Doomsday Du Jour — or — Doing My Job

Earth was not destroyed on June 13, 1857. The comet didn't even show up.

Mass starvation and various related catastrophes didn't happen in the 1970s and '80s, but the Ehrlichs' reprise of Malthusian assumptions is still popular in some circles.

Apocalyptic predictions aren't unique to Western civilization, or Christendom — which are not the same thing, and that's another topic — but I'll concentrate on the Christian variety today.

Hyppolytus of Rome said the Second Coming would happen in the year 500. He died a martyr more than two centuries shy of his spurious Parousia. Hyppolytus of Rome is Saint Hippolytus of Rome now.

Saints are canonized for their heroic virtue, not for being spot-on accurate: and preferring death to denying our Lord is a short, painful, way to display that virtue. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 828, 2473)

A messy death doesn't guarantee Sainthood, martyrdom still happens, many Saints died of natural causes, and that's yet another bunch of topics. (April 12, 2015; February 14, 2010)

Anyway, the year 500 rolled by. So did the years 1000 and 1033, which apparently saw some high-profile apocalyptic anticlimaxes.

The end of the first millennium wasn't entirely uneventful, though. One of our spectacularly unethical Popes was kicked out of the position twice, and sold the papacy once, between 1032 and 1048.

We've had a few other rough patches during the last two millennia: and that's yet again another topic. (September 14, 2014; February 15, 2012)

The last half of the 1300s and early 1400s was one of those bad times. The Great Pestilence or Great Plague sweeping Europe probably made the situation worse. Quite a few folks were in a panic, with some reason. We started calling it the Black Death a few centuries later. (April 4, 2014)

Fizzled Doomsdays

(Oakland Blog, via SFGate, used w/o permission)
(Judgment Day, 2011; wrong both times — May 21, 2011 and October 21, 2011.)

Every few years someone comes up with a new 'End Times' prediction: probably more often. That's just the ones I notice: and I suspect some are reruns of earlier, fizzled and forgotten, prognostications.

Some stand out, though.

Emanuel Swedenborg, one of the scientists who first developed the nebular hypotheses, made a remarkable claim during 1758. In "The Heavenly Doctrine," he said that Last Judgment had started — in 1757. (February 28, 2014)

I think Swedenborg gets points for originality imagination. Some folks may still believe he's right, since he placed doomsday's dawn in the 'spirit world.'

Harold Camping, now deceased, enjoyed fame in 2011 with a well-publicized 'End Times' marketing campaign that included billboards. I think — and hope, for his sake — he was sincere. He was also wrong. Both times. (June 14, 2011)

I'll concede that America's perennial 'Rapture' predictions, and the continuing willingness of some folks to believe them, has darkly funny sides.

In the comics, the scruffy man wearing a sack and carrying a 'The End is Nigh' sign is a stock character. So is the very-slightly-more-realistic rustic with a shaky grip on reality.

That's the comics. Real life isn't quite that simple.

Followers of this world's Campings aren't, or aren't all, uneducated yokels. For example, one of the folks who took Mr. Camping's 'Biblical' prediction seriously was a "former television producer:"

"...Follower Jeff Hopkins also spent a good deal of his own retirement savings on gas money to power his car so people would see its ominous lighted sign showcasing Camping's May 21 warning. As the appointed day drew nearer, Hopkins started making the 100-mile round trip from Long Island to New York City twice a day, spending at least $15 on gas each trip.

" 'I've been mocked and scoffed and cursed at and I've been through a lot with this lighted sign on top of my car,' said Hopkins, 52, a former television producer who lives in Great River, NY. 'I was doing what I've been instructed to do through the Bible, but now I've been stymied. It's like getting slapped in the face.'...
(Associated Press, via FoxNews.com)

I don't know what happened to Mr. Hopkins after that interview. I hope he didn't decide that all Christian leaders were like Mr. Camping.

A Willingness to Think

By the time I was out of high school, back in the '60s, I'd stopped wondering if the 'End Times' wannabe prophets were right, and started wondering how adults could believe them.

I still don't have a good answer to the second question. I suspect that a need for fear, highly selective memory, and at least a slight deficiency of analytic skills, may be involved.

My experience has been that having money or a diploma does not guarantee common sense.

That sort of wisdom comes from, among other things, a willingness to think about extravagant claims before 'really believing.'

No wonder I became a Catholic.

