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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
"Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis
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I saw something of this topic on a different site. The Jesus that these people admire is not the one I know.
The Jesus they admire seems to be the Jesus of the Apocalypse of John. The Apocalypse appears to have been written during the Domitian Persecution and much of the language is eschatological in nature, as well as militantly triumphal. In fact, Catholics did not trust the the Apocalypse of John for a very long time, centuries in fact, due to its unusual nature and language being so different from the other canonical texts. Eusebius, writing in the first decades of the 4th century, notes that it is accepted by some, rejected by others. Early Church Fathers were split, with Cyril rejecting it but Athanasius accepting it. This is relevant because when the canon was finally defined with a definitive listing of books, Athanasius's list, which won out over Cyril's, still included the Revelation of John. Luther did not view it as canonical. Nor did Zwingli.
My mother's side of the family is Byzantine Rite. They don't read from it during Divine Liturgy. They kind of look askance at it, due mostly to its possibility for misinterpretation. However, if you are familiar with the Eastern order of Mass, you will see A LOT of similarities with the imagery in Apocalypse.
The fact that one of the earliest heresies in the Church, the Montanists, based their theology on this book shows just how easy it is to misinterpret. I think the Eastern Churches got it right with their suspicions about it and indeed, as a Catholic, I grew up being taught that Apocalypse wasn't on the same level of inspiration as the other portions of the canon.
Seems like it is inspiring a new group of wahoos. Schade.
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The Jesus that these people admire is not the one I know.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
"Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis
Charter Member
I like that The Week defines Christian Nationalism - 'cause I've wondered what it is myself.
Paul D. Miller defines Christian nationalism as "the belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way."
- The Week
I could see some of our Legislators agreeing with that, but highly doubt our courts would agree.
Hunter
I don't care if it hurts. I want to have control. I want a perfect body. I want a perfect soul. - Creep by Radiohead
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