The Writing of Ben-Hur. In 1876, after a conversation on a train with a well-known atheist, Col. Ingersoll, Lew Wallace realized that he didn’t know as much as he would like to about his own faith.
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Wallace, Lewis Published: 1880 Categorie(s): Fiction, Historical Source: http:// 1. Ben-Hur has 25,655 ratings and 642 reviews. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880) by Lew Wallace is one of the most popular and beloved 19th century Ameri. I've seen the movie and love it so thought I'd read the book. Noticed fast that it differ quite a bit from the Movie but that's not unusual between books and movies tho.I haven't finished it but loved it.
Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ by Carol Wallace. Prolific author Carol Wallace has updated the classic tale penned by her great-great-grandfather over a century ago to make it more readable for a modern audience.
Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The Writing of Ben- Hur. In 1. 87. 6, after a conversation on a train with a well- known atheist, Col. Ingersoll, Lew Wallace realized that he didn’t know as much as he would like to about his own faith.
He had already written a short story describing the journey of the wise men to Bethlehem - a subject which has fascinated him since he was very young. This became the first book of Ben- Hur, with the rest of the novel describing the “religious and political conditions of the world at the time of the coming,” as he says in his Autobiography.
Although he may have been indifferent to religion before writing the book, he says in the preface to The First Christmas, 1. Ben- Hur resulted in “a conviction amounting to absolute belief in God and the divinity of Christ.”The novel was the result of seven years research and writing, most of which was carried out underneath a beech tree near Wallace’s residence in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
Ben- Hur was an unusual novel for its time. Most literature had moved away from historical, romantic, adventure fiction by the late nineteenth century. William Dean Howells typified the new trend by writing realistic fiction about contemporary life. However, Ben- Hur created a resurgence of its literary type. Henry Sienkiewicz’s Quo Vadis?
Taking a train to Indianapolis one evening, Lew Wallace heard someone call his name. It proved to be the notorious agnostic Robert Ingersoll, who, as a colonel with the 1. Illinois Cavalry volunteers, had fought under General Wallace at Shiloh. Ingersoll invited Lew into his compartment to talk. Lew claimed the right to choose the subject. His themes were all of a religious nature.
He gave them to Ingersoll and here is Lew's description of what happened - - . His manner of putting things was marvelous; and as the Wedding Guest was held by the glittering eye of the Ancient Mariner, I sat spellbound, listening to a medley of argument, eloquence, wit, satire, audacity, irreverence, poetry, brilliant antitheses, and pungent excoriation of believers in God, Christ, and Heaven, the like of which I had never heard. He surpassed himself, and that is saying a great deal.
The speech was brought to an end by our arrival at the Indianapolis Central Station nearly two hours after its commencement. Upon alighting from the car, we separated, he to go to a hotel, and I to my brother's, a long way up northeast of town.
The street- cars were at my service, but I preferred to walk, for I was in a confusion of mind not unlike dazement. To explain this, it is necessary now to confess that my attitude with respect to religion had been one of absolute indifference.
I had heard it argued times innumerable, always without interest. So, too, I had read the sermons of great preachers.. To lift me out of my indifference, one would think only strong affirmations of things regarded holiest would do.
Yet here was I now moved as never before, and by what? The most outright denials of all human knowledge of God, Christ, Heaven, and the Hereafter which figures so in the hope and faith of the believing everywhere. Was the Colonel right?
What had I on which to answer yes or no? He had made me ashamed of my ignorance: and then- -here is the unexpected of the affair- -as I walked on in the cool darkness, I was aroused for the first time in my life to the importance of religion. To write all my reflections would require many pages. I pass them to say simply that I resolved to study the subject . It only remains to say that I did as resolved, with results - first, the book Ben Hur, and second, a conviction amounting to absolute belief in God and the Divinity of Christ.
Many said they became Christians through it. Grant informed Lew that he had become so enthralled with Ben- Hur he sat up 3. Never Been Out of Print. For five years after its publication, Ben- Hur sales were sluggish. But as word of mouth traveled, sales rocketed and remained high. Even as late as 1.
