Left Behind

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 31 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

purplelady	31 Oct 2002
Just got back from the bookstore , and ended up with "Left Behind" by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. I remembered just reading an article about this book in the newspaper. It's a "Christian" book (novel) that is so popular it's gone mainstream. It's the first book in a series of 8 , with more to come, about the end of the world, armegeddon, the anti-christ , and all that. Armageddon fascinates me for some reason! I'm so busy these days that I've been starting books but never getting far or finishing them. But this one I intend to read to the finish. Has anyone actually read this book, or the series? What do you think of it? Give me some imput.

Sorceress_Jade	31 Oct 2002
I have only read the first book. I started on the second but haven't gotten into it as much. However we have all of them at my house. Personally I love this series. Don't see the movie though, it sux. However the BOOk is a fantasticly detailed interpretation of revelations that puts people directly into the situation and you read their journey through the end times as they discover that the Revelations was true and just what that means. They come into faith and work against the anti-christ. I really am interested in reading the portions on the plagues and all of the other items in revelations that are so largly up to interpretation to see how the authors handled them becuase I was deeply impressed with what I read. I am not a christian, in fact I'm an athiest, however the Left Behind series is FANTASTIC, and I readily admit that. Enjoy!

ihcoyc	31 Oct 2002
[rant] If I were of the mindset where I was prone to tell anybody to burn something because it brought evil spiritual influences into the house, books by Tim LaHaye would be first on the list. "End times prophecy" as it has been popularised among some Christian groups, is an elaborate mass paranoid fantasy. The idea is that obscure texts from Daniel and Revelations can be interpreted by elaborate figurative readings to fit current events. Israel, Iraq, Russia, and even the European Economic Community are pressed into various roles. According to this scenario, the existence of Israel set off a countdown that ticks down to Armageddon. The European Economic Community is destined to become the revived Roman Emperor, the kingdom of the coming Antichrist. Global nuclear war involving the Middle East is something we can look forward to, because it means that the return of Jesus is at hand. True believers don't have to face the consequences of the political ideas that they hope will hurry Jesus along, because they will be magically poofed away by the "Rapture" before the scat hits the propeller. "Left Behind" is a dramatization of these goofball beliefs. Obviously, if people can simultaneously claim that you have to believe that Genesis happened literally just like it says, but that this stuff is actually in the apocalyptic texts of the Bible, Biblical literalism ain't what it used to be. Whatever the Bible apocalypses do mean, they sound dramatic enough that when they do, we won't have to look for omens and figurative interpretations to figure out what's going down. The real kicker is that these "end times prophecies" lead people to social and political beliefs that anybody who actually paid attention to Jesus would reject with sheer horror. The Bible tells us to expect false prophets, false messiahs, and end-times scares. Tim LaHaye is just the latest in the series. If you can find it entertaining without being drawn into its premise, enjoy. But I warn you: ideas of reference, secret meanings that make all sorts of unconnected events just "snap" into place and make sense --- these are literally the stuff that serious mental illness is made of. There are evil spirits in those books. I wouldn't read them for amusement unless you're confident you can keep them in check. [/rant]

Marion	31 Oct 2002
If I was the ranting type, I would say, Right on, ichoyc. I also read "This Present Darkness" and "Piercing the Darkness". These are not books to feed an unbalanced mind, let me tell you. Wrath-calling, fist-shaking fundamentalism.

DollChica	31 Oct 2002
Well, since we're on the subject of Armageddon/Revelation Literature, has anyone read "The Christ Clone Trilogy"? I haven't yet, but I find the whole thing interesting but I don't buy into it.

purplelady	31 Oct 2002
LOL! :) . Well , I don't think I'm really mentally imbalanced, though some will disagree. And I seriously doubt a book dramatizing bible prophesies will send me plunging over the final edge. And I'm no where close to being a christian fundie, in fact I'm wiccan! I wasn't even brought up with the bible or christianity, so I don't even have that lurking in my deep subconscious mind like many. (at least not from this life) I understand what you mean , icoyc, about some of this christian literature with "secret meanings" connecting events, politics etc. I Doubt there's evil spirits in the books but then I won't say for sure until I've read it! But I DO believe there was a flood and noah's ark. And I believe advanced civilizations have existed on our world in the far past and been destroyed in cataclysm. Whether "God" brought this about to punish humanity , or whether it was purely brought on by geophysical earth changes, or maybe advanced alien invasions, is uncertain and could be debated for hours , I'm sure. I'm interested in pole shifts, and meteorites, and shifting continents , nuclear winters, ice ages..................and so on. Well , whether this book has anything of interest or is pure fundie bunk is yet to be seen! More comments welcome..................

Marion	01 Nov 2002
hehe, purplelady, sorry, I never for one second meant you were unbalanced! End-time literature has been used to frame some very good Fantasy-type stories over the years. I guess it only bothers me when it is presented quasi-literally.

ChrisTheObscure	01 Nov 2002
First off, lemme say that purplelady, if you like the books, I'm happy for you! ;) That being said: the problem I have with "end-times" prophecy is that it's paraded as fact in many christian circles, including the one I grew up in, and it's surprisingly un-biblical. As myth, I agree, it's fascinating. As fundamentalism, it scares me. C.

