I was just sitting around thinking about doomsday predictions and trying to mentaly list how many different ways people have said the world might end.... I might actualy make a topic out of it..(on another website) but one thing that came to mind kinda made me wonder... leading to my religious conspiracy theory...

The Bible refers to the coming of an anti-christ, and how people will be decieved by him and join his ranks.

It occurs to me that, it is a very convenient way to cause trouble if any other new or old religion ever started garnering strenth the church was threatened by.

Or even say another "messiah" type was born or became popular as a new religious order or the predicted savior of an existing religion.

So my question is, is the "anti-christ" just a story made up for the excuse of waging holy war if christianity's (and its offshoots) position, as maybe the most popular religion, was ever threatened.

.. in having to do with my end of the world thread this scenerio lead to the end of the world through worldwide genocide/holy war.

it is my belief that the " revelations scenario" is exactly as you have described .
it is a rant by a follower of the pauline jesus movement against another movement. which is probably impossible to say definitivly but there were several.

we should also remember that it has in essence been used in just that way
more than once. the crusades come to mind, especially the Albigensian crusade.

Originally posted by UnusualMe
I was just sitting around thinking about doomsday predictions and trying to mentaly list how many different ways people have said the world might end.... I might actualy make a topic out of it..(on another website) but one thing that came to mind kinda made me wonder... leading to my religious conspiracy theory...

The Bible refers to the coming of an anti-christ, and how people will be decieved by him and join his ranks.

It occurs to me that, it is a very convenient way to cause trouble if any other new or old religion ever started garnering strenth the church was threatened by.

Or even say another "messiah" type was born or became popular as a new religious order or the predicted savior of an existing religion.

So my question is, is the "anti-christ" just a story made up for the excuse of waging holy war if christianity's (and its offshoots) position, as maybe the most popular religion, was ever threatened.

.. in having to do with my end of the world thread this scenerio lead to the end of the world through worldwide genocide/holy war.

This is an excellent post, Unusual, I applaud you. And now that you mention it, that is indeed extremely plausible. This, then, gives the Christians an excuse to seize religious power at the time of need.

I know it really spooked me when it dawned on me. I hope no future leads to that outcome.

Great post UnusualMe, got a Way Above vote from me for it!

You are, I believe, absolutely correct about the book of Revelation, I spent an entire year of my undergrad work on the prophetic sections of the bible, and I came to the same conclusions.

Revelation was written by a folower of the Christian faith, (then a fringe cult) and not any of the other biblical Johns. The revelation that he claims to have had occoured in a cave on an island in the Mediterranean, and it is believed he was at least a bit of an eccentric. He was more than likely just ranting to the other churches, and against the Romans, in a very very figurative way.

The crusades were partially rationalized through papal edicts and letters by Revelation, as were the Church campaigns against Celtic Paganism, Nordic, Classical Roman and other native religions. Celtic druids and witches were actually called pawns of the devil all the way up until the early 20th century.

As the books in the bible go, I believe that Revelation is one of the most dangerous. In today's world, many fundamentalist Christian groups are trying to act out or bring about the events of Revelation. The most disturbing element of these may be the fact that a younger generation is being encouraged to believe that the events will occour within their lifetime, which could possibly lead to a self-forfilling revelation regarding the wars in the book.

May Peace Travel With You
~Astral

Originally posted by The Astral City
The most disturbing element of these may be the fact that a younger generation is being encouraged to believe that the events will occour within their lifetime, which could possibly lead to a self-forfilling revelation regarding the wars in the book.

May Peace Travel With You
~Astral

That would add an even scarier element to the soup.. these kids believing they are some sort of christian soldier might be driven towards acts of terrorism.. like we see now over seas.. where the same type of mentality is held.

In more then one post floating around that has a post with my 2cents.. I've said I believe we are the verge of great discoveries in all areas of science. Which could bring about major social change.

I wonder if movement towards a more high-tech society, where we interact with technology in a more personal way would trigger these people to behave erratically.

There are already people who believe barcodes are a mark of the devil.. and current tests in cybernetics are moving ahead quite nicely.. sometime in the future will we be accused of "Plugging into the devil"?

I wrote my final thesis this past year on the impact of science upon fundamentalists Christan religions.

You can already find some of the backlash to tech in religions like Christian Science, they believe that the only medical help you need is faith in god. However they were based upon a book written durring the late industrial revolution and their ideas are more against the "evils" of the last two centuries tech and not todays.

I would think that if the tech on the horizon that will change our world is something genetic, or nanotechnological then the fundamentalists may have a real problem with it. We could see a rise in Amish-like societies, or more violently, we may see groups like the Taliban form in Christianity, trying to turn the world into a more "biblical view."

Even today there are extremist Christians that go beyond just protesting stem-cell research and homosexual rights. A cult-like group has emerged calling themselves the "Knights of Inquisition" and their aim is to revive the medevil era church, complete with barbaric execution and random inquisition.

Another group wants to break away from the United States, attempting to take over the Alabama state government, declaire independence and form a hyper-conservative Christian nation.

Couple all of this with the fact that these groups have charismatic leadership and believe that god has chosen them, and it becomes worrisome.

May Peace Travel With You
~Astral

Great topic!!!

Altough I am a Christian myself I ' ve never done any Biblical interpretations. I believe that God is inside and all around us. As history shows us there were alot of "strange" things done on behalf of "not so holy" Church.

So, I am going to do research on the topic and inform you on my dicoveries.

Originally posted by netka
Great topic!!!

Altough I am a Christian myself I ' ve never done any Biblical interpretations. I believe that God is inside and all around us. As history shows us there were alot of "strange" things done on behalf of "not so holy" Church.

So, I am going to do research on the topic and inform you on my dicoveries.

Thank you Netka. I can't wait to hear what you find.

There is a website, and I think thread on ATS, about the group that wants to break away from the United States. (don't have it offhand but google it)

As for the new knights of inquisition, they are more secretive, and as yet I haven't seen them actually having a website.

If you would like to see what the fundamentalist Christians are up to in regards to legislation in American politics check out sites like the American Family Association (www.afa.net) and the Traditional Values Coalition (www.traditionalvalues.org) These guys arn't quite as wacky as the people mentioned in the previous post but they have their moments quite often. I personally find these guys the scariest of all though because they are the ones with strong voices in American politics and social movements.

Blessed Be
~Astral