Rapture, Revelation, and the End Times - Conscious Evolution TV

More documents

Recommendations

Info

obin-bobin Social and Political Messages 193The series offers vivid mental images that they can use to remindthemselves of the plan God has for the world. If readers do notsubscribe to this view in the least, they may simply discard thebooks as “nice stories” and be only briefly reminded of themwhen they see something in the news that hints of the scenariosthey offer. But even if readers disagree with the scenario thebooks provide for the end times, the series still offers a picturethat becomes, in a complicated way, a part of the way that theysee the world. This is one reason why examining the messagesthat Left Behind has for our time and place can be so important.We can learn to see not only through our own lenses, but wealso can learn to see the lens itself.The Left Behind books are a form of entertainment. Althoughthe authors hope they will edify readers and perhaps even leadsome to make a commitment to Christianity, their main purposeis to entertain. They want to tell a fast-paced, action-packedstory with adventure and drama that will capture and holdreaders’ attention. Given that the books are meant as entertainment,are we being unfair by analyzing them the way we have?Are we over-analyzing and over-reading?Whether we watch television, go to the movies, pick up SportsIllustrated, read the latest John Grisham novel or the latest inthe Left Behind series, we are receiving messages about ourworld. These forms of entertainment are telling us what isimportant and what is not important, what to think and how tothink it. That is not to say that we are helpless when it comes topopular culture. We can accept or reject the messages. We canexamine them critically or forget about them entirely. But all ofthese things shape the world that we live in and also shape ourunderstanding of that world. For that reason, critical reflectionon what “entertains” us, taking time to understand what messagesare being sent and whether those messages fit with ourown values and beliefs, is a worthwhile occupation. It helps tounderstand ourselves and our world better.The Left Behind series is enormously popular. People arereading the books, giving them to friends, buying a dozen copiesas gifts, and talking about them everywhere. Why? What doesrobin-bobin
194robin-bobin Rapture, Revelation, and the End Timesthe series say that speaks so clearly to its audience? What is itabout our world that resonates with the “future” that JerryJenkins and Timothy LaHaye have imagined? Although thesereflections on the social and political messages of Left Behindhave not been able to answer that question entirely, we gainsome insight into the current state of our own religious andsocial condition. Perhaps in the midst of the vast social changesof the last few decades—changes brought on by the women’smovement, civil rights, rapidly changing technology, the end ofthe cold war, and other social and political forces—Left Behindrestores a sense of order. In the series, everyone and everythinghas its proper place, even if that means re-establishing old hierarchiesrather than imagining new equality. We know who issaved and who is damned. We know the outcome of history andwhat all these seemingly random events mean. Good is clearlyseparated from evil. Questions all have answers. In this way,despite the chaos the tribulation appears to bring, the world ofLeft Behind is a simpler one than the one we live in and confrontevery day. At the same time, the books tell us, we have no reasonto deny ourselves anything. As Christians we can consumewithout guilt the best cars, the best computers, and the bestclothes. Christianity is compatible with worldly beauty, worldlystatus, and worldly goods. Perhaps this combination of moralsimplicity with material comfort is part of the pleasure thatreading the books brings and accounts for their singular andextraordinary popularity.Notes1. Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist(Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1997), viii.2. Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, Tribulation Force: TheContinuing Drama of Those Left Behind (Wheaton, Ill.: TyndaleHouse, 1996), 131.3. LaHaye and Jenkins, Nicolae, 128.4. John Walvoord, The Church in Prophecy (Grand Rapids, Mich.:Zondervan, 1964), 179–180. Cited in Paul Boyer, When Time Shall BeNo More (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992), 264.robin-bobin
Page 11 and 12:
6robin-bobin Rapture, Revelation, a
Page 13 and 14:
8robin-bobin Rapture, Revelation, a
Page 15 and 16:
10robin-bobin Rapture, Revelation,
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 42 and 43:
obin-bobin Left Behind’s Vision o
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 60 and 61:
Page 62 and 63:
Page 64 and 65:
Page 66 and 67:
Page 70 and 71:
Page 73:
Page 76 and 77:
obin-bobin3What Does the Bible SayA
Page 78 and 79:
What robin-bobin Does the Bible Say
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148: 142robin-bobin Rapture, Revelation,
Page 197: 192robin-bobin Rapture, Revelation,
Page 201 and 202: obin-bobinThis page intentionally l
Page 203 and 204: 198robin-bobinDiscussion Questions2
Page 205 and 206: 200robin-bobinDiscussion QuestionsC
Page 207 and 208: 202robin-bobinGlossarythe end times
Page 209 and 210: 204robin-bobinGlossaryJesus or the
Page 211 and 212: 206robin-bobinGlossarydemonstrate s
Page 213 and 214: 208robin-bobinAnnotated Bibliograph
Page 219 and 220: 214robin-bobinList of Contributorss
Page 221 and 222: 216robin-bobinIndexChristians - con
Page 223 and 224: 218robin-bobinIndexmillennium, 48-9
show all

Rapture, Revelation, and the End Times - Conscious Evolution TV

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?