Is the Information Age the end of ages?

People have been obsessed with the end since the beginning. Christians reference the Bible for signs of the End Times. While many verses are subject to interpretation, one Bible passage is crystal clear: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4).

That’s right. According to the Book of Daniel, there will be a surge of knowledge before the apocalypse. What is remarkable about this verse is that it clearly points to modern times: the Information Age. The internet is a world-wide telephone which has circulated information in an unprecedented way. It is the infrastructure of global society. During no other age has humanity had so much knowledge literally at our fingertips.

But there’s more. “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” applies to Biblical knowledge as well. During the Dark Ages, facts of the Bible were suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church. Ever since the Protestant Reformation, however, God’s people have been running to and fro across the world, spreading the good news to uncharted territories.

Eating from the Tree of Knowledge led to the fall of humanity in the Book of Genesis. The internet is a modern day incarnation of the Tree of Knowledge. Like Eve, we’re consuming it, and being consumed, by the mouthful.