The Final Roman Emperor, The Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican’s Last Crusade is a very long all-encompassing title and the last of five books on the topic of the soon coming Antichrist written by Tom Horn and Cris Putnam (we can hope). They say four books are in the series but it seems to me that they want to forget about Apollyon Rising 2012.

Besides the review of this book, I had already done a review of two of the earlier five books in this series. See Apollyon Rising 2012 and Petrus Romanus. I skipped, Exo_Vaticana : Petrus Romanus, Project L.U.C.I.F.E.R. And the Vatican’s Astonishing Plan for the Arrival of an Alien Savior because I thought the title was so long that it revealed the contexts of the book. I did not think there would be anything worthwhile that I did not already know. I also skipped, On the Path of the Immortals: Exo-Vaticana, Project L.U.C.I.F.E.R., and the Strategic Locations Where Entities Await the Appointed Time for much the same reasons and because I had more important things on my plate.

I got their latest book because it filled out a book package that would get me free shipping from Amazon and I thought getting this book would catch me up on their latest theories. The Final Roman Emperor, The Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican’s Last Crusade really does not say what you might think from the title. The book is not revealing the identity of the Antichrist and the book is not saying the Antichrist will be from Islam. The book actually claims that the Antichrist will be an incarnation of Apollo and Muslim Jihad will be defeated after the Pope calls for a coalition of nations to fight a just war against Jihadists.

Like all of Horn and Putnam’s books, I think there is some good information here mixed with a lot of bad teaching, conjecture, and support from pagan sources.

If I can sum up the book in one sentence, I would say, Tom Horn and Cris Putnam add their own visions, the gospel of salvation, the teachings of Dr. Michael Heiser and Chris Pinto and go to Washington.

If I could dispute the book in one sentence, I would say, that even if the Nimrod/Apollo Antichrist conjecture is true, I doubt if it will happen as soon as Horn and Putnam suggest or in the way that they suggest.

Remember that Apollyon Rising 2012 was published in 2009 and they had Apollyon rising in 2012. People have short memories. Apollyon Rising 2012 was written back in the days when there were many teaching that the long calendar of the Mayans and other pagan prophecies marked the end of the age.

These two authors were claiming that the tribulation could start in 2012 or that year could even mark the mid-point and the start of the great tribulation. They spent about 70 pages telling readers why 2012 was that fateful year (starting on p267). We are now 2/3rds of the way through 2016 and the Church age has not ended and Apollyon is still sitting in the Abyss.

In chapter one of The Final Roman Emperor, Tom Horn claims that a long time ago he died in his sleep and woke up in heaven. He says his wife verified that he stopped breathing and had no pulse. Horn says this occurred over about 15 minutes while in bed in his home.

Horn says he was given a disclosure in heaven of vast importance that he can’t remember. Horn suggests that he was given instructions that he will remember in the future. Sure Tom! Welcome to the Prophets of God Club.

In later bed experiences, Horn makes claims of receiving other direct revelations from God. These dream experiences always seems to jolt him awake and make him gasp for air. Seriously, has Tom Horn ever been diagnosed for sleep apnea?

Horn tells about his revelation that the Pope would step down in April 2012. Since that event and date played as Horn is now spinning it after the fact. Horn says he is now confident to predict what will happen in the next few years.

1. Weapons of mass destruction within the next 48 months. (Is that from the date of the revelation or the publishing?)
2. On the heels of a war a great awakening.

Horn then proceeds to use Catholic and pagan prophecies to support what he says will happen. Horn predicts that an ISIS WMD used and a call by Rome to sanction war will soon result in both Muslims and Romans engaging in their own apocalyptica (p32). As support for this, Horn tells us that a major unnamed Islamic website based on the Quran and the Hadith set the date for the beginning of the end times as 2016.

