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The Fourth Reich
Based on biblical prophecy, this towering novel creates a chilling portrayal of what will happen in the world’s final days. Robert Van Kampen, one of the leading experts in scriptural prophecy, unleashes a dramatic and unforgettable vision of the end-times.
Combining international intrigue and romance with close adherence to biblical prophecy, The Fourth Reich gives an intense, fast-paced, and dramatic portrayal of the end times.
Combining international intrigue and romance with close adherence to biblical prophecy, The Fourth Reich gives an intense, fast-paced, and dramatic portrayal of the end times.
- GenresFictionChristian Fiction
445 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 26, 2016
Novel ini merupakan sebuah kisah yang menggambarkan akhir zaman menurut perspektif agama Kristian. Saya membaca novel ini dengan perasaan yang bercampur-aduk. Gaya penceritaan penulisnya,Robert Van Kampen,boleh saya katakan menarik dan mampu membuatkan pembacanya untuk meneruskan pembacaan.
Namun demikian,pada masa yang sama,saya juga berasa tidak begitu selesa dengan apa yang disampaikan oleh Kampen. Memandangkan The Fourth Reich merupakan sebuah novel yang berasaskan kepada kitab Bible dan tradisi Kristian,sudah tentulah agama Kristian menjadi tumpuan utama penceritaan. Tetapi,selaku seorang Muslim,saya merasakan sesuatu yang tidak kena. Malah,Islam digambarkan menjadi sekutu kepada Antichrist (Dajjal) dalam menentang pengikut Kristian dan Yahudi! Ini dibuktikan melalui watak Assam,seorang pemimpin Islam Rusia yang menjadi tali barut kepadanya. Malah,umat Islam tidak memainkan peranan yang penting langsung di dalam latar belakang cerita novel ini. Seolah-olah Islam ini tidak percaya kepada kemunculan Dajjal dan akhir zaman. Ini jelas menunjukkan kedangkalan dan kejahilan Kampen dalam memahami agama Islam. Seolah-olah Islam juga bukanlah agama Nabi Ibrahim,yang mentauhidkan Allah S.W.T.
Malah,Kampen juga seolah-olah tidak menghormati keperibadian yang mulia di kalangan para nabi. Ini dapat dibuktikan melalui gambaran penulis terhadap dua orang nabi,iaitu Nabi Musa (Moses) dan Nabi Ilyas (Elijah). Penulis dengan biadab sering kali menulis dialog yang menunjukkan Elijah memperli Moses kerana ketidakpetahannya ketika berucap. Malah,tanpa disedarinya juga,telah memperlekehkan ajaran kedua-duanya yang tidak pernah menyeru umat masing-masing untuk menyembah Jesus Christ. Allahuakbar! Subhanallah! Ini merupakan fitnah kepada kedua-dua nabi yang mulia tersebut.
Apapun,selesai pembacaan saya ke atas novel ini,bertambah jelaslah kecelaruan doktrin Triniti Kristian. Mereka mendakwa mereka menyembah Tuhan yang satu. Namun,pada masa yang sama,menyekutukan keesaan Tuhan dengan sesuatu yang lain. Jelaslah,seperti apa yang dinyatakan oleh seorang rabbi Yahudi terkemuka masa kini,Rabbi Tovia Singer bahawa Kristian merupakan sebuah agama yang politeisme sifatnya. Hakikatnya,umat Kristian yang angkuh seperti Kampen inilah yang akan ditolak dan tidak diakui oleh Jesus Christ atau Nabi Isa A.S. sendiri seperti yang terdapat di dalam Matthew,bab 7, ayat 22 hingga 23:
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Namun demikian,pada masa yang sama,saya juga berasa tidak begitu selesa dengan apa yang disampaikan oleh Kampen. Memandangkan The Fourth Reich merupakan sebuah novel yang berasaskan kepada kitab Bible dan tradisi Kristian,sudah tentulah agama Kristian menjadi tumpuan utama penceritaan. Tetapi,selaku seorang Muslim,saya merasakan sesuatu yang tidak kena. Malah,Islam digambarkan menjadi sekutu kepada Antichrist (Dajjal) dalam menentang pengikut Kristian dan Yahudi! Ini dibuktikan melalui watak Assam,seorang pemimpin Islam Rusia yang menjadi tali barut kepadanya. Malah,umat Islam tidak memainkan peranan yang penting langsung di dalam latar belakang cerita novel ini. Seolah-olah Islam ini tidak percaya kepada kemunculan Dajjal dan akhir zaman. Ini jelas menunjukkan kedangkalan dan kejahilan Kampen dalam memahami agama Islam. Seolah-olah Islam juga bukanlah agama Nabi Ibrahim,yang mentauhidkan Allah S.W.T.
