In a shocking interview, the co-founder of Palantir and PayPal made comments that drew parallels between the emerging globalist, authoritarian ideologies of today and the end times prophecies in the Bible, speaking specifically about the Antichrist and the concept of Armageddon, and connecting these two terrifying concepts to modern tech.
For context, in an interview with the Hoover Institution’s Peter Robinson, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and longtime ally of President Trump Peter Thiel pointed to several passages in the Bible and said that he believed that based on verses like 1 Thessalonians 5:3, the Biblical “Antichrist” could be a figure or system that emerges from a society that has forsaken the teachings of Jesus.
During the interview, Thiel referenced 1 Thessalonians 5:3, a verse that refers to “sudden destruction” coming upon people at a time when they are saying, “Peace and safety.” Regarding this verse, Thiel said that his “speculative thesis is that if the Antichrist were to come to power, it would be by talking about Armageddon all the time.”
Continuing, Thiel argued that the Biblical figure of the Antichrist would be an individual or entity whose “slogan” was “peace and safety,” adding that there is “nothing wrong with peace and safety,” but clarifying, “But you have to sort of imagine that it resonates very differently in a world where the stakes are so absolute, where the stakes are so extreme, where the alternative to peace and safety is Armageddon and the destruction of all things.”
Moving on, Thiel said that he believes that the theological idea of the Antichrist is something that mimics Christianity through some form of morality while ultimately subverting God. He told Robinson, “In some ways, the Antichrist copies Christ, the Antichrist pretends to be greater than Christ, hyper Christian, ultra Christian, and then maybe only ultimately, deeply anti-Christian.”
Building on this point, Thiel urged Christians to practice humility and avoid thinking “you are more Christian than Christ,” adding, “You’re in trouble” if you engage in extreme forms of self-righteous religiosity. However, Thiel clarified that Christians should also be vigilant, speculating about a time when “the stakes are so extreme.”
Furthermore, Thiel placed significant responsibility on the United States for, in his opinion, contributing to “globalization” that could bring about an authoritarian “Antichrist” governmental entity, saying, “And so, the U.S. is ground zero of globalization and it’s ground zero of the resistance to bad globalization, we’re both… That’s why it matters so much, the President of the United States, maybe, is the catacomb, maybe it’s a type of anti-Christ, but presidential elections matter.”
Near the conclusion of the interview, Thiel said that while he believes that the Biblical descriptions of the Antichrist may not be literal, he cautions Christians and non-Christians alike to take them seriously and avoid being blinded by the fear of catastrophe. He told Robinson, “I don’t know how literally one should take these biblical accounts, but in the biblical accounts, the Antichrist comes first because people are more scared of Armageddon than the Antichrist, perhaps.”
Watch a clip from the interview:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video