Christian Theological/Philosophical Book Club discussion

We unquestionably have the creative license to write fictional Christian romances and tales composed around inspiring everyday experiences of God acting in our lives. Does this same literary license extend to the genre of end-times biblical prophecy? Have the writers of the Left Behind books crossed over the line of spiritual propriety in composing a complete depiction of the upcoming end-times, when God’s own revelation in scripture is purposely intended to be partial and incomplete? There is a difference between the creative license to use fiction to describe Christian everyday experience, such as John Bunyan used in The Pilgrim’s Progress, compared to the creative license of presuming to be able to extrapolate a particular eschatological viewpoint into a complete, partly fictionalized narrative of the entire biblical end-times scenario.

27 December 2016 / 27 Kislev 5777 / Festival of Lights

Hi Mr. Barton,

I am reminded of a Scripture passage (Revelation 22:7-20) that all Christians would do well to read, and take heed to; especially writers and teachers of Christian Theological/Philosophical books.

Revelation 22:7 "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Revelation 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

Revelation 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Revelation 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Revelation 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Revelation 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

Another passage that is very important to remember:

Proverbs 30:5 "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Proverbs 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

I have always had a problem with the "Left Behind" series books, because they are so unscriptural, and are absolutely contrary to the teachings of the Holy Bible. Many innocent people have been led astray by believing the fallacies within those books; and the men who wrote and promoted them will answer to God for what they have written and taught others.

One last Scripture passage I hope you will read and prayerfully consider:

Ecclesiastes 12:9 "And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

Ecclesiastes 12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

Ecclesiastes 12:11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

Ecclesiastes 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

My most earnest prayer is that I will be found faithful on that Judgment Day! And it is my sincere prayer for other Christians who visit this site too!

With the love of Christ,
C. Read

This is a very worthwhile question to ponder. Personally I have not read any of the Left Behind books and do not plan to in the foreseeable future. My reason has been that I do not want my theology to come from fiction. Eschatology is very hard for me to get a good grip on, so I want to be careful.

Now this is my response to such literature, but does that give me the right to say such fiction should never be written? I agree that the Left Behind series is different from Pilgrim's Progress. The latter is clearly fiction written to illustrate Christian truths. I suspect it may be harder to distinguish literary liberties in eschatological fiction.

We will not be able to prevent fiction of the Left Behind type, so I think it is our responsibility to rather evaluate and caution against such theology. After all, this is not the only source of questionable theology.

Hi Brit,

You said, "We will not be able to prevent fiction of the Left Behind type, so I think it is our responsibility to rather evaluate and caution against such theology. After all, this is not the only source of questionable theology."

Boy is that an understatement! Especially in our Day! Our consolation is that Jesus has warned His disciples that "many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."

Matthew 24:24 "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

As Christians, we must be very watchful, vigilant, and knowledgeable of the Holy Scriptures, so we can stand against the evil one. In these "final days" there are so many "ministers" who claim to be of God, but do not walk according to the truth of God's word. Some are just deceived by the Deceiver, and some are definitely following the Deceiver.

May the Lord give us proper discernment to truly know who is of God and who is not. Here is one of my favorite passages that I hope you will consider:

Malachi 3:15 "And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

Malachi 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

Malachi 3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

Malachi 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not."

One last passage that I really love:

Ephesians 6:10 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Ephesians 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

May God be with you!

With the love of Christ,
C. Read

Really excellent comments...yes, I agree this is an important question.

Just to attempt to become familiar with the topic I have read through all 12 volumes of Left Behind...actually very well written with engaging characters, plot, and theme...but the following is one amongst several basic problems I had with adding adventure style fiction to an end-times resolution that will have to be divinely supernatural beyond the partial scenario we can construct now.

So here is an additional thought:

One of the reasons that the main characters in the Left Behind books resemble the fictional characters Jack Ryan in a Tom Clancy spy thriller, Jason Bourne in a Robert Ludlum novel, or Dirk Pitt in a Clive Cussler adventure novel, more than the biblical characters of Gideon, Samuel, Elijah, or Daniel, for example, is that most of the supernatural fine details of the events of the last days are still locked safely within the mind of God.

