Rating: 
Summary: A MUST FOR ANYONE WANTING TO READ LEFT BEHIND...
Review: This is a must read for anyone who wants to read the "Left Behind" series. I started reading the series myself and found myself asking if this is what is really going to happen on Christ's return. Carl wrote this book for everyone, not only Catholics. What you will find is the dispensationalism theory used by the authors of "Left Behind" is very flawed and the theory is very recent, and most of all not biblical as the authors have tried to pursuade it's readers. The book is very good for the ordinary person or scholar alike. If you are going to read "Left Behind" you must read this book as well, to have a truer understanding.
Rating:
Summary: The Final Word On The Last Days...
Review: This is a prodigious work, both in scale and scholarship. Olson patiently ushers the reader through the intellectual funhouse of dispensationalism, tracing the claims of historicity whose tendrils snake all the way back to the Early Church Fathers. He is able to patiently unravel the Gordian tangle that is "the Rapture" - with premillennialists vying with chiliasts, amillennialists, postribulationalists and pretribulationalists - until, thanks to the author's water-clear prose and relentless logic, you actually are able to come to an understanding of this complex and, often, exasperating view. And it's *very* important that you do. Belief in "the Rapture" is a tremendous influence in America - witness the whopping sales total of more than 43 million books in the 'Left Behind' series. So it is no surprise when Olson assiduously traces the intellectual, theological - and even literary - inheritance of co-author Tim LaHaye, explaining how and why the 'Left Behind' series is a dangerous stealth attack on Catholic belief. But we also see extended treatments of the positions of others besides LaHaye - I'm talking about popular and prominent Protestant thinkers like Hal Lindsay, Jack Van Impe, Dave Hunt, Charles Ryrie, Cyrus Scofield and the father of "the Rapture," John Nelson Darby, complete with extended quotes as they explain their points in their own voices. That is a vital point, by the way. Olson is not duking it out with straw men here. He states his opponents' positions straightforwardly, and in detail. Nor is he the least bit condescending. He is honest and respectful - and the fact that he spent his early years in these fundamentalist Protestant circles no doubt helps. Best of all, Olson gives us the benefit of an overview of Catholic thought on the end times, with liberal contributions from such eminences grises as Karl Adam, Jean Danielou, Louis Bouyer and Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. One can only hope that Olson's citations will result in greater readership for these giants of Catholic orthodoxy, and for the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well. For the Catholic position on the end times can be a source of great unity and peace for the faithful, in contrast with the Us vs. Them desperation that "the Rapture" tends to encourage. In all, this is a wonderful, very readable treatment of a complex and hitherto largely unexamined (from the Catholic point of view anyway) topic. And Mr. Olson is a very welcome addition to the pantheon of intellectually rigorous, scripture-steeped and historically minded converts to the Catholic faith who are today sharing their wonder at the glories of the Church. I believe we are in the midst of the greatest blossoming of Catholic scholarship and thought ever to take place in America. And Olson's book deserves a spot on Catholic bookshelves, side-by-side with those of George Weigel, Scott Hahn, Stephen Ray, Marcus Grodi, Dave Armstrong, Thomas Howard, Mark Shea and so many others. If you're looking for the last word on the last days, buy this book. You will *not* be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: I was left reassured...
Review: With so many people around me reading the "Left Behind" series, I wanted to find out what the Catholic understanding of the "Rapture" is. This book delivers in spades... Mr. Olson begins with describing what the "Rapture" is as it is presented in the "Left Behind" books. Then he elaborates on the different kinds of dispensationalists, pre, post and a millennialism, as well as the differences between pre, post, and mid tribulationist. He goes on to explore each of these and their logical (or illogical) conclusions. He traces the history of each train of thought and presents the historical Catholic position and response to these ideas, even outlining how a Catholic could be said to agree with different parts of each of the positions simultaneously yet not agreeing with any one position as it is understood by the predominately "fundamentalist" preachers who espouse them. What I like about this book is the clarity in which he describes the Catholic understanding of eschatology and where that understanding comes from. Unfortunately I believe very few "joe-six-pack in the pew" Catholics understand the differences and for that reason I believe anyone (non-Catholics included) who has read the "Left Behind" series would benefit greatly from this well researched, even handed approach to other points of view.
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