Rapture, Revelation, and the End Times : Exploring the Left Behind Series

by Forbes, Bruce David; Kilde, Jeanne Halgren

• ISBN13: 9781403965257
• ISBN10: 1403965250
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-06-12
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

he Left Behind series of apocalyptic Christian fiction is an incredibly popular phenomenon. Since 1995, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have sold over fifty million copies of their books, and are consistently on the bestseller lists. What does this say about popular Christian fiction? What does it say about pop culture and religion in general? And is there any significance to the biblical references in the books? In this fascinating collection, six contributors discuss aspects of the Left Behind craze and compare the series interpretation of the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ with the common teachings of western religions. Complete with reading group discussion questions, this is a must-have for readers of Left Behind-whether true believers or science fiction fans-who want a smart and comprehensive companion guide.

Author Biography

Bruce David Forbes is the Arthur L. Bunch Professor of Religious Studies at Morningside College. He is the co-editor of Religion and Popular Culture in America. He holds a Ph.D. in American Religious History from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Jeanne Halgren Kilde is the author of When Church Became Theatre: The Transformation of Evangelical Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth-Century America. She currently teaches in the Religious Studies Department at Macalester College, where she also co-directs their Lilly Project in Work, Ethics and Vocation. She holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Preface * How Popular Are the Left Behind Books, and Why?--Bruce Forbes * What Does the Bible Say About the End Times?--Mark Reasoner * Have Christians Always Believed in the Rapture?--Jeanne H. Kilde * What are the Social and Political Messages in the Left Behind Books?--Amy Johnson Frykholm * Judaism and Left Behind--Yaakov Ariel * What are the Various Interpretations of the End Times?--Stanley Grenz