Inconsistently Apocalyptic
The Politicization of the End Times
In one of the chapters of The Shape of Joy entitled "The Superhero Complex" I talk about how end times beliefs function as an ersatz hero system among many Christians, in the same way conspiracy theories provide existential benefits to their adherents. In fact, end times beliefs are often just religiously-inflected conspiracy theories.
When I say end times beliefs are an ersatz hero system I mean how end times beliefs make a crazy, unpredictable world more comprehensible and provide a pathway toward heroic identity and meaning. End times beliefs, like conspiracy theories, describe the world as a Manichean struggle of Good versus Evil, and the redpilled believers are enlisted in this holy war. End times beliefs provide an existential drug that is hard to find anywhere else.
End times beliefs also get deployed in our other big hero system: Partisan politics. The two, end times beliefs and politics, are regularly conflated. The Apocalypse can help you win elections. And it's here, with the politicization of the end times, where some theological inconsistencies come into view.
Specifically, in the lead up to the last election I witnessed, like many of you, how end times prophecy was used to demonize the Biden-Harris administration. The Biden-Harris administration was marching us toward Armageddon. This message was, of course, every energizing for the evangelical electorate, especially in those pentecostal pockets where prophesy and end times belief blend with party politics. Dire end times warnings helped get out the vote.
And then Trump won. Which raises a question: Are the end times called off? Was the breaking of the Seven Seals paused the day after the election? Since Trump won is Armageddon being rescheduled?
It seems to me, if you want to be consistent, that the election of Donald Trump did nothing to the end times unfolding. If we were doomed under Biden-Harris we're still doomed under Trump. The end times don't start and stop dependent upon electoral outcomes. The end times isn't an on-again off-again affair. And yet, for the next four years we'll see a toning down of end times discourse. Evangelicals aren't going to finger Trump as the Antichrist. They'll wait until the next Democrat takes office to bring up 666 again. It'll take losing an election to get Armageddon back on the schedule.
Here's my point in bringing this up. I don't mind anyone reading history through the lens of Revelation. I do. And what I find in John's visions is pretty pessimistic. But here's the contrast: I am consistently pessimistic. I consistently think America is symbolized as Babylon. I believed this to be the case under Biden-Harris, and I think it now with Trump-Vance. The end times aren't rescheduled whenever I win or lose an election. I have a very non-partisan view of the Antichrist.
Lest there be any misunderstanding here, I'm not saying you shouldn't vote your conscience. Nor am I trying to draw false equivalencies between political parties. My interest here isn't political. My interest is Biblical. Specifically, if you want to espouse end times beliefs, that's great, but you need to roll those beliefs through every presidential administration. You can't call off Armageddon when you win and bring it back when you lose. If the end times clock is ticking during the Biden years it keeps ticking during the Trump years. If you want to read Revelation into history, fine, but do so consistently rather than opportunistically. Otherwise, you're letting your politics dictate your reading of Scripture rather than letting Scripture dictate your reading of politics.
If you want to be apocalyptic then be consistently apocalyptic.
Dr Beck, you are a voice of sanity and wisdom. Thank you.
Yes! I like several things about this post. Two stand out:
(1) A non-partisan view of the Antichrist. The root issue is whether the church is able read history as a whole through an apocalyptic lens or is captive to reading Revelation (and the rest of Scripture) through a partisan lens.
(2) The call for consistency. It seems to me the standard inconsistency is a symptom, and the diagnosis is an implication of your statement early in the post that "end times beliefs are often just religiously-inflected conspiracy theories." I would extend the function of conspiracy theories in this analysis to a broader class of existentially motivated beliefs, including much of political propaganda. In other words, I want to tighten the analogy by noting that end times beliefs are often just religiously inflected partisanship. So the inconsistency manifests in the same way that flat-earthers cling to their theory in the face of overwhelming evidence *and* in the same way that never-Trumpers claimed a few months ago that Trump would use the military to jail political opponents once in office and will never, ever admit that was an absurd claim in retrospect.
My point is not only that crass political allegiance motivates propaganda, and theology is often a form of propaganda, but also that ideology and theology are both manifestations of truly held assumptions built on tacitly held presuppositions that serve to screen out evidence to the contrary. This is so for everyone to varying degrees, but there are egregious examples on display in this conversation. The result is extreme difficulty in prioritizing consistency (an external standard indifferent to the validation of the belief system) over internal coherence.