“Left Behind” the Video Game…
That’s right! Jenkins and LaHaye are back with more dispensational fun!
As Plain Truth Ministries writes… 
Set in post-Rapture New York City, the “Tribulation Force” (now repentant left-behinders whose loved-ones have already been taken to heaven) battles the Antichrist’s UN-based Global Community Peacekeepers. Multiple players can decide whether they want to play the role of Antichrist or Christian. When the good-guy soldiers blow away a bad guy, they say “Praise the Lord,” yet they still lose some spirituality points, which must be replenished by prayer. Losing too many points may cause a player to go over to the dark side. Demons help the villains, while angels help the faithful. The game is replete with magical scripture passages and inspirational music.
Game description
Wage a war of apocalyptic proportions in LEFT BEHIND: Eternal Forces - a real-time strategy game based upon the best-selling LEFT BEHIND book series created by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.
Join the ultimate fight of Good against Evil, commanding Tribulation Forces or the Global Community Peacekeepers, and uncover the truth about the worldwide disappearances!
- Lead the Tribulation Force from the book series , including Rayford, Chloe, Buck and Bruce against Nicolae Carpathia – the AntiChrist
- Conduct physical & spiritual warfare : using the power of prayer to strengthen your troops in combat and wield modern military weaponry throughout the game world.
- Recover ancient scriptures and witness spectacular Angelic and Demonic activity as a direct consequence of your choices.
- Command your forces through intense battles across a breathtaking, authentic depiction of New York City
- Control more than 30 units types - from Prayer Warrior and Hellraiser to Spies, Special Forces and Battle Tanks!
- Enjoy a robust single player experience across dozens of New York City maps in Story Mode – fighting in China Town , SoHo , Uptown and more!
- Play multiplayer games as Tribulation Force or the AntiChrist’s Global Community Peacekeepers with up to eight players via LAN or over the internet!
Gives new meaning to the question: “Who Would Jesus Assassinate?”
This may not deal directly with “the Church,” but keep in mind that this multi-million-dollar industry is being run, funded and perpetuated by a lot of faithful congregants around the world.
Comment by: Helen
1 10/23/06 11:46 AM | Comment Link |That’s an improvement over the book series: as best I recall, the good-guy characters in the books didn’t lose any spirituality points for blowing away bad guys.
That was one of the things I didn’t like about the series.
Comment by: NCxian
2 10/23/06 11:48 AM | Comment Link |Well, yuck!
Comment by: benjamin ady
3 10/23/06 1:29 PM | Comment Link |Your “who would Jesus assasinate”, which I suspect was mostly tongue in cheek, raises serious issues. One of course goes almost immediately to Bonhoeffer, who is, as best I can tell, considered a serious theologian by serious theologians, and yet who, from what I understand, helped in attempts to assasinate Hitler. One is also led to consider the comtemporary discussion starter: the film Jesus Camp
Comment by: Pastor David
4 10/23/06 1:39 PM | Comment Link |One of the best responses I have seen to the Left Behind phenomenon is Barbara Rossing’s book Revelation Unveiled. Rossing is unflinching in her criticism of the theology underlying the work of LaHaye/Jenkins, as well as pointing out the deeper ramifications (including, as Helen pointed out, that all life ceases to have value except those that are “saved”).
As to Bonhoeffer, that is a tricky case. (I know there was a Bonhoeffer thread at one point, but I didn’t have time to follow it). Unlike the killings in Left Behind, Bonhoeffer never argued that what he was plotting was not sinful. A committed pacificist, Bonhoeffer was prepared to be damned for taking another life. The lesson being (as I read Bonhoeffer), that there are times when one thing might be the “lesser of two evils,” but that does not free us from all moral/ethical obligations.
Comment by: Peter Walker
5 10/23/06 5:53 PM | Comment Link |My comment was more in reference to Pat Robertson’s comments several months ago…
Your Bonhoeffer reference puts a serious spin on the subject, however.
