NEWSWEEK COVER: 'The New Prophets of Revelation'
'Left Behind' Series of Apocalyptic Christian Novels Has Sold More Than 62
Million Copies; Currently Outselling King, Grisham
Majority (55%) of Americans Believe That Before the World Ends the Religiously
Faithful Will Be Saved; More Than a Third (36%) Say Bible's Book of
Revelations a True Prophesy
NEW YORK, May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins,
coauthors of the best-selling "Left Behind" series of apocalyptic Christian
novels, are arguably the most successful literary partnership of all time,
reports Senior Writer David Gates in the May 24 Newsweek cover story (on
newsstands Monday, May 17). Their Biblical techno-thrillers about the end of
the world are currently outselling Stephen King, John Grisham and every other
pop novelist in America; in all the books have sold more than 62 million
copies. The 12th and final installment, called "Glorious Appearing," has the
return of Jesus, the battle of Armageddon and the Judgment. It sold almost 2
million copies even before its March publication and it's still tied for No. 2
on The New York Times's list -- which doesn't count sales at Christian
bookstores.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040516/NYSU005 )
Scholars reconstructing the popular history of the first years of the 21st
century will have to grapple with the phenomenon of "Left Behind," and in an
age of terror and tumult, they may find, these books' Biblical literalism
offered certitude to millions of Americans amid the chaos of their time,
reports Gates. According to the most recent Newsweek poll, 92 percent of
Americans believe in God, 74 percent believe in Satan and 75 percent believe
there is a Heaven where people who have led good lives are eternally rewarded.
A majority (55%) believe in "the Rapture," that before the world ends the
religiously faithful will be saved and taken to Heaven; and more than a third
(36%) say the Bible's book of Revelation is a "true prophesy" that predicts
the end of the world as it will happen (47% say it's a metaphorical account).
But the many critics of the "Left Behind" series see a resonance between
its apocalyptic scenario and the born-again President Bush's apocalyptic
rhetoric and confrontational Mideast policies, reports Gates. The other
principal critique comes from some of Jenkins's and LaHaye's fellow
Christians, who find the books more interested in God's wrath than God's love.
"It's pulp fiction, based on a particular reading of the Bible," says Randall
Balmer, chair of the religion department at Barnard College. "It diverts
attention from the mandate of the New Testament to love God with all your
heart and soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself." Most
establishmentarian Christians agree with Tina Pippin, a professor of religious
studies at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., in saying "Left Behind"
"encourages people to see the world in terms of black and white, good and
evil, with us or against us."
Despite what his critics say, LaHaye considers it a message of comfort and
hope, and its roots are as much personal as Biblical. He was 8 years old when
he accepted Christ, 10 when his father died. "At his graveside, I was in
despair," he recalls. "And the minister -- I remember it as if it was
yesterday -- looked up at the sky and he said, 'This is not the end of Frank
LaHaye. The day is going to come when Jesus will show himself and the dead in
Christ will rise. And we who are alive in the Name will be caught up together
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.' And one of my driving passions has
been to help laypeople understand that the word of God means what it says and
says what it means."
But Jenkins is nearly as troubled as his critics by the apparently
vengeful elements in the books, such as that episode in "Glorious Appearing"
in which too-late penitents are sent to hell vainly bleating, "Jesus is Lord."
"One of the toughest things I deal with is that there are some evangelicals,
with familiar faces, who seem to like that part of it," he says. "You know,
'We're right, you're wrong, that's what the Bible says, someday you're going
to kneel and admit it.' That should break our hearts."
Still, Jenkins knows that is what the Bible says, at least as he and
LaHaye read it, and "we sort of have a responsibility to tell what it seems to
say to us." For them -- just as for Christians who think LaHaye and Jenkins
have it all wrong-this is ultimately about love, for God and for their fellow
humans. As they see it, they're on a rescue mission, with time running out.
"We don't know when the Lord's going to come," LaHaye admits, and he likes to
quote Matt. 24:35: "Of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels
of heaven, but My Father only."
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SOURCE Newsweek