| Fulfilled Prophecies | ||||
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The end-time beliefs of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have certainly had an effect on various cultures. But it is the apocalyptic teachings of Christianity that have had the greatest influence on society in the Western world.
In his 824 page epic poem, "Savitri", Sri Aurobindo described his yogic
collaboration with the Mother:
The work of the Avatars in this 9th
Manifestation is to introduce this renaissance. Their
Supramental knowledge goes far beyond the fragmentary
analysis of these modern intellectuals into a unified and
integral vision of an emerging cosmos and a new world order.
They not only define the critical issues which Havel and
others struggle to articulate, but also answer the difficult
questions and pose new solutions. Their goal in this Age is
to
conquer the hold of the Mental consciousness over the human
species. Under their influence, political and religious
ideologies which have so long divided the world will begin
to give way to a new understanding of Unity and a wide
embracing ecumenism. "What is necessary, says Aurobindo, to
make this new creation a reality is that there should be a
turn in humanity felt by some or many toward the vision of
this change". He describes the nature of this apotheosis:
By reason of the object there are three kinds of prophecy
according to St. Thomas (Summa II-II: 174:1): prophecy of
denunciation, of foreknowledge, and of predestination.
In the first kind God reveals future events according
to the order of secondary causes, which may be hindered
from taking effect by other causes which would require a
miraculous power to prevent, and these may or may not
happen, though the prophets do not express it but seem to
speak absolutely. . . . The second, that of foreknowledge, takes place when
God reveals future events which depend upon created free
will and which he sees present from eternity. . . . The third kind, the prophecy of predestination, takes
place when God reveals what He alone will do, and what he
sees present in eternity and in His absolute decree. This
includes not only the secret of predestination to grace
and to glory, but also those things which God has
absolutely decreed to do by His own supreme power, and
which will infallibly come to pass. The objects of prophecy may also be viewed in respect to
human knowledge: when an event may be beyond the possible natural
knowledge of the prophet, but may be within the range of
human knowledge and known to others who witness the
occurrence . . . when the object surpasses the knowledge of all men,
not that it is unknowable but that the human mind cannot
naturally receive the knowledge . . . when the things that are beyond the power of the human
mind to know are not in themselves knowable because their
truth is not yet determined, such as future contingent
things which depend upon free will. This is regarded as
the most perfect object of prophecy, because it is the
most general and embraces all events that are in
themselves unknowable. God can enlighten the human mind in any way he pleases.
He often makes use of angelic ministry in prophetic
communications, or He Himself may speak to the prophet and
illuminate his mind. . . . the recipient of the gift of prophecy should, as a
rule, be good and virtuous, for all mystical writers agree
that for the most part this gift is granted by God to holy
persons. The disposition or temperament of the person
should also be considered, as well as the state of health
and of the brain; the prophecy must be conformable to Christian truth
and piety, because if it propose anything against faith or
morals it cannot proceed from the Spirit of Truth; the prediction should concern things outside the reach
of all natural knowledge, and have for its object future
contingent things or those things which God alone knows;
it should also concern something of a grave and
important nature, that is something for the good of the
Church or the good of souls. This and the preceding rule
will help to distinguish true prophecies from the puerile,
senseless, and useless predictions of fortune-tellers,
crystal-gazers, spiritualists, and charlatans. These may
tell things beyond human knowledge and yet within the
scope of the natural knowledge of demons, but not those
things that are strictly speaking the objects of prophecy;
prophecies or revelations which make known the sins of
others, or which announce the predestination or
reprobation of souls are to be suspected. Three special
secrets of God have always to be deeply respected as they
are very rarely revealed, namely: the state of conscience
in this life, the state of souls after death unless
canonized by the Church, and the mystery of
predestination. The secret of predestination has been
revealed only in exceptional cases, but that of
reprobation has never been revealed, because so long as
the soul is in this life, its salvation is possible. The
day of General Judgment is also a secret which has never
been revealed; we have afterwards to ascertain whether the prophecy
has been fulfilled in the way foretold. There are some
limitations to this rule: (1) if the prophecy was not
absolute, but containing threats only, and tempered by
conditions expressed or understood, as exemplified in the
prophecy of Jonas to the Ninivites. and that of Isaias to
King Ezechias; (2) it may sometimes happen that the
prophecy is true and from God, and the human
interpretation of it is false, as men may interpret it
otherwise than God intended. . . . There are many other private prophecies concerning the
remote and proximate signs which will precede the General
Judgment and concerning Antichrist, such as those attributed
to St. Hildegarde, St. Bridget of Sweden, Blessed Anna Maria
Taigi (the "three days' darkness"), the Curé
d'Ars, and many others. These do not enlighten us any more
than do the Scriptural prophecies as to the day and the hour
of that judgment, which still remains a Divine secret."
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