Catholic Interpretation of Revaltion

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So history/discovery/national geographic is running all their tv specials about christianity this week because it’s holy week. And of course it’s mostly wrong and sensational nonsense. Nonetheless, I happened to see a show last night on one of those networks about the book of revelation and the end time. Etc.

I’m sure this has been brought up a lot, but I’m going to ask again. Is there a book or some kind of material on the catholic interpretation of the end times stuff? I ordered Michael Barber’s book about these things, but it hasn’t gotten here yet. Imo, many christian denominations take a great deal of time and energy to these things. I’ve never really worried about these things, I’ve mostly just stuck to the “Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead” line from the creed and stuck with that. But Revelation is a very confusing and weird book, I’m not sure how to take it. Not sure if I need to worry about it. I’d like to get a more level headed church approach to these things.

Thanks
Tom
 
I listen to Scott Hahn and others talk about Revelation and nothing much sticks in my head about it. I bought the Ignatius Study Bible to get a condensed interpretation of it, but I’m just starting to look into it.

The last time I heard somebody on TV talk about it, they, too, said it was “wierd.”

I’m currently reading the Pope’s recent book, vol. 2 of Jesus of Nazareth. He has things to say about Mary that I haven’t heard before. * and he says that this woman represents BOTH Mary and the Church.

In the prev year or two, I’ve heard one analysis that the vision of Mary/Church in the sky had the constellation Virgo as a backdrop, which I think is supposed to mean “the virgin”

Here is a non-religious interpretation of virgo (still means virgin)

constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Virgo.html*
 
Crumpy said:
I listen to Scott Hahn and others talk about Revelation and nothing much sticks in my head about it. I bought the Ignatius Study Bible to get a condensed interpretation of it, but I’m just starting to look into it.

The last time I heard somebody on TV talk about it, they, too, said it was “wierd.”

I’m currently reading the Pope’s recent book, vol. 2 of Jesus of Nazareth. He has things to say about Mary that I haven’t heard before. * and he says that this woman represents BOTH Mary and the Church.

In the prev year or two, I’ve heard one analysis that the vision of Mary/Church in the sky had the constellation Virgo as a backdrop, which I think is supposed to mean “the virgin”

Here is a non-religious interpretation of virgo (still means virgin)

constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Virgo.html*

I really like Scott Hahn’s “The Lamb’s Supper” which takes an approach that would leave most Protestant denominations feeling confused. Although many of the characters are interesting and can be interpreted multiple ways, the theme running through most of Revelation is a Mass. Think about it. There’s an altar, incense, the “Holy, Holy, Holy”, etc, etc, etc. If you read it in this light, it isn’t nearly as weird or scary.

Many of the books in the Bible, but especially Revelation, allow for multiple interpretations. such as the “woman” of Revelation 12 being Mary and the Church. Each interpretation provides beautiful insight into God’s plan for us. One of the things I love about reading scripture is that it can be read superficially and there is something useful there. As more insight is gleaned out of it, more useful information is seen. As you learn to see a given passage in context to passages before and after, even more becomes apparent. As you learn about typology and see how God orchestrated all of salvation history, sometimes despite his children’s lack of cooperation, even more become obvious. The more you dig, the more that is there.

As for Virgo, there is a video called the Star of Bethlehem that discusses Jesus’ birth and death via signs in the sky, that is pretty spectacular. I don’t know enough about astronomy to know if it is making valid assumptions, but his conclusions are pretty fascinating and worth looking at. He sees the woman crowned with the sun with the moon at her feet as a literal astronomical event that occurred at Christ’s death and assumes that is what John was seeing as part of Revelation. That would not be contrary to the Mass interpretation of Revelation.

images.amazon.com/images/P/B002RBHDFK.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Revelation is a great book.

Try this one:

The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of Future Life.

It was written by a priest; Father Charles Arminjon.

There is however somebody who said how great this book was:

Reading this book was one of the greatest graces of my life. St Therese.
 
