The Man Who Sold the Apocalypse
Was Christian doomsday writer Hal Lindsey just a hustler?
In 1971 he published a book that said a cosmic event called “the Rapture” would happen soon. Christians would be lifted into Heaven, as everyone left behind would suffer.
Hal Lindsey became one of the most successful writers in history, and one of the most recognized names in America’s largest religion. It was always a curious act. In 1977, Publisher’s Weekly finds him driving around L.A. in his Mercedes Benz. They report:
“Lindsey maintains a suite of offices in a posh Santa Monica high-rise for the personal management firm that sinks his royalties into long-term real estate investments.”
There’s been no biography of Hal Lindsey.
I’m looking around for details. He was born in Houston on November 23, 1929. Over the years he gives a ‘testimony’ of his faith with some biographical information. His parents weren’t really Christian, he explains, but he wanted to be! As a teenager he got baptized — three times. He kept sliding back into ‘sin’.
After his third baptism, he dropped into it completely.
