Forgotten Ages Research

Portents of the End of the Church and the Rise of an Antichrist

Report Topics:

• The Prophecies of Saint Malachy on the Present and Future Popes
• Saint Caesarius (A.D. 469–542) on the Vatican’s Destruction and Imprisonment of the Pope
• Saint Columbkille on the Future Plundering of the Vatican
• The Foreboding of Caesarius of Heisterbach (1180–1240) on the End of the Papacy
• Foreboding of the 15th Century “Prophecy of Premol” on the Pope Forced to Leave Rome
• 16th Century Rudolfo Gilthier’s Vision on the Imprisonment of the Pope
• Modern Visions of the Advent of an Antichrist and a True World Teacher
• Historical Philosophers on the Future of the Church

Full Report:

The Prophecies of Saint Malachy on the Present and Future Popes

One of the most remarkable forecasts concerning the future of the Papacy was writen by Saint Malachy of Ireland, who in 1139 traveled to Rome and while there left a list of one hundred and thirteen Latin titles, one title for every pope who would reign from his day forward. The titles were meant to forecast the popes’ names, birthplaces, church offices held, or major pontificate events. So far, the Malachian devices have accurately fit each successor to the Holy See with a calculated 75% accuracy. Here are the more modern applications:

Pastor et Nauta— “Shepherd and Sailor (or Traveler).” Given for John XXIII (1958–1963). He was the first twentieth century pontiff to travel extensively outside the Vatican. Before sitting on the papal throne, he had been Patriarch of the old maritime city of Venice. The term Nauta had also been used in motto #47, for Gregory XII (1406–1415), who was born in Venice.

Flos Florum—“The Flower of Flowers.” The designation for Paul VI (1963–1978). In medieval symbology, the flower of flowers is the lily, and in Paul’s papal crest are pictured three prominent lilies.

De Medietate Lunae—“From the Half Moon.“ Applied to John Paul I (1978). His secular name was Albino Luciani, which means “the pale white light.” His papacy lasted only 34 days or one lunar cycle, and he was elected during a half-moon and died in a half-moon.

De Labore Solis—“From the Laboring (Rising or Eclipsing) Sun.” Given for John Paul II (1978– 2005). He was the first pope to come from the east, from Poland. He was also born on the day of a solar eclipse and was buried on the day of a solar eclipse.

Gloria Olivae—“The Glorious Olive.” Applied to Benedict XVI (2005– ). The Olive is the symbol for the Olivetan or Benedictine Order. The present pontiff took his name, Benedict, in honor of that Order.

Petrus Romanus— Peter the Roman. This title is to be given for the next pope to follow Benedict. Ominously, it is also the last title on Saint Malachy’s list. And with his name the Irish saint also gave a lengthy prophecy, which reads:

“In extreme persecution of the Roman Church shall sit (in the Chair of the First Peter) Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, which things being done, the City of the Seven Hills (Rome) will be removed, and the Great Judge will judge the people.”

Interpreters of the Malachian prophecies are divided as to what these final words mean. Some commentators see in it a prediction of the end of the world. Others feel that it portends the destruction of Rome and the Catholic Church. Still others believe that the Church will survive some coming holocaust, but that afterward the head of the Church Hierarchy will no longer be in the form of a Pope.

Saint Caesarius (A.D. 469–542) on the Vatican’s Destruction and Imprisonment of the Pope

“There shall be a great carnage and as great an effusion of blood. The Universal Church and the whole world shall deplore the capture and ruin of that most celebrated city. The Alter and Temple (St. Peter’s) shall be destroyed. The Pastor of the Church shall abandon his pulpit and the Church itself be despoiled.”

Saint Columbkille on the Future Plundering of the Vatican

“Many things shall come to pass in the latter ages of the world. They will plunder the property of the Church. It will be held in bondage by the all powerful men of the day.”

Medieval Church Chronicler Merlin Ambrosius‘ Prediction of 1150

“There will be a Pope who will not dare so much as look upon Rome. Before the death of this Pope, he will be made to suffer such disgrace that there wil be nothing to compare with it. From that time on will begin their (the Roman Church‘s) destruction, step by step, and that it will be because of their sins.”