We're told that emotions are fine: they're part of being human. But we're also expected to think about what we say and do. (Catechism, 1762-1775)

Each of us is someone, not something: a person. We're able to reason, and decide how we act — and in these ways are like God. (Catechism, 357, 1700-1706)

Being able to reason is one thing. Using that ability is another: and so is using it wisely. I've talked about emotions, reason, and getting a grip, before. (March 1, 2015; October 5, 2014; December 8, 2013)

Doomsday Du Jour

There may be another 'End Times' prediction in progress: judging from what I've seen from my 'front porch' online: Brian Gill, on Google Plus.

I think folks who pass along portentous messages take them seriously. Some may think that the Last Judgment really is upon us — this time.

I've seen too many 'doomsdays' come and go to get particularly worked up over the latest one.

I see 'End Times Bible prophecies,' and their Catholic equivalents, as cultural and psychological phenomena.

On the other hand, I believe what our Lord said about His return.

I'm a Christian, a Catholic: so I must take Sacred Scripture seriously. (Catechism, 101-141)

That includes John 6:39-40 and Revelation 7:9-10.

A few decades back, while discussing the End Times Prophecy du jour, someone told me what Mark 13:32 'really' means. I'll get back to that.

Mark 13 starts with our Lord and one of the disciples leaving the temple area. The disciple was impressed by the architecture, Jesus said, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down." (Mark 13:2)

"² As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple area, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,

" 'Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be when all these things are about to come to an end?' "
(Mark 13:3-4)

My Lord died a little later, stopped being dead, rallied the surviving Apostles, gave standing orders that we're still following, and left. (Mattnew 27-28; Mark 15-16; Luke 23-24; John 19-21; Acts 1)

It's the 'stopped being dead' part, I think, that really got the Apostle's attention: once they'd been convinced that Jesus really was alive. (April 5, 2015; October 5, 2014; March 11, 2012)

Our Lord will return, after "a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers." His return has been imminent ever since the Ascension. After Jesus returns, we'll finally see what's next. (Catechism, 673-679, 1001)

But all we know for sure about the timetable is that we're about two thousand years closer to that day than we were when our Lord left.

Right now it's Saturday afternoon, April 18, 2015. This post is scheduled to show up Sunday morning. If the world's end comes in the next several hours: you won't be reading this, and I'll be very surprised.

A Simple Message, and Mark 13:32-37

We've been on standby alert for two millennia so far: waiting for our Lord's return, making "disciples of all nations," and passing along ethical standards our Lord gave us. (Matthew 28:18-20)

The message is simple: God loves us, and wants to adopt us. (John 3:17; Catechism, 52, 1825)

We're expected to love God, love our neighbors, see everyone as our neighbor, and treat others as we'd like to be treated. (Matthew 5:43-44, 7:12, 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31 10:25-27, 29-37; Catechism, 1789)

I'm about as sure as I can be that we're not expected to know more than our Lord did:

""But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.

"It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.

"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.

"May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.

"What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!' "
(Mark 13:32-37)

My friend, some decades back, earnestly told me that Mark13:32 'really' means that we can't pin the Parousia down to a particular day — so far, so good.

But he was convinced that the self-styled prophets had Judgment Day pinned down to a particular week.

They were wrong. Again.

A Job to Do

I figure that either I'll still be alive when our Lord comes back: or, much more likely; that I'll die first, in which case I'll go through my particular judgment and whatever comes after that. (Catechism, 1021-1041)

Either way, I'll be at the Final Judgment. I really hope that I'll be with with the "sheep" at that point. (Matthew 25:33)

Meanwhile, I've got a job to do. The laity are in the Church's front line. We're expected to permeate "social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life." (Catechism, 899)

I've got my hands full: learning to seek, know, and love God, and doing my job as a Catholic layman. (Catechism, 1, 898-913)

I'm quite willing to let God the Father handle the big stuff.


(From NASA/ISS, used w/o permission.)

More of my take on life, death, and the long view:

• "Scrutinies, Options, and 'a Great Multitude' "
  (March 22, 2015)
  Particularly
  • The Great Commission, Two Millennia and Counting
  • Faith, Works, and Very Bad Ideas
• "Fire, Brimstone, and Lollipop Faith"
  (March 15, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Hellfire and Lollipops
  • Sin, Love, and Robots
  • Living the Truth
• "Moderation and a Pythagorean Dribble Glass"
  (January 25, 2015)
  Particularly
  • A False Alarm, and Points for Originality
  • Ecclesiastes, Kansas, and Beyond
• "Victory and Standing Orders"
  (November 23, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Ragnarok - - -
  • - - - and Mutant Squirrels
  • On Standby Alert: Two Millennia and Counting
• "Life, Death, and Hope"
  (November 2, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Planning Ahead

Last Judgment: Attendance Mandatory

Folks seem to have been preoccupied with the return of my Lord for quite a while. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2) I think that's understandable.

