11 November 2008

Is Obama the Anti-Christ?

I've been getting this question a lot lately: Is Obama the Anti-Christ foretold in the Book of Revelation?

Yes and no. Here's why. . .

The image we have of the figure of the Anti-Christ comes from Hollywood. . .creepy kid with "666" tattooed on his scalp. . .black eyes, psychic powers, talks to wolves, crows, etc. . .kills people who get in the way of his demonic plans for world domination. In more recent times, the Anti-Christ has been portrayed as an international politician with great charm, a brilliant mind, a wildly secular compassion, and a taste for creating Nanny State bureaucracies like the U.N. and the E.U.

Now, without going into the 2,000 year-old history of how Christians have conceived the Anti-Christ from scripture, it is vital that we understand one Big Truth about the idea of the Anti-Christ: his appearance is NOT some future event; that is, the Anti-Christ is not coming "some day." He has come and gone many times and will likely come and go many more.

Why do I say this? Check out this paragraph from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism"(n.676). I've highlighted the key phrase here: "already begins to take shape in the world every time. . ." Since we are bound to live within history (i.e. we are subject to the passage of time), we experience God's plan of salvation for us as a progression of events--past, present, future. However, what scripture reveals to us is God's plan All At Once, that is, what we have in the Bible is the totality of our salvation history from beginning to end, each event is simultaneously past, present, and future revealed from God's vantage point of eternity.

The Second Coming of Christ has happened, is happening, and will happen. The Book of Revelation is a book of prophecy (future). But it is also a book of history (past) and a contemporary report of the world news (present). It is a mistake for Catholics to take this book to be merely historical, or as merely world news, or as merely prophetic. It must be all three at the same time because the book reveals an eternal (atemporal) plan played out within time. We can read the Book of Revelation for patterns of historical progress in the life of the Church as she lives with the world. Since our relationship with the world is always adversarial, it is fairly easy to say that there will be peaks of open conflict and persecution both of the Church by the world and from within the Church by those who given themselves to the world.

In parapgraph 675, the paragraph immediately preceding the paragraph above, we read:
"Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh." Everything in this passage has happened before; is happening now; and will happen again. The ancient church was persecuted under the Roman emperors. The church in Africa (Sudan) and Asia (India) is being persecuted right now. And the church will be persecuted again in the future--in the U.S.? Europe? Very likely. Think about the secular messiahs the Church has confronted in history--the Roman emperors were considered gods; Mao and Stalin held power through messiah-like cults of personalty; Hitler persecuted both Jews and Christian, both of God's people under a national messiahism called fascist socialism. There are many others.

Back to Obama. Given everything I have said above, can we consider Obama the Anti-Christ? No. There is no "the Anti-Christ." There have been many Anti-Christs that have given flesh to the demonic desire to replace the Kingdom of God with a secular paradise. There are many now and there will be many more. To the degree that Obama opposes the will of God for His people, cloaks his opposition in religious language and ceremony, and persecutes the Church for her resistance to his secular messianic agenda, then we can say that he is an Anti-Christ.*

But here's the kicker: we are all capable of doing what the Anti-Christ in the Book of Revelation did, is doing, and will do. We do not do so on the scale of an American president or an international organization like the U.N., but we all have found ourselves, find ourselves, and will find ourselves believing and acting "against Christ," i.e. become Anti-Christs. From the White House Obama's secular messiahism is far more effective in undermining the Church than my single sins of omission or even my accumulated sins of commission. But can any of us overestimate the damage done to the U.S. Church by the abuse scandals caused by our priests and bishops? Or the damage done by pro-abortion clergy, religious, and politicans?

So, yes, Obama is an Anti-Christ. And no, he is not The Anti-Christ.

*It is very important for me to note here that I am not comparing Obama to Mao, Stalin, and Hitler. The man is a plain ole Chicago-machine liberal Democrat with great stage presence and rhetorical skills. But to compare him to these monsters is way, way over the top and is likely counterproductive in opposing his policies.

