Well, you have to consider that we're in the Religion Forum!
Posted on 02/12/2013 8:13:24 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Every age needs an Antichrist.
Protestant Reformers picked the papacy as their embodiment of evil. American colonists chose King George III and some Cold War Christians suspected the Soviet Union was satanically led.
Now, amid threats of Islamic terrorism, a nuclear-armed Iran and tumult across the Middle East, a growing group of American evangelicals say the Antichrist will be Muslim.
"I understand that I'm going to be viewed as a fringe, apocalyptic Christian," said Joel Richardson, author of several books predicting an Islamic Antichrist. "But I fully own the idea that the Antichrist will be a Muslim and will come out of the Muslim world."
These days, even the fringe has a faithful following. On websites, television programs, conferences and books, conservative Christians like Richardson warn that a Muslim Antichrist will lead army to arise and attack Israel, in fulfillment of the biblical prophets and the Book of Revelation.
From there, they say, it's a short road to Armageddon.
"Today, we're seeing the beginning signs of that exact prophecy coming to pass," warns Richardson.
Scholars say the arrival of Islamic Antichrist prophecies was, well, predictable.
"I think the shift to Islam was just waiting to happen," said Glenn Shuck, an assistant professor of religion at Williams College who has studied evangelicals' views on the apocalypse.
A certain kind of Christian, sometimes dubbed "armchair apocalyptists" or "newspaper exegetes," seems especially inclined to cast their foes as agents of the Archenemy. The Antichrist they identify, scholars say, often reflects the era's deepest anxieties.
For many modern Christian apocalyptists, fears of big government are embodied in an Antichrist who will unite nation-states in a totalitarian One World Order.
Since 9/11, though, Islamist terrorism has ascended as a new threat, and lept from the front pages to apocalyptic thrillers like the "Left Behind" series and nonfiction books such as Richardson's "Mideast Beast" and "Islamic Antichrist."
Richardson, a 40-year-old decorative painter from Missouri who jokingly refers to his writings as "an expensive hobby," presents his prophecies as straightforward interpretations of the Bible, including the Book of Revelation.
Revelation, which never actually uses the word "Antichrist," is one of the first Christian texts to cast its rivals as Satan's spawn. Many scholars say phrases like "the mark of the beast" and "666" are coded references to the Emperor Nero, who persecuted Christians.
For many early Christians, however, the Antichrist was not a particular person. It was spiritual figure who lurked in the hearts of all believers, luring them toward sin and heresy, said Shuck.
By the 12th century, the Antichrist – often seen as a human inhabited by Satan – had become a tool for identifying an enemy, fomenting fear and assembling an army.
"The Antichrist moves a long way from Augustine's view of something that we all face inside us," Shuck said, "to being very much an external battle with concrete figures."
Popes used the Antichrist to rally Crusaders. Reformers used the Antichrist to battle popes. Northerners saw the Antichrist in the slave-holding South, and Southerners saw the same specter in the abolitionists.
In the modern era, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, U.S. presidents, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, England's Prince Charles, and even megachurch pastor Rick Warren have all made the Antichrist list.
Apocalyptic Christianity always needs an enemy, scholars say, and the Antichrist is nothing if not adaptable.
"The Antichrist idea is very responsive to changes in current events," said Robert Fuller, a professor of religious studies at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. "It's a symbol for what is most unsettling or troubling."
Antichrist prophecies raise fears by warning of an imminent battle between good and evil, Fuller said, and settle those fears by assuring Christians that the "good guys" will win in the end.
If bad theology, the Antichrist often makes for good reading, as attested by the more than 60 million copies of "Left Behind" books sold.
Prophecy may not be the best career option, however. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University closed its Tim LaHaye School of Prophecy just one year after it opened in 2002.
"It never did attract hardly any students, so we shut it down," said Ronald Godwin, Liberty's provost. "The students were looking for a major that would land them a career."
A press release for Richardson's book "The Islamic Antichrist" begins by noting a threat on the author's life, then asserts that "90 percent of the current world fighting involves Islamic terror movements."
"Theories presented in'The Islamic Anti-Christ' continue to grow in popularity as the world watches the injustices of Muslim law spread across the globe and infiltrate many sectors of U.S. society," the release says.
Not all apocalyptic Christians agree with Richardson, however.
Richardson's own press release asserts that Hal Lindsay, perhaps the most famous modern-day doomsayer, is one his staunchest critics.
