Clemson Stoddard was the old man Vicki Byrne and Mark Eisman met when Cheryl Tiffane kidnapped Ryan Victor Fogarty. Vicki and Mark both helped Clemson become a believer when Bowl Judgment #4 was taking place.
Biography[]
Before the Rapture[]
Clemson Stoddard said that he was never was enthusiastic about going to church. Clemson's parents attended church, but he did not want to have anything to do with it. Clemson justified this by saying that the Lord knows a person without them going to a big show wearing fancy clothes.
After the Rapture[]
During the Rapture, he was living with his mother and taking care of her. She usually cooked breakfast every morning, while listening to radio preachers and singing gospel songs, but during the day of the Rapture, everyone was eerily quiet. Clemson went to the "pump house" to get some apple butter for his toast, and when he went to check on his mother, he found his mother's bed empty. Clemson kept a picture of his mother, who looked older and had shoulder length hair.
Clemson's hideout during the Tribulation used to be an oil-change place behind a garage before the Rapture. It was leveled shortly after the disappearances, but since he owned the land, he was able to board it up without anyone noticing or caring. He started living underground since World War III, albeit without any visitors for ages until Mark Eisman showed up with Ryan Victor Fogarty as they were trying elude the Global Community. He lit his place with kerosene lamps and pilfered power from a line to power his computer and freezer. At the time of the onset of the heat plague, Clemson had an ample supply of food that he can feed Mark Eisman and his friends "for quite a while".
Clemson told Mark Eisman that he was not fond of attending church, but his parents attended church. Clemson did not want to have anything to do with attending church because he always thought that the Lord would know a person without having them dress up formally and reverently for a social occasion. Clemson did later admit the real reason that most people in church knew about the disagreeable things that Clemson had done and told Mark that if he knew that Mark would not be so eager to help him. In Clemson's conversation with Mark, he also said that he always believed in Jesus and that He is God, but Clemson never did anything about it.
Clemson intended to ride out the regime of the Global Community and reign of Carpathia as a recluse, but unlike the Tribulation Force or Cyrus's Mountain Militia, he did not have a prospect of the Global Community being overthrown in the future. Clemson said that he had read some of Tsion Ben-Judah's material on the Internet, but he was not into church and the Jesus stuff. He was stung by one of the demon-locusts of the fifth Trumpet Judgment that entered the vents of his hideout, but the demonic horsemen of the sixth Trumpet Judgment were unable to find him. Clemson thought Carpathia is creepy because, although he rose from the dead, he has people killed for not receiving one of his tattoos.
Clemson had a dog living with him, but the dog died about a year before Clemson had met Mark Eisman, Cheryl Tiffane, and the Young Tribulation Force. His dog used to stay beside Clemson because the dog was scared of what was going on outside.
Clemson Stoddard first appeared when Mark Eisman and Vicki Byrne searched for Cheryl Tiffane and Ryan Victor Fogarty as Cheryl had kidnapped her biological son because she was resented that she let Josey and Tom Fogarty adopt her child and that she barely spent any time with her son. Mark saw a manhole cover that was slightly open, and Clemson whispered "over here" to try to draw their attention. Mark wondered if it could be a Global Community trick, but thought there was very little reason for the GC to hide or operate from underground in the sewer system. Clemson had reached out for Ryan, and they went down the hole. Clemson heard through his computer about the onset of the heat plague in other parts of the world and expected it to arrive shortly there. Clemson wanted Mark and his friends to go underground, off the streets, in his hideout to protect them from burning up, but Clemson did not know that Mark's friends are impervious to the killing force of the heat because God supernaturally protected believers for its effects.
When he first appeared in the story, Clemson was wearing dirty and tattered clothes, had pale skin, and a beard that touched his chest. He looked like a deserted island castaway.
After Mark was shortly inside Clemson's hideout, Mark said that he had to check on his friends, but he planned to tell him some important information that could save his life. Mark asked Clemson to keep any eye out on Ryan while he would be away. When Clemson was asked to do this, he immediately try to entice Ryan with a stick of chewing gum, but Mark admonished Clemson, saying that Ryan was too young for it, since Ryan just swallows it. Mark asked Clemson if he could sing, and Clemson was puzzled at the question but was delighted at the prospect of singing for Ryan. He offered to treat Ryan to a country version of "You Are My Sunshine". Mark then brought back Vicki, Marshall Jameson, Tom Fogarty, and Cheryl Tiffane to Clemson's hideout after they were detected and caught by Global Community police officers, but they were able to escape as the police officers succumbed to the heat plague in the early morning. When they returned to Clemson's hideout, they heard singing and Ryan had learned some of the lyrics to "You Are My Sunshine".
Mark then talked to Clemson, but Mark resisted the urge objectively delineate the case for Christianity because Mark had learned people usually do not respond to information presented in an impersonal way. Instead, Mark tried to personally connect to Clemson by asking him about his family, upbringing, and his past experience and interaction with the Christian religion. After Clemson briefly told Mark his story about his religious background, Mark did not want to preach, but Mark also did not want to withhold back anything to evangelize to Clemson.
Mark said that God cared so much about each of us that He predicted everything that happened during the Tribulation such a ruler that would rise that would lead people way from the truth. Clemson named Carpathia and said that he thought he is the Antichrist. Mark continued that the Wrath of the Lamb earthquake and the locusts were also predicted in the Bible. Mark added that despite all these miraculous signs, people still rejected the truth of God.
