July/August 2001

Will You Be Left Behind?

by Greg Albrecht

Tom, one of our readers, writes, "What are your feelings about the Left Behind Series?"

Dear Tom,

Christians should be careful that they understand that the Left Behind series is fiction. Not only is it fiction, it is fiction based upon biblical supposition -- presuppositions with which the majority of Christianity does not now agree, nor has it ever.

The Left Behind series is based upon pre-millennial dispensationalism, a method of interpreting the Bible that was not known or believed until the early 19th century. Dispensationalism teaches that God divided human history into seven dispensations which he administered in differing ways. Premillennial dispensationalism favors a literal interpretation of Scripture and a belief that Christ will return and establish a one thousand year earthly reign (for most adherents this one thousand years follows six thousand years of dispensations).

Speculation and date setting about the return of Jesus Christ have always been natural byproducts of dispensationalism. One of the most famous followers of early dispensationalism was a man named William Miller. Miller's powerful preaching and teaching led his followers to believe that Jesus Christ would return in 1844. When Jesus didn't jump through humanly devised hoops of prophetic prediction, the event became known as the Great Disappointment.

Premillennial dispensationalism is batting .000 (all predictions about Jesus' return have failed to date), and its legacy is a public relations nightmare for Christianity. Let's not forget the near hysteria of Y2K just two years ago when Christian survivalists were storing food and ammunition to protect themselves in case a worldwide computer meltdown ended the world as we know it. Let's also not forget that the bogus fears and speculations about Y2K made some people very rich.

As Y2K fears dominated Christian bookstores, magazines, radio programs and many pulpits, the May-June 1999 issue of The Plain Truth warned: "This rumor-rich environment is a marketing dream for those who wish to make a quick buck. Some companies that specialize in survival report that they are several months behind orders, and demand has exceeded supply.

"The Plain Truth urges restraint, faith, reason and logic. It would seem that our greatest peril is a society-wide 'run on the bank' caused by the exploitation of fears and insecurities. It could well be that any problems North America experiences will be the direct result of faithless and fearful reactions of many who will unwittingly create the very chaos they have been led to fear from Y2K."

Speaking of speculative ideas, consider the teaching about the rapture -- based upon a shaky, at best, biblical interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, especially verse 17. The rapture (and the plot of the Left Behind series) is based upon one possible interpretation of this passage.

If the teaching about the rapture is true, then Christians everywhere will be "caught up in the air" while the unsaved are left to suffer the agonies of worldwide tribulation. However, there are other ways of understanding what Paul was saying to the Thessalonians.

To accept the idea of a rapture involves building assumption upon assumption. That's why it is best to view the Left Behind series as speculative fiction. Left Behind, based upon the assumptions of premillenial dispensationalism and of the rapture, paints a picture that God will physically save Christians from physical distress that others, the unsaved, will experience. But the Bible is not about physical comforts or health. The gospel of Jesus Christ is all about spiritual salvation, not about physical salvation.

Word and visual pictures of the rapture have airliners crashing, as "true" Christians who are piloting them are whisked out of the cockpits to be saved -- presumably because God loves them more than some of the doomed passengers who go down in flames because they happened to have a Christian pilot. Perhaps those who think the rapture might be true but fear they are not good enough to be raptured should insist upon non-Christian pilots. Call ahead of time to see if a Christian is at the controls!

The rapture teaches that Christians around the world, regardless of how important or precarious an activity they are involved in, may suddenly be, without warning, "called home" -- all at exactly the same time. Some who believe in the rapture have actually posted a notice on the dashboards of their cars -- "If I'm raptured, take the wheel." But why would God allow millions of cars to suddenly careen out of control, killing and maiming those who are "left behind?" What about the patient on the operating table whose surgeon suddenly vanishes? Is this a true and accurate picture of the God of the Bible?

Two years ago some of the most vocal Y2K doomsdayers preached from Christian pulpits. Their message played well for those who do little but grumble about how bad our world is. Such dynamics combine to make media promotions like the Left Behind series enormously profitable. But is it the gospel of Jesus Christ?

There is no doubt that fear religion, speculations and outlandish predictions about the future sell books and videos. But at what cost? What about the views of other Christians -- in fact, most other Christians? One Christian, explaining that Left Behind doesn't speak for him, or most Christians for that matter, says, "Are you aware that this cash cow [of dispensationalism] was born in 1830 in the United Kingdom and didn't gain widespread acceptance in the United States until 1909?"

Rod Dreher, a columnist at the New York Post who is a Christian, says that Left Behind is "like The Day of the Jackal as conceived by Ned Flanders, and produced by the film and video department of a rural Bible college. Hoo boy, is this thing ever an embarrassment."

