Pastor and author Phil Hotsenpiller believes that many of the modern-day atrocities involving terrorism, shootings and other acts of violence have a direct tie to biblical prophecy.
In his soon-to-release book, “One Nation Without Law: The Rise of Lawlessness, the End Times and the Power of Hope,” Hotsenpiller will attempt to “connect the dots between biblical prophecy about lawlessness and current events.”
He told the Christian Post in a recent interview that he believes evil has embedded in the minds of terrorists and others who commit such horrific acts, and that the recent Manchester terror attack offers a prime example of this paradigm.
“A lot of people, we look at something like Manchester and we think of lawbreakers but we don’t think about a spirit behind that and where that originated from,” Hotsenpiller told the Christian Post. “I really try to grapple with the hard questions — like what is really going in our world with the shootings, with terror attacks, how we can connect biblical prophecies to lawlessness and current events.”
The pastor specifically cited Jesus’ words in the Bible as well as the terrifying notion that the Islamic State now transcends borders — something that he said is “a new phenomenon” that has “implications for the entire world.”
“Unlike with other terrorist groups, the appearance of ISIS can be directly linked to the increase of lawlessness on a global scale,” he said. “The attack in Manchester is further evidence that we are living in prophetic days.”
As Faithwire previously reported, there’s fierce debate about Bible prophecy and its relation to contemporary — and future — events. Some theologians and pastors, alike, believe they’re observing numerous signs in the current culture that mirror the supposedly prophetic contents of scriptures in Old and New Testament books like Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation.
What has convinced these theologians and pastors that the end times could be ramping up? That’s a question I covered in-depth in my book, “The Armageddon Code,” through interviews with about 20 of the most prevalent eschatology experts.
Many of these theologians and pastors told me that sweeping moral decay, biblical disconnectedness and ongoing violence in the Middle East are just a few of the prophetic markers that they believe were foretold thousands of years ago in the biblical texts.
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And, on that front, Hotsenpiller is hardly alone in his views on the Islamic State, as the terror group’s murderous and bloodthirsty quest for power forges on. Taking those events into account, many Bible experts will point out that some of the battles described in scripture — clashes that they believe are still unfulfilled — are slated to take place in the Middle East.
Many of the experts I interviewed for “The Armageddon Code” couldn’t help but wonder if the groundwork is currently being set for the fulfillment of the “Gog” and “Magog” battles that are referenced in the books of Ezekiel and Revelation — a controversial concept that I address in detail in the book. Read more about some of these elements here.
As for his message in “One Nation Without Law,” Hotsenpiller wants to help Christians figure out how to hold onto hope amid the chaos.
“Regardless of what we see on the news, God is still in control,” the book description reads. “Here are practical, everyday ways we can move forward with hope and determination to make our world a better place until the return of Jesus Christ.”