In 365 AD Bishop Hilary of Poitiers prophesied that the world would end that year. It is the first recorded instance of apocalyptic Christian prophecy getting it wrong. It wasn’t the last. For the last 1,656 years, Christians have turned to scripture, omens, signs, and the voices in their heads to divine future events — only to see their predictions melt away like an April snow.
One failure stands out for its disarmingly honest assessment. The Millerites predicted the Second Coming of Jesus in 1843 with a paradoxical combination of specificity and vagueness. The date of the event was to be either the 28th of March or the 31st of December. Both days passed much like every other day in 1843 passed — uneventfully. Their leader, William Miller, then predicted 21 March 1844 as the day of reckoning. Again nothing. The Millerites claimed a misinterpretation of scripture and recalculated the date as 22 October 1844. Still nothing. They gave up and called the non-event ‘The Great Disappointment’.
The heirs to this serial failure are today’s Charismatic and Pentecostal Christians. And the object of their prediction is the second coming of Donald Trump.
Greg Locke, a Nashville pastor said that, despite his loss, Trump would “100 percent remain president of the United States for another term.” Kat Kerr, a Florida preacher, declared repeatedly in Trump had won the election “by a landslide” and that God had told her he would serve for eight years. Johnny Enlow, a California Pentecostal, said, “The January 20 inauguration date doesn’t really mean anything,” adding “There’s not going to be just Trump coming back. There’s going to be at least two more Trumps that will be in office in some way.” And Trump was “the primary government leader on Planet Earth.”
And South Carolina prophet Dutch Sheets, announced a seven-state “prayer tour” to sites where the votes were being contested, saying, “We believe we can win this battle”. Jeff Jansen in Tennessee echoed Enlow’s prophecy of a Trump dynasty. “The last Trump will be Barron. He is going to be one of the greatest presidents of the United States.”
However, there is a schism among the fundamentalists. There are some with enough self-awareness and sense of the world outside the bubble to see how they sound to the sane. Michael L. Brown, a media-savvy, charismatic Christian tweeted
To every leader who prophesied that Trump would remain in the White House, this is not about you now. This is about the name of the Lord being mocked and His people left in confusion and disappointment. I urge you to put your focus there, not on your own ministry or reputation.
Good luck with that Mike. And thanks for trying. There is too much power and money for the Trump apologists to be dissuaded from their delusion. By March of 2020, 50% of weekly church-going white Protestants believe that God had anointed Trump President. That is the kind of magical thinking which can be mined for money. Among Pentecostals and charismatics, the percentage is even higher.
Although the schismatics represent a minority of these fundamentalist Christians, Brown is not alone. As early as November 7th Kris Vallotton, pastor of the mega-congregation Bethel Church in Redding, California, notably apologized on Instagram.
“I take full responsibility for being wrong. There was no excuse for it. I think it doesn’t make me a false prophet, but it does actually create a credibility gap.”
How it doesn’t make him a “false prophet” is unclear, but let’s not quibble. At least Vallotton admits error, which is a rare step by a zealot.
Others took the position that there was no election fraud. And while God had forsaken Trump’s presidency, He was still deeply interested in American presidential politics. As Jeremiah Johnson said in an interview
“I do not blame God’s people for insufficient prayer that resulted in Donald Trump’s losing the election, nor do I blame any kind of election fraud. I am simply convinced God Himself removed him and there was nothing that any human being could have done about it.”
He added in a February 8th video
"I believe that this election cycle has revealed how desperately we need reformation in the prophetic movement. I have serious concerns for the charismatic-prophetic world that if we do not wake up, if we do not humble ourselves, there is greater judgment to come."
Johnson is notable as it was his prophecy in 2015 which first suggested Trump was God’s chosen tool. But by January 8th his apostasy was met with a vicious backlash. As Johnson posted on Facebook.
It is a notable feature of most self-described evangelical Christians that they preach their religion but do not practice it. And these fundamentalists behave as all religious dead-enders do — alert for any breach of the hegemony of their bigotry.
While most of these deluded folks live in a self-affirming echo-chamber, a few thoughtful evangelicals offer occasional piercing insights into their reputation. Brown said in an interview about the religious Trump insanity.
“This has opened the door to outright delusion. As a full-blooded charismatic, I’ll say we’ve earned the world’s mockery for our foolishness.”
“There is no reality in which Trump actually did win but in fact didn’t win. … To entertain possibilities like this is to mock the integrity of prophecy and to make us charismatics look like total fools.”
But charismatic Christian money-grabbers need not worry. They fleece flocks who are immune to shame, who have renounced the capacity for thought, and who excuse every excess by their cult leaders as proof of God’s favor.
It is the perfect con. The marks volunteer to be suckers. And bring their children to church to inculcate a new generation in the role of patsy. And the graft goes on.