One of the reasons why the Left Behind book series volume number ten has people from all over the world inquiring about salvation using the very conventional means of connecting with internet councilors located in a computer command center in the ancient city of Petra, is that we currently cannot imagine all of the actual working out of the fine details of God’s upcoming end-times plans.

In my opinion, one of the reasons why the Left Behind books has its main characters courageously saving fellow believers out of danger all over the world using conventional, adventure-novel style methods is that we do not currently know all of God’s finely detailed plans yet.

The reason why Lear jets, masterful disguises, and cleverly crafted rescue strategies are used in the Left Behind books rather than the supernatural biblical storylines of an angel rescuing Peter out of prison in the middle of the night (Acts 12:5-19), or Jesus standing beside the three young Hebrews in the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:25), or God protecting Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:23), is that we do not know all of God’s specific higher ways yet as applied to the end-times tribulation period.

I think the Left Behind writers crossed over the line of spiritual propriety. Thanks, Barton

One of the reasons that the main characters in the Left Behind books resemble the fictional characters Jack Ryan in a Tom Clancy spy thriller, Jason Bourne in a Robert Ludlum novel, or Dirk Pitt in a Clive Cussler adventure novel, more than the biblical characters of Gideon, Samuel, Elijah, or Daniel, for example, is that most of the supernatural fine details of the events of the last days are still locked safely within the mind of God.

One of the reasons why the Left Behind book series volume number ten has people from all over the world inquiring about salvation using the very conventional means of connecting with internet councilors located in a computer command center in the ancient city of Petra, is that we currently cannot imagine all of the actual working out of the fine details of God’s upcoming end-times plans.

We cannot anticipate from our limited human perspective the supernatural biblical-style events like the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), or Peter’s preaching to the multitudes after the healing of the crippled man at the entrance to the Temple (Acts 3:12-26), or Stephen’s Spirit-anointed and thoroughly self-abandoned outreach in divine love to the Sanhedrin (Acts 7:2-53). We cannot envision ahead of time the Holy Spirit being poured out upon Cornelius the Roman centurion and his Gentile friends (Acts 10:44-48), or the Holy Spirit being poured out upon “certain disciples” upon meeting Paul in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7), or the Spirit utilizing intense persecution in Jerusalem to send out the first Christian missionaries “scattered abroad” to personally spread the gospel message according to Acts 8:4.

In my opinion, one of the reasons why the Left Behind books has its main characters courageously saving fellow believers out of danger all over the world using conventional, adventure-novel style methods is that we do not currently know all of God’s finely detailed plans yet. The reason why Lear jets, masterful disguises, and cleverly crafted rescue strategies are used in the Left Behind books rather than the supernatural biblical storylines of an angel rescuing Peter out of prison in the middle of the night (Acts 12:5-19), or Jesus standing beside the three young Hebrews in the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:25), or God protecting Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:23), is that we do not know all of God’s specific higher ways yet as applied to the end-times tribulation period.

Interestingly enough, my daughter read the Left Behind-the Kids series when she was a teenager, and in the last few months she has been telling me how frighteningly accurate those books were to the current situation in our world. She's not talking about the politics or the procedures by which the prophecies come true, though. She's talking about the way mankind will go absolutely stark-raving feral. Maybe the authors didn't anticipate the internet rants, the un-friending, the LGBTQFPPBDSM propaganda, the riots, etc, but they sure did paint a realistic view of how a few people caught in the middle of it all would feel and act.

Mind you, I only got a few books in before I developed my own opinion (similar to the ones expressed above), but it seems that the human aspect of the story was pretty much spot-on. Perhaps that can be said of the main series, but I never bothered with it.

Probably the worst thing we can do is totally ignore end times thinking. Then the cults get to own the day in the eyes of the media and the newly religious.

Right now we have the opposite extremes of the liberals and the Muslims. I prefer Biblical fantasy over those.

