What about Charlie?

There’s a good chance that by now, if you read a lot of Catholic blogs, you’ve heard of Charlie Johnston.

Charlie is a Catholic layman who lives in Denver, Colorado. A convert from Protestantism, he claims to have received visitations from Jesus, Saints and angels for most of his life.

I’d like to take today’s post to give a little introduction to what Charlie has been teaching and share a few thoughts as to how one might respond to this sort of thing.

The Message

So what has Charlie been saying? His central message is that there is “a Great Storm” coming, a series of catastrophic events for the entire world. He speaks of wars, governments falling, economic collapse and millions dying. North Korea, China and the Islamic religion have all made appearances in his messages at some point.

In addition to his warning of coming troubles, Charlie spends a lot of time talking about how Christians are to behave during this coming tumult: “Acknowledge God; take the next right step; and be a sign of hope to those around you, knowing that God is always close at hand”.

Charlie says that, during the the troubles, people will think it’s the end of the world but that will not be the case. He speaks of of an eventual rescue through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which ultimately renders his message as one of hope. After this divine rescue, Charlie says that there will be a long period of peace, prosperity and Christian unity.

Is it legit?

I’ve heard a few of Charlie’s talks and read some of his blog and I haven’t yet encountered anything which sounds obviously unorthodox, at least to my ears.

Some well-known Catholics, such as Patrick Madrid, while not endorsing Charlie, have interviewed him and heard what he has to say. Charlie’s Bishop does not appear to have done anything to promote his message, but equally doesn’t appear to have done anything to discourage it either. Charlie himself seems to be a faithful son of the Church, being under spiritual direction from three priests. I also haven’t seen any evidence of him trying to cash in at all on his message. All this gives evidence to his sincerity.

As a result, I would say that if you find Charlie’s message helpful, great, but if not then you’re free to ignore it. Charlie’s messages would fall under the classification of “private revelation” and, as such, is not binding on Catholics. Each Catholic is free to either embrace or reject it.

There are actually quite a few concrete predictions which Charlie has made which have dates attached to them. For example, he has claimed that President Obama will not complete his second term. Time will tell…

Lessons from Thessalonika and the Watchtower

I have often been impressed with the recognition by “adventist” groups that this world is temporary. It is not our home and some day Jesus will come back. Such groups include the Jehovah Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists. I think that this emphasis is often lacking in Catholicism today and, as such, I appreciate the similar motifs which I find in Charlie’s message.

I’ll come back to the adventist groups in a moment, but I’d first like to talk about Matins last month. During that time, we were working our way through the epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians. I think that these two books of the New Testament have much guidance for us concerning people like Charlie.

For a start, I know many will disregard Charlie’s messages out-of-hand, but in his first epistle, St. Paul instructs us “Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). Charlie’s message should be examined carefully, prayerfully and with guidance from the Church. 

Paul dedicates most of his Thessalonian letters to correcting the community’s distorted understanding of Jesus’ Second Coming. Some Thessalonians had quit their jobs. After all, if Jesus was coming back, what’s the point in working? Paul has to correct them on this point.

I’d now like to return to the subject of adventist groups. While I appreciate their zeal, there has been a lot of carnage left in their wake which might have been avoided with a closer study of Thessalonians. The damage came about through these groups making predictions which inconveniently failed to come true. At the end of the Nineteenth Century, the Millerites (from which the Jehovah Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists descend), predicted the end of the world. Failing to heed Paul’s advice to the Thessalonians, many Millerites sold all they had and simply waited for the end of the world. In similar fashion, when the Jehovah Witnesses were predicting the end of the world in the 1970s, many young members were discouraged from going to university and developing careers and were instead encouraged to go on mission. When the predictions failed many walked away from Christ altogether.

The reason I brought up groups such as the Jehovah Witnesses is that I’m concerned about the fallout if Charlie’s predictions prove false. You may recall a few years ago there was a man called Harold Camping who was drawing a lot of attention. Harold was claiming that the world was going to end in 2011 (which it didn’t). How would his followers respond when his predictions fell flat?

There is the danger that a group’s or individual’s predictions become so closely associated with Christianity that when those predictions fail, it is not simply be seen as a defect in the one making the prediction, but the fault of Christianity itself. Therefore, I would encourage anyone embracing Charlie’s message to maintain this distinction.

I also recount these stories because, although Charlie isn’t predicting the end of the world, I’m a little concerned that some may react to his message in a similar way, putting their lives on hold, casting aside opportunities and being paralyzed by fear (although Charlie’s message doesn’t seem to endorse this). What might be a better response? I would suggest that one could not do better than to be inspired by the words of the Lord in the Gospel where He urges us again and again simply to be vigilant and ready.

UPDATE 03/09/2016: The Denver Diocese has released a statement concerning Charlie.