Tim LaHaye, co-author of the bestselling series "Left Behind" and one of conservative Christianity's most respected apocalyptists, doesn't buy Richardson's theories, either.
"His book is interesting and informative," LaHaye said in a recent interview, "but his argument on the Antichrist is ridiculous." LaHaye and his ilk say the Antichrist must come from Roman stock, and point to modern-day Romania as his likely birthplace.
Muslim leaders and progressive groups are even more critical of Richardson.
Eric Boehlert, a senior fellow at the group Media Matters, said Richardson popped onto his radar after a 2011 appearance on Glenn Beck's now-defunct Fox News show.
"If Richardson was saying these things about Christianity or Judaism he wouldn't be able to get a pamphlet published," Boehlert said, "but unfortunately, there's a market in right-wing America that's decided Islam is pure evil."
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said calling Islam or any other religion evil often leads to violence. Earlier this month, for example, a Muslim family in Oklahoma reported that their home had been attacked by a sniper after an individual asked about their religion, according to CAIR.
"There's a question we should ask of all hatemongers who attack Islam," Hooper said. "What is your end game here?" —RNS .
....A certain kind of Christian, sometimes dubbed "armchair apocalyptists" or "newspaper exegetes," seems especially inclined to cast their foes as agents of the Archenemy. The Antichrist they identify, scholars say, often reflects the era's deepest anxieties. For many modern Christian apocalyptists, fears of big government are embodied in an Antichrist who will unite nation-states in a totalitarian One World Order....
....In the modern era, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, U.S. presidents, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, England's Prince Charles, and even megachurch pastor Rick Warren have all made the Antichrist list....Prophecy may not be the best career option, however. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University closed its Tim LaHaye School of Prophecy just one year after it opened in 2002.
Contrary to popular belief, the Antichrist dreaded by so many Christians will actually usher in a new era of peace and prosperity, a maverick theologian contends. "The Antichrist's rise to power is nothing to fear," declares Bible scholar Jon Hornsworth of Atlanta. "He will be a unifying figure whose sound policies revitalize the global economy and put an end to international conflict."Related thread:Most people familiar with End Times prophecies in the Book of Revelation assume the Antichrist will be an evil dictator. But that's dead wrong, the expert says. "Nowhere in the Bible is the word 'evil' used to describe the Antichrist," Hornsworth notes. "For that matter, 'Antichrist' isn't in there either -- the Bible calls him the Beast. That suggests a being like the one in the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast -- fearsome and misunderstood, but ultimately turning out to have a heart of gold. "I anticipate a figure like Julius Caesar -- a strong but fair leader. He'll impose stability over much of the world."
-- from the thread Antichrist (you read it right) will be peace and prosperity on Earth
666, THE ANTI-CHRIST:
[Dt 17:15-17] “He whom you set over you as king must be your kinsman....But he shall not have a great number of horses;
nor shall he make his people go aback again to Egypt to acquire them, against the Lords’ warning that you must never go
back that way again. Neither shall he have a great number of wives, lest his heart be estranged, nor shall he accumulate
a vast amount of silver and gold.”
So there are at least 3 major things a king must never do:
1) great number of horses -——————war chariots/large army.
2) great number of wives -——————worship false idols/gods
3) accumulate vast amt. gold/silver——gold/silver—> greed;
King Solomon was a prototype of a great King who had gone bad of which the entirety of 1 Kgs Chps 10&11 detail very nicely:
[1Kgs Chps 10 &11]
GREAT # HORSES: LARGE ARMY
[1 Kgs 10:26] “Solomon collected chariots and drivers; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand drivers.”
GREAT # WIVES: WORSHIP FALSE IDOLS/GODS
[1 Kgs 11:1] “King Solomon loved many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh, from nations which the Lord had forbidden
the Israelites to intermarry, “because” he said “they will turn your hearts to their gods”. But Solomon fell in love
with them. He had several hundred wives of princely rank and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart.”
ACCUMULATE VAST AMT. GOLD/SILVER: GREED
[1 Kgs 10:14] “The gold that Solomon had received each year weighed six hundred and sixty-six gold talents.” (666 and listed first within 1 Kings 10&11)
666 WITHIN REVELATION
Look at the above quote, ‘this calls for wisdom’. ‘WISDOM’ is a reference to Solomon(Solomon was renowned for and prayed for wisdom) in [1Kgs Chps 10 &11] who
was a prototype for a king who went bad and whom in [1 Kgs 10:14] taxed his people 666 talents of gold per year. So it would seem that the beast or Anti-Christ
is typically a national or even a larger world stage figure(through conquest) with large armies, vast amt. of gold/silver or greed, and who is against(anti) Christianity
and/or worships false gods. This certainly applies to Nero. Moreover, this figures within the 20th century with Hitler, Stalin , Pol-Pot, and Mao.
