Rating:  Summary: Better than watching TV; Not as good as going to Church Review: Those who pick these books up with the expectation of becoming experts on the Biblical "end of the ages" will find that they come up a little short; the novels are quite well written and incorporate the Bible quite well into the story, but remember: this stuff is, after all, just fiction. The Bible itself says that no one will really know what's going to happen exactly until it actually happens. What this series does do, however, is provide a very entertaining, readable, "what if?" that will take Biblical interpretations and put them in a context that serves two purposes, as I see it: 1) advance the authors' religious views, and 2)provide fun reading. If you are a Christian, these books will give you real chills. If you are not, they will most certainly cause you to pause and wonder, "what if...?". If you are undecided, well, they are good entertainment, but hey, if you really wanna know, you'd probably oughta just read the Bible (a good readable version of Revelation with footnotes is my suggestion). WARNING: I picked the first one up and couldn't put it down...it ate up most of two days of my free time.
Rating:  Summary: Better than watching TV; Not as good as going to Church Review: Those who pick these books up with the expectation of becoming experts on the Biblical "end of the ages" will find that they come up a little short; the novels are quite well written and incorporate the Bible quite well into the story, but remember: this stuff is, after all, just fiction. The Bible itself says that no one will really know what's going to happen exactly until it actually happens. What this series does do, however, is provide a very entertaining, readable, "what if?" that will take Biblical interpretations and put them in a context that serves two purposes, as I see it: 1) advance the authors' religious views, and 2)provide fun reading. If you are a Christian, these books will give you real chills. If you are not, they will most certainly cause you to pause and wonder, "what if...?". If you are undecided, well, they are good entertainment, but hey, if you really wanna know, you'd probably oughta just read the Bible (a good readable version of Revelation with footnotes is my suggestion). WARNING: I picked the first one up and couldn't put it down...it ate up most of two days of my free time.
Rating:  Summary: Considering End-Times Books Review: With all the end-times novels on the market it's probably useful to see a comparison from someone who has read most of them. So here's my take on the matter.LEFT BEHIND is an action adventure written primarily for Christians with a huge cross-over into the secular market. It sticks very closely to scripture and to prophecy of the time during the Tribulation. There is never any doubt of the authors' position and which characters are good and which are bad. Beyond that, there's been so much said about Left Behind that probably every possible opinion has been expressed. Some love it. Some hate it. Personally, I like the Left Behind series a lot. THE LAST DAY makes no attempt at all to adhere to scriptural prophecy. It is, in fact, less accurate scripturally than The Omen movies or End of Days. If you want a fun read and don't care whether the story has any connection to scripture, it's probably okay. THE CHRIST CLONE TRILOGY, my definite favorite among the list, is written for a secular audience with a big cross-over into the Christian market. Through most of the 3 books you don't know what the author's position is or which (if any) of the characters speak for him. Only in the last book do you find out he is a Christian and that he is using his story telling ability to reach the lost with the Gospel and the danger that faces them if they do not accept it. WE ALL FALL DOWN is a story of a man forced to make decisions about himself and God when faced by undeniable evidence (living through the Tribulation) that the Bible is true. It's an interesting exploration in character but the author's development of the events of the Tribulation is muddled and very thin. The thing most Christians object to about We All Fall Down is the non-stop use of extreme profanity by the main character. It was hard for me to get past all the f-words, and I certainly would not say I enjoyed it, still it made me think.
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