Background: End Times Terminology,
Underlying Theologies behind Christian Politics
(Augustine,
Calvin, Darby)
Terminology:
Anti-Christ – a spirit that is against Christianity; a man described as a world ruler. Some theories hold that the anti-Christ is a type of person or general tendency, while others say the Anti-Christ will look like a man, will become the ruler of the world, and persecutes Christians. Some say he will initially usher in peace for a short while and then become ruler of the world.
Tribulation – a period of persecution by the Anti-Christ, followed God's wrath and judgment.
Rapture – a controversial interpretation of scripture that says believers will disappear and meet Christ in the Air around the time of the Tribulation; those who believe in a pre-tribulational rapture hold that true Christians will be raptured before the Anti-Christ begins his reign of persecution; mid-tribulational rapture theories hold that some years will go by before the Christians are raptured so they will undergo some persecution by the Anti-Christ; post-tribulational rapture is the belief that Christians will go through the entire wrath of the Anti-Christ, typically a 7 year tribulation period, before they are raptured; others vigorously deny the rapture theory.
Millennium/Millennial Kingdom – thousand year reign mentioned in the Book of Revelations; A-Millennial interpretations hold that the Millennium is the rule of Christ over the church of today, and that the Kingdom is a figurative and spiritual representation of the church itself – this view is the one held by most Christians, is the official position of the Catholic church, and is accepted by most Protestants as well; Pre-Millennial interpretations look forward to a future millennial reign of the world by Jesus after an awful Tribulation period – this view is accepted by many Evangelicals, and is common among Fundamentalists and most Pentecostals; and Post-Millennial interpretations hold that the world will become more and more Christianized leading up to a long period of righteousness and peace where Christians rule the world, followed by Christ's return – this view has had influence among some Evangelicals, Charismatics, Pentecostals, and Fundamentalists, and has also been promoted by more extremist Christians.
Application of Theology and Influence on Politics
Two Major Theological Currents:
Augustine 's Replacement Theology, Calvinism's Covenant
Theology, etc.
Dispensationalism
Before going into specific End-Times scenarios, frameworks for Biblical/prophetic interpretation, or more extreme Christian political movements, I need to address two major influential currents of thought. The first current begins with St Augustine's Replacement Theology and A-millennialism. This view has been official Catholic teaching for some time, and was accepted by most of the Protestants after the Reformation. It finds further theological expression and development in Calvinist Covenant Theology. Later Covenant Theologians have adopted a Post-millennialist position. The second current is Dispensationalism and Pre-millennialism, which is associated with later Protestants who draw upon a view about the end-times that was popular before Augustine. In one way or another, both currents have had a large impact on Christian Politics, across the spectrum including moderatism and extremism, left wing and right wing. They identify two significant orientations in Christian religious and political thought, which have filtered down through the teaching of preachers and bishops, the denominations, and popular culture. Each places emphasis on an interpretation of the Millennial Kingdom, and on the prophecies of the future of God's people in a transformed world.
Augustine, Catholicism, Calvinism, etc.
St Augustine, in his famous work “The City of God,” argued for a metaphorical interpretation of the book of Revelations, and for an interpretation of the Christian church as a replacement for Israel (Replacement Theology), inheriting Israel's role and relationship to God as His chosen people. The Jews had rejected the covenant, so the Christian community got the covenant, and the Hebrew Scriptures were viewed as relating to the Christian church rather than to present day Jews. The ethnic Jews no longer had a role as chosen people simply by heritage. Augustine interpreted the Millennial Kingdom as the Christian Church reigned by Jesus as its King. Instead of expecting a worldly political battle with an Anti-Christ and evil forces, or trying to create a utopia or reform the world, Augustine advised that we focus upon the church. Yet the identification of the Christian Church as the receiver of the covenant of Israel conjures images of chosen people leading a nation under the direct rule of God. And when the Christian Church does have political power, the church-centric approach reinforces this political power over the world. The Augustinian view of the Millennial Kingdom and Replacement theology has been the official Catholic teaching for centuries, and the general principles were also accepted by most Protestants of the Reformation. Calvin developed a Covenant Theology framework for interpreting the Bible along similar lines, which today appeals to many Reformed and Presbyterian Christians, and has filtered through other segments of Christian political culture. Covenant theology emphasizes how the covenant was transferred from the Jews to Christians, and involves the role of a covenant of works given to Adam and a covenant of grace given to Christians.
