When John Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas, I was a young teenager, living 100 miles away. He was a major hero and role model to me and his death had a heavy impact on my heart and life. Later, as the info came out about the details of his death, it seemed clear to me that it was not just a lone gunman who got off some amazingly “lucky” shots. I saw the Zapruder film and from that it seems clear that the shot that killed Kennedy didn’t come from the direction of Oswald.
Lee Harvey Oswald
So I guess that makes me a conspiracy theorist. And since that time the whole genre of conspiracy theories has grown to a full industry and major phenomenon of our times.
Some years later I surprisingly came to find out that there actually is a God in heaven, as well as the devil, angels and the whole thing. It in some ways was the climax of a series of shocking, eye-opening experiences that caused me to see the world in a totally different way. And I guess you could say, “Well, if you can believe in conspiracy theories, it’s probably easy for you to believe in that God stuff too.”
But they are different. Admittedly there are some similarities. Conspiracy theorists see a lot of things going on that most people don’t know about. They see unseen forces, organizations and individuals, working behind the scenes to shape the destiny of man to go the direction they want them to. They see entities which want us to view things a certain way, to believe things that aren’t true and to basically enslave the human race. Is that all true? I’d say some of it is true and even verifiable to some degree.
But also there’s a difference. From my experience, conspiracy theorists seem to get mad a lot and there’s virtually no stopping place at where they will see “them” at work. Everything that happens is somehow not as it seems. “They” are active, everywhere and just about to take over our lives, our nation and our world.
What I don’t find in conspiracy theory is answers. There’s fear, there’s what is said to be a revelation of what is real, but there really isn’t much offered to alleviate all this. Also I feel that following a strong, steady line of conspiracy theory doctrine will come to make someone rather paranoid overall, distrustful, cynical and afraid of virtually everyone, even their best friends.
It reminds me of the verse in II Timothy, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (II Timothy 1:7) I came out of a lot of atheist, worldly darkness and that verse was like a promise I held on to for years that the Lord would create in me a “sound mind”, not burdened with confusion, fears and misunderstand.
That’s another good verse that could be applied to conspiracy theories” “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.” (I Corinthians 14:33) I guess in some ways it is good what those folks do since so many people walk in such dullness and blindness. Conspiracy theorists might wake some of those ones up that there’s some serious stuff going on and that common people are being deceived daily on a massive scale.
But this is all really different from what the study of Bible prophecy does. Bible prophecy not only exposes the systems and evils of man, which has been around for millennia, but it gives clear answers about what the solution is that God Himself has provided and is in the process of bringing to pass. Bible prophecy is a real eye opener. But it doesn’t carry that “spirit of fear”, as well as confusion that so often seems to accompany conspiracy theory teaching.
So I suppose those who avidly follow conspiracy theories might be woken up somewhat to the depth of evil in the world and shaken somewhat out of the general stupor that is upon so much of mankind. But then what?
God told Jeremiah that he was ordained to “root out, pull down, destroy, throw down” (Jeremiah 1:10) Conspiracy theory does that, sort of a general deconstruction of almost everything. But then God told Jeremiah two more things he was to do, “to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10) I haven’t seen any way that conspiracy theory builds and plants. But Bible prophecy does. It tells how bad it is and how bad it will still get. But then it tells of God’s solution and the happy ending to all this mess that He will bring in His coming Kingdom on earth.
Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, as Peter, James and John watch. (Matthew 17:1-8)
I suppose one of the greatest witnesses of one of the greatest miracles on earth was the Apostle Peter. The Bible says he was there when Jesus was transformed on the mountain into His glory and shined like the sun in front of 3 of His disciples. And God the Father spoke to them as well. Peter said of this experience, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables but were eyewitnesses of the majesty of Jesus Christ. For He received honor and glory from God the Father, when there came a voice from the excellent glory, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice from Heaven, being with Him in the holy mountain.” (II Peter 1:16-18)
But then Peter goes on to say an amazing thing. He tells us of something that’s even greater than what he personally saw with his eyes and heard with his ears. Here’s what he says next. “We also have a more sure Word of prophecy, to which you do well to take heed, as to a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Daystar arises in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture came into being of its own private interpretation. For prophecy didn’t come in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (II Peter 1:19-21)
Peter says that the prophecies of the Word of God are more sure than even what he personal saw and heard at perhaps one of the most seminal moments in his life. That’s good truth for us today when we are at times “tossed and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14), by conspiracy theories with their adjacent fears and uncertainties. For believers in God and in Christ, we have a “more sure word of prophecy.” (II Peter 1:19)
Hi Mark,
Well, I’m an “avid conspiracy theorist”. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I like conspiracy theories because they keep me stirred up against evil. They also help me not just to accept everything we’re told by mainstream media as the truth, and also to look at what we’re being told to see in order to realize what they are covering up or trying to re-direct people’s attention from. Not that I think we should swallow the C-T’s hook, line and sinker, but it does help to make one more aware. Take 9-11 for example: As the “New Pearl Harbor” it certainly got the American people behind the powers-that-be’s war to get a hold of the oil in Iraq. That incident is just one in a long string of similar actions, and 9-11 is the basis for more and more horrible actions on the part of the shadow govt of America (or the world). The viewpoint of not just accepting “the party line” is a real gift, and as a result I like C-Ts because they help me focus on questions and not just take everything for granted. All you said in your article is true, I just wanted to speak from my own point of view. Chemtrails?? Before they were just a conspiracy theory; but now we know they are real and there are folks out there trying to engineer the weather, and that’s one way they think to do it. JFK’s assassination? Definitely! We still don’t know the reasons– maybe because he wanted to audit the Federal Reserve. “Those folks” are powerful. An interesting book I read recently is called Synthetic Terrorism by Webster Tarplay; it has a wonderful history of events that were “set up” to produce certain political results– including Pearl Harbor, 9-11, the Gulf of Tonkin incident leading to our involvement in Vietnam, etc. Hey, I liked Men in Black, where Tommy Lee Jones’ character says he reads the tabloids because that’s where the real news is– ha! Nothing against checking out CT’s by prophecy–but they (CTs) are helpful for indicating where things are likely to go. Also they can give a glimpse into exactly how powerful “those folks” are! My recent posts on 911 youtubes are really interesting. The one called “911 Solved” has a lot of amazing facts and connections about who stood to gain from that thing! Whoa!
I agree with you, Mark. But I don´t think we should totally ignore conspiracy theories. I think it is important “to know your enemy”. I agree with you that it can create fear and don´t like it when people go overboard with it, having a sensasionalistic spirit. But you just can´t compare CT with prophecy! I like it very much when you take CT like : well, we don´t really know, it could be….but the Word of God we DO KNOW is TRUE. To absolutely confirm CT as truth, we can only do if it does go together with something God said in His Word.
Thanks for this article. I believe Bible Prophecy is definitely most important, ‘though sometimes the Lord leads me to some conspiracy websites to encourage me about the signs of the times and to show me that we are getting closer to Jesus’ return, which is a reason for great rejoicing. I also feel it’s not good to go to conspiracy sites that show mostly the negative side of things and provoke fear. So I think it’s a matter of choosing well when it comes to conspiracy theories or truths on Internet. What builds up our spirit is what’s most important, or what helps us to show people that we’re living in the Endtime and that we need to get prepared spiritually as well as physically. Also some conspiracy truths are being called “theories,” and the people who believe in them as “fanatics” or “lunatics” in an effort of those who control the masses to cover up the real truth about matters. So sometimes it takes some discernment and investigation to know if it’s theory or truth. Meanwhile, Bible Prophecy is certainly the most faith building and helps us to discern the other things about conspiracy, whether they be truth or theory, etc. “The Word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4:12
Thank you Mark,
That was very comforting. However, some of the conspiracy theories are now beginning to get a little too close for comfort.
In just one month so many lives have been lost this year and even Yahoo.com had a conspiracy about how many millions the luciferians/satanists plan to kill this year.
I am also finding the diluting of the Word in different editions disturbing. Recently a sweet young pastor I liked started laughing when I told him I love the good old King James.
Things are changing around the world and perhaps it is the beginning of sorrows after all.
We were told be aware I Thess 5:4-6
and be ready.
Loved your post.
I certainly agree with you that there are conspiracy theorists out there that are just promoting fear and not offering any solutions but at the same time, I don’t believe that we should be ignorant of these so-called conspiracy theories as what is often dubbed as conspiracy theory is often in fact true. The word has been used as a label that puts people into a category of nut jobs, fanatics, fantasists and extremists that read conspiracy into everything and therefore people tend to want to steer clear of conspiracy altogether through fear of the same label. This is very convenient for the PTB though, the enemies of our Lord Jesus Christ! It’s a fact that there are international powers and elite groups of people that are moving progressively towards a one world system, one world government and a one world bank and ultimately a one world religion. They want to take away sovereignty of whole nations and these individuals have even openly admitted to their plans so this is certainly something that we all need to be aware of and even a lot of Christians also. There are a lot of truth seekers out there that are discovering these things but they are not aware that it’s all truly satanic and not just some game, therefore they are being fooled into thinking that they can beat these people by waking up enough individuals to the their kind of truth, in their own strength and not God’s strength. Christians need to put these people in the picture!
2 Corinthians 10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;