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CURRENTLY IN MOVIES
Movies offer end times hope

Paul Boge

Left Behind: The Movie Executive producers Peter and Paul Lalonde, Cloud Ten Pictures, 2000.

Cloud Ten Pictures has released various end times films, including the Apocalypse trilogy (Apocalypse, Revelation and Tribulation), and most notably, Left Behind: The Movie.


These films investigate what life might be like after the second coming of Jesus and present an interpretation of end times prophecy. They hold to a pre-tribulation rapture and portray the difficult, yet not impossible task of how people might be saved in the Tribulation. Even though the end times topic may scare some Christians away, these films are not about end times hype – they are about end times hope.

The films will be enjoyed by Bible study groups, youth groups, those interested in Bible prophecy and by those not yet saved who may have an interest in future world politics. The goal of these movies is not to force a particular end times point of view (i.e. pre-trib rapture), but to encourage people into dialogue about end times events. Biblical prophecy is not very a prevalent topic in MB circles (David Ewert being a notable exception) and yet a third of the Bible deals with this subject. The films do convince us that we may very well be a heartbeat away from Christ’s return. This may be the most unsettling fact about end times prophecy, namely, that the world as we know it is coming to an end.

If these kinds of films are to attract more of the public, they will have to continue to improve in their aesthetic nature in order to compete with major motion pictures. But should the Christian community spend millions to finance an end times film? Will Hollywood be interested in producing these stories and others with a predominantly Christian theme? Are these films for Christians or for those not yet saved? These films struggle between trying to be Christian enough to please the Christian audience and yet remain sensitive enough to the genuine turmoil that pre-Christians go through in deciding on Jesus.

Ultimately, nobody on earth knows in detail how or when the world will end – but that shouldn’t prevent us from trying to use film to reach the lost and encourage the saved.

Paul Boge is an aspiring screenwriter and an engineer. He attends North Kildonan MB Church in Winnipeg.

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Last modified July 10, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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