I recommend it for anyone who has read or been exposed to the "Left Behind" series of books. I think just about everyone who is in the mere Christian Bible study I participate in believes in the rapture. When we finished the Gospel of Matthew there was even a suggestion we read one of those books. Not as Scripture, of course, but as something we could all discuss. Thank goodness that got squashed and we're doing Acts.
The modern idea of the rapture came from bad theology in the mid 1800's and has been zealously preached in recent decades. Whatever Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins motives were in writing the "Left Behind" series it's clear they have made piles of greenbacks while scaring the bejesus out of people. I saw once a woman in church with one of the books. Another time I noticed the whole series of books displayed across the top shelf of the "Religion" section in a bookstore. I thought that was odd since right next to the "Religion" section was the "Inspirational Fiction" section. I should have told manager those books belonged in the "Fiction" section, not even in the "Inspirational Fiction" section, but I just purchased some Chesterton and walked out. The problem, I suppose, besides bad theology being easy for people to buy into, is that Jesus sells. Not in all markets but in predominantly Christian and consumeristic countries the topic of Jesus, however flawed the theology, the writing, the movie-making, sells. Now if Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins wrote instead about a galaxy far, far away in which the people believed what the humans do in the Left Behind series, only about another diety and religion, they would have used their original manuscript to wrap fish. Give it a Christian context and it's a different ball game.
Here's an interesting article from Catholic.net about the books. I had no idea 30 million copies of these books have been sold. It stinks that some people can't separate fiction from theology. This, from the article on Catholic.net, is quite amusing:
The most successful end-times movie franchise may be the series produced by Peter Lalonde and his brother Paul. It got off to a shaky start with the shabby Apocalypse (1998) but picked up with Revelation (1999), which hatched a plan by the Antichrist to steal souls through virtual-reality helmets, and Tribulation (2000), in which Gary Busey comes out of a coma to find himself stranded in the tribulation. Judgment (2001) stars Corbin Bernsen, along with Mr. T who plays an underground believer who has had enough of that turn-the-other-cheek stuff. The Lalondes also produced a spin-off video, Vanished (1999) meant to be seen by non-Christians after the rapture.
I can see it now. Mr. T says, "Don't give me any of that Jesus was just a dude jibbah-jabbah - accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior!"
