“If, in the twenty-first century traditional political structures can no longer process the data fast enough to produce meaningful visions, then new and more efficient structures will evolve to take their place. These new structures may be very different from any other previous political institutions, whether democratic or authoritarian. The only question is who will build and control these structures. If humankind is no longer up to the task, perhaps it might give somebody else a try”.[i]
On November 30th, 2022, a revolutionary technology was released to the world that has the potential to dramatically change life and society as we know it. Experts are warning that this technology poses an existential threat to humanity.[ii] This technology is a form of artificial intelligence (AI) known as Chat Generative Pre-training Transformer or ChatGPT as it’s called. You can have a conversation with ChatGPT about any topic and it will provide you with answers to all kinds of questions. Now, this may not shock you as you’ve been able to ask Siri, Alexa, Cortana, or many of the other AI-functions built into any of your devices similar questions and received some moderately informed factual statements in reply. So, if you’ve ever probed them just a little bit, you quickly realise their limitations. ChatGPT on the other hand is a completely different beast because it won’t stop there. Unlike earlier AI technologies you can have a conversation with ChatGPT using natural language and it can give you novel answers or perform complex tasks for you. You can ask ChatGPT to write you an essay, a story, programming code or even a poem and it will produce its own original material based on the massive quantities of text-data on which it has been trained (45TB to be exact). [iii]
ChatGPT is known as an artificial generative intelligence (AGI). AGI’s design mimics the human brain’s information processing abilities so that it can perform complex and complicated tasks with the ability to produce new information from its inputs. The launch of this technology has shaken up the intelligentsia of the world because only a few months after its release it was followed by the publication of an open letter signed by multiple tech leaders and scientists petitioning for government leaders to forcefully pause all AI-research for six months to develop and implement safety protocols. Some of those who signed the letter include Space X founder Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. They have concerns that we’re developing a technology that we’re both incapable of understanding and controlling.[iv]
Only four years ago experts were saying that a general artificial intelligence with human like capabilities was at least 30 years away. And here we are in 2023 only four years later, and we have a powerful AI that is getting eerily close to resembling a general artificial intelligence which is free for anyone to use. ChatGPT is fundamentally different from earlier forms of AI, and it poses multiple risks for humanity, some of which involve everything from replacing human labour to the collapse of democracy or some experts even warn, menacing our existence.
AI is bringing us to the fourth industrial revolution. And just as the previous three revolutions, it’s likely to disrupt the job market and displace workers, which can pose a major challenge to policy makers.[v] This industrial revolution won’t displace manual labour in same way the first industrial revolution did, but instead it’ll displace white collar workers. According to a Goldman and Sachs study of AGI, up to one fourth of current jobs can be displaced due to AI.[vi] However, the same study showed that although many traditional occupations will be displaced, many new ones will be created. ChatGPT is, for instance, great for creative occupations because you can have a personal assistant who holds the collective knowledge of the entire internet in its hands while you can work with it to come up with completely new ideas through the actual interactions. Similar types of fears also appeared when the internet was released but it ended up generating lots of new jobs instead. AGI can also generate an increase in GDP through increased productivity because people will be able to get a lot more done with less effort. However, the concerns of leaders like Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak are certainly not unfounded.
Although the technology certainly will disrupt the job market and the economy for better or worse, there are other larger risks with this technology that we haven’t yet fully explored. According to historian Yuval Harari AGI is “the first technology in history that can make decisions by itself and it’s the first technology in history that can create ideas by itself”. This technological advancement is unprecedented in human history and its fundamentally different from anything human beings have ever invented before. Although the industrial revolution led to modern society, gifting it with unprecedented economic growth, it didn’t begin that way. Harari compares AI to the industrial revolution of the late 19th century. The industrial revolution caused a major disruption to the job market as will this one. He warns that although humanity eventually succeeded in reaping the benefits from that disruption, societies had many decades to adapt. But, even with decades to adapt, they came at a great expense. The violent rise of communism and fascism, accompanied by two world wars were products of the industrial revolution. Today, on the other hand, it’s a different ballgame altogether and the stakes are higher because the rapid speed of technological development gives the world much less time to adapt.[vii] Now there’s an even more fundamental question, are human beings even capable managing a technology this powerful or are we creating a beast that we can’t control? When it comes to these matters we need to look to the wisdom of God and learn from the Biblical story.
