The Leftovers

In certain Christian traditions, particularly American evangelicalism, the rapture signifies a global event in which devout Christian believers, as well as believers who previously died but will be resurrected, will disappear into the air on their way to meet Jesus Christ in heaven. Belief in the rapture began out of an anticipation that Jesus’ return to redeem true believers was imminent. Those left behind on earth would need to live through an extended tribulation period due to their lack of belief in the Christian God. There is debate among fundamentalists over the timing of this event: Some believe the rapture will occur following a tribulation period that all humanity is forced to endure, while others view the period of tribulation as applying to only those non-believers left behind on Earth.

The rapture is not an event directly described in the Bible, so it does not appear in most Christian denominations, including Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and Presbyterianism, among others. Catholic tradition does not recognize a preliminary return of Jesus Christ in a rapture event. Belief in a rapture is often connected with views of premillennialism, which predicts Jesus will physically and corporeally return to Earth to usher in a 1000-year reign of peace prior to the rapture.

The turn of the millennium spiked increased interest in the rapture in pop culture and media. Harold Camping, an American evangelical radio broadcaster, predicted that the rapture would occur on October 21, 2011, after revising the predicted date several times. The Leftovers was published August 30 of that year and gives October 14 as the day of its rapture-like event. The novel reflects the apocalyptic anxieties of its time, such as what it would mean to be left behind in such an event and how media portrayals of religious belief contribute to one’s acceptance or denial of belief in the rapture.