Could American Evangelicals Spot the Antichrist?

[formergothardite]

1 minute ago, adidas said:

Sorry, but your president isn’t a genius.

But, but the evangelicals have assured me he is the most stable of geniuses!

[adidas]

On a more serious note (long post incoming - this is your warning to tldr) ... and once again I could be completely off base  I’m not a Biblical scholar.

In the Bible it talks about the antichrist being supported by a false prophet. Most people think this means the antichrist (political leader) will be promoted by a false prophet (religious leader) who convinces the world to follow that political leader. Plus there’s the whole thing that the antichrist will be part of a 10 king alliance of some kind, so is most likely going to be European.

People have thought they’re living in the end times for 2000 years and many antichrists have been named but none have been true so far. It’s easy to see many scenarios in Biblical prophecy because it’s so full of symbolism, which is why so many people have been convinced they’re right.

One train of thought is that there might be many minor antichrists but only one major one - The Antichrist. We can probably all think of a few people in history who would fit with ‘little a’ antichrist.

Im going to copy this next bit from a website because I am lazy and I don’t want to type it all out myself ? but I searched for exactly what I wanted to say. 

The antichrist will have great power: "With ten horns and seven heads" (13:1): We have seen that because animals use horns as weapons (Genesis 22:13; Psalms 69:31), horns eventually became symbols of power and then of dominion, representing kingdoms and kings.

Roman Revival - Comparing this text with Daniel 7:16-24, we conclude that the antichrist will rise up from ten kingdoms that will constitute a revived Roman Empire, the final form of Gentile world power before Christ returns.

Some Bible expositors say the seven heads are the principal rulers of the antichrist’s revived Roman Empire. Others suggest that the seven heads may be successive world empires — Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the antichrist’s revived Roman Empire. Still others say the seven heads represent seven mountains (Revelation 17:9). A mountain can symbolize a kingdom (see Daniel 2:34-45). This may be a veiled reference to Rome, which was built on seven hills (Revelation 17:18). All these views support the idea that antichrist’s kingdom will be a revived Roman Empire.

This article has lots of points with research links for those interested in reading more:

https://www.learnreligions.com/who-is-the-antichrist-700629

Gah I messed up the quote box and can’t edit sorry. It’s meant to end after ‘revived Roman empire’

[libgirl2]

1 minute ago, adidas said:

In the Bible it talks about the antichrist being supported by a false prophet. Most people think this means the antichrist (political leader) will be promoted by a false prophet (religious leader) who convinces the world to follow that political leader. Plus there’s the whole thing that the antichrist will be part of a 10 king alliance of some kind, so is most likely going to be European.

 

 

 

I heard the same thing too. Evangelicals want us to believe the false prophet is the Pope. 

Spoiler for Messiah

Spoiler

This reminds me very much of the show Messiah. My husband also said, there is a sect in Islam that believes a prophet will come who will battle the Anti-Christ. That makes me think of the kid on the show. 

 

[Marmion]

On 1/21/2020 at 8:25 AM, rightmind01 said:

I wish I had the verse reference, but I was alwayhow-antichrist-reflects-eras-anxieties rist would not be American.  I've been waiting for a charismatic European leader to step forward.

It is believed that the writer of the Book of Revelation , John , whom was sent into slavery to the island of Patmos , wrote the book as a veiled reference to the Roman Empire .  The purpose being to convey the message that the Emperor is an Antichrist , and that before too long Jesus was going to return to kick Caesar's butt straight to hell . http://www.evidenceunseen.com/bible-difficulties-2/nt-difficulties/jude/rev-1318-what-does-666-mean/  But all throughout history evangelicals have made out the Antichrist to be some adversary that has existed in their lifetime . https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2013-02/how-antichrist-reflects-eras-anxieties  But with all of that being said , just for the sake of argument , even if the Antichrist / Beast has to have a connection to Rome , it still wouldn't rule out the United States . For one , Roman culture has featured prominently in the historical , and political traditions of this nation . From the use of a fasces https://history.house.gov/Blog/Detail/15032450168 , 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasces#United_States , to  the original Roman salute used when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance https://www.vintag.es/2018/07/bellamy-salute.html?m=1  , and even the motto E Pluribus Unum , in in Latin , not to mention all of the Latin I have had to learn in my study of the U. S. legal system https://www.dummies.com/education/law/understanding-latin-legalese/ .  

