AI
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 8:13:57 PM
Nope, am not into Armageddons in any case, and with Iron Dome et al, whatever, it won't get to that. Maybe your mm41 has some dispensationalistic leanings. You must know there are many religious nutjobs working toward the end time, rapture and all that. How nuts is that, yet they make a big deal of woke. See:
The Radical Past and Future of Christian Zionism
"brooklyn13, Whether or not antisemitism is not on the rise in the USA is arguable, but criticism of Israel genocidal policy is on
the rise. And that is being promoted as antisemitism. And Trump's friend, the Heritage Foundation, is pushing much of that."
Related: Ok, what does Israel have to do with anti-semitism in the US? Again, why aren't
American Evangelical Zionists being attacked, anyone trashing Huckabee's house?
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176491641
By Sarah Jones, senior writer for Intelligencer who covers politics and labor
July 1, 2025
Senator Ted Cruz (center) in Washington, D.C. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Days before the Trump administration bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas tried to defend his unblinking support of Israel by telling Tucker Carlson that the Bible gives him no other choice and that Zionism is part of his Christian faith, though he could not recall the precise verse that bolsters his arguments.
Christian Zionism is not a new phenomenon, and it can’t take all the credit for the United States’s bloody foreign policy. But it is once again salient as Donald Trump surrounds himself with Evangelicals who profess the ideology and he pays lip service to it, as he does to other popular Evangelical convictions. Many Christian Zionists are influenced by dispensationalism, a relatively new doctrine that bestows the fate of Israel with prophetic significance. The end-times are nigh, and Israel has a key role to play in Armageddon — these are ideas popularized by the Left Behind series, which sold millions of copies at the beginning of this century. Followers such as Cruz vote, run for office, and shape foreign policy, and often they make excuses for Israel’s war crimes.
I spoke with scholar Daniel G. Hummel of the Lumen Center in Madison, Wisconsin, about his 2019 book, Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and U.S.-Israeli Relations, and the history of Christian Zionism in the U.S. and the rest of the world. In Covenant Brothers, Hummel traces the movement from its origins and early popularity in the 19th century to the rise of the contemporary Christian right and beyond.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Let’s start with the idea of dispensationalism, which is key to the rise of Christian Zionism. What is it, and how does support for Israel factor into it?
Dispensationalism is a system of theology that’s quite popular among conservative Protestants — Evangelicals and what we call Fundamentalists. It started in the early 19th century on the fringes of dissenter Protestantism in Great Britain. When John Nelson Darby broke from the Church of England and founded the Plymouth Brethren sect, he developed a way of reading the Bible that led to a distinct set of teachings about who Israel is, who the Church is, and, for the sake of simplicity, what the future holds based on the Bible.
Dispensationalists starting with Darby believe God has had basically two chosen peoples throughout history: One of those is Israel, and one is the Church. The payoff is that any prophecies relating to Israel in the Old Testament prophets or wherever Israel is mentioned in Revelation or elsewhere, are, for dispensationalists, always referencing the ethnic Israel, what we call the Jewish people today.
The Church is to gather all Gentiles to God to follow him. Then, at some point soon, God will hit “unpause” on his plans with Israel. The thing that will launch that is the Rapture, which will take away the Church from the world. It will go up into Heaven and then God will resume his plans with Israel through the prophecies.
Dispensationalism, at least as I learned about it, also holds that the end-times events will happen in a specific order. Can you talk about that a bit?
On paper, dispensationalists say nothing needs to happen in the world right now before the Rapture happens. It’s an imminent event.
[Insert: It's an imminent event like Trump justifies his war on his bullshit imminent danger of Iran.]
In practice, it’s very common in dispensational circles to try to glean where the world is going because of the assumption that the Bible really does lay out in pretty specific detail what will happen at the end-times. For at least a hundred years, there has been a strong tradition in dispensationalism of speculating about global events, world wars, the Cold War, or conflicts in the Middle East but also elsewhere. The European Union was a source of speculation because it seemed to align with the beast with ten horns in Revelation.
They’re not saying that this has to happen before the end comes but that these are the types of things we would expect to happen as the world ramps up to its climactic phase as prophesied. Some dispensations have veered into date setting, though that is considered a no-no. The one people make a lot of fun of is a famous book called 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. But in the main, date setting is looked at as not the right way to go. Partly, it leads to a credibility crisis in the movement, but also, in theory, this should be something only God knows the timing of. Of course, the more popular side of dispensationalism makes a ton of money and gets a lot of attention for Left Behind in the 1990s and 2000s and The Late Great Planet Earth in the 1970s.