The Foreboding of Caesarius of Heisterbach (1180–1240) on the End of the Papacy

“There will be no Pope, and the air will be as a pestilence, destroying men and beasts alike. Not since the creation of the world has one experienced such misfortune.”

13th Century Visionary John de Vatiguerio’s Prediction of Troubles for a Future Pope

“At a time when the world is grievously troubled the Pope will change his residence, and there will be no more Papal authority in the Church in Rome for a very long time.”

Prophecy of 14th Century Catholic Mystic John of the Cleft Rock

“Toward the end of the world the Pope and his Cardinals will have to flee Rome in tragic circumstances to a place where they will be unknown. The Pope will die a cruel death in his exile. The sufferings of the Church will be much greater than at any previous time in her history. But God will raise a holy Pope. This man will rebuild almost the whole world through his holiness.”

Forecast of 15th Century Nicholas of Fluh

“A time will come when the Church will be left desolate without Peter and his successors (Popes).”

Foreboding of the 15th Century “Prophecy of Premol” on the Pope Forced to Leave Rome

In the same century, the “Prophecy of Premol” portended the day when “Rome will collapse in tumult, and the King with the Cross and Tiara (the Pope) shall wipe the dust of debris from his shoes, before hastening in his flight to other, distant shores.”

16th Century Rudolfo Gilthier’s Vision on the Imprisonment of the Pope

“Rome will lose its scepter through following false prophets. The Pope will be taken prisoner along with his attendants. The Church will be held hostage, and after a short time there will be no more Pope.”

Bible Prophecies on the Coming of the “Beast” False Messiah

“And they worshipped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’ And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him.” Revelations 13:4–5, 7–8.

It is interesting that the city of Jerusalem figures prominently in many Bible prophecies concerning the “Antichrist,” for it is here, within the “secret chambers” of the Holy of Holies, in the Temple that is predicted to be rebuilt by the Jews in the very near future, that he will usurp the place of God and set up his own throne instead.

Jesus of Nazareth, when asked by his disciples two millennia ago what would be the signs of the end of the Age, gave this response:

“Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying I am the Christ, but do not believe it. For there shall arise false Christs, who will show marvelous signs and wonders, and will deceive many. If they say to you, Behold, he is in the desert, do not go. Behold, he is in the secret chambers, do not believe it.” Matthew 24: 4. 5. 24. 26.

Many other prophets, in both the Old and New Testaments, also warned of a coming universal religious power, headed by a man who will force others to worship him as God. The prophet Daniel called him the “king of fierce countenance,” the apostle Paul, “the man of sin” and “son of perdition,” and John in the Revelations identified him as “the beast.” When we compare the words of the ancient seers—given in Daniel Chapter 7, Second Thessalonians Chapter 2 and Revelations Chapter 13—we find remarkable agreement concerning the “Antichrist’s” characteristics. They agree that he will oppose the Divine Spirit and exalt himself as the object of worship; lead a persecution against those who are Spirit-centered; enforce his power through political leaders; represent the forces of Darkness through his actions; have complete world dominion; and will be destroyed by the intervention of the Divine at the end of the Present Age.

Concerning the time length of the false Christ’s bloody reign, it is symbolized by the Bible prophets as a “time, times and dividing of times,” “forty-two months,” or “1,260 days,” all of which are about three and a half years. This, however, will be preceded by another three and a half year period (making a total of seven years) when the false Savior will be rising to power. Within this same period will also occur a period of 2,300 days when the “sanctuary” of the earth will be “trampled” underfoot by false religious powers, according to the prophet Daniel.

The prophet Daniel also gave this forecast about the nature of the false Messiah:

“And in the latter times of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance and understanding dark sentences shall stand up. And his powers shall be mighty, but not by his own power. And he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and holy people. He shall come in peaceably and obtain his kingdom by flatteries.” Daniel 8:23–24, 11:21.

Islamic Predictions About the Advent of a False Deliverer

“When Dajjal appears, his complexion will be white and his right eye will be blind, while the left eye will shine like a bright star.

“When Dajjal appears, there will be no part of the world left which he will not dominate, except for certain holy places.

“Although he will be an unbeliever, many will still keep his company so that they may eat his food.

“His voice will be so loud that the whole world will hear him when he speaks. Dajjal will travel the world and will request the earth surrender its treasures, which it will gladly do.