On 1/21/2020 at 10:43 AM, danvillebelle said:

Not only would they not recognize the antichrist, they wouldn't recognize Jesus himself.  They'd likely lock him up or shoot him.

In addition to what @clueliss mentioned , there was this musical which you can watch here .  

I don't necessarily care for all of the iconography , or themes , used in this production , but it does illustrate how things might have been if Jesus were born in what is now the United States , especially as an African - American . 

[hoipolloi]

Don't know about American Talibangelicals & the AntiChrist, but it sure looks like your average person in the UK can spot a fucking asshole when s/he sees one:

Quote

 

A planned UK tour by US evangelist Franklin Graham is in question after every venue booked by the preacher canceled planned appearances, following an outcry over his homophobic and Islamophobic comments.

Graham -- the son of preacher Billy Graham -- has called Islam "evil," attacked laws increasing rights for transgender people, and told his followers that the legalization of same-sex marriage was orchestrated by Satan.

Now, every venue booked by Graham as part of a lengthy summer tour of the UK has told him not to come.

 

 

[Smee]

When the 2016 election was happening, I remember talking about it with a few people at my church, including the pastor. This was a small town, conservative church with an emphasis on the bible (I.e. self-identified evangelical) and we were all expressing amazement that so-called Christians could be so blind as to vote for Trump. Here in Australia, religion can certainly influence people’s votes, but not in a way remotely comparable to what we see between American evangelicals and the Republican Party. My pastor commented that it made him wonder where his own blind spots are, and I have always liked that approach - to not just marvel at the ignorance of others, but to have enough humility to come before God and say “I might be getting this really wrong too”.

I think tRump is horrifying. And I think if you want to look for signs of an impending apocalypse, world media doesn’t make that hard (Aus bushfires, locust plagues in Africa, coronavirus, climate change, impeachment) but the reality is there have always been these kinds of “signs” and people twist the bible to mean a whole lot of things.

Specific example from THIS blog:

”the antichrist will be... a political outsider who... wins an election”

Election by democratic vote after years of political experience was not a thing when biblical prophecy was written, so to reach this conclusion the author has dubiously referred to a passage about “royal honour”. This happens again several times throughout with assumptions that the Antichrist will be a president.

And yet the very next point is “the Antichrist will give speeches where he speaks about ‘great things’” (I.e. MAGA as a slogan) which hinges on a single word (great) in a biblical passage. Given that the word wasn’t even written in English originally and could be translated into many possible words, that’s a stretch.

MAYBE Trump is the Antichrist, but that whole blog smacks of starting with a conclusion and going back through the “evidence” to find ways to support it.

[Black Aliss]

9 hours ago, Smee said:

MAYBE Trump is the Antichrist, but that whole blog smacks of starting with a conclusion and going back through the “evidence” to find ways to support it.

Well, yeah. As he says, "I’d honestly started this post intending to be silly, and during my research began to find the coincidences and certain numbers happening to match a bit amusing the first few times. "

[FloraKitty35]

I've never understood why Jesus tends looks like Barry Gibb on the cover of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. 

[hoipolloi]

7 hours ago, FloraKitty35 said:

I've never understood why Jesus tends looks like Barry Gibb on the cover of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. 

Obligatory video response to your musings:

 

[AliceInFundyland]

If Jesus is going to be white, it's gonna be Barry. Praise be.

He isn't even my type of drool.

 

[Marmion]

On 2/9/2020 at 2:19 AM, hoipolloi said:

Obligatory video response to your musings:

 

Obligatory video response to your video response .  

 

[TheWayTheWorldWorks]

@Marmion.  OMG. I died. That was the belly laugh I didn't know I really needed. Thank you!

[smittykins]

Those teeth are freaky, though.