So? One Muslim run website sets a date and Horn uses it for support that their eschatology will happen as claimed? Actually, the website’s claims have no Islamic foundation anyway. There is no such dating in the Quran or the Hadith. Even if someone came up with that date from an analysis of Islamist writings, who gave Islam Revelation from God? Horn’s writings seems to project to readers that Satan is in control of the timing of the Antichrist and the end of the age. I have noticed that in all his books that I have read.

There may be a great awakening after a great world war but how then is Apolloyn rising in 2012? Even if Horn has now delayed the appearing of the Antichrist to 2016-2018, he still can’t have it both ways. Great worldwide awakenings take time.

Tom Horn says after the great awakening women will be encouraged to become prophets, teachers and pulpit preachers. How is Horn’s prophetic dreams teaching and his great awakening teaching that includes women prophets and teachers much different from what the post-modern New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) heretics are teaching? The NAR is highly criticized in the guest chapter of this same book. It is written by Derek Gilbert (see chapter 12). Did Horn even comprehend what Derek Gilbert wrote there?

Horn also claims that after the great awakening young people will become great leaders of the Church. He says, Muslims and Jews will convert to Christianity and angelic manifestations will be everywhere because they are mentioned in Revelation events. Yeah, but the angels in Revelation events are mostly carrying out judgments in the tribulation, and Horn can’t prove what he said from the book of Revelation or anywhere else in the Bible.

Is Horn talking about the great awakening before the tribulation or the great awakening of those left behind to go through the tribulation? He certainly does not suggest that his great awakening occurs during the tribulation. Who can figure out this stuff from what Horn writes?

Later in this chapter, Cris Putnam adds fuel to the prophetic dreams fire by telling about his own two dreams. He says he dreamed that there was a nuclear explosion somewhere in the United States and it became a virtual police state. Putnam also dreamed about a great explosion in the middle east. In that dream, Putnam and other people that he knew were watching TV about this explosion in the middle east. In the dream, they were discussing what this meant. They concluded that the explosion meant that the sixth seal of Revelation was broken. I have to assume from that, that Putnam and nobody else in this circle of acquaintances will go in any pretribulation Rapture.

It is amazing to me that such a cataclysmic event as the opening of the sixth seal that has everyone hiding in fear in holes in the ground from the wrath of the Lamb could just be reduced to some explosion in the middle east and that they would be discussing it around the TV. Read what Revelation actually says about the time of the opening of the sixth seal.

Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The authors claim that Pope Francis will be the last Pope unless he is not (honest). They claim he might not have been canonically elected. In that case it could be the next Pope, or the next, etc. Which begs the questions, what makes them think they know who is canonically elected or not? And if Pope Francis was not canonically elected, who is to say that every one of the prior 112 Popes that they counted from the claimed prophecy were also canonically elected?

Where then does that leave conjecture about identifying the last Pope by counting their number from the claimed prophecy? The “prophecy” becomes meaningless if you can’t determine canonical Popes from non canonical Popes. Does God really care about canonically elected false prophets anyway? Would God be counting false prophets by their canonical election or not?  If Satan is counting them, the whole prophetic speculation is rather silly because Satan does not determine the future.

Chapter two of The Final Roman Emperor spends many pages explaining the just war theory, why the Pope is the second Beast, why the Roman Catholic Church is the Great Harlot and it covers a whole lot of other topics. It even goes all the way back to what happened at Babel. I cannot cover most of what was said in this chapter without writing a book myself.

The authors claim this last Pope along with the UN will set up a one world government system. Now they have me confused. What will happen first the great awakening or the great tribulation under the one world government? Will the Harlot of Revelation 17 actually rule the world for a short period or will there be a great awakening where women will be prophets and the youth will lead the Church? Nothing in this chapter clarifies that.

Nothing in this book leads me to believe that the authors understand that the two witnesses of God must come before “Apollo/Nimrod” (The Antichrist) even rises out of the abyss. The two witnesses and prophets of God preach on earth for 1260 days and they are killed by the Beast/Antichrist and the great tribulation begins. There is dead silence in this book about the ministry of those two guys (not girls).

