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SBL Annual Meeting Papers November 2005 WORKING DRAFT: Please do not cite without permission of the author Sent Ahead or Left Behind? War and Peace in the Apocalypse, Eschatology, and the Left Behind Series The 12 volume Left Behind series, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins has not only sold over 12 million copies, it has impacted the way most Americans understand Revelation, Apocalyptic Literature, and world politics. The books and popular movies are accepted as popular commentaries on a controversial Biblical text. While LaHaye and Jenkins do not represent the most common scholarly approach to Revelation and Eschatology, they represent an ever-growing mindset in Evangelical America. While the series has some value in calling people to repentance, morality, and an awareness of world events, it is damaging to those of us who teach Apocalyptic Literature. This series uses a form of projective identification stemming from the cold war and days of the Red Scare. This form of transference can promote a sense of paranoia and distrust for attempts at world peace, Eastern-Europeans, Jews, and those who are not American. The writers also ignore the true historical setting of Revelation and the attempts of apocalyptic writers to provide hope in times of crisis. While Apocalyptic Literature uses projective identification to respond to a perceived threat and crisis, the authors of the Left Behind Series imagine and create a threat and crisis. A few months ago a couple sat in my office. This "seemingly" happily married couple within two weeks was separated, not speaking to each other, and prepared for divorce. Mary indicated to Sam, two weeks previous, that she realized her father had abused her as a child. Sam was supportive but did not know how to help. Sam was a retired FBI detective and had experience with abuse, but did not have the ability to nurture others to healing. Mary felt that he was cold, unconcerned, and inattentive to her grief. Within two days Mary had accused Sam of abusive, sexual, and controlling behavior in their marriage. By the end of the week she felt that Sam had constructed a plot to sabotage and silence her. She did not trust her doctors because she felt that they were controlled by Sam. She did not take her prescription medication because she felt that Sam was poisoning her. Two months after we met she was institutionalized on her doctor's recommendation. Within the week she had filed accusations that the psychiatric ward of the hospital was controlling, manipulating, and abusing her. She felt that the government also had made an attempt to control and monitor her behavior. She realized that Sam was not the culprit and wished to return to him. Sam, through all this, had followed our advice of being supportive and, when necessary, keeping a distance from Mary. This is an example of what Sigmund Freud called negative transference. In the case of Mary, a trigger incident began this process. While her refusal to continue her prescription drugs further exaggerated the condition, it is still an example of transference. The realization that a deceased father had been abusive, exposed repressed memories that were projected onto Mary's closest male relationship (her husband). In the initial stages of the reports, we operated to protect Mary, but the quick progression and intensity of the accusations and stories became an indicator that she was projecting her past experiences onto Sam. The transference of this fear and anger to the hospital and staff also gave us another example of this type of projection. Mary's negative transference was triggered by a painful memory of trauma by her father. In my discussions with her, she was highly paranoid and angry. She would not be controlled and saw me as the person who was helping her find freedom (another form of transference). Her view of God was one of comforter, although weeks earlier she saw God as a controlling father. I found that as long as I was neutral and gave her freedom to choose, I was not targeted as another abuser. Mary's deepest fears and resentments for being controlled were displayed in her reactions to follow any advice that I or her friends gave to her. She, in her mind, was fulfilling her wishes to be rebellious, independent, and free. Transference involves placing the feelings about ourselves or others from our past, upon an analyst, friend, or family member. This phenomenon can occur through the triggering of an emotional moment or painful memory. An individual may have hidden their anxiety from others until they feel threatened or aware that they have been traumatized by others. They may identify that past experience with an existing person in power. Transference can also be a coping skill for someone under crisis, trauma, or intense emotional fatigue. In this paper I wish to discuss how transference has been used in the popular novel/series Left Behind (hereafter