Below are excerpts from a discussion between Catholic Deal Hudson and Rev. John Hagee. John Hagee was recently scourged in the media for his anti-Catholic remarks after he endorsed presidential hopeful, John McCain.
Anyway, read the entire article. It's very surprising.
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Deal Hudson: Meeting Reverend John Hagee - Catholic Online - Annotated
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I told him that when I Googled "Great Whore" and Revelation, the first six hits were explicitly anti-Catholic Web sites. He then explained why, in his interpretation of the Book of Revelation, the "Great Whore" cannot refer to the Catholic Church: In Hagee's eschatology, the end times begin with the Rapture, when all those who are truly in Christ will be taken up to heaven. Hagee says, "Since both Catholics and Protestants are taken up to Heaven, how could the 'Great Whore' be the Catholic Church? The apostate church is left on earth during the seven years of tribulation -- that is the 'Great Whore.'"
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I asked him, "Are you saying the Catholic Church cannot be the 'Great Whore' because the 'Great Whore' exists only during the period of tribulation?" Hagee answered, "Yes, anyone who is a real Christian, Catholic or Protestant, has been taken to heaven, only those without faith, including Catholics and Protestants, are left behind."
Hagee teaches that the tribulation is followed by the 1,000-year rule of Christ, who brings perfect peace. After 1,000 years, eternity begins and time is no more. All of this Hagee diagramed for me, at my request, on two small sheets of notebook paper.
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He told me several personal stories, as well, about his relationship with Catholics over the years. This one, in particular, provides a starting point for seeing another side of the man who has now become a symbol of anti-Catholicism:
The Ursuline Sisters founded the Ursuline Academy in San Antonio in 1851 -- it was the first girls' school in the city, originally located on the San Antonio River before moving to the northwest part of the city in 1965. By the early 1990s there were too few sisters, and those too old to run the Academy. The eight remaining sisters ranged in age from 63 to 94.
Consequently, they put their 40 acres of prime real estate and 90,000 square feet of buildings up for sale. The sisters tried to make a deal with the archdiocese, but it fell through several times. Having heard that Hagee was looking for property to build a school, the sisters called him. Hagee went to see the school and was met by a sister who had come from the Vatican to oversee the sale. "It was in perfect condition, there wasn't a hairline crack," he told me.
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"I was shocked when I was told the price and asked why it was so low." Hagee was then told that the delay in selling the property had meant the sisters had to draw on their retirement accounts to live. Hagee then said, "I want to buy this school by the close of business tomorrow."
Hagee, the sisters, and their attorneys met the next morning. The Ursulines' attorney said, "Shall we tell Reverend Hagee the real problem?" At that point Hagee thought the whole deal would go down the drain because of some monstrous problem he hadn't been informed of.
The attorney for the sisters explained that the archdiocese had expected them to move out of the convent immediately after it was sold and asked what Hagee wanted the sisters to do.
"My plan would be to give them a five year lease to the convent, and I will charge them ten dollars a year. We will pay all utilities and up-keep." Hagee then took a 50-dollar bill from his pocket and paid the lease himself. One sister looked at the attorney and said, "Let's get this thing done."
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The following Sunday, Hagee sent his church bus to the Ursuline convent, picked up the sisters, brought them to his church, and seated them in the front row for both services (5,000 attend each service). "I thanked them publicly for their lives of sacrifice and devotion to Jesus Christ. The congregation gave them standing ovations because the campus we bought was the fruit of their labor, a testimonial of their commitment to Christ."
The Ursuline sisters stayed in the convent for twelve years, free of any cost. "We were glad to bear the cost to express our appreciation for what they had done for the Kingdom of God." During that time, those sisters who were able walked around the campus and through the halls of Cornerstone Christian School.
"Our children hugged them; they would reach out and grab them by the hands. They were very precious to us for what they had done with their whole lives which had been invested in building this wonderful school. We were glad to honor them as long as they walked on this earth."
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5 comments:
That is very, very interesting. Thank you!
Wonderful! He treated those sisters in the Lord just as he should have. I visit yours and Candy's site, although not hers too often. I also agree with you that most Protestants DO NOT agree with Candy regarding Catholicism. I was brought up Catholic by very strict Catholic parents who are very involved in the church. Catholic schools, mass daily and yes, I wanted to become a nun. Now, in Catholic HS I had alot of questions and through a nun I was encouraged to question,seek and find my way. Four years later I left the church and became "a born again Christian", only way to explain it. It was a very hard decision to leave the church, very hard. But I couldn't reconcile the Catechism with Biblical doctrine in many places. Do I think Catholics are going to hell? Certainly not! Do I harbor any of this grief the other lady does? Certainly not! IN my experience of being a Christian that kind of thinking comes from the Fundamental right found in your smaller, independent Baptist churches. I wouldn't go near them with a ten foot pole! KJV only and all that---pleassse! After being on this journey for over 20 years I find that most people who speak so vehemently about Catholics are usually younger(20's-30's) and also in the fundatmental churches. Today my pastor honored a woman who passed away, she was a Catholic and she attended a Bible study on Tuesdays with our ladies group for years. She was a dear sister in Christ. Our choir sang an Easter and Christmas Cantata with the Catholic church down the street that brought everyone to tears! Today our sermon was on "keeping Easter" thee correct Easter. Seems alot of folks go on and on about the day to worship, thee day to celebrate Easter, which Bible version is thee only one to read, etc...Paul addressed all that when he asked what our heart motives are and not to judge those that keep different beliefs on celebrating festivals, which foods to eat, which day to worship! Anyway, I am usually a whole lot more articulate and I could get all fancy and quote a bunch of Scriptures but the bottom line here is does it matter so much where we disagree doctrinally? Does it? Do you love Christ, can you witness that in the everyday, the commitment to live for him and accept his gift as done. Anyway, I think both you Elena and Candy raise very valid points and cause people to think but in the grand scheme of things we all have to feel pity for someone that invests so much time in trying to disprove anothers beliefs in such a way as has been done in blogland. Please know none of this has been written with the intent to offend anyone! I for one am very thankful for my Catholic family and friends!
Great post Elena!!
So, basically Hagee is a good-hearted man, who's kind of clueless when it comes to expressing himself in public re: Catholics and the Church.
Check out the new "Coffee with Candy", a wonderful post on Dispensationalism, which ties in with the above and explains why 'what's in the box?' is significant.
That was a great read. And, thanks to all I've read here over the past several weeks on those topics, I understood a lot more than I would have in the past.
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