Is Donald Trump the Antichrist?<\/p>\n
Okay, I got your attention. That was almost<\/em> my only intention with the question that forms the title of this essay. My main <\/em>intention was to raise the question of the biblical figure of the \u201cAntichrist\u201d<\/em> and its relevance for today\u2019s Christianity<\/em>.<\/p>\n As with my previous blog post (about demon possession and exorcism) the concern underlying my question about the relevance of the biblical figure of the \u201cAntichrist\u201d for today\u2019s Christianity is my concern about how far we\u2014contemporary Western Christians\u2014have surrendered important biblical categories, experiences, truths for the sake of cultural respectability.<\/em><\/p>\n I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s in the \u201cthick\u201d of American evangelical Christianity. Back then every American evangelical Christian heard about \u201cthe Antichrist\u201d\u2014a figure mentioned especially in the New Testament \u201cApocalypse\u201d which most people know as \u201cThe Book of Revelation\u201d (but most people refer to informally as \u201cRevelations).<\/p>\n (Sidebar: I\u2019ve gotten somewhat used to the way \u201cchurch people\u201d refer to books of the Bible, but I still cringe a bit when I hear even pastors refer to a specific Psalm as \u201cPsalms such-and-such\u201d and to The Book of Revelation as \u201cRevelations.\u201d)<\/p>\n Revelation describes the Antichrist quite vividly and yet there have been numerous interpretations of this apocalyptic figure throughout church history. Many biblical interpreters before Constantine (and perhaps a few after him) thought the Antichrist was either a specific Roman emperor or the \u201coffice\u201d of Roman emperor. Luther thought the Antichrist was the pope. After him many Lutherans (and some others) interpreted the Antichrist as whoever holds the office of pope in the Roman Catholic Church. (Unless I\u2019m mistaken some very conservative Lutheran groups in the U.S. still consider the office of pope the Antichrist.)<\/p>\n During the 20th<\/sup> century, of course, evangelical Christians in America became fascinated with attempting to identify some specific world leader as the Antichrist. Some background to that might help both contemporary evangelicals and non-evangelicals understand this mid-20th<\/sup> century apocalyptic fever. Throughout the 19th<\/sup> century and into the early 20th<\/sup> century most evangelical Christians were either amillennialists<\/em> or postmillennialists<\/em>. That is, most interpreted Revelation as purely symbolic or as referring to events patterns of events in history and the eventual triumph of Christ over evil through his church. Then came a new wave of premillennialism<\/em> (or \u201cchiliasm\u201d as it was sometimes called especially by scholars). There is no doubt that some<\/em> of the church fathers such as Irenaeus and Tertullian were premillennialists. That is, they believed that at least parts of Revelation referred to a messianic rule and reign of Christ on earth after his bodily return in glory (the \u201cparousia\u201d)<\/em>.<\/p>\n Premillennialism was adopted by some late 19th<\/sup> century American revivalists such as D. L. Moody. Many early 20th<\/sup> century American fundamentalists adopted a specific form of premillennialism known as \u201cdispensationalism.\u201d I don\u2019t have time or space to explain all the \u201cins and outs\u201d of \u201cdispensational premillennialism\u201d here. I will just say (leaving much of that eschatological theory aside) that dispensational premillennialists\u2014under the influence of John Nelson Darby and his many followers (Darby was the British founder of the Plymouth Brethren movement) such as Clarence Larkin and C. I. Scofield\u2014interpreted Revelation and other apocalyptic portions of the Bible as literally as possible. And they especially emphasized, contrary to postmillennialists, that human history is moving \u201cdownward\u201d toward a \u201cGreat Tribulation\u201d lasting seven years during which an \u201cAntichrist\u201d\u2014a real person\u2014would rise to world dominance and eventually demand worship of himself on pain of death. Anyone who did worship him would have to accept \u201cthe mark of the Beast\u201d (mentioned in Revelation) and become his minion and eventually suffer the wrath of God when God would intervene to defeat the Antichrist and his minions at the \u201cBattle of Armageddon.