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Summary: Reformed Review, Winter 1998-99
Review: "LaHaye and Jenkins market their product brilliantly. No one sells 2,000,000 books without understanding and manipulating market forces. LaHaye supplies the dispensational framework and Jenkins adds the action, intrigue and romance. The Christian bookstores and talk shows promote the books and ring up the sales. The authors have sold the movie rights, have prepared a children's version, and an interactive website. The only thing lacking--but probably forthcoming--are Chloe and Buck dolls to compete with Barbie and Ken."This mass marketing, mass appeal, and mass influence are not consistent with the spirit of the founders of dispensationalism. We wonder if the movement is in the process of selling its birthright. We cannot judge the motives--for all we know, all the money being made may be designated to charity. We can only note the irony that LaHaye and Jenkins resemble Carpathia more than they resemble Pastor Billings and Barnes. Like Carpathia, they use the massive communication infrastructure to promote their cause. All that money and all that influence tie one pretty tightly to a world that is supposedly doomed." -Peter C. Boogaart and Thomas A. Boogaart, "The Popular Fiction of Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins," Reformed Review, Winter 1998-99, Vol. 52, No. 2
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Summary: Amanda's presence raises some troublesome issues.
Review: The authors made a big mistake in having Rayford hook up with Amanda, a minor character whose only role is to provide a romantic plot. What's going to happen at the end of the series, at the Glorious Appearing, when Rayford is reunited with his first wife, Irene? What will she think or say about her husband remarrying when he knows that the tribulation means that the marriage won't last anyway? Amanda is little more than a marriage of convenience, or if you like, of desperation.
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Summary: What this series says about what we should be doing now.
Review: Here's a thought about Christian fiction in general and this series in particular. A few years ago an article in Christianity Today reviewed the state of contemporary Christian fiction, and it made this perceptive observation. There are two major genres of Christian fiction: historical romances and end-times thrillers. In other words, Christians either have a sentimental, nostalgic look back to the past, where things may have been simpler or "more Christian," or they look forward to an apocalyptic future where God stomps out all his enemies. Unfortunately, this means that Christians are not doing much critical thinking about how to engage the world in the present. Clearly this series falls in the latter category. I hope and pray that all the fans of this series, which of course are legion, are not simply gleefully and passively awaiting God's judgment on unbelievers but rather are spurred on to Christian discipleship, obedience and evangelism in the present. Is passing around copies of these books the way to do that? I'm not sure, since it seems like LaHaye and Jenkins are primarily preaching to the choir. Christians need to think carefully about how best to present the good news of Jesus to the world in today's present setting, not some speculative future-tense scenario.
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Summary: Adventure packed, fact filled, best series of all time!
Review: "Tribulation force" was one of the best books concerning the end of the world. This is a subject that intersets me very much and should be an interest of everyone. I find these books an interesting way to educate those that are not as knowledgable of revelations in the bible. By taking the facts that God has planned for the earth and intertwining them through the lives of Rayford, Buck, Chloe, Amanda, and Bruce it gives an interesting twist to might actually happen to the people who mis the rapture of the church. Since reading only the first two books in the series, it has made me more aware of things happening around the world, even though there is no way that anyone can guess when the rapture will occur. I highly reccommend reading the entire series not only for personal pleasure, but for educational reasons too.
