"Catholic Rage over Left Behind"By Jackie Alnor (Posted Feb. 9, 2003) The "Left Behind" series of books and now films by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye have broken all publishing records in the Christian bookselling market. Christians have become somewhat addicted to the unfolding story, based on Bible prophecy, and look forward to each new installment. But others in the religious world do not share the enthusiasm. In fact, 3ABN, the television network of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, produced an entire series of programs trying to refute what they call "the secret rapture theory." And the success of "Left Behind" is a great cause for alarm particularly in Roman Catholic circles. Many Catholics are among the readership of the novels about those left behind after the rapture of the church. The authors have tried to steer their story away from controversy in order to make their books palatable to all flavors of Christianity. And, they seem to have succeeded. But according to some Catholic observers, that makes the series all the more insidious. In an article called "No Rapture for Rome," published in This Rock magazine, the Catholic Church’s publication devoted to refuting Christian fundamentalism, the author writes: "The popularity of this series and the goal behind them is worth examining since many Catholics are reading them. . . In essence, the books are ‘tract-novels,’ stories wrapped around huge chunks of blatant proselytizing." In another article written by the same Catholic apologist Carl E. Olson, he notes that the "Catholic Church has not officially interpreted the difficult passages in Revelation" and "allows a wide range of interpretive possibilities." Yet in this same article, "Are We Living in the Last Days?," Olson points to the teachings of St. Augustine, who in the fourth century changed the understanding of the thousand-year reign of Christ to "a metaphor for the age of the Church." So, in the Catholic understanding of Bible prophecy, Jesus reigns over the earth through the Roman Catholic Church, though that concept gave birth to the Crusades and the Inquisitions. Their amillennial view of eschatology, the study of the end times, is their guideline for interpreting scriptures that speak of future events. And the "Left Behind" series is a threat to Augustinian theology. In the adult version of the "Left Behind" novels, the current pope is taken into heaven at the rapture, although this does not happen in the children’s version of the series. However, this does not please the Catholic leaders because that pope is depicted as a renegade. Noted one critic, "The pope is raptured, sure, but only because he had stirred up controversy in the church with a new doctrine that seemed to coincide with the ‘heresy’ of Martin Luther than with the historic orthodox Catholics were used to." This feature of the novels does indeed have Catholic critics in an uproar. But, it has Protestant critics just as furious. A Baptist leader commented, "To be saved, the pope would have to repent of Rome’s unscriptural dogmas and idolatry, including the blasphemy of his own office, claiming to be the Vicar of Christ, Holy Father, etc., and if he were to do that he would no longer be the pope." There is one criticism made by this same person that I would have to agree with fully. "In depicting worldwide post-Rapture chaos (plane crashes, car accidents, etc.) the film (Left Behind) greatly overestimates the number of true believers in the world, and that one could get the impression there are MANY on the road to life. Jesus says FEW are."
|
The video documentary that exposes lying signs and wonders today! The Great Apostasy: The Lost Sign This new video documents the rise of religious deception within the church from the beginning of the 1900s to the present day. Length: 90 minutes. It is filled with actual film footage of preachers caught in deception. Jesus warned us of the great falling away. Yet, many are convincing Christians this very deception is an outpouring of revival. See for yourselves how the Spirit of Antichrist is within our Churches. For more information on ordering, click the link above |
 |
|
|
|