Comment by: Helen
6 10/24/06 2:47 AM | Comment Link |What bothers me about the Left Behind series and its spin-offs like this game are - it sanctifies war as God’s chosen way of wrapping up history. Whereas I believe we should be moving away from war; that human progress is all about renouncing such violent, costly methods of achieving whatever we are hoping to achieve.
If Christians sanctify war and elect Presidents who believe in the Christian sanctification of war, how can we expect to move away from war towards peace?
Comment by: David H
7 10/24/06 6:19 AM | Comment Link |My job as a Christian is to work for peace and healing. If God told me to shoot someone, then I guess I would have to do that. But I would need to be pretty darn certain it was God. If I heard someone else saying God told me to shoot someone then I need to be just as certain God is commanding them. Sorry conservative right-wingers, I can’t take your word for it that you have that direct connection.
As for the Hitler question, the one thing so many Christians ignore in these discussions is what leads up to the shooting. Hitler arose from the ashes of a country that was raped following WWI. The Christians in his own country remained largely silent as he rose to power and politicians around the world tried to appease him. Meanwhile, industrialists — especially in America — sold him the things that created his war machine. The reality is that very few people actively resisted Hitler until the cost of letting him go exceeded the personal benefit.
More importantly, I think one person can improve the world by dying for the right reason. I am not sure the same thing can be said for killing.
Comment by: KSG
8 10/24/06 7:28 AM | Comment Link |I have really nothing to say to the whole ‘Left Behind’ thing since I only read the 1st book and then ignored the rest as being part of the Xian marketing machine (of which the game is a product of).
But the topic of Hitler/Bonhoeffer interests me greatly… I started but haven’t completed reading a book called “Hitler’s Cross” by Erwin Lutzer. In it he discusses how, by and large, the German church failed to recognize Hitler as a madman (if Hilter would have died prior to the war, Germany would have hailed him as one of their greatest heroes). And how in many ways the German church was used by the Nazi regime to support it’s cause. They joined nationalism to spirituality, and the church refused to seperate it. Seperation of church and state IMO is not to keep the church out of politics but for the church to recognize that it has to steer clear of partisan politics. In order to be a voice for right (principles) it must maintain an arms length relationship with any political viewpoints. Although I firmly believe that Xians need to be good citizens and participate in the democratic process.
On the topic of rightious killing (ie. Bonhoeffer’s participation in a plot to kill Hitler), there were many individual Xians in Germany who assisted the Allies in destroying their own country by supplying them with information (you don’t need a gun to kill). And there were many Xian men who joined the Allies forces opposed to the Nazi death machine. Those men (& women) killed in order to stop killing. So I would say that killing, while NEVER a good thing, can at times be a necessary thing. However, as in the case of Hitler, there are usually many oppportunities to thwart evil prior to it’s rise to dominance.
Comment by: benjamin ady
9 10/24/06 3:29 PM | Comment Link |Now why does that sound so familiar?
Did you know that the U.S. is pretty much the only country in the world where the Christian church is more associated with right wing politics than with left wing politics? (at least that’s what I’ve been told)
Comment by: David H
10 10/24/06 4:29 PM | Comment Link |And in reality, Christians should not be too closely associated with any political agenda. Politics are the methods or tactics involved in managing a state or government or the intrigue or maneuvering within a political unit or group in order to gain control or power (American Heritage Dictionary). The Christian faith is supposed to be far more personal and have considerably less to do with power and control.
Besides, when church and state get too cozy, it inevitably is more beneficial to the mission of the state than the mission of the church.
Comment by: April Terry
11 10/25/06 8:09 AM | Comment Link |First disclaimer: I think this game is tacky and silly and chock full of commercialism.
Can I just say that that I read at least part of the “Left Behind” series and enjoyed it? It was easy-reading fiction. For me, not to be taken too seriously. Sure, the theology isn’t great (I read the “Da Vinci Code,” and enjoyed that, too), but it does cause people to stop thinking in the moment and start thinking about the future a little and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
I felt the same way when I read some of Frank Perretti’s first novels. I didn’t like everything in them, but I felt that the personification of the demons was a way of reminding people that we are entrenched in a battle of sorts.