“He will claim himself to be Allah, and whoever has a weak faith and accepts him, Dajjal will put him in his heaven, which will be turned into a hell.

“All these things Dajjal will do and dominate the entire world in forty days, from the largest country to the smallest island. Dajjal will remain in the earth for forty years.

“As the cloud is carried in the wind, Dajjal will be jumping between the heavens and the earth. He will then give command to the sky and it will give rain to the earth and it will produce crops.

“Dajjal will be accompanied by beautiful women and spirits and bastard children and other kinds of people. He will have music and singing unlike any ever heard before, and whoever hears it will follow it.

“When Dajjal appears, the Christian nations will stand up with eighty banners or flags in an effort to make peace in the world. But they will in fact betray the world and bring ultimate destruction to the entire human race.” Excerpts from the Sahih of Al-Bukhari, the Kanz al-Ummal and the Miskah al-Masabih.

Visionary and Psychic Predictions on the End of the Papacy

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, Washington seeress Jeane Dixon had a number of psychic impressions and visions involving the fate of the Popes to rule the Vatican:

She stated her belief that one Pope will be wounded and another killed. The assassination attempt on John Paul II in 1981 may or may not have been a partial fulfillment.

In a vision seen in St. Matthew’s Cathedral in 1958, she saw the image of the throne of the Pope in Rome. The throne was empty, but off to one side she saw a Pope with blood running down his face and left shoulder. The picture of the stricken Pope vanished, but the throne remained empty. Hands reached out for it, but no one sat in it, even though the throne continued to radiate strong light. Dixon interpreted this to mean that a Pope will be assassinated while away from the seat of power, and that thereafter the Church will have a new kind of leadership, different from the Papacy.

The Pope to be murdered, she later predicted, will come to power as a result of a very controversial Papal election. He will not have the approval of the majority of his fellow Churchmen, and at the end of his brief rule he will die violently—a death which will involve a number of Cardinals. At the end of his reign there will be a complete restructuring of ecclesiastic power, and thereafter a board or council of powerful Cardinals shall head the Church.

Dixon was certain that her vision was linked with the mysterious “Prophecy of Fatima,” given to three small children in 1917. Dixon believes that it had to do with the violent death of a future Pope and a major reorganization of the Church hierarchy. A more recent revelation of the full text of the Fatima prophecy has confirmed this.

Chicago prophetess Irene Hughes agrees, for she claims she too was shown the secret of Fatima, and that it involved the murder of a future Pope and a complete change in the ruleship of the Vatican.

A number of Catholic visionaries in centuries past have offered their prophetic testimonies to a coming Pope being subjected to great violence, and thereafter no Pope to reign in an abandoned Vatican. Here are their predictions:

Anna Maria Taigi (1769–1857) predicted that, “Religion shall be persecuted, priests shall be massacred, the Church shall be closed, but only for a short time. The Holy Father shall be obliged to abandon Rome.”

Taigi‘s contemporary, Wessel Eilert (1764–1833), predicted, “The Roman Chair (of the Pope) will remain empty for some time.”

Similarly, the visionary Alois Irlmaier predicted in the nineteenth century that, “All priests but six will be murdered. The Pope will flee.”

Her contemporary, the Augustinian nun Anna-Karerina Emmerich, received clear pictures of a Pope in hiding who will be very weak and exhausted by many sorrows and tribulations. This will occur at a time when the Vatican will be engulfed in flames from top to bottom, and only the Sanctuary and Main Altar will survive. Planks of wood will be erected to block off the destroyed section so that Mass may again be performed. But for the exiled Pope, there will be little hope. He will be ill-fed, weakened, allowed to have only an aged priest at his side. Finally the pontiff’s head will nod to his chest as he dies, sitting alone in a large chair.

Helen Walraff, also from the nineteenth century, gave this revealing forecast:

“Some day a Pope will flee from Rome in the company of only four Cardinals, and they will come to Koeln (Cologne, in Germany).”

Will this destination be undertaken because the Pope himself will be German? Will it be the present Pontiff, Benedict XVI, who is from Germany?