referred to as LB). This series, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, has not only become one of the most popular selling Christian/fiction series, but continues to promote the transference of American fears upon other nations while being disguised as a spiritual text. The theology of the series continues to project the fears of Evangelical American Christians which began with Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth series in the 1960's. Transference in the Book of Revelation: Sent Ahead The book of Revelation continues to be a popular read, misread, translated, and mistranslated book in American Christianity. No other book has spawned the vast number of commentaries, novels, and fictional accounts as Revelation. The book has been used as a proof text for the Eschaton, the salvation of Palestine, the vindication of America, fictional horror movies, or the end of the world. However, in its ancient context, the Apocalypse of John does transfer the wrath of God upon the current kingdom of Rome. It identifies the suffering of the early Christians with their God and savior. While the identity of the Beast, false prophet, and suffering seems to be a debated subject in the popular literature on Revelation, most scholars suggest that John was writing about a very real, present, and current problem in the first-century church. The text gives evidence that John's revelation would happen in the very near future through the use of terms such as soon, at hand, and short time (Rev. 1:1,3; 3:11; 12:12; 22:7,12,20). John warns the reader that they might be punished by the plagues of Revelation if they do not fully report the story (22:18-19). The text also suggests that the early readers were facing present suffering (1:9; 2:3,8-10,13,19; 3:8,10; 6:9). The story represents the style of apocalyptic literature (hereafter referred to as AL) that was very common in the ancient world. Collins suggests that apocalyptic literature in the ancient world had three common themes.1 This style of literature in the ancient world reflected and was a response to a crisis. These stories were created and circulated among communities which faced threats of suffering and trauma. AL is born out of suffering and crisis. Second, the texts communicated that this crisis would involve divine authority. The gods or God were telling the community that they would intervene and make things right by promoting justice, peace, vengeance, balance, and vincidaton. The writer/recipient communicated that someone was in control of all events and life. Finally, the texts were designed to bring a sense of comfort or consolation to the community. These three themes (crisis, divine authority, consolation) brought a sense of hope and comfort to the reader. AL also creates a bridge between the heavenly world and human world.2 The heavenly world communicates to humans that the divine powers would intervene in the natural course of events to set things right. This is communicated through a mediator (usually angels) and through symbols or metaphors that need to be interpreted by the writer or community. Yet, AL is concerned with addressing the current crisis and providing hope for the community, rather than predicting the end of the world. Eschatological ideas are not necessarily the heart of what apocalyptic is all about, for such ideas are found in many types of early Jewish and Christian literature, and there are apocalypses that do not really focus on the final form the future will take...The very heart of apocalyptic is the unveiling of secrets and truths about God's perspective on a variety of subjects, including justice and the problem of evil, and what God proposes to do about such matters.3 Suffering is usually "short" as compared to the whole of life. The "end" addresses the end of the crisis and the time when justice comes by the hand of the divinity. Revelation seems to follow this genre in addressing a current problem in Asia among the Christians of the first century. First, the crisis of Revelation involves suffering, death, persecution and/or torture of the Christians. This persecution comes as a result of the pressures of idolatry, worship of a world power, social pressure, and apostasy in the threat of death.4 The historical evidence of Asia, during the first century, points to the presence of Caesar worship, especially the three cities Ephesus, Pergamum, and Smyrna.5 The coins below suggest that Ephesus boasted in their status as chief city of Rome. While there is question as to whether Ephesus or Pergamum was the capital of Asia, it is clear that these cities were in a struggle for power.6
Ephesus also seems to be proud of their status in Caesar worship as compared to their patron goddess Artemis. In the coin below the temple of Artemis is flanked by the Imperial cult and Roma-suggesting that Artemis is still supreme. The Greek phrase (ΕΦΕΣΙΑΝ ΠΡΩΤΩΝ ΑσΙΑς: Ephesus, first in Asia) also shows the Ephesian boasting concerning their prominence in Asia.