8 comments:

  1. I find it odd that the Book of Revelation never uses the phrase "anti-Christ". John's letters do, but not Revelation.

    And isn't the, err, defining characteristic of the anti-Christ that he denies Christ in the flesh?

    "Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son." (1 John 2:22)

    "[E]very spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist..." (1 John 4:3)

    "Men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:7)

    I'm not trying to defend Obama (regarding his stance on life and family issues)... I'm just curious if the man actually fits the description of "antichrist" as found in John's letters.

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  2. Japhy,

    There are many ways to deny Christ. One can say all day long, "Lord, Lord!" and still deny Christ in one's beliefs and actions...

    Fr. Philip, OP

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  3. Eschatology is a tricky thing, and the Church is wise to not put too fine a point on it, a la many Protestant faiths. After all, Christ said no one know the day or the hour, except the Father, and that refers to both our personal Judgment Day and the final Judgment.

    Unfortunately, there are those Catholics who read too much into "the signs of the times", read too much into St Malachy's (I think that's the guy's name) who allegedly wrote out how many popes there'd be before Christ comes back, and rely more on private revelation than Scripture and Church teaching. Their focus becomes myopic and can serve to turn off people to the faith rather than draw them to it.

    I do have a question for you, though, Father. What is your opinion, regarding the places in Paul's letters to the Romans and Thessalonians 1 and 2 where he refers to Israel's acceptance of Christ as prerequisite to Christ's ultimate 2nd coming? Any thoughts on what this acceptance might look like, in light of Scripture and Church teaching?

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  4. Thank you for your responses Father, I really think that something like this should have clearly been explained before, and many catholics do make the mistake of following the "left behind" kind of eschatology, which is clearly not corressponding with scripture at all. Obama is not The Antichrist ( since ther eis not one but many, as you said), but an antichrist, that is clear. I find very disturbing the fact that if FOCA passes and the Mexico city policy is overturned, he will use U.S. taxes to fund and promote abortions in developping countries. What a clear but hard choice we catholics are gonna be faced with! To pay taxes, or refuse to do it and be fined and/or jailed.
    Hard times are on the horizon, may the Lord help us all, and let us never forget that His will is always done and that His mercy is eternal for those that trust in Him.

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  5. Father, thank you for your excellent words.

    However, a question: How can you reconcile your statement above: "There is no "the Anti-Christ." There have been many Anti-Christs that have given flesh to the demonic desire to replace the Kingdom of God with a secular paradise"

    ... with the words of the Holy Father at his General Audience this week: "The rest of this text [from 2 Thess., Ch. 2] announces that before the arrival of the Lord, there will be the apostasy and the revelation of the no better defined 'wicked one,' the 'son of perdition' (2:3), which tradition will later call the Antichrist."

    It seems that Papa Benny thinks that there will be a particular Anti-Christ, without, of course, saying that such-and-such a person is the Anti-Christ.

    Your thoughts?

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  6. Patrick,

    The Holy Father and I are not disagreeing. What he says is exactly right...I'm sure he will be delighted to hear that I think he's correct! :-)

    When I say "there is no THE Anti-Christ," I simply mean that there is not just one person somewhere in the future who can be identified as The Anti-Christ. The Holy Father is saying that before he comes, there will be apostacy, etc. You have to think of the anti-Christ as a spirit of rebellion and dark power who is capable of manifesting multiple times through out history and as a spirit who is with us always, tempting, pushing, rebelling, etc. There are points in history where a single person will manifest that spirit more powerfully than anyone else, give that spirit flesh and blood and concentrate its rebellion against God.

    Fr. Philip, OP

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  7. Anonymous10:01 AM

    Prophet Linda Newkirk Confirms Obama Is The Antichrist.

    This is a MUST READ!

    http://www.prophecies.org

    Nostradamus does also;

    Obama=MA Barack=B Hussein=US MABUS!

    Barack Hussein Obama = 18 numbers = 666

    Stunning Leak of Satanic NWO Info!

    http://www.hismailroom.org

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