Friday, June 25, 2010

Stripped to the Heart of Faith

Update: Sorry, I posted the wrong video. It has been amended.

I agree with Mark Mallett in what he has said in another post of his, that the age of ministries in the Church is coming to an abrupt end: no more false dichotomy between Charismatic, Trad, Marian and so forth. No more Youth Ministry and the thousand and one other outreaches. No more League of Extraordinary Catholic Apolojet-setters. We are instead heading into an era of miracles. Miracles and martyrdom and unity.

When the Catholic Church becomes truly one will be the moment that persecution descends in earnest.

The Prophecy at Rome - Part VIII from Mark Mallett on Vimeo.

8 comments:

Terry Nelson said...

I welcome this.

paul bowman said...

I've never seen a production like this -- reminiscent in so many ways of guide to the near future bible-teaching talks, live & broadcast, my childhood & early adulthood were full of. Gestures, inflection & pacing, the exegetical demonstrations with texts displayed on screen, &c.: all so familiar -- until a quote from the fathers or a saint or pope comes into it.

Have you had similar experiences of surprise, on first encountering end-times-prophecy-oriented teaching from, say, a Pentecostal or Baptist source, on radio or TV or elsewhere?

Paul Stilwell said...

I think that Mark Mallett makes the presentation choices he makes simply out of a desire to make the production, well, presentable, professional, accessible.

He is foremost a musician who evangelizes through his music (he travels doing concerts), so there is some input from that direction as well.

I think inflection/gesture/pacing similarities with other Pentecostal and Baptist end-times tv/radio preachers are only superficially similar.

There is something different with Mark Mallett (as you note; and of course the first major difference is in what he actually teaches), and I feel no difficulty in saying that the difference is he's completely Catholic. He has genuine warmth. He's not putting on a show, but he also realizes the need to "stretch one's voice" and to pick the inflection that one is going to stick with, because one is talking to not just one person, but to many people, most of whom he does not know personally; this is compounded by the fact that it is via screen media, and not live. One needs to strike the right balance.

To me, his presentation has an anointed feel - nothing maudlin or hysterical.

But the end-times-prophecy-oriented stuff I've seen from Pentecostal and Baptist preachers on tv has left me not just surprised, but frankly, at a loss for words.

paul bowman said...

Paul, I'm not thinking of the Bible-quoting loons of low-budget TV, of whom we have seen more than enough in popular culture and who are caricatures, in a way, to begin with. The voices I'm recalling are like Mallett's, sincere, brotherly, with a certain confidence of calling -- not hysterical or hysteria-inducing.

And maybe you haven't encountered these outside Catholic culture. There's no reason I should've assumed you had. One's sense of what's commonly known or accessible is always a little skewed.

I apologize for making light of Mallett. I didn't mean to do that.

Paul Stilwell said...

No apology necessary! I quite misread what you were saying, and thus my lengthy reponse was unnecessary. Though I could see that you definitely were not making light of Mallett.

Yes, I have encountered the ones you speak of, mostly having heard them on radio. There is for sure a commonality between them and Mallett with regard to presentation.

Paul Stilwell said...

So, to answer the question again. I think I would say that I haven't been surprised seeing either Pentecostal or Baptist end-times preaching through various media.

But it is unusual to find the same forthrightness concerning the same matter (though ultimately different teaching) in a Catholic, isn't it?

Paul Stilwell said...

No apology necessary! I quite misread and my lengthy response was unnecessary. Though I could see that you were definitely not making light of Mallett.

Yes, I have encountered those you speak of, mostly having heard them on radio. And Mallett's presentation does indeed share a commonality.

So, to answer the question again. I think I would say that I haven't been surprised seeing either Pentecostal or Baptist end-times preaching through various media.

But it is unusual to find the same forthrightness concerning the same matter (though ultimately different teaching) in a Catholic, isn't it?

Paul Stilwell said...

No apology necessary! I quite misread and my lengthy response was unnecessary. Though I could see that you were definitely not making light of Mallett.

Yes, I have encountered those you speak of, mostly having heard them on radio. And Mallett's presentation does indeed share a commonality.

So, to answer the question, I would say say that I haven't been surprised seeing either Pentecostal or Baptist end-times preaching through various media.

But it is unusual to find the same forthrightness concerning the same matter (though ultimately different teaching) in a Catholic isn't it?