A Small Sample of Bad Christian Prophecy Memes and Comments

Eschatology memes are all the rage on Facebook. One of the most egregious is one that claims that Donald Trump is the antichrist. Some people did something similar with former President Obama and even JFK after his “mortal head wound.” The Trump antichrist memes started with Revelation 13:3 after Trump was shot in the ear:

“I saw one of his heads as if it had been fatally wounded, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast” (Rev. 13:3)

Immediately you can spot the problem with this interpretation even if you don’t know anything about the book of Revelation (the time was “near” for that generation: 1:3; 22:10) regarding Bible prophecy. Trump only has one head and the shot to his ear (not head) was not fatal. The Washington Post picked up the story as well of the “significance” of blood on Trump’s ear:

“On X, some users noted that, in Revelation 13:3, a beast understood to be the Antichrist, or Satan, heals from a head wound and is then globally idolized. Others tried to make the case that blood on the right ear means Trump has been set apart for some great work of God based on passages from Exodus and Leviticus. One Twitter/X user wrote, ‘Leviticus 8:22-24 and 14:28 talks about blood on the right ear as a mark of dedication to God’s service [and] preparing the individual for service to God.’”

It’s no wonder that many people don’t take Christianity seriously. It’s hard to put up with this type of nonsense, and there doesn’t seem to be an end to it.

Then there was this elaborate and colorful meme:

Antichrist memes and posts are all over the internet. There is no “The Antichrist.” There were “many antichrists” in the Apostle John’s day. Their presence was evidence that it was the “last hour” in the lead-up to the destruction of Jerusalem that took place in AD 70 (see Matt. 24). The timing (it is the last hour), number (many antichrists have come), and definition (the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ) of these antichrists are precise (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). Notice that the post doesn’t reference the verses where the word “antichrist” is used. Why is that? Because the antichrist passages are straightforward and lack any sensationalism or futurity. That’s why there is the need to build a composite antichrist from unrelated passages.

Benjamin B. Warfield (1851-1921), Professor of Didactic and Polemic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary from 1887 to 1921, had this to say about the modern attempt to construct a biblical antichrist from unrelated Scripture passages:

“We read of Antichrist nowhere in the New Testament except in certain passages of the Epistles of John (1 John ii. 18, 22; iv. 3; 2 John 7). What is taught in these passages constituted the whole New Testament doctrine of Antichrist. It is common, it is true, to connect with this doctrine what is said by our Lord of false Christs and false prophets; by Paul the Man of Sin; by the Apocalypse of the Beasts which come up out of the deep and sea. The warrant for labeling the composite photograph thus obtained with the name of Antichrist is not very apparent.”[1]

Then there’s this:

I had multiple exchanges with some end-time advocates over the above chart. Here are some of them:

The world is moving forward while millions of Christians are stuck in the past as if Jesus did not fulfill what He promised to do. He left a job undone. Satan’s pesky antichrist is waiting in the wings to foil Jesus. In fact, Satan has been the real person in control. You know, he’s the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). The antichrist seems to get more attention that Jesus. Jesus must be wringing His hands in frustration as He waits for His nemesis to make his final move.

In 1970, Hal Lindsey stated that he believed the antichrist was alive somewhere in the world. He repeated this belief in a 1977 interview when he stated that it was his “personal opinion” that “he’s alive somewhere now. But he’s not going to become this awesome figure that we nickname the Anti-Christ until Satan possesses him, and I don’t believe that will occur until there is this ‘mortal wound’ from which he’s raised up.”[2]

Dave Hunt voiced a similar opinion in 1990: “Somewhere at this very moment, on planet Earth, the antichrist is almost certainly alive—biding his time, awaiting his cue. Banal sensationalism? Far from it! That likelihood is based upon a sober evaluation of current events in relation to Bible prophecy. Already a mature man, he is probably active in politics, perhaps even an admired world leader whose name is almost daily on everyone’s lips.”[3] Salem Kirban wrote in 1977 that “those of us familiar with Scriptures can easily see the handwriting on the wall as the way is prepared for the coming Antichrist.”[4]

Popular prophecy writer Ron Rhodes uses “Is the Antichrist Alive in the World Today?” tag as an advertising gimmick for his book Unmasking the Antichrist that was published in 2012. Do you know how many books have been written over the centuries that claimed the antichrist was alive in their day? I know, I know, this time it’s different. No, it’s not. By this time Christians should know better. Bad eschatology and often non-existent worldview thinking are making Christianity irrelevant and reactionary.

Guest article by Gary DeMar, The American Vision, 7/25/24

[1] Benjamin B. Warfield, “Antichrist,” The Expository Times, XXXII (1921), 358. Reprinted in Selected Shorter Writings of Benjamin B. Warfield — 1, ed. John E. Meeter (Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1970), 356.

[2] “The Late Great Cosmic Countdown: Hal Lindsey on the Future,” Eternity (January 1977), 80.

[3] Dave Hunt, Global Peace and the Rise of Antichrist (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1990).

[4] Salem Kirban, Countdown to Rapture (Irvine, CA: Harvest House, 1977), 181.