The Red & Black

An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia

Author believes the end is near

By Kelly Skinner -  November 29, 2006

Richard H. Perry has taken the R.E.M song lyrics literally: it’s the end of the world as we know it, and Perry’s feeling just fine.

The local author released his second book, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Last Days.” Nov. 6, and will talk about it Thursday night at Barnes and Noble in a book reading and question/answer session that includes a book signing.

Perry was raised in the Presbyterian Church, but says that during college, he limited his church attendance to the times that he went home to visit family.

“One day, I was reading international news and was explaining to my mother where the world was headed when she said, ‘Many Christians believe that what you are saying is described in the book of Revelations.’ Revelations became the first book of the Bible I read as an adult at the age of 33,” Perry said.

“To really understand Revelation, you have to read the rest of the Bible,” he said.

As a college student, Perry called himself a “cultural Christian,” meaning that went to church but didn’t really see the relevance to his everyday life.

“Even after I read the Bible, I started applying the logic I was taught in college. So I read other religious books too (such as the Koran) and found the Bible to be the truth I think it is,” said Perry.

Almost 27 years later, Perry has immersed himself in more than 180 eschatological works from the last 300 years. His scholarly search has been a personal one.

“I believe the Bible more than my own ideas. Not only has Scripture been true to me, but it is true to history. All of the fulfilled biblical prophecies have been fulfilled in the literal sense. Future prophecies will be fulfilled in the same way,” he said.

Perry paid for his first book’s publication (“Of the Last Days: Listen, I Tell You A Mystery”) and ended up handing out many of the copies for free.

Publishers found him for his second book; he claims he has no idea how they found him but is grateful for the opportunity to continue what he believes is his mission.

Perry said he didn’t have to “dummy down” the Bible in his writing of the “Idiot’s Guide.”

“The Bible is written for anyone who wants to know and understand God’s message. It seems that is the way he meant it to be. He wants us to understand. What I did was put the pieces of the prophetic puzzle together. If there was any heavy lifting that was it. The Bible is straightforward – God says what he means and means what he says,” Perry says.