The Story of Man
The concept of mankind making decisions without understanding the consequences, brings us right back to the very beginning of the story of human life. God created mankind in His image, in relationship with him and under His rule. “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness” (Genesis 1:26-27). God didn’t just make us like him in form, but He made us like him in qualities. God also gave mankind freedom of choice, and He hasn’t forced his relationship upon us. ”And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die’” (Genesis 2:16-17). We know that mankind chose to reject God in pursuit of his own knowledge and wisdom. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened” (Genesis 3:6-7).
The Tower of Babel
Mankind’s decision to use our own wisdom instead of relying on God wasn’t just a rejection of God, it was a claim that we are equal or superior to God. It will become clear how society developed into vain and prideful civilizations as we now explore the progression of humanity following the first sin.
Not long after mankind’s first rebellion against God, we see early civilisation emerge. This society revelled in its own ingenuity and cleverness. At that time the people all spoke one language. In this story we see the consequence of mankind’s decision to eat of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil on a collective level. We see how when mankind organises itself and relies on its own wisdom, it leads to perversion and the complete inversion of God’s order. The people had marvelled at their own ingenuity as they had just discovered a new construction technology – brick. With this building material the people could construct taller temples then before. “They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves’” (Genesis 11:3-4).
In the ancient Near East, the heavens were understood to be the domain of God. So, when the people of Babel discovered this innovation, they used it in an attempt to ascend into God’s domain.
Jonathan Sacks points out that the people of this civilisation only had “one speech” which indicates that they had likely restricted freedom of speech. “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech” (Genesis 11:1). Sacks makes the point that Babel is the first totalitarianism civilisation we learn about because it was a civilisation that had regulated speech and that wasn’t content with man’s domain but wanted to enter God’s domain to create their own idea of a utopia.[viii]
In this section of the Biblical story we see the result of mankind’s rebellion and how ultimately the rejection of God was a vain and prideful attempt to compete with God. However, let’s not forget, that although we aren’t equal to God, He had still given mankind divine potential as evidenced by the fact that He made us in His image. God knew that when mankind organised themselves under their own self-rule, their creative abilities would have no limits. “5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (Genesis 11:5). So when it comes to the idea of mankind trying to attain divinity, there’s nothing new under the sun; no matter how well-intentioned any innovation is, mankind can’t escape from the human condition that began with man’s choice in the Garden of Eden. Ever since mankind decided to attain knowledge of good and evil human beings have tried to replace God with themselves. However whatever mankind attempts to create that isn’t guided by God’s spirit will become perverted. Because as the prophet Jeremiah says: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). So, God stopped the people of Babel and scattered them across the nations by confusing their languages.
In our day, however, language once again is no longer a barrier for humanity and for the first time in history, mankind has reached a point where human ingenuity makes the tower of Babel seem like a drop in the ocean compared to the vast capabilities of AI. Notice that God explicitly said: “nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (Genesis 11:6). It appears as though mankind has now finally reached new horizons where human civilisation may be entering divine domains. So, we need to ask ourselves: what are the moral and ethical consequences of us creating an ever-increasingly intelligent entity that we don’t fully understand and may not be able to control? Maybe the most important question to ask is, if we are able to control it, what are the consequences if this technology is used for evil?
This future image won’t just be a static statue and a dead idol. It will speak and have authority. It will be able to make autonomous decisions and execute them on behalf of the beast empire.
After the release of ChatGPT last year, even technology enthusiast Harari signed the open letter to call for a pause of AI-research.[ix] He is now warning that AI poses an existential threat to humanity if proper precautions aren’t put in place. He argues that we could face a social collapse if AI is used to manipulate the masses. Harari argues for the regulation of this technology just like medicine because he thinks it’s a threat to democracy. If the elite and experts are concerned about where progress is headed, then we have good reason to be vigilant as well. However, the elitist leaders view a utopian society quite different from anything resembling the Biblical ideals. If this technology is regulated, who’s to say that the authorities will do any better job than the free market? The regulation of a technology like this also poses a great risk to human freedoms. We must ask ourselves, what would happen if a centralised government would manage this technology?
