Just like Jesus evidently refused to carry blasphemous Roman coins, we should be cautious about letting malevolent rulers today colonize our souls through incessant news feed and social media on our cellphones.

The Colossus of Nero at Rome and the great statue of Domitian at Ephesus may stand behind condemnation of the “image of the beast” in Revelation.

Few things are more pathetic than a would-be dictator craving or demanding praise he did not earn and does not deserve. Roman emperor Nero (reigned AD 54–68) is an archetype of such pathology. First-century Roman historian Suetonius, in his book THE TWELVE CAESARS, records this (and much more) of Nero’s life:  Nero began his reign…