aken strictly as “millennial” fiction, the popular Left Behind series by authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins is, I admit, a great read. The series, planned for 12 volumes, is now up to seven: Left Behind, Tribulation Force, Nicolae, Soul Harvest, Appollyon, Assassins, and The Indwelling.

It’s not surprising that the Left Behind books consistently show up on the New York Times best-seller list: They are exciting, fast-paced action fiction. But that’s all they are.

The books tell the story of the people “left behind” when those who have accepted salvation through Christ are taken away in the “Rapture” at the start of Revelation’s “great tribulation.” The characters fall into one of three camps: believers in Christ who, for one reason or another, had not yet accepted Him as Saviour before the rapture; the enemies of Christ, who include Nicolae Carpathia, the antichrist, and his followers; and the fence-straddlers, those who oppose Carpathia but again, for one reason or another, still will not accept Christ as Saviour.

There’s not enough space in this review to give many details of the characters or the plot. Briefly, after the rapture the believers discover their error and band together to form the “Tribulation Force,” a group devoted to battling Carpathia and surviving—spiritually if not physically—the great tribulation. The membership of the Tribulation Force grows throughout the series, linked by the Internet and other forms of cybercommunication. At the same time, Carpathia is consolidating his power through a new world government, the Global Community, divided among 10 rulers or “potentates” (10 horns of Daniel 7?).

The action swirls around the interplay of these groups during the seven years of the great tribulation. The events of the tribulation are taken, quite literally, from the language in Revelation and Daniel. The characters are believable and sympathetic, and the plotting and timing of the story well done. There is plenty of suspense, lots of action, and (reader be warned) strong violence in certain parts.

Unfortunately, many readers, Christians and the merely curious, have attached spiritual and prophetic meaning to these books. The series is a topic in many Christian discussion groups and Internet chat rooms, generating surprisingly intense debate about the rapture, “signs of the end” and other end-time events, and the meaning of the final judgment. This underscores two concerns I have about the series.

First, readers who have accepted Christ and long for His return—particularly new believers—may become unduly infatuated with the events so excitingly described in the books. They could, in turn, spend inordinate time analyzing, studying, and verifying the details portrayed in the books, shifting their focus away from more important pursuits, such as developing a personal relationship with Christ and simple, day-to-day Christianity.

Second, readers who are not believers, but who have had their curiosity piqued by the popularity of these books, may get a badly distorted view of Christian beliefs, reject them, and look no further. The authors describe the events from Revelation and Daniel in literal, almost slavish detail. In some cases this becomes, well, silly. Real giant flying locusts, wearing crowns and armor, and zapping their victims with scorpion tails? An actual star named Wormwood plunging into the sea? The potential new believer might find these events too ridiculous to accept and never discover the true focus of Christianity—eternal salvation through faith in our Lord.

In short, I recommend these books to anyone who is interested in—and has the time for—fun, well-written action fiction with an evangelical theme. On the other hand, the books are not for anyone seeking an accurate, serious analysis of Christ and biblical prophecies about His coming. For that, there is no substitute for prayerful, Spirit-guided study of the Bible itself.

_________________________
Don O. Neufeld is an attorney in Fresno, California.