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margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #4B0082; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:white; background-color:#4B0082"><b>Great and terrible</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Literature" title="Literature"><font size="5" color="white"><b>Books</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#E6E6FA;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Books" title="Category:Books"><img alt="Icon books.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/5/58/Icon_books.svg/100px-Icon_books.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/5/58/Icon_books.svg/150px-Icon_books.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/5/58/Icon_books.svg/200px-Icon_books.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:white; background-color:#4B0082; text-align:center;"><b>On our shelf:</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#E6E6FA;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Might_is_Right" title="Might is Right">Might is Right</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Report_from_Iron_Mountain" title="Report from Iron Mountain">Report from Iron Mountain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Why_Are_You_Atheists_So_Angry%3F" title="Why Are You Atheists So Angry?">Why Are You Atheists So Angry?</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh_is_a_Big_Fat_Idiot" title="Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot">Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Skeptics%27_Guide_to_the_Universe" title="The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe">The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Enemy_at_Home:_The_Cultural_Left_and_its_Responsibility_for_9/11" title="The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11">The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:white; background-color:#4B0082; text-align:center;"><b>Writer's block</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#E6E6FA;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ann_Coulter" title="Ann Coulter">Ann Coulter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Terry_Pratchett" title="Terry Pratchett">Terry Pratchett</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eugenie_Scott" title="Eugenie Scott">Eugenie Scott</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stephen_Hawking" title="Stephen Hawking">Stephen Hawking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cornel_West" title="Cornel West">Cornel West</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Juan_Per%C3%B3n" title="Juan Perón">Juan Perón</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Books" title="Template:Books">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Books" title="Template talk:Books">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Books&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><i><b>This Present Darkness</b></i> (ISBN <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0842361715" title="Special:BookSources/0842361715">0842361715</a>) is a contemporary <a href="/wiki/Christianity" title="Christianity">Christian</a> novel by Frank Peretti, first published in 1986. Hugely popular, the book has sold over two-and-a-half million copies,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> a telling reflection of <a href="/wiki/Bullshit" title="Bullshit">fine taste</a> in Christian audiences. The story is about the fictional small town of Ashton, and how <a href="/wiki/Demon" title="Demon">demons</a> are trying to drive <a href="/wiki/Angel" title="Angel">angels</a> out of the town and incorporate <a href="/wiki/New_Age" title="New Age">New Age</a> philosophies into the community college's curriculum. </p><p>Since its release, many Christians have seen it as a "<a href="/wiki/Self-help" class="mw-redirect" title="Self-help">How-To</a>" manual for <a href="/wiki/Exorcism" title="Exorcism">exorcisms</a>, <a href="/wiki/Prayer" title="Prayer">prayers</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Spiritual_warfare" title="Spiritual warfare">spiritual warfare</a>. This has led theologians to argue that Christians should not allow this fictional book to "redefine their entire worldview,"<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> as that is a job for <a href="/wiki/Bible" title="Bible">a different fictional book</a>. </p><p><i>This Present Darkness</i> gets its title from the Ephesians 6:12,<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> which reads: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over <i>this present darkness</i>, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Did you get it? </p><p>Two years after his first publication, Peretti wrote another book: <i>Piercing the Darkness</i>. In addition to the New Age, Peretti takes jabs at the <a href="/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union" title="American Civil Liberties Union">ACLU</a> with this one, when the damned hypocrites bring a legal case against a Christian school for using corporal punishment. </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Literary_criticism"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Literary criticism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#Theological_criticism"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Theological criticism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#Film_adaptation"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Film adaptation</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Literary_criticism">Literary criticism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=This_Present_Darkness&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Literary criticism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Despite the fact that <i>This Present Darkness</i> is popular among Christian reading circles, it is an <i>awful</i> book, complete with weak and poorly developed characters, stilted dialogue, an irrational plot, hackneyed conflict, <a href="/wiki/Straw_man" title="Straw man">straw man</a> depictions of the occult, paranoiac conspiracy theories, and general intolerance.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup> Even Peretti himself admitted that the book was not very good and did not deserve the success it achieved.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Theological_criticism">Theological criticism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=This_Present_Darkness&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Theological criticism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Peretti's book widely differs from most theological interpretations of the Bible. Several professors in theology are concerned that many Christian readers have adopted erroneous concepts of spiritual warfare from <i>This Present Darkness</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> One of the book's key elements is "the power of prayer." In the novel, when a Christian prays, he releases some form of metaphysical energy to the angels, enabling them to combat demons with swords. There is no basis for this in the Bible, <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance" title="Argument from ignorance">therefore it cannot be true.</a> </p><p>The book also deals with <a href="/wiki/Demonic_possession" title="Demonic possession">demonic possession</a>. Virtually every non-Christian character in the book is possessed by a demon, and can be manipulated to do pretty much anything because of this. One memorable scene is the exorcism of a teenage boy, where the pastor and his buddies cast the demons out by holding him down and chanting, "I rebuke you, Satan!" Oh, and they toss around <a href="/wiki/Jesus" title="Jesus">Jesus</a>' name a lot; somehow this makes the demons "melt". With demons being so easy to defeat, it's a wonder they managed to take control of so many people. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Film_adaptation">Film adaptation</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=This_Present_Darkness&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Film adaptation">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>It has been revealed that an independent movie based on <i>This Present Darkness</i> is in production, to be directed by Chuck Russel.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> Though no set release date has been mentioned, hopefully it will be released soon, because we all know that Peretti's latest book-to-movie adaptations <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342508/">turned</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435770/">out</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837796/">great</a>. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=This_Present_Darkness&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rolltodisbelieve/tag/this-present-darkness/">Long review of the book by a former Pentecostal</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=This_Present_Darkness&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.crossway.org/product/1581345283">http://www.crossway.org/product/1581345283</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>This Present Paranoia</i>, Kim Riddlebarger, pp 278-279</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">English Standard Version</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.amazon.com/review/product/1581345283/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?%5Fencoding=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar">People on Amazon say so.</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100108022411/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/frank_peretti/biography.php">Sloppily sourced RottenTomatoes biography, as captured Jan. 8, 2010.</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/peretti/dark.htm">http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/peretti/dark.htm</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.thezreview.co.uk/comingsoon/t/thispresentdarkness.htm">http://www.thezreview.co.uk/comingsoon/t/thispresentdarkness.htm</a></span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a 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