The Late Great Planet Earth [Paperback]

Hal Lindsey (Author), Carole C. Carlson (Contributor)

Book Description

Release date: May 11, 1970

The impact of The Late Great Planet Earth cannot be overstated. The New York Times called it the 'no. 1 non-fiction bestseller of the decade.' For Christians and non-Christians of the 1970s, Hal Lindsey's blockbuster served as a wake-up call on events soon to come and events already unfolding -- all leading up to the greatest event of all: the return of Jesus Christ. The years since have confirmed Lindsey's insights into what biblical prophecy says about the times we live in. Whether you're a church-going believer or someone who wouldn't darken the door of a Christian institution, the Bible has much to tell you about the imminent future of this planet. In the midst of an out-of-control generation, it reveals a grand design that's unfolding exactly according to plan. The rebirth of Israel. The threat of war in the Middle East. An increase in natural catastrophes. The revival of Satanism and witchcraft. These and other signs, foreseen by prophets from Moses to Jesus, portend the coming of an antichrist . . . of a war which will bring humanity to the brink of destruction . . . and of incredible deliverance for a desperate, dying planet.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The impact of The Late Great Planet Earth cannot be overstated. The New York Times called it the “no. 1 non-fiction bestseller of the decade.” For Christians and non-Christians of the 1970s, Hal Lindsey’s blockbuster served as a wake-up call on events soon to come and events already unfolding—all leading up to the greatest event of all: the return of Jesus Christ.

The years since have confirmed Lindsey’s insights into what biblical prophecy says about the times we live in. Whether you’re a churchgoing believer or someone who wouldn’t darken the door of a Christian institution, the Bible has much to tell you about the imminent future of this planet. In the midst of an out-of-control generation, it reveals a grand design that’s unfolding exactly according to plan.

The rebirth of Israel. The threat of war in the Middle East. An increase in natural catastrophes. The revival of Satanism and witchcraft. These and other signs, foreseen by prophets from Moses to Jesus, portend the coming of an antichrist . . . of a war that will bring humanity to the brink of destruction . . . and of incredible deliverance for a desperate, dying planet -- Publisher

From the Author

Hal Lindsey is the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction books, including Blood Moon and Apocalypse Code. C. C. Carlson is the author or coauthor of many books, including Our Values: Stories and Wisdom and The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (May 11, 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031027771X
• ISBN-13: 978-0310277712
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

136 of 199 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Oops...I Did It Again August 25, 2006

By Labarum VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

A generation before there was a Left Behind, there was The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey and C. C. Carlson. This is the book that broke the dispensationalist view of the end times into the consciousness of America. A phemomenal best seller, it was a watershed event in the growing Christian publishing industry. For many Christians, their first reading of this book was an energizing event that shaped their future. A generation later, many of its former supporters now see in its pages a complete misreading of Holy Scripture, sensationalistic attempts to correspond Biblical prophecies to current events, and an unhealthy enthusiasm for seeing the world obliterated.

So why bother with what can easily be written off as paranoid millenarianism? Well, while many have outgrown its simplistic approach to world events, it still resounds for much of the Church and this is shown in the continued audience for books by Lindsey and other "prophecy pundits." While it is certainly true that Tim LaHaye has replaced Lindsey as the popular voice of dispensationalism, it cannot be denied that Left Behind was made possible by this book.

Part of the commercial success of both authors has to do with their placing the dispensationalist view in a popular book form. For LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, it was the pulp novel. Back in 1970, Lindsay and C. C. Carlson did the same with a popular genre of their day - the sensationalistic expose. Like most books of this type (e.g., The Bermuda Triangle, Chariots of the Gods?, The Philadelphia Experiment, The Population Bomb), it is written in a breezy soundbite style that is long on conjecture and short on facts. Like most of these books, it was a peculiar period piece of American life at a time when the fabric of the nation seemed to be coming apart at the seams. Like most of these books, it is laughable in retrospect.