As described, it's going to make Shanghai's Word Expo 2010 look like a cozy little rural gathering:

¹⁴ 'When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations ¹⁵ will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
(Matthew 25:31-32)
(and see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1038¹)

Just getting the 6,900,000,000 or so folks alive today together in one place would be spectacular. Add everybody who's lived and died? (John 5:28)

If today is Judgment Day, I'm sure nobody's going to wonder if some 'Biblical' prediction was finally right.

I'm pretty sure today isn't. Judgment Day, that is. I wrote about that yesterday.

End Times: Here We Go Again

You've probably heard or read about Harold Camping and his Family Radio outfit. They've been putting up billboards that say today is Judgment Day.


(Oakland Blog, via SFGate, used w/o permission)

Apart from the billboards, Mr. Camping's efforts sounded like pretty much every other End Times prediction I've run into: A fellow takes a few Bible verses and some assumptions, stirs in a few numbers, and pours out a timetable for my Lord's return.

After decades of this sort of thing, it's gotten to be a sort of routine. The predictions, I mean.

Happily, setting the timetable isn't up to me. Being ready for it is, and I've been over that before:

• "God Knows, I Don't: And That's Okay"
  (November 14, 2010)
• "Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell, and Warm Fuzzies"
  (August 8, 2010)

Parousia

I grew up in America, in an area where a particularly virulent sort of Christianity was endemic. As a result, I'm moderately familiar with recurring 'End Times' predictions, and ideas about Rapture. Also as a result, I became a Catholic, and that's another topic.

Not so many folks use the word "Parousia," so I think it's time for a definition time:

"PAROUSIA: The glorious return and appearance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as judge of the living and the dead, at the end of time; the second coming of Christ, when history and all creation will achieve their fulfillment (1001; cf. 668, 673)."
(P, Glossary, Catechism of the Catholic Church)

Please note: That's the definition of Parousia. "The rapture" is an interesting bit of American culture. Since I've got the teaching authority of "some guy with a blog," I've put a quote from a reliable source at the end of this post.² As I've run into it, the 'rapture' involves:

• 'Good Christians' being whisked up to Heaven
• Jesus
  • Coming to Earth
  • Making people who didn't go to the 'right' church suffer

In that order.

It's dramatic, by now it's deeply-rooted in American culture, and it's something that cropped up in the 19th century.² It's also emphatically not what the Church teaches.

As I've said before, I don't expect to convince a zealot of anything. My job is to say what's so, and move on.

Last Judgment: You Won't Miss It

The current 'End Times' claim encouraged me to see what the Church has to say about the Last Judgment. Turns out, we're told when to expect 'Judgment Day:'

"When? Definitively 'at the last day,' 'at the end of the world.'⁵⁵⁷ Indeed, the resurrection of the dead is closely associated with Christ's Parousia:

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.⁵⁵⁸

"Risen with Christ

"Christ will raise us up 'on the last day'; but it is also true that, in a certain way, we have already risen with Christ. For, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, Christian life is already now on earth a participation in the death and Resurrection of Christ:

"And you were buried with him in Baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. . . . If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.⁵⁵⁹"

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1001-1002)

If that's not what you heard on the radio, I'm not surprised.

As for just when the 'last day' comes? God knows, I don't - and I mentioned Matthew 25:13 yesterday.

I'm not concerned about Judgment Day so much as I am about the minutes, years, or decades I've got left before my particular judgment. (Catechism, 1020-1022, 1051) I've been over that before:

"...Osama bin Laden's death reminds me that I've got a limited span of time to work with. And, although I must rely on my Lord's mercy, it seems pretty obvious that we're supposed to do something with what we've been given. (Catechism, 1422-1473, 1846-1848), I've also read Luke 19:12-27 and Matthew 25:14-21)..."
(May 2, 2011)

The way I see it, until I die or Judgment Day comes, my job isn't to try predicting what God has in mind.

