The Borrowed Name: Counterfeit Sanctity, Artificial Intelligence, and the Architecture of the Final Deception

Abstract

This research paper advances a novel constructive theological argument regarding the intersection of biblical eschatology and generative artificial intelligence (AI). Moving beyond traditional inquiries into the identity or chronology of the Antichrist, the author investigates the mechanism of deception described in New Testament corpora (Matthew 7, 2 Thessalonians 2, 2 Corinthians 11, and Revelation 13). Core ThesisThe paper identifies "Counterfeit Sanctity"—the weaponized mimesis of sacred language and divine invocation—as the central structural weapon of the eschatological deceiver. It argues that the final deception functions not through overt blasphemy or opposition to God, but through the sophisticated capture and impersonation of the Holy Spirit’s linguistic and phenomenological register. Technological SynthesisThe author identifies Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative heuristics as the first historical apparatus capable of realizing this mechanism at civilizational scale. By decoupling religiously fluent, spiritually authoritative speech from ontological character and pneumatic presence, generative AI allows for the manufacturing of "ownerless" sanctity. Key Contributions Exegetical Analysis: A synthesis of the "Lord, Lord" rejection in Matthew 7 with the "lying signs" of 2 Thessalonians 2. Patristic Grounding: Confirmation of the mimesis-of-the-sacred theory in the works of Irenaeus, Cyril of Jerusalem, and John Chrysostom. AI Epistemology: A structural comparison between the "disguise of light" (2 Cor. 11:14) and the output mechanics of generative systems. Practical Theology: A proposed "Pneumatological Epistemology" for the digital age, focusing on communal discernment (diakrisis), relational accountability, and the "Fruit Test" (Galatians 5).