American evangelicals are making a very unusual connection between Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin , and the end of the world.
According to the Washington Post , for years, evangelicals “ have used global chaos to propel ” the idea that the apocalypse and the second coming of Christ are at hand. And it is Putin’s actions that they are focused on.
Could Vladimir Putin battle the antichrist? How some evangelicals debate the… – Washington Post http://t.co/UWCc5dkXBL
— Vladimir Putin (@VladimirPutin24) April 22, 2015
Putin’s actions, which have at times angered other world powers, “offers fresh ammunition for evangelicals’ apocalyptic views,” with some evangelical experts claiming that, “The more unpredictable and aggressive the Russian leader becomes, the more passionately some evangelicals will preach Jesus’s imminent return.”
So what exactly has Putin done that has these evangelicals trying to connect him to the apocalypse?
Putin’s “daring ambition and overtures of peace in Ukraine” along with the fact that Putin has hinted that “he might arm Iran” is what the religious group is using as supposed proof.
While this may be the first time that the religious group is focusing on Putin, they have longed looked to Russia and its leaders and events as signs of the coming of the end of the world.
An Irish preacher in the late 1800’s, John Nelson Darby, taught that the end of the world would come when the Antichrist “would have to defeat competing devilish empires,” namely Russia, and would then face off against Christ himself.
So the evangelicals are expecting Putin, leader of a “devilish empire,” to square off against the Antichrist?
While they may be serious about a possible Putin/Antichrist battle, Twitter is taking the prediction of the coming apocalypse a little more lightly.
I would, topless, if i were not in fact, the anti-christ himself. http://t.co/M5wbrD2gfz -> @mlouferrer pic.twitter.com/W1uHg8olOs
— Vladimir Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) April 23, 2015
Could Putin BE the Antichrist? “Could Vladimir Putin battle the Antichrist? washington Post http://t.co/9CGnqQWXd1
— tsnowbird (@tsnowbird5000) April 23, 2015
And what seems to be just as interesting is recent news that Putin has proposed “ the appointment of actor Steven Seagal as Russia’s ‘honorary consul’ in two US states , thereby becoming a key behind-the-scenes go-between at a point when relations between the two countries had been deteriorating rapidly,” according to Gulf News .
Report: Vladimir Putin wanted Steven Seagal to be his U.S. Liaison.— http://t.co/54vZSwXBBs #Politics pic.twitter.com/1eH4qZ550y
— Sun Times News (@News_STN) April 23, 2015
I suppose if the evangelicals are right and Vladimir Putin will be battling the Antichrist, who better to have by his side than Steven Seagal?
[Photo Courtesy of Kremlin.ru ]
