Left Behind:An Overview and Critique*
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In the Event of Global Vanishings – Please Read
In the Event of Global Vanishings – Please Read To: A Concerned Person who has no doubt been LEFT BEHIND. From: Pastor Rob Lee Re: Instructions on just what to do, and not do, right now. The fact that you are reading this tells me that you have experienced a traumatic event that has taken place. Millions of people all over the face of the earth have mysteriously disappeared. Millions of men, women, children, toddlers, infants, and even unborn babies are now gone. Although widespread panic has most likely accompanied this phenomenal event, there is an explanation. Please read the following. I am sure by now people are saying that it was UFO’s, aliens from another planet, or a change in the evolutionary process; a ‘selective elimination’ of sorts that caused the disappearances. Some may be saying that the global vanishings were caused by some kind of high-tech weapon that can vaporize people, and children are more susceptible to it. Perhaps there are many other crazy theories. The bottom-line fact is that Jesus Christ has returned for His Church just as He said He would. Just find a Bible and read the following passages: • 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 – Referring to the “catching away” of the saints. • 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 – Referring to those who “shall not all sleep.” • John 11:25-26 – Referring to the Resurrection of Christ’s Church This is an event that has been prophesied in both the Old Testament and New Testament books of the Bible. Many pastors, teachers, scholars, and Christians have also believed in this global rapture event. -
978-1-4143-3501-8.Pdf
Tyndale House Novels by Jerry B. Jenkins Riven Midnight Clear (with Dallas Jenkins) Soon Silenced Shadowed The Last Operative The Brotherhood The Left Behind® series (with Tim LaHaye) Left Behind® Desecration Tribulation Force The Remnant Nicolae Armageddon Soul Harvest Glorious Appearing Apollyon The Rising Assassins The Regime The Indwelling The Rapture The Mark Kingdom Come Left Behind Collectors Edition Rapture’s Witness (books 1–3) Deceiver’s Game (books 4–6) Evil’s Edge (books 7–9) World’s End (books 10–12) For the latest information on Left Behind products, visit www.leftbehind.com. For the latest information on Tyndale fiction, visit www.tyndalefiction.com. 5*.-")":& +&33:#+&/,*/4 5:/%"-&)064&16#-*4)&34 */$ $"30-453&". *--*/0*4 Visit Tyndale’s exciting Web site at www.tyndale.com. Discover the latest about the Left Behind series at www.leftbehind.com. TYNDALE, Tyndale’s quill logo, and Left Behind are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Glorious Appearing: The End of Days Copyright © 2004 by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. All rights reserved. Cover photograph copyright © by Valentin Casarsa/iStockphoto. All rights reserved. Israel map © by Maps.com. All rights reserved. Author photo of Jerry B. Jenkins copyright © 2010 by Jim Whitmer Photography. All rights reserved. Author photo of Tim LaHaye copyright © 2004 by Brian MacDonald. All rights reserved. Left Behind series designed by Erik M. Peterson Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. www.alivecommunications.com. Scripture quotations are taken or adapted from the New King James Version.® Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. -
Millennialism, Rapture and “Left Behind” Literature. Analysing a Major Cultural Phenomenon in Recent Times
start page: 163 Stellenbosch Theological Journal 2019, Vol 5, No 1, 163–190 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2019.v5n1.a09 Online ISSN 2413-9467 | Print ISSN 2413-9459 2019 © Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust Millennialism, rapture and “Left Behind” literature. Analysing a major cultural phenomenon in recent times De Villers, Pieter GR University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa [email protected] Abstract This article represents a research overview of the nature, historical roots, social contexts and growth of millennialism as a remarkable religious and cultural phenomenon in modern times. It firstly investigates the notions of eschatology, millennialism and rapture that characterize millennialism. It then analyses how and why millennialism that seems to have been a marginal phenomenon, became prominent in the United States through the evangelistic activities of Darby, initially an unknown pastor of a minuscule faith community from England and later a household name in the global religious discourse. It analyses how millennialism grew to play a key role in the religious, social and political discourse of the twentieth century. It finally analyses how Darby’s ideas are illuminated when they are placed within the context of modern England in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century. In a conclusion some key challenges of the place and role of millennialism as a movement that reasserts itself continuously, are spelled out in the light of this history. Keywords Eschatology; millennialism; chiliasm; rapture; dispensationalism; J.N. Darby; Joseph Mede; Johann Heinrich Alsted; “Left Behind” literature. 1. Eschatology and millennialism Christianity is essentially an eschatological movement that proclaims the fulfilment of the divine promises in Hebrew Scriptures in the earthly ministry of Christ, but it also harbours the expectation of an ultimate fulfilment of Christ’s second coming with the new world of God that will replace the existing evil dispensation. -
