“Seven lies multiplied by seven multiplied by seven again. Seven angels with seven trumpets. Send them home on the morning train.”
“John the Revelator,” Depeche Mode
A few days ago my husband overheard a conversation here in town in which some people worried Barack Obama might be the Antichrist. It reminded me that back in college, my Christian friends warned that Ronald Reagan might be the Antichrist. Like Obama, Reagan was a charismatic individual, and arguably even more of a celebrity. Each one of his names had six letters; thus, Reagan was the 666.
Non-christians also portray political leaders in the context of end-times prophesy. A Depeche Mode video of “John the Revelator”--lyrics altered from the original 1920s Blind Willy Johnson version--depicts George W. Bush as three of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove as the two beasts, Paul Wolfowitz as the devil.
The Antichrist is a uniquely American urban legend. The Book of Revelations never once uses the name. A search on biblegateway.com shows the Apostle John used the lowercase word “antichrist” a total of four times in his two epistles. John never described the antichrist as an individual, but as a spirit. In context, the term appears to refer to an early heresy or heresies, possibly including Gnosticism.
The Bible never uses the capitalized name Antichrist. Period. Never in the context of an individual. Especially not in the context of end-times prophesy. And yet, Antichrist is used so frequently in American discourse, the Associated Press style book even contains a listing for it with the accepted capitalization.
I suspect the reason for the confusion is that Revelations describes 666 as the number of a man. However, this could just as easily be interpreted as a “manmade” number as to an individual.
It’s telling that both liberal and conservative Americans share a common fear the American government is the fulfillment of end-times prophecy, despite popular interpretations targeting the United Nations. I suspect this points to a common concern our government is too powerful, that we’re becoming one nation over God, rather than under God.
“John the Revelator,” Depeche Mode
A few days ago my husband overheard a conversation here in town in which some people worried Barack Obama might be the Antichrist. It reminded me that back in college, my Christian friends warned that Ronald Reagan might be the Antichrist. Like Obama, Reagan was a charismatic individual, and arguably even more of a celebrity. Each one of his names had six letters; thus, Reagan was the 666.
Non-christians also portray political leaders in the context of end-times prophesy. A Depeche Mode video of “John the Revelator”--lyrics altered from the original 1920s Blind Willy Johnson version--depicts George W. Bush as three of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove as the two beasts, Paul Wolfowitz as the devil.
The Antichrist is a uniquely American urban legend. The Book of Revelations never once uses the name. A search on biblegateway.com shows the Apostle John used the lowercase word “antichrist” a total of four times in his two epistles. John never described the antichrist as an individual, but as a spirit. In context, the term appears to refer to an early heresy or heresies, possibly including Gnosticism.
The Bible never uses the capitalized name Antichrist. Period. Never in the context of an individual. Especially not in the context of end-times prophesy. And yet, Antichrist is used so frequently in American discourse, the Associated Press style book even contains a listing for it with the accepted capitalization.
I suspect the reason for the confusion is that Revelations describes 666 as the number of a man. However, this could just as easily be interpreted as a “manmade” number as to an individual.
It’s telling that both liberal and conservative Americans share a common fear the American government is the fulfillment of end-times prophecy, despite popular interpretations targeting the United Nations. I suspect this points to a common concern our government is too powerful, that we’re becoming one nation over God, rather than under God.
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