Likewise, it seems logical that Pergamum and Smyrna, while getting the shaft from the Roman Empire, would be somewhat hostile to those not supporting the worship of the Emperor cult.7 Laodicea hosted gladiator games while Pergamum, Philadelphia, and Smyrna had gladiator training schools.8 Second, Revelation communicates that God is in control. According to Koester, Revelation does not move linearly. The whole book is a series of cycles which celebrate the triumph of God. These six cycles each end with a vision of God's throne and divine intervention in the crisis of the early church (4:1-11; 7:1-17; 11:15-19; 15:1-4; 19:1-10; 21:1-22:5).9 These cycles both threaten and assure the reader that God is in control.10 Finally, Revelation provides comfort and consolation to the reader through the visions of judgment. The reader is told that they are to suffer, endure, stand firm, overcome, and die because God will bring this false religion to ruin. While this does not seem very comforting the early church is reminded that they will be rewarded for their faithfulness (2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21) with the promise for the one who overcomes (ό νικων). This reward is not only to those who die for their witness, it is also for those who live through the persecutions. Transference in this book occurs due to these three themes of AL. While the book claims to be a revelation of Jesus, it does represent the deepest fears of the early Christians in their daily lives. First, the suffering of the church is a present reality. In Jesus' message to the seven churches they are told that God is aware of their suffering. The Ephesians have persevered (2:3) for the name; the Smyrnians were being slandered by the Jews (2:10); those in Pergamum were grieving the loss of Antipas (2:13); those in Thyatira had persevered (2:19); and those in Philadephia were losing their strength (3:8).11 The early church was experiencing pain, suffering, persecution, weariness, and rejection. Laodicea, Pergamum, and Thyatira were also in danger of falling back into sin (2:14-15,20-21; 3:14-18). The hero of the book is none other than the Lamb of God. In the story he is portrayed as a slaughtered lamb12 (5:6,9); one who has shed blood (1:5), died and lives again (1:5,18), and one who empathizes with the early Christians. John, likewise, suffers and endures with them (1:9). The early readers have a chance to see themselves and their suffering in a God who is not blind. Revelation gives the suffering church the chance to transfer their pain and feelings of abandonment to God, as well as the writer, who identifies with them in their weakness. The implied message is that I have suffered as you. Second, the anger and cry for vengeance from the community were also embraced by the book. The community that grieved the loss of loved ones and feared for their own lives sought satisfaction. When the fifth seal was opened the victims of persecution cried out for vengeance. How long, sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood? (6:10) These victims are told to wait for others to die as they have (6:11). Throughout the book the community cries out for justice and is told to be patient, wait, and endure. When the dragon (Satan) is thrown to the earth the readers are warned that the dragon is angry and will attack them. The message of hope is dismal: If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. (13:10) This Jeremiah text (15:2) was used for captivity suggested that God again would allow the enemy to attack the faith community. In Revelation, however, the community was not being punished for sin, but asked to remain faithful. Yet the hero also identifies with the suffering people. The hero, as a slaughtered lamb, continually reminds them that he has risen, was dead, is alive, and will reign (1:8,17-18; 4:8; 7:10; 11:15;16:5). He persevered and endured the torture and slaughter of from his enemies. He, in the end, will return to enact vengeance on the enemies of the Christians and will make things right. The cry for vengeance of the community is seen in the slaughtered savior who has earned the right to reign and bring vengeance. Finally, vengeance satisfies the community in the fall of this Roman beast. While the Roman Empire lasted for another few centuries, the crisis of Revelation seems to have been addressed during the first century. The promise of fulfillment happening soon, quickly, and shortly suggests that God promised relief to their suffering within their generation. The contrast between the beast's army and Lamb's army suggest that God will answer the prayers of the saints, as well as the cries for vengeance. The Lamb's army have God's name on their forehead, also died and rose to life, and will be protected in the great battle. The army of the beast have their god's name on their forehead, follow the one who seemed to raise and die (13:3,12), and will die in the great battle. While the saints