Reception for ‘Revelations’ still to be revealed

In a CNN/Time magazine poll in 2002, 59 percent of the respondents said they believe that the apocalyptic events predicted in the Bible’s Book of Revelation are going to come true.

That would appear to portend blockbuster Nielsen ratings for “Revelations,” the new NBC miniseries.

Yet there’s no way to gauge whether evangelical Christians – the people most predisposed to be interested in the subject matter – will view it as a welcome endorsement of their beliefs or a shameless exploitation of them.

Especially in light of the death of Pope John Paul II, will devout Roman Catholics be put off by the series’ conceit that the Vatican is “threatened” by the activities of a renegade convent in Florida?

Will evangelicals be offended by the miniseries’ supposition that Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ can, or even should, be forestalled?

Will religious Americans in general be sickened by NBC and executive producer-writer David Seltzer’s appropriation and manipulation of Holy Scripture and symbols – starting with the “Revelations” logo, in which the “t” is a cross?

“Revelations” chronicles the globe-hopping adventures of a Harvard science professor named Richard Massey (Bill Pullman) and a rebel Roman Catholic nun, Sister Josepha (Natascha McElhone).

They team up to investigate various signs and wonders – including a shadow on a Mexican mountain that resembles Jesus on the cross, and a miracle infant discovered floating on a scrap of a ship’s wreckage in the Mediterranean Sea – in an effort to prove and perhaps avert the coming of the prophesied End of Days.

A theology professor at Southern Methodist University, Fred Schmidt, has been waging an e-mail campaign against the show, declaring that, among other sins, it gives short shrift to Jesus’ message of peace, love and tolerance and plays up the horror-movie aspects.

Jerry B. Jenkins, co-author of the best-selling “Left Behind” book series, calls Wednesday’s “Revelations” premiere “a mishmash of myth, silliness and misrepresentations of Scripture.”

Seltzer, who wrote the screenplay for the 1976 religious-themed horror hit “The Omen,” believes that doubters and naysayers ultimately will be grateful to him for “drawing attention to the relevance of the Bible in our time.”

“When I did ‘The Omen,’ ” he says, “I was given awards by a lot of Catholic organizations who appreciated the fact that the Antichrist and the three 6s became part of the popular lexicon.

“Those people who are fundamentalists will be reassured that their view of the Bible is also being drawn into (‘Revelations’) as relevant to the lives we lead today.”