Stuff is thrown at you (the reader) so fast that you don’t have time to think about what he’s said before the next prophecy is thrust in your face. So, yeah, I was pretty convinced that the return of Christ, complete with the blowing trumpets and parting of clouds, was imminent.įor me, this book is the literary equivalent to those prophecy-laden television shows I watched. I remember Jack Van Impe and his show with his wife where he would rail-off fulfilled bible prophecies so fast that I’d be left dizzy watching it. I remember seeing the ‘Plain Truth’ television show where every week a respectable man would go on and on about the coming return of Christ with a very deep voice. I remember sitting in Ms Hurley’s Algebra II class and seeing a classmate with a thin hardback book mixed in with his school stuff, it was “88 Reasons Christ will Return in ‘88.” I was intrigued then. I remember when I was a teenager, standing in a church youth service, and the minister (A man in his late 20’s) stating that Christ would come before he turned 30. I’m not surprised by it, segments of the Christian world have been overcome with apocalyptic fever, it seems, every few decades since the first century. And about the fever that overtook the Christian world in particular. About how the world universally believed Christ was returning during this time. So to get you into the idea of where my head is at, and how far I’m apart from the anticipated audience, this book starts off with the author discussing in a very conversational tone how the decades between 1830 – 1850 were so odd. So, I guess one quick example would be okay. You know what, I feel like I’m dismissing a thing without explaining why I’m dismissing a thing. And if there is anything I’ve learned over the years, no one changes their mind on religious matters based on a point by point rebuttal of an apologetics book written 50 or more years ago.Īnd I’m sure if I were to look for it, there are probably whole websites dedicated to doing just that very thing. Because going through something like this one line at a time would take me weeks, months, or most likely, years.īelievers would ignore or dismiss me, and non-believers would wonder why I was wasting my time. In all, I immediately got bogged down in the details of this book, having a very hard time following the leaps in logic the author makes in order for prophecies to be fulfilled in the manner he lays them out.Īnd look, I’m being vague here because, honestly, I don’t think anyone would care. I don’t think it’s really good for anything else other than a rhetorical device for believers.īut, as it stands, about 2/3rds of its space is taken up by prophecies regarding the return of Christ and how that occurred in 1844 in the person of Bahaullah. I’m of the opinion that any apologetics type of book, regardless of the faith it’s defending/sharing, is really intended for the already converted, to sort of strengthen their faith. I could get into detail here, but I don’t feel the need for it. So, how was it? Well, honestly, for me, not very convincing. I don’t think of this as a conversion tool, because the people I know don’t seem that interested in winning converts, but at the same time, that’s clearly the purpose of this book. I was given this book by some friends of mine who are Baha’i and who wanted my input on why this book may or may not be effective in the hands of someone who isn’t Baha’i. I’m not being sarcastic or anything, it’s the story of how one man journeyed from a born-again Christian to becoming a Baha’i. This book isn’t a novel, it’s a religious tract. The author presents the evidence in The Case of the Missing Millennium in such a way that you can solve it for yourself. This is a mystery story with a difference: the mystery is a real one, and of vital importance to every human being. The solution to which all the clues lead comes as a tremendous challenge. In Thief in the Night he presents his fully detailed 'conduct of the case' in an easy style which enthuses the reader with the excitement of the chase. Patiently, and with exemplary thoroughness, William Sears set out to solve this mystery. Why? And what became of the story? Did anything happen or was it all a dream? Scoffers were many but the enthusiasm was tremendous, and all agreed on the time. From China and the Middle East to Europe and America, men of conflicting ideas shared in the expectancy. The story made the headlines and even reached the Congress of the United States. In the first half of the nineteenth century there was world-wide and fervent expectation that during the 1840's the return of Christ would take place.
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