THE AGE OF THE ANTICHRIST.
Human nature.
By some quirk of history, the Antichrist is in power because ‘Christians’ have put him there. Just as Jesus was arrested, tortured, sentenced to death by the church of his day – motivated by ‘religion’ – so, in like manner, the Antichrist too, has been placed in power by ecclesiastical entities.
What has shaped my thinking?
I admit that my views are heavily influenced by the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a brilliant theologian, born in Germany in 1906, who had a double doctorate in theology before he was 23. He was executed by the Nazis weeks before the war ended in May 1945. During the years he was in prison – he sensed that his life would end soon – his writings had an apocalyptic propensity, deeply reflecting the New Creation.
Dr. Sabine Dramm wrote a book introducing his thoughts. Toward the end, she summarized his thinking as follows: “What Bonhoeffer presents as specific to the Christian faith is the perception of God and the world as one, and the perception of life that has its wellspring in this world in God, and in turn proceeds from this world back again to God.”
I have not quite fully digested this formulation. To me its suggests that, just as Shakespeare’s writings portray his being, so God’s acts in and through creation show us his utmost essence.
I realize that my explanation is inadequate, but I also rely on Karen Armstrong’s book “Sacred Nature”, in which she argues that, because of ‘nature’s holiness’, we must start and feel, experience and believe differently about the world in which we live, and treasure the world as God’s direct Word.
Dr. Dramm in her Bonhoeffer-book, devotes an entire chapter to “Love the World”, using the Latin heading, “Amor Mundi”. She writes, “Love for the world springs from the midst of his faith. It is the basis for the Christian existence in the here and now of the world. It embraces the person as a whole.”
Dr. Stefan Paas, a professor of Christian Mission at the Amsterdam Free University, in his (Dutch) book, Vrede op Aarde (Peace on Earth), writes – and I translate – “Our life is not directed to be saved ‘from’ this world, but be part of the salvation ‘of’ this world”. A few lines later, he writes, “To be lost really means to live in a way that lacks the New Creation goal.”
Take your time to absorb that! It’s revolutionary!
In other words: Not the Bible is God’s direct Word, but Creation is! Living within creational means, and loving it – see John 3: 16 – is an integral part of our faith-life. Believing that Christ died for its restoration, is the key to eternal LIFE. In creation, I might add.
And that brings me to the Antichrist.
We all live in God’s creation, and, as I have shown, multiple writers, quoting Scripture, regard Creation as Holy, because it directly originates from God. A sin against Creation is a sin against God.
Jesus, in the Lord’s Prayer, starts with “Hallowed (holy) be God’s name.” Karen Armstrong in her book Sacred Nature, lists 50 names for God. God cannot be named. God’s name represents God, as any facet of God points to his totality. When Jesus asks us to regard God’s name as Holy, it really means that everything that God created is holy, and thus a sin against Creation is a sin against God.
The current president of the USA, in his position of power, has become the Antichrist by purposely revoking all measures enacted to save creation, and promoting the increased use of environmentally harming substances. Here is what the apostle John writes (2John 8):
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
I know, we too harm creation daily, as our current ‘carbon-generated’ lifestyle, is ungodly, affirming Psalm 51: Surely, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
However, there are different kinds of sin, and God will graciously forgive them. But one kind is unforgiveable: The sin against God’s Holy Spirit, where we purposely, for the sake of greed and self-interest, exploit his creation, and thus God himself.
In a sense, we all are little Anti-Christs. We have, over the years, especially in the last 2 centuries proudly built our carbon-driven economy, culminating in AI, our attempt to equal God.
I fondly remember both my grandparents, basically living in climatic purity, having a lifestyle independent from oil-pollution. A daily update on global heating, suggests to me that, with a 3C increase – by some measures we have topped 2C already – all human life will die. By our hands, I should add: this has nothing to do with God.
To sum up:
The Antichrist is here: sinning against creation sums up his government. In an ironic twist, however, he speeds up the coming of the Kingdom, the very God’s reign he tries to prevent from arriving.