I read this really interesting novel titled Left Behind written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Left Behind is actually the first of a series of twelve books giving a fictionalized account of the rapture and the Tribulation that follows after .

For the ignorant Catholic readers, the rapture and the Tribulation form part of the end times belief system of some protestant groups, more precisely, those that adhere to the dispensationalism school of Bible interpretation. In the Philippines, this belief system is held by the born again Christians.

The rapture is the physical taking of of all true Christians, dead or alive, to heaven. Thus, those who weren’t true Christians will be “left behind” to face the Tribulation, a period (that most most believe will last seven years) of great suffering brought about by the events described in Revelations.

In the novel, in one “twinkling of an eye,” millions of people, including all the children, babies, and fetuses, instantly disappear from the face of the earth. Suddenly unmanned vehicles crash, planes drop from the sky, and general turmoil ensues. A lesser lawmaker from Romania then quickly rises from nowhere to become that country’s president and eventually becomes the U.N. Secretary-General in a span of two weeks. The novel’s plot centers around a group of people who realize they have been left behind after the rapture and must now band together to face the Tribulation and to oppose the Antichrist (which just so happens to be this Romanian guy).

Interestingly, the book indirectly mentions that the pope was also taken to heaven. That was one of only two references to Catholicism in the whole novel, the other mentioning the Vatican in a small list of countries. I find it interesting because a lot of Protestant groups are dogmatically opposed to the Roman Catholic Church, some groups even taking the extreme view that the pope is the Antichrist.

What’s my personal take on the subject? It’s too farfetched. The concept of the rapture hinges on three Bible passages that could be interpreted in many different ways. The novel explains one of them, 1 Corinthians 15:51–56:

⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

I am not a bible expert, much less a member of the Church’s magisterium, so I cannot interpret this passage with any authority (so don’t quote me on that). But a casual look at it does not suggest “rapture” to me.

Nevertheless, the novel is a very fascinating read, though at times it seems to preach. It’s somewhat like a Dan Brown or a Tom Clancy piece (though I haven’t read any Clancy novels) but with very serious religious undertones. The novel actually struck a personal chord with me since I can relate very well with Chloe, one of the principal characters. Her religious disposition and mine are somewhat similar, though I’m much more churchgoing than her and I talk to God more often than not.