Moving forward after `Left Behind'

Evangelical Christian authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins are publishing superstars famous for the after-the-rapture "Left Behind" thrillers, which have sold more than 62 million copies and inspired three low-budget movies, a video game, a lawsuit and charges of anti-Semitism. Now, the pair have begun a new project: "The Jesus Chronicles," a series of four novels based on the New Testament. This time, they're likely to rile biblical purists, even as they aim for "Da Vinci Code" fans hungry for less strident approaches to the mysteries of the Bible.

Though the books aren't built on premises as controversial as those underlying their last series, in which Jews and others who don't convert die in a bloody battle, LaHaye and Jenkins say their message is still the same: The end is coming. Be ready. Know the Bible.

"John's Story: The Last Eyewitness (Book One of the Jesus Chronicles)" follows the last living apostle as he records the miracles of Jesus and later, after months of hard labor in the marble mines, writes the psychedelic Book of Revelation. Here, John is 89, leading Christians in secret, spreading Jesus' teachings by word-of-mouth. Then Cerinthus, a new celebrity preacher, hits the Roman Empire, and his Gnostic sermons gather huge crowds. So along with two sidekicks, twentysomething acolyte Polycarp and aspiring martyr Ignatius, John sets out to write his Gospel.

Jenkins lives in the evangelical stronghold of Colorado Springs, Colo.; LaHaye and his wife, Beverly, founder of Concerned Women for America, live in Rancho Mirage, outside of Palm Springs. Last week, midway through a weeklong media tour, the diminutive LaHaye and his younger, grayer co-author Jenkins shared a sofa in their Marina del Rey Ritz-Carlton hotel suite and wearily defended their mission. They don't hate Jews, or for that matter, anyone whose faith differs from theirs, they said. They don't, as some have said, expect to clear land or convert Jews in Israel to prepare for their Messiah's return.

They are, however, afraid for nonbelievers. "The Da Vinci Code," for example, shouldn't be given "an exalted position above Scripture," noted LaHaye, because the archeological evidence points to Jesus' divinity. And, he added, more signs of an imminent rapture are evident now "than ever in the history of the world."