Without Divine Perspective seers fail
It is one thing to partially see what is, and another – from greater depth and scope – what also is coming. The one may see yet perish, and the other see safe passage through the danger.
I deeply appreciate the cultural, psychological, and political insights of N.S. Lyons, Paul Kingsnorth, Rod Dreher, and Wesley Yang (I am glad to find writers of such depth here at Substack), yet if a lack of perspective limits the value of even the most penetrating analyses and insights, we may be perilously caught off-guard. As these writers – seers, really – peer into areas of political-cultural dynamics and the various forces and players both uniting and contending, it is not enough to see only what is (valuable as that may be), if we do not have at least a general view of where things are heading and what is coming, and what the likely outcomes. Is such foresight even possible? And if so from where might it come?
Essentially this is an epistemological question: how do we know what we know? Is there any reliable plumbing the deeps of the present – and future – that is more than guess-work, however astute?
The name of this newsletter, Apocalypse Field: Global Arena of Consciousness, hints at the world-view from within which I speak: the Judeo-Christian, and specifically the vision of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
More particularly my focus here pertains to the Apocalypse – another title for apostle John’s Book of Revelation – and the days near the fulfillment of its prophecies, said focus being on what discerning people are thinking in the global arena (small digital world!), especially those raising opposition or alarm at massive dark developments portending a real equivalent to Tolkien’s “shadow of Mordor”, which is also a topic revealed in Apocalypse’s visions.
Lyons, Kingsnorth, and the others mentioned (I bring them up as I relate to them) perceive a powerful encroaching darkness embracing an embryonic dystopian urge (one could say strongly-willed agenda) that would oppress and enslave humankind were it left unchecked. Their analyses are often brilliant and full of insight, enriching the understanding.
In my reading of the Apocalypse, it would have us believe this urge cannot – ultimately – be checked, and is preordained to dominate the world. To what end? As a crucible of sorts (where gold is purified) to purify those who love freedom of spirit and life, not denying the Source of that – for acknowledging and loving that Source shall eventually be outlawed on pain of death.
In plain speech: it is an archetypal Evil that shall take the reins of world control (may not reality be stranger and more poignant than fiction! can we not even see such coming?) – and who is the archetypal Opponent of this encroaching monstrosity but the author of the Apocalypse given John. As gold is refined in the furnace, so must those worthy to inherit the glory of the age to come be tried. An age to come? Glory? Trial? Amid all this profound evil, can one not envisage profound Good?! To quote another seer, “Why should the devil get all the best stories?”
The Evil to come – spoken of at length in Apocalypse – needs to be understood by those who would withstand it, and – ultimately – prevail in the contest for our souls, families, and communities. There is no other antidote to the Poison emanating from this “Mordor” but a pure heart unafraid to die for said antidote: “And they overcame him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11).
From the back page blurb of a book I wrote around five years back (free digital copies here, https://bit.ly/3nQHBrB) :
There is a storm coming and we are feeling the sting of its wind on our faces, but the storm center itself – not yet clear – has a face, hands, and teeth. We do not want to meet it unprepared, the dark, cunning visage we may intuit lurking behind the scenes everywhere.
What is happening in our world is beyond the natural order of things. We are caught up in some immense catastrophic drama (Tolkien might say, eucatastrophic), and shall we prevail? We’re going to need a saving of some sort to withstand the evil coming (our seeing not enough to withstand it).
About dying to gain victory – a seemingly counter-intuitive idea – the basis for the whole of Christian hope is that “resurrection changes everything”. Not reincarnation, as some would think, nor simply going down into the dirt, but being raised from the dead, according to the word of God. So that death is not the last word. Raised and in a new “glorified” body, to inhabit a renewed earth wherein is no death or evil – neither outside nor within us – is this too good to be true? Many have already given their lives for the truth of it they trusted, knowing death had been abolished by an anciently foretold Saviour. Abolished?
The devil does not get all the best stories! But the best Story has a gatekeeper to be entered into, and the pass is your love of Him, and trust of Him.
How to tell this story without the religious accretions that have been plastered upon it? Yet remaining true to its distinctive realities. Stay tuned.