In 1874, Church mystic Don Bosco wrote a letter, still kept in the Vatican archives, warning Pius IX of a time when a brilliant light would suddenly flare up in the sky (a comet or an explosion?), while a great battle waged all over the world. At that instance, a Pope and a procession of his priests will come out of the Vatican and slowly walk through St. Peter’s Square “covered with dead and wounded, who appear to be crying for help in a loud voice.” Not only in Rome but the whole “countryside and landscape will be much denuded of population, the ground churned up as if by a hurricane, and there will be a heavy shower of hail” (climate extremes?). For two hundred days, Don Bosco further predicted, the Pope and his small retinue will be forced to wander in strange and foreign lands.

In 1909 a very similar vision was given to Pope Pius X. During an audience the Pontiff suddenly slumped forward for several minutes, and upon regaining consciousness rose from his seat greatly agitated. He declared, “What I see is terrible. Will it happen to me? Will it happen to my successor? What I know for certain is this: The Pope will one day have to quit Rome, and in leaving he will have to be carried out, and over the dead bodies of his priests. He will be taken away in disguise some where, and in forced retirement, he will die a miserable death.”

In 1917, three small children of Fatima, Portugal, while tending sheep in the nearby dale calld the Cova de Ira, met on several occasions with a spirit being who identified herself as the Virgin Mary. Several of these encounters were witnessed by large groups of onlookers who recounted that they experienced miraculous events during these appearances. On a number of occasions, the spirit of Mary gave the children a number of prophecies, many of which were fulfilled with the rise of Communism in Russia a few months later, and the advent of World War II.

One prophecy, however, the children were told to keep secret, and in another vision given later to one of children, Lucia, she was instructed to write a description of what she had been shown in a letter that was not to be opened until 1960. In the appointed year the letter was given to Pope John XXIII, who upon reading its contents turned pale and declared that the prophecy should remain a secret. Not until 2000 was the prophecy released by the Vatican under the direction of Pope John Paul II. As the theme of the prophecy involved a description of the assassination of a future pope, John Paul interpreted it as having been already fulfilled by the attempt on his life which took place in St. Peter’s Square in 1981. He attributed his survival to the intervention of Mary, and made a pilgrimage to Fatima to give thanks to the Holy Mother.

However, a closer examination of the text of the prophecy indicates that the description does not fit the particulars of the 1981 attempt at all, and many interpreters feel that it has yet to be fulfilled in the near future. The text of the letter is as follows, which presents the details of the vision as given in 1917:

“At the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand. Flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire. But they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand. Pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice, ‘Penance, penance, penance.’ And we saw in an immense light a Bishop dressed in White. We had the impression that it was the Holy Father. Other bishops, priests, religious men and women were going up a steep mountain at the top of which there was a big Cross of rought-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark. Before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step. Afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way. Having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other bishops, priests, religious men and women, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal vial in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.”

Billy Meier’s Prophecies on the Church, 1979

“The point in time at which these prophecies will begin to be fulfilled will be when a Pope will no longer reside in Rome. All of Europe will then fall victim to a terrible punishment by evil powers. The Christian religion will collapse and the churches and monasteries will end up in ruins and ashes.

“After the turn of the millennium (2001), the papacy will exist only a short period. Pope John Paul II is the third from the last in his position. After him, only one additional pontificate will follow. Then a Pontifex Maximus follows who will be known as Petrus Romanus. Under his religious rule, the end of the Catholic Church will come, a total collapse becoming inevitable. That will be the beginning of the worst catastrophe that will ever have befallen the human beings and the Earth. Many Catholic clerics, priests, bishops, cardinals and many others will be killed and their blood will flow in streams. But also the reformed version of Christianity will become just as infinitely small, as does Catholicism.”

Modern Visions of the Advent of an Antichrist and a True World Teacher

In the early morning hours of February 5, 1962, Washington seeress Jeane Dixon rose from her bed and, gazing out her bedroom window, was surprised to see not the familiar city streets of the capital city, but a desolate waste, a desert stretching into the distance where it met on the horizon with a bright blue sky dominated by a golden sun.

Suddenly, stepping out of the solar disc to the earth were two figures which Jeane immediately recognized as Queen Nefertiti and her Pharaoh husband Akhnaten. The Queen held in her arms a baby clothed in soiled rags in sharp contrast to the bejeweled attire of the royal couple.