No Longer Left Behind 211
09chap9.qxd 10/1/02 10:21 AM Page 209 No Longer Left Behind Amazon.com, Reader-Response, and the Changing Fortunes of the Christian Novel in America Paul C. Gutjahr Much ink has been spilled on the topic of the uneasy relationship between American Christians and the novel. The vast majority of this scholarship has centered on American Protestantism’s antagonism toward the novel in the early nineteenth century. With few exceptions, the dominant narrative of this relationship goes something like this: American Protestants viewed Wction writing in general, and the novel in particular, as a serious threat to the virtue and well-being of every American up until the 1850s, when their opposition began to gradually erode until it was washed away com- pletely by the astounding popularity of Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Wrst published in 1880.1 As with so many grand narratives, this one is Xawed. American Protes- tantism has never been a monolithic entity. It has varied according to region- alism, denominationalism, and its connections to other American cultural practices such as science, education, and politics. Perhaps the most im- portant, and most ignored, part of this accepted narrative centers on how The author would like to gratefully acknowledge two fellowship grants that helped bring this article to completion. These grants were awarded by the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University under the directorship of Robert Wuthnow and Marie GrifWth and the Christian Scholars Foundation under the directorship of Bernard Draper. 09chap9.qxd 10/1/02 10:21 AM Page 210 210 Book History inXuential conservative elements within American Protestantism continued to show a distrust toward the novel through much of the twentieth century. -
Tribulation Force: the Continuing Drama of Those Left Behind by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B
Tribulation Force: The Continuing Drama of Those Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1996 $12.99, 450 pages ISBN: 08423-2921-8 A Domestic Apocalypse This is the second installment in the Left Behind series. These novels are set in the Last Days and deal, as the name suggests, with those left behind by the pre-tribulation rapture of the saints. Apocalyptic novels based on similar assumptions have been proliferating in recent years (the earliest ones, according to Paul Boyer, appeared in the 1930s), and for their intended readership terms like pre-tribulation rapture require no explanation. However, for this review a few words of explanation might be in order. The eschatological system which the novels presuppose has been increasingly influential in evangelical circles since the end of the Civil War. As the 20th century ends, it may be the most popular Christian eschatological system of any description. To put the matter briefly, pre-tribulationists hold that the saints, meaning all people who have been saved, will be miraculously removed (raptured) from the world in the years leading up to the disastrous events that precede the Second Coming of Christ. These disasters will for the most part occur in a period called the tribulation, which is most commonly expected to last seven years. During that time, the world will be ruled by Antichrist, who will persecute the new crop of saints that rises up in the wake of the rapture. He will also first make peace with the Jews, and then seek to destroy them. -
Discussion Questions for Small-Group Consideration Or Personal Reflection
Study Guide Discussion Questions for Small-Group Consideration or Personal Reflection Chapter 1 How Popular Are the Left Behind Books … and Why? (Forbes) 1. Does some knowledge about the backgrounds of authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins influence the way you read the novels? Why or why not? If it does influence you, in what way? 2. Why do you think the Left Behind novels have been so popular? 3. On the basis of your acquaintance with people who have read the Left Behind series, do you think they read the books simply as entertainment? Are they attracted to the religious beliefs in the books? Does reading the books influence the viewpoints and the lives of readers? If so, in what ways? If not, why not? 4. One criticism of the Left Behind books, and of the belief system on which they are based, is that it creates an “us-versus-them” mental- ity. The complaint is that it divides the world too easily into good and bad, black and white, with no shades of gray. Do you think this is true? If so, is it a helpful way to look at the world or not? Chapter 2 How Did Left Behind’s Particular Vision of the End Times Develop? (Kilde) 1. Kilde observes that, throughout history, times of strife have prompted Christians to focus on ideas of the end times, while atten- tion to the end times has been less popular when things are going well for Christians. Why would this be the case? Is it true now? 198 Discussion Questions 2. -