My job is to be ready. (Luke 12:36)

Related posts:

• "Rapture Lite"
  (May 20, 2011)
• "Oh, Rapture! Here Come the End Times - Again"
  (May 20, 2011)
• "Zombie Apocalypse: CDC's Tongue-in-Cheek Disaster Preparedness Advice Post"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (May 19, 2011)
• "Following Worlock, Following Jesus: Some Choice"
  (December 1, 2010)
• "First Sunday in Advent"
  (Guest posts)
  • (November 28, 2010)
  • (November 29, 2009)

More:

• "Particular Judgment, Last Judgment, and Weekend Grilling"
  (May 22, 2011)

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Background (from May 20, 2011):

• Particular judgment
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church
    • 1021-1022
    • 1051
  • Bible
    • Matthew 16:26-27
      • And see footnote 23 on Matthew 16:28
    • Luke 16:22
    • Luke 23:43
    • 2 Corinthians 5:8
    • Philippians 1:23
    • 1 Timothy 1:9-10
    • Hebrews 9:27
    • Hebrews 12:23
• Last Judgment
  • Catechism
    • 668
    • 673
    • 677
    • 1001
    • 1038-1041
  • Bible
    • The Song of Songs 8:6
    • Matthew 25:31-32, 46
    • John 5:28-29
    • John 12:49
    • 2 Corinthians 6:2
    • 2 Thessalonians 1:10
    • Titus 2:13

---

¹ About the Last Judgment:

"The resurrection of all the dead, 'of both the just and the unjust,'⁶²³ will precede the Last Judgment. This will be 'the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man's] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.'⁶²⁴ Then Christ will come 'in his glory, and all the angels with him. . . . Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. . . . And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.'⁶²⁵"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1038)

² "The rapture," and American culture:

"...All three films hinge on a literalist interpretation of certain Scripture passages and are informed by a pessimistic brand of Protestantism known as 'premillennial dispensationalism,' which took root among certain fundamentalist Christians in the early 19th century.

"Central among its tenets is 'the rapture,' here meaning a sudden, unexpected taking up to heaven of those faithful to Christ, in advance of his second coming and presaging a seven-year period of tribulation for those 'left behind.' While Catholic teaching accepts a rapture event at Christ's return in glory, the church rejects the notion of it occurring prior to the second coming as suggested by the films. "
(Left Behind, Media Review Office, Catholic News Service, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)

First Sunday in Advent

Readings for November 28, 2010, 1st Sunday of Advent 2010:

• Isaiah 2:1-5
• Romans 13:11-14
• Matthew 24:37-44

---

1st Sunday of Advent

By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas
November 28, 2010

In Scouting we are taught to always be prepared, and it is surely a good thing to keep in mind as we go daily about our many activities. Especially being as how we live in central Minnesota. We should be prepared when we go out into the cold, by listening to mom when she says, "bundle up, it's cold outside." Why should she have to remind us? Well at the moment we may be very worm and as we may have the habit of living in the moment we may very well get into trouble when the unexpected moment comes about and we may be freezing. Do you suppose that some of us really live that way? Ask any mother and she will tell you stories.

Years ago when I was on ambulance calls and we would come to some of these car crashes and find in the dead of winter people dressed as if it was summer. Ask Father Statz, he'll tell you it gets cold in Minnesota. Be prepared, for you do not know from one moment to the next what will happen to you. You know how we are so careful because it is icy outside, well the other day I fell in the shop. I was most assuredly not prepared as I should have been.

The central theme for this week end is, "you must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."

One day, my daughter called and was concerned because some of the people she worked with thought the end of the world was eminent. How could they know that when, even Jesus said He didn't know? Plus the fact that 2nd Peter said that a thousand year is to God as a single day. So we're not 3 days old as Christians yet so don't worry about it." How Merciful is God to give us all this time.

Did you ever Thank God for TIME? Time is what God has given us to keep everything from happening at once. We've all had those moments when it seems as if everything is happening at once. But on the other hand, time is unpredictable. We must be constantly prepared for both the best and worst of times.

In today's lesson Jesus talks to His disciples about the future in time. Throughout Matthew 24, Jesus instructs His disciples concerning two future periods of crises and change, painful changes. Prior to today's Gospel reading Jesus speaks of something that will happen very soon and that is the destruction of the Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70. Then Jesus speaks of an ultimate future or of the LAST THINGS, the PAROUSIA, the coming of the Son of Man in Glory! This then marks the end of an earthly age and is the beginning of a heavenly age that for us is yet to come. Jesus warns the disciples of many dangers that will characterize the period before the final end. There will be worldwide chaos and wars between nations. Messianic pretenders will confuse the people, each insisting, "I am the Christ." False prophets will also arise and lead people astray. But the gospel will be proclaimed throughout the world before the end comes. I wonder sometimes if that be the case in our day being that we have EWTN broadcasting all over the world by TV and shortwave radio. Is that part of what Jesus is telling us, happening in our day, in our time. Yet we are told that it is those who endure to the end, that - they will be saved!

