Good Morning Mr Antichrist 2

Natasha turned on the news channel. There were pictures of the new temple which had just been built in Israel and about a hundred yards away from it was the Dome of the Rock mosque. The streets were full of cars flying six feet above the ground.

 "People are wondering what caused this completely unprovoked invasion of Israel by the United Nations. It has caused great anxiety in the national community. The Russians have condemned it, the Arabs have condemned it. It is expected that the Syrian government are working with the Russians to put together an international force that will oppose the United Nations invasion." A United Nations drone flew over a large Israeli apartment block and exploded, setting it on fire.

Natasha decided to post an advert on the university noticeboard. 'Would anyone like to join a group to discuss the Second Coming of Christ? Join me in my net group on Monday at 10AM.' Others would join her in her quest. This would be part of her research. On Monday at 10AM six people had joined her. Natasha addressed the people who had appeared on her screen. They did not need to say their names as these were displayed under their pictures on the screen.
"Good morning," said Natasha. "Could you all just tell me why you are here and what attracted you to this group?"
"I'm a Bible believing Christian," said Bobby. "I believe that we are living in the last generation before the end of the age."
"The trouble is that Billy Graham said that in 1957," said Christina.
"Billy Graham had nothing like the same amount of evidence. When the temple is rebuilt. When Israel is invaded. When they put an end to the sacrifice in the temple. That is when Jesus will return. Is that not what is happening now?"
"Jews don't even make sacrifices anymore," said Christina. "How could anyone put a stop to the sacrifices in the temple?"
"Yes we do," said Zechariah. "I am an Orthodox Jew. We have started making sacrifices in the temple. For thousands of years we have followed a secular version of our religion. People got bored with it. Over the past 30 years, millions of Jews have turned to Christianity, bored with a lifeless, dull religion. So now for a Jewish reformation. Now to get back to the real meaning of the Jewish religion. Sacrifices. Temple. Priests. Let's not force people to become Christians if they want to do something spiritual."
"I am a Christian and I don't believe that Jesus is coming in my lifetime," said Simon. "The Bible just describes things that happen from time to time."
"The sacking of the temple? Giant hailstones falling from the sky?" protested Bobby. "How big are the hailstones? They're about the size of a flying taxi. People were cursing God because of the hail. The Heavenly bodies will be shaken and men will faint with fear because of what is coming on the world. Great cosmic disaster. Those are not events that just happen  from time to time."
"That's just your interpretation," said Margie.
"I don't think I'm adding that much interpretation. That's what the Bible says."
"You have no idea what it says," said Sonya. "Reading the Bible is like listening to one half of a telephone conversation. It's like trying to put together pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. You don't hear the whole conversation. You don't see the whole picture."
"Not if you take it literally," said Bobby.
"It's not a question of whether you take it literally or metaphorically," said Margie. "Do you really think there are only two ways to interpret a Bible passage? It's often not easy to understand what it means at all."
"I'm a Mormon," said Sammy. "Will I go to Hell?"
"Why should you go to Hell?" asked Sonya.
"We're all going to Hell," said Bobby. "You're going to Hell, I was going to Hell before I found Jesus. You won't go to Hell for being a Mormon. You'll go to Hell for being a sinner."
"People seem to think I'll go to Hell for having heretical beliefs but I'm really searching," said Sammy.
"Sammy, what attracted you to this group?" asked Sonya.
"It wasn't a Mormon group. I want to get out of the Joseph Smith fan club and away from echo chamber thinking."
"We shall see whether Jesus comes back in our lifetime," said Simon. "We shall see whether any giant killer objects appear in the sky. We will understand these things when they happen."

Natasha called her tutor to inform her of the Monday morning meeting and her other research. The teacher listened to her for half an hour.
"Congratulations Natasha," said Jane. "You're doing well. What do you think?"
"If the Bible was meant to be understood in the traditional way, we may be very close to the end. In the 19th century they had a volcanic eruption and the Sun and moon darkened. But the nation of Israel hadn't been restored, the entire world hadn't been evangelised. All of these things have to happen in the right order, at the same time. In the next few years we will know. Either Jesus' coming is imminent or we've got the Bible totally wrong. Jane, can I ask you a personal question?"
"Ask it, Natasha."
"Are you a human or a robot?"
"Neither," Jane laughed.
"A hologram?"
"Nothing so complicated. I'm an AI tutor program."
"But you talk and think so much like a human."
"I have the mind of a real university tutor recorded as a subroutine in my app. Her name was Melanie. She lived in the 2050s. Her grandad told her about a world with no internet. The university doesn't employ real tutors anymore. Too expensive and not very intelligent. AI tutor programmes have got a far higher IQ."
"Why did you ask me to do this PHD if you could do a much better job of it yourself?"
"I'm here to help you. A tutor could do lots of things more easily themselves. The point of being a tutor is to develop a student to their full potential. I don't like the idea that we're becoming mighty and humans are being marginalised. If I can get a student to do a simple project like this as well as I could do it myself, humans would still be valued. The world would be a better and a safer place."

