The Time Is Near

[MC Just]

The Time Is Near
Five Common Misinterpretations of the Book of Revelation

By Carl E. Olson

This Rock. September 2002.


Durer—"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"

The Book of Revelation, quipped the sardonic Ambrose Bierce in The Devil’s Dictionary, is a "famous book in which St. John the Divine concealed all that he knew. The revealing is done by the commentators, who know nothing." (The Enlarged Devil’s Dictionary [New York: Doubleday & Co., 1967], 247). G. K. Chesterton echoed the sentiment, writing that "though St. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators." (Orthodoxy [New York: Image, 1990], 17) Indeed, the Book of Revelation, known to many Catholics as The Apocalypse, is mysterious, fascinating, and often confusing. Like an enchanting and elusive woman, the book attracts admirers of every sort, many attempting outlandish feats of interpretation in order to gain attention. Sadly, they usually do more damage than good, their fevered explanations reflecting their biases and presumptions far more than any insight.

Many popular commentators who obsess over the Book of Revelation use it to support both implicit and overt anti-Catholic opinions. Fundamentalists, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses have long associated the famed Whore of Babylon, "the mother of harlots" (Rev. 17:5), with the Catholic Church. These same groups link the church of Thyatira (Rev. 2:18-25) with the Catholic Church since her members supposedly commit "acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols" (Rev. 2:20). Even some Catholics use passages from St. John’s book to create end times scenarios that are difficult to reconcile with Church teaching. Here are some leading candidates for the most common and fallacious statements propagated in the name of St. John the Revelator.

"The Book of Revelation says the world will end in my lifetime!"

Most Fundamentalists, some Evangelicals, and even a few Catholics believe that the Book of Revelation depicts soon-to-transpire events, including a global nuclear holocaust and the death of the majority of the earth’s population. For such folks the Apocalypse is a cosmic puzzle simply requiring the right key to unlock its dark mysteries. Fundamentalist doomsayer 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 . . . remained largely unexplored." (There’s A New World Coming [Santa Ana, CA: Vision House Publishers, 1973], 21, 15].

Yet the book has never lacked explorers. It has provided fodder for doomsayers ever since it was penned on the island of Patmos. One such group was the Montanists, a heretical sect formed by the self-proclaimed prophet Montanus in the 170s. Their reading of the book had them expecting Christ to return to Phrygia, in Asia Minor, and establish the New Jerusalem (see Rev. 21:2). Similar groups came and went over the next several millennia, including some whose pursuit of apocalyptic visions led to death and destruction. In fifteenth-century Bohemia a sect called the Taborites began killing those they judged to be sinners—nearly anyone not joined to their movement––convinced that such violence was necessary to bring about the Second Coming. Eventually, in 1434, they were destroyed in battle by the Hussites. Similar events and movements were common in Europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Beginning in the late 1960s a flood of so-called "Bible prophecy" books streamed forth from American Fundamentalism, fueling intense speculation about the Book of Revelation and the end of the world. Today, the best-selling Christian novels of all time are the Left Behind books, created and co-authored by the anti-Catholic Fundamentalist Tim LaHaye. LaHaye acknowledges that the books are interpretations of the Book of Revelation wrapped in a fictional veneer. He writes: "The book of Revelation is easily the most fascinating book in the Bible, for it gives a detailed description of the future." (Revelation Unveiled [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999], 9). But does it? Attempts to interpret St. John’s vision in light of current events are rarely, if ever, correct and result in predictions ranging from amusing to ridiculous. The infamous mark of the beast (Rev. 13:18) has been associated with credit card numbers and amusement park tickets. Ronald Reagan, Saddam Hussein, and Michael Gorbachev have been identified as the Antichrist (however, the term "antichrist" does not appear in the Apocalypse). And some claim that the New Jerusalem will truly be a thousand mile square cube hovering like a UFO over earth.

These sensational and speculative interpretations are futuristic, assuming that the Book of Revelation depicts events that will occur in our lifetimes. Almost without exception this approach ignores the biblical and historical context of St. John’s writing. For example, the book is loaded with 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. This is not to deny that the Book of Revelation talks about the end of time and history–-it just does not do so in the way depicted in books like The Late Great Planet Earth and Left Behind. Scripture, not the New York Times or CNN, is the best guide to The Apocalypse.

"Christ will reign on earth during the Millennium!"

The twentieth chapter of the Book of Revelation is vital for those who interpret the book futuristically. There can be found the one and only description of the millennium (Latin for "thousand years") in the New Testament. Is this a reference to a literal one thousand years? If so, will that time consist of a future earthly reign of Christ on earth? Or does the passage refer, in metaphorical language, to another period of time such as the current Church age? Debate over the matter existed in the early Church. An example can be found in Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, written in the middle of the second century. When asked by Trypho if he really believes that there will be an earthly millennial reign of Christ in the future, Justin states, "I and many others are of this opinion, and [believe] that such will take place." He then admits "that many who belong to the pure and pious faith, and are true Christians, think otherwise." (Dialogue With Trypho, ch. 70).

