Revelations: Christ-centered or Christ-haunted?

Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP
April 1, 2005

Flannery O’Connor, the Catholic novelist from Georgia once wrote, “I think it is safe to say that while the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted" (From "Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose", 1961).

If the many religious apocalyptic films and novels produced and consumed by audiences around the time of our entry into the 21 st century, such as Omega Code (1999), End of Days (1999), the Left Behind series (1996), and even Stephen King’s analogous end-of-humanity tale The Stand (1978; 1991), are any indication, some might say that O’Connor’s observation can now be applied to a larger geographic area – the television audience.

On April 13th NBC television is giving us a new version of the end of the world called Revelations. It is a six-part mini-series that will air at 9:00pm, with the possibility of further episodes or even a series, if it is successful. Revelations is Catholic-looking, complete with nuns in habits, a priest and a Cardinal at the Vatican, but judging from the first episode, the only one available to reviewers, its overall theology is confused and uninformed from a Catholic perspective.

The production qualities of the series are excellent and the cast impressive. But are Armageddon, a generous budget and Bill Pullman, Natascha McElhone (The Truman Show; Solaris), and John Rhys-Davies (Gimli in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) enough to attract viewers in the religious entertainment era ushered in by last year’s Passion of the Christ? They just might be.

Armageddon 2005

Mysterious and disastrous signs that signal the end of the world as described in the Book of Revelation are everywhere. An organization hires a nun, Sister Josepha Montefiore (Natascha McElhone), to track, record and analyze the episodes of religious phenomena. So far, the data indicates that Armageddon is immanent. Dr. Richard Massey (Bill Pullman) is a Harvard astrophysicist and atheist whose daughter has been brutally murdered. Sister Josepha convinces him to help her verify that the end is really coming, and if so, to find a way to stop it. At the same time Sr. Josepha and the Sisters she lives with believe that Jesus is coming again and they must find him and save him from the devil. The mother superior informs Dr. Massey that they operate independently of the Vatican and interpret scripture as they see fit. Meanwhile, a comatose young girl writes mysterious symbols that Sr. Josepha and a priest try to interpret.

Revelations is written by David Selzer (Dragonfly; The Omen.) In an interview in March, Selzer told reporters that he has not seen or read any of the books and films about the apocalypse and that Revelations is a completely original treatment. Revelations is not about the Tribulation and Rapture approach to the end times, he said, but “is a story that is character driven about two people who form an alliance in their exploration of the end times as described in the Book of Revelation, even though they disagree along the way.”

The idea that anyone can stop the end of days as initiated by God is theological hubris at best. But Selzer happens to think there is something to the fact that there are “currently 35 wars going on in the world and that at any moment any one of them can become a nuclear flash point.” This indeed falls within the power of humanity to stop. Just how this human reality and the theology of the end times mesh is unclear from the first episode.

The series’ ecclesiology and representation of religious life may irritate some Catholic viewers. Selzer has structured the conflict between Sr. Josepha, the nuns and the Vatican in a way that rejects the divine authority of the Church to interpret the Scriptures, yet he hopes viewers will focus more on the characters, their journey and their relationships. Selzer told reporters that he does not have a problem with the fact that Sister Josepha is a “wild card who is deemed blasphemous by the Vatican” because for him, she is on a journey of discovery.

Further, while Sr. Josepha is presented as a highly educated nun she gives credence to a vague image of Jesus that appears on the side of a mountain in Mexico. This sequence was a distraction to me.

Revelations is a personal project of Selzer who acknowledges that he is on a personal journey, that the production is more about questions than answers. From the interview, it seems that he is trying to make sense of the terrible things that are happening on earth today and God’s presence and action in the world by exploring the Book of Revelation. This may explain much of the theological blurring because this aspect is not expressed so clearly through the drama and horror of the first episode that emphasizes strange, mysterious, and religious phenomena.

Revelations is good television, but will remain to be seen if it is really “faith-based”. One way to tell would be to ask: what is the image of the human person that emerges in the story? What is the image of God that is presented? Is the image of God benevolent and loving or is God distant or full of hellfire and damnation?