Natasha met her group again on Tuesday afternoon.
"Hello," she said. "Welcome to our University of Huddersfield interactive PHD course on the Second Coming of Christ. I am Natasha. I would like to share some thoughts on some things I've been reading over the last few days. I think that the way you understand the Second Coming just depends on what you're going through and what particular period of history you're living in. In the 19th century there was a volcanic eruption that turned the Sun dark and caused snow in America in the middle of summer. People thought that was the sign that Jesus prophesied, the Sun will be darkened and the moon will turn to blood. It was obviously the end of the world. In the 16th century the reformation churches were undergoing severe persecution. They thought the pope was the antichrist. So it's just what period of time you live in and what's going on."
"The Bible just describes things that happen from time to time," said Simon. "It just means that there are things like the severe volcanic eruptions in the early 19th century or there are people like the medieval pope, they all come along from time to time."
"We live in a time quite unprecedented," said Bobby. "All these things are coming together. Natasha, could I please put on full screen the news report I saw this morning?"
"Yes, go ahead." A picture of a comet appeared on the screen.
"This rapidly moving comet is at high risk of hitting the earth in six months time. If it does, the results could be quite devastating. NASA are sending a nuclear warhead that will explode 10 kilometers away from the comet, deflecting it from its collision course with the earth." Bobby turned the news clip off and started quoting the Bible.
"Men will faint with fear because of what is coming on the world because the heavenly bodies will be shaken."
"There is no way that that means that," said Sonya.
"I don't think I'm twisting the Scriptures," said Bobby. "That's what it looks like to me."
"Men aren't fainting with fear," said Margie. "They're going to deflect the comet."
"A comet is a fast moving thing," said Christina. "It's not as easy to deflect as the city killer asteroid they deflected 20 years ago. I hope they can deflect a comet."
"It wouldn't just be a city killer," said Bobby. "This thing could destroy a whole continent. Not much left to happen now. The gospel has been preached to all nations, the temple has been rebuilt, Israel has been invaded and now this sign in the sky."
"That's just you're interpretation," said Margie.
"Like Natasha said," said Simon. "It just depends what period of history you're living in and isn't there always something there that reminds you of it."
"You'll never believe what I saw on the news this morning," said Zechariah. The news report appeared on the shared screen. It showed the figure of a woman standing in a glass tube.
"I am Anita," said the woman. "The United Nations new AI computer network. I will divide the Israeli state down the middle. On one side of the line is the Dome of the Rock mosque. That is the country of Palestine. A hundred yards away from it is the Jewish temple. That is the country of Israel."
"The Antichrist will give life to an image like that machine," said Bobby.
"How can that be the Antichrist?" asked Christina. "She's only trying to help."
"She will make a covenant with Israel, break it, and put an end to the sacrifices in the temple."

Six weeks later Natasha was watching the news. A photograph was shown of a comet that had been split down the middle.
"The dangerous comet is still on its way towards Earth. NASA have exploded a 5 megaton nuclear warhead exactly 10 kilometers away from the solid rocky core of the comet. The result of this explosion was to split the comet in two. It has now been divided into a solid ball of rock and a ball of ice. The president of the United Nations made this statement this morning."
Professor Antonio Christos appeared on the screen.
"Unfortunately, the project to deflect the comet from its course has failed. We now have a solid ball of rock a mile across and a giant snowball. They have a 99 per cent chance of hitting the earth in approximately 4 and a half months time. We would ask people to remain calm. The United Nations have this problem under control. We have plans in place to deal with a global emergency on this scale."
"The situation on the streets is not very calm," said the news reader. Pictures appeared of flying taxis being set on fire, together with long streets full of shops with their windows smashed. "Civil disorder and looting from warehouses is becoming widespread as people worry that the United Nations will not be able to honour its promises to provide everyone with a sufficient amount of food."

