Parallels between the Apostolic Age and QAnon
In our post from January 2, 2022[1] we discussed the use of apocalyptic Christian language among the adherents of QAnon. In this post, we will discuss the parallels between post-Q QAnon and the Apostolic Age of first century Christianity.
The Apostolic Age[2] refers to the period of time between the beginning of the ministry of Jesus (c. 27 AD/CE) until the death of the last of Jesus’ original twelve apostles (c. 100 AD/CE). It was a period of growth, confusion, and infighting among believers. Churches were being established as Christianity, then considered a sect of Judaism, began spreading throughout the classical world. It was arguably the most important period for Christianity because the movement had survived the death of its prophet and grew despite prophesies of the coming Kingdom of God failing to materialize.
Q’s last “drop” was posted to 8kun on December 8, 2020, and consisted of nothing more than a link to a YouTube video featuring pro-Trump images and video with a soundtrack provided by Twisted Sister’s “We’re not gonna take it.” The video is still available on BitChute.
There has been much speculation and debate concerning who was behind the original Q drops. Opinions vary but no solid evidence has yet materialized that is able to definitively name a person or group of persons responsible. Regardless, the persona known a Q, or in the earliest naming, Q Clearance Patriot, is the prophet of the movement.
Just as John the Baptist heralded the arrival of the messiah or savior, Q promoted the arrival of a new political leader who would guide the alt-right patriot movement to a new age of enlightenment and justice. Oddly enough, the new messiah figure was a wealthy businessman named Donald Trump, who took office as President of the United States on January 20, 2017.
Historians also debate the chronology of John the Baptist and Jesus. The preferred Christian belief, and the belief chronicled in the canon of the New Testament, holds that John was executed prior to the crucifixion of Jesus. Only recently has this been disputed[3]. Either way, the Christian tradition and folklore promotes the pre-crucifixion timeline of John’s execution.
Although executions play a central role in much of QAnon’s “theology,” none appear to be forthcoming. Those behind the evil, satanic, pedophile cabal were supposed to be marched to the gallows and hung for their crimes long before President Trump lost his bid for reelection. In fact, some factions of QAnon believe many of those executions did indeed happen. Most notably, the conspiracy theory suggests deceased Senator John McCain was put on trial by military tribunal and executed for his own crimes of treason. It was only a matter of convenience for the media cover-up that McCain died of cancer, some within QAnon suggest. McCain’s cancer diagnosis was all a smokescreen to keep the tribunals and executions secret.
As with believers during the early Apostolic Age, QAnon, after Q’s final post, was without both its prophet and their new messiah, Trump, who lost the 2020 Presidential election to Joe Biden. Also as with the Apostolic Age, these new conditions barely slowed down the movement.
DEVOLUTION. OR, HOW TO CREATE A KINGDOM COME.
Within various Christian sects, disappointment and dismay over God’s kingdom not arriving as promised grew. New theologies and philosophies had to be developed in order to explain how the promises made by sect leaders, and in some ways by Jesus himself, had failed to come to pass. For some, moving the goal post was the answer. The immediately impending arrival of the Son of Man[4] soon became an event that would take place some time in the future, perhaps a distant future, and not within the lifetimes of the original twelve apostles[5] as was believed by Jesus’ disciples themselves.
QAnon, finding themselves in a similar situation, with the destruction of the evil cabal not yet accomplished and their chosen messiah out of office as well as silence from their prophet, needed to do more than move the goal post. One particularly creative solution was to declare that everything was, in fact, happening and you simply aren’t aware of it.
Christians used a similar approach, with some sects declaring that the Kingdom of God had indeed already come. This is it. You’re in it. Jesus brought it with him and the second coming of Christ, on the clouds and with an army of Angels, was the future event to occur at a time of God’s choosing.
For the post-2020 election QAnon, which now awaited the second coming of Trump and had developed numerous theories on how this could or would happen, waiting was becoming unacceptable. One QAnon sect came up with a solution. The kingdom of Trump was already here. In fact, he never left in the first place. Welcome to Devolution[6].
According to the author of the Trump Devolution Theory, the 2020 election was obviously rife with fraud so then-President Trump stopped the counting of electoral votes. The election, therefore, was never certified and Joe Biden did not win. No, Trump was still President of the United States, still commanded the military as Commander in Chief, and was still in complete control of what was going on, whatever that was. The announcement of Biden’s win, the inauguration, and all that went along with it, is all a ruse, orchestrated by Trump, so he could continue to secretly work against the evil cabal and ultimately, finally, destroy the cabal and save the world.
In this way, there is no need for a second coming. There is no need for a resurrection. The messiah is still here because he never really left. Conversely, there’s also no need for a prophet in the form of Q to drop hints, intelligence, and guidance on how to think and what to do. The plan worked, therefore, there is no more need of the prophet. The true Commander in Chief is fully in control now. Of course, not everyone involved in the QAnon movement subscribes to this Devolution theory. This is to be expected, just as it is true each Christian denomination has their own theology regarding the second coming and the presence, or absence, of God’s Kingdom on earth.
So, while many Trump supporters and QAnon followers concentrate on pushing Trump to run for office again in 2024, or work to overthrow the 2020 election and reinstate Trump to his rightful office, the Devolution movement contends that none of this is necessary because Trump was never out of office in the first place.
There’s no need to worry about crucifixion (the 2020 election). There’s no need to worry about a resurrection (decertifying the 2020 election and reinstating Trump). There’s no need to worry about a second coming (the 2024 election). The kingdom arrived with Trump in 2016 and endures with him still firmly on the throne.
In some ways, it is a tidy little conspiracy theory that requires no work on the part of its adherents. There is nothing left to do. Trump is still president and still in control. Everything else is just smoke and mirrors designed to keep the cabal off balance so they can’t stop what is coming.
It is yet to be seen if the original Q persona, or a new iteration of it, perhaps operated by the various figures suspected of involvement over the years, will reemerge and attempt to lead the flock down a new path. I suspect those behind Q finally realized their LARP had gone horrifically off the rails and had become dangerous. This, I contend, is why the Q persona disappeared and has remained silent. This is conjecture on my part, of course, but it makes sense. It was not difficult to see how the movement was evolving into something uncontrollable. It now has a life of its own, new leaders, new prophets, and numerous “denominations” that will survive into the future to varying degrees. The ever evolving movement will produce plenty of material for researchers to monitor and dissect for some time to come. That is all that is certain today.
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