Trump: the Antichrist ?

SHOULD TRUMP BE REGARDED AS THE ANTICHRIST,

THE FORERUNNER OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST?

It needs to be said that this is not my preferred Theology. I am a progressive, evolutionary, pastoral, and eclectic theologian. My window of viewing the world is through this perspective. I believe the new window of reality is the story of evolution, and we must view the story of creation through this perspective with consideration of at least philosophy, psychology, sociology, archaeology, and history. The prophecy of the second coming of Christ has been considered time and time again. Jesus said that “all these things will come about in this generation” (that is, in the generation after his resurrection). If it happened in the immediate generation after his life, then one must consider the coming of the Holy Spirit 50 days after his resurrection and the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD. An initial interpretation is that it did not happen in Jesus time or the following generation. All through history, there have been claims that “the second coming” is just around the corner. This has been especially the case since the Holiness movement began, accompanied by Pentecostalism. But alas, the times come and pass without any indication of it happening. The present time has generated more anxiety with regular claims by these movements. With the shadow of the possibility of the total annihilation of the planet from a non-winnable nuclear war, that being World War 3 it is understandable that some have thought this a possibility.

The evolutionary-inspired thinking speaks of the story of evolution continuing far further into the future, even to what is called the “omega point of time” when the whole of creation will have developed to the point of transcending the need of this material world, which will eventually burn up. This is an alternative interpretation of the second coming of Christ.

Nevertheless, is it worth considering the question of asking whether the prolific lying, narcissistic-solipsist, psychopath, sociopath, that is Donald Trump, who seems to be hell bent on transforming the world order, orientated toward an upside-down order, shaped in favour of the rich over the poor, and expanding the territory of the United States against international law, is the anti-Christ, or “beast” who is predicted to come just before the end times. The evidence provides an interesting picture.

The only reference to the anti-Christ appears in 1 and 2 John, short letters, written probably about 100AD. It does not appear that this title is attributable to one person but rather to anyone who opposes Christ. By lifestyle, this could easily be attributable to Trump, even though he has taken on the mantle of Christianity for purely political purposes. He has little or no grasp of what this means, it might even be argued that this is an abominable insult to Christ, that is to falsely carry the name of Christian for political purpose only. He is an extremely repulsive character. The other references come under references to people bearing the mark of the beast, which is particularly puzzling, for it identifies that mark being the number of 666. People have puzzled over this number ever since it was used in Revelations 13 but to no avail.

The evidence as portrayed in Revelations 13, that those displaying the mark of the beast will have large numbers of people follow him. Trump has certainly had masses of people following him out of unquestioned loyalty to anything he says. Even the American Congress has dared not question his leadership. It has been widely claimed that this following has been named a cult. Trump did not have a plan or system of consistent thought, yet his followers followed. It did not matter what he said, nor what people understood of his ramblings. People followed even if it was for different reasons or for things he never said.

Revelations 13 continues suggesting the followers will carry the mark on their forehead. The suggestion has been made that the followers wearing his cap bearing the letters MAGA, to stand for Make America Great Again, stands for this mark. It must be remembered that the original prophecies were symbolic, and the mark on the forehead did not mean a visible mark but a symbolic one, as in the case of baptism when one is signed with the sign of the cross in water. Making America Great Again means taking the country in the opposite direction to the worldwide trends of greater cooperation. More specifically, it likely refers to the whole mind, which the cap implies.

It suggests an alternative of the mark of the beast is carried on the wrist.. Remembering this story is very much written as symbolic, it has been suggested that the mobile phone that we each carry is attached to the hand/wrist and could be interpreted as fulfilling this suggestion. The mobile phone is connected to the internet, which shapes all but a few of our lives. As the means of transmitting the internet becomes more sophisticated, the trend has been toward wrist watch-like transmitters, and considering further developments that become smaller, it could be considered as fulfilling this suggestion. This has not been directly associated with Trump but has developed in his era.

It proceeds to say that he will bear the mark of a wound on his head. This has been related to the wound created by an assassin’s gun bullet that grazed his ear. There must be a scar left that bears witness to this wound.

Lastly, it has been noted that Nostradamus claimed that there would be someone who came and led the people astray who had a large flock of sweeping hair, certainly, Trump has a unique hair style that could match this description.

It must be remembered that these references are written as part of a highly symbolic passage. It is difficult to note whether they referred to a specific person or a type of person, or even how to interpret the whole book of Revelation. We will continue to try to make sense of Trump's baffling life.

These are a few of the pieces of evidence suggested that suggest where Trump fits into the grand picture, but then it is not as though we will find out until the final times happen and we review the events in hindsight. In the meantime, I will continue pursuing the progressive evolutionary reflection on life as the most meaningful story of history.