3 Review(s)

Left Behind and Loving It is a cheeky critique of popular writings about the end times. Rather than presenting a steroid-buffed Jesus wrapped in an American flag and ""coming again in clouds of gunfire,"" Left Behind and Loving It invites readers to approach some of the most controversial and scary portions of the Scriptures with the utter confidence that ""God's steadfast love endures forever."" Rather than asserting a hope premised on a few chosen ones escaping the world, Left Behind and Loving It argues that if it is Jesus who is to return (and not his evil twin), then the second coming has redemption written all over it. Many today cannot accept the escapist, violent, end-of-the-world scenario envisioned by ""Left Behind"" theology. Left Behind and Loving It invites readers not to fear but to trust in God's steadfast love and look at the finitude of the world with hope in an infinitely loving God. ""Rapture theology has become a great chuffing beast, feeding on fear, imperial aspirations, and our growing sense of alienation from God's good creation. Mark Davis aims a few well-chosen arrows at the beast, and lo, the rapture business turns out to be nothing more than a lot of hot air. This book points us toward our home on this earth, where God, whose steadfast love endures forever, dwells with us."" -Stanley P Saunders Columbia Theological Seminary ""In this book filled with wit and great wisdom, Mark Davis takes on the Left Behind series and exposes it for what it is: fearmongering nonsense that makes a travesty of the gospel. Davis provides a way of reading the Bible that is historically sensitive and theologically acute. And as he ably demonstrates, a faithful reading of Scripture has its own share of surprises! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned, or confused, about the apocalypse."" -William P. Brown Columbia Theological Seminary ""Does the subtitle of D. Mark Davis' book imply that his analysis is imprudent? Absolutely not. Judiciously, he delineates in lucid prose diverse strategies fostering a faithful, non-literal reading of 'scary' apocalyptic biblical texts. Ably demonstrating that such multilayered texts are flattened when practitioners of 'Left Behind Theology' view them through the lens of 'homotextuality, ' Davis engages in a 'heterotextual' reading susceptible to the extraordinary power of poetic speech. Rather than yielding ominous predictive truth, such image-filled disclosures in Davis' investigation attest God's enduring love."" -J. Kenneth Kuntz The University of Iowa D. Mark Davis is the pastor of Heartland Presbyterian Church in Clive, Iowa. He is the author of Talking about Evangelism (2007).