The Rapture: Left Behind Or Left out of Scripture? the Rapture
The Rapture: Left Behind or Left OUT of Scripture? The Rapture You may have heard the term, “The Rapture” from a Protestant friend or relative. Although the word itself doesn’t appear in Scripture, the idea that Christ will come back to rescue the “elect” from the coming period of persecutions against the Church is only about 185 years old. It is taken largely from a faulty interpretation of Scripture. The word “Rapture” is taken from the Latin Vulgate translation of 1 Thess. 4:16‐17, which says: "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord." The Koine Greek of 1 Thess. 4:17 uses the verb form ἁρπαγησόμεθα (harpagisometha) and is rendered as harpazō (ἁρπάζω). The Latin Vulgate translates the Greek as rapiemur from the Latin verb rapio. It’s interesting to note that Protestants, who usually reject the Latin Vulgate as a “perverted” translation, will randomly adopt some of its terminologies, such as “Rapio”. The Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Communion, Lutheranism and many Protestant Calvinist denominations do not hold to Rapture Theology. Rapture’s Roots Rapture theology finds its origin in the 1830’s, when an English Protestant minister named John Nelson Darby began teaching this new idea to his followers. -
Tim Lahaye & Jerry B
NICOLAE: The Rise of the Antichrist Book 3 of the Left Behind Series TIM LAHAYE & JERRY B. JENKINS CHAPTER ONE It was the worst of times; it was the worst of times. Rayford Steele's knees ached as he sat behind the wheel of the rented Lincoln. He had dropped to the pavement at the crushing realization of his pastor's death. The physical pain, though it would stay with him for days, would prove minor compared to the mental anguish of having yet again lost one of the dearest people in his life. Rayford felt Amanda's eyes on him. She laid one comforting hand on his thigh. In the backseat his daughter, Chloe, and her husband, Buck, each had a hand on his shoulder. What now? Rayford wondered, What do we do without Bruce? Where do we go? The Emergency Broadcast System station droned on with the news of chaos, devastation, terror, and destruction throughout the world. Unable to speak over the lump in his throat, Rayford busied himself maneuvering his way through the incongruous traffic jams. Why were people out? What did they expect to see? Weren't they afraid of more bombs, or fallout? “I need to get to the Chicago bureau office,” Buck said. “You can use the car after we get to the church,” Rayford managed. “I need to get the word out about Bruce.” Global Community peacekeeping forces supervised local police and emergency relief personnel directing traffic and trying to get people to return to their homes. Rayford relied on his many years in the Chicago area to use back roads and side streets to get around the major thoroughfares, which were hopelessly clogged. -
Worlds End: with the Remnant and Armageddon and Glorious Appearing : on the Brink of Armageddon Pdf, Epub, Ebook
WORLDS END: WITH THE REMNANT AND ARMAGEDDON AND GLORIOUS APPEARING : ON THE BRINK OF ARMAGEDDON PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Tim LaHaye | 694 pages | 01 Sep 2010 | Tyndale House Publishers | 9781414334882 | English | Wheaton, IL, United States Worlds End: WITH The Remnant AND Armageddon AND Glorious Appearing : On the Brink of Armageddon PDF Book Larry Moser rated it it was amazing Sep 21, A Pandemic? Which was accomplished by the perfect man, Jesus Christ. Paperback , pages. Movies , 3 October When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. But not one of repentance and, therefore, redemption. People are terror stricken as loved ones vanish before their eyes. Amy rated it it was amazing Jul 08, Over at Conservapedia , the entry for the Left Behind series states, "As is common with Christian works that become successful, it [ Left Behind ] was given poor reviews by many critics for its Christian-specific themes instead of being more generic and all inclusive, a standard that is seldom applied to non-Christian works. The primary premise of the novels is that if all 1. I know I'm counting the days until The Breaker is released this month. What is Marilena willing to give up to get her hearts' desire? Martin book where each character gets a chapter. Return to Book Page. Item Location see all. It was the giant hailstones that obviously were even more devastating than the other colossal calamities. For those who get to the point of doubt, disillusionment, and even despair, it invariably involves the loss of something: A job or financial setback costing an arm and a leg; actual loss of hearing or sight or a literal loss of a limb from disease or accident. -
Left Behind: a Novel of the Earth’S Last Days
European journal of American studies 9-2 | 2014 Summer 2014 “To Sacrifice One’s Intellect Is More Demonic than Divine”: American Literature and Politics in Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days Peter Swirski Electronic version URL: https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/10342 DOI: 10.4000/ejas.10342 ISSN: 1991-9336 Publisher European Association for American Studies Electronic reference Peter Swirski, ““To Sacrifice One’s Intellect Is More Demonic than Divine”: American Literature and Politics in Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days”, European journal of American studies [Online], 9-2 | 2014, document 2, Online since 26 September 2014, connection on 08 July 2021. URL: http:// journals.openedition.org/ejas/10342 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.10342 This text was automatically generated on 8 July 2021. Creative Commons License “To Sacrifice One’s Intellect Is More Demonic than Divine”: American Literatu... 1 “To Sacrifice One’s Intellect Is More Demonic than Divine”: American Literature and Politics in Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days Peter Swirski Introduction 1 In 1995 two born-again evangelists sat down to pen what would turn out to be a phenomenally lucrative franchise. On paper, they were an odd couple behind a multi- platinum bestseller that from 1999 on would top The New York Times charts with each new instalment. One of them would never write a word of it. The other would ultimately dash off more than six thousand pages of earnest prose. Together they would become avatars of not trying to be taken seriously by literary critics, but being taken very seriously by the bankers. -
Tribulation Force V1.2
TRIBULATION FORCE: The Continuing Drama of Those Left Behind Book 2 of the Left Behind Series TIM LAHAYE & JERRY B. JENKINS PROLOGUE What Has Gone Before ... In one cataclysmic instant, millions of people all over the world disappeared. They simply vanished, leaving behind everything material: clothes, eyeglasses, contact lenses, hairpieces, hearing aids, fillings, jewelry, shoes, even pacemakers and surgical pins. Millions vanished. But millions more remained—adults, but no children, and only a few young teens. All babies, including the unborn, disappeared—some during birth. Worldwide chaos ensued. Planes, trains, buses, and cars crashed, ships sank, homes burned, grieving survivors committed suicide. A transportation and communications gridlock, coupled with the disappearances of many service personnel, left most to fend for themselves until some semblance of order returned. Some said the world had been invaded by aliens from outer space. Others said the disappearances resulted from an enemy attack. And yet every country on the globe was touched by the disappearances. Airline captain Rayford Steele and his twenty-year-old daughter Chloe were left behind. Rayford's wife and their twelve-year-old son vanished. Rayford, piloting a 747 over the Atlantic en route to London, told his senior flight attendant, Hattie Durham, that he didn't know what had happened. The terrifying truth was that he knew all too well. His wife had warned him of this very event. Christ had come to take away his own, and the rest, Rayford and Chloe included, had been left behind. Rayford became consumed with finding the truth and making sure that he and Chloe would not miss any second chance. -
Marketing the Beast: Left Behind and the Apocalypse Industry Torin Monahan VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, USA
Marketing the beast: Left Behind and the apocalypse industry Torin Monahan VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, USA And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (Bible, Revelation 13: 16–18) The Second Coming evokes not a Jesus who saves, but one who pays dividends. Or, more accurately, one who promises a miraculous return on a limited spiritual investment. (Comaroff and Comaroff, 2000: 315) Prophecies of the apocalypse circulate and multiply with incredible frequency, velocity and profitability. In some respects, concerns over the impending destruction of the world are ancient obsessions and well-worn mythological motifs, which wax and wane according to technological changes, historical contingencies or significant turning points on arbitrary calendars. On the other hand, contemporary apocalypse prophecies fuse in interesting – and perhaps indelible – ways with capitalist economies. Whether the looming dis- asters are technological, environmental or biblical, they tend to afford amaz- ingly lucrative opportunities for some while fueling the increasing vulnerability of others. Jean Comaroff and John Comaroff (2000) label this emerging set of practices millennial capitalism, indicating a globalized, neoliberal form of capitalism predicated upon privatization, individual responsibility and the right to consume (not to produce).