"Left Behind" Series Gets Left Behind

Stephanus

It seems that the writers of the scarey vision of the Apocalypse that the Left Behind series creates aren't happy about alternative views of what the Book of Revelation means. Tyndale House, which publishes the Left Behind books, are publishing a new series of fiction based on Revelation, this time giving the Preterist view an airing. Preterism assumes that most of the events of Revelation happened in the first century. Tim LaHaye, Left Behind's author, is NOT amused:

"I don't know what science fiction he is reading," LaHaye said. "We believe the Rapture is going to come, not his nonsense that Christ came back in 68 A.D."
Hanegraaff retorted, "I am reading the Bible, specifically Revelation -- it was written for first-century Christians. I am not relying on some wooden, literal interpretation that is unsupportable."

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/living/religion/10220385.htm

Stephanus

Hmmm. A rather interesting ad following my original post, don't you think?

DanTheMan

I saw a satire of the book on Amazon titled Kiss My Left Behind. The millenium mad evangelicals are not amused. LOL

Swan

I think it is hilarious that some of the folks who are ardent fans of this series are the same people who want to ban Harry Potter!

Tammy

Satanus

Imagine if all these fundies were raptured; war in iraq stops, support for israel stops, bush dynasty instantly dissappears, jesse duplantis gone, pat robertson's tv crap goes poof, evolution is taught in all american schools, stem cell research takes off... The rapture sounds like a good thing to me.

S

willyloman

This is from an earlier post on this topic:

New take on Rapture puts authors in apocalyptic feud

08:05 PM CST on Friday, November 5, 2004

By IRA J. HADNOT / The

What if the Rapture has already happened?

What if Revelation's prophecies have been fulfilled?

These questions are unthinkable for those Christians who believe that the end of the world is, well, still to come ? and that it will unfold in accordance with apocalyptic interpretations of the Book of Revelation?.

That's more or less the story line hewed to in the phenomenally popular Left Behind series. Now, however, Tyndale House, the Christian publisher of Left Behind, is planning a new fictional series with a very different view ? one that posits that Revelation actually tells the story (in code) of the first-century persecution of Christians and of the fall of the Jewish Temple.

The Last Disciple, the first of at least three books planned, depicts the Roman emperor, Nero, as "the beast." In the book, Christians in and are suffering through the Tribulation. Nero is trying to find the Apostle John's letter (the Book of Revelation) and destroy it. To survive, the early Christians must decipher a mysterious code. (The code for Nero's name is the number 666, regarded by many as the mark of the Antichrist.)

The Last Disciple ? is based on the notion of "preterism," which holds that most if not all major prophetic events in the New Testament have happened. When Jesus talked about the end of the world, according to preterists, he was referring not to the physical world but to an old worldview held by Jews in his time.

Here?s a link to the whole story (may require you sign up for free password)

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/110604dnrelendtimes.86ada.html

Elsewhere

I am not relying on some wooden, literal interpretation that is unsupportable.

LMAO! Too funny. As opposed to: I am not relying on some wooden, symbolic interpretation that can be 100% verified using logic.

That's it buddy! Divide and conquer! Nothing pisses off a devout evangelical like a publicly discussed opposing viewpoint about the bible.

glitter

I am friends with a Christian fanatic and she raves about the books like they were lost books of the Bible, so I read the first one. I tried to read it with an open mind, but FFS it's the worst book ever written! When I'd heard about the plot (the Israeli making sand-fertilizer thing... then they become the richest nation on Earth by *agriculture*... the country is *tiny*!) I thought they were JOKING! Why do right-wing Christians love the state of Israel with such scary intensity... if Jews are "God's chosen people" then bloody *convert* and STFU!

*And* there's *no* tension at all about the identity of the anti-Christ, there's really SICK elements like all unborn babies disappearing - even during birth and leaving mothers anguished, there are more people in it (with really stupid names like "Royston Cheerio" OK I made that one up, but they're like that) than crowd scenes in Ben-Hur, and, I'm sorry, but the idea of people shooting up to heaven like naked rockets is just plain HILARIOUS.

I like the idea of "Kiss My Left Behind" though... will have to see if my library has it.

Steve Egner

Many evangelical Christians in our area seem to regard the "Left Behind" series as an extension of scripture. The rapture dogma, as the books describe, definitely cultivates an exclusive mind-set, an "us and them" mentality.

Having "Left Behind" that same mental attitude after leaving the J. Witlesses, I can't be too critical of them, but it's nice to hear that the authors are pissed off. That's exactly the attitude I would expect from those who consider their words to be the next best thing to inspired. We've had some interesting relations with members of the Baptist church behind our home. Sayings like "In case of rapture, this car will be unmanned!" and, "If you don't believe in God, you'd better hope you're right!" are commonly seen on their shirts and bumper stickers.

I'm thinking of displaying a banner, readable from the church, on the back of my home:

AFTER THE RAPTURE, PARTY AT MY HOUSE!

Steve

Balsam

Always glad to see a more realistic thought when it comes to early Christians. I have thought for some time that all the New Testament writing were strickly speaking of those living then. Revelation and the beast as the hated Roman Nero. Should be a good book.

The left behind series was so poorly written it was a joke.

Balsam

"Left Behind" Series Gets Left Behind

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