It features a decent but initially unbelieving reporter, a grief-stricken husband whose wife has been Raptured while he and his daughter have been “left behind,” a corrupt Catholic leader who becomes the head of a one world religion, and a charming but thoroughly evil global dictator, the Antichrist. Published by Tyndale, it sells slowly at first but eventually becomes a bestseller.
The Left Behind books by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins? Nope — guess again.
The apocalyptic novel is Salem Kirban’s 666 (“The exciting novel on the Tribulation Period”), originally published by Kirban himself in 1970, then published by Tyndale a few years later, and finally republished in 1998 by AMG Publishers). It was the first and perhaps only Rapture novel of the 1970s, and according to its cover sold over 500,000 copies in its first ten printings. Based on the same sort of popularized and over-the-top dispensationalism made famous by Hal Lindsey (whose first book and 30 million mega-seller Late Great Planet Earth was also published in 1970), Kirban’s novel is poorly written, stereotypically anti-Catholic (discourses on the evils of Romanism are abundant), and often quite funny, though rarely on purpose (the Pope, one character lectures, is able to “beautify . . . saints”). Kirban, a former Vietnam war correspondent, would go on to write a number of books on Bible prophecy and the End Times, including his own “reference Bible.”
Tim Lahaye also has a Prophecy Study Bible, recently published, ironically, by AMG Publishers. Publishing a “reference” or “prophecy study” Bible in the mold of C. I. Scofield’s influential Reference Bible is apparently a sign that an author has reached expert status in the lucrative and increasingly competitive world of Biblical prophecy (or, more precisely, of interpreting what the Bible supposedly states about the future). There is plenty of jockeying for position at the top of the Rapture literary heap, as a visit to your local Christian book store will confirm. Which brings us back to the plot of Lahaye and Jenkins’ Left Behind story (now eight books in length and heading for a total of twelve) and Kirban’s 666. They are remarkably similar, as this comparison shows:
1. Left Behind features a non-believing reporter as a central character; 666 features a non-believing reporter as the main character.
2. Left Behind begins with a scene on an airplane flight, with a main character (a pilot) when the Rapture occurs; 666 begins with a scene on an airplane flight, with a main character (a reporter) when the Rapture occurs.
3. Left Behind has a main character (the airplane pilot) whose wife is a Christian and is Raptured along with his son, but his daughter is “left behind”; 666 has a main character (the reporter) whose wife is a Christian and is Raptured, along with two of his children, but one of his daughters is “left behind.”
4. In the Left Behind series, the pilot’s daughter becomes pregnant and her baby is in danger due to the Antichrist's persecution; in 666 the reporter’s daughter becomes pregnant and her baby is in danger due to the Antichrist's persecution.
5. Left Behind's airplane pilot begins reading the Bible (crying over it in his bedroom) and later discovers 1 Corinthians 15:52-53; the main character of 666 reads the Bible (crying over it in his bedroom) and immediately comes across the very same passage.
6. The Left Behind series features an American Cardinal who becomes the head of a one world apostate church; 666 features “Brother Bartholomew,” a Catholic leader who becomes the head of a one world apostate church.
7. Both books are filled with characters who do little but fly around the globe, reading the Bible and applying it to the events around them. Many of these characters have access to high places, especially the Antichrist and his inner circle.
8. Left Behind was published by Tyndale Press (1995); 666 was published by Tyndale Press (1973).
These similarities are noteworthy, I think, for a couple of reasons. The first has to do with Lahaye’s claim of originality for his series of books. In an interview with the Assembly of God magazine Pentecostal Evangel, in the March 28, 2000 issue, he insists that “Left Behind is the first fictional portrayal of events that are true to the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy. It was written for anyone who loves gripping fiction featuring believable characters, a dynamic plot that also weaves prophetic events in a fascinating story” (emphasis added). He also states that “While I was on an airplane flight in the 1980s, I got the idea for a novel about the Rapture. The idea percolated for years.”
While Lahaye should receive every benefit of the doubt about the inspiration for his books, there is a discrepancy in his comments: the claim that Left Behind is the “first fictional portrayal” of a dispensationalism-based, Bible prophecy-driven view of the End Times. Not only did Kirban beat him to that dubious distinction by a quarter of a century, but it appears that Lahaye’s Left Behind isn’t even the first Rapture novel published with that title! In July of 1995 Harvest House Publishers, a prominent Fundamentalist publishing house located in Eugene, Oregon, released husband and wife team Peter and Patti Lalondes’ end-time novel Left Behind (the first edition of the Lahaye/Jenkins’ novel was apparently published in September of 1995). The publisher’s blurb describes the book as “a revealing and intriguing look at the time on Earth between the rapture and Christ's second coming. Designed to be a witnessing tool as well as informative reading, this book answers questions those who have not received Christ will have after the rapture.” While its cover notes that there are “over 200,000” copies in print, the Lalonde book was eventually dwarfed by the Lahaye/Jenkins’ work of the same name and soon forgotten. Ironically, the names of Lalonde and Lahaye would become linked together when Lahaye and Jenkins sold the movie rights to their books to Lalonde’s movie production company, Cloud Ten Pictures (Lahaye has since sued Cloud Ten Pictures in an attempt to regain movie rights). Left Behind: The Movie was initially released on video in November 2000, and had its theatrical debut in early February of this year.
Lahaye has been in the Bible prophecy business for over thirty years and it seems reasonable to expect him to have knowledge of both the Kirban and Lalonde books. So was his claim just a slip of the tongue? Perhaps, but I find that difficult to believe. The key issue here is that while recycling might be good for the environment, it isn’t very appealing when it comes to Bible prophecy that is supposedly cutting-edge and up-to-date. Needless to say, if readers of Left Behind knew that many of Lahaye and Jenkins’ major plot elements and characters can be found in a book written over thirty years ago, they might not be so quick to accept as Gospel Truth the end-time scenarios found in the books.
The fact is, beginning with John Nelson Darby in the 1830s and continuing ever since with men like Blackstone, Scofield, Moody, Chafer, Ryrie, Lindsey, and Kirban, dispensationalists have been claiming that the Rapture will occur in their lifetime or within “this generation” (Hal Lindsey’s favorite). Yet it hasn’t happened, even while books like the Left Behind series have some people thinking that the end of the world is right around the corner. However, if readers learned a bit of the history of the Rapture, they might not be so prone to fall for it in all its various forms, especially as recycled, warmed-up Left Behind leftovers. While “Bible prophecy” experts like Lahaye continue to miss the mark about the future, perhaps the Left Behind books have, in a certain way, fulfilled these words of Scripture: “That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