Clemson said that he did not reject anything that God does and that he had prayed to Him. He added that people ought to live by the Golden Rule and love others. When Mark asked what did he say to God in his prayer, Clemson answered that he asked for food and a safe place to stay. Mark asked whether he thought God answered Clemson's prayer, and that God somehow favored him because he had seen many people taken away by the Global Community or turned in people without the mark of loyalty for a reward. Mark then said that it is not enough for someone to believe that God exists because even the demons and Carpathia believe in God (James 2:19). Clemson said that he did not think God would care about someone who is insignificant as him. Mark then asked whether Clemson thought God was not big enough to care about Clemson to provide him with shelter and food. Clemson was nonplussed, saying that he did not know. Mark admitted that the reason he came there was to locate and retrieve Ryan Victor Fogarty, but the encounter with Clemson was a bonus that could potentially lead him to salvation. Mark then asked whether Clemson had been asking God for anything recently such as a sign or that God would send him somebody. Clemson expressed surprised to Mark because Mark knew exactly what Clemson had been praying for. Mark said that he just guess and hypothesized that had prepared the way before the Young Tribulation Force had met Clemson.
Clemson said that over the last few months he was wondering whether God was up there and if he cared about all the people dying during the Tribulation. Mark offered the theodicy that such things are happening because God cares about people more than anyone can imagine. According to Mark, God wants people to come to know him and ask for forgiveness for their sins, even though God knows that most people would reject His offer. Clemson retorted by pointing out the allegedly contradiction of Mark's religiousness to the fact that Mark is still on earth as he was not raptured. Mark replied that one reason God has left him on earth was that they can reach out to people and help them to come to know Jesus personally. (However, this response implies that God consciously wanted a particular person, Mark Eisman, to be left behind. God could have done this by withholding from Mark the grace of faith so that Mark could fulfill God's purpose of evangelizing during the Tribulation later.) Mark recounted his testimony to Clemson about how he became a "true believer in Jesus" after the disappearances and joined the Young Tribulation Force. Mark lamented that he thought he knew God before the Rapture, and he regarded that other Christians were just "playing church", but most of them has something that Mark did not have. In response to Clemson asking "what?", Mark said that they knew that they were forgiven by God due to what Jesus had done on the cross. Jesus died so people can live forever with God and that one can have a relationship with God right now.
Vicki, Marshall, and Cheryl walked into the room. Clemson asked whether the others had similar testimonies and perspectives on religion. Vicki said that her parents were religious nutcases who wanted her to go to church and read the Bible. When Vicki was a rebellious adolescent, she said that Christians were people who did not have any fun. Now, she realizes that if one gives their life to God, one can have real life. Clemson said that he can infer that the party came because they were looking for Ryan Vicki Fogarty because one of them ran off with him. There was a prolonged silence until Cheryl responded who expressed remorse for kidnapping Ryan. Cheryl said that believing in God does not necessarily mean that one would make the right decisions and that she made a terrible mistake. However, Cheryl added that it is in God's nature to forgive people.
Clemson said that he could not process the situation and Mark Eisman's Christian testimony and presentation of Christianity fast enough. Clemson said that he needed time. Mark told him frankly that they have to leave Clemson soon and that he would die if he were to venture outside in the day time without God's protection from the heat. Clemson said that he cannot make the decision to become a believer simply because he wants to live longer. Mark concurred that there is no guarantee that anyone will live tomorrow regardless if one is a believer or not. Ever since the Rapture, half the world's population had perished. Most who were stung by the demon-locusts have cursed God, but God has afforded Clemson with a second chance. They urge Clemson avail himself of the opportunity to become a believer soon.
Tom Fogarty came back into the room with Ryan Victor Fogarty as Ryan was humming "Jesus Loves Me". Mark used that as a opportunity to quote the Bible verse of Jesus saying that unless one turns from their sins and become like little children, one would never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Mark explained that a little child depends on others as Ryan cannot do much on his own. Ryan trusts others to feed him and take care of him. Hence, God wants people to put the same kind of faith in Him. Mark then directly expressed the Christian view of soteriology that everyone has sinned but Jesus has died on the cross for one's sins and that sacrifice enables God to forgive someone of their sins if that person asks God for forgiveness. Clemson asked how does one have faith in God and whether that required him to jump through "hoops" and memorize plenty of material. Mark quoted Romans 10:13 that says whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Clemson said he wanted to call upon the Lord now. Mark then knelt on the floor with Clemson while the others in the room placed their hand upon Clemson's shoulder as Mark led Clemson in the sinner's prayer. Afterwards Clemson saw a "funny looking thing" on everyone's foreheads as he was now able to see the mark of the believer on the saved.
Clemson left with the Young Tribulation Force and gathered a few things from his hideout. He thanked Cheryl because her actions of kidnapping Ryan enabled his encounter with the Young Tribulation Force so that he was able to find God's peace, but he still did not condone Cheryl's actions. In the camp in Avery, Wisconsin, Clemson went from a hermit to being neatly dressed. He avidly read Tsion Ben-Judah's website and attended Vicki's classes for new believers. Clemson turned out to be a great carpenter, repairing and constructing new cabins.
Appearances[]
- 37. Heat Wave (becomes a believer, only appearance)
Trivia[]
- Clemson's only appearance was in book 37.
- As Clemson was not seen during the honoring of the martyrs in Triumphant Return, it is very likely he survived to the Glorious Appearing. It is not shown that he did, however.
- Excluding Judd Thompson Jr. and Lionel Washington, Clemson was the last person to stay in the Campground in Avery, Wisconsin.