will raise to a new life, the beast's army will be devoured by the birds and in the fire. The anger and vengeance of the community will be satisfied in the great battle. These three examples of transference (suffering, anger, and vengeance) are a method for the suffering Christians to identify with the Lamb of God. Jesus also suffered. Jesus also cried for vengeance. Jesus, however, is the only one who is worthy of vengeance in the book. The suffering church is called to identify with Jesus, pray for the dead in Christ to join his army, but, they have no ability to act in vengeance-this is left to the Lamb. Violence is not an option for the reader. However, this third step is what I call the point of transformation in the book of Revelation. While the suffering community is called to be patient, they do have the opportunity to respond, although without violence. The book shows us the patience of God during the cycles of punishment. This is illustrated by John through the comparison of Christ and the community. First, the Christ is able to judge because he was slaughtered (1:5; 5:9,12), he is righteous and just (15:4; 16:5,7), and he is given the authority and reign over the earth (11:15; 12:10). second, those who have refused to repent and heed the warnings from the throne are no longer without excuse (16:9,11). Jesus has set the pace for judgment. Only he can judge. Only he can enact vengeance. Only he can punish. Yet, the suffering church has the option for transformation. They can continue to persevere. They can continue to witness. They can fulfill the promise of hope to all people. The comparison of the two cities is another interesting parallel in this transformation. While the Lamb and his army square off against the beast and his army, their people/cities are passive. The city of the beast (Rome) is the object of God's wrath while the city of the Lamb (faith community) becomes the bride. The city of Rome (prostitute) is dressed with expensive gaudy clothes. She is drunk. She has committed adultery and murdered innocent people. She is dark and full of violence and bloodshed. She is destined for destruction. People are encouraged to go out of her because she will be destroyed. They are to flee the brothel because it was empty and powerless. Roman religion falls short of providing true righteousness and hope.13 The contrast to this woman is the bride of Christ. She is dressed in precious, beautiful, costly clothes and ornaments. She is truly honorable and beautiful. She is safe, bright, and a place of peace and rest. She is destined for honor and glory. People are encouraged to enter her. She is not the new prostitute of the world but the new mother of the world. It is in this city where transformation happens. The city is the people of God, the church, the bride of Christ. In this city gentiles enter, experience healing, and see the glory of God. Even more, this city has thick walls but no closed door. It is odd that the city's most important form of defense is left open. All people are welcome and all people are invited to enter and experience the God's healing. Those on the outside are still called to enter, repent, and receive healing.14 The book ends with an eternal message: Jesus is the judge, not us. Yet, we continue to invite all people into the city not for judgment, but for healing, restoration, and salvation. The suffering congregation transforms, not by judgment and vengeance, but through outreach, the healing of others, and the worship of a forgiving, protective, and patient God. The church of the first century struggled with what it meant to be Sent Ahead. Transference in the Left Behind Series LB has also found a way to transfer the experiences of modern readers to their version of AL and story for the Evangelical American Christian. The issues that they transfer to their constructed apocalyptic are those that seem unique to American readers. First, the crisis is not an existing crisis. While Revelation historically addressed an existing crisis, the LB series creates or imagines a crisis. The personal crisis that the reader first encounters is the crisis of those who have not been taken to heaven because they were not truly faithful to the Christian faith. The characters experience a crisis in their personal faith which means that those who openly disbelieved and those who openly believed but were hypocritical in their faith were left behind on earth. Throughout the story some acknowledge hypocrisy or unbelief and become part of the team destined to resist the beast. While the reader may identify with some of the characters, those of the true faith cannot. Those whom they may identify with are gone and only memories in the story. The reader who does not believe or has a personal crisis in their faith is the target of the story. They are in crisis and need to turn to God. While this may have been the intent of the authors, the reader who has a personal crisis is the one who identifies with LB.15 The global crisis is also an imagined or created crisis. The public crisis that the characters face is one that is the result of American fears since the Cold War. Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth and Armageddon books were popular in the 1960s-1980s. These books placed the beast in Russia. America's biggest perceived threat was Russia, communism, and China during this time. LB has placed the beast (Nikolai) in Romania and as an active participant in the European Market and UN. While these provide a sense of threat to the economy of the US, they do not present us with a crisis. The US is only threatened by these entities due to our own sense of greed, capitalism, and foreign policies. The UN's desire for world peace has always challenged the US to find another way to peace and foreign diplomacy, something we still struggle to accept. Yet, in LB, unity, peace, and a global economy are the devil's way of conquering the world. The prince of peace is no longer Jesus, but a Romanian dictator who wants to rule the world. LB imagines a crisis that is only a crisis to most Evangelical American Christians and uses this crisis to concoct and predict suffering, persecution, and torture. Second, in LB God seems incredibly silent. The characters do have signs or manifestations from God, but they seem to be left to their own devices to stay faithful. God's vengeance is not seen until the end. Throughout the books God does not speak and promise vengeance. The survivors are left to gather an army, evangelize, re-interpret scriptures, find hidden messages, and resist or take down the Romanian world ruler and his cohorts. While the books tell us that God supports their work, Jesus is no longer the hero. The characters are the hero's and carry the hopes and dreams of the reader. The reader who has faced a personal crisis now has the chance to respond. Tell everyone about the end of the world and gather a faithful army before it is too late. This contrasts with the hero of Revelation who calls the reader to persevere, suffer, and wait for God to intervene. Finally, LB does not provide the comfort and hope that are seen in AL, namely Revelation.16 While the series compiles and reinterprets various texts throughout the Bible, it does not provide a sense of comfort for the reader. One might suggest that the hope of heaven is the comfort that the reader of Revelation receives. But this was not the intent of AL. The reader does not wait for God to one day make things right in the end of the world. The reader expects God to intervene and act soon. The reader, suffering in crisis, looks to a day of justice in their near future. This has already taken place in heaven and it is the time to take place on earth. While the language may be metaphorical, the message is clear. God and the Lamb, not the Christian, will intervene and destroy the evil powers in order to bring justice from the throne to the earth. LB, on the other hand, promises that a just world will not coexist with evil. While it may exist in the remnant community on earth it will not reign over the whole land until the wicked are destroyed. This will only happen in the end of time. Comfort and consolation only happen in death or at Armageddon. Those who are left behind are not the ones who endured suffering; they are the ones who disobeyed. Their role is to find faith and oppose the false prophet and beast. This time on the earth is a time of repentance and preparation for death. They are still called to confront the evil rulers while on earth. It seems that transference in LB is not the same as that in Revelation. In Revelation the reader is experiencing a real public crisis and seeks justice and vengeance. These feelings are transferred to Jesus who also suffers death and seeks justice and vengeance. In the end the reader is reminded that the transference stops here while the Lamb takes vengeance on the evil rulers. The reader, however, perseveres by continuing to be a witness to the Lamb whether there is persecution or freedom. All people are to be welcome to the city and have a chance to change. The book's eternal message is not the establishment of heaven, but the continual call for the Gentiles to wash their robes, come into the community of faith, and eat from the tree of life. It is also seen in the community's strong stance to resist violence and stay relational. LB transfers the fears and concerns of Evangelical America into the story of the last days. While some of the readers may be experiencing personal crisis of faith, the public crisis is imagined and created. The enemy is still Eastern Europe, communism, the rising value of the Euro Dollar, and any other power that threatens the US. Yet, we are blind to the fact that other nations consider the US to be the beast. The cry for vengeance does not rest in the Messiah but is now a fear of world peace, power, and global governments. The Lamb and God, in LB, are shockingly silent and in the