Is Obama the Anti-Christ?

I first heard about this in Facebook. One of my "online" friends invited me to join the group called, "No, seriously. Obama might just be the antichrist." I was passive about it, and didn't join the group. When I heard he won, I got curious, and I did a search on Obama being the anti-Christ. Just so... you know... I won't unknowingly "worship" the demon god or something. hihi ^_^ Just kidding. I wanted to know the root cause of this claim. A lot of results turned up, showing different blogs and other sites. I learned there was an email circulated on March 2008 saying that the Book of Revelations described the anti-Christ as someone with characteristics matching those of Barack Obama. Here's the email:

According to The Book of Revelations the anti-Christ is:

The anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal.... the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, will destroy everything. Is it OBAMA??

This turned out to be an Urban Legend. The words above can't be found in the real Revelations chapter. In fact, Obama is said to be a Christian. He was baptized at Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988. However, on May 31, 2008, Obama resigned his membership in the church because of controversies with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright (video here). Growing up, he was not raised in a religious household. His mother was detached from religion (because she was raised by non-religious parents), yet "in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I have ever known", says Obama. As stated in Wikipedia, he describes his father as "raised a Muslim", but a "confirmed atheist" by the time his parents met, and his stepfather as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful." Hmm...

The Book of Revelations didn't really say the words, "Muslim", nor "anti-Christ". The phrase "a man, in his 40s" most certainly wasn't in it, but instead, it mentioned a "beast", and "the whole earth marveled at the beast", and "a mouth speaking great things and blasphemy", "Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him.", etc. These are really mean words, really. I wouldn't call Obama a beast. At the end of the Chapter, it said, "Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six. "

For experimental reasons, let's take the last words literally, and do a Numerology test. hehe By numerology, I mean, digit summing - let's add the values corresponding to each letter's place in the alphabet (e.g., A=1, B=2, through Z=26) for Barack Obama's name. But let's try McCain's name first, to be fair. hehehe =D

JOHN SIDNEY McCAIN III

J+O+H+N = 10+15+8+14 = 47; 4+7=11; 1+1=2
S+I+D+N+E+Y = 19+9+4+14+5+25 = 76; 7+6=13; 1+3=4
M+C+C+A+I+N = 13+3+3+1+9+14 = 43; 4+3=7

What about the III? Hmm.. Let's see.. since he's the third person who holds the name, let's increment his numbers twice. The 247 is for the first John Sidney McCain, 358 is for the second, and John Sidney McCain III's number is 469. Fair enough? =)

Now let's look at Obama's...

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA II
B+A+R+A+C+K = 2+1+18+1+3+11 = 36; 3+6=9
H+U+S+S+E+I+N = 8+21+19+19+5+9+14 = 95; 9+5=14; 1+4=5
O+B+A+M+A = 15+2+1+13+1 = 32; 3+2=5

Since Barack is "the second" (II) person who holds the name, let the first Barack have the 955. Let's increment President-elect Obama's numbers....

9+1=10; 1+0=1
5+1=6
5+1=6

Close call! Using Numerology, the equivalent number of Obama's name is 166. The beast's number is 666. Whew! =P Hehehe Okay, that's silly. =) Seriously, I'm sure the Bible don't really say things too literally... And nobody knows for sure who or what the "beast" is, as written in the Book.

David Emery of about.com stated:

Barack Obama, the Antichrist? This would have to count as the ultimate political smear. I mean, accusing a politician of accepting bribes or cheating on taxes is one thing; naming him as the "Seven-Headed Beast of Revelation" (a.k.a. "the Wicked One," "False Prophet," and "Beast from the Abyss") is candidate bashing on an apocalyptic scale.

Though it is unclear what, besides being charismatic and popular, Barack Obama has done to earn this dishonor, outgoing Antichrist designee George W. Bush must be thrilled to see a newcomer wearing the ungodly mantle. Obama joins an extensive roster of modern luminaries branded with a "666," including Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Putin, Pope Benedict XVI, Bill Gates, and Barney the Dinosaur.

For the record, while Barack Obama is in his forties and by most accounts a persuasive speaker, he is not a Muslim (nor, for that matter, does the Book of Revelation say the Antichrist is a Muslim), nor has he ever delivered a stump speech promising "world peace."

While these may be true, I guess it wouldn't hurt to be vigilant, especially when it comes to evil and things like that. Snopes.com said:

The Biblical citation most relevant to this issue might not be one from the Revelation, but rather this passage from the Gospel of Matthew:

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

But then again, this could be anybody... Let's not point our fingers at anyone instantly. And perhaps it's best to look more deeply into things before trusting anyone 100%. =) What's your opinion on this one?


UPDATE (Nov 9, 2008): I found this site a while ago... For supplemental reading, I suggest you visit this too:

What makes you so sure that Barack Obama is not the antichrist?
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