Nefertiti placed the child on the ground as if presenting it as an offering. The Queen and Pharaoh then disappeared into the past whence they had come, and Jeane’s attention was now drawn to the baby left on the desert sands.

As she watched, she saw him grow to manhood, and above him appeared a cross which expanded and seemed to encompass the earth. As the vision began to vanish, Jeane witnessed the man raise his hands, and kneeling around him in worship were the peoples of every race and religion.

The Washington seeress interpreted the vision to mean that somewhere in the desert sands of the Middle East on the morning of February 5, 1962 a child was born in humble surroundings who is a descendant of the ancient royal house of Egypt. She felt that we will not hear of this child until he reaches maturity, and that this Middle Eastern man will unite all the religions into one faith.

Ten years later, in a second special vision, Jeane was told that the power she had seen emanating from the Middle Eastern child will not be from God, even though he will present himself to the world as being from God.

The psychic also revealed that this man will attempt to imitate the life of the first Christ in every respect. His birth was heralded by astrological signs--February 4 and 5, 1962 saw an extraordinary configuration of five planets and a total solar eclipse in Aquarius. Soon after his birth, Jeane saw, he was taken from his birthplace to Egypt, as had been the infant Jesus. At the age of 11, or some time in either 1973 or 1974, the Washington seeress further noted, something “tremendously important” happened in the youth’s life which made him aware of his life’s destiny. This mirrored Jesus’ revelation of his work in the Temple of Jerusalem when he was 12 years old. At the age of 19, in 1981, he gathered his first circle of supporters. But it will not be until much later that he will present himself to the whole world as being full of strength and wisdom, and the solver of the world’s problems.

According to the psychic, at that time he will begin frequent visits to North America where his supporters will gain control of the communications media and use it to proclaim him as the Savior, the long-awaited “Man of Peace.” Soon after, Jeane predicts, his domination will extend to the whole world. By the power of political and military force backing him, he will declare all warfare and strife throughout the earth banned.

Going a step further, he will establish a new religion, which the seeress foresees will be anti-human, atheistic and opposed to the existence of all other forms of religion. Finally, in Jerusalem he shall declare himself to be God, and demand the world recognize him as such.

But, as Dixon predicts, his worship and tyranny will be brief, plunging the world into universal confusion and turmoil, and culminating in sudden destruction and war. In the midst of the world conflict a Cross will be seen in the eastern sky, the false Christ’s kingdom will be destroyed, and humanity will then enjoy a real Peace.

Jeane Dixon’s contemporary in Washington, Ruth Montgomery, noted these coming characteristics of the False Messiah in 1979:

“The Antichrist will become world ruler in the sense that he will handle the guidelines and direct those who will carry out his orders. Rather than elective, these offices will be appointive, and within the network will be spies who probe into the personal lives of people during that era. His managerial powers at first will seem God-sent, but as he becomes more ambitious still, he will demand worshipful obedience, and in pretending to be the Christ will offend those who realize that he is satanic in his ambitions.”

Virginia seer Edgar Cayce, in a trance reading given in 1936, declared that there would be born in America in 1936 a man named John Peniel, “who would be beloved of all men in all places when the universality of God in the earth has been proclaimed.” Peniel will “come as a messenger not a forerunner” and will bring to the world “a new order of things.” This will occur during a time when “the sun is darkened and the earth shall be broken in several places”—a period of major earth changes. This messenger will point forward to the coming of a Savior-like Teacher who is to be born sometime after 1998, when “his light will be seen again in the clouds.” Later, when he reaches maturity in the twenty-first century, “he will walk and talk with men of every clime. Then, in groups, then masses, they shall reign for a thousand years, for this is when changes materially come.”

Popular Washington psychic author Ruth Montgomery predicted that after the dreaded Antichrist has come and gone from the world, a very short while later will appear a New Age Christ who will become a true spiritual leader. He will “transmigrate” into the world sometime around the 2020’s through to the 2050’s. Everyone will recognize him, and through him God will establish a spiritual kingdom on Earth. Wars will be a thing of the past, all hatreds will be healed, and the world will enjoy peace under this patient and loving Teacher.

