TYT fan David Harris brought to our attention that Ben Carson may believe some very strange things about the end of the world. Cenk Uygur, hosts of the The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
Thanks to David Harris for providing the information for this story.
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“Ben Carson’s church believes the United States government will bring about the End Times.
According to mainstream Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ will occur after the U.S. government teams up with the Catholic Church—which Adventists believe is the “Babylon” of the Book of Revelation, with the pope being the Antichrist—to compel Adventists and others to worship on Sunday, rather than Saturday.
That may seem like a small hook on which to hang the fate of the world, but for Adventists, it is a core belief, taught at “prophecy seminars” and elaborated in excruciating geopolitical detail by key Adventist leaders.
Is it awkward for Ben Carson to run for president, if his faith believes the U.S. government will team up with the Antichrist? Will it matter to his evangelical base if he, like his denomination, believes that the government will join forces with the Whore of Babylon, to persecute religious minorities and compel Sunday worship?
So far, no.
We don’t know, though, what Carson personally believes—only what his denomination teaches.
In fact, the one time Carson was asked about the End Times, the media blew it. In an interview with conservative journalist Sharyl Atkisson, Carson first focused on the universal aspects of Adventist theology.”*
Read more here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles…
Comments
I’m an Ex Seventh-Day-Adventist and I was brought up in the church and its culture. When I was younger the church actually had a legal division dedicated to supporting the separation of church and state because they were afraid the United States would enact religiously based laws which could include laws requiring people to go to church on Sunday. Seventh-Day-Adventists view attendance of Church on Saturday as the Seal of God versus going to church on Sunday as the Mark of the Beast, which would prevent one from going to heaven when Jesus comes the 2nd time and also mark you to receive the 7 last plagues. The Church is largely influenced by a prophetess called Ellen White who emerged in the 1840s after the Millerites had mistakenly claimed that Jesus would come again in October of 1844. This obviously didn’t happen, so those who still were holding on came up with a complex theology around what Jesus was doing in Heaven to explain their mistaken interpretation of Daniel and Revelation. An influential benefactor named Joseph Bates felt the 7th Day Sabbath was important and added this particular idea around the Seal of God into the complex theology around the metaphorical interpretation of the book of Revelation in the New Testament. Ellen White conveniently began to have visions about this idea and it became a cornerstone idea which became a part of the name for the Church. At the time there were actual Sunday or Blue laws on the books in many states, so the threat of a Sunday law wasn’t as far fetched as it would be today. There are actually 3 beast powers that are believed to combine their efforts to persecute Adventists in the last days. These are Rome or the Catholic church, Apostate Protestant Churches (the far religious right), and spiritualism which could include liberal protestant churches and New Age/Eastern religions. These will supposedly combine forces to attack and kill all Seventh Day Adventists. The current church is loosing approximately 70% of its young people as well as its more educated members and it has become more and more aligned with far right ideas in a peculiar cognitive dissonance with the far right within the church itself emerging as the upper leadership, even though there are large groups of cultural and liberal members. Ben Carson holds celebrity status within the church and would have to bend his beliefs pretty severely to be president. I suspect his running is more of a marketing strategy for his books and speaking engagements than a serious run at the presidency.
TYT, hi there. I just came across this video on youtube. Actually someone posted it on one of my fb group pages. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I’m a Seventh Day Adventist and everything that Carson has expressed concerning Rev 13 and the roles of the US, “Rome,” and Sunday laws is actually true and what we believe. I will not deny it or hide or be embarrassed about this view. My only suggestion is that perhaps instead of waiting for an interview with Carson to further clarify this on media, that you yourselves ask an actual Seventh Day Adventist what that is all about and how we understand Revelation 13. We’d be happy to answer any of your questions with regards to that.
Now, i’ll be first to admit that i’m not that great when it comes to politics, but if i remember correctly, wasn’t it this year alone that some lady from Arizona was suggesting making laws to have people attend “a church of their choice on SUNDAY” ? So, if someone in politics has already said this, why can’t you at least see it as a potential case for our future in the US? (And yes, i understand the Bill of Rights and freedom of religion, etc) but consider this also that it is in our own history that back in the 1880’s they were trying to create a Sunday Law and it was actually a Seventh Day Adventist by the name of A.T.Jones who fought against this legislation. You can view a brief account of the story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt4LIzjoZqg
And please keep in my mind that even though we believe these things will happen, it does not mean that we seek for any day to be forced on anyone, whether Sunday or Saturday, but rather we agree with you most likely that this does go against our rights of religious liberty. We will be alongside you and other skeptics concerning this shouting that it isn’t right, but can we change prophecy? No. Should we still stand with our arms crossed pouting and complaining? No. What then is expected of us in the light of this prophecy? Try and fight it anyway because the positions we take are recorded in the books of heaven and that will count. See the mark of the beast, according to the bible, is not some bar-code or tattoo, but rather obeying the Sunday law. A beast is a symbol in prophecy for nations or kingdoms and so to have a “mark” from the US, is to obey it’s law against a higher law, God’s law. I recommend the study of Daniel 2, 7-12 and Revelation 13 together. Daniel 7 and Rev13 especially go together. Blessings to you all and may the God of Truth lead you into all understanding for He is not a God of confusion, so we have that promise at least.