{"id":14653,"date":"2026-03-16T12:11:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=14653"},"modified":"2026-03-16T12:11:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:11:37","slug":"digital-currency-and-the-mark-of-the-beast-what-does-the-bible-actually-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2026\/03\/digital-currency-and-the-mark-of-the-beast-what-does-the-bible-actually-say.html","title":{"rendered":"Digital Currency and the Mark of the Beast: What Does the Bible Actually Say?"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_14656\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14656\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14656\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2026\/03\/Antichrist_credit-Adobe-Stock-Inset-Catholic-Men-for-Jesus-Christ.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14656\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adobe Stock | Inset: Catholic Men for Jesus Christ<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Could digital currencies pave the way for the Antichrist? That&#8217;s the claim Fr. Chad Ripperger <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=I2p_cfipbEw\">offered during a recent podcast<\/a>, arguing that modern economic systems could enable the kind of global control described in Revelation 13.<\/p>\n<p>Ripperger stated on the <a href=\"https:\/\/shawnryanshow.com\/\">Shawn Ryan Show<\/a>: &#8220;The Antichrist has to be able to rule the world. He&#8217;s not going to rule through governance. He has to be able to rule it through economies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But what does the Bible actually say about the &#8220;mark of the beast&#8221;\u2014and how should Christians evaluate such predictions?<\/p>\n<p>In the interview, Ripperger &#8211; who Ryan calls &#8220;probably the most premier exorcist in the world&#8221; &#8211; identified several factors present in current society that might set the stage for the rise of the Antichrist.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/I2p_cfipbEw?si=tl27_L6ChC4DDf0c\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>First, he indicated that early Christian theologians taught that the Antichrist would arise during a period of moral decay and the collapse of moral standards.<\/p>\n<p>In Ripperger&#8217;s opinion, we&#8217;ve been experiencing this since the 1950s, noting that one of the conditions leading to the rise of the Antichrist has been met. He also believes today&#8217;s economic system could be exploited by a future world ruler seeking global control.<\/p>\n<p>However, Ripperger noted that he was not saying the rise of the Antichrist is imminent, only that certain current conditions may prove conducive to his control.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not surprising that people are interested in the subject of the end times; the current conflict in the Middle East has only stoked fears that &#8220;Armageddon&#8221; may be near. In fact, some religious leaders in the United States have claimed this is a &#8220;holy war&#8221; and that God is leading the United States and Israel in this conflict.<\/p>\n<p>This may have contributed to Fr. Ripperger&#8217;s and other pastors&#8217; and teachers&#8217; willingness to speak out on the subject.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, there has been no response from Catholic leaders to Ripperger&#8217;s interview. This comes as no surprise for several reasons.<\/p>\n<p>First, the interview on the massive-audience podcast, which has surpassed 2 billion views on YouTube as of February 2026, was very recent.<\/p>\n<p>Second, Ripperger is not alone in expressing ideas relating to the end times and the rise of the Antichrist. Third, Ripperger regularly criticizes the Church hierarchy and teachings, calling people to return to more traditional Catholic teaching and practices.<\/p>\n<p>While Scripture clearly references the &#8220;mark of the beast&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=revelation%2013%3A16-17&amp;version=NASB\">Revelation 13:16-17<\/a>), the concept of &#8220;the Antichrist&#8221; is more vague. The book of Revelation never uses the term &#8220;Antichrist&#8221;; it is found only in John&#8217;s epistles.<\/p>\n<p>In that context, John does not use &#8220;antichrist&#8221; to refer to a powerful world leader. Instead, anyone who denies that Jesus is Christ is &#8220;antichrist.&#8221; The hallmark of this &#8220;spirit of antichrist&#8221; is deception (see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1%20John%204%3A3&amp;version=NASB\">1 John 4:3<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=2%20John%201%3A7&amp;version=NASB\">2 John 1:7<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Ripperger stated in his recent interview that the mark of the beast is &#8220;going to be something in our bodies that will give us access to these particular things&#8221; (the ability to buy and sell, as referenced in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=revelation%2013%3A16-17&amp;version=NASB\">Revelation 13:16-17<\/a>). However, it is not at all clear that this &#8220;mark&#8221; would have to be physical. Revelation itself contrasts the mark of the beast with the spiritual identifying &#8220;mark&#8221; that God puts on those who are His (see, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=revelation%203%3A12&amp;version=NASB\">Revelation 3:12<\/a>; also see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/faiths\/christianity\/6-things-christians-get-wrong-about-the-mark-of-the-beast.aspx\"><em>6 Things Christians Get Wrong About the Mark of the Beast<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>In considering different interpretations of Revelation and the myriad of voices claiming to explain how the end times will unfold, it&#8217;s important to remember a few key points. First, the book of Revelation (indeed, all of Scripture) was not written solely with a 21st-century audience in mind. The Revelation was written to first-century Christians, struggling with persecution by an overpowering imperial government.<\/p>\n<p>Many early believers interpreted the &#8220;mark of the beast&#8221; as the imperial requirement of annual sacrifice to Caesar and acknowledgment that &#8220;Caesar is Lord.&#8221; Those who met these requirements received a writing which certified their status and allowed them to participate in Roman society.<\/p>\n<p>Second, modern believers need to recognize the difference between &#8220;it could happen this way&#8221; and &#8220;it will happen this way.&#8221; The Revelation contains many different symbols and descriptions that are impossible to interpret definitively. If someone interprets that imagery literally, do they interpret all of it literally? If not, what framework do they choose to decide when the language is literal and when it is not?<\/p>\n<p>And in that same vein, believers should be wary of those who claim to &#8220;know&#8221; that the end is unfolding now. Jesus warned His disciples that it was not for them to know the time (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew%2024%3A36&amp;version=NASB\">Matthew 24:36<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Finally, it&#8217;s important to remember that Revelation was not written to frighten believers, but to encourage them. When considering modern interpretations and the claims of those who promote them, believers need to ask: What are these interpreters trying to motivate Christians to do?<\/p>\n<p>Do they rely on fear or faith? In His letters to the seven churches in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Revelation%202-3&amp;version=NASB\">Revelation 2-3<\/a>, Jesus always closes with encouragement and hope &#8220;to the one who overcomes.&#8221; He does not say that it will be easy, but He does promise that His followers can overcome and dwell eternally in God&#8217;s kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>Above all, believers should remember and take heart in the fact that the overriding message of Revelation is that &#8220;God wins!&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Could digital currencies pave the way for the Antichrist? That&#8217;s the claim Fr. Chad Ripperger offered during a recent podcast, arguing that modern economic systems could enable the kind of global control described in Revelation 13. Ripperger stated on the Shawn Ryan Show: &#8220;The Antichrist has to be able to rule the world. He&#8217;s not&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":14656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Digital Currency and the Mark of the Beast: What Does the Bible Actually Say?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Could digital currency enable the \u201cmark of the beast\u201d? 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