{"id":3748,"date":"2017-01-25T09:44:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T14:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cpaulcarter.com\/newfish\/?p=3748"},"modified":"2020-11-18T09:50:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T14:50:56","slug":"apocalyptic-thinking-in-the-age-of-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cpaulcarter.com\/newfish\/index.php\/2017\/01\/25\/apocalyptic-thinking-in-the-age-of-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Apocalyptic Thinking in the Age of Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

America is ready for the end times.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah Gais | theOutline.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an election wracked with invocations of Lucifer and the approaching end times, the confusion of Donald Trump with the Antichrist is fitting. Depending on whom you ask, Satan has made himself known on both sides of the aisle. Some right-wingers \u2014 including Infowars\u2019 Alex Jones, Ryan Zinke, a GOP Congressional candidate from Montana, and a gaggle of conservative Christian commentators \u2014 saw Hillary Clinton as their demonic archetype. Still others saw Trump and his Satan-inspired chief strategist, Steve Bannon. A Time magazine cover that inadvertently gave Trump devil horns didn\u2019t help matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while the question of whether Donald Trump is an \u2014 or even the \u2014 Antichrist may be impossible to answer, the fact that the apocalyptic figure has even made an appearance this election cycle is notable for what it says about the country as a whole. That is, these comparisons simultaneously allow their proponents to schlep whatever guilt they may feel for Trump\u2019s rise, while also permitting them to set boundaries between themselves and the president-elect\u2019s supporters, and the president-elect himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the religious fervor that end-time prophecy usually induces, the term \u201cAntichrist\u201d\u2019s few appearances in the Bible shows it originally had a meaning that differs wildly than how it is used today. Initially, \u201cAntichrist,\u201d which appears exclusively in the otherwise minor epistles John I and II, was used by early Christians to denote those who refused to confess Christ\u2019s presence on Earth or his divinity. As persecution continued to follow the early church, it began to hone its apocalyptic vision even more. By the end of the second century, Irenaeus, an early Christian writer and bishop, theorized that the Antichrist would be a single figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other books \u2014 including Revelation in the New Testament and the books Daniel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible \u2014 provide ample fodder for end-times speculation. From the \u201cbeasts\u201d in Daniel and Revelation, to the epic battle in Ezekiel 38-39, the use of symbolism and metaphor has made practicing prophecy a struggle. These pieces of apocalyptic literature \u2014 which, quite literally, deal with the \u201cunveiling\u201d of events to come \u2014 leave hints at what the Antichrist may do, namely face off with Christ as the ultimate expression of evil, thereby bringing about the end of days. Yet what he will look like is less fleshed out. Though not named as such, the Antichrist is often read into the two beasts, one from the earth and the other from the sea, that appear in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. (One of these beasts is said to bear the number 666 \u2014 a number that also corresponds to a \u201cmark\u201d given to those ruled over by the beast. In both prophetic literature and popular culture, the number has, as a result, frequently been cited as indicating the presence of the Antichrist.) Lacking textual anchors, those troubled by the coming end times have been free to succumb to their imaginations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those troubled by the coming end times have been free to succumb to their imaginations.<\/strong>
But a lack of Biblical support never stopped anyone. Trump does fit several of the criteria attached to popular perceptions of the Antichrist. Many earnest sources of apocalyptic speculation, including the best-selling Left Behind series by the late Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, imagine the Antichrist as a truly modern figure. Although the wildly popular 17-book series, which was published between 1995 and 2007 and has sold over 65 million copies, is fictional, the vision embraced by LaHaye and Jenkins portrays the coming apocalypse as an event where non-believers are forced to reckon with the damage wrought by the Antichrist. Here, the Antichrist is a worldly, charismatic man, often of Eastern European and Jewish heritage, who embraces modern technology and institutions for his own sinister ends. This interpretation, which is common among a large subset of American Evangelicals, believes the Antichrist\u2019s reign \u2014 a period known as the \u201ctribulation\u201d \u2014 will follow the rapture of true followers of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to extrapolate this to Trump. He\u2019s vainglorious, charismatic (at least in the eyes of some Americans), and obsessed with wealth. Kushner Companies, a real estate company jointly owned by Jared Kushner, Trump\u2019s son-in-law, is headquartered at 666 5th Ave. Trump, while not Eastern European himself, has a proclivity for Eastern European women and promises better relations with Russia, a country that figures prominently in 20th and 21st century apocalyptic tales. And while Trump says that his favorite book is the Bible, he did once note that he\u2019s \u201cnot sure\u201d as to whether he\u2019s asked God for forgiveness of his sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For frustrated liberals and prophecy junkies alike, it\u2019s a theory that\u2019s provided comfort \u2014 or at the very least, amusement \u2014 throughout the drag of the election. It\u2019s also taken hold in the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mid-February 2016, the New York Daily News embraced Trump\u2019s devilishness. Spurred by Pope Francis\u2019s assertion, in response to a question about Trump\u2019s proposed wall in February 2016, that \u201ca person who thinks only about building walls \u2026 and not building bridges\u201d is not Christian, the tabloid \u2014 rarely known for its subtlety \u2014 dubbed Trump \u201cAntichrist!