I have been thinking about something, well actually observing something about the Catholic blogosphere. There are so many wonderful sites out there that write regularly about Catholic thought, Catholic culture, liturgy, rubrics, social policy, even Catholic curial gossip. You name it, if it is Catholic somebody very knowledgeable is probably writing about it. Increasingly, however, I have noticed that there is a hole there, a vacuum if you will.
The blogosphere, like nature, abhors a vacuum. So when knowledgeable and scholarly folk decline to treat on a subject, the tottering take their place. I am speaking about eschatology.
General eschatology, loosely defined, is a systematic theology that deals with the latter things. Specifically I refer to the study of the final events of the history of the world. You know, the Gospel being preached throughout the world, the great apostasy, the Antichrist (yes, him), the two witnesses, the end of / purification of the world, resurrection of the dead, the whole kit ‘n kaboodle.
In the history of the church, every Father and Doctor of the Church, from Augustine to Bellarmine, wrote about the end times. Some of them did extensive work in this area. Many of the great scriptural exegetes including Hippolytus, Ambrose, St. John Damascene, Jerome, Aquinas, Cajetan, and many more all studied and wrote about this subject. One can be forgiven if they leap to the crazy conclusion that this stuff may be important.
Bellarmine did extensive work in this area some 1500 years after the Ascension, so he was likely under no delusions about Jesus’ return being only fifteeen minutes away as some claim of the earlier Fathers and Doctors, saints and scholars. But he and many others still thought the topic was important.
Never before in the history of human kind has access to information been easier than it is now. Imagine what the litany of saints and scholars would have done with the access to information we now take for granted.
So why the silence? Why are the learned ceding this territory to the looney? You can find in depth analysis of the footwear of the Ambrosian Rite in the seventeenth century, but not a word about the two wintesses or the Parousia. I suspect that there may be several contributing factors to the eschatological quietness, but I am not sure if they complete the picture. One factor may be simple fear. The learned and the scholarly might simply not want to risk being lumped into the Jesus in a tomato crowd or the various end times conspiracy nuts that dominate the Internet on this topic.
I also wonder if another factor in the reticence to study and write on this topic is as a counterbalance to some of our fundamentalist / evangelical brethren. Is the thought that because some of our protestant brethren are so singularly focused on these issues, even if they get them wrong, that is it would almost seem un-Catholic to show some of that same focus? I don’t know. While I have seen some good work dissecting and debunking “the rapture”, I haven’t seen to much that treats the subject generally.
Another reason may be the desire to avoid being associated with any of the more controversial purported apparitions or messages that claim some imminent chastisement.
While there are certainly some good modern books out there that deal with some of this, they seem to be written narrowly, attempting to refute a particular erroneous doctrine. However, I don’t know of much that discusses these topics generally in any depth from a Catholic point of view (With a very few notable exceptions). Perhaps there are and I just haven’t heard of them. Perhaps some readers can point them out.
What I do know, is that on the Catholic blogosphere, the topic is generally taboo. The closest you come to any discussion of this topic in this realm is when someone mentions the dreaded Medj.. word and is forced to shut down their combox fifteen minutes later. Michael Brown’s Spiritdaily attempts to deal with some of these topics, but I think it is fair to say that it isn’t done in any systematic or scholarly way. (Although he does have bunches of readers)
Anyway, this is something I have been wondering about. Where is the scholarly work? Where is the real, but polite debate about the finer points of Catholic eschatology? To me, this seems like a big hole right in the middle of the Catholic blogsphere.
Someone really ought to write about these important topics. Not me, of course, I am not a nut. But someone…
August 5, 2008 at 2:34 am
I think Mr Alexander is on the right track in part – we try not to think about it too much lest our pretty illusions be shattered, and we’ve been helped along in that by some ‘new theology’ ideas like the empty hell.
Deusdonat – I’m in Australia so things may be a little different, but not that much I think. Americans may generally believe in an afterlife in some vague, wishy washy sense, but I wonder how Christian content that concept actually has (I always think of the Simpsons’s wonderful protestant vs catholic heaven spoof on this topic, but I suspect many cafeteria catholics and new ageists have absorbed elements of reincarnation and pantheism at least implicitly)?
The egalitarianism I’m referring to is essentially protestant influenced – Catholic saints are ranked in degrees of sanctity, protestants are just all saved (or not)!
I agree that Catholics are pretty interested in the nature of heaven, the new earth etc, but watching for the signs of the times and alleged prophecies of the imminence of the Last Judgment also has a venerable history (St Augustine’s City of God is an early counter to this)!
August 5, 2008 at 4:04 am
I’m just waiting for the go ahead to purchase a new pair of snazzy Nike’s.
August 5, 2008 at 4:17 am
I know several fundamental Protestants who keep gravitating to the subject of end times. It is pretty much their focus. Every time it rains they look at you with this knowing expression and tell you that these signs of the end of the world are only going to increase now: it is in Scripture. I have a vague feeling that they are out in left field, but don’t know where to start. I would kind of like to agree with them, just to be agreeable, but since I think they are probably wrong about the details, I don’t want to go there. I always deflect the discussion by rightly pointing out that the real issue is to be sure that YOU are ready when the end of the world comes for you. It could come this second for any or all of us. The details are unimportant. I feel confident in that. But I wish I knew what they were talking about. I agree with you that this is one of the least known areas of Catholic apologetics. I need help on it too. I appreciate the suggestions so far. Thanks, Kit.
August 5, 2008 at 9:59 pm
There is such a thing in the Catholic faith known as “mystery.”
One of the great things about the Church and the Catholic faithful is that they do not pretend to know everything, they do not have a total and complete answer for everything. Some other faiths do, and this only makes them all the more suspect, as know-it-all-ism typically does.
What we do know and speak of is enough. We know the essentials. We know about sin, death, judgment, heaven, hell, resurrection of the body. We don’t need to know the specifics to end up in the right place at the end.
August 5, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Here’s what catholic bloggers do not talk about: usary.
Runner-up: gluttony.
August 7, 2008 at 1:33 am
Eschatology is taught. As a current seminarian I can say that it is certainly included in my ordination course. Now I am not an American but I haven’t heard that American seminaries are slacker than ours when it comes to studies (quite the reverse in fact). There is not however very much on the subject that is formal teaching. Like purgatory there is a relatively small core that all Catholics must accept (see the Catechism for details) and a large penumbra of speculation. Just because a Doctor of the Church such as St Thomas (for whom I have the greatest respect, I was taught by the Dominicans and treasure my Summa) or St Augustine doesn’t make it any the less speculation. Also subject to error as for instance St Thomas was on the Immaculate Conception or St Augustine on natural family planning. Now the speculation of such great minds is worth a lot more than yours or mine and should be respected but it is not really grounds for late night argument over drinks or classroom debate.
Sadly in the Church today we see far too many Catholics denying certain and proclaimed teaching. It is far more important to work on that than on what are peripheral matters (in certainty only – they won’t be peripheral when we come to the Last Judgment ourselves!)
August 12, 2008 at 6:34 am
Now, I am a convert from two years ago, and have only been reading theology for a little longer than that. Also, at 21, I am not sure if I am qualified to write on this.
However, this got me thinking, and on the subject of personal escatology, may have some interesting thoughts.
So I present the new, and modest, Four Last Things:
http://www.fourlastthings.stblogs.com
Given my time limitations, and inexperience in theology, this blog will likely be a bit modest. However, if anyone is interested in contributing, I am looking for people….