion – like the Noahide Laws – will play a role in the early stages of his reign. This was also how Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson portrayed the early stages in his famous novel Lord of the World.  

Naturalism represents the air that we breathe today. It is present in the conservative and even Catholic world.   

There is a constant temptation to adopt terms such as “Judeo-Christian values” and to make a virtue of “focusing on what unites us.”  

This typically means more than just occasional, pragmatic action. Rather, there is a temptation to make a virtue of long-term political alliances with those “of all faiths and none”; and to make a virtue of advancing the common good without regard for the objective supernatural order – as if it can be set aside without consequence. 

While many following this route have good intentions, Catholics should realize that it is imbued with the presuppositions of Freemasonry and naturalism. It is precisely that for which Pope St. Pius X condemned the Sillon movement in Notre Charge Apostolique: 

What are [these alliances] going to produce? What is to come of this collaboration? A mere verbal and chimerical construction in which we shall see, glowing in a jumble, and in seductive confusion, the words Liberty, Justice, Fraternity, Love, Equality, and human exultation, all resting upon an ill-understood human dignity.   

It will be a tumultuous agitation, sterile for the end proposed, but which will benefit the less Utopian exploiters of the people.^[26] 

The pope laments what has happened to this movement – and points to what naturalism and the Noahide religion ultimately mean for the Church: 

[T]he end result of this developing promiscuousness, the beneficiary of this cosmopolitan social action, can only be a Democracy which will be neither Catholic, nor Protestant, nor Jewish.  

It will be a religion […] more universal than the Catholic Church, uniting all men become brothers and comrades at last in the ‘Kingdom of God.’ – ‘We do not work for the Church; we work for mankind.’ […] 

[T]his limpid and impetuous stream, has been harnessed in its course by the modern enemies of the Church, and is now no more than a miserable affluent of the great movement of apostasy being organized in every country for the establishment of a One-World Church which shall have neither dogmas, nor hierarchy, neither discipline for the mind, nor curb for the passions. […]^[27] 

Even if a “big tent” approach is adopted in defense of conservative values, to a great or lesser extent it is adopting the principles of Freemasonry and naturalism, and thus contributing to preparing the way for the Antichrist and earthly Moshiach. 

Instead, we must proclaim the Kingship of Christ over society, and the sovereignty of the supernatural order. As Fr. Fahey writes:  

We must combat that mentality [of naturalism] and proclaim the rights of God.^[28] 

LifeSiteNews’ Dr. Maike Hickson contributed to this report.