Will Catholics Be Left Behind
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Will Catholics Be Left Behind?
This powerful and timely book, written by a former Fundamentalist, is a thorough critique of the popular Fundamentalist notion of the "Rapture", the belief that Christians will be removed from earth prior to a time of Tribulation and the Second Coming. It examines the theological, historical, and Biblical basis for "premillennial dispensationalism", the belief system based around the Rapture, and popularized in the best-selling Left Behind books and taught by "Bible prophecy" writers Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, and many others. Written for both the lay person and the serious student, this book combines an engaging, popular approach with detailed footnotes and exhaustive research. Beginning with the big picture, it focuses first on key concepts such as eschatology, the Parousia, and the relationship between the Kingdom and the Church. It then examines the Book of Revelation, providing insights into the nature and purpose of that difficult, final book of the Bible. Another chapter looks at the concept of the "millennium" and how it has been understood by various Christians over the centuries. Olson then shows how Left Behind creator LaHayeಙs many works on "Bible prophecy" are filled with attacks on Catholicism, and often rely on sensationalism, shaky scholarship, and subjective interpretations of Scripture Olson, a former dispensationalist who now edits Envoy magazine, also presents a history of apocalyptic belief and theology, beginning with the Early Church Fathers and including the Montanists, St. Augustine, Joachim of Fiore, the Protestant Reformers, and the American Puritans. He shows how John Nelson Darby, an ex-Anglican priest, developed the premillennial dispensationalist system, which hinges on the Rapture, in the 1830s and how Darby relied upon faulty assumptions about Jesus Christ, the Church, and the Bible. The second part of the book, "A Catholic Critique of Dispensationalism", focuses on three important topics: the relationship between Israel, the Church, and the Kingdom; the interpretation of Scripture; and the nature of the Rapture event. Filled with a wealth of information drawn from both Protestant and Catholic sources, this section provides a complete rebuttal to the premillennial dispensationalist system and the "left behind" theology. The book concludes with a reflection on the Catholic understanding of the end times, salvation history, and the final judgement. Glossaries of key persons and terms are also included. A strong, but fair, critique of a dangerous and popular belief, Will Catholics Be "Left Behind"? provides Catholics and Protestants, lay people and clergy, and students and scholars with important answers and information about the roots and meaning of the "Rapture". "Millions of Americans believe the Lord will snatch them up any day now, leaving the rest of us to the horrors of a seven-year tribulation. The hitch is that the 'Rapture' has no pedigree. As Carl Olson shows, no Catholic or Protestant believed in it prior to the nineteenth century. It is an authentic Fundamentalist 'invention'." Karl Keating, Author, Catholicism and Fundamentalism "In this extraordinary book, Carl Olson uses a surgeonಙs scalpel to cut through the mass of confusion that dominates contemporary reflection on the Last Things. Achieving far more than a refutation of millennialist errors and other disordered apocalyptic theories, he illumines the Church's majestic vision of time and eternity and demonstrates that Jesus Christ is the Lord of History and its end." Michael O'Brien, Author, Father Elijah
Left Behind Or Left Befuddled
The extraordinary success of the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins shows that their action/adventure novels have tapped into the American psyche. It has revived our fascination with vivid images of the book of Revelation and other biblical texts: the Antichrist, the mysterious number 666, and people suddenly raptured into the sky by God. But is there something dangerous behind the thinking in these books and how they play out in our world today? In Left Behind or Left Befuddled, Gordon Isaac takes the reader inside the theology behind the series. In clear and accessible prose, Isaac answers many important questions that Christians have about the phenomenon that is Left Behind: Is this Vision of the end times really biblical? Why do people have such a powerful response to it? What are alternative ways to think about the end times? How do the books view Catholics and other Christians? What does this Vision of things mean for Israel and the Jewish people? How can we counter the myths proposed in the series as fact? Gordon Isaac is the Berkshire Associate Professor of Advent Christian Studies in the church history department at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. He is also an ordained Advent Christian minister who has served a number of congregations.
A Church that Can and Cannot Change
Using concrete examples, John T. Noonan, Jr., demonstrates that the moral teaching of the Catholic Church has changed and continues to change without abandoning its foundational commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Specifically, Noonan looks at the profound transformations that have occurred over the centuries in Catholic moral teaching on freedom of conscience, lending for a profit, and slavery. He also offers a close examination of the evolution now in progress concerning divorce. Noonan perceives the Catholic Church to be a vigorous, living organism answering new questions with new answers, and enlarging the capacity of believers to learn, through experience and empathy, what love demands. including prayer, meditation on Scripture, new theological insights and analyses, the evolution of human institutions, and the examples and instruction given by persons of good will. Noonan states that the Church cannot change its commitment to preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Given this absolute, how can the moral teaching of the Church change? Noonan finds this question unanswerable when asked in the abstract. But in the context of the specific facts and events he discusses in this book, an answer becomes clear. As our capacity to grasp the Gospel grows, so too, do our understanding and compassion grow. Noonan's incisive book, based on the Erasmus Lectures he delivered at the University of Notre Dame in 2003, will challenge anyone interested in the history and future of the Catholic Church.