Among some, this broader current of Amillennialism and Replacement or Covenant Theology has inspired an active Christian involvement in justice and charity, setting a good example for the world through positive Christian values. Among others a pessimism about reforming governments combined with a focus upon the role of the church in the life of believers has paradoxically lead to an almost apolitical acceptance of certain political abuses “in the world” on the one hand, but a church-centric acceptance of authority by religious leaders on the other, which has at times increased the power of religious leaders politically. Among others an emphasis on the importance of the church (or Christians as a whole) in disciplining and guiding other Christians has lead to seeking varying degrees of governmental political control to dominate culture or steer other Christians as well as non-Christians towards stricter moral standards, despite a general view that the church is more important/relevant than reform of the world. While the focus may be on the church rather than reform of the world, when the church, religious leaders and traditions, or Christian culture is seen in terms of THE legitimate authority and focus in life, instead of focusing on their role in inspiring and encourage reliance upon God over any other such worldly, religious, or cultural authority, the desire to dominate the world in the name of a Christian Kingdom may arise. For extremists, these concepts are used to support the effort to bring back the death penalty for leaving the Christian faith, homosexuality, adultery, etc. Associated with later developments upon Covenant Theology is the notion that the Jews betrayed their covenant with God when they rejected Christ, so all the promises from the covenant with Israel now belong to the Christian Church. This leads to applying the prophecies regarding Israel to the Christian church, and also the model of the Christian city of God. Biblical examples of the nation of Israel applying religious principles to social rule are seen as transferable onto the political role of Christians today. In practice this can range from applying general principles and values to politics and government, to out and out visions of theocracy/theonomy. The Post-Millennial view is sometimes incorporated into this sort of development, as it expects Christian Dominion to increase leading up to the return of Christ. In A-Millennial and Post-Millennial interpretations, sometimes the Anti-Christ is interpreted as a past ruler like Nero, or otherwise as a general principle, abstract concept, or spiritual force, rather than an individual ruler. Prophetically, the success, struggle, and persecution of God's People (seen exclusively as the Christians) may be related to various prophecies and Biblical parallels. The extremist Christian political movement known as Theonomic Reconstruction and Christian Restoration developed out of this background. We will refer to these a little later.
Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism is associated with John Darby (1800-1882) and the Scofield Reference Bible of 1917. In direct opposition to Covenant theology, Dispensationalism holds that the Jews and the Nation of Israel maintain their covenant and prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures. Fundamentalists and Pentecostals have in the past sided with some form of Dispensationalism, in understanding prophecy, the end-times, and the role of the Jews and Israel. This has resulted in an emphasis on what happens in Israel and to Jews themselves as fulfilling prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures, eventually getting back their temple and starting up the old sacrifices again, getting back all of the land traditionally considered a part of Israel. This framework is said to “rightly divide the Word of God,” attributing to the Jews what belongs to the Jews, deriving what should apply to Christians based on what parts are speaking about the Christian Church age. Most Fundamentalists apply Dispensational concepts to explain how the temple regulations, kosher laws, and cleanliness prohibitions from the Mosaic Law, were for the age when the Temple was the focus of God's relationship with his people. When it comes to how the Biblical Israel was run socially and politically, many Fundamentalists today would say the principles still apply with some modification by the New Testament, to Christian government (death penalty for murder, punishment of disobedient children), but the letter of the law on eye for an eye and money or slave disputes was particular to the ancient government of Israel, designed for the Jews in ancient times before Christ. But others who are more moderate politically do take the Dispensational concepts to show that Jesus did away with the Law and the concept of government run by religion; they argue for personal spirituality and applying principles of compassion and justice to politics, rather than trying to enforce Christianity through a government. Some have concluded, from interpreting the Bible along Dispensational lines, that religious domination in government was not sanctioned by God from the beginning of the age of the Christian Church until Christ comes down from the clouds and Himself rules the world; this perspective used to be a strong influence among Fundamentalists and Pentecostals, who originally tended to separate more from worldly politics for several reasons, but since the late 1970's this has become the minority position among them.
Dispensationalism teaches that there were several ages with different political situations and relationships between God and various people. In each of these stages or ages the nature of “getting right with God” differs according to the nature of the age and the people who are the focus of the age. Before Christ, the Jews were center stage as God's people, but with the Jews rejecting Christ, the prophecies concerning them were put on hold and the Christians had their age with the New Testament defining the terms of reaching God, etc. As the Christian Church age came to a close, Israel would be pieced together again, and the prophecies with the Jews that remained would be fulfilled, particularly the “Day of the Lord” the “Day of Wrath” and then the remnant that remained would be taken back by God after the Christians and Jesus defeated the Anti-Christ. Then a thousand year reign of Christians as priests and kings under the rule of Jesus ruling with a rod of iron would enforce the teachings of Jesus on those born in those thousand years and depending on interpretation, the newly converted Christians who came to believe during the tribulation. There are variations on this, depending on how people see the way God's laws operate during the different ages, etc. Extremist Christian political movements that develop out of this background include survivalist and militants who expect to live through some or all of the Tribulation and to have to fight the Anti-Christ's forces before Christ comes. These extremist Mid and Post-Tribulation Dispensationalists will be referred to shortly.
Mixed Views
Lastly, other movements that develop along somewhat different lines or mix aspects of these orientations, will be discussed, especially the Latter Rain movement and the Discipling/Shepherding movement that arose out of it. Other Latter Rain developments will be such as the teaching on the restoration of the Five-Fold Ministries, and Kingdom Now Theology (aka Dominion Theology, the Restoration Movement), will be mentioned later on along with the Manifest Sons of God doctrine. Many hold a view of the Tribulation, Anti-Christ, and End Times that derives from Dispensationalism, and combine with that a Post-Millennial belief that the Church must politically dominate the world before Christ comes to rule; such mixtures reflect the alliances and networking of Christians from various movements (Fundamentalists, Charismatics, and Pentecostals inspired by extremist theologians who come from a Calvinist/Presbyterian background). Also British Israelism, Christian Identity, and American Israelism, and links between extremist movements and ties with the broader religious right movement will be touched upon.