Continued: https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176493336
See also --- AI Overview
Those who hope for and work toward Armageddon are primarily associated with specific, often fringe, apocalyptic religious ideologies, particularly within certain evangelical, dispensationalist, and historicist Christian movements. These groups interpret biblical prophecy not as a distant event, but as an unfolding reality requiring active support to "speed up" the return of Jesus Christ
.
Here is a breakdown of the groups and perspectives involved:
* Evangelical and Dispensationalist Christians: Some American evangelical groups believe that geopolitical events in the Middle East, particularly conflicts involving Israel, are signs of the end times. They believe that political support for Israel is a biblical duty that helps facilitate the final battle, known as Armageddon, which will lead to the return of Christ.
* Proponents of "Rapture Logic": These believers often view wars, such as those in the Middle East, not as tragic events, but as positive developments that fulfill prophetic timelines. They argue that this "war-seeking" stance is a way of fulfilling God's divine plan, believing it will hasten the end of evil.
* Seventh-day Adventists (Historical Interpretation): While not all share this view, some in this tradition believe that current global events and an anticipated unity between spiritualism, American Protestantism, and Catholicism are setting the stage for Armageddon. They view it as a cleansing event that will usher in a new heaven and earth.
* Critics and Progressive Christians: Many theologians and religious leaders reject this proactive push for catastrophe. They argue that "working toward" Armageddon is a betrayal of Christian, peace-focused teachings and that such views are often fueled by a dangerous mix of apocalyptic hope and "clash of civilizations" rhetoric.
Key Beliefs Held by Those Seeking the End Times:
* The Rapture: The belief that believers will be taken to heaven before a period of chaos and destruction.
* Israel as a Focal Point: The conviction that modern Israel plays a central role in the final, violent battle against a "godless" enemy.
* End Times Prophecy: Interpreting current news and political conflicts through the lens of Revelation.
Such movements often face intense criticism for supporting political and military actions that could lead to widespread death, with critics emphasizing that "Armageddon is not a strategy for peace".
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=those+who+hope+for+and+are+working+toward+armegeddon+
The Radical Past and Future of Christian Zionism
"brooklyn13, Whether or not antisemitism is not on the rise in the USA is arguable, but criticism of Israel genocidal policy is on
the rise. And that is being promoted as antisemitism. And Trump's friend, the Heritage Foundation, is pushing much of that."
Related: Ok, what does Israel have to do with anti-semitism in the US? Again, why aren't
American Evangelical Zionists being attacked, anyone trashing Huckabee's house?
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176491641
By Sarah Jones, senior writer for Intelligencer who covers politics and labor
July 1, 2025
Senator Ted Cruz (center) in Washington, D.C. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Days before the Trump administration bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas tried to defend his unblinking support of Israel by telling Tucker Carlson that the Bible gives him no other choice and that Zionism is part of his Christian faith, though he could not recall the precise verse that bolsters his arguments.
Christian Zionism is not a new phenomenon, and it can’t take all the credit for the United States’s bloody foreign policy. But it is once again salient as Donald Trump surrounds himself with Evangelicals who profess the ideology and he pays lip service to it, as he does to other popular Evangelical convictions. Many Christian Zionists are influenced by dispensationalism, a relatively new doctrine that bestows the fate of Israel with prophetic significance. The end-times are nigh, and Israel has a key role to play in Armageddon — these are ideas popularized by the Left Behind series, which sold millions of copies at the beginning of this century. Followers such as Cruz vote, run for office, and shape foreign policy, and often they make excuses for Israel’s war crimes.
I spoke with scholar Daniel G. Hummel of the Lumen Center in Madison, Wisconsin, about his 2019 book, Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and U.S.-Israeli Relations, and the history of Christian Zionism in the U.S. and the rest of the world. In Covenant Brothers, Hummel traces the movement from its origins and early popularity in the 19th century to the rise of the contemporary Christian right and beyond.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Let’s start with the idea of dispensationalism, which is key to the rise of Christian Zionism. What is it, and how does support for Israel factor into it?