The third chapter of The Final Roman Emperor gets into the conspiracy of the Masons that includes three world wars and conspiracies in the Vatican. Some of this is rehashing stuff said in their previous books. The chapter also includes the rise of ISIS and what ISIS believes about a Mahdi and why Sunni and Shia Muslims differ. It includes points of Islamic eschatology from those that interpret the Hadith.

Apparently, the authors correctly believe that Muslim eschatology is nothing but a bastardization of Christian eschatology. Muslims do not believe each other. So why do some Christians search for truth about the end times through Islamic sources?

The bottom line in this chapter is that Pope Francis leads a collocation of nations against Jihad and ISIS. At 80 years old I sincerely doubt it. However, Horn is already hedging his bets with claims about the possible non canonical legitimacy of this Pope. That would make all Horn said about Pope Francis in his prior books and the claim that he hit on the timing of the 112th and last Pope rather silly.

Chapter four of The Final Roman Emperor is about the origins of ISIS and the Vatican and UN response to ISIS. They will soon call for a just war against Jihadists. The chapter is also about different theories on Gog. I won’t get into that can of worms.

Chapter five of The Final Roman Emperor is about Pope Francis the destroyer and his worldviews. This chapter is about where they think it all leads. I think there is some good information here. It seems to me that this Pope cannot go a week without saying something contrary to Christianity or contrary to Roman Catholic teaching.

The sixth chapter of The Final Roman Emperor is about the last crusade agenda. The authors mention that Dr. Michael Heiser believes that the Antichrist will use Catholic, Muslim and Jewish Theology to unite Jews and Muslims.

The authors also claim that if Obama is elected Secretary General of the UN that he would be an interesting candidate for the Antichrist as leader of the revived Roman Empire. The authors assume that Babylon is now the United States.

I don’t believe that to be the case, and I do not see Obama becoming much more antichrist then he already is. Israel would never accept Obama as their Messiah, and Obama would certainly get diverted to the golf course on his way to the Temple anyway.

Chapter 7 of The Final Roman Emperor is about how anti-Zionism leads to Armageddon.

Chapter 8 of The Final Roman Emperor is about the Christian roots of anti-Zionism. This chapter is talking about Replacement Theology and Supersession Theology.

Chapter 9 of The Final Roman Emperor is about Islamic eschatology. Most of Islamist eschatology is a bastardization of Christian and Jewish eschatology. Muslims do not agree on their own eschatology any more than Christendom agrees on their eschatology.

Chapter 10 of The Final Roman Emperor is about how a great Catholic Monarch or Roman Emperor could also fulfill Muslims beliefs of a Mahdi and get them to convert. The claim is that this Monarch will become the king of the Roman Empire in the same area of the old Roman Empire but he will not be the Antichrist. The Great Monarch will oppose evil and restore morality. This good Christian King could bring the time of the great Christian revival that Horn was talking about in chapter one.

I am aware of this Great Monarch teaching, I knew about 40 years ago. It comes from prophecies of old Catholic mystics. Is is possible? I suppose it is possible before the Antichrist, if you want to believe that church mystics get direct revelation from God like Horn and Putnam also claim to receive.

Even so, these same Catholic mystics said that after the coming Great Chastisement (world war) the Great Monarch would rule for a long time before the appearing of the Antichrist. It would explain the peace in Israel and on the earth before the tribulation but it certainly does not fit any contemporary Bible prophecy teachers dating for the Lord’s return. I would make that in spades for Horn and Putnam that claim Apollyon is already rising. I think any great “Christian” Monarch would be a deceiver and would turn out to be the Antichrist.

Any truth in such a “Christian” Monarch that would restore morality and defeat the enemies of God would delay the second coming by at least twenty or thirty years because as I said, these same Catholic mystics say there will be a long period of peace between the Great Monarch and the Antichrist. We are talking decades, not 3.5 years.

The only way you can get this from scripture is to believe that the Whore of Revelation 17 is headed by this Great Monarch and rules the earth for a while. That certainly is possible, but if there must be a great false religious revival on earth headed by a Roman Catholic Monarch like occurred in the days of the Holy Roman Empire, we either are still decades from the Antichrist or the Great Monarch is the Antichrist.

