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Left Behind

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File:Leftbehind lg.jpeg
Book 1 in the Left Behind Series

Left Behind is a series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, dealing with Christian dispensationalist End Times: pretribulation, premillennial, Christian eschatology viewpoint of the end of the world. Left Behind is also the title of the first book in the series. It is published by Tyndale House, a firm with a history of interest in dispensationalism.

Books

Note: The books are listed in story-line (chronological) order but numbered in order of publication.

  1. The Rising: Antichrist is Born: Before They Were Left Behind (ISBN 0842360565) | (All Libraries)
  2. The Regime: Evil Advances: Before They Were Left Behind #2 (ISBN 1414305761) | (All Libraries)
  3. The Rapture: In the Twinkling of an Eye: Before They Were Left Behind #3 (ISBN 141430580X)
  4. Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days (ISBN 0842329129)
  5. Tribulation Force: The Continuing Drama of Those Left Behind (ISBN 0842329218)
  6. Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist (ISBN 0842329242)
  7. Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides (ISBN 0842329250)
  8. Apollyon: The Destroyer Is Unleashed (ISBN 0842329269)
  9. Assassins: Assignment: Jerusalem, Target: Antichrist (ISBN 0842329277)
  10. The Indwelling: The Beast Takes Possession (ISBN 0842329293)
  11. The Mark: The Beast Rules the World (ISBN 0842332286)
  12. Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne (ISBN 0842332294)
  13. The Remnant: On the Brink of Armageddon (ISBN 0842332308)
  14. Armageddon: The Cosmic Battle of the Ages (ISBN 0842332367)
  15. Glorious Appearing: The End of Days (ISBN 0842332375)

One final novel taking place after Glorious Appearing is planned. There are also graphic novels, CDs, and a Left Behind series for teens. Audio dramatizations based on the first thirteen titles have also been produced for broadcast on Christian radio. A series written for teens has also been written, called Left Behind:The Kids or The Young Tribulation Force Series. The plot of this series is the same as the adult series, but the main protagonists are teenagers. Several of the main books have also been turned into movies by the Canadian motion picture studio Cloud Ten Pictures : Left Behind: The Movie, Left Behind II: Tribulation Force, and Left Behind: World at War.

Two spin-off series have been written; a political series by Neesa Hart, and a military series by Mel Odom.

A videogame, Left Behind: Eternal Forces is in production.

Spin-Offs

Left Behind: Apocalypse[1]

  • Apocalypse Dawn
  • Apocalypse Crucible
  • Apocalypse Burning

Left Behind: End of State[2]

  • End of State
  • Impeachable Offense
  • Necessary Evils

Summary

Based on dispensationalist interpretation of prophecies in the Biblical books of Revelation, Isaiah and Ezekiel, Left Behind tells the story of the end times, in which many have vanished, leaving the world shattered and chaotic. As people scramble for answers, a Romanian politician named Nicolae Jetty Carpathia, who, in his political rise to the head of the United Nations, has promised to restore peace and stability to all nations. What most of the world does not realize is that Carpathia is actually the Antichrist foretold from the Bible. Coming to grips with the truth and becoming born-again Christians, Rayford Steele, his daughter, Chloe, their pastor Bruce Barnes, and young journalist Cameron "Buck" Williams begin their quest as the Tribulation Force to help save the lost and prepare for the coming tribulation, in which God will rain down judgement on the world.

Characters

Characters from the teens series include:

  • Judd Thompson, age 16, lives in Mount Prospect; is on Rayford Steele's plane when the Rapture occurs.
  • Vicki Byrne, age 14; lives in a trailer park and is asleep at the time of the Rapture.
  • Lionel Washington, age 13; son of reporter Lucinda Washington, who is left behind with his uncle André.
  • Ryan Daley, age 12, best friend of Raymie Steele; loses his unsaved parents to severe accidents following the Rapture.

These four characters make up what is known as the Young Tribulation Force, which is eventually joined by more characters.


Response

The books have sold very well in the United States, many topping The New York Times list of bestsellers. Nick Parmley, a charismatic Baptist minister from Portland, Oregon, has called on Evangelical Christians to adopt this series as "required reading". In other areas, such as continental Europe—where dispensationalism is largely non-existent—the books have been far less successful.

The popularity of this series has spilled over beyond the Americas and the English-speaking world. It has been translated to many languages including Chinese and Japanese. There is, however, a protracted lag in translation. (As at September 2005, the Chinese version of Book 11 is in the press and the Japanese version of Book 6 has been published.)

In 2004, the series and its authors were featured on Penn and Teller's Showtime television show Bullshit! on the episode "End of the World."

Jewish Criticism

In an article enquiring into the series' popularity, Salon magazine writer Michelle Goldberg described what she believed was one of the series' attractions: "On one level, the attraction of the Left Behind books isn't that much different from that of, say, Tom Clancy or Stephen King. The plotting is brisk and the characterizations Manichean." [3] However, she considered the books to be an attack on Judaism and liberal secularism, and pointed out that the near-future "end times" the books are set in seem to reflect the actual worldview of millions of Americans, including many prominent conservative leaders.