Let me just share that, from an end-times perspective, when I watched Martin Sheen and those other actors put out that video claiming that the U.S. President was "unqualified" because he lacked some sort of secret brotherhood initiation or something...that made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. Not so much that I thought they would sway the electoral college, but that they are doing exactly what I've been warning people about for the last decade or so. I definitely see this "mark of qualification" coming back into play the next time this "beast" tries to regain control of the government (if it hasn't already).

As I said at the top...I have read all 12 volumes of the Left Behind books...and watched all 3 movies starring Kirk Cameron...one...because I wanted to become familiar with the pretrib rapture line of thinking...and two...they were a great read...excellent characters...suspense and adventure...good pace...etc.

I would recommend that Christians read the Left Behind books while asking in prayer for light and understanding...as we do in every book or movie that we take-in.

My original query for this thread is: does the large quantity of fictionalized storyline plot in the Left Behind project bring into question the underlying concept that we can string together end-times biblical prophecy to create a complete picture from beginning to end...which is inferred in the pretrib rapture interpretation.

My own thought on this question is answered in the Bible itself. No one saw the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ coming in advance...the disciples even did not comprehend it...even though Jesus told them ahead of time. No one thought God Himself would bodily become the Lamb of God sacrifice for sin for all time...in fulfillment of the animal sacrifices for sin performed by the Jewish priests as a pattern. Everyone missed this.

One of the things that is a powerful apologetic for the divine origin of the Bible is that God-composed journeys of faith recorded in the Bible are "literally" beyond human imagination or invention. The cross in every biblical narrative story of faith...that has God displacing our normative ways with His higher ways...beyond worldly conventionality and thus outside of human invention or contrivance...I think is what we see in the unexpected event of the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Our salvation is a God-invented and actualized historical event through-and-through.

So in the upcoming end-times scenario...arguably as important as the time period of the ministry of the Son of God Jesus...should we have a repeat of God driving the bus...with understanding and revelation coming in-the-moment (Joel 2:28-32)...or should we expect to be able to piece together prophetic verses into a conceptual whole from start to finish ahead of time...in contradiction to incremental revelation within the journeys of faith for Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Peter, Paul...etc..."we walk by faith, not be sight" (2 Cor. 5:7)

It is a good question. I think the fictional parts in the Left Behind books...required to connect and fill-in...tells us this approach is sketchy at best.

I think the prophetic is more serious and misunderstood and therefore, it must be taken as seriously as it was taken in the bible.

Folks - this whole topic is silly. ANY commentary extracurricular to the Holy Bible is fiction for sure. Probably half the Bible is fiction, but Judeochristian compilers had to take a stand somewhere. What I post is fiction - everything written by anyone else is fiction (even my excellent buddy, Rod!) It is up to the reader as an intellectual entity to discern the Word (wheat) from the chaff. Freedom allows anyone to write anything, but only the spiritually mature know what to believe and what to just enjoy as an entertaining literary exploration.

Thanks Robby, I do DOO a lot of fiction. But I fully embrace a historical scientific talking donkey... and don't get me started on Dragons.

Yes, prophecy is seldom comprehended by the masses. It's very sneaky and miraculous - which is why I'm a pretrib Millennium waiting rapture Nut. It goes with the talking donkey and supernatural Jesus.

OK Rod, I get it. God can eventuate anything. However, based on any scientifically orchestrated analysis (I inserted this because I know it will make you groan!), He rarely does, preferring to let most mortal tragicomedies play out to their inevitable denouement. Needing a little excitement to liven up the boring Judges, the saga of Samson is so obviously plagiarized from Greek play writer style and so in concert with the typical fun and games of the Gods and Goddesses of Mount Olympus that it should be readily transparent to all as fiction. Would I excise it from the Holy Bible? No, not all - Juedeochristianity needs a superhero for the kiddies to supplant Spiderman.

Robert Core is a scientist…a science teacher. He knows about the huge influx of genetic and body-plan information that occurred 530 million years ago at the boundary of the Precambrian to Cambrian geologic period…without transitional intermediate precursors found in the rock strata of the Precambrian.

Robert knows that the sudden jump from worms, sponges, and the curious Ediacaran life forms (we still don’t know whether plants or animals)…to the complex animals of the Cambrian Period that appear within the brief span of 5 to 10 million years…composing most of the major phyla groups today…known as the Cambrian Explosion…cannot be explained using the gradualistic model of Darwinian macroevolution…the information comes into being too abruptly.

