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New Book Shatters 'Left Behind' Delusion Award-Winning Author Offers Biblical Response to Popular End-Times Series (2000) "Can books that have sold 16 million copies be wrong and their readers sadly deluded? Absolutely!" says John Noe. John Noē has taken aim at a popular view of Bible prophecy and, by many accounts, scored a direct hit. While millions of people have flocked to devour the hugely successful Left Behind books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, John Noē is the first Christian leader to publicly describe the rapture theory they espouse as "tragically unbiblical." John Noē, a best-selling author, lecturer, and active member of the Evangelical Theological Society, has written a book to prove his point. It is called Shattering the 'Left Behind' Delusion, which theologian Dr. Edward Rowe (B.A.,TH.M.,D.D.) calls "superbly written...compellingly argued...destined to influence the thinking of numerous evangelicals who, like the author, are desirous of gaining thoroughly biblical insights into the doctrines relating to the 'last days.'" Shattering the 'Left Behind' Delusion explains that the "last days" preceding Christ's return in judgment, are actually behind us, not ahead of us (Hebrews 1:1-2). And the resurrection of the dead and the judgment occurred exactly as, and when, they were expected by all the New Testament writers, and Jesus himself: in the lifetime of Jesus' contemporaries, and in association with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70. In other words, Jenkins and LaHaye are 19 centuries off in their timing. How can this be? After Jesus' disciples asked him about the timing of his coming, He said, "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened" (Matthew 24:34). Jesus also said, "For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with his angels and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom" (Matt 16:27-28). Noē shakes his head. "These and many other time-restricted passages pose a real dilemma for Christians who believe in the literal and inerrant truth of the Bible. Was Jesus mistaken? Did Jesus fail?" Noē points out that for the last two centuries, liberals have attacked Jesus' divinity and the Bible's accuracy precisely at this point. They look at all the scriptures that promise Jesus' first-century return and conclude that He was wrong- because, supposedly, it didn't happen in the first-century when He said it would. Even the noted Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis, recognized the problem with Jesus' alleged non-return. Lewis said Matthew 24:34, "...is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible" (The World's Last Night by C.S. Lewis). Lewis did not defend Jesus well on this issue. Nor have many evangelicals who claim Jesus' return has been delayed or postponed for some reason. Or that the timing of his return was misunderstood and that he will come back someday, soon, to finish the job. That is the view popularized in the Left Behind books and soon-to-be Hollywood movie. But Noē insists, "The only solution to this dilemma of non-occurrence is occurrence! It is the only biblically consistent solution that can stop the liberal attack dead in its tracks. Jenkins and LaHaye only add to the dilemma by pushing Christ's return and their rapture idea into the future." Shattering the 'Left Behind' Delusion uses the Bible to explain: - How all "rapture" scriptures have been fulfilled John Noē says, "The Preterist position (past fulfillment) is the most Christ-honoring, Scripture-authenticating, and faith-validating of all major end-times views in the historic church. For these and many other reasons, Left Behind should be 'left behind.'" Look for Shattering the 'Left Behind' Delusion at your local Christian bookstore, or purchase it direct for $12.95 (includes U.S.A. shipping and handling). |
Prophecy
Reformation Institute |