If I wished to gain an understanding of why so many Americans believe in end time apocalyptic scenarios, I would go to the obvious place: Princeton Theological Seminary! Bwa ha ha. Well, kidding aside, Voice of America/Jerome Socolovsky would. It appears that PTS professor Richard Fenn explains that various feelings of insecurity caused primarily by the economics of a non-socialized nation are the root cause of American apocalyptic thinking. (see VOA News) Such affected Americans, according to Fenn, are also pushing the Mideast towards Armageddon. There you have it.
The truth is, most of these people (44% of Americans) differ in that they have not discarded Jesus Christ as a barely relevant historical personality. It was He who predicted the “end time scenarios.” Also, many Americans have not bought into the idea that the Bible is a flawed unreliable antiquity.
I would make no excuse for Fenn, but it is easy to see why the idea has little street cred among skeptics. There have been plenty of date setting, campus building apocalyptic kooks in the mix. It is sad that so many people support aberrant teachings, presumably for a variety of reasons. But it’s not like Jesus didn’t warn about manipulators. Even so, Jesus predicted a time quite like the present as preceding an “apocalyptic scenario.” Though there have several periods in history that resembled His descriptions, there are a few features that have never materialized, especially if you consider the other New Testament writer’s predictions. Mainly a compulsory global financial system, a Mideast peace treaty (broken), the reappearance of Christ in the Mideast. These things lead many to believe that Jesus’ prediction is yet to come. Jesus, who described end time apocalypse, warned his listeners about the manipulators (Luke 21). Rather, live a full godly life, not consumed with either pleasure or care, and live a life of expectation.
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