According to these mystics the Christian Monarch comes out of Catholicism in Europe. Like I said, you cannot have it both ways. Either the Antichrist is coming soon like the authors say, or he will be delayed by the Great Monarch as they also imply. Might that also be the same false revival on earth that encourages women prophets and teachers and the young leading the old? Is it the same revival that Horn talks about in his prediction of chapter one? Could Horn’s prediction be a true prediction of a false revival?

Chapter 11 of The Final Roman Emperor claims that the Battle of Armageddon is not at Megiddo where most Bible prophecy scholars have thought. The final battle is for the Temple Mount/the Cosmic Mountain.

Actually, most scholars that I have heard, thought that the high plains of Megiddo north of Israel would be just the staging ground for the forces of the Antichrist. This is where they believe he gathers all nations. Most think the battle would actually take place in a valley that spans the entire length of Israel (1,600 furlongs).

The authors get this battle for the temple mount from the teaching of Dr. Michael Heiser.  Of course, the mount of God will be a key focus, but you cannot get all the armies of the world anywhere near the temple mount. Revelation says, the winepress was trodden outside the city and blood would flow in it up to horses bridles the length of Israel (Rev 14:20).

After that, this chapter gets into the Day of the Lord and what they think it is and who is involved. There is some good information here for those studying such things and they might have most of it correct. However, if you read 100 different authors, you will get nearly 100 different scenarios.

Chapter 12 in The Final Roman Emperor was copied from Derek Gilbert’s upcoming book, The Great Inception: False Prophecies and the Antichrist’s End-Time Game, that book is due out in the fall of 2016. I do not know if Derek Gilbert of Horn’s Skywatch TV allowed this chapter to promote his upcoming book or if this chapter was added to add something theologically sound to Horn and Putnam’s book. Perhaps both are true.

I think this “guest chapter” is the best chapter in the book. The chapter is named, Why Many Christians, Muslims, and Jews Will Accept Antichrist (Last Roman Emperor) as Messiah.

Gilbert starts the chapter with giving facts about how most Christians do not even have a Christian worldview or believe in any literal interpretation of Bible prophecy or know anything about the eschatology of other religions (all are true).

He also gets into the difference between sects of Islam and how the average Muslim also does not have a clue about its own eschatology or the expectations of their coming Mahdi. There also is reference to what the Jews believe about the Messiah. I guess the point of all this is how an Antichrist with all the solutions could be accepted by most people in all three of these religions as the fulfillment of their messianic expectations. I think that will be true. Most in religion are ignorant of their own beliefs.

Dereck Gilbert then takes a strong stand against the rising heretical Dominion Theology and Replacement Theology that came out of the Charismatic Latter Reign movement and that now teaches post millennialism. It generally is now called the New Apostolic Reformation movement. I am glad that Gilbert included this because I am seeing a lot of such nonsense on the neo-Christian media.

In fact, I think even Skywatch TV interviews such people. Tom Horn runs Skywatch TV that Derick Gilbert hosts. Tom Horn appears on Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural TV program and Sid Roth promotes people with hyper-charismatic and New Apostolic Reformation views. Horn’s own eschatology is hard to pin down because he is so good at mixing apples and oranges and lemons.

With Horn’s great revival predication that includes direct revelation from God and a revival that will encourage women to become prophets, teachers and pulpit preachers, I am not even sure that Horn should not be placed in the New Apostolic Reformation Camp.

Gilbert suggests that Bible prophecy is rather obscure for a reason. It is so Satan will not understand until it happens. I also think some of Bible prophecy is obscure for that reason. Now you know why Bible prophecy “experts” do not agree on much.