Chicago mail- order company bought a million copies of Ben- Hur, it had no trouble distributing them all. Up to the present time, it has never been out of print. The Adventures of Author Lew Wallace.
Christians should never despair of a problem child. Lew Wallace was one, and yet in the end, God was able to change his heart. Born in Indiana in 1. Lew simply had too much energy to be caged up. In and out of scrapes, he refused to so much as whimper when whipped. He seemed to know neither fear nor how to give in.
His mother died when he was 7, and he refused to accept his 1. When he was 9, he joined a brother at a boarding school several miles away. Hating it, he ran off and made his way home alone. At 1. 3, he was truant from school for twelve days, attending a Whig rally. He became an instant hero with the Whigs when he climbed a roof and tore down a petticoat flying in mockery of Harrison, their Presidential candidate. The only thing that tamed Lew for long was an interesting book.
He devoured adventure novels and histories- -and began writing his own stories. But unsatisfied with mere words, he ran away, hoping to join the fight in Texas. It was the last straw for his dad. Firmly but kindly, he ordered 1.
Lew out of the home. Lew found work with a law firm. Although he detested law, he stood for elections as a public attorney, even fist- fighting if it helped him win. Once he pulled everyone away from a rival's speech by playing the violin. He married his sweetheart Susan Elston.
Her family didn't like him, but he won her father's respect when he leapt onto a burning roof to fight a fire. Civil War Goat and Hero.
During the Civil War, Lew fought for the Union. He was made the goat for the Union failure to capitalize on its costly victory at Shiloh.
Shelved for a time, he brilliantly rallied the defense of Cincinnati, throwing up fortifications and building a pontoon bridge in record time. His greatest fame as a general came when, outnumbered six to one, he held off the enemy at Monocacy long enough for the Union to move defenders to Washington, D. C. When people realized he had saved the capitol, he was smothered with praise. Later, he offered his services to Mexico, which accepted them but never reimbursed his costs. He was in debt most of his adult life, partly because of the Mexico affair and partly because Indiana's Free Soil party bilked him of money borrowed for them. In 1. 87. 8, Lew accepted appointment as the governor of lawless New Mexico, where ruthless cattle barons and badmen made life miserable for everyone else. He restored order, then left to serve as U.
S. Up to that point, he had not even cared if there were an afterlife. But as he wrote, his outlook changed. He came to recognize that Jesus must be taken for who He says He is. Ben- Hur had looked for a king to defeat Rome. Instead, he got a suffering Savior.
Lew saw what this meant: . How much better if we measured ourselves by the Christ? Mc. Graw Hill, 1. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, 1. Glimpses of Christian History article on Ben- Hur, 1. General Lew Wallace Study and Museum.
Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ - Lew Wallace. Lewis . Wallace was born in Brookville, Indiana, to David and Esther French Test Wallace. His father served as lieutenant governor and Indiana Governor; his stepmother, Zerelda Gray Sanders Wallace, was a prominent in temperance and suffrage. Wallace served in the Mexican War in 1. Indiana Infantry regiment.
He was admitted to the bar in 1. In 1. 85. 1 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the First Congressional District. At the start of the Civil War, Wallace was appointed state adjutant general and helped raise troops in Indiana. On April 2. 5, 1.
Colonel of the 1. Indiana Infantry. After brief service in western Virginia, he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on September 3 and given the command of a brigade. Wallace also held a number of important political posts during the 1. He served as governor of New Mexico Territory from 1.
U. S. Minister to the Ottoman Empire from 1. As governor, he offered amnesty to many men involved in the Lincoln County War; in the process he met with Billy the Kid (Henry Mc. Carty). On 1. 7 March 1. Kid would act as an informant and testify against others involved in the Lincoln County War, and, in return, Kid would be . While serving as governor, Wallace completed the novel that made him famous: Ben- Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1.
It grew to be the best- selling American novel of the 1. The book has never been out of print and has been filmed four times.