Perspectives

For January/February 1999
Volume 2 Number 1

This page provides a place for the opinion of our editors and viewers and for answers to short questions from our viewers. Click below for informative reading.

Editorial  |  Comments from Our Viewers  |  Questions & Answers  |  Archives

Editorial

Wanted: White Male Jew
to Serve as Final Antichrist

Will the Antichrist be Jewish? Is he alive today? Do we live in the final days? Some Christians believe so. What do the Scriptures say on this controversial matter?

There is a most fascinating irony in the latest Jerry Falwell ruckus regarding the Antichrist being a white male Jew alive on earth today. Falwell, in an offhand remark at a Christian conference in Kingsport, Tennessee on January 14th, said he thought that Christ could return within the next ten years, and if so the Antichrist would be alive today-adding, "of course he'll be Jewish."

An AP reporter heard the story, wrote it up, and it flashed around the world. It was picked up by most major papers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post (Jan. 16th). The story has caused a firestorm, with denunciations of "anti-Semitism" and Biblical "literalism" from the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, and National Conference of Christian Bishops.

Falwell has appeared on national television talk shows, reaffirming his strongly pro-Israel stance, but affirming his interpretation as normative among many fundamentalist Christians. His reasoning is simple-if the Antichrist is to deceive the world, attracting the worship of all humanity as a counterfeit Christ-then he must of necessity be Jewish, as Jesus was Jewish. But Rev. Falwell seems to be playing fast and loose with the very Biblical texts he claims to uphold.

The long history of mythological and speculative identification of this elusive figure-the Final Evil Ruler of world history-includes about every possibility. The early Protestants (and some evangelical Christians today), were sure the Antichrist was the Pope.

Muslims expect a figure named al-Daijal, who will lure the Jews and set himself up as ruler in Jerusalem, only to be destroyed by Christ. Jewish tradition (yes, the original idea of an Antichrist is found in ancient Jewish sources-and was picked up by Christians and Muslims) expects a Roman ruler named Armilus, who leads armies against Jerusalem and actually slays the "Messiah ben Joseph," who is co-ruler with the Davidic Messiah. And there are some ancient Jewish traditions, picked up by the Christians, that the Antichrist will be from the Israelite tribe of Dan-which would make him a "Jew" in the loose sense of the word. The tribe of Dan was known in the Bible for its apostasy and unfaithfulness.

But, here is the ironic twist to the current situation. From a strictly Biblical perspective, Falwell is mistaken. As far as the Bible itself is concerned, there are only three texts that deal explicitly with this Final Evil Ruler-the book of Daniel, Paul's letter of II Thessalonians, and the book of Revelation. None of these picture the Antichrist as Jewish-far from it!

In Daniel 11:36-39 we read that this ruler will "consider himself greater than any god" and speak horrendous things against the God of Israel, invading the Holy Land, capturing Jerusalem, and oppressing the Jews. All Biblical scholars know the model here is the notorious Antiochus Epiphanes, the Greek-Syrian ruler who oppressed Israel during the time of the Maccabees (165 BCE). His defeat is celebrated at Hanukkah. Antiochus, as the original archetype of the Antichrist, is surely about as non-Jewish as you can get!

In the second passage the apostle Paul alludes to this very text of Daniel when he offers his own interpretation regarding the arrival of this figure (II Thessalonians 2:3-11). He is to "sit in the Temple of God, claiming that he himself is God." Paul clearly has the actions of the Roman Emperor Caligula in mind here, who attempted to do just that in CE 41--ordering his own statue to be set up in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. At the time II Thessalonians was written all eyes were focused on the emperor Nero, who was expected to behave in similarly mad ways. Again, it is clear that Paul does not have in mind a figure who would be Jewish.

The book of Revelation says the most about the Final Evil Figure of history, but "Rome" is written all over the various descriptions of his reign of terror. His mysterious identifying number is 666-and the title Nero Caesar, spelled in Hebrew neron kasar which has numbers associated with each letter of the alphabet, adds up to just that sum. The standard Roman numerals--I, V, X, L, C, D, when added up, also total 666. The Antichrist does attack Jerusalem, and oppress the people of God, but he rules from a city set on Seven Hills that controls the whole earth-clearly Rome. The writer of Revelation, like Daniel and Paul, understands the final oppressor as a Gentile-on the model of an Antiochus, a Caligula, a Nero, or a Domitian-who did oppose Jews and Christians.