\u201d<\/p>\n According to this theory (viz., dispensational premillennialism) the apocalyptic \u201cend times\u201d would begin with a \u201csecret rapture\u201d (here the word \u201crapture\u201d has nothing to do with ecstasy but with an older meaning of the word \u201cbeing taken up\u201d) in which gentile Christians would be removed from the world in a way invisible to non-Christians. In other words, the whole \u201ctrue church\u201d of Jesus Christ throughout the world would disappear. (In recent years fundamentalist writer Tim LaHaye has popularized this theory for the masses, but he was just recycling a well-known eschatology going back to John Nelson Darby.) So, according to this particular eschatology (not all premillennialists accept it as part of their view of the end times), throughout the Great Tribulation\u2014which will last seven years\u2014the true people of God, mostly gentile Christians\u2014will be absent from the world. During it \u201cthe Antichrist\u201d will take over the world (or much of it), persecute people who \u201cturn to God\u201d and the Jews and introduce a reign of terror on the world such as has never been seen before.<\/p>\n (Sidebar: Many dispensationalists believed\/believe that immediately or shortly after \u201cthe rapture\u201d many people will put two and two together, realize what happened, and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. These former \u201changers on\u201d of Christianity will then face a decision: either give up their faith in Christ, go into hiding somewhere, or die a martyr\u2019s death at the hands of the Antichrist and his minions. Many dispensational books and movies in the middle of the 20th<\/sup> century depicted this in some detail as an evangelistic tool. One such movie was \u201cThief in the Night\u201d produced in the early 1970s and based on an extremely popular book of dispensationalism entitled The Late, Great Planet Earth<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Dispensational premillennialists interpreted the Antichrist as a specific, real person and, throughout much of the middle of the 20th<\/sup> century a favorite \u201cgame\u201d (although many took it very seriously) was attempting to pre-identify the Antichrist among world leaders. Major candidates during my early years in the \u201cthick of American evangelicalism\u201d were Anwar Sadat and Henry Kissinger. (Don\u2019t ask why.)<\/p>\n How well I remember being part of this apocalyptic fever fueled by dispensationalism. In fact, I grew up thinking any other interpretation of Revelation was heresy. A true mark of true Christianity was fervent belief in the \u201crapture,\u201d the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist and the earthly \u201cmillennial reign\u201d after Christ\u2019s visible return to earth. A main reason given me by my spiritual mentors for not attending movies in movie theaters was that if<\/em> the rapture happened and you were there you would be \u201cleft behind\u201d to suffer at the \u201chands\u201d of the Antichrist.<\/p>\n I shook off dispensationalism and \u201crapture fever\u201d\u2014even belief in a \u201csecret rapture\u201d\u2014while attending a very conservative Bible college. And while attending a broadly evangelical seminary I adopted \u201chistoric premillennialism\u201d as taught by the great evangelical New Testament scholar George Eldon Ladd. Now I tend to interpret premillennial theology through the writings of J\u00fcrgen Moltmann.<\/p>\n Now, back to the figure of the Antichrist and the question with which I began: Why do we not hear anything about the Antichrist\u2014either as a symbolic figure appearing throughout church history or as a literal individual person? This is, of course, part of my larger question that I raise here often: What has happened to American evangelicalism? There\u2019s no getting away from the fact that the Antichrist is mentioned quite prominently in the New Testament\u2014whether specifically by that title or more obliquely with some other title (e.g., \u201cthe Beast\u201d).<\/p>\n Now, I\u2019m not talking here to theological \u201cpreterists\u201d\u2014mostly Reformed evangelicals who believe that biblical apocalyptic literature refers to events fulfilled and completed in the ancient world. They typically interpret the biblical references to the Antichrist as referring to Roman emperors\u2014especially Titus who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple there in 70 A.D. (before becoming emperor). My thesis is, however, that most American evangelicals are not preterists<\/em>.