Monday, June 30, 2003
Bishops want apocalyptic books 'Left Behind'
The wildly popular "Left Behind" book series may be a good read but it is bad theology, the Roman Catholic bishops of Illinois have told the state's 3.8 million Catholics.
The state's six diocesan bishops urged Catholic libraries, bookstores, schools and parishes to no longer carry the "anti-Catholic" series because the 11 books contain a view of the end of the world that is not supported by Catholic teaching.
"When Jesus told us to be alert and ready for his return, he also warned there would be false prophets," the bishops said in a statement. "One of the most attractively marketed recent false 'prophets' has been the 'Left Behind' series."
The Catholic Church, however, does not believe in a rapture of the church.
It's not the first time the "Left Behind" theology has come under fire. In 2001, the Rev. A.L. Barry, the late president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, said the books portrayed a vision of "confusion, chaos and hysteria" that is inconsistent with Scripture. Later that year, the Presbyterian Church (USA) said the books' theology is "not in accord" with its understanding of the end times.
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