Dreher explains that he is a believing Christian but does not agree with Left Behind advisers Jack and Rexella Van Impe who "find prophetic significance behind the headlines (if the European Union announces restrictions on the export of goat cheese, Jack will show you where Ezekiel prophesied this as a sign of the end)."

And what about all those Christians who lived and died knowing nothing of the rapture (until the early 18th century)? What about the faith of those who pin all their hopes on such ideas, who get hooked on "prediction addiction", only to have their hopes dashed? What about those who find such hype and promotion nothing more than a modern traveling carnival show, and therefore find it hard to believe in Christianity at all -- and as a result find it difficult to sometimes even believe in God?

Jesus Christ told us that he would return to this earth. He also told us in no uncertain terms that we would not know when. Considering the track record of speculations and predictions we would do well to take Christ at his word, trusting him whenever and however his return might be. 

Rapture, Anyone? by Greg Albrecht Those who believe and teach the rapture cannot agree among themselves, and no wonder, for they lack firm biblical foundation for this fictional teaching. Teachings about the rapture are based upon the assumptions of dispensationalism, a method of biblical interpretation popularized by John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). Dispensationalism relies upon several presuppositions: 1. God works and administers his plan during different periods of time upon differing foundational principles. 2. The Scripture is to be interpreted literally. 3. All biblical prophecy should be understood by premillennialism -- that Christ will return and then set up an earthly reign for one thousand years.   Some believe that the very nature of God, that he is the same yesterday, today and forever is challenged (and denied?) by the first presupposition. This assumption, at best, is a speculation. No clear, dogmatic biblical evidence supports it. The second presupposition is of course partially true, but it fails to acknowledge huge portions of the Bible that are written as poetry, and were never intended to be understood literally. All literature, including the Bible, uses devices such as metaphor and allegory to alert us to the fact that the author has another meaning, other than the literal in mind. Many times such poetic meanings are used to convey a depth of meaning that a literal interpretation cannot. The third assumption fails to accept that there are several ways to interpret biblical prophecy, and that premillennialism has never been, and is not now, favored by the majority of Christians. If one accepts these three propositions as logically sound and biblically true, in the face of the fact that the majority of Christianity does not, then and only then can one be predisposed to accepting the idea of a rapture. One more caution must be thrown to the wind if one is to accept the rapture. One of the basic rules of understanding the Bible is to read passages within their intended context. One must never forget that the message had a meaning in its original context and to its original readers and listeners. Then and only then might we make an interpretation for our lives. This cardinal and basic rule of Bible study must be ignored if the Left Behind interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is to be considered anything but fictional. A careful reading of the context of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, especially verse 17, will reveal that Paul's intent in writing this passage was not even close to the rapture theory that was forced upon this text almost 1800 years later. The rapture teaching also goes against one of the "rules" of those who teach it. Dispensationalism and its followers has long favored the practice of endless quotations of many passages, "proof" of a teaching or proposition by sheer weight of passages that happen to include a particular word or phrase. John Nelson Darby, the father of dispensationalism, once said, "I prefer quoting many passages than enlarging upon them." Overwhelming a topic with the sheer number of passages intended to prove a point, regardless of the context and genre of literature used by each passage, is of course a serious abuse of the Bible -- something the Bible warns against (2 Timothy 2:15). Some call it "spoof texting" while others call it "Scrip-torture." However, in the case of the rapture, this commonly used dispensational device is abandoned, as only a few passages can even remotely be "used" to prove such an event. Those who believe and teach the rapture cannot agree among themselves, and no wonder, for they lack firm biblical foundation for this fictional teaching. Some believe that the rapture will be secret and quiet -- that is, only Christians will see Jesus Christ and the rest of the world will have no idea that anything has happened. This of course, is not the theory used by Left Behind -- perhaps, among other reasons, it lacks the drama of the audible rapture. The audible and noisy rapture proposes that those who are not Christians will see and hear the spectacle of Christians being whisked away to safety while they are left behind. Perhaps most telling of all is the fact that the Left Behind series appears in the fiction section of bookstores. Co-author Tim LaHaye said of the approach of the year 2000, "It [the year 2000] could very well trigger a financial meltdown leading to a worldwide depression." While he eventually backed away from such a dogmatic position, the methodology that logically led to such a biblically flawed prediction overwhelms the Left Behind teaching and the assumption of the rapture upon which it rests. God does not deal with us or need to motivate us with fear -- and we should not attempt to persuade others that he does so. God loves all of us -- whether we happen to believe we will be raptured or not.

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