In 1944, Edgar Cayce prophesied:

“There has arisen, and there is arising in the affairs and experiences of man everywhere, the necessity of there being not only so much consideration of a land as of all lands as a unit. For mankind is his brother, and thou art thy brother’s keeper. All groups must have their representation and their privileges that they, too, may have the opportunity. Unless we begin within ourselves and our own household, we are false to ourselves and to the principles that we attempt to desire. Know that right, justice, mercy, patience is the basis upon which the new world order must eventually be established before there is peace.

“Those that are come into the new life, the new understanding—the new regeneration there is then the new Jerusalem. Not a place, alone, but a condition, as an experience of the soul.

“When the twentieth century has passed away, and the sign of the God-man is in the sky, peace shall reign upon the Earth and no man shall hate his brother.

“Neither shall there be war, nor pestilence, nor poverty, nor any other of the shameful things which man has done unto himself. Then wisdom shall sit in the palaces of cities, and on the mountain tops.”

Reverend Paul Solomon likewise foresaw:

“Then shall Eden bloom again, and man live in harmony and there shall be no more war.”

From a Native American perspective, medicine man Sun Bear envisioned:

“During and after the cleansing many of the great teachers will take human form and walk among us.

“After the cleansing, we will see only people who know how to reach out and learn. We will see people who are always keeping spiritual knowledge. People will know that their survival came about because they had made a good effort to live in love and harmony.

“As human beings relearn their balance with nature, they will become healthier in body as well as spirit. When people are no longer in stress and out of balance, Spirit will let them live longer. We are told that after the changes, we will be learning how to rejuvenate our bodies. This will be easier because we will no longer have people around who are polluting the air, water and the Earth.

“If you want to survive the coming changes, remember this: The only people who are going to survive, Spirit says, are the people who are willing to make a conscious change in the way they look at life, in the way they understand things, and in their actions toward all creation.”

Historical Philosophers on the Future of the Church

It is significant that the most prominent among historical philosophers of the twentieth century—Oswald Spengler, Pitirim A. Sorokin, Arnold J. Toynbee and others—agree that Western civilization is presently showing all the signs of decay and disintegration exhibited by other past civilizations before their collapse. But while it took several centuries for such civilized centers as Rome and Athens to fall, modern technology has speeded up the pace of our present day history, so that the collapse of our civilization will be quicker and more tragic. Our culture, the philosophers believe, could very well die amid the chaos of a terrible war to come.

What, then, will emerge once Western civilization has passed from the world scene? Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975) suggested that the next logical step will be the establishment of a global state under the dominance of a universal Church.

Toynbee took as one past analogy the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Catholic Church. Civilization disintegrates by jolts, or “rout-rally-rout” as the historian called it. For Rome, the jolts were a series of internal wars, misgovernments and barbarian assaults that finally culminated in a near collapse in the fourth century. In the last “rally” before the final collapse, the Christian Church—which had previously suffered persecution but had nevertheless grown to a position of power—was accepted and taken in by the Roman Emperors as a partner in government, as a reinforcement against the loss of control. When the Empire finally went to pieces in the fifth and sixth centuries, the Church was left as the beneficiary, filling the vacuum left and becoming the sole ruler. Toynbee noted that the same relation between a declining civilization and a rising religion can be seen in a dozen other historical instances.

So far, Toynbee observed, we are following along a similar pattern: Rout--World War I; rally—League of Nations; rout—World War II; rally—United Nations. Today, the ecumenical movement among the Christian churches, as well as a growing new revival in organized religion, is a portent of things to come. After the final rout, in a next World War, the seeds of religiosity now being planted in the present will prosper, and a “new Christianity” as Toynbee called it will fill a new power vacuum, to become the inheritor of Western civilization.

But, as Toynbee noted, the “new Christianity” will not be anything like the Christianity of today. Just as early Catholicism, in its zeal to convert pagan Europe incorporated many pagan practices into its framework as a compromise, so the “new Christianity” will “graft” on elements of all other existing philosophies and religions in order to become a global system.

What Toynbee failed to foresee, however, is that, while Catholic Christianity became heir to only Roman Europe, and because of its limited extent was forced to tolerate the existence of other major religions in areas beyond its domain, the “new Christianity” will become the beneficiary of the entire world—and the other major religions will not be able to escape its intolerance. The future world religion will be in a position of absolute power: What beliefs or philosophies will not be joined into it by compromise will be pressured in by force—or threatened with extermination.

