Bruce David Forbes (born March 30, 1948) is an ordained minister in the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

. Born in Michigan, he grew up in

Mitchell, South Dakota Mitchell is a city in and the county seat of Davison County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 15,660 at the 2020 census making it the sixth most populous city in South Dakota. Mitchell is the principal city of the Mitchell Mi ...

. His parents, Ernest Linwood Forbes and Marie Louise Forbes, met in Rochester. Ernie eventually became a hospital administrator at Methodist Hospital in Mitchell. Marie was a mathematics teacher as well as a librarian. Bruce Forbes holds a BA in Religious Studies from Morningside College, an MTh from Perkins School of Theology at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , p ...

, and a PhD from

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...

. His formal academic training is in the history of Christianity, but he has also developed a special interest in the analysis of popular culture. He is the co-editor of two books: "Religion and Popular Culture in America" (2000, revised edition 200

and "Rapture, Revelation and the End Times: An Exploration of the Left Behind (series), Left Behind Series" (2004) . He is also the author of two non-fiction books. Christmas: A Candid Histor

(2007) and America's Favorite Holidays: Candid Histories (2015). Forbes, a former department chair and professor of religious studies at Morningside College in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

, is a member of Alternatives

board of directors. Morningside College offers three different awards for outstanding teaching, one chosen by a student honor society, one by a faculty committee, and one by outside evaluators. Forbes has received all three awards, and he has received the student award twice. In addition to his teaching, he is a frequent guest speaker at local churches, workshops, and regional conferences. Forbes resides in

and has one son, Matthew Forbes. Forbes is a member of The Auggie Group (established 2004); other founding members include: The Rev (Charles) Rusty Brace, Tamara Huf and Corinne Schuster.

Articles

A Washington Post article about the Left Behind series, using Forbes as a main sourc

References

1948 births Living people Morningside University alumni Southern Methodist University alumni Princeton Theological Seminary alumni {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub