J Philip Bible Readings

6 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” ² And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

³ When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

⁵ When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

⁷ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

As a comment on the 'imitativeness' of evil movements, we quote the Rev. Thomas  Swanston 'Many critics of Communism aver that the success of dialectical materialism is due  to the fact that it sets itself up in opposition to a rarified and other-worldly religion. And with out any shadow of doubt, the nature of Russian Orthodoxy compels her to be sundered from  

the real issues of life and very divorced from the simplicity that is in Christ. Men are saved not  by preaching but by ritual. But the alarming proficiency of communism cannot be traced  solely to the fact that she offered men bread and work in place of a meaningless piety. Her  success is due, and I believe her ultimate triumph will be owed, to the fact that she is a con vincing and accurate facsimile of the Christian faith.... Self-assured and ascendant Commu nism is to be viewed in the light of the fact that she is a brilliant imitation of the Christian  faith. She has a god - the State; she has a prophet - Karl Marx; she has a holy book - Das Kap ital; she has a saviour - Lenin, whose person and career have assumed almost sinless propor tions'.  

This is very impressive, and very significant, enabling us to see that the real point is not  that communism is similar to Christianity, but meant as an alternative to it. The fact is, com munism is, rightly understood, a secular apocalypse with all the salient features of apocalypse  imbedded in it, the revolutionary crisis, followed by the utopia and the establishing of a new  kingdom, the classless society, and claims to replace the Christian apocalypse with its prom ise of the new heavens and the new earth ushered in by the coming of Christ.