Left Behind?

[SRMartin15]

Well i have started to read the books of the Left Behind Series have read the first 2 books. I enjoying reading them i think they are fun to read but on my quest to finding out more and more about the Catholic religion i find that the ideas of the 2nd coming of Jesus to be much different in the Catholic Church. (im going to be converting to Catholicism).

Should I continue to read these books. I enjoy reading them and i know that these are not correct views on the end times. So what should i do?

The main reason for this topic was to ask all of you who have been so helpful before to help me in understanding our views (The Catholic view) on the 2nd coming of Christ. I would like to know our thoughs before wondering into the unknown and possible being decieved. Thank you for taking your time to read this . Grace of god be with you

Sean

Edited July 11, 2005 by SRMartin15

[Fides_et_Ratio]

I have the first 8 of them (from before I reconciled).

The Catholic view of the endtimes is different than the books. The books can be an interesting read, but they end up bashing the Church, and becoming very worldly focused, even in light of it being the "end times". I didn't like them after the first 4, I just quit reading and left them to sit on my shelf. At times, I think they get a little too fantastical.

[SRMartin15]

I feel like i just wasted my money on these books haha. Im sure i will end up reading all of them because i hate reading a story and not being able to finish it. Im going to read them strictly for the enjoyment of reading them. Knowing that it puts down the church discourages me from reading them as dilligantly as i had a few years before. Thank you for your response and i would love to hear from more people on this topic

Sean

[Fides_et_Ratio]

you feel like you've wasted money! I have the first 8 (or 9?) and only read 4! lol.

... if you're going to keep reading them (which, they seem to be unending.. a new book in the series keeps coming out), I'd recommend borrowing them from the library or something a little cheaper.

[Apotheoun]

Lucky me, I didn't waste my money on them.

[Soldier4Him]

i've read them all. strictly for entertainment. the series is done by the way...but they just came out with a prequel...so who really knows. but yes, it's not the correct view on the end times. but it is encouraging to know that people who have had no idea who Jesus was before have developed a relationship with him (even if not fully Catholic) because of these books. And I don't think they bashed our faith. i did enjoy them. but i went into them knowing they weren't teaching me theology.

[ReinnieR]

i personally have not read them.

but from what i understand the left behind series is the fundamental view of the rapture??

correct me if i'm wrong here.

a pilot one day will jsut be raptured and there's nobody flying a plane or a driver in a highway will just be raptrured?? then there would be a thousand years of tribulations then Jesus Christ and all those raptures will come back and judge those who are left.

so for the fundamentalists view of the rapture there's 3 comings of Jesus Christ.
1st was his birth on Bethlehem
2nd is when he raptures "those who are saved"
3rd is the final coming when judges those who were "left behind"

and from what i understand

the catholics (lutherans, episcopalians, anglicans, greek orthodox russian orthodox) and mainline protestants agree that there's only 2 comings of Jesus Christ and that nobody knows the time nor the date of his return

[DemonSlayer]

I think that the author(s) of the series has a similar agenda against the Church like Dan Brown, to create negative feelings towards It..

[ReinnieR]

the books are clearly fictional.

[cmotherofpirl]

Since they are anti-catholic and present false teachings I don't recommend them to anybody. Same category as the Da Vinci carp.

[musturde]

I only read armegedon (sp?) but It wasn't that great of a read. I definitely would recomend other books besides it. I personally don't care about how they portray the Church in these books. These are works of fiction and they dont do much to change a persons view on the Church. What I do not like is the authors anti-Catholic stances. I believe one of them wrote an anti Catholic book but I'm not sure. I'm fine with Left Behind, I just think it's not that good.

[prose]

I saw the movies (I guess I am too lazy to read).

It was a little strange seeing Kirk Cameron... But besides that, I didn't care too much for them.

I would like to read some good Catholic fiction (besides Bud McFarlane, I have read those). Any suggestions??

[jezic]

the books are alright. They have a thrilling story but the truth to them is sometimes lacking.

I think they are fine as long as you are careful and understand that it likely won't happen that way.

[Jaime]

Well I certainly wouldn't read them for information on the Church. There ain't any to be found.

And yes they are very biased against Catholicism. If I remember, most Catholics were "left behind" because they hadn't been born again.

I thought the first two books were pretty good

The next 47 books (it felt like 47) were a serious attempt at milking the craze. One book only covers 3 days in the timeline. Oh lawd they were poorly written

The last book I thought was pretty good. I finished the last book and gave it to my father to read to which he said "How does it end?"

He's funny sometimes

[john6:63]

[quote name='ReinnieR' date='Jul 11 2005, 01:27 AM']
so for the fundamentalists view of the rapture there's 3 comings of Jesus Christ.
1st was his birth on Bethlehem
2nd is when he raptures "those who are saved"
3rd is the final coming when judges those who were "left behind"
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[/quote]
Coming from a fundamentalist Baptist myself, who by the way is studying the Catholic faith, here’s how it was always presented to me.

2 comings of Christ:
1st was His birth, physically Jesus walked the earth
Rapture, Jesus never physically touches the earth. Those saved meet Him in the clouds.
2nd coming is when Christ returns and physically touches the earth during the Battle of Armageddon and then sets up His kingdom.

Is there an “official” statement by the Vatican concerning the end times? I know Catholics are generally Amillennial, but I though I read where there really isn’t a position on this by the Vatican. Am I wrong?

OBTW, my wife has read the whole series and she did tell me a while ago that the Pope was raptured (in the book that is).

[SRMartin15]

Thank you all for the help in this issue i thank you very much for your opinions and thought on what i should do in my situation. I plan to read they for stricly enjoyment purposes and always reminding myself that they are fiction and always will be.

Thank you again

Sean