Luther and the Lawless One: A former presidential candidate view of Anti-Christ  m.Streich

 

 

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann recently changed her church affiliation from Lutheranism to an interdenominational faith institution. At issue, in part, was the Lutheran position that the papacy was equated with the Biblical Antichrist. Bachmann’s decision highlights the role religion plays in contemporary American politics, especially among Evangelicals. Evangelicals tend to support conservative candidates that are pro-life, reject homosexuality, and support Israel on the basis of “end times” prophetic themes. Equating the papacy with the Antichrist, however, alienates Roman Catholics who, as a group, have tended to vote Republican based on social issues.

 

Should Lutherans “Backpedal” the Notion of the Pope as Antichrist?

 

The historical “search” for the Biblical Antichrist can be traced back to the first generation of Christians. The Lutheran view is based on Martin Luther’s belief that his generation would witness the prophetic end of times. Luther scholar Heiko Oberman, for example, wrote that Luther perceived that, “shadow of the chaos of the last days and the imminence of eternity.”

 

Luther’s view of a satanically inspired papacy can also be corroborated by the 1545 Origins of the Pope. Historian R.W. Scribner points out that Luther was very deliberate in associating his name with the offending woodcuts, each of which equates the papacy and Church hierarchy with demonic roots and influences. Reformation scholar Mark Edwards, Jr. writes that, “At the heart of Luther’s Against the Papacy at Rome, Founded by the Devil lies his intense conviction that he was attacking the antichrist itself.”

 

Selectively Using Bible Passages to fit Political Agendas

 

Both Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin identify with evangelical beliefs. Both tend to highlight Bible passages in the same casual and erroneous way that they perceive American History. Both of these observations are highly significant. There is little consistency. Bachmann, for example, has been criticized for her recommendation of a revisionist biography of Robert E. Lee that defends American slavery much as Southern apologists John C. Calhoun and George Fitzhugh did over 150 years ago (see Ryan Lizza’s New Yorker article on Bachmann, August 15, 2011).

 

Slavery was condoned in the Bible. Conservatives also extrapolate Old Testament Mosaic law to build a case against homosexuality. Bachmann’s husband runs a clinic that, among other things, “cures” homosexuals. Lizza identifies Bachmann, for example, with the Christian evangelical belief known as Dominionism and writes about the influence of Francis Schaeffer on Bachmann’s world view. But consistency is not part of that Biblical foundation.

 

If politicians like Bachmann and Palin applied the Bible consistently, they would have to account for Christ’s many challenges regarding social justice, a phrase used by conservatives to define so-called liberal “give-away” programs like Medicaid. Yet some of the very conservatives identifying with this view have accepted federal funds like Medicaid, including Rand Paul, a rising star among Tea Party activists and a former medical doctor, as well as Bachmann’s husband.

 

Re-Interpreting History to Promote Inconsistent Conclusions

 

The cavalier attitude toward slavery is but one example of historical revisionism and misinformation. Consider the following statement by the Family Value, a conservative group, that was signed by presidential hopefuls Bachmann and Rick Santorum: “Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American president.”

 

Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass would disagree. In fact, Republicans in 1860 would vehemently disagree. But times have changed. According to the Air Force Times (August 15, 2011), the US Air Force has discontinued an “ethics” training course “for new nuclear missile officers” after receiving objections to the content. Course content used Christian saints like Augustine to defend the notion of a “just war” as well as military leaders such as George Washington and “Stonewall” Jackson “as examples of men with strong religious convictions who fought in wars.”

 

The “just war” fits well with the nebulous war on terror. It enables conservatives like Senator John McCain to oppose the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. It encourages Sarah Palin to advocate a continued military presence in the Middle East. Like her fellow Tea Party conservatives, she wants to cut spending, but that does not include defense expenditures; the Middle East wars have cost an estimated $4 trillion. For politicians that use the Bible to crucify gays, the Sermon on the Mount is never applied to “collateral damage.”

 

Women in the New Testament

 

Female candidates gleaning the Bible for “proof texts” to support conservative agendas like the Defense of Marriage Act should turn to I Timothy 2:11: “Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.” Evangelicals will quickly point out that such passages refer to women within a specific church hierarchy. The entire passage, however, is indicative of how women were perceived in the first century.

 

Only a small number of American faith traditions deny women an equal role. Mitt Romney may have a problem with that if Mormonism becomes an issue. It can also be argued that Catholicism denies women an equal role. Most Americans accept the equal role of women even as they accept homosexuality. Certainly most Americans view American slavery as an evil, rejecting the idea that slave families in the pre-Civil War South were well cared for by slave-masters.

 

Religion, Political Agendas, and Truth

 

The Lutheran position regarding the papacy and the Antichrist may be offensive, but it is true – which may be why politicians would want to distance themselves from the denomination. The truth is, however, that all faith traditions have a history and a set of beliefs, some of which may be offensive to certain voting groups. The notion of heaven and hell can be very selective and should have no part in political debate. The United States was founded by Christians but not as a theocracy. This is frequently forgotten by some presidential candidates.

 

Sources:

 

Mark U. Edwards, Jr., Luther’s Last Battles: Politics and Polemics 1531-46 (Cornell University Press, 1983)

Toby Harnden, “Michele Bachmann signs controversial slavery marriage pact,” The Telegraph, July 10, 2011

Ryan Lizza, “Leap of Faith: The making of a Republican front-runner,” The New Yorker, August 15, 2011

Eric Marrapodi, “Michele Bachmann officially leaves her church,” CNN, July 15, 2011

Markeshia Ricks, “Air Force yanks nuke ethics course,” Air Force Times, August 15, 2011