Two of the most significant battles of ideas and values of the last century was the competition between free market capitalism and communism. In Harari’s book Homo Deus, he explains that really these forms of government weren’t two competing ideologies, he argues that they were just two different data processing systems. One, free market capitalism, was a decentralised processing system and the other communism, was a centralised processing system. The reason capitalism succeeded but communism failed was because it was impossible for the Soviet Union to manage the complexity of production centrally because it couldn’t manage or access reliable information about local needs versus production capacity.[x] Now, however, with AI and interconnected devices also known as internet of things (IoT), it could be possible for a new information processing system that can be centrally managed. It gives rise to the potential for a new technocratic superstate.
The Bible teaches us that a new type of empire will appear in the last times of this age. This empire will resemble Babylon and Rome, but it will be unlike them both. This last empire of our age is described in the prophet Daniel’s vision: “in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns” (Daniel 7:7). Notice that this beast will be different from previous empires! Now let’s explore what might be different about this empire.
The Beast
In John’s vision, we learn more about this beast. “The dragon stood on the shore of the sea [the dragon represents Satan] And I saw a beast coming out of the sea [this represents Satan’s empire]” (Revelation 13:1). In verse 4 it says: “People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast” (Revelation 13:4). As we read, Satan the dragon will give the beast empire; it’s power and people will be forced to worship it. We can already in society today, see tendencies towards totalitarian cultures emerging within the western world. The LGBT and pride movements are becoming more militant about what individuals can and can’t say and they are willing to destroy careers and reputations at a whim through cancel culture and mobbing. But they won’t stop there either. Many organisations are being strongarmed by these mobs to compel employees to openly endorse this lifestyle.[xi]
It’s only been less than two years since the world saw one of the largest attacks on freedom that we’ve ever seen on this scale. We saw for the first time in human history a global lockdown. Depending on where you lived, this pandemic had consequences for your level of inclusion in the economy. In Austria, people who were unvaccinated, were banned from cafés, restaurants, and hairdressers.[xii] If you were a trucker in Canada who lost your job due government vaccine mandates and you decided to protest in Ottawa, you were at risk having your bank account frozen by the government (many were).[xiii] Although, this situation was nothing like Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, or modern-day North Korea, seeing this happen in a modern democracy should be a serious wakeup call for anyone who cares about freedom and democracy. With these recent events fresh in mind, it becomes clear how quickly our freedoms can be taken from us and how powerless we in fact are. These events also revealed a desire of the people in power to exercise control over the population. As we previously read, we know from the Bible that a totalitarian super empire will eventually emerge that will attack God’s people. This empire will be pseudo-religious in nature and an enemy of the truth. “It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation (Revelation 13:7-8).
Out of this empire a sinister man will appear on the scene. The Apostle Paul describes him as the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). He will claim to be the Messiah and he will perform astonishing miracles: “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived” (Revelation 13:11-14). Now we get to the crucial part of this prophecy. Notice in verse 14: “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived” (Revelation 13:14).
This man of lawlessness will create an image of the beast empire and he will force people to worship that image. Now what could this image be? This situation appears to be an echo of Daniel when Nebuchadnezzar created a statue of himself and forced everyone to bow down and worship the statue. However, there’s something distinctly different about this situation. Let’s have a look at the first image: “Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down, and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace” (Daniel 3:3-6). But notice that this image described in Revelation is significantly different from Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. “He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Revelation 13:15).
This future image won’t just be a static statue and a dead idol. It will speak and have authority. It will be able to make autonomous decisions and execute them on behalf of the beast empire. The image of the beast appears to be an image of the demonically inspired empire of man. Could this image be AI? Well, let’s explore the scriptures further to try to understand what is going on.