In our day and age, we don’t like to think about end times or demons or the devil or any of that. Just contemplating the possibility doesn’t mean that we have to take the whole thing as truth in its entirety.
With that said, a video game where Christians blow people away is not my idea of fun or entertainment or even a remotely good idea.
Comment by: Peter Walker
12 10/25/06 4:58 PM | Comment Link |April, I think that’s brave of you to say and I appreciate you saying it. I respect that you enjoyed those books and understand expactly what you mean. We all need a little “trash fiction” (or more nicely, “easy fiction” from time to time).
Comment by: Pastor David
13 10/26/06 9:07 AM | Comment Link |April,
Thank you for your comment. I often defend Davinci Code as a good work of fiction, but rarely do the same for Left behind. I suppose that speaks to my own bias.
That said, there is something more undergirding the left behind series. LaHaye has a book on his theological understanding of the end times. Sort of a millenialist dispensationalist handbook (its name escapes me at the moment). While the books can be read as good fiction, they are explicitly intended to be a narrative depiction of this theological viewpoint. That makes it harder for me to just read them as fiction.
Comment by: NCxian
14 10/27/06 5:45 AM | Comment Link |I read only the first of the Left Behind books, and it appealed to me in the same way as other “pulp” science fiction/fantasy books often do–not that well done, but wow, I wish I had had that idea!
I have often used Left Behind to respond to folks who say The DaVinci Code is the work of the devil or something. I was immediately struck by the similarities when I read the DaVinci Code (having read the Left Behind book some years before). Both authors use a mythical narrative and set it in the present day to create a suspenseful situation for more-or-less realistic characters to respond to. Since I don’t ascribe to the the end-times theology that’s used in the Left Behind books, the narratives seem similarly fictitious to me. Very imaginative, but neither good nor evil, I think.
Speaking of evil though, in the conversation that took place on the CatE Discussion Board about the Lleft Behind game, there was sincere fear expressed by non-Christians about the militant nature of some Christianity. If I am not mistaken (and I can’t locate it right now) the conversation turned toward Dominionists. Truly scary, and something that those of us who where raised on “Onward Christian Soldiers” have been desensitized to, I’m afraid.
Comment by: NCxian
15 10/27/06 7:50 AM | Comment Link |Hey Peter, when you moderate my last comment, could you fix those typos in my last sentence! :)
I wish we had “preview”. My posts on the Discussion Board (which has preview) look so much more literate!
Comment by: Peter Walker
16 10/27/06 10:59 AM | Comment Link |Done. ;)
I think! Let me know if I done missed sumthin.
Comment by: NCxian
17 10/27/06 11:38 AM | Comment Link |Good! Thanks!
Comment by: Tracey
18 12/8/06 10:34 AM | Comment Link |In response to David H - it should be that no religion should have a cozy relationship with a political agenda - BUT dominionism is about just that. Working through the state to reach society. To transform the culture through the legal system, the schools, everywhere. It is not about the mission of the state controlling the Church,ultimately, but the other way around. Goodness, open your eyes!This game is about killing those non-Christians that refuse to convert.
Comment by: Pete Strobel
19 12/11/06 5:06 PM | Comment Link |I read the first Left Behind book, and I had no desire to read anymore. I think that this particular theology is … well, how can I say this without appearing too opinionated? Inaccurate, sensationalistic, gives Satan far more credit than he deserves–in fact actually elevates Satan to an eternal, dualistic role: as if he is some anti-Yahweh on par with the Creator. I think that many of the LaHaye/ Hal Lindsey type of books, and that type of “theology” is far less about God. It’s more a type of “Satanology”: a mythology that has been adopted by right-wing fear-mongers hoping to promote an isolationaist or contrarily imperialistic political program. The UN (to them) is Satan, or will be Satan’s homebase in the near future.
