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| Midday, midwinter sky at MSF |
Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ.
Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist.
Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,
but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
Key in "antichrist" in your Google search engine and stand back for 3,350,000 results in .18 seconds. Many of the results are about a recent movie that flopped, but you'll also find pictures of our president.
What I find fascinating about the "antichrist" in Saint John's First Letter is his reassurance, "many antichrists have come." In fact this fits the pattern of the apocalyptic messages of the New Testament which today's apocalypticists (aka conspiracy theorists) consistently overlook:
The New Testament authors don't deal in fear; more often than not they pooh-pooh the polemicists and urge them to pipe down their rhetoric. They use apocalyptic language not to scare their disciples but to reassure them, God is still in charge. Is there an anti-Christ? Don't worry about. We've seen plenty of them already. As the psalmist says (Ps 37)
Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on the destruction of the wicked.
I have seen the wicked oppressing, and towering like a cedar of Lebanon. Again I passed by, and they were no more; though I sought them, they could not be found.
Mark the blameless, and behold the upright, for there is posterity for the peaceable. But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.