With full apologies for the vulgarity of the title (going back to a 70s piece of fluff top 40 music), it was the only thing that came to mind. The subject of prophecy, false prophets, and charlatans in our midst often inspires sarcasm within my heart. But I just could not help it. The question is a simple one: If Pat Robertson is wrong is wrong about Katrina as God’s judgment, then Al Gore and the NY Times are equally wrong about AGW and the snow as nature’s judgment on humanity.
This is not a comment about politics but about our society. For the past two centuries we have been enamored with multiple types of adventism. Though I am an unapologetic dispensationalist, I will be the first to admit that a number of the prophecy fanatics have gone too far in both tone and content. I do not see the Lord’s return as tomorrow. Likewise, Mormonism has its apocalypse. Just listen to Glenn Beck. for a day. And then there is the Seventh Day movement. The varieties of adventism are many. But it seems that they are not all in the church (or externally attached to Christianity, as is the case with Mormonism). There is a secular apocalyptic positivism that continues to rear its ugly head.
It may seem odd to use the term “apocalyptic positivism”. What I am trying to get across is that there is a great deal of dependence upon human capacity to manage the world. Pat Robertson seems to think that bad things will not happen if we do not sin against God. If there were no Mardi Gras then Katrina would not have happened. Likewise, if we do not “sin” against the earth by exploiting its carbon resources then humanity can enter its green “paradise” where the words of John Lennon might be fulfilled. “Imagine all the people living for today,” seems to be the way some want it.
Perhaps our public discourse might be improved by keeping our language specifically theological instead of pragmatic. We have seen the sham of AGW and might gain ground, even socially, by noting that the “false prophets” of doom are wolves pretending to be shepherds. There is more at stake than a few tax dollars and political dominance. The theology of these false prophets pretends to take the souls of men and women to a new world of bliss. God has other plans in mind.
You have a decision to make: double or nothing.
For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.
In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.
So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?
Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