Malah,Kampen juga seolah-olah tidak menghormati keperibadian yang mulia di kalangan para nabi. Ini dapat dibuktikan melalui gambaran penulis terhadap dua orang nabi,iaitu Nabi Musa (Moses) dan Nabi Ilyas (Elijah). Penulis dengan biadab sering kali menulis dialog yang menunjukkan Elijah memperli Moses kerana ketidakpetahannya ketika berucap. Malah,tanpa disedarinya juga,telah memperlekehkan ajaran kedua-duanya yang tidak pernah menyeru umat masing-masing untuk menyembah Jesus Christ. Allahuakbar! Subhanallah! Ini merupakan fitnah kepada kedua-dua nabi yang mulia tersebut.
Apapun,selesai pembacaan saya ke atas novel ini,bertambah jelaslah kecelaruan doktrin Triniti Kristian. Mereka mendakwa mereka menyembah Tuhan yang satu. Namun,pada masa yang sama,menyekutukan keesaan Tuhan dengan sesuatu yang lain. Jelaslah,seperti apa yang dinyatakan oleh seorang rabbi Yahudi terkemuka masa kini,Rabbi Tovia Singer bahawa Kristian merupakan sebuah agama yang politeisme sifatnya. Hakikatnya,umat Kristian yang angkuh seperti Kampen inilah yang akan ditolak dan tidak diakui oleh Jesus Christ atau Nabi Isa A.S. sendiri seperti yang terdapat di dalam Matthew,bab 7, ayat 22 hingga 23:
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
July 12, 2010
The Fourth Reich is a novelization of Biblical end times. It's not particularly well written but it's an engaging read if for no other reason than for the author's theologically sound exegesis. The book puts all the events of end-times prophecy into a cohesive order. The greatest stretch for me and many readers is the casting of (a genetically regenerated) Adolph Hitler as the anti-christ. I could accept an anti-christ who comes "in the spirit of" Hitler—like John came "in the spirit of" Elijah—but the idea that the global community will accept Adolph Hitler as the world leader pushes credulity beyond limits.
Van Kampen's eschatological stance is "pre-wrath"—placing the rapture during the second three and a half year period of the seven year tribulation, prior to the harshest judgements of God. So, like I said, the value of the book for me is the timeline of end-time events that it presents. The author's thesis and research that serve as a foundation for the novel are found in his book "The Sign" which presents his conclusions in the form of answers to questions.
Van Kampen's eschatological stance is "pre-wrath"—placing the rapture during the second three and a half year period of the seven year tribulation, prior to the harshest judgements of God. So, like I said, the value of the book for me is the timeline of end-time events that it presents. The author's thesis and research that serve as a foundation for the novel are found in his book "The Sign" which presents his conclusions in the form of answers to questions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2023
Interesting, very well researched. Revelations is notoriously hard to know for sure if you're interpreting it faithfully, but the author stuck close to Scripture and so did the best he could. I've read other books about the end times that took different interpretations of some things: who would be subject to attack when, what the mark looks like, what it means that the Anti-Christ was someone who had died and come back. I think the important things that such novels do is make the reality of Scripture clear. After all, no one knows the day or hour. Compared to other end times books, I felt this one focused more on politics rather than the average person's experience. Honestly, that's truer to Scripture, so good job there. The other novel I read (I'll try to find it sometime) also mentioned the fact that Christians aren't raptured before things get ugly and that was also a main plot point in that book. It is true that that is a common misconception in the church today.
Might be fun to look further into regions mentioned in Revelations/references to regions that only people from the culture would get. I also appreciated how the news presented the disasters as they would in today's world.
Might be fun to look further into regions mentioned in Revelations/references to regions that only people from the culture would get. I also appreciated how the news presented the disasters as they would in today's world.
July 16, 2022
Must read for all humans
This book is the best book I have ever read on end times. It aligns very very very closely with what the bible says. He breaks down the book of revelatiom 4 to 21 into a novel form that any human can relate to and understand. Prior to this book, i read another book written by the same author on the rapture answer. I recommend that book also. For the Christians who belive in a rapture before the great tribulation, these 2 books will show you exactly what the bible says about it and the end times. They will strengthen your faith and your resolve to make a stand for the true God of this world. Jesus Christ. And to be ready for the great tribulation and even welcome it because there is a reward coming for holding on till the very end. Shalom
This book is the best book I have ever read on end times. It aligns very very very closely with what the bible says. He breaks down the book of revelatiom 4 to 21 into a novel form that any human can relate to and understand. Prior to this book, i read another book written by the same author on the rapture answer. I recommend that book also. For the Christians who belive in a rapture before the great tribulation, these 2 books will show you exactly what the bible says about it and the end times. They will strengthen your faith and your resolve to make a stand for the true God of this world. Jesus Christ. And to be ready for the great tribulation and even welcome it because there is a reward coming for holding on till the very end. Shalom
August 26, 2018
This is definitely a biblically approached Armageddon novel. Obviously, the interpretation of events is the author's spin, but that spin is based on prophecies of the Old and New Testaments. I enjoyed the book very much and found it gave one a lot to think about. The story did take a while to get moving, but I think that slow sequence of events was important in setting the reader up to connect with what the end times might be like.