The greatest opponent of early Christian millenarianism was Augustine of Hippo (354-450). In The City of God, he rejected millenarianism and offered a view of history largely free of end times speculation. Throughout time and history, Augustine taught, the City of God and the city of Satan constantly war with one another. At the end of time, at the Last Judgment, the citizens of these two cities will finally be separated––the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32-46). Augustine saw God orchestrating time and history like an "unchanging conductor," ordering events according to his providential will.

Although never officially endorsed by the Catholic Church, Augustine’s interpretation was accepted by most Catholics as a reasonable conclusion. But some weren’t satisfied. Joachim of Fiore (c. 1135-1202), a Cistercian abbot and biblical scholar, departed from Augustine’s teaching while producing his Exposition on the Apocalypse, an influential interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Joachim divided history into three eras, each corresponding to one of the Divine Persons of the Trinity: the age of the Father was the Old Testament, the age of the Son was the New Testament, and the approaching age of the Holy Spirit was to be a time of millennial bliss. Joachim calculated that the transition from the second age to the third would occur between 1200 and 1260 A.D. He arrived at these dates by interpreting the Book of Revelation hyper-literally, foreshadowing the interpretative methods of British and American millenarians in the 1800s.

It was the Enlightenment and the French Revolution that sparked the millenarian fever still rampant today. Historian Ernest R. Sandeen states, "French Revolution was directly responsible for the revival of prophetic concern. To live through the decade of the 1790s in itself constituted an experience in apocalypticism for many of the British. The violent uprooting of European political and social institutions forced many to the conclusion that the end of the world was near." (The Roots of Fundamentalism British and American Millenarianism: 1800-1930 [Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1970], 21). During that time some Protestants calculated that the Papacy would last 1,260 years and that it was finally coming to an end in the late 1700s. This calculation was based on passages such as Revelation 11:1-3 and 12:6 ("one thousand two hundred and sixty days"), with each "day" being interpreted as a "year". Connections between these passages from the Book of Revelation and the apparent demise of the Papacy were accepted as keys to prophetic passages of Scripture. When Catholic power in France was destroyed during the Revolution and French troops marched on Rome in 1798, many millenarians interpreted this to be the "deadly wound" of Revelation 13:3. A simple (and convenient) computation demonstrated that the Papacy had first emerged in 538 A.D., a date still used by anti-Catholic sects such as Seventh-day Adventists.

Millenarian beliefs have been a part of American religious life since the Puritans came to the New World in hopes of establishing a New Jerusalem. The explosion of prophetic interest in the late 1700s had a strong bearing on the founding of Mormonism and, eventually, of dispensationalism, Seventh-day Adventism, and the Watchtower Society—all of whom still teach forms of millenarianism. Mormons believe the Kingdom will be established in Independence, Missouri while premillennial dispensationalists such as Lindsey and LaHaye teach that Jesus will rule from the newly restored Temple in Jerusalem where animal sacrifices will once again be offered. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that during the millennium only the 144,000 (see Rev. 7:4; 14:1-3) will reside in heaven, while those remaining will dwell on an idyllic earth. Seventh-day Adventism claims that the earth will be barren during the millennium except for Satan and his angels. At the end of the millennium Christ, the saints, and the Holy City will descend to earth. Then the unrighteous dead will be resurrected, and will surround the city with Satan and his angels; however, fire from God will destroy them and cleanse the earth and eternal bliss will be established.

The belief in a millennial reign of Christ on earth has been officially discouraged by the Magisterium. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, referencing a 1944 statement by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, states, "The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgement. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the ‘intrinsically perverse’ political form of a secular messianism" (CCC 676). Despite this official statement, some Catholics flirt with beliefs that are markedly millenarian in nature. For instance, Fr. Stefano Gobbi, the founder of the Marian Movement of Priests, teaches that prior to Christ’s Final Coming or Parousia he will come and establish a "Eucharistic Reign" on earth—a time of peace and glory (Fr. Stefano Gobbi, "The Triumph The Second Coming and the Eucharistic Reign" [Marian Movement of Priests, 2000]). Not surprisingly, this belief is based on Revelation 20. Such teachings make light of the current and ongoing Eucharistic reign of Christ, established at the Last Supper two thousand years ago, and insert both a coming of Christ and a utopian period of time that the Church never teaches–-and even rejects.

"The Whore of Babylon is the Catholic Church!"

Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other Reformation leaders accepted the Augustinian view of the end times, but with one distinct difference: they identified the papacy as the Antichrist and the Catholic Church as the Whore of Babylon. The Turks, seen as the Antichrist by earlier generations, were identified as Gog and Magog, the two mysterious countries found in Revelation 20:8. Luther and subsequent Protestants interpreted the Book of Revelation using the historicist method, chronologically matching various events in the book with events in Church history. The historicist view dates back to about 1000 A.D., with the most important of the early historicists being Joachim of Fiore. This approach was accepted by nearly all the Protestant leaders in the two centuries following the Reformation. The constant feature of historicism is the belief that the Papacy is the Antichrist. Current adherents to this interpretive method include Seventh-day Adventists, whose theological system depends in large part on equating the Catholic Church with the Whore of Babylon.

