Thanks to Trump, Christian groups are convinced it's the apocalypse — and some are finding ways to profit
The zombies aren't in the streets and the four horsemen haven't been spotted yet, but many Christians believe that the end is nigh. Any time there are natural disasters like major weather events and outbreaks of disease like COVID-19 or major international events such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it piques speculation about the Biblical end times. But that isn't what's causing an increase in interest of the end of the world, according to a new analysis.
Slate explained that it makes for the perfect opportunity for booksellers to begin profiting off of the paranoia. Citing Publishers Weekly, slate noted a number of apocalypse books are coming out to meet the demand. It isn't the first time, however. Evangelicals thought the end times were coming in 2017 because Trump moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and Christian theocrat Roy Moore briefly rose to prominence.
Editors at the new publisher Harvest Prophecy, claimed they have had "a strong surge of interest because there is so much happening in today’s world that parallels End-Times signs given in the Bible.”
Slate wondered why this was the moment when evangelicals seem to be celebrating a surge in power due to the banning of abortion across the United States.
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“The reason it’s happening is the totalitarianism in the United States,” said retired theology professor Tommy Ice, who also serves as the executive director of the Pre-Trib Research Center. “It’s because of the seemingly overnight decline of America, from our perspective. It’s a huge shift, the stealing of an election. When has that ever happened in the United States?”
There's the idea of Donald Trump's "stolen election" and somehow they think the senate races were "stolen" in Georgia too.
That, he said, was “lining up with what it is going to be like after the rapture of the church, where you have the Antichrist coming from Europe, who’s going to be the world ruler."
The belief is that the Bible has a list of omens that must happen before Christ will return to earth for a 1,000-year-period. The “premillennial dispensationalist” belief comes from events in Revelation, Ezekiel, and Daniel, are supposed to be metaphorical, which is why larger Christian groups like Catholics and mainstream Protestants don't make it a big part of their services.
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Ice thinks that the Holy Spirit is within each person and that is how they're protected from evil. Because secularism is growing across the globe, however, anarchy is about to take over, which has already led to the "stolen" 2020 election, he explained.
Trump likely didn't know that claiming his election was stolen by the "evil" so-called "deep state" would energize such groups, but it has.
"For those who believe deeply in the devious powers of the Antichrist, stealing an election looks like a simple first step in an even larger plan," wrote Slate.
"It’s hard to ignore how aligned this framing is with QAnon conspiracy theories, which place Trump and good Christians at odds with the blood-drinking, child-trafficking, Satan-worshiping elites running the country," the report also explained. "The QAnon theories often showcase a messianic figure (Trump) assembling an army of brave Christian followers to take on scheming demonic forces and ultimately win in one great triumphant battle ('the Storm')."
They're all very similar to premillennial dispensationalists who think that Jesus is fighting Satan in some kind of final battle across the world.
Denison University Political scientist Paul Djupe told Slate that evangelicals were ready for QAnon theories because of the themes they steal from end times theology.
"This narrative tradition has had a cultural impact on more than just evangelicals, though. Even beyond the corners of the evangelical world obsessed with apocalyptic sign-reading, mainstream white Christians have come to start looking at currentevents for portents of evil," Slate explained.
Read the full report at Slate.com.
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