May 2, 2018
Very thrilling story, closely following the biblical prophesies of end of the world.
December 29, 2024
While I wasn’t a fan of the use of a well-known historical name in the second half, this is otherwise the most eschatologically accurate of it’s category.
March 29, 2023
Based on biblical prophecy, this towering novel creates a chilling portrayal of what will happen in the world’s final days. Robert Van Kampen, one of the leading experts in scriptural prophecy, unleashes a dramatic and unforgettable vision of the end-times.
It began forty years ago with an act of cutting-edge medical science. Today a charismatic politician named Nikolai seizes power, kills his enemy, and mesmerizes skeptics with his message of a new one-world government, setting off the seven-year period of tribulation. As famines and civil wars rock the glove, and as prophesied events begin to unfold, the truth explodes on an unsuspecting population: Nikolai is not just a tyrant, he is history’s most evil man, risen from the dead. Once the Third Reich nearly destroyed the world. This time it will not fail. . . .
As the countdown to Holocaust II begins, reporter Anatoly Altshuler prepares an exodus for the people of Israel, Christian businessman Mike Teasdale sounds the survival call for the people of America, and Sonya Petrov, once Nikolai’s closest adviser, realizes her catastrophic mistake. As tensions mount, friends and families, Jews and Gentiles, find themselves stranded on different sides of an apocalyptic war—between the Antichrist . . . and the Messiah.
It began forty years ago with an act of cutting-edge medical science. Today a charismatic politician named Nikolai seizes power, kills his enemy, and mesmerizes skeptics with his message of a new one-world government, setting off the seven-year period of tribulation. As famines and civil wars rock the glove, and as prophesied events begin to unfold, the truth explodes on an unsuspecting population: Nikolai is not just a tyrant, he is history’s most evil man, risen from the dead. Once the Third Reich nearly destroyed the world. This time it will not fail. . . .
As the countdown to Holocaust II begins, reporter Anatoly Altshuler prepares an exodus for the people of Israel, Christian businessman Mike Teasdale sounds the survival call for the people of America, and Sonya Petrov, once Nikolai’s closest adviser, realizes her catastrophic mistake. As tensions mount, friends and families, Jews and Gentiles, find themselves stranded on different sides of an apocalyptic war—between the Antichrist . . . and the Messiah.
November 9, 2011
This end of the world novel goes into the Christian prospective of what it would be like just before and during the “last days”. The story is written in third person and with the reader experiencing an almost omnipresent view of the characters. The story jumps from character to character in a relatively smooth manner and allows the reader to get a chance to get to know these people and their prospective on what is happening in their world. Although the story was somewhat predictable, the character development was well done. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes Christian literature or those who are interesting in literature dealing with the apocalypse.
October 11, 2011
Although this book is ok, I did not finish it. It is an end-times novel based upon the Bible and that is both its strength and weakness. To a point it is interesting to see how the characters handle the situations of the coming Antichrist and Armageddon, but because it is written with a STRONG Christian bias, there is really no suspense: you know what is going to happen. I suppose I could be wrong in this, but at the halfway point I lost interest and do not expect to ever finish the story.
December 8, 2012
This book is a fiction read based on the author's interpretation of scripture relating to the timing of the rapture. If you believe in rapture that is imminent and at any moment, this may challenge or offer a bit of controversy.
January 12, 2015
The first two-thirds belong are more essay and explanation than story. Only in the last third is there actually a story to be told. To be fair, the author's note says that this was the intent of the book.
April 27, 2009
Mesmerizing...and a bit scary.
With advances in science the scenario in this book becomes more and more plausible.
With advances in science the scenario in this book becomes more and more plausible.
August 1, 2011
Read it years ago really liked it then.
September 6, 2015
Just so-so. Don't really agree with his vision of the end times.
November 8, 2012
Read this back in1999- 2000. I found it entertaining for its time. It's what made me start keeping an eye on the president of Russia.
February 5, 2016
An interesting, prophetic novel.
February 11, 2016
This was a terrible book. I don't recommend it. Avoid.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews