Fear Tactics

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky ( bio - articles - email ) | Nov 17, 2025

In the 1970s, an old man with disheveled white hair sat in front of the White House holding a sign that read, “Repent, the end is near.” After fifty years, joking about the end of the world is less carefree, as anxiety quietly creeps in. The end is indeed near for many of us inching toward the top of the actuarial tables.

Reasonable fear recognizes threats in proportion to the danger. It impels us to flee or confront danger depending on the circumstances. At times, it is prudent to keep our heads down. At others, we courageously jump from the foxhole and charge ahead.

Fear of suffering—fear of serpents, plagues, and other punishments—repeatedly brought the Israelites back to their senses as they wandered the desert. Jesus Himself dreaded the prospect of His Passion in the Garden, yet He courageously carried His Cross in obedience to the Father. He also describes the end times to help us persevere in the faith.

A healthy and proportionate fear of the end times—and of our individual demise—keeps us “sober and alert.” One day we will stand before God for our Particular Judgment. The details of our life will pass before us, with God as our infinitely just Judge. There will be only two eternal destinations: Heaven (usually delayed by the purifying fires of Purgatory) and Hell.

The Church teaches that, before Christ returns, the Church will face a final trial involving a great spiritual deception led by the AntichristL a false messiah who exalts humanity in place of God. After this, Christ will come again, raise the dead, judge all souls, and renew all creation.

No one can know the day or the hour of His coming in glory. “Since the Ascension, Christ’s coming in glory has been imminent… but the event could be accomplished only after certain events have come to pass. Those ‘certain events’ include the final trial and the Antichrist.” (CCC 673)

The Church will undergo a period of intense testing: “Before Christ’s second coming, the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.” (CCC 675) This is not merely political turmoil; it is a spiritual crisis centered on deception.

The Antichrist is both a person and a system. Catholic theology allows for both. There will be an individual “final Antichrist.” Still, many antichrists have already been present in history (cf. 1 John 2:18). Although systemic antichrists are not clearly defined, they align with the epistles of St. John—ideologies or systems opposed to Christ, such as militant secularism or false messianism. Deception defines both the individual and systemic Antichrist: “The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist—a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.” (CCC 675–676)

The final Antichrist offers a false salvation. He replaces God with human self-exaltation, often promoting human progress without God through political, social, or technological utopianism. Such secular messianic hope is ultimately diabolical.

The Antichrist is not merely a corrupt ruler; his lies involve religious deception. He appears good, moral, and even “spiritual.” St. Paul describes him performing false signs (cf. 2 Thess. 2).

The identity of the coming Antichrist is elusive. There will be no secret rapture to save us from tribulation (e.g., the so-called seven-year tribulation timeline). Instead, the entire Church will pass through the trial, not be removed from it. When the internet lights up with specific dates and identities, we can remind ourselves, “Don’t be so optimistic. You’ll have to slug it out with the rest of us.” Our complete devotion to Jesus in the Sacraments is our mission and defense.

God did not create us to die. Death is the consequence of sin. After the final trial and defeat of the Antichrist, Jesus will return: the dead are raised (body and soul), and history as we know it concludes in a single moment. We will collectively stand before God in the General Judgment, where Jesus will reveal all truth, judge all souls, and separate good from evil. There will be no secrets.

The Book of Revelation reveals that history concludes with the exaltation of the New Heaven and New Earth. Creation will be transformed: no death, no suffering, no sin, and perfect communion with God. This is the final fulfillment (cf. Rev 21:1–5). The end of history will see God’s definitive triumph.

The Church teaches that Jesus fulfilled and brought to completion the faith of Israel. The twelve Apostles—the foundational college of bishops—fulfill and universalize the twelve tribes of Israel, and Jesus elevates all humanity into one tribe: the universal tribe of Jesus. Several Protestant end-of-times traditions, however, are incompatible with Church teaching. For example, Dispensationalism is particularly prominent among old-time religion Protestants (promoted by some popular televangelists and many mega-Protestant churches).

Dispensationalism teaches that we are in the final post-resurrection historical dispensation. Christianity has not definitively fulfilled the faith of Israel, because, according to this view, Israel must rebuild the Temple to usher in the end times. When the Temple is rebuilt, Christ will return and reign for 1,000 years before the rapture and final tribulation. This explains the unconditional support some old-time religion Protestants give Israel in hopes of hastening the Temple’s rebuilding.

For those with the eyes of faith to see, Jesus comes to us at every Mass under the appearance of bread and wine. The Mass remembers and re-presents His first coming, while anticipating and preparing us for His Second Coming. Echoing Revelation, we pray: “Come, Lord Jesus.” But we may admit to a tug of reluctance in our prayer.

Jesus reveals the cost of discipleship before His Second Coming: “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.” (Lk. 21:17–19)

Perseverance in the love of Christ conquers and dispels all our fears. Repent, the end is near. Always good advice. Maranatha! (Rev. 22:20)