Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Politics and Religion
Venezuela, Greenland, and the Apocalypse

Venezuela, Greenland, and the Apocalypse

Last updated on: January 6, 2026 at 1:31 pm by James F. McGrath

0 Comments

Venezuela, Greenland, and the Apocalypse 2026-01-06T13:31:19-05:00 James F. McGrath

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When I title this post “Venezuela Greenland and the Apocalypse” that does not mean that I am going to open the Book of Revelation and show you the verses where current events are supposedly fulfilling Biblical predictions. If you need an explanation of why that is not a good way to interpret Revelation, there are plenty out there. The book had to do with the experience of Christians during the era of the emperor Nero and afterwards. It is nonetheless ironic that conservative Evangelicals concocted by picking and choosing from scripture a portrait of a singular Antichrist who would be the head of a single world government in our near future and lead people astray, and then when a figure who closely resembles their non-biblical predictions appeared, they’ve given him their enthusiastic support.

But that’s another matter. In this post, I want to focus on an apocalyptic vision in the more popular sense. Apocalyptic started out as a way of referring to literature that resembles the Book of Revelation. Apocalypsis in Greek means revelation, unveiling, disclosure, and so that is literally the name of the book, which is sometimes titled the Apocalypse of John in English.

As a result of interpreting the book as primarily about the end of the world, and noting the plagues and other disasters described in Revelation, “apocalyptic” has come to mean “catastrophic” in the most severe way. Nowadays an apocalypse means a scenario that could potentially end human existence.

When I refer to “Venezuela Greenland and the Apocalypse” I’m also not predicting that all of this will lead to World War III in some secular sense. It might, but my focus in this post is on the fact that the actions of the Trump administration may all make sense as a way of preparing for an apocalypse, one that some scientists have said is inevitable.

As I suggested here on the blog previously, there is only one logical explanation that I can think of for why the U.S. government would set its sights on incorporating Greenland and Canada, and becoming allies with Russia, is climate change. If the Arctic ice melts, the northernmost countries on the planet become the key players in using the shortest and fastest shipping route between North America, Europe, and Asia. The Arctic Sea and the coasts that border it are not currently prime real estate. If global warming continues, they will become so.

So where does Venezuela fit into the picture? Donald Trump has been an ardent opponent of alternatives to the fossil fuels that are a major contributor to global warming. Even those most of his supporters are climate change denialists, that doesn’t mean that Trump and his administration are. They have garnered conservative Christian votes without actually holding their views, and so the kind of pandering I’m proposing is already well-documented in other areas.

Why would Trump want to seize Venezuela’s rich oil reserves, the best we know of on the planet? To (as the slogan says that he adopted) “drill, baby, drill.”

In other words, if climate change is inevitable, then let’s profit from it as soon as we can.

The profit is not just in the seizing of oil. By keeping climate change continuing apace, Trump quickens the speed at which the Arctic Sea opens up as a shipping route.

Those northern territories that are now relatively sparsely populated become places to which people in increasingly-inhospitable areas further south could settle.

Picture of a Bible with the words "You're so vain you probably think this book is about you" So there is a very plausible connection between Venezuela Greenland and the Apocalypse in that sense. Trump’s government may be preparing for our hotter future by poising the United States to come out on top. He may even be quickening the path to this happening.

Does the Apocalypse, in the sense of the Book of Revelation, have anything to say to this? On one level, the answer is clearly “no.” Looking for Venezuela and Greenland in the Bible is the sort of thing carried out mainly by American Christians who are too self-centered to be able to accept that Revelation was written about them.

In another sense, however, Revelation does have things to say about or at least to our current moment, not in the sense that it predicted what is happening, but in the sense that it says some things that are applicable.

In the description of the arrival of the final judgment, it explicitly says that God will “destroy those who destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18). It also depicts the downfall and judgment of an empire that sits upon many waters and made itself rich through trade. There was a time when educators had a hard time persuading students that the United States is an empire. Not any more.

It is the poorest who stand to be harmed most by climate change, those who cannot afford to relocate. The Bible is explicit about the necessity of caring for the poor.

Harming the poor, stealing land and oil from others, and countless other things this administration has been doing or says it will do are unjust, and the Bible has a lot to say about justice. I wonder whether conservative Evangelicals who view “social justice” negatively have been misled because they read Bibles that use “righteousness” to translate words in Hebrew and Greek that mean “justice.” The terms used in the Bible are not just about individual actions but society.

I’m not sure how long it will take conservative Christians to try to read these current events into Revelation. But for me as a more mainstream Christian and Bible scholar, it is natural to connect Venezuela Greenland and the Apocalypse.

Why Donald Trump Wants Greenland and Canada

Evangelical

Politics and Religion

Previous Post

January 5, 2026

Review: 1800 Years of Encounters with Mandaeans

Next Post

January 9, 2026 Five Stages of AI Grief

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"V. good.For me, the gold standard for this sort of thing is still Wikihistory by ..."

Scurra

The Time-Traveler’s Apprentice (A Short Story)

"The one who says "no one comes to the Father but through me" is the ..."

James F. McGrath

Attack on Religious Freedom in Indiana

"Until I read, "As a Christian, it is possible but not at all necessary to ..."

Sam Vimes

Attack on Religious Freedom in Indiana

"Hey James, regarding your penultimate paragraph, I struggle with the same issue. I do think ..."

Jeff Cate

The Fourth Synoptic Gospel

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Peter 1 Samuel 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 Samuel 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy academia Acts of the Apostles afterlife Akhaten Alcatraz American Academy of Religion Amos Anglican Arabic Aramaic archaeology art artificial intelligence astronomy atheism atonement Babylon 5 Baptists Battlestar Galactica Bible Biblical Studies Carnival biblioblogging Black Mirror Blade Runner Book of Job book review Buddhism Call for Papers China Christianity Christmas Christology Chronicles Coptic creation Daniel Deuteronomy Doctor Who Dune Easter Ecclesiastes economics education Eldad Keynan Enoch Seminar Ephesians eschatology Esther Evangelicals evolution Exodus Expanse Ezekiel Ezra fantasy Fringe fundamentalism Galatians games Ge'ez genealogy Genesis Gnosticism Gospel of Jesus' Wife Gospel of John Gospel of Judas Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Peter Gospel of Thomas Greek Harry Potter Hebrew Hebrews Hinduism historical Jesus history Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Holidays horror Hosea humor incarnation India inerrancy information literacy inspirational Intelligent Design Ireland Isaiah Islam Israel Italy James Jeremiah John the Baptist Jonah Joshua Judaism Jude Judges Judith Lamentations languages Latin Leviticus libraries literature Lord of the Rings LOST Mandaeans Mandaic memes Methodism Micah monotheism morality Mormons movies music mythicism NASSCAL Nehemiah new perspective New Testament news Numbers Orthodox paganism panentheism pantheism Patheos Paul and his letters Pentecostals Philippians Philippians 2:6-11 philosophy physics Planet of the Apes podcast politics Progressive Christianity Protestantism Proverbs Psalms pseudoscience racism religion Revelation Roman Catholicism Romania Romans Ruth scams science science fiction Secret Gospel of Mark Society of Biblical Literature Song of Songs Star Trek Star Wars Stargate Swahili Syriac Taoism technology Terminator The Handmaid's Tale The Hobbit The Matrix theodicy theology theory Timeless Titus tomb Torchwood travel TRON Uncategorized United Kingdom Westworld X-Files young-earth creationism Zechariah

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 February 2007 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz