Left Behind Or Left Befuddled the Subtle Dangers of Popularizing the End Times
Left Behind or Left Befuddled The Subtle Dangers of Popularizing the End Times Gordon L. Isaac LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org Cover design by Ann Blattner. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. © 2008 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, micro- fiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, with- out the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, P.O. Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 123456789 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Isaac, Gordon L. Left behind or left befuddled : the subtle dangers of popularizing the end times / Gordon L. Isaac. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-8146-2420-3 1. End of the world. 2. LaHaye, Tim F. Left behind series. 3. Christianity and literature. 4. Christianity and culture. I. Title. BT877.I83 2008 236'.9—dc22 2008004756 Contents Preface v Chapter 1 What’s All the Fuss About? 1 Chapter 2 The Rise of Dispensationalism 25 Chapter 3 The Secret Rapture of the Church 51 Chapter 4 Israel: God’s People or God’s Time Clock? 75 Chapter 5 The Subtle Dangers of End Times Teaching 99 Chapter 6 Recapturing the Christian Imagination 128 A Concluding Word 149 Notes 155 Name Index 163 Scripture Index 165 Subject Index 167 Preface fter twelve volumes, sixty-five million copies, three movies, A an endless flood of apocalyptic merchandise, four spin-off series, sequels, and prequels, the Left Behind series continues to set its own standard for publishing success.
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