None of these Bible texts offer the slightest possibility that the Antichrist is understood to be a Jew. So in this case, Mr. Falwell, one of our most outspoken advocates of a Biblical view of things, seems to have opted more for ancient legend than a straightforward, even "literal,"reading of the Bible alone.

–James D. Tabor

James D. Tabor is a Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he has taught since 1989. He previously held positions at the University of Notre Dame (1979-85) and the College of William and Mary (1985-89). His Ph.D. is from the University of Chicago in the area of Christian Origins and ancient Judaism with a specialty in apocalyptic systems of thought, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jesus and Paul, and related ancient Mediterranean religious movements.

 Comments from Our Viewers

The editor reserves the right to use or not use comments so addressed, in whole or in part, as deemed in the public interest, to include your name, and to edit or condense the letter for clarity and space.

Good Attempt at a Bad Address

To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; allison.dickens@bib_arch.com <allison.dickens@bib_arch.com>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; adickens@bib_arch.com <adickens@bib_arch.com>; [email protected] <[email protected]>

OK, my hotmail account is not working. Which is especially annoying, not only can I not check email there, but I also can't look up email addresses (since that's where I store them).  So hopefully one of my attempts is correct.

We received the above as part of a short message to Allison Dickens. We hope Allison got the profusely addressed message. We say, hope, because we believe bib-arch.org, the one combination not used, was the address in question. We enjoyed the humor in this author's frustration--been there and done that.

–editor

Lost Ten Tribes

I read the ten lost tribes article.  Very interesting idea.  If the genetic study could be done , it would give scientific proof and end the controversy.

–William Mott, Oregon

This subject of the 10 lost tribes is at once simple and complex. You state, that the area that composed the kingdom of Israel and Judah were overrun and conquered first by the Assyrians, the the Chaldeans. In this conquest and destruction by possibly two separate armies it is easily possibly for  a group of people to suffer massive causalities.on the order of 20% to 50% for the amount of people involved in the conflict. Plus all the traditional murder during the reign of terror after the conquest. Then the survivors usually the women and children are marched off to slavery in the various hard labor enterprises that the conquerors can think up. The probability of survival of culture or  for such a group of people treated to such a pogrom is exceeding low. I suppose you could say that for the ten lost tribes, the first holocaust was too successful. Those that did manage to survive would have possibly  been to small a number to leave a large number of genetic decedents. Base this estimate on a number of people from 1-3 million and you can come  with truly horrific picture of ancient middle eastern politics at its worst.

–David M. Cutlip Jr.
Sutton, W.Va.

Megiddo

I was part of Megiddo Expedition 98.  Excited to see Finkelstein report. Could not get print-out on it. What to do? Keep up the good work!

rozasid

I assume you refer to our Megiddo page. My wife complains about her browser not allowing her to print too (she uses Netscape Navigator Version 3.04). I think it is "plug-in" problem on your computer. You might want to check this out. In the meantime try the save option from your browser and then print from your word processor. I can bring up HTML on my word processor and can print from that. If you can not do this then save as a text file and then print. If all that fails, let me know and I will attach a file you can read in your word processor. Let me know the format you use, Word 6.0, etc.

–editor

Egyptian Dynasties

Thanks for the notification and consideration of my question. It has taken me a while to personally track down the details of the arguments that were of    interest as regards the questions about Biblical syncretism and Egyptian T.I.P. chronology. I consulted Kent Weeks whom, as I think you are probably aware, is currently excavating and clearing KV5.

It was, I think, David Rohl's contention that Shishak is an alternate shortened name for Rameses II. Had this been true, it might have lent a greater degree of credibility to Rohl's argument. According to Kent, however, there is no such evidence in KV5. As I recall, Mr. Rohl alluded to this connection which Dr. Weeks has refuted.