Christian Criticisms

Some practicing Christians, evangelical and otherwise, have shown concern that the social perspectives promoted in the Left Behind series unduly sensationalize the death and destruction of masses of people.[citation needed] In addition, many Christians deny the key eschatological beliefs underpinning the plotline. For instance, amillennial and postmillennial Christians do not believe in the same time-line of the Second Coming as premillennialists, while preterist Christians do not interpret the Book of Revelation to predict future events at all.

The book also brought strong protests from Romania over the depiction of a Romanian as the antichrist (some implied religious persecution: the authors are of Roman Catholic extraction, while the majority of Romanians are Orthodox Christians

Parody

Satirical takes on the Left Behind series include:

  • Earl Lee, Kiss My Left Behind (Aventine Press, November 2003). ISBN 1593301065
  • Kiss My Left Behind 2: The Tribulation Farce
  • Nathan D. Wilson, Right Behind: A Parody of Last Days Goofiness (Canon Press, June 2001). ISBN 1885767870
  • Nathan D. Wilson, Supergeddon: A Really Big Geddon (Cannon Press, July 2003). ISBN 1591280133
  • Thank God It's Doomsday (The Simpsons episode, May 2005)

Region Codes

Each of the ten regions in the Global Community is given a code that is used when the mark is applied. Each number is obtained through a mathmatical equation involving three 6s. 

United North American States: -6=6-6-6
United South American States: 0=(6-6)*6
United Great Britain States: 2=(6+6)/6
United European States: 6=6+6-6
United African States: 7=(6/6)+6
United Pacific States: 18=6+6+6
United Asian States: 30=(6*6)-6
United Indian States: 42=(6*6)+6
United Russian States: 72=(6+6)*6
United Holy Land (Carpathian) States: 216=6*6*6

Influences on the authors

LaHaye and Jenkins cite the influence of Russell S. Doughten, an Iowan film-maker who directed a series of four low-budget feature-length films in the 1970s and 1980s about the Rapture and Second Coming. The films' popularity among Christian fundamentalists have led to increased study and speculation as to the events described in the Book of Revelation.

Movies based on the series

DVD cover of Left Behind: World at War.

The success of the Left Behind books have led to the release of three motion pictures based on the series so far. The movies have been produced and released by Cloud Ten Pictures, a Canadian Christian movie studio.

In 2000, the studio released Left Behind: The Movie, based on the first book of the series. In a very unusual marketing scheme, the studio released the movie on video and DVD first, and then released it to the theatres. Though the movie fared poorly in theaters [4], it was the video release that "stunned" Hollywood [5]. The movie starred former Growing Pains star Kirk Cameron as Buck Williams. Cameron, who finds the series inspiring, is a practicing evangelist (and co-host with Ray Comfort on the TV show The Way of the Master).

In 2002, the sequel, Left Behind II: Tribulation Force, based on the first four hundred pages of the second novel, Tribulation Force, was released. The film debuted at #2, behind Spider-Man, on the home video charts [6] and was #1 in terms of overall sales for two days on Amazon.com [7].

In October 2005, the second sequel, Left Behind: World at War was released first to churches on October 21, 2005 for church theatrical viewings, and was released to DVD and video on October 25, 2005. The new movie is based very loosely on the final fifty pages of Tribulation Force, and features Louis Gossett Jr. playing the President of the United States, Gerald Fitzhugh. The third movie was the least identifiable with events in any of the books. Recognizable events were the marriages of Buck with Chloe and Rayford with Amanda, the death of Bruce Barnes, and the U.S. president heading an attack, with Britain and Egypt, against the Global Community. Major parts of the movie, however, were not in any of the books: the poisoning of Bibles by the forces of Nicolae, and an attempt by Fitzhugh to assassinate Nicolae. Buck's meeting with the president in the books makes it into the movie, but in a totally different form.

With the great success of the movies so far, it can be expected that Cloud Ten Pictures will continue to produce more Left Behind films, possibly even covering the entire series.

It is of special interest to note that in 2004, Cloud Ten Pictures made a deal with Sony Entertainment to release all of its pictures under the Sony banner, and has been doing so ever since.

All cast members (save one) from Left Behind and Left Behind II: Tribulation Force reprised their respective roles for Left Behind: World At War. The regular who played the role of Bruce Barnes was unable to return for the third movie, due to a scheduling conflict with a play in New York.

Videogame based on the series

The videogame Left Behind: Eternal Forces is in development by a publicly traded company Left Behind Games. The game is planned to be a real-time strategy game where the player controls a 'Tribulation Forces' team and allows the player to "use the power of prayer to strengthen your troops in combat and wield modern military weaponry throughout the game world." It is scheduled for release in 2006, and will likely be marketed directly to congregations through churches and megachurches.

The game has drawn criticism from some quarters (notably the renowned anti-violent videogame campaigner, Jack Thompson) for rewarding the player for killing non-Christian characters.

See also

Secondary literature

  • Forbes, Bruce David and Jeanne Halgren Kilde (eds.), Rapture, Revelation, and the End Times: Exploring the Left Behind Series. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. ISBN 1403965250
  • Frykholm, Amy David. Rapture Culture: Left Behind in Evangelical America. Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0195159837
  • Shuck, Glenn W.. Marks Of The Beast: The Left Behind Novels And The Struggle For Evangelical Identity. New York University Press, 2004. ISBN 0814740057
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