Obama and the Anti-Christ

John Hubers over at ChristianZionism.org has alerted me to a video clip of Tim LaHaye and Jim Jenkins, co-authors of Left Behind, appearing on CNBC's Rachel Maddow's show.

What Rachel wanted to know apparently is whether or not they believed President Obama was the anti-Christ. "Well, not really," they said. "but we can see his reflection in his eyes." Ok, they didn't actually say that. But close to it. Which more or less confirms what many of us have always known about hard core dispensationalists like LaHaye (Jenkins is simply a ghost writer; not sure where he stands): their prophetic declamations have more to do with right wing political positions than actual insights into biblical prophecy. It's never been about having any kind of informed perspective on God's purposes and plans. Its about advancing a particular sectarian political agenda under the smoke screen of "the Bible says."

Mark Hulsether, who is Professor of Religious Studies and American Studies at the University of Tennessee, writes at Religious Dispatches,

"Jenkins and LaHaye wisely distanced themselves from a bald assertion that Obama is the anti-Christ, retreating instead to a somewhat more theologically tortuous position of Obama as something of a warm-up act. First, because the anti-Christ will only appear after the rapture—and since Obama “claims to be a Christian” and “might be a closet Christian”—he may not even be on earth during the crucial stages. (Familiar readers may recall, however, that liberal Christians in end-times novels are almost always left behind.) Second, they argued that there must be an overwhelming consensus about the anti-Christ’s popularity—a state of affairs that does not currently exist. In fact, Jenkins claimed that he had heard “from just about as many Democrats accusing McCain of being the anti-Christ as Republicans accusing Obama” (a doubtful claim, though interesting if true). In any case, at worst Obama appears not to be the anti-Christ, but merely to be setting the stage for his later appearance.

Despite these disclaimers, Jenkins allowed that “I can see why people might think that”—i.e., think that Obama fits the job description. LaHaye repeatedly returned to the dual claim that prophetic scenarios foretell a stage of socialism in which “government controls everything”—redistributing wealth from the haves to the have-nots—and that Obama is such a socialist working for such a world. His key argument was that Obama’s policies suggest that prophecies are falling into place. In other words, Obama is playing his part as a key leader of the bad guys even if he’s not the anti-Christ himself. The idea that Obama might be the anti-Christ has been floating round some Christian circles. Those who follow a dispensationalist understanding of salvation history are particularly attracted to this idea, since they are always looking for specific events and people to play out their anticipated end of history."

Jerry Jenkins on his personal blog says that he and LaHaye felt ambushed and that their words were edited out of context. In response, Maddow posted both her apology and the full, unedited tape on her website. See for yourself here:

Back in August 2008, Oliver Burkeman, writing in the Guardian, covered the story Barak Obama not the Antichrist: Official

"For further useful clarifications like this, why not sign up here for the Left Behind Prophecy Club? You'll receive a weekly email explaining how various events in the headlines are indicative of the impending Rapture. Still, LaHaye and Jenkins's statement raises more questions than it answers. If not Obama, who is the Antichrist? The criteria, apparently, include a) going around acting like you're the saviour of the world, b) being "self-exalting", and now c) not being American."

For more clues see TIME, CNN, Rapture Ready and Left Behind Author's speak out on McCain ad "The One"