There are a few other outstanding points of inquiry, but the pivotal questions have been satisfactorily answered insofar as any such distant events in time can be, that allow me to decide against Rohl. For me, Egyptian T.I.P. chronology is far from clear and I'm not satisfied with current explanations and assumptions, but I can't go along with Rohl's proposal. Again thank you helping to clarify the issue.

–TAH, Hawaii

Our Web Site

Congratulations on a most impressive and useful website! The careful consideration given to a variety of perspectives, not to mention your respect for historical accuracy and appreciation for the painstaking field of biblical archaeology itself, shines through. Thanks for your efforts. This is a site I'm sure I'll visit frequently.

–Tom Delamater, Ohio

Tom Delamater, the radio voice of the Canton Crocodiles (1997 Frontier League Champions), is a distinguished author, speaker, and journalist. His recent book Crocodiles Rock! is available from Triple J Publishing, Canton, Ohio (ISBN 0-9664267-0-3). Your may acquire this book through amazon.com

–editor

Surfing about and happened onto your marvelous site...great job gang!   Always good to see people letting their "light" shine like that.

–Don Miller, Canada

I like your updated website with its rolling pillows and flashing bullets -- quite attractive, eye-catching, and very professional. Congratulations on your award from St. Ambrose! Of course, I immediately went to the section on Armageddon since I'm reading fiction books on the Rapture. That section contains a considerable amount of information, so I will probably have to read it several times before it all sinks in.

–Marianne Morfoot, Georgia

I visited your fine website. Congratulations on a job well done!

–David Morker, Minnesota

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Questions & Answers

Church History

I am a devoted Bible reader. Can you suggest some books on the history of St. Paul, St. Peter and the history of the Christian church after the resurrection of Christ including the history of the church in Rome with all its Pope's?

–Deborah Kerpens

For a middle-of-the-road approach to these issues I suggest the two volume The Story of Christianity by Justo L. Gonz�lez (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row, Publishers). You might want to start with Volume I The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. This book has worked well in my introductory history of Christianity courses.

–editor

E. Raymond Capt

I am looking for information regarding E. Raymond Capt. Where might I find books or literature he has produced?  Thank you.

–Bev Hill

Links you might look at are Books By E. Raymond Capt and Cassette Tapes By E. Raymond Capt. We do not endorse Mr. Capt's works as we find them to be highly speculative and absent scientific foundation.

–editor

The Culture and Customs of the Early Church

Hi. My name is EdDeL from North Carolina. We have a project due the 10th of December and I was wondering if you guys can help me out. I have to make a thesis about the life of being a Christian back then and being Christian now. What I mean by the that is we both do the same stuff like praise the lord and even back then but somehow the way we live and do praising are different and I have to somehow prove that....please help me out I really do not know what to do and if you have some more question please do e-mail me back....or if you also can...can y'all give me some website I can maybe get an information on? Thank you so much.....I hope you guys can help me...

–Michelle, North Carolina

Take a deep breath and relax. We suggest you look at The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Star (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996).  It will provide you with some details as to the culture of early Greco-Roman Christianity. Another work is an article by Ben Witherington III    entitled "Why Not Idol Meat?" from the Bible Review [10.3 (June 1994): 38-43, 54-55]. These two sources should get you launched.

–editor

I am a 9th grade student in Georgia. I am doing a term paper on Biblical Archaeology. I would appreciate it if you would send me some information on the Dead Sea Scrolls or something like that. Thank you and please email me back.

–Emily M.

You might wan to look at the World Book Encyclopedia under Dead Sea Scrolls. Also use the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature in your school library to help you locate articles. If you do a hotbot or yahoo search be sure to tell the browser to do an exact match for dead sea scrolls.

–editor

Pictures and Other Visual Aids

Is there a way to do a search on your site for specific research or photos on a study of a particular Biblical text?  For example, I'm studying the Sermon on the Mount and would love to have a picture of the believed location of the sermon or when I was teaching Ruth it would have been helpful to have some your research on the Moabites or photos of the area.  The same thing with coins, boats, etc.?

