Church must be ready to deal with post-COVID ‘apocalyptic’ scenarios, author claims

[Michie]

[Editor’s Note: Michael J. Baxter teaches Religious Studies and is Director of Catholic Studies at Regis University in Denver. He is currently completing a book titled Blowing the Dynamite of the Church: Radicalism Against Americanism in Catholic Social Ethics coming out from Cascade Press. He spoke to Charles Camosy about apocalyptic scenarios and the current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.]


Camosy: You half-joked with me recently that talking about apocalyptic scenarios, which is your natural leaning, is much more rational now. Can you say more about this?

Baxter: Apocalyptic means “unveiling.” What we suppose to be real is shown to be illusory, and the reality is shocking and disturbing. In the Book of Revelation, Rome seems to control the world, but as the nightmarish events unfold, the Empire and its gods turn out to be false, while true power and authority of the universe are revealed to be with the Lamb who was slain. In recent days, with so many certainties suddenly rendered unreal, the rational response is not to be too certain about our assumptions, and to ask ourselves, repeatedly and reflectively, what is really going on?

Continued below.
Church must be ready to deal with post-COVID 'apocalyptic' scenarios, author claims

 

[pdudgeon]

[Editor’s Note: Michael J. Baxter teaches Religious Studies and is Director of Catholic Studies at Regis University in Denver. He is currently completing a book titled Blowing the Dynamite of the Church: Radicalism Against Americanism in Catholic Social Ethics coming out from Cascade Press. He spoke to Charles Camosy about apocalyptic scenarios and the current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.]


Camosy: You half-joked with me recently that talking about apocalyptic scenarios, which is your natural leaning, is much more rational now. Can you say more about this?

Baxter: Apocalyptic means “unveiling.” What we suppose to be real is shown to be illusory, and the reality is shocking and disturbing. In the Book of Revelation, Rome seems to control the world, but as the nightmarish events unfold, the Empire and its gods turn out to be false, while true power and authority of the universe are revealed to be with the Lamb who was slain. In recent days, with so many certainties suddenly rendered unreal, the rational response is not to be too certain about our assumptions, and to ask ourselves, repeatedly and reflectively, what is really going on?

Continued below.
Church must be ready to deal with post-COVID 'apocalyptic' scenarios, author claims

very interesting indeed! Today we see the same tug-of-war between the State and the Church, as well as within the Church itself.
It is certain that things will be well shaken, separated, and measured before all of this is over with.

Revelation tells us this will happen, and that not everyone will be going to Heaven, but that everyone will have a chance to put their faith (and their body) behind what they truly believe, no matter the cost of doing so. These are the days, and this is is where "The rubber meets the road".

 

[ralliann]

very interesting indeed! Today we see the same tug-of-war between the State and the Church, as well as within the Church itself.
It is certain that things will be well shaken, separated, and measured before all of this is over with.

Revelation tells us this will happen, and that not everyone will be going to Heaven, but that everyone will have a chance to put their faith (and their body) behind what they truly believe, no matter the cost of doing so. These are the days, and this is is where "The rubber meets the road".

Thought about this just last night. When thinking about all the division in the church, all the sin it has accepted in it's midst. Abortion, same sex marriage, on and on it has gone.
I am not Catholic so I dunno how they think it applies? But all the Church to me is all true believers in every Church. We have become sick in the allowance of sin.
Is 1:5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. {revolt … : Heb. increase revolt }
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

 

[pdudgeon]

Thought about this just last night. When thinking about all the division in the church, all the sin it has accepted in it's midst. Abortion, same sex marriage, on and on it has gone.
I am not Catholic so I dunno how they think it applies? But all the Church to me is all true believers in every Church. We have become sick in the allowance of sin.
Is 1:5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. {revolt … : Heb. increase revolt }
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

Most of the Catholics that I know don't think much or know much about the book of Revelation. For most of them, they concentrate on getting the Word out there into the World, and other than Purgatory, they don't look very much beyond life as we know it.

There are some exceptions (the words of Our Lady of Lourdes is one of the best known exceptions) but otherwise there's very little study on the End Times happening in the Catholic Church today.