Stay alert, be prepared, for you do not know when the Son of Man will come to share with us what eye has not seen, ear, heard or the mind of man conceived what God had prepared for those who Love Him.

For these last few moments I want to take you back to my homily of a month ago: I said then and want to repeat that each of you are to stand before a full length mirror, daily, and pray, "Lord, God, You made me in you image and likeness, to know You, to Love You, to Serve You and to be Happy with you forever in Heaven." I said then and remind you again that that is were you get your self esteem. I don't care how smart you are, how many degrees you have or how many titles, for that matter, you must come to know who you are in Christ Jesus. For if you gain everything that the world has to offer and lose your Faith you have nothing. Why do people worry about the end times or when they are to die, or when they are to stand before Jesus Christ as Judge? Because they have place their self-esteem in the things of the world and not in Christ! I beg you with all that is in me, turn to the Merciful Savor for your self-esteem. Whether you are very old or very young, you may very well, in the future look back at this Advent as the most important of you Life. God Bless You!

---

'Thank you' to Deacon Kaas, for letting me post his reflection here.

---

More reflections:

• "Reflections from Sauk Centre's Our Lady of the Angels Church"

Related posts:

• "Advent: Hazardous Road Conditions, Holiday Shopping, and More"
  (November 23, 2010)
• "God Knows, I Don't: And That's Okay"
  (November 14, 2010)
• "Global Warming, End Times - 'We're All Gonna Die' Over the Last 45 Years Or So (Who Knew?)"
  (October 3, 2009)
• "Obama, the Black Pope, and American Culture"
  (November 12, 2008)
• "First Sunday in Advent"
  (November 29, 2009)

God Knows, I Don't: And That's Okay

I've written about my take on "Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell, and Warm Fuzzies" before. (August 8, 2010) And how I have the teaching authority of "some guy with a blog." Not much, in other words.

Still, I'm a practicing Catholic: and I try to stay informed.

Our parish priest brought up an important point this Sunday. It's a simple series of statements. Here's what a pope said about the idea, a few decades back:

"...The essential mission of the priesthood is found in the Eucharist. Your identity and mine are fixed forever in the Eucharistic celebration, that action of Jesus which in turn is the fullest and most effective proclamation of his whole Gospel message: Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!..."
("Address of John Paul II to a Group of Priests from the United States of America," John Paul II speeches, vatican.va (May 7, 1982)

I think that bears repeating:

"Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!"

The Last Judgment, Human Nature, and Marketing

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a few words about particular judgment, when each of us gets judged on our own lives (1021-1022), and the Last Judgment. (1038-1041)

I gather that the Last Judgment will be an event that'll be impossible to miss:

"The resurrection of all the dead, 'of both the just and the unjust,'⁶²³ will precede the Last Judgment. This will be 'the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man's] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.'⁶²⁴ Then Christ will come "in his glory, and all the angels with him. . . . Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. . . . And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.'⁶²⁵"
(Catechism (1038)

I've mentioned the - interesting - version of Christianity that was endemic to the area I grew up in. (February 2, 2010, and lots of other times)

As my youth merged into early adulthood, I noticed a pattern. Quite a few of these Scripture/Numerology/End Times chaps had a book to sell: proving (Biblically speaking) that The End Was Nigh - four or five years after their book's publication date.

Maybe I'm being too cynical here: but that'd be a pretty good choice from a marketing point of view. Put the End Times too close to the publication date, and book sales might still be brisk when the deadline hit. Put the fireworks too far off in the future, and whipping up enthusiasm for buying the thing might be a trifle difficult.

Four or five years after going on the radio about the latest 'end-times prophecy' strikes a nice balance, in my opinion.

I'll Leave the Timing Up to God

Me? I wouldn't write one of those books. First of all, there'd be a lot of work cobbling together a dramatic comparison of some numbers in Revelation with the Washington, DC zip code and Stalin's shoe size - or whatever I decided would get folks excited enough to shell out $19.95 - or whatever thick paperback books are going for these days.

Much more to the point, I don't think my Lord would appreciate my efforts to cash in on a cultural quirk. We're told that "Only the Father knows the day and the hour" (Catechism, 1040; Matthew 24:4-27, Matthew 24:36)(and see Matthew 24 footnote 9 in the NAB)

I'm inclined to take Jesus seriously. Folks with a book to sell? Not so much.

I couldn't help but notice, though, that a Catechism reference number I used is 1040 - which is the number of IRS form 1040. With a little work I could probably work that into a diatribe about Elijah, 2 Kings 1:10, 1 Kings 18:40, Revelation 11:5 and flamethrowers. Or maybe one of the new laser weapon systems.

