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Title: 665 - neighbour of the beast
Design: retro numerals and white legend on navy
Make: On Fire
‘But wait, Jon,’ you may say, ‘do you mean you don’t really believe in the end times and the tribulation and the rapture and the Beast and Armageddon and the lake of fire and the conversion of the Jews and false prophets and so on?’ And my answer would be ‘Not really, no.’
At this point you might be thinking ‘Well, this blog is obviously heretical and there are much better things to read on the web’. And while I agree there may very well be much better things to read on the interweb, I’d challenge you on the charge of heresy.
The amazing truth is that when it comes to interpreting apocalyptic literature, for about 1,800 years, the literalist Left Behind-style doom-mongering would have been considered the preserve of fringe nutters who would probably be dismissed as heretics. It’s only been in recent years, mainly since the 1960s, that the whole ‘end times’ culture has taken root in churches.
That culture has been fuelled by the growth in fundamentalism as a key expression of American Christianity, and it’s been exploited by a number of preachers, teacher, authors, ‘prophets’ and church leaders who have used it to launch a career and make lots of money.
That might sound harsh, but that’s the truth. There’s good money in apocalyptism. It’s popcorn science fiction for good Bible-believin’ folks and it plays on people’s twin key motivators – fear and the desire to survive.
But I would maintain that the stuff that is published, which confidently predicts the end of the world based on what the Bible “says”, is usually utter crap. The point of Revelation, like all Biblical apocalyptic writings, is to reassure the readers that whatever happens, God is in control. Revelation is not a prophetic diary of what will happen two thousand years (or more) in the future.
Rob Bell sums it up well when he says: “Were the people in John’s church reading his letter for the first time, with Roman soldiers right outside their door, thinking ‘This is going to be really helpful for people two thousand years from now who don’t want to get left behind’?”*
There I’ve quoted Rob Bell and denied the ‘truth’ of Revelation. There really is no hope for me.
Here’s the thing. John’s readers would have interpreted Revelation in their own time as a subversive critique of Imperial power. Think about it – mighty Empires from across the sea, popular leaders demanding to be worshipped, a great city built on seven hills that is a byword for evil but will come under judgement.
What is he talking about here, if he’s not talking about the Roman Empire, the cult of Emperor worship, and Rome itself? Babylon doesn’t mean Babylon, the ruin in Iraq. It’s a metaphor. And a pretty obvious one. (The historic city of Babylon isn’t built on seven hills, so why on Earth would John say it was, if that was what he meant?)
Of course, you could be a smart aleck and argue that if American fundamentalists read Revelation the way it’s meant to be read, it could be pretty uncomfortable for them. Imagine reading about the godlessness of a mighty empire that seeks to extend its reach through primarily mercantile means into every corner of the globe and demands an unyielding fanaticism. Especially if you then had to go into a school where children stand up and salute the flag every morning. It’s much better to say it’s all about what’s going to happen, not about a human mindset that can be replicated in any Empire.
Fortunately I’m not a smart aleck. But if I was…
The preoccupation with the end times also produces some other sour-tasting fruit. For one thing, all the time taken up with ‘predicting’ who and what is a sign of the imminent end uses up valuable resources that we could use doing something useful and practical. It reminds me of what the Jedi master Yoda accused Luke of being in The Empire Strikes Back: “All his time he has looked away, never his mind on where he is, what he is doing.”
Or if Yoda isn’t authoritative enough for you, will Jesus do? Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about tomorrow, but to trust God. He also says that even the Son of Man doesn’t know the ‘day or hour’ when the end of the world is due to happen (Matthew 24:36-42). What’s more important is what you’re doing today. How are you using the talents God has given you? How are you being salty salt and illuminating light in the world?
The other thing I deeply dislike about the end times money-making game is that it takes the focus away from God and Jesus. Instead of God being the focus of our Christian lives, we get side-tracked discussing the ‘enemies’ of God – the antichrist, the Beast and so on. Incidentally, this is the same gripe I have with treatises on “spiritual warfare” and other demonology. What should we be discussing, as Christians? Surely, it’s Christ.
The books and films about the end times focus on the power of the antichrist, the way he will assume control and so on. It ignores the central message of the writers of the apocalyptic books, namely God is in charge, no matter what. And that for me is why I think we ought to consign the books the boot sale, the films to the dustbin, stop being so afraid about who ‘gog and magog’ might be, and get on with the important stuff.
And get on with it, like, now.
