Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides (Left Behind No. 4)
by Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim LaHaye
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim LaHayeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Unabridged
Published: 1999-02-01
ISBN: 0842329250
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Product features:
- 1998 - Tyndale House - Paperback
- Soul Harvest : The World Takes Sides
- Left Behind Series #4 - Novel
- By Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins
- New - Collectible
Book Reviews of Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides (Left Behind No. 4)
Book Review: LaHaye/Jenkins' Guide to Christianity: An Immoral Morality
Summary: 1 Stars
Alright, so, if you're here, then I don't have to tell you how poorly written this series is. The characters are cardboard, there is no pacing, there is no sense of style and the plot is cliched, repetitive and completely devoid of real tension. But, you might reasonably respond, none of that is the point to this series. This series is meant to convert the masses, and therefore, we might posit that we ought to judge this series based on its religious and moral content.
If so? Then this series is even worse off than judging it on its artistic merits (and it has practically none).
First of all, to re-establish the fact that this is a poorly written series, allow me to quote this choice segment from near the end of the novel. The context is that Ray is investigating an airplane that has crashed and now rests underwater, a grave for dozens of people. He's searching for his missing wife, whom he fears is one of the dead (p. 402): "All he saw in his fading light were the backs of five heads and the heels of ten feet. Seven shoes had come loose. He had never understood the phenomenon of the contraction of human feet in the face of violent collision...."
Truly, genuinely dismal. Just awful. Here, you can tell that the authors decided to do a few minutes worth of research, and, finding some tidbit about contracting feet or somesuch, they just couldn't leave it out. You know, for verisimilitude. The fact that, while scuba-diving in an underwater airplane, searching desperately for his wife, and suffering from a bad head inury, this is a really lame thought for Ray to be having, pulling us completely out of the suspense of the scene? Well, the authors don't quite get that sort of thing.
But, like I say, perhaps we should concentrate our critiquing efforts on the presentation of theology and ethics found here. After all, that's obviously what's most important to the authors. And so, let's have a little bit of theological conversation between two of our Tribulation Saints (210):
"'God has proven personal to us, Mac," Rayford said. 'He doesn't always answer our prayers the way he we think he will, but we've learned he knows best. And we have to be careful not to think that everything we feel deeply is necessarily true.'
'I don't follow,' Mac said.
'For instance, I can't shake the feeling that Amanda is still alive. But I can't swear that this is from God.' Rayford hesitated, suddenly overcome. 'I want to be sure that if it turns out I'm wrong, I don't hold it against God.'"
See? Rayford gets this deep feeling about Amanda's still being alive. If she turns out to be alive, then Rayford knows that the feeling came from God, and he praises God for "assuring" Ray or something like that. However, if Amanda isn't alive, then Rayford knows that his initial feeling wasn't from God, after all, but just his own hopes overblown...
No wonder Mac didn't follow. It isn't followable.
But my big problem here isn't the authors' lack of logic. Oh, sure, they haven't even been *introduced* to logic, but no, my bigger concern is the morality. Throughout this series, they've been inspired to use the series as a pulpit for preaching against what they feel are society's ills. Fair enough, except, rather than making anything resembling an actual case against any of these things, they've been content to merely smear them through association (i.e. the Antichrist supports it, ergo it's just as evil as Fundamentalists always said it was). In this way, the authors look to tarnish organizations like the United Nations and hot-button political issues like abortion, cloning and fetal tissue research. Look, there are several good arguments to be made against things like the United Nations (and also good arguments for it)... but, that the Antichrist might use it for world conquest? Is not a good argument. (Also, it's not even a good Christian argument, for God's will is obviously that the Antichrist have dominion for a time, yes? Therefore, arguing against the U.N. appears to be attempting to thwart God's plan...)
Not always preaching against, sometimes the authors preach for things. For instance, in the character of Chloe, they preach for the "natural" submission of women to men (307):
"Don't parent me, Buck. Seriously, I don't have a problem submitting to you because I know how much you love me. I'm willing to obey you even when you're wrong. But don't be unreasonable."
This is not the independent woman the authors introduced us to in the first couple of books. After almost disappearing from the narrative altogether, Chloe has re-emerged as a caracature of what the authors believe is the ideal Christian wife. That is: obedient. And here, they try to make such obedience sound reasonable because it's done "because I know how much you love me..." but ask yourselves this: does Chloe love Buck any less than Buck loves Chloe? No. Yet the authors would *never* give Buck a speech about how he obeys Chloe and submits to her (even when she's wrong). They give Chloe this speech because she's a woman, and the authors believe that it is a woman's duty to submit to her husband, and obey him.