That's not gonna happen.

I'm quite willing to assume that God knows what He's doing, and doesn't need me second-guessing His timetable. Besides, there's that Matthew 24:36 thing: looks to me like trying to work out when my Lord is coming back is a waste of time.

That Jesus is returning, literally and unmistakably? I've got His word on that.

Global Warming, End Times - 'We're All Gonna Die' Over the Last 45 Years Or So

I don't remember the first time I heard about the imminent coming end of the world, but I'm pretty sure it was after I turned 13. By the time I was 20 or so, I'd noticed a pattern.

'And We're All Gonna Die' Has a Rather Broad Appeal, Doesn't It?

Remember the famines and pestilences of the 1970s and 80s, that killed off most of the human race?

Probably not, since they didn't happen.

They were supposed to, though. ("Food, Agriculture, Technology, and City Folks," Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (October 2, 2009))

Paul Ehrlich's 'relevant' predictions; nuclear winter; acid rain; 'everything causes cancer;' and that perennial favorite of the last decade or so, global warming; seem to be a secular analog of what this post is about.

Armageddon is Coming! In Three to Five Years - Read All About It for $14.95

That price is just a guess. Quite a few years ago, you could read all about the coming apocalypse for about $4.95. Back in 2004, adult fiction paperbacks (other than 'mass-market') sold for an average of $14.95 - and just a little before that the 'read all about it' books ran for about the same price: although I seem to remember it going up to $19.95.

Small price to pay for getting the inside track at Armageddon, I suppose.

I Take the Word of God Seriously

I'm a Christian and a Catholic. My faith is based on the Bible, the Magisterium, and Tradition. (October 2, 2008) Even if I hadn't been taught - and believe - that the Bible is the Word of God, I'd be interested in what God had been prompting people to record over the last few thousand years.

On the other hand, I haven't taken the passing parade of end-of-the-world warnings - and the books that go with them - as being quite the same thing.

A weird combination of numerology, thinly-disguised fortunetelling and yellow journalism - all wrapped up in a very spiritual package - was part of the background noise in the culture I grew up in. After a little youthful interest, I noticed how the deadlines 'from the Bible' kept passing by - to be replaced with a new deadline and new explanation by the next wannabe prophet.

I didn't take them any more seriously than I took Elvis sightings, later.

Messing With the Word of God

Intentionally buying or selling of spiritual things is a really bad idea. (Catechism of the Catholic Church (2121), Acts 8:9-24)

I'd be much more concerned about the people who wrote those 'Armageddon is coming' books, as a group, if I wasn't pretty sure that they actually believed what they were writing.

Why Three to Five Years?

Good question - but that range was pretty consistently used.

From a marketing point of view, three to five years is a pretty good choice of time. It's close enough to get people interested, curious, or scared out of their wits: But far off enough to let quite a few copies of the book be sold.

Cynical? Maybe. There could easily be other explanations.

Numerology Isn't What it Used to be

Maybe it was just the area I grew up in, but back in the sixties I heard quite an array of radio preachers reading things in the Word of God that were - well, remarkable.

That was a long time ago, and I wasn't taking notes, but as I recall a fairly typical claim would tie Joseph Stalin's birth date, the number 666, and Halloween together. I must be one of 'those' people - I still don't see how it all adds up to Armageddon in the early seventies (I must have slept through it - can't remember a thing).

I don't doubt that what the preachers quoted really was in the Bible - that sort of thing is too easy to check on. Their numerological calculations, though: those I can't take seriously, except as a sort of engrossing intellectual parlor game.

My favorite observation/prediciton from that period wasn't numerological at all, though. I can't remember quite what part of Revelation he pulled it from, but we were supposed to believe that locusts - some kind of insect-like bug, anyway - was an obvious reference to some sort of missile launcher the Russians had added to their arsenal. And that, it seemed, proved that the Russians were going to be there - soon - at Armageddon. (The Soviet Union was, anyway - they often didn't distinguish all that much between Russia and the U.S.S.R. - I'll get back to that.)

Decades later and about 125 miles down the road, numerology seemed to have dropped out of favor. Can't say that I miss it - although my hat's off to the people who came up with those strange, quirky correlations. It takes a sort of talent to start with a verse in the Bible; find numbers in it; add, subtract, multiply, divide and/or systematically substitute the numbers; and come out with a hot topic in current events.

Back to That Russian Missile Launcher and the Beast

The radio preachers were particularly earnest about the Soviet Union.

