Armageddon, Oil, and Endless Publishing Opportunities

Is a 33 year-old “The End is Nigh” Biblical prophecy paperback a bit of an embarrassment? Not if you’re the son of John F. Walvoord. The CBA/Aspiring Retail Industry Brief reports (via email):

Tyndale House Publishers is mounting a $300,000 marketing campaign to draw people into CBA stores and jump start sales on its May release of Armageddon, Oil, and Terror by John Walvoord. This is the revised, third edition of Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East Crisis that’s sold more than 2 million copies and been translated into 10 languages. Tyndale will initiate national print, radio, and Internet campaigns for the title, which has been retitled to reflect the current world situation and is the collaboration of Walvoord’s son, John E. Walvoord and author Mark Hitchcock. It offers new insight into what to expect in this age of terror.

The “new insight” being, of course, that “this age of terror” means the end is nigh, just as “that age of Middle East crisis” in 1974 was a sign of the Last Days back then.

As the report indicates, the Walvoords have cashed in in this way before; back in 1990 Walvoord Senior churned out a second edition which preyed on fears about the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Time reported then that

Zondervan, a leading U.S. publisher of Fundamentalist and Evangelical literature, has issued an updated version of John F. Walvoord’s 1974 best seller, Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis, with an initial print order of — get this — 1 million copies.

One wonders why Zondervan has passed the book over to Tim LaHaye’s publisher of choice. Perhaps Tyndale offered Walvoord a better deal; or perhaps Zondervan, these days better-known for publishing thoughtful evangelicals like Philip Yancey, finds the thought of seriously revisiting the 1970s pulp prophecy schlock that it was once so famous for simply too distasteful.

6 Responses

  1. For Immediate Release
    Book’s Sequel Cites Explicit Evidence Why Christians Will Suffer Great Tribulation [Author Appeals to Other Authors to Hold Conferences to Discuss Varying Interpretations]

    The sequel to a book written by a former Los Angeles-based radio and television talk show host, which challenged the doctrine of a Left Behind, Pre-Tribulation Rapture to Heaven, is now available to the public. Published by Author House, Why Christians Will Suffer Great Tribulation is the sequel to The End Times Passover, written by Joe Ortiz. “No Christian wants to imagine he or she will be persecuted, but it will happen” stated Ortiz, who spent over 20 years researching and writing his books. Ortiz stated he provides unequivocal biblical evidence that there will be no secret escape to Heaven while the world experiences Armageddon.

    “Unfortunately, a large majority of evangelicals do not believe they will go through any tribulation, believing instead that God will provide them an escape through what they call the Rapture.”

    Ortiz said instead of debating the issue, he supports organizing conferences to bring together all of those who have opposing or varying doctrines (such as John Walvoord, John Hagee, Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, et al), for the sole purpose of examining their respective evidence and mutually agreeing on what is myth or what is true fact.

    Ortiz said he wrote the two books because he is concerned for those who believe in a Pre-Tribulation escape to Heaven. He said his books not only provide Bible evidence to support his contentions, and clearly explains why they will be persecuted, “But they also provide us with the wisdom to be prepared for the eventuality of great tribulation.” -30- EDITORS: For review copies or interview requests, contact: Author House Promotional Services Department (When requesting a review copy, please provide a street address.) Tel: 888-728-8467 Fax: 812-961-3133 Email: pressreleases@authorhouse.com

    The author is a former award-winning radio/television talk show host and news columnist. A 23 year veteran broadcaster, Joe Ortiz has the distinction of being the first Mexican American to conduct a general topics talk show on an English-language commercial radio station. He began his broadcasting career at KABC-AM in Los Angeles in 1971. He is retired but writes for local and national periodical and hosts three blogs.

    Joe Ortiz & Associates, 1306 Farview Ln. Redlands, California 92374 Ph: 909-653-4295 Cell: 760-424-9369 Email: JoeOrtiz9299@GMail.com

  2. I’ve been puzzled by the apocalyptic streak in our culture for a long time, ever since I was in junior high and California fell into the sea because of massive earthquakes three times in two weeks. I’d done some research on failed prophecies and that sort of thing, but I must confess I’d never once thought of it as a money making machine. And it’s so obvious!

  3. […] also publish good deal of thoughtful material by authors such as Philip Yancey, and (as I noted here) Zondervan is now much more up-market than it was in days when it was churning out crap by the […]

  4. […] since it was released last Spetember…This month, Tyndale will release a third edition of Armageddon, Oil and Terror: What the Bible Says About the Future of America, the Middle East, and the End of Western […]

  5. […] books in this genre tend to require numerous revisions as the years go by. I blogged on this one here), and Infiltration by Paul Sperry. He also took the opportunity to plug his own book, Never […]

  6. […] also updates older apocalyptic paperbacks after they have gone out of date – see here. …”Isralestine” by Bill Salus…. This book unveils significant Bible […]

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