First of all, you have to learn to recognize erroneous teachings about the End Times popularized by fundamentalists. In other words, toss out the “Left Behind” and “Late, Great Planet Earth” baloney. Here are some resources to help you develop some discernment in these areas:

catholic.com/library/rapture.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/2000/0011fea2.asp
catholic.com/library/false_profit.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0211fea3.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/2000/0001fea1.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9510ntg.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0209fea5.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1998/9812chap.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0304bt.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1997/9705chap.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1994/9409fea4.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1994/9410fea2.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/2000/0009bite.asp

In addition, here are some resources to help you develop a well-balanced Catholic understanding of the Book of Revelation, biblical prophecy, and eschatology. All of these are HIGHLY recommended:

The Navarre Bible Commentary on the Book of Revelation
The Navarre Bible Commentary on the Major Prophets
The Navarre Bible Commentary on the Minor Prophets
amazon.com/gp/search/ref=br_ss_hs/102-2381711-9848916?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dblended&keywords=navarre+bible

The End: The Book of Revelation, tape/CD series and Study Guide by Dr. Scott Hahn.
saintjoe.com/more-info.php?product=177&Title=The-End

Will Catholics Be “Left Behind”? by Carl Olsen
ignatius.com/ViewProduct.aspx?SID=1&Product_ID=260&AFID=12&

The Rapture Trap: A Catholic Response to “End Times” Fever, by Paul Thigpen
amazon.com/Rapture-Trap-Catholic-Response-Times/dp/0965922820

The Lamb’s Supper, by Dr. Scott Hahn.
amazon.com/gp/product/0385496591/sr=8-1/qid=1148926012/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-2381711-9848916?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Rapture: The End Times Fiction that Leaves Truth Behind, by David Curie
amazon.com/Rapture-End-Times-Error-Leaves-Behind/dp/1928832725/ref=sr_1_1/105-8298365-5498833?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188139548&sr=1-1

Revelation Revealed, tapes/CD series by Michael Barber
saintjoe.com/more-info.php?product=245&Title=Revelation-Revealed

Coming Soon, a book on this same topic by Michael Barber
amazon.com/Coming-Soon-Unlocking-Revelation-Applying/dp/193101826X

Introduction To Prophecy, CD set by Steve Wood
familylifecenter.net/cart/product_detail.cfm?Id=613
 
Tom

A book that you would enjoy is “Will Catholics Be Left Behind: A Critique of the Rapture and Today’s Prophecy Preachers” by Carl E. Olson, from Ignatius Press (May 2003).
 
Nelka said:
Revelation is a great book.

Try this one:

The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of Future Life.

It was written by a priest; Father Charles Arminjon.

There is however somebody who said how great this book was:

Reading this book was one of the greatest graces of my life. St Therese.
Click to expand...
I’ve been waiting for my wife to finish it so that I can read it. She loves it.
 
I read a very good commentary provided by the Knights of Columbus. I had it bookmarked at one time but unfortunately that computer died so I no longer have it.
 
There are a few patristic and medieval Catholic commentaries available online. Probably you can find more medieval and later commentaries online through Archive.org, Hathi Trust, Google Books, etc. Remember, the older name of this book is “Apocalypse”, so that’s what you may need to search for Catholic commentaries.

By St. Victorinus Pettavinus - a new translation at bombaxo.com and an old translation at CCEL (which doesn’t distinguish between Victorinus and St. Jerome’s corrections).

By St. Bede – an old public domain translation, but good.

By Adso – Letter on the Antichrist.

Somebody online is translating St.Beatus of Liebana’s medieval commentary (which is made up of various patristic commentaries and other quotes).

This guy has a big list of in-print, good, Catholic books about Revelation.
 
Try “Will Catholics Be ‘Left Behind’?” by Carl Olson. It is a Catholic response to the protestant belief in the rapture and revelation interpretation. Haven’t finished yet but is pretty good.
 
Much of the bookof revelation is a blueprint for the mass read Scott hahns books the lambs supper .
 
I agree Scott Hahns’ book the Lambs’ Supper is excellent, but someone here at one time suggested a free read on line, taking the Revelation of Jesus Christ…(Book of Revelation), from Agape bible study. It is in full communion with the Catholic magesterium on teaching, and it takes you through line by line, giving full explanation of all the symbolism, and meanings of that Book, it is fascinating, as well as easy read in its’ explanation. If you’ve got the time and interest, all the teaching is in this…and yes, its free!
 
