lel, yes, some Catholics were raptured, including the “reformist” Pope, but the premise is that there are some Catholics who coincidentally are also Christians. Or, possibly, they were only nominal Catholics who showed up for Mass every week out of habit or familiarity, but didn’t really believe the teachings of the Church.
Also, I do think Chang and his family are token Asians- characters of various ethnic groups seem to be introduced as the authors realize that “hey, we don’t have any _____ in the story, and we don’t want to be accused of being racist”. That’s my theory, anyway. Black characters seem to be introduced in one book, make their contribution, then die a book or two later. Blatant tokenism.
I’ve also read all of them so far, but it’s become much more of a chore.
The first book, Left Behind was decent, though not wonderful. The latter ones become increasingly poorly written and a continuous restating of things that have happened before.
Book 11(?) Armeggedon is due out within the next week - I certainly am not going to purchase it, and reading it is only a possibility if it’s either available in my local library within a short period of time or if I can find an hour to skim it at Barnes & Noble.
**El Elvis Rojo[/]- the Mark of the Beast is a subcutaneous computer chip along with a tattoo indentifying what region of the world you’re from.
Lsura, you’re right about the constant rehashing. Instead of briefly alluding to past events, they are described in detail, sometimes taking up a couple of paragraphs. Apparently the authors realize that the intelligence level of people who actually think that the LB series is a bunch of good books is such that they wouldn’t actually be able to remember what happened in the last book.
Either that or it’s padding so they can stretch out a trilogy into a twelve book series without actually having to create actual plot and story ideas.
Everyone who was reading them in my (admittedly fundie) church pretty much gave up around 5-6, they were getting so bad. I remember reading the one the OP satirizes, but I’m pretty sure that was the last one I read.
Then again, Chang and his family seem to be in a more major role as the series goes on – weren’t they a big part of Desecration? (My memory of these books is really failing me badly, sorry.)
As for the Catholics, I suppose they could be raptured if despite (insert irony here) the Catholic church, they truly accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. I just didn’t recall any of this happening in the LB books.
I must go back and reread them – no, better not waste my time yet again.
The “baby” of our five cats has a micro-chip. We got her at the Humane Society and they do that to all the animals there. Does that mean she has the Mark?
Poor little Piper Grace!
I think Kirk Cameron was in the movies. He’s a HUGE fundy, and from I understand, he’s the reason the one actress had to leave the show (she had posed in Playboy and he made a huge fit about it.)
The Chip was not (far as we know) administered under command of the AntiChrist, nor did her kitty (far as we know) pledge loyalty to the AntiChrist in exchange for the Chip.
I think LB has a scene, as do many EndTimes novels, of a Christian who has the Mark forced upon him/her & the shame & struggle to trust their salvation is secure. All such scenes guarantee that any who has the Mark forced on them are safe as long as they then don’t worship the Beast.
Yeesh. The world’s lakes and rivers have been turned to blood, but the oceans have been turned back to salt water. Of course, if you’re a believer, if you get a bucket of blood out of the river, it will turn to nice, fresh water.
The Antichrist has imbued a bunch of false Messiahs with his power to “convert” the undecided, and succeeds, but since the deadline for taking the mark has long since expired, they are simply executed after deciding to follow the Antichrist. One of them lures a bunch of the undecided out of their protected place in Petra- the first bunch to leave the city are swallowed up by the earth, but the rest go out to see this guy anyway. Some decide to take the mark, which magically appears on their foreheads, but then the false Messiah dude conjures up a bunch of poisonous snakes to kill the lot of them. There are three supernatural witness types also appearing to various groups, including a group of devout Muslims who have been captured by the GC forces, and persuade them to become believers just before they are executed. Steve Plank, a believer who has been editor of the Antichrist’s global magazine and using the position to feed info to the Trib Force, is finally told he has to take the mark, and openly opts for the guillotine instead.
The sun goes all hotter than hell, and most wood buildings burst into flame. The Antichrist and the believers are the only ones who can go out in the daytime. Anyone else is cooked to death instantly. Then a plague of darkness falls upon the whole world, which brings with it excruciating pain for the unbelievers, but the believers can see in sepia tones.
So what’s the AntiChrist’s motivation? I know he’s evil and a servant of Satan or whatever, but is “making the world evil for my master, Satan” his motivation, or does he have other ones?
Seriously? I don’t know if LaHaye and Jenkins have done a full theological analysis of Satan’s motivations. Traditionally, the idea is that Satan is striking indirectly at God through his creation, us. There’s an old saying: a bad man will lie, cheat, steal and murder, but not necessarily be evil. An evil man will try to separate others from God.
It’s like knocking down a little kid’s sandcastle. The goal is to piss off the kid. Mankind is the sandcastle.
