No Fear of the Storm

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book!
Review: This book is a wonderful defense of the Pre-Trib view of prophecy. Mr. LaHaye goes into all the Scriptural justifications for holding this view, while at the same time defending it from the attacks of those who DON'T hold it, particularly Dave McPherson, whose books attacking the Pre-Trib Rapture view have a number of flaws in their arguments. At the same time, Mr LaHaye reviews, and Scripturally refutes, the other views of eschatology (end-times prophecy). I recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: I fear the book, not the storm
Review: This reviewer read "No Fear of the Storm" in 1993 after reading "The Pre Wrath Rapture of the Church" by Marvin Rosenthal. The contrasting tenor of both book is astounding. Rosenthal is firm, but gracious. LaHaye is simply vitriolic.

Beginning on page 95 (chapter 8), LaHaye demonstrates that the pre-trib position is, to him, nearly as important as the virgin birth. He calls Nelson Publishing a "formerly reliable publisher of pre-Trib material", as if they have betrayed a core doctrine Christianity.

He claims that the Pre-wrath position is the "most confusing interpretation of end-time events...that no one...would come to on his own..." LaHaye, over the last 11 years, has been proven wrong time and again as people have come forth saying the pre-Wrath view fills in the blanks, and answers the questions pre-Trib theologians have been neglecting to answer forthrightly for years.

Rosenthal is misrepresented on page 103 as having midtribulational presuppositions (read chapter 2 of Ryrie's "Basic Theology" for the simplest handling of presuppositions). The fact is well known that Rosenthal was a pretribulationalist with strong resistance to alternative views. One might say, tongue in cheek, "his hope was built on nothing less than Scofield's notes and Moody Press." And LaHaye knows it.

Page 146 contains a harsh paragraph that should concern Christians: "What has [neutralized Christians] is the pietistic movement's error that politics is evil and that heavenly minded Christians should not be involved in changing society through government." This is a grave error by LaHaye. The fact is, Christians were never called by Christ to change society through Government. The political system *is* evil because it is not of God: it is a kingdom in conflict with the kingdom Christ is building. It is a man-made structure set up for accomplishing man's goals. In a word, it is Babel. Society is composed of human souls, and changing those souls cannot, and never will be, done through government. A reading of John MacArthur's "Why Government Can't Save You" explains this with ease.

LaHaye literally "predicted" on page 113, to wit: "I predict it [the pre-Wrath view] will prove to be an aberrant brainstorm that, despite its deep-pocketed two-year promotional campaign, will fade away before it becomes a fad."

I have waited ten years since my original reading to write these words: LaHaye is wrong, and his "prediction" smells of bad fruit.

Speaking of deep-pocketed promotional campaigns (which, from LaHaye's quote above, must be a common denominator of false teaching), we are reminded that this is the same LaHaye who is author of the fictional "Left Behind" series which, in this reviewer's strong opinion, is a clear violation of Rev. 22:18-19. LaHaye has camped so strongly on his position that he has added chronological characteristics, fictional characters, subordinate plots, and dramatic nuances to the inspired and revealed Word of God -- a bit of "help" I am confident God did not ask for from LaHaye. Won't it be interesting if LaHaye finds himself thrust into tribulational pressure he did not expect to encounter, face-to-face with the plagues he had no fear of, and in direct fulfillment of John's warning in Revelation which said, "Don't add anything to this book."

"No fear" is the beginning of LaHaye's downgrade, where he embraced personal goals over sound doctrine. Matt. 24:4: "See to it that no one misleads you." (NASB) This book is misleading.