Glorious Appearing

I finally finished the Left Behind series! There's not too much to tell about Jerry Jenkins' and Tim LaHaye's Glorious Appearing. There's a little bit of general chaos that begins the book, but before long Jesus comes. Things pretty much unfold in ways familiar to those who read the Bible. Jesus rules, gets rid of the enemies, judges mankind, and all of the saved have a big reunion. As usual, there's little character development, lots of not-so-hidden commentary, and easy-to-read writing. Unlike the other books, there's not a lot of action and is therefore less compelling. 1/3 of it was generic subpar writing, 1/3 LaHaye commentary, and 1/3 practically straight from the NIV Biblical quotes.

This book was a dull conclusion to the series. Not much is described besides what comes straight from the Bible. There were also opportunities for emotional scenes, but they really didn't affect me much.

After finishing the series, I have learned a few things. First, Jerry Jenkins is a really mediocre writer. Funny thing, though - he actually has a blog about writing in which he comes off as being a very critical and picky writer. Hah!

Second, LaHaye may not have written much, but he's the clear brains behind the project. There's an awful lot of social, political, and religious commentary (somewhat) hidden in the pages of the book. Wonder why the United Nations is a willing arm of the Antichrist? Wonder why women are second to men in the pages of the books? Wonder why there are people from many nations and ethnicities among the main characters, but nobody from the continent of Africa and just one token black character (who plays a very tiny forgettable role)? Wonder why the Pope is an early supporter of the Antichrist? To answer the first three questions, LaHaye believes that the National Organization of Women, the NAACP, and the UN are all part of a plot to "turn America into an amoral, humanist country, ripe for merger into a one-world socialist state." (quote from Wikipedia) To address the last question, LaHaye believes Catholicism to be a pagan religion and that the pope is an antichrist.


In summation, the Left Behind series could have been great, or, at the very least, consistently interesting. Instead, it's a series that starts decently strong and then peters off into awfulness. Don't waste your time with this series. Re-read the Chronicles of Narnia if you want good series Christian fiction. Or at least give Ted Dekker a try (the Circle series is decent). I've also heard pretty good things about Frank Peretti - who I'll be reading soon. Skip Left Behind.


Rating: 0.5 out of 5 stars (and the half is generous)


43 books, 148 days...I'm still on pace!