Darwin acknowledged the difficulty of the Cambrian Explosion in his book The Origin of Species. The suddenness of the appearance of the creatures of the Cambrian Period argue persuasively from empirical evidence…against macroevolution through natural selection…and in favor of intelligent design inserting information into the natural world at the Cambrian Period in a quantity and complexity that is “off-scale.”

I would argue that this same phenomenon of a vast amount of novel, complex information entering the natural world during the Cambrian Explosion…parallels the inauguration of the journey of faith life-script of Abraham at the beginning of the Bible…containing the concept that as Abraham walks away from Haran towards Canaan… with each step he takes God is displacing the normative life he would have lived in Haran…with a new life according to the higher ways and thinking of God.

I would argue that this concept…of the cross of Christ (Lk. 22:42) is integral with every biblical narrative story of faith…and therefore outside of humanistic literary imagination…and therefore beyond the limits of human created fiction. No human writer could or would touch this idea with a ten-foot pole…would not come anywhere near it.

We do not find this version of the cross of Christ applied to human lives…of God displacing our ways with His higher game-plan…anywhere else in religion, philosophy, worldviews, movies, theater plays, or books…not in Shakespeare, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Twain, or Agatha Christie…not in Rodgers & Hammerstein…not in Oscar winning movies…not in the advice of a college counselor…nowhere outside of the Bible.
I therefore do not think the Bible is half fiction.

If God can bring the universe into being…with all of its components precisely quantified to produce the conditions for the existence of complex life billions of years later…if He can craft the diversity of life on earth using the unimaginable complexity and coordinated function of DNA…then He is certainly capable of producing the ten plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and causing a donkey to move its lips while He creates the words using actual sound…making a donkey “talk” while not changing its vocal chords or its ability to “speak”…every bit as miraculous as the donkey a few moments earlier seeing an angel…this does not pose a problem for me…as I accept the miraculous in the Bible even though I do not have the scientific explanation as to how Joshua temporarily stopped the rotation of the earth…or how he brought down the walls of Jericho…through the divine power of God.

My basis for accepting the miraculous in the Bible is my own experience of being spiritually born-again…which is by definition a supernatural experience. Jesus Christ being alive today and leading me through a journey of faith that has many parallels in the narrative stories of faith in the Bible…informs me that these journey of faith life-scripts…containing complex information inexplicable by humanistic means…are not fiction.

Barton - a well written, thoughtful piece. I disagree somewhat with your evolutionary construct, but not enough to critique it on this post. Perhaps it is unimportant for the Believer to expose Biblical writings to some form of scientific method in order to somehow tease truth from fiction. Ultimately Faith is the crowning glory and that very attainment requires a diminution of our careful procured rational thought to be replaced by the very different ethereal paradigm. But, what of daily life? Do we expect constant divine interference to somehow overcome the dead weight of our perpetually bad decisions? Try as I might, I can't escape the all-pervasive pull of the Culture, with or without Satan! Unless we are prepared to be some little friar ensconced in a monastery, our lives are bombarded by more sensory data contrary to the Master's teachings than we could ever pray our way out of. Unlike some of the more fantastical Scriptural escapades, I don't consider miracles fictional. Instead of just mundane sermonizing and uninspired prayer to combat the secular onslaught, maybe our religious leaders ought to relay a rather obvious truth - only a miracle from on high can get us out of our untenably messy lifestyles.

To Robert Core...can't remember reading a more profound, concise, and honest outlook. Certainly this current world is bewildering at its center...was going to say core...but that word here would not be appropo (spelling?).

I suppose if we learn anything about the God-composed life-script for Paul...it tells us that we must be in the world but not of the world...if we are to learn about the knowledge of good and evil in a real and genuine way...that will last us for eternity...but a tall order to be sure...that only God can invent and contrive for us on our behalf.

Hello,

I would like to interject this passage from the Holy Scriptures that I believe is very relevant to this discussion. And by the way I, too, "therefore do not think the Bible is half fiction."

