Apocalypse Now? Scripture Predicts Polarization

So good luck undoing it.

NOTE: Apologies if this post is a bit rough. My schedule necessitates posting quickly, especially if I add a voiceover.

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At the end of January, while admitting I am not a statistician or the son of a statistician, I hypothesized that Gen Z, particularly the men, have gotten more interested in traditional religion, but that it is to be expected that it might not show up much in big picture surveys.

One reason is polarization. While many Gen Z are becoming “trad,” others in Gen Z, particularly the young single women, are becoming Maoist. That makes the increased interest in traditional religion hard to find in polling.

Then I teased with this:

By the way, Scripture and some venerable teachers of Scripture predicted we would become more polarized before the return of Christ. But that is way too much to get into now. I hope to do that topic justice soon.

I now venture to do that topic of predicted polarization justice, or at least begin to.

For most of my life Revelation 22:11 puzzled me:

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

What? God wants evil people to remain evil? That seems to be what the verse says under a wooden very literal interpretation.

I now think this verse points to people becoming more polarized and hardened in their viewpoints, particularly people committed to evil. It predicts that people will sort themselves into evil and good and with increased commitment.

We see this earlier in St. John’s Apocalypse in the responses of men to God’s judgements, particularly the seven vials of chapter 16.

And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds….

And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. (Rev. 16: 8-11, 21)

Instead of being moved to repentance by God’s judgements, many, probably most, will reject and blaspheme God all the more. They are that stubborn in their evil. We also see this in 9:20, 21:

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Of course, their stubborn evil vindicates the justice of God. But some will respond to God’s judgements by repenting:

And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. (11:13)

We see in the Apocalypse of John and elsewhere in Scripture a great sorting. And men do much of the sorting themselves, into the faithful who revere and love God and the evil who hate God. As we get closer to the End, it will become more clear who is who.

Jesus’ Parable of the Wheat and the Tares so indicates. (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) For much of the life of the wheat and tares, it is hard to tell what is good wheat and what is tares, a noxious weed that looks like wheat at first. But nearer to harvest, it is more obvious which is which. A sorting follows which is completed in the final sorting, the harvest of the Judgement.

The earlier unclear phase when it is hard to tell which is which could be applied to a number of times and places. I think the 1950’s in America, especially Texas and the South, is among them. (I wasn’t alive then but close enough.) It was just considered normal and being a good citizen to go to church on Sunday. Most stores were not open on Sunday, at least in the mornings because church was the place to be. But most were not zealous about that; it was just what one did. Even in the 70’s I remembered a classmate telling me that she was probably a Christian since she was an American. She thought herself a Christian but hardly knew what that was.

Not so now. It takes more commitment for post-Boomer adults to go to church. In adulthood at least, it is no longer just what one does; it is a choice you make, not one society more or less makes for you. And open hostility to the Faith and to the church is much more prevalent than before. Therefore, the wheat and the tares, the faithful and the faithless have become more sorted and evident and often polarized although the sorting is certainly not yet complete.

I should say here (with faux apologies for my clickbait title above) that I do not think that “the end of the age” is upon us. Yes, I hope to get into that also eventually. But, as Jesus himself taught, there are precursors. There are things that. . .

must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. (Matt 24: 6-10)

In other words, there will be great polarization with hatred and persecution. There certainly seems to be today. Yet that means the end is nearing, not necessarily here.

Back to the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, it is interesting that in his explanation Jesus quotes the last chapter of Daniel. That chapter also indicates a sorting and a hardening — polarization. Jesus quotes verse 3:

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

But many is by no means all. Verse 10:

Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

The wicked shall not only persist in their evil, but will become so hardened in their minds that they will not even understand the goodness of good and the goodness of God. And do we not see that? Your old school criminal may have made excuses, but he usually could admit what he was doing was wrong and even become sorry for it. Today malefactors are more inclined to see evil as good and good evil. Many of those are in prison; many are in public office. It’s not for nothing that God attaches woes to such attitudes. (Isaiah 5:20) Today criminals are also more prone to be feral, to just not care about good and evil but to act as greedy unreasoning predators.

The church is not exempt from this polarization and hardening of evil. We have clergy who even praise abortion from the pulpit. One Presbyterian even preaches Jesus would be an abortion clinic escort who might say, “Blessed are those who end pregnancies, for they will be known by their lovingkindness.”

And, of course, we have churches who enabled the Invasion in word and deed then now vilify brave men trying to defend us against the Invasion. Yes, that is even in my Anglican Church in North America. That is both a result and a further cause of polarization. We are supposed to pretend we can agree to disagree on such sanctified treason?

I’ve mentioned that polarization is a theme in Ryan Burge’s latest book The Vanishing Church. He decries it in the church, and, in his own way, he is right to do so. But in the long run, polarization is unavoidable. More and more, it looks like polarization is unavoidable now. When the wicked vomit evil, even from pulpits, and call it good without blushing, how can there not be polarization? It would be sinful weakness not to polarize against that fifth during such times. And Scripture tells us sorting and polarization is exactly what will happen.

By the way, church Fathers noticed this. But that subject will have to wait.

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lead-in image: Presbyterian Rebecca Todd Peters with a Planned Parenthood symbol on her stole.