Narratively and thematically, the idea appears to align with the Biblical story as it can be traced all the way back to the beginning of the story in the Garden of Eden. Just as God breathed into His image, man, so that he became a living and speaking being, so also man breathed into his image so that the image of collective humanity was able to speak. But is this enough to draw the conclusion that the image of the beast is AI? Let’s explore this topic further. More clues to understanding the image of the beast are found in understanding how the beast empire works.
The Beast Creates a System of Trade
John’s vision gives a description of a corrupted and perverted totalitarian system unlike any the world has ever seen before. This system will have absolute control over all trade. “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.” (Revelation 13:16-18). For the first time in human history it will soon be possible for a government to exercise complete control over every aspect of human life. To better understand how this may happen, we need to first understand what the mark of the beast means.
Many Bible scholars have tried to decipher what the mark of the beast symbolises over the millennia. Some believe this number symbolises emperor Nero or Domitian.[xiv]. Irenaeus links the number of the beast to the six days of creation, the age 600 of Noah when the flood devoured the wickedness of man and with the dimensions 60 cubits by 6 cubits of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel. These different scriptures are connected by two common denominators: God’s creation and the wickedness of man. Because, the six days of creation are the complete cycle of creation with the creation of man as the culmination of creation. The 600 years of Noah’s life is the period before the flood that sums up the wickedness of man because of the terrible violence that had filled the earth. Similarly the statue of Nebuchadnezzar summed up the wickedness of man’s government.[xv] Irenaeus makes an interesting point as the common thread between all these scriptures are tied to the creation whether creation of man or man’s creation.
Artist and public speaker Jonathan Pageau who is a specialist in Biblical symbols, builds on Irenaeus thinking but relates the number 666 to the talents of gold King Solomon received yearly from his empire (1 Kings 10:14). He explains that the 666 talents of gold are part of a complete system that Solomon created. Pageau explains that there’s nothing sinister about the number 666 itself because it only relates to a complete system of creation – just as the world was created in 6 days. The 6 days are the complete cycle of work, but they exclude the Sabbath rest so they fall short of perfection. He goes on to use examples from the Torah of how God always instructed man against creating a completely closed system e.g. “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger” (Leviticus 23:22). Pageau explains that God instructed man not to create a system that can account for every aspect of human existence. He instructed Israel to leave the system open so that the people on the margins and fringes could manage.[xvi] What we see with mankind’s ambitions is to create a utopia that can account for everything including those on the margins. But whenever mankind has attempted to create a system like that, it has become a totalitarian nightmare because mankind’s vision of a utopia will always fall short. We’ve seen this disaster with the two main utopian ideologies of the 20th century – communism and fascism.
The problem is when we as human beings put all faith in a system that tries to account for everything – all the works of man including all the margins. If we follow Pageau’s reasoning, it becomes clear that the number 666 is related to a system built completely on the works of man and excluding the concept of the Sabbath rest. Just like in the Garden of Eden and the tower of Babel, mankind always tries to build a system that excludes God. The symbolism of 666 is really at the crux of the problem with the human condition. Ever since mankind chose to eat from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil mankind has tried to create a system that excludes God.
As we observe, with these wonders of technological advancements, society is degrading morally into more of a modern form of Sodom and Gomorrah. Gay rights evolved from peaceable tolerance of private lifestyles to a sort of societal dictate to “celebrate” and advocate a range of sexual orientations and identities, to the point of teaching them to young children. Vaccines used to be a personal choice, but in the last few years they became mandated at the risk of societal and financial exclusion from the system.
China is an early example of how a system of control can be implemented. They have a notorious social credit system to regulate what level of inclusion people have in the financial system. Citizens’ social credit scores can be affected by anything from jaywalking, traffic violations, missing a payment or disturbing neighbours.[xvii] However, it’s currently a lot more primitive than it’s often described to be. Contrary to common understanding, it’s not centrally managed but instead, it’s implemented by low-tech local and regional agencies to enforce the central governments laws. However, a national system for managing social credit is being built and the latest draft law expresses the need for using more technologically advanced methods to combine data about credit scores from different agencies.[xviii] In addition, now with blockchain technology, a form of digital currency, China is seeking to eliminate the use of cash by creating a centrally managed digital Yuan. This currency gives the Chinese government intrusive line of sight into private individuals’ behaviours.[xix] Combined with AI, this currency can give the Chinese government more centralised control over the people. So, in China we already see early indications of how a system of control can be implemented. With the power of AI, Smart Cities, biotechnology and blockchain for the first time in history, human civilisation has the ability to create a system that can account for every detailed aspect of human life.
