As all Catholics should know, Advent is the beginning of our church year. It’s a time when we remember the world waiting for the coming of our Savior.
But we also are directed to think about the second coming of Our Lord during Advent. We are told it will come unexpectedly “like a thief in the night.” And in popular culture it will be presaged by, well, apocalyptic events. It does, after all, mark the end of the world as we currently know it.
Not everybody likes a good scare, but enough people do to have made horror stories and movies a multi-billion dollar revenue stream for publishers and movie studios. No small number of these tales have religious overtones. They often borrow from Revelation to John as well as from other biblical narratives, especially including the Book of Daniel.
Many of these stories resort to what we might call “horror story theology,” lurid projections of biblical images into a modern setting. And they provide plenty of thrills and chills without much basis in reality.
On occasion people bring these thrills to a kind of life by taking them as real and imminent—sometimes in abstract; sometimes concretely. Such impulses have swallowed individuals and groups; at least one religious organization is based on their conviction that we are already in the end times.
The Thrill Of A Threat
I once read a definition of adventure as being terror and discomfort remembered afterwards, fondly, while sitting in safety and comfort. A good scary story where everything works out well is even better than that; you have the comfort and the thrills without the peril. This is why amusement parks have roller coasters and camp-outs have spooky stories.
This propensity is not confined to entertainment venues or campfires. When I was in Jr. High, I lived in a mid-sized town with a large petrochemical complex on its southern border. One day my school – and it turned out, the whole town – was gripped by a rumor. A famous psychic had predicted the complex would self-destruct in a massive explosion at 4:00 PM (the time school let out).
I cannot speak to the adult reactions but among the 12 to 15-year-olds in my school – located in the northern precincts of the town – the reaction ranged from real anxiety to robust skepticism. A large number of the students settled in on an odd combination of doubt mixed with a slightly gleeful anticipation of an exciting end to the school day and the hopes of an unscheduled vacation.
Of course there was no explosion. It turned out there wasn’t even a prediction. The local newspaper contacted the psychic who denied having had any such vision. (As it happens, though, that same psychic predicted the end of the world to have occurred in 1962 and then, later, in 2020.)
It was an illuminating event for my 14-year old self, teaching me about the power of rumor and the lure of catastrophe.
End Times Obsessions
There is a long history of supposedly non-fiction explications of biblical apocalyptic passages relating the texts to modern events. Napoleon, for instance, was portrayed as the Antichrist at the beginning of the 19th century. Indeed, one of the characters in Tolstoy’s War And Peace finds a tract depicting Napoleon as the Antichrist and sets out to destroy him.
A series of internet searches for end times predictions yields a long list of dates, including dozens of candidates for the first 20 years of the current century. Obviously, none of them have proven accurate, at least so far. But people keep interpreting and following interpretations.
In 1979 I was working for a regional newspaper in West Texas when a small group of believers following the interpretations of scripture of their pastor sold most of their belongings and purchased a farm in a rural section of the center of the state. They then moved there to await the end times. But six months later the farm was resold and the money was redistributed as best as it could be. The people returned home to start over. The disruption of their lives was enormous, and the pastor was confused and shaken for some time.
This episode was sad enough, but at least the group did not come into conflict with the secular authorities. This is what happened with The People’s Temple in Guyana and also with the Branch Davidians compound in Waco, TX. In those instances, the apocalyptic urge led to disaster.
Horror Movie Theology
The end of time and the adiaphora surrounding it have been a staple of Hollywood for years. Seemingly increasing after Rosemary’s Baby and other films of the late 60s and early 70s, it never quite fell back to pre-1960s levels. The end times and the rise of the ultimate evil are portrayed as somehow optional, with heroes and heroines set to stop events in their tracks and restore what we might consider “ordinary life”.
But such stories are just adventures set against various apocalyptic backgrounds. They exhibit no more concern for the real eschaton – the technical term for end times – than a spaghetti western has for real history. They are vigorous, sometimes loud, often filled with vivid special effects, and no real substance.
In the same way the written word has flourished. One series of 16 books sold millions of copies and broke out onto best seller lists. The series was enough of a success to spawn spin-off works along different story arcs.
In other words, drama, drama everywhere and not a drop to think.
End Times Experts Abound
There are more than a few experts on the end times, many of them self-proclaimed. One “expert” who sold millions of copies of a popular book in the early 70s proclaimed that the end was due in the 1980s. And he is still in business having published both revisions of his original book and other books, some in a similar vein, others on other topics.
Somehow such books continue to sell despite their abysmal track record of prophetic failure. This suggests that the hunger for such tales is independent of their actual validity.
I don’t want to dismiss this hunger out of hand. We may be drawn to the spectacular; people are kind of built that way. But we also yearn for the Return for, to paraphrase St. Augustine, God made for himself, and our heart is restless until it rests in him.
