I am not an “end times” person. I go to church fairly regularly and consider myself a practicing Christian. I applauded when Charlie Kirk’s widow publicly forgave her husband’s assassin. That said, I am fairly sure that the young killer was influenced by the internet in general and social media in particular. This has also been the case in a majority of mass shootings. In this, the internet and its acolytes — social media, smartphones, and increasingly AI — are manifesting attributes of the biblical Antichrist mentioned in the New Testament.

The Johannine epistles do not necessarily refer to the Antichrist (pseudokhristos) as a single individual or even as a real human being. This entity is often referred to as “the deceiver.” In this, the internet — and particularly social media — have increasingly become bearers of fake news (left and right) that a significant portion of individuals in society take as fact. This reinforces the worst angels of their nature. To paraphrase Churchill, the big lies are often accompanied by a bodyguard of truths and half-truths. (RELATED: America’s New Theology of Violence)

The New Testament also describes the Antichrist as performing miracles. The internet has certainly done wonders in allowing the knowledge of the ages to be revealed to the average person, but too many people have allowed it to become their only form of information, entertainment, and even spiritual guidance, not to mention cat videos.

Increasingly, influencers of all persuasions are giving individuals contradictory guidance that divides society in dangerous ways. In some segments of society, we find that school shooters, political assassins, and hatemongers become heroes to be emulated. This is the kind of false motivation that Christ warned his followers to guard against. In Christ’s time, one hatemonger could only reach a very limited audience. Now, his audience can be reached worldwide instantaneously. We now even have an AI-generated starlet who is seeking an agent. Will there come a time when AI political leaders who are too good to be true reach positions of power? (RELATED: Meet the Digital Priestess of a Post-Human State)

Some biblical passages allude to the Antichrist being killed and returning miraculously in a Christ-like resurrection. It is conventional wisdom that the internet cannot be entirely shut down. I don’t believe that is true. Every time we are told something cannot be done, someone does it. Imagine the World Wide Web being shut down someday and the social and economic chaos that event would cause. Whoever manages to restore it will likely be hailed as something of a messiah.

The biblical Antichrist would require every person to have his mark. It is now nearly impossible to rent a motel room, make an airline reservation, or shop without some kind of computer account. Within a decade, if Big Tech has its way, it will be totally impossible to do those things without a computer or smartphone. That is very close to the biblical deceiver’s mark as I see it.

Social media has divided us, perhaps irrecoverably so, and the situation is getting worse by the day. Some of our leading politicians refuse to condemn assassination and cold-blooded murder. Increasingly, terrorists are lionized online. This should concern us. But in too many cases, it is acceptable behavior. We may not be facing immediate end times, but the world is not a better place than it was before the invention of the internet.

People like me may have sworn off social media, but we can’t totally avoid the mark of the internet. After all, I am writing this column on a computer and will submit it online. Like the Antichrist, the internet has performed seeming miracles but has also caused much chaos. Chatbots may not be the imps of Hell, but they are rapidly getting beyond the control of their creators.

I don’t consider myself to be a Luddite, but the internet is beyond human control. When Christ makes his second coming, he will need to be computer literate or at least own a smartphone to get an audience.

READ MORE from Gary Anderson:

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Gary Anderson is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator.