Hal Lindsey, once a tugboat captain navigating the Mississippi Delta, transformed into a prominent campus preacher and unexpectedly gained fame and fortune through his writings that predicted the imminent end of the world, characterized by devastating natural disasters and catastrophic wars, followed by the second coming of Jesus Christ. He passed away on Monday at his residence, with the announcement of his death made on his official website. The specific location of his home was not disclosed.
Mr. Lindsey captured the attention of the literary world with his groundbreaking book, The Late, Great Planet Earth, which was published in 1970 by Zondervan, a modest religious publishing house located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Co-authored with C.C. Carlson (though some of Lindsey’s followers claimed she ghostwrote the book), it presents a captivating mix of historical context and apocalyptic forecasts derived from biblical interpretations coupled with contemporary events.
Recognizing its potential, an editor at Bantam Books acquired the mass-market paperback rights, propelling the book into the limelight. The Late, Great Planet Earth swiftly became the best-selling nonfiction book of the 1970s, with estimates suggesting that it sold around 35 million copies by 1999, translated into approximately 50 languages worldwide.
Despite the passage of time and the failure of many of Mr. Lindsey’s doomsday predictions to materialize, his forecasts of impending apocalyptic events increasingly appear less credible with each day. Nevertheless, Lindsey undeniably played a pivotal role as a precursor to a movement that he helped to cultivate.
“Hal Lindsey is one of the most fascinating figures in the entire history of contemporary prophecy belief,” remarked Paul S. Boyer, a historian renowned for his studies on the intersection of religion and American life, several years prior to his own passing in 2012. While Mr. Boyer regarded the book as neither groundbreaking nor particularly profound, he acknowledged that its author “represents a significant breakthrough moment when interest in biblical prophecy transcends the confines of true believers, evolving into a broader cultural phenomenon.”
The situation in the Middle East, particularly concerning Israel, was at the forefront of Mr. Lindsey’s prophetic assertions. The Late, Great Planet Earth was published shortly after Israel’s remarkable victory in the Six-Day War of June 1967. While Mr. Lindsey correctly anticipated that Israel’s triumph would not usher in peace, he envisioned a series of events far more calamitous than the ongoing violence and tensions that continue to afflict the region today.
