Al Gore’s Curious Interpretation of the Book of Revelation

Former Vice President Al Gore is founder and chairman of “The Climate Reality Project” – an organization dedicated to addressing and solving our purported environmental “crisis.”

In an interview released earlier this week, Mr. Gore was quoted as saying:

“When every night on the TV news is like a nature hike through the Book of Revelation, that builds demands for meaningful action.”

To be sure, Al Gore has been warning about a looming climate apocalypse for decades. Beginning as a member of the House of Representatives in 1981 when he suggested global warming was man-made, the Tennessee native has been known to cite all sorts of scientists making all kinds of dire predictions. He’s made plenty of his own, too.

Recently, Myron Ebell, the director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, catalogued fifty of the higher profile “doomsday” predictions of the ilk Mr. Gore is referencing. Ebell went all the way back to 1967 and discovered that of those fifty, zero came to pass.

In 1967, a dire worldwide famine was projected by 1975. According to some scientists in 1970, we were supposed to be locked in a new ice age by 2000. But by 2000, it was predicted snowfalls on earth would be a thing of the past.

So, what to make of Al Gore’s suggestion that the current nightly newscast is a snapshot of the Book of Revelation?

Presumably, he’s referencing floods and forest fires, blizzards and heat waves and maybe even the occasional earthquake. Some of these occurrences are truly catastrophic, resulting in the tragic loss of life. We grieve any life lost and the devastation and burden carried by those impacted. There should be no minimizing the events. But honest students of history will acknowledge similar incidents have happened frequently, as well, tens, hundreds and even thousands of years ago, in fact. It’s the nature of weather.

But seasonal storms and even wildfires are not what the Book of Revelation describes or details. It’s not a book about weather. It’s a sacred book full of warnings – and what, many Christians believe, to expect in the world’s final days. The late Adrian Rogers calls the Bible’s 66^th book “the golden clasp” that pulls all the other 65 volumes together. It’s not an easy book to read, though, especially given all the imagery and signs. Charles Spurgeon, known as the “Prince of Preachers,” was once asked if he could describe the “seven trumpets” we read about in John’s writing. “No,” he replied. “But I can blow one in your ear, warn you to escape from the wrath to come.”

As faithful Christians know, Revelation prophesies about the Rapture (4:1), the Tribulation (6:17), the Battle of Armageddon (16:16, 19:11) and the return of Christ (20:1-6). It also describes the final judgment (20:7-15) and the promise of a new Heaven and new Earth (22:21).

The nightly news might provide hints or indications of prophesies being fulfilled, but we don’t see the pages of Revelation unfolding, i.e., rivers turning to blood, unprecedented heat scorching men and women alive – or most importantly of all, Christ returning. At least not yet.

Reducing Revelation to the Farmer’s Almanac or attempting to use it to scare or motivate people to embrace a radical environmental agenda does a grave disservice to the unsuspecting, and on a number of levels. Mr. Gore suggests our current state of climate demands “meaningful action” – but the most meaningful action the people of this world could take would be to repent, confess their sins – and turn their life over to Jesus Christ.