his attempt to make the scriptures conform to the interpretation is further evidenced by To, Cohen's effort to merge the 7 heads of Revelation 17's beast with the 10 king confederation that will be in conflict with the "little horn" who subdues 3 of those kings. Cohen seeks to show the 10 kings as an "East-West group of ten (that) will, in effect, govern the entire Earth." (AC & a Cup of Tea, page 28).

He states that he sees these ten as "the final form of the Roman Empire." (pg 28) Because there is no conceivable vehicle within the Prince's various structures (the British Crown, the Prince of Wales Business Forum, the European Union, etc) that fulfills the required 7 heads, Cohen seeks to show the Antichrist will subdue three of the ten which will then leave 7 kings. He (Charles) then becomes the 8th and fulfills the scripture. Once again, this is a gross misreading of the scriptural evidence, for the 7 heads are clearly consecutive and are installed over a period of time ("5 are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come...") whereas the 10 kings are definitely concurrent, receiving power all at the same time as the Beast ("but (they) receive power as kings one hour with the beast.")

In fact, this whole effort is a smokescreen, for not only does Charles have no connection with a quantifiable series of 7 consecutive kings, he has no viable connection with any existing 10 fold group that is positioned to come to power. Ironically, Cohen's laborious effort in the Antichrist & a Cup of Tea strengthens the United Nations connection because he recounts the formal proposal to expand the permanent Security Council to 10 members - a significant development indeed. The problem is, he ignores the fact that we are NOW on the 7th consecutive Secretary-General of the UN. This means the next Secretary-General (the 8th - see Revelation 17:11) is a more likely candidate for the Antichrist.

Because the 7 head configuration is surely associated with the 7 consecutive Secretaries-General, the real question would be "is it possible that Prince Charles will be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations?" The answer is a resounding no, for his status as the future King of England would surely preclude his endorsement by the various Security-Council members. Ironically, in regards to running the United Nations, Charles' much vaunted pedigree actually works against him. One need only look at the list of past Secretaries-General to realize there wasn't a royal among them.

Cohen's book, while a worthy exercise in research with a good deal of documentation, cites from many sources with theoretical works on conspiracy and prophecy that cannot be verified. Questionable material is quoted from dubious writers such as John Coleman, Fritz Springmeier, Herbert W Armstrong, and even Lyndon LaRouche to buttress his claim. I'm immediately suspicious when someone uses many quotes from blind guides like hyper-dispensationalists Dave Hunt, JR Church, and Jack Van Impe. Indeed, the list of authors that have endorsed the book reads like an alumni list from the Rapture Cult, including Chuck Missler, David Breese, David Hocking, Noah Hutchings, and Roy Brubaker (among others). Since these idol shepherds can't see the huge truth about the return of Christ after the tribulation, how can we expect them to have any discernment whatsoever relative to the identity of the Devil's coup de grace?

In some cases, Cohen even undercuts his own expert's citations. In one case, he tries to establish that the British monarchy is related to the tribe of Dan. To do this, he cites from the work of the late Herbert W Armstrong, the founder of the Worldwide Church of God and one of the leaders of the British-Israelism movement, the forerunner of today's Christian Identity. Even though he wants to use Armstrong's contention of Dan being the forebear of the British throne, he attacks Armstrong by citing extensively from Dr. Walter Martin's epic work The Kingdom of the Cults! In short, Cohen wants it both ways.

While Cohen repeatedly cites from John Coleman, he also seeks to limit his credibility. In this case it's a good thing for Cohen gives us ridiculous Coleman statements such as "All three major networks are represented on the committee of 300 and are affiliated with the giant of the mass communications business, Xerox Corporation." (page 145). Then we get this Coleman gem: "most cults operating in the world today, are the product of British intelligence acting for the oligarchical rulers of the Committee of 300...." (pg 146) Better get your boots on, for this is just plain horse manure. After quoting all this nonsense, author Cohen then reverses course and writes "The author does not fully share Coleman's pessimism, and finds his point exaggerated." (page 147)

We get still another incredible contradiction as Cohen repeatedly discredits his own cited authority. This time, he does it with an author named Stephen Knight, who is also cited by one of Cohen's sources, Fritz Springmeier. After quoting a Knight statement like "Queen Elizabeth II, for example, holds the position of Grand Patroness of Freemasonry," (page 154) Cohen later writes "Knight's information is to be taken with a grain of salt." (page 163). This begs the question if you can't trust these men's statements, then why are you quoting them?

And there's even more of the same setting them up as an authority, then knocking them down. For example, he liberally quotes from Israeli political observer Barry Chamish as an authority for the various peace initiatives such as Oslo I & II; yet when the knowledgeable political analyst doesn't move to identify Prince Charles in the peace process, he has outlived his usefulness.