Dispensationalism is a system of theology that’s quite popular among conservative Protestants — Evangelicals and what we call Fundamentalists. It started in the early 19th century on the fringes of dissenter Protestantism in Great Britain. When John Nelson Darby broke from the Church of England and founded the Plymouth Brethren sect, he developed a way of reading the Bible that led to a distinct set of teachings about who Israel is, who the Church is, and, for the sake of simplicity, what the future holds based on the Bible.
Dispensationalists starting with Darby believe God has had basically two chosen peoples throughout history: One of those is Israel, and one is the Church. The payoff is that any prophecies relating to Israel in the Old Testament prophets or wherever Israel is mentioned in Revelation or elsewhere, are, for dispensationalists, always referencing the ethnic Israel, what we call the Jewish people today.
The Church is to gather all Gentiles to God to follow him. Then, at some point soon, God will hit “unpause” on his plans with Israel. The thing that will launch that is the Rapture, which will take away the Church from the world. It will go up into Heaven and then God will resume his plans with Israel through the prophecies.
Dispensationalism, at least as I learned about it, also holds that the end-times events will happen in a specific order. Can you talk about that a bit?
On paper, dispensationalists say nothing needs to happen in the world right now before the Rapture happens. It’s an imminent event.
[Insert: It's an imminent event like Trump justifies his war on his bullshit imminent danger of Iran.]
In practice, it’s very common in dispensational circles to try to glean where the world is going because of the assumption that the Bible really does lay out in pretty specific detail what will happen at the end-times. For at least a hundred years, there has been a strong tradition in dispensationalism of speculating about global events, world wars, the Cold War, or conflicts in the Middle East but also elsewhere. The European Union was a source of speculation because it seemed to align with the beast with ten horns in Revelation.
They’re not saying that this has to happen before the end comes but that these are the types of things we would expect to happen as the world ramps up to its climactic phase as prophesied. Some dispensations have veered into date setting, though that is considered a no-no. The one people make a lot of fun of is a famous book called 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. But in the main, date setting is looked at as not the right way to go. Partly, it leads to a credibility crisis in the movement, but also, in theory, this should be something only God knows the timing of. Of course, the more popular side of dispensationalism makes a ton of money and gets a lot of attention for Left Behind in the 1990s and 2000s and The Late Great Planet Earth in the 1970s.
Continued: https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176493336
See also --- AI Overview
Those who hope for and work toward Armageddon are primarily associated with specific, often fringe, apocalyptic religious ideologies, particularly within certain evangelical, dispensationalist, and historicist Christian movements. These groups interpret biblical prophecy not as a distant event, but as an unfolding reality requiring active support to "speed up" the return of Jesus Christ
.
Here is a breakdown of the groups and perspectives involved:
* Evangelical and Dispensationalist Christians: Some American evangelical groups believe that geopolitical events in the Middle East, particularly conflicts involving Israel, are signs of the end times. They believe that political support for Israel is a biblical duty that helps facilitate the final battle, known as Armageddon, which will lead to the return of Christ.
* Proponents of "Rapture Logic": These believers often view wars, such as those in the Middle East, not as tragic events, but as positive developments that fulfill prophetic timelines. They argue that this "war-seeking" stance is a way of fulfilling God's divine plan, believing it will hasten the end of evil.
* Seventh-day Adventists (Historical Interpretation): While not all share this view, some in this tradition believe that current global events and an anticipated unity between spiritualism, American Protestantism, and Catholicism are setting the stage for Armageddon. They view it as a cleansing event that will usher in a new heaven and earth.
* Critics and Progressive Christians: Many theologians and religious leaders reject this proactive push for catastrophe. They argue that "working toward" Armageddon is a betrayal of Christian, peace-focused teachings and that such views are often fueled by a dangerous mix of apocalyptic hope and "clash of civilizations" rhetoric.
Key Beliefs Held by Those Seeking the End Times:
* The Rapture: The belief that believers will be taken to heaven before a period of chaos and destruction.
* Israel as a Focal Point: The conviction that modern Israel plays a central role in the final, violent battle against a "godless" enemy.
* End Times Prophecy: Interpreting current news and political conflicts through the lens of Revelation.
Such movements often face intense criticism for supporting political and military actions that could lead to widespread death, with critics emphasizing that "Armageddon is not a strategy for peace".
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=those+who+hope+for+and+are+working+toward+armegeddon+
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
Discover What Traders Are Watching
Explore small cap ideas before they hit the headlines.
