For Biblical Reasons, Russia Must Mark 300th Anniversary of the Declaration of Its Status as an Empire, Frolov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 9 – In another month, the 300^th anniversary of the declaration of the Russian state as an empire will occur, and it must be marked widely for contemporary reasons which have their roots in the Bible and which are under attack by liberals, according to Russian nationalist commentator Kirill Frolov.

            The present-day reasons for commemorating this anniversary, Frolov says, are to show the baselessness of claims by Russian liberals that the Russian state is only 30 years old or by communists that it is only a little more than 100. This “’political heresy’” must be stamped out (materik.ru/analitika/pochemu-300-letie-provozglasheniya-rossiys/).

            Those who talk about the youthfulness of the Russian state want Russians to view the US and the UK as “older, smarter and more experienced,” something which is not only inappropriate but untrue, the commentator says. And he points to the efforts of China and Turkey to integrate their millennial pasts into the present, despite revolutionary upheavals.

            The Russian Empire was proclaimed on November 4, 1721; but in fact that state with that status took shape over several centuries proceeding it. And in making this anniversary, that earlier history must be recalled as well. In many ways, the proclamation was simply recognizing a reality that had already been established.

            If that is done, Frolov says, present-day Russia has a long history; and its current status must be defended as such in terms of the Biblical concept of Katekhon. As originally outlined in 2 Thesaalonians 2: 6-7, that concept has been developed to describe the forces which precede the Apocalypse and must be overcome before the end times are possible.

            Thus, the defense of Russia as an old state in the form of an empire is part of the story of the end of the world and its defense is the defense not only of Russians but of the integrity of the historical process as described in the Bible and thus of all those who follow the Christian revelation.

            (This may seem obscurantist in the extreme, but winning over fundamentalist Christians to the support of Russia is a major goal of the Kremlin in the United States and other Protestant countries, and what Frolov is doing is tightening the relationship between Russia and the Apocalypse by insisting on the Russian empire as part of the end times story.)

            What all this means, the Russian nationalist commentator says, is that “the all-state, all-national celebration of the 300^th anniversary of the proclamation of the Russian Empire will become an important factor in the struggle for the fulness, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Russia” by undermining all notions about some mythical “’liberal transfer’” of power.