Even though Chamish has coherently identified at least one of the Israeli treaties as "brokered by the US in April 1987," (pg 367), Cohen writes "While Chamish offers a tremendous amount of interesting information concerning the Oslo peace process, he has somehow managed to largely miss its higher-level Committee of 300 and RIIA connections, which ultimately point to the British monarchy." (AC & A Cup of Tea, pg 386). In another place, he writes "Chamish seems perpetually confused on the 'true beginning' of the Oslo process...." (pg 388)

It's in this regard the effort is incredibly strained, for Cohen has the formidable task of showing Prince Charles to be the secret architect of the various peace treaties between Israel and her Arab opponents! Utilizing a huge amount of data concerning the convoluted Middle Eastern political landscape, he succeeds only in confusing the issue as to who actually did what and with whom. Cohen uses phrases such as "Prince Charles' likely pivotal behind-the-scenes contribution to the gestation of the Oslo peace process..." (emphasis mine) to attempt an undocumented connection to the legendary treaty the Antichrist is said to "confirm" with the Jews in the last days. After much documentation dubiously connecting various individuals and meetings in London, Cohen audaciously concludes "In other words, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles sit at the real top of the entire Mideast peace process." (pg 364)

In other cases, Tim Cohen makes assertions that are completely unwarranted, but provides a footnote which, hopefully, will document the statement made. However, the footnote usually points to a third source which is currently unavailable, doesn't address the context of the original statement, or is simply misleading. For example, on page 142 he concludes that "Gorbachev...is now clearly associated with the committee and Prince Charles." The "committee," in this case is John Coleman's theoretical "committee of 300." The footnote tells of a Gorbachev address to 300 US members of the Council of Foreign Relations, but an astute analysis shows this is only an attendance figure at a particular event - as opposed to proof of the existence of a theoretical conspiratorial group!

He does it again on page 364 with "The committee of 300 and the London-based Royal Institute for International Affairs (RIIA)...made heavy use of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations...to oversee the covert Israel-PLO dialogue, and consequently the entire Oslo peace process, from day one." (emphasis in original). However, the footnote that holds out the promise for something tangible to back up that assertion simply says "For more information, see the note on this institute later in this chapter." Smoke and mirrors!

On the next page, he deftly slips a Coleman originated reference to the "committee of 300" under a footnote that referred to a statement made by Barry Chamish. Once again, this is designed to connect the Prince Charles associated Royal Institute with the Oslo accords - via the theoretical committee of 300.

This word-weaving occurs throughout the Antichrist and a Cup of Tea, for it's filled with phrases like "What if a cash register had an image of the beast upon it (e.g. a copy of Prince Charles' coat of arms..." (page 427-emphasis mine) or "should the British monarchy be adopted as the monarchy of the European Union," (page 126-emphasis mine) and other equally speculative notions. On page 370, we hear that a particularly significant meeting was "presumably...arranged by Prince Charles." To put it another way, when it comes to clearly demonstrating Prince Charles is secretly behind the Israeli peace process, Mr. Cohen has yet to find the 'smoking gun.'

Yet another difficulty lies in the apparent contradictions in the data between authors. Joan Veon's book Prince Charles-The Sustainable Prince tells us Charley is the twenty-first Prince of Wales (page 24) while Tim Cohen's book The Antichrist and A Cup of Tea says he "is the thirteenth Prince of Wales to be formally invested." (pg 163) Which is it? Veon writes "...Prince Charles was born Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor in 1948..." (pg 24) while Cohen writes "The prince's full name is Charles Philip Arthur George." (page 57)

This is particularly egregious because of Cohen's claim that the prince's name "calculates to 666." Indeed, he provides an entire chapter with the rather large claim that the prince's name calculates to 666 in both Hebrew and English. Interestingly, even though Cohen notes how others have used "a manipulated or even contrived name or title" to equate somebody with the notorious 666, he then proceeds to do just that! In his scenario, the precise words Prince Charles of Wales are used to calculate to 666. This is, of course, not the Prince's actual name according to both Joan Veon and Cohen himself. Indeed, this is part name and part title.

Although the subject is beyond the scope of this criticism, it's worth noting that few prophecy authors have been able to determine that the much touted passage concerning the famous "number of his name" (666 in Revelation 13:17) is referring to the world citizen recipient of the number - not the Antichrist himself. Furthermore, the context of the 666 passage concerning the mark and number of the beast doesn't apply to the Antichrist at all for the context clearly concerns the 2nd beast of Revelation 13 - the False Prophet. Unfortunately, the author of the 'Cup of Tea' doesn't see that, so we are subjected to yet another silly exercise reducing yet another name to the infamous triple six.

In summary, as a writer who has previously written concerning the identity of the Antichrist, I've learned a few things that are useful in this regard. One of the problems in interpreting the data on various possible candidates is that at any given time, there are probably five or six individuals that are so deeply inhabited by the spirit of the age that they could turn into the Son of Perdition - if the Lord releases his restrainer and the Devil is ready to move through that man at that time.

The Bible tells us there are "many antichrists," and, as such, there are many people whose names count to 666, who have tried to come to power with a ten-fold confederacy in the vicinity, and who are spiritually in tune with Lucifer - either inadvertently or intentionally. When you consider all the secret societies, political intrigue, and just plain power mad people, there are probably dozens (perhaps hundreds) of men that would be positively delighted to be selected to "serve" as Satan's man of the hour.

In the final analysis, heraldic symbols, genealogical histories, political affiliations, and Freemasonic membership is not the determining factor, for all the candidates have some degree of qualifications along these lines. The only rock solid requirement is the individual will inevitably be conformed to the precise description of him that is found in the scriptures.

In the case of Prince Charles as the Antichrist, as previously stated, the similarity of his life to the specific verses dealing with the Antichrist do not match up very closely. Perhaps something will change that will provide more evidence, but at this juncture the illustrious Prince of Wales just doesn't fit the bill.

©2002 CHRISTIAN MEDIA RESEARCH, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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See Also:

The Beast With 7 Heads: The 6,7,8 Cycle

The Beast With 7 Heads Revisited Again