Patriarch Kirill conducting a Christmas liturgy
People's dependence on smartphones and modern technology could bring about the coming of the Antichrist, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has warned.
Russian social media users largely responded with humour and scepticism, while some accused
the Church of "serving the regime", external.
Speaking to Russian state TV, Patriarch Kirill said smartphone users should be careful when using the "worldwide web of gadgets" because it represented "an opportunity to gain global control over mankind".
"The Antichrist is the person who will be at the head of the worldwide web, controlling all of humankind," he said.
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"Every time you use your gadget, whether you like it or not, whether you turn on your location or not, somebody can find out exactly where you are, exactly what your interests are and exactly what [...]
Who is Antichrist? The word 'antichrist' combines two roots: anti + Khristos. Anti can mean not only 'against' and 'opposite of', but also 'in place of'. Khristos, translated 'Christ', is Greek for the Hebrew 'Messiah'. Both Christ and Messiah literally mean 'Anointed One', and refer to Jesus of Nazareth in Christian
and Islamic theology. In Christianity, antichrist is a term found solely in the First Epistle of John and Second Epistle of John, and often lowercased in Bible translations. In Islamic eschatology, Masih ad-Dajjal is an anti-messiah figure (similar to the Christian concept of a last antichrist), who will appear to deceive humanity before the second coming of Isa, as Jesus is known by Muslims. The concept of an antichrist is absent in traditional Judaism; however, in the medieval diaspora, his inevitable destruction is narrated as the symbol of ultimate victory of good over evil in the Messianic age.
Who are the BBC? The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London and it is the world's oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over
What is a Smartphone? Smartphones are a class of mobile phones and of multi-purpose mobile computing devices. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which facilitate wider software, internet (including web browsing over mobile broadband)
and multimedia functionality (including music, video, cameras, and gaming), alongside core phone functions such as voice calls and text messaging. Smartphones typically include various sensors that can be leveraged by their software, such as a magnetometer, proximity sensors, barometer, gyroscope and accelerometer, and support wireless communications protocols such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and satellite navigation.
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