Publishing revelation

Friday, October 01, 1999

Publishing revelation

'Left Behind' series, a mix of biblical prophecy and conventional thriller, leads readers to re-examine lives

Millions of people around the world disappear in the blink of an eye, leaving their clothes and bewildered loved ones behind. As those left on earth struggle to understand what has happened, what do you do?

If you're like legions of readers nationwide, you keep reading. The mass disappearance marks the opening scene of Left Behind, the first in a series of six Christian apocalyptic thrillers that have reached best-seller lists and are headed for movie theaters just in time for the new millennium.

The books, which have crossed over from religious stores into the general market, follow a cast of characters left behind after the world's true Christians are taken to heaven. The disappearances mark the beginning of a time of tribulation that precedes Jesus' return to Earth, and those who are left must decide whether to align themselves with God or the Antichrist.

A fierce following
The plot is straight out of the Book of Revelation, by way of Tom Clancy. It is a combination that hooks many readers who would otherwise be unlikely to pick up a book on biblical prophecy.

In turn, the contemporary setting and characters — including a pilot, a reporter, a college student, and an associate minister — make it easy for readers to wonder what would happen to them in the same situation. The question leads many readers to re-evaluate their own lives, inspiring a fierce following that is a rare byproduct of fiction.

“They're life-changing,” says Rhonda Eger, 46, a school nurse from Anderson Township who made her college-age children read the books. “I don't want to be left behind. That's the thing about reading them — you don't want the people you love to be left behind. I don't have a doomsday attitude, but it makes you think about how you're living your life.”

“It's kind of a wake-up call. We tend to just go along living each day as if God is over there, and I'm just going to do my thing,” says Bill Harvey, 67, also of Anderson Township. “These are the latter days Jesus talked about, and (after reading the book) you say, "Whoops, I'd better get it together.' ”

Dr. Tim LaHaye, a former pastor and lifelong student of prophecy, dreamed up the Left Behind concept after watching a pilot flirt with a stewardess on a plane and wondering what would happen if the end times began at that moment. Jerry B. Jenkins, writer-at-large for the Moody Bible Institute and author of 130 books, writes the series.

The pair have an unusually interactive relationship with their readers. Readers' comments, rather than critics', line the books' covers. And Mr. Jenkins regularly asks readers for feedback, on the Left Behind Web site; a recent post from him asked whether people could wait six extra weeks for the next book if it was 20 percent longer. (Most reluctantly said yes.)

12 books planned
The sixth and latest in the series, Assassins, has been on The New York Times best-seller list since it was released in August. The fifth, Apollyon, has appeared recently on both hardcover and paperback best-seller lists, and Left Behind — released four years ago — continues to appear on paperback lists.

The publisher, Tyndale House, reports selling more than 8.2 million copies of individual books in the series — numbers that only their editions of the Bible can rival. Audio recordings and a series of books for teens pushes Left Behind-related sales to more than 11 million. A total of 12 books are planned for the series, with the next one, The Indwelling, due in May.

The books are understandably popular in religious bookstores. Even at a time when titles on religion and spirituality are selling well, the Left Behind titles stand out.

“People know what day a new one is going to be released, and they're here to get them,” says Pam Sipple, manager of Calvary Bookstore in Covington. “There's a lot of excitement about these books. They're our top-selling fiction book right now.”

But they are also selling well at secular outlets such as Wal-Mart and national bookstore chains. Like the popular VeggieTales videos for children, the Left Behind books are proving that products with religious themes have a broad appeal.

“We're selling them really well,” says Tom Starkey, assistant manager of the Little Professor Book Center in Forest Fair Mall. “It's picked up recently since the last one went best-seller, because word of mouth and publicity picked up.”

Just thrillers?
The growing general audience for the Left Behind series raises the question of how they should be read. Are they pure thrillers that simply happen to have a religious theme? Are they a fictionalized account of what will likely happen some time in the future? Are they a wake-up call to spiritually sluggish Christians?

The answer depends on the audience. Mr. Harvey is a longtime student of prophecy who picked up a copy of Left Behind four years ago after hearing a radio program about it. He was quickly hooked.

“It just rings so true,” he says. “For me, the book makes sense. A lot of people like to spiritualize (the Revelation prophecies) away and say it's a bunch of bunk, but it isn't. They also have trouble with the fact that God could bring such destruction upon his creation, but to be consistent with his character it has to be.”

But other readers insist that it's a good yarn, whether you take Revelation literally or not.

“I have a tendency to believe people take them too literally. I don't but I find them very engrossing, and they are immensely popular,” says Susan Hohe, staff member at Innervisions Religious Books and Gifts in Cherry Grove. “A lot of people do read them for entertainment.”

The dual nature makes the books an effective evangelizing tool for many Christians, who find it easier to give a fictional thriller than a Bible or religious tract. If the reader responds with a desire to learn more about Christianity, the evangelizer's goal is accomplished. If not, at least the reader has enjoyed the book.

Book sat for a year
John and Lee Murphy became fans of the series after a friend gave Left Behind to Mrs. Murphy. But it wasn't love at first sight.

“I started reading it and I thought it was stupid. I'm not into science fiction. I like to read real things,” she says.

The book sat on her nightstand for a year, until the friend asked for it back. A few months later she heard some people talking about a character in the series, a minister who is left behind. The notion intrigued her, and she gave the book another shot. When she finished it, she handed it to her husband.

“I told him to do me a favor and get past page 100,” says Mrs. Murphy, an Anderson Township personal color consultant. “He came home and said, "Do you have the second one?' I said yeah, but I'm reading it, and he stole it and took it out of town. He came home and said, "Do we have books three and four?' and I said, no, and he said, "We need to go out and get them.”'

Like others, Mrs. Murphy describes the intense self-examination that the book prompted: How would she and her family fare if the events in the book happened to them today? The couple in turn gave copies of the book as Christmas presents to family and friends — hoping it would have the same impact on them.

“This is sometimes a way to bring up (the topic of faith) in a "safe' way,” she says. “If it would help one person to believe, then to me it would be worth the other 30 books we bought.”



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