In 2004, Hollywood bosses --- noticing the huge box-office returns for Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" --- suddenly became aware of the Christian audience "out there" and the possibility of profiting by producing films for this audience. In September, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" made them sit up again.

However, in October 2005, the premiere of "Left Behind: World at War" (complete with searchlights and stars) was held not in a theatre but in the Hollywood Presbyterian Church. The following weekend it was screened, not in cinemas, but in 3,200 churches across the United States. The next Monday saw the DVD release. But "Left Behind" is not a new movie phenomenon.

In the late 1990s, Trinity Broadcasting Network produced an apocalyptic thriller, "The Omega Code." While it touched on some of the biblical conspiracy theories that have proven so popular with "The Da Vinci Code," the focus was on The Antichrist (in the form of Michael York as a wealthy businessman) and the coming of the end times. Their next production, "Megiddo," was not so commercially successful.

The group that was successful in rousing the "Christian" audience was the Cloud Ten company. From 1998, they had employed name stars like Jeff Fahey, Gary Busey and Nick Mancuso to feature in a group of apocalyptic thrillers. The titles indicated the tone: "Apocalypse," "Vanished," "Revelation," "Tribulation," "Judgment," "Deceived." Co-writers included the Lalonde Brothers, Peter and Paul, the founders of Cloud Ten Pictures, who are described in the Internet Movie Database as helping "to pioneer the prophetic supernatural filmmaking genre."

However, in 2001, they released their most successful film and the beginning of a movie franchise, "Left Behind." The novels were written by Reverend Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. They quickly became best sellers, especially in America. In the atmosphere of the millennium, what better than that "Left Behind" should become a popular movie.

The marketing of "Left Behind" consisted of video release at the start of 2001. Three months later, the movie was shown in 900 cinemas. At the end of the video, star Kirk Cameron makes an appeal to those who like the film to lobby for it to be released in cinemas. This met with less success than anticipated and so, instead of the cinema screenings at the end of 2002 of the sequel, "Left Behind II: Tribulation Force," it was distributed on video. With the ease and greater availability of DVD, "Left Behind: World at War" had immediate impact in its church screenings and Sony marketing the DVD.

A brief review/critique would acknowledge that the films are well-crafted, although budgets are not large as blockbusters go and this is sometimes evident in the limited special effects. In "World at War," it looks as though the global conflagration is confined to the Washington, D.C. area with some explosions and two glimpses of a semi-demolished White House. More attention is given to the musical score and songs by popular Christian composers and performers.

The quality of acting is standard with the screenplay, giving the cast some conventional lines about danger and war but also asking them to portray earnest people who are not afraid of expressing their faith in the Lord, in the words of the Bible and in the times of tribulation and the Antichrist. Kirk Cameron is not a vigorous performer and his acting, though genial, is not particularly forceful. Gordon Currie, on the other hand, knows that the devil usually gets the best lines and communicates a diabolical ruthlessness as Nicolae Carpathio.

"World at War" does have the advantage of Louis Gossett Jr. as the embattled president of the United States. At best, the movies can be described as generally competent and meeting the expectations of their audience.

But, in an era where "The Da Vinci Code" is taken as gospel by millions of "secular" readers (which will increase when the movie version is released), what of the theology and spirituality behind the "Left Behind" series? What of the biblical scholarship?

An apocalyptic perspective

The issues are not those of mainstream Christians around the world. Rather, they are of immediate interest to more evangelical groups, especially those with a more apocalyptic perspective on the world, that judgment is deserved and may well be coming soon. They see plenty of signs and portents and in 2005 with tsunami, famine, hurricanes and devastating earthquakes in Asia, Africa and the Americas, even more strikingly.

For Christians who take their Bible literally and for those anticipating "the rapture," the films are even more compelling. One wit, however, noted that Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins made long-term contracts for the series of books, obviously not anticipating to be caught up in the rapture but, rather, being left behind to write their novels.

An example of biblical interpretation that does not stand well with mainstream Christians and, especially, not with biblical scholars occurs in the first film. When television reporter Buck Williams (the Kirk Cameron character) is investigating a plot that will exploit production of crops in Israel, he meets with a religious minister, Bruce Barnes (Clarence Gilyard Jr.) who gives him an explanation of why Israel is being attacked by forces from its neighbors (read Iraq and Syria).

He reads from Ezekiel 38. The text (from the early Sixth Century B.C.) is concerned with the kingdom of Judah and the threat from Babylon where the people were ultimately taken into exile in 587 B.C. His explanation of the "prophecy" quickly leads Buck to draw the conclusion that the text was written about the contemporary state of Israel and its contemporary neighbors in our modern times.

This is often a feature of popular American apocalyptic stories --- the center of attention is the United States and the American perspective. In the 1999 supernatural thriller, "End of Days," Arnold Schwarzenegger battles against Satan at five minutes to midnight, 1999, to prevent the reign of the antichrist. This is New York and East Coast time. What about the rest of the world which had already reached their midnight up to 18 hours earlier?

This Americocentrism can work for the U.S. audience, but the rest of the world wonders. So, it is with "Left Behind" and its interpretation of Ezekiel. The text is interpreted as having its fulfillment only in these times.

Prophecy provides another area of contention for literal interpretation. In the Jewish scriptures, prophecy was meant to be an oracle or an image for interpreting the times in which it was uttered. It was not intended as foretelling something that would happen in the future. The American translation of the Nicene Creed refers to Jesus' passion as "in fulfillment" of the Scriptures which is suggestive of as foretelling. In the rest of the English-speaking world, the translation is the more helpful, "in accordance" with the Scriptures.

It is the same when it comes to the theme of The Rapture.

The experience of the rapture is seen in the first film. No special effects. People are present and instantly they are gone, with their clothes left neatly in the jet flying to London or with cars suddenly driverless on the freeways. Bruce Barnes shows Buck a video made by a Reverend three years before the actual rapture describing what will happen. This persuades Buck to believe. Believers in the rapture quote the pre-Passion chapters of Matthew's Gospel with their apocalyptic warnings.

Bruce follows the video with references to the two letters of St. Paul to the Thessalonians. These were the first letters that Paul wrote. He was anticipating the second coming of Christ and thought it would happen almost immediately. He talks about Jesus coming and taking up the faithful in "rapturous" language.

Paul came to realize, as witnessed in his later letters, that Jesus' second coming would not necessarily be so soon. He developed a spirituality of living in this world. This can be seen in the letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Ephesians and taken for granted by the authors of the pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus. As Bruce explains things to Buck, the texts are taken as if Paul wrote them specifically for America in our times, literally.

It is the same with Matthew 24, explicitly quoted in several of the films. In "World at War," Buck simply opens the Gospels at this text, reads a few lines to the bewildered American president, and shows him that the signs that Jesus offers to the disciples who ask about the "end of the age" are happening now.

Matthew 24: 40-41 are key rapture quotations: that of two men in a field, one taken, one left; two women grinding at a mill, one taken, one left. The image and the metaphor, in this interpretation, become the reality.

This leads on to the theme of The Tribulation, the focus of the second film, "Tribulation Force," where the American remnant, Ray, the reformed pilot whose wife and son disappeared in the rapture; Chloe his daughter; Buck and Bruce form a task force to stand and fight against the enemies of God during the seven years of trouble on the earth, The Tribulation.

It is at this time that the worldly power of the Antichrist will dominate. Nicolae Carpathio (with the help of the United Nations) has destroyed his enemies and controls the now globalized world. He is the Beast of the books of Daniel and Revelation. His power is challenged by the Tribulation Force in "World at War." But, with the end of the third film, there is still much more to come.

Fundamentalist interpretation

This is too literal an interpretation of the Scriptures. It takes no account of the original context nor of the literary forms, the poetry and symbolism, of the mentalities and imaginations of the authors. The interpretation is fundamentalist, a literal application of words about events in the past to the present. Clearly a biblical faith listens to God's word to discover its meaning for our times but appreciates the literary forms, the mentality of the times in order to discover richer and deeper meaning.

The literal interpretation is eagerly applied to apocalyptic writings of both the Jewish and Christian scriptures, Ezekiel, Daniel (also quoted in "Left Behind") and the book of Revelation. This leads to two further considerations of theology and of lived theology and faith which is spirituality.

The first is the image of God. While there are some allusions to a forgiving God, the image of God in the "Left Behind" films is one of a powerful creator but, more, of a powerful judge of human sinfulness. Those who are beloved might be taken up in rapture to heaven, but most people are left behind. By using the natural disasters as signs of God's judgment, the image of God as an angry, even vengeful, judge is reinforced.

In "World at War," the president is forced to see the errors of his reliance on the worldly power of Nicolae and the military when his life is threatened and his Vice President is blown up. Pestilence is infecting people, including Bruce and Chloe. The Tribulation Force, a remnant at best, are in the service of a mighty God, but a God to whom it is difficult to relate to in any personal, experiential spirituality.

The idea of faith in these films derives from a Reform evangelical tradition. It is a tradition of the Word rather than of image, imagination and experience. The important thing is to "confess" one's faith in God, to acknowledge Jesus Christ as personal savior.

The screenplay, however, has its characters firmly assert their faith and continue to repeat this assertion. It is faith as an intellectual assent rather than emphasizing the personalized commitment that acknowledgement of Jesus as personal savior should entail. Dramatically, this does not work. Buck's conversion (which is based on rational arguments) comes about very quickly. His converting the president to his faith way of thinking is, once again, too rational and too rapid.

There is one striking episode in "World at War" when Bruce and Chloe are dying from the menacing pestilence. It seems from out of nowhere, but the ill Chloe produces some bread, some wine and a chalice. Dramatically, this is unexpected and difficult for credibility. However, her inviting the Tribulation Force to share in eating the bread and drinking the wine in Jesus' name does indicate some feeling for spirituality.

It would be interesting if future movies developed themes of a more compassionate and forgiving God as well as exploring and dramatizing a more personalized living of faith, some devotion and manifestation of spirituality like the Eucharistic episode in "World at War."

Several websites provide useful background. There is, of course, www.leftbehind.com which has all kinds of information and opinion (even about the apocalyptic dimensions of bird-flu); www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture for general information about the Rapture; and for some Catholic teaching: www.Catholic.com/library/Rapture.asp.

Sacred Heart Missionary Father Peter Malone is president of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, and co-author of the "Lights, Camera, Faith!" Movie Lectionary Series.