* Jesus Wants to Save Christians, p.134
Ooooh, I'm scared
I saw this t-shirt and I had to have it because it’s hilarious. As someone who doesn’t really care much for end times rantings and hysterical books labelling various world leaders as the antichrist, it seemed doubly worth getting. I’m an iconoclast at heart I guess.‘But wait, Jon,’ you may say, ‘do you mean you don’t really believe in the end times and the tribulation and the rapture and the Beast and Armageddon and the lake of fire and the conversion of the Jews and false prophets and so on?’ And my answer would be ‘Not really, no.’
At this point you might be thinking ‘Well, this blog is obviously heretical and there are much better things to read on the web’. And while I agree there may very well be much better things to read on the interweb, I’d challenge you on the charge of heresy.
The amazing truth is that when it comes to interpreting apocalyptic literature, for about 1,800 years, the literalist Left Behind-style doom-mongering would have been considered the preserve of fringe nutters who would probably be dismissed as heretics. It’s only been in recent years, mainly since the 1960s, that the whole ‘end times’ culture has taken root in churches.
That culture has been fuelled by the growth in fundamentalism as a key expression of American Christianity, and it’s been exploited by a number of preachers, teacher, authors, ‘prophets’ and church leaders who have used it to launch a career and make lots of money.
That might sound harsh, but that’s the truth. There’s good money in apocalyptism. It’s popcorn science fiction for good Bible-believin’ folks and it plays on people’s twin key motivators – fear and the desire to survive.
But I would maintain that the stuff that is published, which confidently predicts the end of the world based on what the Bible “says”, is usually utter crap. The point of Revelation, like all Biblical apocalyptic writings, is to reassure the readers that whatever happens, God is in control. Revelation is not a prophetic diary of what will happen two thousand years (or more) in the future.
Rob Bell sums it up well when he says: “Were the people in John’s church reading his letter for the first time, with Roman soldiers right outside their door, thinking ‘This is going to be really helpful for people two thousand years from now who don’t want to get left behind’?”*
There I’ve quoted Rob Bell and denied the ‘truth’ of Revelation. There really is no hope for me.
Here’s the thing. John’s readers would have interpreted Revelation in their own time as a subversive critique of Imperial power. Think about it – mighty Empires from across the sea, popular leaders demanding to be worshipped, a great city built on seven hills that is a byword for evil but will come under judgement.
What is he talking about here, if he’s not talking about the Roman Empire, the cult of Emperor worship, and Rome itself? Babylon doesn’t mean Babylon, the ruin in Iraq. It’s a metaphor. And a pretty obvious one. (The historic city of Babylon isn’t built on seven hills, so why on Earth would John say it was, if that was what he meant?)
Of course, you could be a smart aleck and argue that if American fundamentalists read Revelation the way it’s meant to be read, it could be pretty uncomfortable for them. Imagine reading about the godlessness of a mighty empire that seeks to extend its reach through primarily mercantile means into every corner of the globe and demands an unyielding fanaticism. Especially if you then had to go into a school where children stand up and salute the flag every morning. It’s much better to say it’s all about what’s going to happen, not about a human mindset that can be replicated in any Empire.
Fortunately I’m not a smart aleck. But if I was…
The preoccupation with the end times also produces some other sour-tasting fruit. For one thing, all the time taken up with ‘predicting’ who and what is a sign of the imminent end uses up valuable resources that we could use doing something useful and practical. It reminds me of what the Jedi master Yoda accused Luke of being in The Empire Strikes Back: “All his time he has looked away, never his mind on where he is, what he is doing.”
Or if Yoda isn’t authoritative enough for you, will Jesus do? Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about tomorrow, but to trust God. He also says that even the Son of Man doesn’t know the ‘day or hour’ when the end of the world is due to happen (Matthew 24:36-42). What’s more important is what you’re doing today. How are you using the talents God has given you? How are you being salty salt and illuminating light in the world?
The other thing I deeply dislike about the end times money-making game is that it takes the focus away from God and Jesus. Instead of God being the focus of our Christian lives, we get side-tracked discussing the ‘enemies’ of God – the antichrist, the Beast and so on. Incidentally, this is the same gripe I have with treatises on “spiritual warfare” and other demonology. What should we be discussing, as Christians? Surely, it’s Christ.
The books and films about the end times focus on the power of the antichrist, the way he will assume control and so on. It ignores the central message of the writers of the apocalyptic books, namely God is in charge, no matter what. And that for me is why I think we ought to consign the books the boot sale, the films to the dustbin, stop being so afraid about who ‘gog and magog’ might be, and get on with the important stuff.
And get on with it, like, now.
* Jesus Wants to Save Christians, p.134
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