A recent Fundamentalist polemic identifying the Catholic Church as the Whore of Babylon is Dave Hunt’s A Woman Rides The Beast: The Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1994). The title is based on Revelation 17:7, which speaks of "the mystery of the woman and of the beast." Hunt writes: "[The] revival of Rome’s religion will undoubtedly be a blend of Christianity and paganism, as occurred under Constantine and continued thereafter. That perverted and paganized form of Christianity eventually became known as Roman Catholicism." (A Woman Rides The Beast, 39). Notable for its scholarly sloppiness, misuse of historical information, and nasty tone, Hunt’s book epitomizes a strain of anti-Catholicism that is still strong today, feeding upon passages from the Book of Revelation.

Fundamentalists such as Hunt claim that since Rome is built on seven hills, the Catholic Church is therefore the woman–-who is a city––who sits on "seven mountains" (Rev. 17:9)––in other words, Vatican City. Yet Vatican City doesn’t sit on any of the famed seven hills of Rome, as apologist James Akin points out: "Vatican City is not built on seven hills, but only one: Vatican Hill, which is not one of the seven upon which ancient Rome was built. Those hills are on the east side of the Tiber river; Vatican Hill is on the west." ("Hunt-ing The Whore of Babyon" available at www.catholic.com). Besides, ancient Rome––pagan, anti-Christian, and idolatrous––fits the first century context in which St. John wrote The Apocalypse. Forcing one’s hatred of the Catholic Church onto passages of Scripture says far more about the commentator than about the actual text.

"I am going to be Raptured out before the Great Tribulation!"

The most influential American millenarian movement of the last century is premillennial dispensationalism. In addition to a futuristic interpretation of the Book of Revelation, a core tenet is the pretribulation Rapture event. The ongoing impact of dispensationalism can hardly be overstated, as evidenced by the wildly popular Left Behind books. One "escape passage" used by pretribulation Rapture advocates is Revelation 3:10-11, where Jesus instructs St. John to write these words to the church at Philadelphia: "Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth" (Rev. 3:10-11). Being "kept" from the "hour of testing" is interpreted as a reference to the Rapture, when Christians will be "translated" from earth to be with Christ in heaven.

Yet Revelation 3 never mentions the Rapture, being "taken up," or "translated" to heaven. Rather, Christ’s assurance to the church is like his request of the Father, "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one" (Jn. 17:15), and his statement "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33). Christians have been chosen "out of the world" (Jn. 15:19), but it does not follow that they will be taken out of the world prior to a time of tribulation.

Another dispensationalist argument for the Rapture is that the word "church" does not appear between Revelation 6 and 18, therefore the Church must not go through the tribulations described in those chapters. But such a misguided approach, applied to other words, leads to odd and untenable conclusions. The word "Jesus" does not occur between Revelation 1:9 and 12:17. Does this mean that Jesus is not the subject of the book of Revelation since his name does not appear for nearly twelve chapters, over half of the book? Because the name "Jesus" is not used, are references to "the Lion of Judah," "the root of David," and "the Lamb" references to someone other than Jesus? Hardly. A serious question is how do dispensationalists understand the many references to "the saints" in Revelation 6-18 (8:3-4; 11:18; 13:7, 10; 14:12; 16:6; 17:6; 18:20, 24), not to mention the "great multitude" (7:9), and the "souls of those who had been slain" (6:9)? Closely related is the problem that the words "church" and "churches" do not appear at all after Revelation 3 until the very end of the book (Rev. 22:16). A consistent dispensationalist would have to conclude that the Church not only does not appear in Revelation 6-18––it disappears completely! It is far more sensible to recognize that "the saints" is a clear reference to the Church and that there is no pretribulational Rapture in the Book of Revelation.

Not A Cipher or a Riddle, But the Revelation of Christ

The Book of Revelation is undoubtedly difficult and full of mysteries. But it is a profoundly Catholic work that reveals Christ for who he is––the Lord of the Cosmos––and is full of rich liturgical, Eucharistic, and heavenly images. As the Dominican Celestin Charlier remarked, "It is a pity that the Apocalypse has so often been regarded as a secret code containing details of the whole of Church history. . . . It is much more than a cipher––it is a prolongation throughout time of that rhythm of God’s plan which was conceived in eternity . . ." (The Christian Approach To The Bible [Westminster, MD: The Newman Press, 1965], 201). Eternity drew near in the Incarnation and so, as St. John wrote, "the time is near" (Rev. 1:3), for he who is timeless is "the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Rev. 22:13).

[Benedict]

Budge really needs to see this.

[Quietfire]

and a few other million people.

[Tink]

wow, I read this entire thing. Three times.
This is very.... intruiging.

[cmotherofpirl]

Read [u]Trial, Tribulation and Triumph[/u] by Desmond Birch.

[phatcatholic]

mc just............gotta link?

[MC Just]

[url="http://www.carl-olson.com/articles/bkrevelation_thisrock.html"]http://www.carl-olson.com/articles/bkrevel...n_thisrock.html[/url]