Blockbuster novels of the apocalypse

WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- The authors of a monumentally successful series of apocalyptic novels explained their purpose and answered critics before a receptive audience at the National Press Club earlier this week.

The Rev. Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins are creators of a series imaginatively based on the New Testament Book of Revelation that began with "Left Behind" in 1995. The 10th volume, "The Remnant," was released on July 2.

The two evangelical Christians are fundamentalists, which means they take the Bible literally. Fundamentalism is a Protestant phenomenon based on the idea of "private judgment." It has its roots in the teachings of Martin Luther (1483-1546), John Calvin (1509-1564), Ulrich Zwingle (1484-1531) and John Knox (1505-1572).

Modern fundamentalism, however, arose only in the early 1900s. A group of professors troubled by some modern biblical scholarship asserted the literal inerrancy of scripture and defined what they believed are the "fundamental" tenets of Christianity.

Jenkins, the writer of the series, is author of more than 100 books, primarily biography, on marriage and family topics, and fiction. He began his career as a newspaper sportswriter, and he writes the nationally syndicated comic strip "Gil Thorp."

LaHaye -- a prophecy scholar, clergyman, pilot and author -- got the idea for "Left Behind" as an airline passenger.

"I saw this handsome captain come out of the cabin and begin flirting with a flight attendant," he said. "As I looked at this man, I could tell the sparks were flying between these two. And I happened to notice that he had a wedding ring on. ... And she did not. You don't have to be a genius to figure out something's going on here."

"What if the rapture occurred right now?" he asked himself. The flight attendant would be pounding on the cabin door saying, "Captain! There are 100 people missing from our aircraft."

LaHaye defined the rapture as an integral part of the second coming of Jesus, when all those who believe in him "are going to be taken up out of this world. And the rest of the world will go through a time of tribulation, and then Christ will finish his second coming by coming to the earth with all his saints to set up his earthly kingdom," he said.

"Our objective is to reach people with the truth that Jesus Christ is coming back," LaHaye said.

Jenkins explained that the authors' mutual literary agent introduced them about 10 years ago. LaHaye's brainchild "wasn't just an idea but also a message he wanted to get across." Jenkins agreed with that message.

Both men were raised in the same tradition of evangelical Christianity. "We believe that what we have portrayed in fiction form is actually going to happen some day," Jenkins said. "Our message is that we want people to be prepared for that."

Originally, only one book on was envisaged. It was to be on "the rapture" and the seven-year period of tribulation to follow. Then it was expanded into a trilogy. Now a total of 12 volumes are planned.

Just before Jenkins was to write the book, he was called upon to assist Billy Graham in his memoirs. The year that he spent with Graham was good for the project as well, Jenkins said.

Jenkins reported an unaccustomed feeling of humility as he began the first book. The series has had such phenomenal success the authors feel it would be folly to take any human credit for it.

Only after five or six books in the series had been published did the titles begin to appear on best-seller lists in the prestige press. "Lists like the New York Times' don't take into consideration books sold through Christian outlets because they're considered specialty stores," Jenkins said. The general public has embraced the books, but the media have been "slow to understand" them.

Usually criticism comes from those who haven't read the books, Jenkins said. Without naming the reporter, he referred to a July 8 New York Times story by David D. Kirkpatrick, who said in his lead sentence that "The Remnant" probably would be this year's best-selling novel, "but you might not be able to find it if you did not know where to look."

"Now that's not just somebody who hasn't read it," Jenkins said. "That's somebody who hasn't been in a bookstore. These books are everywhere, even in Manhattan."

Kirkpatrick also wrote that LaHaye and Jenkins "assign Jews a particularly prominent role in the drama of the final days, predicting that the people of Israel will welcome the Antichrist." Jenkins said the opposite is true. In "The Remnant" the Antichrist "is violently attacking the Jews because they have not expressed loyalty to him and to his mark."

Jenkins stated the obvious doctrinal differences between Judaism and Christianity but added: "Our entire faith is based on Judaism and the Old Testament -- we feel it's all of one piece.

"We believe that prophesy points out that in the end times after the return of Christ, during the seven-year tribulation, God somehow miraculously raises up 144,000 Jews to be evangelists -- those who believe that Jesus is the messiah. We acknowledge this clearly is a supernatural event, because there are exactly 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes, and they're all men, and they're all sexually pure. ...

"Sometimes people have mistaken this for our saying that 144,000 Jews have to be converted to Christianity before Christ can return. This is the opposite of what our message is," he said.

Responding to the charge of "exclusivity," Jenkins affirmed his and LaHaye's belief that "Jesus himself said he is the only way to God. That's not a popular message today. We realize that some people can be offended by that. Our only defense is that is the crucible of the evangelical. You can't take parts of the scripture you like or you think make sense and ignore those that you might do differently if you were God. You are not God."

Jenkins said, "We do not hate or look down upon those people who disagree with us," but the definition of an evangelical is one who "tells the news" he thinks is the truth.

He also said that the series does not predict the time when Jesus might return. However, "Dr. LaHaye has often said he believes that this will happen in his lifetime." LaHaye, a World War II Air Force veteran who still flies, is 76 years old.

Jenkins addressed the charge that the series uses fear to motivate people. "We believe these books express the grace and love of God," he said, "and we are grateful to be able to compete in the marketplace of ideas."

LaHaye said that thousands of readers have communicated "life-changing, spiritual experiences."

He and Jenkins "feel a sense of awe and destiny about what God has done in this series. God has chosen to use this tool in our sophisticated, very secular society. ... Something is happening in an awesome way, and man is a fragile creature who is not here forever. ... The Bible is the only real credible source for information, and Bible prophesy ... is history written in advance."