Later in the chapter, Gilbert gives his scenario about how the “war” of Psalm 83 will play out. It is as good a view as any, but like I said before, read 100 different authors and you will get nearly 100 different scenarios. Psalm 83 might have even been already fulfilled in the recent past. Some do make the argument for that. Gilbert’s scenario allows all three religions to finally accept the Antichrist as their Messiah especially after he is raised from the dead (I can’t argue with that).

There is a lot of good stuff in this chapter, including why Gilbert believes the Antichrist will be a ethnic Jew. You will have to get this book to get all the details. Or maybe you just want to wait and read Gilbert’s own book when it hits the streets.

Chapter 13 of The Final Roman Emperor gets into the pagan and Masonic connections that will bring in the final Roman Emperor. I don’t know, and nobody says here, how this Masonic conjured up Roman Emperor mixes with the Great Christian Monarch of chapter 10?

If you believe the Masons are the mystery religion that is preparing for a Luciferian world government, and the rise of the ancient fallen ones that are now called myths, you will not be disappointed. Much of the detail in this chapter seems to come from the research of Chris Pinto.

There is no doubt that Washington DC was set up by Freemasons and some of these believe their occult witchcraft rituals and mystical arts will empower people to set the path for this nation and the world.

There obviously are Masonic connections that tie together many of the power elite of the world. They obviously do want to bring about the Luciferian system that they believe in. How much of that is just wishful thinking on their part and how much will actually be the agenda of Satan and the Antichrist at the end of the age is something the world will have to wait to find out.

One thing is certain, Satan plans to bring in his counterfeit kingdom with his counterfeit god/man but he cannot carry it out until God allows. Satan has been hindered for thousands of years. If God wants, He can hinder Satan’s next attempt to deceive the world through a charismatic man or satanic philosophy.

The highest levels of the Masons have tried to conjure up spirits of the abyss for centuries but they have failed. Just knowing they have plans to do it says nothing about the timing when God will allow such a deception.

This last chapter claims 72 fallen Cherubim or angels control the nations (Heiser’s teaching). However, in this same chapter it calls these fallen beings demons a number of times. Fallen angels are not demons. Demons are disembodied spirits. Demons cannot take physical form like angels. Demons do not have access to Heaven. Demons are not divine beings. The distinction is a separate topic beyond the scope of this review, but I am quite sure that Horn, Putnam and Heiser know that angels are not demons. It seems the information in this last chapter was extracted from the writings of Pinto or from elsewhere and the authors here did not want to take issue on the difference.

This is just my opinion, but it appears to me that quite a bit of the book is stuff that comes from material published elsewhere. It looks like they extracted stuff from here and there to fill a book and finish the series.

What is missing from this book is the role of all these supernatural fallen beings during the tribulation. Are they posing as aliens or creatures from another dimension that give validly to the Antichrist claim that he is God? Or do they actually claim to be the mythical gods of ancient days? How do the cohorts of Nimrod/Apollo advance and enforce the end time agenda of Satan on earth? How do the two prophets of God that control events on earth for 1260 days in the first half of the tribulation even fit into their theory?

I guess I can recommend The Final Roman Emperor, The Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican’s Last Crusade for those rooted in the Bible that still have a brain that can critically think (only a few percent of those that call themselves Christians). The book is thought-provoking but you might come away being more confused than ever about eschatology.

In fact, I think the authors themselves are confused about eschatology. They seem to borrow some things from the views of premillennial dispensationalism, some from historists, some from post millennial and a whole lot from pagan mythology. The eschatology in this book in my opinion is really very convoluted.

It seem to me that they take a little from here and a little from there shake it vigorously and print whatever pours out. There is too much cafeteria eschatology around these days. Anything that appeals to itching ears is ShoebatHorned shoehorned in. There is much false teaching being promoted as Bible prophecy today. Christians need to beware.

I also do not believe Horn or Putnam are receiving direct Revelation from God or that the future can be determined from pagan writings or from the “Christian” mystics of the past. The book seems to say that the Antichrist is about to appear but there will be a great awakening and Christian Monarch at the same time? I probably am not the only one confused by this book. I think this particular book is a thought-provoking mixed bag of tricks.