« Reply #32 on: August 24, 2016, 08:02:54 pm »
My belief is closer to this:
Trump Is Antichrist
http://www.redstate.com/diary/clconnett/2016/05/16/yes-dear-christian-antichrist/
I've said it before, but just to lay out where I'm coming from I want to explain my background. I'm a Christian, normally considered part of the Evangelical tradition. I grew up Southern Baptist and have attended multiple churches with strong Baptist traditions. I received a M.Div. (Masters of Divinity) from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and have studied under men like Dr. Russell Moore, and Dr. Albert Mohler (full disclosure, I never had any classes under Dr. Mohler, only having the opportunity to benefit from having him as President of the seminary and thus attending chapel to hear him preach along with a couple of instances of getting to sit in a class under him, I give him only as an example of the quality of academics at SBTS). I note all that to explain why I feel I'm justified in saying that from a theological perspective, Donald Trump is an Antichrist.
Note that I'm not saying he is "the" antichrist. In fact, in the Christian tradition there isn't even an agreement that there is necessarily one antichrist who is the anti-type of the antichrists we otherwise find in Scripture and in the world. However, looking at Scripture, Donald Trump fits the description of an antichrist, all the way down to the fact that Christians are supporting him.
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I don't care what Trump says about being a Christian, as far as just saying, "Yes, I'm a Christian." If you read 1 John and 2 John (seriously, take 15 minutes to read them both if you're interested, they are very short books) then you'll see that John is telling the church that the very people he is calling "antichrist" are claiming to be Christian, but they are rejecting Christ. Therefore, just saying, "I'm a Christian" doesn't prevent one from being antichrist.
Trump has said that he does not ask God for forgiveness. He directly stated he doesn't do that, instead he just tries to make things better. This sounds great, from a worldly perspective, because it sounds like he is saying he actually goes out and tries to correct his errors. The problem is that this completely undermines the concept of Jesus as Christ. That Jesus is Christ means that he is the anointed one of God, he is the messiah. In the Old Testament that term simply meant anyone who was anointed by God for any of a number of purposes. However, in the New Testament, we see that the term has a much more developed theological meaning.
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Ultimately, Trump is not dangerous because he is immoral, but because he is amoral. Trump has already bought into the system entirely. He is as vacuous a candidate as there can be, giving no thought to the moral questions and the theological issues that underpin those questions. He doesn't care about who he hurts or what philosophy he takes, as long as it gains him power. He is an antichrist not because he is explicitly evil, shouting and screaming against God, but because he disregards God and morality all together. It's easy to fight against someone who says, "Reject Christ or die" but it is far more difficult when the person never brings up God at all and only makes promises of prosperity and happiness.
Excellent post, cuky. Well reasoned and theologically sound.
I didn't realize you had an M Div. It explains why your posts are always on target.
Thanks for this one!
@cuky
« Last Edit: August 24, 2016, 08:06:36 pm by musiclady »
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Character still matters. It always matters.
I wear a mask as an exercise in liberty and love for others. To see it as an infringement of liberty is to entirely miss the point. Be kind.
"Sometimes I think the Church would be better off if we would call a moratorium on activity for about six weeks and just wait on God to see what He is waiting to do for us. That's what they did before Pentecost." - A. W. Tozer
Use the time God is giving us to seek His will and feel His presence.