If the book were out of circulation and I were reviewing this for historical purposes, I would almost be tempted to give it a free pass as a kitschy period piece...sort of a fundamentalist lava lamp. The original was so over the top and written with such enthusiasm one could almost have forgiven the fact that the authors got everything wrong. After all, it was the 1970's when wild conspiracy theories, distrust of any traditional authority, and predictions of impending disaster were all the rage. When viewed within a time frame that produced predictions of a soon to be ice age, a UFO invasion, a famine around the corner, and California falling into the Pacific Ocean, the authors' claims of the coming Armageddon look downright trendy.

However, in the intervening years, the revisions of this book just kept piling up. Make a bad prediction? No problem, edit the book with the old gaffes removed, add a few trendier predictions, and release it as a new book. Lindsey, now well into middle age and hurtling towards his golden years, still clings to the long discredited dispensationalist hypothesis (Carleton's contribution is more stylistic) despite his failed scenarios. Lindsey's original view was that the end times events would take place in the 1980s (he even wrote a book The 1980's: Countdown to Armageddon trumpeting this belief). Well that didn't pan out, so he then jumped on the Y2K bandwagon (another of his books was Planet Earth 2000 A.D.: Will Mankind Survive?). Oops, wrong again. First communism was the main source of evil in the world but more recently it is Islam (a more recent book is The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad). When one bogeyman falls, he is quick to insert a new one in its place.

Between the failed predictions, the hilarious misreadings of the original languages, the bizarre correlations between apocalyptic symbolism and modern military technology, and the hysterical pleading for contemporary events fulfilling the Biblical prophecies "right before our eyes", it is not surprising many of those energized by this book became convinced of the imminent end of all things. This trend continues to this day for the many followers of dispensationalist worldview as they are perpetuated in the many novels based on dispensationalist beliefs - notably the Left Behind series of novels.

If you can find a copy of the original version from 1970, it can be interesting in much the same way as a Brady Bunch episode - not for its merit but as an example of a particular moment in the consciousness of the fundamentalist subculture at a particular time. Just as many Catholics have vivid memories of nuns and the Baltimore Catechism, fundamentalists of that era will never forget this book and the movie A Thief in the Night.

However, for the reedited version here presented as a guide to interpreting biblical prophecy, it is best to pass. For all its success as a cultural marker, its usefulness in properly understanding Biblical prophecy is basically nil. For this, its original purpose, The Late Great Planet Earth is completely worthless.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly outdated, failed predictions. May 9, 2013

By NoWireHangers

Format:Paperback

This book, called on of the biggest bestsellers of the 1970s, was interesting as an example of sensationalist pseudoscience popular during that time and gives some insight into the premillennial interpretation of bible prophecy. The authors try to apply the ancient prophecies to their own time and now, four decades later, the book is hopelessly outdated. It claims the communist Iron curtain countries, lead by Russia, will invade Israel and all this should happen within 40 years of the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. It also mentions how Antichrist will come out of the "revived Roman empire" when the European Common Market has ten member countries (the EU now has 27 members). I assume since this book is still in print that it has been significantly revised; it would be interesting to compare different versions (this review is based on a reading of a copy from the eleventh printing, April 1971).

Don't read this book expecting to get anything insightful or useful out of it. Lindsey, like so many doomsday prophets before him, has failed miserably in his predictions. But it's a quick and easy read and has some entertainment value if you're fascinated by this sort of literature.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Late Great Planet Earth September 18, 2010

By Mary C. Russell

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I read this book back in the early 70's and found it as intriguing today as back then. It is fun to see how the things he put together chronologically from Bible Prophecies has come to pass. I am keeping my eye on the happenings going on throughout the world and seem to always have the "predictions" from this book at the back of my mind, seeing how they play out. He did some great research and from a Christian's view-point, I would say he did an excellent job. Very enlightening and informative.