Harari gives a chilling forecast of the potential direction of humanity for the next century. He argues that the entire human conscious experience consisting of our emotions and our thoughts are nothing more than mere algorithms. His claim is that all organisms are complex algorithms. Therefore, since AI is a complex system of algorithms, he argues that with the vast computing power of today’s IT-infrastructure, AI will be able to predict our behaviours, inner desires and needs better we can ourselves.[xx]
With advancements in AI, digitalisation and biotechnology he predicts that mankind will pursue reengineering themselves to achieve superhuman abilities, making them immortal and smarter potentially using a myriad of technologies like biological engineering, cyborg technology or merging the human consciousness with the digital world. He says mankind’s next pursuit will be to transform homo sapiens into homo deus—god-man. According to Harari’s analysis these abilities will likely only be available for a privileged few – an elite class who can afford to enhance themselves into gods.[xxi] So, it’s not unlikely that an elite class of human beings will begin modifying themselves to become superhumans. Merging man and machine may be one of the ways the man of lawlessness controls the AI – the image of beast giving him unprecedented insight and power over the population. With genetical engineering he could enhance his intelligence giving him superhuman abilities capable of processing information on a massive scale.
Already in Sweden over 3500 people have implanted a chip known as RFID into their hands to be able to make purchases more conveniently. This chip works as a digital identification and credit card.[xxii] If you add blockchain, AI and biotechnology to the mix, we can now see how this technology can potentially be abused by a totalitarian government if democracy collapses and it turns into a police state. A centrally government managed digital currency that is managed through an electronic ID implanted in the human body can trace all your behaviours. Technologically it will also be possible to track all your emotional and physiological states if it measures heart rate and other bodily functions. We’re living in an age where we can potentially witness a new tower of Babel, a level of central control and enforcement unlike any the world has ever seen before.
Now let’s look at how all these concepts might come together. With technology that is available today, for the first time in human history a technocratic state can emerge that could manage vast populations, military complexes and resources centrally. This technocratic state could come in the form of a utopian state falsely claiming to save humanity from war, poverty, injustice or climate change. It will be man’s ultimate creation and the complete work of man that tries to account for every aspect of the human life. We’ve just gone through the prophetic scriptures warning humanity of a future beast power. Although, we never know for sure how things will play out, we may well in our generation be seeing the foundation being setup for the beast power to rise through technological advancements and with the political and financial instability in the world.
Now if it’s the case that the image of the beast in fact is the image of mankind’s wicked empire in the form of AI, then the story of humanity actually ends in an inversion of the image of God. The story begins with God making mankind in His image, but man rejects God to be able to replace God with himself and his own morals. Then man begins to worship himself and the created world which culminates in the creation and worship of the image of man. Whether or not we are living in the last times, prophecy is also a moral barometer of human civilisation. Even if the beast power won’t emerge in our generation, we’re likely seeing with these techno, socio and geo-political developments a movement closer towards creating the image of the beast.
The book of Revelation in many ways sums up God’s plan because it’s the fullness of evil confronting the fullness of good. It will be the anti-climactic end of this age and of man, culminating in the great battle of Armageddon where the armies of the world will gather to fight our King, Jesus Christ. It’s the age-old battle between the forces of light against the forces of darkness in its final confrontation. Although, we, God’s people, face challenging times before this final battle, it’s exciting that perhaps in our lifetimes we’ll be a part of one of the most significant events in the history of the universe, because we know how this story ends. God will be victorious, and His Kingdom will prevail. Then we shall serve as kings and priests together with God in the new world and for ever more.
“And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15).
[i] Harari, Y.N. (2018) Homo deus: A brief history of Tomorrow, 382. New York: Harper Perennial.