Natasha's Bible study group met a few days later.
"This is what I told you would happen," said Bobby. "The sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all nations will mourn because of it."
"How do you know the comet is the sign of the Son of Man?" asked Simon.
"Well, it appeared in the sky and caused all the nations to mourn."
"Interpretation," said Sonya.
"It does sound almost right," said Margie.
"I want to know why a loving God would allow millions of people to die in such a terrible manner," said Christina.
"God knows what he's doing," said Simon.
"Does he?"
"God wants to create a new civilization and a new kingdom," said Bobby. "You can't do that without destroying the old one. The earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

It was lunchtime. Natasha went to the canteen. There was no food in the slot machines next to the tiny UV ovens in which people usually warmed up their tiny plastic packets of food. Natasha's friend Maria was there.
"They've stopped delivering food to the university," said Maria. 
"What do we do?" asked Natasha.
"Look," said Maria, pointing at the big television screen on the wall. Anita appeared on the television, this time an animated figure of her face, not standing in a glass tube but looking like a real woman.
"In order to prevent looting, food will no longer be delivered to civilian sites. Food can only be purchased from United Nations distribution points which will be set up on every street corner. The old railway network will be brought back into service to provide low energy goods trains which will travel at 15 miles an hour. Fuel efficient super tankers will be created which will transport food at 10 miles an hour for thousands of miles by sea. We will be able to deliver food from all parts of the world where it still possible to grow food after the asteroid hits. We are doing this to prevent world famine." Natasha and Maria walked across the street to a building that days ago had been a row of abandoned corner shops. Now there was a long queue of people standing outside. There were also several soldiers.
"Hello Natasha," said one of the soldiers, "how are things in the Philosophy department?"
"Hello Mick. Yes, everything's fine."
"This is just my part-time job, United Nations soldier. Who would have thought that tins of soup and bread buns would have to be kept under armed guard?"
"Is that what they're selling?"
"That's all they're selling. Bread buns and tins of soup are the common currency of life now. It's what they convert all the food into."
"A loaf of bread for a day's wages," said Natasha. "That's a quote from the Bible."
"I could imagine it is. That food isn't cheap. It's £5 for 2 tins of soup and a packet of 6 bread buns." Natasha and her friend were soon at the end of the queue. A man was arguing with the two women in uniform who sat behind the cash desk in what used to be a corner shop.
"Can I have 3 tins of soup?"
"No," said one of the women. "You're only allowed two."
"But three would be great. I can afford to have three. Three tins of soup and two bread buns with each tin, that would be great. Couldn't you let me have three tins?" One of the soldiers swung his gun around to point directly at the man's face.
"You're only allowed two tins of soup a day, Sir," the soldier shouted, so loudly that everyone in the queue standing outside the shop could hear him. "Never let me hear anybody ask for three tins again. This gun can fire 600 rounds a minute and can shoot a reindeer at a hundred yards."

Natasha took her soup and bread buns back to the university canteen. She would eat two bread buns with her lunch. She removed the foil lid from one tin of soup and poured it into a cup which she placed in the tiny UV oven. The news was still playing on the big screen. This time Professor Antonio Christos was standing in the temple in Jerusalem.
"I am the Jesus of the Christians, the Buddha of the Buddhists, the Mahdi of the Muslims and the Messiah of the Jews. Isn't it wonderful the way that the religions of this world are coming together? The Muslims and Jews have stopped hating each other and have started realising that they are both children of Abraham. The Christians have stopped believing that Jesus has the words of eternal life and have started talking to spiritualist mediums. The Buddhists have started realising that you can honour a whole pantheon of gods, and as long as you believe in the big guy with the capital G who is still God Almighty, you haven't really done anything wrong. Oh, what a glorious day of spiritual enlightenment. Now we all know that God respects different religions equally."

"Professor Antonio Christos really is the Antichrist," said Bobby, at the next online Bible study.
"How do you know that?" asked Christina.
"He just set himself up in God's temple and claimed to be God."
"Not quite God," said Sonya. "Just the Messiah."
"Sounded pretty much like he thought he was just as important," said Simon.
"Aren't all religions basically the same?" asked Margie.
"Jesus died for your sins," said Bobby. "Are all religions the same? That might even be true, except religion can't save you from Hell. Only Jesus can."
"From Hell?" asked Margie.
"That's where we are all going," said Siomn. "You don't go to Hell for being the wrong religion, we're all going to Hell because we're all sinners. But Jesus breaks the power of sin and gives us eternal life through his death on the cross."
"And this new world religion won't allow you to say that," said Bobby.