on Tim LaHaye's eschatology and politics

I read the first book in the Left Behind series, since I wanted to stay up with things. (LB was really popular, back in the day. So, was its philosophical opposite-- Bruce Wilkinson's The Prayer of Jabez, but that's another story.) I thought it was really bad. But I had seen the movie too. So, I thought I'd give the series another shot and read the second one. Worse...wow. They are quick, easy reads, so there's not a lot of lost time reading them. But I'd certainly go elsewhere for a fiction fix! 

I also read LaHaye's book on eschatology and it was brutally incoherent. Aside from its a.) overly-wooden hermeneutic; b.) its limited and selective references to historical and contemporary data; and c.) its reduction of the Cross and Pentecost, LaHaye's version might start to be attractive. 

If I was the sort of person to read one book on a topic, it would have scared me completely away from pre-mill, pre-trib eschatology. (Then again, if I were the sort who only read one book per topic, I might have found it compelling. Who knows?!) Reading David Reagan's book on pre-mill has moved it back toward the "possible but unlikely" pile. 

And then there's LaHaye on (Religious Right) politics-- another huge problem. In addition to an incoherent Christian political philosophy (a common problem, but one expects more from someone writing in the area, yes?), I have a quote from him in my second book that expresses an explicit idolatry toward the State.