<\/p>\n What am I getting at? To put it bluntly, it seems to me that moderate American evangelicals<\/em> have over reacted to the \u201ceschatological fever\u201d of the mid- to late-20th<\/sup> century to the point of thinning Christianity out to ethics: \u201cLive for Jesus today; be a godly person; love God and others\u201d and that\u2019s it. While I do not want to go back into that American evangelical form of life obsessed with identifying the Antichrist, neither do I think it\u2019s helpful to throw the baby of biblical teachings, however, difficult to interpret, out with the bathwater of fanaticism and extremism. I fear that is our tendency. Contemporary American evangelical Christianity is tending to reduce Christianity to ethics<\/em>.<\/p>\n When I was growing up, sermons and teachings about the end times always ended with something like \u201cIn light of these things, how should we then live?\u201d There was a lot of nonsense mixed into those sermons and teachings (to say nothing of the dispensational books on which they were based), but eschatology, however, wrongly interpreted in the details, was seen as important<\/em> as a catalyst for \u201cliving today in the light of that future.\u201d So we did emphasize ethics and saw it as inextricably tied to biblical themes that were not themselves specifically about ethics.<\/p>\n I have seen a very severe \u201cthinning out\u201d of evangelical Christianity in America during my lifetime. The one thing I can say about the fundamentalism of my spiritual upbringing is that at least is was thick; it had body, substance, weight. So much evangelical Christianity today is extremely light and amounts to little more than asking \u201cWhat would Jesus do?\u201d and \u201cLove God and love others.\u201d As true and good as that question and that ethical imperative are, I\u2019m not sure we need a whole Bible or even a whole New Testament for them.<\/p>\n To push even further\u2026. We American evangelicals decry Thomas Jefferson for taking a scissors (figuratively speaking) and cutting out of the New Testament (he didn\u2019t even bother with the Old Testament) everything he considered supernatural and irrational. What was left was mostly Jesus\u2019s ethical teachings. We call it \u201cThe Jefferson Bible.\u201d But do we not do much the same without scissors? We leave aside in our preaching, teaching and worship whatever we sense<\/em> would be opaque or offensive to the kind of people we want in our churches.<\/p>\n So here is how I would answer the question \u201cIs Donald Trump the Antichrist?\u201d (which I happen to think is at least worth asking): No, probably not. But we Christians should be serious about attempting to read the signs of the times\u2014as the New Testament commands\u2014and understand world events in light of revelation. The biblical figure of the Antichrist is probably a symbol of every evil \u201cpower and principality\u201d that opposes the spirit of Christ which is love, compassion for others, and holiness of life. But the Antichrist is probably also a world leader to come who will oppress the world and persecute God\u2019s people. But we are not given enough information in the Bible to identify who he is until he does several specific things including 1) take over much of the world, 2) blaspheme against God, 3) demand worship of himself, and 4) attempt to wipe out God\u2019s people\u2014Jews and gentiles. Those of us familiar with our Bible and paying attention to the signs of the times will know him when he appears. In the meantime our task is to move away from endorsing anyone or anything that is of the \u201cspirit of the Antichrist\u201d\u2014anyone and anything that opposes with power compassion, love, peace and true worship of God. There have been many \u201clittle antichrists\u201d in history and there are some alive and exercising power now, but \u201cthe Antichrist\u201d is still to come or be identified as such. Let\u2019s keep him in mind without being obsessed with pre-identifying him with some specific person and let\u2019s prophetically denounce the many \u201clittle antichrists\u201d in the world whoever they may be.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is Donald Trump the Antichrist? Okay, I got your attention. That was almost my only intention with the question that forms the title of this essay. My main intention was to raise the question of the biblical figure of the \u201cAntichrist\u201d and its relevance for today\u2019s Christianity. As with my previous blog post (about demon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n