Liliana	01 Nov 2002
Yes Left Behind is written by Fundalmentalists, but its a dang good story as lobng as you can take what is written with a grain of salt. I think I read the first 4 or so, own the latest 2 but never read them yet. Would like to read the kids series someday too. :THP

Sorceress_Jade	01 Nov 2002
I was curious about the kids series myself. My mother says it's the same basic thing, only its the children of those people and what they're going through. I can't help but wonder what kind of things these kids will do and what their ages are. Like... will they take on the antichrist? I mean... come on... specially if their 8 or so. I have one little sister that reads (she's about 8) and while we have one or two volumes of the kids series, I don't believe she's read them yet. I can't help but wonder if it's truely appropriate for her age (though she does love horror movies). Not that I have any say it at all... just something i wonder about.

ihcoyc	01 Nov 2002
Your best bet, if you're at all interested in the Bible, is to read the original apocalyptic texts of Daniel, Ezekiel, and St. John, in context and with a good commentary, like the ones found in the Oxford Annotated Study Bible, the Reformation Study Bible, or the New Jerusalem Bible. (Most reference and study Bibles tend to kowtow to fundamentalist ideas, since if you're printing Bibles that's where the money is. So they may not be as helpful.) Comparing text to LaHaye's commentary, you'll be left wondering where this goofy interpretation came from. The basic framework of it all came from a fellow in England named John Nelson Darby, the founder of the Plymouth Brethren sect. (Oops, there's Uncle Al again.) Darby's basic schtick was that God was fickle and changed his mind a lot, forming dozens of different covenants with various people. (It's no wonder Aleister Crowley turned out the way he did.) It was important to find out for any Bible character what time period they were in and which covenant they were under. This led him to construct elaborate timetables for the apocalypse, and it's this stuff that has been borrowed by U.S. fundamentalism. Darbyism got into American Protestantism through the widely popular Scofield Reference Bible, the favourite reference Bible of your grandmother's generation of fundamentalists. Whatever else you'll learn, you'll find out that Daniel, Ezekiel, and St. John were much more vivid writers than Tim LaHaye. Ezekiel in particular had a knack for striking imagery. I'd bet he was fun at parties too. But in the afterlife I'm looking forward to seeing Tim LaHaye go one on one with L. Ron Hubbard. The first book (Left Behind) actually was rather good, but I understand that they get rather repetitious after that.

VGimlet	01 Nov 2002
I've never read the Left Behind series, I tend to avoid religious fundamentalism even for entertainment purposes. However, they are *very* popular at the library. We can't keep them on the shelves, I have to order them all the time for people who read the first one, and want to continue in order. For me (personally) I find it a bit scary how seriously many people take these books. I had one guy tell me that I should read them so I "know what's coming, it's all going to happen in two years anyway." Yikes. I hope he has a back-up plan. I had several friends who were taken out of junoir high in the 70's when their church predicted the world would end that year. They were fairly unhappy to be so far behind when they came back. :D

raeanne	01 Nov 2002
Hi all, It’s been awhile since I have posted anything but I’m still around. As far as the Left Behind book are concerned, the authors have some serious feminine issue! All the strong, self-sufficient women are on the “evil” side. They also like to describe bloodied and beaten women. A huge problem for me is that neither one of these authors understand a snigglet of science. It is so laughable in places that I can’t believe the ignorance! For anyone who wants to read about life inside a true-to-life fundamentalist church, read “This Dark World” by Carolyn S. Briggs. This is a well-written book about total submission to the church. Frightening!

Indigo	02 Nov 2002
Quote: Originally posted by raeanne Hi all, ... A huge problem for me is that neither one of these authors understand a snigglet of science. It is so laughable in places that I can’t believe the ignorance! ... Coming from authors who presumably share the view that creation should be taught in our public schools rather than evolution, it certainly isn't surprising. They probably don't understand science because they read Genesis in place of a good Biology textbook. As for the Left Behind series, I say "Bah humbug!" :)

purplelady	03 Nov 2002
The whole patriarchy ( if you want to encounter patriarchy, try reading obscure parts of chapter 2 of the bible, Exodus) thing, women as evil, women as the cause of "original sin", is One big reason I chose wicca over any of the current "monotheist" religions (jewish , christian , islam) . It's not the only reason , but it's a big one. ( Actually, it chose me :) ). But I have to throw in my pittance about science and evolution vs. creation . I Love science BUT................ One of the strangest things, I agree with the fundie view that the Theory of creation should be taught as an option in public schools along With the THEORY of evolution. That's right folks , evolution is a theory. It's only that the majority of us have been taught it as fact in school! It may seem to us as fact and so much more intelligent to believe in evolution than creationism. BUT the fact is that you cannot prove beyond a doubt that this world and everything you see was created the way Darwin Theorized, and not the way it is written in the bible. And things aren't Always how they look or how they seem. I am not saying I believe one way or the other. I'm only saying that in a small way , I can see the fundies point on some points on how "secular" I think is the word, our society has become. In some ways very cold . Science is our new god. And that May not be All good. Think about it.

purplelady	03 Nov 2002
This is not meant to personally attack or refute anyone else's opinions, so I apologize if I come off that way. I just sometimes tend to think outside the box, or even play devil's advocate }) . All opinions welcome..............

The Left Behind thread was originally posted on 31 Oct 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.