Finale - The last days of the earth
Finale - The Last Days of the Earth (English original title: Left Behind ) is a bestselling series of novels by the American writers Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins . It illustrates a dispensationalist notion of the end of the world in Christian eschatology .
The books were published between 1995 and 2007 by Tyndale House , which focuses on the dissemination of evangelical literature. The series was also published in German by Gerth Medien , Volumes 1 and 2 as an audio book, read by Hanno Herzler .
content
The narrative begins during a scheduled flight. Suddenly about 100 passengers disappeared without a trace on the plane. Pilot Rayford Steele quickly realizes that not only his aircraft, but the whole world is affected by this inexplicable phenomenon. In particular, all babies and children have disappeared, as well as Steele's wife, who was a devout Christian, while Steele always remained a doubter. A core of new Christians is forming around him, most notably Hattie Durham (a flight attendant on the affected flight who joins the group three years later) and Buck Williams (a reporter).
The people are inevitably drawn into the spell and circle of a newly elected, young, charismatic UN Secretary General from Romania named Nicolai Carpathia. Steele becomes the secretary general's pilot, and Williams has several exclusive reporting opportunities. During their service for Carpathia, however, the main characters first come to the assumption, later to the certainty that Carpathia is in reality the Antichrist , and they begin to build an underground organization in close proximity to the center of evil.
The first plagues of the apocalypse arrive and the rule of evil is slowly consolidating. However, Nicolai remains inviolable to the outside world and becomes a folk hero, while the disasters wipe away millions. After an assassination attempt, Carpathia dies three days later, now animated by the devil and convinced that she is God, to rise again.
The mark of evil, without which no one can buy or sell, is instituted and all those who do not accept it are executed. Carpathia's reign of terror brings the group around Williams and Steele more and more into distress, until finally the surviving believers can retreat to the rock city of Petra. Petra becomes a safe haven that the forces of evil cannot attack. The last books describe the decisive battle for Jerusalem and the battle of Armageddon . At the end there is the return of Christ and the resurrection of the martyrs.
Criticism and interpretation
The presentation of the final events is based on a dispensationalist interpretation of the Revelation of John . The sudden disappearance of Christians at the beginning of the novel cycle is the important theme for dispensationalism of the final rapture at the end of days. According to the novel, the three times seven events of the Revelation of John (seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls of anger) take place in exactly seven years instead of. The descriptions of these events in Revelation are interpreted literally, except for the Rapture itself, which is not mentioned in Revelation.
The Left Behind series has been criticized from both ecclesiastical, political and literary sides. While the books are generally seen as very easy to read and exciting, the authors' lack of literary skills and lack of depth of character are criticized. The strong missionary aspect is also rated negatively in some cases. From the Christian side, the novels are sometimes viewed very positively - as a stimulus for “fellow travelers” to deal with the material of the Apocalypse - but sometimes also negatively - as a falsifying, improperly interpretive or too sensational treatment of biblical material. The standpoint of dispensationalism represented in the series represents a minority opinion within Christianity.
construction
The complete book series consists of twelve novels, to which preliminary and subsequent volumes have been added after their completion.
English book title
- The Rising: Antichrist is Born
- The Regime: Before They Were Left Behind
- The Rapture: In the Twinkling of an Eye: Countdown to Earth's Last Days
- Left Behind: A Novel of Earth's Last Days
- Tribulation Force: The Continuing Drama of those Left Behind
- Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist
- Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides
- Apollyon: The Destroyer is Unleashed
- Assassins: Assignment: Jerusalem, Target: Antichrist
- The Indwelling: The Beast Takes Possession
- The Mark: The Beast Rules the World
- Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne
- Remnant: On the Brink of Armageddon
- Armageddon: The Cosmic Battle of the Ages
- Glorious Appearing: The End of Days
- Kingdom Come: The Final Victory
German book title
- The pact: the start of the final
- final
- Finale, Volume 2 (later title: The Visitation )
- The Nicolai plot
- The harvest
- Apollyon
- The Conspiracy
- The return
- The sign
- The desecration
- The rock city
- Armageddon
- The triumph
main characters
(Names in English spelling)
The believers
- Rayford Steele, flight captain
- Cameron "Buck" Williams, reporter
- Chloe Steele, daughter of Rayford
- Bruce Barnes, Assistant Pastor in the Williams and Steele Ward
- Hattie Durham, stewardess
- Tsion Ben-Judah, former Jew and leader of new churches worldwide
- Mac McCullum, flight captain
- Ken Ritz, pilot
The opponents
- Nicolae Jetty Carpathia, politician, UN Secretary General and Antichrist
- Leon Fortunato, assistant to Carpathia and the false prophet
Success and follow-up works
In the US, the left-behind books reached a total circulation of over 50 million copies and almost all of them were on the bestseller lists. Due to their success, the authors have started several target group-specific spin-off series:
- Left Behind: The Kids - a teenage series aimed at 10-14 year olds. Each four books in the kids series roughly cover the period of one of the adult books. There are currently 40 books in this series.
- The political and the military series - two different perspectives on the main plot with new main characters.
- Graphic novels (comics) have been published for the first two books - five comics each cover one novel.
- The "Soon" series - begins in the later period of the Left Behind series, where every religion except the worship of Carpathia is already banned and has an agent of the world government as the main character who is supposed to monitor and enforce the ban on religion. The series consists of three volumes so far.
- Since autumn 2006 there has also been a computer game Left Behind - Eternal Forces , in which the player is supposed to shoot unbelievers or proselytize; after killing, the soul points must be recharged by praying .
- The subject was also picked up in episode 354 (GABF14) of The Simpsons
Movies
By early 2006, three films had been released in the US that cover the beginning of the book series. The first, Left Behind , shot in May 2000, contains the events of the first novel, the second, Left Behind: Tribulation Force , released in 2002, comprises about the first half of the second volume, and the third film, World at War , which was published in German in spring 2006 under the title Finale - Die Welt im Krieg is based on the last 50 pages of the second volume. Here the plot deviates for the first time to a noteworthy extent from the book series.
In 2014, Left Behind was another film adaptation made by the director Vic Armstrong with Nicolas Cage in the lead role. Left Behind: Vanished: Next Generation was produced in 2016 .
literature
- Jürgen Moltmann : The end time has begun , Die Zeit, No. 51, 2002. Online at zeit.de .
- Frykholm, Army Johnson: Rapture Culture: Left Behind in Evangelical America , 2004.
- Alexander Stephan: Left Behind: Popular Culture, Religious Fundamentalism and Politics in the USA by George W. Bush , 2005.
Web links
- dir.salon.com Critical Analysis by Michelle Goldberg
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christian Stöcker: Radical Christian "killer game": Believe or die! In: Spiegel Online . December 13, 2006, accessed June 9, 2018 .