–Paul Doc Henry

This is a hard request to fulfill. I have been on the Mt. of the Beatitudes several times but did not take photographs. Most of our work has been on videotape. The BAR puts out a slide set that might be of interest to you. Most of my photographs have been developed for my book in process--The First Christians.    When I get my video-editing equipment reinstalled, it has been out for an overhaul by Panasonic, I will check out the footage. Perhaps we can get a photo or two from our tape library that will met your need.

–editor

What is the context of I Corinthians 11?

I am trying to do some research on the city of Corinth.  I am trying to get a better perspective on what the writer Paul was talking about in the 11th chapter of 1st Corinthians.  By understanding some of their customs and traditions, perhaps I may better understand what is actually being taught.  If you could direct me in the right way, I would be very appreciative. I hope to hear from  you soon.

–Derrick Mannis

Among other matters there are at least three interrelated issues in 1 Corinthians that appear problematic—apostolic authority, appropriate hair length, and the Christian Passover. In context it appears that some of the Corinthian congregation continued to bring certain Greco-Roman practices, associated with the pagan temple cults, into the Church of God (the qehal'el or Ekklesia tou Theo). These practices included matters pertaining to personal appearance and dining with others in and out of the fellowship of the Church. Some members of the congregation were factious and not quick to accept Pauline authority but looked to other leading ministers in the early Church. This prompts Paul to refer to the practices of the whole apostolic church to make his point.

Others may characterize these issues differently due to their particular world view. Hopefully biblical archaeologists have more concern about the context that produced this writing, and its meaning within that context, than supporting any specific denominational perspective. At BIBARCH™ our primary concern is the search for fact and truth in these matters not support for any particular hermeneutic.

The nature of the early church in the CE 30-70 period was decidedly Judeo-Christian organized on the synagogue model. The house-church (better, house-congregation) was part of the synagogue mentality. Synagogues were primarily for teaching, questions, and fellowship—not what has become understood as "worship" in churches today (in spite of what some clerics believe). Members, men or women, could interrupt the speakers and ask questions and probably disagree. Note verse 1 (imitate me as I imitate Christ), verse 19 (there are factions), and verse 16 (what I am telling you is what we practice in all of God's churches, that is, the whole apostolic church).

Veils were not part of life in the early church nor in Greco-Roman culture. Veils are part of an Arabic custom of later centuries. The immediate issue in Corinth was hair style emulating and associated with certain pagan lifestyles. Paul tells his readers that the practice in the apostolic church was for men to wear shorter hair and women longer hair and grounds his argument in theology and the custom of the apostolic church. This is not a discussion of veils and hats. This practice was in contrast to hair length in the Greco-Roman world. In my opinion this practice set Judeo-Christians apart from the pagan temple cults with their institutionalized homosexuality replete with cross-dressing.

Passionate arguments about sailing conditions aside, the letter appears to have been written ca. 56 during the Days of Unleavened Bread from Ephesus when Paul learned how the Corinthian congregation kept the Christian Passover. The letter has a degree of anger in it probably heightened by the hastiness of his reply to the letter he had received from Corinth. Paul had just spent more than 3 years teaching the congregation the way he wanted things done and they quickly reverted to their pagan Greco-Roman practices when he moved on. The Corinthian group ate the Lord's Supper (the full meal/banquet) as one element of their Christian Passover observance. They did it using pagan dining customs. The attitude of many was wrong and Paul scolded them. See the article by Ben Witherington III  entitled "Why Not Idol Meat?" from the Bible Review [10.3 (June 1994): 38-43, 54-55] for an excellent clarification on this problem.

When one considers the transition from Judeo-Christianity to Greco-Roman Christianity 1 Corinthians certainly provides good evidence. The cultural pressure in congregations with growing Gentile memberships eventually resulted in the rise of a wholly different Christianity.

Three books relative to Roman Corinth, which I doubt will be particularly helpful on 1 Corinthians 11 however, are:

1. The Peloponnese by E. Karpodini-Dimitriadi (Athens, Ekdotike Athenon S. A., 1988).
2. Ancient Corinth by Petros G. Themelis (Athens: Editions Hannibal, 1987).
3. Ancient Corinth by Nicos Papahatzis (Athens, Ekdotike Athenon S. A., 1988).

–editor

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