Jerry B. Jenkins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jerry B. Jenkins (born September 23, 1949 in Kalamazoo, Michigan) is an American novelist and biographer. He is best known as co-author of the Left Behind series of books with Tim LaHaye, Jenkins has written over 150 books, including romance novels, mysteries, and children's adventures, as well as non-fiction. His works usually feature evangelical Christians as protagonists. In 2005, Jenkins and LaHaye ranked 9th in Amazon.com's 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame authors ranked according to the largest numbers of books sold at Amazon.com in the 10 years since it opened on July 16, 1995. Jenkins and his wife Dianna have been married for more than 33 years and have three sons and several grandchildren.
Contents |
[edit] Work as a writer, editor, and publisher
Jenkins has authored more that 150 books, 16 of which have reached the New York Times bestseller list. His writings have appeared in many periodicals, including Reader's Digest, Parade, and Guideposts. He is a "writer-at-large" for Moody Bible Institute. He had previously worked as Editor of Moody Magazine and as vice-president of publishing for Moody Bible Institute.
[edit] Biographer
He has written "as-told-to" biographies of Hank Aaron, Brett Butler, Bill Gaither, Orel Hershiser, Luis Palau, Walter Payton, Nolan Ryan, Sammy Tippit, and others. Over a period of 13 months, he assisted Dr. Billy Graham with his 1997 autobiography, Just As I Am.
[edit] Comic strip author
From 1996 to 2004, Jenkins was writer of the sports-oriented comic strip Gil Thorp. He had been handpicked by creator Jack Berrill to succeed him after his death. Many of the comic strip stories were written (but uncredited) by his son, Chad Jenkins, an assistant baseball coach at Bethel College.
[edit] "Left Behind" author
Jenkins and co-author LaHaye of the Left Behind series were profiled in a May 24, 2004 cover story in Newsweek magazine entitled "The New Prophets of Revelation". LaHaye, also associated with Moody Bible Institute, handles the theological under-pinnings of his end-of-the-world series, while Jenkins handles the story-telling.
The Left Behind series includes 12 books which have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. The first volume is entitled Left Behind, followed by Tribulation Force, Nicolae, and culminating in Armageddon and finally Glorious Appearing. Three more volumes have been released, a trilogy of prequels, and soon the upcoming final volume, Final Judgment, will also be released.
[edit] "Christian Writers Guild" owner
In 1965 Norman Rohrer established the Christian Writers Guild (CWG) which was a groundbreaking effort to raise the quality of Christian Writing. In 2003 Jerry B. Jenkins purchased the Guild from the retiring Norman Rohrer (who remains on the Editorial Board of CWG).
Jenkin's goals, reflecting those of the founder, are to increase the quality and breadth of Christian writing as stated in the CWG's Mission Statement: "The Christian Writers Guild exists to educate, train, and support writers who desire to promote a biblically based, Christian worldview." Jenkins' experience and insight into the writer's life and career has lead to changes in CWG programs and conferences which is bringing more Christian writers into the publishing mainstream through encouraging quality (and not necessarily overtly Christian) writing to a wider audience.
The Guild promotes its writing program through annual conferences at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs as well as a Guild Apprentice and Master programs of writing using experienced staff of mentor authors and publishing professionals. Among the writing conferences and guilds (of all kinds), CWG stands out as one of the top organizations in the industry.
[edit] Controversy and criticism
Jenkins and LaHaye have been criticized for their apocalyptic beliefs in which he asserts the end of the world is near. In 2004, Penn & Teller's TV show Bullshit! devoted an episode to the "end of the world" phenomenon following centuries of incorrect prophecy. The show explained that Bible prophecy is nothing new and the vague descriptions in the book of Relevation can apply to almost any location at any time. The Left Behind series was featured and Jenkins was interviewed. Jenkins said "in my mind, in a way, we are sales people for the Gospel." He continued, "people say money is the root of all evil, and actually it's the love of money that's the root of all evil. So there is nothing wrong with money if you use it right." The host, Penn Jillette, responded, "what's the story on money if you get it by creating an irrational fear in people?"
The Left Behind series has also been criticized by Christians as having "some real problems with his prophetical teachings in the Left Behind series." It is noted that "in books 8 & 9, LaHaye and Jenkins teach that [non-willing] recipients of the mark of the beast can still be saved." In The Mark, "the Chang scenario" is developed, where it is made clear that a character had the seal of the Lord prior to being drugged and having the mark of the beast forced upon him. This topic has been discussed often by perplexed readers on the Left Behind messageboard, and was answered on the FAQ page at LeftBehind.com.[1]