background. The heroes are humans (actually Americans-and most white middle class males) rather than the Lamb who was cut down in his prime like an animal. White power and American ingenuity will prevail and endure in LB. Justice will only happen at the end of the world. The only hope for justice is a bloody war that will destroy those who set up organizations which try to establish peace. Even more disturbing for me is the lack of transformation that can occur in LB. While Revelation calls the community to continue to witness and invite others into the city, LB only warns people of the judgment of God. While Revelation displays the mercy, patience, calls to repentance, and comfort of God; LB displays warning, judgment, and the coming end of the world. LB may claim that it can offer transformation to those who read the books, but this does not seem likely. An invented and distorted crisis, human heroes, and hope of an end that has continually extended does not provide the reader with hope. Readers look for crisis and persecution, rather than relief. Hope turns to despair, despair turns to longing, and longing returns others to their former path. Extended time can destroy our hope. In the end LB only represents the wishful thinking of many Evangelical American Christians. However, the book of Revelation caused the reader to transfer their anxieties to the true hero of the book. The Lamb suffered as we have and is worthy to take our feelings and cries for vengeance into battle. But, God enacts the vengeance, not us. God gathers the army-we are simply sent ahead not left behind. η γαρ ματυρία Ιησου εστιν το πνευμα της προφητείας Endnotes 1"David Hellholm has proposed that the definition of apocalypse in Semeia 14 be emended by the following addition: 'intended for a group in crisis with the purpose of exhortation and/or consolation by means of divine authority.'" John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, 2d. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 41. For Hellholm's article see: David Hellholm, "The Problem of Apocalyptic Genre and the Apocalypse of John," in Early Christian Apocalypticism: Genre and Social Setting, Semeia 36, ed. A. Yarbro Collins (Decatur, GA: Scholars, 1986), 27. 2 "Specifically, an apocalypse is defined as: 'a genre of revelatory literature with a narrative framework, in which a revelation is mediated by an otherworldly being to a human recipient, disclosing a transcendent reality which is both temporal, insofar as it envisages eschatological salvation, and spatial insofar as it involves another, supernatural world.'" Ibid., 5. 3 Ben Witherington III, Revelation (NY: Cambridge University, 2003), 34. 4 The pressure from unions and associations, as well as families were part of this persecution. Hemer and Worth suggests that the majority of persecution resulted from various combined social pressures and local civic pride. See: Colin J. Hemer, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting, The Biblical Resource Series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), 11; and Roland H. Worth, Jr, The Seven Cities of the Apocalypse and Roman Culture (NY: Paulist, 1999), 112-23. 5 For more on Roman Imperial worship in Asia and Revelation see Steven J. Friesen, Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of John: Reading Revelation in the Ruins (NY: Oxford, 2001); Ittai Gradel, Emperor Worship and Roman Religion (NY: Oxford, 2002); and S.R.F. Price, Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (New York: Cambridge University, 1984). 6 Worth, 47. 7 It is also in these cities (Pergamum and Smyrna) where the persecution of the Christians seemed to be the most intense of the seven churches (Rev. 2:9-10; 2:13). 8 Worth, 26-27. 9 Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), 39. 10 Ibid. 11 The presence of gladiator schools in three of these cities also would add tension to Christians. Worth, 27. 12 Maybe one killed in the games. 13 Friesen, 131. 14 Notice that the first individual listed in the description of those in the lake of fire are "cowards" (δελοις, 21:8). 15 Frykholm suggests that many readers identify with the male hero named Buck (played by Curt Cameron in the movie Left Behind and the Tribulation Force). She suggests that LB is guilty of issues concerning gender identification. Amy Johnson Frykholm, Rapture Culture: Left Behind in Evangelical America (NY: Oxford, 204), 89-96. 16 Frykholm and Thompson suggest that both Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians do not see LB or the emphasis on the End Times as doom and gloom but actually a chance for hope and urgency for action. Frykholm, 173-74; Damian Thompson, Waiting for Antichrist: Charisma and Apocalypse in a Pentecostal Church (NY: Oxford, 2005), 114. However, Thompson does suggest that evangelism did peak in the 1980s-90s and decreased with the "failed prophecies" at the turn of the century. Thompson, 148-50.
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