We All Have One End Time For Sure
The truth is we all have one end time in our future, whether it is the actual end of time or the end of our own journey through life. I know that for all practical purposes I am much closer to the end of my life than I am to the beginning. I admit to taking some comfort in the idea that the world will continue without me, hopefully a tiny bit better because of whatever contributions I have been able to make.
But we need to be ready.
In 2 Peter 3:9 we are told “The Lord does not delay his promise [to return], as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
In Luke 21, Jesus warns against becoming fascinated with apocalyptic events lest our fascination blind us to his actual return, facing away from him to focus on the spectacular movements of the secular world.
He also warns us against turning our attention away from him, lest he come like a thief in the night, unseen by the homeowner focused on his own comfort and gain.
Be ready, yes. But in the words of St, John Paul II, “Be not afraid.”
Prayer:
Oh Lord, set my eyes on your light and my heart on your commands, that I may be ready to receive you in joy and delight as a faithful servant when your perpetual morning shall dawn.
20 thoughts on “The End Times Trap”
An interesting article.
https://www.truegospel.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/basics.tour/ID/4/Where-Will-Kingdom-Be-Established.htm?fbclid=IwAR3nBrZbIoPbO_v_K-DFWQidVqt7zxUwRR7ZUgPNwjY0PKWwirNBsE-5h8s
thank you for the link!
Overall I liked the article, but it gets tiresome to always see the overused “prepare for your own end time” spiel. Yes, stay in the state of grace and do not get bogged down with the countless prophets who give dates, as scripture warned us against them. But why can’t people like you ever consider that the antichrist may actually come in the present age? If you don’t want to be like the countless false prophets who fail miserably on dates, why not try and make a sensible article about where you prayerfully consider what signs of the antichrist are and/or aren’t available? By focusing solely on the false predictions, you make it seem like anyone who looks at blatantly obvious signs, such as microchips voluntarily implanted in one’s hand in Sweden, is a crazy lunatic. I also thought the reference to Napolean failed to consider the fact that Napolean was in fact filled with the spirit of the antichrist, which is in all ages marching towards the culmination of the antichrist of Revelation.
Why don’t you make an article where you test scriptural references on the antichrist to the current times we live in? Again, the article was not bad, but I expect people like you to be talking about “all the false predictions” even if you accepted the mark of the beast. Have a great day.
Well done.
Hi Joseph,
Like most freelance writers, I write what I know about or am interested in–which means I have more to work on than I have time or words to put to use. The topic you mention falls neither inside my well developed knowledge base or strong interest.
If this is of interest to you, I’d encourage to write such an article yourself–it will likely be better than anything I might try.
Blessings!
Mark
Hi Mark,
Interesting. I am a test engineer in the semiconductor industry. Have we met? Your name sounds familiar. I work for Teradyne. I read much about eschatology. A good book on the subject is written by Desmond Birch. It is titled, “Trial Tribulation and Triumph.” It is pretty in depth on the subject. It offers a great historical perspective from the Catholic Churches perspective.
Merry Christmas!
Doug
Maybe–I worked for National Instruments for 28 years.
I have ordered the book you mentioned. Thanks!
I really enjoyed this read. As the author said, it is far more likely for you to experience your own personal “end time” far before the “end times” that takes everyone. Either way, you have no clue when your time is up, so always be ready. I completely agree that the heavy focus on the apocalyptic end times is unjustified. Clearly, the early Christians who thought the end times were going to happen very soon – likely during their lifetimes – misunderstood something. And it was these early Christians who wrote the scriptures.
Thank you!
Have you really read the book of Daniel? Have you read the book of Revelation? Have you read the Old Testament as well as the New Testament?
Just wondering what you are basing your analysis on???
Good questions.
Yes to your questions–and I have read the New Testament in the original Greek as well as in multiple translations.
I offer no analysis of how the end times might play out, but rather am focusing on how we ought to live no matter what times we live in.
As Jesus said, look to the East, not at the distractions.
Revelation 22
New American Standard Bible 1995
The River and the Tree of Life
22 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
6 And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.
7 “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 But he *said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.”
The Final Message
10 And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.”
12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
I think that the recent Marian apparitions tend to make us ponder more about times of transition. If this causes more people to pray and reconnect with their faith this will cause good fruits, provided that they focus less on the drama and more on their relationship with God and with our Mother Mary and her chaste spouse Joseph and all the Saints.
How about their relationship with Jesus, who will be coming back to bring peace to Jerusalem and establish God’s kingdom on earth?
An interesting take, and I shall reflect on it.
Thank you.
Fascinating article with a magnificent quote to conclude it!
Thank you!
Revelation 1
New American Standard Bible 1995
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.