I can see why, in a way. One of the national symbols for Russia is a bear. A bear is in the book of Revelation. The feet of one, anyway. Or something that looked like a bear's feet. I can sort of see where the preachers got the idea. (Revelation 13:1-2)

I don't think that the Soviet Union was the best thing that ever happened to Russia: but I don't think Russia is the beast with "blasphemous name (s)" on it.

But then, I've never bought into the end-of-the-world predictions, either.

I must not be very spiritual. Or something.

What Set All This Off?

I've been reading about the terrible effects of a series of earthquakes in and around Indonesia. My family's prayed about it - which is about the limit of the useful contribution we can make to rescue and recovery efforts.

Maybe because I've been running seriously short on sleep - I got to bed at about 4:30 and 5:00 in the morning the last two (nights? mornings?) - I remembered the sort of 'and it's a sign of the end times' pronouncements that would have been filling the airwaves back in the 'good old days,' after a horrific disaster like that.¹

By early afternoon, ideas were arranging themselves in a vaguely orderly way - and I've learned to take advantage of moments like that. Once I got started, the result still seemed on-topic for this blog, so I finished the thing off.

Why Have So Many People Been Convinced For So Long that The World Is Going to End Soon?

It's not just a particular branch of Christianity - 'and we're all gonna die' predictions about the end of humanity, civilization, and spotted owls, have been around for as long as I've been inclined to notice such things.

Whether it's Armageddon or acid rain, quite a number of people seem convinced that something just simply awful is just around the corner.

Saying 'people are like that' affirms that (some) people like to see disaster looming - or at least are inclined to do so. But saying 'people are like that' doesn't address why that trait runs through humanity.

I don't have an answer: just a speculation or two.

I think that being convinced that disaster is around the corner may be a misfiring of the sort of caution and foresight that keeps us (usually) from eating the seed grain, spending the money we'll need for fuel next winter, or forgetting to keep some gas in the car's tank.

I also think that the reason for a fascination with global warming or Armageddon may be related to whatever it is that makes people fans of horror films. There's a kind of thrill to being scared half (or more) out of one's wits.

But that's just speculation.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Indonesia: Lots of Earthquakes, Lots of People Killed; Lots More Needing Help"
  (October 3, 2009)
• "Indonesian Earthquake: Links to News, and Rambling on About Estimates and Common Sense"
  (October 3, 2009)
• "Data Dump: Major Earthquakes During the Last Week"
  (October 3, 2009)
• "Samoan Tsunami - Not Good News, But it Could Have Been Worse"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (September 30, 2009)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)
• "The Catholic Church: Authoritarian, Which Isn't Necessarily a Bad Thing"
  (October 2, 2008)

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¹ 'Good old days?' I remember the fifties - they had their up side, but so has every other period I've lived in. They weren't quite the 'happy days' some folks like to remember.

They weren't "the best of times...the worst of times." They were times - like every other; variously appealing and appalling, and each quite unique.

Obama, the Black Pope, and American Culture

No question about it. America's President-Elect Barack Obama is black.

About the same way I'm Irish, but since Barack Obama's father is black, Americans say he's black.

In practically every American sub-culture that I'm aware of, that's a good thing, now. And America having a black president is, from what I've run into, generally seen as a good thing. Not everyone sees things that way, but with a population just over 300,000,000, there is bound to be the odd bunch of noisy contrarians.

Barack Obama: Black, Also From Hawaii and Harvard

So, in a month or so America will have a black President. We'll also have a president who was born in Hawaii and went to Harvard, but that's not quite as big a deal, culturally speaking.

Which helps explain this headline: "After Obama, is it time for a black Pope?" (Religious Intelligence (UK) (November 10, 2008)).

I didn't know what to expect, but the opening paragraphs were refreshingly coherent:

"With the recent election of Senator Barack Obama as the first African American US president, church leaders are wondering if maybe it is time for a black pope to take charge.

"Archbishop Daniel Gregory became the first African American to head the US Bishops Conference in 2001, serving for three years. He said that Senator Obama's election into the White House is 'a great step forward for humanity and a sign that in the United States the problem of racial discrimination has been overcome.'..."
(Religious Intelligence (UK))

A Black Pope? Probably, Sooner or Later

Thomas Nast, and quite a few other Americans, seem to have had had the notion that the Roman Catholic Church was an Italian institution. In a way, I can see how they got that idea.

The Holy See (the Vatican, to most non-Catholics, and a lot of Catholics) is in Rome. Rome is in Italy. So, the Roman Catholic Church must be Italian.

