Re: questions for discussion

I think since the late 1980's, some televangelists have been relating the
number of EU member states to Revelation chapter 13, which speaks of
a Beast having 10 heads and seven horns emerging from the sea.
According to Jack van Impe (the guy who analyzes the news from the
perspective of prophecy; I guess you could call him the world-systemist
of premillenialist Christians), the role of the EU is to impose peace at
the ned of a long war between Israel and its enemies (first the Muslim
lands of the Middle East alone, second the same in alliance with Russia,
and finally all of the above in alliance with China).  Led by the
Antichrist, the EU will then transform into a global empire for a period
of 42 months, prior to its destruction by Christ.  Naturally, people who
subscribe to these beliefs find the Europeans' talk of peace as serving
the needs of the devil.  There is an incredibly popular 12-part series of
novels (as well as a movie based on the first book) called Left Behind
which lays all this out in great detail.

On Thu, 3 Oct 2002, Bruce McFarling wrote:

> At 07:26 PM 10/2/02 -0400, you wrote:
> >The only thing I would add to Boris' analysis is that, if I'm not
> >mistaken, the European Union, like the state of Israel, plays an
> >important role in  evangelical Christian apocalyptic thought.  If
> >I recall correctly from the  movie "The Omega Code", when the king
> >of Europe (the antichrist) brings peace to the Middle East, it is a
> >clear sign that the apocalypse has begun. Keep in mind that Bush hangs
> >out with people who think like this...
>
> This is exactly right.  It comes from a reading of the Book
> of Revelations that sees the "Whore of Babylon" as a United
> Europe, and followers of that reading have been pointing to
> any deepening of the European Union (and the ECC before that)
> as a sign that the end of the world is at hand.
>
> Of course, entering the apocalyptic prophecy worldview, it
> wouldn't be saying much for the analogical skills of the
> author. An Imperial US built on ricketing foundations of a
> Republic and operating as a commercial nation as it has done
> since the outset would make a much better fit to the "Whore
> of Babylon" imagery.  And any Rastafarian can tell you that
> the US is the core of "Babylon".
>
>
> --
> Dr. Bruce R. McFarling, PhD
> Bus. Office 1.72 -- (02) 4348-4078
> School of Business
> Faculty of the Central Coast
> Newcastle University, Ourimbah
>
>
>

-- 
Boris Stremlin
bstremli@binghamton.edu