Christian Nationalism & the Yellow Peril’s 2nd Coming

During his February 7 sermon on "China in Biblical Prophecy," pastor Phil Hotsenpiller of Orange County's Influence Church shared his thoughts about the coronavirus and its relationship to the book of Revelation. "I call it the Chinese virus," Hotsenpiller told his megachurch, as a giant graphic of an American flag loomed on the screen behind him. Hotsenpiller had already declared, for his online and in-person audience, that China would catalyze the apocalypse. Now, with his congregation's rapt attention, he teased the topic for the following week's sermon: by unleashing a pandemic,  China was "setting the stage" for Armageddon.