Doomsday

Glorious Appearing reads like it was written by a military reject who overdosed on Sunday television sermons and Wikipedia—full of descriptions of blood and battle with a touch of evangelical fervor and a hint of middle-school computer nerd-ism. It lacked depth, emotion and loses all entertainment value when you realize that, since the armies of Carpathia can’t harm the defenders and all previous wounds are healed, there is no challenge.  All conflict will be resolved by a true deus ex machina move with very little need for thoughtful resolution.

That being said, I will admit that the book made some good points. The only one that interests me would be Leah Rose’s comment about the coming of Jesus being far louder the second time around. (132) If my Catholic school memories do not deceive, then Jesus crept into the world, unnoticed but for a few shepherds and magi, beneath a bright star amidst hay bales in a barn. The second coming of the Son of God sounds much more pronounced and extravagant. Everyone’s invited to the inaugural birthday bash as long as you put yourself on the guest list before the big day, Daddy’s going to put a birth announcement in the sky. His coming will be impossible to ignore.

But why is this time so different from the last? Is it a forewarning of the sheer number of dead that this rompe on the earthly plane will produce? Perhaps it is because the death certificate will read differently? Instead of “One person was crucified as an example,” it will say, “Everyone’s dead together.”