The Strong Delusion

Q

In 2 Thessalonians 2:11 it says that God will send them a strong delusion. I’ve often wondered what that would be. With all the talk of aliens and in movies from Hollywood, do you think that fallen angels in the form of aliens might appear? Do you think the Antichrist might explain away the rapture that us Christians were taken off of the earth because we were inferior and were preventing a better earth?

A

According to the dictionary a delusion is “a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact.” It’s a state of mind that doesn’t require external support and is often held in spite of contradictory evidence. But remember, Satan will be empowering the Anti-Christ and the false prophet to perform counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders that will deceive unbelievers (1 Thes. 2:9-10). The strong delusion mentioned in verse 11 could be nothing more than a predisposition to believe these false signs.

In some New Age writings, there’s a view that believers are hindering the next evolutionary leap of mankind, which they define as the spiritual development necessary to permit the creation of a Utopian society. They say one day soon all believers will be taken off the planet so this next and final phase of human evolution can take place.