I just (today), finished the "Left Behind" series which I've pretty much been reading for years off and on. This morning, I started the last book, and finished it within 7 hours - just could NOT put it down!

If I were a Christian, I can only imagine that I would have been completely inspired by these books - but it was still very interesting reading from the perspective of an athiest...Very well done, and I learned alot I didn't know previously.

In case you don't know, it is a series of 13-15 books (depending on if you read the prequels #13 & 14 which I didn't), about the Rapture of Christ's people on earth and the resulting 7 years before his second coming. I found it captivating, and would recommend it to anyone....especially someone who IS religious and needs to understand more about the bible.

The authors are very knowledgeable and dissect and analyze the scriptures in such a way that is understandable. I found myself feeling very close to the characters about halfway through the series...and I'm thinking that if I had been on the edge of wondering about my faith, this series would have definitely turned me toward God.

I would recommend the series to anyone - and plan on giving my set to my younger daughter, who just found God herself a few years ago....hopefully it'll help her find her way to understanding more about her God.

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hopefully it'll help her find her way to understanding more about her God.

Giz,

My advice is that you direct her to works that are a bit more scholarly and accurate about Christianity than the Left Behind series. If you like, I could supply a number of titles, both by believers and non-believers. Left Behind is essentially Evangelical apocalyptic nonsense, whose only purpose is to make millionaires of the authors.

If you can provide better writings, which a 19 year old would understand, that would be great...thanks!

I am not to load her down with daunting dry as dust works. Here are three that are written for a general audience:

Michael Moynahan, The Faith

A great history of the development of Christianity.

Colin Cross, Whos Was Jesus?

A.N. Wilson, Jesus: A Life

But please, Giz, keep her away from anything on Christianity written by C.S. Lewis.

I have managed to procure all 16 books and am looking forward to what, for me, will be a wonderful sci-fi adventure some day soon. I intend to pick up a couple of the critiques on the series and might pick up one or more of the books you have listed, JR, as sort of a study of how much fact the books manage to hide in them.

DS,

Since so much of the pretext for Left Behind is based on Daniel and Revelation, my advice would be to look for used copies of the Anchor Bible volumes of those two works. They are edited by superb scholars, have great introductions, and copious notes to the verses.

Giz,
When I was at work today, I came across John's Story: The Last Eyewitness (The Jesus Chronicles, Book 1), and thought of you. On the cover it said,"By the authors of The Left Behind Series." Perhaps you have already heard of it?
I realise that jr is trying to help you find something a bit more scholarly for your daughter, and that I'm leading you back to the same authors you started with, but I thought I'd bring it to your attention, anyway.

I’m sure your daughter has read the Bible but I just wanted to put in that some time ago when my husband was having a hankering to read the Bible and found the wording in our King James version somewhat off-putting, I ordered an easier-to-read version from God's Word. Of course, he hasn’t read it (he’s started a time or two, but it just makes him mad), but I have paged through it and it is very readable and seems to give a good present-day English understanding of the Bible. I wasn’t sure if your daughter would be interested.