Primitivism among evangelicals

In the ancient world, people saw signs and portents in eclipses, weather and earthquakes. The God(s) must be trying to tell them something, they believed.

By the beginning of the 20th century, educated people should have abandoned such primitivism. And most did. But reality, facts and evidence continue to confound evangelical Christians.

 

“Hagee’s blood moon prophecies have become enormously popular in evangelical circles. The Christian Broadcasting Network cited them this week in its coverage of the war. An “analysis” the network published on its website acknowledged that the blood moons might be a coincidence, but that “doesn’t mean there also wasn’t an intentional message that was pre-ordained from the time God set the sun, moon, and planets in motion in Genesis 1.” The blood moons, along with the war, could be a sign of the end-times.

 

“Hagee may be the godfather of Iran-related prophecies, but prophets echoing them have become commonplace. Charisma magazine, a leading source for charismatic and Pentecostal Christians whose publisher has written several hagiographic books about Trump, this week featured “prophetic voice Joseph Z.,” who posted “a powerful new livestream” about the convergence of Operation Epic Fury, Purim, and the lunar eclipse. Joseph Z. claimed “it’s likely we’re going to see revival in Iran” — meaning a Christian revival — and “if you don’t understand that we’re living in biblical prophecy right now, you need to really begin to open your Bible.” Another prophet, Amanda Grace, also was featured on the magazine’s website for a broadcast in which she maintained that the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with other Iranian government officials, mirrored the death of Haman in the book of Esther. “Hidden within Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is Haman,” she added as supposedly potent evidence of the biblical importance of these events.”

How embarrassing. I certainly couldn’t respect, let alone worship a god who demanded that I abandon my reason. Nor would I respect a faith that demanded that, no matter the denomination. In the present circumstances, such primitivism is not only anti-intellectual, it’s dangerous and anti-Christian.


https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/iran-blood-moon-purim-end-times-trump 

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