\u201d on its cover. Trump, who was at that point the front-runner, was depicted as a devilishly red and scaled demon, sitting amid flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an anonymous post, The HyperTexts, a journal of poetry, prose, and commentary, offered an extended post-election tongue-in-cheek analysis of Trump\u2019s credentials as Antichrist. \u201cIt seems remarkable that any Christian could be fooled by Trump,\u201d the author(s) notes shortly after running through the president-elect\u2019s connection to the Number of the Beast, \u201cand yet the main reason he won the presidency was YUGE support among evangelical Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remarkable, sure, but not a thought that had escaped the mind of some Christian commentators. Many saw him as a clear danger to the faithful. As one contributor explained on Red State, Trump can be best described as an, not the, Antichrist. \u201cTrump has already bought into the system entirely. He is as vacuous a candidate as there can be,\u201d the user clconnett continued. \u201cHe is an Antichrist not because he is explicitly evil, shouting and screaming against God, but because he disregards God and morality all together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe is an Antichrist not because he is explicitly evil but because he disregards God and morality all together.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s not alone. Erick Erickson, a Conservative radio show host and die-hard #NeverTrumper, noted that while he doesn\u2019t consider Trump \u201canti-Christ,\u201d he does worry that the enthusiasm with which Evangelicals embraced Trump is concerning. \u201cThat so many Christians can claim Biblical prophesy to justify support of Donald Trump \u2026 leaves me no doubt that the actual coming Antichrist will fool many,\u201d he stated in a post published a few days before the election. Despite this, about two months later, he pondered why so many American chose to protest the president-elect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, numerous religious critics contend that Trump fails to meet the necessary criteria for being an, or even the, Antichrist. About a month before the Republican National Convention, Ted Haggard, the former pastor at New Life Church in Colorado whose career was undone when it was discovered he used crystal meth and was masturbated by a gay escort, recounted a conversation he had with a journalist wherein he pointed out the lack of textual evidence for Trump as the Antichrist. \u201cJesus\u2019s comment in Matthew 24:14 makes me think we have more work to do here on the Earth before the Antichrist will surface,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numerous other pastors and televangelists agree, even if they\u2019re not in consensus on Trump\u2019s God-given purpose. Frank Amedia, Trump\u2019s \u201cChristian policy\u201d consultant during the campaign, believed Trump\u2019s White House would clear the way for the Second Coming of Christ, even if he wasn\u2019t the Antichrist himself. \u201cI perceive that Donald Trump has been raised up with that breaker anointing to just begin to crush all of the strangleholds that have been placed upon this country,\u201d he said in an interview with a Pentecostal magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such prophetic furor has had a tremendous cultural impact in the United States since its founding. As Robert Fuller explains in his 1995 book, Naming the Antichrist: The History of an American Obsession, \u201capocalyptic name-calling\u201d has a long, rich history here. While it goes back to the Puritans, in the 20th century it has often centered around divisive figures. Some of the century\u2019s most violent leaders \u2014 Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Francisco Franco, and Josef Stalin \u2014 have been tapped as possible Antichrists. (One source, however, is eager to note that Franco\u2019s actions weren\u2019t the issue \u2014 the title was the result of \u201ca genealogical connection.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others have been politicians and major figures who rose to power at tumultuous periods in time \u2014 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan (who was fond of bragging that he had six letters in each of his three names), Bill Clinton, and, of course, Barack Obama. It\u2019s almost as if being called the Antichrist is a compliment \u2014 it means you are a powerful man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s almost as if being called the Antichrist is a compliment \u2014 it means you are a powerful man.<\/strong>
Whether done in jest or not, describing Trump in apocalyptic terms is, in the end, about setting boundaries. When we call Trump \u201cthe Antichrist,\u201d we transform his election into an event that\u2019s comfortably out of our control but one that can also serve as a rallying point. \u201cBelief in the Antichrist has fostered group loyalty by dramatizing the satanic nature of every enemy facing the faithful community,\u201d wrote Fuller. \u201cIt has, furthermore, alerted individuals to the insidious tactics that this enemy might use to attract them to apostate ideas or lifestyles and in this way has encouraged a self-consciously separatist stance toward the surrounding world.\u201d At least in the case of Trump, it\u2019s a full-throated way of asserting that the president-elect is, as the protest chant goes, \u201cnot my president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

link: https:\/\/theoutline.com\/post\/939\/donald-trump-antichrist-apocalypse?zd=1&zi=p3scahmk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

America is ready for the end times. Hannah Gais | theOutline.com In an election wracked with invocations of Lucifer and the approaching end times, the confusion of Donald Trump with the Antichrist is fitting. Depending on whom you ask, Satan … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture-war","category-faith"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7qEar-Ys","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3745,"url":"https:\/\/cpaulcarter.com\/newfish\/index.php\/2020\/11\/18\/trump-has-changed-the-way-evangelical-christians-think-about-the-apocalypse\/","url_meta":{"origin":3748,"position":0},"title":"Trump has Changed the way Evangelical Christians Think About the Apocalypse","author":"cPaul","date":"18 November 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Thomas Lecaque | Published in Greenwich Time In Emily St. John Mandel's novel \"Station Eleven,\" survivors of an apocalyptic pandemic do their best to rebuild their lives in northern Michigan. 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