Bob Barney
The Rest of the Story (Ben Hur) inspired by the late Paul Harvey
Bob Barney
Most folks my age knows the story of Ben Hur, maybe some of the younger readers out there have not read the book or watched the movie. I highly recommend it! This classic book written by a Civil War general, Lew Wallace, in 1899, was turned into a movie starring Charleton Heston, which won the Academy Award for best movie in 1959. It is a towering story of love, of suffering, of the struggle of good against evil, and finally of triumph. Judah Ben Hur, the story’s hero, grows up with his boyhood friend, Marsalla. Judah is a Jew, and Marsalla a Roman. Judah is the heir of a very great and wealthy house in Jerusalem. Marsalla is a promising military man who trained in Rome as a soldier, then returned to Jerusalem as the leader of the Roman occupation forces. Both are great friends, but fate intervenes and makes the two bitter enemies.
Judah Ben Hur is sent off to die in prison, but a kind man gives him water to drink and that act of kindness leads to his will to survive and again fate has him saving the admiral of the Roman fleet and thus thrusting Judah back into fame and fortune.
The story of Ben Hur is riveting and all inspiring, but do you know the rest of the story about the WRITER of the novel? You see General Wallace, like myself started as an atheist! He began this book in an attempt to show the silliness of the Christian faith. I too started off my journey back in 1975 to disprove Garner Ted Armstrong and his logical and methodical belief in God – The God of the Bible! This story has a special meaning to me, because Mr. Wallace met a fate with destiny in his journey, as I did some 70 years later……. And the rest of the story ???????????????????