1 Corinthians 1:17 "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

1 Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

1 Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1 Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

1 Corinthians 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

1 Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

1 Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

1 Corinthians 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

1 Corinthians 1:29 That no flesh should glory in His presence.

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

1 Corinthians 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Amen!

May God truly be with you all in your journey!

With the love of Christ,
C.

By definition, fiction is made up. It may contain truth or reflect truth, but it is not true. This is both its power and its limitation.

A work of fiction can convey truth more effectively than a true story because it does not have to get bogged down in all the complexities of real life. If, for example, you want to write a story that celebrates patriotism, you can write a story where the main character risks great personal loss for the love of his country, and in the end he is hero. But if you told a true story about a patriot, you might find the story muddied by other character flaws this man has, or by questions about whether his country deserved such sacrifice, etc.

On the other hand, this same ability to tailor the "facts" to make a good story can enable the fiction writer to tell convincing lies. In a fiction story, you can portray some group you don't like as doing all sorts of evil things, and if someone protests, "Hey, our group never did anything like that", you simply reply, "It's FICTION!" But of course the naïve reader may be led to believe that this group really does routinely do evil things like that.

So in the present case, the obvious catch to a novel based on Bible prophecy is that there is a lot of honest debate about just what will really happen at the Second Coming. A novel will take some theory that the author thinks is true, or perhaps just a theory that he thinks will make an entertaining story, and present it as, "This is what will happen." The naïve reader may walk away thinking this is established fact rather than debatable theory.

On the other hand, end-time novels can inspire Christians to be more serious about their faith. At their best, they may lead Christians to study what the Bible really has to say on this subject.

While this problem is probably more acute with end-time stories than other Christian fiction, it's not unique there. Someone could write a story about a struggling marriage that purports to give a Christian view of marriage, but that really does not match what the Bible says on the subject. Etc, you could say the same about any Christian fiction.

I've never read the Left Behind books. I saw one of the movies. I don't particularly agree with their interpretation of prophecy. But I don't criticize them for telling this story. Readers should be cautioned not to treat these stories as divine revelation. And I suppose writers should be cautioned not to present them as authoritative.

From a literary point of view, I think this genre has been beaten to death, and Christians should look for other plot ideas.

Barton - yes, there are quite a few Scriptural admonishments that sound wonderful in theory, but prove nigh impossible to implement. Perhaps that's what makes the Christian life such a constant struggle. Not only are you battling the daily cultural onslaught, but your enhanced ability as a mature Christian to delve more deeply into the essence of Jesus' teachings inevitable brings demands that your former pagan self rejects outright. It's what's required beyond the "Thou Shalt Not's" that ultimately defines your Christian walk. I hope you are doing better than I - not only can't I resist the culture's serenading, but I balk at every admonishment like a steeplechase horse being asked to jump a fence it considers too tall.

I admire the biblical road map that Hal Lindsey has laid out in his books. I think Christians need elucidation of the biblical prophecies. If I ever get into theology school, I would like to explore The Sociological Imagination by C. Write Mills in combination with bible prophecy although I understand it couldn't or shouldn't be fiction.

Carol...tells us more about C. Write Mills...sociological imagination combining with Bible prophecy. I have not heard of this author. Thanks, Barton

So we all agree: the Bible is Trixie but not false.

I read Revelation and Daniel and... the same way I read The Left Behind series. Logically and systematically

Barton wrote: "Carol...tells us more about C. Write Mills...sociological imagination combining with Bible prophecy. I have not heard of this author. Thanks, Barton"
So much of theology is about the past, but prophetic vision doesn't work from memory. I think it actually has something to do with the imagination even though such sight is spiritual and sacred. The book the sociological imagination bridges different groups and the macro-micro divide, from the self interacting with society to the macro institutions. I want to write a book about the life and death of the Nile River as well as the overpopulation issues in the end times.

The Bible says no one but our Father knows the when of Jesus' return so that's who I consulted about the end times and the signs indicate we're in the end times. Maybe God will give is us a sign of the times that will say, "Welcome to the end times," so then we know.