I have the Scott Hahn book on audio, I started listening to it and just couldn’t handle it. I’ll have to give it another try. It was rather dry, Hahn was reading it.

I’ve heard the interpretation of Revelation as a blue print of the mass before. But how does that fit into all the Armageddon stuff and final battle, etc, that the protestants are so fixated on?

I never believed in the rapture theology, even before I really started looking into the end times stuff. In high school a lot of people spoke about it and I researched it out, figured out that it was a man made theology by John D’Arby. I do not like how shows like I mentioned on the cable channels seem to lump all christians into believing that false rapture theology.
 
thomasf said:
So history/discovery/national geographic is running all their tv specials about christianity this week because it’s holy week. And of course it’s mostly wrong and sensational nonsense. Nonetheless, I happened to see a show last night on one of those networks about the book of revelation and the end time. Etc.

I’m sure this has been brought up a lot, but I’m going to ask again. Is there a book or some kind of material on the catholic interpretation of the end times stuff? I ordered Michael Barber’s book about these things, but it hasn’t gotten here yet. Imo, many christian denominations take a great deal of time and energy to these things. I’ve never really worried about these things, I’ve mostly just stuck to the “Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead” line from the creed and stuck with that. But Revelation is a very confusing and weird book, I’m not sure how to take it. Not sure if I need to worry about it. I’d like to get a more level headed church approach to these things.

Thanks
Tom
Click to expand...
At the end of the time Jesus will judge . We do not know time and result,we can be loyalty to Jesus , and everything will be all right.
 
I read the Lambs Supper by Hahn, I loved the book.

One big thing to keep in mind, for me, was that Jesus is referred to the Lamb of God more times than any other title in the Book of Revelation.

Peace,
Phil
 
Hi there,

Since this is my first post, I suspect an introduction is in order. I am a Protestant, but I am also an adjunct faculty member who teaches the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas at a Dominican graduate school of theology in the Midwest. I love teaching my Dominican students, and I get along splendidly with both them and my Catholic colleagues.

That said, I have recently published a book in the hopes of reviving a serious and rigorous Biblical defense of a traditional Protestant interpretation of Daniel, Revelation and other relevant parts of Biblical prophecy. The book is Approaching Armageddon: Disaster, War and Persecution.

As someone familiar with both Protestant and Catholic interpretation of Scripture, I honestly think (I’m not trying to toot my own horn, here) that this is an important book to read alongside some of the Catholic works already mentioned.

Kind Regards,
Daniel Davidson
 
I think we all know a great deal about protestant theories on revelation. It’s often given as the defacto belief, as I noted in the op about the tv shows on discover/history/nat geo. There is a distinct difference with the catholic interpretation of that book, and that’s what I’m most interested in. IMO the protestant belief is almost obsessive with the trials and hardship and great wars and the theory of the rapture. Sometimes it seems like the protestant christians are almost rooting for the end of the world.
 
I don’t believe in a doctrine of the secret rapture, and the book explicitly argues against this false doctrine. So maybe you don’t know as much about historical Protestant interpretation of Scripture as you think? After all, if your view of Protestantism is what you see and hear on T.V., then you’re right: it is mostly a load of dung. I’m offering a serious interpretation of the book that is worth reading. It is obviously up to you whether or not you read it, and it really doesn’t matter much to me personally whether you do. Nevertheless, it isn’t a book that focuses on current events, etc. It focuses on the careful exegesis of key Biblical prophecies, and it is a good source to have by your side as you examine alternative interpretations of Revelation.

As for the wars, etc. I focus on those as the text requires.
–Dan
 
The tradition of the Church is that Christ will come after the millennium and immediately before eternity. The millennium is a spiritual reign of Christ that has been present in the Church since Pentecost. In other words, the Millennium is an ecclesiastical kingdom, founded at Pentecost. This tradition is known as Amillennialism.

If I’m not mistaken, this is the only acceptable option for Protestants who claim to stand in the “direct tradition” of Luther or Calvin as well.
 
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