A Russian philosopher, Nicholas Berdyaev, writing in 1923, captured the spirit and atmosphere of the coming universal religious state, in these words:

“Now is night upon us. We are going into a period soon of senility and decay. There may be a new chaos of peoples; the feudalism of Europe may be a possibility. A terrible homesickness has taken hold of the better part of mankind. It is a sign of the approach of a new age of religion.

“The new Middle Ages will be, inevitably and in the highest degree, ’of the people’—and not in the least democratic. Power will be strong, often dictatorial, for the people will invest men of outstanding merit with the sacred attributes of power.

“The notion of progress will be discarded as camouflaging the true ends of life: There will be a life, there will be a creation, there will be a turning to God—or to Satan.

“This process of unification and universalization will strike hardest at the chosen individualist who belongs to no group or collective. We are witnessing a reversion to the herd instinct, but in new, civilized and technicalized forms.

“Mass movements always demand a unifying and strength-giving symbol, which also becomes the test for orthodoxy. All who do not accept the symbol are accursed and cast out as heretics. And in our day, the categories of heresy and orthodoxy have already become very important social factors. The domination of the mass over personal conscience has again become a decisive factor. This is clearly a reversion to the Middle Ages.”

After this gloomy forecast, Berdyaev further remarked:

“To accept history is to accept revolution as well. Those who disavow revolution and consider it a crime, forget that to a large degree history is a crime. He who does not approve of crime should strive for the realization of the true Kingdom of the Spirit.”

This very same sentiment was shared by Toynbee, who after predicting the future rise of a universal church, realized that such an institution will in no way be able to satisfy humanity’s spiritual needs. He wrote:

“The replacement of a multiplicity of civilizations by a universal church would not have purged human nature of original sin, and this leads to another consideration: So long as original sin remains an element in human nature, Caesar will always have work to do, and there will still be Caesar’s things to be rendered unto Caesar, as well as God’s to God, in this world.

“Human society on Earth will not be able wholly to dispense with institutions of which the sanction is not purely the individual’s active will to make them work, but is partly habit and partly even force. These imperfect institutions will have to be administered by a secular power which might be subordinated to religious authority but would not thereby be eliminated. And even if Caesar were not merely subordinated but were wholly eliminated by the Church, something of him would still survive in the constitution of the supplanter.”

A universal church, based on secular power, then, will ultimately fail. But the answer to humanity’s ultimate quest, as Toynbee saw it, will come only when “human nature itself undergoes a moral mutation which will make an essential change in its character”—in other words, there is a truly spiritual change, within each individual.

And to accomplish this there must come a very real synthesis among the world’s religions—not a compromise enforced by a single authority which demands conformity to a narrowly conceived vision of reality based on power, but an honest and earnest re-examination through divine guidance, to re-affirm and practice the essence of each religion’s sacred truths.

The major religions of humankind are already integrated at the summit where true mystics of each are recognized and influenced by one another, across the barriers of doctrine, ritual and observance. Only when this integration becomes a part of the awareness of humankind and is universally accepted, bringing in its wake a spiritual rebirth on the personal level, then and only then will a real positive transformation take place—and there will be, as Toynbee described it, “a four-part spiritual symphony” leading the way to the true harmony of humanity.

A more modern historical philosopher, who has added an element of esotericism to his interpretation of future trends, is Thomas Dimanne. He has offered an outline of things to come that spells out a plausible sequence of events in the potential rise and fall of a coming religious power to dominate the world in the very near future. This outline parallels point for point many of the prophecies of Nostradamus concerning the advent of a tyrannical New Church and a false Messiah:

I. Period of Disintegration—

*Hyperinflation and depression, leading to the collapse of interdependent world economies

*Increasing centralization of power, with initial steps taken toward Huxlian-Orwellian totalitarian governments

*Old ideologies (Democracy and Communism) remain in name only

*Polarization of the world nations into two opposing power blocs: Far East, Middle East, non-white, newly developed nations versus Western (Europe, America, Russia), white, over-developed nations.

*Progressive dissolution of Western Civilization: Rank materialism, sensationalism, nihilism

*Ecumenism of the Christian churches. Radical changes in church doctrine, organization and function. Government support and authority given to church programs for the restoration of “moral” and “religious” standards amid increasing decadence.

