In my previous two blogs, I have discussed two parts of an end times triad involving a global, centralized government and economy. My goal was to show how current events are preparing the way for this to occur. It’s obvious to see that global economy and government could happen and in fact, may happen very soon. But, religion is another animal altogether. A centralized religion seems not only unlikely, but impossible. There are too many obstacles in the way for this happen. There are fundamentalists, extremists, and other die-hards unwilling to surrender. There are atheists and agnostics who unwilling to believe. Despite the perceptions and difficulty, the Bible clearly states that a centralized religion abounds in the end times.
First things first, I am writing this from a Christian and Biblical perspective. If you do not believe in these things, then this will be harder to understand. My point is not to claim a "right or wrong" stance, but to indicate how the Bible illustrates end times events that are reflected within our modern times. As I said earlier, the religion portion of this end times triad will be the most difficult to come to terms with.
There are several passages which outline this singular religion. Revelation 13:4-8 says that both the dragon and the beast will be worshipped by all men, except those written in the Book of Life. This would indicate all true believers in the True God will not worship the beast or the dragon. I’ll elaborate on this passage later. II Thessalonians 2:4 says there will come a man who will sit in the temple of God and proclaim that he is not only greater than the things of God, but that he himself is God. Daniel 9 discusses a man who causes an "abomination of desolation" in the temple of God. Many theologians believe that the man discussed in Daniel and the man discussed in II Thessalonians are one in the same. Regardless, it would appear that at some point in the future, there will be a man who claims to be God on a large scale and that all men will worship two beings known as the dragon and the beast.
OK, let’s look at the characteristics regarding this centralized religion possibility. In its essence, this is the final culmination of the plans of God’s antithesis. This is man’s ultimate expression of existentialism led by Lucifer. The Bible is replete with instances of man trying to replace God with something else. Whether it is a pagan deity or lust for power and money; sinful man has tried to replace God. This centralized religion will be the magnum opus of man attempt to accomplish this goal. This raises three very big questions right off the bat however. Number one: how does this affect those who do not believe in any kind of deity? Number two: how does this affect those who believe in a deity? Number three: how does this affect those who believe in the Biblical God? Question number three will be the most difficult to answer. Let us look at the entity being worshiped. That will shed some light on how to answer these questions.
If you look at the passages of scripture, each passage reveals something about the entity being worshiped. Daniel indicates that he will have some authority in the area of politics or religion. Daniel says he will confirm a convent with many (Dan. 9:27). This would hint at the idea that this man has power and authority to confirm the promises of many people. In other words, he will be someone of great position either religiously or politically. He will be a prominent person that many people will believe in and trust. II Thessalonians describes the man as one who will have supernatural power as granted by Satan (II Thess. 2:9). The man Paul is talking about will arrive on the scene with counterfeit miracles and signs. If the man listed in Daniel and II Thessalonians is the same guy, you’re looking at a man with supernatural abilities in a position of prominence, either politically or religiously… or possibly both. Revelation 13 indicates that the beast, who could be this man, will be given authority by the dragon and will be worshipped along the dragon. Revelation 12 reveals that the dragon is Satan. If you put these pieces of the puzzle together, all three passages would show that man with great authority and great power will arise in the last days and that his power and authority are such that all men are compelled to worship him saying "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" (Rev. 13:4, NIV).
We have established the character of the man being worshipped, but let’s now look at prevailing trends within belief systems currently in the world. I am not an expert on all world religions, but simple research can give us an idea of some themes and ideas. Several of the major world religions have a messianic figure. This messianic figure is the "Chosen One" of that particular religion. They range from the most famous (Jesus Christ) to the seemingly most absurd (Alien spacecraft hiding behind the Hale-Bopp comet). Several religions do not have messianic figures, such as Buddhism. However, Buddhism teaches about reaching enhanced states of being, reaching an existence superior to our current state of existence. Then there are belief systems such as secular humanism, which do not worship a deity, but exclude supernatural phenomenon. Spiritual events are individual at best and ideals such as ethics and reason. You can argue that evolution is a belief system (another day, another blog). One central religion would have to accommodate the varying degree of beliefs and ideologies that are expressed by people. Let me run a quick scenario to illustrate a point.
Imagine a man who many would consider a perfect individual. He’s good-looking, wealthy, charismatic, connected, and educated. Now imagine if this guy was a leader, possibly of a powerful global government. He kept peace and prosperity for every person under his control. Now imagine this guy having the supernatural ability to heal sick and dying people. Imagine that he could lift heavy objects with mere thoughts. Imagine this guy and now think about how the world would perceive him… how would you perceive him?
