LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

An interview with Tim La Haye, author of the wildly popular "Left Behind" series.

Based on the Book of Revelations and St Paul's epistle to the Thessalonians, the 12-book series, four of which topped the New York Times bestseller list, has sold 58 million copies, including a children's version and spin-offs. The ninth book in the series was the biggest selling book of 2001 in America, ousting John Grisham from the top spot for the first time in seven years.

The books - the last of which, Glorious Appearing, has just been published with a first print run of 1.9 million copies - are good old-fashioned adventure stories. But their core is utterly theological, inspired by premillennialism: a teaching that emerged in the 19th century and which prophesies, bluntly speaking, that things are going to get much worse before they get better. Disasters and wars are good things; signs that the Second Coming is approaching.

When the big day comes, Christ will descend from Heaven and summon all "true believers", who will disappear instantly in an event called the Rapture. Left behind will be the unbelievers - not just atheists, but also Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and everyone else.

They will suffer seven years of catastrophes (the Tribulation) before Christ reappears and defeats the Antichrist in the final battle between good and evil, after which, finally, he will rule in peace for a thousand years.

I don't get that 'thousand years' thing- why only 1000 years? Or maybe that's a hidden warning from the Gnostic point of view. But wait- there's more!

So when could the Rapture happen? "It could happen right now. With no warning."

And what will happen after the Second Coming? "If you're alive, your body will be transformed, as it's a corruptible body that needs to be made incorruptible for Heaven. Remember when Jesus rose from the dead? He still looked the same and could eat food, but he could walk through walls. He had an incorruptible body. Scripture says that we will be like Jesus. He was 33, so we assume that everyone will be transformed to their appearance at that age."

But what will everyone do? "The thousand years of the Millennium Kingdom will be magnificent. We know from the Bible that there'll be trees that, each month, will grow a different fruit. It will be familiar to this world, but more perfect. Sheep will still be sheep. Grass will be grass. But they will be perfect. What happens after that, none of us can imagine."

A thousand years seems an awfully long time to watch perfect sheep and eat a wide variety of fruit. What if, like myself, you are unmarried? If the Rapture does happen tomorrow, will I be single for a thousand years?

"There will probably be singles' groups," says LaHaye, who once published a self-help book called The Act of Marriage, which claimed that Christian women have better sex lives than atheists. "I've had such a fun life serving the Lord for these 57 years, so I trust him completely that I'll be happy doing so for a thousand. We've been told that we will be able to travel at the speed of thought. Personally, I plan to go planetary exploring."

Sorry, folks, I absolutely cannot wrap my mind around a 20th century interpretation of a first century acid fantasy. It simply doesn't compute. Guess I'll be 'left behind'.

Sunfell