Which are all anti-christs leading up to the final anti-christ of the end times. So thus, the general and precise meaning of what John and Revelation are getting at.
What John wrote about in Revelations and 666 is not really about counting up letters in a name, that is rather an insignificant part.
“The Antichrist’s rise to power is nothing to fear,” declares Bible scholar Jon Hornsworth of Atlanta. “He will be a unifying figure whose sound policies revitalize the global economy and put an end to international conflict.”
Well gee, then I guess Christ won’t need to return for the 1,000 year reign. I wonder if anybody has told him yet?
Interesting how people who disagree don’t just disagree, they attack.
I think it’s obvious Islam is evil. And where they get that the anti christ comes from Rome. I believe he’ll surely come from the Middle East. And that, to me, means his ancestry is Middle East.
Finally, anything or anyone who is against Christians, is an anti christ. And we know there are plenty of them. And the one in our white house is certainly no friend of Israel. And neither were the “New World Order” Bushes.
I’ve never heard of Richardson. Lindsey’s book, “1980’s, Coundown to Armageddon” was the spark that led me to the Lord. However, I caught him in a bald faced lie in his book, “A Prophetic Walk Through the Holy Land”. IMO, LaHaye’s Left Behind books are dangerous. They so champion the flawed “pre-tribulation rapture” theory that a lot of people are going to be sorely damaged when they are “left behind”. I say that as a believer in “pre-wrath”. See here: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1164/5125780963_ccbd162473.jpg
I see what many call the “antichrist” as the beast. And as some say, he really will be perceived by most to be a blessing to mankind. Well, kinda like Hitler was seen as a blessing by many Germans, Jews and some others excluded, of course. And the bible even goes as far as to say the days will be cut short so the very elect is not deceived.
It is now what many who dabble in the subject believe. That being said, I have come to where I think the false religion in the end times may, in fact, be islam. But time will tell. Those watching carefully will know it when they see it.
He’s in the white house.
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Anti-Christ is anti (against, opposed to) Christ, which would also mean opposite Jesus. Jesus is good, anti-Christ is evil.
However, he has a trait which causes people to not recognize him. He "appears" to be good.
And the fact that he fools so many people is what gives him so much ground in a relatively short period of time.
He is full of deceit and he fools people until the time that he is revealed.
Well, he's right...as long as you're willing to bear the mark of the Beast.
But if you're not, it's gonna be one hell of a time.
Catchy name, considering the subject and his position on it.
I heard the anti-Christ was going to be from Winnipeg or Des Moines...
Interesting how people who disagree don’t just disagree, they attack.
I think it’s obvious Islam is evil. And where they get that the anti christ comes from Rome. I believe he’ll surely come from the Middle East. And that, to me, means his ancestry is Middle East.
Finally, anything or anyone who is against Christians, is an anti christ. And we know there are plenty of them. And the one in our white house is certainly no friend of Israel. And neither were the “New World Order” Bushes.
He's a prolific writer on the subject of islam.
Well, you have to consider that we're in the Religion Forum!
Interesting. But no, I’ve never read his stuff. I mostly focus on the bible and internet sources these days. A came up with a lot of my beliefs regarding this subject by arguing against my own positions.
It hit me about three years ago that this “false religion” could be islam, not some modern Christian hybrid. Thing is, there is a LOT of change that will be needed to get to that point, but I think a LOT of change will happen in the next year or two. It’s funny how a single day can change everything. e.g. December 7th, 1941.
To put it in a summary. Islam is Satin’s minions on earth because they are EVIL. They are our enemy and we must resist evil with every breath. Love your enemy but resist evil. I got your 70 virgins right here if you want them! Anyone who would strap a bomb on a downs-syndrome child and send them into a market place then set off the bomb is evil. My God stamped “LOVE” onto the forehead of children with downs-syndrome. To use them to kill is total EVIL. Evil is here in the US, we are allowing them to build training camps/compounds and letting them use our own PC laws against us to further their Jihad. Just dogpile or google Islamabad NY if you want to wake up.
And a muslim is about to become the CIA director.
Alex, I meant the writer and those the writer quoted. Not the poster here.
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