Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Things that are not part of politics happening presently and how we approach or address it as Anabaptists.
R7ehr
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Re: Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Post by R7ehr »

JimFoxvog wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2026 9:12 pm
R7ehr wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2026 8:14 pm I think it is a part of Gods mercy that mankind doesn’t live as love as they used to.
Did you mean to type "as long as"?
Yes
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barnhart
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Re: Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Post by barnhart »

Judas Maccabeus wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2026 9:57 pm
barnhart wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2026 9:37 pm Are we in another age of formation for cult/non orthodox Christianity like the era that saw the introduction of Jehovah's witnesses, the Mormons and the Utopian collectivist cults?
In other words “Are we a burned over Bible Belt” like upstate New York was after the second great awakening? Maybe.
I think it is worth considering. Are there things that the faithful church of the era should have done? Are the parallels close enough that we could extrapolate things that we should be aware of? Even while the church of that era was pursuing the fires of revivalism and populism that "burned over" there were outsiders with a more clear-eyed analysis who wrote critiques of the excesses, Mark Twain comes most readily to mind.
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JohnH
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Re: Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Post by JohnH »

barnhart wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2026 9:01 am
Judas Maccabeus wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2026 9:57 pm
barnhart wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2026 9:37 pm Are we in another age of formation for cult/non orthodox Christianity like the era that saw the introduction of Jehovah's witnesses, the Mormons and the Utopian collectivist cults?
In other words “Are we a burned over Bible Belt” like upstate New York was after the second great awakening? Maybe.
I think it is worth considering. Are there things that the faithful church of the era should have done? Are the parallels close enough that we could extrapolate things that we should be aware of? Even while the church of that era was pursuing the fires of revivalism and populism that "burned over" there were outsiders with a more clear-eyed analysis who wrote critiques of the excesses, Mark Twain comes most readily to mind.
The faithful church of that day (essentially, the old orders) remained a consistent witness and has persisted to this day essentially unchanged.

Of course, doing so required rejecting revivalism, protracted meetings, and so forth.
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Pelerin
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Re: Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Post by Pelerin »

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Jazman
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Re: Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Post by Jazman »

I believe this is responding to Peter Thiel: "The Antichrist is already here..."
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A Confessing Church would acknowledge the inescapable realities of sin and injustice in every human institution, including every political party. It would wholeheartedly reject any suggestion that one party or movement is the party of God. Paul D Miller
barnhart
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Re: Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Post by barnhart »

Jazman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 6:38 am I believe this is responding to Peter Thiel: "The Antichrist is already here..."
I more or less agree with the holy post on this, the warnings of the antichrist are for every age. It seems wrong to me that God would have given this teaching to be meaningless for 2,000 years and only take on purpose in our age. However I am more open to a final, future fulfillment than they seem to be, or at least than they talk about. Directionally I think they are right.

Is this the only, or the most effective, most biblical, most faithful response to an age of spiritual hunger and existential dread?
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Pelerin
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Re: Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Post by Pelerin »

Jazman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 6:38 am I believe this is responding to Peter Thiel: "The Antichrist is already here..."
Is there a previous part or a reference that they're working from? I looked a bit on the channel but didn't find it. It seems to start mid-conversation and they just refer to "Peter."
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Jazman
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Re: Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Post by Jazman »

Pelerin wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 3:10 pm
Jazman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 6:38 am I believe this is responding to Peter Thiel: "The Antichrist is already here..."
Is there a previous part or a reference that they're working from? I looked a bit on the channel but didn't find it. It seems to start mid-conversation and they just refer to "Peter."
Yes, I believe you are right. The full podcast is on patreon and available to subscribers... what I linked to is a portion of it, a teaser you might say; a bone of clickbait... but with some meat on it too.
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A Confessing Church would acknowledge the inescapable realities of sin and injustice in every human institution, including every political party. It would wholeheartedly reject any suggestion that one party or movement is the party of God. Paul D Miller
Pelerin
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Re: Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Post by Pelerin »

Jazman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 4:04 pm
Pelerin wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 3:10 pm
Jazman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 6:38 am I believe this is responding to Peter Thiel: "The Antichrist is already here..."
Is there a previous part or a reference that they're working from? I looked a bit on the channel but didn't find it. It seems to start mid-conversation and they just refer to "Peter."
Yes, I believe you are right. The full podcast is on patreon and available to subscribers... what I linked to is a portion of it, a teaser you might say; a bone of clickbait... but with some meat on it too.
What they had to say in the clip sounded like it was probably a bit of a flippant caricature of what Peter Thiel actually argues—but it also seemed like it was just shorthand after having discussed it at some length, so fair enough. (They say, "The only thing [for Peter Thiel] that is antichrist is stifling innovation or promoting cumbersome regulation.")

The reason I ask is that I went into his article expecting not to like it but it was actually pretty good. It's 7,000 words of sketches but he doesn't make an argument until the last paragraph where he answers the question "Antichrist or Armageddon?" by answering neither and that we should hope for a third way to be revealed—but doesn't say what that third way is or if he even knows. (Maybe if I were to reread it with the last paragraph in mind I would pick up on some more stuff.)

I knew he had been giving lectures about it so I went to see if I could find what he does argue for and what his third way might be but it's nowhere to be found. That seems to be his choice: he's only given a few private lectures and not published anything beyond the one article that I can find. There's lots of articles about it. A few of them have comments from attendees but at best it's a short statement from someone who may or may not have understood what was said filtered through a reporter who certainly does not. But most are just amused or hostile at the idea of the Antichrist (worded according to whatever level of objectivity is expected of the outlet). Most seem to think that Peter Thiel is some sort of Hal Lindsey, revealing his calculations of the name of the number of the Beast—which is not at all my understanding of it based on the article.

I did just find this that I plan to listen to when I get time: Apocalypse Now? Peter Thiel on Ancient Prophecies and Modern Tech
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barnhart
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Re: Escatolgy of the tech oligarchs

Post by barnhart »

Thanks Pelerin, I need to read that. Although I don't see much indication that content is also the content of his lecture series.
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