The second part, which covers six chapters, and over two hundred pages, deals with the various prophecies and revelations arising from Catholic sources which deal with the time before Antichrist, and which seem to speak of a 'chastisement' of some sort for the world, along with the coming of a 'Great King,' a period of peace, and a restored 'Roman Empire.' In other words this section deals with the medium term future, and if these various prophecies are accurate and true then we may well see their fulfillment during this century and in succeeding ones. He also looks at the damage that has been done by modern 'higher critics' in this area, and particularly writers like Karl Rahner, before devoting a third chapter to the 'signs of our times,' and how we are to interpret private revelations in the light of Church teaching. In reality, it could make a book in itself, and the author is at pains to emphasize that the Church Fathers and early writers were not only passing on written but also unwritten traditions, and that these are an important source of information for us about the time of Antichrist. The first part of the book, following the long introduction, deals with the whole area of how Church Tradition and Scripture are interrelated. Trial, Tribulation and Triumph is divided into a dozen chapters, which cover three main areas. This work has a commendation by Fr Michael O'Carroll, and a foreword by Fr William Most, and so it comes with weighty support. This is the most important theme in the book and one which cannot be emphasized enough, particularly nowadays when there are so many alleged private revelations claiming that the end of the world is rapidly approaching. Thus it is an ambitious book, but that ambition is, for the most part, justified in that Desmond Birch does, for this reviewer, sustain his most important thesis, that is that the time of the Antichrist is not imminent. Trial, Tribulation and Triumph is a formidable book of over 700 pages which covers a wide sweep of Catholic history and theology, from the thinking of the Church Fathers, through private prophecies and revelations over the last two thousand years, and on into the future and the time of Antichrist.

Review by Donal Anthony Foley of Trial, Tribulation and Triumph: Before, During and After Antichrist, by Desmond A. Before, During and After Antichrist Home Page

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