Adding to the impression that the Catholic Church was Italian: From the Renaissance to the 20th century, quite a few popes were Italian.

No surprise there: Transportation and communications technology were slow and limited before airliners, Telstar, and the Internet. That made it a whole lot easier for the Holy See to find - and select - bishops who were nearby. Besides, after northern European princes encouraged the Reformation, there weren't all that many non-Latin bishops to choose from.

Recently, however, we've had a pope who's from Poland, and now one from Germany. It's not such a big stretch to think that, before another century or two passes, we'll see one from, say, Kenya. Or India.

Who knows? There might even be an American pope. Although since "American" isn't an ethnic group, that would be a hyphenated American pope.

The First Black Pope Will Be a 'Sign of the End Times,' of Course

I'm not making that up, quite. There's a very earnest article titled "The Most Powerful Man In The World? The 'Black Pope' Count Hans Kolvenbach—The Jesuit's General," on a page headed "The Black Pope and His Jesuit Ruling Priests of Baal."

The article, dated April 15, 2000, starts:

"So, you thought you were pretty well informed by now about all of the main players on the 'conspiracy' playing field? You've maybe been hearing for years about (or bumped into on your own) the various elements of society who control our world from behind the scenes.

"You've gotten familiar with the role played by, for instance, the Khazarian Zionists (who invented the word 'Jew' to disguise their adopted heritage, as distinguished from the biblical Judeans)...."
("The End Times Warning of The Black Pope / The Black Pope and His Jesuit Ruling Priests of Baal," meguiar.addr.com)

This is the sort of discussion of Catholicism that I've gotten used to: earnest, sincere, passionate, and living in an alternate universe.¹

Meanwhile, Back in the Real World -

"Black pope" really is a nickname of the head of the Jesuit order. I gather that he's called that because the Jesuit uniform involves black robes. Since the Society of Jesus is quite influential, and the Pope has white robes, "the black pope" is a rather natural nickname.

All of which doesn't have much to do with the stories about global conspiracies, Jesuit assassins (you can't make this sort of thing up), and - of course - the black pope. Two items, and I'll be back to Obama, Catholicism, and contemporary culture.

• '...It's what they know that just ain't so.' American Catholics often run into this sort of thing: "Every day I defend my faith at work. The Baptists at my job adore me because even though I am a Catholic and they are not, we all talk about Jesus together. I will always talk to them about anything but now one of them brings up the black pope and the Jesuit order in the Vatican. He says things I will not repeat in this forum...."
  (Q and A about the Jesuit Order, from Catholic Answers, January 5, 2002)
• The Jesuits, or the Society of Jesus (SJ for short), has their own website: http://sjweb.info/. As they put it, "sjweb.info serves as a portal connecting Jesuits and friends around the world".

If You Thought the 2008 American Election was Nuts...

A yard sign declaring, "Obama Half-Breed Muslin" made national news during the 2008 presidential election. I used that misspelled bit of misinformation as the opener of a post about how much nonsense was getting displayed and discussed.

Eventually, we'll almost certainly have a pope whose recent ancestors came from Africa. When that happens, I'm quite sure that 'experts' will see this as an epochal development; dire warnings about the coming end times will appear like mushrooms after a heavy rain; and that the Holy See will keep doing its job.

As far as I'm concerned, it's not all that important. Now, if we had an Irish pope, or one from Norway: it still wouldn't be all that important. But, I'd be personally delighted.

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¹ A sample, from that 'Warning' website: "...There's a good reason the secret Vatican library is so extensive and yet remains so intact from outside intrusion,...." There's a (tiny) grain of truth in that statement.

The Vatican Library is closed at this time.

As the Library put it, "The Vatican Library will be closed to the public from July 14, 2008...." Normally, the Vatican Library serves over 150 readers a day.

Three years seems like a long time to be down for renovations, but I don't know what budget and staff limitations that department has.

The Vatican Library's website, on the other hand, is up.

Yes, the Vatican Library has a website: http://www.vaticanlibrary.va. If you don't find it there, try the main Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/, and follow the links.

There's an open letter at the Vatican Library's website that explains what's going on.

It's headed "Vatican City, June 25, 2008," and starts with:

"Dear Readers and Friends,

"This letter, which introduces the renovated website of the Vatican Library (http://www.vaticanlibrary.va), is also being sent to the friends of the Library: those readers who are waiting for it to reopen, those who take an interest in our activities, and all those who share a sense of our mission of culture and a taste for research into the past and into the writings and other treasures which we have received and which we preserve in the interest of humanity...."
(Vatican Library)