End Times Fiction: A Biblical Consideration of the Left Behind Theology

by Gary DeMar

Book Overview

Tim LaHaye contends that his bestselling Left Behind series (with Jerry Jenkins) is "the first fictional portrayal of prophetic events that are true to the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy."... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0785266429
• ISBN13: 9780785266426
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful Resource

Wish I could give this book a higher rating. However, this web site only has 5 stars. Since that's the case, I will give this book, the highest star they have. Read from my copy and just fell in love with it. Anyone that would agree with the unblblical teachings of Left Behind, Tim LaHaye's Prophecy Study Bible and Late Great Planet Earth, needs to leave that mess alone. Get this book and see first hand what the Bible is teaching about the End Times and the events that will surround it. Don't let anyone like Tim LaHaye, Jack Van Impe, John Hagee and/or Hal Lindsey fool you into thinking that the Church will be secertly removed, before the so-called seven year tribulation. This book opened my eyes to even more truth. I am so glad that I was able to get it. Also, I am so glad that it taught me things that I wasn't even aware of. If you are looking for a book to read from, that will properly explain the End Times, get this wonderful resource and you will not be upset at all. For those reading this, that are Pre-Trib, please buy this book and carefully study from it. It will cause you to reexamine your beliefs and compare them with the true teachings of the Bible, on this important subject.

For the Serious Seeker

This book is for the serious seeker who wants something more than pop culture Christianity being peddled by celebrity evangelists.DeMar does an effective job in debunking false interpretations of Revelation which seem so popular but can be so misleading. By putting Revelation in its proper historical perspective, he makes it far more believable. Revelation was meant to be understood. Unfortunately, many modern evangelists have complicated it in order to sell books and videos.I also recommend "The Beast of Revelation" by Kenneth Gentry and Margaret Barker's "Revelation" book.The bottom line is - if John wrote about things that were to happen some 2,000 years in the future, he was either greatly deceiving the people he was writing to or was greatly deceived himself.DeMar makes it very clear that Revelation describes events that actually did happen making it a truly inspired book. Unfortunately, some modern evangelists have turned it into a mystery which only they can solve. They are the false prophets.

Required reading for "Left Behind" fans and non-fans alike

There is little doubt that the "Left Behind" series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins is a phenomenon unparalleled in the history of Christian publishing (with the possible exception of "The Prayer of Jabez"). The problem is, even though the series is presented as fiction, it is a thinly-veiled work of misguided theology. Of course, the theology presented by these books is the very popular modern theology of dispensation premillenialism, complete with the requisite doctrine of the pre-trib rapture. In "End Times Fiction", Gary DeMar takes each pet doctrine of this eschatalogical viewpoint and examines them one-by-one in light of the clear teaching of the Bible. When compared with what the Bible actually teaches, the theology that undergirds the "Left Behind" series is found seriously flawed.So many today make the assumption that there will be a "rapture" before a seven-year tribulation period, that Russia will attack Israel, that there will be a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, and that there will be one person called the Antichrist that will lead a one-world government. They believe that the seven churches in the first chapters of Revelation correspond to different periods in the church age rather than actual churches that were in existence at the time the book of Revelation was written. It would be rather eye-opening to these people to see that these interpretations have very little support in the actual text of the Bible. DeMar does a masterful job showing that most of what Revelation and what is known as the "Olivet Discourse" of Jesus has already taken place with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Unlike some texts dealing with this view of eschatology ("The Last Days According to Jesus" by R.C. Sproul comes to mind), this book is very easy to follow and to understand. It is a "must read" in today's climate of pop-religion.

Finally someone rightly divides the Word of truth...

I must admit, I get caught up in Left Behind mania from time to time. I've read half of the books. I've listened to a few on CD in the car. I've met co-author Jerry Jenkins on his book tours. I even think it's great when local morning newscasters talk about reading the latest book in the series.However, all emotionalism and hype aside, something always made me uneasy about the books and their theology. I just couldn't seem to find the verses to support their multi-layered, fanciful theology.End Times Fiction tells me why: the verses don't exist.I just finished reading Gary DeMar's book and now I'm beginning to wonder what Tim LaHaye is up to (besides building a massive marketing empire based around his books -- much like Bruce Wilkinson has done with his ridiculous Prayer of Jabez book). If the Bible is as clear as DeMar indicates that it is, why is LaHay continuing to support, defend and propagate a theology as flawed as any a member of a cult would put forth.End Times Fiction slowly, carefully and clearly tackles each of the theological points found in LaHaye's enormously popular Left Behind books (and in his recently published -- or re-issued -- books on prophecy), comparing LaHaye's statements with verses he uses to support them. They don't match. What LaHaye is telling the world just can't be found in Scripture.If you've read the Left Behind books (as I have), or know someone who has, or if you've been scratching your head trying to figure out how all of the the weeks, years, events and predictions fit with Scripture, you need to read this book and pass it along.Scripture isn't as esoteric as LaHaye makes it out to be. Nor is it as convoluted and spooky.Gary DeMar's book makes things very clear and plain.But be forewarned: After reading this book, you won't look at the Left Behind books -- or their author Tim LaHaye -- the same way ever again.Yet, you may just come away with an even stronger, more biblically sound and solid, faith. And that's a very good thing, indeed.

What if many things you think are future are past?

In an era when to say that you don't believe in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church is tantamount to abandoning orthodoxy altogether, Gary DeMar provides a timely alternative to this eschatological paradigm and promotes a view firmly rooted in sound hermeneutics and the testimony of church history.It doesn't take much to notice that the Left Behind book series is taking the world by storm. People are fanatic about these books, and even more fanatic about the theology behind them. Unfortunately, what many do not realize is that the theology undergirding the Left Behind series is an eisegetical (reading into the Scripture questionable presuppositions) approach to understanding the Bible. As a result, many are being mislead and are misleading others in regards to a false hope.What is more, many in the secular world, because of the popularity of this doctrine (and it should be noted that popularity is never a plumbline for truth), are coming to equate to whole of Christendom with this "Armageddon Theology." Consequently, the Body of Christ is presenting a wonderful opportunity for the world to "throw the baby out with the bath water" and discount Christianity altogether, despite the fact that the Scriptures nor the majority of the Church's testimony maintain such theories.I work in a bookstore where, because of the recent events of terrorism, many are coming in and asking about books about the end times. When handed End Times Fiction, most are immediately reluctant to even consider to possibility that the views they espouse are unbiblical. In answering a matter before they hear it, they automatically discount a very biblical approach. Thus, like many others, they are buying into a "newspaper exegesis," and subscribing to false view of the future.I hope you won't do the same with DeMar's new book. It's a must read, and even if you don't end up agreeing with him, it will be well worth your time to consider an eschatological view held by your brothers in sisters in Christ not only presently, but throughout the history of the Church. Further, you will be more sensitive to the possible weaknesses of your own understanding of the end times, and this will foster humility in dealing with a subject that is many times accompanied by an ignorant dogmatism.Chapters include subjects such as: the Rapture of the Church, the Great Tribulation,the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, and others. Enjoy a book that just might change your life (literally, for you Dispensationalists out there)!!