Furthermore, I find the whole notion of a shoot ‘em up Left Behind Series video game to be ridiculously UnChristian or NonChristian or Anti-Christian in the sense that it does not honor the life, ministry or teachings of the man Jesus from Nazareth. There is nothing remotely Christ-like about holding some video game manipulator handset, pressing a button, seeing an image of someone zapped, then choosing “a prayer” with another button to take care of your guilt, or get right with God after blowing someone up. PLEASE!
I really hope this sort of pseudo-Christian video game can be halted. It’s purely ridiculous. But then again I find almost all video games ridiculous. Dang, letting my age show.
Comment by: Duane Beck
20 01/8/07 8:17 AM | Comment Link |These Left Behind video games have an interesting twist. Christians defeat Satan by conversion and if that doesn’t work, kill the people. Quotes from the Left Behind Games website:
Comment by: Rachel
21 01/8/07 4:25 PM | Comment Link |Well said, Duane!
Comment by: SJR
22 01/15/07 10:51 PM | Comment Link |This statement is posted from an employee of Left Behind Games on behalf of Troy Lyndon, our Chief Executive Officer.
There has been in incredible amount of MISINFORMATION published in the media and in online blogs here and elsewhere.
Pacifist Christians and other groups are taking the game material out of context to support their own causes. There is NO “killing in the name of God” and NO “convert or die”. There are NO “negative portrayals of Muslims” and there are NO “points for killing”.
Please play the game demo for yourself (to at least level 5 of 40) to get an accurate perspective, or listen to what CREDIBLE unbiased experts are saying after reviewing the game at http://www.leftbehindgames.com/pages/controversy.com
Then, we’d love to hear your feedback as an informed player.
The reality is that we’re receiving reports everyday of how this game is positively affecting lives by all who play it.
Thank you for taking the time to be a responsible blogger.
Comment by: Peter Walker
23 01/19/07 12:20 PM | Comment Link |Helen,
You might want to repost the above post by SJR. I think it’s quite interesting - I got the same cookie-cutter comment on my personal blog post about this game. The video game employees have been called to google every negative blog post about their games and offer retort!
What they don’t understand is it’s not their GAME that’s the problem. The PROBLEM is bad theology - dispensational eschatology mixed with modern Evangelical American Zionism. All neatly packaged in a violent, militant consumer-friendly branding.
“Pacifist Chrisians.” You know, for 300 years, there was no other kind.
Comment by: Helen
24 01/22/07 12:53 PM | Comment Link |Thanks for your comment, Peter.
I’d also noticed that SJR’s comment has been posted on other blogs where the Left Behind video game has been discussed.
Comment by: NYC
25 02/7/07 12:48 PM | Comment Link |Hey, with so many people having an opinion about this game, how many have actually played it? And what credibility do they have? Focus on the Family has publications which can set the record straight for everyone…at http://www.pluggedinonline.com/thisweekonly/a0002989.cfm
Comment by: Pete S.
26 02/8/07 11:45 PM | Comment Link |NYC: I clicked on the link you provided above, but I just got a message that said there was no such webpage. “The webpage could not be found.” Any other ideas?
I’m curious about Focus on the Family’s spin about the Left Behind video games. It would take a lot to convince me it really was good, clean, wholesome fun.
Comment by: Helen
27 02/9/07 12:46 PM | Comment Link |Pete, I think the link works now. I edited it to take the period off the end - that seemed to be throwing it off.
Comment by: Rachel
28 02/11/07 1:10 PM | Comment Link |Quite honestly, I wouldn’t be that interested in what Focus on the Family has to say about the video game. I would expect them to support it since they agree with the premillenial dispensational eschatology it promotes and since they have always taken a promilitary political stance. Since my understanding of eschatology and of the teachings of Jesus and his earliest followers concerning violence are quite different than that of Focus on the Family, I would not be persuaded by their endorsement.