Nouslife: Is this creep-show catastrophe biblical?

20 July 2006

Is this creep-show catastrophe biblical?

This is a good reference point for picking up the unbiblical stuff in the films and books. You'll need it if like me you get irritated at such things ending up shaping the pattern of biblical interpretation with dubious themes and ideas and so also co-opting Scripture into particular dodgy political causes [in this case knocking tolerance and the international rule of law].

I had the same thing with the Peretti 'Peircing the Darkness' novels which used a certain not very supportable set of interpretations of 'spiritual warfare'to do a pretty similar hatchet job on US domestic politics and trends. Even worse, co-opting the language of spiritual warfare into the opposite of the traditional and biblical expressions of it. I deal with that, to some extent in the "Demolishing Strongholds" booklet which is on the roll of my writings over on the right-hand margin of this blog.

Anyhow, here's a good quote to whet your appetite.

The Antichrist in Revelation gets global political authority from Satan (13:2), not, as the Left Behind books and movies suggest over and over, by promising humans peace and nuclear disarmament. In fact, assuming that John’s attention didn’t just wander in the middle of his Antichrist description, the Antichrist’s power is overtly military, while Christians should embrace nonviolence: “If you kill with the sword, with the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.” (Revelation 13:10; see also Matthew 26:52). The world, except for Christians, worships the Antichrist because of his apparently invincible power (13:4, 7-8), not because he offers ostensibly humble words about tolerance – in fact, the Antichrist speaks arrogantly (13:5).
Revelation repeatedly emphasizes the revolutionary idea that conquering, for humans, comes about through patient endurance (1:9, 2:3, 3:10, 13:10, 14:12) and public avowal of faith (2:13, 3:8), including faith unto death (2:10, 6:9, 12:11, 20:4). Given this emphasis on sacrificial trust in God’s power, it’s disturbing to see the main characters in the Left Behind books and films repeatedly depend on their own strength and wisdom.