[ii] Harari, Y.N. (2023) Artificial Intelligence, democracy, & the future of Civilization | Yoshua Bengio & Yuval Noah Harari, YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKopbyIPo6Y&list=WL&index=9&t=19s (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
[iii] Gregersen, E. (2023) Chatgpt, Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/technology/ChatGPT (Accessed: 10 June 2023).
[iv] Pause giant AI experiments: An open letter (2023) Future of Life Institute. Available at: https://futureoflife.org/open-letter/pause-giant-ai-experiments/ (Accessed: 29 June 2023).
[v] Elliott, L. (2023) The AI Industrial Revolution puts middle-class workers under threat this time, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/feb/18/the-ai-industrial-revolution-puts-middle-class-workers-under-threat-this-time (Accessed: 29 June 2023).
[vi] Hatzius, J. et al. (no date) 26 March 2023 | 9:05pm EDT – key4biz. Available at: https://www.key4biz.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Global-Economics-Analyst_-The-Potentially-Large-Effects-of-Artificial-Intelligence-on-Economic-Growth-Briggs_Kodnani.pdf (Accessed: 29 June 2023).
[vii] Harari, Y.N. (2023) Artificial Intelligence, democracy, & the future of Civilization | Yoshua Bengio & Yuval Noah Harari, YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKopbyIPo6Y&list=WL&index=9&t=19s (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
[viii] Sacks, J. (2009) Genesis, The book of beginnings, 49-53. New Milford, CT: Maggid Books & The Orthodox Union.
[ix] Pause giant AI experiments: An open letter (2023) Future of Life Institute. Available at: https://futureoflife.org/open-letter/pause-giant-ai-experiments/ (Accessed: 29 June 2023).
[x] Harari, Y.N. (2018) Homo deus: A brief history of Tomorrow. New York: Harper Perennial.
[xi] Peterson, J. (no date) Jordan Peterson: Why I am no longer a tenured professor at the … Available at: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/jordan-peterson-why-i-am-no-longer-a-tenured-professor-at-the-university-of-toronto (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
[xii] Murphy, F. (2021) Austria bans the unvaccinated from restaurants as covid-19 cases surge, Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/austria-bans-unvaccinated-cafes-hairdressers-covid-19-cases-surge-2021-11-05/ (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
[xiii] Pearce, T. (2022) Trudeau announces unprecedented action, freezing bank accounts of ‘freedom convoy’ protesters, The Daily Wire. Available at: https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trudeau-announces-unprecedented-action-freezing-bank-accounts-of-freedom-convoy-protesters (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
[xiv] Gumerlock, Nero Antichrist, 347–60; Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars, 179
[xv] Irenaeus (2007) Irenaeus Against Heresies, 324. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing.
[xvi] Pageau, J. (2019) The surprising symbolism of 666, YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM_kQjpAK6g&t=865s (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
[xvii] Bois, P. (2021) Congressman Mark Green: Cancel culture similar to China’s ‘Social Credit System’, The Daily Wire. Available at: https://www.dailywire.com/news/congressman-mark-green-cancel-culture-similar-to-chinas-social-credit-system (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
[xviii] Yang, Z. (2022) China just announced a new Social Credit Law. here’s what it means., MIT Technology Review. Available at: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/11/22/1063605/china-announced-a-new-social-credit-law-what-does-it-mean/ (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
[xix] Bociaga, R. (2022) China developing the Digital Yuan to protect its interests, The Japan Times. Available at: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2022/12/12/commentary/world-commentary/chinese-digital-yuan/ (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
[xx] Harari, Y.N. (2018) Homo deus: A brief history of Tomorrow, 21-49. New York: Harper Perennial.
[xxi] Harari, Y.N. (2018) Homo deus: A brief history of Tomorrow, 21-49. New York: Harper Perennial.
[xxii] Petersén, M. (no date) Tusentals Svenskar Skaffar Mikrochip-implantat – detta är förklaringen varför, Lunds universitet. Available at: https://www.lu.se/artikel/tusentals-svenskar-skaffar-mikrochip-implantat-detta-ar-forklaringen-varfor (Accessed: 01 July 2023).