Chick Publications' The Light Of The World Bible Tract Series: An Almost-Forgotten Project

Troy Davis writes:

For a short time in the early 21st century (2000 to 2003), Chick Publications released 25 specially-numbered tracts known as the Bible Tract Series. They were standard Chick tracts with one small but important physical difference: On the lower right on the front cover, instead of the standard "J.T.C.," these tracts each have a circled number between one and 25. Each of these 25 tracts has a catalyst character, Bob Williams, a buzzkill goody-two-shoes fundy guy with a John Waters mustache. Jack Chick envisioned the tract collection as a tutorial for new Christians who came to Christ at screenings for the Chick Publications film The Light of the World.

With the release of Jack Chick's film The Light of the World in 2003, the Bible Tracts Series along with the Chick tract "You Are About To See . . ." (see pic and video at the end of the article) were given to audiences attending the film. When I went to the world premiere screening of The Light of the World in Orange County in 2003, I was given the promotional Chick tract "You Are About To See . . ."; after the film, I and the other attendees received the shrinkwrapped Bible Tract Series.

That was pretty much the distribution plan: before the movie screening, the attendee is given "You Are About To See . . ." and after the film, the Bible Tract Series. This was the model envisioned and used not only by Chick Publications (who promoted it in "You Are About to See . . ."), but also implemented by the now-defunct Light of the World Project, an ad hoc independent organization set up to assist Chick with spreading the word about the film. The LOTW Project did tract distribution at screenings for a year or so. Using the Wayback Machine at Archive.org, I was able to find a reference to The Light of the World Project's plan for the use of these tracts. 

The tracts were intended to be read sequentially, from #1 ("In The Beginning" which deals with the Genesis-based creation story) to #25 (The Revelation-themed "Here He Comes").  In between, the tracts have Know-It-All Bob addressing issues such as Freemasonry, the occult, Roman Catholicism, and Islam using stories from the bible. The tracts were intended to give the reader a rudimentary understanding of Christianity. 

A year or so after the release of The Light of the World, Chick Publications dropped the Bible Tract Series. Some of the tracts were re-released as regular Chick tracts printed with the usual "J.T.C." on the cover; other titles were dropped.  As of July 2021, only three of the original 25 remain in print as regular Chick tracts (#3 "Sin City," #7 "It's The Law," and #21 "Scream"). Because they were printed for a short time, the numbered tracts are collectible. I wish I had the foresight to keep more of the numbered tracts but the museum has several dozen of them (but, alas, only two copies of the very rare "You Are About to See . . .").

Here is a list of the original volumes of the Bible Tract Series. Re-released versions of "Sin City," "It's The Law," and "Scream" can be read at the in-stock section of Chick Publications' website; the others can be read in the out-of-print/custom order only section ("You Are About to See . . . " is not available at the Chick Publications website but can be viewed as a YouTube video embedded after the end of this article). 

1. "In the Beginning" 

2. "It's Coming"  

3. "Sin City" 

4. "The Promise" 

5. "The Big Deal"  

6. "Framed"   

7. "It's The Law"  

8. "The Outcast"  

9. "The Scam"  

10. "The Loser"  

11. "The Last Judge"  

12. The Nervous Witch"  

13. "Caught"  

14. "Payback"  

15. "Real Heat"  

16. "The Monster"  

17. "Gladys"  

18. "God With Us" 

19. "Fallen"  

20. "Who Cares?"  

21. "Scream"   

22. "Good Ol' Boys"   

23. "Man In Black"  

24. Who's Missing?"   

25. "Here He Comes"  

Various Light of the World Project Documents

Promo video/DVD from The Light of the World Project below

NOTES ON JACK CHICK: In my introductory post, I listed just a few of the many rare and valuable objects from The Museum's extensive Chick-related collection . . . The role of Ralph Rushtoi in the publishing careers of both Jack Chick and another comics-based tract writer Vic Lockman. . . I discuss the role of Bill Bright's prolific tract The Four Spiritual Laws in leading to a format change in Chick tracts that was a key reason why they have become much more popular since the late 1960s . . . My thoughts on Jack Chick's spreading of the peace symbol/broken cross mythology . . .  Jack Chick's retro-futuristic car in the scarce 48-page version of "The Beast" . . . Chick tract parody "Constitutional Rites" . . .Jack Chick's cold war tract "Ivan The Terrible" . . . Article on Chick by fellow Catholic-baiting Bob Jones University magazine . . .Catholic-bashing tract by Chick's protege Alberto Rivera . . . Knock-off of a Chick tract by James Lloyd: "Left Behind" . . . Chick tract parody "Donald Trump Is The Antichrist; Prepare for the Rapture!"  . . . The extremely rare 1970 Chick tract "Operation Somebody Cares" . . .The rare Chick Publications comic book "Jonah" by Chick and Fred Carter . . . The museum's prized cultural artifact, original art by Jack Chick . . .  The museum's collection of Jack Chick's high school yearbooks . . . An appreciation of the deranged nature of the original 1972 version of the Chick tract "The Last Generation" . . . Oversized 1964 version of Chick's "This Was Your Life". . . The Chick Tract Parody Page.

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the website here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.