What does this scenario mean? People can view this guy (the beast) as the perfect zenith of their particular belief system. Messianic religions will see this guy as their messiah (except Christians, but we’ll get to that in a minute). Religions without a messianic figure may see him as a deity, or just a man who has reached a superior state of existence. Evolutionists may see this guy as an evolved person, a state all humanity will evolve to someday (think X-Men). Some may see this guy as an alien, or at least involved with extra-terrestrial activity. If you have no belief system, he will make you believe or at least stir that desire in your heart and mind. The point is that the man described in the Bible passages will fulfill EVERY aspect of what EVERY religion will want to achieve. The big key is that now religions will have no "right or wrong" aspect. It will be acceptable to have one or multiple belief systems. You can be a Muslim Buddhist evolutionist if you wanna be… it won’t matter because this guy will fulfill it all. He will have both natural and supernatural characteristics that will appeal to the mass of civilization despite belief systems. He will be worshipped by all people, because he will complete the search for existence and self-meaning that all people experience. He will have that "something" about him that will make all people simply marvel at him and ultimately worship him. So to answer questions one and two: the man described in the Bible passages referenced will be the pinnacle of human existence to all humans. Whatever you wanna believe in… this guy’s it!
That brings us to question number three. What will people who believe in Jesus as the messiah think about this guy? Wow! You talk about a loaded question. There are more theories about this than you can shake a stick at. There are volumes of books written about this and there is no consensus about the topic, even among theologians. I could spend hours discussing this topic alone, but I will get this down to the nuts and bolts of it. Some Christians believe that we will escape the impending wrath brought upon the world and this man. Some believe that we will only partially experience the end times events and some believe that we will ride it out until the end. Some Christians believe that these events have either already happened or will never happen. There are scripture passages that would seem to advocate each of these thought processes. However one chooses to believe about this topic, one thing is perfectly clear. Jesus proclaimed he would return to Earth at some point. He said there will be signs of his impending return. Daniel was told to seal up his prophecies until the end. Those who are wicked would have no understanding and the wise will understand (Dan. 12:9-10). This means that as the end approaches, those who are wise will begin to understand what Daniel foretold and the return of Jesus will become eminent. With that being said, the man discussed here today would seem to have the power to coerce some people looking for the return of Jesus. Jesus warned of these people in Matthew 24. My honest belief is that true followers of Jesus will be able to discern the truth and that those who follow the delusion were not true believers in the first place. The folks that believe in the true Jesus will not fall for a fake and that Jesus Himself will give us discernment and wisdom. The folks that will be deceived will be the kind of folks that say "Sure, its ok to believe to Jesus, but its ok to follow Buddha as well", or "There are many roads to get to heaven, and Jesus is merely one of them". My point is that there will be people who may see this man as Jesus, and his rise to prominence will look to some as the "second coming" of the real Jesus. I will not attempt to argue one ends times view perspective over another at this point. All will say is that there will be people who will think the guy discussed above will be Jesus and they will be fooled.
So as you can see, one central religion is not quite as far-fetched as you might think. I have outlined a possible scenario for how all mankind will worship a being when so many people disagree on what to believe. There are other scenarios as well. The dragon and the beast may generate worship by force… a "worship me or die" kinda thing. A future religion may come on the market in the future that may be so universal and so enticing that everyone will simply abandon all other belief systems and follow that. Whatever means used to get there, the idea that a central religion system could one day exist is a plausible one. The next question is: do we see this trend happening in the world today? I say yes. The idea that many roads lead to one destination is a prevailing one within our society. People are searching for the meaning of their existence and they will try to use whatever means necessary to discover it, even if it means trying various religions. Many folks will try to blend aspects of many beliefs into a singular worldview. I read an article recently about a woman who claims to be both a Christian and a Muslim. I read another article discussing how the Catholic Church is advocating evolution. In this era, following a religious belief to the letter makes you hard-core and extreme. Fundamentalism is the new slander and people are wary of being tagged by it. We live in a salad bar religious society; pick what you want from various beliefs and throw it all in together. By doing it this way, so make yourself less likely to be offensive and labeled a fundamentalist. You can throw out the non politically correct parts and keep the less dangerous parts. Remember when I said that political lines are becoming blurry? Well the same thing is happening with religion. Beliefs and tenets are getting murkier and muddier everyday. It really doesn’t seem all that crazy that someday, a man with the characteristics I mentioned earlier could arrive on the scene and tie up the loose ends.
Part four will be a conclusion of this personal discourse. I will wrap up the details and blend the previous blogs into an outline of the end times world. I will try my best to take the three basic components and combine into a working paradigm of how the global system could really work. I will also take a look at several secular paradigms that reflect how society is gravitating towards this, even on a subconscious level.
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