‘Left Behind’ author Jenkins banks on power of story for new Christian thriller

Jerry Jenkins, co-author of the megaselling “Left Behind” series of apocalyptic novels, expresses a firm belief in his evangelical faith — and in the power of fiction to communicate biblical themes.

“Jesus used fiction, and you can’t get a better example than Jesus,” Mr. Jenkins, 72, said in a video interview with The Washington Times.

“I believe the parables were fiction. Some people argue with that, but you know [Jesus] was telling earthly stories with heavenly meanings, people say, and made his points that way and I think that’s a good example.”

If anyone can chart the impact of popular fiction in the Christian world, Mr. Jenkins might well be at the head of the list.

The “Left Behind” books, co-written with the late preacher Tim LaHaye, sell 15,000 copies a month, on top of the 80 million sold so far, Mr. Jenkins said.

He has written or co-written more than 200 books, including novels accompanying each season of “The Chosen,” a streaming television series created and helmed by Mr. Jenkins’ son, Dallas.

“You can’t underrate the significance of Jerry Jenkins when it comes to Christian fiction,” said Daniel Silliman, news editor for Christianity Today magazine and author of “Reading Evangelicals: How Christian Fiction Shaped a Culture and a Faith.”

Mr. Silliman said Mr. Jenkins is “really good at taking a story and, and figuring out the craft of telling a story and telling a popular story. He knows what he’s doing.”

Apparently there’s a market for such popular Christian novels. In 2021, according to research firm Statista, religious book sales generated $705.1 million in revenue. The firm offered no breakdown of fiction sales for last year, but in 2016 trade journal Publishers Weekly pegged Christian fiction as grossing between $75 million and $85 million in annual sales.

Mr. Jenkins’ latest offering, a biblical archaeology thriller “Dead Sea Conspiracy,” launches Wednesday.

The second in a two-book series, the new volume takes up the story of archaeologist and evangelical believer Nicole Berman, who manages to get a license to dig in a part of Saudi Arabia where the biblical patriarch Abraham journeyed.

The book asks what would happen if the excavations turn up evidence that would shake up earlier perceptions of how Isaac and Ishmael, sons of different mothers whose descendants are at odds even today, were to treat each other.

“Think of the things she has going against her,” Mr. Jenkins said. “Her gender, her religion — she’s not only Christian, she’s a Messianic Jew. So here they are, in essence, enemies of Islam, and so why does she get this permission? And if she finds something that would ease tensions among the religions, which would be finding out that Abraham’s sons were blessed and charged with getting along, not being [enemies]?”

He added that the questions this storyline asks are “What will they do with that truth? Will they squash it? Will she be in trouble? Do they think she’s an easy mark?”

Alternating with the archaeologist’s discoveries are chapters about “the biblical story of Abraham’s upbringing and his becoming the father of nations,” Mr. Jenkins said.

Getting the fiction right, as with those “Left Behind” novels, was Mr. Jenkins’ responsibility.

But getting the archaeology right fell to Houston Baptist University scholar Craig Evans, a theologian and archaeologist who has published 90 academic and theological books.

Mr. Evans said “archaeology is not Indiana Jones.”

“This is not swooping in, like on a scavenger hunt or a treasure hunt, and then loot some site, grab something and while people are shooting at you, run away,” he said.

Instead, “archaeology is by inches, it’s by degrees, it’s careful,” which can also translate into boredom for a reader.

“I think Jerry’s figured out how to keep it exciting, interesting, and [surprising], and yet still respect what archaeology actually is: a day-by-day exercise in a controlled environment,” Mr. Evans said.

Commercial success, however, doesn’t always translate to the enduring literary legacy of a Charles Dickens or a Charlotte Brontë, said Karen Swallow Prior, a veteran literature professor now teaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“Evangelical Christian fiction aims to help readers think imaginatively about things they (or the author) already believe,” Ms. Prior said via email, “While literary fiction uses language in ways that help readers (and the author) to think about things differently.”