Still Running Off at the Keyboard

THE ANTICHRIST

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." (Mat:24:29-30)

"But in those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory..." (Mark 13:24-26)

There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." (Luke 21:25-26)

The Evangelists are consistent in claiming that when Christ returns He will come on a cloud. Matthew says "For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Mat 24:27) Luke confirms Matthew: "For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be [in his day]." (Luke 17:24)

The Second Coming will not be an obscure event in a stable, but rather a dramatic bursting upon creation that no one will be able to ignore.

Some believe that Jews and Christians are awaiting the same Messiah. The idea is hinted at in the document "Reflections on Covenant and Mission: Consultation of The National Council of Synagogues and The Bishops Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, USCCB, August 12, 2002" which tells us:

While Christians and Jews understand the messianic hope involved in that perfection quite differently, still, whether we are waiting for the messiah--as Jews believe--or for the messiah's second coming--as Christians believe--we share the belief that we live in an unredeemed world that longs for repair.

Why not articulate a common agenda?

Gary Band of the "Jewish Journal" goes further, stating that the

Christian Zionist community whose major tenets are: God's covenant with the Jews still stands; Christians and Jews worship the same God; and Christians and Jews are waiting for the same messiah.

Ulrike Putz, writing for Israel Forum, says that a prominent Italian Muslim, Seikh Pallavicini, believes that "Conversion is not necessary, as we all, Jews, Muslims and Christians, are waiting for the same Messiah."

He may be here or about to arrive, if we are to take the word of Russia's chief rabbi. Interfax and WorldNetDaily both report his comments:

Russia's Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar believes the Earth will soon see the coming a Messiah [sic] to reward everyone according to his deserts.

'We know that he...is very near at hand, but he needs not only to be born but also to come. The Messiah may well have been born already, but unless he is ordered by God he cannot reveal himself with God's help and change the world for the better.'

Is the Messiah so described consistent with the New Testament accounts quoted above? Or is he describing someone else?

Christ was and is Jewish in His human form. It, therefore seems reasonable that the Antichrist will also be Jewish so as to achieve a more perfect deception.

In writing of the Antichrist, John Henry Cardinal Newman said:

considering that Antichrist would pretend to be the Messiah, it was of old the received notion that he was to be of Jewish race and to observe the Jewish rites....

...as far as the testimony of the early Church goes, Antichrist will be an open blasphemer, opposing himself to every existing worship, true and false,--a persecutor, a patron of the Jews, and a restorer of their worship, and, further, the author of a novel kind of worship.

The ADL objects:

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) charged that the statement by the Rev. Jerry Falwell that the Antichrist is alive and Jewish "borders on anti-Semitism at best and is anti-Semitic at worst" and "is rooted in Christian theological extremism."...

Fortunately, the great majority of Christian leaders and ministers consider these hateful myths to be wholly contradictory to true Christian doctrine....

Was Cardinal Newman, then, an extremist? A supporter of a myth that is contradictory to true Christian doctrine? Was he an anti-Semite?

I guess it depends upon whether you adhere to the pre-Vatican II Church or the post-Vatican II Church according to Atila Sinke Guimarães who writes:

John Paul II’s visit to the Jewsih synagogue of Rome had a character that was substantially theological and should not be viewed as a merely "pastoral" act, as some would like to present it in order to attenuate its gravity. Fr. Giuseppe de Rosa, S.J., affirmed its theological importance in an article in La Civiltà Cattolica commenting on the event:

“The Pope’s meeting with the Hebrew community of Rome – which in some way represented all the Hebrew communities in the world, at least symbolically – has not only a ‘human’ content but also an actual ‘theological’ one. It was the recognition – or better, the confirmation, 20 years after Vatican II – of the ‘turnaround’ worked by the Council regarding the Church’s theological approach to Judaism.”

Guimarães lists the various Councils and Doctors of the Church that the current avances to Judaism contradict. What we believe now is not what we believed Traditionally. Popes make the list, so it would seem that what we have is bishop opposing bishop--in this case the bishops of Rome. Much of this, I suspect, is being fueled by sentiments following the Halocaust. Since that tragedy the world has rushed to avoid any hint of anti-Semitism, and the Church seems to be following suit.

On the subject of the Jews, what we are is not what we were. Not even remotely. So much for Tradition. And if this Tradition is subject to change without notice, what about the others? On what does our claim to an unchanging faith rest? Will we next be taking up the Jewish beliefs following the time of Christ? Remember, these beliefs include the Kabbalah. These are confusing times.

What if Cardinal Newman was right and the Antichrist will be a Jewish messiah? Given the new outreach to the Jews, will the Catholics flock to greet such a messiah? Maybe not. There have been other Jewish messiahs, Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank among them. However, during their historical time period the Church opposed Judaism. Today that has changed.

Will the Jews recognize Christ as their Messiah when He returns in glory, coming on the clouds as Scripture tells us? I guess it remains to be seen.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!