Is the worldview of Revelations Christ-centered or, as Flannery O’Connor noted, Christ-haunted? And if so, what might this really mean?

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses Catholic teaching on the end times in several places, especially when explaining the Lord’s Prayer (pp. 2816 – 2820). This teaching can assist viewers as they view Revelations:

"THY KINGDOM COME"

2816 In the New Testament, the word basileia can be translated by "kingship" (abstract noun), "kingdom" (concrete noun) or "reign" (action noun). The Kingdom of God lies ahead of us. It is brought near in the Word incarnate, it is proclaimed throughout the whole Gospel, and it has come in Christ's death and Resurrection. The Kingdom of God has been coming since the Last Supper and, in the Eucharist, it is in our midst. The kingdom will come in glory when Christ hands it over to his Father:

It may even be . . . that the Kingdom of God means Christ himself, whom we daily desire to come, and whose coming we wish to be manifested quickly to us. For as he is our resurrection, since in him we rise, so he can also be understood as the Kingdom of God, for in him we shall reign. 86

2817 This petition is "Marana tha," the cry of the Spirit and the Bride: "Come, Lord Jesus."

Even if it had not been prescribed to pray for the coming of the kingdom, we would willingly have brought forth this speech, eager to embrace our hope. In indignation the souls of the martyrs under the altar cry out to the Lord: "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?" For their retribution is ordained for the end of the world. Indeed as soon as possible, Lord, may your kingdom come! 87

2818 In the Lord's Prayer, "thy kingdom come" refers primarily to the final coming of the reign of God through Christ's return. 88 But, far from distracting the Church from her mission in this present world, this desire commits her to it all the more strongly. Since Pentecost, the coming of that Reign is the work of the Spirit of the Lord who "complete[s] his work on earth and brings us the fullness of grace." 89

2819 "The kingdom of God [is] righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." 90 The end-time in which we live is the age of the outpouring of the Spirit. Ever since Pentecost, a decisive battle has been joined between "the flesh" and the Spirit. 91

Only a pure soul can boldly say: "Thy kingdom come." One who has heard Paul say, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies," and has purified himself in action, thought and word will say to God: "Thy kingdom come!" 92

2820 By a discernment according to the Spirit, Christians have to distinguish between the growth of the Reign of God and the progress of the culture and society in which they are involved. This distinction is not a separation. Man's vocation to eternal life does not suppress, but actually reinforces, his duty to put into action in this world the energies and means received from the Creator to serve justice and peace. 93

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The Catechism of the Catholic Church also says that Christ’s resurrection and our final resurrection at the end of the world are linked (cf. Paragraphs 998-1001):

The “how exceeds our imagination and understanding; it is accessible only to faith. Yet our participation in the Eucharist already gives us a foretaste of Christ's transfiguration of our bodies…

“When? Definitively ‘at the last day,’ ‘at the end of the world.’ Indeed, the resurrection of the dead is closely associated with Christ's Parousia:

‘For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.’

Resources on the Apocalypse

Available from Pauline Books & Media 3908 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, CA 310-390-4699

101 Questions and Answers on the Bible by Raymond Brown, Paulist Press, c. 2003
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Promulgated by Pope John Paul II, 1997 edition

Resp onding to the Rapture by Paul Thingpen, PhD, Ascension Press, 2002

Revelation: Proclaiming a Vision of Hope: A Spiritual Commentary , by Wilfred Harrington, O.P., Resource Publications, 1994

The Apocalypse: Biblical Revelation Explained by Rev. Patrick J. Sena, Alba House, 1983

The Constitution on Divine Revelation , 1965, Vatican II Document, 1965

The New Jerusalem in the Revelation of John by Bruce J. Malina, Liturgical Press, 2000

The Rapture Trap by Paul Thigpen, PhD, Ascension Press, 2001

The Revelation of John by William Buckley, Westminster/John Know Press, 1976

What You Should Know about the End of the World , by Fr. Sean Wales, Liguori Press, 2004