The Prophet Who Foretold Christianity, by Dr. Jeff Mirus

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture, Sep 10, 2020

Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.

Mike Aquilina, The Eucharist Foretold: The Lost Prophecy of Malachi. Emmaus Road Publishing, 2019. Hardcover, 176 pp., $24.95 (eBook $18.95).

Last year, when I read the texts of some of Bishop Fulton Sheen’s old audio recordings, I was struck by his insistence that any person claiming to be the revelation of God in history would have to have three characteristics in his favor: (1) Miracles that attest to Divine ratification; (2) Teachings in which nothing is contrary to reason; and (3) Prophecies of his coming before the event. Even though I’ve done a good deal of work in apologetics, including the work of citing the Jewish prophets about the Messiah as identifying Christ, I had never stopped to consider such prophecies as a necessary proof.

Now perhaps that is overstating the case, but on reflection it does make sense that if God Himself is orchestrating this “coming” into our history, then He would give us advance pointers to help us in identifying the “chosen one” when he at length appeared. But that is not all I had overlooked in my own presentations. Next, along comes one Mike Aquilina to tell me that the Jewish prophets did not stop at foretelling the Christ. They also foretold Christian worship itself, as a worldwide religion for all peoples.  …

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