Is B the Antichrist?
Now at last we're ready to tackle this most difficult problem that so many of you have brought to me for solution. Again and again you say to me "Tell me how to face those who accuse. Tell me how to explain that you are not the Antichrist!"
You have to begin by understanding what the Antichrist stands for. All serious commentators on the subject agree that Antichrist is just the latest name for an ancient figure in the religious legends of our culture—far more ancient than the Christ to which this name makes him opposed. In other words, he doesn’t just represent antithesis of Jesus. All our salvationist religions have feared the appearance of one who would lead the righteous from the paths of salvation. The Antichrist isn’t just the antithesis of Jesus, he’s equally the antithesis of Buddha, of Elijah, of Moses, of Muhammad, of Nanak, of Joseph Smith, of Maharaj Ji—of all saviors and purveyors of salvation in the world. He is in fact the Antisavior.
Accompanying the legend of the Antichrist has been the bizarre and almost laughable notion that his massive global appeal will be his unbridled wickedness. This shows what a low opinion our salvationist religions have of their members. This is how they despise us that they think we yearn for evil and vileness and corruption and will slavishly follow anyone who promises these things.
So now I’m ready at last to tell you how to face the accusers of B. When they say to you, “B is the Antichrist,” don’t think you’re doing something admirable if you say, “Oh no, no, no, you don’t understand.” These accusers do understand.
When they say to you, “B is the Antichrist,” here’s what you should say to them. Say to them, “Yes, you’re right—absolutely right. B means to steal the hearts of the people away from you so that the world may live. B means to gather the voices of humans all over the planet into one voice singing, ‘The world must live, the world must live! We are only one species among billions. The gods don’t love us more than they love spiders or bears or whales or water lilies. The age of the Great Forgetting has ended, and all its lies and delusions have been dispelled. Now we remember who we are. Our kin are not cherubim, seraphim, thrones, principalities, and powers. Our kin are mayflies, lemurs, snakes, eagles, and badgers. The blinding we suffered in the Great Forgetting has abated, so we no longer imagine that Man was ill-made. We no longer imagine that the gods botched their work when it came to us. We no longer think they know how to make every single thing in the whole vast universe except a human being. The blinding we suffered in the Great Forgetting has passed, so we can no longer live as though nothing matters but us. We can no longer believe that suffering is the lot the gods had in mind for us. We can no longer believe that death is sweet release to our true destiny. We no longer yearn for the nothingness of nirvana. We no longer dream of wearing crowns of gold in the royal court of heaven.’”
Say to them, “You’re right to see that we’re straying from the path of salvation. We’re straying from that path exactly as you always feared we might. But listen, we’re not straying from the path of salvation for the sake of sin and corruption, as you always imagined we might. We’re straying from the path of salvation because we remember that we once belonged to the world and were content in that belonging. We’re straying from the path of salvation — but not for love of vice and wickedness as you contemptuously imagined we might. We’re straying from the path of salvation for love of the world, as you never once dreamed in a thousand years of dreaming.”
The evangelist John wrote, “You must not love the world or the things of the world, for those who love the world are strangers to the love of the Father.” Then, just two sentences later, he wrote: “Children, the final hour is at hand! You’ve heard that the Antichrist is coming. He’s not one but many, and when the many of him are among us, you’ll know the final hour has come.”
John knew what he was talking about. He was right to warn his followers against those who love the world. We are the ones he was talking about, and this is the final hour — but it’s their final hour, not ours. They’ve had their day, and this is indeed the final hour of that day.
Now our day begins.
excerpt from The Story of B - Daniel Quinn