*Counter-balance: Increasing spread of Spirit-centered individual practices.

II. Period of Catastrophe—

*Ecological disasters on land and in the oceans. World-wide imbalances in nature. Crop failures and severe food shortages, due to global weather alterations.

*Limited nuclear-bacteriological and all-out conventional World War between the East and West power blocs

*The collapse of Western Civilization. The destruction of the past two thousand years’ artistic and scientific achievements.

*Chaos and revolution. Government breakdown and a brief period of local autonomous rule based on survival needs.

*Total pessimism, leading to mass movement toward religious revival. Increasing messianic hopes. Rise of religious leaders and aggressive new forms of church power as the nuclei for restoration.

*Counter-balance: The appearance of Teachers of true Spiritual wisdom, who give comfort to the suffering, but reject personal power.

III. Period of Restoration—

*Economic recovery, with new economies and economic centers established. Gradual control of world economy by the new churches.

*Re-establishment of governments, weak but totalitarian, dominated by religious leaders

*Global religious and conservative consciousness. Strong desire to end the world’s ills through unity and collective controls. Initial steps taken toward the creation of a one-world religio-political monopolist government.

*Emergence of the “Babylon” Civilization: Ideational, pseudo-mystic, monastic, mass- hypnotic, irrational salvationalism

*Collapse of traditional Protestant-Orthodox structural organization, and a synthesis of the fragments into a Global Church

*First steps toward forcing the Eastern religions to disband, or compromise their Spiritual teachings, and be absorbed into the Global Church

*Realization of Messianic hopes through the initial appearance of a World “Savior” figure

*Counter-balance: True Spiritual Teachers begin going underground, giving their Message in secret meetings, and preserving and hiding Sacred Writings of the Ancient Religions. The Teachers warn that the World “Savior” figure is without Inner Light.

IV. Period of Domination—

*World economy stabilizes, totally controlled by the Global Church. Totalitarian governments control regional and continental populations, yet are dominated by the dictates of the Global Church.

*Universal peace, but at the price of individual freedom. Political and religious power maintained through economic and psychological mass controls. Opponents labeled as “heretics” and “antichristians.”

*Flourishing of the “Babylon” Civilization: Ideational, but with increasing tendencies toward materialism.

*Forced “conversion” of all religions and philosophies in the name of world peace. Establishment of a One Global Religion and One Global Government as the only acceptable universal authority. Death sentences given to those who do not conform.

*Ascendancy of the World Savior figure as the object of global worship.

*Counter-balance: True Spiritual Teachers and their disciples continue to give their Message in the face of mounting persecution. Despite the enforcement of the One Global System, many remain faithful to their own Spiritual beliefs. Continued study in secret of the Ancient Religions and the Sacred Writings.

V. Second Period of Disintegration—

*The Global Church becomes wealthy and materialistic from its world economic controls.

*A new wave of ecological and geological disasters causes economic depression, but the Global Church continues to grow rich through unequal distribution of economic goods.

*Revolt of world political leaders. Destruction of the Global Church as a unifying power.

*End of the “Babylon” Civilization: Realization of spiritual corruption, hypocrisy, universal despair.

*Counter-balance: Victory of the Spiritual over intolerance. Teachers of Light warn of coming “cleansing” and lead their disciples to places of safety.

VI. Period of Termination—

*Global chaos and disorder. Counter-revolution begun by the World Savior figure and remnants of the Global Church.

*Conflicts among various factions for world control. Preparations for World War. Spiritual forces of Light and Darkness are seen fighting in the heavens.

*The Earth shifts on its axis. Mass destruction. Warring forces are annihilated. Triumph of the Light.

VII. Period of Re-Creation—

*The Spiritual Teachers and their disciples emerge from hiding. Rebuilding is begun in harmony with the Earth.

*Founding of a new Spirit Age. Present forms of religious and political power are abandoned and forgotten.

*The New Civilization of Light emerges: Spiritual, intuitive, supersensory, transcendental.

*The appearance of True Saviors. The brotherhood of humanity. Communion with the Divine. Spiritual progression continues unlimited.

[Copyright 2008. Joseph Robert Jochmans. All Rights Reserved.]