“He didn’t come to save old-growth forests or wetlands, did he?”
“No.”
“Now tell me what you think we redoing here, Jared. What is this all about?”
“What do you mean by ‘this’?”
“I’ll say it a different way. We know what Jesus came to do. What did B come to do?”
“I don’t know,” I said, alarmed.
“You do know, Jared. What is the subject of our conversations here? What is the subject of all our talks?”
I shook my head.
“Take the leap now, Jared. The gap’s about two inches wide. Three words will bridge it.”
I stared at her, frozen solid.
“Speak, goddammit. Don’t make me say this for you. What’s the subject of all our conversations? What’s the subject of all our talks?”
I managed to get it out as a hoarse croak: “Saving the world.”
“Saving the world—of course. It was right there in front of your nose the whole time, wasn’t it. Now, Jared, we are goddamn well going to get to the Antichrist. Right now. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“That’s what you’re here about, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Now, in the history of the Antichrist, it was always understood that he would be the inversion of the Christ. If the Christ came for the salvation of souls, then the Antichrist would come …”
“For the damnation of souls.”
“Absolutely. If the Christ preached good works and perfection, then the Antichrist would preach …”
“Sin and wickedness.”
“That’s how it’s been traditionally understood. But, as I understood what you told us, more theologically sophisticated thinkers have moved beyond that traditional understanding. They already realize that, if the prophecies about the Antichrist are to be taken seriously, then they won’t be fulfilled by someone preaching sin and wickedness—not in this day and age. What sins and wickedness could any preacher possibly come up with that wouldn’t evoke yawns of utter boredom from an audience of modern television viewers?”
“None,” I agreed.
“The traditional Antichrist as preacher of sin and wickedness wouldn’t even make a ripple in the modern world, therefore …”
“Therefore?”
“Think, Jared. If a preacher of sin and wickedness wouldn’t make it as the Antichrist, then …”
“Then the Antichrist is going to be something else.”
“Then the Antichrist is going to be an inversion of Christ in a different direction.”
She clearly wanted a reaction from me at this point, so I said, “I see that. The Antichrist is going to be an inversion of Christ in a different direction.”
“What other direction?”
“I don’t know.” I really didn’t.