![]() Scripture, not The New York Times or CNN, is the best guide to the Apocalypse. It just does not do so as depicted in books like The Late Great Planet Earth and the Left Behind series. This is not to deny that the book of Revelation includes material about the end of time. For example, the book contains hundreds of references to Old Testament events and realities, including the Mosaic covenant, Temple worship, liturgical rites, and the prophetic writings of Ezekiel and Daniel. Almost without exception this approach ignores the historical context of John's writing. These interpretations are futuristic in other words, they assume that the book of Revelation depicts events that will occur in our lifetimes. Some claim that the New Jerusalem will be a literal thousand-mile-square cube hovering like a UFO over Earth. Ronald Reagan, Saddam Hussein, and Mikhail Gorbachev have been identified as the Antichrist (a term that does not appear in the Apocalypse). 13:18) has been associated with credit-card numbers and amusement park tickets. LaHaye acknowledges that the books are interpretations of the book of Revelation wrapped in a fictional veneer: "The book of Revelation is easily the most fascinating book in the Bible, for it gives a detailed description of the future" ( Revelation Unveiled, 9).Īttempts to interpret John's vision in light of current events have resulted in some amusing predictions. Today, the best-selling Christian novels of all time are the Left Behind books, created and coauthored by the anti-Catholic Fundamentalist Tim LaHaye. Similar events and movements were common in Europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.īeginning in the late 1960s a flood of so-called "Bible prophecy" books streamed forth from American Fundamentalism. Eventually, in 1434, they were destroyed in battle by the Hussites. They were convinced that such violence was necessary to bring about the Second Coming. In fifteenth-century Bohemia a sect called the Taborites began killing those they judged to be sinners that is, nearly anyone not joined to their movement. Their reading of the book had them expecting Christ to return to Phrygia in Asia Minor to establish the New Jerusalem (see Rev. One such group was the Montanists, a heretical sect formed by the self-proclaimed prophet Montanus in the 170s. Yet Revelation has provided fodder for doomsayers ever since it was penned on the island of Patmos. remained largely unexplored" ( There's A New World Coming, 21, 15]. ![]() For such folks the Apocalypse is a cosmic puzzle requiring only the right key to unlock its dark mysteries.įundamentalist Hal Lindsey, famed for the mega-selling The Late Great Planet Earth, wrote in 1973 that the book of Revelation holds "the key to the mystery" of the end of the world, a mystery that has "for eighteen centuries. Most Fundamentalists, some Evangelicals, and even a few Catholics believe that Revelation depicts many soon-to-transpire events, including a global nuclear holocaust and the death of most of the earth's population. "The Book Of Revelation Says The World Will End In Our Lifetime!" Here are five of the most common fallacious statements propagated in the name of John the Revelator. 2:20).Įven some Catholics use passages from John's book to create end-times scenarios that are difficult to reconcile with Church teaching. 2:18-25) with the Catholic Church since her members supposedly "practice immorality" and "eat food sacrificed to idols" (Rev. Some also link the church of Thyatira (Rev. Fundamentalists, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses have long associated the famed Whore of Babylon, "the mother of harlots" (Rev. ![]() ![]() Many popular commentators who obsess over the book of Revelation use it to support both implicit and overt anti-Catholic opinions. They usually do more damage than good, their fevered explanations reflecting their biases and presumptions rather than any true insight. Many attempt outlandish feats of interpretation in order to gain attention. Like an enchanting woman, the book attracts admirers of every sort. Indeed, the book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse, is fascinating and mysterious. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators." The revealing is done by the commentators, who know nothing." And G. John the Divine concealed all that he knew. The book of Revelation, quipped Ambrose Bierce, is "a famous book in which St. Free eBook: Liturgical Year 2022-2023, Vol.
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