How can people believe that the supernatural end of the world lies just around the corner when, so far, every such prediction has been proved wrong? Some scholars argue that millenarians are psychologically disturbed; others maintain that their dreams of paradise on earth reflect a nascent political awareness. In this book Damian Thompson looks at the members of one religious group with a strong apocalyptic tradition--Kensington Temple, a large Pentecostal church in London--and attempts to understand how they reconcile doctrines of the end of the world with the demands of their everyday lives. He asks such questions as: Who is making the argument that the world is about to end, and on whose authority? How is it communicated? Which members are persuaded by it? What are the practical consequences for them? How do they rationalize their position? Based on extensive interviews as well as a survey of almost 3000 members, Thompson finds existing explanations of apocalyptic belief inadequate. Although they profess allegiance to millennial doctrine, he discovers, members actually assign a low priority to the "End Times." The history of millenarianism is littered with disappointment, Thompson notes, and the lesson has largely been learned: "predictive" millenarianism--with its risky time-specific predictions of the end--has been substantially supplanted by "explanatory" millenarianism, which uses apocalyptic narratives to explain features of the contemporary world. Most apocalyptic believers, he finds, are comfortable with these lower-cost explanatory narratives that do not require them to sell their houses and head for the hills. He does uncover a handful of "textbook" millenarians in the congregation--people who are confident that Jesus will return in their lifetimes. He concludes that their atypical beliefs were influenced by their conversion experiences, individual psychology, and degree of subcultural immersion. Although much has been written about apocalyptic belief, Thompson's empirically-based study is unprecedented. It constitutes an important step forward in our understanding of this puzzling feature of contemporary religious life.

Despite the popular theology of our day, Christians should not expect to get out of experiencing the tribulation or the end times. Nowhere in the Bible does the Lord promise us this, say Michael Brown and Craig Keener, two leading, acclaimed Bible scholars. In fact, they say, Jesus promises us tribulation in this world. Yet this is no reason to fear. In this fascinating, accessible, and personal book, Brown and Keener walk you through what the Bible really says about the rapture, the tribulation, and the end times. What they find will leave you full of hope. God's wrath is not poured out on His people, and He will shield us from it--as he shielded Israel in Egypt during the ten plagues. So instead of taking comfort in what God hasn't promised, take comfort in the words of Jesus: He has overcome the world, and we live in his victory.

This book is disturbing yet profoundly comforting. Its message is unique, controversial and insightful. Michael Biehler pilots an intellectual adventure while challenging every reader to reexamine his core beliefs. This game-changing, subversive Christian crossover book will at first confound and then delight all who love the truth. Condemned to hell by the thought police of his little Baptist church, Biehler responds with a brave book that illuminates many taboo passages of Scripture. Bamboozled Believers makes sense and it will help you to make to make sense of the Bible too.

The story you are about to read is told from the perspective of Julien, a young journalist in close proximity to a person the Bible calls the “Beast.” Julien will give us a window into the character of the Antichrist and how our last days could unfold according to Scripture’s ultimate plot. This imagined prophetic narrative will also reveal how this coming prince may alter reality and impact humankind--and eventually transform into the most malevolent human in history. But what can be known about this man? What does the Bible actually say about this nefarious individual? How close are we to his unveiling? More than a suspenseful mystery, however, this speculative account will arouse your prophetic curiosity, whetting your appetite for more information, more solid biblical food on the subject. And you’ll find that in the last section of the book. Your imagination and curiosity will soar in this raw, rugged, often shocking account of the rise of the Antichrist. He is real, my friend. And he is coming.

Hank Hanegraaff reveals the code to Revelation. Breaking the code of the book of Revelation has become an international obsession. The result, according to Hank Hanegraaff, has been rampant misreading of Scripture, bad theology, and even bad politics and foreign policy. Hanegraaff argues that the key to understanding the last book of the Bible is the other sixty-five books of the Bible — not current events or recent history and certainly not any complicated charts. The Apocalypse Code offers sane answers to some very controversial questions: What does it mean to take the book of Revelation (and the rest of the Bible) literally? Who are the “Antichrist” and the “Great Whore of Babylon,” and what is the real meaning of “666”? How does our view of the end times change the way we think about the crisis in the Middle East? Are two-thirds of all Jews really headed for an apocalyptic holocaust? The Apocalypse Code is a call to understand what the Bible really says about the end times and why how we understand it matters so much in today’s world. “Provocative and passionate, this fascinating book is a must-read for everyone who’s interested in end-times controversies.” — Lee Strobel, Author, The Case for the Real Jesus “ This book is a withering and unrelenting critique of the positions of apocalyptic enthusiasts — Tim LaHaye. Every fan of the Left Behind series should read this book. The fog will clear, and common sense will return to our reading of the Bible.” — Gary M. Burge, Professor of New Testament, Wheaton College and Graduate School.

How can people believe that the supernatural end of the world lies just around the corner when, so far, every such prediction has been proved wrong? Some scholars argue that millenarians are psychologically disturbed; others maintain that their dreams of paradise on earth reflect a nascent political awareness. In this book Damian Thompson looks at the members of one religious group with a strong apocalyptic tradition--Kensington Temple, a large Pentecostal church in London--and attempts to understand how they reconcile doctrines of the end of the world with the demands of their everyday lives. He asks such questions as: Who is making the argument that the world is about to end, and on whose authority? How is it communicated? Which members are persuaded by it? What are the practical consequences for them? How do they rationalize their position? Based on extensive interviews as well as a survey of almost 3000 members, Thompson finds existing explanations of apocalyptic belief inadequate. Although they profess allegiance to millennial doctrine, he discovers, members actually assign a low priority to the "End Times." The history of millenarianism is littered with disappointment, Thompson notes, and the lesson has largely been learned: "predictive" millenarianism--with its risky time-specific predictions of the end--has been substantially supplanted by "explanatory" millenarianism, which uses apocalyptic narratives to explain features of the contemporary world. Most apocalyptic believers, he finds, are comfortable with these lower-cost explanatory narratives that do not require them to sell their houses and head for the hills. He does uncover a handful of "textbook" millenarians in the congregation--people who are confident that Jesus will return in their lifetimes. He concludes that their atypical beliefs were influenced by their conversion experiences, individual psychology, and degree of subcultural immersion. Although much has been written about apocalyptic belief, Thompson's empirically-based study is unprecedented. It constitutes an important step forward in our understanding of this puzzling feature of contemporary religious life.