Apart from social observations, let's take a look at the character--and morality--of God as presented by this series. As a good starting point (and the central plot element of the end of the last novel, and most of this one), the "Wrath of the Lamb" earthquake that devastates the earth.
What I find interesting about that quake is: according to the authors, it's God's work. Now, in chronicling the 'End of Times,' the authors have been quick and clear to lay a lot at Nicolae Carpathia's doorstep. He's the Antichrist, after all; a bad, bad man. Yet, come to it, God has managed to wreak more destruction than Carpathia. I know that the authors, and most readers, would sift these acts of destruction into "good" and "bad" camps, but for someone who isn't Christian (like myself) it's a bit hard to come to that conclusion, just based on what I've read in this series. God's earthquake doesn't seem to be any more discriminatory than Carpathia's nuclear attack--they both wind up killing people both moral and immoral, Christian and other, right? They're both launching their attacks on the populace in an effort to gain better control of people, right? Win more people to their side, right? Honestly, other than the titles we've bestowed upon them, how is someone expected to figure out which is the force of good and which is the force of evil, when, for all I can tell, they employ the same tactics and have the same goals?
The big difference seems to be: God is *more* powerful, is *better* able to massacre people, and therefore we'd be wise in backing him up. Do you know what argument LaHaye and Jenkins have yet to make? That God is more moral in some observable way, and therefore worthy of love, respect or admiration. So far, the only thing that they've proven about their deity is that he's not afraid of murdering millions of people to make a point. God seems to be "good" and "moral" in LaHaye/Jenkins' world because he says so, and will slap you down hard if you disagree.
Of course, this is my beef--my personal point of view--I get that. I only wish the authors had some recognition of their own point of view, and how it colors their writing (and how it limits it). For instance, a good portion of the early part of the novel is Buck's trying to find Chloe (seems that girl is always gone missing), who they're worried has been killed by the quake. Had the quake, somehow, been the work of Carpathia, Buck would be burning with all sorts of anger at the cruelty and inhumanity of the Antichrist--at how casually the Antichrist could butcher people. Instead, Buck is filled with a sort of quiet resignation, because the quake is the handiwork of a "loving" God. Surely the kind of God that can cause these sorts of horrors must give a moral person pause...? Yet...
"The chopper lights illuminated an area of twenty feet in front of the craft. Mac suddenly unclipped his belt and leaned forward. 'What is that, Ray? It's raining, but it's red! Look at that! All over the snow!'
'It's blood," Rayford said, a peace flooding his soul...this show, this shower of fire and ice and blood, reminded him yet again that God is faithful. He keeps his promises." (410)
Yikes! Christians of LaHaye and Jenkins' stripe I find a bit... disturbing. They have no problems in upholding a God as being moral and loving, even as he slaughters millions (and condemns untold amounts of them to Hell, as he arbitrarily limits their opportunities for conversion/salvation through their early deaths). Yet they condemn as evil a man who kills a lesser number, even though that man is conforming to God's plan for us every bit as much as the earthquakes, comets, etc. They find comfort in raining fire and blood, but are troubled by independent women and embryonic research that could wind-up curing diseases and thereby saving lives.
If LaHaye and Jenkins are right--if this series really does reflect Christianity and the character and morality of their God--then God is wicked, and a truly moral person would have to take a stand against him, even if it were futile. There is nothing loving about this "loving" God, no matter how many times we assert it is so. And anyways, even if they're right metaphysically, this series is still incredibly poor in terms of writing, characterization, plot, etc. Being religious and being right doesn't make a person a competent author.
Summary of Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides (Left Behind No. 4)
The fourth book in the popular Left Behind series from Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins is now available in trade softcover. In Soul Harvest the world is reeling from a great earthquake. As Nicolae Carpathia begins a worldwide rebuilding campaign, his rage is fueled by an evangelistic effort resulting in the greatest harvest of souls the world has ever seen. Meanwhile, Rayford Steele and Buck Williams search for their loved ones who haven't been seen since before the earthquake.Having survived the wrath of the Lamb--a global earthquake in the 21st month of the Tribulation--pilot Rayford Steele and reporter Buck Williams now embark on a journey of absorbing adventure and Christian triumph. Soul Harvest is book four in the enormously popular Left Behind series (seven books are planned in all), based on those who are left behind in the Rapture. Written with the same gripping pace of Tom Clancy and John Grisham (film rights have already been sold for the first two books), the authors take us to Iraq, America, underground shelters, and the bottom of the Tigris river as Steele and Williams search for loved ones. Meanwhile, biblical prophecies are fulfilled at every turn, including the great soul harvest. For many Christian followers, this series has become a tangible and thrilling testament to the Book of Revelations. --Gail Hudson
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