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Summary: Great book, but one BIG PROBLEM
Review: I think Tribulation Force over all was a good book. I enjoyed reading it greatly, amd there was only one thing I really disliked about it. So that's why I gave it four stars. But that one thing I found was so bad that I'm spending most of my review discussing it. The greatest flaw of this book is it's anti-Cathoicism. I'm not saying it's anti- Catholic because it disagrees with Catholic teaching, but because it totally misrepresents Catholic teaching on salvation, another clear example of bigotry that persists in fundamentalist literature. After all, to disagree is one thing, but to misrepresent is quite another. What the authors write about Catholic doctrine in this book either shows their vast ignorance of it (which I am hoping is the case for their sakes), or their prejudice in which they deliberately misrepresent it, and then they refute their own misrepresentations! What am I talking about? An example is on page 55) : "Buck had been bold enough to ask the archbishop to comment on certain passages of Scripture, primarily Ephesians 2:8-9: 'For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast,' " Now what does the archbishop say? Does he say, "Yes that verse supports Catholic doctrine," and then explain how Cathoics believe one is saved by grace and not works? Does he go on to say that any Catholic who believes they can earn salvation is considered by the Church to be in heresy (specifically, Pelagianism, which the church condemned centuries ago)? Does he then go on to point out himself other passages besides that state we can't earn heaven? No. Here's how he responds: " 'Now you see,' the archbishop said, 'this is precisely my point. People have been taking verses like that out of context for centuries and trying to build doctrine on them.' " Kind of funny that the authors of this book fail to leave out the fact that it's the archbishop's own church that has built that doctrine on that verse for centuries! No, the author doesn't include that, so what is the reader left to think about Catholic doctrine? He's left to think that Catholics believe you're saved by works, earning your way to heaven. This is yet another example of a fundamentalist author refusing to be bothered with the facts. Of course what Catholics do believe is that one is saved by grace, and justified by faith and works, and not faith only. After all, the only time the phrase "by faith only" is used in the entire Bible is in James where it states "Ye see then how that by works is a man justified and NOT BY FAITH ONLY" (James 2:24, King James Version; see also similiar passages about the necessity of works,(not by your own power but God working through you- Ephesians 2:10) for justification: Matthew 19:16-17, Matthew 25:31-46, John 5:28-29; Romans 2:6-8 among others.) But the authors of Tribulation Force seem quite ready to misrepresent Catholic teaching. I hope they just misunderstand it as do many fundamentalsits. However, even if that was the case, if they would actually try to find out Catholic doctrine before they misrepresent it, they wouldn't have this problem. Sorry about spending so much of this review dealing with it's anti-Catholicism, but it's very offensive because of all their distortions of Catholic doctrine. If you disagree with me, then I seriously challenge you to e-mail me and show me where I was wrong. Other than it's anti-Catholicism, I felt it was a great book (It feels kind of weird giving a book four stars in a review that I spend most of the time critizising the book.) If the authors hadn't been prejudiced against Catholics, then I would have given the book five stars automatically.
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Summary: :) This Series is a Whirlpool
Review: I am an 8th grader at ECS who loves this series (Hi Clay! Hi Priscilla!) This series (Left Behind) is a whirlpool. A say this because, after you read the book and go back to try to put your finger on the part that was so enjoyable, you can't find it. But for some reason, you are just aching to read the next one. I bought this book at 6:30 pm on Thursday, and it was finished at 10:30 pm on Saturday. Tribulation Force was better than Left Behind, and I am already halfway done with Nicolae, which is better then Tribulation Force. They just keep getting better. Like I said, I'm over halfway done with Nicolae, so look for my review there in a few days.
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Summary: Who's Next?
Review: Tribulation Force sets the stage for more..and it leaves the reader wanting more! Ther is a reason that this has become an instant Best-Seller!
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Summary: It is one of the six best books you could read!
Review: This book inspired me to have a much closer and stronger relationship with God so that I wouldn't miss my chance.
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Summary: Dragin it out a bit.
Review: I thought that Tribulation Force was good but that the pace had slowed down. It was a little bit kind of stretching things out I started to think maybe these guys are writing a book about the end but they're sure building up some cash. A friend of mine did not agree he liked it even better then the first two, so you figure it out. I'll bet you want to know what happens next?
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Summary: Incredibly hard to put down!!
Review: From start to finish, this book may not be totally action-packed, but that's OK cause you'll get hooked on it anyway! The lack of action gives way for suspense, intrigue, and plot development, ultimately leading you to places like the Wailing Wall and meeting Nicolae Carpathia. From the time I started this book, my mom would have to drag me away from it, I was so hooked on it! I highly recommend this Christian novel to anyone looking for a great read!
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