Left Behind
Left Behind is a series of 12 novels by Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins.
The first book deals with the Rapture occurring as 100 million Christians being taken away into heaven by Jesus in a moment of time. The novel then explores the impact on those who are left behind trying to find out what has happened, what will happen next, and what they can do as seen through the eyes of a few people who eventually come together to form a small group and prepare themselves for the coming Tribulation and the rise of the Anti-Christ.
The book struck a chord with the Christian community and – surprisingly for a Christian work – reached many non-Christians as well, selling over 15,000,000 copies. Although originally planned to be a three-book series, it was expanded to twelve books, culminating with the return of Christ, and became one of the best selling book series ever produced, selling over 63 million books.[1]
As is common with Christian works that become successful, it was given poor reviews by many critics for its Christian-specific themes instead of being more generic and all inclusive, a standard that is seldom applied to non-Christian works.
Main Characters
- Rayford Steele - 747 captain for Pan-Continental in his mid-forties. He is member, but non-attender at New Hope Village Church; Mount Prospect.
- Chloe Steele Williams, Rayford's daughter who is a student at Stanford University in her mid-twenties and skeptical of Christianity. Her mother and brother were taken to Heaven in the rapture. Chloe resides in California.
- Cameron "Buck" Williams (Kirk Cameron in the films)- journalist and senior writer for Global Weekly from New York who authors the Newsmaker of the Year story on Chaim Rosenzweig.
- Bruce Barnes - assistant pastor at New Hope Village Church in his mid-forties who must lead new congregation
- Joshua Todd-Cothran - international financier, head of London Stock Exchange
- Jonathan Stonagal - international financier and wealthiest man in history
- Ken Ritz - charter pilot
- Chaim Rosenzweig - Israeli botanist and statesman who discovers of a formula that makes Israeli deserts bloom; former Global Weekly Man of the Year.
- Steve Plank - publisher of the Global Weekly; old school journalist; Cameron's boss.
- Hattie Durham - flight attendant in her late twenties, works with Rayford at Pan-Continental.
- Nicolae Jetty Carpathia - president of Romania in his mid-thirties who was invited to speak at the United Nations.
- Stanton Bailey - publisher of Global Weekly.
Film adaptation
See Article Left Behind (film, 2000)
There is a series of film adaptations based on the books, with three parts released and another forthcoming.
References
See Also
References
